{"id":87854,"date":"2022-11-18T11:32:32","date_gmt":"2022-11-18T17:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=87854"},"modified":"2022-11-18T11:32:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-18T17:32:32","slug":"87854","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=87854","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

The Midterm Election and Second Amendment Freedom<\/a><\/p>\n

Just after the midterm election, an AP reporter asked President Joe Biden (D) what he\u2019ll do differently in the last two years of his term. Biden said, \u201cnothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing, because they\u2019re just finding out what we\u2019re doing,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n

Just finding out?<\/p>\n

We know Biden wants to ban popular semi-automatic firearms\u2014he even again promised to do this right before the midterm election.<\/p>\n

We know Biden wants to ban so-called \u201chigh-capacity\u201d magazines\u2014according to him, these could be any magazine that holes 10 rounds, or perhaps eight.<\/p>\n

We know Biden nonsensically wants to ban the 9 mm handgun, even though it is easily the most-popular centerfire pistol caliber sold today\u2014Biden said, \u201cA 9 mm bullet blows the lung out of the body. So the idea that these high-caliber weapons is of\u2014there\u2019s simply no rational basis for it in terms of thinking about self-protection, hunting. I mean, I just\u2014and remember, the Constitution, the Second Amendment was never absolute \u2026 .\u201d<\/p>\n

We know Biden wants to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) so that activists can again use frivolous lawsuits to sue firearms manufactures into bankruptcy. We know a lot more about Biden\u2019s thoughts on our rights, but let\u2019s stop there; instead let\u2019s take a look at what the midterm elections wrought and, therefore, what Biden might be able to do in the last two years of his term.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some Very Anti-Freedom Candidates Won<\/p>\n

First, it must be said that November\u2019s midterm election was hardly a referendum on the Second Amendment\u2014polling consistently showed the issues related to guns were not foremost on a majority of voters\u2019 minds\u2014still, our freedom was effectively on the ballot; after all, if a slim majority of senators kills the upper chamber\u2019s filibuster rules, then only the U.S. House of Representatives could stop a 51-seat majority in the Senate, or a 50-50 tie broken by Vice President Kamala Harris (D), from imperiling our rights.<\/p>\n

With that said, perhaps the most anti-Second Amendment politician who won in the midterm election was New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).<\/p>\n

Since New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court last June, New York has been the field of play which other anti-Second Amendment legislators are watching (even copying).<\/p>\n

Gov. Hochul responded to the ruling with the clearly unconstitutional \u201cConcealed Carry Improvement Act.\u201d She called an \u201cextraordinary\u201d session of the New York State Assembly and Senate last summer to pass a sweeping new list of gun-control laws that deems just about everywhere in the state to be a \u201cSensitive\u201d area where armed citizens can\u2019t carry their firearms if they have a permit to do so. Those \u201capplying\u201d for their rights must also provide a licensing officer with four character references and \u201ca list of former and current social media accounts of the applicant from the past three years,\u201d so officials can check each person\u2019s moral character\u2014whatever that means. This law is undergoing various legal challenges with the NRA\u2019s elgal team leading the way.<\/p>\n

Despite this affront to a civil right, Hochul won. Still, her opponent, Lee Zeldin, came closer to winning a statewide race in New York than any recent Republican has; Zeldin lost by about 5% in a state in which registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than two to one; to put it another way, there are about 3.6 million more registered Democrats than Republicans in New York state, but Zeldin only lost by about 330,000 votes.<\/p>\n

Zeldin\u2019s support should make Gov. Hochul understand that she needs to do something real about rising crime rates. But when asked just after the election, Gov. Hochul \u201coffered only a progressive bromide: a crackdown on \u2018illegal guns\u2019 that aren\u2019t the root of the crime problem,\u201d wrote The Wall Street Journal in an editorial.<\/p>\n

Actually, Hochul\u2019s views are much more extreme than this. \u201cIf they\u2019re going to say they are tough on crime and soft on guns, that doesn\u2019t add up,\u201d said Gov. Hochul not long before the election. Despite all the crime data showing the opposite to be true, Hochul somehow believes that normal, law-abiding armed citizens are the cause of crime. This is ideological self-delusion\u2014or maybe it is just too deliciously politically convenient for the goals of politicians like Biden and Hochul\u2014and it is frightening; consider that, incredibly, in Gov Hochul\u2019s remarks after her win, there was no mention of funding police to make up for mass retirements, or reversing the \u201cbail reform\u201d that has allowed so many criminals to simply walk out of jail just after being arrest for violent crimes. She said nothing about the George Soros-backed district attorneys who have opted to not prosecute violent criminals when she could literally fire the worst of them. Like Biden, she wants nothing to change despite the horrifying results of these policies.<\/p>\n

Despite Zeldin\u2019s loss, however, his strong, tough-on-crime positions in a state reeling from surging violent crime did help his party pick up four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Seats that, as this was being written, look to be decisive in giving control of the U.S. House of Representatives to Republicans.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) also won. James has attempted to sue her office to dissolve the NRA. James doesn\u2019t believe that gun owners should have their First Amendment right to association. Her win will embolden some anti-Second Amendment legislators.<\/p>\n

