Category: Politics

What Is Trump To Us?

To be worthy of following, post-Trump leadership must become consistent in deed with the insight that vaulted Donald Trump to public attention.

Donald Trump became the political vehicle for the American people’s resentment of an overweening, corrupt ruling class. Trump’s invaluable contribution to the Republic was to lead Americans publicly to disrespect that class.

Americans elected Trump to preserve freedoms and prosperity against the encroachments of that class. But instead, he became the catalyst by which that class cohered to transform the American Republic into an oligarchy.

During Trump’s presidency, more wealth passed from ordinary Americans to oligarchs, and more freedoms were lost than anyone imagined possible. As we consider how to remedy these losses, Trump’s fateful combination of things said and unsaid, of things done and not done, must be part of our search for the persons and policies most likely to lead republican Americans out of our quandary.

Persona Politica

In 2015 and 2016, candidate Trump’s disrespectful, disdainful attitude toward the ruling class put him at the head of presidential preference polls ab initio, and kept him there. Throughout the campaign, he said little of substance—just enough to give the impression that he was on the side of conservatives on just about everything. His leitmotif was “I despise those whom you despise because they despise you. I’m on your side, America’s side.”

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It makes you wonder if these demoncraps own stock in gun manufacturers

Biden is gun salesman-in-chief, threats driving surge in purchases.

President Joe Biden’s latest round of attacks on guns is helping to drive a historic sales surge that continues to leave store shelves bare of firearms and ammunition.

Industry officials said that June sales were the second-highest ever for the month, at about 1.3 million. Only June 2020 had a higher number for that month, at 2,177,586.

“To be clear,” said Mark Oliva, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, “June 2021 is the second-highest June on record.”

FBI background checks are also rolling to new highs. Through just the first six months of the year, they are already higher than for all of 2014, indicating that 2021 will see a new high of over 40 million.

Driving the sales surge, said industry officials, are the gun control threats from the Biden administration. Most recently, the White House has pushed a plan to tax and regulate the pistol style of AR-15 rifles and one of the most popular firearms.

In a review of the June sales, Oliva, whose group represents gun makers and sellers, also said that Biden’s nomination of a gun control advocate to head Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is helping to spark sales.

He said:

“It cannot be discounted that the continued elevated level of increased firearm purchases is driven, in part, by the gun control overtures by the Biden administration. As we head into Independence Day, Americans are exercising their right to keep and bear arms in record numbers even as the Biden administration is throwing up roadblocks to keep that from happening. These factors continue to drive the elevated levels of gun sales: the nomination of David Chipman, a gun control lobbyist to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the proposed rules to reclassify firearm receivers as well as pistols equipped with stabilizing arm braces under the National Firearms Act, and repeated calls to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). The Biden administration is determined to use every lever within reach to stifle and disrupt the free exercise of Second Amendment rights which begin with the ability of citizens who obey the law to freely approach the gun counter.”

However, while Biden has emphasized gun control, his party does not have enough support in the Senate to pass his agenda.

NAACP concerned about Biden’s gun control plan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — President Joe Biden recently announced a plan to reduce gun violence and other crimes nationwide, but leaders in the Black community think it could do more harm than good.

“This is an ongoing problem that is occurring not only in Grand Rapids, but in cities all across the country,” said Carlton T. Mayers, II, Esq., national policing reform consultant at Mayers, Strategic Solutions, LLC and policing reform advisor for NAACP Grand Rapids Branch. “It encourages over-policing of Black and brown communities, which ultimately results in the unnecessary harms and deaths of Black and brown people.”

Biden’s plan is suggesting cities use some of their COVID-19 relief funding to get the job done.

Mayers says the community should be involved in the decision before money is allocated.

Last year, leaders with the city of Grand Rapids debated using ShotSpotter technology in high crime neighborhoods. This would use microphones to detect gunshots in certain areas. The plan hasn’t been approved, but Gayle Harvey, the NAACP’s executive officer of external relations, worries this would target Black and brown communities before crimes even take place.

“How is that going to help, how is it going to continue to protect Black and brown people in those communities that it services because to the high end, those are the communities that it will be in,” said Harvey.

These two say getting the community together would be a better plan to brainstorm solutions moving forward.

“That is going to at least put in place a way that community members would have a say on how this technology is used, so that way it’s not used in a discriminatory fashion,” said Mayers.

