THE CLASSICAL LIBERAL

After yet another tragic shooting, proponents of gun control have once again rolled out the usual talking points and policy proposals. From banning so called “assault rifles” to “high capacity magazines”, progressives and their allies think that the solution to radicalized killers and murderous sociopaths is to further restrict firearms for law abiding citizens. Those who favor greater gun control tend to parse the argument in terms of what citizens really “need” and say that their intention is only to get rid of those arms which are of a military nature and not to “take away people’s guns” in general. They then argue that most Americans do in fact support measures such as expanded background checks and restricting purchases of firearms for those that are on terrorist watch lists. The polls show this to be true, but despite dramatic sit-ins and filibusters by Democrats, neither the Senate nor the House seems to actually be willing or able to pass any gun regulation legislation

On Thursday June 24 th , the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The choice to stay or leave, often dubbed “Brexit” in the popular media, was often painted as a battle between the forces of progress and openness vs the forces of xenophobia and fear.  In the reactions since the vote, we have seen the “remain” side bash those who voted to leave as retrograde bigots who at heart simply do not like immigrants and want to return Britain to some idealized past. While it is certainly true that the leave position enjoyed wide support among nationalist and even racist elements, to paint anyone who voted to leave the EU as closeted racists is a sign of just how full of venom and spite politics in the 21 st century has become. There is a legitimate case for the UK to leave the EU and indeed for a breakup or strong reform of the EU as it currently exists, and that case has nothing to do with racism or fear. The European Union started out in the post war era as a means t