Three South Carolina representatives have introduced a controversial bill this past week that would allow South Carolina to secede from the United States if the government started taking their guns.
It was introduced to the state House Judiciary Committee this past Thursday by GOP Reps. Mike Pitts, Jonathon Hill and Ashley Trantham amid an escalating national debate over firearms, gun rights, and school shootings.
General House Bill 5217 reads;
A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 11 TO CHAPTER 31, TITLE 23 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY SHALL CONVENE TO CONSIDER WHETHER TO SECEDE FROM THE UNITED STATES BASED UPON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATION OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION IF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONFISCATES LEGALLY PURCHASED FIREARMS IN THIS STATE.
While Mike Pitts and others continue to push for a bill that would allow secession, he recently said on Facebook that he doesn’t ultimately believe any state will secede, because “My beloved nation is going to implode and break apart from…the weight of federal debt…(or) decades of lax unenforced immigration laws and open borders…”;
This isn’t the first time Rep. Mike Pitts has caused controversy. Just last month he posted a meme comparing transgender individuals to gun violence;
and perhaps one of his most ironic statements came last October, when he said he believes that “there are forces at work in the shadows purposely creating situations designed to create chaos and further divide us pushing us into civil conflict.”
Considering that South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union in the lead up to the Civil War, many are now saying that this new bill could directly introduce a similar chaotic situation to what we saw in the mid 19th century.
What are your thoughts on General House Bill 5217
Do you think South Carolina would ever actually secede?