Category: RKBA

Bedford County Supervisors OK militia resolution

The Bedford County  (VA) Board of Supervisors approved a resolution at its Tuesday, May 26, meeting recognizing a militia within Bedford County, pursuant to the Second Amendment.

When questioned who was over the Bedford County militia, Chairmen John Sharp of District 4 said that the board was not over it. He also said that it’s a formal recognition that they have a right to exist.

“Unless there is some constitutional reason why they can’t own a firearm, I don’t have an issue with it,” said Sharp.

He said it’s like a move on a chessboard, and that they are playing chess with Richmond right now.

‘1992 Roof Koreans’ segue into ‘2020 Roof Mexicans’
And we now come to the times when Americans have their own version of ‘Auto Defensas‘, which, when you get right down to it, isn’t such a bad idea anyway.

Armed Neighborhood Groups Form In The Absence Of Police Protection

Cesia Baires knocks on the three apartment doors above her restaurant and a neighboring taqueria just before curfew.

A woman opens the door. Her two young children are inside.

“Remember,” she says to them in Spanish. “Same thing as yesterday. I’m going to come check on you. If there’s anything you guys need, give us a call right away.”

Meanwhile, a few men climb through the window and on to the roof to set up semi-automatic weapons as the curfew begins in Minneapolis. It’s something Baires never thought she would have to do as a small-business owner, but then she found out these apartments were occupied.

“Material things we can replace, that’s true,” she says. “But there are families up here. These aren’t empty buildings.”

As break-ins and fires raged in the first days of mass protests over the killing of yet another black man in an encounter with police, the city seemed to descend into a security vacuum. She says the police disappeared from this neighborhood. That’s when she and others started forming patrols to include people with licensed weapons.

“I’m the one that’s checking everyone,” she says. “If you’re up here with a gun and you’re not supposed to be here and you don’t have a license to carry, then I don’t allow you to even go to the rooftop. Only people with guns are on the rooftop.”

But is this a path to vigilante justice?

“It’s not something that I would want, but we’ve seen how, for at least the first couple days, we were left alone,” she says. “There were no cops that would come around. So what are we to do? Just stand there and do nothing?”

Her group — Security Latinos De La Lake — is one of many neighborhood watch groups sprouting up across the Twin Cities and in other parts of the country as dozens of mostly peaceful protests continue every day, sometimes in the face of violence from law enforcement: tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Twin Cities have largely calmed, but Baires says she wasn’t even able to get through to 911 until Monday.

When asked about the lack of police presence, a spokesman for the Minneapolis Police Department said in an email that the department is facing an “unprecedented situation.” He added that citizens who need help should call 911. The department is also aware of these neighborhood groups. In fact, the police chief and officers have met with some, and the department is not concerned as long as they’re following the law………..

 

LARRY CORREIA IS LAUGHING AT YOUR BS

A friend of mine posted about seeing this: “Where are all you gun owners now that the federal government and police are attacking citizens in the streets?? Now that the National Guard is out oppressing citizens? I thought this was the moment you’re waiting for? So why aren’t you out there fighting them with your guns? You’re nothing but a bunch of effing cowards!”

My response was the GIF of Nelson Muntz going HA HA. 😀

See the source image

But I’ve seen this sentiment a lot too over the last few days, so please if you are so incredibly effing dumb that you are actually wondering why America’s gun culture aren’t commuting into the democrat cities you have banned us from in order to get into gun fights with the National Guard on your behalf, allow me to elaborate.

Hypothetical Liberal “Ally” Who Lives in the Suburbs Which Aren’t On Fire – “Hey, gun owners! Here is some civil unrest! Why won’t you come and help us?”

Snort. Eff off. 😀

“Pussies! Why not?”

Well, every single gun nut in America has spent their entire adult life being continually mocked, insulted, and belittled by the left. You’ve done nothing but paint us as the bad guys.

In Hollywood, we’re always evil, stupid, violent, malicious, redneck, racist, murderers. That’s so ingrained in the liberal religion that when “ally” Harvey Weinstein was trying to get out of being a sleazy rapist, his repentance consisted of promising to make more movies about how the NRA is bad.

In the news, everything is always our fault. If there is a mass murder, we can always count on the vultures to swoop in and blame America’s gun culture. They flog it for weeks on end, 24/7 coverage, hoping for gun control. And if the identity of the shooter doesn’t fit the narrative, it drops off the news in mere hours.

And then at the local, state, and federal level, legally speaking, the left effs us at every opportunity. You ban everything you can get away with. You ban things that literally make no sense. You ban $#!+ just out of spite.
When we fight back against gun control laws, you declare we are stupid because only the police should have guns (hey, aren’t those the guys you are protesting right now?)

