While these always deserve careful attention, overreaching bills like this are usually nothing more than a combination of political grandstanding and attempts to move the ‘Overton window’ to make less draconian bills appear more palatable.

Below The Radar – Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act of 2021

United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- Bad ideas are hard to kill, especially in Congress. One of the worst has been this notion of licensing gun owners at the federal level. This was something anti-Second Amendment extremists have wanted since 1968 – and you can read how angry Lyndon Baines Johnson was that such provisions were not in the Gun Control Act of 1968.

So, for over five decades, Second Amendment supporters have thwarted this goal of our enemies (and people who wish to inflict injustice on us are rightly described as enemies), who think that treating law-abiding gun owners like criminals is the answer to the misuse of firearms. We know it isn’t, as the Brevard County Sheriff lays out. But that hasn’t stopped anti-Second Amendment extremists from trying.

While Sheila Jackson Lee drew a lot of attention with HR 127, the Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act, a number of other licensing schemes have shown up in past Congresses, and they will likely show up in the current Congress, and in Congresses in the future.

One of those bad ideas that keep turning up is the Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act of 2021, known as S 770. We covered a similar version that was introduced in 2019 by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Jamie Raskin. Van Hollen is again the Senate sponsor of this assault on the dignity and reputation of those who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

Van Hollen, of course, doesn’t even tell states to impose it. He instead tries to bribe them with federal grants. It’s yet another insult from these Bloomberg stooges who seem eager to cast blame for high rates of violent crime on everyone but those who are really responsible.

Here’s the truth: Less than a fifth of the states in the Union require any form of licensing scheme. If anything, the overwhelming consensus (at least, what seems to be the consensus) among the states is that there is no need to license firearms owners at all. States like New Jersey, Illinois, and Massachusetts are the real outliers when it comes to firearms ownership. Those schemes don’t stop firearms from getting into the hands of bad guys.

In addition, what was noted on the web pages of Ammoland back then still applies. This legislative proposal is pretty much asking to create tragedies like the one involving Carol Bowne. Anti-Second Amendment extremists often claim they are trying to save lives, but it was an onerous law they want to extend nationwide that cost one woman her life at the hands of her abusive ex.

Second Amendment supporters should contact their Representative and Senators and politely urge them to oppose S 770, and instead seek to override state waiting periods and licensing schemes. They also should support the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action and Political Victory Fund to ensure that the current anti-Second Amendment regimes in the House, Senate, and White House are defeated at the ballot box as soon as possible.

 

Interesting synopsis

Leaked: ATF Documents on 80% Parts

The rights of the American people are apparently under review, as President Biden informed the country just a few weeks ago. Between braces, 80% parts, and red flag laws, the deadlines were set urging the government to come out with clear statements about how they will treat such items in the future. Better said, how they will regulate the rights of the people. The ATF, or AFT depending on who you ask, has been hard at work and the documents regarding their decisions have hardly been kept behind closed doors. Docket No. ATF 2021R-05 is out in the wild and it sets its sights on firearms parts.

In its current form, the 107 page document aims to reconsider what the ATF considers a firearm, a gunsmith, and what it means for a firearm to be “complete.” Attached to the expected verbiage on reclassifying inanimate objects as something deemed too dangerous for other people to have, the document includes a proposal to change how the ATF tracks your data or the things you might want to own.

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‘Police’ were often termed ‘Peace Officers‘. It indicated they would keep the peace (stop blood feuds and riots) by presenting complainants and offenders before a  ‘Justice of the Peace‘ where, as far as possible, impartial, fair handed justice would be dealt out.
Police aren’t really there to protect the people, but to protect criminals from vigilante justice dealt out on the street.

Go ahead and defund the police, but get ready for vigilante justice
Those who are calling to end or radically alter the way this country is policed don’t have a good grasp of American history.

There was a time when vast swaths of this country were not policed, or were extremely under-policed.

In the late 19th Century, just three Deputy U.S. Marshals — Bill Tilghman, Chris Madsen, and Heck Thomas — were responsible for patrolling what would later become the State of Oklahoma. Their exploits are legendary.

For most Americans living outside of the large eastern metropolitan areas at that time, justice simply didn’t exist unless they meted it out themselves.

The first American police department wasn’t established until 1844 in New York City.

Boston and Philadelphia didn’t follow suit until a decade later.

