Category: Politics

Joe Biden Is Our Worst Nightmare

DINESH D’SOUZA—
Joe Biden just gave a talk, perhaps his most detailed and, one might have to say coherent, presentation of how his foreign policy is likely to go over the next four years. This was at the Munich virtual security conference, and I read the talk carefully because Biden focuses on the issue of democracy. Biden basically says that the United States is going to stand for democratic values around the world and stand against the autocracies that are anti-democratic.

Now, right away, the question becomes, are you really going to stand against the largest autocracy in the world, the one that governs over a billion people? That is far more tyrannical than any other we can think of in the world today, namely China? And to this, Biden gives a few “eh hems”… “Well, I’ve gotten a lot of money from those guys over the last several years, guys. Don’t expect me to be too hard on them.” So right away, the sincerity of this project is somewhat called into question. Biden has made very favorable noises toward China, which raised the question of whether even this rhetoric of democracy is going to be honestly applied.

Now, I think Biden intends to apply it in all kinds of places, but the places he wants to apply it to, he’s not likely to be successful, for the simple reason that the United States has very little of any leverage in those places. For example, there was recently a coup in Myanmar, an attempt to overthrow the government, anti-democratic actions and movements in that country. But let’s think about it, what is the United States’ security interest in Myanmar? Zero.

What is our trade leverage over Myanmar? Pretty much zero.

So, what is the point of Biden jumping up and down on his podium and going, “There needs to be democracy in Myanmar! There must be democracy in Myanmar!” Well, the people in Myanmar don’t care. Why? Because what is Biden have to do with them? Biden’s not going to invade Myanmar, even if some neoconservatives’ eyes are lighting up, “Oh, another war! What a great idea!”

When you don’t have leverage over a country, your rhetoric doesn’t really matter. Now, the Biden administration is playing footsie with a very autocratic regime right now, and that’s Iran. And very interestingly, there have been some news reports in the last couple of weeks that key people who are now in the Biden administration, including John Kerry, have maintained an ongoing relationship with Iran. Kerry, for example, has had repeated contacts and meetings with the Iranian foreign minister, this guy named Javad Zarif.

Now, why? Very interestingly, this is motivated not even directly with anything to do with Iran. It’s motivated by the idea of let’s work with our enemies, Iran, to undermine Trump. And what that means is that from John Kerry’s point of view, and the point of view of some of these Biden people, there is a near enemy, Trump, and there’s a far enemy, Iran. But the far enemy is far away and a distant threat, so let’s not worry about it right now. In fact, let’s work with the far enemy to politically undermine the near enemy at home. This is a real departure in American foreign policy.

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Kamalamania: prepare for President Harris
Ask where Harris stands and the footwork begins

kamalamania

Kamala Harris was always going to be a most prominent Vice President. When Joe Biden’s campaign called a midmorning ‘lid’ — ending his working day before it really began — Harris would stay out on the trail, addressing car rallies in Pontiac, Michigan; going viral on social media by dancing in the Florida rain. She is significantly younger and more energetic — traits the Biden campaign capitalized on in the campaign. Her fanbase considers her to be a political celebrity: when she’s getting bad press, they rally the #KHive on social media — an online community ready and willing to defend the VP — a spin-off of the #BeyHive hashtag used by Beyoncé’s loyal fans worldwide.

The media is overwhelmed by Kamalamania. To them, she is a sensation: so much so the Los Angeles Times has created a new section, ‘Covering Kamala Harris’ — not a report on her moves in the White House, but a retrospective beat ‘dedicated to her historic rise.’ Three days before the inauguration, CBS News used their interview with Harris and Second Husband Doug Emhoff to ask tough questions about her ‘several closets full’ of ‘Chucks’, her Converse basketball shoes.

Meanwhile, the New York Times dedicates its resources to a hard-hitting interview with her stepchildren. We learn that Harris and Emhoff are ‘vomit-inducingly cute and coupley’. Harris has also snagged a coveted Vogue cover, though the photograph became the subject of controversy: some people thought the lighting of the image amounted to ‘whitewashing’. Harris’s team was reportedly distressed by the editor’s pick of a casual photo, so Vogue will be releasing another, more formal one.

It’s important that the press is doing its job. Not only is Harris the first woman (and woman of color) to fill the VP’s office: she also wields immense power. After the Democrats’ double win in Georgia’s January runoff elections, Republican and Democratic representation in the Senate is split right down the middle. If the Senate votes along partisan lines, Harris’s vote will make or break legislation for at least the next two years.