“Stupid racist rednecks! We live in a civilized society! Don’t you realize the police will protect us?” until when your democrat cities are on fire, and you call 911 and the operator tells you sorry, the police can’t come to your house right now, please try not to get murdered… How is that strict gun control working out for you?

Then you did everything in your power to chase gun owners out of your sainted liberal strongholds. You passed laws. You banned everything we like. Forced all the shooting ranges to close. Forced most of the gun stores to close. And just generally let us know that our kind is not welcome there.

But now you’ve started some $#!+, YOU want US to go into democrat cities, with democrat mayors, and democrat police chiefs enforcing democrat policies which cause strife among democrats, in order to get into gun fights on your behalf?
How effing gullible do you think we are? 😀 Like holy $#!+. Damn dude!

Because we all know that literally 30 seconds after a gun nut blows away a government employee on your behalf, then all the national media coverage of the riots will instantly cease (sorta like the Corona Virus coverage did) and it’ll be back to the news breathlessly reporting about right wing extremist gun nuts, and all you useless effers would go back to whining for more dumb ass gun control.

You’ve already thrown the black community under the bus, cheering as their neighborhoods get burned and yours are safe. Seriously, white liberals are the worst “allies” in history, and your moral foundation has the consistency of Play-Doh. Your moral compass is a wind sock.

Just a little while ago, gun nuts had a massive peaceful protest in Virginia. Tens of thousands of people turned out to protest gun control proposals from a democrat with a penchant for wearing black face (he still considers himself an “ally” though!) They didn’t break any windows. They didn’t kill any puppies. They didn’t burn any horses. They didn’t flip any police cars or murder any security guards. They were downright boring. They were polite, and even cleaned up their litter.

Except then you called them domestic terrorists, and were super sad that they didn’t get massacred by the government (said government you are now mad at for killing people, because again, you effers ain’t exactly consistent).

Liberal “allies” are quick to call gun nuts the bad guys, but we’re not trying to disarm people. We want everybody to be able to defend themselves. It’s a common thing to see some meme on the internet, showing a black family shooting or posing with their guns, with some caption like “bet this offends the NRA”, which is liberal projection, because in reality in my social circles everybody is like, “ good for them”. And the harshest complaints I’ve seen have been about trigger finger discipline or lack of eye protection.

My side isn’t the one that wants the state to have a monopoly on force. We know the 2nd is for everybody, regardless of skin color or where you live. You effers are the ones who keep declaring we can’t fight the government with AR-15s because they have tanks and nukes, but then you try it by throwing rocks?

So not only no, but hell no.

This Is Why We Need Guns

Defending their lives and their property as they see fit is exactly what those who have been abandoned by the authorities are doing in droves.

‘Only the cops need guns” simply could not live forever alongside, “The cops are racist and will kill you.” And so, at long last, the two circles of the Venn Diagram have filed for an amicable divorce. In the end, the differences proved irreconcilable.

At least, they proved irreconcilable without descending into farce. I have been told more times that I can count that “if you want to own an AR-15, you should join the army or the police.” Oh, really. Why? So that I can be pulled back when the rioting starts, lest I inflame those wielding bricks and Molotov cocktails? So that I can be called a fascist, acting in the service of a dictator? So that I can be part of the problem? In light of the new fashions, these old injunctions look rather silly, don’t they? “You don’t need 15 rounds; you’re not a cop! Also, the police are corrupt from top to bottom, and should probably be abolished.”

Pick one, perhaps?

In The New Republic, Matt Ford argues that the police were a mistake per se. They have, Ford writes, “become the standing armies that the Founders feared.” As it happens, unreconstructed small-r republican that I am, I have more sympathy for this idea than many might expect. But I’m sure as hell not going to entertain it at the same time as I subordinate my unalienable right to bear arms to the personal prejudices of the bureaucracy and commentariat. Don’t call the cops! Also, wait three months for a gun permit! Again: Pick one.

In any case, the idea that the existence of police officers in some way negates the right to bear arms has always been a ridiculous one. Police are an auxiliary force that we hire to do a particular job — there to supplement, not to replace, my rights and responsibilities. Every time we debate gun control in the United States, I am informed that the Sheriff of Whatever County is opposed to liberalization. To which I always think, “So what?” My right to keep and bear arms is merely the practical expression of my underlying right to self-defense. That, as a polity, we have decided to hire certain people to take the first shot at keeping the peace is fine. But it has no bearing on my liberties.