These early departments were modeled upon the British police — the forerunner of the London Metropolitan Police was formed in 1789 — but they did not have detectives and were more concerned with preventing civil disorder and deterring thievery through visible patrol than investigating and solving crime.

In the West things were different.

Law and order were late in coming.

As a result, groups of citizens would band together to combat a specific threat — usually cattle rustling, horse thievery or a murder spree.

These extrajudicial citizen groups were called regulators, although today they would certainly be called vigilantes.

In Western towns without a police force, businesses would fund some of these vigilance groups to protect their property at night when the shop owners slept.

Nationally at this time, state governments granted authority to local businesses to create their own police forces — such as the Coal and Iron Police of Pennsylvania — which were accountable solely to the local CEO.

These “police departments,” which were routinely used as strike-breakers, further eroded public confidence in law and order, and were little more than vigilantes themselves.

Then, as now, when civil society broke down, Americans chose to arm themselves.

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April 21

753 BC – Romulus founds Rome. ROMA SUMMUS AMOR

1509 – Henry VIII ascends the throne of England

1792 – Joaquim José da Silva Xavier Tiradentes, leader of the Inconfidência Mineira revolutionary movement for Brazil’s independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.

1836 – In less than 18 minutes of battle, Republic of Texas forces under General Sam Houston defeat Mexican troops under General Antonio López de Santa Anna at San Jacinto.

1898 – During the Spanish–American War,  the U.S. Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports.

1918 – German fighter ace, Manfred, Baron von Richthofen, is shot down, and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.

1945 – Soviet forces attack the German High Command headquarters at Zossen, 20 miles south of Berlin.

1958 – United Airlines Flight 736, a Douglas DC-7, collides into a U.S. Air Force F-100 Super Saber fighter jet near Arden, Nevada killing all 47 aboard along with the 2 Air Force pilots

1960 – The new capital of Brazil, Brasília is officially inaugurated.  At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.

1962 – The first World’s Fair in the United States since World War II opens in Seattle, Washington.

1975 – President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

1982 – Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first Major League relief pitcher to record 300 saves.

1985 – The compound of the group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord in northern Arkansas, surrenders to federal authorities after a two-day siege.

2014 – During a budget crisis, the city of Flint, Michigan switches its water source from water supplied by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water to the Flint River. Residents almost immediately being filing complaints about the taste, smell, and appearance of the water.

Yes, they’re words and the words we use do matter.
The aliens that are here illegally are illegal aliens.
Why use ‘inclusive language?
Propaganda to cloud men’s minds.

Biden administration orders CBP, ICE to stop using the term ‘illegal alien’

​T​he Biden administration has ordered federal immigration enforcement agencies to nix the use of terms like “illegal alien” and “assimilation” when referring to illegal immigrants, in favor of more “inclusive language,” according to a report on Monday. ​

The new directive was included in a memo sent to the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection as part of an effort by the Biden White House to build a more “humane” immigration system, the Washington Post reported, citing copies it obtained.​​

According to the document, “alien” will become “noncitizen or migrant,” “illegal” will be called “undocumented,” and “assimilation” will be referred to as “integration.”​​

“The words we use matter,” Troy Miller, a senior CBP official, said in his memo.

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‘I never expected I would touch my gun’: Dad pulls CCW gun to protect family in Westroads shooting

OMAHA, Neb. — A metro area dad said the choice was easy to grab his concealed carry weapon and protect his family as gunfire erupted at Westroads Mall Saturday.

“My daughter is getting baptized next weekend so I wanted to get a nice special outfit for her baptism,” Scott Tafoya said. As Tafoya was trying on a suit in Von Maur Saturday, his wife and two daughters went upstairs to shop.

He noticed commotion and saw people running. One man made eye contact with him. “I looked in his eyes and he yelled, ‘Shooter,’” Tafoya said. He took off upstairs to find his family. As he did, he grabbed his gun. His wife told him she heard gunfire.

“Every indication said our lives were in danger and I was going to do everything in my power to make sure we got out of there OK,” Tafoya said.

He’s a legal conceal carry permit holder, even though Westroads Mall is a weapon-free zone.

“I knew that if I ever pulled that out it would truly be a life and death situation and I would deal with the consequences later,” he said.

As Von Maur employees shuttled shoppers into a bathroom, he stood guard.

