Among the many illogical things that liberals have tried to include in bills and policies dealing with the Chinese Wuhan Virus pandemic is to try to repeal our gun rights under the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Various jurisdictions have decided that places like gun shops and firing ranges are “non-essential” businesses even as make our communities more dangerous by releasing criminals early and ordering police to ignore certain crimes in the name of fighting the pandemic. Self-defense in a time of social unrest and economic uncertainty is considered unnecessary, as if criminals are going to “social distance” themselves from their victims.

Liberals, however, prattle on about abortion being a constitutional right even though it is mentioned nowhere in the Constitution. The right to keep and bear arms is mentioned in the Constitution, but those who say abortion is essential say gun ownership is not. We must be able to end the life of the unborn even as some jurisdictions are saying having a gun to protect the lives of our families in these uncertain times is nonessential. Close the gun shops but keep the abortion clinics open is the logic of the liberal mind.

President Trump has given us yet another reason to be grateful we elected him as his administration declares that fighting a pandemic does not justify shredding the Constitution, and that gun ownership and training are in fact essential businesses:

President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security released updated guidelines naming gun manufacturers and retailers as essential on Saturday, which means they are to stay open and operational nationwide during a Chinese coronavirus shutdown.

The DHS guidelines list as essential:

•  Workers supporting the manufacturing of safety equipment and uniforms for law enforcement, public safety personnel, and first responders.
• Workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.

…The DHS declaration comes just days after Governor Phil Murphy (D) laughed in the face of a man who expressed concern that the statewide shutdown in New Jersey had put an end to gun sales, thereby eliminating the ability to get a firearm for self-defense.

Breitbart News reported the concerned man asking Murphy, “If less guns reduce crime, will you give up your personal bodyguards?”

Murphy responded by intimating that he and the citizen had a philosophical difference in the role guns play, with the governor believing “a safer society has fewer guns, not more guns. And the guns that do exist are in the hands of the right people -- particularly trained members of law enforcement.”

This is the Animal Farm mentality of politicians who insist that everyone is equal but they are more equal than others. They are more important and therefore more deserving of protection so exceptions for them can be made but not for the housewife in Des Moines about to be raped or the family in Boise slain by an intruder.  A pandemic does not change our constitutional rights or the need to defend ourselves, our property and our families against predators bigger than a virus.

We are told to “shelter in place” and “self-quarantine” and threatened with arrest if we so much as try to go to church on Sunday. But in order to “protect” us politicians are insisting on releasing criminals who are already quarantined and not making new arrests for certain crimes:

San Francisco: the land of Nancy Pelosi, human feces and now, legalized crime. San Fran’s Public Defender Manohar Raju, in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, is calling on police to stop arrests and even citations for crimes including some serious felonies. The new direct is telling police to leave all crime alone except what is seen as “non-violent”….

The same public defender Raju has also called for a mass release of inmates who “may be vulnerable” to the newest Chinese virus sweeping the globe. Raju is just following the model already put forth by other cities.

Just one day after Pennsylvania went on a statewide shutdown, Philadelphia’s Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw declared that police will be “delaying” arrests for crimes including drugs, theft and prostitution.

The next morning, the city used two non-profit bail funds to release 40 individuals. These volunteers met those newly released “outside the jails with transit passes and gift cards.” Advocates are still pushing for more while putting pressure on state leaders to release of all current inmates in Pennsylvania.

Some criminals got their bailout earlier than their past and future victims and we all know that law enforcement has better things to do these days than protect us from them. It is in this context of corona chaos it is surprising that guns and ammo have rivaled toilet paper as a priority purchase:

The folks over at Ammo.com haven’t just been feverishly filling online orders over the past few weeks as Americans across the country are flocking to stock up while the country is locking down. The Ammo.com staff also been keeping track of where the surge in demand is coming from, and have released some fascinating data about the sales spike.

While many gun stores saw the increase in demand kick in last week, the folks at Ammo.com say they first started seeing a swelling demand back in late February, with a 53% increase in sales on February 23rd. By March 15th, the website says sales had increased by a staggering 276% percent.

Our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of toilet paper are dependent on and secured by our guaranteed constitutional right to keep and bear arms.  Gun rights groups have noted this historic fact, sounded the alarm, and fought for the change in DHS guidance:

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry's trade group, requested the essential designation in a March 20th letter to DHS. The group praised the updated DHS guidance as "crucial." 

"We have seen over the past week hundreds of thousands, even millions of Americans choosing to exercise their right to keep and bear arms to ensure their safety and the safety of loved ones during these uncertain times," Lawrence Keane, general counsel for the group, said in a statement. "Americans must not be denied the ability to exercise that right to lawfully purchase and acquire firearms during times of emergency."

This has liberals worried, since disarming potential victims of predators and government has long been a top priority. They have already put this nation at risk with so-called “sensible restrictions” on gun ownership and a plethora of gun-free zones such as schools that have proven to be inviting targets for mass shooters. Gang crime pandemics in our inner cities are quite fine with them as is inviting MS-13 predators to migrate to our sanctuary cities. Exploiting a virus crisis to gut the Second Amendment is not beyond them.

Daniel John Sobieski is a former editorial writer for Investor’s Business Daily and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Human Events, Reason Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.