Happily, defending their lives and their property as they see fit is exactly what those who have been abandoned by the authorities are doing in droves. Like father, like son, we have seen the return of the Rooftop Koreans — supplemented, this time, by Rooftop African-Americans, Rooftop Hispanics, Rooftop Pakistanis, and the rest. The NAACP is helping to organize armed patrols of minority-owned business. Gun sales are up by a staggering 80 percent over this time last year. During the coronavirus lockdown, there was a public debate over whether gun stores should be deemed “essential.” During this outbreak of rioting, such an inquiry seems quaint. Now, as ever, there is no greater prophylactic against a criminal on the rampage than a loaded firearm in the hands of a free man.

“America has a gun problem,” they said.

We‘ve had the gun control narrative screamed at us like crazy for over a decade. Americans cannot be trusted with firearms & would likely “shoot first” in all kinds of situations, especially those they perceive as threatening. 1/

And definitely those that involve minorities. Trigger happy & whatnot. The gun situation is obviously highly dangerous, right? Well American cities are knee deep in protests, riots, & destruction. Yet shootings in response are crazy low. 2/

If ever there was a time such irresponsible, gun wielding Americans would go nuts, it would be now. And yet…that’s not the case. Thousands have taken to their businesses & streets armed to deter, but few have needed to or been willing to engage their firearms. 3/

What is going on? If it was a gun problem & reckless American problem, would we not have bodies piling up? We don’t, because what many of has said repeatedly is true. Use of lethal force is the LAST resort & even in the face of chaos & destruction, we are hesitant to use it. 4/

If the media & Dem narrative about guns & their owners were true, it would be a fucking bloodbath. Yes, people are deterring looters with armed defenders. Yes, the suburbs are doing the same. But no one is willy nilly shooting people, even bad actors. 5/

Even all those Bubba MAGAs who are “muh rebel flag, muh gun” wielding racists, who we were told would are dangerous af & would shoot POC without provocation, are not rounding up their boys to do…anything. 6/

If a lot of this is truly white supremacist infiltration & they intend to fuel the mayhem, why would they not be loading trucks armed with their AR-15s to go intimidate & impose their will? To gun down abusers & get their own kind of justice? 7/

All of this completely betrays the anti-gun argument that citizens cannot be trusted with foreakrs. It’s amazing how so many blue checks & others, once shitstorms came to their neighborhoods, are admitting that they are now looking into armed self defense. 8/

“Just call 911.” Welp, they are overwhelmed & telling people to fend for themselves given the current strife. “Just call the police.” The same police you have deemed racist & inadequate? “Only police & military should be armed.” How is that working out, y’all? 9/

No. You are the only one that is responsible for and can be held accountable to your family, friends, & property. Do what you must. I hope you are armed. fin/

 

Louisiana: Package of Pro-Gun Bills Heads to the Governor’s Desk

Four pro-gun bills have been passed by the Louisiana Legislature and will now be sent to the desk of Governor John Bel Edwards for his signature.

House Bill 746, sponsored by Rep. Ray Garofalo, allows those who lawfully possess a firearm to carry concealed for self-defense during a mandatory evacuation under a declared state of emergency or disaster.

House Bill 781, sponsored by Rep. Blake Miguez, establishes that firearms and ammunition manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, suppliers, and retailers are “Essential Businesses” that shall not be prohibited from conducting business during a declared disaster or emergency.  HB 781 further prevents law-abiding gun owners’ rights from being infringed during proclaimed curfews.

House Bill 140, sponsored by Rep. Blake Miguez, prevents local authorities and municipalities from imposing restrictions to prohibit the possession of a firearm.  Preemption legislation is designed to stop municipalities from creating a patchwork of different laws that turn a law-abiding citizen into a criminal for simply crossing a jurisdictional line.

House Bill 334, sponsored by Reps. Bryan Fontenot, Blake Miguez and Charles Owen, authorizes a concealed handgun permit holder to carry a concealed handgun in a church, synagogue, mosque, or other similar place of worship, with permission from church leadership.

Anti-gunners Quiet as Armed Citizens Protect Businesses, Communities

These armed citizens showed up to provide security to a store in Minneapolis during the disturbances over the death of Gerald Floyd. (Screen snip, YouTube, The First)

Gun prohibition lobbying groups have been noticeably silent in the wake of reports from around the country that armed citizens are fighting back against rioters and looters exploiting the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, turning out to protect their neighborhoods, and business districts.

When a South Philadelphia gun shop owner fatally shot a man trying to break into his store early Tuesday morning, WCAU News reported it happened “amid heightened looting concerns.”

The fatal shooting might be a warning to a criminal element that has hijacked public demonstrations over the Floyd incident, for which four Minneapolis officers have been fired and one has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Instead of peacefully protesting, criminals and anarchists have looting and pillaging across the map, leaving large metropolitan areas in shambles, if not ashes, and now it appears some good people have had enough and they are visibly arming to fight back.

Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County, Florida stated publicly, “The people in Polk County like guns, they have guns, I encourage them to own guns… And if you try to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I’m highly recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns.”

In Lynchburg, Va., armed citizens have been providing volunteer security to a restaurant in their city, according to WSLS.

Out in Washington State, armed citizens have appeared to provide voluntary security to a Bonney Lake gun shop, a commercial district in downtown Snohomish and businesses in Kirkland, located northeast of Seattle. These appearances have not been designed to incite violence, but to deter people intent on committing violent acts. So far, it appears to be working. Credible threats of mob violence in Kirkland and Snohomish haven’t materialized.

Through it all, anti-gun-rights organizations have been remarkably silent. The exception came Monday from anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety, which tried to portray their gun prohibition crusade as a battle against racism.

“The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, and the countless other murders of Black people in the United States that don’t make headlines are beyond heartbreaking,” Everytown’s fund raising message begins.

“For generations, Black and brown communities have been dying at the hands of all forms of racism and white supremacy, and have also been the disproportionate victims of gun violence – including by the police,” the narrative continues. “The racist and senseless murders we’ve seen across the country are horrific and inexcusable, as are the President’s reckless, racist, and incendiary calls for additional violence.

“Our mission to end gun violence is linked to a crisis that is centuries older – systemic racism,” the gun control group’s message contends. “Black lives matter, and we must do everything in our power to dismantle anti-Black racism and white supremacy. We are learning from and listening to Black and brown led organizations across the country. We are supporting organizations – particularly those led by Black people and other people of color – committed to ending gun violence and the impact of racial injustice.

“In solidarity with the organizations leading the fight against racism and white supremacy,” the message declares, “we ask, if you are able, to support groups that are working locally at the intersection of racial justice and gun violence prevention…”

But not a peep about armed citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights to discourage looters and rioters; their silence, some activists suggest, is deafening.

Melissa Denny, owner at Pistol Annie’s Jewelry & Pawn in Bonney Lake, Wash., a community southeast of Tacoma, posted on Facebook that armed volunteers had appeared at her business.

Meanwhile, it appears, no similar volunteer effort has been mounted by the Seattle-based Alliance for Gun Responsibility.

As noted recently by AmmoLand News, Nicholas Murray Butler, once president of Columbia University, observed in 1931, “The vast population of this earth, and indeed nations themselves, may readily be divided into three groups. There are the few who make things happen, the many more who watch things happen, and the overwhelming majority who have no notion of what happens.”

Armed citizens are literally making things happen by preventing things from happening, while the reaction from the gun control lobby has been crickets.

Savage Beating During Dallas Riot Illustrates Why We Defend Second Amendment.

Gun control activists don’t really see the point of guns, at least for the most part. Quite a few will work to curtail your ability to purchase a gun but have no qualms about owning them themselves. It’s different when they buy guns, after all, because they’re all good and pure and stuff.

However, they will often question you about why you have a gun, whether you’re carrying at the moment or whether it’s your AR-15 at home in the safe.

“Why do you think you need something like that?” they ask.

Well, because stuff like this can happen (some might find the following video disturbing):

I’ve personally seen this video, which comes from a riot in Dallas over the weekend, from a couple of different angles. This was reportedly a man who was trying to protect his business from looters, and we see how that worked out for him.  Some reports claim he had some kind of a bladed weapon, like a machete, but all seem to agree that he didn’t have a firearm.

It’s my understanding that, despite appearances to the contrary, the individual pictured here survived.

That said, it’s absolutely awful what we’re seeing all over the country right now. What happened to George Floyd was an absolute tragedy and from what I’ve seen, it never should have happened.

However, how does this help?

Unfortunately, if people don’t have the means to defend their property and, more importantly, their own lives, some predatory jackwagons are going to do what they want in a case like this. It’s important to note that rioters don’t actually care all that much about George Floyd. Oh, their outrage may have brought them out to what were supposed to be protests, but that’s not what it became about. It became about seeing how much they could take from people who had nothing to do with any of this.

Yet, let’s imagine if that man in the video had been armed with an AR-15. With a 30-round magazine, he’d have clearly been able to engage any and all of his attackers. Likely, though, he wouldn’t have needed to. Instead, the rioting turdnuggets would have seen the weapon and decided to look for an easier target.

While that sucks because it means someone else is going to be victimized, it’s also the best you can do. If every store owner had an AR-15 handy during a riot, I somehow suspect that looting would become a relic of the past.

Let’s just call it a hunch.

Well, maybe they’ll go into vapor lock?

Trump’s Mere Mention of the Second Amendment Sent Progressives Off the Deep End

During President Donald Trump’s nationwide address on Monday evening, he announced his intent to use all federal resources to help stop the rioting and looting that’s taking place across the country. He also mentioned that he would protect the rights of law-abiding citizens, including the right to keep and bear arms. Naturally, progressives and those who hate the Second Amendment were up in arms over the mention of the Second Amendment….