Harvey says the NAACP has already been in touch with city officials and the police department in hopes of moving forward in a positive direction for everyone.

and on an earlier note:

Governor’s veto of concealed carry increases likelihood of historic veto session

Governor John Bel Edwards vetoes legislation granting the right to conceal carry a firearm without a permit for ages 21 and up. The bill had popular support in both chambers during the session. Edwards said while he supports Second Amendment rights, he believes conceal carry is a large responsibility and one should undergo proper training………

The veto of the concealed carry bill on the heels of a veto to ban transgender females from competing in women’s sports has increased the likelihood of the first-ever veto session to be called.

Morris said he’s optimistic a session will be called and conceal carry will become law in Louisiana.

“We may make a little bit of history here, but we’ll have to see, I don’t know yet but I’m hopeful because I think a lot of the legislation that did get vetoed are things that the citizens of Louisiana really want,” said Morris.

The measure received wide support during the session it passed in the Senate on a 27-9 vote and in the House 73-28.

A Biden minion blames America’s crime spike on the NRA.
Well, I’ve never yet found a demoncrap that made sense anyway, so…

What a Top Biden Staffer Said About the NRA and the Spike in Crime Makes No Sense

As Katie wrote yesterday, the Biden gun grab is coming. They’re prepping it. They’re doing a test-run with this regulation tweak on pistol stabilizers that will place 10-40 million law-abiding Americans in legal jeopardy. These people did nothing wrong, but the firearms they own must be registered, disassembled, or turned over to authorities to avoid legal action. It will be the largest gun confiscation and registration effort ever. And now, Biden announced new initiatives for gun dealers concerning background checks. It’s not new, by the way. It’s already illegal to conduct straw purchases, falsify your background check form, and knowingly sell to criminals or other prohibited persons.

And now, top Biden adviser Cedric Richmond went on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to blame the National Rifle Association (NRA) for the spike in violent crime. Well, first, he picked the right network because MSNBC is only meant to stroke the fragile egos of liberal America. It does well to keep their moral superiority complex well fed. Second, he said that the NRA has governed the country for too long. Uh, what? As Chris Martin of America Rising notes, Democrats control the White House and both chambers of Congress. What the hell is he talking about?

It’s the same old tired game. With the NRA in serious legal and financial trouble, Richmond is doing his part to drive the stake into the heart of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.

Just look in the mirror, man. Your party’s embracing of defunding the police, passing disastrous bail reforms, and letting hundreds of rioters, looters, and arsonists from last summer go is what’s causing this crime spike. You’re telling them they’ll get away with it. This isn’t hard, sir. When a major party decides to adopt a pro-crime stance, mayhem will ensue in the areas this party dominates politically, which would be the cities.

 

Biden’s Gun Control Speech Was A Mistake

Joe Biden had one real goal in Wednesday’s speech announcing a five-point plan to address the rising violent crime rate in many American cities; reassure voters that Democrats have a strategy that will reduce the increasing lawlessness and reverse the spike in crime that began last year.

Instead, the big takeaway from his rambling and semi-coherent remarks was his off-topic warning to Americans that if they want to take on the government, they’ll need F-15s and nuclear weapons. An address that was supposed to show that the president was focused on violent crime turned into a half-hearted stump speech for gun control, and maybe cannon control as well.

Recent polls have shown that Biden isn’t trusted to handle the crime issue, and I can’t imagine that yesterday’s disastrous turn at the podium made voters feel any better.

Polls signal growing unease over crime, a potential liability for Biden and Democrats in next year’s midterm elections. A Yahoo News/YouGov poll released in May found that nearly 50% of respondents said crime is a very big problem in the U.S. About 36% of respondents at least somewhat approved of Biden’s handling of crime, while 44% at least somewhat disapproved.

Republicans have accused the president of being soft on crime, saying he has not done enough to rebut some liberals who call for cutting spending on police departments. Biden has repeatedly said he does not favor defunding the police.

It’s true that Biden announced that cities can use hundreds of billions of dollars in COVID relief funds to spend on law enforcement efforts, but the officer shortage in many cities can’t simply be blamed on budget issues. Instead, as the New York Times reported a few days ago, officers are retiring, resigning, and joining suburban agencies because of the hostility towards law enforcement shown by many Democratic politicians and elected officials in cities from coast-to-coast.

