Category: RKBA

SAF LAUNCHES ‘CAPTURE THE FLAG’ EFFORT TO CHALLENGE ‘RED FLAG’ LAWS

BELLEVUE, WA – Two days after filing a federal lawsuit challenging a so-called “Red Flag” law in Maryland, the Second Amendment Foundation is announcing the launch of a new project to take subsequent legal actions against similar laws in several states.

This new initiative is called “Capture the Flag,” and it will focus on abuses and mis-application of “Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO)” statutes which have been adopted by 21 states and the District of Columbia.

“SAF’s ‘Capture the Flag’ initiative looks to challenge these laws that deprive individuals of their right to keep and bear arms, where appropriate, based on evidentiary standards that are constitutionally impermissible,” explained SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, who is a practicing civil rights attorney.

Kraut said the project will initially focus on “Red Flag” laws in six states: California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington.

“SAF has been concerned about these statutes since they first started showing up,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We have already taken legal action against officials in Maryland for an egregious abuse of the law against a citizen in Dorchester County. But all of these laws should raise alarms because they prioritize citizen disarmament ahead of due process, and that can easily lead to deprivation of rights under color of law.”

Kraut said the fundamental flaw in all of these laws is that they essentially consider people guilty until they prove themselves innocent, a concept diametrically opposed to the way our criminal justice system is supposed to work, where the burden of proof is on the state, not the individual.

“When any citizen is unjustly deprived of his or her rights, it is an affront to all of us,” Kraut observed, “and we must do whatever we can to prevent it, including challenging such laws in federal court. ‘Capture the Flag’ provides the means for us to seek out such cases and take appropriate action.”

SAF encourages individuals residing in California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Washington that have been subject to a baseless, groundless and unsubstantiated ERPO to contact the organization by sending an email to info@saf.org with information regarding the circumstances surrounding the petition, order, and outcome.

They want us disarmed?

There Can Be No Negotiating on the Right to Arms — with Hate Groups or with Anyone

“Senate Majority Leader @SenSchumer  is negotiating with the NRA to pass his priority bill – the SAFE Act, a cannabis banking legislation – with Section 10 added as a sweetener for the NRA-backed Senate Republicans,” Newtown Action Alliance tweeted (x’ed?) Monday. “We appreciate @SenJackReed  working to modify the bill to ensure that regulators can warn banks about risky customers – like gun retailers. Congress should not be negotiating with the NRA, a terrorist group that is pushing its any guns to anyone everywhere agenda. Guns are the #1 killer of our children & gun deaths have increased 50% since the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy.”

That’s a lot of vitriol-drenched lies to unpack. Let’s start with NRA’s interest, which is passage of the  Fair Access to Banking Act to protect against “banks, credit card companies, and other financial service providers [setting] terms of service that openly discriminate against lawful firearm-related commerce.” Gun owners who recall the days of Operation Chokepoint recall the offensive excesses – from financial ostracism of FFLs and the pejorative conflation equating them with purveyors of “Ponzi schemes” and “racist materials” to the ridiculous revelation that ATF’s banker was stiffing porn stars – pun intended. (Note: Those last two links go to the Internet Archive and may take a bit to load).

Democrat gun-grabber Jack Reed’s interest is in imposing Operation Chokepoint on steroids, this time by mandating Department of Precrime “snitchware” via “Merchant Category Codes” developed by a “progressive” bank affiliated with a leftist union that “rakes in millions from Dem campaigns, liberal orgs,” and has organized rallies and marched in solidarity with communists.

Suddenly motives are seeming less and less about “gun safety” and more and more about totalitarian citizen disarmament. So, let’s look at the last part of Newtown Action Alliance’s missive.

Congress should just impose such edicts and not include the largest lobby group representing millions of gun-owning citizens in its deliberations…? Leave them with no voice in what’s going to happen to their property — and to them if they don’t comply…?

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¡Grupos de autodefensas Para Mi!

Should armed activists patrol Hartford streets?

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Community activists’ proposed solution to recent gun violence is a community-led patrol made up of legal gun owners.

There have been 28 homicides in Hartford this year, many in the north end of the city.

Cornell Lewis, a gun owner and community activist, has proposed the idea that legal gun owners should band together to defend their neighborhoods.

“We know what to do with our guns, when to do it and we know how to diffuse situations,” he said. “The thing we’re not going to allow is people to oppress the community.”