Here’s what these folks fail to understand: the Second Amendment is there to protect our freedoms, including our First Amendment rights, but it’s also there for self-defense.

Oh, they understand that alright. They just don’t like the idea that people they disagree with and don’t like can tell them where to go and what to do with their brand of politics…and make it stick.

Relying on cops to protect you when they’re trying to keep rioters from looting and literally burning down cities, it’s up to you to protect yourself, your family and your property. Even when there aren’t massive riots taking place across the country, it can take cops minutes, sometimes even hours, to arrive to a person’s call for help (depending on where they live and how well-staffed their police and/or sheriff’s department is).

DEAR RIOTERS AND LOOTERS

Dear rioters and looters:

No, I’m not addressing demonstrators. There’s a difference, even if the mainstream media can’t bring itself to say so.  If you want to peacefully demonstrate, no problem. You know who you are. Some of you have already held back The Others, or tried to, and in at least one instance I know of have saved a cop who was cut off from his team-mates and surrounded by an angry mob of The Others.

I’m addressing The Others – the rioters, the looters, the destroyers. There are strong indications that Antifa is involved, though I can’t say they’re entirely responsible. But you heartfelt demonstrators are the ones they’ve made into cat’s paws and puppets with their instigation to violence, and if you go along with them you’re shaming yourselves and everything you’re trying to stand for.

No one can seriously believe that looting and burning stores, often owned by hard-working black people for whom their business is their only livelihood, is doing anyone any good.  But, looters and arsonists and destroyers, if all you care about is yourselves…well, let’s talk about that.

The police have held back thus far (I write this on the first of June). It’s partly political correctness on the part of local government leaders, and partly the reluctance of police to use force, whether you choose to believe that or not.  But the time will come, if you continue, when even the most pusillanimous leader will say, “Enough is enough.” And that’s when the shooting will start coming your way.

Read the following. https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/antifa-warns-alert-f-the-city-tonight-we-move-into-the-residential-areas/ .  The source quoted is not the only one of The Others to publicly express that sentiment.  For your own good, hear me.

The Mood of the Courts today is that human life has a greater value than “mere property.” I and virtually all other past and present cops I know share that belief. It’s why you haven’t been shot down in the streets yet as you would have been by now in so many other countries.  But, understand this:

When you start attacking homes – occupied dwellings – the rules change. Arson of occupied dwellings is what the law calls a “heinous felony against the person,” and ordinary citizens are allowed to shoot you to stop you from doing it. You’ve gotten away with breaking into stores that were closed for the safety of their employees and customers, but if you try to do the same to people’s homes, that’s “violent and tumultuous entry of occupied dwellings.” It’s “home invasion.” And when you start doing that, the people who live there are authorized by the law to shoot you to death in defense of themselves and other innocent parties.

Enough.

For you genuine, non-violent protesters: you’ve made all the points you’re going to make without turning the rest of the nation against you. If you haven’t already, please harken to the words of Atlanta’s African-American mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Thank you. And please, understand, what I’ve written here is not a threat.

It’s a well-intentioned warning.

The Cluebat of reality strikes again, but I’ll bet the idjit still votes demoncrap.

Since the M16 selective fire version is pretty much out of the reach of the average person these days, the AR-15 is what I call the current place holder of ‘The American Rifle’.
Yes, I’ve got other rifles, including an M16, but my consideration is that the current iteration of the standard issue rifle/carbine is what everyone should have one (1) example of in their inventory, and if you can’t figure out why, please look up the word – logistics – and think a bit.

Last Night We Saw Why Americans Own 16+ Million AR-15s

As televisions and computers showed a fourth day of protesters turned rioters Saturday, looting and destroying property, it was readily apparent why Americans own 16+ million AR-15s.

When Robert ‘Beto’ O’Rourke was still vying for the Democrat nomination–and pledging to come take away your AR-15–Breitbart News spoke with the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) about what a Herculean task that would be. After all, the AR-15 is the most popular rifle platform in America.

NSSF shared their calculations with Breitbart, showing an estimated 16= million privately owned AR-15s in the U.S.

You cannot be blamed if you thought the number was closer to 250 or 300. Moreover, you cannot be blamed if you thought the 300 AR-15 owners were toothless, old, white, racists living on some isolated, off-the-grid piece of property deep in the heart of the South.

But as it turns out, AR-15s are owned by black people and white people, and by all skin colors in between. And there are WAY MORE than a couple hundred in circulation.

On August 31, 2018, Breitbart News reported more than nine million AR-15s were manufactured for sale in the U.S. under Barack Obama alone.

