Conservative state legislators are taking a page from the playbook of pro-immigration activists and the marijuana legalization movement.\
Category: Politics
Republican Study Committee Memo Pushes Back on Biden Administration’s ‘Gun Grab’
The Biden administration recently rolled out a series of gun control measures via executive order, and Republicans are pushing back on the president’s “gun grab.” Biden recently said that “no amendment to the constitution is absolute,” insinuating that reforms to the second amendment are necessary.
The Republican Study Committee (RSC), a House GOP caucus currently led by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), refutes the Biden administration’s rhetoric on gun control. Banks distributed a memo on Wednesday, which was first shared with Townhall, dismantling Biden’s gun control plans, from a ban on “ghost guns,” to Red Flag laws. From the memo:
1. Biden’s actions on pistol braces would take millions of the most popular firearms accessories on the market and make them illegal and their owners felons by executive fiat.
The ATF repeatedly told sport shooters and collectors everywhere these pistol braces were legal. The federal government must stop playing games with the Second Amendment rights of Americans, including the pro-gun community. Biden has a history of infringement going back to his days in the Senate.
This betrayal of the American people could force them to either spend $200 and place their gun on a registry, or risk becoming a felon and lose everything.
Stripping Americans’ freedom to customize their firearms won’t affect how criminals use firearms in crimes.
2. Homemade firearms, or “ghost guns,” are a long standing tradition in America. Our country was founded by free men with handcrafted firearms. The right to make weapons is the right to be free.
3. Democrats’ Red Flag Law proposals are an affront to the 1st, 2nd, and 4th amendments. No right should ever be stripped from free and law abiding Americans by an anonymous report with a low standard of evidence and no penalty for false reporting.
No one should be able to nominate their neighbor for a 4:00 am flashbang and a no-knock from the local SWAT Team.
The lack of transparent reporting, strong evidentiary standards, and penalties for false statements make Democrats’ Red Flag Laws a nightmare for due process.
4. It is disturbing that the Biden administration would nominate David Chipman to lead the ATF who not only made a career of advocating for the restriction of Americans’ liberties, but also was present and took part in the ATF’s failed operation at Waco in 1993.
We already know about his participation in Waco, but what don’t we know?
The president said it was “time for some action,” but promised that his series of executive edicts are just “initial steps” in implementing gun control measures.
“Sanctuary counties” Take Stand on Second Amendment
GRAND ISLAND, Nebraska — A growing number of Nebraska counties declare themselves sanctuaries for the second amendment saying Pres. Biden has put a target on the right to bear arms.
“Our government wanting to come for our guns is a deal breaker,” Barry Niedfeldt told the Hall County Board. “Law abiding citizens want to be on the same side as law enforcement.”
Sheriffs are giving their support to resolutions declaring counties as sanctuaries for the second amendment. Buffalo and Hall Counties are two of the largest, both voting unanimously……….
Fremont County declared ‘Second Amendment sanctuary county
RIVERTON, Wyoming — The Fremont County Commission and Sheriff have signed a resolution to make Fremont a “Second Amendment sanctuary county.”
Citizen Harold Donahue asked the governing board to adopt the resolution, which reaffirms the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms in defense of self or state.
The document also states that neither the county nor its sheriff will expend any resources or personnel to behave contrary to the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution………..
Arkansas legislators pass bills in opposition of gun regulations
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas. – The House Judiciary Committee passed out three bills on Tuesday that could have major implications for the state.
HB1386 would establish the Arkansas Second Amendment Liberties Safeguards Act and said no state agency shall enforce a law, statute, rule, or regulation regarding a personal firearm, firearm accessories, or ammunition that is made in Arkansas and stays in Arkansas.
The bill stated that the Attorney General shall defend a resident who is prosecuted by the Federal Government………….
Missouri House advances bill for guns on buses, in churches
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers are advancing a sweeping firearms bill that would allow concealed guns on public transportation and in churches.
The Republican-led House on Monday gave initial approval to the bill in a voice vote.
Currently, people need permission to bring firearms into places of religious worship. The bill would allow people with concealed carry permits to bring guns in churches, synagogues and mosques regardless.
