Category: Goobermint

ATF FFL DEFINITION EXPANSION ISN’T JUST UNCONSTITUTIONAL. IT’S UNFEASIBLE.

The Biden administration is forcing the federal agency charged with overseeing the strictly-regulated firearm industry to tighten a vice grip on private gun owners, claiming if they privately sell guns and offer to sell more, they’re “engaged in the business.”

This is just the latest salvo from President Joe Biden, who declared from the debate stage in 2019 that the firearm industry is “the enemy.”

Now, as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is snuffing out firearm retailers at a record pace due to an unrelenting attack of historically-high firearm license revocations under the guise of its “zero-tolerance” policy, the administration has unilaterally proposed an expansion of the definition of who is required to obtain a dealer’s license and therefore run a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification to transfer a firearm. Recall, failing to obtain a dealer’s license when required by law is a crime.

This latest gambit does more than exceed the ATF’s statutory authority. It’s an unfeasible requirement. There is no way ATF could keep up with another 328,000 federal firearm licensees.

President Joe Biden continues to barrel around Congress to generate unconstitutional laws when Congress stands against him trampling on citizens’ rights. That’s after conceding he’s powerless to do anything without Congressional action.

Unilaterally Making Law and Criminals

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the proposed rule that would redefine who qualifies as “engaged in the business” and would require a federal firearms license (FFL) and run a NICS background check when selling or transferring a gun, as well as to maintain all the required records and paperwork. This is a thinly-veiled attempt to create a universal background check scheme – which even the Department of Justice (DOJ) has admitted would necessitate a federal firearm registry to work. That’s forbidden by federal law.

The irony is, Congress clarified the “engaged in the business” definition in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). Congress made a one-word change to the “engaged in the business” definition by removing the word “livelihood” the courts had effectively read out of the statute. The law still defines a firearm dealer as, “a person who devotes time, attention and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business to predominantly earn a profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of firearms, but such term shall not include a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms.”

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I Can’t Stop Laughing: Biden Thinks He’s Treated Like a Toddler.

Joe Biden is a man who likes his ice cream and routinely needs the White House to clean up his messes. He could be in diapers at this point, too. Who knows? If he is, I’m sure the White House is doing everything possible to keep that under wraps.

But I digress. According to a new book by Franklin Foer, staff writer at The Atlantic and former editor of the New Republic, Joe Biden feels like his White House staff is babying him, and he’s not particularly happy about it.

The book recalls the incident where Biden riffed after the conclusion of a speech about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making a statement that appeared to call for Putin to be overthrown. “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said. According to Foer’s account, the White House was walking back the statement by the time Biden had reached his motorcade.

“Suddenly, the press wasn’t marveling at his rhetoric or his diplomatic triumphs; it was back to describing him as a blowhard lacking in self-control,” Foer writes in his book, and Biden was deeply upset over the media coverage of the gaffe and “left for home, ending his triumphalist tour, feeling sorry for himself.” The president “resented his aides for creating the impression that they had cleaned up his mess.”

“Rather than owning his failure, he fumed to his friends about how he was treated like a toddler,” Foer writes.

Naturally, the White House disputed this story when Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked about it.

“President Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history. Why does White House staff treat him like a baby?” Doocy asked.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre might have needed a diaper of her own when she got that question, as she was none too pleased by it.

Doocy then quoted the book and asked, “Was John [F.] Kennedy ever babied like that?”

“So, look, I’ll say this,” she began. “There’s going to be a range — always — a range of books that are — about every administration, as you know — that’s going to have a variety of claims. That is not unusual. That happens all the time. And we’re not going to litigate those here. That’s something that we’re not going to speak to.”

Cute story. I wonder if Jean-Pierre would dismiss all the outlandish claims made about Trump in various books the same way.

ATF Proposes Significant Overhaul of “Personal Collection” Definitions

The newly proposed regulations by the ATF aim to dramatically revise key terms such as “personal collection,” “personal collection of firearms,” and “hobby.” These revisions have the potential to significantly impact how the agency regulates firearms sales and ownership. Historically, there have been exemptions for individuals involved in occasional sales or trades of firearms, either to augment their own collection or as a hobby. This existing language was left untouched by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which became effective in June 2022. However, the ATF is citing this act to introduce these sweeping changes.

Legal Information Institute:

(C) as applied to a dealer in firearms as defined in section 921(a)(11)(A), a person who devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business to predominantly earn a profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of firearms, but such term shall not include a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms.

