U.S.A. — The 2nd Amendment is one of the most important barriers to tyranny. Our Founders knew that he who has the guns, has the power. The fight for those guns, between those who want control and those who want to preserve freedom, has become especially fierce in recent decades. The enemies of freedom have become much craftier and have been able to use the legal system to their advantage in many cases. However, every once in a while, ordinary men do extraordinary things and often don’t realize the impact on future generations they will have.
In the Bruen case out of New York State, an extraordinary new precedent was created when Justice Clarence Thomas declared gun laws must meet “historical tradition.” Did he know the impact he would have? Did he know that he would be giving the 2nd Amendment new life?
Let’s go back a bit further to two men named Brandon Koch and Robert Nash. Koch and Nash were denied their concealed carry permit in the State of New York because they did not show “proper cause” according to the State. The State of New York had decided, despite the 2nd Amendment, that they would be the authority to which New York residence would plead their case and request permission to carry a gun outside their home. The anti-gun group The Giffords Law Center agreed that licenses are only granted to individuals who show “proper cause,” which means applicants must “demonstrate a special need for self-defense.” The irony of course would be in whom would determine the parameters of “special need” and “proper clause.”
You’ve heard the anti-gun crowd use terms like, “nobody needs to carry a gun in public,” or “nobody needs an AR 15,” or “Nobody needs ten rounds to kill a deer.” The word “need’ is used to get people comfortable with the idea that rights are not actually rights but government issued privileges measured by a metric of need that Democrat legislatures will determine. The New York legislature literally wrote “need” into law when they implemented the “proper cause” requirement. New York Citizens would now be required to demonstrate a compelling “need” prior to being allowed the “privilege” of exercising a “right.” God granted the right to self-defense, New York Democrats believed they can take it away.
Brandon Koch and Robert Nash had a different understanding of rights and privileges and proceeded to take on the fight of their lives. In the process, reminding all those who were watching why it is important for ordinary men to stand up in the face of tyranny. With help from the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, the nearly 8-year process to shut down the State’s overreach had begun.
Koch and Nash won against the State in a case called New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v Bruen. In his written decision, Justice Clarence Thomas made it clear that gun laws must meet “historical tradition.” These two words would give the 2nd Amendment new life moving forward by creating a precedent that would call into question the vast majority of gun laws in America.
Not to be outdone, the originally appointed Governor Kathy Hochul and her Democrat-dominant legislature in New York had a new law implemented immediately after the Bruen decision came down. It would seem they knew they would lose and had prepared a new package of even more heinous, constitution-violating gun laws called “The Concealed Carry Improvement Act.” In it, “Proper cause” was traded for new terms such as “good moral character” and “sensitive locations,” which would be used to illegally control the bearing of arms regardless of the fact that the supreme court had recently determined New York’s gun laws a violation of Citizens rights.
Today, although several components of the new CCIA have been deemed unconstitutional by state Supreme Courts, Kathy Hochul and District Attorney Letitia James are relying heavily on their ability to hold up those judges’ decisions through the appeals process.
Although State legislatures across the Country are implementing more gun laws in what seems to be nothing more than angry, defiant behavior, “historical tradition” is being used as a way to knock them back. Recently, semi-auto rifle bans in Illinois and Washington State have been implemented and are quickly being challenged, with a temporary injunction recently won in Illinois.
Can we expect a flurry of court cases as we move forward? Probably. Have Koch and Nash angered the tyrannical states? Maybe, but it would seem they have also strengthened the 2nd Amendment By encouraging Justice Clarence Thomas to clarify the requirement of gun legislation to reflect our nation’s historical tradition.
Ordinary men wrote the 2nd Amendment, and it would seem, ordinary men are defending it.
About Dan Wos, Author – Good Gun Bad Guy
Dan Wos is available for Press Commentary. For more information contact PR HERE
Dan Wos is a nationally recognized 2nd Amendment advocate, Host of The Loaded Mic and Author of the “GOOD GUN BAD GUY” book series. He speaks at events, is a contributing writer for many publications, and can be found on radio stations across the country. Dan has been a guest on Newsmax, the Sean Hannity Show, Real America’s Voice, and several others. Speaking on behalf of gun-rights, Dan exposes the strategies of the anti-gun crowd and explains their mission to disarm law-abiding American gun-owners.