By Stephen P. Halbrook
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
With panicked consumers emptying store shelves around the
country, and shoppers in at least one city fighting over toilet paper, the
coronavirus pandemic seems just a short distance from coronavirus pandemonium.
The panic comes at a time when many police departments,
to reduce spread of the virus, have curtailed arrests and are releasing certain
criminals from prison. This is exactly the type of situation that the Second
Amendment is meant to address. The White
House has publicly recognized that reality. Yet many public officials
insist on flaunting the Second Amendment, ordering gun shops closed or banning
firearm sales.
Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, for example, has
ordered “all non-life-sustaining businesses” to close their physical locations.
The long
list of businesses that may remain open in Pennsylvania includes groceries,
drug and hardware stores, newspapers, rental centers, and take-out from
restaurants. But gun businesses didn’t make the cut.
Yet the Pennsylvania Constitution’s Declaration of Rights
declares that “the right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves
and the State shall not be questioned.”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, without even mentioning
that provision, refused to issue an injunction on behalf of some gun shops
against the governor’s order. Three justices dissented, including Justice David
Wecht, who wrote:
The inability of licensed firearm
dealers to conduct any physical operations amounts to a complete prohibition
upon the retail sale of firearms — an activity in which the citizens of this
Commonwealth recently have been engaging on a large scale, and one guaranteed
by both the United States Constitution and the Constitution of this
Commonwealth.
The dissenting justices suggested that the constitutional
right could be accommodated by allowing the completion of sales with minimal
contact.
New gun buyers are often surprised by how difficult it is
to purchase a gun in their state. In Maryland, for example, it takes a month to
get a handgun-qualification license. It could take six months in New York,
where a judge has to sign off on each handgun license. California has a ten-day
waiting period for delivery of a firearm after the sale is approved.
Buying a gun requires a background check, which in most
states is conducted by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check
System (NICS). NICS conducted 2.8 million checks in February, the third-largest
monthly total since the system was set up in 1998. Most NICS searches are
automated and tell the dealer almost instantaneously to “proceed” or “deny” a
sale, although some transactions must be delayed for examiners to research
incomplete records.
Some states insist on conducting the background checks
directly. That’s the case in New Jersey, where Governor Phil Murphy has ordered
“non-essential” businesses, a category in which he includes gun shops, to
close. The state police then shut down NICS checks as well, effectively banning
all firearm sales. A legal challenge has been filed. By contrast, Governor J.
B. Pritzker of Illinois declared that firearm retailers are “essential” and may
remain open for business.
Gun sales already had been skyrocketing from the
ever-escalating threats of gun bans coming from Democrat presidential
contenders. The fear of societal breakdown stemming from the coronavirus has
added to the demand for firearms across the country.
Everyone wants to slow the spread of COVID-19. The
various emergency decrees being issued distinguish between essential and
non-essential businesses. What could be more essential than protecting yourself
and your family from criminal violence, especially when the Bill of Rights
declares it to be an essential right that may not be infringed?
Americans should be mindful of the dangers of “emergency”
decrees. History tells us that government diktats in response to man-made and
natural disasters often lead to unprecedented restrictions on individual
liberty that last long after the disasters are forgotten.
Some of the anti-gun decrees now being issued appear to
be motivated by the false premise that limiting gun sales will prevent upheaval
in the event that the contagion causes mass shortages and desperation. Yet
citizens who purchase firearms must pass stringent background checks to ensure
that they are mentally stable and have no felony records or other legal
barriers to firearm ownership. They are exactly the kinds of armed citizens
needed if law and order break down.
Strong measures must be taken against the spread of the
coronavirus. But they must be tailored to accommodate the citizens’ ability to
protect their safety in all aspects and to preserve their constitutional
rights.
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