Has “woke” culture reached a peak? Galileo and Isaac Newton have been canceled, along with Abraham Lincoln and football great Tom Brady, and the scientific method has been debunked as racist. Courageous Americans who have had enough are starting to push back, and their efforts are driving the far left bonkers.
On February 3, 2021, in an impressive and effective counterattack to the far left’s radical agenda, the Newton County Commission in Missouri passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which, in part, declares:
[wpmfpdf id=”118012″ embed=”1″ target=””]“All federal acts, laws, orders, rules, and regulations passed by the federal government and specifically any Presidential Administration whether past, present, or future, which infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 23 of the Missouri Constitution shall be invalid in the county.”
Assaults on Second Amendment-guaranteed rights have long been part of the Democratic playbook. But leftists won’t be stripping Missourians of their firearms anytime soon.
Newton County’s new mandate will prohibit the enforcement of federal policies requiring the “registering or tracking of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition or order the confiscation of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition.” Only local law enforcement will be exempt when dealing with “suspected criminals” or any federal authorities who refuse to comply with the law, pursuant to Section 4(a) of the act.
The ordinance also blocks anyone from “being hired as a law enforcement officer or to supervise law enforcement officers in the county who enforce or attempt to enforce any of the infringements identified in this ordinance.”
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This law comes in the wake of the Second Amendment sanctuary movement sweeping across the nation since 2019, spurring scores of counties to submit statements of protection for gun rights that the federal government is attempting to overhaul. As Newspunch reports, “The sanctuary movement has only recently come to the state of Missouri…. But Newton County might have adopted the strongest language in the entire country — going so far as to criminalize enforcement or cooperation with federal law enforcement who seek to enforce such policies.” The message from lawmakers in Missouri is loud and clear; they demand the Left own up to and retreat from these unconstitutional attempts to break the law.
In an op-ed, Missouri State Representative Bill Hardwick (R-Waynesville) considers the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause as it applies to the Second Amendment Act. Referencing the U.S. Supreme Court case Printz v. United States (1997), in which Sheriff Jay Printz argued that Congress could not force local sheriffs to execute federal law, Hardwick reminds us that “in the case’s dissenting opinions, it was argued that if a state refused to participate, such refusal would be unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause.” However, explains Hardwick, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia held that the Clinton-signed 1993 Brady Act was a “commandeering of the state sheriff’s departments, which in itself violated the 10th Amendment.” Scalia’s opinion later became operative constitutional law. For anyone wondering if state legislators need conservative support, the answer is yes, now more than ever.
Moreover, Hardwick persuasively explains that “any debate about the Second Amendment is also about the purpose of the Constitution itself.” He reminds us that “We the people should never entertain the concept that we have given the government absolute power. All the powers of the government are derived from We the People. However, our rights as individuals do not originate from the government.”
The Resistance Gains Momentum
Just southwest of Missouri in Oklahoma, Republican Governor Kevin Stitt boldly signed an Executive Order that effectively nullifies President Biden’s newly signed Executive Order 13990, which revokes the permit for the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline, reinstates restrictions on offshore drilling per President Obama’s Executive Order 13754, and places many other restrictions on the energy industry in the name of saving the environment. Stitt claims the order violates the 10th Amendment.
This second act of resistance to the new administration’s unlawful exploits further upholds the principles of self-governance and citizens’ natural rights but also allows thousands of people to remain employed in Oklahoma’s booming oil and gas industry.
As the lifeblood of our nation, the Constitution ensures Americans the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thankfully, Oklahoma is determined to nullify Biden’s economy-destroying executive orders, guaranteeing Oklahomans their jobs to sustain “life.” Those who live can enjoy “liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Similarly, Missouri is proactively moving to preserve its residents’ Second Amendment-protected rights. Both states aggressively standing to fight for our Constitutional rights are the defense we need to keep our firearms and to remain gainfully employed.
No doubt the far-left agenda will lose momentum if Americans support lawmakers such as Representative Bill Hardwick and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. Such persistent and dogged pushback on progressive policies is a win for liberty-loving Americans and is absolutely necessary.
