OPINION – The storm clouds building over Connecticut signify an approaching moment of decision.
Peaceful gun owners from the Constitution State are being forced to choose between obeying the law and maintaining their natural right to self-defense. It could prove to be a national turning point.
Following the Sandy Hook murder spree, opportunistic state politicians pressed for stricter gun control laws. Acting with the moral authority of a lynch mob, legislators threw caution to the wind in their attempt to punish gun owners.
Their Orwellian titled law, “An Act Concerning Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety,” bans the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms and accessories. It also requires the current owners of the banned items to register them with the state police or get rid of them.
Now tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of peaceful firearms owners have been transformed into potential felons by state law.
Images of long lines of gun owners lining up in the waning hours of 2013 to register their rifles and magazines appeared to point to success on the part of the law’s supporters. But appearances can be deceiving.
Connecticut officials claim that even though nearly 50,000 individuals registered their firearms and magazines, they represent but a tiny fraction of gun owners who could have. That leaves scores of thousands of residents who have chosen to defy the law.
Now the ball is in the state’s court, so to speak, as to how it intends to deal with mass defiance of its law. Legislators have just created a new class of outlaws out of individuals who have never harmed another person. They seek to deprive residents of property and to infringe upon the natural right of self-defense without having provided due process.
It’s ironic that the gun owners who submitted applications to register their guns and accessories but missed the Jan. 1 deadline are the first ones to be targeted for compliance. There’s a lesson in there for anyone who’s paying attention: Registration always precedes confiscation. Always.
Are these leaders foolish enough to send armed agents of the state to the doorsteps of these individuals to forcibly take what was lawfully owned property before Jan. 1? Are those who wear the state’s uniform foolish enough to carry out such official aggression against peaceful individuals?
The most dangerous part of the situation in Connecticut is that the options for peaceful redress are nearly exhausted.
Bad laws are nothing new. For centuries American Jurisprudence has affirmed that unconstitutional laws are void. But as Mike Vanderboegh states in his Open Letter to the Men and Women of the Connecticut State Police:
The tricky part is how do we make that point when the local, state and federal executive and legislative branches as well as the courts are in the hands of the domestic enemies of the Constitution.
Are Connecticut’s state leaders so arrogant as to presume that if they passed an outrageous law requiring men to geld themselves that many, if not most, would refuse to do so? Do politicians mistake themselves for being masters rather than servants of the people of their state?
King George made a similar mistake back in the late 1700s when he sought to bring the noncompliant colonists back into line through a series of official acts and laws. When the legitimate authorities of the day attempted to forcibly disarm the colonists in April of 1775, the colonists, in defiance of the law, forcibly resisted.
Were they wrong to do so? Think before answering.
In the eyes of the tyrant king, they certainly were. His orders were law. But the actions of the colonists were motivated by righteous self defense against the official aggression of the agents of their government. They had no duty to submit. Is this something we’d like to revisit?
Like King George, the leaders of Connecticut don’t care if their edicts lead to bloodshed. They place the risks of their folly squarely on the backs of the members of law enforcement who will be required to act the part of the Redcoats.
The situation in Connecticut underscores the fact that if there was ever a time to be grateful for our elected sheriffs here in Utah, it’s now. Last year 28 out of 29 sheriffs took a strong public stance against unconstitutional gun laws.
Hopefully, Utah’s political leaders will never develop a appetite for tyranny like their Connecticut counterparts. But if they do, we’ll have the advantage of knowing there are members of law enforcement who will refuse to do their bidding.
Related posts
- Sen. Lee responds to president’s call for increased gun control
- Perspectives: Code enforcement versus property rights
- Perspectives: Background checks, the real target of national gun control advocates
Bryan Hyde is a news commentator and co-host of the Perspectives talk show on Fox News 1450 AM 93.1 FM. The opinions stated in this article are his and not representative of St. George News.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @youcancallmebry
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.
Uh oh Bry, Better bury them guns out in the back yard so they can’t be found, BIG BAD OBAMA’S A COMIN’ FUR UR GUNS. HIDE ‘EM ER LOSE ‘EM.
You …SIR are in for a big surprise (and NOT from me!)
