House Paves Way For Bost’s Veterans’ Second Amendment Provision To Be Signed Into Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives approved a spending package that includes legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (IL-12) to protect veterans from losing their Second Amendment rights without due process. Bost’s proposal, which restricts the Department of Veterans Affairs’ from automatically submitting veterans’ names for background checks when they need help managing their finances, is expected to pass the Senate this weekend and then be signed into law.

“For far too long, men and women who donned the uniform to protect our constitutional rights have had their own rights violated,” said Bost. “No veteran should lose their constitutional right to bear arms simply because they need help managing their finances. As a Marine and a proud gun owner, I can think of no Americans I’d trust more to responsibly own firearms than our veterans. And if a veteran is determined to be a danger to themselves or others, let a judge make that decision – not some D.C. bureaucrat. I am honored the House approved my legislation and look forward to it soon being signed into law.”

The House and Senate each previously approved an amendment sponsored by Bost to stop the automatic referrals without a court’s order. Bost’s effort has the support of the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Mission Roll Call, National Defense Committee, Vets 4 Vet Leadership, Veteran Warriors, Catholic War Veterans, and National Association for Gun Rights.

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States.”

Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, 1787


“The ultimate authority…resides in the people alone…The advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation…forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition.”

James Madison


“Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in our possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?”

Patrick Henry


“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers and will generally even if these are successful the first instance enable the people to resist and triumph over them.”

Justice Joseph Story


“The great object is, that every man be armed…Every one who is able may have a gun.”

Patrick Henry, Speech of June 14, 1788


“The Constitutions of most of our states assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves, in all cases to which they think themselves competent, (as in electing their functionaries executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, both fact and law, in all judiciary cases in which any fact is involved) or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person; freedom of religion; freedom of property; and freedom of the press.”

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Cartwright, June 5, 1824


“That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United states who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.”

Samuel Adams, in Phila. Independent Gazetteer, August 20, 1789


I could go on, but I think this is more than enough to tell that Professor Erdozian is ‘full of it’

Another supercilious, over educated, foreign born and schooled ‘scholar’ with no roots in American culture, ethics or care about the fundamental principles the founders went to war over, thinks he’s more knowledgeable than we are. And makes claims that are so easily refuted by the Founder’s own quotes that it makes you wonder about today’s quality of education and worth of degrees from the famed English universities that apparently produce nothing more than partisan propagandists.


Historian Dominic Erdozain discusses new book, U.S. gun culture, Second Amendment at book event

Historian Dominic Erdozain discussed the politics, culture and laws surrounding guns in the United States at a Wednesday talk for his book “One Nation Under Guns.”

In “One Nation Under Guns,” Erdozain argues that the Second Amendment was never meant to guarantee individuals the right to bear arms and that the U.S. neglects critical consideration of the role of guns in democracy. His book talk, hosted by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, was moderated by Ieva Jusionyte, an associate professor of international security and anthropology.

The modern U.S. gun culture is “in contradiction with the values of democracy and the goals of the Constitution,” Erdozain said.

“This modern idea of free and open access to deadly firepower is not just a departure from the legal norms of U.S. history,” he said. “It is a violation of the very principle of freedom, as defined in the democratic tradition. It turns out that the founders, the very people who are invoked in support of gun rights, furnish a far more robust and coherent account of liberty than this kind of muscular freedom to go armed as and when you choose.”

He stated that the country’s founders would be “heavily critical of the reckless individualism that is attached to gun rights at the moment.”

A key argument of Erdozain’s book is that the founders of the country believed “the liberal state is there to protect us not only from tyrannical rules, but from the tyranny in all of us.”

Erdozain challenged the notion that the Second Amendment was written to guarantee that all individuals have a right to bear arms, instead characterizing it as an anti-war measure that prevents a “professional army that allows rulers to rule as dictators.”

He also highlighted the ties between slavery and gun ownership. “The argument against slavery was partly based on the fact that by encouraging it, you encourage an armed society,” he said.

