By: José Niño

The novel Wuhan Coronavirus has everyone panicking, as politicians across the globe desperately attempt to find ways to contain the virus.

In the United States, several states have gone into lockdown in an attempt to stymie the virus’ spread. In many places, nearly all regular activity has ground to a halt, except for entities providing essential services. Even some states legislures have gone into recess. For those of us who are tired of legislative critters working diligently to undermine our Second Amendment rights, this crisis might have a silver lining. Ostensibly speaking, legislators now don’t have as much time to congregate due to the closure of certain state legislatures.

But we’d be mistaken to believe rabid anti-gunners are stopping in their tracks. Quite the contrary: they’re actually drawing inspiration from the notorious former Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel, who infamously urged his cronies never to “let a crisis go to waste.”

Certain municipal bodies have begun their own experiments in micro-tyranny. Champaign, Illinois Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen issued a ban on the sale of guns and alcohol last week. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell took a similar approach when she banned the sale and transportation of firearms within the city. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo issued an ordinance that designated all gun stores in the city as “non-essential businesses.” Consequently, all gun stores have been forced to shut down as part of the city’s shelter order.

Other areas, such as Henry County in Georgia, have placed concealed carry applications on hold.

Some cities, including Philadelphia, have gone even further by promoting forms of anarcho-tyranny by no longer deploying police resources against certain forms of non-violent crime. In California, they’re releasing prisoners early. Law-abiding citizens will now be fair game to newly released criminal hordes.

As the hysteria from the Wuhan virus outbreak continues, politicians will likely be drawing up gun control behind the scenes as the public is more concerned about managing their lives following the lockdowns. In blue states that are under quarantine, there exists the threat of gun grabs. As the Nobel laureate economist Friedrich Hayek said, “Emergencies have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have eroded.”

In the light of this rapidly spreading virus, gun controllers will most certainly exploit the situation to their advantage. It is in their very nature. And it would also be naïve to believe that once the virus is contained, gun-grabbing efforts will be shelved.

Be assured: the next epidemic will result in even more gun control if Second Amendment activists don’t remain vigilant.

José Niño is a Venezuelan American freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Sign up for his mailing list here. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.