George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 335

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Bush felt a considerable displeasure as he read the reports that had been coming in for weeks.

“It’s time to come up with some kind of measure, whether it’s regulating firearms or not.”

In fact, he had been planning to do something similar to regulation someday, but it was unavoidable that he would be annoyed that it had become an obstacle when he was so busy.

‘A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.’

This is the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. This law is based on the reasoning that ‘the state cannot perfectly protect individual safety, property, and life’ and ‘each state has the right to maintain a militia, and the Second Amendment is the basic framework of the militia.’

Therefore, when comparing pros and cons, opposition was naturally higher. No matter how powerful a president Bush was, he couldn’t pass a bill like a total ban because the American citizens wouldn’t let go, no matter what the gun association said.

Opposition to gun control came equally from Federalists and Anti-Federalists, but support mostly came from Federalists. It was the result of repeatedly proving that the state could protect the people no matter what happened.

It went without saying that among the citizens, not just in the political arena, the Federalists were gaining power. Under the slogan of ‘United we stand, divided we fall!’ put forward by the Federalists, the Anti-Federalists were slowly dying out.

Even so, they couldn’t give up guns. Guns were the pride of Americans until the very end. So, both the Senate and the House were only putting forward regulations on automatic rifles, and even that varied from state to state.

Laws that were not unified from state to state were a characteristic of the United States, but this lack of unification made gun control more difficult.

In addition, the gun market was booming due to the war in China, fueling citizens’ anxiety that a war might break out in the United States. They were selling like hotcakes, and it was fortunate that they were coming in as taxes.

In any case, it could be said that the United States was somewhat responsible for the mass shootings that occurred. If mass shootings were not to occur, the entire American population would have to step up, collect and eliminate firearms, and never make them again, but since that was not possible, mass shootings were happening every day.

Moreover, mass shootings by Chinese people were also becoming a social issue, but there were more mass shootings by Americans than terrorism by Chinese people.

The point is that in the current United States, unless even Jesus himself were to be resurrected and lead Christians to collect all the guns one by one, whatever the government does is meaningless.

If they created regulations, they would bring something to circumvent those regulations, and even if they created gun-free zones, there would be illegal guns.

What’s so special about the black market? It’s a black market if you sell things that are illegal. This also meant that one household could turn into one black market. With just one milling machine in the garage, you could make a gun.

Moreover, milling machines are milling machines, but what about 3D printers that will develop in the near future? Of course, 3D printers that use metal are expensive, and gun blueprints don’t usually circulate legally, but there was nothing that one person couldn’t do if they were determined to do it.

For this reason, the current United States could not make guns illegal no matter what.

Even if Bush, the president, were to sacrifice all his power and somehow pass a law while ignoring Congress and the states, all the guns that the people currently own would become stolen goods at that moment.

Of course, since they were stolen goods, most of them would disappear or be forgotten after a hundred years, but that was it. Besides, who knows if the illegality of guns will be reversed in those hundred years.

In addition, the Assault Weapons Ban enacted during the Clinton era was not very effective either. Looking at the results of the Assault Weapons Ban, all he could do was sigh.

The Assault Weapons Ban prohibited ‘folding or telescoping stocks, separate pistol grips, whether a bayonet could be attached, threaded barrels for attaching flash suppressors, and grenade launchers,’ but for gun companies, regulations were just something to avoid.

The shape changed grotesquely, such as the pistol grip being integrated with the stock or holes being drilled in it like a ruler. The Assault Weapons Ban didn’t change anything but the appearance of the gun. Illegal weapons were still rampant, and mass shootings were still happening.

‘Then we have to think differently.’

It was just a waste of breath for the president to say a hundred times that guns should be regulated, and even if regulations were actually implemented, it would be an administrative leak and a waste of tax money.

So what should I do?

The answer was very simple.

‘Give excessive power to the pro-gun people.’

If the United States was holding on to guns because of the will of the people, then all they had to do was change the will of the people. Of course, the answer was simple, but knowing and doing were different, and it was like a truly difficult and complex maze.

‘In normal times, I could have seen some long-term gains, but this is not normal. When public opinion is boiling, I have to pour firewood and gasoline.’

For something to change in the United States regarding guns, there had to be more pro-gun people than anti-gun people, at least.

Thinking that, Bush, who was quietly turning over the report, caught sight of the gloomy window outside. The gloom was only temporary, and rough raindrops began to hit the windows of the White House.

“Was it supposed to rain today?”

