RECOIL Issue #33

On a recent trip to Chicago I was reminded that despite having made great progress in the past decades, as gun owners we still have a long way to go. Numbers of licensed CCW owners are at an all-time high, the ridiculous and oft-ignored Clinton-era scary black rifle ban is but a fading memory, and the arbitrary and capricious restrictions placed on us by the National Firearms Act of 1934 have been challenged by recent product innovation.

And yet, there’s still a myriad patchwork of laws that seem to exist solely to ensnare the well-intentioned gun owner, or else demonstrate lawmakers’ almost complete ignorance of the subject at hand. Pro tip: When someone in public office claims a piece of legislation will “send a message,” they should be publicly tarred and feathered — grandstanding idiots should have no place in the halls of power of this great republic. Unfortunately, however, all too often the anti-gun media (but I repeat myself) overlooks and abets any trampling of Second Amendment rights.

Take for example the case of Avi Wolf, arrested in New York’s La Guardia airport for the heinous crime of having an unloaded magazine, despite having declared it to security. According to John Stossel, Wolf was released after spending a day in jail and managed to plea bargain a felony charge down to one of public disorder after paying over $15,000 in legal fees.

Such a case is sadly far from unusual. The notoriously anti-2A fishwrapper, the NY Daily News, routinely reports on innocent Americans whose only “crime” is to mistakenly believe their constitutional rights extend to the five boroughs. Banner headlines that scream “Woman arrested for loaded gun” are almost always followed by uncritical reporting, noting that this particular public enemy was an out-of-stater returning home who declared her firearm at the ticket counter, per federal regulations. Under N.Y. law, having a gun and ammunition in the same bag is considered the same as if the magazine were inserted and a round chambered, hence the histrionic “loaded gun” headline. To say that these “reporters” have the same journalistic integrity as pond scum would be unkind to algae.

Of course, the cities of New York and Chicago stand as examples of the most egregious violations of civil rights, but there are many others. If you’d like to see career politicians from both places foam at the mouth (and really, who wouldn’t?), then it’s up to us to call our own representatives and tell them we support H.R.38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Let’s stay on the offensive and keep America’s place as a beacon to the world and a city upon a hill. Check out RECOIL Issue 33.