Sen. Cris Dush: Government can’t touch people’s right to bear arms

In a free society, the safety and welfare of “We the People” can never be guaranteed by criminalizing one of our most fundamental freedoms: the right to bear arms. 

Unfortunately, in Pennsylvania, even the most “well-intentioned” or “commonsense” gun laws can rapidly mutate, multiply and come to fruition as tyrannical firearm confiscation and control.

To date, more than a half dozen of these liberal gun control measures have been forcibly advanced by the razor-thin Pennsylvania House Democrat majority — all of which Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to sign into law as he schemes for higher office.

As briefly touted in the governor’s annual budget address, the Shapiro administration is seeking to establish the Office of Gun Violence Prevention which would coordinate and implement Biden-initiated strategies to “reduce firearm carnage.”  

According to multiple media reports, this new office would cost $1 million to start, and funding would come from $100 million in new public safety dollars, with the governor recklessly pledging to spend to “help track and address gun violence.”  

As chairman of the Senate Second Amendment Caucus, I’m certainly not “joshing” when I say that greenlighting this taxpayer-funded, private firearm ownership prohibition agency would be another step closer to displacing our republic’s most cherished constitutional liberties with an unaccountable and ever-present mass citizen surveillance state as depicted in the pages of George Orwell’s 1984.  

Some of the governor’s deliberately sketchy, CeaseFirePA-preferred spending proposals would fund the hiring of additional auditors under the Pennsylvania State Police to inspect already licensed firearm dealers; and expand the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center’s capacity to monitor the social media activities of law-abiding firearm owners.  

Even a stopped clock is right twice-a-day and I will agree with the governor when, with regard to the increasing violence (and I will add that it’s all violence, not just violence involving a gun), he says: “It doesn’t have to be this way.”  

We need to examine what is causing the violence and not what tool is used to effectuate the violent act.  As we’ve seen in nations that have banned firearms, if we fail to address the cause the act will simply be carried out with another tool.

The foundational mission statement of the Senate Second Amendment Caucus is Article 1, Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution which decisively states: “The right of the citizen to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned.”  

In less than 20 words, the people of Pennsylvania have already constitutionally declared that no level of government can touch our sacred, non-negotiable right to keep and bear arms. 

Fortunately, the Pennsylvania General Assembly maintains the checks and balances authority to defund and dismiss the governor’s shamefully unconstitutional and fiscally irresponsible Office of Gun Violence Prevention from this year’s state budget. 

The time to arm and proactively engage the Legislature’s “power of the purse” is now.

We must never allow misguided and extreme firearm restrictions—or in this case ludicrous executive edicts funding the creation of rogue agencies—to punitively target or disarm law-abiding citizens. 

To be abundantly clear, the God-given right of “We the People” to justifiably bear arms in self-defense, shall not be questioned!   

Senator Cris Dush (R-25) is majority chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, a member of the Senate Appropriations and Judiciary committees; and the first-ever chairman of the Senate Second Amendment Caucus.

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14 thoughts on “Sen. Cris Dush: Government can’t touch people’s right to bear arms”

  1. If this is how the author feels about gun control then he doesn’t get to complain when there are multiple shootings in Philadelphia during a weekend. Furthermore gun ownership in the United States is not a “God-given right of “We the People” as the Constitution does not make an mention of God, its a government given right.

    What I would like to know and the author fails to address is, what solutions are they willing to implement to address the causes of gun violence.

    1. God forbid. God is mentioned in the PA State Constitution, and The Lord is mentioned in the US Constitution. God is also mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, The Pledge of Allegiance, and on our currency.
      The author has as much right as you to complain about the misfits shooting up the city. Guns don’t kill – people kill.
      The author made that distinction also.
      I suggest try enforcing the gun possession and sales laws that are on the books instead of throwing 100’s of millions of dollars at a government bureaucracy that feather-beds political allies and works 100% of the time to eliminate the Second Amendment. Or spend those millions on building more prisons to house gun felons.

      1. As for your People kill People theory. Guns make it far easier to kill large numbers of people. Which is why the mass murder of children at Sandy Hook, Columbine, Uvalde, to name few used an AR-15 instead of a baseball bat.

        1. So it’s the mass murders carried out by deeply disturbed mental PEOPLE, usually having already left clues as to what may happen that you have a big problem with. Not so much that people are the problem, but certain types of guns create an unacceptable number of victims. Got it.
          How about we identify the unstable mental cases that plan these school shootings and intervene before they happen?
          And – really – is it the children that you really care for, and at the same time rigorously defend abortions up to actual birth? Make up your mind, will ya?