“We have lost about one-third of our staff to resignation and retirement,” said Chief David Zack of the Asheville Police Department in North Carolina — more than 80 officers out of a full complement of 238. “Certainly with the way that police have been portrayed and vilified in some cases, they have decided that it is not the life for them.”

Those reductions in Ashville echo a nationwide trend. A survey of about 200 police departments indicates that retirements were up by 45 percent and resignations by 18 percent in the period between April 2020 and April 2021, when compared with the preceding 12 months. The percentage of officers who left tended to be larger for departments in big or medium-size cities, according to the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington policy institute that will release full data next week.

“It is an evolving crisis,” said Chuck Wexler, the organization’s executive director.

Biden could have engaged in a full-throated attack on the Defund the Police movement, but he can’t risk alienating the Democrats’ base, so instead he pilloried gun owners. He could have issued a stark warning to violent criminals that the Department of Justice is going to be coming after them, but instead he warned “rogue gun dealers” that the ATF will have a zero tolerance policy on violations of agency rules and regulations.

A speech that was ostensibly designed to make Americans feel better about Biden’s handling of violent crime instead left many of us scratching our heads. Even Biden defenders like Geraldo Rivera were less than impressed by the president’s remarks.

“Compassion aside, where was the passion? That speech was as laid back as the program he is proposing,” said Rivera.

The longtime journalist, who has reported on violent crime and other major issues throughout his career, said that Biden’s allocation of resources toward summertime social programs for urban and endangered youth and stemming illegal firearm sales will not go far toward solving the problem.

“This is the civil rights issue of our time, murder has become the leading cause of death, if this is not an emergency, what is it?” he later asked.

Now, Geraldo is wrong about murder being the leading cause of death in the United States (heart disease, cancer, COVID-19, accidents, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and suicides are each responsible for far more deaths than homicide), but he’s right that Biden’s speech was “laid back.” I’d actually call it somnambulate, but seeing Sleepy Joe at the podium isn’t exactly a new phenomenon either.

The biggest problem for Biden is that he can’t actually acknowledge why we’re seeing a rise in violent crime. Biden wants to blame legal gun owners and federally licensed firearm dealers, when we know that the vast majority of gun owners will never commit a violent crime and that criminals are getting their guns on the illicit market or through family and friends. The White House refers to an 18-month increase in violent crime, when we all know that shootings and homicides really increased a year ago, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the riots and destruction that followed in many cities.

Biden’s address on Wednesday may have checked a box, but I doubt it moved the needle in terms of public opinion on his handling of violent crime. By continuing to call for more restrictions on legal gun owners at a time when millions of Americans are embracing their Second Amendment rights for the very first time and his unwillingness to get tough on those actually responsible for violent acts, the only people Biden really reassured were his gun control allies. When it comes to everyone else, Biden would have been better off politically saying nothing at all.

Does Louisiana have term limits?

Gov. Edwards expected to veto constitutional carry bill

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Gov. John Bel Edwards is looking closely at a bill that would allow most people to be able to carry their firearms concealed without taking a training course but the bill’s chances of being signed into law are looking slim-to-none.

“My position on this has not changed,” said Edwards during a recent interview. “A law enforcement officer doesn’t want to discover someone with whom they’re engaging has a firearm for the first time while they are actually searching them and that leads a lot of problems.”

As a self-declared advocate for the Second Amendment, Edwards’s position on legal gun ownership has been firm. But SB 118, which would do away with requiring training, doesn’t appear to be sitting well with him. And with the likelihood of a veto of the bill coming soon, Sen. Jay Morris (R-West Monroe), says the fight will continue until the goal is achieved.

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Biden Gets Lost Reading the Notes Written for Him by Someone Else, Babbles Incoherently to Stall for Time.

Elder abuse.

A curious tic Biden has, which Benny Johnson pointed out: He’s always saying he would “get in trouble” with staffers if he answers a question.

He means his handlers. That’s not my supposition, it’s what he clearly means when he says “I’d get into trouble if I answered another question” or “I’d get in trouble with Jake Sullivan if I answered that.”

He’s upfront admitting he’s being run by other people, that he’s not the real president and that he is at least aware enough to know he’s not the real president.

