A few years ago, legislation to protect Americans’ civil rights during emergencies might have been thought redundant. After all, there is the U.S. Constitution.
Then came Covid-19, and Americans watched their civil rights of free speech and the right to move and associate freely dissolve in lockdowns, shot mandates, and business shutdowns.
Now, lawmakers in Alaska want to make sure that such executive emergency orders in the future do not infringe on Alaskans’ Second Amendment rights, if ever a governor in Alaska decided that was a good idea.
The Alaska House Community and Regional Affairs Committee this week moved House Bill 61 to the House State Affairs Committee for consideration. There are no other committees of referral before it reaches the floor for a vote.
The bill sponsor, Speaker Cathy Tilton, is joined by Reps. Kevin McCabe, Sarah Vance, Craig Johnson, Ben Carpenter, Mike Prax, Stanley Wright, George Rauscher, Tom McKay, Mike Cronk, Justin Ruffridge, and Dan Saddler as cosponsors.
House Bill 61 prohibits state and local governments from closing lawful firearm businesses or restricting an individual’s access to firearms, ammunition, and component parts during declared states of emergency, unless closures and limitations apply to all forms of commerce equally.
The bill will prevents anti-gun officials in liberal enclaves from interfering with Second Amendment rights under the cloak of a declared emergency, when citizens may need guns and ammunition the most. Further, the bill provides legal recourse for people who experience unjust infringements on their Second Amendment rights.