Another provision in the bill would ensure that gun stores are considered essential businesses. That means state and cities couldn’t order them closed during emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic.
BILL WOULD UP NFA TAX 50% AS FEDS STUDY TURNING PISTOLS TO SBRS
The very day that the Biden-Harris Administration moved to establish a rule reclassifying millions of braced pistols under the NFA, a Democrat lawmaker introduced a bill to bump their costs.
On April 8, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., announced two new gun control proposals, H.R. 2426 and H.R. 2427. The former deals with making it illegal to give a firearm to someone who has had their state license to possess or purchase firearms revoked. The latter is termed the National Firearms Act Modernization Act and aims to increase the tax rates on NFA-regulated items such as machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and suppressors.
Noting that the tax amounts in the NFA, established in 1934, have not changed since enacted– for instance, $200 in 1934 would be the equivalent of $3,925 in 2021– Raskin’s proposal would immediately bump the rates by 50 percent. This would make the basic $200 tax stamps on most NFA transfers $300 moving forward. After that, the rate would increase in line annually with the federal cost-of-living adjustment.
At the same time that Raskin’s tax spike scheme was being unveiled, President Biden was announcing he would order the Justice Department to issue a proposed rule within 60 days, “to make clear when a device marketed as a stabilizing brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act.”
With an estimated 10 to 40 million stabilizing braces and similar components in the hands of otherwise law-abiding gun owners, Raskin’s move could theoretically see a fantastic $8 billion gleaned from the wallets of compliant Americans for items they already legally own. The lawmaker, whose chief claim to fame since joining Congress in 2017 was to serve as the lead impeachment manager for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump, signaled knowledge of the Biden plan when he debuted his NFA tax increase proposal.
“I applaud President Biden and Vice President Harris for announcing strong executive action to address the gun violence public health epidemic,” said Raskin in a release from his office.
Raskin’s bill has been referred to the Democratic-controlled House Committee on the Judiciary, where he sits as a member.
Actually, it’s not “How will Joe Biden respond…“, it’s how will his masters tell him. And really, it’s not even that. It’s “How will his handlers load the TelePrompTer for him to read?”
BLUF:
How will Joe Biden respond to these three powder kegs? The more important question is this: Is his mind so trapped in last century’s geopolitics that he’s now overestimating American strengths, miscalculating other nations’ resolve, and stumbling headfirst into global conflagration?
War between Russia and Ukraine looks imminent. Israel and Iran are engaging in tit for tat maritime altercations. And China is ratcheting up provocative incursions into the airspaces and waters of Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines.
Any one of these regional conflicts is incendiary enough to ignite World War III (or, more accurately, each one is capable of transforming the cold, hybrid warfare of cyberhacks, technology thefts, financial markets manipulation, and perhaps even biological attacks that has been underway for many years into total and unrelenting global bloodshed), yet trading markets and news media are largely ignoring what’s unfolding. It’s as if the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 1999 Kargil War between nuclear-equipped India and Pakistan, and the Soviet and Nazi Invasion of Poland were all happening concurrently, and the world decided it was too busy enforcing face mask mandates upon religious congregants and following the turmoil of Khloe Kardashian to care.
Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August paints a vivid picture of European elites so mentally imprisoned by the mores and cultural etiquette of the nineteenth century that they failed to grasp the reality of the geopolitical chessboard before them or the likelihood of the monumental carnage of WWI. Something eerily reminiscent of those miscalculations is going on today.
Biden’s planned gun control actions do not pass muster
On Thursday, in a Rose Garden statement, Biden announced that he’s going to take myriad executive actions, all purporting to save Americans from gun violence. In fact, as is almost invariably true for leftists, just about everything he said was a lie, including “and” and “the.” In an epic segment on his show, Tucker Carlson reveals that the truth behind Biden’s lies is that he will disarm law-abiding Americans who oppose his political agenda. The purpose of this post is to show that, as a purely legal matter, he lacks the authority to carry out any of his threats.
The Second Amendment states simply:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
The Supreme Court, in 2008’s District of Columbia v. Heller, gives a masterful disquisition about the law and history behind the Second Amendment’s language. Suffice to say that we are all the militia and that the government has only the most limited power to interfere with our right to keep and bear arms. Rifles, even if they have cool attachments, are still “arms.”
