President Barack Obama hadn't even announced his gun control proposals last week, and states were already trying to criminalize anybody who enforces them.
Wyoming State Rep. Kendell Kroeker introduced a bill that said law enforcement agents who tried to enforce any future gun control laws would be guilty of a felony and could spend up to five years in prison, Stateline reported last week.
Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee legislators have followed suit, with Miss. Rep. Joe Carr proposing legislation that would make it a misdemeanor crime for federal agents to enforce new gun control laws, dnj.com reported Wednesday.
And now a New York Times' editorial, published Thursday, is taking shots at states that are resorting to such drastic measures to oppose Obama's array of gun control proposals.
"Already, states like these have done enormous damage to public safety by acceding to the N.R.A.’s demands for laws that are anything but symbolic," the editorial claims. "The gun lobby hasn’t been content with the ability of Americans to lawfully possess hundreds of millions of handguns and assault rifles. It wants gun owners to be able to carry these weapons anywhere they want, even among children, concealed or displayed, and preferably without the annoyance of permits, background checks, or safety precautions."
The National Rifle Association hasn't been shy about vehemently opposing Obama's reforms, saying the president is "attacking firearms and ignoring children" while failing to actually fix the problem of gun violence in the country.
And the Times' editorial board is sick of states following the NRA's lead.
"Still, too many states continue to put their citizens at risk as they pledge ever-greater fealty to the gun manufacturers," the editorial claimed. "It’s time the states became laboratories for safety rather than violence."
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