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Feinstein Introduces Federal Extreme Risk Protective Order Bill

The matter of Fourth Amendment protections for firearm owners has yet to fully have its day in court. The promising outcome from Caniglia v. Strom on May 17, 2021 does point to gun owners having protection from firearm seizure when a warrant is absent. The Caniglia case was reported nearly a month ago by Cam Edwards, and in his correct estimation, it can have effects going forward concerning due process for those trapped up in such situations, and how the high court views them:

It’s encouraging to see the Supreme Court unanimously agree that Edward Caniglia’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when his firearms were seized without a warrant, but I suspect that a challenge to a state’s red flag laws would result in a much more divided opinion.

While this case didn’t directly involve a Second Amendment challenge, it’s also good to see that even the progressive wing of the Court concluded that the seizure of Caniglia’s legally-owned firearms infringed on his constitutional rights. It may not indicate a sea change from the liberal justices, but at least in this case they declined to treat the Second (and Fourth) Amendment as a second-class right.

While I agree with Edwards’s suspicion that “red flag” laws might yield a more divided opinion, this case will in my opinion have an impact on litigation against all of the unconstitutional seizure policies. In a concurring opinion, Justice Alito conceded the Caniglia case does not address “red flag” laws directly, but I’m sure the case will be cited in case documents filed in lower courts.

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Likely voters back right to carry concealed guns, 2-1

In a slap at President Joe Biden’s new effort to impose gun control and tax and regulate one of the nation’s most popular (and concealable) firearms, people overwhelmingly have endorsed expanding the Second Amendment to include carrying concealed weapons.

In a new Zogby Poll provided to Secrets Thursday just minutes before the administration released its rule to target AR-rifle-style pistols, likely voters by a 63%-29% margin endorsed the idea.

consealedcarry060721.png

In his analysis, pollster Jonathan Zogby said that most voters “agreed that the Second Amendment to the Constitution should also encompass the right to carry a concealed gun. A majority of voters supported concealed carry as a part of the Second Amendment in all regions.”

The poll, one of a series he released through Secrets this week, is the first to find support for concealed carry laws to be added to the Second Amendment.

And it comes as the Supreme Court is considering a New York ban on concealed carry and Biden is eyeing new gun control laws, including taxing and registering millions of legally purchased AR-rifle-style pistols.

Concealed carry has become a hot-button issue as some liberal states move to limit the issuance of permits, though a majority do. And in Washington, there are several efforts in the House and the Senate to approve national “reciprocity” for permit-holders to travel between states with their concealed weapons.

The survey is likely to be seized upon by the authors of the legislation.

It also confirmed a trend seen in gun stores of many more buyers, including women, black people, and minorities, getting handguns to protect themselves as crime increases.

NY Dems’ Jim Crow Proposals: A New Literacy Test, Poll Tax & Registry

If there’s anything you can expect from New York Democrats with certainty, it is their iterative throttling of the Bill of Rights. Whether it’s Governor Andrew Cuomo or Attorney General Fash (Tish) James, they all want the citizenry disarmed and muzzled, police defunded, and violent criminals released among the public. And if you thought that they can’t possibly do any more damage than what they already did with the NY SAFE Act, you’re absolutely wrong.

This Tuesday, NY Democrats held a news conference calling for more gun control. They have proposed several pieces of legislation that will embolden criminals while harassing ordinary people.

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BLUF:
The notion that “Despots are elected and deposed, Laws are passed and repealed, Nations rise and fall, but Individual liberty is eternal” (A. E. Samaan) is not true, as any person who suffered under Stalin, Hitler, or Mao can attest.  Our elected frat boy Republicans have rendered themselves powerless, so it is up to every citizen to fight the Marxists any way they can.  Our individual liberty is indeed at stake.

The Democrat party in Congress is a Marxist cult; the Republicans are a college fraternity

Democrats in and out of Congress and every leftist propagandist in the media are now a committed Marxists.  They no longer even pretend to respect or value the Constitution.  They are now pushing Critical Race Theory as if their lives depend on promoting outright racism as the essence of America.

CRT teaches hatred and victimhood; it is the antithesis of our founding principles.  Our Marxist left supports BLM and Antifa as well, anarchist groups to whom they’ve given free rein to riot, loot, and burn down countless cities and businesses.

The Marxist left is on board with the campaign to defund our police.  The cities that have done so are in worse shape than ever; crime and murder rates are soaring.


Source: Fraternal Order of Police.