While there are rights as fundamental as the Second Amendment – namely the other enumerated rights in the Bill of Rights – there are no rights that are more fundamental. Indeed, the Second Amendment is unique in have an entire amendment dedicated to it. The others are portmanteau amendments that gather several related doctrines under a single heading.
At this point, it’s important to point out that the Bill of Rights is not a set of liberties that the government graciously grants to the People. (I have capitalized “People” in this context because I’m using it in its constitutional sense of “We the People.”) If the government gives something to the People, it’s merely a privilege. When it comes to privileges, the government can dole them out and take them away again.
By contrast, the People have “unalienable rights” because they came from the Creator – that is, whether you’re religious or not, they came from a source greater than government.
Abusers and oppressors will rejoice the death of the Second Amendment
As a group of House Democrats pushed the presidential action on gun control, a group of House Democrats are pushing the Senate to vote on House-passed gun control bills. In either case, the result would be dangerous and make Americans more vulnerable. When the right to keep and bear arms is suppressed by a government, the doors to oppression and abuse are opened. I know, because I’ve seen it.
Hardwired, the global human rights organization I founded, fights against the oppression of religious communities of all faiths in countries around the world. Among these countries is Nigeria, where Fulani herdsmen have been waging a war against Christian farmers for the past decade, but in recent years it’s grown much worse. The Fulani herdsmen are attacking farmland throughout the region to force Christian farmers out of the area and take over their land. The attacks typically increase in the spring and are carried out with AK-47s and machetes.
In Nigeria, the law does not permit citizens to own firearms. As a result, the Christian farmers are sitting ducks. They have no recourse.
Not only will their government not protect them, their government is preventing them from protecting themselves. Herdsmen attack entire villages, burning churches, killing pastors and worshippers, kidnapping and forcibly converting young children and destroying homes, business and crops.
And the Nigerian government is not only silent, it is complicit. The illegal sale of weapons in Nigeria is a global concern but it ignores the real issue. The government is not only to be condemned for their silence about attacks on Christians, but also for their apparent complicity in leaving the Christians defenseless.
As a result, the conflict in Nigeria’s Middle belt states continues to worsen.
As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
North Dakota: Stand Your Ground Legislation Joins Other Pro-Gun Legislation on Governor’s Desk
[Friday] the North Dakota House concurred on Stand Your Ground Legislation, House Bill 1498, sending the measure to the desk of Governor Doug Burgum for his signature. This measure now sits alongside House Bill 1450 which was approved yesterday. Please contact Governor Burgum and ask him to sign House Bill 1450 and House Bill 1498.
House Bill 1450 enhances North Dakota’s permit laws by reducing certain minor violations on its list of prohibiting factors for applicants. HB 1450 would allow more individuals to exercise their constitutional right to self-defense.
House Bill 1498 will strengthen North Dakotans’ fundamental right to self-defense anywhere they are legally allowed to be. Victims of violent crime who respond with defensive force while protecting themselves or their loved ones should not have to face the additional threat of criminal or civil prosecution. If enacted, law-abiding citizens would no longer be required to retreat before defending themselves.
Kansas: House Concurs on Senate Amendments to Pro-Gun Bills, Sending them to the Governor
Two bills sprinted through the legislative finish line yesterday as the Senate passed two pro-gun measures which were subsequently approved by the House. Omnibus legislation, House Bill 2058, and Eddie Eagle Gun Safety legislation, House Bill 2089, now head to the desk of Governor Laura Kelly for her signature.
Proposed by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, House Bill 2058 does the following:
- Recognizes all out-of-state concealed carry permits, and allows those who have been licensed to carry a firearm for self-defense, to do so lawfully in Kansas. This legislation recognizes that visitors to Kansas should not be left defenseless simply by crossing a state line.
- Allows individuals who are 18 to 20 years of age to apply for a Kansas concealed carry permit.
- Authorizes the Attorney General to issue an alternative license to carry a concealed handgun to qualified applicants during a declared state of disaster emergency.
- Creates a Restoration of Rights process for individuals to reestablish the Second Amendment right to possess a firearm upon expungement of certain convictions.
