The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is hailing this week’s announcement by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon that the Justice Department is adding a “Second Amendment Section” to its Civil Rights Division.
“For its first move,” CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb suggested, “we think this new office should focus on states which require a permit to purchase any firearm. Nowhere in this country should a citizen be forced to get permission from a government entity in order to exercise a fundamental right protected by the U.S. Constitution and delineated in nearly all state constitutions. Nobody needs government permission to exercise a right.
“Likewise,” Gottlieb added, “those states which have adopted so-called ‘sensitive place’ restrictions need to feel the heat. They’re trying to turn a right into a regulated privilege, and those responsible for such proposals need to be told ‘no.’ We’re glad the Justice Department has submitted an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit against Hawaii’s ‘sensitive place’ carry ban.
“Earlier this year,” he recalled, “the Citizens Committee identified a dozen states which deserve Justice Department attention on Second Amendment issues. The permit-to-purchase and sensitive area schemes are two of the most egregious infringements on the right to keep and bear arms we’ve ever seen. Special attention should be placed on California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and a couple of other states where these gun control strategies are in the works.
“Attorney General Pam Bondi has already taken action against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over concealed carry permit foot-dragging,” Gottlieb continued, “but more needs to happen, and fast. We’ve been delighted to see the DOJ submit amicus briefs or offer testimony in important Second Amendment cases. Anti-rights lawmakers who author permit-to-purchase, and sensitive place legislation need to have the legal door slammed hard in their faces.
“We’re confident Assistant AG Dhillon is absolutely serious about going after states which infringe on Second Amendment rights, whether it’s with permit-to-purchase impairments, or the equally despicable ‘sensitive places’ gun bans,” he said. “Until anti-gun lawmakers feel the heat of Justice Department action zeroing in on their extremism, they’re going to keep pushing to erode, and ultimately erase, the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Now is the time to stop these anti-freedom fanatics in their tracks.”
LOL I think everyone in CA, NY, NJ, MA, CT, DE, and maybe CO just exclaimed duh.
While CA doesn’t require a permit per se as some other States do, we *are* required here to pass a written test and obtain a firearms safety certificate before being allowed to purchase. CA’s argument is for public safety. So still a requirement for permission from our overlords.
Excessive regulations beget corruption. NYC is a fine example.
How about Jeffery Bodell and Lon Horiuchi?
Imagine if officials in a city passed laws that explicitly barred Blacks / Asians / Jews / etc. from owning real estate in that city (i.e., a deliberate, explicit 14th Amendment violation). Does anyone doubt that besides getting that law immediately set aside, DoJ would not hesitate to go after the city officials involved, personally, for charges of conspiracy to violate civil rights (of which they would be pretty clearly guilty)?
Now do the Second Amendment. Whether they are city officials in Phily, state officials in NY, Illinois, or California, or judges in Hawaii, why is an intentional, explicit refusal to abide by Bruen not a deliberate,, unlawful effort to deprive citizens of clearly established civil rights?
Bankrupt and/or incarcerate a few of these folks, and watch how fast this kind of virtue signaling “resistance” comes to a screeching halt.