One part of that agenda has always been loosening the laws on firearms. Here in Ohio we saw the Republican controlled state push through a new law allowing people to carry concealed weapons into bars. Now the Republican lead U.S. House wants to extend that to other states in the “National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act”, which passed the House last week in a 272-154 vote and now heads to the Senate.
The “National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act” allows people who can legally carry a concealed weapon in one state to carry it in another state, so long as that state’s law allows it. On top of that the Congress decided to invoke the commerce clause of the Constitution in justifying this bill, which seems like a further stretch than invoking it for the health insurance mandate.
Of course bills like this come with big backing, like the NRA, and when one Republican decided that this law was pushing the bounds of crazy the NRA decided to go to war with him:
The National Rifle Association is accusing U.S Rep. Justin Amash of “lying” in seeking the group’s support for his 2010 congressional bid.
Amash is firing back, describing the NRA’s attack as an example of what happens when “a powerful special interest group is challenged by a Representative trying to defend the constitutional rights of the American people.”
Amash is actually trying to defend the sovereignty of our states? Remember state sovereignty? It’s that thing that Rick Perry was going to have Texas secede from the United States over.
To further defend his position, Amash posted this on his Facebook page:
“will hurt gun rights by conceding broad new authority to the federal government to override state sovereignty.”
And that is exactly the point. As IntoxiNation commenter and blogger Mikeb302000 posted on his own blog (a must read blog!):
The fact is, allowing Arizona concealed carry permit holders, who have the least qualifications in the country, to do their thing in New York is ludicrous and in some cases dangerous. That’s the reason for opposing this bill.
And that sums up the entire issue of sovereignty beautifully and why it is a very key factor in this legislation.
As I’ve said before, I am a strong believer in the 2nd amendment. I believe in it in the sense that our founding fathers had, which means common sense. The view that the NRA has of the 2nd amendment is far more radical than that. By their own logic an American should be allowed to own a nuclear weapon if they want. Nuclear weapons are a form of “arms” and how dare the government try to prevent someone from executing this very right!
Common sense and gun laws should be intertwined seamlessly. Sadly they never are and that’s why we need more common sense politicians out there like Amash. He’s a Republican and he is finally standing up to the bullying arm of the National Riffle Association. Good for him!