NV gubernatorial candidate vows to start arms race with America

For years, North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon has shilled for the problem gambling industry, er, neighborhood casinos and also served as a reliable yes-man for the sprawl lobby. Naturally he thinks he should be governor.

But it turns out Montandon is also something of a constitutional scholar, as he demonstrates in an essay he wrote for his campaign blog:

Today, supporters of the second amendment fight daily against what they believe are attempts to take away arms. The reality is that fight has already been lost in the purpose for which the amendment was written. As soon as we began to allow a difference between the effectiveness of the weapons that the States (citizens) could have vs. the Federal government, the battle was lost. Citizens involved can continue to fight the small fights, over ammunition rationing, concealed vs. open carry, etc., but they are just distractions. They distract us from the big issue. While we may have the ability to defend ourselves against our own ilk gone awry, we have lost the ability to defend ourselves from a Federal government gone awry. Without that ability, we are simply left to stretch out the loss of our other rights through the exercise of our best diplomatic abilities.

Seriously. How can Americans fend off an assault from all-gay armored infantry divisions led by Nancy Pelosi if they don't have weapons of the same "effectiveness" as the enemy, i.e., the military forces of the United States of America? Why are Americans outraged over a puny concern like "ammunition rationing" (!?) when big government has already trampled on the individual's Second Amendment right to mid-range missiles armed with nuclear warheads?

Montandon also writes that the Second Amendment is "crystal clear," and your lowly Gleaner envies the candidate's certainty. Frankly, sometimes it seems like the more I examine the nation's founding and contemplate what the framers were up to, the fuzzier things get. And the professionals are less help than one might hope. The nation's founding "involved processes of collective decision-making whose outcomes necessarily reflected a bewildering array of intentions and expectations, hopes and fears, genuine compromises and agreements to disagree," writes Jack Rakove in Original Meanings. And Rakove admonishes would-be diviners of the framers' "true intentions" to "never forget that it is a debate they are interpreting"

But Montandon's got it all figured out. And wouldn't you know? In contending that "the purpose for which the amendment was written" was to allow citizens to defend themselves "from a federal government gone awry," Montandon, unwittingly, perhaps, is embracing a militia-centric view of the amendment that at least brushes up against the interpretation favored here at Gleaner HQ. 

That interpretation was more or less captured by Saul Cornell in A Well-Regulated Militia. The "original understanding" of the Second Amendment, Cornell writes, was as "a civic right that guaranteed that citizens would be able to keep and bear those arms needed to meet their legal obligation to participate in a well-regulated militia."

Alas, it wasn't long before state militias were supplanted by a federal army and, eventually, a national guard. And so the original, contextual intent of the Second Amendment (though not the contemporary bastardization of it) became a relic, just like the the one that comes after it (as you may have noticed, politicians don't scramble over each other vowing to protect our Third Amendment rights). Or as Richard Urviller and William Merkel put it in The Militia and the Right to Arms, the Second Amendment "fell silent."

But if Montandon wants to recover the original meaning as he evidently sees it, reestablish a vigorous, active and purposeful state militia capable of standing up to the U.S. military, and force able-bodied Nevada citizens to muster at Sunset Park whenever they're told with their own military assault rifles, shoulder-launched missiles and surface-to-air artillery, purchased at their own expense, well, that should liven up the campaign trail.

One suspects, however, that he's just launching a bunch of hard-edged pro-gun rhetoric in the hope that it will arouse locals with more guns than sense and supply a spark to a flat candidacy that has thus far excited exactly no one.

*   *   *

One other smallish point about the framers and their firearms ... 

The founders were politicians, not gods. Blindly assigning infallibility to things that were written more than two centuries ago is foolish (that goes for the Federalist essays, though I'll leave the debate about Hamilton's proto-authoritarianism for another day). The founders disagreed among themselves, they changed their minds, and whenever anyone (it's usually somebody from the right) starts yammering on about "the founders believed" this or "the framers said" that, m'kay, Which founder? When (for instance, during revolution or ratification)? And most devilishly of all, Why?

So dusting off a snippet of something some founder or other said or wrote to make a point is rarely if ever as conclusive as its practitioners might think. But what the hell, here's one anyway (cited from Cornell): As a Virginia legislator in 1785, James Madison proposed a bill on deer hunting that also  penalized anyone who "shall bear a gun out of his inclosed ground, unless whilst performing military duty."

Hmm. Sounds like gun control.

Madison "understood the difference between bearing a gun for personal use and for the common defense," Cornell writes. "The state clearly retained the right to regulate the use of firearms and differentiated between the level of restrictions that might be placed on bearing a gun and bearing arms."

Maybe Madison's views on regulating weapons had transformed (changing outlooks was not out of character for him) by the time he drafted the Second Amendment four years later. 

Or perhaps the Second Amendment really wasn't intended to mean what today's gun rights enthusiasts think it means.

In any case, Montandon's gun worship may garner him a superior rating from the National Rifle Association. If Madison were running for office today, well, hard to say.

Comments

[dave404]

Gleaner, I think you have pretty much covered it.

Tark is going to wrap himself in an initiative, Montandon with his Juris Doctorate has staked out the 2nd Amendment, the other GOPers had better stake their claim before one of the others does!

"Montandon also writes that the Second Amendment is "crystal clear," which is odd as their has never been a United States Supreme Court decision that has upheld an un-bridled right to keep and bear arms. Never. 235+ w/o such a ruling from the USSCT.

[dave404]

"Oh, Mikey, you'se got some 'splanin to do!" Here are Mikey Montandon's LAWS that he established for gun control in NLV while he was mayor!

