Delaware State Rep. Mark Spiegelman sends the following gun rights fight update from the Blue Hen State:
Thank you to everyone who came out in support of the Crime Control Not Gun Control rally at Legislative Hall. I was very honored to have a chance to speak in defense of our right to defend ourselves. In 1775, the call went out; “One if by Land, Two if by Sea” which was quickly followed by “The British are Coming!”. Why were they coming? To seize the armaments of the MA militia held at Concord. The British knew that without the ability to take up arms against the policies of George III and his Parliament, then there was nothing these farmers with pitchforks could do against the might of the British Empire. In other words, no guns = no limits on tyranny. Ladies and gentleman, THAT is why the 2nd Amendment exists. Without the tools granted by the 2nd Amendment, the other rights in our constitution are not guaranteed. By the way, after those first few battles, the British realized that the American people were not going to simply stand by and allow the King to do as he pleased. Sound familiar? . . .
Along the lines of Crime Control Not Gun Control, HB 36 and 37 passed the House Judiciary Committee by a strong bipartisan vote. HB 36 increases the mandatory minimum penalties for possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. HB 37 creates new categories of felonies for use (rather than the current law which does not differentiate between possession and use) of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Both of these bills were supported by the Attorney General’s office, the Delaware police, and the NRA. This proves that we can, if we really truly want to, come together to create bills that will target the bad guys for the actions of bad guys, rather than punishing law-abiding citizens for the actions of criminals and mad-men.
HB 35 (background checks for private sales) passed the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday and will be up for a vote either today or next week. In fact, Mr. Mark Kelly came over to Delaware to voice his support of the bill. It is going to be a close vote in the Senate. If you have not done so, please make the phone calls and emails.
Ladies and Gentleman, I am so proud of my home state. We may not win the discussion on HB 35 in the Senate, but everyone agrees that the numbers in the House were MUCH closer than anyone on the anti-gun side anticipated and does not bode well for the future of the rest of this offensive package. You did that! You stood up and said no. You made the calls and the emails and the letters. You demanded your government listen to you. Darn fine work! If we can keep this momentum, we can keep our government from destroying our right to defend ourselves from… our government.
— Thank you.
Jeff Spiegelman
Representative 11th District