Lewis created the Self Defense Brigade, a group dedicated to protecting the community by using “appropriate means.” Over the past three years, the group has acted as security at Black Lives Matter protests, funerals and other community events.

“It is better to defend ourselves,” Lewis said. “We have the right to. The Second Amendment says we can carry weapons, and we carry our weapons legally.”

The Self Defense Brigade and other gun-rights groups are planning to be at a rally on Sept. 2 to talk about this idea and to gauge interest. Lewis said a number of Hartford residents and people in other towns have expressed an interest in being involved.

Jeremy Stein, the executive director of CT Against Gun Violence, said he understands that people want immediate solutions to violent crime. He believes an armed guard is not the safest option.

“Adding more guns to our communities will not do a thing to end gun violence, it’s actually quite the opposite. It’s going to create a powder keg of gun violence,” he said.

In a statement to News 8, Hartford’s Mayor Luke Bronin said:
I understand the frustration and anger, because I share that frustration and anger, and I feel the burden of responsibility personally and heavily, as do our police and everyone who does this work.
Our first priority right now is to get the people responsible for the most recent shootings off of our streets, and we are working with law enforcement partners at every level, from the FBI, ATF, and DEA to state police and regional partners.
We’ve seen a series of very different acts of violence in the past few weeks, some of which are intensely personal disputes, some of which appear to be spontaneous disputes that escalate quickly into gunfire, and some of which involve a specific group of very reckless and dangerous individuals that we are working hard with law enforcement at every level to apprehend.“

FIREARM MARKETING BANS REALLY ABOUT ERASING NEXT GENERATION’S GUN RIGHTS
By Larry Keane

California and Illinois laws that have banned advertising lawmakers in those two states consider to be targeted at minors doesn’t have anything to do with increasing public safety. It doesn’t have anything to do with fighting the criminal misuse of firearms. The laws are intended to do one thing – convince the next generation of Americans that the Second Amendment doesn’t exist.

Lawmakers in those two states passed, and Govs. Gavin Newsom and J.B. Pritzker signed, laws that ban firearm-related advertising that could be attractive or be considered to target children. NSSF has filed legal challenges to both laws in California and Illinois. Those laws violate not only the First Amendment-protected right of commercial speech but also work to eliminate the Second Amendment from the conversation with the next generation of gun owners and outdoorsmen and women. These lawmakers believe that if they can erase imagery and advertising that shows youth learning safe and responsible firearm ownership and ethical hunting traditions, the next generation will never understand that the Second Amendment is their right to exercise when they become of legal age to purchase firearms on their own.

If the next generation of Americans don’t learn about Second Amendment freedoms, they won’t know. If they don’t know, gun control politicians would have an easier avenue by which to eliminate the right altogether. It’s a devious plan and one the firearm industry is fighting against.

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I don’t think this is working out how the gun grabbers wanted

Bill allowing more guns in Tennessee schools moves forward in special session

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — While many gun-related pieces of legislation are not moving forward in the Tennessee General Assembly’s special session on public safety, one firearm bill cleared its first hurdle in committee.

The bill, brought by Rep. Chris Todd (R—Madison County), would allow any law enforcement officer, whether on or off-duty, as well as any member of the armed forces—honorably discharged or not—and anyone with an enhanced handgun carry permit to carry on school grounds or any place used by a school where students would be present.

During discussion in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee, Todd and others argued the bill would help keep schools safer in the event of an emergency before first responders arrive on the scene, but critics and even the Tennessee Department of Safety pushed back, saying it would cause more harm than good.

Elizabeth Stroecker, with the Department of Safety, said the bill would “create a situation where you would have law enforcement potentially coming in not knowing who could be a bad guy or a good guy when someone has a firearm and it’s not clear that they may be a first responder.”

Todd took issue with Stroecker’s claims, arguing whether the department trusted the “trained and permitted individuals your own department has provided permits for.”

“We absolutely trust the people that we permit, but they are not trained or permitted to carry in a school and protect a school and be able to respond to a situation in a school. There is a very big difference in the eight-hour course they take to get the enhanced permit,” Stroecker said.

Todd became even angrier, snapping at Stroecker.

“We literally have administrators in schools and law enforcement that are about to retire or are already retired that are begging us for this legislation, so that they can protect the children that are around them every single day, and you sit here as a representative of our governor that is preventing that!” Todd said.