The proposed changes would significantly narrow these exemptions. According to the new rule, “personal collection” would be limited to firearms acquired for study, display, or recreational activities like hunting and target shooting. Notably, firearms acquired primarily for self-defense or with the intent of resale for profit would be excluded from the definition of a “personal collection.”

E. Definition of “Personal collection,” “personal collection of firearms,” and “personal firearms collection”

Specifically, this rule proposes to define “personal collection,” “personal collection of firearms,” and “personal firearms collection” as “personal firearms that a person accumulates for study, comparison, exhibition, or for a hobby (e.g., noncommercial, recreational activities for personal enjoyment such as hunting, or skeet, target, or competition shooting).” This reflects a common definition of the terms  “collection” and “hobby.”85 The phrase “or for a hobby” was adopted from 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(21)(C), which excludes from the definition of “engaged in the business” firearms acquired “for” a hobby. Also expressly excluded from the definition of “personal collection” is “any firearm purchased for resale or made with the predominant intent to earn a profit” because of their inherently commercial nature. 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(21)(C).

This shift in language could put people at risk of being classified as “firearms dealers,” even if their activities were previously considered a hobby under the old rules. Furthermore, individuals who occasionally sell or trade firearms for personal reasons, such as needing money or wanting to change their collection, would find themselves in a precarious position under the new definitions.

It’s worth noting that these proposed changes were not ratified by Congress and could have far-reaching implications. They appear to exclude self-defense as a legitimate reason for owning firearms, a purpose which has been constitutionally protected under the Second Amendment.

While the new rule is meant to standardize definitions, it grants the ATF greater flexibility in interpretation, potentially altering long-established norms in the regulation of firearms. Critics argue that these changes seem designed to narrow the scope of acceptable reasons for firearm ownership, thereby curtailing individual freedoms protected under the Second Amendment.

 

FBI Admits It Has Lots Of Documents About Targeting Christians

If ever you thought that the Biden Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Deep State that we knew had been used to punish groups since the days of the Obama administration, had been weaponized to target Christians, here is hard proof.

I mean, we already HAD proof in the horrendous case of Mark Houck, who was arrested by the FBI (after a SWAT raid at his home that traumatized his family) for alleged violations of the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act. Houck was acquitted in federal court, which left a whole lot of egg on the face of the DOJ. But it has become increasingly clear that the DOJ has a target on pro-life activists and parent groups that support traditional values – and as a result, it has turned its Eye of Sauron onto those they call “radical traditionalist” Christians.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) submitted a FOIA request to the FBI, and then sued when the FBI failed to comply. Well, the FBI did finally submit a response, which chief counsel Jay Sekulow (whom you may remember as one of Donald Trump’s lawyers from his first impeachment) is now highlighting on Twitter/X.


For some clarity, here is some of what the ACLJ requested in the FOIA.

Some of our specific requests are reproduced below:

1) All records of communications between or including the FBI’s Director, Deputy Director, Chief of Staff, General Counsel, or any of their senior staff or assistants, or of any other FBI official of a GS-13 or appointee level or higher personnel (including forwarded email messages or CC or BCC email messages), about pro-life people OR Catholicism (including adherents of Catholicism) OR Christianity (including adherents of Christianity) – all in the context of analysis, threat assessment, domestic terrorism, or the monitoring of such people.

2) All records of briefings or communications between or including the FBI’s Director, Deputy Director, Chief of Staff, General Counsel, or any of their senior staff or assistants, or of any other FBI official of a GS-13 or appointee level or higher personnel (including forwarded email messages or CC or BCC email messages), that mention the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. __ (2022).

3) All records of communications between or including the FBI Richmond field office personnel, including analysists, senior staff or assistants, or of any other FBI official of a GS-13 or appointee level or higher (including forwarded email messages or CC or BCC email messages), about the memo described in the “Background” section above.

4) All records of communications between or including the FBI Richmond field office personnel, including analysists, senior staff or assistants, or of any other FBI official of a GS-13 or appointee level or higher (including forwarded email messages or CC or BCC email messages), about pro-life people OR Catholicism (including adherents of Catholicism) OR Christianity (including adherents of Christianity) – in the context of analysis, threat assessment, domestic terrorism, or the monitoring of such people.

Congratulations to Catholics and Protestants – full ecumenical parity has been achieved, for we are all seen as threats to the Department of Justice if we follow Biblical teachings! Wow. Mary I and Elizabeth I are surely thrilled with this development.

