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Colion Noir: Gun Control is a Scape Goat for Politicians Who Don’t Want to Address the Real Problems

July 6, 2016 by vagunrights

NRANews Commentator Colion Noir lays out why politicians turn to gun control rather than tackling the real hard issues facing crime plagued inner cities.

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Simplistic Questions Explain Gun Poll Results

July 1, 2016 by vagunrights

It’s no wonder recent polls show strong support for banning people on the so-called “Terrorist Watch List” from being able to buy firearms are so high.  Pollster’s ask questions that most anyone would respond to with a yes answer.  Take for example the just released  Quinnipiac University poll”

52. As you may know, individuals on the U.S. government’s terrorist watch list are not allowed to fly on planes. Would you support or oppose banning those on the U.S. government’s terrorist watch list from purchasing guns?

                                                               COLLEGE DEG
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Yes    No
 
Support              86%    85%    91%    83%    82%    89%    86%    86%
Oppose               12     12      8     15     15      9     11     13
DK/NA                 2      2      1      3      3      2      3      1
 
                     AGE IN YRS..............    WHITE.....
                     18-34  35-49  50-64  65+    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Support              87%    84%    88%    86%    83%    89%    86%    88%    90%
Oppose               11     13     10     12     15      9     12      8      9
DK/NA                 2      2      2      2      2      2      2      4      1
 
                     Gun    DENSITY............
                     HsHld  Urban  Suburb Rural
 
Support              83%    84%    87%    87%
Oppose               14     15      9     12
DK/NA                 2      1      4      2

No where in the poll is there an explanation of exactly what the list is or how someone gets on or off of the list.  It is doubtful the average American knows this is a “secret” government list and the government won’t tell the public how a name is added or how to get it removed.  It is also doubtful the average American knows in 2014 a federal judge ruled that the government’s method for allowing the public to challenge placement on the no-fly list was “wholly ineffective” and unconstitutional.

This isn’t the only poll that uses simplistic questions to get the desired result.  It is all too clear that polls are more a tool to drive the news than they are to determine the mood of the public.

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NRA Takes Message to Sunday Morning News Shows

June 20, 2016 by vagunrights

On Sunday, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation to discuss the Obama administration’s failure to protect Americans from radical Islamic terror attacks. He portrayed the administration’s concentration on gun control as a distraction from the very real threats that our nation faces today.

Also NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox appeared on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, explaining where the responsibility lies for Americans’ vulnerability to terror attacks and firing back against false accusations toward the NRA. He affirmed the organization’s absolute stance against arming suspected terrorists and argued against the effectiveness of so-called “assault weapons” bans.

 

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When Was the Last Time You Had to Show ID to Buy Starbucks?

June 17, 2016 by vagunrights

Apparently Starbucks works differently in some places than they do in Richmond.  That’s the only thing I can take from this CBS This Morning piece.

Did you catch gun control advocate and UCLA Law School professor Adam Winkler saying “in most places you can go in to a gun store and buy an AR-15 much like you can a Starbucks and buy a coffee.”  Really?  The CBS producer bought the firearm after showing the required two forms of ID plus she provided a passport.  Have you ever done that in a Starbucks or any other coffee shop?

Mark Anthony Wright at National Review Online offered some great thoughts on this non-story:

Take a minute to think about the demands of the gun-control Left. Would universal, instant background checks have prevented this purchase? The purchaser passed a background check. How about preventing those on the terrorism watch list from purchasing guns? While I can’t be sure, I assume CBS’s producer was not on the terrorism watch list. How about making sure the mentally ill, those involved in domestic abuse, or minors cannot purchase guns? What about cracking down on “Internet sales” or expanding the definition of “federally licensed firearm dealers” to include most private sellers? What about closing the “gun-show loophole”? It doesn’t appear that any of those reforms would have prevented this purchase either.
CBS’s producer fulfilled the requirements under the law to purchase the weapon — if CBS wants to take the editorial position that all gun purchases should face a mandatory 48- or 72-hour waiting period, that is their prerogative. But as it stands, this is a non-story. What would have made it a story? Perhaps if a CBS producer with a criminal record, or under some other current legal prohibition from purchasing a firearm, had managed to buy the rifle in 38 minutes. Now that would be a scandal.

And they wonder why fewer and fewer people watch network news programs.

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9th Circuit Rules There is No Second Amendment Right to Concealed Carry

June 10, 2016 by vagunrights

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals finally ruled in the Peruta Case.  Originally, a three judge panel ruled that Sheriffs did not have the authority to arbitrarily refuse to grant permits to most citizens who applied for them, invalidating the “good reason” excuse that Sheriffs were using.  San Diego appealed to the full court.  That appeal was heard about a year ago.  The en banc court ruled  yesterday that there is no Second Amendment right for members of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public.” Andrew Langer president of the Institute for Liberty, an organization dedicated to promoting freedom and individual rights was on NRANews Cam and Company yesterday and discussed the ruling with host Cam Edwards.  He said the court deliberately bypassed California’s current infringement of Second Amendment rights. The dissent describes the decision as an “elaborate straw man argument” with regard to the “good cause” requirement. Langer says that the manner in which the decision was made is politically cynical. He questions whether the judges began writing the decision following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The video below is about 25 minutes but is worth the time to watch.