          1. What clues would the police have found prior to these attacks that would have led them to arrest the individuals involved?

            “And – really – is it the children that you really care for, and at the same time rigorously defend abortions up to actual birth? Make up your mind, will ya?” When did I say this?

          2. “How about we identify the unstable mental cases that plan these school shootings and intervene before they happen?” You’re right and there is a working solution, the current Israeli gun laws. Where gun licenses have to renewed every three years, require a psychological exam, gun owners can have no more than 50 rounds in their possession, and when they go on vacation they hand over their guns and ammo to the police for safekeeping so they can’t be stolen.

  2. Contrary to your belief that America is Christian nation, a simple Google search would have answered all your questions

    “The Lord is mentioned in the US Constitution.” – “The U.S. Constitution never explicitly mentions God or the divine”
    https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/08/17/god-or-the-divine-is-referenced-in-every-state-constitution/#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20Constitution%20never%20explicitly,a%20Pew%20Research%20Center%20analysis.

    “God is mentioned in the PA State Constitution,” – Twice, once to confirm that people who run for elected office can not be discriminated for their faith. http://blog.deimel.org/2012/09/god-and-pennsylvania-constitution.html

    “God is also mentioned in the Declaration of Independence” – “In the Declaration there are three references to God, and each one is different. In one reference, Jefferson uses the term “Nature’s God.” Later, he uses “Creator” and lastly “Divine Providence.” Many scholars have debated on how to interpret his use of these terms.” -https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/lessonplan/doi_introduction.html

    In God we Trust – The capitalized form “IN GOD WE TRUST” first appeared on the two-cent piece in 1864 and initially only appeared on coins, but it gradually became accepted among Americans. Much wider adoption followed in the 1950s. So for close to 100 years American currency did not mention God and yet the country did not disolve into chaos. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_God_We_Trust#:~:text=The%20capitalized%20form%20%22IN%20GOD,adoption%20followed%20in%20the%201950s.

    “God” did not appear in the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954 due to the fear of Communism and the Pledge of Allegiance did not erxist until 1892. Once again America di not dissolve into chaos prior to this. – https://www.history.com/news/pledge-allegiance-under-god-schools

    1. Good for you. You went on a Snipe hunt. Pretty much proved my point, too.
      Godly enough for me. “In the year of our Lord” is used in the US Constitution.
      I’d say that the Civil War was pretty chaotic. America got darn close to dissolving.
      The Pilgrims and Puritans came here in the beginning of America and the main reason: to escape religious persecution.
      Go for it, Quixote Judah La Mancha. Continue your epic journey of self realization.

      1. Good for you, learned that the word “God” does not appear in the U.S. Constitution you should have paid more attention in history class instead of making this assertion and looking like a fool. “In the year of our Lord” is used in the US Constitution” as a writing formula common at the time and has not been used in along time. But you’ll grasp a straws to try to prove that America is a Christian nation. The Civil War occurred over slavery, not religion. Many people came to America both prior to and after its founding to escape religious persecution and that including, Quakers, Jews, Catholics, and many others .

        1. Not good for you: reading comprehension is not your strong suit. i never said ‘God’ was part of the US constitution. Now don’t you feel stupid? If not you’re a liberal.
          I should have typed more slowly for you, fool. Again – pigeon playing chess. It doesn’t matter what the Civil War was about – it was chaos magnified.
          And where did I even mention the word christian? Please – eat a big bowl of alphabet soup next time. And why did all those other religions come here? Freedom to worship their God.

          1. Not good for you: reading comprehension is not your strong suit. You never said that God was mentioned in the Constitution?? So who wrote this, Michael Sweeney perhaps; “The Lord is mentioned in the US Constitution”? I should have typed this slowly, The U.S. Constitution never explicitly mentions God or the divine”, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/08/17/god-or-the-divine-is-referenced-in-every-state- This is like playing chess against someone who can’t spell the word chess.

            You’re not a Christian and yet you brought up the same failed statements used by people who claim the U.S. is a Christian nation. So if it walks like a Christian, and talks like a Christian, then they get nailed to the cross when they try deny their own words.

