There are many sides to issues, not always just two, but reasonable minds would allow for some kind of a compromise for the good of all.
We have such an issue going on in Jackson that doesn’t make good sense, at least to me it doesn’t. The mayor of Jackson, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, has decided that he has the authority to ban “open carry” of weapons in the city of Jackson. He cites as a reason the fact that two children, one 11 and the other 5, were killed in a one week period due to gun violence. We are not sure it is open carry at issue as much as responsible use.
We have news: the reason these murders have occurred is that the city of Jackson and its residents, like much of the rest of our nation, have allowed their communities to get lawless. They are not enforcing their existing laws.
Banning the right to bear arms is not going to hold water, and the mayor has already admitted as much. He released a video last Friday in which he announced his decision to ban open carry. In his video he confirms that as soon as the pandemic is gone so is his ban on “illegal guns.” That is about as significant as the City of Jackson declaring itself a “sanctuary city.” The city can not take care of the people they have; why, then, would they want the additional responsibility of caring for those who will come there for sanctuary? Our opinion is that sanctuary and gun bans are popular causes and a way to draw a little publicity to their current plight.
On the other side we have the state Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson claiming it to be a God given right to bear arms. From the commissioner’s web-site: “Having been in the fight for our Second Amendment rights here in Mississippi for many years, let me say this: No state of emergency or pandemic should ever be used as a basis to deprive free citizens of our God-given and constitutional rights to defend our families, our homes and ourselves. We will defend the #2A against any threat.”
We do, in fact, have a constitutional right to bear arms guaranteed by both the state and the federal government.
Gipson touts his efforts as part of the reason that we have the right to bear arms. Honestly, we have had these rights for going on 250 years. He was responsible for passing legislation that clarified issues about the open carry of firearms.
As for Chokwe’s political statement about banning arms during the pandemic, we are legitimizing his actions when we claim that bearing arms is a God given right.
This is as much a divisive statement as the weak attempt to ban arms.
According to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890
Right to bear arms.
“The right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home,
person, or property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally
summoned, shall not be called in question, but the Legislature may
regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons.”
I honestly believe that the reason so many people are carrying guns now is because law enforcement is not available when needed and therefore average citizens feel the need to be able to defend themselves with deadly force if necessary.
That is a sad commentary on our society. We do not have a problem with carrying a concealed or non-concealed weapon. We need to hold our elected officials accountable for seeing that laws protecting citizens are enforced, and if they do not do so, out they go.
