I am increasingly of the opinion that it is time to begin a campaign to draft Ben Carson – draft him back into the field of medicine that is.  Over the course of his rather brief political career, he has displayed a surprising lack of understanding of the meaning of individual rights. Such a lack of understanding is rather normal for a Democrat and increasingly common for a Republican; it is surprising from a Conservative.

A friend of mine sent me an op-ed, penned by Dr. Carson for the Washington Times in 2013. The opinion piece concerned the second amendment and can be read in its entirety HERE.

There are just a few parts that I would like to address. Carson writes:

 

On the other side of the argument, there are reasonable people who look at the tens of thousands of people who are killed each year in this country by guns, and they do not feel that we are doing enough to stop the carnage.

And

…it is time to engage in intelligent conversation about our desire to preserve the rights granted to American citizens by our Constitution while at the same time ensuring the safety of all of our citizens. The way we treat access to automobiles is a good starting point…

Let us begin with the first quote. Carson gives credence to hysteria by suggesting that there are “Tens of Thousands” of gun deaths each year.  According to factcheck.org, in 2010 there were only 11 thousand gun deaths, the lowest number since 1981.  This data was available to Carson in 2013, why didn’t he cite it? It is a small point, but worth noting: If Carson is going to wade into this debate he should arm himself with facts and not hysteria.

But it is the last quote, which comes from the last paragraph of his article, that is of most concern. Carson writes that we have a desire to preserve “rights GRANTED to American citizens by our Constitution.”  Excuse me?  The Constitution GRANTS us rights?  Wrong! The Constitution enumerates rights – rights granted by God and necessary for the preservation of a free people.  This is a ghastly error on the part of ANY Conservative running for office.

Carson then offers the idea that treating gun rights – that is the right to keep and bear arms as ENUMERATED in our Constitution, the purpose of which was to codify the principles outlined in the Declaration – ought to be treated in the same way we treat access to automobiles.

Where to begin?  Does Carson not understand the difference between a right and a privilege?  Further, can you imagine anything more idiotic than a free people appealing to the state for permission to purchase the means by which they would defend themselves from the overreach and abuse of the state?  Carson seems to be quoting from the “Big book of bad progressive ideas.”

Calling Doctor Carson. Calling Doctor Carson.  You are wanted in surgery.

Please run, do not walk.