Category: Politics

Emmer Introduces Legislation to Protect Ammunition Supply Chain

April 18, 2024

Washington, D.C. – Today, in an effort to bolster America’s national security, Congressman Tom Emmer (MN-06) introduced the Ammunition Supply Chain Act. The legislation aims to ensure the resilience and efficiency of our nation’s ammunition manufacturing supply chain. Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) introduced companion legislation in the United States Senate.

The Ammunition Supply Chain Act requires the Secretary of the Army to provide a comprehensive report to Congress on the supply chain of ammunition manufacturing. The report will include information on sourcing raw materials used in ammunition production, examining weaknesses in the existing supply chain and the global demand for ammunition, and providing strategies for fostering public-private partnerships.

“As threats to our nation’s security evolve, it is more important than ever to take proactive measures to secure our ammunition supply chain. This is not only about enhancing our military readiness but also supporting American manufacturing and ensuring law-abiding Minnesotans and Americans can exercise their Second Amendment rights,” Congressman Emmer said. 

“This administration creates as many ridiculous hurdles as possible to restrict law-abiding gun owners’ access to affordable guns and ammunition,” said Senator Risch. “The Ammunition Supply Chain Act forces transparency from the Biden administration about the status of our domestic ammunition supply chain. This is vital to protect our right to bear arms and to ensure our military has the ammunition it needs to protect our country.”

Background

Due to a rise in the use of ammunition and artillery in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, countries around the world are battling shortages of key materials needed for ammunition production, resulting in domestic ammunition prices skyrocketing, limiting millions of Americans’ ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

Congressman Emmer has consistently championed and defended American’s Second Amendment rights. He recently introduced legislation to provide recourse for law-abiding Americans who were improperly denied the ability to legally purchase a firearm. Furthermore, Emmer staunchly opposed the Biden Administration’s crackdowns on stabilizing braces in 2023.

The Ammunition Supply Chain Act is cosponsored by Representatives Pete Stauber, Brad Finstad, Michelle Fischbach, Rick Crawford and Bruce Westerman.

The legislation is supported by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and Vista Outdoor.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Louisiana Preemption Bill Passes Senate, 28-11, on to House

The Louisiana legislature is in the process of strengthening the current state preemption law regarding weapons and the right to keep and bear arms. Local governments seeking to push gun control have been clever about finding ways to restrict people’s right to keep and bear arms in ways not foreseen by previous preemption laws.  For example, in Iowa, the Dubuque City Council voted to create a zoning ordinance to prohibit otherwise legitimate gun sales. In Montana, the city government of Missoula, dominated by the University of Montana, voted to require government approval of all firearm sales in the city.  In response, state legislatures are strengthening preemption bills to prevent such abuses.

Several changes are being proposed in the preemption statute for the State of Louisiana. The differences between the present law and the proposed bill are shown on the Louisiana Legislature website.

Present law limits a political subdivision’s authority to enact certain ordinances or regulations involving firearms. In this regard, present law prohibits a governing authority of a political subdivision from enacting any ordinance or regulation that is more restrictive than state law concerning the sale, purchase, possession, ownership, transfer, transportation,license, or registration of firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or ammunition.

Proposed law prohibits a governing authority from enforcing any ordinance, order, regulation, policy, procedure, rule or any other form of executive or legislative action more restrictive than state law concerning in any way the manufacture, sale, purchase, possession,carrying, storage, ownership, taxation, transfer, transportation, license, or registration of firearms, ammunition, components of firearms or ammunition, firearms accessories, knives,edged weapons, or any combination thereof.

The differences are significant. Present law limits a political subdivision’s authority to enact ordinances or regulations. The proposed bill prohibits all governmental authorities (except the state legislature) from enforcing a wider range of items, expanded beyond ordinances or regulations involving firearms to any ordinance, order, regulation, policy, procedure, rule or any other form of executive or legislative action. 