In the talk, Erdozain also challenged the acceptance of gun culture he witnessed around the country. When he arrived in the U.S. from the United Kingdom, he said he felt “alarmed at the fatalism of liberals on firearms as the reckless seal of the right.”

Attendees described the event as educational and inspiring.

“I felt that (the talk) was a gift to the community. Dr. Erdozain is brilliant,” Fraser Lang ’67 said.

Betty Lang, another attendee, said that “it was fascinating to hear about the connection between gun violence and slavery.”

Melissa Carden, the executive director of Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, also attended the event.

“The history of the Second Amendment is not something people are educated about,” Carden said, noting that 120 people are killed in the U.S. daily because of gun violence. “The more we have honest conversations based on data and the truth in light of today’s gun violence, the better.”

BLUF & Quote O’ The Day
Having Constitutional Carry is rapidly becoming the bright line that separates free states from those run by would-be totalitarians.

South Carolina Prepares to Join the Ranks of ‘Constitutional Carry’ States

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed into law Tuesday a bill that removes all permit requirements for state residents who can possess firearms to carry them openly or concealed without a permit. The law goes into effect on July 4. This system, called constitutional carry to reflect the right of American citizens to “keep and bear arms,” is now the law of the land in 28 states.

“Louisiana lawmakers and Gov. Landry have taken a bold step for public safety,” [Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms] Chairman Alan Gottlieb said. “Meanwhile, legislatures and governors in the remaining 22 holdout states are signaling that they do not trust their citizens with the most fundamental right of all, the right of self-defense. What a shameful message to telegraph to the people they are elected to serve.”

 

As a victory was being sealed in Louisiana, another was about to happen in Columbia, SC.

South Carolinians may soon be able to openly carry a weapon.

State lawmakers in both the House and Senate officially passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, also known as South Carolina Constitutional Carry. The bill allows anyone who can legally own a gun to carry it openly.

The bill is headed to Governor Henry McMaster, who is expected to sign the bill.

Few things make Leviathan more terrified than free people.

“This is a permitless carry,” Sen. Margie Bright Matthews said. “Why are we going to allow people to carry more guns, and this time without a [concealed weapons permit]? Why? I submit to you that the only reason why this was done and this was passed in this chamber on a partisan vote mostly is because this is an election year.”

“Why are we going to allow people” just drips with contempt for the people this person was elected to serve.

As Charles C. W. Cooke notes at National Review:

Constitutional carry does not allow excluded people to buy, possess, or carry firearms; those people remain just as prohibited as they were before. Nor does it prevent the police from checking to see if an arrested person is allowed to carry a gun.

To believe that to remove the permitting process for eligible citizens is to make life more dangerous for the police is thus to believe either (a) that law-abiding people will suddenly become more dangerous if they aren’t required to apply for a permit, or (b) that the sort of convicted criminal who is willing to shoot a cop might somehow be dissuaded from doing so by the requirement that he apply for a small piece of laminated plastic that he is legally unable to obtain in the first instance.

Neither of these arguments is persuasive to me — or, it seems, given the remarkable spread of permitless carry, to many other people, either.

The permitting process doesn’t make anyone safer. It is more properly seen as a bulwark to prevent the “lower orders” from exercising a constitutional right. In my state of Maryland (haaack…ptoooie!) it runs about $500 to jump through all the hoops of training, fingerprinting, and getting a weapons permit. That is a deliberate decision that keeps people who live in dangerous areas from arming themselves or running the risk of becoming felons if they have to resort to self-defense.

Having Constitutional Carry is rapidly becoming the bright line that separates free states from those run by would-be totalitarians.

From a friend:


Violent criminals and governments always keep and bear arms. Always.

They lose their ability to function if they do not retain the ability to project their will through the deliberate consolidation of the ability to administer violence.

Criminals, because they are lawless sociopaths, don’t fear their victims, the police, courts, or prison. – But they do fear armed prey.
Governments, because they must, through themselves, or through proxies, so that they can self-protect and ensure compliance with laws. – But they do fear an armed populace.

