Gun Rights vs. State's Rights

If you're a supporter of the 2nd Amendment and have been paying attention to current events, then you've most likely heard that the House is considering a bill which would force all states to recognize the Concealed Weapons or Concealed Carry permits granted by other states no matter what. This is called "reciprocity," and a majority of the states that have CCW laws already recognize most of the permits granted by other states; not all of them do, but most do. For example, my South Carolina permit is recognized and honored by 11 of the 36 states that have CCW laws in effect; this bill would enact a law that would make it recognized in all 50 states.

And of course, the Brady Bunch and all of the other liberal gun-grabbers out there are already crying and moaning about it, and showing just how truly ignorant of this topic they really are. In the "Stupidest Thing I've Heard This Week" category comes a statement from Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, an opponent of the bill. From FOXNEWS.COM:

"Testifying before Congress on Tuesday, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told the story of Marqus Hill, a man whose Pennsylvania gun permit was revoked after he was charged with attempted murder.

'Despite his record, he then used his Florida permit to carry a loaded gun in Philadelphia,' Ramsey said. "'e eventually shot a teenager thirteen times in the chest killing him on the street.'

What Commissioner Ramsey fails to mention, either because he didn't know - which he should have - or because he chose not to mention it (for obvious reasons), was that the moment Mr. Hill's Pennsylvania permit was revoked, his Florida permit was automatically revoked as well. What Mr. Hill had was a Florida non-resident permit, and according to Florida law in order for a non-resident permit to be granted and remain in effect, your home state permit must be valid at the time of application and must remain valid. Once your home state permit is no longer valid for whatever reason, so is your Florida non-resident permit.

So the TRUTH is that Mr. Hill was carrying a weapon illegally. Gee, I wonder why the Commissioner didn't mention that?

The biggest objection from the gun-grabbers also shows just how ignorant they really are. That objection is that the certification requirements in some states are "more lax" than in other. In actuality, nothing could be further from the truth. The TRUTH is that every state that has a Concealed Carry law have the same basic requirements, those requirements being:

1. That the applicant not have a criminal record other than a traffic offense
2. That the applicant be fingerprinted and undergo a background check
3. That the applicant not have been judged mentally incompetant or ever been admitted to a psychiatric hospital for any reason
4. That the applicant undergo a minimum of 8 hours of classroom instruction on gun safety and gun laws of their state and pass a written exam
5. That the applicant demonstrate their ability to safely handle and fire a weapon

Hardly what I'd call "lax." And in ALL cases, when a state offers a non-resident permit, these five topics are REQUIRED in order for the permit to be issued.

So the short story is that the bill seems to be a good idea, given that all of the states that have CCW laws have these minimum requirements and despite what Commissioner Ramsey and the morons at the Brady Bunch say.

Until you look at it from another direction, that being the direction of State's Rights.

The passage of this bill would absolutely crush the autonomy of the individual states and their right to self-government as guaranteed - not "granted," mind you, but "GUARANTEED" - by the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. If the Federal government can force the individual states to recognize a FEDERAL law that covers laws originated at STATE level, then they can force the states to do just about anything they want.

And that is NOT a good thing.

My fear is that the NObama administration, headed by a man who's opinion on gun control and the 2nd Amendment is clearly documented by his past statements and voting record in Congress, will use this bill as a "foot in the door" method towards enacting more gun control laws, or towards enacting more laws to further erode the rights of the individual states to govern themselves. But I will say that I'm more concerned about the onslaught of gun control laws that will follow, should this bill become law. After all, if we give the Federal government the right to tell the states what to do in THIS case, then what's to stop them from telling the states what to do about anything?

And if you think that can't - or won't - happen, then I suggest you need a wake-up call.

No, as much as I absolutely LOVE the idea of my South Carolina permit being good across the nation, I am absolutely against this bill. The right of the individual states to govern themselves is guaranteed in the Constitution, and I'm not willing to sacrifice ANY part of the Constitution for ANY reason at ANY time, no matter what.

And I would hope everyone else would feel the same way.

IHC