RKBA – Page 134 – MILESFORTIS

Media Continues Meltdown Over Gun Sale Surge

There has been a gun sales surge ever since the early days of the pandemic. From the moment we knew it was coming to our shores, people started buying guns. The buying hasn’t stopped either.

This has been good news for the firearm industry.

However, anti-gunners have been freaking out about this for some time now. That freak out isn’t slowing down, apparently, with news outlets proclaiming that “gun sales and a mental health crisis… are seen as risk factors in school shootings.”

Students in many US states are just returning to classrooms after months of remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic – but the move back has come with an unfortunate uptick in gun violence.

From the first hours of Thursday, it felt like Groundhog Day –– at 7:00 am (1200 GMT) an Army trainee carrying a rifle hijacked a bus full of elementary school students near Fort Jackson, South Carolina for reasons unknown, before letting them go unharmed.

Arrested a short time later, the 23-year-old man was charged with 19 counts of kidnapping, carjacking and other crimes.

“Probably one of the scariest calls that we can get in law enforcement … is that a school bus has been hijacked with kids on it with someone with a gun. And that’s what we had this morning,” local sheriff Leon Lott told the ABC station.

Then, on the other side of the country in Idaho, at about 9:00 am (1500 GMT) a girl in sixth grade – meaning she is about 11 or 12 – took a gun out of her backpack and started shooting. Two students and a staff member were injured.

A teacher disarmed the girl and she was taken into custody. Her motive remains unknown.

…

The incidents are reported by local media, but they do not make national headlines.

Only a deadly shooting spree, like the one at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida in February 2018 (17 dead), sparks a shockwave.

“No other high income country experiences or tolerates constant school shootings,” tweeted Shannon Watts, the founder of the Moms Demand Action movement against gun violence.

Except at least one of those incidents involved the theft of a military rifle. The others mentioned were from firearms likely stolen from their parents.

The author tries to make a point that the mental health issues stemming from COVID-19 and the gun sales surge create a dangerous environment. However, they fail to show their work.

See, while gun sales are increasing, they failed to show that any of these incidents were newly purchased firearms. The gun sale surge exists, but were any of these firearms purchased as part of that surge?

Further, even if they were, the sale of these guns isn’t the issue and never has been because they were purchased lawfully by someone who still hasn’t broken the law. They’re the victims, really, because their guns were taken and then misused.

People are constantly going on and on about how we have too many guns, but then they say they don’t want to take our guns. They fail to address guns in criminal hands but instead focus on those firearms being sold lawfully.

With this story, desperate to try and link increased gun sales to school violence, it’s almost sad. You’d think that people would understand that correlation doesn’t equal causation, yet they don’t. Then again, they still think gun control works.

Missouri Bill to Take on Federal Gun Control: Past, Present and Future Clears Senate Committee Hurdle

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (May 6, 2021) – After appearing to be stalled, a Missouri bill that would take on federal gun control; past, present and future quickly passed out of a second Senate committee today and can now move to the Senate floor. Passage into law would represent a major step toward ending federal acts that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms within the state.

Rep. Jered Taylor filed House Bill 85 (HB85) on Dec 1. Titled the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” the legislation would ban any entity or person, including any public officer or employee of the state and its political subdivisions, from enforcing any past, present or future federal “acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, court orders, rules, regulations, statutes, or ordinances” that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.

HB85 passed the House in February by a 103-43 vote. On the Senate side, it passed the General Laws Committee on April 26 and was then referred to the governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee. Sen. Lincoln Hough chairs that committee, and he was reportedly the senator most responsible for stalling SAPA in 2020. There was concern that he would roadblock the bill with time running out in the session. But with a strong response to action alerts by Missouri First and the TAC, HB85 was brought before the committee and passed on Thursday.

The full Senate held a hearing on a Senate companion bill (SB39) last week. But with less than two weeks left in the legislative session, the best chance to get SAPA to the governor is for the Senate to pass the House version.

DETAILS OF THE LEGISLATION

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Local [Texas] law enforcement preparing for impact of permitless carry

Hunt County’s law enforcement officials say they are ready to deal with the ramifications of the constitutional carry bill, which was nearing final approval in the Texas Legislature Friday morning.

But proponents of the measure say it still needs to cross the final hurdles.