All disarmed / physically disadvantaged people – and nations – rely on others to project strength and the threat of violence to protect them. All of them, without exception.

The decentralized ability to administer violence at will is the coin of the realm. Without it, criminal savages ravage the defenseless. Governments oppress and subjugate the defenseless. The inarguable fact is, that when people do not have the civil right to protect themselves, they are subject to the whims of all those stronger than they are.

Whether or not this is done by criminals or the government is only a matter of scale. Knowing this, why would you allow yourself to be disarmed?

Americans Not Buying Gun Control. Instead, They’re Buying Guns.

President Joe Biden is still pushing gun control onto the American people. He’s absolutely convinced the public wants restrictions on our right to keep and bear arms. At least, he’s convinced of that when he can remember what a gun actually is.

Regardless, the president has been pushing it since he started campaigning in 2019, so it’s no surprise that it’s been a point of consistency.

What is surprising is that despite all the studies and polls that try to tell us that the public wants restrictions, they truth is that they’re buying guns like crazy.

The nation’s gun-buying binge remained robust last month amid the Biden administration’s latest plans to cut sales and intimidate customers.

The FBI said it conducted 2,336,390 checks through its National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry trade group, said that included an estimated 1,343,478 specifically for gun sales.

February was the 55th consecutive month that gun sales approved by the FBI exceeded 1 million. NSSF said the number was likely higher since the FBI count does not include all other legal pathways to obtaining a firearm.

The NSSF’s Mark Oliva said this was likely a reaction to Biden’s efforts to tighten gun control, which isn’t overly surprising.

During the Obama administration, the president was the gun salesman of the year for eight straight years. Biden has been no different.

I’ve long maintained that a lot of people want guns but because these aren’t inexpensive items nor higher ticket goods the whole family will enjoy day in, day out, firearm purchases get put on the back burner. Folks figure there’s always time to get them.

But when someone like Biden comes along and starts to rattle the saber about restricting things, “there’s always time” becomes “I’d better do something while I can.”

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Modern High Technology™ strikes again.
AK & I have often observed that newer cars are actually computers that have 4 wheels, seats and let you drive them around.


Too many screens? Why car safety experts want to bring back buttons.

Over the past two decades, iPad-like touch screens in cars have evolved from a niche luxury to a pervasive industry standard. These often sleek, minimalist, in-car control panels offer drivers a plethora of features and customization. However, previous studies suggest these every-day conveniences may come at cost: more distracted drivers. Though regulators have spoken critically of in-car screens in the past, a prominent European safety monitor is going a step further and requiring physical buttons and knobs for certain commonly used driving features if car makers want to receive a top safety score.

Starting in 2026, according to The Sunday Times, the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) will only award its top safety rating to new vehicles that use old-fashioned buttons and levers to activate indicators, hazard lights, and other critical driving features. The new requirements could force automakers who use the safety rating as a selling point to reassess the amount of driving features they make accessible only through touch screens. Though these voluntary standards are limited to Europe, a battle over buttons is gaining momentum among drivers in the US as well.

Euro NCAP Director of Strategic Development Matthew Avery described the influx of potentially distracting in-car screens an “industry-wide problem” during  an interview with The Sunday Times.

“New Euro NCAP tests due in 2026 will encourage manufacturers to use separate, physical controls for basic functions in an intuitive manner, limiting eyes-off-road time and therefore promoting safer driving,” he said.

What happened to all of the buttons and knobs?

Touch screens are ubiquitous in new cars. A recent S&P Global Mobility survey of  global car owners cited by Bloomberg estimates nearly all (97%) of new cars released after 2023 have at least one touch screen nestled in the cabin. Nearly 25% of US cars and trucks currently on the road reportedly have a screen at least 11 inches long according to that same survey. These “infotainment systems,” once largely reserved for leisure activity like switching between Spotify songs or making phone calls, are increasingly being used for a variety of tasks essential to driving, like flashing lights or signaling for a turn. Consumer Reports, which regularly asks drivers about their driving experience,  claims only around half of drivers it surveyed in 2022 reported being “very satisfied” with the infotainment system in their vehicles.