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Any politician who tells you that a badly written law won’t be used in the worst way possible by some goobermint stooge, is lying to you.

MO Senate votes to protect homeschool access to guns to ease K-12 tax credit expansion

The Missouri Senate voted Wednesday night to ensure homeschool families are allowed to own firearms.

On a 27-4 vote, lawmakers approved legislation that originally was focused on cleaning up issues with Missouri’s virtual school program.

Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, answers questions about his bill that would expand MOScholars during a committee meeting Wednesday Jan. 10, 2024.

But over the course of a five-hour recess in the Senate Wednesday, Republicans turned that legislation into a catch-all measure aimed at ensuring the House approves an even larger education bill approved by the Senate last month.

The bill approved Wednesday night was crafted to ease House concerns about a 153-page bill that passed the Senate to expand Missouri’s private school tax credit program and allowed charter schools in Boone County, along with other provisions aimed at bolstering public schools.

That bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Andrew Koenig of Manchester, told The Independent he would prefer the House pass the Senate’s education bill without changes and send it to the governor’s desk. Any changes in the House would bring it back to the Senate for debate, putting its changes at risk.

After the Senate passed Koenig’s legislation last month, criticism began popping up on social media and in the Capitol about a myriad of issues — primarily that homeschooling families may face additional government oversight.

Despite assurances from gun-rights groups, one concern focused on the idea that homeschoolers’ inclusion in the private school scholarship program would result in home educators being subject to laws banning guns in schools.

The Missouri Firearms Coalition made a statement that it felt that gun-ownership was not threatened in the bill. And an attorney for Home School Legal Defense Association Scott Woodruff was adamant that he was not concerned about the provision.

“The idea (the bill)…. would make the criminal penalties of (state firearm code) apply to home schoolers with guns in their home is supported, at best, only by a long, thin string of assumptions and implications,” he wrote.

But House members were flooded with emails and social media messages expressing concerns, putting the bills’ chances of passing without being altered at risk.

Koenig said Wednesday that the ability to own a gun was not threatened by his bill.

“I don’t know that it was a problem, but this definitely makes it a lot stronger,” he said. “Anytime we can clarify something in statute, then we make sure that interpretation is stronger.”

The bill applies the existing homeschool statute to particular sections of state law — avoiding applying the definition of a “home school” to the state code that prohibits firearms on school grounds.

The legislation approved Wednesday night expanded beyond virtual schools to include changes such as connecting funding for K-12 tax-credit scholarships to state aid for public schools’ transportation. This is current state law, but Koenig’s bill separated the two.

The bill also exempts Warsaw School District from taking a vote to reauthorize the district’s current four-day school week. If Koenig’s bill passes, school districts that have switched to a four-day week in charter counties or cities with at least 30,000 residents will have to hold a vote to continue with an abbreviated week.

Similar provisions are included in amendments to Koenig’s bill filed by House members. Fifty-three amendments have already been filed on Koenig’s bill in the House.

House Majority Leader Jon Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican, told reporters on Monday that he would prefer to pass the Senate’s version of Koenig’s bill but there was not a guarantee to do so.

 

Tennessee bill allowing teachers to carry concealed handguns heads to final votes

Only floor votes remain before a measure to allow Tennessee public school teachers and staff with certain training to carry concealed firearms inside their classrooms could head to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk.

Senate Bill 1325 would allow school teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns on school grounds if they obtain an enhanced handgun carry permit and complete annual training with law enforcement.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill Tuesday afternoon in a 7-1 party-line vote

“I do not think that it is the responsibility of teachers in our state, who have taken the oath to educate our children, to now become law enforcement officers,” said Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, who voted against the bill. “No doubt about it, we want our schools to be safe – and I will be the first to join you in any effort to keep our students safe. But this is not the way, putting that burden of responsibility on teachers.”

