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Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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County vexed by proposed firearms law
Published April 1, 2009
SEGUIN — It doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes a federal law — in this case a proposed federal law — is upsetting enough at the local level that a local government takes notice of it and dashes off a resolution in opposition.
And that’s what happened in Commissioner’s Court on Tuesday, with the county’s government voting unanimously in favor of a resolution opposing a proposed new federal firearms law that would require licenses for anyone wishing to buy a semi-automatic rifle or a handgun loaded by a clip and prohibit sale of such weapons — including many used for hunting or home protection — to anyone but a licensed gun dealer or collector.
The bill, House Resolution 45 sponsored by Congressman Bobby Rush of Illinois, is called Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, and is named for a 16-year-old youth gunned down on a Chicago bus as he attempted to block a shooter from hitting another student.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Judy Cope and Assistant County Attorney Robert Etlinger both expressed concerns about the bill. Cope put it on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of county government, and Etlinger spoke to it — but not in his official role as the county’s legal counsel.
“I’ve got my ‘citizen’s’ hat on and not my ‘assistant county attorney’s’ hat,” Etlinger told commissioners.
He said the bill had so far picked up no co-sponsors and appeared headed to death before the House judiciary committee. But Etlinger expressed concerns that the bill represented significant government intrusion into the private concerns of citizens — and a significant erosion of the constitutional rights of all citizens.
The bill sets new registration requirements for all handguns and semi-automatic rifles with detachable clips, and would require holders of such weapons to be licensed through a process that includes creation of a photo ID — and the disclosure of some personal medical and mental health records. In addition, Etlinger noted, such weapons could only be sold to licensed gun dealers or collectors.
“This is a rehash of another bill that didn’t get anywhere,” Etlinger told commissioners. “This bill will fester like a cancer for a year or so, waiting for someone to reach out and pick it up at some point in time.”
Etlinger told the parable about how to entrap a wild hog.
“First, you put out food for it, and you get it used to it for a couple of weeks,” Etlinger said.
Then, he said, erect a fence around the feed stand a piece at a time, and eventually that pig can be trapped.
“And that’s how our liberties get taken away — a little bit at a time,” Etlinger said. “And this is one of the ways they do it.”
Cope said existing gun laws already speak to many of the issues raised in HR 45 — but a shortcoming of any law, she said, is that crooks can’t be compelled to obey it.
“As far as criminals go, folks, they don’t obey the law. They don’t buy registered guns — they come to your home and steal them.”
And gun registration, Cope pointed out, has been successfully employed by dictators who sought to subdue populations.
“Hitler was the first to register guns,” Cope said. “Bar none, every country that has registered their guns has lost their right to keep their guns. This bill takes away the ability of every American to protect their lives and property and degrades the value of the lives off our military men and women who have fought to keep this country free.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Jim Wolverton seconded the resolution, which was passed unanimously.
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