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This is what Democrats have in store for gun owners if they retake complete control of Virginia Government

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on January 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

In yesterday’s Senate Judiciary meeting, Senator Creigh Deeds’ SB1382 was reported out of committee and rereferred to Senate Finance and Appropriations. This is the new version of a so-called “assault weapons” ban. It has absolutely no chance of getting out of the House of Delegates, which currently has a slight pro-rights majority, but it gives us a glance of what is in store for gun owners if the Democrats regain complete control of Virginia government after the 2025 statewide elections. What do they consider an “assault weapon”? The below is from the bill:

“Assault firearm” means any:

  1. A semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol which that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine which will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock with a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 10 rounds;
  2. A semi-automatic center-fire rifle that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding, telescoping, or collapsible stock; (ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the rifle; (iii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; (iv) a grenade launcher; (v) a flare launcher; (vi) a sound suppressor; (vii) a flash suppressor; (viii) a muzzle brake; (ix) a muzzle compensator; (x) a threaded barrel capable of accepting (a) a sound suppressor, (b) a flash suppressor, (c) a muzzle brake, or (d) a muzzle compensator; or (xi) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (x);
  3. A semi-automatic center-fire pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding, telescoping, or collapsible stock; (ii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; (iii) the capacity to accept a magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip; (iv) a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the pistol with the non-trigger hand without being burned; (v) a threaded barrel capable of accepting (a) a sound suppressor, (b) a flash suppressor, (c) a barrel extender, or (d) a forward handgrip; or (vi) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (v);
  4. A semi-automatic shotgun that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material that has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding, telescoping, or collapsible stock, (ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the shotgun, (iii) the ability to accept a detachable magazine, (iv) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds, or (v) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (iv); or
  5. A shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven rounds of the shortest ammunition for which it is chambered. An “assault firearm” does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2023.

This bill bans the most popular firearms, both pistols and rifles, that are currently made in America. While you would be able to keep the firearms you currently own, you would not be able to purchase one manufactured after July 1, 2023. As I said, this bill is going nowhere beyond the Senate. But if gun owners don’t vote their rights in future elections, this is our future in Virginia, and we can’t guarantee that the Supreme Court will bail us out of the mess we create.

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Biden Wants to Ban Modern Sporting Rifles But Avoids Facts

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on December 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Joe Biden said the quiet part out loud on Thanksgiving when he said “The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. Just sick. It has no socially redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.” The White House later walked back the comment to say Biden meant so-called “assault weapons”. This focus on the most popular rifle in America avoids a very important fact. Rifles of all kinds are rarely used in crime, and especially modern sporting rifles. Sure, when they are used in a mass shooting the media focuses like a laser beam on the firearm, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still used rarely.

But as an op-ed in the New York Post said over the weekend, “Biden’s focus on semiautomatic weapons is ignorance manifest“.

Hat tip to Gun Facts for the graphic.

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Will Biden Take Executive Action on Modern Sporting Rifles?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on November 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Last week, President Joe Biden called for banning all semi-automatic firearms.

Number two, the idea — the idea we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick.  It’s just sick.  It has no, no social redeeming value.  Zero.  None.  Not a single, solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.

Biden seems to think that the polls have shifted in his direction with the recent spate of shootings:

But with an eye toward positioning himself and his party for 2024, Biden believes public opinion has shifted in Democrats’ favor on certain key social issues, said the aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal strategy.

Today, Cam Edwards over at Bearingarms.com writes about how the White House won’t say if Biden will accede to the wishes of the gun ban lobby and ban modern sporting rifles:

Most of those guns purchased by responsible Americans are precisely the semi-automatic firearms that Biden believes should be illegal for the average citizen to own and possess, but if Congress won’t provide him with the votes needed to impose his ban his friends in the anti-gun movement are already suggesting another idea; banning them through an administrative order. 

I’m not really sure why Biden thinks the public is on his side on this one. Last week, a Gallup poll released shows a nine-point drop in support for stricter gun laws since the same survey was taken in June. It also showed a three-point increase in the number of Americans reporting they have a gun in the home. While a majority of respondents report supporting stricter gun laws and having no gun in their home, the gap none-the-less has shrunk significantly. Stephen Gutowski at The Reload wrote of the poll results that the rising trend of gun ownership combined with weakened support for more gun control could make passing new restrictions more difficult at the national and state levels.