The bill, introduced in January 2023, was delayed after Committee Chair Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, punted all gun-related bills to 2024 after a shooter killed six people, including three 9-year-old children, at The Covenant School in Nashville in March 2023.

Companion legislation has passed all House committees, and is held on the House Clerk’s desk – ready to be taken up for a floor vote at any time.

Sponsors of the bill have cited the effort as a way to close the gap of 566 public schools in Tennessee that do not yet have school resource officers.

“This is just another tool that can be used by those K-12 schools in the event that they’re not capable of hiring an SRO,” Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta. Bailey is also sponsoring legislation to allow retired law enforcement officers to return for a two-year period to serve as SROs.

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Attack on Firearm Ownership Continues

Yesterday, the Colorado House Business Affairs & Labor Committee passed the bill requiring gun owners to purchase firearm liability insurance. The bill will now be sent to the House Committee of the Whole.

House Bill 24-1270 requires firearm owners to maintain a liability insurance policy that covers losses or damages to a person, other than the policyholder, who is injured on the insured property as a result of any accidental or unintentional discharge of the firearm.

Also yesterday, Senate Bill 24-066 was passed by for the day.  SB24-066 allows credit companies and payment processors to use merchant category codes (MCC) to track credit card purchases of firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition.

We will continue to monitor these bills and alert you when action is needed.

In the meantime, if you have not already, share this important alert with your family, friends, fellow sportsmen and gun owners, please do.  The Centennial State needs all its sportsmen and gun owners actively working together to ensure the survival of our hunting, fishing, and trapping heritage.

About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s

Already unconstitutional per SCOTUS in Heller and controlling on state laws per McDonald.

D.C. v Heller (IV para5)
We must also address the District’s requirement (as applied to respondent’s handgun) that firearms in the home be rendered and kept inoperable at all times. This makes it impossible for citizens to use them for the core lawful purpose of self-defense and is hence unconstitutional.

Bill would require Rhode Island gun owners to lock firearms when not in use

The Rhode Island Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would require all firearms, when not being used by the owner or another authorized user, to be stored in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock.

Under the bill, the unsafe storage of a firearm would be considered a civil offense that could be punished by a fine of up to $250 for a first offense and $1,000 for a second. Any subsequent violation would be punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $500.

The measure passed by a 28-7 vote.

The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Sen. Pamela Lauria, said responsible gun owners already take precautions, but those steps should be a requirement, not an option.

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Idaho House passes bill blocking cities and counties from regulating knives
Opponents worry bill would require municipal performing arts centers to allow knives

The Republican-controlled Idaho House of Representatives voted Tuesday to pass a bill banning cities and counties from restricting knives, despite concerns raised that passing the bill would force municipal performing arts centers to allow knives at public concerts and performances.

Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, sponsored House Bill 620a. Redman said knives are a form of arms that are protected.

“This bill would enact a state knife preemption law, which would prevent political subdivisions in the state from regulating the possession, sale, transfer and manufacture of knives,” Redman told legislators Tuesday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise. “Idaho has (a) preemption law that protects firearms from local regulation, and we need to do the same for knives. It is important to remember that knives are arms too and protected by the Second Amendment. By protecting these we are doing the same as we are protecting the firearms.”

Under the bill, “any city, county, or other political subdivision of this state shall not enact any ordinance, rule, or tax relating to the transportation, possession, carrying, sale, transfer, purchase, gift, devise, licensing, registration, or use of a knife or knife making components in this state.”

Under Idaho state law, political subdivisions include cities, counties, municipal corporations, health districts and irrigation districts. House Bill 620a includes exceptions that would allow public schools, charter schools, court houses, law enforcement facilities, prisons, jails, other involuntary confinement facilities and political subdivisions that regulate child care to regulate knives.

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Meet The Group Threatening Americans’ Freedom You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

If you were to ask 20 of your smartest friends, co-workers, and family members what they know about the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), it’s unlikely any of them would have much, if anything, to say. Most Americans have never heard of the ULC, even though the organization has become one of the country’s most influential groups.