He was quieted by the committee chairman Rep. Lowell Russell (R—Vonore) before the vote, which saw the bill approved by voice vote. It now moves onto the full Civil Justice Committee.

Other bills, many by Democrats, were killed in multiple committees today by House members. On the Senate side, one committee killed 52 of 55 bills that were on the agenda. The three that survived were priority bills for Speaker Cameron Sexton (R—Crossville).

This American doesn’t care.
I’m not safer driving to work vs taking the train but I’m still not taking the train. This notion of “safety” as a general state of being is an illusion that neurotic people obsess over. Being safe is a series of actions taken to mitigate unnecessary risk in an inherently dangerous environment or undertaking.

You can exercise gun safety by actions you take when handling a gun, you can take safety precautions when driving a car by being alert, using a seatbelt, etc but nobody on earth lives in a perpetual state of inherent safety. We never have and we never will.

This is a lie sold to people by the media and the powerful in order to accumulate more power at the expense of our rights and liberties and it needs to be called out.

Many Americans Still Wrongly Think Guns Make Us Safer

Large portions of the American public still believe false claims of all kinds about guns, the COVID-19 pandemic and reproductive health, a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows.

Though the poll found that percentages of Americans who believe that false claims are “definitely” true is small, the portion who think they are “probably” true is substantial. Overall, between half and three-quarters of the country belong to what KFF CEO Drew Altman called the “muddled middle,” saying that the false claims were “probably” either true or false.

Perhaps most striking of the poll’s findings is the incorrect belief, held by many Americans, that guns make them safer. Sixty percent of Americans believe it’s true that armed school police guards have been proved to prevent school shootings. Eighteen percent of respondents thought the claim was “definitely” true and 42% believed it “probably” true.

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New Jersey’s Falsely Claims Historical Tradition Of Firearm Regulation Exists

Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners in a federal lawsuit challenging New Jersey’s “sensitive places” statute have filed a response brief to the state’s appeal. The case is now known as Koons v. Platkin.

In May, U.S. District Court Judge Renee Marie Bumb granted a preliminary injunction against the state. New Jersey sought a stay of that order pending appeal, to which Second Amendment Foundation filed a brief in opposition.

SAF is joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners, New Jersey Second Amendment Society, and four private citizens. Attorney David Jensen, Beacon, N.Y represent them.

“The state is trying to justify the challenged provisions of its ‘sensitive places’ law, which makes it virtually impossible for people with carry permits to actually go to most places,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Essentially, Garden State residents can walk out the front door with their legally-carried firearms, but they can’t really go anywhere.”

“We maintain the District Court acted properly by issuing a preliminary injunction against enforcement of this ‘sensitive places’ statute,” added SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “The Anti-Carry Default provision of the law, which prohibits carrying on private property without the owner’s express permission, is tantamount to prohibiting lawful carry in most public places. The section prohibiting carrying a gun in a vehicle, unless the gun is unloaded and placed in a securely fastened case literally makes legal carry impossible while traveling.”

Both Second Amendment Foundation officials say it is impossible for the state to show the challenged provisions of the law, known as Chapter 131, are consistent with a historical tradition of firearm regulation.

“It is a requirement of the Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling last year,” Kraut noted, “and they can’t meet that requirement because there was no such Founding-era tradition. The state has failed to show such examples, and the injunctions should be upheld.”

KDJ’s ‘Gun Myth’ Fact-Check: Liberals Vs. Americans, Part 1

I was looking up gun statistics for my article “Liberties Under Assault: 2nd Amendment Edition,” and I tripped on two articles tackling “gun myths.” One was from the Bolshie-riffic prags at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), and the other was by sane people at gunfacts.info. So I thought I’d dig into both and see which site actually knows the difference between an AR-15 and an “assault rifle.”

FACT-O-RAMA! An AR-15 is a semi-automatic firearm, and an assault rifle is a non-existent boogeyman boom-boom stick that haunts tree-huggers in their sleep and makes them wet their non-binary Underoos.

Before we get started, I just want to apologize for the phrase “fact-check” in the headline. I abhor the phrase “fact-check” because it is frequently used by commie websites that employ each other’s articles to verify or debunk alleged “facts.” Meaning, the pinko skanks at USA Today will post “Fact-Check: Did Biden Make Millions Selling Influence to our Enemies Across the Globe? The New York Times says ‘No.’” It’s akin to Stalin saying, “If you don’t believe me, ask Beria.”

