Machine Gun Kelly’s Made in Alaska Bill

I grew up with guns.  I got a .22 rifle for my ninth birthday that I still have and love.  I have put thousands and thousands of rounds through that rifle and used it to kill more than a couple of cute little animals that wound up on a dinner table.  I am a member of a “sportsman” group so I can get a discount at the indoor shooting range when it’s too cold to go shoot outside.  I have 4 guns in my house right now, and grew up in a house with around a dozen different rifles, shotguns and handguns.  I am really looking forward to recently elected Anchorage assemblyman Dick Traini’s big machine gun shootout fundraiser.

Now that I have said all of that it is pretty obvious that I am going to say something against guns, so here it goes…

‘Made in Alaska’ firearms bill would assert state rights

The state Legislature has passed a measure exempting from federal gun regulations firearms, accessories and ammunition made and kept instate. The so-called “Alaska Firearms Freedom Act,” sponsored by Fairbanks Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, passed the Senate Friday. It now goes to the governor. It is another effort to assert state rights over federal regulations. The firearms in question also must have “Made in Alaska” stamped on them.

HB 186 was one of those bills that I heard about before the session started and laughed.  I thought it would be like Mike Chenault’s renewed efforts to bring back the death penalty, something to score a few political points that would never even make it out of committee.  I didn’t pay any attention to it at all, so I was very surprised when I logged on to the ADN website tonight and saw that it had passed.

The bill basically says that any firearms, accessories and ammo made in the state of Alaska are not subject to any federal restrictions so long as they are kept in the state and stamped with Made in Alaska.  The argument is that the only jurisdiction the feds have over firearms is through the interstate commerce clause of The Constitution. Now that the bill has passed, a company can make and sell any type of firearms in the state of Alaska as long as they will remain in the state.

You need a machine gun but don’t want to go through the hassle of registering it with the government and paying the taxes that are required now if you want to buy one through a licensed dealer?  Well you don’t have to worry about that anymore in Alaska.  Your friendly neighborhood gunsmith can now build you all sorts of fun new toys that are currently restricted, machine guns, short barreled rifles and shotguns, pen guns, disguised firearms, silencers and last but not least destructive devices, like grenade launchers or rocket launchers.

As much fun as it would probably be to play with a few of those, I’m not sure making them legal is the best idea.  Most of them have no practical use for anything but killing people, and there is a small but growing segment of Alaskans who will want them because of it. Every day there are new stories in the national media about militia groups sprouting up around the country preparing to do battle against the federal government when the time comes.  A lot of these groups are probably already armed with the weapons that this bill would make legal in Alaska, but the fact that they are currently illegal is a great tool for law enforcement to bring down some of these groups before they have the chance to kill anyone.

In 2002 Norman Olson moved to Alaska from Michigan.  Mr. Olson was the founder of the infamous Michigan Militia, the guys who helped train Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols.  He was leader of the militia, until he was basically thrown out for being too extreme.  So he packed his bags and headed for greener pastures in Nikiski.  Over the last year he has taken advantage of anti-government (aka anti-black president) sentiments and started the Alaska Citizens Militia.  One of his co-founders in the Alaska militia was Schaeffer Cox, a Fairbanks gun enthusiast/activist who has been arrested twice in March, the first time for beating his wife and the second for a weapons charge after a kind of weird run in with police.

These are the guys who are going to be first in line to buy the newly legal weapons after Sean Parnell signs this bill into law.  I’m sure there will be plenty of law abiding citizens who will buy Made in Alaska guns, but they can already buy most of them legally now if they go through the federal process.  This law only serves to make it easier for those who currently can’t get through the federal process to own these guns and easier for everyone to stockpile them

Hell Has Frozen Over aka In Defense of Fred Phelps

On March 3, 2006 20 year old Matthew Snyder was riding in the gun turret of his Humvee in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, when he was involved in an accident.  The Humvee rolled over and Matthew was killed.  7 days later Snyder’s family held his funeral in his hometown in Maryland. Along with the family, friends, and community members who showed up to pay their respects to Lance Cpl. Snyder, there were a few protesters from the infamous Westboro Baptist Church.

I’m sure that most people reading this know about Fred Phelps and his church.  For those that don’t they are a small Topeka, Kansas based Baptist church that is devoted to spreading the message of God’s hate for humanity.  Fueled by Fred Phelps self hatred as a closeted homosexual (I’m guessing here), they travel the country protesting with signs that say “God Hates Fags.”  Since their early days picketing at the funerals of victims of AIDS and hate crimes, they have expanded to include the funerals of soldiers and marines who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They see the deaths as proof that God hates America because we are all “fag enablers.”

Their message is disgusting, their tactics are reprehensible.  Everything they do is an attempt to get more publicity for their distorted view of Christianity.  Fred Phelps and his daughters Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebecca Phelps-Davis are three of the worst people on the face of the planet, and I am not exaggerating my feelings for effect.  They truly are scum, and honestly if they were on a plane to protest that fell out of the sky and they didn’t survive the world would be a better place.

Anyway back to the story of the WBC protesting the funeral of Lance Cpl. Snyder.  They showed up and did what they do everyday, of course the family was disgusted and outraged, as they should be.  Snyder’s father Albert sued the church for intrusion and intentional infliction of emotional distress.  The case went to trial and the jury found in favor of Mr. Snyder and awarded him $10.9 million in damages.  The Phelps family (who are mostly lawyers by the way) appealed and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the verdict citing the Phelps’ first amendment protections.  Earlier this month the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and it will be very interesting to see what they have to say.

The most recent twist in this case came yesterday when the 4th circuit court ordered that Albert Snyder has to pay the legal bills of the Phelps family, which so far are $16,510.  This is apparently standard practice in lawsuits, and for a good reason.  If there is a possibility of you being required to pay the legal bills of someone you sue, chances are you are going to make sure you have a solid case before going ahead.  Courts are full enough without frivolous lawsuits and a person should not have to spend thousands of dollars to defend themselves against a lawsuit without merit.

Which brings me to the part that is probably going to make some people upset.  I think that maybe for the first time in their existence, the Phelps family is completely right.  Personally I think their actions could not be more wrong, but their legal argument is correct.  The purpose of the First Amendment is not to protect speech that is popular.  It is to protect the speech that is not.  The Phelps family has the right to stand on our public streets and say what they want to say.

It is that right that Lance Cpl. Snyder and thousands of his fellow soldiers, airmen, marines and sailors have given their lives to protect, and it is doing a disservice to them to try to take away the rights of someone just because we disagree with what they say.