Vox Media writer Dylan Matthews drew social media ire on Thursday when he called for President Obama to “unilaterally” deny Americans their constitutionally protected rights.
“This is not Dems’ sales pitch but I’m totally down with letting the prez unilaterally ban people (hopefully everyone!) from buying guns,” Mr. Matthews tweeted.
The writer’s position, although not a “Dems’ sales pitch,” did echo the general sentiment expressed Thursday by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. The Democrat called the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution a “firewall” that was “killing us” and preventing stringent gun laws from being imposed.
“The problem we have — and really, the firewall we have right now, is due process. It’s all due process. So we can all say, ‘Yeah, we want the same thing,’ but how do we get there?” the senator told MSNBC panelists.
The anti-gun backlash comes in the wake of Sunday’s terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 and wounded 53 at a gay nightclub. Shooter Omar Mateen was killed by a SWAT team that stormed the building.
Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner called Mr. Matthews’ comment “kind of a creepy totalitarian view,” Mediaite reported.
Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept agreed, tweeting that such a list likely would “overwhelmingly” consist of Muslims and those viewed as threats by the government, which Mr. Matthews conceded was a “completely fair concern.”
