Most gun rights advocates tend to focus primarily on their own state. There are reasons for this, of course, including the fact that those are the laws that are most likely to impact them. They don't ignore other states because gun control is like a virus. It never stays in one place but spreads out to try and infect every other state.
Which creates an interesting set of circumstances.
You see, a report on the gun control fight in Georgia really does note that people seem to follow a script in these battles.
In Georgia, as is the case in many states, the pro-gun side and the anti-gun movements both have their playbooks they follow, Kirk Evans, president of U.S. LawShield, told The Center Square.
"The pro-gun states over the last 10 years have done a number of things," Evans said. "They pushed forward with open carry and permit-less carry. A while back was 'stand your ground;' a few years ago, the big deal was sanctuary cities [and] sanctuary states and then lowering or making cheaper the requirements to get a permit.
"The anti-gun side has its own playbook, and in a number of states, it's been very, very similar," Evans added. "It's been magazine capacities, liability insurance requirements, [and] some what they call an assault weapons ban."
Lawmakers in anti-gun states had also pushed red flag laws, mandatory reporting of stolen guns and safe storage requirements. Another tactic, Evans said, is "creating new causes of action against the gun industry."
"So not just if somebody hurts you with the gun, you can sue them, but making it easier to actually go after the gun industry," Evans said. "And that's been passed in five or six different states."
And if you look back, the idea that everyone is sort of following a script seems to hold up.
Mostly, it's because good and bad ideas alike get picked up by like-minded lawmakers in other states and they try to ram them through there. It's why constitutional carry has picked up steam. It passed in some places and folks elsewhere went, "That sounds great. We should do that here."
On the flip side, anti-gun lawmakers do the same thing.
It's why you can kind of get an idea of how far down a particular rabbit hole a state is going. An assault weapon ban means they're heading down the anti-gun hole, but they're just getting started. Carry-killer bills are when they're getting as close to the bottom as they can.
Now, the big question is whether this is a good thing or not.
Honestly, I don't know what to tell you. I personally don't think it's either. It simply is. It's a natural thing, sort of like rain. You don't have to like it, you just kind of have to deal with it.
But just like how rain is good for crops and your lawn, knowing the script tells you where things are headed. It's the kind of thing that can tell you where things are headed and allow you to rally the troops to head it off before it goes too far down the gun control rabbit hole.
Or, you can just complain a whole lot and let things pass you by.
Understanding the playbooks and what follows is key in preventing things from spiraling out of control with regard to gun laws in a given state.
Here in Georgia, we're about as far on the pro-gun side as we can get. All we can do now is remove some off-limits places, which I sincerely hope we do, but that's neither here nor there. What's the status in your state and where are you in the playbooks?
The truth is that most states are just as far along as Georgia, and that's all kinds of awesome.
