By Conn Williamson
As Mother Nature can be a cruel force with lives hanging in the balance in the blink of an eye, a group of gun-friendly lawmakers in California are attempting to protect outdoor enthusiasts and private property owners from stifling bureaucracy.
Currently, in the leftist state dominated by Democratic politicians, individuals who protect themselves against attacks from wildlife listed federally as an endangered or threatened species are subject to egregious and reckless prosecution, which has potentially major damaging ramifications on personal freedoms. Self-defense and self-preservation apparently come at a cost.
According to The Plumas Sun, a group of gun-friendly California Conservative lawmakers battling against ridiculous environmental policy is attempting to hold the state accountable for breaches in Constitutional rights. The elected officials on the right side of the political spectrum are not cratering to progressive ideology and have drafted legislation that proposes law-abiding citizens should not be subject to legal sanctions designed by extremists and those pursuing funds supporting The New Green Deal and other ulterior motives of control.
California state Assembly Bill 1722 aims to protect residents and their families being penalized by current mandates in place that favors wildlife over people in certain life or death encounters. Republican Heather Hardwick is sponsoring the measure that challenges the merits of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) under Obama and Biden that prioritizes the preservation of species over humans and specifically private property owners. The current law on the books favors eminent domain and jailtime over commonsense and basic rights. Hardwick gave this commentary to illustrate changes in the current legislation. “Coexistence does not mean helplessness,” remarked Hardwick. “AB 1722 makes clear that no Californian should be punished for protecting human life. We can uphold strong wildlife protections while also recognizing the fundamental right to self-defense.”
Hardwick presides over California Assembly District 1, which includes an expansive and sparse population in a good-sized chunk of the northeastern corner of the state. Residents in the district have traditionally voted conservative, an anomaly within a realm ruled by current Governor Gavin Newsom and his megalomaniac predecessors.
Local law enforcement within the district is overwhelmingly endorsing the mandate. Sierra County Sheriff Mike Fisher, commenting on the introduction of AB 1722, said, “Public safety is not limited to crime. It includes protecting human health and safety from any real risk of harm. When apex predators are repeatedly present near homes, livestock and areas where people live and recreate, the issue extends beyond wildlife management and becomes a public safety concern. Where there is a foreseeable risk of harm, we have a responsibility to act before someone is injured.”
Fisher’s statement leads to another issue being addressed on the periphery of the bill that implies that private property owners will not be threatened to surrender their land to federal agencies in nullifying a wildlife attack. Under Obama the ESA was bolstered to include very specific verbiage on broadening the definition of protected species to include non-endemic critters and giving the feds the latitude to make a judgement call in determining whether or not a property is a suitable habitat and thus subject to an expensive survey or forfeiture.