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Missouri has state preemption of any and all gun control laws, except they let cities ban open carry if a person doesn’t have a concealed carry permit. Strange, but that’s how permitless carry worked out when the different bills were combined and passed.

Gov. Mike Parson criticizes Kansas City’s new gun rules: ‘You can’t supersede state law’

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson spoke to KCUR’s Up To Date about the case of Kansas City Police officer Eric DeValkenaere, the expansion of I-70, the 2024 gubernatorial race, and Kansas City’s new gun ordinances.

Criminal justice advocates across Kansas City have speculated that Gov. Mike Parson might pardon Eric DeValkenaere, the former Kansas City Police detective who was convicted in 2021 for killing Cameron Lamb.

Parson told Up To Date’s Steve Kraske that he hasn’t sat down to discuss a potential pardon. He said that the legal process has to work out before he comes into play — DeValkenaere is currently appealing his conviction.

“It’s been unfortunate,” Parson said of the speculation. “I think a lot of people got spun up by that, elected officials up there are kinda claiming that. But the reality of it is that I haven’t had a conversation about that.”

Parson also criticized the new gun laws recently passed by Kansas City Council, outlawing certain modified firearms and prohibiting the transferring of weapons and ammo to minors.

“You can’t supersede state law, just like I can’t supersede federal law. I wish I could sometimes, there’s lots of things I’d like to change,” Parson said. “The reality is that it needs to go in front of the General Assembly or needs to be voted on by the people to make those changes.”

In 2021, Parson signed into law the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” which penalized law enforcement for enforcing federal gun restrictions. However, that law was ruled unconstitutional.

¡Grupos de Autodefensas para tu y mi!

‘Who You Gonna Call’ in Austin, Texas, if You Are Robbed? Cops Say Don’t Call 911

As Americans in just about every large city endure a crime wave, some of those cities have all but given up fighting crime and given the bad guys free rein over the city. Businesses are getting out of those big cities in record numbers because of rampant theft and Soros-backed prosecutors who will not charge criminals. In one city, crime has gotten so out of hand that if you get robbed, well, don’t call 911. File a report, and they’ll get back to you.

Austin, Texas, is a blue island in a fairly red state. As a result of liberal Democrat leadership that embraced the “defund the police” movement, Austin police are severely short-staffed and are asking anyone who gets robbed near an ATM to call the non-emergency 311 number instead of 911. Robbery victims also have the option of making an online police report of the incident. Austin Police took to X to inform residents what they should do if they are robbed, saying:

“Even if you are cautious & follow all the safety advice, you may still become the unfortunate victim of a robbery. Do you know what your next steps should be? Make a police report & provide as much information as possible so we can recover your property quickly and safely.” 

Police also reminded those making a report to tell them the date and time of their ATM withdrawal. So, while being robbed, possibly at gunpoint, might seem like kind of an emergency to you, Austin Police have informed citizens that they don’t have enough manpower for it to be an emergency to them.

Thomas Villarreal is the President of the Austin Police Association. He places the blame for the crime wave in the Texas state capital squarely at the feet of a seemingly uncaring city council, stating, “We just continue to have a city council that doesn’t show its police officers that [it] cares about them.”

During a recent appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Villarreal had this to say about his city’s law enforcement predicament,

We’re a growing city, a city that should be up around 2,000 officers and growing right now. I’ve got about 1,475 officers in our police department and, you know, we’re moving in the wrong direction. There’s less and less and less resources to go out and do the job. I’ve got detectives who are pulled away from their caseload to just help answer 911 calls because we just don’t have the resources to adequately police the city.

Here at RedState, we have been covering the rampant crime wave affecting Austin and other Democrat-run cities. Not only are their policing policies, post-George Floyd, affecting individual residents, but they are also affecting businesses. Business owners say they do not feel safe, and the lack of police presence or response also drives away customers. One business owner said it took ten days to get a police report, and at the same time, business owners are being asked not to have weapons for their protection in their business. Since the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020, and as Austin’s homicide rate has climbed, 911 callers are often put on hold for up to half an hour.

