Following the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling in the “NY State Rifle Association, Inc v Bruen” case, in which the majority on the court affirmed the right to conceal carry outside the home, but, inversely, claimed that this right could be attenuated by states to restrict gun-carrying in places the politicians deem “sensitive” (the words “arbitrary” and “unconstitutional” come to mind), many leftists around the U.S. have scrambled to create new rights-attacking legislation.
In almost equal measure, these gun-grabbers have used wiggle room in the “Bruen” language to target the right to self-defense, or they have passed legislation that takes other vectors of attack, such as going after bullet magazines.
But, even as these predators have made their moves to use both taxes and threats of action by armed, tax-funded government police to smother the right to self-defense, many courageous Americans have put their time, money, and even their jobs, on the line to fight back.
On Thursday evening, a team of gun-rights legal advocates at the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) joined two standing suits against the government of Delaware, challenging the now-infamous Senate Bill 6, passed last summer. The Daily Caller’s Bronson Winslow explains:
“The lawsuit challenges Delaware’s high-capacity magazine ban under Senate Bill 6 (SB 6), and asks the court to pass a declaratory judgement that renders the law, and all related regulations, unconstitutional, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit joins two other lawsuits filed in June 2022 by the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and two private citizens.”
The term “high-capacity” is, of course, subjective, and arbitrarily defined by the godheads of Delaware’s government as:
“…any ammunition feeding device capable of accepting, or that can readily be converted to accept, more than 17 rounds of ammunition.”
And their definition also states:
“’Large-capacity magazine’ includes an ammunition feeding device with a removable floor plate or end plate, if the device can readily be extended to accept more than 17 rounds of ammunition.”
Of course, the Delaware “officials” not only don’t have any constitutional power to limit the capacity to seventeen, they have no constitutional or moral authority to create any statutory limits at all.
Adds Winslow:
“In June, SB 6 passed the state Senate with a 13-7 vote, according to The Center Square. The law prohibits the manufacture, sale, receipt, transfer and possession of a (sic) large-capacity magazines, according to the legislation.”
And Winslow notes that Delaware Governor John Carney (D) issued a statement when he signed the bill on June 30 last year… a statement that used taxpayer money to propagandize in favor of SB 6, and also used taxpayer money to add insult to injury by including an obvious typo.
“We have an obligation to do everything we can to prevent tragedies like we’ve seen around the county (sic) from happening here in Delaware. We are not waiting to do what’s right – to take steps that will make our state safer…”
Perhaps he meant, “around the country…”
And one has to wonder how he thinks he can “do right” by threatening peacefully-minded people, threatening them with gun restrictions that criminally-minded people don’t care to abide.
An additional aspect of wonder is why Governor Carney did not acknowledge that the vast majority of gun-related deaths are suicides. Few Americans seem to know this, and, evidently, John Carney did not feel impelled to mention it. Likewise, he did not mention that, even as gun ownership skyrocketed from the start of 1992 through 2011, the violent crime rate per 100,000 people steadily declined, then, through 2012 the violent crime rate moved up by 1.9 percent, followed for more years of decline.
Even if one were to isolate “gun-related” homicides, that rate declined along the same trajectories, until 2019-2020 saw an overall gun-related homicide increase, which, as Gun Owners of America spelled out in 2022, fit a similar pattern for violent crime worldwide. In fact, while the number spiked, GOA observes:
“In fact, while the absolute number of firearm homicides set a record in 2020, Bureau of Justice Statistics data show the rate of gun homicides was higher in 1993, at about 7 per 100,000. The rate was 6.1 per 100,000 in 2020, according to the CDC.”
And, as GOA points out, the firearm homicide increases were driven by rises in mostly leftist-run municipalities.
Of course, Delaware’s chief leftist, Carney, is mum on all that, just like Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is silent on those facts, as he heralds a new age of gun-rights attacks in his state following the passage of HB 5471.
Employing similarly arbitrary government Newspeak about “assault rifles” and “large-capacity” magazines, the statute will outlaw the manufacture, possession, sale, and purchase of “assault-style” firearms, while also limiting magazine capacity to 15 rounds for handguns and 10 rounds for long guns.
But, like the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Second Amendment Foundation, and private citizens are doing in Delaware, peacefully minded people in Illinois are pushing back.
In fact, the Daily Caller’s Winslow writes in a separate report that sheriffs from four Illinois counties have declared their intention to NOT enforce HB 5471. Winslow notes the information about the magazine restrictions, and the ambiguous wording about “assault-stye” firearms, and he observes:
“Sheriffs from Kankakee County, Boone County, Winnebago County and McHenry County posted messages on social media saying they will not comply with the portion of the law that requires residents to register their guns with the state, according to NBC Chicago.”
He adds:
“Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey shared a message on Facebook Wednesday, saying that one of his duties is to protect the Constitution, including the right to ‘keep and bear arms for defense of life, liberty and property,’ he said in the post.”
Which is significant, reflecting the reality that all people who join any level of government in the U.S. are required to swear an oath to abide by the U.S. Constitution and by the constitutions of their respective states. And it inspires one to wonder whether they will apply their position to include the panoply of already-standing infringements on the right to keep and bear arms, be they extant on the state or federal level, going back to the 1934 Firearms Act.
Which brings us to one of the outstanding moves in any state, the recent introduction in Indiana of a HB 1117.
About this Indiana House of Representatives bill, Mike Maharrey, of the Tenth Amendment Center writes that it:
“…would end state enforcement of a wide range of federal gun control measures; past, present and future. The passage of this bill would take an important step toward nullifying federal acts in practice and effect that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms within the state.”
And he notes:
“Rep. Lorissa Sweet (R) introduced House Bill 1117 (HB1117) on Jan. 10. Titled the ‘Second Amendment Preservation Act,’ (SAPA) the legislation would ban any entity or person, including any public officer or employee of the state and its political subdivisions, from enforcing any past, present or future federal 'acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, court orders, rules, regulations, statutes, or ordinances' that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.”
Nullification of unconstitutional federal actions. Excellent, and founded in the heart of the American confederation.
Of course, Rep. Sweet should not have to introduce legislation like this. The Second Amendment is clear and emphatic, and, even if the Constitution were amended to allow thuggish government goons to go after our means of self-protection, they would be morally unjustified to do so.
Keeping these principles – and those who do and do not believe in and respect them – in mind, is essential, at all times.
Today, it’s incumbent on us to spread the word about the good and the bad, for our sake, and the sake of future generations.
Related: Feds to Deny Gun Rights to People of 'Subnormal Intelligence,' Other Benefit Recipients | MRCTV
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