BC Commissioners uphold ‘right to bear arms’

By Judith Pannebaker

Historically, Texans hold dear the tenets of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Right to Bear Arms – and Bandera County Commissioners recently proved no exception.

On Thursday, April 9, they unanimously approved a resolution opposing the passage of the Firearm Licensing and Record Sale Act of 2009, as well as any similar legislation.

As Precinct 1 Commissioner Bruce Eliker noted succinctly, “They’re trying to take our guns away.”

According to the resolution, the United States Supreme Court in a landmark case, District of Columbia v. Heller, recently struck down a firearms ban in DC. Prior to the court’s decision, District residents were prohibited from possessing firearms.

However, by siding with Heller, the court ruled that the Second Amendment protects the right of the people to possess firearms for private use.

Gun control advocates have argued the Second Amendment pertains only to “a collective right” or a right for individual states to establish militias. They assert the amendment does not apply to an individual’s right to bear arms.

Despite the recent ruling of the Supreme Court, legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives that calls for a system of mandatory federal licensing of all firearms owners.

The proposed legislation would require all firearms owners to apply for and carry a picture identification, issued by the federal government, to keep a firearm in their homes. In addition, as introduced, the legislation would make it a federal crime to keep a loaded firearm or an unloaded firearm with ammunition in any premises, including – under certain circumstances – homes in America where a child might be present.

Hunters and their firearms would apparently also be affected. In the legislation, the term “qualifying firearms” would include “any semiautomatic firearm that can accept any detachable ammunition feeding device.” Many hunting rifles, including .22 calibers that have nothing in common with “assault weapons” or similar firearms, are included in this definition.

This proposed legislation would preempt or supersede any state or local law inconsistent with it.

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Illinois) introduced HR 45 in January. Currently, there are no co-sponsors and the bill has been referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.

According to his website, in 1968, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the revolutionary Black Panther Party in 1968.

According to Eliker and the rest of the commissioners and County Judge Richard Evans, HR 45 – aka Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 – directly impacts each American citizen’s individual right to keep and bear arms in their homes for their protection. Other – less politically correct – elected officials regard the legislation as “an out and out attempt to require the registration of firearms and the licensing of gun owners.”

By passing the resolution opposing the proposed legislation, commissioners asked that members of the US Congress “cease and desist” their attempts to enact federal legislation impinging on the individual right of every American as outlined in the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

In May 2007, Blair Holt, 16, was murdered while protecting a classmate after another teen opened fire on a city bus.

In the commission of his crime, the killer used an already illegal firearm as per Chicago Municipal Code § 8-20-040(a), which states, in part: “No person shall, within the City of Chicago, possess, harbor, have under his control . . . or accept any firearm unless such person is the holder of a valid registration certificate for such firearm.”

Additionally, the same section generally bars private home possession of handguns by law-abiding adult citizens.
After the vote, Precinct 2 Commissioner Bobby Harris noted, “According to this bill, law-abiding citizens must pay, but criminals will still have their guns.”