If you will recall, last month’s editorial was me writing blind about how the elections of 2016 turned out because they hadn’t happened when the December 2016 issue went to press. In this day and age of instant news transmission, that may seem quaint, or antiquated. It still takes a certain amount of time for ink to be placed on paper, the paper bound and mailed, and for readers to walk to the mailbox.
I know now that Hillary Clinton will not be heading the ship of state for the next four years. That makes me breathe a sigh of relief. She was among the top-three most-anti-gun presidential candidates ever, in my opinion. She could have done a lot of things to damage our 2nd Amendment rights, all without passing a single new law.
So now it’s on to President-Elect Donald J. Trump. I previously ran his 2nd Amendment platform in these pages, and on that narrow plank, it was easy to vote for him over Mrs. Clinton. Her reckoning ran deep. Trump’s win was shocking to watch as Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania went red one after another. To see the vaunted “Blue Wall” of core Democrat states come tumbling down as election night wore into morning was to witness history being made. I personally believe these states went Republican in some part because they have strong gun cultures, and Democrat politicians came out for gun confiscations and accessories regulations and bans, and on a national basis, it bit them again. The Senate stayed in Republican hands. The House stayed in Republican hands. And the presidency went to a Republican candidate who was very pro-2A. Control of more state governments went Republican, too.
Still, in a couple of blue states, voters passed regulations via initiatives that will restrict gun ownership and possession. California’s new magazine ban looks like the definition of an ex post facto law — outlawing magazines of a certain size to possess, even if they had once been legal. Standard-round-count AR magazines that hold 30 cartridges, for instance, will have to be surrendered or expatriated outside the boundaries of the Golden State. Also, ammunition sales will require background checks.
Will a Trump administration try to turn these state-level laws back via a loosening of federal gun regulations? I hope so, plus a few more things:
– Move silencers out of NFA regulation.
– Pass National Right to Carry.
– Nominate federal judges, especially Supreme Court justices, who will honor the Heller and McDonald precedents and strengthen 2A rulings to the point that no future court can water down the right to keep and bear arms.
– Allow military personnel the right to defend themselves with firearms when they’re in a civilian setting — such as at recruiting stations. (The Pentagon has already rolled back regulations preventing soldier carry.)
– End any court effort to hide documents and accountability about the Justice Department and BATF’s involvement in the Fast and Furious gun-running operation into Mexico.
Which one do you want the most?
