By Dave Workman
A new Rasmussen survey shows overwhelming opposition to the “weaponization” of government to punish political enemies, and underscoring this threat is a quote from Susan Rice, national security advisor to former President Barack Obama, warning companies who “take a knee” to President Donald Trump can expect to be “held accountable” if Democrats return to power.
The Hill reported in February that Rice stated, “If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are going to, you know, play by the old rules, and, you know, say, ‘Oh, never mind. We’ll forgive you for all the people you fired, all the policies and principles you’ve violated, all, you know, the laws you’ve skirted.’ I think they’ve got another thing coming.”
Against this backdrop, Rasmussen is reporting that 82 percent of likely votes think “weaponization” is a serious threat to the Republic.
Rasmussen also revealed, “Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters believe it is important that past instances of government weaponization be properly addressed and victims compensated, including 42% who think it’s Very Important. Only 18% don’t consider it important to address prior incidents of weaponization, while 15% are not sure.”
Perhaps no better example of such weaponization was illustrated by the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) against firearms dealers and gun owners trading or selling personal firearms at gun shows.
Back in 2024, the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Larry Keane reported on how the Biden administration’s “zero-tolerance policy” was being used to put federal firearms license holders out of business. At the time, Keane—NSSF senior vice president and general counsel—wrote, “The campaign to shutter firearm retailers over minor clerical errors, called a “zero-tolerance” policy, is having devastating effects on small businesses and the ability for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights by freely approaching a firearm retailer for a purchase.
“ATF revoked 157 federal firearms licenses in 2023, following an inspection,” Keane reported at the time. “That’s up from 88 licenses revoked in 2022 and five in the last six months of 2021. Reports show that 165 FFLs were able to maintain their licenses following a revocation hearing in 2023. That was up from 83 in 2022 and just one in the last six months of 2021.
“Eighty FFLs voluntarily surrendered their licenses in 2023,” he noted, “rather than endure the costly and painstaking process of clearing a business’s name due to what are many times minor clerical errors. That was up from 69 in 2022 and 24 in the last six months of 2021.”
The Survey Says
According to Rasmussen, “54% approve of Trump’s effort to end weaponization, including 34% who Strongly Approve. Thirty-one percent (31%) disapprove of Trump’s anti-weaponization effort, including 19% who Strongly Disapprove. Sixteen percent (16%) are not sure.”
However, an alarming poll result shows 56 percent of Democrats approving of Rice’s threat to companies which “take a knee” to Trump. On the other hand, 60 percent of Republicans disapproved of her threat. Likewise, 47 percent of Independents disapproved of her remark, while 39 percent approved.
Overall, 78 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of Independents and only 33 percent of Democrats approved Trump’s effort to end such government weaponization.
In May 2024, while Joe Biden was still in office, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led a coalition of state attorneys general in a lawsuit against the ATF “for unlawfully attempting to abridge Americans’ constitutional right to privately buy and sell firearms.”
At the time, Paxton and his colleagues asserted the ATF’s regulatory restrictions “go beyond the authority granted to the agency by Congress. The new Final Rule is arbitrary and capricious and is a flagrant violation of the Second Amendment. Attorney General Paxton is seeking immediate injunctive relief to stop the ATF from enforcing its unlawful edict while the issue is considered fully by the courts.”
“In the past,” Paxton noted in a press release, “Congress deliberately recognized the legality of private sales of firearms by non-dealers, going so far as to narrow the statutory definition of “dealer” to prevent the ATF from unlawfully suppressing the private transfer of firearms. Nevertheless, on April 19, 2024, the ATF published a new regulation that would subject hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners to presumptions of criminal guilt for engaging in the constitutionally protected private sale of firearms.”
The proverbial bottom line is that it appears Democrats are most likely to favor weaponizing government agencies against their perceived enemies, including gun owners.
Workman is editor-in-chief at TheGunMag.com
