Missouri Madness: Statehouse Swagger in the Gun Debate

[spanone]

As a measure of the gun culture’s dangerous sway over statehouse politicians, it is hard to top the pending proposal in Missouri that would pronounce all federal gun safety laws null and void in the state and allow the arrest of federal agents who try to enforce them.

This bizarre legislation, which Republican majorities hope to enact Sept. 11, would override an earlier veto by Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, who noted the obvious fact that the measure is unconstitutional according to precedents stretching all the way to the Civil War.

But the bill’s proponents care little for legal niceties, or for the near-certainty of an adverse court ruling against their hoary states’-rights gambit. Dusting off the polemics of nullification, the supposed “law and order” politicians in Jefferson City would rather support an unconstitutional measure than set a law-abiding example of government responsibility.

No less regrettable is that they are hardly alone in their obeisance to the gun lobby. Horrendous spates of gun violence have prompted six states to enact stronger gun safety laws in the last year. But a score of other statehouses have weakened existing laws, in particular loosening gun laws regulating the “open carry” of firearms, inviting public flaunting of weaponry.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/opinion/statehouse-swagger-in-the-gun-debate.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print

[Eleanors38]

1. Was it "horrendous spates of gun violence" that brought on legislation,

or the predictable push for gun bans, and ammunition taxes, and magazine limits by the NYT et al? Maybe if gun controllers begin the conversation with improved and expanded BG checks, instead of using it as a fallback position, they would have more credibility.

Those many thousands of prople standing on line at gun shows all over the nation were not there because they were upset by BG checks. And it wasn't all about speculation on rising prices (which occurred). They were making a strong political statement to their "opposition."

Maybe the NYT needs to look closer to home when they whine about "swagger."

[oneshooter]

2. ^^^^^^^^^ This + 1000^^^^^^^^^^^^

[spanone]

3. gun controllers.....that's real funny

[warrior1]

4. I didn't think that state laws

could supersede federal laws.