- A Perfect Gun Law

NJ hasn’t issued a concealed carry permit to anyone but a policeman in over 25 years. There are no laws on the books to prevent permits from being issued, but none have been issued anyway. If we are a nation of laws rather than a nation of men, then you would think that they would at the very least spell that out for us. If our legislature, in its infinite wisdom, thinks we’re all too irresponsible to defend ourselves, they should at least come right out and say so by writing a law to that effect.

But that’s not the way it’s played out. And the reason it hasn’t is that politicians have found that the unwashed masses don’t usually respond well when they come right out and say how stupid they think they are. Politicians may not think much of the peasants, but they do know that they don’t want to anger them. So instead, like a parent who tells their child ‘we’ll see’ when they really mean no, they simply dodge the question and try to avoid an argument. But politicians aren’t our parent’s, they’re our employees… and if we’re going to be prevented from exercising our rights, then at the very least we deserve to be told why.

In New York City, they aren’t so egalitarian about it. Lots of people can get permits to carry a firearm, but you can’t be ‘just anyone’. You have to be special and among the elite. Anti-gun zealot Rosie O’Donnell’s bodyguard has one. So does anyone with the right kind of political connections. And if you make the right kind of donation to the right Democratic Party PAC, you can have those connections too. Chuck Schumer and Carolyn McCarthy may talk like they are opposed to any private gun ownership, but when the rubber hits the road they still have campaign contributors to placate. So for them carry permits are like that old joke… they are willing to concede the first point, and now it’s just a question of negotiating a price.

Both the defacto ban in New Jersey and the ‘common people’s’ ban in New York City are the perfect way to handle the issue as far as anti-gun zealots are concerned. The fact is, the anti-gun position is a political loser in America and both parties know it. The Democrats may not fear the shattered Republican party, but they certainly fear the NRA. And the only reason they got control of the congress in the first place was by running pro-gun Democrats in the Midwest and west.

Even the Supreme Court (In the recent Heller vs. DC decision) has plainly stated that the right to ‘keep and bear’ arms is a fundamental and individual right. This knocked the wind out of leftists dubious claims that it was really about the militia. And the trend has continued when the 9th circuit appeals court found that the second amendment is ‘incorporated’ and can be enforced against the states like the right to vote for minorities. So with those rulings in hand, everywhere that an outright gun ban is on the books the NRA has launched a lawsuits to overturn it. Every unconstitutional gun law in the country is now on borrowed time.

But that doesn’t apply to these ‘laws that aren’t laws’, so they have become the only means left for elite anti-gun zealots to impose their minority opinion on the unwashed majority. Think about it….if there is no specific law, then there is no specific law to overturn. If it’s perfectly legal to obtain a carry permit in New Jersey, then it’s certainly not their fault if no one has gotten one in over 25 years. There is nothing for the NRA to get upset about because there is no law on the books at all. In effect, for those who want to deny people their rights it’s a perfect solution, and the gun-ban crowd has relied on it for some time in these parts.

Enter John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota. At first glance he’s not the kind of guy you’d think I’d be a fan of. He’s a career politician from a small South Dakota town, who was head of his state’s Republican party for a while. He’s a born again Christian which I ‘m OK with as far as it goes, and he’s got an MBA so it’s possible that he might know a little something other than politics. But it’s no stretch to say that his experience must be very different from my own.

With that said though, I’ve become a fan because John Thune has just crafted the perfect gun law. What he’s done is he’s sponsored an amendment which if passed, will require states to offer reciprocity for concealed carry permits granted in other states. If your state has a law which restricts carry rights, this amendment doesn’t change that. It only means that if you have a concealed carry permit in one state it will be effective in the next state so long as you obey the specific rules of concealed carry holders in that state. Think of it as being the same as a driver’s license. Your Texas or Florida license is valid in New Jersey, but you still must obey the traffic laws in that state.

This is a perfectly reasonable law where the federal government is only requiring a minimum of uniformity between states. But this amendment would also mean that the gun-ban crowd that’s been clinging to it’s position in the northeast through extra-legislative bans will be out of business. It will no longer be enough for New Jersey to just never issue a permit. That sort of non-ban gun ban won’t fly anymore. Because someone like me who can own a firearm legally can simply apply for non-resident permit from Florida or Utah and it will automatically be valid in New Jersey and New York.

This is such an inspired piece of legislative brilliance that my past experience with government leads me to believe it must have been an accident. But there is more. Mr Thune has attached this amendment to a ‘must pass’ funding bill for the armed forces. If it doesn’t get passed, the Army doesn’t get paid… and even the Democrats in congress know that something like that would be political (and maybe national) suicide. If this was all by design then John Thune has just become my favorite man in the Senate.

This bill doesn’t override state laws so states with more reasonable gun laws won’t see any reason not to support it. It doesn’t intrude on States rights or impose a national standard of any kind. And it also won’t prevent New Jersey and New York from imposing a ban on carry permits if they still want to. All it will do is require them to pass a law to do so, rather than doing it through procedural and bureaucratic means. In that way it forces our legislators to do their job, and to enforce the rule of law instead of the rule of men.

The crime, violence, and accident statistics all firmly support the right of free citizens to be able to defend themselves and John Thune clearly knows that. His abbreviated OpEd in the New York Times was so understated and ‘matter of fact’ that it almost seems like he can’t understand what all the fuss is about. But the truth is, we already know that concealed carry won’t lead to any of the hyperbolic fear-mongering that the anti-gun minority says it will. And the fact that they’ve been unwilling to pass a law which supports their position tells us that they already know it too.

So New York and New Jersey may get rational gun laws with the single stroke of a pen. And if they do it will be thanks to a career politician from a small South Dakota town. He wasn’t who I was expecting, but lord knows none of our politicians would have done it. Was the lone ranger from South Dakota? I’m not sure. But if this law passes then we in greater New York City will know who we have to thank for it. There will be no wondering ‘who that man was’. And for my part, I’ll plan some time to make fundraising calls for him.