Harris is more than a spare spokesperson for the administration. She’s active in policy formation and delivery. The party’s keyholders only whisper it, but no one is banking on a second Joe Biden term — not even Biden himself. It’s hardly a secret that Harris has presidential ambitions. The question is, what is her vision for the country — and will Americans endorse it?

Ask where Harris stands on an issue and the footwork begins. You’ll have an array of answers to choose from. She opposes and supports fracking. She promotes single-payer healthcare but also advocates for private insurance. She goes tough and light on crime. She implied her new boss’s track record was soft on racism, though since selecting her as Vice President, these accusations have not resurfaced. Harris’s inconsistency cost her in the Democratic primaries: her short-lived candidacy polled in the single digits, despite her being the establishment’s preferred candidate.

Her campaign was as disappointing as it was bitter. As party operators sought to understand why their rising star had burned out so quickly, feuds between Harris’s sister and her campaign manager were aired in New York Times longreads. In truth, the Bernie Sanders lite option didn’t prove so popular with the Democratic base, especially when they had Bernie himself to vote for. But dropping out of the race before she was rejected was smart: Harris’s early departure turned the spotlight on Elizabeth Warren — who then got publicly rejected in the voting booths while Harris waited in the wings.

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Now you know why McConnell stopped Garland from getting a seat on the Supreme Court.
No matter his education or credentials, Garland is a political hack.

Merrick Garland Vows to Prioritize Prosecuting Capitol Rioters and Their ‘Abettors’

On Monday, Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, pledged to prioritize prosecuting those responsible for the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Garland, who led the Department of Justice’s prosecution of the 1996 Oklahoma City bombing, said that domestic terrorism in America today is “more dangerous” than at the time of that bombing. He also pledged to continue the investigation wherever it takes him, including “aiders and abettors who were not present on January 6.”

 

Merrick Garland: Portland Riots May Not Be ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Because Courthouse Was Closed

Judge Merrick Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that Antifa’s attacks on the U.S. courthouse in Portland last year may not have been “domestic terrorism,” because unlike the Capitol riot, they took place at night when the court was not “in operation.”

Garland, who is President Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, was questioned at his confirmation hearing by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)

Sen. Hawley: Let me ask you about assaults on federal property in places other than Washington, DC — Portland, for instance, Seattle. Do you regard assaults on federal courthouses or other federal property as acts of domestic extremism, domestic terrorism?

Judge Garland: Well, Senator, my own definition, which is about the same as the statutory definition, is the use of violence or threats of violence in attempt to disrupt the democratic processes. So an attack on a courthouse, while in operation, trying to prevent judges from actually deciding cases, that plainly is domestic extremism, domestic terrorism.

An attack simply on a government property at night, or any other kind of circumstances, is a clear crime and a serious one, and should be punished. I don’t know enough about the facts of the example you’re talking about. But that’s where I draw the line. One is — both are criminal, but one is a core attack on our democratic institutions.

Last August, then-Attorney General William Barr described the attacks on the courthouse:

Behind the veil of “protests,” highly organized violent operators have carried out direct attacks on federal personnel and property, particularly the federal courthouse in Portland. Shielded by the crowds, which make it difficult for law enforcement to detect or reach them, violent opportunists in Portland have attacked the courthouse and federal officers with explosives, lasers, projectiles, and other dangerous devices.

In some cases, purported “journalists” or “legal observers” have provided cover for the violent offenders; in others, individuals wearing supposed press badges have themselves attacked law enforcement or trespassed on federal property. More than 200 federal officers have been injured in Portland alone.

The riots resulted in the front of the courthouse being boarded up; the destruction of security equipment protecting the courthouse; and the breaking of windows in the offices of federal prosecutors.

Garland cited the domestic terrorism statute, which defines “domestic terrorism” as follows (18 USC § 2331):

(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that— (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended— (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States

Notably, the statute does not confine acts of domestic terrorism to working hours.

States Push Back Against Biden Gun Control Scheme
Studies have long indicated that concealed carry permit holders are the most law-abiding of population segments, even more so than law enforcement

While the Biden administration and the Democrat-controlled legislature are putting forth their gun control agendas, states are passing legislation that provides more choice for gun owners, regardless of what happens federally. These include permitless carry legislation and declarations of sanctuary state and county status.

To be clear, gun control advocacy organizations spent big to help get Biden elected, as well as members of Congress. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s organization Every Town for Gun Safety spent over $600 million in support of Biden, and other gun control groups spent in the 6 and 7 figures between the presidential race and other federal races. The gun control agenda is not a surprise, as the donors look for payback.

