By: José Niño
It’s not uncommon to see foreigners express their disapproval of America’s right to bear arms.
For most foreign onlookers, the Second Amendment seems like a terrifying concept. In their view, they see civilian firearms ownership as a recipe for increased crime.
American gun owners who are well-acquainted with crime statistics and overall trends know such claims don’t hold up and are easily disproved.
There are some countries, though, with deeply rooted authoritarian tendencies that know all too well what the right to bear arms actually entails — an armed citizenry that is capable of revolting against despots.
That’s why authoritarian countries like China have stripped their citizens of the right to bear arms; this happened in China when the Communists took power in 1949.
Although China’s current regime has improved its optics in certain respects and has boasted robust growth once strongman Mao Zedong died in 1976, the country remains deeply authoritarian. Moreover, thanks to its newfound wealth, China has used its vast resources to project its power abroad in conventional and unconventional manners.
China is notorious for its soft power and its use of state-backed media to spread propaganda abroad. Writers like Cam Edwards and Tom Knighton at Bearing Arms have observed this in recent pieces.
The Chinese state-backed news outlet Xinhua News posted several Tweets earlier this month mocking America’s right to bear arms. One Tweet featured two Americans toasting “to freedom” on July 4 while an armed man has a speech bubble that reads “of shooting.” Next to the three cartoon figures is a gravestone with the following text engraved: “Death From Firearm.”
China, and countries with similar governance, has no concept of individual freedoms, let alone a tradition of free men bearing arms. So these nations resort to using propaganda to poke fun at some of America’s most respected traditions.
Indeed, as we know, China is in a great power competition with the U.S. It will use whatever means possible to demoralize and undermine America, and Second Amendment patriots should not be fazed by China’s mockery.
If anything, Americans should be proud. A right to bear arms is the province of free men.
Despite some of its flaws, America remains the freest nation on this planet. We should never lose sight of this and always strive to keep it that way by protecting the Second Amendment and expanding gun freedom when possible.
José Niño is a 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.