“I applaud the Senate for finally passing the House’s Constitutional Carry bill yesterday, a bill that will further secure our second amendment rights,” said State Representative for District 2 Bryan Slaton. “But there is still plenty of work to be done to make sure this bill becomes law.”

Under current state law, Texans must generally be licensed to carry handguns openly or concealed. Applicants must submit fingerprints, complete four to six hours of training and pass a written exam and a shooting proficiency test. Texas does not require a license to openly carry a rifle in public.

“HB 1927 allows law-abiding citizens aged 21 who can legally own a firearm to carry it in a holster in public places without a state-issued license,” said State Senator Bob Hall, after the House bill passed the Senate Wednesday.

The bill was still being worked on in a committee Friday morning to hammer out the differences remaining in the House and Senate versions, before it is sent to Governor Greg Abbott, who has said he intends to sign the measure into law when it reaches his desk.

Greenville Police Chief Scott Smith and Hunt County Sheriff Terry Jones said they were prepared for the eventuality of the law being implemented.

“I am a firm supporter of the 2nd Amendment,” Jones said. “We will take the actions required by law and implement our policies accordingly.”

Smith was wanting to see a final version of the law, but knew it was on its way regardless.

“It will present some challenges that perhaps we haven’t had in the past,” Smith said, as he realizes the law may increase the appeal to the public of buying and wearing a handgun. But he also knows there are responsibilities involved in owning and maintaining any weapon which may eventually temper some of the enthusiasm.

“I think at some point it will settle down into a new reality for all of us,” Smith said.

ND: Burgum designates North Dakota as a ‘Second Amendment Sanctuary State,’ signs bills protecting gun rights

Gov. Doug Burgum on April 26, signed a proclamation designating North Dakota as a “Second Amendment Sanctuary State,” reinforcing the state’s support for the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Burgum signed the proclamation during a ceremonial signing with legislators for several bills approved this session to protect the rights of North Dakotans to possess and carry firearms.

“Both the U.S. Constitution and North Dakota Constitution recognize our citizens’ inalienable right to keep and bear arms, and designating North Dakota as a Second Amendment Sanctuary State sends a strong message to Congress and the White House that we will firmly resist any attempts to infringe on those rights,” Burgum said. “We are deeply grateful to all of the legislators who sponsored and supported these bills and worked to strengthen North Dakota’s commitment to the Second Amendment.”

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Unwritten firearm policies under the gun as Gov. DeSantis signs preemption bill

Republicans hope local governments think twice about abridging gun rights.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a measure to crack down on local governments creating gun control measures.

Lawmakers last week passed a bill (SB 1884) clarifying that existing preemptions on local firearm and ammunition laws also apply to unwritten rules and policies. The proposal, which the Legislature formally sent to the Governor earlier in the day, will also make clear local governments can’t bypass court cases simply by scrapping gun laws.

State law expressly prohibits a local government from creating an “ordinance, regulation, measure, directive, rule, enactment, order or policy” relating to guns that is more restrictive than state law. The broad list was intended to show it includes unwritten policies, but some courts have sided with cities and counties on unwritten rules.

Rep. Cord Byrd, a Neptune Beach Republican who has carried the issue in the House, said the Legislature needs to shore up the law because of defiant local officials. He cited multiple examples just this year of local governments passing ordinances despite preemption laws in place since 1987. It’s the same reason in 2011 that the Legislature put in penalties for local officials who vote for local ordinances regardless of state law.

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Nearly Half of All U.S. Counties Are Now Second Amendment Sanctuaries

11 days after Kamala Harris says that ‘Only the government should have assault weapons’, an Army trainee hijacks an elementary school bus full of children…….

The 23-year-old suspect was taken into custody.

A Fort Jackson trainee is in custody after allegedly hijacking a South Carolina elementary school bus with 18 children on board while carrying a rifle, authorities said.

The Forest Lake Elementary students and the bus driver are safe, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said at a news conference.

The 23-year-old trainee’s weapon did not have ammunition, Fort Jackson Commander Brig. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr. said at a news conference, adding that the children and driver could not have known that.

Lott called this “one of the scariest calls that we could get in law enforcement.”

The incident began around 7 a.m. Thursday when the suspect allegedly hopped a barbed wire fence and fled Fort Jackson, according to Lott and Beagle.

The children had boarded the bus when the armed suspect, Jovan Collazo, got on and allegedly “told the bus driver he didn’t want to hurt him, but he wanted him to drive him to the next town,” Lott said.