However, I will be doing a real fact-check on gun myths. Let’s get this “myth” brawl underway.

In this corner, wearing rainbow trunks, weighing in at 51 kilograms, Johns Hopkins University.

MYTH: URBAN HOMICIDES FALSELY INFLATE STATISTICS ON U.S. GUN DEATHS.

FACT: “The common trope is that places like Baltimore or Detroit or Chicago are the reason we have so many gun deaths in this country,” Cass Crifasi, PhD ’14, MPH, the Center’s director of research and policy, told the Chicago Tribune. And yes, those places … have unacceptable rates of gun homicides. But the places with the highest rates of death are not Maryland, Michigan, and Illinois. They are Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming, Missouri, and Alabama. The places with weaker gun laws have higher rates of death. More people died from guns in Texas than Illinois, when suicide and accidental shootings are included.

Hold on, let’s look at that last phrase, “when suicide and accidental shootings are included.” That’s just a lefty pivot. Nice try, jackpuddings. We see how you are trying to manipulate the game.

Yes, roughly two-thirds of gun-related deaths are suicides, but that isn’t what this is about. The left needs to lie and squirm like the lizard people they are and add “suicides and accidental shootings” in order to “prove” that red-state dwellers, meaning conservatives, are more gun-happy than city folk, and as you’re about to see, that just ain’t true.  But again, they’ll say what they must to confiscate your guns.

JHU claims that most shootings are taking place in red states. What it fails to mention is that they are happening in blue cities in red states. And since JHU mentioned my home state of Michigan, check out this map of shootings in the Great Lakes State.

If you take Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Detroit out of the picture, shootings drop significantly. And since JHU brought it up, I’ll add that the Yoopers in the Upper Peninsula (UP), of Michigan aren’t very violent. I suspect those snowbillies in da UP are not shooting people, accidentally or otherwise, just themselves, eh?

BLAST-O-RAMA! Out of a possible 100, with 100 being the safest cities in the U.S., the aforementioned Michigan cities scored the following: Detroit: 1, Lansing: 5, Grand Rapids: 7, Flint: 17 (don’t drink the water, and honestly, that score of 17 seems dubious). The mayors of Detroit, Flint, and Grand Rapids are Democrats. The mayor of Lansing has no party.

Hey look, I’m correct. Suicide in rural Michigan is a problem. But again, we are talking about guns used to kill people illegally. It’s nice of the Punchinellos to drag suicide into a “gun violence” debate and try to use depression to prove a point.

Let’s look at the other states mentioned:

  • The suicide rate in Wyoming is more than double the national average. This is where the “gun deaths” come from. Even the sitzpinklers at USA Today listed Wyoming as #43 in a list of the most dangerous states. Debunked.
  • Mississippi’s suicide rate clocks in at 27th in the nation, but the state ranks highest in murder rate. One-quarter of the murders take place in Jackson, which is run by a Democrat mayor. Democrats run five out of Mississippi’s ten most dangerous cities, (Republicans run four, and one is run by an Independent). Debunked.

FACT-O-RAMA! Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes once suggested that people throw, “bricks, rocks, and bottles” at police chasing black suspects.

  • Six out of Louisiana’s eight most dangerous cities are run by Democrats. One is run by a Republican and one by an Independent. Debunked.

Conclusion: We can see that the beta cucks at JHU had to twist their data in a pathetic and vain attempt to prove that conservatives and guns are “dangerous.” A vast majority of gun crimes committed in red states took place in blue cities.

FACT-O-RAMA! As of this writing, there have been 763 defensive shootings in 2023.

And in this corner, wearing red, white, and blue shorts, weighing in at 188 lbs, gunfacts.info.

Myth: Gun violence is widespread in America

Fact: Misuse of guns is highly centralized in major metro areas, within poor neighborhoods (typically street gang infested) and thus highly among young black males.

According to these maps from gunviolencearchives.com, we can clearly see that most shootings take place in the eastern third of the U.S. The shootings make a significant drop in eastern Texas (roughly San Antonio) and don’t pick up again until the west coast.

Check out this map. It’s interactive. You can zoom anywhere in the U.S. and see that most shootings take place in bigger towns and cities (derp).

Conclusion: Gunfacts.info knows what it’s talking about. Shootings aren’t happening everywhere. Most take place in bigger cities. Unlike the milquetoasts at JHU, gunfacts.info doesn’t need to twist data to support laughable narratives.

