02/06/2019 / By JD Heyes
If you were one of the tens of millions of Americans who watched POTUS Donald Trump give his second State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, it’s likely you were among the vast majority who viewed his message favorably and approved of his call for unity and his appeal for patriotism, border security, prosperity, and protection of life.
But despite the president’s high ratings and approval, there remains a sizable portion of the country that is vehemently opposed to him and his continued leadership, and they are growing more militant by the day. This is a problem because too many Left-wing Democrats at the state and local level are working to make their citizens far less able to defend themselves if the civil society were to break down.
Some say an example of this Leftist ‘resistance’ can be found in Florida, where voters have elected Nikki Fried to be the state’s Agriculture Commissioner.
As reported by Marion Hammer writing at Ammoland, Fried has not only taken over the state’s agriculture commission, the anti-gun rights advocate has assumed control of the agency’s “administration of the concealed weapons and firearms licensing programs under the Division of Licensing” within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
That gives them de facto control over the state’s 2.1 million current firearms license holders, the website noted. (Related: Wave of “red flag laws” are coming that will deprive all Americans of their firearms because owning one is deemed “crazy” by left-wing bureaucrats.)
Hammer cautions that it’s not time to panic yet, however.
“If you believe the media, you would think newly elected Commissioner Nikki Fried is hell-bent on destroying the licensing program. Further, Fried’s newly-hired Deputy Commissioner Mary Barzee Flories (D), might be planning to take a wrecking ball to it,” Hammer noted
Local media — the Tampa Bay Times — reported last month that in a previous campaign Flories claimed that she was “100 percent committed to taking on the NRA,” and that “she supports universal background checks and the reinstatement of the federal assault weapons ban.” The paper, cited by Hammer, noted further that Flories’ “stance on gun control drew donations and volunteers from groups like Moms Demand Actions, a gun-control advocacy group…”
Hammer cautioned: “Don’t be fooled by campaign rhetoric.”
Fried and her staff are required to follow the Constitution and state law, so despite their personal beliefs about guns and gun rights, they can’t impose their will to retrofit current programs that are governed by statutes.
And in fact, Fried campaigned on a pledge to fix problems with the license-holder program, not eliminate it — something that is actually a good idea. But only provided she takes on legitimate problems rather than fabricating problems and issues and recommending or implementing ‘fixes’ that violate the spirit of the law and the Constitution.
“The CW Licensing Program is not a political football, it’s a program that facilitates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms and the constitutional right of self-defense,” notes Hammer. “Over 2 million license holders will hold her accountable.”
The website also noted that moving the licensing program to a law enforcement entity also isn’t necessary because it “should remain squarely under an elected official who must swear to uphold the Constitution and the law and can be held” directly accountable to voters.
So for now, Hammer says it’s best to take a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to what Fried will do in Florida. But others caution that the Left is busy at work attempting to circumvent existing statutes and the Constitution to prevent law-abiding Americans from enjoying their gun protections, most notably through “red flag” laws that deprive citizens of their due process and Second Amendment rights.
And all at a time when political tensions are at a high simmer, waiting to boil over.
Read more about the attack on our Second Amendment at SecondAmendment.news.
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Tagged Under: concealed carry, concealed weapons, confiscation, democrats, election fraud, Florida, gun bans, gun control, gun rights, Left-wing violence, Leftists, Liberty, licensure program, political division, Second Amendment, Tyranny
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