Virginia’s General Assembly convenes in January. We will see what if any new legislative proposals come from the Democrats, which still control the State Senate. 2023 is also an election year with the entire assembly up for re-election.

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Gun Control Low on List of Voter Priorities According to New Poll

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Cam Edwards at Bearingarms.com shares a new poll that supposedly shows “wide support” for requiring background checks on all gun sales.  It’s part of this article where he asks a simple question related to so-called “universal” background checks.   These polls never seem to dig down beyond the surface and the generic “should all gun purchases require a background check”.  They never ask the question that Cam asked.

Do 84-percent of Americans think a person should go to federal prison if they transfer a firearm to their neighbor who’s afraid of her abusive ex showing up at her door? Do 84-percent of Americans think that it should be crime to sell a gun to your cousin without a background check, but legal for you to sell a gun to your aunt without one?

Most people support in the affirmative the generic question about background checks because they already know that most gun sales require a background check.  But, if these pollsters were to dig down into the issue and ask the question the way Cam does, you would probably get a much different answer. And, we need to remember, unlike the bill that passed the Virginia General Assembly last year that specifically said “sales”, the bills winding their way through congress use the term “transfer” which has a much broader meaning under federal law than the word “sales”.

There is other news in that poll though.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have a narrow advantage over their Republican counterparts on the topic, with 44 percent of voters trusting them over congressional GOP lawmakers on gun policy, while 38 percent trust Republicans more.

It is the narrowest split of trust on a number of issue they polled.  They break it down for us and we learn that the gun issue is way down on the list of priorities for those surveyed:

The move on Capitol Hill — which is not likely to move forward in the Senate as long as the chamber’s legislative filibuster remains intact — comes after Democrats advanced legislation to address the pandemic, a subject 2 in 3 voters believe Congress should prioritize. By comparison, just 28 percent of voters said gun policy should be a “top priority,” roughly the same share who said Congress should elevate the passage of a bill to reduce inequality or provide relief to Americans with student loan debt.

Make sure you are contacting your elected officials and let them know you oppose additional restrictions on your rights.

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Dave Workman on Why Biden’s Gun Control Won’t Work

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Gun rights advocate and writer Dave Workman laid out in an article posted last week at Ammoland five reasons why  Biden’s gun control proposal will fail to do what he claims they will do.

With the launch of their frontal assault on firearms rights via H.R. 8 and H.R. 127, Capitol Hill Democrats have made it clear they are not interested in facts or the “common sense” their gun control campaign perennially claims to represent, and instead provided all the justification necessary for a hard-hitting pro-rights ad campaign by a grassroots gun rights organization now heading into its second week.

Ammoland News did some homework and found five clear reasons—call them examples—why gun control fails and will always fail; the proof routinely ignored by gun prohibitionists whose ultimate goal, according to Second Amendment activists, has never been violent crime reduction but unilateral public disarmament.

The article then provides five examples of felons caught in possession of firearms, something that is illegal then says:

Each of these cases underscores why gun control is inherently and irreversibly doomed to failure, says the Second Amendment community. Criminals do not obey gun laws. They never have and never will.

We need every gun owner engaged to stop these bills.  Contact your representative today.

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We Need Every Gun Owner Involved in the Fight

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on March 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Millions of people became new gun owners last year.  Reports by the National Shooting Sports Foundation as well as others have reported that a large number of these new gun owners are minorities and women.  These new gun buyers need to add there voices to the over 100 million existing gun owners in the country when it comes to protecting our rights.  We need to welcome these new gun owners at our ranges and our clubs.  Last week, Bearingarms.com’s Cam Edwards spoke with National African American Gun Association Founder and president Phillip A. Smith:

As you might have guessed, Smith isn’t a big fan of the new gun control laws being proposed in Congress, including the universal background check bill that could be brought to the floor of the House as early as next week.

“I’m not excited about it,” Smith tells me. “I’ll say this, just so everyone knows who’s listening to me. In our organization and myself when I represent my organization, we don’t typically comment on politicians but we will adamantly and vigorously talk about policies like we’re doing today. And I think any time you have policies that are coming down the pipeline that, to me, are just reckless and they go after the wrong group of folks time and time again – it’s like the effort is at any turn or stop to have something there that’s going to make it difficult to get a firearm. That’s just the wrong mindset.”

You can hear the entire interview below.

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Even ACLU Says NY AG Overstepped in Calling for End to NRA

Posted in gun rights, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged , on August 31, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The ACLU’s Legal Director, David Cole, wrote in the Wall Street Journal last week that the NRA has a right to exist and, whether you agree with the NRA or not, we should all be concerned when a government official seeks to abolish an organization that speaks for millions of members.

