The National Gun Victims Action Council (NGVAC) is petitioning President Obama to declare the “gun violence epidemic” a national state of emergency. The group’s suggested solution includes, among other things, looking at requirements for concealed carry, holding parents accountable as accomplices when their children cause harm with the parents’ guns, and appointing a commission to address this “man-made public health epidemic” … all while excluding members of the “gun lobbies” from participation in the commission.
It’s unclear whether NGVAC is aware that a state of national emergency cannot suspend any part of the Constitution (the sole exception being the habeas corpus clause). This Congressional Research Service report (Aug. 30, 2007) provides a definition of national emergency powers and states that such powers must be “permissible constitutionally.” But then, NGVAC also knows it has a president who is all too willing to disregard the Constitution and the rights guaranteed within.