If you were to call your state lawmakers, however, you’d likely get an entirely different reaction. Virtually every legislator in America is familiar with the ULC, and most — Democrats and Republicans alike — have a positive opinion of the group. That’s largely because the ULC has a long history of working closely with legislators to develop and revise the Uniform Commercial Code, a complex state law passed in all 50 states.

The purpose of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is to ensure that commercial and financial activities are regulated as similarly as possible throughout the United States. Without the UCC, conducting business in multiple states would be extremely difficult and costly.

Because the Uniform Commercial Code is so complicated, legislators have trouble understanding and altering it. They depend on the Uniform Law Commission, which is mostly composed of lawyers and academics, as well as the ULC’s partner organizations, to help them. As a result, the ULC has become so important to state lawmakers that it receives much of its funding from state appropriations. That means you, the taxpayer, are footing the bill for the ULC.

For much of the 20th century, the ULC played an important, nonpartisan, uncontroversial role in helping states adopt uniform laws. But in recent decades, the group has become increasingly more radical. It now regularly pushes policymakers to adopt legislation that undermines the rights of individuals and enhances the power of governments, large corporations, and financial institutions.

Take, for example, the disturbing model bill titled the Public-Health Emergency Authority Act (PHEAA). The ULC drafted and formally approved PHEAA in 2023, and it’s now asking legislators to pass it into law.

In the event that a “public health emergency” breaks out in the future, the PHEAA would effectively turn governors across the country into all-powerful quasi-dictators.

Under the ULC’s public health emergency bill, governors would have the right to seize control of virtually every part of their citizens’ lives. They could, for instance, regulate the “zoning, operation, commandeering, management, or use of buildings, shelters, facilities, parks, outdoor space, or other physical space, and the management of activities in those places.”

They would also have the authority to single-handedly regulate public-health-related “testing, isolation, quarantine, movement, gathering, evacuation, or relocation of individuals.”

Governors could further kill, relocate, and manage plants and animals in the state, as well as suspend “a provision of any statute, order, rule, or regulation if strict compliance would hinder efforts to respond to the public-health emergency or pose undue hardship or risk.”

The ULC would also grant governors the right to conduct unlimited “surveillance, monitoring, or assessment of the public-health emergency or any of its effects.”

And although the ULC’s bill suggests establishing a time limit on the initial duration of a declared “public health emergency,” its bill would also allow governors to renew an emergency with minimal oversight from legislatures, and to do so for an infinite number of times.

Emergency power isn’t the only troubling part of the ULC’s agenda.

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Making sure we don’t? OK by me!

Missouri senator proposes bill blocking red flag gun laws, which Missouri doesn’t have

Less than a month after the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade, a Missouri Senator looks to pass legislation further loosening the state’s gun laws.

State Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, sponsored the “Anti-Red Flag Gun Seizure Act,” which would prohibit the confiscation of firearms from individuals who are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. His bill was heard by the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday.

“I think we all agree we have a right to keep and bear arms,” Hoskins said. “Unfortunately, some anti-Second Amendment groups can weaponize the red flag laws to quiet their opponents. We have the Second Amendment to protect the First Amendment and a right to due process.”

Although Missouri does not currently have any red flag laws in place, along with 30 other states, Hoskins means for his legislation to serve as a preventative measure against their enforcement, should they be enacted.

“We’ve seen the federal government weaponize the Department of Justice against political opponents, so it is happening,” Hoskins said. “We don’t want that to happen in Missouri.”

Speaking in support of the bill was William Bland of Liberty, a board member of the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance. He spoke on behalf of the group to say that they felt red flag laws were unconstitutional and a “bad idea.”

“If a person is believed to be a danger to themselves, or others, taking away their firearms does not remove that danger,” Bland said. “It is easy enough for a suicidal individual to swallow a bottle of Tylenol pills, or harm themselves or others with a kitchen knife or some other weapon.”