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Bloomberg Buys All Available Ad Time Between Sept. and Election Day in Las Vegas

June 7, 2016 by vagunrights

Bloomberg is pushing a background check initiative in Nevada this election cycle and Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned reported last week that the Bloomberg funded group Nevadans for Background Checks has just made sure our side has no way to get our message out over the airwaves between September and Election Day when people will be focusing on the election:

This effectively prevents our side from being heard on Nevada’s Question 1. Bloomberg is using his billions to silence your voices. Our voices. We’re only going to win this with grassroots, folks. We simply do not have the money to play this game at Bloomberg’s level. We have to beat him with people on the ground. If we don’t, he’s going to come back again, and again, and again, and keep playing this game until we lose half a dozen more states like California, New York, and New Jersey are lost.

Bloomberg tried to buy the Virginia State Senate last year and failed, winning only one of the races in which he spent millions.  Virginia is not an initiative state like Nevada but that doesn’t mean he won’t find other ways to get what he wants here.  With California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsome pushing anti-rights initiatives in that state and Bloomberg pushing initiatives in Nevada and Arizona, what starts out west eventually ends up in Virginia.  Now is the time to volunteer your time to elect pro-gun candidates.  That is the only way we will win.

 

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It’s Time for the Good Guys to Step Forward

June 1, 2016 by vagunrights

To protect our rights, we need every gun owner engaged in this year’s election.

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Would Hillary Topple Obama’s Record Gun Sales?

May 24, 2016 by vagunrights

The threat of a Hillary Clinton Presidency was at the top of every speech given during the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits (NRAAM) this past weekend.  The Alaska Dispatch News posted this story from Bloomberg News reporter Michael C. Bender that quoted Richard Feldman, a former NRA employee and former Executive Director of the American Shooting Sports Council (ASSC), predicting that Clinton could spur even greater gun sales than the record setting sales during Barack Obama’s presidency:

“Barack Obama is single handily responsible for the sales of more guns and ammo than any human being in the history of the United States,” said Richard Feldman, a former NRA political organizer. “Clinton could do better.”

It should be noted that Feldman is the media’s go-to guy for quotes because he is a former NRA employee and has less than flattering things to say about his former employer.  Having said that, he is probably right.  Her rhetoric about the need to “change the gun culture” is already leading some to add to their collection as noted in the article:

For Chuck Raymond, who works in Kentucky’s oil fields, Clinton’s rhetoric is enough to keep adding to his gun collection. The 69-year-old doubled the size of his arsenal to about six during Obama’s presidency, with the new purchases fueled by fear that the Democratic president may successfully restrict access to firearms.

Now, with Clinton on the verge of becoming the party’s nominee, he’s buying again. “I’ve wanted an M16, one from the Vietnam era, for a long time,” Raymond said. “She encouraged me.”

Every gun owner needs to get involved in this election.  As was made clear during the NRAAM this past weekend, the Second Amendment is on the ballot this year.  Go to NRAILA.org and sign up to volunteer this election.

 

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A Must Read for Gun Owners on Election 2016

May 11, 2016 by vagunrights

This blog has been very clear that the #1 job of all gun owners is to stop Hillary Clinton from being elected President.  If that means voting for a candidate for whom you only agree with on the issue of guns, then that is what you have to do.  And that doesn’t mean voting for a third party candidate.  Folks, the way our system is set up, a third party isn’t going to be elected president and likely won’t get enough electoral votes to through the election into the House of Representatives.  Earlier this week, outdoor television personality Michael Bane posted a piece on his blog that is a must read for all gun owners.  Here is a sample:

You know where I stand — unconditionally against the presumptive Democratic nominee. I have said that I am willing to vote for the “Best of Show” from the Westminster Kennel Club as long as he or she has an (R) after her name. That’s because I vote guns, and the choice seems pretty simple to me. Let me list the ways:

• The Democratic nominee has called for “Australian style” gun confiscation if elected. Let me repeat that; The Democratic nominee is in favor of door-to-door confiscation of legally owned firearms.

• The Democratic nominee has stated her specific opposition the Second Amendment and the Supreme Court rulings in Heller and McDonald that interpreted the Second Amendment as an individual right. There is no doubt that should she be elected and quickly fills the currently empty seat, the Bloomberg organization, with it’s unlimited funds, with push a 2A case to challenge to the Supreme Court ASAP.

