Second Amendment Reforms and Concerns for 2019

I was unjustly convicted of a crime.

One of the conditions of the current probation period?

I am not allowed to use, possess, or own a firearm.

Even if I deserved the consequence, the crime was a non-violent misdemeanor. Why should I be preluded from owning a firearm to protect myself?

For violent felonies, I can understand a legal stricture to preclude ownership of a firearm. But otherwise, it's nonsensical. The punishment should fit the crime.

And even for violent felony, I would submit that proper redemptive procedures in place would be acceptable. If after a significant period of time a person has demonstrated a clear change of character, then I would see nothing wrong with reversing the preclusion on owning a firearm.

Of course, what politician would run on a platform of "Let criminals have their guns back"? No one.

UGH.

Another thing ...

President Trump is wrong to allow the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to ban the use and ownership of bumpstocks. He needs to rescind that policy right away. A large number of lawsuits are hitting this issue head-on, and that's what needs to take place. This is blatantly unconstitutional.

Last of all, it is a travesy that HR 38, aka national reciprocity, never got an up or down vote in the United States Senate. The bill passed by a pretty decent margin before the end of the legislative session. Democrats in the House of Representatives voted for it, too.

Will there be another chance this term? Not at all.

These issues need more attention, and it's time to ensure that the rights of all citizens are better respected!

Make Schools Safe Again: Repeal The Gun-Free School Zones Act

Another mass shooting, and another round of talking heads is clamoring for “common-sense” gun control.  The latest massacre, at Santa Fe High School in Texas, lead to the murder of 10 people by deranged teenager Dimitrious Pagourtzis, who stole the firearms from his father. After suffering intense humiliation from a would-be girlfriend, he went on a shooting spree in unhinged retaliation. This is beyond terrible. The rapid pace of gun massacres must be confronted, especially at public schools.

The media are not helping, of course. They over-cover these tragedies and relentlessly push a gun control agenda. We still don’t know what happened in Las Vegas (I can tell you, just hold on a sec). Following the Santa Fe shooting, CNN fudged the numbers, lumping in gang-shootings and accidental deaths with the mass shootings that have targeted schools. They also mocked Texas Lieutenant Governor Patrick, claiming that he blamed the number of exits and entrances to the high school. Honestly, diminishing the number of entrances in a school will better protect schools. Even in California, school boards are reducing the number of ways anyone can enter a school, and those proposals can eliminate dangerous malefactors. David Hogg and the rest of the Parkland crew with their left-wing mainstream media agents like the Los Angeles Times focus on the “mass-shooting” firearms. “Get rid of the guns!” How about we tax the bullets, while we’re waiting? Chris Rock suggested as much in one of his comedy routines.

These proposals are not enough and will never work. No matter how much common sense comes into the discussion, the regressive left refuses to recognize that guns do not kill anyone. An assailant has to aim the barrel and pull the trigger. It’s not the guns. Thankfully, Texas elected officials are not calling for gun control. They are not targeting the Second Amendment in any way—yet. Conservative experts are talking about the over-medication of our youth, the removal of God from our schools, the disregard for the rule of law from elected officials. The biggest problem, however, remains that schools are mandated gun-free zones per federal law. I have addressed this issue before, and it’s astounding that still so few want to talk about it, especially among Second Amendment proponents.

Time for a brief history lesson. The Gun-Free School Zones Act passed in 1990 as part of a larger crime control bill introduced by US Senators Joe Biden (who would have guessed?) and Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin). Sadly, it was signed into law by George Herbert Walker Bush. Relying on the similar “I hate this part, but I have to sign the whole bill” rhetoric employed by Trump over the Omnibus bill, Bush disliked the gun-free zone aspect.  It’s unthinkable that three decades ago, both sides of the aisle ultimately worked against the natural rights of American citizens, but it happened.

Bush called the gun-free zone law an overreach, and the United States Supreme Court agreed later that same year. The Court struck down the law because it overly stretched the commerce clause. Four years after the bill was signed, Congress passed and Bill Clinton signed the Brady Law, with US Senator Dianne Feinstein strapping on a scary-looking assault rifle to bully and shame anyone who opposed comprehensive gun bans. Seven years later, with US Attorney General Janet Reno’s promptings, Congress revised the law to get around the Supreme Court’s primary objections. Twenty-one years later, and no comprehensive lawsuit has emerged to challenge this nonsense.