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Biden Gun Ban Not The Only Threat In Congress

With President Joe Biden calling on Congress to enact his gun ban along with universal background checks and the repeal of the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, the Second Amendment Foundation’s Alan Gottlieb says that Democrats’ are moving forward with an agenda that puts the right to keep and bear arms at risk. Gottlieb joins me on today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co. to discuss the president’s call to disarm and how the 2A community is responding.

Biden’s statement on the third anniversary of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was long on rhetoric and short on facts, billing the gun control battle as a generational fight pitting young Americans against their elders, while ignoring the constitutional and pragmatic objections to his anti-gun agenda.

The Parkland students and so many other young people across the country who have experienced gun violence are carrying forward the history of the American journey. It is a history written by young people in each generation who challenged prevailing dogma to demand a simple truth: we can do better. And we will.

This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer. Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. We owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now.

As Gottlieb argues, taken in totality Biden’s gun control agenda amounts to a full-scale attack on the right to keep and bear arms; banning some of the most commonly-owned firearms and magazines in the United States, imposing a background check law that could criminalize ordinary transfers of firearms between family and friends, and giving the green light to junk lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry.

But Gottlieb notes that these aren’t the only bad ideas offered by anti-gun Democrats. There’s HB 127, which would impose insurance mandates on all gun owners, establish a publicly searchable database of gun owners, and require gun owners to undergo psychological testing before they could receive permission from the federal government to purchase a firearm.

Additionally, Gottlieb says he believes that the Biden administration will soon unveil executive orders dealing with gun control, including an attempt to force the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to re-define firearms to include unfinished frames and receivers. Not only would that turn existing law on its head, it could open up huge legal risks to any hobbyist who has built their own firearm from scratch.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is also speaking out about Biden’s call for Congress to start work on his anti-gun agenda. The firearms industry trade group says that Biden’s plan targets legal gun owners instead of dealing with the reality of violent crime.

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An Uneasy Echo Between ‘Post-Insurrection’ America and the Political ‘Rectifications’ of Communist China.

There are uncanny parallels between what has happened post-Jan. 6 in America and the CCP political campaigns of yesteryears.

In the eyes of establishment media, pundits, and politicians, there is only one acceptable way to view the breach of the United States Capitol building on Jan. 6—a “domestic extremist” insurrection incited by then-President Donald Trump and an assault on American democracy. This view is presented as fact and widely repeated, even though investigations into the incident are still ongoing and do not support such a black-and-white explanation.

The establishment view has not shifted one iota even with the emergence of evidence debunking the narrative. News reports note that the Capitol rioters broke through barricades 20 minutes before Trump finished his speech, where he explicitly called on his supporters to protest “peacefully.” Subsequent FBI work has since shown that the Capitol breach was pre-planned, not spontaneous. Conservative commentators have also condemned talking heads in establishment media for repeating ad nauseum horrifying details about the Capitol attack that new investigations have since overturned, particularly the “murder” of U.S. Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick by rioters with a fire extinguisher (medical autopsy found no evidence of blunt force trauma). Many observers have also wondered why there was a lack of outrage from the establishment over the Black Lives Matter/antifa riots in the summer of 2020 that resulted in at least $1 billion in paid insurance claims, or how an unruly mob at the Capitol counts as an insurrection—particularly when juxtaposed with an actual coup as occurred in Myanmar on Feb. 1……….

The CCP elite uses political campaigns to consolidate power and “normalize” communist rule over China. In most political campaigns, the Party designates a segment of the population as the enemy (“counter-revolutionaries,” “capitalist roader,” etc.), then relies on propaganda organs to set the new political reality and acceptable discourse. Through indoctrination or intimidation, the rest of the population is made to struggle against the demonized segment lest they are struggled against. . . .

There are uncanny parallels between what has happened post-Jan. 6 in America and the CCP political campaigns of yesteryears. The establishment is promoting one accepted way to view the Capitol riots in the face of evidence challenging that view, and is designating as enemies the segment of the American population that supports former President Donald Trump or expresses skepticism about the outcome of the 2020 election.

The current political climate has prompted people to report their family and friends to the authorities—the FBI received more than 100,000 such tips, according to the Washington Post. In China, virtually all the Party’s political campaigns feature the establishment of a political orthodoxy and encourage informants in a bid to turn the masses against each other.

