November 12, 2019
The new gun-control law in Washington has,
predictably, generated opposition. Some
of that has come from the usual suspects.
The NRA and The Second Amendment Foundation have sued, claiming that it
violates various constitutional provisions.
A small meeting of opponents of the law brought
together two other factions which, in their different ways, demonstrate the
growing tendency of the right wing of American culture and politics to separate
itself into a hostile, potentially dangerous camp. The Seattle
Times described the meeting: “So intense is the distress over new
firearms regulations in the state, and [Attorney General] Ferguson’s support of
them, that a group of 35 or so came together to discuss what many saw as a
constructive next step: Go to court to file citizen complaints against Ferguson
or maybe even attempt a citizen’s arrest of
him.”[81]
The first group consisted of members of the local
branch of the Three Percenters, an
organization marked by paranoia about government oppression. The name of the organization refers to its
“rough estimate that only 3% of the colonists were
actively fighting in the field” against the British during the
Revolution. The Three Percenters see
themselves as descendants of that small patriotic band.
The web site of Washington chapter states: “We are
God fearing Patriots that support our constitution, and promise to defend our
country, our community, and our families from all enemies foreign and
domestic. We follow the tenants [sic]
set forth by the founder of the Three Percent movement, Mike
Vanderboegh.”[82]
Their By Laws recite that “Our goal is to utilize the fail safes put in
place by our founders to reign [sic] in an overreaching government and
push back against tyranny.” Diction
obviously is not the organization’s long suit.
First on its list of oaths is “I will
NOT obey orders to disarm the American
people.”[83] Rational gun control is, apparently,
disarming.
The site links to that of “The Sipsey Street Irregulars,” which contains a long “Catechism”
for Three Percenters written by Vanderboegh.
It includes this:
The Three Percent today are gun owners who will not disarm, will not compromise and will no longer back up at the passage of the next gun control act. . . . We intend to maintain our God-given natural rights to liberty and property, and that means most especially the right to keep and bear arms. Thus, we are committed to the restoration of the Founders' Republic, and are willing to fight, die and, if forced by any would-be oppressor, to kill in the defense of ourselves and the Constitution that we all took an oath to uphold against enemies foreign and domestic.[84]
One of those at the meeting said, of Ferguson, “I
want to see him go to prison for treason. But I wanted the backing of the
sheriff, because I don’t want to get shot by the state police.” Anyone on the other side is guilty of
treason; an armed confrontation is coming: these are the elements of a
dangerous and increasingly common mind set.
Will his sheriff protect him? That’s a possibility. Sheriffs present at the meeting and in the
background form the second group. At the
meeting, the Sheriff of Thurston County claimed he has the power to swear in a
militia. He said he would not do so at
present, but merely claiming that probably non-existent power hints at violent
separatism.
Following a reference to the Sheriff’s statement, a
Times editorial on the meeting described a comment by
Gary Edwards, a Thurston County Commissioner: “Edwards, a former sheriff, went
further, warning of dire consequences if President Donald Trump cannot
thoroughly pack the courts. ‘If we’re
not lucky, we might have a revolution,’ Edwards said.”[85] The relevance of the court-packing reference
wasn’t explained in the editorial but, whether or not connected to gun control,
Edwards’ comment is more divisive rhetoric.
Thirteen of Washington’s thirty-nine County
Sheriffs have declared that they will not enforce the new gun-control law, or
parts of it.[86] One
declared: “My job as a sheriff is to throw bad guys in jail, but it’s also to
protect the constitutional rights of citizens of our county. I follow the rule
of law when I believe it’s constitutional.” I wonder whether he would tolerate
that selective attitude in the public. That position demonstrates the
irrational extremes to which gun-rights thinking drives people. Law enforcement officers, confronted not
only by the usual level of crime, but by a flood of guns and the separatist
fantasies of people like Three Percenters, ought to be the last to oppose
controlling that flood.
Trump, on
September 29, launched a tweet, in part quoting a statement by an evangelical
supporter, which feeds those fantasies and encourages thoughts of violence: “If
the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they
will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from
which our Country will never heal.” They’ll
never get me, but if they do, rise up.
_________________________
81. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/discontent-over-washington-gun-laws-
leads-group-to-talk-of- citizens-arrest-of-bob-ferguson/
84. http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-brief-three-percent-catechism.html
85. https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/divisive-issues-no-excuse-for-revolution- talk-from-elected- officials/
86. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/voters-said-yes-to-tough-new-gun-law-at- least- 12-county- sheriffs-say-they-wont-enforce-it/
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