And on May 30, 2020–at the height of the Minneapolis rioting–Breitbart News reported on black business owners standing guard with AR-15s outside their properties.

And AR-15s are not just for men. On November 4, 2019, Breitbart News reported on a pregnant Florida woman who used an AR-15 to kill an alleged home intruder while her husband was under attack.

So when Joe Biden and other Democrats demonize AR-15s as “assault weapons” and campaign on taking them from the American people or at least ending their sales, remember the feelings you have right now; the feelings of wanting a tool you can keep in your house to protect your family in times of civil violence and unrest. And also remember those black business owners and that pregnant Florida woman, who saved her husband’s life.

Again, there are over 16 million privately-owned AR-15s in this country and after last night–after watching the wanton destruction and violence in city after city–perhaps you better understand why Americans own them.

Colorado Democrats’ gun reform agenda is latest COVID casualty

Colorado House Rep. Tom Sullivan had a gun bill drafted and ready to introduce before the 2020 legislative session even started in January.

But now, his legislation requiring lost or stolen firearms to be reported is headed toward the chopping block, along with nearly 300 other bills claimed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Sullivan, an Aurora Democrat, isn’t giving up on House Bill 1356 or another bill on secure storage of guns because he made a promise to his supporters that he would get them through this year. But he also sees the writing on the wall. With only three weeks to get a budget and essential bills passed, Colorado House Democratic leaders say there isn’t time to debate changes to gun laws this year.

“I had said at the beginning of the session that the session would be a failure if I couldn’t get a single Republican to vote on either of the two bills,” Sullivan said. “It would be more of a failure if I don’t even get either of those bills to see the light of day.”

Sullivan’s bill would have required individuals to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement within 48 hours. The first offense would draw a fine and the second a misdemeanor………….

The gun loss or theft bill, along with the gun storage bill, House Bill 1355, were assigned to the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee where they are expected to be postponed indefinitely, or killed.

The secure storage bill would make unlawfully storing a firearm a misdemeanor. This would apply to guns stored where a minor can access them without permission from their parent and those stored in the residence of a person who isn’t allowed to have a firearm.

The Second Amendment is helping defend small businesses in the Minneapolis riots

The city of Minneapolis is burning.

Much of the media’s attention has rightfully focused on how the protests-turned-riots undermine the justified outrage over George Floyd’s cruel death at the hands of the police, and the unacceptable arrest of CNN reporters who were trying to cover the developments.

At the same time, these troubling developments should provide a renewed appreciation for the importance of the Second Amendment and how the right to self-defense uplifts minority groups in particular.

During the riots, many minority-owned Minneapolis businesses have unfortunately been looted or destroyed. In response, a number of responsible, law-abiding citizens, both black and white, have exercised their Second Amendment rights to protect their businesses.

“It’s about damned time some heavily armed rednecks stood with fellow citizens,” one pair said. “These guys are out here with machetes and shattered windows trying to keep looters out of their business because cops can’t get in here. And so, you know, I figure, before there were cops there were just Americans … so, here we are.”

“Justice for Floyd, and I hope they stop looting at some point,” the men, who are both white, finished. Behind them, you can see minority business owners engaged in similar self-defense posturing.

In a second video from the scene, we specifically see armed, law-abiding black men deployed peacefully outside their minority-owned businesses to protect them from looters and rioters.

These are just two examples of many.

So, despite all the dark news, it’s worth remembering that the right to self-defense protects all Americans, not just white Christian Republicans, as some gun control activists would have you believe. In fact, gun control actually has a deeply racist history. All of this is worth remembering the next time so-called champions of minorities start calling for restrictions on the Second Amendment.

 

The Real Dangers of So Called ‘Tough On Crime Bills’

USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- Recently, GOA has been asked about bills such as H.R. 2837 that purport to “get tough on crime” by authorizing extended terms of imprisonment for offenses that involve firearms; irrespective of whether or not the offense was violent or possessory in nature. Gun Owners of America (GOA) has opposed bills of this sort for decades because they violate the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

However, what is truly unfortunate, is that some firearms owners think this type of legislation might be a good idea.

Many gun owners who diligently follow this issue, probably remember “Project Exile” which began in Richmond, Virginia in the mid-1990s with the stated goal of prosecuting those who commit “gun crimes” in Federal Court instead of the state court. The potential penalties for violating Federal law are generally harsher than state penalties.

Some gun owners reflexively supported “Project Exile” because after all, it was going after criminals — or was it?

There is now a new and updated “Project Exile” called “Project Guardian” and based on press releases issued by the US Department of Justice — “Project Guardian” is being used across the country. It is essentially the same anti-gun program with a catchy new name.