In addition to what Thomas Villarreal sees as an uncaring city council, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson also does not appear to have any sense of urgency when it comes to crime in his city. Up until recently, Austin police had a partnership with the Texas Department of Safety, which Watson praised and stated that crime had gone down as a result. But just two days later, Watson announced the end of the Austin police/Texas Department of Safety alliance, stating that it did not reflect “Austin’s values.” No word from the mayor on whether being robbed and having no police available to handle the situation constitutes an “Austin value.”  Just last month, Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon resigned after ongoing conflicts with the city council over staffing and increasingly smaller police budgets.

So, for the foreseeable future, if you get robbed in Austin at an ATM, you’d better just call it into 311 and wait your turn. Makes you wonder what the next thing to be called a “non-emergency” will be.

Weren’t we told that getting the vaxx would stop this?

Double Vaxxed and Double Boosted Jill Biden Tests Positive for COVID–Again.

The White House announced Monday evening that Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 while on vacation in Delaware and is “experiencing only mild symptoms.” Jill Biden is double-vaxxed and twice boosted. Jill previously tested positive in August 2022 and again that month in a rebound case after treatment with Paxlovid. Jill’s case comes as a new wave of COVID hysteria has started with the emergence of a new variant (Pirola).

A follow-up statement by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Joe Biden tested negative for COVID Monday evening.

The Bidens were on vacation this weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Joe returned to the White House on Monday after giving a Labor Day speech in Philadelphia. Jill remained behind in Rehoboth Beach.

ATF’s proposed definition of “personal collection” of firearms is missing something

The ATF’s proposed rule expanding who is “engaged in the business” of selling firearms is being lauded by anti-gun groups like Giffords, which says the rule “moves us closer to universal background checks than we’ve ever been,” while the National Shooting Sports Foundation is panning the new proposal as yet another example of executive branch overreach by the Biden administration.

Under the proposed rule, anyone that so much as attempts to sell a privately owned firearm for a profit could be deemed by the ATF to be an unlicensed firearms dealer, even if the sale doesn’t take place or no profit is gained. At the same time, the agency maintains gun owners won’t be deemed “engaged in the business” of selling firearms if they make only “occasional sales to enhance a personal collection, or for a hobby, or if the firearms they sell are all or part of a personal collection.”

While the ATF declined to define “occasional sales”, it has attempted to define the term “personal collection”, and I couldn’t help but laugh and roll my eyes when I saw it.

Personal collection, personal collection of firearms, or personal firearms collection.

(a) Personal firearms that a person accumulates for study, comparison, exhibition, or for a hobby (e.g., noncommercial, recreational activities for personal enjoyment, such as hunting, or skeet, target, or competition shooting). The term shall not include any firearm purchased for the purpose of resale or made with the predominant intent to earn a profit.

Notice anything missing from the reasons why someone would accumulate personal firearms? Yep, the ATF has ignored the single biggest reason why people purchase a gun: self-defense.

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Team Biden Continues Two-Pronged Assault on 2nd Amendment and Small Businesses

Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Ertenzo felt most purposeful when adding a secret fourth bean to his three-bean salad for the annual Cornhole Club picnic.

The commie puppet masters who run Joe Biden’s brain have made no secret of their contempt for the Second Amendment and law-abiding American gun owners. They’ve had their senile mouthpiece babbling about “assault weapons” almost from the moment he was installed in the Oval Office.

Democrats don’t have a lot of luck with sweeping gun control legislation for a couple of reasons. First, they keep passing laws that make gun owners who have adhered to the law criminals overnight. These laws eventually find their way to a judge or a court that says, “Yeah…no.”

The other reason — and this is the big one — is that there are a lot of Democrats who own guns and are fond of their Second Amendment rights. Most of them are in flyover country, which is why a lot of the D.C. Dems are out of touch with reality.

Team Biden is nothing if not relentless in its pursuit of an anti-American agenda, however. Instead of the legislative process, the bureaucracy is being used to choke the life out of the Second Amendment, which Catherine wrote about yesterday:

The Biden administration, failing to get enough congressional cooperation to trample on the Second Amendment, continues its war against gun dealers.

Bingo.

As we examine the story further, it’s important to remember that Democrats have contempt for small business owners. People who can’t be forced into unionizing and stuffing the coffers of the Democratic Big Labor slush fund are useless to them.

Here’s more from Catherine’s post:

I previously wrote about how hundreds of gun dealers suddenly lost their licenses to Biden’s ATF, in what the gun industry says is a back-handed way of undermining gun rights  Some dealers informed the media that the federal government is hurting a major ally in identifying “suspicious gun buyers” by targeting legitimate gun dealers.

