Libertarians, like the US Supreme Court, see the Second Amendment of the US Constitution as guaranteeing an individual right of citizens to own firearms for self-defense, hunting, sport, and keeping the government honest. The right to gun ownership is an unshakable tenet of individualism and freedom.
We know that some of our legislators are, uh, ambivalent about freedom. Here in Georgia, US Congressman David Scott and state Representative Mary Margaret Oliver are two examples of hoplophobes
(http://www.gunlaws.com/GunHate.htm).
Illogical, anti-constitutional, tyrannical legislation is introduced in every Congressional session, designed to disarm honest citizens and leave them dependant on the mercy of criminals or the efficiency of law enforcement. Usually these bills disappear in committee without doing any harm. But this year things may be different.
Already, firearms retail outlets are reporting phenomenal surges in sales, and spot shortages of ammunition are being reported across the country. Pundits in the pro-gun community have declared Barrack Obama to be the best gun salesman since Bill Clinton. Why is that?
It’s because Obama and his new Attorney General, Eric Holder, are anti-gun. On the presidential campaign trail Obama issued conflicting statements that supported first the Washington DC gun ban, and then the Heller Supreme Court decision that found that ban unconstitutional. But Obama’s record as an Illinois legislator shows he voted anti-gun at every opportunity. It’s easy to talk, but it’s the actions that count.
Gun Owners Of America (http://gunowners.org) reports on a new anti-gun bill that they deem especially dangerous. HR 45 was introduced by Chicago area Congressman Bobby Rush, who won the seat by being the only man to defeat Barrack Obama in an election. The bill is as audacious in its way as the entire ‘bailout/stimulus’ legislation has been. In a blatant effort at emotional appeal it is named after a Chicago teenager who was murdered by a criminal who used a gun (Libertarians understand that no gun ever fired itself; there always is a person responsible for the misuse of a tool). If enacted, the bill would:
HR 45 would create a national gun registration scheme. This is a necessary first step, according to Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership JPFO) ((http://www.jpfo.org/), for gun confiscation and total civilian disarmament (http://www.jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/ib-orders.htm). Although the next step might not be a dictatorship, citizens would have no way to stop it if it were.
The platform of the Libertarian Party of Georgia unequivocally states “…we oppose all laws at any level of government restricting, regulating, or requiring the ownership, manufacture, transfer, or sale of firearms or ammunition. We oppose all laws requiring registration of firearms or ammunition, for history has shown registration leads inevitably to confiscation.”
The Libertarian Party of Georgia will keep an eye on this proposal, and will broadcast an alert if and when citizen action becomes necessary. In the meantime it can not hurt to contact your US Congressman to urge them to vote against HR-45 (“Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009”) should they encounter it in committee or on the House floor.
Libertarians understand the best way to keep government from becoming oppressive is to deny them the power with which to do so. Only by reducing the scope of government and restoring the limits of the Constitution can we keep individual freedom for ourselves and our posterity. Recent events have demonstrated that the Libertarian Party is the only political party with the principles to bind the people who run government “down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