Our democracy is premised on the right of association. The First Amendment protects not only the right to speak, but also to band together with others to advance one’s views. Making or resisting change in a democracy requires collective action, and a healthy democracy therefore demands a robust “civil society.” The right to associate can’t survive if officials can shut down organizations with which they disagree. The Supreme Court has notably invoked that right to protect union members, Communist Party adherents, the Boy Scouts and the NAACP.

And this isn’t the first time the ACLU has supported the NRA from a political attack:

That’s why two years ago, we supported the NRA’s lawsuit charging Gov. Cuomo with violating its First Amendment rights. Mr. Cuomo moved to dismiss the case, but a federal judge ruled against him, holding that if he targeted the NRA for its gun-promoting views, he violated its First Amendment rights.

And that’s why we believe Ms. James has also gone too far. Dissolution of a nonprofit is the most extreme remedy state regulators can seek. It has historically been reserved for organizations that are essentially false fronts for personal gain.

The ACLU is just the latest in organizations calling the New York Attorney General’s attack on the NRA a dangerous political game. The last time the ACLU came to the NRA’s defense it cost the ACLU in donations. It will likely do the same this time but the organization is showing that at least in this case, standing by the Constitution is more important than politics.

 

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Why Judge Gorsuch is a Great Pick to Fill Justice Scalia’s Seat on the Supreme Court

Posted in gun rights, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged , on February 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »

President Trump has kept his promise to appoint a judge to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court that occurred due to the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016.  He chose Judge Neil Gorsuch, who current sits on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and according to Independence Institute Research Director Dave Kopel, he has a good record on Second Amendment related cases.  From NRA America’s First Freedom:

“The Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own firearms and may not be infringed lightly.” So wrote U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch in United States v. Miguel Games-Perez. That case demonstrates why Judge Gorsuch is a worthy successor to Justice Antonin Scalia.

Yesterday, NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox appeared on NRATV to talk about the nomination.

And something that I don’t remember ever seeing, is the NRA sitting beside the President of the United States in a White House meeting.  Yesterday, Wayne LaPierre joined representatives from Concerned Women for America, American Values, Susan B Anthony List , National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), Chamber of Commerce, Americans for Tax Reform, Federalist Society, Leadership Institute, National Right to Life, and the Evangelical Advisory Council, to talk about advancing the nomination as fast as possible.

Gun owners should contact their U.S. Senator and urge them to confirm Judge Gorsuch.

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Tom Gresham: There is no Gun Control Movement

Posted in Uncategorized on December 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, Tom Gresham spoke with NRANews Cam and Company host Cam Edwards about what drove gun owners to the polls this year to cast a vote for Donald Trump.  Gresham is the host of “Gun Talk,” the only nationally syndicated radio talk show about firearms, the shooting sports and gun rights. He talked about the reasons why Americans voted to make Donald Trump the next president, saying they were sick of being ignored, mocked and called names – all because they don’t not agree with the left. The “deplorables,” as Hillary Clinton called them, live in small towns, are gun owners, go to church and work hard to pay their bills. Gresham described several people he knows who had not voted in the past three elections, but they voted this time. With the collapse of gun control as an electable issue, Tom explained that there is no gun control movement. There is just Michael Bloomberg and his money. The below clip originally aired on Cam and Company on 12/12/16.

 

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The Power of the NRA Lies in the Cause They Advocate

Posted in gun rights, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged , on December 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Philip Bump writes for the Washington Post’s The Fix.  In this piece from earlier today, Bump notes that all those tweets on Twitter (and I might add the front page of the New York Daily News)  that took GOP congressmen to task for offering condolences to the families who lost loved ones in the San Bernardino shooting were missing the point.  You see, the meme is that offering prayers was a hollow jester when they had the power to pass gun control had it not been for all the money they received from he NRA (even though it appears from what we know that no laws were broken in the acquisition of the firearms used).  Bump focused on ThinkProgress’s Igor Volsky’s tweets that listed the NRA contributions to various congressmen who tweeted prayers and noted that Volsky missed the real point.

Especially when the donor is contributing a tiny fraction of everything the candidate received. The power of the NRA lies in the cause they advocate. Gun rights has a strong base of support, and one that votes heavily Republican. The NRA didn’t need to give Goodlatte a dime, and his reaction to San Bernardino would likely have been the same.

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