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McCook Gazette
Editorial

Gun-rights advocates have reason for concern

Thursday, February 5, 2009

A call-in show on a local radio station has been humming this week over the prospect of new federal gun regulations, in the form of HR 45, introduced by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois.

There were enough calls that Sen. Ben Nelson -- who by the way is highly rated by the National Rifle Association -- felt compelled to call the station, KICX, 96.1 mhz, to clarify his position on the issue. That was in spite of the fact the bill was introduced in the House of Representatives, while Nelson serves in the Senate.

Nelson assured listeners he would keep an eye on the bill in case it began to "get traction."

That's not likely. Although the sponsor, Bobby Rush, has the distinction of being the only person to have defeated Barack Obama in a race for public office, he is unlikely to gain wide enough support for this piece of legislation to pass.

But gun-rights advocates do have reason to be concerned. While the president says he respects the Second Amendment, he opposed concealed-carry laws and gun show sales, and favored bans on semi-automatic weapons in his past legislative careers.

The Second Amendment reads "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."

So far, the courts have generally held that the wording applies to individual ownership of guns, but not all jurists agree. The "well-regulated Militia" wording, they say, indicates the founders were referring to state-sanctioned military units, not individual gun owners.

It is President Obama's power to appoint judges who share the latter view which should give gun-rights advocates reason for concern.

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  • Barack Obama not only opposed concealed carry and gun shows and supported a ban on military-looking firearms during his past career, he reiterated those positions during his presidential campaign and has included support for a gun show bill as well as support for a permanent ban on "assault weapons" on his official policy web site (while still claiming support for the Second Amendment.)

    In the case DC v. Heller, the Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that the Second Amendment refers to an individual right and rejected the so-called "collective right" theory espoused by some. The Court then split over the issue of how much latitude lawmakers should have to limit (infringe on) that right. While Barack Obama's picks for the federal bench and the Supreme Court are going to be critically important - and with Ruth Bader Ginsburg's health issues this threat is imminent - Obama's choice of Eric Holder for Attorney General has already set the tone. It was a slap in the face of gunowners and represents a serious threat to the Second Amendment. Holder, who served as Janet Reno's Deputy AG, has long been an outspoken proponent of tighter gun control and signed on to a brief in the Heller case supporting the rejected "collective right" theory of the Second Amendment. As Attorney General, Holder will have tremendous power over interpretation and implementation of current gun laws as well as broad leeway in enforcement and prosecution of gunowners and firearms dealers for technical errors and mistakes. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives initiated prosecutions against dealers for such flagrant violations as allowing customers to write "Y" and "N" rather than making them write "Yes" and "No" on transaction forms. With that type of abuse from a "friendly" administration, gunowners and firearms dealers are very concerned about what is going to come from an unabashedly unfriendly administration.

    Expect tightened restrictions on importation of firearms, parts, and ammunition, increased persecution of firearms dealers, more frequent delays and outages from the "Instant" background check system, attempts to create a de facto registration program from instant check information, and vocal advocacy for stricter gun laws from the Justice Department.

    Holder was confirmed as Attorney General and Senator Nelson voted in favor of that confirmation.

    Buckle your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy four years.

    Jeff Knox

    www.FirearmsCoaliton.org

    -- Posted by JeffKnox on Thu, Feb 5, 2009, at 10:51 PM

  • Mr. Knox is absloutely correct. President Obama is a perfect example of the cult of Personality, and the only way to know what he might do is to examine his political record, read what he has written and said, and look at his life history and the people in his life and Administration. Bill Ayers, Rev.Wright and the Chicago Machine made him, and now he has created Clinton Redux. "Change we can believe in"? I beleive our democracy and our individual rights, including the Second Amendment, are at great risk. As Mr. Knox points out, BATFE has been on a rampage for years, even under a 'friendly' administration. I've witnessed 3 independent gun dealers close in my area, not to mention a huge national chain store forced to stop firearms sales in my state. We are in serious trouble, and we'd better get out the vote in the mid-terms, or go the way of England and Australia.

    -- Posted by Glock23 on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 2:46 AM

  • Of course there's always going to be an assult on our constitutional rights. Problem that the "normal" public doesn't understand is that to get an amendment to the constitution into law takes a 2/3 vote by Congress ALONG with a 2/3 vote by each State. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! They may stiffen the rules on purchasing (of which I'd have no problem with) however they won't be able to pass anything with regards to coming in to our private homes and confescating our guns. Just don't be stupid about gun ownership.

    -- Posted by FNLYHOME on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 2:01 PM

  • Are the words "well regulated" in the second ammendment?

    -- Posted by president obama on Sun, Feb 15, 2009, at 1:43 PM

  • I have found this by chance and I would like to ask Glock23 what he means by "or go the way of England and Australia".

    I have never understood why a civilian would require semi automatic weapons,I do understand that in your country people like to hunt and sporting rifles are a necessary part of that,does control over who may purchase weapons create such a furore ,when anything which would make anyone have time to sit back and decide that it is what is required be such a bad thing.

    Gun control in this country is not regarded as the big scary monster it seems in your country,it is regarded as part of the deal in being a responsible weapons owner.

    By the way I do not personally know a single person who owns a gun or even desires to own a gun,and we have supposedly a more violent society than yours.

    Jim.

    -- Posted by jim mcglynn on Tue, Feb 17, 2009, at 1:15 AM
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