Category: RKBA

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.

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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

This is an alternate tactic the gun grabbers have been trying for decades. Getting their econutz shills to sue to ban lead bullets and shot.

Judge Affirms Hunters Can Use Traditional Ammo in NRA Case

On April 1st, a federal judge in Arizona sided with NRA-ILA and Safari Club International and held that hunters’ use of traditional ammo does not violate federal environmental law.

The case dates back to 2012, when a group sued the U.S. Forest Service. The group alleged that by allowing hunters to hunt with traditional lead ammo in the 1.6-million-acre Kaibab National Forest—which is authorized by Arizona state law—the Forest Service was violating the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. That Act was originally passed in 1976, to address the increasing amount of municipal and industrial waste that was being disposed of at the time. But over time, it has been used to attack gun owners and shooting ranges.

On April 1st, the judge held that the Forest Service is not disposing any waste by allowing hunters to hunt in accordance with state laws. But the case had even bigger implications. The Plaintiff was asking the court to order the Forest Service regulate hunting. But the states own the wildlife, even while it is on federal lands. “Each national forest,” the judge said, “is required to cooperate with state wildlife agencies to allow hunting in ‘accordance with the requirements of State laws.”’ A ruling to the contrary would have given the federal government the authority to enter a field of regulation that belongs to the states on lands where hunting takes place. Those implications would be huge because 640-million acres (about twenty-eight percent of the country) is owned and managed by the federal government. Thankfully, the judge sided with NRA-ILA and Safari Club.

NRA-ILA will continue to protect the rights of hunters everywhere to use commonly owned and affordable ammunition to hunt and enjoy public lands.

The case is called Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Forest Service. The National Shooting Sports Foundation also intervened as a defendant in the case.

Governor Gordon Stands Up for Second Amendment, Signs Firearms Industry Non-Discrimination Act

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Release) – Reinforcing his overarching belief in protecting Second Amendment rights in the face of today’s Executive Actions by President Biden, Governor Mark Gordon signed House Bill 236/House Enrolled Act 87- Firearms transactions – financial discrimination into law. The bill prohibits financial institutions and payment processors in Wyoming from discriminating against firearms businesses that support or are “engaged in the lawful commerce of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition products.”

“Wyoming is,  has always been, and will continue to be a state where Second Amendment rights are recognized and protected. I oppose any orders or actions imposed from  the federal level that infringe on this fundamental right,” Governor Gordon said. “I will relentlessly defend our  Second Amendment and the Wyoming businesses involved in the firearms industry.”

Earlier this week Governor Gordon signed two other pieces of firearms-related legislation. First, Governor Gordon signed Senate File 155/Senate Enrolled Act 40. That legislation ensures that during emergencies the government cannot impose improper restrictions on Wyoming citizens’ lawful access to firearms. This is the way the Governor handled the COVID-19 emergency earlier this year.  He appreciated the Legislature developing a bill that backed up his approach.

The Governor also signed House Bill 116/House Enrolled Act 70, which extended permit-less carry in Wyoming to all law-abiding Americans. Wyoming was one of the first states to recognize the right to carry without a permit for its citizens, and the bill extends the same privilege to all legal gun owners who otherwise legally qualify to carry a firearm in the state.

Now that we’ve gotten a good look at Garland as Attorney General, it’s apparent the country dodged a bullet from having him installed on the Supreme Court.

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.”

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Ducey signs ‘Second Amendment sanctuary’ bill

Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill Tuesday evening that makes Arizona a “Second Amendment sanctuary” and bars law enforcement agencies in the Grand Canyon State from enforcing federal gun control measures, ignoring a last-minute plea from gun control groups urging him to veto it. 

“We want him to know that his constituents don’t agree with this,” Sophia Carrillo, a volunteer with gun safety group Moms Demand Action said to Arizona Mirror Tuesday morning after the group delivered nearly 2,500 signatures urging him to veto the bill. 

Moms Demand Action collected 2,485 signatures which they delivered to Ducey’s office Tuesdaymorning in the hopes that it will persuade the governor to veto House Bill 2111. 

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Leo Biasiucci, R-Lake Havasu, makes it illegal for local governments, the state and employees to enforce or cooperate with any federal law, act, treaty, rule or regulation that is “inconsistent with any law of this state regarding the regulation of firearms.” 

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This will leave North Dakota as the only state where only residents can carry concealed without a permit.

WYOMING TO ALLOW NONRESIDENTS TO CONCEAL CARRY WITHOUT A PERMIT STARTING JULY 1

CASPER, Wyo. — Starting July 1, both residents and nonresidents alike will be able to conceal carry in Wyoming without obtaining a special permit, provided they can legally possess a hand gun in the United States.

Governor Mark Gordon signed House Bill 116 into law on Tuesday which will give nonresidents the ability to conceal carry without a special permit once the new law goes into effect July 1, 2021.

