When you live in the state of Arizona and regularly experience
the insanity of a Republican state legislature led by a correspondingly
moonstruck governor, it is hard to reconcile that these apparently unbalanced
individuals are running your state. I
grew up in the South and went through the States’ Rights movement and actually
participated in a Dixiecrat rally in 1948.
I thought these people were crazy then, and I think the states’ rights
fanatics in Arizona are equally insane.
And there are many who will agree with me.
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| Arizona State Legislature at work |
The Blog For Arizona chides Arizona’s
citizenry of gun nuts in attempting to pass legislation to close the loophole
in allowing law enforcement to destroy guns not wanted by their owners by
saying, “They seek to make the secular sacred by force of state law. In doing
so they seek to use the power of "Big Brother" government to trample
the rights of individuals to do with their private property as they see fit,
which these groups comically pretend to defend.” BFA asks if Arizona is on the verge of making
“idolatrous gun worship the state religion?”
I thought it already was.
“These people are truly insane,” says the BFA, quoting
Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik as follows:
"This bill clearly illustrates
that some people don't view guns like toasters. When it comes to guns, it's as
though they hold some magical or sacred designation in their lives,"
Kozachik said. "They go around proclaiming to be for private property, but
civil liberties are out the window when it comes to guns. I guess the message
is, we can't do what we want with our property in this state if that property
is a firearm."
Then another state legislative lunatic, Rep. Steve Smith, a Republican naturally, wants to make it
illegal for any public servant to enforce "any act, law, statute, rule or
regulation'' of the federal government relating to personal firearms or
accessories as long as they remain inside Arizona. The problem with this, as even confirmed by a
National Rifle Assn. (NRA) board member, is that it is putting federally
licensed firearms dealers smack in the middle of a fight between the loonies in
Arizona and the federal government. If
passed, will probably end up in a court battle.
But it took Bloomberg to
change Arizona’s designation from Valley of the Sun to “Valley of the Gun.” Arizona leads the nation in licensees to
manufacture firearms. Add that to the
loosest gun laws in the U.S. and you have a potential powder keg. They are calling it the “Insurrectionist
Ideology,” which is what the current gun culture is all about. Bloomberg quotes one of the top gun control
advocates today:
“It plays into this insurrectionist
ideology that is at the core of the gun-rights movement: If the government is
going to shackle me, I’ll become my own gunmaker, my own gun dealer,” said Ladd
Everitt, communications director for the Washington-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “There has been a really
strong resurgence in this type of mentality that started when Obama was elected
president.”
Bloomberg calls this country an “American Arsenal,” and
rightfully so considering the approximately 300 million firearms owned by U.S.
citizens which breaks down to an average of about 2.5 guns per household. However, since the concentration of gun
ownership is confined to one-third of all households, the family arsenal is
even bigger. Additional alarming figures
are 10.8 million guns were sold in 2011, and in just January of 2013, there
were 2,495,440 FBI NCIS background checks, the prelude to gun ownership.
And if you remember Tea Party-backed State Sen. Ron Gould,
the head Arizona gun worshipper who ran for Congress and lost, well another crackpot
gun nut has taken his place in the name of Sen. Kelli Ward, who mirrors Smith’s
legislation, above, in the Senate. In
many other states in this country these people would be labeled certifiable and
committed. Ward’s legislation goes so
far that Blog For Arizona says she would change
the 2nd Amendment as follows:
Wayne LaPierre, the head gun worshipper at the NRA, would be proud of her.
