The looming battle over the 2nd Amendment

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The U.S. Constitution declares that federal law is “the supreme law of the land.” As a result, when a federal law conflicts with a state or local law, the federal law will supersede the other law or laws. This is commonly known as “preemption.” Under the Supremacy Clause, found in Article VI, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, both the Constitution and federal law supersede state laws. This week it was reported that President Biden is about to sign Executive orders banning ghost guns, closing certain loopholes related to gun shows, making stabilizing braces subject to the NFA, and instituting red flag laws nationwide. If this order is like the bump stock ban in 2018, it will ban the sale of stabilizing braces and Americans will have 90 days to destroy them or turn them in to the BATF. It is estimated that there are between 3 and 4 million AR pistols in the U.S. with an untold number of other weapons equipped with these braces. Red states are scrambling to fight any and all proposed restrictions and more than a dozen states have pending legislation to nullify new proposed Federal gun laws or Executive Orders issued by President Biden. As of two weeks ago, according the Associated Press, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wyoming, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Iowa and Utah are considering gun nullification laws. Governor Abbott of Texas has called for his state to become a “Second Amendment sanctuary.” In Iowa, Governor Reynolds signed a bill on April 2, 2021 that will make handgun carry permits and background checks on unlicensed sales optional. The Missouri state House just passed a measure that would allow police departments with officers who enforce federal gun laws to be sued and face a $50,000 fine. In Utah, the state House passed a bill with a similar provision forbidding the enforcement of federal gun laws. In Montana, the state House passed a bill last week to bar state officials from enforcing federal bans on certain firearms, ammunition or magazines. On April 6, Arizona Governor Ducey signed legislation which makes it illegal for state and local governments and employees to enforce, administer or cooperate with any federal law, act, treaty, rule or regulation that is “inconsistent with any law of this state regarding the regulation of firearms. The proposal would allow officers to be sued for enforcing federal gun restrictions that the state considers violations of the Second Amendment. Those officers could potentially face criminal charges. On April 8, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed a bill that allows people in the state to carry handguns concealed or openly without a permit. The law will apply to most adults in Tennessee. On April 9, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed a bill removing the sales tax on gun and ammunition purchases across his state. The new law will go into effect on July 1. ********** In 1842, in Prigg v. Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot be compelled to use state law enforcement resources to enforce federal law. What exactly does this mean? It means that if the Federal government passes gun laws that are more stringent than State law, and the States refuse to enforce Federal law, that any and all enforcement must be done by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms, which lacks the resources to properly enforce those gun laws nationwide. Think of all the states that have passed laws legalizing medical or recreational marijuana. Marijuana is still illegal at the Federal level, but it has become too burdensome for the Federal government to enforce the law. The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law signed on June 18, 1878, by President Rutherford B. Hayes which limits the powers of the federal government in the use of federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States. This means the U.S. government cannot use the military to enforce gun laws. It is abundantly clear that Mr. Biden did not win the last election; Trump lost. 81 million voters did not want Biden for President; the vast majority just didn’t want Trump. Moderate Republicans voted for Biden because they could not bear the thought of another 4 years of Trump. I don’t think most moderates care if President Biden bans ghost guns, imposes nationwide red flag laws, closes the gun show loophole or mandates stricter background checks or longer waiting periods. I think they will care a great deal if he takes away the millions of stabilizing braces already in American hands. This will be seen as a sign to every gun owner that if the government can take away parts of our guns, they can take away all of our guns. The proverbial “Give them an inch and they think they’re a ruler.” It’s seems clear to me that this is just the beginning of a much broader, more restrictive agenda. I think he’s testing the waters to see what he can get away with before jumping in with his real agenda. I think this strategy will guarantee that the House and Senate will flip in the 2022; the Republicans will take control and Mr. Biden will lose his tenuous majority in both houses. There are about 72 million gun owners in the United States. It is estimated that there are 393 million guns in the hands of American civilians. There are more than 220 million Americans older than 18. In the last election, some 155 million votes were cast, and the Democrats tilted Arizona, Georgia and Michigan from red to blue. I believe that those states will tilt back to red if President Biden goes too far and takes away a single thing from gun owners. I think all of the gun owners and many of these moderate Republicans who abandoned Trump will become single issue voters, and he will retake the White House in 2024. For these voters in 2020, it was “anybody but Trump”. The next election will be “save our guns” and they won’t care that they have to elect Trump to do that. Four months ago, nobody in America could conceive that thousands of angry Americans would storm the nation’s Capital. I can only imagine what 72 million angry gun owners are capable of. I think the Democrats are sowing the seeds of their own destruction and playing into the hands of Donald J. Trump. ********** Here’s an interesting factoid: In 2012, the Department of Homeland Security published a solicitation for bids on new rifles with select fire capability. (AKA, machine guns). The solicitation was titled “Personal Defense Weapons.” Isn’t it odd that the semi-automatic AR15s we own are called assault weapons, but the government’s fully automatic rifles are called “personal defense weapons?” For this and other posts, see www.theintellectionist.com