Category Archives: Gun Rights

Existential Threat to the ATF

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The ATF has brought it on.

Time to challenge many of the 1968 Gun Control Act provisions.

There are no historical analogs for requiring a gov’t license to buy/sell used guns.

No analogs for stopping private sales of used guns across state lines.

2A Rights aren’t wheat.

2A History @2aHistory
Tweeted on August 31, 2023

While I’m in strong agreement with the goal and the correctness of the assessment, I am not certain the timing is optimal. The ATF has a lot of support with the current administration and will view this as an existential threat.

This existential threat to the ATF could likely be made an election issue and pull votes from the side of freedom.

Bonus points if your comments indicate you know what the reference to wheat is about.

A Good Start

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This is a good start:

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.

…

In this case, the six plaintiffs — including four non-D.C. residents — were arrested between 2012 and 2014 on gun-related charges. They filed a lawsuit in 2015.

It took eight years after the lawsuit was filed and they still don’t have their money:

The settlement agreement must still have a “fairness hearing” in December before final approval is given. Court records show D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) signed off on the $5.1 million settlement amount in June.

And, of course, the villains will not be paying the settlement with their own money. They will use taxpayer money. These people need to be prosecuted.

I hope this will be a warning for other politicians. I would like to think that if others ignore the law the following lawsuits will be easier and easier. The, eventually, an ambitious Federal Prosecutor will start prosecuting them under 18 USC 242. Then, with a few convictions, they will finally stop their unlawful persecution of gun owners.

Points for Articulation

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This is not going to be popular in liberal circles, but I’ve met with adult men who have legally purchased AR-15s and assault rifles, and their reasoning for ownership is valid and passionate and should be honored: Each one has a small, weird, or ineffective penis.

Bess Kalb @bessbell
Tweeted on July 22, 2022

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

Via a tweet from Jay (@jayhafe).

One has to give her points for articulation. That was well executed. But, as usual for her type, her insults are merely compensating for the complete lack of a practical, philosophical, or legal argument against our specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.

It Should Not Even Exist

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Recently, the Secretary of Health and Human Services advocated for gun violence to be declared a public health emergency to grant HHS power to restrict Americans’ right to keep and bear arms.  The Department of Health and Human Services was never intended to implement gun control of any kind.

Mike Braun
US Senator from Indiana
July 21, 2023
Senator Braun’s offers amendment to protect Second Amendment from “national emergency declaration” gun control

It goes deeper than that. The Department of Health and Human Services was never intended to exist. There is no mention of it or the “services” it provides in the U.S Constitution.

But, I suppose, limiting its scope should be considered a good thing.

By Gun

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Random Thought of the Day

Anti-gun people spend a lot of time telling others how afraid of being shot they are for themselves and “the children”. In other words, they spend a lot of time thinking about dying by gunshot. They project that fear onto gun people saying, “What are you so afraid of that you need a gun?”

That is markedly different than my thought patterns. I think about protecting myself and other innocent people by being proficient with a gun. I almost never have a fear of being a victim of a criminal attack.

Antigun people think about dying by gun. Gun people think about protecting life by gun.

Bumper-Sticker ‘Solutions’

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In Jacksonville, lives were saved by an armed campus security officer who approached and deterred the gunman before he could fire a single shot on university grounds. Meanwhile, Gun Control, Inc., rakes in money for mocking the idea of a “good guy with a gun” while failing to acknowledge the obvious: the faster a violent threat is confronted by armed resistance, the faster that threat ends and the fewer people die.

We deserve better than the current list of bumper-sticker solutions to the most surface-level and fringe aspects of violence.

Until we force ourselves to change the way we collectively approach mass public shootings, we will keep spinning in circles while people die.

Amy Swearer
Senior Legal Fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.
September 1, 2023

I don’t think “bumper-sticker solutions” is accurate. It is closer to a deliberate deception to more effectively infringe up our specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms. The mass shootings and death of innocent people are just a means to an end for those advocating for disarming the public.

Bigotry and Prejudice

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The gun industry and the extremist politicians it supports have long fanned the flames of hate-based, radical ideologies.

Allison Anderman
August 31, 2023
The Gun Industry Is in the Business of Hate

If you read her rant you realize she is projecting. She really hates gun ownership and even people who legally use guns in self-defense. She describes Kyle Rittenhouse as “the vigilante teenager.”

Bigotry and prejudice is such an ugly thing to see. I hope she gets some help for her afflictions.

An Alternate Point of View

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We have horrific double standards when talking about polyamory vs. monogamy. relationship issues in polyamory get blamed on the poly; relationship issues in monogamy dont even get processed as being caused by monog

Aella @Aella_Girl
Tweeted on August 29, 2023

This was sort of mind blowing to me. What a difference an alternate point of view makes!

The majority of people in this country probably see many problems with all the variations of consensual non-monogamy even if they do see the potential benefits. But can those same people see the exact opposite of that. That is, can they see many problems with monogamy even if they do see the potential benefits?

