Category: RKBA

Dems Tell Manchin: Nuke Filibuster If You Want Background Checks

I take absolutely no joy in saying this, but my job is to tell it like it is and not try to blow sunshine up anyone’s backside: the gun control bills that are expected to start moving in the House this week are almost guaranteed to be approved and sent to the U.S. Senate. H.R. 8, which would impose a one-year federal prison sentence on gun owners who transferred a firearm without first going through a background check, and H.R. 1446, which would allow the FBI to delay transfers done through an FFL for ten days (and indefinitely in some circumstances) as opposed to the three-day limit currently allowed by law, aren’t going to get out the House with wide margins, but bills only need a bare majority to pass there.

It’s the Senate where things are going to get tricky for gun control legislation, since 60 votes are going to be necessary in order for the bills to pass. Joe Manchin seems adamant that he’s not going to provide the final vote necessary to nuke the legislative filibuster, but the Left is doing its best to remind Manchin that if he doesn’t, there’s no guarantee that the universal background check bill will get to Biden’s desk.

Manchin nevertheless remains as intransigent as ever on the filibuster question in general. Asked on the Hill this past Monday about the circumstances under which he’d reconsider his support for it, he yelled “Never.” “Jesus Christ!” he said to reporters. “What don’t you understand about ‘never’?” And Manchin has already seen and made peace with Republicans in the Senate killing background check expansions twice this decade—once in 2013 and once in 2015. It should be said that these failures give lie to the idea, promoted by Manchin and others, that the filibuster facilitates bipartisanship. On both occasions, checks actually won the support of a bipartisan coalition of senators, and Manchin’s bill might have passed in 2013 with a bipartisan 54-vote majority were it not for the filibuster and its 60-vote threshold. Instead of Congress passing a policy supported by the vast majority of the American people and offered up by cooperative and cordial members of both parties, Congress passed nothing.

It is likely that this will happen again. Asked about the BCEA’s chances on CNN recently, Pat Toomey was pessimistic. “It’s theoretically possible,” he said, “but I’m not aware of a significant change in heart.” Absent that change in heart, all gun legislation will be doomed—not just background checks but the rest of the proposals for Congress that President Biden ran on, including a new assault weapons ban, a ban on online gun and parts sales, and the repeal of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which shields gun manufacturers from lawsuits over the use of their guns in criminal activity. Biden wasn’t the most ambitious of the primary candidates on gun policy, but his proposals would still be the most sweeping gun control measures implemented since Biden helped pass the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and the original Federal Assault Weapons Ban as a senator in the early 1990s.

The intra-party fight over the filibuster is already heating up, and it’s going to get even spicier in the weeks ahead. The Democrats insisting that the filibuster go away know their legislative majorities are likely going to come to an end in next year’s midterms, and if they want to enact their agenda they’re going to have to destroy it sooner or later. They’d prefer sooner, under the theory that they’d be able to pass more legislation that the country would love, and by the time Election Day rolls around in 2022 the American people will have forgiven them for blowing up one of the few remaining checks on pure majoritarianism in Congress.

The more Manchin digs in his heels, the more the anti-filibuster Democrats are going to lash out. Of course Manchin has an ace in the hole, so to speak. At any time, he could leave the Democratic Party behind and begin to caucus with Republicans, giving them the Senate Majority. That might make him an even bigger enemy to the Left than Donald Trump, but it wouldn’t hurt Manchin’s popularity at home in West Virginia, where every single county went red in the 2020 election.

I wish I could confidently predict how this will all end up, but my crystal ball is only telling me that gun owners should buckle up, because it could be a bumpy and chaotic ride once Biden’s gun control bills start moving.

Another one of the idiotic “I support the Second Amendment, But……”  crowd
There’s a very quick and simple answer for morons like this.
One name, Jack Wilson , end of discussion.
If they continue with their drivel, you tell them since facts have shown them to be in error, what’s the real reason they want to restrict the right to keep and bear arms?

Human Condition: Guns in church? What would Jesus carry?

I like guns — always have. I support the Second Amendment, and hope I’ll always have the right to own a gun.

But I’m concerned that our country is reverting to its Wild West days. Heck, even back then some towns had rules in place where you had to surrender your gun at the sheriff’s office before you went into the saloon.

According to Smithsonian magazine, Tombstone, Arizona, had more restrictive gun laws in 1880 than it has today. And that was when Wyatt Earp and his brothers were involved in the famed OK Corral incident.

So, I guess it’s kind of an insult to the Old West to compare them to present-day America.