Winner, Round One: Gunfacts.info!

Check back for round two in a few days! Until then, keep yer powder dry.

I see this as nothing much more than Goobernor CYA

Tennessee: 2023 Special Session Convenes – Gun Control Legislation Introduced

[On the 21st] the Tennessee General Assembly convened for a Special Session at the request of Governor Bill Lee.  While the announced purpose of the session is to address public safety, there is an attempt to force through several ineffective gun control measures that were rejected by the General Assembly earlier this year.  As of this afternoon, there are numerous anti-gun bills introduced.  We urge all NRA members and Second Amendment supporters in Tennessee to contact their state senators and representatives to let them know you OPPOSE all gun control and ask them to protect your Second Amendment rights.

Below is a list of restrictive measures that have been filed.  You can view the text of each bill at Tennessee General Assembly – Bill Search.

  • House Bill 7001/Senate Bill 7068 specifies that classes that qualify as training for issuance of an enhanced handgun carry permit or concealed handgun carry permit must include training on the use of gun locks. Therefore, classes that don’t explicitly address “gun locks” would no longer be certified by the state for permitting purposes.
  • House Bill 7047/Senate Bill 7011 creates a Class E felony of threatened mass violence for the reckless handling, displaying, or discharging of a firearm while operating or as a passenger in a motor vehicle.  This legislation could seemingly sweep in conduct, such as a person or passenger moving guns around in their car in a completely non-threatening manner.  Under current Tennessee law, threatening someone with a firearm from a motor vehicle is already aggravated assault and is a Class C felony.
  • House Bill 7056/Senate Bill 7049 expands the offense of aggravated stalking to include persons who purchase a semi-automatic rifle or attempt to use a semi-automatic rifle for the course and furtherance of stalking. The legislation attempts to carve out lawful semi-automatic firearms for different treatment under the law.
  • House Bill 7074/Senate Bill 7044 & House Bill 7075/Senate Bill 7043 include several “safe storage” provisions that control how individual Tennesseans keep firearms.
  • House Bill 7079 requires a federally licensed firearm dealer to install a firearm safety device on a firearm before delivering the firearm to a purchaser if the purchaser is not a federally licensed firearm dealer.
  • House Bill 7090/Senate Bill 7040 requires the Department of Safety to use its existing permanent electronic overhead informational displays located on the interstate system to provide messages that encourage the safe storage of firearms.
  • House Bill 7098/Senate Bill 7026 establishes the Tennessee voluntary do not sell firearms list to prohibit the possession, transportation, and sale of firearms to any person who is voluntarily admitted to a public or private hospital or treatment resource for diagnosis, observation, and treatment of a mental illness or serious emotional disturbance and voluntarily registers to be enrolled to the list.
  • House Bill 7099, House Bill 7100/Senate Bill 7029, & House Bill 7101/Senate Bill 7042 so-called “red flag” gun confiscation legislation requiring firearms surrender without due process.

Well, that is part of it.

For Most U.S. Gun Owners, Protection Is the Main Reason They Own a Gun
Nearly half of U.S. adults who do not currently own a gun say they could see themselves owning one in the future

Gun owners in the United States continue to cite protection far more than other factors, including hunting and sport shooting, as a major reason they own a gun.

And while a sizable majority of gun owners (71%) say they enjoy having a gun, an even larger share (81%) say they feel safer owning a gun.

A Pew Research Center survey, conducted June 5-11 among 5,115 members of the Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel, finds:

72% of U.S. gun owners say protection is a major reason they own a gun. That far surpasses the shares of gun owners who cite other reasons.

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Joe Biden Boasts He Has Bypassed Congress for Gun Control More than Any Other President

On August 17, 2023, President Joe Biden boasted about the number of times he has used executive action to institute gun control that Congress did not pass.

He tweeted:

On April 8, 2021, Breitbart News reported Biden used executive gun controls that included restrictions on “ghost guns,” a push for red flag laws, recategorization of AR-15 pistols, and DOJ-led research into gun trafficking.

These controls led to an ATF-issued rule classifying “partially complete pistol frames” as firearms. That rule means a background check is now required in order to purchase certain gun parts kits.

The  same executive controls also led to an ATF-issued rule categorizing AR-pistols with stabilizer braces as short-barrel rifles. This new categorization means owners of said pistols with stabilizer braces are required to the register the firearms under the auspices of the National Firearms Act (1934).