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You know what would have been more helpful? Not letting crime get so out of control that you have to deploy the military to keep order in Manhattan on an ordinary Wednesday.


New York Gov Hochul calls in National Guard, state police to help curb crime in NYC subways

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is sending in the state National Guard to New York City to help police curb a surge in crime in the city’s subways.

Announcing a five-point plan on Wednesday, the Democratic governor said she was deploying 750 members of the National Guard to the subways to assist the New York Police Department with bag searches at entrances to busy train stations.

“For people who are thinking about bringing a gun or knife on the subway, at least this creates a deterrent effect. They might be thinking, ‘You know what, it just may just not be worth it because I listened to the mayor and I listened to the governor and they have a lot more people who are going to be checking my bags,'” Hochul said at a news conference in New York City.

The move came as part of a larger effort by the governor’s office to address crime in the subway, which included a legislative proposal to ban people from trains for three years if they are convicted of assaulting a subway passenger and the installation of cameras in conductor cabins to protect transit workers.

The governor’s plan also includes better coordination with district attorneys to help prevent repeat offenders and an additional $20 million for expanding subway outreach programs.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced plans on Tuesday to have more police patrolling the subways as the city attempts to curb a near 20% increase in crime levels during the first two months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to NYPD data cited by the New York Post.

There were three homicides in the underground system over January and February, while incidents such as grand larcenies, felony assaults and robberies have also skyrocketed.

On Sunday, a 64-year-old postal worker was kicked onto the tracks at Penn Station in Manhattan, while a 20-year-old woman fought off a man who punched her in the face and tried to rape her in Queens. Last week, a subway conductor was slashed in the neck when he stuck his head out of the cabin window during a stop at a station in Brooklyn.

57,000 Reasons – and Counting Every Day – Why You Need an AR-15

I don’t want to sound like an alarmist but that part of the oath our military, police, and politicians take that mentions “enemies foreign and domestic” might be more than just a phrase.

When Gropey Joe Biden isn’t fighting to keep the borders open or flying 320,000 illegal immigrants to our airports at all hours of the night, he is doing his dementia-best to disarm We the People, especially of those big, scary AR-15 rifles.

FACT-O-RAMA! Your pink-haired pinko-in-law likely thinks the AR in AR-15 stands for “assault rifle.” It stands for “Armalite rifle.” Armalite is the company that originally designed the weapon.

No one knows how many illegal immigrants from China have tangoed over the border and disappeared into our society. The numbers I heard last were roughly 37,000 in fiscal year 2023 and 20,000 more since then, for a total of roughly 57,000, but that was three weeks ago.

Roughly 150 Chinese immigrants illegally sneak into the United States every day. Most are men of military age. What’s even more concerning is that the far-left apparatchik “fact-checkers” are defending the tsunami of military-aged Chinese pouring over the border. When the dubiously named “Politifact” tells us we don’t need to worry about the Chinese invaders, it’s time to wake up.

When those multi-tasking “Marxist-Americans” are allowing record numbers of Republic-crushing illegal immigrants into America while simultaneously trying to Hoover up our AR-15s, I start to smell a stink badger in the perfume aisle.

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“Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that `if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.’ It is a very serious consideration-that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.”
–Samuel Adams, 1771

Gun Control Advocates Urge Utah Gov. to Deny Funds to Train Teachers for Armed Classroom Defense

Gun control activists are urging Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) to reject a bill that would fund training for teachers who want to be armed for classroom defense.

The Associated Press reported that gun control activists gathered at the Utah State Capitol on Monday to pressure Cox to reject the funding bill.

On March 1, 2024, Breitbart News noted that two pieces of legislation — one aimed at arming teachers in particular and the second at allowing school employees other than teachers to be armed — passed the legislature and were headed to Cox’s desk.

The bill aimed at teachers puts in place funding to provide free training for teachers with concealed carry permits who want to be able to defend their students and themselves in the event of an attack.