All this makes me wonder about folks who want to carry guns to church. To church?

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Need for national concealed carry reciprocity at all-time high

Across the nation, local gun stores are continuing to feel the effects of skyrocketing demand and limited supplies for firearms. One store in Columbus, Ohio, says their stock could be wiped out in the next few weeks. And if people are lucky enough to purchase a firearm right off the shelf, reports of ammunition shortages will be everyone’s next hurdle. Across Texas, gun store owners are seeing how the surge in firearm sales throughout 2020 has affected the availability of both firearms and ammunition.

Last year’s drastic increase in gun sales and background checks may have been linked in part to Americans’ fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and growing unrest across the nation, but it’s also clear there has been a growing national awakening among Americans who want to defend themselves and their families. Along with growing gun sales and more people exercising the right to self-defense, there has been increased demand for firearm safety and training courses. The U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) has experienced exponential growth in education and training over the last year. In 2020 over 2,000 new instructors joined our ranks of 7,000 instructors across the country. It’s clear that as Americans’ interest in owning a firearm grows, so does their understanding that training and education is a necessary part of being a responsible gun owner.

Today, with the pandemic still on our front doorstep and a new administration underway that many fear will impose more strict gun laws, people are finding it increasingly necessary to responsibly protect themselves. In fact, January marked the highest overall number of firearm-related background checks ever recorded in our nation’s history.

With millions of new gun owners in the U.S. and 21 million gun sales last year alone – including a higher rate of women and minorities – it’s more important than ever that these responsibly-armed Americans are supported rather than criminalized. That is why our elected officials today need to work together to solidify national reciprocity for concealed carry permits to finally relieve law-abiding gun owners from the burdensome patchwork of state laws governing concealed carry.

Take, for example, a family from Indiana who’s traveling to visit relatives in Missouri, carrying with them a concealed firearm for safety. If this family travels the most direct and common-sense route – through Illinois – they are suddenly breaking the law and potentially facing criminal charges if stopped. Unless this family detours hours down through Kentucky to avoid crossing through Illinois – which doesn’t have reciprocity with any of its surrounding states – they’re breaking the law. Scenarios like this, coupled with antiquated concealed carry laws, force people to choose between traveling much longer distances to reach their destination or leaving themselves unprotected… ultimately, forfeiting their natural born right to self-defense.

Americans shouldn’t have to risk becoming criminals simply for crossing states lines while carrying their lawfully-owned firearm. That’s why it’s crucial that Rep. Richard Hudson’s (R-N.C.) recently introduced Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2021 (H.R. 38) becomes law – so that responsible citizens can exercise their right to self-defense while they are traveling or temporarily living away from home. This is especially important at a time when more Americans are opting out of air travel and choosing to drive long distances, often across multiple states, with their children and other loved ones.

It is clear that today, Americans greatly value their natural-born right to self-defense and their ability to carry a firearm. We’ve seen this ourselves at the USCCA with skyrocketing demand in firearms-related training and education. Now, Congress must act by making it possible for any law-abiding gun owner – anytime, anywhere – to travel freely with their firearm without the risk of breaking the law when traveling. Millions of responsible, law-abiding Americans are counting on the National Concealed Reciprocity Act, and it’s time to move it forward.

 

Almost Half the United States has Constitutional Carry

Do we see ‘blood running in the streets’ of these states?

No, we don’t.

So these mewling statist elitists are nothing more than wanna-be dictators who see power being taken away from the state and returned to the people, and don’t like it.

vvvv

Don’t mess with Tennessee’s handgun permit system | Opinion
Public welfare and safety will be jeopardized by pending legislation that would allow the permitless carry of handguns in public.

David Mitchell, Bill Gibbons and David Purkey Guest columnists
David Mitchell served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security from 2007-2011. Bill Gibbons served in that capacity from 2011-2016, and David Purkey served from 2016-2019.

Part of the privilege of serving as commissioner was responsibility for overseeing our state’s handgun permit system. We are proud of the permit system Tennessee has developed and maintained. We oppose the part of pending legislation (SB 765/HB 786) that would severely undermine our handgun permit system and ultimately make it meaningless by allowing the permitless carry of handguns in public, both concealed and openly.

Under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the citizens of our state have a right to keep and bear arms. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly ruled that state legislatures have the power to regulate the carrying of firearms in the interest of public safety. There is no reasonable debate about the General Assembly’s authority on this issue….

“Under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the citizens of our state have a right to keep and bear arms. However,….”

