Florida and Pennsylvania Democrats Continue to Legislate in Contempt 

Until they face legal consequences, the contemptuous left has made it clear that they will continue to spend tax dollars legislating in defiance of the judiciary, particularly the United States Supreme Court. While “contemptuous” could be aptly described here as full of scorn or disdain, I am referring to contempt of court, legal terminology that describes the act of disobedience or disrespect towards the judicial branch in opposition or defiance of its authority. 

You might be asking, can a lawmaker be held in contempt? The answer is absolutely. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the Judiciary Act of 1789 authorizes federal courts to punish contempt by fine or imprisonment. At some point, the Supreme Court should decide if it is merely a symbolic relic of days past or if its rulings have any teeth backed by authority. An example of the contempt I am speaking of is the constant legislation and re-legislation of anti-Second Amendment bills which ignore previous judicial instruction.

Rep. Melissa Shusterman of Pennsylvania recently set her sights on “ghost guns,” intending to introduce a bill regulating them out of existence in 2025. Shusterman seeks to implement requirements that 3D-printed firearms be restricted to production by those with a federal manufacturing license, thus removing the long-standing tradition of Americans making firearms at home for private use.

“3D-printed guns shoot like a gun and they can kill like a gun… It’s common sense we should regulate them like guns,” says Shusterman.

Similarly, Florida Rep. Christine Hunschofsky recently filed House Bill 65, known as the “Responsible Gun Ownership Act,” that would ban “ghost guns,” require universal background checks, and mandate that all gun sales, including private transfers, be conducted through licensed dealers.

“This common-sense legislation is about enhancing the safety and security of our communities,” said Hunschofsky… We are living in an era where gun violence has taken a devastating toll on our state. I believe that everyone has a right to be safe, and to do that, we need to ensure that law enforcement has as many tools as possible to keep us safe,” says Hunschofsky.

Hunschofsky’s proposed legislation has little chance of passing in the Republican-dominated Florida legislature, amounting to nothing more than saber-rattling on the taxpayer’s dime.

These types of legislation, while doing nothing to reduce violent crime, stand in direct defiance of the standard imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court in its landmark 2022 New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen decision, stating that when a law affects the Second Amendment, courts must use the history and tradition of firearm regulation in the United States to determine if it is Constitutional. By this standard, Americans should not have to sue over and over to maintain or restore their rights, and repeated non-compliance by legislators who, at no cost to themselves, ignore the High Court’s instructions should be treated as willful contempt of court. 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. There is no such thing as a “ghost gun.” Conversely, a long-standing tradition of Americans making firearms at home for private use dates back to the founding. This indisputable fact establishes a “history and tradition of firearm regulation in the United States,” such that it satisfies the Bruen standard. Using made-up terminology like “ghost guns” to drum up manufactured fear and hiding contempt behind terms like “common sense” reveals just how stupid and gullible leftist legislators believe their constituents to be.