*****
Substitute House Bill 2089 directs the state Board of Education to establish grade-appropriate curricula guidelines to teach firearm safety to K-12 students, based on NRA’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe® program, and/or the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism’s existing Hunter Education In Our Schools. Individual school district boards are to have the choice whether they wish to provide gun safety education under these standards. This gives the flexibility to school boards and parents to decide what gun safety education is appropriate for their communities and school children. Developing these standards by drawing from proven, existing programs, results in cost savings for the taxpayers.
South Carolina: House Passes Constitutional Carry
[Thursday], the House voted to pass House Bill 3096 on third reading. It has been sent to the Senate for further consideration.
House Bill 3096 allows a law-abiding adult to carry a handgun without first having to obtain government permission. This ensures that citizens have the right to self-defense without government red tape or delays. Additionally, this legislation maintains the existing Concealed Weapon Permit (CWP) system, so citizens who still wish to obtain a permit may do so. Currently, 20 other states have constitutional/permitless carry.
WH Cagey About Prospects for Gun Sales Background Checks
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday finessed a vexing question about the congressional logjam over a hot-button gun control issue: federal background checks for firearms purchases.
In the wake of President Joe Biden’s announcement of several executive actions aimed at curtailing gun violence, Psaki was asked if the White House believes Congress will actually pass two bills expanding checks.
“The president is going to lead the analysis of what is viable and doable to all of you,” she said, the Daily Caller reported.
“He is not vote counting himself,” she said. “He is also clear about challenges in moving forward with legislation that the Senate. He will continue to advocate for that just as he did today, this morning in the Rose Garden surrounded by some of the bravest and most courageous advocates for gun control, gun safety legislation in the country. He also is not going to wait.”
When pressed on how that communication between Biden and a divided Congress would go, Psaki replied: “I certainly would anticipate the president will arrange conversations with members of Congress.”
Oregon GOP Minority Leader Facing Recall After Failing to Block Gun Ban Legislation.
“Oregon’s Republican Senate minority leader declined to join his fellow party members in a walkout over gun control legislation last month. His presence in the Senate (along with five of his closest GOP friends) allowed the body to reach a quorum of at least 20 members and bring legislation banning firearms in the capitol up for a vote…which, in the Democrat dominated Senate, passed easily.”
BLUF:
The problem is: Straight partisan victories will be nearly impossible in the Senate as long as the filibuster is in force for non-taxing-and-spending legislation – like new gun laws.
The filibuster is supposed to encourage bipartisanship – but given the new hyper-partisan reality, what it really encourages is gridlock.
Applause, because when Congress is in session, no one is really safe.
The political calculus on the gun issue has changed
President Biden will find it difficult – if not impossible – to get bipartisan support in Congress for new gun control measures, like a new assault weapons ban, which passed with bipartisan support in 1994 and expired ten years later.
Most gun control measures get broad public support, including requiring background checks for private and gun show sales (83 percent in a 2019 poll), a ban on the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines (61 percent) and a ban on the sale of semi-automatic weapons (57 percent). But what matters politically is intensity of support. Getting gun laws through Congress has always been difficult because of single-issue voting by gun rights supporters.
The gun issue drives their votes; for most other voters, it doesn’t.
Biden Reverses Trump Sanctions on International Criminal Court, Eroding American Sovereignty
In another reversal from the previous administration, Joe Biden on Friday lifted sanctions and visa restrictions that President Trump had imposed on officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC is an international tribune based out of The Hague, Netherlands, and claims the jurisdiction to prosecute crimes within member nations. It deals in cases involving genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
The Trump administration had placed penalties on the ICC because of the court’s efforts to investigate the actions of the American military in Afghanistan.
Texas House Committee Reports Out Four Pro-Second Amendment Measures
Dear Texas NRA Member:
On Thursday, by a 6-3 vote, the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety voted out House Bill 1911, by Rep. James White (R-Woodville), and House Bill 1927, by Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler), NRA-backed permitless carry proposals that would allow law-abiding citizens to carry a handgun without a state-issued License To Carry (LTC). It’s time for Texas to join the 20 other states that have legalized this personal protection option!