GOA’s long-standing position is that most people who were prosecuted under “Project Exile” were not violent criminals, but people who were caught up in the bureaucratic maze of anti-gun laws which are, at their core, unconstitutional intrusions on freedom. These programs significantly increase the likelihood that an otherwise law-abiding person will go to federal prison for committing a victimless, non-violent, technical violation of the law. And in many cases, gun owners will be confused because the technical “crimes” that gun owners will violate are actually legal activity in many states and at the federal level.

For example, carrying a gun without a license is perfectly lawful in seventeen states and under federal law. Possession of a magazine that holds more than ten cartridges is perfectly lawful in a majority of states and under federal law, as is the possession of “hollow-point ammunition,” which is perfectly lawful under federal law and in every state except New Jersey.

All of this begs the question: Are those convicted of violating these laws truly felons or are they victims of anti-gun, unconstitutional intrusions on freedom by states like New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and other freedom-hating locales?

What about someone who is charged with dealing guns without a license? It is undisputed that individuals are free to sell-off their private property — including firearms. However, ATF has for decades, refused to say how many guns sold in private transactions constitute dealing without a license. How can an honest person follow the law if the enforcers of the law refuse to provide guidance?

H.R. 2837 even included this language, which seems to go after violent criminals but could also ensnare law-abiding gun owners in a trap:

“any group of convictions for which a court referred to in section 922(g)(1) imposed in the same proceeding or in consolidated proceedings a total term of imprisonment not less than 10 years, regardless of how many years of that total term the defendant served in custody.”

Many of the offenses described above carry a prison term of fewer than 10 years, but due to the language in the above example, it provides anti-gun judges with an incentive to impose consecutive, rather than concurrent sentences for possessing more than one magazine or hollow point cartridge. These offenses are strictly possessory offenses, meaning there was no violence and no victim other than the sensibilities of the leftists who enacted and enforce these laws.

Finally, this article would not be complete if I didn’t mention the case of Bruce Abramski, Jr. whose “straw purchase” conviction was upheld by the United States Supreme Court. What is particularly galling about this case is that Mr. Abramski purchased a firearm and passed the background check. Then because his uncle, Angel Alvarez, was a resident of a different state, Mr. Abramski, complied with federal law and turned the pistol over to a Pennsylvania FFL for ultimate transfer to Mr. Alvarez, who also passed a background check. If this were a true “straw purchase” Mr. Abramski would have merely handed the pistol over to Mr. Alvarez. The government’s position was that the transaction was a straw purchase because Mr. Alvarez paid for the gun. Yes, Mr. Alvarez did pay for the gun, but as the late Justice Antonin Scalia said in his dissent:

“The Court makes it a federal crime for one lawful gun owner to buy a gun for another lawful gun owner. Whether or not that is a sensible result, the statutes Congress enacted do not support it—especially when, as is appropriate, we resolve ambiguity in those statutes in favor of the accused.”

Prior to the Abramski case, it was widely understood that a “straw purchase” only occurred when a person who was legally eligible to purchase a firearm did so and then turned the firearm over to someone who was prohibited from owning arms. That did not happen in the Abramski case.

When considering issues that can cause Americans to lose their freedom it is important to understand that there are two types of laws. Those which are malum in se refer to acts that are evil and wrong in and of themselves. Murder, rape, and assault are all examples of conduct that is malum in se. Other laws are malum prohibitum which means they criminalize victimless conduct that a legislator or bureaucrat dislikes. These include activities such as carrying a gun without a license, possessing hollow-point ammunition, possessing a magazine which holds more than a predetermined number of cartridges or even helping a relative — who is not a prohibited person, to obtain a handgun.

Gun owners and legislators need to be very careful when they say, “just enforce the existing laws” because in many cases, the existing laws were vigorously opposed by gun owners when they were moving through the legislative process. Only later, after they have been in effect for a few years, they are used as the vehicle to unconstitutionally disarm American Citizens in the name of “getting tough on crime”. This is exactly what happened in the Abramski case and will continue to happen if gun owners don’t stop asking for existing laws to be enforced.

Gun owners should instead demand that unconstitutional laws be erased from the statute books. Gun Owners of America will continue to be a leader and push for repeal of unconstitutional laws and the defeat of bills which treat firearms, rather than predatory criminals as the problem.

*Gasp* Horrors! Permitless Concealed Carry for Tennessee.

Tennessee lawmakers consider bills lifting Second Amendment restrictions

NASHVILLE, Tenn.–Several bills under consideration in the Tennessee General Assembly aim expanding certain Second Amendment rights.

At the top of the list on Wednesday is HB 2661, a bill which allows a person to carry a handgun in a concealed manner without the need for a concealed carry permit.