“I said I have a permit, I’m legal,” he said. He said he stood near the escalators to draw any threat away from where his family was.

“Everyone else on the third floor just got added into that because the best way to keep my family safe was to make sure nobody with ill intentions came up that escalator.” In that moment, he said he didn’t feel fear, but something else. “I was sad. Because I wasn’t expecting to, if it was real I didn’t think I was going to come home,” he said.

Tafoya said he took the bullets out of his gun and walked toward police with his hands up as soon as they arrived.

“I unloaded my weapon, I put it back in the holster where it was very visible that the slide was locked open. I put my permit in my hands and my hands above my head,” he said. He said police allowed him to leave without facing any charges.

“I don’t condone anyone breaking the law. I made the decision that was right for my family, and I stand behind it. I may still get in trouble for it, if I do, it was worth it,” he said.

Tafoya said gun-free zones put people at risk. “I do not want to be carrying a weapon ever. It’s not comfortable, I don’t like it, I wish there was not a need for it,” he said.

Tafoya said he’s been a permit holder for around four years.

“I never, never ever expected to ever touch my gun. But, I’m exceptionally thankful that I had it,” he said.

He adds this won’t discourage him from going to the mall. Westroads Mall said it will have a weapon sniffing dog on premises for the time being.

Asian Americans Create Gun Group as Ownership, Hate Crimes Rise.

A new gun group hoping to educate Asian Americans about gun rights and gun safety in response to rising hate crimes launched on Monday.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Gun Owners (AAPIGO) aims to provide training and representation to a demographic often overlooked in the conversation on guns. They have scheduled their first meet-and-greet range day for May 2 in Livermore, Calif. And they have already signed up 25 people for an informational course on how to apply for a California gun-carry permit followed by a group application drive designed to bring awareness to the rising threat of hate crimes against Asian Americans.

Racist attacks on Asians surged in 2020, with one report putting the figure at nearly 3,800 incidents and the Los Angeles Police Department reporting the rate of hate crimes against Asians more than doubling. Simultaneously, alongside other Americans, Asians began buying more guns. A gun dealer survey conducted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found the number of Asian customers jumping 46 percent in the first half of 2020.

Now, AAPIGO wants to train those new Asian gun owners and equip them to protect themselves against racist attacks.

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Dan Patrick has always seemed to be a wishy-washy standard operational squish politician when it comes to any civil rights matter.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Senate currently lacks the votes to pass permitless carry of handguns

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Monday that the state Senate does not currently have the votes to pass permitless carry of handguns but that he will try to see if there is a “path” to change that.

The news from the Republican presiding officer of the Senate came days after the House approved a permitless carry bill, commonly referred to as “constitutional carry” by supporters.

“If we have the votes to pass a permitless carry bill off the Senate floor, I will move it,” Patrick said in a statement. “At this point we don’t have the votes on the floor to pass it. I plan to meet with law enforcement who oppose permitless carry and with the [National Rifle Association] and [Gun Owners of America] who support it to see if we can find a path that a majority of senators will vote to pass.”

In most cases, Senate bills require 18 votes from the 31-member chamber to be considered on the floor. There are only 18 GOP senators, so a permitless-carry bill would need the support of every Republican in the chamber to reach the floor — or at least one Democratic vote if any Republicans defect.

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3d Printed guns are left alone (surprise-surprise-surprise)
BUT…..as I read the document, an AR upper receiver, or any other similar type could (and knowing bureaucraps) probably would be considered a ‘full’ receiver since it houses the bolt (page 23). But you read the document at your convenience.

Leaked ATF Document Details Biden Plan to Ban ‘Ghost Guns’

An internal Department of Justice document explaining how the Biden Administration plans to restrict so-called ghost guns was leaked on Tuesday.

The 107-page document, obtained by The Reload, outlines changes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) wants to make to outlaw the sale of homemade gun kits by unlicensed manufactures. At the direction of President Joe Biden, the agency plans to propose federal rule changes, which would require anyone selling unfinished firearms receivers to obtain a federal license and mark the parts with a serial number. Anyone who continues to sell unfinished receivers without a license could face federal felony charges.

April Langwell, chief of the ATF’s Public Affairs Division, neither confirmed nor denied the document’s authenticity. She told The Reload she could not “comment on internal communications or deliberations on potential or hypothetical rulemakings.”

