Opinion: Ask state lawmakers to support, protect Second Amendment rights
By MARK BALLARD
Guest columnist
Tuesday, March 18, 2014, 5 p.m. — On Feb. 20, 2014, House Bill 429 was introduced in the Kentucky House. This bill, in short, prevents any federal law from infringing on our Second Amendment rights. The federal law would be illegal and, therefore, would not be enforced or allowed to be enforced in the state of Kentucky.The bill, in part, says:“(c)The Supreme Court of the United States in the cases of District of Columbia et al. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), and McDonald et al. v. City of Chicago, Illinois et al., 561 U.S. 3025 (2010), affirmed the right of the people to keep and bear arms as specified in the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;(d)Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States specifies the powers of the Congress of the United States. Those powers do not include impairing the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States or any other amendment to the Constitution of the United States that guarantees rights to the people or to a state;
(e)Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States specifies the powers of the President of the United States. That section does not authorize the President of the United States to violate the Constitution of the United States or the amendments to the Constitution of the United States;”
With the events unfolding in several states as of late, it is good to see our state representatives not only being proactive, but to see them actually living up to the oath they took and defending the Constitution and Second Amendment rights.
Several states have either illegally banned weapons or illegally tried to force registrations with ultimatums attached to them. Thousands of gun owners have resisted the illegal actions of the lawmakers in their states. Now, the waiting begins for who will blink first. Will the lawmakers rescind their illegal laws and end the tensions? Will law enforcement be asked to violate their oaths and try to illegally confiscate weapons? And, if asked to enforce an illegal law, will they side on the rights of the people or do their part to violate the Constitution as well?
Nothing good will come of these laws being passed. At best, criminals will have guns and law-abiding citizens will not. At worst, as those of law enforcement that care more about the “rush” they get from kicking in doors than they do about people’s rights begin their assault on innocent gun owners, the bullets will fly. They will fly both ways, citizens protecting from illegal invasion, yet the civilian, although right in his actions, will be the “bad guy.”
I am thankful for the city, county, and state law enforcement officers that we have in Kentucky that have common sense and that prioritize the rights of law-abiding citizens in their minds.
Our country as a whole needs to stop making laws based on emotion and –although it seems it is in short supply right now — and inject some common sense into their decisions. Please contact all state House and Senate leaders and ask them to support HB429.
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