Gun Fight at the Vinnin Square Corral ?

Now making its way through Congress is a bill that is as dangerous as it is misguided. H.R. 822 -- the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, would authorize a person who has a permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state, like Arizona, to carry a concealed handgun in another state where the laws may be very different, like here in Massachusetts. The bill has been voted out of the House Judiciary Committee and is now awaiting a vote by the House of Representatives.

Essentially, this bill would allow the state legislature of Arizona to dictate to the people of Massachusetts just how the concealed carry laws will apply on the streets of Swampscott; or allow the state legislature of Mississippi to effectively change the rules in New Jersey. And this federal mandate, mind you, is being brought to you by the same folks who regularly raise a ruckus about respecting "states' rights". 

The people of Massachusetts have very good reason to believe that our gun laws work considerably better for us than would those of Arizona, which has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country. According to one recent measure, there were 15 gun deaths per 100,000 people in Arizona, while in Massachusetts, there were only 3.6 gun deaths per 100,000 persons. That's a pretty stark difference.

Adding insult to injury, Republicans in the Judiciary Committee voted down two amendments, one of which would have would prohibited those convicted of sex crimes against children from carrying concealed firearms in states whose laws explicitly prevent them from doing so, and another which would prevent known or suspected terrorists from carrying concealed firearms across state lines.

Think about it for a moment: this travesty of a bill would make it legal for a known terrorist or child molester in Arizona to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon, buy a large-caliber gun and all the cop-killer bullets he could get his hands on, tuck them into his trench coat, and take a little trip to  Vinnin Square.

According to a Los Angeles Times article about gun control and the old west, at the time of Wyatt Earp and the gunfight at the OK Corral, Tombstone, Arizona had more restrictions on carrying guns than Phoenix does today. The LA Times article quotes Bob Boze Bell, Executive Editor of True West Magazine: "You could wear your gun into town, but you had to check it at the sheriff's office or the Grand Hotel, and you couldn't pick it up again until you were leaving town."

In spite of all this logic, I don’t expect the Republicans in the House to stand up against the lobbying power of the National Rifle Association. The place to stop this bill is in the Senate. Surprisingly, Scott Brown, representing a state with some of the toughest gun regulations in the country, has not registered an opinion. It’s time to tell Scott Brown that Swampscotteers don’t want the legislature of Arizona writing our gun laws.  Email him now at http://www.scottbrown.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactscott?p=EmailScottBrown