Wyoming residents are already able to conceal carry without a permit if they are legally allowed to possess a firearm.

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.”

The left did nothing but expose their own racism.

Left Thought Conservatives Would Freak Over Black Gun Owners. They Were Wrong

For ages now, some in Democratic circles have sworn up and down that the best way to get the right to support gun control was to have legions of black gun owners.

You see, in their mind, the right only sees gun rights existing for white people. Minorities shouldn’t bother.

Except, that is USDA Grade “A” Prime male bovine excrement. No one on this side has ever believed that way. We may not agree with the things an armed black man or woman might be saying–then again, we might–but I’ll always stand in favor of their right to keep and bear arms, even against Republicans who suggest otherwise.

“Oh, but you’re the only one,” some might try to say.

Well, wrong again.

“Gun ownership among Black Americans is soaring,” notes a headline in The Hill. So what? Why does the story come accompanied with a story of what is obviously meant to appear to be a scary paramilitary group of blacks? Are we supposed to think that black Americans who buy guns lawfully are going to organize themselves into roving bands of troublemakers? This fear is farfetched when it comes to white-nationalist militias and I see no reason to think that black-nationalist militias are something to lose sleep over either. Black Americans are legally buying guns for the same reasons Americans are legally buying guns: They don’t trust their government to look out for them. This fear is understandable.

An example:

I hate to break it to Sundevil3015, that’s not really how most of us view gun rights.

See, black men are the people statistically most likely to be shot and killed. Yes, many of those happen to be involved in gang activity, but many others are either bystanders or are unfortunate souls who confront criminals and get shot for their trouble. They’re good, decent people who should have the means to defend themselves, but often live in communities where that’s discouraged or even illegal.

That’s not right.

For me, I want to see every law-abiding citizen armed, both inside the home and outside of it. If all the good guys have guns, the bad guys have much more limited options, and violent crime all but vanishes. It won’t disappear completely, because that’s not human nature, but it will be such a pathetically low amount that it won’t even matter.

That includes black men and women. It includes Hispanic men and women, and Asian men and women, and any other group you care to name. <Insert Oprah: “You get a gun, and you get a gun, and everyone gets a gun!” here>

But black gun owners? For them I just want to know one thing: Where are you getting your ammo? I need some bad!

Sounds reasonable. Other people than I have pondered if demoncraps who spout off about gun control actually own gun company stock and use their rhetoric to increase the value of their ‘blind trusts’

 

First Quarter NICS Checks for Gun Sales Spurred by Gun Control Demands

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is reporting that the “NSSF-adjusted” figures for background checks related to gun sales in March were the second strongest for the month on record, and were likely spurred by calls for tougher gun laws following two high-profile mass shooting incidents.

“It is clear that firearm sales in March were driven by gun control calls from politicians to ban entire classes of firearms and enact onerous gun laws,” suggested Mark Oliva, NSSF public affairs director. “Americans continue to vote with their wallets when it comes to lawful firearm ownership.” Continue reading “”

In Colorado, They’re Cracking the Code on Gun Control: It Doesn’t Work

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Writing over the weekend in the Denver Post, George H. Brauchler—former district attorney for the Centennial State’s 18th Judicial District—wrote something that might be considered blasphemy among anti-gun politicians and gun prohibition lobbying groups.

Brauchler was discussing mass shootings in Colorado in a story headlined, “Gun laws may prevent some crimes, but mass shootings isn’t one of them.” He mentioned shootings dating all the way back to Columbine High School and included the carnage at the Aurora theater in 2012. His summation boiled down to this:

“But linking current federal and state legislation to preventing horrors like Boulder is mere political opportunism. We must continue to work to keep firearms out of the wrong hands, but we must also recognize that we cannot legislate away evil.”

Almost simultaneously, CPR was reporting that gun owners in the state “are gearing up to oppose any new proposed restrictions, despite the fact that the most controversial proposal has not yet been introduced.” The story quotes Mario Acevedo, a Denver novelist “who is both a Democrat and a gun owner.”

“Acevedo does not think new gun laws provide the solution,” the story reveals. “He said data has convinced him that gangs, drug trafficking and mental illness are the drivers of gun deaths, not firearms.”

Perhaps this excerpt from the story says it best, quoting Acevedo:

“Colorado passed the universal background check and the high capacity magazine ban that was done under the premise that it was going to prevent mass shootings. The state passed the red flag law, the ERPO [Extreme Risk Protection Order] that again was done on the premise of preventing mass shootings. And it didn’t.”

Colorado has seen its share of trouble over the past 20-plus years. But at least some residents are realizing what many in the Second Amendment community have been saying for years is correct:

Gun control doesn’t stop people from committing mayhem because those determined to harm other people will find a way to do it.

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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.

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