He said that red flag laws often deprive some individuals of their firearms because they live with someone who is considered dangerous to themselves or others. In other cases, he worries that red flag laws could be used to take revenge on a person by falsely claiming they are dangerous in order to get their guns taken away, although he offered no evidence of this happening in actuality.

Speaking in opposition to the legislation was Kristin Bowen, a Boone County resident and volunteer for Moms Demand Action, a group that advocates for public safety measures relating to gun violence.

“Missouri already has some of the weakest gun laws in the country and our legislature has spent the past decade gutting our common sense public safety laws, while simultaneously resisting attempts to make our communities safer,” Brown said.

Brown cited a report from Everytown Research and Policy that showed Missouri’s rate of gun deaths have increased 59% from 2012 to 2021, compared to a 39% increase nationwide.

“Constant heartbreak cannot and should not be our reality in Missouri,” Brown said. “Instead of taking steps backward, our state needs to be taking steps forward by passing laws that would keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals and provide our communities with the support that they need to adopt local solutions to gun violence.”

Missouri has few regulations surrounding the sale, ownership or carrying of a firearm. State law also prohibits local officials from superseding its gun laws, although it does allow for cities to create local ordinances requiring permits to carry firearms. [this is incorrect]

In 2021, Missouri lawmakers passed and Gov. Mike Parson signed into law the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” sponsored by now U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, which attempts to bar federal gun laws from being enforced in the state. Police who try to do so could face a $50,000 fine.

The act is being challenged in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in October, and the law remains on hold while the appeal is active.

It is unclear if Hoskin’s bill has any traction this year, as lawmakers near the halfway point of the legislative session. No vote was taken on the bill during Wednesday’s hearing.

The Missouri House decided to stop pursuing the passage of two bills expanding firearms access following the mass shooting in Kansas City last month, including one that would have exempted guns and ammunition from state and local taxes and another that would have allowed guns on public transit and in churches, while also lowering the age to get a concealed carry permit.

Following the shooting, Democrats in the Missouri House of Representatives filed nearly 40 identical resolutions seeking the ability to enact local gun laws that supersede those at the state level.

There are currently initiative petitions filed that seek to accomplish the same goal, though it is unknown where those stand in respect to getting enough signatures to make the ballot this year.

It’s like the senile dolt believes if he repeats it enough, it’ll be come real

Biden Doubles Down on AR-15 Ban in State of the Union Speech

Headed into a tough re-election bid, President Joe Biden signaled he would stay the course on his aggressive push for new gun restrictions during his speech to the nation on Thursday.

The President laid out his view of how the country is fairing and his agenda for a potential second term. Part of that agenda is to pass new gun restrictions. Biden indicated passing and signing a new ban on popular firearms such as the AR-15 and other so-called “assault weapons” was at the top of his priority list on that front.

“I’m demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” Biden said in his State of the Union address.

The comments echo the President’s previous State of the Union speeches.

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Gun Owners Of America Comes Out Swinging Against John Cornyn After He Announced Bid For Senate Leader

Gun Owners Of America (GOA) shared their concerns Thursday with Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn after he announced his intention to run for Senate Republican Leader, just one day after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would be stepping down as leader in November.

In an exclusive phone call with the Daily Caller, Aidan Johnston, the Director of Federal Affairs for GOA, said Cornyn is not a Conservative pro-gun leader, mentioning pieces of legislation that Cornyn has supported in the past, which Johnston described as gun control.

“The United States Senate deserves a conservative pro-gun leader, and John Cornyn is not that person, it seems. I’ll say every time a gun issue comes up: He’s right there with a compromise. And that’s not leadership. That’s just capitulation to gun control. Americans deserve someone who will refuse to compromise with their God-given Second Amendment rights. And unfortunately, John Cornyn is, always, always, always cutting deals with our Second Amendment,” Johnston told the Caller.