The Emergent Urban Anti-progressivism

President Biden’s appeal for unity in his inaugural address was a welcome invitation to end “this uncivil war that pits red versus blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.” The challenge for Biden, of course, is to show that his administration can lead by example in pursuit of this goal.

Nowhere will this challenge play out more than in America’s cities. His campaign’s urban policies — from affordable housing to education to worker pay — together with his recent flurry of “racial equity” executive orders on January 26, were all drafted according to the familiar Democratic playbook. But urban voters seem to be reading off a different script.

In fact, one of the most interesting and underreported outcomes of the 2020 presidential election was an emergent urban anti-progressivism — or at least, that’s the best way to interpret what happened. After a season of protests and urban unrest against the backdrop of a pandemic, a sizeable percentage of city dwellers, ranging from small-business owners to working-class public-school parents, seemed to have had enough of the urban status quo.

Democrats have puzzled over why Biden did not perform as well in cities as expected, and conversely, why Trump seemed to overperform in them. Overall, Biden won major metro areas, but his slippage compared with Trump’s gains was notable.

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ACQUITTED

“A conviction would have also set the stage for a vote to bar him from serving in public office again.” The outcome leaves the populist forces in the field and the old GOP party in the dust.

Up next: the battle to define conservative politics as Biden faces a new world. . . .

Republicans senators Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania all voted guilty.

The ancien regime needed a Blue Tsunami to effect a restoration. But they achieved a mild and perhaps doubtful electoral surf despite a maximum effort. The impeachment was a second chance at pursuit. Its failure means the populists will be back.

Trump and the Democratic leader’s age means a new cast of characters will be coming on for Season 2. The Blue failure to smash the populists means people are now refiguring the odds. Expect new political startups.

The reason why threats to go after Trump in court are pointless is because the Biden administration, like every incumbent, will soon be on the political defensive. New challenges are going to put Biden between the hard rock of the left and even more obdurate reality.

Attacks on Second Amendment Trigger Tyranny

The election swept in a legion of Second Amendment foes. Americans can expect them to take James Madison’s statement that disarming the people is “the best and most effective way to enslave them” as less of a warning and more of a directive.

During the campaign, Joe Biden was asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper if a Biden administration would mean “they are going to come for my guns,” and Biden responded, “Bingo.”

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Indiana looks to scrap carry permits for handguns, allow ‘constitutional carry’

(The Center Square) – Sixteen other states have done it. And Indiana now looks ready to join them in getting rid of the requirement that a person have a license in order to carry a loaded weapon on them or in their vehicle.

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives held a hearing to consider allowing what’s called “constitutional carry.”

It was the first time a hearing has been held on such a bill, and the first sign in years the Republican supermajority in the Indiana General Assembly is getting behind permit-less carry.

Numerous county sheriffs testified in support of the bill.

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Winning In 2022 And 2024 Requires A Coalition

If there is one lesson that we should take from some recent events, it is that removing anti-Second Amendment extremism from the levers of power at the federal, state, and local level is going to require a lot of work. Part of that work will involve building bridges, often to those who are most affected by the failures we have seen anti-Second Amendment extremists use their calls to attack our rights to distract their ill-served constituents.

Can anyone look at the state of affairs in cities like Chicago and Baltimore, and say that the onerous restrictions on Second Amendment rights passed by Illinois and Maryland have done anything positive for the citizens of those cities? The track records of failures are obvious – and are something that should be the focal point of many campaigns by Second Amendment supporters.

While the same anti-Second Amendment extremists push bills like the Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act, they are often allowing violent crime to run rampant, while refusing to enforce laws already on the books that would make a massive difference. For all the complaints some raised about Project Exile, it served Second Amendment supporters well on two fronts: It not only blunted the push for new gun laws, more importantly, it made people safer by taking bad guys off the streets.

As things stand in America right now, there is the chance for Second Amendment supporters to build a short-term coalition based around anti-anti-Second Amendment extremism. This is not a typo. What this means is that Second Amendment supporters should work to get a large number of Americans who either don’t have strong positions on Second Amendment issues, or who have let other issues override their support for the Second Amendment on board with opposition to the excesses of Eric Swalwell, Sheila Jackson Lee, and other anti-Second Amendment extremists.

By simply highlighting the failure to enforce laws of the books centering on the misuse of firearms in violent crime, or for drug trafficking, or even “gun-running,” Second Amendment supporters have the opportunity to gain enough non-opposition in the suburbs and in urban areas to carry statewide elections. One of the biggest reasons is that anti-Second Amendment extremists are all caught up in the latest fads from academia, and not in the real common-sense solutions.