• Because of the recent death of Justice Scalia, the incoming President will be able to immediately either shift or retain the 5-4 majority that passed both Heller and McDonald. Given the ages of several other Justices, the incoming President will likely have the power to change the Court for at least a generation.

• The Democratic nominee has stated she will spend “every day” of her Presidency thinking of ways to destroy the “gun culture,” e.g., “us.”

• The Democratic nominee unconditionally favors banning “assault weapons” and other non-specifiedd “guns.” Any new assault weapons ban would likely be modeled on the bill proposed after Sandy Hook, which is far more restrictive and far more specific than the Bill Clinton AWB. That is, it would ban guns by name, as opposed to by some vague set of specifications, e.g. wording such as “…this legislation bans the possession all guns derived from the AR-15/M-4/AR-10 platform, or using any version, caliber or modification of the AR-15 lower and/or upper receiver and any other firearm using a operating system derived from a current military platform such as the AK-47, the M1A/M-14, etc., including but not limited to, the Ruger SR556, the Ruger AR556, the Ruger SR762, the Ruger SR22, the Ruger Mini-14…and on and on.

• The Democratic nominee opposes concealed, open and Constitution carry and will support Federal legislation to curtail or eliminate these Fundamental rights.

• The Democratic nominee supports universal background checks that would completely eliminate the private sale of firearms, even to family members. Under the Bloomberg Model bill adopted in Colorado and Washington and the only bill that has been mentioned as a model, the definition of the word “transfer,” long defined by BATFE as “transfer of ownership,” the standard BATFE still uses, would be changed to “transfer of possession,” e.g. the physical act of handing a gun to anyone is defined as a “transfer” and as such must go through an Federally licensed dealer. Loaning a gun to a competition shooter whose gun has gone down or loaning a rifle to your friend for hunting season would be banned by Federal law. As originally drafted by Bloomberg’s antigun attorneys, the law was so broad-reaching that, technical, it would be illegal, a felony, to allow someone to “house-sit” in your home if you had weapons locked in a safe, even if the house-sitter had no knowledge of the combination nor any other way to access your personal firearms.

• The Democratic nominee has called for he elimination of the law protecting firearms manufacturers from frivolous lawsuits and has in fact called for people to be able to sue gun manufacturers for criminals’ use of stolen guns.

And he continues with even more. Read the entire piece because it is well worth the time.  Then take a minute and sign up for NRA-ILA Frontlines to volunteer to help defeat Clinton in the General Election.

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Poll Shows Hillary Barking Up Wrong Tree on PLCAA

April 27, 2016 by vagunrights

Democrat Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton as been merciless in her attacks on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).  That is the law passed in 2004 that protects firearms manufacturers and retailers from attempts by the gun ban lobby to overwhelm the firearms industry with frivolous lawsuits for actions committed by third parties.  She has attacked her opponent Bernie Sanders for voting for the law and said the firearms industry is “…the only business in America that is wholly protected from any kind of liability. They can sell a gun to someone they know they shouldn’t, and they won’t be sued. There will be no consequences” during an Iowa campaign stop on October 7, 2015.    Politifact rated that charge “False” but that hasn’t stopped her from repeating it over and over again.

A new poll commissioned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation indicates that despite this line of attack, Clinton has been unsuccessful in getting the public to agree that the law needs to be repealed.

Some 72 percent of those surveyed agree that the PLCAA “should be kept and we should punish the criminals who commit these acts not the law-abiding manufacturers and retailers of lawful products which get misused” instead of “this law should be repealed because the current protection enables manufacturers and retailers to sell guns to people who shouldn’t have them, because they know they cannot be sued and don’t face any consequences” (26 percent). Only 4 percent were not sure.

A majority of voters in all regions of the country say the statement about keeping PLCAA more closely reflects their opinion (Midwest: 70 percent, Northeast: 64 percent, South: 73 percent, West: 75 percent). This holds true even for a majority of those who cast a vote for President Obama in the last election (53 percent) and for a majority of non-gun owners (56 percent).

Referencing the poll, Forbes Magazine’s Frank Miniter believes her stance will backfire much as Al Gore’s did in 2000 when he made gun control a major part of his presidential campaign.

After coming out this strongly against a basic American freedom, Hillary will have a hard time pivoting to a less extreme position on gun rights. It will be especially hard for her given that the U.S. Supreme Court’s balance is so obviously at stake in this November’s election.

I don’t know that I completely agree with Miniter because there is one big difference between this year and 2000, Clinton’s opposition can’t get their act together.  The poll is however an indication that despite their best attempts, the gun ban lobby has been unsuccessful in moving the needle back to a time when most Americans were more disposed to support gun control than gun rights.  But as Sebastian suggests in the link referenced above, if Hillary wins, all of that may not make a difference because a couple or three Supreme Court nominations and there will effectively be no Second Amendment.

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