The sheriff’s office released surveillance video from inside the school bus showing the suspect pointing a rifle at the bus driver and telling him to drive.

The bus driver started driving and Collazo brought the children to the front of the bus, Lott said.

“The kids started asking lots of questions to the suspect if he was going to hurt them or the bus driver,” Lott said.

“The suspect got a little frustrated,” Lott said, and the driver pulled over.

After six minutes on board with Collazo, the children and the bus driver got off safely, Lott said.

The suspect then drove the bus for a few miles before abandoning it, leaving the rifle inside, Lott said.

Collazo was spotted by deputies and civilians and was arrested without incident, Lott said. He faces charges including kidnapping, Lott said.

Beagle described the trainee, believed to be in his third week at Fort Jackson, as a quiet 23-year-old from New Jersey. He said it appeared the trainee was trying to get home.

“There is nothing that leads us to believe in his counseling, in his screening records coming in, that this had anything to do with harming others, harming himself or anything that links to any type of nefarious activity,” Beagle said. “We do experience several soldiers that over the course of initial stages have that desire, that anxiety, and due to separation from their families, to get home. We think that was truly his intent and nothing beyond that.”

Richland County School Board Chairman James Manning said, “I’ve been on the board now for over 10 years and I have never received a call that scared me as much as the call that I received this morning — that a bus had been hijacked with our students and staff.”

The students were taken to school “where they received support from school employees and counselors and were reunited with their parents/guardians,” the school district said.

Superintendent Baron Davis said in a statement, “Once we were certain all students were accounted for and physically safe, we immediately began deploying social and emotional counseling resources to the school so that our students could begin the process of healing as they are dealing with a traumatic event. We will continue to provide counseling services for the students and their families, our bus driver and employees as long as necessary.”

Lott praised the bus driver who he said “kept his cool” and “kept the situation calm.”

“His main concern was the safety of those kids and he did his job,” Lott said.

I like “What about ‘shall not be infringed.’ do you not understand?”
If they come back with ‘well regulated’, ask them who has the right (the people) and what should be ‘well-regulated’ (Militia).

Eight Lovely AR-15 Facts (#7 Is the Best) You Need to Argue With a Lib

Show progressives your AR-15 and it’s like flashing a crucifix at a vampire. They recoil, hiss, and occasionally soil themselves. They will tell you all day that ARs are the devil’s kazoo. A weapon of war that has no place in your gun safe.

You can’t have real AR-15 conversations with liberal komrades. It’s like discussing an iPhone with the Amish. They know too little about the weapon to discuss it responsibly. They just know what Don Lemon tells them. The weapon has an evil mind of its own. More importantly, YOU don’t need one.

Liberal Fact-O-Rama: If you gaze into a mirror and say ”Bloody AR” 10 times, a redneck will shoot up a Denny’s.

If you find yourself in an online blowout with a Facebook Trotskyite about “America’s Rifle,” you’ll need to know a few things to shut him down. Here are some AR fun-fill facts in convenient (.223) bullet format;

The AR stands for Armalite Rifle (not assault rifle) because the gun was developed by a company called “Armalite.”
It is not an “assault rifle.”
It’s not a machine gun either. It’s semi-automatic. One trigger squeeze gets you one commie stopper.
They are not used in a majority of mass shootings.
The Assault Weapons ban of 1994 didn’t keep ONE rifle from being made. It just called for certain gun modifications, like no lug for a bayonet (you know, to curb all the mass bayonet murders), no high-cap mags, flash suppressors, collapsible stocks, and no pistol grips.
Big, scary AR-15s actually come in many pretty colors. Great Lakes Fire Arms makes one in black cherry. You can find them in camo pink.
More people are murdered every year by edged weapons (knives, swords, Ginsus, etc.) than by ALL rifles combined (ARs, hunting, Civil War reenactors, etc.).
More people are murdered every year by feet and fists (Kung Fu, Krav Maga, punches) than by ALL rifles combined.

What IS an assault rifle?

An assault rifle is a gun that fires in automatic mode (machine gun) and semi-automatic. Today’s assault rifles may also have a “burst” mode, which fires three rounds with every trigger pull.

Germany created the first assault rifle during WWII, the “Sturmgewehr 44” or StG 44. Brad Pitt uses one in the movie “Fury.” You can buy an StG 44 knock-off in 22LR (semi-auto only).

