Police departments across the country are getting desperate to hire due to chronic understaffing and elevated burnout. Earlier this month, the Seattle Police Department became the latest major law enforcement agency to open recruiting to illegal aliens, and if hired, these new cops will end up having more gun rights than everyday Americans.
Under this new hiring policy, illegal aliens protected from deportation under the Obama-era DACA program will be eligible to apply. Of course, should these aspiring officers pass the training academy, they will be sworn to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States and empowered with the full authority of the law, including the authority to arrest, execute warrants, and carry service weapons.
Many readers may not be aware that a series of federal laws exist that exempt active and retired police officers from state and local gun control laws when carrying off-duty and in restricted areas. This can include the right to carry in many gun-free zones and exempt them from bans on certain firearms and certain magazines. On top of that, House Republicans just passed a bill to further expand these rights to carry for current and retired cops on certain public lands and in many federal buildings.
While it sounds like a great idea at first glance, there’s a serious constitutional question that’s being ignored: Why should a certain class of people be given special rights that all Americans can't enjoy—especially when that class of individuals may now include illegal aliens?
While cops can carry nationwide thanks to these federal protections, this right should be afforded to all Americans under the Second Amendment. Every hardworking, law-abiding citizen deserves to be able to exercise their rights and be able to defend themselves without fear of prosecution for crossing an imaginary line or for carrying a magazine capable of carrying “too many” rounds.
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Some will argue “they have training” or “they’ve demonstrated responsibility,” but those are not pre-requisites in a free country for free people to exercise their rights. Just this week the U.S. Supreme Court flatly rejected an argument by the Department of Justice that a lack of “responsibility” can be enough to disarm someone.
For local officials to greenlight the hiring of people who aren’t citizens, to be vested with the authority to arrest and use force against Americans, is antithetical to our founding. Moreover, it’s even more damning when those same officeholders fight to keep Americans from being able to exercise their Second Amendment rights that our founders so wisely and eloquently fought to ensure and guarantee.
Of course, hiring illegal aliens wouldn’t even be an issue if burnout wasn’t so high among active cops, but these same local officials are usually to blame for that too. When local lawmakers, mayors, and prosecutors choose to de-prioritize the prosecution of real crime – as is wholly the case in Seattle and Los Angeles – it's inevitable that law enforcement gets drained. Who wants to serve and protect when the bad guys are walking out shortly after going in, including for violent offenses where a firearm was used?
This is not a piece arguing for the end of legal immigration, as many, including this author’s family, have lawfully come to this great nation with a desire to serve in our armed forces or on our streets as law enforcement officers. Many would agree that some of the very best freedom-loving Americans come from foreign lands, often where freedom is treated as a crime.
Regardless, it’s ironic and hypocritical that anti-gun jurisdictions like Seattle and Los Angeles are empowering non-citizens to enforce tyrannical gun laws against Americans, all while they themselves will be granted full exemption from the very gun laws they’re enforcing. Let that sink in.
The State of Washington only recognizes carry permits from ten other states, meaning an American hailing from the forty others cannot bring his or her firearm and carry for their protection—unless of course they’re a cop.
Politicians and political insiders often quip over why the American public distrusts those in office. This example of restricting Americans from exercising their inalienable rights while granting a carve out for non-citizens is a glaring example.
Luis Valdes is a national spokesman and the Florida State Director for Gun Owners of America, a “no-compromise” grassroots lobbying organization with over 2 million members nationwide. He is a former law enforcement officer and detective.
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