As the 2019 SHOT Show continues until Friday in Las Vegas, the sounds of discontent with gun control are being heard across the map. (Dave Workman)
While tens of thousands of firearms industry professionals including retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and media are gathered in Las Vegas for the 2019 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, something subtle is happening out there in the hinterlands.
In New York State, the Grand Island Town Board this week declared via resolution that it opposed new gun control laws that infringe on the rights of gun owners, according to the Buffalo News.
About 3,000 miles to the west, the Republic City Council in Washington State are currently taking a serious look at declaring the city a “Second Amendment sanctuary,” according to a detailed report by KREM News. Republic Police Chief Loren Culp has already announced he would not enforce a restrictive new gun law passed by voters in November by initiative.
This may not seem significant to the wealthy elitists and others on the political left who are pushing a raft of gun control efforts, but resistance is a funny thing. It is born in small efforts, in gatherings of like-minded citizens who see their rights being eroded and in community meetings, where citizens stand together and applaud a police chief for just saying “no.” It is energized by small signals, such as a lawsuit here or a decision by the Supreme Court to hear a gun rights case for the first time in nearly a decade, a case that some observers, such as National Review’s David French, are already suggesting that the court would not have accepted if it intended to uphold a lower court ruling.
A stroll through the aisles of the SHOT Show is an opportunity to chat with people from all over the country who are fighting their own battles back home. Those aisles feature displays of guns — all kinds of guns, from replica Old West sixguns and lever-action rifles, muzzleloaders and shotguns, to Modern Sporting Rifles, which are the most popular long gun in the United States today, probably because there are so many people who are trying to ban them.
In New Mexico, for example, the Associated Press is reporting that the state’s Democrat-led Legislature and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham are showing a keen interest in passing new gun controls.
Back up in Washington State, Democrat lawmakers have already held hearings this week on a number of gun control measures, featuring plenty of emotional testimony about “gun violence.” There is scant hard evidence that any of the proposed gun control measures, from Albany to Albuquerque to Olympia will have any impact on violent crime, say critics, almost by reflex.
The SHOT Show wraps up Friday, but the interest in firearms will continue, with all the new guns and accessories attracting more customers to gun stores all over the country. And with that continued interest could come more resistance to efforts to take those firearms away.
