Below The Radar: Local Public Health And Safety Protection Act

United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- Much attention gets focused on federal and state legislation. This is very understandable, as that legislation can come with some serious penalties. But local laws also matter, especially when people need to be in a certain locality for professional reasons. Often, these have been dealt with by preemption laws, something the National Rifle Association worked hard to get passed over the years.

But now, some want to change that. One of those is Representative William Lacy Clay (D-MO), who introduced HR 3435, the Local Public Health And Safety Protection Act. Now, this bill doesn’t directly prohibit preemption laws. That would be a big stretch.

Clay instead takes an approach similar to that applied by Representative Jamie Raskin and Senator Chris Van Hollen with the Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act: He bribes states to dispense with preemption laws via federal grants. In addition, he bribes localities to enact restrictions on Second Amendment rights. In essence, these payoffs are meant to make the lives of law-abiding gun owners harder. How much harder?

If you remember the bad old days before there were preemption laws, you’d recall that there would be a patchwork of rules and land mines for a person exercising their Second Amendment rights. In some states, a concealed carry permit would be invalid in some cities, often those with high crime rates (where the need for concealed carry would be greatest – then again, gun control lacks a lot of logic).

In other words, you didn’t just have to track state laws, you had to track the laws of every locality you might go to – or even pass through. The sheer scope of that task would discourage some to exercise their rights… which is the real intent behind those laws.

The goal of anti-Second Amendment extremists isn’t to have the police or some other entity go door-to-door taking people’s guns away. It’s to get people to just give up their rights – or to cease advocating for their preservation – on their own accord through a combination of hassles and social stigmatization.

Clay’s bill does the latter by putting Congress on record against state preemption laws, adding to the stigmatization of pro-Second Amendment efforts. That is why Second Amendment supporters need to contact their Senators and Representative and politely urge them to oppose HR 3435. We certainly don’t need our states and cities bribed with our own tax dollars to infringe on our rights.

About Harold Hutchison

Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.

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