DHS Addresses Local Authorities Shuttering Gun Shops as ‘Nonessential’

As we continue to practice our social distancing, the line between what is considered an “essential” business and a “nonessential” one seems to be getting thinner by the minute.

Grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, and even liquor stores have all made the list of what the nation needs to have open so that she can stay up and running.  Nonessential businesses, such as clothing retailers, restaurants, and sports arenas, are all either shutting down completely or adjusting their business model to reflect the need for interpersonal space.

But who decides what is and isn’t essential in a crisis such as this?  For many municipalities, that responsibility falls to the feet of local government, who likely don’t all see eye-to-eye on certain political issues.

With a number of governors, mayors, and councilpersons using the national emergency to press their own agenda on the Second Amendment, the Department of Homeland Security is stepping in to set the record straight.

An agency within the Department of Homeland Security has issued guidance telling states that they should allow gun retailers and shooting ranges to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic as a debate swirls about whether such businesses are “essential” and should be permitted to continue operating as governments urge people to stay home to avoid spreading the disease.

The guidance, which came from Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Christopher Krebs on Saturday, tells states that “[w]orkers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges” are part of the “essential critical infrastructure workforce.”

There was resistance, of course.

Though the guidance goes out of its way to say its recommendations are not mandatory, the inclusion of weapons manufacturers and retailers rankled gun-safety activists, including Kris Brown, the president of the Brady Campaign.

“While DHS’ guidance is advisory, it is ill-conceived and dangerous. State and local governments are well within their constitutional rights to broadly close businesses in order to prevent the spread and flatten the curve, and they are definitely not required to designate gun industry businesses as ‘essential’ and keep them open,” Brown said in a statement. “There is no constitutional right to immediately buy or sell guns, and there is certainly no right to spread coronavirus while buying or selling guns.”

So long as there is a crisis to exploit, the Second Amendment will be in the crosshairs of the liberal left.