Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
by: James Stoker
Understanding the political environment can be challenging. There is nobody in the 2A movement that wants to see Pennsylvania adopt Constitutional carry more than me. We’d all be neck and neck at the front of that line pushing for what we know is best for our fellow citizens and our families. We’d all love to see strengthening preemption go through, regardless of whether it is the House or the Senate that pushes it. We’d all love to see the mental health system fixed instead of being used as leverage to attack our rights to bear arms. And I think we would all love to see an end to the seemingly endless parade of do-nothing anti-gun agenda driven bills that do nothing to stop crime or save lives but constantly push us to the defense of what “shall not be questioned”.
Sadly, we do not live in those times. We have a strong opposition basing their attacks on fear and lies to sell the moderate voting soccer mom that guns are evil and we can stop evil people if we just take away a tool they use in a small percentage of their violence. Gun control is a multi-billion-dollar business that isn’t about saving lives but IS about raising money and votes. The Constitution and the founding of our nation lay largely forgotten beneath the fears of misinformed citizens.
We didn’t do great this past election cycle. Yes, at the national level pro-gun folks made great gains, but at the state level not so much. We are fortunate that we did get a pro-gun rights attorney general in Dave Sunday, but otherwise we remain on shaky ground. Down ballot voting did not pan out so well and the anti-gun crowd used scare tactics about abortion and other hot topics to stay one seat up in the House. We didn’t lose pro-gun legislators in the House the way some experts feared, but we didn’t secure it away from the anti-gun legislators either. We stayed, more or less, status quo.
That means we continue to fight. We must fight with an understanding of what expectations to have. The anti-gun agenda controls the House and the governor’s seat. So, while they cannot press their will in defeating our Constitution past the Senate, we, also, cannot push our liberty loving restoration of our God given rights past them in the House or office of the governor. Trying to force it may result in losing ground rather than gaining, and we have to be smart as to what wins the war more than what wins small popularity contests. We have to be creative. We have to meet with the Game Commission to pursue strong gun rights policies there. We have to meet with AG Sunday and discuss the attorney general’s role in enforcing the preemption statute against would be tyrants in small fiefdoms across the Commonwealth. And we have to raise funds to use litigation when necessary to straighten out those same violators when the Constitution demands it.
There is still plenty we can do. We will continue to fight for the rights of our fellow Pennsylvanians, making sure we are a voice that stops the anti-gun agenda being pushed upon our general assembly. And there is a lot we can still accomplish outside of those walls. Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.