How left and right argue immigration, guns in same way
Paul Karrer
For The Californian
The political parties of the left and right argue about immigration and guns in the same manner. The content is different, the methodology is the same.
1. Conflation
A. Unauthorized immigration is conflated to…immigration. The left wants to include all immigration. By and large the right complains about unauthorized immigration. Immigration and unauthorized immigration are not the same. Legal immigrants have a higher college education rate than U.S. citizens. Unauthorized immigrants from the southern border tend to be vastly under-educated.
B. Gun control is conflated to…ending the Second Amendment.
The right wants to frame the discussion as the loss of the Second Amendment. Few and far between are those calling for an end to the amendment. Gun control merely means having some standardized controls. The vast majority of Americans (Reuters 2019) want stricter gun controls like:
- Universal background check
- Waiting periods
- Limits on monthly gun purchases
- No straw buyers
- Red flag Laws
- Specific restrictions (Machine guns/some semi-automatics – like AR-15s, bump stocks, armor-piercing bullets)
- Age limit on buying guns
2. False Claims
A. The left claims, “The value and financial input/contribution and benefits of immigrants (this deceivingly includes unauthorized immigrants) is a net positive. This is a reach as it includes the innovations and business success of legal immigrants. California is the wealthiest state in the Union. If it were a nation it would be the 5th – wealthiest (USA TODAY.) Yet, California has the highest percentage of children living in poverty. How can this be? A major contributor is the desperate poverty stricken agricultural sector and service worker/parents.
B. The right often claims possessing a gun protects oneself and one’s family. Hard data shows that possessing a gun vastly increases the risk of a gun-related tragedy.
- Numerous studies have found that gun ownership increases the risk of both gun-related homicides and suicides.
- Guns in the home are particularly dangerous for victims of domestic violence. The presence of a gun in a home with a history of domestic violence increases the risk that a woman will be killed by 500 percent.
- Guns intended for self-defense are commonly involved in fatal accidents. Studies have shown that across states, higher levels of gun ownership are linked to higher rates of unintentional firearm deaths.
3. Anecdotal Evidence
Anecdotal evidence is just that, anecdotal.
A. Currently, the left uses the death of two children who died in ICE hands as a cause celebre to promote “Immigration.” Those children’s’ deaths are not the norm. Children do not typically nor statistically die in statistically significant numbers while in U.S. custody.
B. The right, regarding guns. A good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun. According to the NRA, good neighbor Stephen Willeford shot Devin Kelly who killed dozens inside the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
4. Justification…
A. With unauthorized immigration it is “They do jobs Americans wouldn’t do.”
Reality – Unauthorized workers reduce wages in agriculture and service industries making those job sectors uncompetitive. (Browns VS Blacks - Atlantic Magazine - summary - in the 1970s, janitorial jobs in San Diego and LA areas were primarily filled with African Americans with livable union wages. The 80s-present saw black displacement by Latinos at non-unionized lower wages with few to no benefits to workers.)
Some economists claim the presence of limitless numbers of unskilled workers makes those jobs undesirable for citizens because industry has no incentive to invest and raise livable wages.
In USA the conglomerates have no incentive to plow big bucks into this. Why? They’re addicted to cheap endless labor. Corporations don’t need to re-invest.
B. For gun advocates the justification is… The Second Amendment is a law. - Therefore since it is a law it must be adhered to. We have had and still have many laws which are wrong. Women couldn’t vote. Not all Native Americans could vote until 1962. Birth control was outlawed until 1965. Slavery was a law.
5. The Use of Mantras or Catch Phrases
A. With the right it is, “The Liberals Want to take away our freedom.” The freedom call is a favorite for NRA members.
B. With the left, “We are a nation of immigrants.” Whipped up often with photos of the Statue of Liberty or with photos of children.
Paul Karrer is a Monterey County resident with experience teaching in England, Korea, Samoa and California. He has been published in the New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Teacher Magazine, Education Week, volumes of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series and the Christian Science Monitor.