On the EDge: Herbert supports students, calls for tighter gun laws

March 26, 2018 Utah Channel 3

OPINION — Gun control, it’s not just for liberals any more, even in gun-friendly Utah.

It was more than a bit surprising last week to learn that Gov. Gary Herbert supports tightening down on the gun laws.

It was beyond surprising to learn that he also stands in support of the young people calling for stricter controls that would, hopefully, stop the killing that has occurred on our school campuses, in our churches, on our streets.

While acknowledging Utah’s traditional Second Amendment support, he noted “but that does not mean there are not parameters.”

He said he is willing to participate in the conversation about stricter gun safety, from banning the so-called bump stocks that allow shooters to squeeze off more rounds in quicker fashion to universal background checks, raising the minimum age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21, placing additional law enforcement in our schools and other measures.

In the run-up to Saturday’s March for Our Lives in Washington D.C., Herbert told The Salt Lake Tribune that he had nothing but praise for the young people who organized the demonstration, that he was pleased that they were “getting involved and mobilized. They are saying ‘Let our voices be heard’” as they took to the streets to march against gun violence.

It is a remarkable turnaround for Herbert who, last year, signed a bill that made it legal for 18-year-olds to obtain concealed carry permits.

There was a time, you know, when Herbert would have been tossed out on his ear for even muttering such blasphemy.

But, the times, they surely must be a-changing.

And, as much as I have looked at Herbert as being a rather bland governor, more intent with toeing the party line than pursuing vital legislation, I have to support him as he offers to address this national epidemic.

By the way, for those of you keeping score out there who are rushing to your keyboards to bash on President Obama because bump stocks were allowed on the market during his tenure, I suggest you save your breath.

Yes, indeed, they were.

There are legal vagaries regarding how that occurred, but nonetheless, steps were not taken to outlaw that particular piece of equipment. Other similar after-market items were banned, but the design and structure of bump stocks placed them in a sort of legal limbo as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives decided the law had no jurisdiction over the accessory. Apologists will say the bump stocks were allowed under a technicality. That’s a cop out. The ATF is part of the Department of Justice in the executive branch under the president’s purview, so, technicality or not, the buck ultimately stopped on Obama’s desk. Although Obama was, and remains, an advocate of stricter gun controls, his administration blew it on this one.

And, the results were tragic.

A bump stock was used in the horrific Las Vegas attack last October, the worst mass shooting in United States history. More than 1,100 rounds of ammunition were sprayed from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel onto a crowd gathered to attend a country music festival, killing 58 people.

Last Friday, the DOJ filed paperwork to ban them. We’ll see what happens after the 90-day public comment period. Let’s hope the regulation stands and these accessories are outlawed.

How much support it will garner remains to be seen as we know that this administration has busily tried to eliminate gun restrictions, going so far as to wipe out a law initiated during the George W. Bush administration and signed during the waning days of the Obama administration that banned people with mental illness from purchasing guns

If history and experience is any indication, it is wiser to follow the money than to base a prediction on morality or common sense.

That’s why it was interesting on Saturday when Al Hoffman Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to Portugal under President George W. Bush, and a longtime Republican donor, formally announced an organization to initiate far-reaching gun-control legislation.

The group, Americans for Gun Safety Now, is calling for expanding background checks, raising the age limit for all gun purchases to 21, eliminating bump stocks and limiting high-capacity magazines. The Florida real estate developer said he also will withhold campaign money from candidates who do not support a ban on assault weapons.

Hoffman announced his group officially in an ad that appeared in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal in conjunction with the March for Our Lives in Washington D.C., which he attended.

Hoffman told Time magazine that “the federal government better pass legislation that is readily available right now … and get it done now, before November. If they don’t do this, my guess is that they will lose big in November.”

It is estimated that at least $600,000 was donated by members of Hoffman’s group to Republican candidates and committees during the last election cycle and that he plans to personally lobby Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Rand Paul, R-Ky.

Of course, $600,000 is a drop in the bucket when compared with the money the NRA feeds candidates, mostly conservative, each election. Still, this group is based in Florida, a key state in national politics. Turning the state blue would be a major coup for Democrats.

On a lesser level, so is Herbert’s latest position on gun control in a state that prides itself as a bastion of the Second Amendment.

Herbert has announced that he has no plans to run for re-election, which could indicate a new boldness has emerged.

This doesn’t mean Utah is turning blue by any means.

It’s not even turning a slight shade of purple.

But, the door has been left slightly ajar, meaning there is a chance for cogent, mature discussion.

Whether the voices respond in kind has yet to be seen.

But, it is a start.

And, that’s a good thing.

No bad days!

Ed Kociela is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: edkociela.mx@gmail.com

Twitter: @STGnews, @EdKociela