Gunleaders Blog

Gun rights theater

by on Apr.15, 2011, under Uncategorized

US Representatives Stearns & Shuler have co-sponsored a bill that would require states to honor concealed carry permits from other states. NRA-ILA has expressed support for this and asked its members to do the same but quizzically there are members of the grassroots community who insist that they support your right to defend yourself, yet don’t want you to support the national reciprocity/recognition bill. Ironically, many of these people & groups also profess to “not get involved in federal issues”.

There are a myriad of excuses proffered but one has to ask do they really want to advance the right to keep and bear arms, or are they just trying to further line their pockets?

Let’s look at some of the excuses.

- we should change the state laws to “constitutional carry” or permit-less carry in all 50 states instead.  [How does it benefit so called pro-RKBA supporters if you believe this?]

That’s a pipe dream, and is completely unrealistic in the lifetime of anyone reading this, and probably several generations after. If anyone reading this who supports the right to keep and bear arms really thinks that Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Maryland & California are going to ever adopt shall issue, and or so called ‘constitutional carry’ they’re just not dealing with reality. Should they adopt shall issue / permit-less carry? Absolutely, but these governments are run by “one percenter” gun haters, not normal gun haters.  They have continued to trend in the opposite directly even while pro-RKBA advances are happening all across the country.  If the grassroots community is serious about turning around these states it begs the question what are the real motivations for not supporting the same self defense rights for citizens that so many of these groups lobbied to get for police officers?

These permit-less carry laws aren’t going to pass in all 50 states, look how long shall issue has taken to be the law of the land in the majority of the states, and then the super-majority. How many ‘pro-gun’ states have passed so called ‘constitutional carry’? Don’t forget that several states have “permit systems” in name only rendering the right to keep and bear arms a privilege of the wealthy and politically connected.

Unequivocally, permitless carry should be advanced legislatively everywhere possible. That is no excuse to not advocate for national reciprocity/recognition. While the permit system certainly has flaws, it has advanced the position of the RKBA.

- it gives the federal government too much power. [How does it benefit the so called pro-RKBA supporters if you believe this?]
That’s rich. These same people were jumping up and down like yapping pomeranians about states preempting local & city governments on firearms. Now the NRA-ILA has stepped forward and backed a bill that most gun owners and permit holders want to be the law of the land and now suddenly the idea of preemption is bad? What are they trying to do, go back to the Articles of Confederation?

Is the ’86 Firearms Owners Protection Act that these same people use to legally transport firearms across state lines also ‘too great an extension of federal power’? Or how about the Coburn Amendment which ended the ban on firearms in National Parks & Wildlife Refuges, was that also the federal government overstepping their bounds? We all know that gun control laws are a forced social policy with the aim of keeping guns out of the hands of certain demographics of people. Most of them are bad natured and against what the Founders of this country intended.

Guess what – The Constitution is set up to allow for a strong central government with limited and checked powers. The states by joining the Union agreed to the terms of the Constitution, including the right to keep and bear arms when they joined and Congress has the authority to compel them to obey. The courts have incorporated the 2nd Amendment as a restriction upon state governments now but that fight is ongoing, not over. In the aftermath of the civil war numerous bad people in power in the south made life a living hell for black people in the United States. Embittered that they could no longer enslave an entire race of people some of these bad people decided to take it out on them for generations after the Civil War. Much of this fight spawned the 14th Amendment and restricted states from abridging the privileges and immunities of citizens. Congress can and should step in to right the wrong gun laws in states that are stuck in the past like New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Maryland & California and a few more who are abridging the privileges and immunities of the citizens now, not to mention their right to keep and bear arms and to protect themselves.

- It is a trojan horse, will open ‘pandora’s box’ etc. [How does it benefit the so called pro-RKBA supporters if you believe this?]
These are masterful fear mongering because we all learned about Pandora’s box as children and the trojan horse story in school. These stories are etched on the human psyche and carry great weight of foreboding.

This is pure fear mongering.

Let’s take a look at a very close and directly analogous law passed a few years ago, maybe you’ve heard of it, the “law enforcement officer’s safety act”. Has it opened a Pandora’s Box for police officers or anyone else for that matter? Was it a trojan horse for gun control?
How about it?

Why would a grassroots, pro-RKBA supporter or group lobby AGAINST pro-gun legislation? Especially a grassroots group which advertises its support for the right to keep and bear arms, self defense and that “doesn’t get involved in federal issues” or only limited federal issues. Are they trying to apply some idealogical purity logic? Or, is it that if the national reciprocity bill were to pass that it would pose a financial threat to these so called right to keep and bear arms supporters? Maybe these altruistic gun rights supporters have a problem sharing the spotlight? Or maybe they just don’t want to win the fight for everyone to have access to the right to keep and bear arms. We can only speculate because so far the reasons for opposing national reciprocity/recognition are just excuses.

The grassroots community is rife with tales of some NRA affiliated state group working legislatively to compromise away good legislation, or tanking bills. A recent example from Oklahoma typifies this. And another example from NRA-ILA warning of the so called pitfalls of the Coburn Amendment which ended the ban on firearms in National Parks & Wildlife refuges. Now it appears that in some cases the shoe is on the other foot.

ALL gun owners have a stake in whether or not national reciprocity / recognition passes and these examples of persons or groups who purport to support the right to keep and bear arms but oppose national reciprocity / recognition is Gun Rights Theater, plain and simple.

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