But the Biden administration is successfully hurting gun dealers’ business. “We were making $1 million a year, now it’s less than $100,000,” gun dealer Anthony Navarro told the Wall Street Journal. “This policy is designed to be a backdoor violation of the Second Amendment.” Now there’s the new ATF rule, also aimed at gun dealers.

I’m an Arizona resident. Rules regarding private gun sales are practically nonexistent. Both parties have to be Arizona residents and after that, YOLO. The Grand Canyon State has functioned with minimal gun laws for a very long time. My grandfather owned a gun store when I was a kid, so I know whence I speak (write). What the feds want to do now is get their fascist little fingers all over the transactions between individuals, which Ryan Petty explains at our sister site Bearing Arms:

The White House outlined that under the suggested guidelines, individuals would be expected to obtain a federal license and conduct background checks if they meet one or more of several conditions. These include frequently selling firearms shortly after purchasing them, offering guns in near-new condition, selling multiple units of the same gun model, or selling business inventory as a previously federally-licensed dealer without transferring it to a personal collection for at least one year, effectively targeting the so-called fire sale loophole. The proposed rules would establish criteria around the frequency and type of gun sales by unlicensed sellers, along with the condition of the firearms.

The Second Amendment infuriates leftists because the federal government hasn’t been able to wrest control of it from the states. It’s a perfect example of how the country is supposed to work. My good friend, colleague, and “Unwoke” podcast co-host Kevin Downey Jr. once asked me if all of my guns were legal. I replied, “In this state they are.” Were I to move back to California, the story would be different.

The anti-2A crowd is fond of saying, “We don’t want to take away your guns.”

They do, of course, but until they can, they’d like to make the legal acquisition of firearms so onerous that people just give up.

21-and-up gun law to remain blocked as federal lawsuit plays out

DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado’s new law blocking all gun sales to anyone under age 21 remains on hold while a legal challenge continues to play out in court.

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners argues the law is a Second Amendment violation and is challenging its constitutionality in federal court.

A judge already blocked the gun-buying restrictions from going into effect in August while the court case plays out. Gov. Jared Polis asked the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to block that ruling, but the court declined.

“Today, two Obama-appointed judges agreed with us that our plaintiffs do have standing and that our likelihood of success on the merits is strong,” Taylor Rhodes, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, said in part in a statement.

For now, the law will remain blocked until the case is heard in court.

Coloradans under 21 could still buy rifles

While federal law requires buyers to be at least 21 years old to buy a handgun, Coloradans under age 21 can still buy rifles. If upheld, Senate Bill 23-169 would block all gun sales to anyone in Colorado under age 21.

A spokesperson for Polis’ office released a statement after the Tuesday ruling.

“People will remain very confused because of this injunction because since 1968, federal law has required Coloradans to be 21 years old to purchase a pistol, but a loophole allows kids under age 21 to legally buy a rifle instead. This new law approved by the legislature closes that loophole and Governor Polis hopes that the courts agree with him that the law is fully consistent with the Second Amendment and reduces confusion. The Governor is working towards his goal of making Colorado one of the ten safest states in the country and the same age requirements for pistols and rifles would help support responsible gun ownership.”

CONOR CAHILL, PRESS SECRETARY FOR COLORADO GOV. JARED POLIS

The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners lawsuit names two Coloradans plaintiffs in the case, each older than 18 but younger than 21 and who said they want to buy a gun for self-defense.

The gun group’s arguments have hinged on the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

In that case, the court ruled Americans have a right to carry guns in public for self-defense. The case also set a standard that courts must look at history to decide the constitutionality of gun laws.

D.C. to pay $5.1 million settlement after judge finds Second Amendment violations

D.C. will pay $5.1 million as part of a class-action settlement with gun owners who were arrested under laws that have since been found to violate the Second Amendment, according to the settlement agreement.

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U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth gave preliminary approval to the settlement agreement on Monday following years of litigation. Lamberth had previously ruled in September 2021 that D.C. arrested, jailed, prosecuted and seized guns from six people “based on an unconstitutional set of laws” and violated their Second Amendment rights.

The laws — a ban on carrying handguns outside the home and others that effectively banned nonresidents from carrying guns at all in D.C. — have since been struck down in federal court. They were part of a “gun control regime that completely banned carrying handguns in public,” Lamberth wrote in the 2021 ruling.