They support the invasion occurring on the southern border.  Tens of thousands of migrants have been ushered into the U.S. at the rate of about six thousand a day!  The Biden administration then secretly buses or flies these “children” (adult young men) into the interior, preferably to red states, who then must bear the cost of feeding and housing them and the criminal element among them.

It is an evil and destructive scheme to so weaken America that the Chinese can complete their takeover of our nation.  They own Biden and have mountains of blackmailable material on Hunter.  And with this administration’s absurd focus on diversity over merit, skin color over qualifications, the country is in free fall.

Meanwhile, the mostly hapless Republicans behave like members of a wholly unserious college fraternity.  Yes, there are some heroes in both the House and Senate, but too few to fight the Alinskyite Marxists who take pride in their underhandedness.  Too many of them have voted to confirm Biden’s quiver of cobras.

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Op-Ed Points Out Disconnect Between Anti-Gun Beliefs And Actions

Anti-gun groups are having a ball these days. Not only does their preferred party control the House, the Senate, and the White House, but a surge in violent crime is making people very, very nervous. The fact that there’s also been a gun-buying surge has only made them giddier.

However, a recent op-ed over at the New York Daily News about the surge in violence brought up an interesting point.

The recent spike in gun violence has brought New York City to a genuine inflection point in criminal justice policy. It’s not yet an existential crisis. While the statistics are bad, they do not point to an all-out loss of control of our streets like the 1980s and early ’90s. But the decisions made by policymakers and voters over the next weeks will determine whether we risk losing control again.

Despite claims to the contrary out of City Hall, the social anxiety of the pandemic is not primarily responsible for the rise in gun violence. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers faced desperate economic hardship and unprecedented disruption. Very few of them shot their neighbor or robbed a bodega at gunpoint. For every young man who has chosen to engage in gun violence, thousands of his peers are looking for work and going to school.

Gun violence is not about poverty. Poor people are not criminals. This current wave of violence is about score-settling. It’s about criminal actors taking advantage of fewer witnesses on the street and the concealing of identities behind masks. It’s about removing the disincentives to criminal behavior, including pretrial detention for violent crime. It’s about the ill-conceived reduction of the NYPD’s gun suppression capabilities with the elimination of anti-crime teams.

Progressive reformers and law enforcement officials agree on almost nothing, except that a very small number of offenders commit the vast majority of crime. Identify and contain these offenders, and crime drops. They also agree that gun crime spreads as quickly as COVID. Each shooting carries the near-certain risk of retaliation. If not contained, this contagion spreads throughout entire neighborhoods, disproportionately impacting communities of color. At-risk groups of young men are uniquely susceptible to the luring excitement of gang life. Call them gangs or crews, they travel together to adjacent neighborhoods or housing developments, shoot at other young men, and flee home. The rival group then retaliates. In some neighborhoods, this back-and-forth continues for generations.

Note the bolded line.

It’s interesting to me that progressive reformers and law enforcement officials can agree on almost nothing except that the number of actual offenders is small. It’s interesting because another thing they agree on, at least in large urban centers, is that gun control is needed.

In other words, the anti-gun jihadists know that the total number of bad actors is minute, yet they still want to enact restrictions on the population as a whole because of the acts of a small handful of people. They know this is the case. They know that law-abiding citizens are law-abiding. They know that the vast majority are law-abiding.

And still, these anti-gun zealots want to infringe on our rights.

Honestly, this doesn’t surprise me, but it does infuriate me. It would be different if they believed there were more criminals than there actually are. That’s not the case, though.

They know it’s not all of us. They know it’s just a tiny handful and I suspect they also know they get their guns through illicit means. They know all of this and still they push their anti-gun agenda.

They know. They just don’t care.

Nevada: Homebuilt Firearm Ban Headed to the Governor and the Senate Passes Gun-Free Zone Expansion

On May 25th, the Assembly concurred with the Senate Amendments to Assembly Bill 286, sending it to the Governor for his consideration. The Senate passed Senate Bill 452, the gun-free zone expansion, continuing the assault on your Second Amendment Rights in the Silver State.

Additionally, SB 452 still needs to make its way through the process on the Assembly side. With the legislative session coming to a close in four days, legislation can move quickly.

