Guest Editorial
BY SEN. RUSSELL PEARCE | OCTOBER 27, 2010
Should SB1070 be secondary to ... SB1108?
Crime Control vs. The Bill of Rights
The entire world, driven by news reports, has fixated on the enormous illegal-immigrant invasion Arizona has suffered under for years.
The invasion had previously been ignored, a news-media black hole from which little information escaped.
The catalyst for the attention is my bill SB1070, empowering our law-enforcement agencies to deal with the invasion. We passed it because the federal government is aiding and abetting the invaders, instead of stopping them and defending the nation against a flood of biblical proportions.
But SB1070 is a simple criminal statute, enacted to treat symptoms of a harmful crime – sneaking into our nation to commit felonies, leach off our successes, eat out our substance. A different law, SB1108, for which I am equally responsible, is the more important act.
SB1108 is no simple crime-control law. It repeals outrageous infringements to the Bill of Rights, reinstating wholesome fullness to the right to keep and bear arms. The media however, driven by a nearly fanatical racist miasma, blindly focused on the immigration-crime law – finding racism where none exists – at the expense of even noting the strengthened Bill of Rights, despite a packed news conference for SB1108.
Civil rights were reborn here on the same day the anti-invasion bill took effect, but this was ignored. While reporters cried racism, “Constitutional Carry” restored fundamental civil rights to anyone on the planet who enters Arizona legally. We've extended these rights to all people of Earth.
The God-given right to protect family, property and yourself from physical harm has been accepted since civilization's dawn. Our Founders ensconced it in the Constitution. This was uncontroversial and well understood, a deeply rooted basic human right until recently, when forces of darkness began attacking truths we hold to be self evident.
Arizona now enjoys more robust protection for the right to arms than anywhere on Earth. How could media pundits miss that? In times recently past, a law that frees every decent adult on Earth to carry a gun with no prior permission would have precipitated a national uproar.
Are the media just tired of crying wolf? They screamed about imminent blood-in-the-streets when Arizona's gun-permit law passed in 1994, but nothing ever happened (and they never apologized).
They convulsed recently, anticipating wild-west mayhem when gun bans in National Parks were repealed. Nothing happened (not even remorse for the fear mongering).
When Arizona's restaurant gun ban was lifted a year-and-a-half ago, we endured fantasies about impending homicidal frenzy from “shotguns in nightclubs,” but it turned out that breakfast at Denny's or lunch at Applebee's remained tranquil. No correction has been issued or is expected.
So should the media pay attention to a law that restores our rights, instead of one that hampers criminals?
Does it really matter that states nationwide now seek and are clamoring for Constitutional Carry for themselves?
So what if Arizona frees its women to put handguns in their handbags, go about their business, and return home without fear of arrest? The bill's chief advocates, the Arizona Citizens Defense League (azcdl.org) spent five years reaching this point. Americans are carrying guns but no one's getting shot? Who cares?
Most of all, why tell people that government's exit from the enforced-training regimen is a business-stimulus plan?
Private enterprise has launched the TrainMeAZ.com campaign to promote “a culture of marksmanship” and gun safety to every resident. This is Arizona – learn to shoot straight. Marksmanship matters. Teach your children well. Why cover that, even if it is going up on billboards statewide?
Constitutional Carry and the TrainMeAZ campaign have ignited a firestorm of entrepreneur ism, and rekindled a burning desire to restore the nation of marksmen our Founders envisioned.
I personally urge America to examine what we've done with Defensive Display, Castle Doctrine inside and outside the home, Burden of Proof, Specious Lawsuit Immunity, Firearms Freedom Act and more. Emulate the freedom of spirit thriving in the Grand Canyon State. Visit and experience life as a free adult, not a ward of the state. You may not want to leave. And if you do, you'll take the spirit of freedom home with you.
Russell Pearce is the Republican State Senator from Arizona legislative district 18 and author of the anti-illegal immigration bill SB1070, and the Constitutional Carry law for firearms, SB1108, neither of which are controversial in point of fact. Learn more about the TrainMeAZ Campaign at www.trainmeaz.com
