SECOND AMENDMENT HANDGUN CARRY RECIPROCITY AMONG THE SEVERAL STATES—A RIGHT DENIED!

PLACE BLAME WHERE BLAME IS DUE—ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY LEADERSHIP!

“A right delayed is a right denied.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Consider the following: Every qualified individual in the United States who passes a background check and handgun safety test shall obtain a permit to carry a handgun for self-protection in every State of the Union and in all United States territories.

Is this an empirically impossible situation? Of course not. The United State Supreme Court, held, in the seminal Second Amendment Heller case (District of Columbia vs. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S. Ct. 2783, 171 L. Ed. 2d 637 (2008)) that the right of the people to keep and bear arms is an individual right unconnected to service in a militia and that the right to keep and bear arms entails the right to use firearms for self-defense. The U.S. Supreme Court held, two years later, in the seminal Second Amendment McDonald case (McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U. S. 742, 780, 130 S. Ct. 3020, 177 L. Ed. 2d 894 (2010)) that the rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court in Heller apply, as well, to the States.

A reasonable person would rightly conclude from these U.S. Supreme Court rulings that the States and the federal Government should now acknowledge the inherent right of qualified American citizens to have access to handguns for self-defense and should recognize, too, that this right does not stop at the doorway of one’s residence. Enactment of national handgun carry legislation would operate as a testament to the import and purport of the Second Amendment as the framers of our Constitution understood and intended it. Such though is not the case.

There are forces in this Country and outside it—highly secretive, extraordinarily powerful, exorbitantly wealthy, and extremely ruthless forces—that control the Congressional leadership. These noxious elements operate in the shadows, pulling the strings of those they control in Congress. These secretive, powerful, ruthless forces, lurking in the shadows, uniformly detest the very notion of natural, fundamental rights and liberties that exist beyond their control–rights and liberties that exist inherently in the people. They particularly detest the sacred right of the people to keep and bear arms as codified in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Through their puppets in Congress, the forces that seek to crush the American people into submission have placed a multitude of stumbling blocks, obstacles, and snares in the path of those American citizens who would dare exercise their fundamental, natural right to keep and bear arms.

Thus, Representative, Paul Ryan (R-W), current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Senator Mitch McConnel (R-K), U.S. Senate Majority Leader, demonstrate disdain for the Second Amendment and perfunctorily disregard those who desire to exercise their fundamental, natural right of self-defense through access to the best means to do so—a firearm. These two individuals wield incredible power as they, alone, ultimately determine whether or not action shall proceed on a legislative bill. Representative Ryan has the audacity and perversity to assert that “the timing isn’t right” to proceed on national handgun carry reciprocity and, through that blunt assertion, dismisses out-of-hand the singular importance of one’s natural right to use firearms in one’s own defense–a right codified in the Second Amendment, a right preexistent in the people, as the U.S. Supreme Court majority, in Heller, has made abundantly and categorically clear, especially to those who may have harbored any doubt.

What, then, does Representative Ryan’s assertion,“the timing isn’t right” to proceed on national handgun carry reciprocity, even mean? If the timing isn’t right now, then when? Indeed, is there ever a time that would be right for Representative Ryan to accept the imperative of the Second Amendment? Was there ever a time that the right embodied in and codified in the Second Amendment was not meant to have effect?

There exists a war on the Second Amendment. The war is grounded on a difference in philosophy between those who support the strengthening of the Second Amendment and those who seek de facto repeal of it. Those who seek to strengthen the Second Amendment–to place it on the footing of a sacred, inviolable right as the framers intended–believe in the sanctity and inviolability of the individual. On the other hand, those who seek to defeat the Second Amendment, to defile it, believe not in the sanctity and inviolability of the individual, but, rather in the importance of the collective, of  “the hive.” These spoilers of the Second Amendment hold to a utilitarian ethical system that subordinates the individual to the purported needs of an amorphous group. As long as the hive remains intact, the harm caused to the individual is deemed acceptable. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership, the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, and the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, march in lockstep to the same drumbeat as do the majority of House and Senate Democrats. Neither the Democratic Party nor the leadership of the Republican Party can abide by and countenance a strong Second Amendment. For these particular members of Congress an armed citizenry is an anathema for the right exercised is considered inconsistent with and a threat to the national order. For those who happen to doubt the truth of this assertion, they ought to take a close look at what Congress has wrought: decades of restrictive firearms legislation.

Since Republicans control both Houses of Congress, it ultimately devolves to Representative Paul Ryan and Senator Mitch McConnell to loosen the stranglehold that existing restrictive federal legislation has on the free exercise of our citizenry’s natural, fundamental right of self-defense that only a firearm can truly provide. But they will have nothing of it.

