A primer on process in America
I am appalled but unsurprised by the violent murder of almost 60 people in Las Vegas. I pray for the victims, and I weep for America.
And I am enraged by the ignorance of people who decry the inaction of Congress in preventing these sorts of attacks. Without amending the Constitution through the Article V process, Congress has no authority to ban private ownership of firearms under the present state of the law, and very limited authority to regulate a lawful trade in them. Congresscritters may propose amendments, and if those proposed amendments pass through each house by 2/3, and are then ratified by 3/4 of the states, they become the Constitution. So that way, you could repeal Amendment 2. I rate this pretty unlikely.
If you think Congress should have that authority without amending the Constitution, you need to join a group that files lawsuits on behalf of gun crime victims, preferably when those suits are based upon a valid state law theory that does not run afoul of federal law. And then you should be willing to pay the costs of the defendants if you lose, BECAUSE THAT IS HOW THE PROCESS WORKS. You will need a huge war chest, and some very smart lawyers, and a willingness to spend money like you’re the NRA. This is the most expensive but arguably quickest way to effect sweeping policy change. Ask the NAACP; they wrote the book on this method of public policy change. Every lawyer should know the name of Charles Hamilton Houston; without him, we would never have known the name of Thurgood Marshall. The desired result here is that the Supreme Court would reconsider the holdings in DC v. Heller or McDonald v. Chicago, both of which the Supremes have refused to extend. I rate this pretty damn unlikely, even if you get 9 communists on the Supreme Court.
Alternatively, you should work for stronger gun control laws at the state level. Many people misunderstand that the states have enormous gun control powers, under the general police power, which the federal government lacks. The states may not be laboratories of democracy, but they are laboratories of policy. And right now, as in so many times in our history, policies that govern America arise from the states, and are changed one state at a time. Example: marijuana legalization. Example: constitutional carry. This has a pretty good rate of success, if it is organized, and the people behind it tenacious.
Finally, you should work for a Constitutional convention to amend the Constitution. This process has advantages in that you can work state by state with a common piece of legislation; 2/3 of the states must vote for a convention, and then 3/4 of each house of Congress must ratify the proposed amendments that come out of the convention. Example: Compact for a Balanced Budget. Example: Wolf PAC. This has never worked yet, but the Compact for a Balanced Budget is almost on its way- five more states pass the legislation, and we’ll have a Constitutional convention on that issue.
These are effective ways to make changes, in that they are based upon a legal system that appears to work more or less half the time and thus constitutes the governing authority in our nation. Sharing Adam Gopnik thinkpieces is not an effective way to make changes, unless you want to make changes to your friends list.
In the meantime, I encourage you to think about whether the militarization of America’s police has made us safer, or less safe. Whether we would be safer with more police officers with better training and fewer heavy weapons, with less emphasis on the dangers of policing and more emphasis on the joy of helping others through public service, with better pay. Because while this tragedy occurred here in America, in Catalonia, a very different tragedy was occurring where national police were ordered to attack unarmed voters (arguably engaging in an illegal election under the Spanish constitution, but nonetheless, unarmed people VOTING for independence). We hear so often that this cannot happen in the West, that democracy and popular sovereignty has freed our better angels from the shackles of ignorance and fear. The Catalan people would beg to differ; it happened to them this weekend. I have worked in a Mississippi city where, as an attorney of record for a criminal defendant who lived in that city, I was followed by a patrol car from the time I entered the city limits until I left the city limits. We are not far removed from an era where trusting the police was not an option for a large number of Americans. I think that generally more people trust the police now than did a generation before. Why has this changed? Because people made it change through the political process at all levels, from within and without law enforcement.
Ignorance and fear are everywhere. Fear is difficult to master, but ignorance can be conquered with education. If you want to change America’s relationship with firearms, you have to change America. The lines have been drawn; do you have the will to engage in an effective way? Or do you prefer to post self-congratulatory articles from inside your echo chamber?
I own guns. I represent murderers, thieves, robbers, rapists, and in the past, I’ve represented lawyers, accountants, drug dealers, engineers, and large corporations. I run a cash-heavy retail business and I close almost every night, and I carry a gun when I do. I’ve prosecuted criminals and as a prosecutor was authorized by law and encouraged by the judge to carry a concealed weapon in the courtroom. I would prefer a society where no one needs a weapon to be safe. But given the option, on balance, I believe that allowing law abiding citizens to own guns and to use them for self-defense contributes to a more orderly and more peaceful society than the alternative.
My apologies for the stream-of-consciousness flow I’ve got here. Hopefully there is something useful here for you, even if you disagree with me.