Your AR-15 is NOT an assault rifle, nor is it a “weapon of war.” Even if it was, you can’t find ammo these days. Without ammo, your rifle is just a club.

I should have stated this first, but when it comes to the AR-15 nothing you say will change the minds of bolshevik-Amerikans. Don’t waste your time. They will never agree the that Constitution allows you to have one. You’re better off going to the range with your weapon and posting some photos. They’ll see the pics and go nuts. You get some gun practice AND the thrill of triggering a lib. Bonus points if they get so mad they call you a racist, redneck Trump-loving yahoo.

Lefties ARE correct when they say that “No one hunts with an AR-15!” This is true. Few people hunt with them. The AR-15 is for defending the republic against commie pinkos, both foreign and domestic.

Gov. Greg Abbott Confident Legislature Will Pass Constitutional Carry Bill: ‘I Think It Can Get Across The Finish Line’

RISCO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Governor Greg Abbott expressed confidence Tuesday, May 4 that the Texas legislature will pass a permit-less or constitutional-carry bill this session. “I think it can get across the finish line.”

He said last week he would sign the legislation if it arrives at his desk.

The full Texas Senate could consider House Bill 1927 as early as Wednesday, May 5 after it was approved by a newly formed, special committee on Constitutional Issues.

The legislation already passed in the Texas House.

Governor Abbott made his comments in Frisco after taking part in a ground-breaking ceremony at the Omni PGA Frisco resort.

If approved, the legislation would allow Texans to carry a handgun in public without obtaining a permit or license, receiving training, and passing a test as required now.

The Governor told reporters that 20 other states already have constitutional-carry, and that it’s already allowed in Texas for long guns.

He said he heard concerns about similar legislation years ago, before state lawmakers eased restrictions. “Remember when we passed open carry and campus-carry, people said it was going to be the ‘ok, corral.’ None of that happened. I don’t think there’s going to be any bad side effect to it, and I feel pretty good about it passing.”

Campus-carry allowed people to carry a concealed firearm on public universities and colleges as long as they were licensed.

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who presides over the Texas Senate, told radio talk show host and former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch last week that he was still a few votes shy of the number he needed to pass the bill, 18, but that he was continuing to work to build support for the legislation.

Many police chiefs, including Eddie Garcia of Dallas, previously held a news conference to oppose constitutional-carry for handguns saying training people how to use firearms should still be required.

Late last week, police chiefs held another news conference at the Texas Capitol to voice their concerns about these House and Senate bills.

Jimmy Perdue, Chief of the North Richland Hills Police Department and First Vice President of the Texas Police Chiefs Association said, “Both of these bills in their current form would eliminate the current reasonable license to carry permitting process in favor of an unreasonable and unsafe permit-less carry authority. Texas has a long history of a very successful license to carry process.”

Democrats, including Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa have also rejected the legislation. “It’s a really improper use of our legislative process to appease the far-right wing of their party and the National Rifle Association.”

Learn to Think like Someone who Chose to be Unarmed

People in the gun culture often express amazement about people who want them disarmed. They ascribe the desire to hostility and malice. It may be true for a minority of those who actively wish for a disarmed population. A significant number, likely a majority, have made a voluntary decision to be unarmed.

It is important to know your opponent and to understand their motives.

Three years ago, this correspondent wrote an essay on how to understand people who want a disarmed population. It was popular, but did not appear on AmmoLand.

I have updated the essay for current conditions.

There is an easy way to understand people who wish you to be unarmed.

It takes a little discipline. You may have a little mental discomfort. It is not particularly difficult. For the ability to understand the other, assume you have deliberately chosen to be unarmed.

Choosing to be armed is more difficult. It requires action. It requires training. It requires an investment in money and time. You think about unpleasant realities and plan for unpleasant possibilities. You devote time and money to be armed. A higher level of responsibility is required.

Once you internalize the decision to be unarmed, arguments on the other side become understandable. The voluntarily unarmed people we are attempting to understand are those who have moved from the decision to be unarmed, to the policy statement “guns are bad”.

Armed people have a power advantage over unarmed people. People do not want others to have a power advantage over them. It makes them uncomfortable. To prevent this, the voluntarily unarmed often want everyone else to be unarmed.

It is why many who are voluntarily unarmed dislike concealed carry, but violently abhor open carry. Open carry presents them with a reality they cannot easily ignore. It destroys their comfortable fantasy.