Other very anti-freedom politicians won close races. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) avoided talking about his anti-Second Amendment positions during his campaign; the fact that he largely got away with this tactic is certainly part of the reason why won a very close race in Arizona.<\/p>\n

In New Hampshire, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) was endorsed by the gun-control group Giffords, but she preferred to speak about abortion, not guns. She won a closely watched election against a previously unknown candidate.<\/p>\n

In Pennsylvania, John Fetterman (D) is so committed to passing a list of new gun-control laws that he has dates of \u201cgun violence\u201d tattooed on his arm, yet he won. Again, though, it is not fair to say the Second Amendment played a big part in this race. It was barely talked about in the state and his opposition, Dr. Mehmet Oz (R), was only a new convert to safeguarding this critical freedom.<\/p>\n

Also, at press time, Nevada U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) was projected to beat Adam Laxalt (R). Earlier in 2022, Sen. Cortez Masto joined Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and others to reintroduce the \u201cBackground Check Expansion Act,\u201d legislation that would turn normal, law-abiding American gun owners into potential felons if they continue to do what gun owners in America have always lawfully done. This legislation could also be used to create a backdoor national gun registry. Despite these positions, she narrowly beat Laxalt, a candidate who would have voted to protect our rights.<\/p>\n

This win for Cortez Masto will likely allow Sen. Schumer\u2014who also won reelection\u2014to continue as Majority Leader.<\/p>\n

Some Very Anti-Freedom Candidates Lost<\/p>\n

The gun-control losers include Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), soon-to-be-former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Maloney wanted to ban popular semi-automatic firearms and much more. His loss was a surprise to him.<\/p>\n

Also, Stacey Abrams (D) lost her latest bid to be governor of Georgia, Beto \u201cHell, yes, we\u2019re going to take your AR-15\u201d O\u2019Rourke lost his bid to be governor of Texas and gun-control proponent Charlie Crist (D) lost by double-digits (nearly 20 points) when he tried to unseat Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in Florida. All three losers of these races did make gun-control into a very known part of their campaigns.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that many of the candidates who highlighted their zest for restrictions on law-abiding citizen\u2019s right to keep and bear arms lost, a story on NBC News just after the election declared that \u201cgun control is now a winning issue for Democrats.\u201d The article cited an NBC News exit poll that found that 56% of 2022 voters support strict gun-control measures. \u201cAmong the proponents of stricter measures, 76% backed Democratic candidates while 22% favored Republicans, illustrating the salience of the cause of tougher gun laws. It\u2019s a far cry from a decade ago, when Democrats tended to fear sing-issue pro-gun voters would overwhelm gun-control proponents and punish them at the ballot box for pursuing tougher laws against firearms.<\/p>\n

Actually, just a few weeks before the midterm election, a New York Times poll determined that gun control wasn\u2019t a priority for 99% of voters; in reality it just wasn\u2019t an issue that was discussed in a lot of races. This hardly gives anti-Second amendment members of Congress who did win a mandate to pass more restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.<\/p>\n

A Lot of Pro-Freedom Candidates Won<\/p>\n

In North Carolina, newly elected Sen. Ted Budd (R) won. There was no avoiding the Second Amendment in this race\u2014not that he\u2019d want to\u2014as Budd is one of just two members of Congress who actually owns a gun store (the second is Rep. Andrew Clyde [R-Ga.]). Budd\u2019s opponent, Cheri Beasley (D), had been endorsed by the gun-control group Giffords.<\/p>\n

In Ohio, J.D. Vance won. Early in his campaign, Vance said, \u201cI will fight the gun grabbers, whether they\u2019re federal bureaucrats enacting regulations or multinational companies punishing people for exercising their rights.\u201d His opponent, Tim Ryan (D), in contract, was endorsed by the gun-control group Giffords.<\/p>\n

In Wisconsin, Sen. Ron Johnson (R) won. He was attacked by the media in his state for voting against the flawed and rushed \u201cBipartisan Safer Communities Act. The Wisconsin State Journal, the state\u2019s second-largest newspaper, panned the senator in an editorial titled \u201cRon Johnson votes against public safety.\u201d That\u2019s simply anti-gun spin, as there were many problems with that legislation. At the same, Sen. Johnson pushed back by saying, \u201cThe Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is a classic example of Washington dysfunction. Negotiated by a \u2018gang\u2019 with no committee process and no ability to offer amendments, billions in spending \u2026 and provisions that ignore constitutional rights.\u201d S Johnson\u2019s race was at least partially about Second Amendment and he won.<\/p>\n

Many other pro-freedom candidates, such as Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), also won. There is much more to say about the aftermath of the midterm election, what it means for the next two years, and what freedom-lovers need to do to safeguard their rights in 2024, but there is still much that is undecided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Midterm Election and Second Amendment Freedom Just after the midterm election, an AP reporter asked President Joe Biden (D) what he\u2019ll do differently in the last two years of his term. Biden said, \u201cnothing.\u201d \u201cNothing, because they\u2019re just finding out what we\u2019re doing,\u201d the president said. Just finding out? We know Biden wants to … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87854"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87855,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87854\/revisions\/87855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}