“I mean, as far back as, 2007-2008 John Cornyn was not standing up to object to gun control when the Veterans Disarmament Act passed, otherwise known as the NICs Improvement Amendment Act. But then you’ve got the Fix NICs Act, the followed successor to that 2008 bill,” Johnston continued. “The Fix NICs Act, which passed in 2017-2018. And that bill was supposed to only pass coupled with concealed carry reciprocity, but it was squishy Republicans in Congress that let the two bills be separated, and they passed the gun control and not concealed carry.”

He then slammed Cornyn over the Safer Communities Act, which he cosponsored with Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy. The compromise package was negotiated between Cornyn and Murphy in the Summer of 2022 and created an “enhanced background check” for adults under 21. The bill also expanded the definition of who is a gun dealer and thereby required to conduct a background check. Under that new system, one single gun sale in a calendar year could lead to people having to get licensed as a dealer and having to conduct background checks.

“But I do think that the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which John Cornyn is the co-author with Senator Murphy, it was an omnibus gun control, this is the biggest gun control that has passed Congress in decades. Like we’re talking funding for Red flag gun confiscation laws, which, by the way, have been used in a scandal to bribe pro-gun states without red flag laws into enacting them.

We’re talking about a de facto wait period for 18- to 20-year-old adults before they can purchase a firearm and it opened the door, which we warned him [Cornyn] about, to backdoor universal background checks. And now the ATF is initiating a rule to institute background checks without a new law,” he added.

“Well, we warned Congress, we warned, John Cornyn, about all these consequences of the bipartisan Safer Communities Act that said he supported that bill anyway and now gun owners are living under the consequences of that. This is not the time to take someone who compromised with our Second Amendment and put them in charge of the Republican Party, whose platform claims to defend the Second Amendment.”

McConnell said he will serve out his Senate term, which ends in January 2027, “albeit from a different seat in the chamber.”

Meanwhile, Cornyn spoke with former President Donald Trump on Wednesday and has started calling individual GOP senators for their support.

The Caller contacted Cornyn’s office about GOA’s opposition to him as leader, to which they did not immediately respond.

Biden Convinced Media He Was ‘Powerless’ To Fix Border Crisis. Then He Changed His Mind.

The Biden administration let it be known on Thursday [the 22nd] that the president is considering taking executive action to address the crisis at the southern border. News outlets appeared impressed.

Axios called the leaked White House plan to limit asylum claims President Joe “Biden’s Bold and Risky Border Move.” Politico declared it a “sweeping new approach.” The New York Times put four reporters on the story.

It was an abrupt pivot for the mainstream media, which have long repeated Biden and his Democratic allies’ claims that he is all but powerless to slow the unprecedented flood of migrants into the United States.

FLASHBACK: After congressional Republicans earlier this month killed a Democrat-backed border bill, the White House denied GOP claims that the president already has the power to deal with the crisis.

“Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said.

The media rushed to prove him right:

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Louisiana lawmakers advance bill allowing concealed carry without permit

Republican state Senators in Louisiana advanced legislation Thursday that allows adults 18 years and older to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

The Senate approved that bill, along with another that would provide a level of immunity from civil liability for a person who uses a concealed gun to shoot a person in self-defense, The Associated Press reported.

The bills were passed during a special session that was called to address violent crime in the state. They now head to the House, where the GOP is in the majority.

State Sen. Blake Miguez, the sponsor of the bill, S.B. 1, thanked his fellow Senate Republicans for passing his bill in a unanimous vote.

“This important legislation will bring stronger #2 self-defense rights to Louisiana similar to those enjoyed by citizens in neighboring states,” he posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) has signaled he intends to sign the bills if they reach his desk, the AP reported.

The state currently requires holders of concealed carry permits to be fingerprinted and pay a fee, which advocates of the bill say is unconstitutional, per the AP.