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Moms Demand Action calls for stricter gun laws after FedEx shooting

……….The Indiana chapter said Red Flag laws work.

(pssssst)
Legislatures can pass all the laws they want, but laws, whatever they are – whether you agree with them or not – do not work if the authorities don’t enforce them.

Prosecutor Offers Bizarre Reason Why Red Flag Law Wasn’t Used Against FedEx Shooter

We learned over the weekend that the young man responsible for the shooting at the FedEx facility in Indianapolis legally purchased the rifles used in the attack, despite the fact that police had confiscated a shotgun from him last March after his mother warned that she was afraid her son was going to commit “suicide by cop.”

That raised questions about how the suspect was able to legally acquire any firearms, given the state’s red flag law that’s been on the books for decades. Paul Helmke, the former head of the Brady Campaign and an Indiana resident, was quick to say that the state’s red flag law is rife with “loopholes” that don’t prevent those subject to a red flag order from purchasing other guns. It would appear that Helmke is wrong about that, at least according to the Indiana State Police, which says that when a red flag order is authorized, the warrant to seize the firearms in question should also include the suspension of any carry license and a prohibition on the subject “renting, receiving transfer of, owning, or possessing firearms.”

As it turns out, it wasn’t a loophole in Indiana’s red flag law that allowed the suspect to legally purchase his guns, because Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears acknowledged today that the red flag law was never invoked; either before or after his shotgun was seized last year.

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Some opine he’s setting his besotted self up for a presidential run in ’24.

John Boehner Says Gun Control Would Be Top Priority ‘if’ He Were Speaker

Former House Speaker John Boehner (R) indicated Sunday that gun control would be a top priority “if” he were Speaker now.

During an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Boehner focused on what he thinks is the importance of reaching across the aisle.

The segment began with CNN’s Dana Bash claiming there have been “47 mass shootings in the United States in just over the last month.”

Bash provided no substantiation for the claim of 47 mass shootings. Instead, she just looked at Boehner and said, “Polls show that vast majorities of Americans support at least some new gun restrictions.”

She then noted that gun control was not passed after Sandy Hook when Boehner was Speaker, and asked if gun control would be a “top priority” now, were he Speaker again.

Boehner expressed hope that Republicans and Democrats will find “common ground” and affirmed it would be top priority “if” he were Speaker.

Breitbart News pointed to a Rasmussen Poll that showed 51 percent of likely voters believed more gun control would have have prevented the March 22, 2021, Boulder attack.

On April 15, 2021, Breitbart News reported a McLaughlin poll showing 72 percent of general election voters support the Second Amendment.

The McLaughlin poll also showed 73.4 percent of general election voters agreed that “the Founders understood the importance of law-abiding citizens right to legally own firearms for things like hunting, sport and personal protection.”

Louisiana bill allowing gun owners to carry concealed firearms without permit advances

Louisiana gun owners could carry concealed firearms without training or a permit under a bill advanced by a Senate committee Monday with a similar measure on deck in the House.

Supporters of Senate Bill 118 by Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, testified the current law requiring training and permits to carry a concealed firearm are infringements on their Second Amendment right to bear arms.

“We shouldn’t need the government’s permission to defend ourselves,” said Chris Patron with Firearm Professionals of Louisiana.

Members of the Senate Judiciary C Committee vote 3-2 to report the bill favorably to the full Senate.

Twenty states currently allow what’s known as “constitutional carry” by supporters, which means gun owners can carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

Gun owners in Louisiana can legally carry guns without permits if they are visible.

“The mood for constitutional carry is gaining momentum,” Morris said. “This step is not that great a step forward.”

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AOC backs court packing, says court shouldn’t overturn laws backed by thousands of advocates

Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday threw her weight behind expanding the Supreme Court.

“I do think we should be expanding the court,” she told reporters.

The New York Democrat, part of the progressive “Squad” collective on Capitol Hill, reasoned the justices overturning laws is part of the problem with the 6-3 conservative majority.

“The idea that nine people, that a nine-person court, can overturn laws that … hundreds and thousands of legislators, advocacy and policymakers drew consensus on … we have to … just ask ourselves, I think as a country, how much does that current structure benefit us? And I don’t think it does,” she said.

Sen. Edward Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, led the charge Thursday to unveil a bill to add four seats to the bench, declaring that the Supreme Court is broken and needs to be fixed.