Spot on Bryan. Keep it up.
Unfortunately, the time is rapidly approaching when we may have to put into action the very principle on which the 2nd amendment was drafted.
Lest people forget, the revolutionary war began over attempted arms confiscation.
I’ll bet you were a hoot on Y2K when the clock rolled over. Did you clutch your gun tight and whisper to it?
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The Christian apocalypse has been just around the corner for the past 2000 years. Do you think we’ll ever learn to chill?
Looks like you’ve been on a fluoride and vaccine @bender. I try to remember you’re a victim of the system, but zombies (the brain dead masses) such as you are going to get a lot of Americans killed. Keep “chillin'”while the sky is falling. At this point, you are a useless eater, total fodder, no need for the likes of you anywhere in this country. I wish there were somewhere you morons could be deported to. You are not worthy of US citizenship. Zombies such as yourself should be sent to FEMA camps for a reeducation on tyranny vs. liberty. Go chew on the following stats:
1929 – Soviet Union -gun control – from 1929-1953 20 million dissidents were rounded up and exterminated
1911 – Turkey – gun control – from 1915-1917 – 1.5 Amenians were rounded up and exterminated
1938 – Germany – Gun Control – from 1939-1945 – 13 million Jews & others were rounded up and exterminated
1935 – China – gun control – from 1948 -1952 – 20 million political dissidents were rounded up and exterminated
1964 – Guatemala – gun control – from 1964-1981 – 100,000 Mayan Indians were rounded up and exterminated
1970 – Uganda – gun control – 1971-1979 – 300,000 Christians were rounded up and exterminated
1956 – Cambodia – gun control – 1975-1977 – 1 million educated – rounded up and exterminated
Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated during the 20th century because of gun control, 56 million.
And just why does the United States want gun control? No reason, just chill.
Whoa URBANREDNECK, strong words! Sorry I upset you. I suggest you retreat to the basement to fondle your firearms in the dark and soak your feet in a bucket of loose ammo until your agitation passes. Pro Tip: a little machine oil in the ammo will both hold off tarnishing of the brass AND soften those ugly foot calluses. If Obama comes a knockin at the door to get your guns while you’re down there recovering, I promise to have your back.
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I see the argument often from the gun fetishists that the or the Holocaust or would have never happened to a armed populace. I don’t buy it. It’s a simplistic claim that completely ignores the context of each atrocity. Are modern day Somalia, Tribal Pakistan, and Libya now safe places because the populace is armed to the teeth and have irregular militias patrolling and meting out justice as they see fit? Are the populations of Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Europe suffering from government oppression or genocide because they have reasonable restrictions on guns? Does your 2nd Amendment right allow you to arm yourself with any and all modern military technology, for example, land mines, poison gas, flame throwers, grenades, tactical explosives, and light air bombers? Do you think Putin would be holding back on his current invasion of Crimea if a few Ukrainians had some hunting rifles hidden under their bed?
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If you Neo-Confederate gun fanatics hope to hold off the might and will of the US armed forces after your fantasy invasion of St. George, you are going to need to be a lot better organized and equipped than you are now.
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I prefer to live in a world where we are worried about paranoid, unstable hot heads like URBANREDNECK being armed. I’m at least as concerned about my family being harmed by a gun packing, self-appointed defender of liberty as I am of someone with actual criminal intent.
Good point, I was reading the paper tonight and for every gang shooting and liquor store robbery there was also a crime committed by a NRA member and a tea party politician. You prefer to live in a world where you are paranoid about a threat that doesn’t exist, at least that’s what you just told us Einstein.
Are you like 5 years old or what?
once the revolution starts, there will be no place for these corrupt crooked politicians to hide. no one will protect them including the cops.
I remember multiple comments from people that government is not interested in coming for your guns and it is “tin foil hat” time to think that the people would ever consider using guns to protect against a rogue government. I certainly hope that CT will not cause such an event. I do however think that is time for each of us to search our souls and decide what side we are on. Freedom is not usually cheap but is under priced when the alternatives are considered.
Register nothing, protect your freedom! The government is not there to keep you safe from harm, it is not your friend!