According to the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, 27 states allow people to carry a concealed weapon without having a permit.

In another post online, Miguez said the bill will “empower” citizens with “the means to protect themselves and their families from violent criminals.”

While Miguez and other Republicans argue they should be able to conceal carry weapons without a permit to protect themselves from criminals, Democrats say it could lead to more gun violence, the AP noted.

The special session began Monday and will address the state’s crime issues. In 2021, Louisiana had the highest violent crime rate in the country, Landry said in a speech Monday.

Louisiana lawmakers, Governor Jeff Landry want more gun rights for self defense to deter crime

Louisiana’s Legislature is likely to expand gun rights for law-abiding citizens during a three-week Special Session called by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry designed to crack down on crime that begins at the Capitol Monday.

Two bills have been filed to allow adults 18 and older to carry concealed handguns without the training or permits that are required now. A third has been filed that would provide a level of immunity from civil liability for someone who uses a concealed handgun to shoot a person in self defense.

Previous efforts to expand concealed carry either stalled in the Senate or were vetoed by former Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, but Landry included the issue in his Special Session order, signaling his support.

“I want my four granddaughters to be able to put a pistol in their purses to protect them from murders and rapists,” McCormick said in an interview with USA Today Network. “I feel confident with this governor and Legislature we will see a (concealed carry) bill passed.”

Erath Republican Sen. Blake Miguez, a world class competition pistol shooter, is also carrying permitless concealed carry legislation with Senate Bill 1 and the legislation to provide immunity for concealed carry shooters with Senate Bill 2.

“Government is not here to place barriers to our constitutional rights,” Miguez told USA Today Network. “Criminals already carry concealed handguns without government permission.”

When asked how expanding concealed carry rights would reduce crime, both lawmakers said it would give criminals pause.

“It fights crime by allowing innocent individuals to defend themselves, putting them on equal footing with vicious criminals,” Miguez said.

“When criminals don’t know if you’re carrying it makes them more cautious,” McCormick said.

Supporters of the legislation refer to it as “constitutional carry” because they believe the Second Amendment already grants that right. Louisiana allows for constitutional carry now but requires a permit and training.

“It puts law-abiding citizens on equal footing with criminals,” Kelby Seanor of the National Rifle Association has said. “It removes the burden to exercise a constitutional right.”

But opponents, like those from Moms Demand Action and the Louisiana Chiefs of Police who testified against the bill last year, said concealed carry without the training and permits required now make the streets more dangerous for citizens and police.

Louisiana is already an “open carry” state, which means people can carry visible firearms without a permit or training.

Twenty-seven states already permit a form of concealed carry without permits, including all of Louisiana’s neighbors.

 

The week Biden lost the New York Times: Liberal paper’s Editorial Board unleashes astonishing broadside warning of ‘a dark moment’ as it runs back-to-back opinion pieces knifing the elderly president after damning special counsel report.

Joe Biden is incapable of assuring voters he can handle another presidential term, his team has ‘no plan’ on how to deal with his senile behavior, and he should simply ‘not be running for re-election,’ according to New York Times authors.

Anxieties from the liberal Times’ Editorial Board and opinion writers show how worried they are that ailing Biden may not be able to beat ‘bad man’ Donald Trump this year.

The back-to-back opinion pieces knifing the elderly president, 81, over the weekend comes after a Justice Department report ripped into his handling of classified documents and portrayed him as a forgetful old man.

The 388-page report by Special Counsel Robert Hur confirmed he would not be charged – but it said that was because a jury would probably conclude he had ‘diminished faculties’ and was a ‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’

Biden’s lack of enthusiasm on the campaign trail, coupled with his doddering public appearances and ‘crotchety grandpa’ attitude, are huge concerns during this ‘dark time’ in his presidential tenure, according to the left-leaning broadsheet paper.