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2nd Amendment Preservation Act Hits Roadblock in Senate

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (May 4, 2021) – A Missouri bill that would take on federal gun control; past, present and future is being held up by a Senate committee chairman.

Rep. Jered Taylor filed House Bill 85 (HB85) on Dec 1. Titled the “Second Amendment Preservation Act” (SAPA), the legislation would ban any entity or person, including any public officer or employee of the state and its political subdivisions, from enforcing any past, present or future federal “acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, court orders, rules, regulations, statutes, or ordinances” that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms. The bill includes a detailed definition of actions that qualify as “infringement.” You can read more details about the legislation HERE.

HB85 passed the House in February by a 103-43 vote. It now sits in the Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee where it still needs a public hearing and a vote before moving to the full Senate.

According to Ron Calzone at Missouri First, it appears that’s what Senate leadership intends to do, but they cannot move the bill forward until it clears the committee. That’s where we have a big problem. Sen. Lincoln Hough chairs the Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee, and he was reportedly the senator most responsible for stalling SAPA in 2020.

HB 85 was assigned to his committee a week ago, but as of Tuesday morning (May 4) he still hadn’t scheduled it for the hearing he plans to hold Wednesday, May 5. (You can check the latest hearing schedule HERE.)

Calzone said he is convinced that Senate pro tem Dave Schatz wants to take up and pass HB 85 out of the Senate, but he can’t take action until Sen. Lincoln Hough lets the bill go through his committee.

Kansas lowers concealed gun carry age to 18 as Legislature overrides Gov. Laura Kelly veto

The Kansas Legislature on Monday overturned Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill lowering the minimum age to carry a concealed weapon in the state from 21 to 18.

After less than five minutes of debate, House Republicans pieced together the 84 votes needed to override Kelly’s veto of House Bill 2058, which allows persons 18, 19 and 20 to get a concealed carry permit.

The bill also makes it easier in some cases for felons convicted of violent crimes to reacquire their rights to possess and carry firearms.

The override later passed 31-8 in the Senate, where the outcome was never in doubt.

Although she proclaims herself a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, Kelly cited on-campus carry at state colleges and universities as her primary reason for rejecting HB2058.

“We can respect and defend the rights of Kansas gun owners while also taking effective steps to keep our children and families safe,” she said in her veto message “Legislation that allows more guns on campus is neither safe nor effective, and it will drive prospective students away from our schools.”

Rep. John Barker, R-Abiline, carried the veto measure on the House floor and questioned Kelly’s commitment to gun rights.

“The governor in her message indicated that she has always supported the Second Amendment. Well, I find that hard to believe sometimes, because we already have 18-year-olds that can carry a gun (openly) in the state of Kansas,” Barker said. “This requires them, if they’re going to carry a concealed weapon, to get training and to get a permit and to have a background investigation.

“I think that’s a positive move. Any time people can get training, that’s a good thing.”

He said the law started out as a way for Kansas to honor out-of-state concealed-carry permits, including those from states that already allow 18-20 year olds to carry. “So they would be able to carry in the state, yet a Kansas resident would not be able to carry at that age,” he said…….

Second Amendment sanctuary bill passes Tennessee House, heads to Lee

(The Center Square) – The Tennessee House voted Monday evening to make the state a Second Amendment sanctuary.

The House adopted Senate Bill 1335, which passed last week in the Senate. It “affirms that any law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation of the United States government” that violates the Second Amendment is unenforceable.

That violation would have to be determined by either the Tennessee or U.S. Supreme Court. Any official that would then attempt to enforce the unconstitutional law would then be subject to ouster.

The bill now will head to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk.

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Kansas House votes to override veto of bill allowing 18-year-olds to conceal carry, now heads to Senate

TOPEKA (KSNT) – The Kansas House voted to override Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of a gun bill, HB 2058 Monday morning. The proposal would allow 18 to 20-year-olds to conceal carry, which isn’t currently allowed.

The bill now heads to the Senate. It previously passed there 30 to 8, and is expected to have enough votes to pass.

The bill needs two thirds vote of each chamber to override a governor’s veto. It passed with the bare minimum in the House 84 to 39.

The bill started off with allowing conceal carry reciprocity with other states, meaning that residents from other states can conceal carry in Kansas if they have a license.

Where much of the controversy lies is allowing 18 to 20-year-olds to get a license in order to conceal carry. Currently anyone 21 years and older can conceal carry, and they don’t need a license.

