Hats off to Crow Wing for defending Second Amendment
By Rep. Ben Davis
Congratulations to the Crow Wing County and Itasca County boards for passing a resolution declaring themselves Second Amendment dedicated counties, ready to oppose any efforts to unconstitutionally restrict the right to keep and bear arms.
I have personally reached out to Crow Wing and Itasca commissioners to offer my gratitude. The timing of this resolution is very important, with bills that would significantly undermine our constitutional right to keep and bear arms moving through the Legislature at this very moment.
Second Amendment supporters should be on high alert regarding gun-control bills House Democrats are moving through the committee process in an attempt to force unprecedented restrictions on us. This includes:
- HF 14: Universal Background Checks (aka Universal Gun Registration): Criminal background checks required for firearm transfers, and grounds modified for disqualification of transferee permit.
- HF 15: Red Flag Gun Confiscation Orders: Law enforcement and family members enabled to petition a court to prohibit people from possessing firearms if they pose a significant danger to themselves or others by possessing a firearm, and money appropriated.
- HF 396: Safe storage of firearms and ammunition required, locking device required to be included in each firearm transfer, and criminal penalties imposed.
- HF 601: Lost and stolen firearms required to be reported promptly to law enforcement.
As if those bills aren’t bad enough, Senate Democrats have assembled extreme gun-control legislation of their own, reportedly including everything from registration of all firearms to requiring all gun owners to have liability insurance, creating a crime to carry a firearm past a sign, banning the purchase of most semi-automatic rifles and more.
I’m a hard “no” on all of these bills because the consistent theme is they would do more to burden law-abiding citizens than actually address violent crime that remains abnormally high in Minnesota.
If you enjoy the Second Amendment, it is important to read these proposals and understand what is at stake. I have significant concerns with each bill and will always fight for our constitutional rights. In fact, I have co-authored H.F. 662, the right to carry without permit provided, and optional permit to carry provided.
Split government has spared Minnesota from Second Amendment infringement in recent years, with Republicans able to act as backstops. Now, with Democrats controlling slim majorities in both the House and the Senate, and Democrat Tim Walz in the governor’s office, the stakes have risen.
This is in stark contrast to the position taken just across the border, where Gov. Doug Burgum declared North Dakota a Second Amendment State. We don’t have such a luxury here, which is why it is so important for Second Amendment supporters to unite.
People are asking what they can do to defend our rights. You could start by providing personal input to the authors of gun-control proposals by looking up the bill numbers at www.house.mn.gov. The chief author is the first name listed.
It's imperative for those of us who cherish the Second Amendment to speak up on this issue. Our Second Amendment right to bear arms is in place to ensure our First Amendment rights of free speech. The government can never take away our right to bear arms, just as the government can never take away our right to freely speak our minds.
The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Let’s keep it that way.
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