Should Republicans Support Peter King’s 1000 Ft. Gun-Control Rule?

After the tragic shootings in Tucson this past weekend, there has been no shortage of commentary and blame ascribing the reasons for this senseless act. Unfortunately, most of the reasons given by the chattering class, liberal politicians and the liberal media can be written off as completely idiotic and devoid of any logic whatsoever. Of course, logic and clear thought are not the forte of liberal politicians and the irresponsible media that seem to dominate much of the public discourse.

As a result of the media hysteria, we are now beginning to witness the classic reaction of a number of government officials and legislators, who purport to bring forth “solutions” so that tragedies like the one in Tucson can be avoided in the future. One such strange idea, put forward as a “solution”, is the incredibly stupid plan by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), to introduce legislation that would make it illegal to bring a gun within 1,000 feet of a government official. Peter King is the new Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, just recently named to that position in the new Republican House.

Peter King is a Republican representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District which includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island. Until the new Congress met in January, King was one of only two Republicans in the House from New York. During his career, he has been a moderate to conservative Republican and a strong national security advocate and supporter for the “war on terror”.

This legislative idea of banning anyone from carrying a gun within a 1000 ft. of a government official is completely idiotic on a number of fronts, namely:

  • It is a knee jerk reaction to a tragic shooting, of which there are many which occur every year in the United States. 
  • There are currently over 40 states which permit concealed carrying of firearms. 
  • It is impossible for a law abiding citizen legally carrying a firearm to know which, if any, government “officials” are within the 1000 ft. perimeter. 
  • Such a law would be totally unenforceable, except in the few cases where a law abiding citizen was inadvertently arrested for carrying within the prohibited limit. 
  • This law would be totally ignored by anyone who deliberately wished to harm a government official, including congressmen. 

A law like the one Rep. King plans to introduce also begs number of questions: 

  • How would this law be enforced? 
  • Is anyone exempted, and if so, who? 
  • Would carrying a gun in your car and driving within the 1000 ft perimeter count? 
  • Exactly which “government officials” does King have in mind? 
  • Which law enforcement officials would enforce this law — – the local or state police? (Hmmn. The Obama Administration doesn’t want local and state police enforcing immigration laws, but they would probably be enthusiastic about local and state police enforcing this crazy law).

Let’s face it. What we have here is a new Committee Chairman trying to weaken the rights of Americans to own and legally carry guns. It’s interesting that this proposal comes from a New York Republican. New York is the most unfriendly gun state in the country and usually these crazy ideas emanate from New York Democrats such as Carolyn Maloney and Chuck Schumer.

With a gain of 63 seats in the new House, it’s unlikely that the new Republican majority will pass such a stupid, poorly thought out piece of legislation. Between the NRA, conservative Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats, this bill will have a difficult time surviving in the House. However, the supporters of gun control may wage an all out fight for this legislation, by not letting the Tucson crisis "go to waste". Second Amendment supporters must be alert to every action that is taken to weaken their rights. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the nation’s most outspoken gun-control advocates, is backing King’s measure and is expected to put the weight of his pro-gun-control organization behind it. I hope that Rep. King’s bill is not a precursor of what we will see from the new Republican House. It would appear that conservatives everywhere must constantly watch how their representatives and senators legislate and vote in this new Congress. We have already seen how badly Senate Republicans let us down by completely capitulating to Obama’s wishes on the START Treaty in the lame duck session.

If we don’t hold Republicans to their principles of smaller government, lower taxes, free markets, border security, the right to life and the maintenance of our 2nd Amendment rights, then the new Republican majority will be defeated in 2012. Let’s kill this crazy idea now!

Comments

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This law is completely unnecessary and would be ineffective at protecting anyone. Neither political officials, nor anyone else, have anything to fear from law abiding citizens exercising their 2nd Amendment right to carry a weapon for personal defense. It is the lone criminal, like the Arizona shooter, that we must be concerned about and this law, nor any other law, would do anything to stop that type of criminal. Criminals do not obey the law, that is why they are criminals.  We should not take away the rights of individuals because of the behavior of a criminal.

By the way, in this picture with then House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, there is a 9 mm pistol under my left shoulder. Tom was not in any danger from me, nor would he be from any other law abiding citizen.

This bill is simply bad legislation.  It is a knee jerk reaction to a tragedy that would strip away rights of law abiding citizens and do nothing to stop a deranged person intent on evil.

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