But me no buts, tin horns. What about “….shall not be infringed.” do you not understand? Agreeing with Justice Scalia’s dicta (not part of the ruling, simply his own opinion, included in the decision like an editorial.) simply means you don’t understand SCOTUS decisions and merely agree with his mistaken personal opinion, which has been often considered, was some  weasel wording to get the previous court squish, Justice Kennedy on board.

The California Model: Soft On Violent Firearm Crimes, Hard On Law-Abiding Gun Owners

A frustrating aspect of the modern gun control movement is its seeming abandonment of reason. The same anti-gun politicians that attack the rights of law-abiding gun owners will advocate for more lenient treatment of those who misuse firearms to commit violent crime.

Consider California’s Assembly Bill 1509, which would alter the state’s scheme of sentence enhancements for serious crimes committed with firearms. The legislative counsel’s digest summarized the changes as follows:
Existing law imposes a sentence enhancement in the state prison of 10 years for personally using a firearm in the commission of specified felonies, 20 years for personally and intentionally discharging a firearm in the commission of those felonies, and 25 years to life for personally and intentionally discharging a firearm and causing great bodily injury or death to any other person during the commission of those felonies.

This bill would reduce those enhancements to 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. 

Existing law imposes a sentence enhancement of 5, 6, or 10 years in the state prison for, with intent to inflict great bodily injury or death, discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle in the commission of a felony and inflicting great bodily injury or death in the commission of a felony.

This bill would reduce that enhancement to 1, 2, or 3 years in the state prison.

AB1509 was authored by Assembly member Alex Lee (D-25). The bill was coauthored by Assembly members Wendy Carrillo (D-51), Ash Kalra (D-27), Mark Stone (D-29), and Senator Scott Wiener (D-11).

Assemblywoman Carrillo has been a vocal proponent of further restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners. On May 17, 2018, Carrillo spoke at a gun control rally in Sacramento, put on, in part, by the Brady Campaign. The lawmaker took to Twitter on February 5, 2019 to boast of meeting Gabrielle Giffords of the eponymous Giffords gun control organization, adding, “California has enacted strict gun laws that can lead the way to a national conversation. We need action. #GunReformNow.”

Similarly, Assemblymember Kalra has pushed for gun control. As a San Jose City councilmember, Kalra proposed an ordinance that would have required gun owners to comply with onerous storage requirements, ammunition sellers to register transactions, and re-victimized gun owners whose firearms were stolen by requiring them to report the theft within 48 hours.

In 2019, Senator Wiener advanced legislation to permanently ban gun shows at Daly City, Calif.’s Cow Palace. On August 31, 2019, the state senator took to Twitter to advocate for gun confiscation and other extreme gun controls, stating,

No more talk on guns

Action only

Kansas House passes bill to lower concealed carry age to 18

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill to lower the legal age to carry concealed firearms in Kansas from 21 to 18 won final passage Thursday in the Kansas House.

The state House approved the bill on a 85-38 vote, sending it to the Senate. The bill’s support came mostly from Republicans, who say that those under 21 are eligible to vote and serve in the military. Opponents say those under 21 are less mature and more prone to risk-taking.

People as young as 18 can already carry firearms in the open in Kansas. The legislation would require those under 21 to complete a background check and undergo safety training to carry concealed firearms, which is currently required for those 21 and older.

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Biden’s Gun Control Isn’t Intended to Fight Crime, It’s Intended to Criminalize Gun Owners.

The Biden administration is not trying to address an issue or fix a symptom. It is targeting a phantasm. The president has yet to address fully how to combat the larger issue of illegally acquired firearms used to commit offenses.

Based on the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, the Justice Department reported in 2019 that “among prisoners who possessed a gun during their offense, 90% did not obtain it from a retail source.” Read that again. Among those individuals arrested, convicted, and sentenced, 90% of the firearms used in gun-related crimes did not come from legal sources, which include gun shows.

Astoundingly, only 0.8% of prisoners who had a firearm during their offense legally “obtained it at a gun show.” So, less than 1% of all firearms used in gun-related offenses came from gun shows. This is fascinating, seeing that the current administration and congressional majority would have us believe the “gun show loophole” is one area where the plague of gun violence is spawning from and it is just “common sense” to address it. But yet again, the facts show this is an illusion.

What is not an illusion is this: If the Biden administration successfully shoves firearm regulation through Congress or enables it through executive action, Biden will be solely responsible for criminalizing the estimated 72 million people who legally own firearms, as if our prison and legal system weren’t overburdened enough. So much for common sense.

“Show me the man (business) and I’ll find you the crime” is a quote from a Russian communist, and is not how the justice system is supposed to operate in the U.S.