On July 21, 2022, the White House recounted that Biden had issued 21 executive actions related to gun control and gun violence up to that point in his presidency.

On May 14, 2023, Breitbart News noted that Biden issued yet another executive order on gun control, this one directing Attorney General Merrick Garland to act where Congress has not acted and take the United States “as close as possible” to universal background checks.

Another executive gun control is anticipated late this year or early next year, in the form of an ATF-issued rule to redefine the meaning of gun dealer so as to broaden it, and thereby broaden the number of gun sales in which a background check will be required. The goal of the ATF rule will be to get as close as possible to a universal background check scenario in America.

ATF’s director says the quiet part out loud and refers to inalienable rights as a ‘privilege’

What a bizarre development in American politics that has seen the federal government cultivate and embrace a fiery disdain for the very ideals upon which itself was founded.

An item published at The Western Journal [on the 19th] reported that the ATF is intensifying its war against the pro-gun portion of the body politic; from the article:

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is escalating efforts to strip gun dealers of their federal firearms licenses.

The licenses, which enable businesses to sell firearms for profit, are being revoked in increasing numbers….

The ATF has yanked 122 federal firearms licenses, or FFL’s [sic], from dealers this fiscal year alone.

That’s up from 90 in all of fiscal year 2022, and merely 27 in fiscal year 2021.

In June of 2021, Department of Injustice’s Merrick Garland announced a new “Gun Crime Prevention Strategy” which in part, focused on compliance inspections of FFL businesses. Some of the offenses which would result in “notice of [license] revocation” included:

  • Refusal to allow an IOI [Industry Operations Investigator] to conduct an inspection
  • Transferring a firearm to a prohibited person
  • Failing to conduct a required background check
  • Falsifying records
  • Failing to respond to a trace request

Now aside from the fact that the ATF has absolutely no right to exist, I know enough about the bureau to know they have one of the worst reputations out of the more than 438 federal agencies, so it’s reasonable to assume at least some of the “compliance” investigations weren’t “lawful” — as loosely as you can use that term for an agency that’s unlawfully operating. Just because the ATF calls their unreasonable searches and seizures a “request” or a compliance “inspection” doesn’t make it so; I can only wonder if 122 firearms dealers last year told federal agents to take a hike until they came back with a warrant?

According to the Western Journal article, Joe Biden’s ATF Director Steve Dettelbach said of the business owners with revoked licenses, “They’re not going to have the privilege of being a gun dealer anymore.”

Someone needs to remind Dettelbach, and every other aspiring despot in Biden’s regime, that rights come from God, not government — the Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, was written to affirm this reality, and this government, this brilliant and extraordinary new government conceived in liberty and born out of a rebellion to tyrants, would guarantee that it was not a benevolent authority doling out “privileges” at it saw fit, but rather a safeguard for inalienable rights that came from a moral Authority; nothing more, and nothing less.

Of course, the Founders emphasized that human beings have a right to self-defense, or to keep and bear arms as noted in the Second Amendment, and we have a right to autonomy and privacy, or the right to be secure in our persons, houses and effects, as noted in the Fourth Amendment.

Death by bureaucracy, or regulation, is the modus operandi of the gun-grabbers. They come after the brass mines with OSHA; they use the CDC to declare “gun violence” an epidemic; they buy out reloading supplies on the market for years to come via FDA and NIH government contracts ; they choke out the points of sale with the ATF’s “Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement Policy.”

Strangely, you rarely read news stories about the ATF targeting anybody other than the gun community; it was never really about alcohol or tobacco now was it?

Another pissant wanna-be tyrant, shilling for those BloombergBucks.
But it is so nice when pictures for positive ID are provided.

the need for that assault weapon ban. Not one on the buying of weapons in the future. One on ALL military style assault weapons in American hands now. Buy them back and make the penalties so severe that no one will be tempted to keep one

We aren’t doing enough to address gun violence

C.J. Mikkelsen is a retired Lieutenant/paramedic for Dallas Fire Rescue in Dallas, Texas. He was born and raised in Michigan and is glad to be back in his home state.

CJ Mikkelsen

Mark Barden’s face looks out from my phone imploring me to contribute to Sandy Hook Promise to stop gun violence about every three minutes while
I swipe it away as soon as that five second countdown ends. But it bothers me when I do it.

