The months ahead will be filled with opportunities to moan, groan, pound your head against a doorframe and maybe even howl at the moon. Incumbents and challengers will be saying some interesting things and occasionally, some remarkably stupid things.
There will be some wide-open races this year, more than normal. Fox News recently reported more than 20 Democrats will not be running for re-election to Congress in November. Some are retiring; others are taking a shot at other offices. Fewer Republicans—a dozen so far, but expect more—are also calling it quits or running for other offices.
If you like mud wrestling, you’re going to love election season 2022. Stock up on popcorn.
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Back to Reality: Legislatures are Back
State legislatures are back in session, and no man’s life, liberty or property are safe.
Gideon John Tucker was right. He’s the long-deceased attorney, newspaper editor and politician who, way back in 1866, wrote a line in a court decision that has become the stuff of legend: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.”
Beat that for common sense. I dare ya.
With state legislatures back in session this month—some have already opened for business—and lawmakers looking ahead to this fall’s mid-term elections at the state and federal levels, the only thing about which we can all be certain is…uncertainty.
Voters in Texas and Florida will be electing their next governor, and from all indications at this writing, current governors in both states have a pretty good shot at re-election. Recent poll numbers put Texas Gov. Greg Abbott—recognized recently with an award for his work in 2021 by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms—a full 15 points ahead of his challenger, vehemently anti-gun former Congressman Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke. He’s the one-time presidential candidate who showed every other politician how to derail a campaign faster than a train leaves a broken track.
All one needs to do is tell a live television audience, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take you AR-15, your AK-47!”
In Florida, the lineup looking to defeat incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis includes Congressman Charlie Crist and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. The latter has an interesting sense of timing. Just before Thanksgiving, she joined a lawsuit to toss the state’s firearms preemption law, which immediately angered a voting bloc of substantial political sway in state with more than 2.5 million active concealed pistol licenses, though a fair share of those are held by non-residents.
Watch Several States
A legislative roundup appearing in TheGunMag.com suggests gun owners keep an eye on Alabama, where state Rep. Shane Stringer prefiled constitutional carry legislation to allow the carrying of firearms without the need of a permit. Twenty states have passed such legislation.
Down in Florida, state Rep. Anthony Sabatini filed legislation to allow carry on college and university campuses. On the other hand, there are a couple measures to require background checks for anyone purchasing ammunition.
Michigan lawmakers may try to make quick work of Senate and House bills mandating so-called “safe storage” in reaction to the tragic November shooting at Oxford High School that left four dead and seven wounded.
Watch Virginia to see whether Republicans, who returned to power in November, take advantage of having a Republican administration to quickly undo the gun control bills passed by Democrats two years ago. Republican lawmakers owe Old Dominion gun owners for flipping the legislature and the governor’s office.
Last month, now-former Gov. Ralph Northam proposed a budget for Virginia including $27 million to create a “Center for Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention at the Department of Criminal Justice Services.” It will be up to new Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the GOP majority to decide whether this proposal goes anywhere.
Some lawmakers want to ban so-called “Assault rifles” in various states, but only one—Washington—actually defines such a firearm to include all semi-auto rifles, even .22-caliber rimfires such as the Ruger 10/22.
Out in Washington, the Seattle-based “Alliance for Gun Responsibility” announced its legislative agenda, which they will find someone in the Democrat caucus to push. It includes a proposed ban on so-called “high capacity magazines,” and seeks to expand the ban on open carry of firearms at public meetings, polling places and “ballot counting locations,” which is a disguised move to erode state preemption. They also want “ghost gun” legislation to put home gunsmiths out of business and a ban on so-called “assault rifles. In 2018, anti-gunners pushed through a gun control initiative that defined “assault rifles” to include literally every self-loading rifle — including rimfires — that’s ever been manufactured.
According to TheGunMag.com, 24 states are carrying over legislation introduced last year. These states are Alaska, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the West Virginia House.
Mid-Term Madness
This column has previously reminded readers of a bit of wisdom attributed to Greek philosopher Pericles: “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.”
These people have it figured out. Politics is interested in them, and they’re doing something about it on the steps of their state capitol.
You Can't Make This Up
Anybody who knows an old cop or beat reporter has heard colorful “war stories” from people in either profession who often observe, “You can’t make this up!”
Proof of that statement comes in a tale from The Smoking Gun involving a Florida man who should win an award for incredulity. Our hero was arrested while riding with another man in Clearwater. When he was searched, lawmen found small bags of meth and cocaine he claimed weren’t his. However, that story just doesn’t wash, since the baggies were, uh, wrapped around his, shall we say “plumbing?”
This guy further denied ownership of a .38 Special handgun officers found stashed under his seat. Since this gent is a convicted felon, he can’t legally have a gun or ammunition.
While our suspect might argue the gun was not his, no judge or jury in their collective right mind is ever going to believe a claim the drugs weren’t his. And, no, this was not the suspect’s first rodeo, as he reportedly has “multiple cocaine convictions” on his record.
Considering he’s facing weapons and drug charges, the smart money is probably on a long-term visit to a jailhouse.
