This week, three prominent Democrats won closely followed elections in some highly contested and very noteworthy parts of the country. Their wins will codify agendas into policies that are likely to further bifurcate the country. When it comes to their policies on personal ownership of firearms, Democrats are universally greatly misunderstood, but perhaps not in the way you think. This essay lays out the argument that Democrats are both pro-gun and pro-violence.
Zohran Mamdani, New York City Mayor-elect, Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey Governor-elect, and Abigail Spanberger, Virginia Governor-elect, all ran on what are widely viewed as “anti-gun” platforms.
Once he entered politics, Mamdani became vocal about the need to “ban all guns” as he stated in May of 2022 in order to reduce “gun violence.” He’s publicly called for tightening laws on gun ownership to address “mass shootings” adding in a July press conference, “though we have made strides toward making this city one that is free of that gun violence, we know that there is so much work to be done.”
Sherrill is a highly-endorsed favorite of the anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety, which threw half a million dollars into her campaign at the last moment in October, specifically highlighting her opponent’s pro-Second Amendment stance. Sherrill, too, states she is “fighting to protect our children from gun violence” and advocates banning popular semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15, a position she took in July of 2024.
Spanberger, a former Moms Demand Action volunteer, also benefited from a significant endorsement and campaign funding donation by Everytown – to the tune of $1 million. Her campaign platform celebrates her support of universal background checks, banning “assault weapons” and large-capacity magazines, and mandating gun storage.
So, are Mamdani, Sherrill and Spanberger anti-gun? Not in the least.
In 2016, Mamdani performed in a music video as a rapper under the pseudonym Young Cardamom, in which he brandished guns and glorified violence stating, “Imma hit you with the foot, gonna hit you so hard you’ll pray for death.” In June of this year, he stated that “violence is an artificial construct,” as part of his plan to reduce incarceration for “violent crime” which would include crimes involving firearms.
Sherrill, a military veteran and “certified expert shot” contends that only the military should have “assault weapons.”
Spanberger, a former law enforcement officer, stated she used what would have been considered high-capacity magazines during her job, “keeping the community safe and also ensuring that law enforcement had a bit of an advantage.”
All three candidates-elect will welcome the full detail of armed guards that will surround them and keep them safe for the duration of their time in office. Those guards will be armed with all sorts of weapons, many of which the public in general is not allowed to have.
Mamdani, Sherrill, and Spanberger are not anti-gun, they are anti-YOU having a gun. They believe in the state having the monopoly on violence, and their actions to disarm law-abiding gun owners indicate they fully understand the purpose of the Second Amendment and fear an armed population. Since they can’t state that unpopular opinion directly, they further gun restrictions under the color of “public safety.”
Moreover, unchecked criminal violence, like that in Chicago every weekend, and that for which Mamdami – the most radical of the three – is now tacitly supporting, is a tool wielded by Democrats to create instability and uncertainty in society. Once it reaches untenable levels, they will propose and implement a complete and universal restriction on private firearms ownership (here Mamdani said the quiet part out loud) and the state will remain as the only armed entity.
Democrats are as pro-gun as it gets, but they simply don’t believe that gun ownership is a universal right. It’s a tool to be wielded by the state to maintain control, and the coming months and years in New York City, New Jersey, and Virginia will prove this to be true.
