“The NRA proposal, which will now go before the Senate, would allow people to carry hidden guns in every state with no permit, no training, and no background checks whatsoever,” Everytown for Gun Safety Senior Counsel Adam Skaggs (above) declares. “It would undermine local public safety decisions and put police officers at severe risk. As a matter of public policy, it’s a terrible idea.” How’s that for mischaracterization? Par for the course at slate.com. Mr. Skaggs’ main argument: national concealed carry reciprocity is unconstitutional . . .
As more than a dozen state attorneys general have explained, the NRA’s federally mandated concealed carry plan conflicts with basic “constitutional principles of federalism.”
The Constitution—and common sense—recognizes that different states have different cultures, traditions, and needs when it comes to guns. That’s why states make their own rules when it comes to public safety, policing, and concealed weapons. The NRA plan would turn that tradition on its head.
And so on — ignoring the fact that the same progressives who’ve got their knickers in a twist about national concealed carry reciprocity fully support the Supreme Court decision forcing all 50 states to recognize gay marriage.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m fine with gay marriage. But I can’t find the bit of the Constitution that protects the “right” to marry. Not to put to fine a point on it, only a progressive could find the right to marry in the 14th Amendment but not the unfettered right to keep and bear arms in the Second.
Not to mention ignoring the Supreme Court’s McDonald decision “incorporating” the Second Amendment (ruling that the protection trumps local and state law). Anyway, here comes the 10th Amendment!
The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reserves powers to the states that are not delegated to the federal government, and the states’ “police power”—the basic responsibility to promote the welfare, safety, and health of the public—is sacrosanct.
Throughout American history, states have had the primary responsibility for public safety, and regulating who carries guns in public, and under which conditions, is among the most important ways they do so. The race-to-the-bottom concealed carry plan would eviscerate states’ police power.
God forbid we should reduce the power of the police! In fact, the same progressives who can’t stomach national concealed carry reciprocity are the same folks who want the feds to come in and sort out local police departments accused of lethal racism. Anyway . . .
The right to keep and bear arms isn’t a 10th Amendment issue any more than the right to free speech is a 10th Amendment issue. Which is such an obvious fact that you have to wonder who’s stupid/craven enough to A) write that it is, B) publish an article saying that it is, and C) believe an article saying that it is.
Willful ignorance is a terrible thing, especially when it leaves good people defenceless against bad people. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.