Rep. Don Young meets with Second Amendment Task Force
By Chris Freiberg
Published Tuesday, April 14, 2009
FAIRBANKS — It seemed like a typical weekday afternoon at the Fairbanks Carl’s Jr. restaurant as Alaskans took a break from work to meet with old friends and talk while lunching on burgers and shakes.
But on closer inspection, about two dozen of the restaurant’s customers Monday afternoon had a shiny metal handgun holstered at his or her side.
It was the latest open carry day for the Second Amendment Task Force, a gun rights movement launched two months ago by Schaeffer Cox, a 25-year-old local entrepreneur.
“The social criticism is that only cops and robbers have guns, but that isn’t the case,” said Cox, a .45-caliber 1911 pistol at his hip.
The group, which has drawn hundreds of supporters to multiple events around Fairbanks, was joined Monday by Rep. Don Young. Young, a strong supporter of gun rights in his more than three decades in Congress, praised the group’s goals.
“This is something I believe very strongly in,” Young said. “You can’t have all the other parts of the Constitution unless you have the Second Amendment.”
Young did not bring a gun with him since he went to the eatery straight from the airport, but one man lent him a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum and holster, which he strapped around his waist and used to pose for pictures.
“This thing feels pretty good,” Young said. “I’m ready walk out with this on.”
The task force was started in part as a reaction to a House bill introduced earlier this year that would require a federal or state license for the ownership of any firearm and give the Attorney General’s office broad powers to track gun sales.
While there is little chance of the bill going to a full vote of the House or passing, Young said he is concerned about such legislation going forward in the next decade, and promised to continue to fight against such efforts while in office.
One man asked Young what the public should do if the government ever asks citizens to turn in their guns.
“Don’t do it,” Young said to many nods of approval.
Cox, who is helping other Second Amendment Task Forces get started throughout the state, has next scheduled a “Freedom Fest” for April 29 at the Carlson Center. The event, which is meant to protest government interference in day-to-day life, also will feature vendors selling guns and ammunition.
