The Press Needs a Civics Refresher
Rights Do Not Require Permission
The media has failed time and again to remind politicians and the public of something schools are apparently not teaching anymore.
Constitutionally enumerated rights — that is, rights specifically protected from government interference, acting as checks on government authority — do not require government permission in order to be exercised. Only one right, the right to keep and bear arms, is treated differently by the press and politicians from one party and they know it.
Permission Required
Earlier this year, when Democrats in Washington and Colorado were pushing legislation to require citizens to first get a permit from the police before purchasing a firearm, the media failed its responsibility to educate the public about this assault on a cornerstone of the Bill of Rights.
Democrat-controlled Legislatures passed these permit-to-purchase requirements and gun owners and Republican lawmakers in both states called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch investigations in both states. Those who pushed these bills through are simply trying to see what they can get away with.
The Colorado statute takes effect August 1, 2026 while Washington’s law does not take effect until May 1, 2027. This is actually a good thing for groups planning litigation because it will allow plenty of time to lay out strong lawsuits, find good plaintiffs and make cases.
It also gives activists and Second Amendment scholars plenty of time to educate the media and voters. There’s an election in Colorado 95 days after the permit-to-purchase law takes effect. Centennial State voters will have it fresh in their memories and on the eve of fall hunting season rest assured there will be a lot of furious outdoorsmen and women headed to the polls.
As for the Evergreen State — which many weary gun owners and general taxpayers have taken to calling the “Evergone State” — by taking effect the following May, Democrats apparently believe their voters will have forgotten although by then they will be saddled with paying $9 billion in new taxes. This may cause something of a revolt on its own merit.
Meanwhile, lots of Washingtonians have fled the state for lower taxes and more-constitutional gun laws elsewhere, and it’s looking that way in Colorado as well.
Focus On VA, NJ
Long before anything happens in those states, gun rights voters will have an opportunity to act next month in New Jersey and Virginia. The November 3 elections will allow voters in both states to elect new governors, as the current folks — anti-gun Democrat Phil Murphy in New Jersey and pro-gun Republican Glenn Youngkin in Virginia — are both term-limited out.
Even if you’re not voting in either state, it is legal to support candidates in other states, provided you follow all election laws.
While the Garden State may be a tough nut, Virginia gun owners and conservative voters demonstrated four years ago they can buck the odds and overpower the liberal strongholds in northern Virginia. Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is the GOP nominee and she’s on your side.
What does this mean to you if you live, say, in Wyoming or Montana? Plenty, because you can bet the establishment media will be talking big about the outcomes of both elections as “indicators” if Democrats win both races. If Republicans win, not so much, because media liberals want something they can use in their Sunday morning diatribes about Donald Trump
Education Is Key
As noted earlier, media and politicians need a refresher course in civics. Rights are not something one needs to get permission from a police agency in order to exercise. As I testified back in February in opposition to the permit-to-purchase bill, whenever police permission is required to do anything supposedly protected by the constitution, they call it a “police state.”
I can say from experience the legislators backing this law didn’t like hearing that. Too bad. This is a point to make in your own arguments, because you’ve got a whole year to recruit candidates to run against some of these people and replace them. And, when you do beat these people at the polls in 2026, make sure to remind the media they lost their jobs by treating a constitutional right like a regulated privilege.
For those considering a recall effort, they’re expensive and perhaps unnecessary, provided you find someone to unseat the anti-gun incumbents next year. Instead, exercise some self-control and start building a campaign war chest for November ’26.
Many small towns and even some big cities have smaller community newspapers, and unless they’re run by partisan hacks or complete morons, they will accept Op-Eds which may generate reader interest. Nothing does it like a short essay on gun rights. Second Amendment columns bring the opposition out of the woodwork, and the nuttier the better for your purposes.
Drive Them Crazy
Be prepared for the stupidest of arguments supporting permits to purchase. They traditionally include — if not begin with — the “driving” argument. “You need to get trained and get a license to drive” is one of my favorites because it literally screams the level of foolishness of the author(s).
Remember this: Driving is a privilege. Owning and bearing arms is a protected right. When they demand to know why getting training and permission is such a big deal, ask if they’d stand still for requiring education and getting police permission to exercise any other right such as freedom of speech. Defending the Second Amendment is a contact sport, and these people need to be called out on their hypocrisy as well as their stupidity.
They will then insist the Second Amendment applies only to muskets of the 18th Century. Here’s what the U.S. Supreme Court said in the 2008 Heller ruling: “Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment. We do not interpret constitutional rights that way. Just as the First Amendment protects modern forms of communications, e.g., Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union … and the Fourth Amendment applies to modern forms of search, e.g., Kyllo v. United States … the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.”
Don’t forget that back in November 1994, after congressional Democrats passed the Brady Handgun Act and the Clinton Crime Bill with its 10-year ban on so-called “assault weapons,” 54 anti-gunners were thrown out of office.
There is plenty of time to make it happen again in states where it needs to happen.