How many schools have been targeted for mass shootings? Too many. Why should anyone be surprised. The kids are sitting ducks. Yet we need more gun control laws, right? It’s already against the law for a minor to own a gun. It’s also against the law to bring a gun onto school grounds except for recognized peace officers; to carry a gun without a permit in Texas; and to saw off the barrel from a shotgun. In California, criminal enhancements exist to ensure greater punishment (although not necessarily deterrence) for gun crimes, but we’ve seen our own eruption in gun violence on school campuses, nonetheless. Oh, and it’s illegal to murder people with a firearm, too, but that didn’t stop Demetrius or Nikolas Cruz or the other mass murderers who raised hell on public school campuses.  Both sides of the political divide have fomented into pushing for gun control or allowing more good guys to keep and bear arms.

But no one is talking about ending this Gun Free Zone insanity … except President Trump, but even then, he was talking about it last year. At least The Hill brought attention to how arbitrary and nonsensical this provision has become. If someone brings a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, they face federal penalties, like 10 years in prison. Granted, one suspect faced these charges for firing a shot at the Charlottesville, Virginia rally last year, tiki torches notwithstanding. School wasn’t in session that weekend, so the statute has become more arbitrary than meaningful.

It gets worse if someone discharges the firearm near a school—even if it’s to take down an assailant and protect the public! Even in constitutional carry states like Arizona, citizens can obtain a concealed carry permit, which will allow them to carry a firearm on school property—but they cannot use the firearm. This is ridiculous. This stupidity must cease.

Ending this “Gun Free Zone” policy should be the focus of our Congress: not mental health, not different types of exits, not even national reciprocity for concealed carry. What’s the point of carrying a gun when the owner cannot use it?  Yes, let’s have constitutional carry. Yes, let’s remove the unconstitutional barriers to owning a firearm. But let’s fight to make schools safe again and repeal the Gun-Free School Zone Act for good!

Lesson from Parkland: Republicans Aren’t Doing Enough (Here’s What They Need to Do)

Another horrific gun massacre is dominating the headlines, this time out of Parkland, Florida. Seventeen people were murdered at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School campus by a raging juvenile delinquent. This is the second gun massacre in Florida in the last two years. And of course, the politicization of another gun massacre has ensued. The Democrats in the US Senate like Chris Murphy of “gun registry” Connecticut are demanding more gun control: “We must get guns off our streets! We must stop this disease of gun violence! The Republicans are in bondage to the NRA! We need to stop their control of our legislative process!”

There is neither need nor further value in exposing the falsehoods of these old, tired arguments from the gun-control trigger-happy Left. In fact, one of the happier outcomes from this disaster is that President Trump and Congressional Republicans by and large are not calling for gun control per se. They are talking about better screenings for mental illness, which has its place, but this country effective solutions must curb gun violence like this school massacre.

President Trump and Florida Governor Rick Scott are targeting the FBI for failing to follow leads about the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, , a menacing individual who was later expelled from the high school. Local law enforcement was called to his home a record 39 times. The FBI even received tips about him as recently as January of this year. A simple data search would have revealed multiple, justified reasons to worry. Governor Scott’s demand for FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign is not the right step, yet; but Attorney General Sessions has to drain the swamp-infested federal law enforcement community of partisan hacks. How about going after bad guys instead of our President?

It’s also worth noting that in spite of this tragedy, state legislatures are introducing more pro-gun bills introduced into select committees. Their determined resolve to respect the Second Amendment, a glowing testimony to the media’s diminished power and the enhanced courage of the voters and their representatives.

But still, what’s going on in Florida? What factors are precipitating these murders? Two massacres in two years is too much, one would think. I looked into the status on concealed carry in Florida. The state has a pretty straightforward process. One source indicates that Florida initiated in 1987 the first clearly-stated objective metrics for “shall issue”. A record number of Floridians have also obtained concealed-carry licenses.

I then reached out to pro-Second Amendment advocacy group “Florida Carry” on this matter. Executive Director Sean Caranna fired back quickly (pun intended): “Open carry and almost all permitless carry is a crime in Florida.  Even concealed licensees cannot enter schools or bars while armed.” What?! Did you see “schools and bars”--where the last two Florida gun massacres occurred. Permitless, aka constitutional carry, is expressly banned in Florida. I have never heard of such legislation.

Eric J. Friday, the general counsel for Florida Carry, released a damning open letter to the Florida State Legislature: “Laws punish wrongdoing; they do not stop wrongdoers. Yet Florida continues to prohibit licensed law-abiding citizens from possessing the tools to protect themselves and their children from mass murder.” This lawyer did not mince words: lawmakers do have blood on their hands, but not because they haven’t stopped the guns. Rather, because they have frustrated the Florida citizenry from full exercise of their God-given right to self-defense.