The existing LTC law would not be repealed under these measures. Criminals who are prohibited from possessing firearms (i.e., felons, fugitives from justice, individuals committed by the courts for mental illness, domestic abusers) would still be barred from carrying guns. This legislation would not prevent the enforcement of any laws broken by criminals who misuse firearms. These measures now move to the House Calendars Committee, which will determine if, and when, each measure is considered by the full House. Please contact your State Representatives and urge them to PASS PERMITLESS CARRY THIS SESSION!
Yesterday, the committee also voted out two additional bills: House Bill 918, by Rep. Ben Leman (R-Iola), which lowers the age eligibility requirement for a License To Carry to 18 for, and extends this self-defense option to, a person who has obtained an active family violence protective order or magistrate’s order of emergency protection; and, House Bill 1407, by Rep. Schaefer (R-Tyler), which allows a LTC holder to have a handgun in his or her vehicle that is visible and in a holster but not on the person – an important clarification, and an extension of legal, safe and practical carry options in one’s car or truck. These measures also head to the Calendars Committee, which will consider whether or not they will receive a House floor vote.
Wow, @PressSec Psaki seems like a bundle of fun, eh? Her sparkling personality and friendly demeanor just light up the room.#SarcasticTweet
— Randy McClain (@jrmlitig8r) April 2, 2021
When even the hard core anti-gun demoncraps acknowledge it;
“It’s Dead Jim”
Chris Murphy: Unlikely to Get 60 Votes on Universal Background Checks
During a March 28, 2021, interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) admitted that Democrats probably cannot round up 60 votes for the universal background check legislation contained in H.R. 8.
Host Chuck Todd pointed out that Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jon Tester (D-MT) have both made clear they do not support H.R. 8.
Todd suggested that Manchin and Tester believe the bill is “too broad” as written.
He then asked Murphy if there is any chance of getting the 60 votes for the bill that Democrats need in order to secure passage.
Murphy responded, “I think it’s unlikely that H.R. 8, as it’s written today, can get 60 votes, but I don’t think it has to change very much in order to get the sufficient number of votes.”
Earlier in the interview, Murphy said, “Don’t count us out.” He added, “I’ve gotten a lot of calls from Republicans in the Senate who don’t want to fight this fight any longer because the NRA’s authority is fading; the anti-gun violence movement’s impact is increasing. I think we have a chance.”
On Sunday, Breitbart News reported that the NRA has witnessed a surge in membership that continued in January 2021 and continues even now.
The NRA’s Andrew Arulanandam noted that the civil rights organization is “gaining 1,000 new members a day” just from people signing up via the Internet.
Democrats Face Gun Legislation Dilemma as Support for House Background Check Bill Breaks Down.
Senate Democrats punted on taking up House gun-control bills on Friday, acknowledging that the restrictions put forward by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) were “dead on arrival,” according to senior Senate aides.
Facing pressure from gun-control activists and Democratic elected officials alike, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) told colleagues on Thursday he would bring background check legislation to the floor shortly after the Senate returns for business on April 12. But with Sens. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), Jon Tester (D., Mont.), and Susan Collins (R., Maine) publicly stating their opposition to House-passed background check bill H.R. 8, Democrats must find a viable replacement. The political environment makes that a nearly impossible task, according to multiple Senate aides.
A senior Republican aide said H.R. 8’s requirement that licensed gun dealers perform background checks nearly every time someone sells or even lends a gun to another person is a non-starter.
“H.R. 8 is just dead on arrival,” a senior Republican staffer said. “Period. It doesn’t have the votes. Not only does it not have the votes quietly it doesn’t have the votes loudly because Manchin and Toomey are out there opposing it.”
Wyoming: Permitless Carry Strengthening Legislation Passed out of Senate Committee
Yesterday, the Wyoming Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed legislation that enhances Wyoming’s Permitless Carry laws, House Bill 116. The measure now heads to the Senate floor for further consideration.
House Bill 116 expands Wyoming’s permitless carry law, which has been in effect since 2011, to all law-abiding adults, not just Wyoming residents who have resided in the state for at least six months. This ensures that visitors and new residents have their right to self-defense without government red tape or delays.