Anti-Gun Activists Salivating Over NJ’s Investigation Of Smith & Wesson

We’ve previously discussed the fishing expedition currently underway by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal against American gunmaker Smith & Wesson, in which the AG is trying to get his hands on decades’ worth of internal marketing documents. Grewal hasn’t officially accused the company of any wrongdoing; rather, he wants to peruse those documents in the hopes of finding something that he can portray as a violation of the state’s laws against fraudulent advertising.

It’s a gross abuse of power, so of course gun control advocates love the idea. The New York Times’ Aaron Ross Sorkin has even penned a love letter of sorts to Grewal, expressing his full support for the witch hunt.

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BLUF:
Blumenthal commented on the legislation, saying, “The American people are responding to a political movement that has resulted from Parkland, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas — the shorthand of tragedies that have caused this political movement to be a force that has met this moment of reckoning.”

Ironically, universal background checks would not have stopped any of the three mass shootings mentioned by Blumenthal. That is because in two of them–Parkland and Las Vegas–the attackers passed background checks for guns. In the third, Sandy Hook, the attacker stole his gun, so no amount of point-of-sale background checks would have mattered.

OK, so Blumenthal merely reconfirms he’s a stupid liar.
Nothing unusual for a demoncrap.

Democrat Chris Murphy Introduces Universal Background Check Bill

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced universal background check legislation to expand retail point-of-sale background checks to private sales as well.

On February 14, 2021, Biden urged legislators to put forward universal background check legislation and on February 18, 2021, Breitbart News noted Murphy was expected to do it.

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Governor Bill Lee (Tennessee) pushes for permit-less gun carry bill ahead of legislative discussion.

A once-sidelined bill is back in the Tennessee legislature again. If passed, anyone over the age of 21 could legally carry a gun without a permit.

A bill could get rid of the state’s gun permit requirements. It’s going before the House and Senate starting Tuesday.

If made into law, anyone over the age of 21 could carry a firearm if they meet the requirements.

Lawmakers first introduced the bill in 2020,  but it was delayed, in part, because of the pandemic……..

Below The Radar – LEAD Act

Attacks on our right to keep and bear arms don’t just take the form of gun bans or universal background checks. If anything, anti-Second Amendment extremists have always been scheming to find ways to make it harder to exercise our rights, and some of them are quite diabolical in the way many Second Amendment supporters do not see them coming.

One such bill is HR 405, the LEAD Act, introduced by Ted Lieu, a congressman from California (no surprise, a Democrat). In this case LEAD stands for Lead Endangers Animals Daily, and it bans the use of traditional ammunition on lands that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has jurisdiction over. For a first offense, there is a $500 fine, with additional offenses leading to fines from $1,000 to $5,000.

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We Now Know the First Gun Control Move Congressional Democrats Are Making

Democrats have had a few legislative priorities since they took control of both Congress and the White House. Their number one focus has been on the “American Rescue Plan,” President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. But their next policy focus is shifting towards imposing stricter gun control laws.

According to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), Democrats are planning to pursue “enhanced background checks” as early as next week.

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New House Bill Would Expand List of ‘Prohibited Persons’

Not all gun control attempts are as blatant as Democrat Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s manifold (and yearly) insanity.

Indeed, most look positively reasonable — at least if you only read the title.

Such is H.R. 882, the “Keeping Guns from High-Risk Individuals Act” introduced by Rep. Robin L. Kelly, (D-Illinois).

Introduced in early February, text of the bill was just released, and is hair-raising, particularly if one digs a bit deeper, than the simple language.

In short, Kelly’s bill is a huge expansion of the criteria used to prohibit persons from legally owning a firearm under federal law, which right now includes those convicted of a felony or a domestic violence misdemeanor, and those adjudicated as mentally ill.

H.R. 882 would amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to include anyone who:

… in the most recent 10-year period, has been convicted in any court (emphasis added) of a crime of violence (as defined in section 16);

“(11) has not attained 25 years of age, (emphasis added) and has been adjudicated by any court as having committed an offense that would have been a crime of violence (as defined in section 16) if committed by an adult;

“(12) in any period of 3 consecutive years in the most recent 10-year period, has been convicted in any court, on 2 separate occasions, of an offense that has, as an element, the possession or distribution of, or the intent to possess or distribute, alcohol or a controlled substance (as so defined); or

“(13) has been convicted in any court (emphasis added) of stalking.”

Now 18 U.S. Code section 16 is disturbingly vague, and simply defines a “crime of violence” as:

(a)an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or prop­erty of another, (emphasis added) or

(b)any other offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.

