2014: The Second Amendment’s Triumph

In January 2014, Breitbart News reported that 2013 had been “The Year of the Gun.” Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) didn’t intend it to be that way, but it emerged as the year gun control was defeated.

Now, in January 2015, Breitbart News can report that 2014 emerged as the year states across the country went from defeating gun control to expanding the exercise of gun rights. It was the year in which the Second Amendment triumphed over gun control candidates and proponents in the midterm elections—a year in which some very important court decisions were handed down in support of the right to keep and bear arms.

For starters, on March 12, Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter (R) signed campus carry legislation into law for his state. This law makes Idaho the seventh state in the union to allow concealed carry of handguns on campus for self-defense. Weeks later, Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R) signed legislation making it legal for parents, visitors, and teachers with concealed carry permits to have guns concealed in their cars in Indiana school parking lots.

In early April, Governor Scott Walker (R) signed bills expanding the exercise of Second Amendment rights by residents of his state. Just weeks after that, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal (D) signed the Safe Carry Protection Act–broadening the exercise of Second Amendment rights in his state by expanding the number of places in which persons with a concealed carry permit can carry a gun for self-defense. In June, Tampa Bay’s 10 News reported that Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) signed legislation expanding that state’s stand your ground law by allowing citizens under attack to fire a warning shot. And in September, the Missouri House and Senate overrode Governor Jay Nixon’s (D) veto to make it possible for teachers to carry firearms for self-defense in Missouri schools. The veto override also legalized the open carry of handguns by residents with a concealed carry permit.

And Guns.com reported that on December 19 Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) signed bills reforming concealed carry regulations in his state and expanding the legal use of silencers.

On top of these and many other state-level expansions of the exercise of Second Amendment rights, pro-Second Amendment candidates crushed gun control candidates in the midterm elections. This not only included the defeat of numerous Senators who voted for Manchin’s gun control in 2013, but also the defeat gun control Representative Ron Barber (D-AZ). Voters in Arizona’s District 2–gun control proponent Gabby Giffords’ former district–chose to replace Barber with pro-Second Amendment Representative-elect Martha McSally (R-AZ-2).

In addition to these things, the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California’s burdensome “just cause” concealed carry requirement in February. And in November that same court rejected CA Attorney General Kamala Harris’ attempt to the appeal the decision.

On December 18 the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ban on gun purchases for anyone who has been “adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to a mental institution” violates the Second Amendment. In context , the court found it unconstitutional to strip Second Amendment rights away from persons who may have required inpatient treatment in the past during a particularly trying time in their lives.

These state expansions of the exercise of Second Amendment rights, the pro-gun landslide in the midterm elections, and the prominent pro-gun appeals court decisions all demonstrate one thing–2014 was the year of the Second Amendment’s triumph.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins  Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.