Tuesday, January 11, 2011
It's "Thinking" Like Pete King's Which Is The Problem
Of all the knee-jerk, simplistic, unthoughtful reactions to the Arizona tragedy, Congressman Pete King's - while not taking the prize - deserves special mention simply because the man is Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
The Long Island congressman has announced that he's working on a bill that would ban the carrying of firearms within 1,000 feet of federal officials at public events.
Another law... surely that will solve all our problems!
(*ROLLING MY EYES*)
So... random pat-downs of citizens within 1,000 of any member of King's envisioned "protected class?"
How'bout knives...??? Box cutters?
Hey... Pete... what's the range of a sniper rifle? (Hell... if you or a member of your staff would simple do a bit of googling you'd know that a scoped hunting rifle can easily have an effective accurate range far beyond 1,000 feet in the hands of a reasonably skilled shooter.)
Oh, Pete... where to begin...
(*SIGH*)
Listen... folks... there's this document called the Constitution and attached to it - in our nation's Bill of Rights - there's this little blurb our Founders "filed" under the heading: Second Amendment.
(I thought members of the new Republican majority in the House were supposed to be first consider Constitutional ramifications prior to attempting to add new laws to the books...???)
Beyond the Constitution there are state carry laws. If an individual is properly licensed to carry a weapon then that's that as far as I'm concerned.
No doubt King and/or his staff have already thought about exempting not just on-duty but also off-duty police officers from "King's Law." How about duly licensed private investigators, bounty hunters; how about corrections personnel; how about non-federal judges and state and county district attorneys and ADAs who are licensed and carry for personal protection? How about business owners and other private citizens who carry licensed arms based upon the fact that the nature of their jobs/professions entails carrying large sums of money on occasion?
I mean, folks... this is just off the top of my head.
Nope. Peter King had better start thinking more clearly now that his Party is in control of the House.
The last thing the Republican "brand" needs is for one of their most visible federal officeholders to come across as a man interested in expanding rather than contracting federal limits upon the rights of ordinary citizens while at the same time calling for "special protections" for "special folks." (Folks who happen to have the same "title" as... er... King himself.)
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http://spectator.org/archives/2011/01/12/shielding-congress-from-the-pe
* THANK GOD I'M NOT THE ONLY SANE INDIVIDUAL OUT THERE!
(*SNORT*) (*CHUCKLE*)
One assumes that court bailiffs are excluded from King's proposed Armless Circle of Safety. But what about average citizens with concealed carry permits who just happen to end up behind a federal judge in the check-out line at the supermarket? Or hunters who pull up behind a member of Congress at a traffic light? If Justice Antonin Scalia takes Elena Kagan hunting, as he has proposed, would they both be in violation of the law? Would any other hunter who wanders within 1,000 feet of them?
If this bill passes, it should contain this provision: all members of Congress and federal judges are required at all times to wear a head band that projects a laser-beam circle extending exactly 1,000 feet so the people will know the precise boundaries of the Armless Circle of Safety.
Imagine if King's bill passed and, say, multiple U.S. senators and representatives decide to run for president at the same time, as in 2008. New Hampshire is an open carry state that also allows concealed carry with a permit. It's also full of hunters. In the heart of primary season, it's nearly impossible in some parts of the state to go two days without traipsing within 1,000 feet of a presidential candidate - entirely by accident. New Hampshire doesn't have enough excess prison capacity to hold all the people who would have to be arrested if King's proposal becomes law.
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