I would not go so far as to say that Florida’s elected officials have blood on their hands, but these gun massacres will only continue until they pass much-needed reforms:

1.       Concealed-carry (CC) permits should have no restrictions based on location. Imagine if a CC holder at the Pulse or on that high school campus had carried a firearm? Nikolas Cruz would have been neutralized on the spot.

2.       Some lawmakers want to incrementally increase the number of permitted CC holders, like teachers in their classrooms. Sure, but this option should be expanded to all law-abiding citizen.

3.       “Gun-free zones” by statute are a dangerous myth. It’s time to remove this naïve prohibition.

4.       How about going for constitutional carry? Maine and New Hampshire recently passed these reforms, and crime rates have plummeted. Florida should at least repeal the ban.

Congress has work to do, as well.

5.       H.R. 38, Congressman Hudson’s national reciprocity bill, passed on a bipartisan basis in the House last December. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell needs to stop sitting on this bill. Red State Democrats would either have to vote for this bill, or give their constituents another reason to throw them out. Liberal US Senator Angus King of Maine has even defended the Second Amendment on national television, citing the lower crime rates in his home state. Add to that tally the 51 Republicans, and McConnell has the voted for cloture. Why not allowed for an open amendment process on H.R. 38, just like on immigration? Now’s the time to move forward.

6.       How about legislation authorizing nationwide constitutional carry? Critics will submit that this is stepping into states’ constitutional authority, but the Second Amendment is a federal right recognized through the Fourteenth Amendment. How about sanctuary jurisdictions for Second Amendment rights?

At this point, all the talk about mental health, enhanced background checks, or further restrictions on semi-automatic weapons is a waste of time. Republicans need to stop paying lip-service to the Second Amendment. Our leaders need to let citizens exercise this sacred right to the fullest.

Congressman Richard Hudson: We Need Concealed Carry Reciprocity

                    

Congressman Richard Hudson has been fighting hard to protect the rights of all American citizens. His bill, H.R. 38, would ensure that all state jurisdictions would honor concealed-carry permits issued in one state.

If a gun owner obtained a permit in Massachusetts, other states and their law enforcement officials would have to recognize those permits. This legislation is essential because of what happened to a single mother from South Philadelphia.

She was mugged twice, and decided to do something about it: she purchased a firearm with a concealed-carry weapons permit. She drove to New Jersey, and a traffic cop pulled her over. She informed the officer that she had a firearm in her pistol.

Because New Jersey does not recognized CCWs from Pennsylvania, the mother was arrested and jailed for 50 days. This is America, not some third-world dictatorship. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie intervened and pardoned her, but the problem remains.

Any law-abiding citizen who has obtained a permit should be free to carry in any state. We need national reciprocity to enforce the full faith and credit clause in Articl IV,  Section 1 of the United States Constitution. There is no excuse for that woman or anyone else to end up in that mess.

H.R. 38 has passed the House of Representatives. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is sitting on this bill, refuses to bring it up for a floor vote. That needs to change.

My Tweet Featured on National Reciprocity Article

Yesterday, I learned that Shaneen Allen, a black single mother from Philadelphia, had high hopes that the Republican Congress would pass national reciprocity by next year (2018).

This mother became a featured story in the fight over the Second Amendment because New Jersey police pulled over in New Jersey for a traffic stop. When she told the police officer that she possessed a concealed carry permit and had a gun with her, she ended up under arrest and in jail for an unprecedented, excessive 48 days in jail!

Then-governor Chris Christie issued a pardon for her, but the legal problem remains. The Second Amendment is not a crime, but an affirmation of every person's God-given right to protect himself. One state's concealed carry permit should be honored in other states. No one should face arrest or loss of liberty for exercising one's rights.

Shaneen Allen with her kids

One article on Newsone.com featured this incredible account, and how Shaneen Allen has turned into the face of the National Reciprocity Movement. She also shared that she wants to be right next to the President when Trump signs the final bill into law.

The article even featured my tweet from my State of the Union Account!

Single mother pardoned by Chris Christie wants to be by Trump’s side when he signs gun reciprocity law https://t.co/GnX0SEMBPH

Shaneen Allen deserves justice. #NationalReciprocityNow! #2a@WillesLee @NRSC @potus @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/tqRNEYHG1D

— The State of the Union With Arthur Schaper (@SOTUSACS) December 28, 2017