Passing legislation like the Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act and the Restoring The Armed Career Criminal Act at the state level – and pushing for passage at the federal level – would be the first steps to securing improvements like the Freedom Financing Act, the Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act, the Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act, and the FOPA improvements Senator Daines introduced at the state and federal levels.

This will take a lot of work, but it may be worth doing.

Virginia Senate Rejects Background Checks For Gun Rentals

While Democrats in Virginia are studiously avoiding Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed ban on modern sporting rifles, commonly-owned ammunition magazines, and suppressors during the current legislative session, they’ve still been pushing a number of gun control bills that aren’t as high-profile ahead of November’s elections in the state.

One bill brought by Sen. Creigh Deeds would have required background checks on all firearm rentals at gun ranges. The measure was authored by Deeds after two suicides at a Richmond-area gun range last year, but many gun store owners and operators objected to the legislation, pointing out that they’re already working to ensure that troubled individuals aren’t using rented firearms to take their own life.

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I called it right. Schiff has been making a spectacle of himself simply for the publicity he needs to run for a statewide office when DiFi leaves the scene. And since Harris is a former Atty Gen, Shiff probably sees the post as another step up on the ladder.

ADAM SCHIFF LOBBIES TO BE CA ATTORNEY GENERAL, POSSIBLE SENATE RUN

Rep. Adam Schiff is quietly lobbying Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies to appoint him California’s next attorney general, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rep. Adam Schiff is quietly lobbying Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies to appoint him California’s next attorney general, according to people familiar with the matter.

…

If Newsom selects Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee and a confidant of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Democrats would lose a powerful party voice in the U.S. House and temporarily give up a seat in their slim 221-211 majority.

Nonetheless, Pelosi has given her approval to Schiff’s bid, a clear sign she thinks she can manage without him. according to people familiar with the matter. Spokespersons for Schiff and Pelosi declined comment.

The attorney general’s job also would better position Schiff, a high-profile Democrat who led the Russia investigation into then-President Trump, to run for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat, should the 87-year-old decide not to run for reelection in 2024

The move would mark a dramatic turn in Schiff’s career. In 2018, Speaker Pelosi was reportedly grooming him as her successor. But in 2019, he spearheaded the first impeachment of President Donald Trump, based on accusations by a so-called “whistleblower” whom Schiff promised to produce and then covered up once Republicans began asking questions.

Schiff also lied to the public about his committee’s prior contacts with the so-called “whistleblower,” who had no direct knowledge of the contents of the infamous telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski.

The appointment might be a risky one for Newsom, whose approval rating has plummeted, and who is facing a potential recall election later this year

Seems to me to be Congress actually cared less about Biden’s  political plans than they did about kicking Trump out of the Whitehouse.

Joe Biden’s Legislative Agenda Stalls in Congress

More than a week into his administration, President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda seems to have hit a wall in Congress.

Biden, who served in the United States Senate for 36 years before his ascension to the vice presidency, was pitched as a “master legislator” by allies and supporters during the 2020 campaign. The president, himself, bolstered that image with constant references to his history of working across the aisle to craft bipartisan compromise.

“Compromise is not a dirty word, it’s how our government is designed to work,” Biden told the National Education Association last July. “I’ve done it my whole life.”

“I’ve been able to bring Democrats and Republicans together in the United States Congress to pass big things, to deal with big issues,” he added at the time.

Such efforts, made in an attempt to convince voters that Biden alone could break the decades-old gridlock of Washington, DC, did not stop after the election was over. In the months leading up to the inaugural, Biden and his team promised that they would be ready “on day one” to hit the ground running on a long list of legislative priorities.

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The Flawed Thinking Behind Biden’s Gun Control Bill

“The coming years will decide the survival of our Second Amendment,” President Trump warned before the election.

Trump was right.

During the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden promised a long list of gun control regulations. There is a reason that Michael Bloomberg spent $125 million helping Biden in Florida and something over $600 million nationally in the general election.

The agenda includes: classifying many semi-automatic rifles and magazines holding more than 10 bullets as Class 3 weapons (which can require nine months or more for approval and a $200 fee), national gun licensing, “red flag” laws that let judges take away people’s guns without a hearing, background checks on the private transfer of guns, and bans on some semi-automatic firearms that happen to look like military weapons.

