ARIZONA – Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey recently took a stand for the Constitution: He signed into law legislation that would ban any sort of enforcement of federal firearm laws which would be deemed to violate the Second Amendment.
The landmark legislation that serves as a win for those among the pro-Second Amendment crowd came to fruition despite efforts and petitions launched against it by none other than Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed legislation Tuesday to bar in-state enforcement of any federal firearm laws which violate the Second Amendment. https://t.co/fWILNslmit
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 8, 2021
Governor Doug Ducey signed into law HB 2111 on April 6th, which has been dubbed as the “2nd Amendment Firearm Freedom Act” that had been passed by both the Arizona House and Senate back in March.
The purpose of the bill is as simple as it sounds, in that it’s an effort to preemptively counteract any potential federal gun laws that might infringe upon the Second Amendment or state law in Arizona regarding firearms.
Back on February 24th, the House passed the bill quite narrowly in a 31 to 29 vote in favor of the bill.
Arizona Lawmakers Sending ‘Firearm Freedom’ Bill to Gov. Doug Ducey’s Desk
— Dave Jones (@mdj17) March 31, 2021
On March 30th, the Senate voted 17 to 13 in favor of the bill which then saw it handed over to the governor’s desk on March 31st. One week after landing on the governor’s desk, the bill was signed on April 6th.
Now this of course will undoubtedly raise concerns regarding the Supremacy Clause and the doctrine of preemption. The aforementioned serves as a means to reiterate that federal law will always supersede state law.
However, the Supremacy Clause and the doctrine of preemption has been flagrantly disregarded by the states for several years.
Said flagrant disregarding of such can be seen with states that have passed laws allowing the recreational use of marijuana, or states that have created effective legal shields for illegal immigrants via barring cooperation with federal authorities to enable immigration enforcement.
Essentially, HB 2111 is not really all that different in spirit when compared to states and localities that have adopted “sanctuary laws.”
Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone is slightly critical of HB 2111, but not necessarily because he’s against the Second Amendment.
Sheriff Penzone’s concerns are the potential confusion it could present to law enforcement within the state, as well as noting that it’s perhaps arbitrary creating a state law to back the Constitution since the document cannot be legally subverted already:
“You could make the easy argument saying it’s a state practice – the person has a right to bear arms, therefore you’re in conflict with that. Now you’re putting officers or deputies in this position where they’re questioning whether or not some other entity will determine if it’s in conflict with the Second Amendment, therefore do we act on it? And that’s where it creates problems.
“Whether you are very much in support of the second amendment, whether you have concerns about gun laws – the Constitution is its own entity. It has its protections. If you violate the Second Amendment, you don’t need a state statute to say that is unlawful or unconstitutional.”
Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said an Arizona gun bill designed to ensure the Second Amendment is not violated was confusing and put law enforcement in an awkward position.https://t.co/YAHFYAd9Dh
— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) April 2, 2021
The Maricopa County Sheriff said that he’s not going to pay too much mind to this new legislation, and instead stay hyper focused on deterring prohibited possessors from gaining access to firearms:
“My priority right now is the loophole issue. We still are allowing for firearms, whether it’s small capacity or large capacity weapons to get in the hands of people who, if they went through that legal process that applies in certain circumstances, would be prohibited from that purchase.
“So it’s how do we do a better job making sure people we know should not lawfully possess a firearm, that we’re doing our best to get the weapons out of their hands.”
In other recent news regarding firearms, a new report released shows that ownership of firearms among black Americans has been rising over the past year.
Here’s that previous report.
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A recent report details a unique jump within the demographic of black Americans as it relates to gun ownership. From what The Guardian reports, gun ownership is up nearly 60% with respect to black Americans.
Freedom rising! https://t.co/xroeMCYDoj
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 5, 2021
The specific datapoint cited within the report states that “gun ownership among Black Americans is up 58.2 percent.” Which, considering all that transpired throughout 2020, it’s hardly surprising to hear about any general instance of increased firearm ownership within the United States.
Said data was reportedly pulled from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) figures available for 2020 firearm purchases. Reportedly “Americans bought a record number of firearms,” in 2020, which included an “estimated 5 million people [who] bought their first ever gun between March and August.”
When one thinks back to the period between March through August of 2020, there are clearly two significant matters that were ongoing within the country: the effects of the pandemic, and the riots across many major U.S. cities.
Hence, the figures regarding firearm purchases aren’t terribly surprising when considering the aforementioned. But the data showed that the largest increase among all demographics, regarding first-time gun purchases, was specifically black Americans.
Gun rights organizations such as the National African American Gun Association have seen massive membership increases as a result.
Then there’s Anubis Heru, who is the owner of the 1770 Armory and Gun Club in Denver, which serves as Colorado’s first black-owned weapons store and simulator range.
Gun control is racist. Protect 2A 💪🏿✊🏿
“Americans bought a record number of firearms last year. Gun ownership among Black Americans is up 58.2%” https://t.co/rK1JnNUGAp
— Maxwell Little 🇺🇸 (@MaxHPF) April 6, 2021
When Heru touched on the topic of gun rights groups that are focused on black Americans, he stated the following:
“The value of these groups is learning with people who know your struggle and understand what’s happening and has been happening with this country.
“Black people and women of color like to come to our facility because we’re not the typical redneck with a tattoo of the Three Percenters.”
Apparently in Chicago, black locals have been lining up around the proverbial block to get in on concealed carry courses. Considering Chicago hosts concerning levels of violent crime, often in concentrated hotspots, it’s also unsurprising to see locals taking a more vested interest in their personal safety.
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