Unavoidably detained elsewhere, I was late to the party.
Some party. A half hour after it began, so much smoke was still hanging in the air you would have thought it was one of those gender reveal parties, where the sex of a child in utero is announced by its parents with the detonation of a quantity of explosives. On Monday it was gunpowder.
The father: State Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch). The baby: Senate Bill 298, only one of several pieces of legislation birthed from the fear that President Biden – or the Deep State, or Antifa, or Black Lives Matter, or Dr. Fauci, or the Chinese Communist Party, or progressives, or Nancy Pelosi, or Chuck Schumer, or George Soros, maybe Bill Gates, or the late Hugo Chavez, or the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or Dominion Voting Systems, any or all of the preceding – are preparing to swoop down from somewhere and confiscate the guns of Arkansans, who, whenever firearms regulation is discussed, are always “law-abiding.”
2021 Arkansas legislative nightmare: lawmakers stick it to their own constituents Kasten Searles
A year into a pandemic that stole jobs, lives and any sense of stability, Arkansans might have hoped for some help when lawmakers convened in January for the 93rd General Assembly. What they got was a kick in the face.
Untethered by any check or balance on their hefty Republican supermajority, extremist lawmakers spent their time belittling and attacking their own constituents. For transgender children, renters, would-be voters, pregnant women or public safety advocates, Arkansas senators and representatives refused aid, offering insults and punishments instead.
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A few football fields to the right of
Credit Arkansas Senate
It’s now up to the Arkansas House to consider overriding a veto of a bill that would prohibit local police from enforcing federal gun laws in Arkansas. The Senate voted 21-12 Monday to override Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto of Senate Bill 298.
In a letter to lawmakers announcing his veto Friday, the governor said the partnership between state and federal law enforcement is essential and breaking that would put the safety of Arkansans at risk.
Hutchinson also said because the bill would make current federal gun laws unenforceable on a state level, it would be unclear the impact that would have on current criminal proceedings.
Override Of Gov Hutchinson Gun Bill Veto Clears First Vote In Legislature ualrpublicradio.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ualrpublicradio.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
April 26, 20213:44 pm
The Senate today voted 21-12 to override Gov. Hutchinson’s veto of legislation to prevent state enforcement of federal gun laws. SB 298’s fate now turns to the House, which has adjourned for the day. It is to convene at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Arkansas prosecutors and the Game and Fish Commission have been among those urging that the veto be sustained. And the override came after some heated debate that indicated some had thought an override wouldn’t be attempted in favor of amending the bill to deal with problems cited by sheriffs, prosecutors and others.
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Sen. Gary Stubblefield, sponsor of the bill, urged an override by saying he had a new bill that would correct problems in his original bill, which penalizes law officers who enforced the law and prohibits cooperation with feds on gun crimes. federal-state cooperation on serious crimes. A key objection has been that hundreds of pending cases could be wiped out by the new law and Stubblefield