Thus, it is that the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate Majority Leader, alone, determine what bills proceed to a full public hearing, Congressional debate, and Floor vote, and what bills do not. Obviously, Representative Ryan and Senator McConnell do not wish for open and definitive Congressional consideration of bills that serve to strengthen the Second Amendment.

But, what possible rational basis would the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader have for refusing to allow open and fervent and critical debate on a matter that overrides every other concern: preserving and strengthening the basic, fundamental rights and liberties of the American people. Clearly, they have none, and in their inaction do the American people bear witness to the Republican Party leadership’s rancor and disdain toward those citizens who seek to exercise their sacred right under the Second Amendment. 

This, we know. The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) and the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) stand, together, in the forefront, as the two pieces of federal legislation that have done more to diminish the right embodied in and codified in the Second Amendment than any other State or Federal legislation to date. Federal antigun legislation proceeds as amendments to and refinements to these two major antigun Acts; and those amendments do nothing but further restrict the citizen’s exercise of his or her unalienable right of self-defense. Enactment of national handgun carry reciprocity would be the first major piece of firearms legislation since the NFA and GCA, to restore balance. Instead of chipping away at the citizen’s right to keep and bear arms, national handgun carry reciprocity legislation would operate to repair the damage caused by the NFA and GCA.

From 2011 to date, we have counted 13 bills on national handgun carry reciprocity.

Senator John Cornyn has been the most persistent, but none of the bills that he sponsored or bills that other Republicans have sponsored has gained traction. Of note, one Senate Democrat, Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), sponsored a bill on national handgun carry reciprocity and several other Democrats have added their names as cosponsors on a few of the bills sponsored by Republican Senators and Representatives. But, it is really Republicans who have the most interest in this and the most ability to accomplish this. As the Republicans control both Houses of Congress, it is now that action should be taken—must be taken—to strengthen the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Arbalest Quarrel has provided, below, in tabular format, details on national handgun carry bills introduced in the House and the Senate, in recent years.

What the table at once illustrates—through repeated efforts to get a bill passed—is frustration borne by those Congressmen who obviously do wish to strengthen the right of the people to keep and bear arms. But insurmountable obstacles, created by Republican Party leadership, and, perhaps, through a failure of spirit of rank and file Congressmen to stand up to the Party leadership, prevents effective follow-through. Here, then, are the dismal results of failed attempts, to date, to strengthen the Second Amendment:

TABLE OF NATIONAL HANDGUN CARRY RECIPROCITY BILLS OFFERED BY BOTH THE HOUSE AND SENATE

Apart from numerous national handgun carry reciprocity bills introduced since 2011, Representative Chris Collins (R-NY) has introduced a bill, titled the Second Amendment Guarantee Act (SAGA) (115 H.R. 3576), introduced on July 28, 2017. The bill, if enacted into law, would operate in tandem with national handgun carry reciprocity legislation, to strengthen the Second Amendment.

WHAT IS “SAGA”?

SAGA is a bill that, according to its sponsor, Representative Collins, as set forth on his website: “Protects Second Amendment rights; limits state authority to regulate rifles and shotguns; voids much of SAFE Act.” And, according to the Press Release: “Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) has proposed new measures for protecting Second Amendment rights by introducing legislation to limit states authority when it comes to regulating rifles and shotguns, commonly used by sportsmen and sportswomen. The Second Amendment Guarantee Act (SAGA) would prevent states from implementing any regulations on these weapons that are more restrictive than what is required by federal law. Upon passage of this bill, most of the language included in New York State’s Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act of 2013 signed into law by Governor Cuomo would be void.”  Would Representative Collins’ bill fare any better than any one of the numerous national handgun carry reciprocity bills? Well, given Representative Paul Ryan’s reluctance to allow a public hearing, debate, and floor vote on previous pro-Second Amendment bills, we expect that Representative Collins’ bill would suffer the same fate.

Representative Collins’ bill could be better drafted and the Arbalest Quarrel is in the process of doing just that. When completed, the Arbalest Quarrel will submit our proposed amendments to Representative Collins. But, given the present negative climate in Washington, D.C., such effort expended on our part, as with effort expended by Representative Collins and other Legislators, to date, may well be futile. Still, it is necessary to persevere. Given this sad state of affairs, it is, as is usually the case, up to the American people to set things right, and compel Congress to act.

Congress has lost its way. Congress does not serve the interests of the American people. But, if it is not the American people whom Congress serves, then whom is it that Congress does serve? Congress must be reminded that its duty is to serve the American people. Those Legislators who fail in their duty to the American people must be voted out of Office.

Let your U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative know how you feel about your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Phone (202) 225-3121. It is a fast and easy process; and a critical one. Only through your active participation, can we help secure our Second Amendment. 

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Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.