It was Richard, along with Sen. Tom Dempsey, the two top-ranking Republicans in the Missouri Senate whose votes kept the chamber from overriding Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of HB 436, the so-called Second Amendment Preservation Bill.
Richard immediately said he would help craft a better bill and he recently took the unusual step of releasing the bill weeks before the Dec. 1 date when the prefiling of 2014 bills will begin.
HB 436 was a joke and made Missouri the laughing stock of the nation. And while Richard's proposed legislation removes the ridiculous notion of making it a crime for newspapers to mention that someone owns a gun (expect some gun-loving senator to attempt to amend the bill to put it back in), it may be even more ridiculous than its predecessor, primarily because we expected Richard to be a voice of reason on the issue and not making a naked ploy for support for an expected run for statewide office in 2016.
Just a few highlights from Richard's bill:
-The first five pages are a tirade against the federal government and a rally for 10th Amendnment rights.
-Just like HB 436, the bill insists that Missouri will not obey federal gun laws, past, present or future...as if we had any choice.
-The bill prohibits the taxing of guns or ammunition, tracking of gun purchases or ownership because it might create "a chilling effect' on the purchase and ownership of guns.
-School districts may designate one or more teachers at elementary or secondary schools as gun-toting school protection officers. Those teachers would be required to carry guns at all times and if they did not, they could be fired.
-Prohibits health care professionals from asking if a patient is a gun owner or from sharing that information with law enforcement officials if they happen to come upon it.
It appears that nothing is going to change in 2014. The last few years have seen far too much time consumed by self-serving legislators seeking to placate their base with a never-ending stream of anti-federal government screeds and legislation that stands no chance of remaining intact after it is challenged in the courts.
This bill is the kind of nonsense I would expect from Sen. Brian Nieves.
From Ron Richard, I expected better.
Mr. Turner above "Just like HB 436, the bill insists that Missouri will not obey federal gun laws, past, present or future...as if we had any choice."
ReplyDeleteSuch a knowledgeable civil rights expert should recognize even Missourians need protection from any government when that government considers it unconstrained by the the citizens' unalienable rights and the US 2nd amendment.