***

While it was raining in Washington D.C., the heart of the United States, it was also raining nationwide in China. It was such a terrible downpour that it even stopped the constant smoke from the war since the outbreak.

The Communist Party secured Qingdao, an impregnable fortress in Jinan, and gained momentum on the front lines. So, the other warlords were not going to be pushed back stupidly as they were pushed back.

The Lanzhou-Chengdu warlords and the Guangzhou-Nanjing warlords signed a non-aggression treaty, and the front lines, which seemed to be completely pushed back soon, were fixed again.

However, this non-aggression had a chronic problem: the Lanzhou-Chengdu warlords were in an overwhelmingly advantageous position because of the ‘Three Gorges Dam.’ The moment this dam collapsed, Guangzhou-Nanjing would be flooded.

Flooded was not an exaggeration or a metaphor. In particular, more than half of the Nanjing warlord’s territory would be submerged. Everything on the ground would be swept away, and the war would no longer be a problem. The war would continue, but it would turn into a war between nature and people, not a war between people.

However, the problem was that the fixed front lines had been pushed back since the 9th Division of Korea was dispatched. It wasn’t that the Korean army was particularly stronger than the rebels.

Thanks to the characteristics of the Korean army, which is obsessed with firepower, and the characteristics of the carefully selected dispatched troops, the firepower of a single division was excessively strong, but that was all.

In terms of firepower alone, the rebels were not far behind. In fact, thanks to pouring excessive firepower to the point where the saying ‘too much is as bad as too little’ came to mind, all that remained on the Jinan front was ruins and barren highlands where vegetation had been burned.

In this situation, the advantage of the Korean army was surprise attacks as a separate unit. So, thanks to the deployment of the Korean army, they were benefiting in Jinan, but the place where the Korean army was deployed was where the territory controlled by the Communist Party and the Lanzhou warlords were in contact.

They had opened a second front that the Lanzhou warlords had been trying to avoid so much. Since more than 70% of the country’s land was mountainous from the beginning, the Korean army’s training doctrine was designed on the premise that it would be operated in mountainous terrain.

They were not completely invincible against the rebels, but at least they could be said to have been deployed in the right place.

“It’s really a terrible downpour. Damn it. I’ve never seen anything like this in Korea.”

The search battalion headquarters company commander and communications platoon leader, who had set out as the advance party, grumbled as they warmed themselves by the stove in the command post, which was temporarily made by requisitioning a half-collapsed abandoned building.

In fact, the command post was practically half-submerged, and all the equipment was packed into the only intact second floor.

The drainage ditches dug with entrenching tools were rendered useless by the climate of the continent, which was difficult for even the locals to feel. When it came to weather, Korea’s latitude was similar to the Mediterranean climate, but its harshness was so extreme that it was hard to find a comparison, but it was nothing compared to China.

“It’s good that they gave us new equipment as a dispatch, but we weren’t properly trained in the tents. When else would we have used anything other than the A-frame [a simple, two-pole tent]? It takes twice as long to fold and unfold. It would have been okay if we had been properly trained.”

In fact, if it had been an A-frame, it would have been more likely to collapse because it could not block this heavy rain. It was only because it was a proper new tent that it was holding up. Of course, even that tent was designed for one person to use, but in reality, two people were using it.

“That’s right. Looking at the speed of the advance, we can’t make anything else, so it’s really frustrating. Are our kids going to get trench foot [a painful condition of the feet caused by prolonged exposure to wet and unsanitary conditions]?”

“We have to let them dry their feet at the command post, even if it’s in shifts. There’s no answer unless we withdraw now.”

The temporarily occupied command post was high because it was an abandoned rain radar base, but there was not much space where people could actually enter. They were taking turns resting, but if the rebels were to attack in this state, they would be finished without even being able to do anything.

“By the way, I don’t know if the rebels will destroy the Three Gorges Dam if the commies [communists] push the front lines to the south. If that happens, what we’re doing now is a considerable waste of effort.”

There are few soldiers who don’t care about the lives of their subordinates. In the first place, it would be upsetting even if only people they knew died, but there are few people who can sell their lives, even if they can sell them for trivial matters. That was the same for them. They couldn’t value it more than their own lives, but at least they knew that life was precious.

“Still, we gave it to them, so can’t we take it back?”

“We have to renegotiate. Like Baekdu Mountain [a mountain on the border between North Korea and China] during the North Korean era.”

And silence flowed. Except for the sound of soldiers snoring from the upper floor, only the sound of rain filled the command room.

What broke the silence was the sound of a 5.8mm bullet, which was sharp even in the rain.