Yes, I’ve contributed. “I’ve done my part,” I say to myself.
But have I? Have we, as a society?

Do we protect our most vulnerable citizens, our children, like we should?
So many of us go on ridiculous rants about drag queen story hour or share posts about the “Sound of Freedom” movie on our Facebook page. We’re all about “saving the children” as long as all it takes is a painless couple of clicks of a mouse.

Sorry, folks. I can’t let it go and fade into the background.
I know, I’ve written about gun violence and I’m supposed to have moved on to the next big topic. Something keeps bringing me back to guns. It’s either Mark Barden’s face or another tragic mass shooting or something as mind-boggling as an article about a mini-AR15 that a company is marketing to children less than eight years old.

America is, according to Everytown Research & Policy, (The Impact of Gun Violence on Children and Teens | Everytown Research & Policy) killing or maiming our children at a rate of 53 each and every day of the year.

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Kyle Rittenhouse Launches Foundation Aimed At Fighting Gun Control

Kyle Rittenhouse has launched an anti-gun control nonprofit in Texas, according to a filing with the Texas Secretary of State’s office, which was first reported on by the Texas Tribune—a sign the young man who became a conservative star after being acquitted of killing two Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020, is ramping up his political activity in Texas.
Rittenhouse Conference

Rittenhouse filed with the Secretary of State on July 23 to create the Rittenhouse Foundation, a nonprofit based in Fort Worth, Texas, which aims to protect “an individual’s inalienable right to bear arms” through “education and legal assistance,” according to the filing.

Rittenhouse is listed as a director alongside Chris McNutt, president of the gun advocacy group Texas Gun Rights and Shelby Griesinger, treasurer of the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which has financed the campaigns of right-wing candidates across the state.

The foundation’s registered agent is the law firm of Tony McDonald, a long-time legal representative of conservative organizations in Texas, including Empower Texans, a now-defunct Tea Party-aligned group that was active from 2006 to 2020 and was described by Texas Monthly in 2013 as “one of the most influential advocacy groups in Austin.”

Defend Texas Liberty and Empower Texans have been given tens of millions of dollars by Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks and Dan Wilks, conservative mega donors who’ve spent decades using their oil wealth to promote their ultraconservative causes, according to the Tribune.

Forbes has attempted to contact Rittenhouse and his foundation via the foundation’s attorney.

KEY BACKGROUND
Rittenhouse first became a household name in August 2020 when he shot three Black Lives Matter protesters, two fatally, during the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. Rittenhouse, who was 17 years old at the time, attended a racial justice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, armed with an AR-15-style rifle with the stated goal of protecting private businesses from protesters.

After being chased into a parking lot, Rittenhouse fatally shot a man who had grabbed the barrel of his rifle. He then fatally shot another man who struck him with a skateboard, and shot and wounded a third person who subsequently pointed a handgun at him.

The incident was widely condemned by liberals, but many conservatives came to his defense. U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) both offered the then-teenager internships, and then-President Donald Trump hosted him at his Mar-a-Lago estate. In a closely-watched criminal trial in November 2021, a jury acquitted Rittenhouse of murder charges and ruled that his actions were done in self-defense. After the trial, Rittenhouse moved to Texas.

Since moving to Texas, Rittenhouse has become active in conservative politics. He has endorsed right-wing Republican political candidates including Andy Hopper, who attempted to unseat Lynn Stucky for her Denton-based seat in the state House of Representatives, and Brandon Herrera, YouTube star known for supporting gun rights, running against U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio). He also worked with Texas Gun Rights in May to oppose a House bill that unsuccessfully tried to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. On social media, he railed against the Texas House impeachment of state Attorney General Ken Paxton and posted messages in support of gun rights.

Biden’s DOJ Asks SCOTUS to Gut the 2nd Amendment in 67-Page Brief

In a notable development, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has submitted a significant brief (67+ pages, embedded below) to the United States Supreme Court in the case of United States of America vs. Zaki Rahimi. The focus of this case is the constitutionality of 18 USC 922 G8, which pertains to domestic violence restraining orders and their alignment with the Second Amendment.

Mark Smith, a constitutional attorney, suggests that the DOJ, representing the Biden Administration, is arguing for extensive interpretation measures. The contention seems to be that the Second Amendment allows Congress and other legislative bodies the power to disarm individuals [aka “infringe”] deemed not “Law Abiding” or “responsible.” The criteria for such judgments, as outlined in the brief, could range from minor infractions like jaywalking to more serious criminal activities.

