Where Does New Hampshire Rep. Carol Shea-Porter Stand on the Second Amendment?

 I read this editorial in the New Hampshire Union Leader today with great interest. It involves my congresswoman, Carol Shea-Porter and her position, or lack thereof, on the second amendment.

Specifically, she seems unsure of her position on the 2nd Amendment. She has always proclaimed herself a supporter of the 2nd Amendment’s declaration that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

 Nothing wrong with that, however does she really? What about her position on the Washington D.C. handgun ban that is now in front of the supreme court? Where does she stand on this issue? The editorial goes on to say that she was the only member of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation to refuse to sign a statement supporting overturning the ban.

“Well, I’ll tell you. I support the 2nd Amendment as well. And I come from a state where people hunt. I understand that. I’ve lived in the North Country, and I support their right to hunt. I support all that. However, there is another issue: states’ rights. And so I am waiting for the court to make a decision about this.

“And there are two different issues here. And we also want to make sure we protect states’ rights.”

So here we have a case where one state, or in this case the District of Columbia, is passing rules for themselves, and the federal government’s coming in, and I’m stepping aside until we decide what comes, and you know, who has the priority here. Is it a states’ rights issue, or, or exactly how will it shake out?”

 The first thing that I noticed when reading her comment above, and it was also quickly addressed in the editorial, was where the hell is the right to hunt in the constitution? There is no right to hunt in the constitution, that is not what the second amendment was created for. The second amendment was created for self defense and protection against an oppressive government.

 Carol Shea-Porter’s ignorance on the issue of state’s rights is astounding. The editorial goes on to say the following:

if you have no opinion on whether “states’ rights” trump the 2nd Amendment, then you don’t support the 2nd Amendment, which guarantees the individual right to bear arms in self defense. What other constitutional rights does Rep. Shea-Porter think states can override?

 Carol Shea-Porter doesn’t understand that while state have the right to rule and regulate themselves, they can’t over-rule the constitution.

 This ignorance is astounding coming from an elected official.