Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Guns, Democracy and Rule of Law in CO and NY

Guns, and the right to own them, is an American tradition, enshrined in the Constitution and upheld by the Supreme Court. The National Rifle Association rivals the American Medical Association and the AARP in it's lobbying power and spending. Bombastic language around revolutions and the supposed surreptitious government takeover of arms have been the justification for a massive stock up of weapons during the Obama Administration. At the fringes of the gun culture, the Administration has been compared to Nazi Germany.

Gun culture in the purple state of Colorado and the staunchly blue state of New York has created anti-establishment heroes out of law enforcement agents and the recall of state legislators. In Colorado, the passage of gun control laws instituting universal background checks and limiting the size of high capacity magazines to 15-rounds (size of clips that CO police carry) have led to recall efforts against Senate President John Morse (D-CO Springs) and Senator Angela Giron (D-Pueblo). In NY, Sheriffs and gun owners in rural, conservative parts of the state are refusing to comply with the Safe Act, the country's strictest gun control law which bans the sale of assault rifles and banana clips.

Colorado Recall

The Colorado recall effort is a waste of taxpayer money. But, more dangerously, it is a perversion of the Democratic process. The gun owners who started the campaign to recall the two Senators say that the legislation passed is a violation of their second amendment. Besides the fact that these people are highly unequipped to judge the merits of the law via-a-vis the right to bear arms, they are turning democracy in the state into an Egypt-style "boot the unpopular dictator" out because they did not get their way. One of the primary criticisms of the coup that ousted Mohammad Morsi in Egypt was that it delegitimized democracy. If you elect someone you don't like, just oust them by force or recall (in this case).

There is an appropriate time and place for recall efforts. Just because a legitimately elected official does not vote in congruence with a specific ideological orthodoxy does not mean they should be recalled. Recall should be reserved for nearly the same reasons as impeachment: high crimes and misdemeanors. In Democracy, the way to influence the policy direction of your state or country is purely through the ballot box during elections. In this case, the best way to ensure that gun rights are preserved is to challenge the law in court, not recall the people who wrote it.

New York - Safe Act

The New York Safe Act controversy is purely political grandstanding on the part of Sheriffs. Six sheriffs in northern counties of the state have flatly refused to enforce the law. Some, like the County Sheriff in Eerie County, call it an act of civil disobedience. Much like the Colorado gun owners, they believe it is violation of second amendment rights. Their constituents, who hate the law, voted them into office, so they must oppose the law too.

The simplistic calculus that the Sheriffs have applied leads to the worse violation of the oath to protect and serve - enforcement of the law. If a law is passed in the state, it is the duty of the Sheriff (and police) to enforce the law, no matter what their personal feeling are on the matter. Not only must they enforce the law, but they should be obligated to require that every sheriff and anyone responsible for law enforcement at every level enforce the law.

Let Experts Handle It

Those who oppose the new gun law restrictions, whether they are constituents of State Legislators or County Sheriffs, should allow the laws to be reviewed for their constitutionality. Once challenged in federal court, these laws will most likely be found unconstitutional. That duty is left to the courts and judges who have the expertise to apply judicial review to these laws. Assuming you have the authority to judge the law on its constitutional merits and acting on that judgement, especially if you are responsible for upholding the law, is a perversion of Democracy and the justice system.