The broad implications of such an interpretation might leave a vast number of citizens without the right to keep and bear arms.

Central to the case is Zaki Rahimi’s incident from December 2019, where he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend and threatened a witness with a firearm. The event resulted in a restraining order against Rahimi in February 2020 after he ostensibly admitted to the accusations.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals previously held that the federal law in question in Zaki Rahimi’s case was in violation of the Second Amendment. Still, the DOJ’s arguments seem to lean heavily on connecting firearms with domestic violence, potentially setting a precedent for justifying ‘red flag’ laws. Their position leans on the Heller case from 2008, which identified the rights of “law-abiding and responsible” individuals to bear arms.

The DOJ attempts to spin its argument based on three main talking points, all taken out of legal and historical context:

  1. Previous court precedents distinguished between law-abiding citizens and those deemed otherwise.
  2. Historical precedents allowed for disarmament during the founding era, citing laws that existed during the period.
  3. Arguing that the majority of American states having similar domestic restraining orders suggests a national consensus.

Critics rightfully argue that simply because many states have implemented certain rules doesn’t automatically affirm their constitutionality.

This shocking 67-page brief from the DOJ would be a significant shift in interpreting the Second Amendment. Whether this unconstitutional human rights grab prevails will be determined by the Supreme Court in its upcoming deliberations.

Biden DOJ Legal Brief to SCOTUS in U.S. v. Rahimi

BLUF
America needs only look to the recent past to see how the federal government handles a “public health crisis.”…  The tendency of the government to assume police-state authorities is enough to warn Americans when their elected officials want to invoke a “public health crisis.”

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS PROPOSES PUBLIC HEALTH GUN CONTROL REMEDY

Vice President Kamala Harris believes gun control is a public health issue, giving Americans more reasons to be wary of gun control efforts.

The problem is, crime isn’t a disease, as much as gun control advocates want to treat it as such. Criminal activity is a behavior and science has yet to bring about a medical remedy that prevents an individual from committing crimes. That’s not stopping Vice President Harris from tossing out debunked data, purposefully confusing suicides with criminal firearm misuse and conveniently glossing over the Biden administration’s failures to address the real problem of crime.

“I — as Vice President of the United States, I am acutely aware of the fact that gun violence is the leading cause of death of the children of America,” Vice President Harris told Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund’s Annual Gun Sense University Conference in Chicago last week. “It’s — it’s the number one cause of death — not some disease — well, although this is a form of a disease, to be sure.  Gun violence is the leading cause of death of our children.”

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Someone with a verified disability could take New Joisey to the cleaners.

Deep Dive: New Jersey’s New ‘John Wick’ CCW Qualification Test

After the U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic Bruen Decision, which obliterated most state restrictions on the public carrying of arms and changed forever how lower courts should decide Second Amendment-related challenges to anti-gun regulations, many blue states seemingly tried to outdo each other with the number of unconstitutional post-Bruen tantrum laws they could pass. At this, New Jersey certainly lead the way, especially for its residents seeking to carry a defensive firearm.

Obtaining a New Jersey permit to carry was never easy. It is not easy now. Instead, it remains an expensive multi-step nightmare specifically designed to make the process as difficult as possible for the applicant.

Now, not only must New Jersians bend a knee, pay a fee and beg permission from the Crown to buy back their constitutional rights, they must also pass a difficult shooting test that was designed for police, not civilians, to prove they’re capable of exercising their constitutional rights to the government’s satisfaction.

Last month, the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police in conjunction with the state’s Attorney General, issued new requirements titled “Use of Force Interim Training for Private Citizen Concealed Carry.” The document contains written material for in-person classroom training as well as the requirements for an arduous 50-round qualification course that every concealed-carry applicant must pass.

It is easy to get lost in the minutia of the qualification standards and lose sight of the big picture: New Jersey’s concealed-carry requirements are a massive infringement of the Second Amendment, which clearly violate Bruen. Does New Jersey test other constitutional rights? Do journalists there need to demonstrate competency before writing news stories? Do clergy in the Garden State need to pass state testing before delivering a sermon? Must voters prove proficiency before they’re allowed into a booth?

Clearly, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin and his state police sycophants want to hold gun owners to a higher standard than those who exercising other constitutional rights.

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