Assembly Bill 286, sponsored by Assembly Member Sandra Jauregui (D-41), essentially bans home-built firearms for personal use by imposing requirements that far exceed those in federal law. It prohibits private individuals from possessing certain unregulated components commonly used by hobbyists to make their own firearms. This confiscatory bill also bans possession of existing, legal, firearms without serial numbers, such as home-built firearms, but it does exempt pre-1969 firearms. This exemption covers firearms made before federal law required licensed manufacturers and importers to place serial numbers on their commercially produced or imported firearms.

Senate Bill 452, sponsored by Nicole Cannizzaro (D-6),​ prohibits anyone, including concealed carry permit holders, from possessing a firearm at certain “covered premises,” which includes all real property containing a licensed gaming establishment owned and operated by a person with an unrestricted gaming license, absent narrow and limited circumstances, or if an individual has written consent. The bill contains no requirements for gun-free businesses to provide any security measures to guarantee the safety of disarmed patrons, such as security guards or metal detectors, to prevent armed criminals from ignoring the arbitrary boundaries and entering.

Gaetz: Second Amendment about waging ‘armed rebellion’ if necessary

Rep. Matt Gaetz told an audience in Georgia on Thursday that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to “maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary.”

“We have a Second Amendment in this country, and I think we have an obligation to use it,” Gaetz (R-Fla.) said at a rally with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in Dalton, located in Greene’s home district.

“The Second Amendment – this is a little history lesson for all the fake news media. The Second Amendment is not about, it’s not about hunting, it’s not about recreation, it’s not about sports,” the 39-year-old went on. “The Second Amendment is about maintaining, within the citizenry, the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary. I hope it never does, but it sure is important to recognize the founding principles of this nation, and to make sure that they are fully understood.”

Gaetz and Greene have been holding a series of rallies around the Sun Belt this spring in an effort to broaden their name recognition among former President Donald Trump’s supporters.

The lawmakers have both come under fire in recent weeks, with Gaetz being investigated for potential sex trafficking of a minor and Greene being heavily criticized for recent statements in which she compared House rules about wearing masks to anti-Jewish laws in Nazi Germany.

Earlier in the rally, Gaetz railed against big tech companies, pointing to their censorship of conservative views on their platform.

“The internet’s hall monitors out in Silicon Valley, they think they can suppress us, discourage us — maybe if you’re just a little less patriotic, maybe if you just conform to their way of thinking a little more, you’ll be allowed to participate in the digital world,” he said. “Well, you know what? Silicon Valley can’t cancel this movement or this rally or this congressman.”

A clip of those remarks, which also included Gaetz’s statement that “we have a Second Amendment in this country, and I think we have an obligation to use it,” drew a rebuke from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who tweeted: “This is not speech protected by the first amendment. This is beyond yelling fire in a theater” — an incorrect paraphrase of a now-overturned 1919 Supreme Court ruling that held that opposing the military draft was not protected speech.

After his Second Amendment remarks, Gaetz joked, “That’ll be the part that gets me kicked off YouTube, talking about our rights and our freedoms.”

A spokesperson for Gaetz did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while a spokesperson for Kinzinger did not immediately respond to a Post email asking whether he thought Gaetz should face legal action over the comments.

Hello Texans. Ring up your Stunned Tater Cornyn and tell the RINO where he gets off.

A quiet bipartisan effort on gun background checks may have a path to a deal
Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican John Cornyn believe they may have landed on a new way to beef up background checks while attracting bipartisan support.

WASHINGTON — After years of failed attempts to pass a firearms background check bill, two senators think they have a path to agreement — at least on one key component of a deal.

Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, have been quietly negotiating a way to bolster background check rules by making a small but consequential tweak to current law, which they say would close an unintended loophole in the system that has led to preventable mass shootings.

House-passed legislation to require background checks on nearly all gun purchases has stalled in the Senate. But Murphy and Cornyn, who have been negotiating behind closed doors with little fanfare, believe they may have a formula that can attract broad support from both parties.

Specifically, they want to clarify who is required to register as a federal firearms licensee, or FFL, and thus conduct FBI checks on a buyer before selling a gun. The senators say an ambiguity in the law has enabled unlicensed sellers to transfer weapons to dangerous people who skirt the background check system.

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Texas Legislature Passes Constitutional Carry, Bill Now Goes to Gov. Greg Abbott

It wasn’t a smooth process and — no matter what he says publicly — Lt. Governor Dan Patrick had to be brought along kicking and screaming. But after the reconstituted version of HB 1927 passed in the house last night 82-62, the Senate just passed it this evening by a margin of 17-13.

