Remember way back when the
leading candidate for the GOTP (read Grand Old/Tea Party, they are inseparable)
nomination for President was Gov. (Rev.) Rick Perry of Texas. Among many other
things, the preacher (1) is also a "carrier." In Tex-lingo (actually
in southern/southwestern lingo generally) "carrier" means that the
person is carrying, or might be carrying, a concealed weapon (usually loaded).
The governor has stated (boasted) that he "carries" a .380 Ruger
pistol (2) decorated with the etching of a coyote to commemorate the little
member of that species that the governor shot last year while out on a morning
jog. The gun is described on its website as "one of the best concealed
carry firearms for anyone needing a small-frame semi-automatic pistol that can
easily fit in a pocket, purse, briefcase, etc." The governor's has a laser
sight (you know, the one you see in the movies that puts a dot of red light on
its targets) and is loaded with hollow-point bullets (designed to do maximum
damage to human flesh, if it encounters some).
The governor is a strong
supporter of "Second Amendment rights," the version that distorts the
literal meaning of the Amendment to mean the unlimited individual "right
to bear arms" without any controls whatsoever. (This could in theory lead
to the private ownership of tanks (3), but no one ever seems to want to engage
the NRA on that one.) That's an
interesting argument when one examines the plain language of the Amendment (3):
"A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be
infringed." Along with Justice Scalia, you might be surprised to know, I happen
to be a big fan of strict constructionism when interpreting the Constitution.
(Of course Scalia honors that commitment only in the breach, but that's another
story.) The Amendment is somewhat ambiguous to be sure. But in reading its
plain language, it is quite obvious that it can mean only one of two things.
One, it provides a right to the people, in the protection of the free state, to
form well-regulated militias. Or two, it provides to individuals the right to
bear arms, in a well-regulated system for the protection of the free state.
At any rate, and Scalia's
court goes along with this, Governor Perry is a big "2nd Amendment guy,"
meaning in his terms you can "carry" just about any firearm you want to, any
way you want to. It is interesting and most informative to examine what this
actually means. One way to do so is to look at the current list of "gun
rights legal actions" being supported by an organization called the
"Second Amendment Foundation."
According to Wikipedia,
"The Second Amendment Foundation or SAF is an educational- and
legal-defense organization which describes its mission as "promoting a better
understanding about our constitutional heritage to privately own and possess
firearms. To that end, SAF carries on many educational- and legal-action programs
designed to better inform the public about the gun-control debate.' " To
understand what the SAF is actually about, one can take a look at the legal
actions that SAF is currently supporting (according to a list of them sent by
mail in September, 2011).
- It
wants there to be broad license to carry assault rifles (California).
- It
wants very strict limits on what can be limited in states and localities
that have gun permit laws (e.g., New York City, New Jersey, San Diego).
- It
wants there to be no limitation on sales of guns in any one state to
out-of-state residents (Virginia).
- It
wants there to be no limitations on the ownership of guns by legal alien
residents (Massachusetts).
- It
wants no limits on gun ownership for persons convicted of non-domestic violence
(Georgia).
- It
wants no limits of any kind on gun shows being held at county fairgrounds
(Alameda Count, CA).
- It
wants gun ranges open to the public to be allowed just about anywhere (Illinois).
- In
gun permit states it wants there to be no "good cause" standard
to be applied to the review of applicants for such permits (New York).
- In
gun permit states, it wants there to be no limitations on the types of
handguns an applicant may be permitted to carry (California).
- And
so on, and so forth. Just "no limits," folks, know what I mean?
If you think things are bad
now (about 35,000 handgun-related deaths per year on the US), just think how
bad they might be under a President who "carries." (Funnily enough,
if he were to become President, now unlikely in the upcoming election for
obvious reasons, the Secret Service probably would not permit him to carry.
Much too unsafe for the President of the United States to be walking around
with a loaded handgun, don't you think?)
There is
very little "outcome of gun ownership and use" research going on in
the US now, especially federally-funded research. The latter has been virtually
shut down by the NRA, through its Republican and Democratic allies in Congress.
As to where the NRA derives its support, they aren't telling. Polls show that
about half of the NRA membership thinks that there should be some regulation of
gun ownership, especially handguns. However, neither of the other major NRA
funders, the gun industry and the gun dealers, agrees. One must wonder, then,
if the NRA's primary interest is not the right to bear arms, but the right to
sell them, of any type, to anyone and everyone.
Postscript: After I wrote an earlier version of this
Commentary, the cover headline on the Long Island, NY newspaper, Newsday,
for Sept. 23, 2011, read: "Cop Warned 5 Months Before the Killings: Take His
Guns Away." The article referred to a
man who had walked into a pharmacy, murdered a pharmacist and three customers
who just happened to be there, and swept the shelves of prescription drugs he
was addicted to. He did have a gun
permit. The police officer referenced
had warned the Nassau County's Pistol Bureau that the man's permit should be
revoked, for cause. As of Sept. 29,
2011, it was unclear whether the Bureau had made an investigation or if so,
what its conclusion(s) were. However,
one can only guess as to what the position of the Second Amendment Foundation
would have been had they indeed done an investigation and indeed suspended the
permit "for cause."
References:
1.
"Ask Governor Perry," Published on OEN, Nov. 22, 2011, click here
2. http://www.impactguns.com/ruger-lcp-380-ultra-compact-pistol-3701-736676037018.aspx
3. Dr. J.'s BuzzFlash Commentary No. 145: NRA: Tanks for the Memories.
Published on BuzzFlash on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:29pm; http://blog.buzzflash.com/jonas/195
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