Won't stand up to the Feds? Follow the money!

Utah HB.114 (Second Amendment Preservation Act) was probably the most important piece of legislation to be considered in Utah this year. I am pleased that my representatives, Senator Evan Vickers and Representative John Westwood had the courage to support this bill and I thank them.

Not only was HB.114 an effort to enforce the Second Amendment, it was a effort to enforce the Tenth Amendment. More importantly, it was an effort to enforce the entire US Constitution by telling the central government that it has exceeded its authority and that the People of Utah will not tolerate that usurpation of power.

I am saddened that the leadership of the Utah Senate and Utah Governor Gary Herbert were unwilling to take that stand. The People of the State of Utah and the People of the United States also lost when that bill failed.

Every member of the Utah Legislature as well as the Governor have a sworn duty to defend the Utah Constitution and the US Constitution. HB.114 was designed to do exactly that. Unfortunately, not enough of those sworn defenders were willing to take a stand.

I suspect that many of the weak-kneed politicians who didn't support HB.114 were largely concerned about money. You see, a substantial portion of each state's budget is "free" money from the central government. That shameful dependency includes Utah. Standing up to the central government is a good way to lose that "free" money. Too many of the Utah's elected officials prefer the comfort of that "free" money over defending the the Utah Constitution, the US Constitution and Liberty.

To compound the issue, there was a rumor that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" (MAIG, also known as "Muggers Against Individually-owned Guns") funded lobbying efforts against HB.114 and other pro-gun bills this year.

Utah's politicians who failed to support HB.114 should be ashamed. More importantly, the voters who put them in office should be ashamed.