Christy Belt, Timpanogos Academy fifth-grade teacher, engages in an exercise, designed to help teachers make good decisions in active shooter incidents, at the Utah County Sheriff’s Office shooting range on June 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

The AP pointed out that legislation provides a “free…annual program training them to defend their classrooms against active threats and to safely store, carry, load and unload firearms in a school setting.”

The bill sponsor, State Rep. Tim Jimenez (R), responded to criticism by stressing that the goal of armed teachers is to provide a “strictly defensive” response to would-be school attackers.

New VA Funding Bill Includes Provision To Protect Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights

Congress’ funding deal unveiled Sunday night overturns a longstanding “discriminatory” policy that Republican opponents said could restrict veterans’ Second Amendment rights.

The provision included in the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2024 bans the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) from submitting veterans’ names to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check without a judge’s consent. House Republicans argue without the provision, veterans who need help with their finances but do not pose a threat could be stripped of their Second Amendment rights to own firearms.

“For far too long, the men and women who have fought for all American’s constitutional rights were wrongfully treated differently when it came to their own rights,” Republican Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee who championed the provision, said in a statement. “No veteran should lose their constitutional right to bear arms simply because they need help managing their finances, and if they are a danger to themselves or others, a judge should make that decision – not a VA bureaucrat.”

Under existing policy and a law that goes back to 1993, veterans who demonstrate an inability to manage their finances or benefits on their own are automatically reported to the NICS list without their informed consent, according to Bost. The veteran would be banned from purchasing firearms even without any judgment in a court of law that the person could be a harm to themselves or others.

Legislation to end the “discriminatory” practice is “long overdue,” he added.

Democratic lawmakers opposed the move on the grounds it increases hurdles federal workers must clear to report potential threats, according to Military Times.

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Former NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre Has Cost the Gun Rights Movement North Of A Billion Dollars

Former CEO of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, has finally admitted virtually everything that he’s been accused of over the past five years, and a jury has found him liable for padding his own pockets to the tune of $5.5 million.

LaPierre’s hand-picked Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, Woody Phillips was also found liable for $2 million in personal profit at NRA members’ expense, and the NRA itself (really the NRA’s current Board of Directors) was found to have failed in its fiduciary obligations to shepherd and safeguard the members’ assets. Keep in mind that none of this really takes into account the millions paid to “consultants” with nothing of substance to show for it, or the hundreds of millions spent on lawyers and the losses in membership and revenue over the past five years.

All told, the bogus spending and lost income amount to something north of a billion dollars!

Now, New York Acting Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen has the difficult task of deciding how best to remedy the situation. Unfortunately, there’s an important absence in Justice Cohen’s courtroom: the members of the NRA!

On one side of the table is Letitia James, the Attorney General of New York, who, during her election campaign, pledged to destroy the NRA and called it a terrorist organization.
On the other side of the table is the ridiculously overpriced lawyer William Brewer for the NRA (the Board), whose firm has been paid approximately $2 million per month – every month – for the past 5 years.

Every move William Brewer has made in that time has done nothing but dig the NRA’s hole deeper.

AG James and her office have a legal obligation to represent and protect the interests of the members of the NRA. Does anyone believe that she is, or has any interest in living up to that legal obligation? Is the interest of the NRA membership her primary motivation – or any part of her motivation – in this action?

William Brewer, III, the New York lawyer who claims residence in Dallas (and who was a big contributor to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and “Beto” O’Rourke (Seriously!), is supposedly representing the NRA. You’d think that his obligation would be to the NRA members, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. He was initially hired by Wayne LaPierre and has spent almost all of his efforts over the past 5 years making terrible legal moves that gave every appearance of protecting LaPierre at NRA members’ expense. Then, right before the trial started last month, LaPierre stepped down for “health reasons.”

Brewer then declared that the NRA’s position has always been that the Association was the victim of “unscrupulous vendors and insiders,” and, with LaPierre’s departure, the NRA has fixed all of the problems that allowed that victimization…

Sitting next to Brewer at the table isNRA Board President Charles Cotton and the NRA Board of Directors. Like AG James and attorney Brewer, Cotton and the Board have a legal, ethical, and moral duty to act in the best interest of the National Rifle Association – its members.

