Tag: 2nd amendment

Handgun Carry Permits Transform a Right Into a Privilege

As of last week, 24 states have decided to let law-abiding adults carry handguns in public without a license. That policy, known as “constitutional carry,” strikes critics as self-evidently reckless, while supporters think it improves public safety.

Both sides in the long-running debate about the practical impact of reducing legal barriers to public handgun possession can cite studies to support their position. But beyond that empirical question is a moral and constitutional issue that may render it moot: If people have a fundamental right to armed self-defense, should they need the government’s permission to exercise it?

Because the proliferation of constitutional carry laws is a relatively recent development, research on its consequences is nascent. But there is a substantial, decidedly mixed body of research on an earlier shift: from “may issue” laws, which give government officials broad discretion to grant or deny applications for carry permits, and “shall issue” laws, which give licensing authorities little or no discretion as long as applicants meet a short list of objective requirements.

Only nine states still have “may issue” laws, one of which (New York’s) is the focus of a case that the Supreme Court will decide this term. The rest either do not require permits or make it relatively easy to obtain them.

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Florida State Rep’s Aide Caught Tossing Stack of Newly Delivered Constitutional Carry Petitions Into Trashcan

Moments after delivering a stack of petitions to a Florida state congressman’s office, the people who gathered them returned to find the congressman’s aide had tossed them into a trashcan.

On Tuesday, Feb. 22, members from Gun Owners of America (GOA), the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC), Capitol City Young Republicans (CCYR), the Republican Hispanic Assembly of Florida (RHAFL), and Florida Gun Rights (FLGR) held an impromptu rally at the Capitol Building in Tallahassee, Florida, in support of House Bill 103, the constitutional carry bill currently stalled in the Florida House. During the rally, they collected over 100 petitions asking state Rep. Chuck Brannan to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. When the rally concluded, some of the rally attendees went to Brannan’s office to personally deliver the petitions, never expecting that the results of their day-long effort would wind up in the trashcan within 30 minutes.

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Unconstitutional? CA bill would permit citizens to enforce weapons ban, sue gunmakers

In an attempt to skirt the U.S. Constitution and challenge the Supreme Court, a new bill in California would allow private citizens to go after gun makers in the same way Texas lets them target abortion providers.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed Friday letting private citizens in his state sue gun makers to stop them from selling assault weapons, comparing the bill to one in Texas that lets its residents sue abortion providers to stop the procedures.

At a news conference in Del Mar, Newsom said he thought the Texas law was wrong and that the Supreme Court’s decision in December to let it stay in effect while it goes through appeal was “absurd” and “outrageous”:

“But they opened up the door. They set the tone, tenor, the rules. And either we can be on the defense complaining about it or we can play by those rules. We are going to play by those rules.

“We’ll see how principled the U.S. Supreme Court is.”

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You Can Build Your Own Rifle

One of my mother’s uncles had a laconic response to a proposed gun ban in long-ago New Jersey. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll build our own.” His comment came back to me after my wife gifted our son (and me) a jig for completing an unfinished AR-15 lower receiver. Like my great uncle, we built our own.

Making personal firearms is legal under federal law, if that matters to you, although local rules vary. Finishing “80 percent” receivers is a popular way to take advantage of that leeway, since the roughed-out blocks of polymer or aluminum—shaped like the part of the AR-15 rifle that contains the hammer, safety, and trigger, but solid where those parts should fit—can be purchased without the paperwork required for buying a firearm. It’s a modern take on my great uncle’s hobby, eased by jigs that guide drill bits and end mills for finishing the project.

My wife gave us the 80% Arms Easy Jig, one of several competing products. Having done this just once, I can’t tell you which is best, but the Easy Jig got the job done, and it includes clear instructions to complement the online video.

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135 Republicans Vote With Democrats To Advance ‘Red Flag’ Gun Confiscation Bill As Part Of NDAA

This morning the United States House of Representatives voted to advance legislation that will allow police to confiscate firearms of individuals believed to be a threat to themselves or others, known as Red Flag Laws, that became highly controversial during the Trump administration due to fears they would be abused. The anti-Second Amendment bill, which soared through the U.S. House and will now head to the Senate, had the bipartisan support of 135 Republican representatives.

While many of those who voted alongside Democrats are not surprising to many, others portray themselves as America First candidates who seek to realize President Donald Trump’s agenda. Among these are Reps. Matt Gaetz, Madison Cawthorn, Elise Stefanik, Devin Nunes, Ronny Jackson, President Trump’s former White House doctor, and Greg Pence, the brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, as well as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Other Republicans who voted for the Red Flag Law gun confiscation bill include many of President Trump’s opponents, including those who voted for impeachment. Among these are Reps. Herrera-Beutler, Dan Newhouse, Fred Upton, Peter Meijer, John Katko, Dave Valado, Adam Kinzinger, and Liz Cheney.

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“Ghost Guns”: The Government Desperately Wants to Ban 3D Printed Guns

HR 4225 was introduced to the House Committee on the Judiciary on June 29 of this year by Representative Ted Deutsch (D-FL). A few short days later, an identical bill, S.2319, was introduced by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) in the Senate. 

Officially, S.2319 is referred to as the 3D Printed Gun Safety Act of 2021.

They’re ready to take gun control to a whole new level with this.

But you may know it as its mainstream media coined term: The Ghost Gun Ban

According to the US government, the stated intention of S.2319 is “to amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the distribution of 3D printer plans for the printing of firearms, and for other purposes.” After the bill was introduced, 27 Senators throughout the US – all Democrat (with the exception of stated Independent, Bernie Sanders) – jumped on board to sign it.

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Pennsylvania Democrats Push Legislation to Require Photo ID to Buy Ammo

Pennsylvania Democrats are pushing legislation requiring a photo ID to purchase firearm ammunition.

These are the same radicals who argue voter ID is racist.

The Epoch Times reported:

A bill requiring photo identification to purchase firearm ammunition in Pennsylvania is intended to keep loaded guns out of the hands of minors, according to its sponsor, Democratic state Rep. Brian Kirkland.

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Democrat Illinois Gov. Signs Bill Criminalizing Private Gun Sales

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed legislation Monday that makes it a crime to sell a gun privately without having the buyer pass a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports Gov. Pritzker described private gun sales as “deadly loophole” as he signed the legislation.

He added, “Prior to this change people with dangerous histories who shouldn’t possess a weapon — and the Illinois State Police denies firearm licenses to thousands of these individuals a year — could avoid detection through a private sale. That’s a deadly loophole, and in Illinois, we are closing that down for good.”

The legislation signed by Pritzker will expand retail point-of-sale background checks to include private points-of-sale, too. This expansion will criminalize an individual who sells a 5-shot revolver to a lifelong neighbor, unless that neighbor first undergoes an FBI-conducted NICS check.

On August 30, 2015, Breitbart News pointed to a University of Chicago Crime Lab report showing that inmates locked up for gun crimes avoid getting their firearms from sources that require background checks.  And the Chicago-Tribune noted that Crime Lab co-director Harold Pollack said “some of the pathways [regarding guns] people are concerned about don’t seem so dominant.”

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