Supporters of the bill question why the governor struck it down.

“In her message indicated that she has always supported the second amendment, well, I find that hard to believe sometimes,” said Abilene Representative John Barker, who carried the bill on the floor.

Opponents argue that lowering the age to conceal carry is dangerous.

“It’s not a bad bill. There’s some good parts to the bill, the part that we had problems with on our side was the 20, 19, and 18-year-olds carrying firearms,. Even though they’re trained, the maturity level of the brain lacks,” said Kansas City Representative Louis Ruiz.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it needs at least 27 votes for the legislature to override it.

If Anti-Gunners Want To Know Why We Cling To Them, They Should Ask

Millions of Americans love their firearms. We like guns and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Nor should it. After all, these are the weapons with which we keep our freedom.

However, there are a ton of people who really don’t like that. They don’t want us with firearms at all. Others are fine with you owning a firearm, they just want to place so many restrictions on them so that they’re impractical for anything but going to a gun club and popping off a few rounds.

So what happens when those who don’t like guns try to ponder why those who do like them “cling” to them? Well, you get some hilariously bad takes.

Why are we so in love with our guns?

Historically, this nation was built on violence, whether the initial settlers from England or the wagon loads of internal migrants who ventured westward seeking land and opportunity. Creating a foothold on the east coast and then expansion to the west involved the violent subjugation of the Indigenous Peoples, as well as animals like Buffalo, because they stood in the way of that process. The perspective of subjugation at any cost, i.e. manifest destiny, still resides in our nation’s psyche.

Combine that opinion of cultural superiority with Heston’s interpretation of the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution and the result is the ‘until death do we part’ attitude about gun ownership. Why is it so relentless in its effort to protect itself? Why is every piece of proposed gun control legislation met with an avalanche of criticism by those who own guns and the politicians they support?

Obviously, the gun lobby, which includes the National Rifle Association and numerous gun manufacturers and vendors, is extremely vociferous and aggressive, stating that politicians who propose smart gun laws are ‘soft on crime’. In addition, it uses news media outlets, particularly conservative ones, to raise fear that the government is attempting to take your guns away with these new laws. And, if that were to happen, you would be less safe from crime, completely unable to defend yourself and, worst of all, be vulnerable to an authoritarian government.

I love it when they place all that on the “gun lobby.”

It’s because of the NRA and other pro-gun groups, including the National Shooting Sports Foundation which they couldn’t bother to name, that you’re concerned about gun control advocates trying to take away your right to keep and bear arms.

Of course, that could have nothing at all to do with these advocates’ own words, now could it. My friend, science fiction author David Burkhead, has been keeping a record of people of note saying they want all your guns. He’s kept it fairly up to date, too.

But that doesn’t play a factor, now does it?

Yet the author of this piece thinks he understands why we hold onto our guns? He feels he understands enough about all of us to tell his readers why we “cling” to our guns.

Maybe he should have just asked.

As noted, politicians and gun control advocates have expressly acknowledged their desire to disarm us all. Around us, violent crime is spiking, even if heavily gun-controlled states. We have a government that, frankly, few of us actually trust. With all that, you think the reason we’re resistant to gun control is because the NRA tells us to be?

To quote a prominent anti-gunner, “Come on, man!”

We’ve got ample reason to resist gun control. We’ve got all those reasons and more to “cling” to our firearms, including that it’s just plain fun to go shooting. But for some people, actually talking to us and finding out why we refuse to budge is just too damn hard.

The Economist: Constitutional Carry a ‘Troubling Trend’

The Economist labelled the state-level movement toward eliminating concealed carry permit requirements as a “troubling trend.”

The result of this push is permitless carry, or constitutional carry, as it is more often called. States that go this way view the Second Amendment as a sufficient carry permit and do not require law-abiding citizens to get a permit from the state government before exercising their right to bear arms.

Twenty states have currently abolished their concealed permit requirement. Those 20 states are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. (NOTE: Utah’s constitutional carry law goes into effect May 5, 2021, and Tennessee’s takes effect July 1, 2021.)

Texas lawmakers are on the verge of passing constitutional carry legislation and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has made clear he will sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.

