A troubling case of Republican betrayal is unfolding in Utah, where state Rep. Walt Brooks (R) is actively working to strip Second Amendment rights from college students and faculty across public university campuses.
Brooks' legislation would ban the open carry of firearms on public college campuses while dangling the consolation prize of permitless concealed carry. But here's the problem, Patriots: constitutional rights aren't bargaining chips to be traded away by politicians who should know better.
This is exactly the kind of RINO behavior that has Americans fed up with establishment Republicans who campaign on the Constitution but govern like Democrats when it comes to our fundamental rights.
Trading Rights for Government Permission
What Brooks is essentially saying is that law-abiding citizens can exercise their Second Amendment rights - but only in the way government approves. Open carry? Banned. Want to defend yourself? You'll need to hide your firearm and hope campus security doesn't notice.
This backward thinking ignores a simple truth: criminals don't follow gun laws. The only people this ban will affect are the law-abiding citizens who might otherwise deter the next campus shooter simply by being visibly armed.
"Shall not be infringed" doesn't come with asterisks for college campuses or Republican feelings about what looks "appropriate" in public.
Utah has traditionally been a strong Second Amendment state, making Brooks' gun-grabbing legislation all the more shocking. While President Trump's administration is busy restoring constitutional governance in Washington, we have Republicans at the state level actively working to undermine the very freedoms Trump is fighting to protect.
Campus carry has proven successful where implemented, with no increase in violence or accidents. The real danger comes from creating gun-free zones that serve as magnets for mass shooters who know they'll face no armed resistance.
Patriots need to ask themselves: if we can't trust Republicans like Walt Brooks to defend basic constitutional rights, what exactly are we voting for? It's time for Utah conservatives to remind their representatives that compromise on the Constitution isn't leadership - it's cowardice.