"9.32.040 Dangerous or deadly weapon defined...and any firearm other than (a) one carried pursuant to a valid permit, issued by a duly authorized government authority

9.32.050 Person with concealed weapon not to loiter.
It is unlawful for any person, while carrying concealed upon his person any dangerous or deadly weapon, to loaf or loiter upon any public street...

9.32.080 Deadly weapon prohibited in vehicle--Exceptions.
It is unlawful for any person to have in his possession in any automobile, truck, motorcycle, or any other type of vehicle any dangerous or deadly weapon...

9.32.110 Firing of weapon.
It is unlawful for any person to explode or fire any pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, or any other firearm within the limits of the city of North Las Vegas...

9.36.020 Dealer's license.
It is unlawful for any person, except a dealer having a pistol permit issued under the provisions of this chapter, to engage in the business of buying or selling pistols at retail...

9.36.100 Registration.
A. Any person who has been a resident of the city for a period of sixty (60) days or more is required to register any pistols in their possession as set forth in Section B of this section;

B. Any resident receiving title to a pistol, whether by purchase, gift or any other transfer, shall within seventy-two (72) hours of receipt, personally appear at the police station, together with the pistol, for the purpose of registering the same with the chief of police....

9.36.120 Persons prohibited from purchasing or owning pistols.
It is unlawful for any person to receive from another by loan, gift, purchase or in any manner, or attempt to obtain in any manner or have in his possession or control, a pistol as defined by this chapter who:
[identified A-G]...

9.36.170 Condition of pistols sold.
All secondhand and used pistols, except antique pieces, sold or purchased shall be in a safe, operable condition."

Yup, in Mikey Montandon's gubernatorial electoral world the 2ns Amendment is "crystal clear", but if you live in the city that Montandon was mayor of for the past 8 (?) years, it isn't so damn 'crystal clear" is it? Montandon could have sought to strike down all theses "non-constitutional" laws, and in fact allow for unfettered access to weapons in order for the citizens to protect themselves from the government on North Las Vegas...but he didn't...Montandon regulated the heck out of the second amendment!

PS: I didn't include all of the laws limiting the "crystal clear" right to bear arms in Montandon's World!

montandonlimitsonguns

[Nevada Scandalmonger]

Just to be "crystal clear", Montandon does NOT possess a J.D. He did, however, get some BS from that challenging Finance Dept at ASU.
Almostasnuttyasgibby.com

Hmm. A finance degree. That's what the guys who can't handle accounting get, ain't it?

By the way, them new gun laws in NLV were forced on the city by the state legislature, because Sen John Lee (NRA-NLV) thought NLV and Clark County's old gun laws were too restrictive.

Nonetheless, Mikey was enthusiastic about the change:
yephescrazytoo.com

[ColinFromLasVegas]

You just confirmed it, Glean.

Squirrels ARE Republicans! And they're packin'!

I always thought they were, but here's picture proof in your article....

I wonder who will endorse them though, Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich?

[Happygirl]

*Sigh...* Montandon is just boring. We've hear this whole 2nd Amendment tirade over and over.
As a progressive who supports all 10 amendments, including a the Second, I'd suggest the wannabe governor calm down.

[Nevada Ned]

Dear Gleaner:

Thanks for the lesson on the Second Amendment. I want to draw your attention to a terrible injustice: visitors to the Regional Justice Center have to go through an airport-style screening, and can't bring their weapons into a courtroom!! It's just terrible that the average citizen is unjustly deprived of his precious weapon, in the courtroom. They ought to rename it the Regional Injustice Center.

If citizens were armed in the courtroom, then divorce and child custody trials would be much more interesting. "Fireworks" at trial would mean far, far more than merely a tough cross-examination.

I hope that Vin Suprynowicz at the RJ will wriggle out of his straightjacket long enough to bring this injustice to the attention of the citizens. The right of citizens to bear arms, including machine guns, bazookas, and nuclear weapons, shall not be abridged. Vin will find support from other Libertarian lunatics.

[Nevada Ned]

Did everybody notice that the squirrel is a member of the NRA? National Rodent Association.

And don't forget to

Support Your Right to Arm Bears!

http://www.cafepress.com/+arm_bears_long_sleeve_ts,2065024

[Nevada Ned]

Sorry, try this link instead.

http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/1038.html

[dave404]

My earlier comment that Montandon "enacted" all those gun control laws as mayor of NLV is inarticulate...I do not know how many of the gun laws Montandon help enact, I just know they are on the book and he was the mayor.

[rj222]

Nice one Dave404.... The entire premise of your argument was that Montandon is responsible for limiting the 2nd Amendment or in your words "Mike regulated the heck out of the second amendment".
I guess when someone takes office they are responsible for everything that was "enacted" before. I am sure you are as frustrated as I am that Obama keeps declaring war War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII and all those other military engagements from the Barbary Wars through the current Iraq War.... "Oh, President Obama, you'se got some 'splanin to do!"

[David McKee]

Hugh, you've got it wrong that Montandon is a casino-industry shill. Would-be developers were frustrated by his insistence that all the sites in NLV *already* zoned for casinos be developed before new gambling-enabled zones were created

http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2005/12/30/news/news01.txt

Incidentally, Station later flip-flopped & started pressing NLV to give it a second casino on the northern Beltway, to counter a Boyd Gaming project that was scheduled nearby. Both Boyd and Station poured more than a few pennies into the race to choose Montandon's successor. Station's candidate won.

[Ecureuil du Legion Etrangere]

Hey, Gleaner! Love the post, but...
The squirrel is holding his rocket launcher backwards. Unless that's intentional visual irony. Then you rock.