Well, there’s a problem. Like AG James and Attorney Brewer, President Cotton and the NRA Board appear to have divided loyalties as well.

Not only did they sit by and allow LaPierre, Phillips, and those “unscrupulous vendors” [read friends of Wayne] to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars out of NRA accounts over at least two decades, when the evidence of the corruption came to light in 2019, they rallied around LaPierre, loudly pronounced him innocent of any wrongdoing, and shunned, defamed, and denounced anyone who dared to even ask questions or suggest an investigation.

Rather than demanding an accounting and miscreants’ heads on pikes, Cotton and the assembled Board took every action to cover Wayne’s increasingly exposed backside.

Even as LaPierre’s story shifted over time, with new lies replacing old lies and newer lies replacing the previous lies, Cotton was at the forefront, repeating the lies – and adding in a few of his own – while defending LaPierre at every turn with the docile Board meekly “believing” and parroting each and every iteration as gospel.

So where is Justice Cohen supposed to turn to find a voice that truly represents NRA members?

He certainly can’t have any confidence that AG James, Attorney Brewer, or the officers or directors of the NRA truly represent the interests of rank-and-file NRA members. With this menagerie of conflicted and self-serving individuals, how is the judge supposed to determine what’s best for the NRA and its members? He should realize that the majority of NRA members who vote in Board elections and keep reelecting the same people to the Board, don’t trust the legacy media at all and get almost all of their trusted information about the NRA from NRA publications, which are controlled by the current regime. If he removes the obviously complicit Board members, how many would be left, and how many of those are incompetent and/or cowardly?

It would be pretty arrogant and presumptuous to suggest that the four of us who are running as reform candidates for NRA Board seats in the current 2024 election (Phil Journey, Rocky Marshall, Dennis Fusaro, and me, Jeff Knox) could speak for all NRA members. We do think we understand most members’ interests better than any of the previously mentioned characters, but who could possibly fairly represent three to four million others, and how is the judge supposed to find those representatives?

As you might have guessed, I have a few ideas on this topic.

The NRA has thousands of volunteers working every day all around the country.

From local state Friends of NRA committees, to Volunteer election Coordinators, to coaches, Range Safety Officers, match coordinators, Hunter Safety Education instructors, gun club officers, state association leaders, and more. Most of those volunteers, though not all of them, work through or under their local state association. The state associations are the natural heirs and beneficiaries of NRA’s assets, and they actively work to serve the needs of the NRA members in their state. While not all NRA members in a state are members of the state association, all members of the state associations are NRA members, and they are typically the most active and involved NRA members in the state.

Judge Cohen needs ready access to people who can authoritatively speak for NRA members. State associations and other NRA state affiliates are in the best position to provide him with that access.

It is my hope that the judge will remove all officers and directors who have failed in their fiduciary obligations to NRA members, appoint a Special Master or Receiver to oversee a thorough housecleaning and reorganization of the Association, and appoint a Members’ Committee, made up of candidates recommended by the various state associations, to help guide and direct that reorganization.

It all sounds simple on paper, but there’s a lot to do in a very short time.

  • The first step is to convince you that this is a good idea that should be pursued.
  • The second step is for you to help convince your local state association leaders that they really need to get involved and run with this idea.
  • The third step is for the state association leaders to petition the judge and convince him that he needs their help. Finally, the judge and the state association leaders will need to come up with some guidelines and processes for nominating candidates and submitting them to the judge.

The key to all of this is the involvement of state association leaders, and the key to getting those leaders involved is your advocacy. This can only happen if large numbers of NRA members begin pushing the idea at their local gun clubs and directly petition their state associations. Begin by sharing this article with your gun-owning friends and the leadership of your local clubs, Friends of NRA committees, and state association leaders. Follow that with calls and emails asking those leaders to take immediate action.

