NWA EDITORIAL: Missing the mark

Libertarians say Benton County's elected leaders on the Quorum Court need to construct, from a legal perspective, a sanctuary to protect gun rights.

And, oh yeah, they threw in all those other guarantees in the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights. After all, if you're going to marshal up the gumption to pretend Benton County government is the linchpin to the preservation of the nation's constitutional rights, it makes for good theater to stand for something more than guns and bullets.

Who can be against the Bill of Rights?

Not us. So today we proclaim Benton County a sanctuary for First Amendment rights, knowing that by our declaration we are adding some needed substance and power to the words of James Madison, without which our Top 10 Amendments might not be strong enough to last through their 229th year.

Come Thursday, the Benton County Quorum Court will take up the Libertarians' demands for an ordinance to protect the citizens of Benton County from government infringement of their rights and "ability to protect themselves." Last week, the Quorum Court's Committee of the Whole decided it wasn't wise to take a "ready, fire, aim" approach to the Second Amendment. Instead, its members favored forming a subcommittee to examine the issue.

It's understandable that Arkansans would want to stand up for the Second Amendment. Sure, there are some folks who decry the fact that the amendment exists at all, but there's a reason practically every public official or candidate for public office in Arkansas sooner or later features a campaign picture that involves camouflage and totin' a firearm out in the woods. Arkansas is Second Amendment territory. That may not be an official designation, but it's darned close to it.

Few in our state will argue against a right to keep and bear arms, which is what the Second Amendment prohibits the government from infringing. Even further in Arkansas, though, is Article 2, Section 5 of the state's Constitution: The citizens of this state shall have the right to keep and bear arms, for their common defense."

How much simpler does it need to be?

Gun advocates are stirring up a heap of angst all across the country because they're concerned local and state governments might impose restrictions on guns in the wake of violence in schools, churches, malls and other locations where murderers used guns to wreak as much havoc, injury and death as possible.

But James Madison and Co. didn't settle all questions related to firearms, just as they didn't settle every question related to the First Amendment freedom of speech also guaranteed in the Constitution. What's that about falsely yelling "fire" in a theater and causing a panic? That's not protected free speech.

Are we to assume that the drafters of the Bill of Rights anticipated every future contingency, that a fundamental and protected right cannot over the course of the republic's existence raise difficult questions that need answering according to modern understandings?

But let's take advocates' arguments at face value and say the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is sacrosanct. How does that perspective co-exist with the silly notion that the 15-member Benton County Quorum Court can be the final arbiter of what the Second Amendment actually means?

Again, let us remind everyone this is an election year, which is frequently when these sorts of rebellious demands for meaningless local legislation are drummed up for full effect on the electorate and those either holding or seeking to hold public office.

So, appoint a subcommittee or no? We embrace the idea if it serves to effectively get this highly charged but ultimately unproductive conversation off the front burner of the Quorum Court's business. Again, don't read that to mean the Second Amendment isn't important; it's this notion that the Quorum Court needs to be in the "Second Amendment sanctuary" businesses that's off target.

We've never much cared for government resolutions because we agree with the Libertarians that they don't carry much weight, and they only represent a snapshot of the voting officials' opinion. Five minutes later, the same elective body can pass a new resolution stating just the opposite if it wants.

But if Benton County needs to do something just to say it's taken a stand, the resolution is the way to go. Passing an ordinance, too many smart attorneys have noted, can lead to all sorts of unintended but real legal consequences that are, ultimately, unnecessary to the ultimate goal of standing firm for the Second Amendment.

We're not even saying there's not a debate in which Second Amendment advocates need to be directly engaged. Clearly, there is, and gun supporters need to have a voice in that discussion (and their interests aren't always served by the NRA). But Benton County should not participate in what amounts to fake news -- that a county-level ordinance is going to make the difference in whether the Second Amendment is protected.

Commentary on 02/25/2020