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Posts Tagged ‘gun rights’

Governor Younkin Ends Talk of Gun Bans, For Now

Posted in gun rights, tagged , , , , , , , on April 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Last week, Governor Glenn Youngkin ended the gun ban lobby’s dream of a gun ban mecca in Virginia, at least for now. The Democrats in the General Assembly and the gun ban lobby introduced a flurry of gun control bills from waiting periods to buy a gun to outright bans of the most popular firearms in the nation. Last Tuesday, Younkin vetoed 30 of the bills and amended six. The Democrats did not react well to the news. House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D.) said she is “ashamed of the Governor’s vetoes.” House Democratic Caucus Chair Kathy Tran said the vetoes “threaten the safety and prosperity of our communities across the commonwealth.” And not to be out done House Speaker Don Scott turned to what has become basic talking points when talking about Republicans by referenceing “MAGA Republicans” and claimed they “refused to act and protect our children, and Virginians will hold them accountable in November.”

The Reload talked to Bearingarms.com‘s Cam Edwards for this week’s Reload Podcast. Among the things that Cam noted:

He argued the dynamics at play during this year’s legislative session were pretty surprising.

Not only did we not know what Youngkin would do with the dozens of gun bills that made it to his desk before he formally announced his vetoes, but the way those proposals got through the legislature was surprising too. Every Democrat in the state house held together to vote for every single proposal, even the more aggressive bans and restrictions.

Cam said that was a fascinating development given the large grassroots backlash the party faced after its last attempt to enact sweeping gun reforms in 2020. He also argued the dynamic that has developed in the state’s gun politics should be very concerning for gun-rights advocates.

I totally agree with Cam on that last point. I was in committee meetings in 2020 where the hearing rooms were packed to overflowing with gun owners. This year it was the NRA lobbist, a couple of VCDL folks, and the Virginia Shooting Sports Association (VSSA) representative who testified virtually by ZOOM. Every now and then there would be less than a handful of gun owners but nothing like 2020. Gun owners in Virginia need to wake up because Democrats have circled the wagons around Abigail Spanberger for Governor in 2025 and she is not going to be easy to beat.

Take a listen to the full podcast and if you aren’t a subscriber to The Reload, I highly recommend it because there is a lot of member only content.

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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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Democratic Candidates for Governor No Friend of Gun Owners

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , , , , on May 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Apparently, gone are the days when Democrat candidates for Governor in Virginia try to appeal to gun owners to get elected.  Remember when then candidate Mark Warner had outdoor enthusiast Sherry Crumley and strategist Mudcat Sanders help him build “Sportsmen for Warner”?  He successfully ran away from his past of strong support for three-day waiting periods for the purchase of firearms, opposition to shall issue concealed carry, support for the Clinton gun ban, and successfully kept the NRA from openly endorsing his Republican opponent.  He went on to sign 17 substantive pro-rights bills while Governor, had no vetoes, and earned an “A” rating from the NRA in his 2008 U.S. Senate Race.

Even Tim Kaine, who used taxpayer money to send buses of supporters to the 2000 “Million Mom March” as Mayor of Richmond, tried to reach out to gun owners and reassure them he was not supportive of new gun control.  His term for Governor was not as friendly to gun owners as Warner’s as he vetoed several good bills that gun owners would have to wait for Governor Bob McDonnell to sign.

Terry McAuliffe, began the move away from appealing to gun owners, though seemed to think touting his purchase of a shotgun early in the 2013 campaign meant he supported firearm freedom.

This year, Lt. Governor Ralph Northam and former Congressman Tom Perriello are falling all over themselves to be the most anti-rights candidate.  Perriello has completely flip flopped on his position related to firearm freedom where he was endorsed by the NRA in 2010, only to now call them a  “nut-job extremist organization.”  UVA political scientist Larry Sabato told NBC News recently that Northam may actually be to the left of Perriello on guns and other issues.

This election is vitally important to Virginia gun owners.  The individual elected this November will sign into law the next legislative redistricting maps.  If the next Governor is anti-rights, you can be sure he will demand a redistricting map that will help elect more candidates that are supportive of his position on key issues.  Those maps will be law for 10 years.  Virginia gun owners must get involved now to elect pro-rights candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and the House of Delegates.  In the case of the Governor’s race, that most assuredly will not be a Democrat.

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Gun Owners’ Number One Goal – Defeat Hillary Clinton

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , , , , , on April 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »

If it wasn’t clear before, it should be perfectly clear now that Hillary Clinton has gun owners in her sights.  She has made gun control the top focus of her campaign of late.  This from The Hill:

“I am here to tell you I will use every single minute of every day, if I’m fortunate to be your president, looking for ways to save lives so we can change the gun culture,” Clinton said to victims of the Newtown massacre in Hartford on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

And this from the Connecticut Journal Inquirer:

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged Thursday to take on the powerful National Rifle Association lobby should she be the first woman elected president in November.

All of this at the same time that Associated Press article referenced in the Hill also noted a new Quinnipiac University Poll shows that gun control ranks very low with the electorate, even among Democrats.

That won’t stop Clinton though.  This is not the year for gun owners to sit out the election because they don’t like their choice of candidates.  Gun writer and outdoor personality Tom Gresham put it very well during his Gun Talk Radio program on April 17th.

Gun owners need to do everything possible to make sure Hillary Clinton is not elected in November.

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Good Breakdown of New Rasmussen Poll on Gun Ownership

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , on April 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The Truth About Guns blog has a good breakdown of a new Rasmussen poll on gun ownership.  One of the interesting take aways is that whites are slightly less likely than blacks and other minority Americans to report the purchase of a gun in the past year. According to the TTAG post:

That’s a huge surprise; an important reflection of anecdotal evidence suggesting that minorities are taking to guns in record numbers.