Clearly, no one could argue against keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals right?

Much will be dependent — should this pass — on how Section 16 is interpreted, and on the relevant case law, but as written if you got in a bar fight when you were 21, and were charged with simple battery (generally a misdemeanor) or even threatened violence (assault in many jurisdictions, also a misdemeanor) — or were a young idiot and did a little vandalism —  you would suddenly be ineligible to own a firearm for the rest of your life.

Note too, this says “any court,” not just federal court.

Kelly’s legislation would create an entirely new class of federally-prohibited persons — those who have been “convicted of a crime of violence,” even if no violence actually took place.

Look, no one wants firearms in the hands of violent felons, but this bill doesn’t prevent that. Anyone convicted of a felony is already a prohibited person.

This expands the list of “prohibited persons” to include those convicted of misdemeanors, not just felonies.

It’s clear that the goal of Kelly’s legislation isn’t about reducing gun violence (not that any of these proposed bills are), it’s all about reducing the number of people who can legally own a firearm.

Requiring Training Before Owning A Gun is a Threat To The Second Amendment

A question I get a lot is do I believe everyone should be required by law to get some form of firearm training before they can own a gun?

I deeply believe that anyone who owns a gun or plans to buy a gun should to some degree get some training on how to use and operate the gun not only safely but more effectively.

But the question still remains, do I agree with government mandated training before owning a gun? Absolutely NOT and here is why.

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Banning whole categories of popular guns will lose in Supreme Court

On Feb. 14, President Biden marked the third anniversary of the deadly shooting incident at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, with an announcement that he is calling on Congress to enact “common sense gun law reforms.”

As always, the details matter. The president defined “common sense” as a requirement for background checks on all gun sales, a ban on “assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” and an end to “immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.”

The U.S. Supreme Court held in 2008, in the District of Columbia v. Heller decision, that the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” is an individual right that is not contingent on service in “a well-regulated militia.” That means the U.S. Constitution limits the federal government’s power to pass laws restricting that right.

Exactly where are the limits? That’s always a matter of interpretation. The Heller opinion, written by the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, held that the District’s law prohibiting the possession of handguns was over the line, as was its law requiring residents to keep their lawfully owned, registered long guns “unloaded and dissembled or bound by a trigger lock or similar device” unless the guns were located in a place of business or in use for lawful recreational activities.

Scalia wrote that the handgun ban “amounts to a prohibition of an entire class of ‘arms’ that is overwhelmingly chosen by American society” for the “lawful purpose” of “the inherent right of self-defense.” Under any standard that the court has used, he wrote, “banning from the home ‘the most preferred firearm in the nation to keep and use for protection of one’s home and family,’ would fail constitutional muster.”

So if the president’s definition of “assault weapon” and “weapons of war” includes commonly owned firearms and magazines, it’s likely that new laws banning these or seeking to create new legal liability for their manufacturers will be found unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, should these laws be challenged.

And there’s no doubt that such laws would be challenged. After Biden’s statement was released, the Firearms Policy Coalition responded, denouncing what it called “unconstitutional and immoral policies including bans on common semi-automatic firearms and ammunition magazines.” A number of lawsuits over various state laws related to firearms ownership are already working their way toward the high court.

The Heller decision was 5-4, with Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Steven Breyer in the minority.

Former President Donald Trump campaigned as a staunch defender of Second Amendment rights, and it would not be surprising, to say the least, if the three justices he appointed to the high court share that view to some extent. Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett likely have created a solid majority to strike down broad bans on semiautomatic weapons and laws that flatly prohibit law-abiding citizens from exercising the right to carry a gun. In Scalia’s words, “the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table.”

That won’t stop the Democratic majorities in Congress, together with the president, from enacting doomed laws, or from sending fundraising letters attacking their opponents. It’s always about the next election. It remains a fact that constitutional rights cannot be overridden by a majority vote, except on the Supreme Court.

 

Iowa Permitless Carry Self Defense Package Bill Introduced

House Study Bill 254 allows a law-abiding adult to carry a concealed firearm, without first needing to obtain government permission. This ensures that citizens have their right to self-defense without government red tape or delays. In addition, it also adds the option for law-abiding citizens to pass a federal background check to acquire a handgun without obtaining a Permit to Acquire, ensures that public housing cannot deny Second Amendment rights to tenants, ensures that local governments cannot restrict lawful carrying of firearms, expands the types of training accepted for a Permit to Carry Weapons, and other Second Amendment provisions.