Under the bill, a person who legally owns a firearm could conceal carry the weapon, even at parks, venues of higher education, and other areas where concealed carry permit holders are allowed to carry.

Governor Bill Lee has previously supported legislation supporting concealed carry without a permit, stating in February he supported protecting the right of Tennesseans to bear arms.

“The Second Amendment is clear and concise and secures the freedoms of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms,” Lee said. “I am pleased to announce Constitutional Carry legislation today that will protect the Second Amendment rights of Tennesseans, while also stiffening penalties on criminals who steal or illegally possess firearms.”

Other bills being considered by committees in the Tennessee General Assembly are HB2536, which allows for civil suits to be filed against a person or government which “infringes upon a person’s right to bear arms” and requires the person or entity to “be liable for actual statutory damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and court costs.”

HB2298 and HB2102 also pertain to the Second Amendment, although they each focus on the ability of those with concealed handgun carry permits to carry at higher education campuses and public parks in the state.

Of course, they’re ‘wary’. But any crims out there to take on the police aren’t going to care about a piddly permit law anyway.

Law enforcement wary of proposed bill for people to carry a handgun without a permit

……… yesterday, Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings and the Shelby County Crime Commission addressed this bill at the general assembly.

“With masks and guns, it almost would appear to be the wild wild west, and I definitely do not want that Memphis, and I don’t want that for the state of Tennessee,” Rallings said.

Rallings spoke out against a bill that would allow open and concealed carrying of a handgun for people 21 and older without a permit outside their home or personal property.

“Do you think if this legislation is passed that it would endanger the lives of the men and women on your force,” said Representative Bo Mitchell, Nashville.

“Yes,” Rallings said.

The bill passed 16 to 7 and will advance to the house finance committee.

It would also increase the crime of theft of a firearm from a misdemeanor to a felony.

First-Time Gun Buyers Explain How Coronavirus Changed Their Politics

Scott Kane went 38 years without ever touching a gun. That streak would have continued had it not been for the coronavirus. In March, fearful of the harassment his wife and child experienced over their Asian ancestry, Kane found himself in a California gun shop. His March 11 purchase of a 9mm would have been the end of the story, were it not for a political standoff over shutdown orders and background checks. Now Kane, a former supporter of gun-control measures and AR-15 bans, is frustrated by the arduous process that has denied his family a sense of security. The pandemic has made the soft-spoken software engineer an unlikely Second Amendment supporter.

“This has taken me, a law-abiding citizen with nary an unpaid parking ticket to my name, over a month,” he told the Washington Free Beacon. “Meanwhile Joe Bad Guy has probably purchased several fully automatic AK-47s out of the back of an El Camino in a shady part of town with zero background checks.”

Receipts reviewed by the Free Beacon show Kane first purchased a firearm on March 11 from Sportsman’s Warehouse in Milpitas, Calif. Santa Clara County shut down the shop before Kane’s 10-day waiting period was complete. No end date was given for the order, but a California law giving buyers just 30 days to pick up a gun remained in effect. Kane was stuck in a legal limbo that only grew worse.

Unable to do business, the store went belly-up in May. Kane had no way to pick up his gun. He started the process over again at another store in a neighboring county. He returned home with a Springfield XD 9mm and a biometric safe on April 29, 50 days after he first passed a background check and paid for a gun.

“I’m seriously thinking of running for office or something,” Kane said. “This state’s gun laws are insane.”

Kane is not alone. An influx of new gun owners has the potential to permanently alter the politics surrounding guns in the United States. If industry estimates are correct, millions of Americans across the country have become first-time gun buyers since March. If the experience changes their minds about the ongoing debate over gun control it could tip the balance of political power toward pro-gun activists and politicians.

It is not that the new buyers were unaware of the politics of gun control. Several new gun owners who spoke to the Free Beacon—some of whom requested anonymity citing safety concerns—generally leaned toward enhanced restrictions, their positions informed mostly by major news stories. But as they have become more personally invested in the debate, they find themselves more skeptical of gun control. Brian, a 40-year-old Floridian, used his savings to buy a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield in March after being laid off—the experience changed his entire approach to Second Amendment issues.

“In the past, I wasn’t against owning a gun. However, I did think that we had suffered enough as a country from school shootings, and something needed to be done. I was for stricter gun laws—no ARs, close the gun-show loophole, better mental health regulations, etc.,” he said. “I would now oppose stricter gun laws.”

While all of the first-time buyers who spoke to the Free Beacon cited safety concerns stemming from the pandemic as their top reason for buying a gun, some said the politics of the moment played a significant role in their decision. But they held differing and even opposing viewpoints on which politicians concerned them the most—suggesting the group of new owners represents a fairly diverse political spectrum……….