Opinion: The intersection of public health and tyranny

On June 25, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared “gun violence” to be a public health crisis. In her weekly column, Nancy Churchill addresses the impacts of gun violence in our society.

Nancy Churchill claims Democratic candidates Bob Ferguson and Manka Dhingra believe in using public nuisance laws to destroy both the gun industry and private ownership of firearms

Nancy Churchill
Dangerous Rhetoric

On June 25, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared “gun violence” to be a public health crisis. The impacts of gun violence on our society cited in his report are absolutely true and horrible, but why are we blaming the guns? Don’t we actually have a crime problem, a law enforcement problem, a mental health problem or lifestyle problems? If a drunk driver kills someone, do we ban cars or alcohol? No, we take action to take the driver off the road and help him or her get treatment.

So, what does the declaration of a “public health crisis on gun violence” do? After all, the surgeon general has no real power or authority. He doesn’t make laws, doesn’t adjudicate laws, and doesn’t even do scientific research. The surgeon general is a policy advisor with no obvious power.

His real role lies laying the groundwork to move the ball down the field. This declaration of a “public health crisis” will allow state attorneys general to file “public nuisance” lawsuits against gun manufacturers and gun owners. According to an article on public nuisance lawsuits from Bloomberg Law, “The plaintiffs … misapply public nuisance law and inappropriately try to expand it far beyond its original meaning and intent.”

Public health lawfare

This type of lawfare has been used successfully against the tobacco industry during the Clinton era, against opioid manufactures in 2022, and is being currently used against “Big Oil” in multiple states using the supposed “public health crisis” caused by “climate change.” If the progressive left can’t get a law passed to ban something they don’t like, they resort to “public nuisance” lawfare.

Now, they’re looking to disarm the average American citizen and remove the most common and effective self-defense tool, in the name of public safety and “saving lives.” How does removing the ability to defend oneself from bodily harm save a life? We can see from Chicago and New York City that removing guns creates more gun violence and more death.

Perhaps the most infamous use of “public health” to strip citizens of their civil rights happened during the COVID-19 crisis. “Two weeks to slow the spread” turned into a year of lockdowns, mask mandates and school closures. In some areas in western Washington, proof of vaccination was required to enter restaurants and other businesses.

Unvaccinated people were fired, masks were mandated, valid science was censored and vilified, and doctors and pharmacists who prescribed alternative treatments were threatened, fired, censored and blacklisted. This was all justified as “for the public good.”

The public health system, starting with the CDC and the NIH, was used to propagandize and terrify the public in order justify the nearly complete cessation of medical privacy, patient choice, scientific freedom, public education and even the freedom to travel, to practice religion or exercise in public spaces. Public health officials demanded that citizens give up constitutionally protected rights in the name of “protecting public health.” They demanded censorship on social platforms, and got it. In the name of “public health,” they lit the constitution on fire and tossed it in the trash and felt proudly justified about it.

When you hear the phrase “public health crisis,” you know that more government tyranny is coming, using lawfare from progressive attorneys general, executive actions by Democratic governors, rulings by liberal judges, “standard of care” guidance from health insurance companies, and policy from state and local boards of health. The progressive power play in regards to the “gun violence public health crisis” is to try to redefine firearms as “consumer products,” like drugs, tobacco, automobiles — and create new ways to regulate and control them.

Democratic candidates want to disarm you

What does Washington state Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Bob Ferguson believe about regulating gun ownership? He believes that, “Washington’s regulation of assault weapons fits comfortably within the long historical tradition of regulating dangerous and unusual weapons.”

What does state Senator Manka Dhingra, candidate for attorney general, think of gun ownership and “public nuisance laws?” Well, Dhingra sponsored HB 5078 which would “allow individuals to sue gun manufacturers… for harm caused by a firearm and authorizes the Attorney General to declare a product a public nuisance.”

Weird. Democratic candidates Bob Ferguson and Manka Dhingra believe in using public nuisance laws to destroy both the gun industry and private ownership of firearms.

Americans have a constitutionally protected right to possess firearms. That’s what the Democrats hate. That’s why the U.S. surgeon general is declaring a “gun violence public health emergency.” It’s the next move in the long battle to disarm American citizens and complete the destruction of America.

With the Supreme Court punting the decision on Murthy v. Missouri (free speech censorship by government, you can expect the government and non-governmental organizations to work even harder to censor those fighting against public health tyranny). Fifteen minutes into the future, only the opinions approved by the surgeon general will be acceptable on the topics of gun violence, vaccine mandates, and environmental scams like global warming.

Winning is the only cure

The prescription for curing the scourge of public health tyranny is supporting good candidates and working to win elections. It’s time to get busy and get involved. Research your candidates and work to elect good people who believe in the Constitution. Donate money and volunteer your time to a candidate. Make sure you and your family and friends are registered to vote. Observe elections. Serve on boards and attend public meetings. Talk to your elected officials.

There is nowhere to run to escape these phony public health emergencies; we must resist. In the words of Samuel Adams, writing as Candidus, “The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.”

And as Paul wrote in Galatians 6:9, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Nancy Churchill is the state committeewoman for the Ferry County Republican Party. She may be reached at DangerousRhetoric@pm.me. The opinions expressed in Dangerous Rhetoric are her own.