First, Guns, Then…

To the Editor:
In recent weeks, I have been closely following the gun-control movement in the Virginia State House, as well as the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement it has spawned nationwide.
What I see, more than anything, are people fed up with elected dictators: elected officials who openly defy the law, the Constitution and the people they are elected to represent.
At the forefront of the issue is the AR-15 rifle – the most misunderstood firearm ever built. For the record, I do not own one. I have fired one, and it’s not my cup of tea. With that said, I must come to the defense of this gun, and those who choose to own one.
The Second Amendment states the right to own a gun is not to be violated or regulated. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in District of Columbia v. Heller, ruled that the government could not ban firearms “in common use” in the U.S. The AR-15 is the single most popular, semi-automatic, center-fire rifle in America.
It is not a military combat weapon, and it never was. It was originally designed, manufactured and marketed as a civilian sporting rifle.
It is a “clone” of the military M-16 in appearance only. That is its only military inference.
The fact that there are more than 11 million in existence in the U.S., in civilian hands, qualifies it for “common use.” This is according to the Supreme Court.
The Virginia bill also bans firearms “containing one or more of the following components.” It then goes on to list over 40 items that are components of almost every gun ever made, thereby banning almost every firearm made.
In spite of the U.S Supreme Court rulings, states believe that they have the right to pass laws banning these weapons. They do not have any right to pass laws that the Supreme Court has already said are unconstitutional, yet they do it anyway.
This has led to the Second Amendment Sanctuary. Local and county governments are telling their states: “We are not going to enforce laws that are unconstitutional.”
The more serious aspect of this issue is, in spite of the Supreme Court, in spite of the protests of the voters, in spite of the people, Virginia is passing laws, daily, that will impose confiscation of personal property without compensation, felony charges for non-compliance and prison terms.
Virginia’s governor has already increased the state prison budget to handle the influx of prisoners, as well as hiring enforcement officers to arrest non-compliant gun owners and confiscation. There is no “grandfather clause” in these laws.
Many other states are in line to follow with similar measures, all in direct violation of the Supreme Court, the Constitution and the people.
When confronted with this fact, Virginia lawmakers have said that they don’t care.
These bills passed in a party-line vote, to no one’s surprise.
This issue is not unique to Virginia. Frankly, it is happening almost everywhere, where the Democratic Party controls the majority in state government.
It will happen here.
The rule of law is ignored. The U.S. Supreme Court is ignored. The U.S. Constitution is ignored, all to impose a party’s agenda: disarm the people.
This is tyranny. “Of the people, by the people and for the people” no longer exists in these states.
What comes after the guns – speech, assembly, worship, voting, or revolution? Maybe “sanctuary” is the beginning of “we the people” once again.