The first gun control bill that Biden will push in his first 100 days would make gun makers and sellers civilly liable for misuse of guns they sell. That means people could sue manufacturers whenever a crime, accident, or suicide occurs with a gun. We aren’t talking about cases where there was a product liability issue or where laws are violated, such as selling a gun without a valid background check. While it isn’t stated, the goal is to put the gun makers out of business.

Can you imagine what would happen to the car or other products if similar rules were to apply? Some 4.5 million Americans are injured each year in car accidents, and 40,000 die. When accidents occurred because a driver wasn’t paying attention or was driving recklessly, it makes no sense to sue Ford for lost wages, medical costs, and pain and suffering.  Criminals also frequently use cars when they commit crimes. Why should car companies be liable for that?

Computers are used to plan crimes, hack into private servers, and steal intellectual property. If Apple were held liable, it would very quickly be drowning in lawsuits. If the company even survived, its products would become much more expensive in order to cover the new legal fees.

Guns aren’t any different. Far less than 1% of guns are ever used in crimes, suicides or accidents, and when they are, it’s virtually always the result of the user’s actions. Many other products, such as motorcycles, have much higher probabilities of causing harm. The death rate per motorcycle is 0.05%; the date rate for guns is 0.008%. The latter includes murder, accidental deaths and suicides. Guns are also used defensively about 2 million times in the average year, according to the FBI. Will government reward gun makers when their products are used to save lives?

My own research has found that increased gun ownership is associated with less crime, not more. Poor people in the highest crime areas benefit the most from owning guns, and gun maker liability would be sure to make guns unaffordable for these individuals.

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Iowa is one of the few states left that have constitutions that don’t address RKBA. I don’t know why, other than probably the idea the right would ever be challenged didn’t even enter their thoughts.

Iowa Legislature approves putting pro-gun constitutional amendment in front of voters

The Iowa Legislature has approved a proposed pro-gun amendment to the Iowa Constitution for the second time, paving the way for it to appear on Iowans’ ballots in 2022.

The Senate approved the resolution Thursday afternoon in a 29-18 vote along party lines after about two hours of debate. Hours later, the House voted 58-41, also along party lines, to pass the same measure. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans. Every Republican present voted in favor of the amendment, while every Democrat was opposed.

Thursday’s vote means that after years of work by Republican lawmakers — and a mistake by the Iowa Secretary of State’s office in 2018 that required them to start over — Iowans will have a chance to vote for or against the proposal themselves next year.

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Filibuster Preservation Bought Two Years For The Second Amendment

Washington DC – -(AmmoLand.com)- The decision by Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin to keep the legislative filibuster has given Second Amendment supporters something they desperately needed: Time. The next two years will be critical, both to shift the Senate landscape and to also regain the House.

Sinema and Manchin are not the most reliable of champions. In 2018, we noted that Martha McSally was a better choice as compared to the former. The latter could have been replaced by West Virginia Attorney General Pat Morrissey. Those two races, and the failure to beat Jon Tester loom large now. Had we won, it would mean control the Senate stayed in GOP hands, and it would have been a massive check on the Biden-Harris regime.

That is not the case, though. But by keeping the filibuster, it means the Supreme Court keeps its sure 5-4 majority on Second Amendment cases (6-3 if Roberts wants to influence who writes the rulings). That means there is a chance for key Second Amendment cases, like the Duncan case, to reach the Supreme Court, and shift that landscape in our favor.

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This – if the demoncraps keep their word (yeah, I know) – is the best of a bad situation. If the 60 vote barrier for ending debate holds, there is little chance of new gun control laws getting passed. It also means ‘court packing’ and statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico is off the table as well. The rabid lunatic commies in congress may yet figure out that rabid commieness makes the standard operational congresscritterz uneasy.

With Democrat Path to Nuclear Option on Filibuster Closed, Senate Leaders Proceed on Power-Sharing Agreement

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced Monday that a power-sharing agreement in the Senate no longer needs to stipulate that the filibuster rule remain intact after two Senate Democrats confirmed they would not support abolishing it.

“I’m glad that two Senate Democrats confirmed they will not vote to end the legislative filibuster,” McConnell stated. “They agree with President Biden and me on protecting the Senate. With this win, we can move forward with a 50-50 power-sharing agreement built on the 2001 precedent”:

The filibuster, a rule that requires three-fifths of the Senate, or 60 votes, to close debate on major legislation, had become a point of contention as McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) work out a plan to organize the upper chamber, which is tied 50–50 between Republicans and Democrats. The last time the Senate was tied, in 2001, a similar plan was used to distribute authority among the chamber and its committees.

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