‘He needs to do more to show the public that he is fully capable of holding office until age 86,’ the Times board stated on Sunday.

The back-to-back opinion pieces knifing the elderly president, 81, comes after a Justice Department report into his handling of classified documents was released

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Will the Clock Run Out on Grisham’s Anti-Gun Agenda?

We’re less than a week away from the 30-day legislative session coming to a close in New Mexico, and despite an onslaught of gun control bills backed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and supported by most Democrat lawmakers, so far no anti-gun measures have been sent to her desk.

That’s almost certain to change in the next couple of days, with a 7-day waiting period bill poised for final passage in the state Senate, but it’s beginning to look like time might run out before the bulk of her anti-gun agenda is approved by lawmakers in both chambers.

“We’re getting late in the session; we only have a week to go,” Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, said in an interview Thursday. Chandler has her name on two gun bills — one to make it easier to take guns away from people who might threaten themselves or others, one to go after gun sellers whose weapons end up in the wrong hands — that have stalled and may not get restarted, she said. Both are in a holding pattern just outside the landing field known as the House floor.

It could be difficult to get either bill through the House and then over to the Senate for vetting and support, she said, for one reason: “They are going to be racing against the clock.”

That clock is ticking away, and those bills are among more than 750 pieces of legislation introduced in this year’s session. They are fighting for attention against a raft of bills that have nothing to do with crime or guns, including approving a budget for the coming fiscal year.

In short, it’s priority time, and a lot of things are going to be left stuck behind in the mud.

What you will see now, said Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, is a focus on the budget and capital outlay bills, meaning “some of the other issues will fall by the wayside, and they won’t have a chance to make it.”

Still, he said he expects long Senate floor sessions Friday and Saturday in an effort to move some bills forward, including gun-related legislation.

“Gun safety and gun issues will take up quite a bit of time,” he said in an interview.

Rep. Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, also expressed optimism some crime bills can make it.

“I think we’ll be on the floor a lot, I think we can still do it,” she said.

On the other hand she, like most Republicans and some conservative Democrats, is less enamored of supporting any new gun laws that, as they see it, violate the right to bear arms.

“I don’t want any of the gun bills [to get through],” she said in an interview.

The Democrat-controlled House and Senate haven’t rejected any of Grisham’s gun control bills, though they did water down the waiting period from 14 business days to 7. Even if the legislature only sends a couple of 2A-infringing bills to the governor she can always call a special session and bring lawmakers back to Santa Fe to finish the job. And even with many of her anti-gun priorities stuck in a holding pattern, there’s no guarantee they’ll continue to be bottled up until the session is gaveled to a close.

Albuquerque pollster and political analyst Brian Sanderoff said at this point in the legislative game, if it becomes clear a bill does not have the support of the majority of the Legislature or the strong support of a committee chair, it will likely “die just because time is running out.”…

Sanderoff said it is premature to assume any bill cannot be driven to the finish line in the last week of the session. He said if Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, and Democratic lawmakers in both parties want a bill to succeed, “there is still time to get it through the legislative process.”

It’s far too early for gun owners to celebrate. Honestly, even after sine die Second Amendment supporters need to be wary, because a special session may very well be on the table. Grisham threatened to bring legislators back to Santa Fe to work on multiple gun control bills last year, but eventually backed down when it became clear that her agenda didn’t have the support to pass. I’m not sure the same political calculus exists this year, given that many of her suggested gun control measures have cleared legislative committees along party lines and without any objections from her fellow Democrats.

We’ll be talking more about what might happen in the waning days of this year’s session on Monday’s Bearing Arms Cam & Co, but right now the most important takeaway is that gun owners need to keep up the pressure on lawmakers to say “no” to Grisham’s gun control package and any other infringements on our right to keep and bear arms… or to at least keep those bills sidelined until the session draws to a close. We can deal with a special session if and when the governor calls for one, but for now the goal should be to get to sine die with the Second Amendment still intact.