INTERVIEW: Mark Smith, Author of #Duped – How the Anti-gun Lobby Exploits the Parkland School Shooting-and How Gun Owners Can Fight Back

Since Parkland, the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex along with their willing stenographers in the media have launched an all-out assault on Second Amendment rights. Armed with a few telegenic teenage sock puppets who are all too willing to grab for their chance at fame, we’ve seen new gun control bills debated and sometimes passed, including bump fire stock bans, raising the age to buy long guns and “red flag” laws.

Alarmed by what he was seeing, attorney and author Mark Smith decided to shed a little light on what’s at play here and has penned a new book, #Duped – How the Anti-gun Lobby Exploits the Parkland School Shooting-and How Gun Owners Can Fight Back. We asked Mr. Smith a few questions about his new book.

Q: Why did you write #Duped?

A: The war on guns has moved from a cold war to a hot war. The mainstream media’s relentless celebration of the handful of Parkland high school kids who voiced support for gun control helped me realize this. The global elites have declared all-out class warfare on gun owners and the Second Amendment. As a gun owner, I felt my rights and the rights of every law-abiding American were under attack. This motivated me to act.

#Duped pulls back the curtain to reveal the real agenda of the gun grabbers and gives readers the intellectual ammunition to fight back against the lies and myths about guns perpetrated by the anti-gun lobby and by the mainstream media.

That guns save lives is not a rhetorical ploy, but a fact. If guns did not protect and save lives, then the world’s one percenters and political elites would not surround themselves with men with guns.

It is important to lay blame at the feet of the real villains. If we focus on distractions and not the real cause of the problem, then we miss another opportunity to adopt solutions that will help prevent another tragic shooting and save lives. Blaming an inanimate object for human criminality is not only silly, but self-defeating; it distracts us from the real causes of violence, i.e., criminals, crazies, cartels, and terrorists.

It is wrong to accuse and punish law-abiding Americans who had nothing to do with the Parkland shooting (or any other school shooting), while deliberately deflecting attention away from those people whose failures allowed Nicolas Cruz’s killing spree to occur.

Guns are not the problem. They are a big part of the solution.

Q: What will readers take away from #DUPED?

A: First, the #NeverAgain “movement” is neither a civil rights nor a grassroots effort. It is not a civil rights movement because it seeks to restrict rather than expand individual freedoms in favor of even greater government power. And it is not a grassroots movement because it is largely funded and supported by urban anti-gun politicians, global elites, Hollywood celebrities and the anti-gun lobby—most of whom are hypocrites in that they surround themselves with armed guards.

Second, the Second Amendment is under attack like never before. This is not a time for gun owners and defenders of the Second Amendment to sit back and think that someone else will step in and defend this sacred right. #Duped is, in certain respects, a call to action for those of us who revere the Constitution and traditional American freedoms.

Third, we have the right to bear arms for good and valid reasons, and those reasons are demonstrated in real life every day and throughout history. We Americans should never give up that right to self-defense no matter how many talking heads on MSNBC and CNN say otherwise.

Fourth, you are your own first responder. You cannot rely on anyone else – including the government – to protect you and your family. If you decide not to own a gun, that’s fine, but you better have an alternate plan if a violent predator sets his sights on you or your family. Personally, I trust people (hard working Americans) over government bureaucrats. The gun grabbers trust government over the people. But all evidence points to government failing all too often in saving lives.

And never forget that once you lose your right to effective self-defense, you will lose it forever. You won’t get it back.   

Q: What are some of the common misconceptions most people have about guns?

A: As set forth in my book #Duped, there are many misconceptions about guns advanced by the gun grabbers. Below are three of the biggest.

Misconception No. 1: That guns are only associated with malicious uses and destructive purposes, when just the opposite is true.

The best evidence that guns do good (protect lives) is provided by many of the most ardent supporters of the #NeverAgain “movement.” How do they protect themselves and their loved ones? They surround themselves with guns in the form of armed guards. And they are not in the minority.

What does the “smart money” do when it comes to personal protection? Guns. What about law enforcement? Guns. The U.S. Secret Service? Guns. The Department of Homeland Security? Guns. Every state and local police department all share one thing in common—they all use guns to protect themselves and those whom they are sworn to protect. If guns are bad, what’s the point of the guns? Obviously, when people have the power or the financial wherewithal to select any means of protection they desire, they pick guns. So, why shouldn’t you too?

Misconception No. 2: The anti-gun lobby tries hard to convince people that the availability of guns causes violence. This is obviously untrue. Hundreds of millions of rifles, shotguns and handguns sit idly in gun safes and closets every night and do no harm. Guns have no more volition than knives, cars, vans, box cutters, or even scissors, all of which have been used to kill people. Guns are but a tool, they are not the problem; the violent criminal, terrorist, or homicidal maniac is the problem.

Misconception No. 3: The gun grabbers rely heavily on the phrase “gun violence,” but no such thing exists, it is a propaganda term. “Gun violence” is a propaganda term designed by the anti-gun zealots to link guns with violence in people’s minds. “Gun violence” implies that the gun did it and not the killer. “Gun violence” does not exist anymore than “knife violence,” “van violence,” “car violence,” or “brick violence.” In Israel, they don’t refer to the burning kites used as weapons as “kite violence” but label it what it is—terrorism by terrorists. Blaming guns for the bad acts of bad people is entirely illogical, but the gun grabbers continue to push that narrative because it has value as a propaganda device.   

Q: How can gun owners fight back against the anti-gun lobby?

A: Gun owners are under attack like never before. Gun owners have a duty to spread the good word about guns.

Gun owners (and defenders of the Second Amendment) must become unapologetic advocates for guns and the Second Amendment. They should never apologize for guns or hesitate to defend guns and gun rights. Learning gun safety (which is surely a very good thing), writing a check to gun rights groups, waving the American flag and voting every November is not enough.

Like your website TheTruthAboutGuns.com, gun owners should spread the truth about guns with their friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. They should stress the benefits of guns to those folks with whom they talk. When talking with those who oppose or who are unsure about the value of guns in society, just ask them the following:

“When evil comes knocking, what is your plan to defend yourself and your kids? Call 911? Perhaps, but as they say, when seconds count, police are minutes away. And why are you calling 911? Obviously, because you want someone with guns to show up and protect you. So, why not have a gun present to begin with? Why wait for strangers dressed in blue to show up with guns when you can have your own gun to protect yourself immediately?

Mark W. Smith is a constitutional attorney and The New York Times bestselling author of The Official Handbook of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy: The Arguments You Need to Defeat the Loony Left, and the author of Disrobed: The New Battle Plan to Break the Left’s Stranglehold on the Courts, which lays out an aggressive approach to thwart the liberal assault on America. Smith, a practicing lawyer, is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court bar, and currently serves as the Vice President of the New York City chapter of the Federalist Society, the nation’s most prominent conservative legal organization. He is also a Presidential Scholar and Senior Fellow in Law and Public Policy at The King’s College in New York City, as well as a former professor of law. Smith earned his J.D. from the New York University School of Law, and his B.A. in Economics from the University of South Carolina. He regularly appears in the national media as a political and legal commentator.