          2. Judah,
            Great job, here, to keep your moniker uniform without any weird capitalizations.
            In stating that people’s rights were given to them by their creator, the Continental Congress endowed those rights with a legitimacy that knows no parallel in mortal sources. What God has given to man is not enjoyed at the sufferance of any monarch or government. Liberty is the inviolable birthright of all. The right of revolution proclaimed by the Declaration flows directly from this notion of inviolability: it is to secure people’s divinely endowed and unalienable rights that governments, “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” are established. The people consequently have the right and indeed the duty to alter or abolish a form of government that becomes tyrannical.
            The genius of the Declaration is the inclusive way the divine is given expression. The appellations of God are generic. Adherents of traditional theistic sects can read the words “Nature’s God,” “Creator,” and “Supreme Judge,” and understand them to mean the god they worship. The claims made on numerous Christian websites attest to this. Yet opponents of dogma read those same words and see an embracive, non-sectarian concept of divinity. This is no small testimony to the wisdom and foresight of the Founding Fathers. All Americans could support the Revolution and independence. All can regard their rights as unalienable, their liberty as inviolable.
            Unlike the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution contains no reference to God. Why did the men who drafted the Declaration invoke a Supreme Being several times, while the men who drafted the Constitution did not mention a higher power even once?
            The threefold answer lies in the stated purposes of the Constitution, its religious neutrality, and the theory of government it embodies. Whereas the Declaration explained and justified a rebellion to secure God-given rights, the Constitution is a blueprint for stable and effective republican government in a free country. The Preamble to the Constitution declares that its purposes are “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, [ensure] domestic Tranquility, provide for the common [defense], promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty.” These are wholly secular objects; religious references are extraneous in a document drafted to further them.
            Eighteenth century America was religiously diverse, and by the time of the Revolution religion was widely viewed as a matter of voluntary individual choice. The Constitution acknowledged these realities and, unlike contemporary European political orders, promoted no sect and took no position whatsoever on theological issues. There is no state religion and Article VI of the Constitution provides that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” The First Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The absence of references to a deity in the Constitution is consistent with the strict religious neutrality of the entire document.
            I’ll pray for you, Judah. You are on my list. Think of me like Santa Claus. Have a Coca-Cola.

  3. Senator Cris Dush,
    (I have donated to State Sen. Vincent Hughes, Democrat. I was asked by a client. Guess what? The Dems do not bombard me with text requests. But when I give money to Republicans I am subjected to never ending text requests for more. I reply “STOP” and then receive ten more requests.)
    READ THSI ARTICLE IF YOU CARE AT ALL ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE: https://catholicphilly.com/2022/06/news/local-news/behind-the-bullets-teens-give-inside-view-of-gun-violence-in-phila/
    In 2019, Pennsylvania expanded its mail-in voting law, allowing all voters to cast their ballots by mail without needing an excuse. This change was made through Act 77, which was signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf in November 2019. The law allows all registered voters in Pennsylvania to vote by mail without needing an excuse. The law was passed as part of a deal that also eliminated the straight-ticket voting option on ballots. It passed 30-20… 29 Republicans (REPUBLICANS) voted for it, plus 1 Democrat. 20 Democrats voted against it.
    You guys are the exact same as the Democrats. You are all working together. My evidence? WHO WRITES AN ARTICLE LIKE THIS WITH OVER A DOZEN HYPER-LINKS?!? Some of the hyperlinks are dad jokes. What the heck is wrong with you, dude? You pretend to care about certain issues? The Dems are running circles around the Republicans. You cannot be this stupid so I must surmise it is intentional.
    ARE YOU TRYING TO CONVINCE ME THAT THE MOST HEAVILY ARMED CITIZENS IN THE WORLD ATTEMPTED AN UNARMED INSURRECTION? No. They did not. Why are you in office? Fetterman suffered a stroke, and currently he seems more reasonable than most of your esteemed Republican colleagues.

  4. To Judah:
    “Lord” is the son of God. God (the father) is not mentioned. Only the son (Jesus) is referred to. I’ll explain it to you like a six year old: The terms “A.D.” and “B.C.” have their roots in Christianity. “A.D.” stands for anno domini (Latin for “in the year of the lord”), and it refers specifically to the birth of Jesus Christ. “B.C.” stands for “before Christ”
    I said ‘religious’, not Christian. Religious does not automatically mean Christian. I see by your senseless rant that you hate Christians. That’s OK – we still love you. Yes – we get nailed, but we RISE above it. Go on another Snipe hunt as to the make-up of religion in the US (overwhelmingly Christian), and the steady rise of atheism over the last 10 years. The correlation to chaos is undeniable. Lastly: Clues to practically every modern mass murder were referred to on web media by the perp, or manifested with friends or parents prior to the act. Tell me – how did Israel’s gun laws work out for the people attacked by Hamas on October 7th? Not too well. Me thinks Israel found out the hard way about restricting firearms. Your description falls way short of how restrictive their gun laws are. Over 40% of applications are denied right off the (baseball) bat. Open mouth / change foot. Repeat.

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