Now apply that logic to gun control and the advocates on the alternates sides of that debate.

Rationality is a just a very thin veneer over our emotional brains.

It is For the Children

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I have grandkids now, and they both have bulletproof backpacks to go to school. I really feel stricter gun laws and the banning of assault weapons needs to happen. It’s our children.

If you really believe in gun laws, vote. So we can get people in to make laws to save our children.

Gina Suits
August 24, 2023
GOP support for gun restrictions slips a year after Congress passed firearms law

It has been a while since I heard, “It’s for the children.” Perhaps they ran out of things to try and are recycling their excuses for gun control.

I oppose gun laws for the sake of my children and grandchildren. I also urge you to vote. And send money to organizations like the FPC and SAF who are making a difference in the courts.

Long term we need to change the culture. So take a newbie to the gun range and teach them to shoot. Every little bit helps.

The Lies Antigun People Tell

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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.

In fact, as KFF noted, no studies have shown this, and researchers in 2021 found that in an examination of 133 cases of school shootings and attempted school shootings from 1980 to 2019, “armed guards were not associated with significant reduction in rates of injuries.”

Matt Shuham
August 22, 2023
Many Americans Still Wrongly Think Guns Make Us Safer

Perhaps most striking is that if this were true Mr. Shuham would be willing to bet, he is no more at risk in an arena with a hungry polar bear without a rifle as he is with one. And that he should be able to convince the protective details for politicians do not benefit from the possession of firearms. And that even soldiers are just as safe without guns as with.

It is amazing the lies such people think they can get away with.

Reducing Guns

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We need to focus on responsible behavior. We need to focus on safety. I’ll say again, we can’t have an officer in every situation to prevent gun violence. What we can do is work to reduce the guns that we have on the street.

Tammy Morales
Representative for District 2 in Seattle
August 21, 2023
Another mass shooting in Seattle sparks debate on police staffing, public safety

What she needs to realize is:

  1. “Work to reduce the guns we have on the street” is a criminal offense.
  2. If you do reduce the number of guns in the general population those guns will be from the hands of those who are generally law abiding. That makes guns in the hands of violent criminals all the more valuable because they can more easily use their illegally owned guns to intimidate and/or harm the law abiding who turned in their guns.
  3. Hence, reducing the number of “the guns we have on the street” will lead to an increase in violent crime.

But, as we all know, the real motive of gun control is not the reduction of crime. It is the increase of control.

Capture the Flag

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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.

Adam Kraut
Second Amendment Foundation Executive Director
SAF LAUNCHES ‘CAPTURE THE FLAG’ EFFORT TO CHALLENGE ‘RED FLAG’ LAWS

This is a worthy goal. I wish them well.

Defunding the Police

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I lived in West Oakland for three years 15-18. My fondest memory is the CHP helicopter flying overhead weekly blaring this message on repeat: Police Dogs Have Been Released, Stay In Your Home or You Will Get Bitten.

The third week in our house there was a gang drive-by on an apartment one block over, three dudes with AK’s did full mag dumps as fast as they could pull the trigger. The third shooter was a little slower than the other two so when they hopped in the car they drove off with out him while he finished his mag. Looked around and jogged off so nonchalantly I was startled. I soon understood why when the police showed up SIX minutes later.

East Oakland was pure hell, I would not travel there to get my pregnant wife Pollo Loco (which not getting was not an option!) without wearing lvl III body armour under my hoodie and carrying my illegal, not on the list, non-registered pistol.

And the best part, according to this article, that was THE GOOD period…

Benelli @disqus_9VxERuctzE
August 23, 2023
Comment to Sick and Tired in Oakland

I have nothing to add to this that everyone else is not already thinking. That’s right, they need to defund the police. That will fix their problems.

It is Not About Safety

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New York City, a bastion of gun control, has reportedly been experiencing a sharp rise in stabbings and slashings over the past four years. Despite having some of the strictest gun control laws, the city remains quite dangerous for many residents.

While the Supreme Court’s decision in New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen has made it harder for states with anti-gun governments, places like New York are still finding ways to restrict the right to keep and bear arms. Unfortunately, it does not appear these laws are truly keeping people safe.

Jeff Charles
August 19, 2023
Stabbings, Slashings on the Rise in Gun Control Haven, New York City

Referenced by the quote above, NYC stabbings and slashings surge in 2023 by 26%

Stabbings and slashings are surging this year across New York City – skyrocketing 26% since 2019, according to disturbing new NYPD data obtained by The Post.

Since Jan. 1 through Aug. 13, the city has seen 3,365 nonfatal stabbings, compared to 2,666 four years ago. The number is also up 5% from the same period last year, which saw 3,208 nonfatal incidents of knife violence.

So far this year, 53 people have died by blade — a shocking 29% increase from 41 in 2019.

The evidence is clear, gun control is obviously not about safety.

