I do love these comparisons.
ELAINE HARRIS SPEARMAN: Anyone touting ‘constitutional right to vote’ amid gun talk?
There are many sheriffs in Alabama who back “constitutional carry” and are not concerned about the loss of the permit fee. There are others who are concerned that ending the permit requirement will be a serious blow to sheriff’s budgets across the state.
Some claim the real beef is “having to pay to exercise a constitutional right.”
One lone Republican to speak out against the bill, Rep. Allen Farley, R-McCalla, said, “The sheriffs use this (money) for school resource officers, patrol officers, radios, computers, cars, automatic defibrillators, extradition of felons from other states, DARE programs and children’s advocacy.”
The first thing we can start with is to decline to call carrying a gun without a permit a “constitutional carry.” The Second Amendment to the Constitution states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” (Ratified 1791)
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights because they lay out Americans’ fundamental rights and freedoms. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which were ratified after the Civil War ended, changed America’s history. Slavery was ended, civil rights were affirmed and the right to vote was extended.
Spearman really doesn’t like the fact the the right to keep and bear arms is treated as a Constitutional right. And is peeved that we don’t all agree that carrying a firearm should be subject to… infringements.
But somehow voting remains a Constitutional right.
Sure.
RKBA was <i<recognized as a preexisting right in 1791, as part of the Bill of Rights required to get the original Constitution ratified.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Note that it ends at “shall not be infringed.” It does not say “shall not be infringed except for getting government permission slips to carry after being photographed, fingerprinted, questioned as to ‘need,’ and paying multiple fees.”
Contrariwise, Spearman’s sacred voting gets somewhat less attention in the Constitution.
Voting by the people, the general population, has one mention in the original Constitution: Article 1 Section, where the people vote for members of the House of Representatives every two years. But Section 4 leaves it to the individual state legislatures to determine how and where those elections take place.
Nor is it anywhere in the Bill of Rights. You have to fast forward to 1868, 14th Amendment Section 2, to find it at all. Then it pops up again in 1870, 15th Amendment.
In 1913, the 17th Amendment finally (if unfortunately, in my opinion) allowed the people to vote for Senators.
The 19th Amendment in 1920 allowed women to vote.
Not until 1964, 24th Amendment, are the people explicitly allowed to vote for electors, who in turn vote for the President.
And, at last, the 27th Amendment extended to vote to 18 year-olds in 1971.
But in that, it’s still left to the state legislatures to run their elections their way.
Where I live, voting is pretty damned simple. I show up at the county clerk’s office, flash a government ID, and fill out a voter registration application. No fees. A few days later, I have a lifetime (assuming I don’t move or feloniously disqualify myself later) voter registration. Done.
To actually vote, I show up at the poll station, flash my ID to prove I’m the person with that lifetime registration, and cast a ballot. No fees. Done.
Compared to carrying a firearm for self defense, that hardly seems fair. So, Spearman, I propose a compromise in which the voting and toting plying fields are leveled.
Let’s make constitutional voting just as fun to do as constitutional toting.
To register to vote, you need to appear to the probate court and fill out an application. You’ll need government issued ID.
You’ll pay an application fee.
You’ll pay a background check fee (happily, my county rolls the two together so you can pay with one check).
You’ll be photographed.
You’ll be fingerprinted.
Your crimianl and mental history will be investigated.
If you pass all that, you’ll get a lifeti… 5 year license to vote.
To actually vote, you’ll have to appear in person (no mail in ballots, just as no guns in the mail), present your government photo ID and you voter license, pay another background check fee, and if you pass a NCIS check, cast your ballot.n
Don’t like that, Spearman? Let’s try it the other way.
Currently, in my state, one can walk into the polling station with no ID, o voter registration card, no fees… and cast a provisional ballot.
Cool.
Let’s do that for RKBA. No ID, No license, no fees…
Except that purchasing a firearm to carry, from a dealer, still requires a fee and background check. So let’s get rid of that part, too. We do want to treat those two Constitutional rights consistently after all.
Then we’d have Constitutional Carry.