“The United States Supreme Court is broken. It is out of balance and it needs to be fixed,” Mr. Markey said on the steps of the Supreme Court. “Too many Americans have lost faith in the court as a neutral arbiter.”

The Massachusetts senator blamed former President Trump and Senate Republicans for holding a vacancy open in 2016 for Mr. Trump to fill it by appointing Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.

He said the Republicans also “stole” the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when Mr. Trump appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett days before the November election instead of allowing President Biden to fill the seat.

The Judiciary Act of 2021 expands the high court from nine justices to 13. The Democratic lawmakers reasoned 13 was a proper number because there are 13 federal circuit courts, allowing for a single justice to oversee appeals from each one.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said she hasn’t seen the actual legislation, stopping shy of endorsing it, but noted she supports the bottom line.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, said she would not be bringing the bill to the floor, instead waiting to see the suggestions of a commission created last week by Mr. Biden to study the Supreme Court suggests.

The Supreme Court has had nine justices since 1869.

April 20

1775 – Following the battles at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts militias block land access to Boston, limiting British resupply and reinforcements to only from the sea.

1836 – Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.

1861 – Colonel Robert E. Lee, commander of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment,  resigns his commission in the United States Army to avoid, as he saw it, the dishonor of disobeying official orders to engage his troops against Virginia.

1898 – President McKinley signs a joint resolution to Congress for declaration of war against Spain.

1914 – 19 men, women, and children participating in a strike are killed in the Ludlow Massacre during the Colorado Coalfield War.

1945 – Adolf Hitler makes his last trip to the surface from the Führerbunker  in Berlin to award Iron Crosses to soldiers of the Hitler Youth.

1961 – The invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba by U.S. backed Cuban exiles fails.

1972 – The lunar module Orion, of Apollo 16 , commanded by John Young and piloted by Charles Duke, lands on the moon.

1998 – Air France Flight 422, a Boeing 727 crashes after taking off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board.

1999 – Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shoot and kill 13 people and wound 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.

2007 – William Phillips barricades himself in NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas before shooting and killing a hostage and himself.

2010 – The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that would last six months.

Tesla on autopilot attacks tree

Two killed in huge blaze after driverless Tesla crashes into tree

Two men perished inside a Tesla Model S that was zooming along a Texas roadway with no one behind the wheel — when the car crashed into a tree and sparked a massive fire.

The smash-up happened around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night in The Woodlands, a neighborhood in Houston, with the blaze continuing for four hours.

One of the men was found in the front passenger seat while the other was in the back seat, Harris County Constable Mark Herman told KHOU 11. The pricey automobile has an “autopilot” function, though it wasn’t immediately clear if it was in operation.

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Riots are not “protests”
Then again, when they’re ‘social justice protests‘…………..

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs ‘anti-riot’ bill that grants civil immunity to drivers who hit protesters and protects police budgets from being cut

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an anti-riot bill into law on Monday morning that’s aimed at protecting law-enforcement agencies and cracking down on protests that turn violent.

“I think it’s really remarkable if you look at the breadth of this particular piece of legislation,” DeSantis said during a news conference before signing the bill. “It is the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law-enforcement piece of legislation in the country. There’s just nothing even close.”

Florida’s Senate passed the bill last week 23-17, with only one Republican voting in opposition alongside Democrats.

The law, which was designated HB 1, includes a number of measures that crack down on protests in Florida.

It defines a “riot” as a public disturbance involving three or more people “acting with the common intent to assist each other in violent and disorderly conduct” that results in injury to another person, damage to property, or danger of injury or damage.

The law grants civil immunity to people who drive into protesters who are blocking a road, prevents people accused of rioting from bailing out of jail until after their first court appearance, and increases penalties for assaulting law-enforcement officers while engaging in a “riot.”

It also penalizes local governments that interfere with efforts to stop a riot and allows law-enforcement agencies that face funding reductions to file objections.

In a statement to NBC News last week, DeSantis said the legislation “strikes the appropriate balance of safeguarding every Floridian’s constitutional right to peacefully assemble, while ensuring that those who hide behind peaceful protest to cause violence in our communities will be punished.”

But critics say the legislation, and similar bills in several other states, are part of crackdown efforts after a summer of social-justice protests nationwide, according to Pensacola News Journal.