There is also some not so good news in the poll – 44% of respondents think it is too easy to buy a gun in this country with only 36% saying it is about right.  That response should give those of us who consider impediments to purchasing a firearm an unconstitutional infringement on our right to keep and bear arms.  Overall though there is good news in the poll. Check out the entire post for more details.

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CSGV Calls for Emily Miller’s Employer to Fire Her

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , , , , on January 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Not happy that reporter Emily Miller, a DC resident, is associated with the pro-rights movement, Josh Horwitz sent an email earlier today linking to this site calling on Coalition to Stop Gun Violence supporters to write WTTG (Emily’s employer) and ask that they fire her for not being “objective.”

Miller was not exaggerating. She has spent most of her career openly lobbying against the District’s gun laws. Miller is the author of “Emily Gets Her Gun…But Obama Wants to Take Yours,” a book in which she rails against D.C.’s democratically-enacted licensing and registration laws, which have been deemed constitutional by a federal court on two separate occasions.4 She has also personally testified before the D.C. Council’s Judiciary Committee in favor of looser gun laws.5 Finally, some have accused Miller of fabricating stories on WTTG to further her pro-gun agenda.6

This is the behavior of an activist and pundit, not a journalist. Given her record, D.C. residents can’t trust that Miller will provide objective coverage on matters of concern to their city. If WTTG is at all concerned with journalistic integrity, it is time for them part ways with her.

The gun ban lobby does not like the fact that Emily has been effective in getting the pro-rights side of the issue in the media.  She has stood with gun owners, first as an editorial writer for the Washington Times and now as a investigative reporter for WTTG.  Please drop an email to WTTG and let them know how much you appreciate Emily Miller’s reporting.

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7th District Candidates Address Gun Control, Other Issues at Goochland Forum

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , , , , , , on October 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The Richmond Times Dispatch has this story on Thursday’s 7th District Congressional candidate forum sponsored by the Goochland Chamber of Commerce.  Republican Dave Brat, Democrat Jack Trammell and Libertarian James Carr were all in attendance.  The RTD noted it is the only time the three candidates have been, or will be, on stage together this election and they covered a number of issues, including gun control.

Brat, Carr and Trammell were also in unison about their support of Second Amendment rights, but shared different ideas about the federal government’s role in enforcing these rights.

“I don’t think it’s the government’s job to manage rights; rights are endowed by our creator and it’s the government’s role to protect them,” Brat said.

Trammell, a gun owner and hunter, said background checks still play an appropriate role in the way the Second Amendment is managed, noting that mental health is an underlying issue.

Carr said he is against additional regulations of gun ownership. “The issue is not instituting more background checks but enforcing the laws that we have now,” he said.

It’s interesting that the RTD noted Trammell said he supported the Second Amendment yet he did not return his NRA Candidate Questionnaire as he has a “?” as a rating for this election.NRAPVF2014

Dave Brat is the NRA-PVF endorsed candidate and deserves the support of all gun owners in the 7th District.

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Kroger Tells Bloomberg to Mind His Own Business

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , , , , , on August 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Moms Demand Action would begin pressuring Kroger to ban firearms in their stores.

Yesterday, Townhall.com reported that Kroger has basically told Bloomberg’s astro-turf group to go pound sand:

So far, Kroger seems to being doing right by its customers. They have yet to cave to Bloomy’s intimidation tactics. Kroger has done exactly what a non-partisan business should do: They told a bunch of activist liberals that if guns are that big of a problem, the appropriate action should be taken with the city council, state legislature, or federal lawmakers. Not their local purveyor of milk and produce.

Good for Kroger.

 

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Anti-Gun Georgia Legislator Hosting Firearm Training

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The article is here.  Your reaction to the headline of the linked article and the text of the article might lead you to believe this is a pro-rights legislator who is offering a great service to his constituents.  You have to listen to the audio of the radio interview to find out he is the typical anti-rights legislator spewing misleading statistics like, “if you have a gun in your home you are more likely to injure yourself or a loved one than an intruder.”

Having said that, he is at least providing the opportunity for folks interested in, or who may have just purchased a firearm, to get some basic training.

 

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Interesting Article on Smart Guns

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , , , , , on February 19, 2014| 2 Comments »

The Washington Post has this story on so called “Smart Guns.” The interesting point in the story is that one of the gun control group that you would think would be in favor of this , the Violence Policy Center, seems to be adamently opposed to the idea – not because it won’t work, but because it might work so well it will encourage more people to become gun owners:

Policy Center officials argue that the new technology is unlikely to stem gun homicides, which often occur between people who know each other, and that personalization will have no effect on the more than 300 million guns in circulation. The organization also questions whether the technology would deter the nearly 350,000 incidents of firearm theft per year, though some of the proposed technologies are add-ons that can be installed on existing guns.

And perhaps most important, the Violence Policy Center worries that smart guns will increase the number of firearm owners, because marketing that touts safety could sway those previously opposed to guns to make their first purchase.

Can’t have anything that creates more gun owners can we.

I remain skeptical.  My reason can best be summed up in this quote from the story:

The chief concern for potential buyers is reliability, with 44 percent of those polled by the National Shooting Sports Foundation saying the technology would not be reliable at all. A commenter in an online Glock forum explained the concern this way: “They can’t even make a cellphone that works reliably when you need it, and some dumbass thinks he can make a reliable techno-gadget gun that is supposed to safeguard you in dire circumstances?”

 

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