The Economist referred to this move toward constitutional carry as a “troubling trend,” claiming:

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DeSantis Gets Bill To Strengthen Florida Preemption Law

The state of Florida has been previously referred to as the “Gunshine State.” Despite a flurry of bad laws in the wake of Parkland, they tend to be pretty pro-gun. It doesn’t make the post-Parkland idiocy any better, mind you, but it does look like just a blip on the radar.

One of the many good laws regarding firearms on the books up that way is their preemption law.

Now, it looks like lawmakers want to make that law even better.

The Legislature has passed a bill further restricting local governments’ ability to pass gun control measures.

The bill (SB 1884) clarifies that existing preemptions on local firearm and ammunition laws also apply to unwritten rules and policies. The legislation would also make clear local governments can’t bypass court cases simply by scrapping gun laws.

Rep. Cord Byrd, a Neptune Beach Republican who has carried the issue in the House, said the Legislature needs to shore up the law because of defiant local officials. He cited multiple examples just this year of local governments passing ordinances despite preemption laws in place since 1987. It’s the same reason in 2011 that the Legislature put in penalties for local officials who vote for local ordinances regardless of state law.

“Local governments thumbed their nose at this body, thumbed their nose at this Legislature, and said we do not care,” Byrd said.

Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, criticized Byrd directly on the bill, saying since Byrd represents gun owners who have sued local governments over such regulations, he stands to profit from this legislation.

Byrd pushed back on that, saying he wants to send a message so strong, governments stop wasting taxpayer money passing laws they have no right to consider.

“I hope I never take another preemption case again,” he said.

The bill passed the House, 78-39, which isn’t really a surprise.

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Root of Mass Shootings Pandemic Is Not Gun Access

Growing up in rural South Carolina on my family’s farm, I developed a love, appreciation, and, most importantly, a respect for firearms.

To this day, I remain a collector of firearms and a supporter of the American right to keep and bear arms as enshrined in the Second Amendment. I was taught that safety is paramount to gun ownership, so I have always encouraged responsible gun ownership and use for all Americans.

With that being said, I have noticed a disturbing trend in our country: an ever-increasing number of shootings and gun-related deaths.

And while the quick response from some, namely the left-wing mainstream media and liberal politicians, is to ban weapons and become more restrictive, it appears to me that we have serious mental health and poverty issues contributing to gun violence. I don’t believe that banning guns will result in any significant decline in shootings attributed to these two categories.

In the United States, since January 2021, we have had 195 mass shootings, with 245 people dying and approximately 731 wounded, according to the Mass Shooting Tracker.

While it’s important to acknowledge that there is not a universally accepted definition of what constitutes a “mass shooting,” these numbers are staggering. They are some of the highest numbers in the industrialized world.

Let’s contrast 2021 with when I was growing up, when mass shootings simply weren’t a problem. I believe that this is the direct result of the era and the family structure: Parents were involved in their children’s lives and children were taught discipline and respect.

By and large, members of my generation were raised in households with two parents, and we were taught how to deescalate and talk things out when problems arose. Today, that no longer seems to be the case.

We have a moral and social failing in our country that has caused an increase in mass shooters, predominantly young men. One has to pause to think about what’s different today from 30 or 40 years ago. It certainly isn’t guns, because it’s harder to get guns today than it was in the past, when you didn’t have to go through nationalized background checks. When I was growing up, you could purchase a firearm with no questions asked, yet we didn’t see so many mass shootings.

America’s young men are struggling with mental health issues or are broken and living in poverty with single mothers struggling to survive. Many of them are clearly crying out for help, and we owe it to them to listen.

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BLUF:
Compared to nearly the entire rest of the world, people in the United States have retained the ability to choose to be legally armed or unarmed. Most people in the USA want to keep the option. Nearly all the rest of the world does not have it.

The Case for More Guns, Learn to Think Like The Sheep Who Chose to Be Unarmed

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- People in the gun culture often express amazement about people who want them disarmed. They ascribe the desire to hostility and malice. It may be true for a minority of those who actively wish for a disarmed population. A significant number, likely a majority, have made a voluntary decision to be unarmed.

It is important to know your opponent and to understand their motives.

Three years ago, this correspondent wrote an essay on how to understand people who want a disarmed population. It was popular but did not appear on AmmoLand News at that time.

I have updated the essay for current conditions.

There Is An Easy Way To Understand People Who Wish You To Be Unarmed.

It takes a little discipline. You may have a little mental discomfort, but it is not particularly difficult. For the ability to understand the other side, assume you have deliberately chosen to be unarmed.

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