Now, D.C. will pay a total of $300,000 to the six plaintiffs and $1.9 million in attorneys fees, with the majority of the rest of the money set aside for more than 3,000 people estimated to qualify for the class-action.

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Tennessee special session comes to an unexpected (and acrimonious) close

After days of finger-pointing and blame-shifting between House and Senate leadership, the special session called by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in response to the Covenant School shootings came to an unexpected end on Tuesday after leaders in both chambers struck a deal. The state Senate, which had closed its committees after passing four pieces of legislation, was the clear winner in the negotiations, with the House approving the bills adopted by the Senate and their counterparts voting to concur with the minor changes made in the House.

24 hours ago it looked like the special session was going to drag on for at least another week after Sen. Jack Johnson postponed a fundraiser scheduled for September 10th because lawmakers cannot raise money while they’re in session. Johnson made it clear that the reason he canceled the original date for his “Boots & Jeans, BBQ & Beans” shindig was the distinct possibility that the session would still be going on next weekend, but once it became clear that the Senate had no interest in hearing any bills beyond the four already approved in the opening days of the session, it looks like House leadership relucantly embraced the inevitable.

The key word there is “reluctantly”, and it looks like there’s still plenty of bad blood between GOP leadership in the two chambers.

The Tennessee House ended its special session to angry cries from protestors, screaming “Vote them out” from the galleries as lawmakers quickly emptied into the halls. The Senate had ended early in the morning.

The House kicked off Tuesday morning with tempers already high after a contentious Monday afternoon session. House Republicans moved to quickly end the floor session, after House Republicans reached an agreement with the Senate to end the special session.

House Republicans had hoped to push through additional bills, which Senate Republicans largely refused to do.

“Unfortunately, we have no additional business to attend to in this particular body,” Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, said. “By the way, I wish we did.”

House business devolved into a back-and-forth between Republicans and Democrats, as Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, attempted to bring a vote of no confidence against House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville. Jones was disciplined on Monday afternoon after Sexton ruled him twice out of order, under new House rules.

It was clear days ago that the Senate wasn’t going to pass any more legislation of its own, and after the chamber closed its committees the chances of any additional House bills receiving a vote were roughly the same as Elvis showing up outside of Graceland this afternoon to demand a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich. House leaders should have recognized reality and gaveled the session to a close last week, but for whatever reason Lamberth and other House leaders kept insisting on running dozens of bills up the flagpole.

With gun control off the table, Democrats and their anti-gun allies were inevitably going to howl in protest during the session and after, and the decision by House leaders to drag the session out into a second week only gave gun control activists and Democrats like Jones a high-profile daily stage in Nashville to bash Republicans and fundraise for their own favored candidates. It was an act of political malpractice for Lee to go forward with his special session knowing full well that the votes weren’t there for his “temporary mental health order of protection,” but that unforced error was compounded when the House insisted on keeping the session going even though it was clear the Senate had no interest in letting the circus continue.

Some of those anti-gun activists are already talking about running stealth candidates in the GOP primary next year, but I’d honestly love to see a legitimate primary challenge to Lamberth and other House leaders who chose to keep the session going days longer than necessary. At the very least Lamberth and those other House leaders owe their constituents an explanation for their inexplicable recalcitrance, and the voters can decide whether or not they should represent them in the statehouse going forward.

 

Kamala Harris Pushes Gun Control That Wouldn’t Have Prevented Jacksonville Shooting

Vice President Kamala Harris reacted to Saturday’s shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, by pushing gun control that would not have prevented the attack.

Harris released a statement Sunday noting the shooting was racially motivated and will be investigated “as a possible hate crime and act of domestic violent extremism.”

She closed her statement by saying, “Every person in every community in America should have the freedom to live safe from gun violence. And Congress must help secure that freedom by banning assault weapons and passing other commonsense gun safety legislation.”

It should be noted that Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters pointed out the shooter was armed with two guns, a Glock pistol and an AR-15 style rifle. If the rifle had been denied him, he would still have had the pistol and the attack would not be hindered.

Additionally, universal background checks constitute another piece of “commonsense gun safety legislation” that Democrats are pushing. But the Jacksonville shooter bought his guns “legally,” which indicates he passed background checks for them at retail.

Moreover, Florida has a red flag law, which is often pushed by Democrats as a way to prevent shootings. But the Washington Post noted Waters saying, “There was no criminal arrest history. There is nothing we could have done to stop [the shooting suspect] from owning a rifle or a handgun. There were no red flags.”