No, the ATF Cannot Legally Regulate “Ghost Guns”

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Political observers expect the Washington Post and the New York Times to carry water for Joe Biden’s Department of Justice gun control agenda. It’s surprising when the conservative National Review seemingly bends over backwards to defend the weaponized agency in a poorly researched and written piece.

On August 9, National Review published an item with the confident title “Yes, the ATF Can Legally Regulate Ghost Guns.” The ill-informed piece was written by a summer intern. If it was an unpaid internship, the publication got every penny’s worth.

NRA-ILA
August 21, 2023
National Review Wrong on ATF Frame or Receiver Rule

Words matter. And when those words are legislative law they matter even more. The ATF, and this summer intern, are ignoring and/or deliberately misreading the word of law.

Ignoring the word of law and/or deliberately misreading by politicians and judges should be a punishable offense. And in some cases it is. But of course, that law is there just to make us think we have some protection against those who use the power of government to deny us our rights. That’s not reality. The reality is, that ultimately, you have to defend your own rights. That is why we have the 2nd Amendment.

Talk Like a Person With a Small Penis

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Quote of the Day

You talk like a person with small penis

Jeff the Patriot @Jeffery71886446
Tweeted on July 19, 2022

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

From the conversation thread it appears this is, again, an anti-gun person who is innumerate. When the numbers and facts a shown to them they are completely overwhelmed and have no recourse except to fling childish insults at the person who understands math..

Facts are Being Manipulated

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Tracking crime statistics – and more importantly, whether or not crime is rising or falling in the United States – is getting harder to do. That’s because nearly a third of America’s cities are no longer reporting crime statistics to the FBI.

This is more than just a problem for policymakers looking for data to address the cities most in need of assistance. It also means that some policymakers are demanding bad policy because they’re relying on incomplete data.

The Marshall Project reported that 31 percent of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the U.S. failed to report crime data to the FBI’s national database after transitioning to a new data collection system, according to the latest statistics from the FBI. That’s a slight improvement from 2021, when 40 percent of law enforcement agencies didn’t report crime data. Still, it’s a glaring blind spot, especially when that data is missing from some of the largest metro areas dealing with rampant, out-of-control crime.

Many of those cities also happen to be led by the loudest voices calling for gun control, defunding police and soft-on-crime policies. The trifecta means that gun control politicians are missing a third of the crime picture yet demanding 100 percent of the gun control. Typical behavior for zealots who favor government control over individual freedom.

Salam Fatohi
August 10, 2023
AMERICA HAS A CRIME REPORTING PROBLEM

This is concerning. Facts, such as these statistics, are important to us. They are probably not as important as the constitutional protections but they are important. They are unimportant to the antifreedom people unless the facts are in their favor. By failing to report the facts in the cities with the most gun control they can use them to their advantage.

Since the facts are being manipulated, we can hammer them with the fact they are manipulating the facts. Also, it may be we need to rely less on the facts and just hammer them with the legal protections of firearms owners.

Dark Days for Antis’

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When I first was getting involved with the gun rights issue (early 1970s), as I recall gun sales were about 3 million a year. Today it’s over 12 million. The antis’ time has passed.

David Hardy
August 4, 2023
Hurrah! Gun sales over a million a month!

I’m not sure their time has passed. But they certainly know there are dark days in their future.

We have to win the culture war as well as the legal war. Then we can win the political war. Gun sales and gun ownership rates will win us the culture war.

Flawed Logic and Contempt

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The flawed logic of this unconstitutional law is second only to the contempt for which the authors and Gov. Pritzker hold for the constitutionally protected right of the citizens of his state to keep and bear arms.

Lawrence G. Keane
NSSF Senior Vice President
August 16, 2023
Gun Organization Sues Illinois Over New Firearm Restrictions

I’m not sure. I could see the contempt ranking higher.

In other news, August is National Shooting Sports Month.

Infringement of First and Second Amendment

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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed a law banning firearms advertising that officials determine produces a public safety threat or appeals to children, militants or others who might later use the weapons illegally — opening the door for lawsuits against firearms manufacturers or distributors.

Pritzker on Saturday signed the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, making Illinois the eighth state to approve legislation that rolls back legal protections for firearms manufacturers or distributors.

Associated Press
August 14, 2023
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signs law banning firearm advertisements that appeal to children

This law goes much further than the news articles publish. It punishes any

…person, firm, corporation, company, partnership, society, joint stock company, or any other entity or association engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution, importation, marketing, wholesale, or retail sale of firearm-related products, including sales by mail, telephone, or Internet or in-person sales.

who

offers brand name merchandise for minors, including, but not limited to, clothing, toys, games, or stuffed animals, that promotes a firearm industry member or firearm-related product

So… a graphic artist working for Smith & Wesson could go to jail for offering a t-shirt with a Smith & Wesson logo to the 17-year old next door neighbor.

These criminals are trying to step around the PLCCA by infringing upon the First Amendment to infringe upon the Second Amendment.

I hope they enjoy their trials.