The NRA is literally on the verge of insolvency. The Association’s future is about to be decided by a New York judge who has limited knowledge or experience with the NRA or NRA members, and his only points of reference are the NRA-hating Attorney General, legacy media, and the self-serving NRA “leaders” who got the Association into this mess in the first place. The judge needs an alternative source of information. He needs to give NRA members a voice in the future of their organization, and a Members’ Committee nominated by state associations could provide that voice.

I truly believe Judge Cohen wants to do the right thing. He’s been very fair and reasonable throughout this whole long, drawn-out process. Let’s get the judge what he needs to make good decisions about the future of our organization. Let’s get our state associations to intervene in this case and give our members a real voice in the upcoming trial and the Association’s future.

It’s Official: Louisiana Becomes 28th State to Adopt Permitless Carry

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry campaigned on a pro-Constitutional Carry platform last fall, and the former Attorney General wasted no time at all to fulfill his campaign promise. Just a little more than two weeks after a permitless carry bill was formally introduced in a special session on crime and public safety, Landry put pen to paper today and officially made concealed carry licenses optional in the Sportsmans Paradise.

Today, we join 27 other states in passing Constitutional Carry. I promised the folks of Louisiana that I would champion Constitutional Carry into law, and within two months, I have honored that commitment,” Republican Gov. Jeff Landry told Fox News Digital.

“It’s fundamentally clear — law-abiding citizens should never have to seek government permission to safeguard themselves and their families. Today, we have secured an incredible victory for liberty in Louisiana. I want to thank Louisiana’s NRA members for their great work.”

Landry signed the NRA-backed Senate Bill 1 into law Tuesday, which allows eligible residents 18 and older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit.

SB 1’s primary author, Republican state Sen. Blake Miguez exclusively told Fox News Digital that the governor’s signature “marks a key milestone in our enduring quest for liberty.”

“Today, Louisiana asserts its unwavering commitment to the Second Amendment by enacting Constitutional Carry, a move that embodies the absolute right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms. Governor Landry’s pivotal role, combined with the steadfast support from legislators across both chambers, has been crucial in reaffirming our dedication to the rights of law-abiding citizens. Our success owes much to the tireless efforts of NRA members and Second Amendment defenders throughout the state, whose advocacy has been indispensable,” Miguez said.

Second Amendment advocates never gave up in their quest to enshrine Constitutional Carry into law, even after then-Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed a similar bill in 2021 and a handful of lawmakers flipped their votes in an override session, allowing the governor’s veto to stand. Most of the flip-floppers are no longer in the legislature, but it was Landry’s embrace of the measure that ensured this would be the year that Lousiiana joined more than half the country in removing a needless barrier to the right to bear arms.

Elections have consequences, and in this case good ones for Second Amendment supporters. Starting this Independence Day, if you can lawfully possess a firearm in the state you’ll be able to lawfully carry without the need for a state-issued license. This applies to everyone 18 and older, even those who live outside the state, so folks won’t have to worry if their state has reciprocity with Louisiana.

Will we see a 29th state adopt Constitutional Carry this year? The jury’s still out in South Carolina, where a conference committee is trying to come up with a bill that’s amenable to both the House and Senate, which have passed competing measures rejected by the other chamber. The conference committee comprised of six lawmakers is currently holding meetings, and if they can craft a bill that they support it will be sent to the House and Senate for an up-or-down vote without the possibility of making any changes.

Louisiana has shown the Palmetto State the way forward. In just a matter of weeks, lawmakers in Baton Rouge made more progress than their counterparts in Columbia have made in a year. Now’s the time for South Carolina legislators to follow the lead of their Louisiana colleagues and to adopt a clean Constitutional Carry bill of their own.

Congratulations to gun owners and 2A activists in the Pelican State, who never gave up even when the state’s good-old-boy politics was used to subvert the legislative process. The passage and adoption of this year’s legislation may have been quick and painless, but Landry’s signing is still the culmination of a years-long fight to restore the right to carry to its rightful status, and today’s signing ceremony wouldn’t have taken place without their efforts.