The bill now goes to Governor Greg Abbott who has said for weeks that he’ll sign it into law. We understand the Governor’s office is looking for an appropriate location here in the Live Music Capitol of the World to affix his signature.

So with that, Texas will be come the 21st, and by far the largest state in the nation to enact permitless carry. As in virtually every other state where it’s law, constitutional carry passed over the loud objections of an assortment of chiefs of police, a minority of concealed carry permit trainers, the media, and the usual suspects from the civilian disarmament industrial complex.

Will it result in fender-bender firefights and shopping line shootouts as the bill’s hysterical opponents predictably predicted? It hasn’t in any of the other 20 states with constitutional carry and there’s no reason to think it will in the Lone Star State either.

Progress marches on.

Louisiana Legislature Votes Overwhelmingly for Constitutional Carry in 2021

HB 596 was passed on 5 May, 2021. It is fairly good Constitutional Carry bill with a 21 year old age limit and a requirement to reveal to peace officers your condition of being armed.

Voting was 73 to 26 for final passage.  From the advocate.com:

A bill that would allow citizens 21 and older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit breezed through the Louisiana House on Wednesday.

The measure, House Bill 596, won approval 72-28 after a short but spirited debate.

It next faces action in the state Senate, which approved a similar bill last week by an equally lopsided margin.

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Greg Abbott Urges Texas Legislators to Get Constitutional Carry Bill to His Desk

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is urging lawmakers to finish the work regarding constitutional carry and get the bill to his desk as the Texas legislative session nears its close.

On May 21, Abbott tweeted, “Constitutional carry is moving in the Texas legislature. The strongest Second Amendment legislation in Texas history. Let’s get it to my desk for signing.”

Abbott’s tweet followed news that the Texas House and Senate had reached an agreement on the legislation. KXAN reported that “negotiators” in both chambers had come to an agreement on Thursday. Now all that remains is for the full House and full Senate to vote to accept the bill that emerged from negotiations. 

The constitutional carry legislation, HB 1927, is sponsored by State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler). 

Schaefer commented after House and Senate negotiators came to an agreement, “The House and Senate conferees have reached an agreement on House Bill 1927, a critical benchmark before this bill reaches Gov. (Greg) Abbott’s desk. By working together, the House and Senate will send Gov. Abbott the strongest Second Amendment legislation in Texas history, and protect the right of law-abiding Texans to carry a handgun as they exercise their God-given right to self-defense and the defense of their families.”

The Texas Tribune reports that constitutional carry’s Senate sponsor is State Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown).

On April 28, 2021, Breitbart News pointed out Gov. Abbott’s pledge to sign constitutional carry legislation if it reaches his desk. Signing the bill would make Texas the twenty-first constitutional carry state in the union.

 

The Texas Legislature Reaches an Agreement on Constitutional Carry

AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF) – The Texas House and Senate conferees reached an agreement on House Bill 1927, better known as constitutional carry.

The measure would do away with the need to have a license to carry a gun in Texas.

“By working together, the House and Senate will send Governor Abbott the strongest Second Amendment legislation in Texas history, and protect the right of law-abiding Texans to carry a handgun as they exercise their God-given right to self defense and the defense of their families,” said the bill’s author, Rep. Matt Schaefer Speaker Dade Phelan has been rock-solid every step of the way as House Bill 1927 has progressed, and I am grateful for his leadership and the bipartisan coalition who supported House Bill 1927.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick congratulated Rep. Matt Schaefer and Sen. Charles Schwertner for reaching a full agreement on permitless carry.

“This legislation restores our Second Amendment rights and upholds every Texan’s right to self-defense,” Patrick told WBAP on Friday. “HB 1927 is a historic bill and a national model. It includes the thinking of national gun rights advocates and many in Texas law enforcement and affirms our commitment to protect the rights of gun owners and the safety of those in law enforcement.”

According to Lt. Gov. Patrick, the bill will become eligible for a final vote early next week.

“Those who said HB 1927 would never pass and who perpetuated stories of a ‘poison pill’ and other conspiracies willfully misled many Second Amendment supporters in Texas,” said Patrick. “They also underestimated how hard members of the House and Senate were working to pass this bill.”

Governor Abbott told WBAP earlier this month that he will sign the bill into law when it makes it to his desk.