Consider House Bill 2517, which was introduced by Republican state legislators last week.

Supporters say the Second Amendment is under attack so they wish to enact a statute which imposes fines and penalties on any city or town in Arizona which passes gun control ordinances stricter than current state laws describe.

Should a duly elected city council wish to follow the will of its constituents and pass tougher gun control regulations they would do so at their peril. The city is subservient to the wishes of the state.

“Sorry Mr. Earp, but even if you have hard drinking cowboys in the Tombstone saloons you do not have the authority to order them to check their guns at the sheriff’s office. Those boys have their Second Amendment rights!” Arizona Legislature (NRA).

Fooling around within this same context, there are many of these same Republicans who condemn actions taken in Washington because “citizens at the local level know best.” The question of what to do about national educational standards comes to mind.

I have no idea as to where the “local level” begins and ends or how legislators at the various levels of government determine what to accept or when to call out the lobbyists and/or lawyers when a questionable bill comes wandering across their desks.

What I do know is Republicans are talking down to the very people they were elected to serve.

“You cannot be trusted, nor are you smart enough to deal with what we, The Conservative Wise Ones, have determined is solely within our prevue.”

When I think of Republicans and their over-the- top preoccupation with things which go bang one word comes to mind: paranoia.