Tag: 2nd amendment

Virginia Governor Gets Bad News on Background Check Bill

Since the Virginia General Assembly approved a revised version of the bill last week, there’s been a whole lot of confusion about Virginia’s HB 1525, which raises the age to purchase handguns from 18 to 21 and requires the Virginia State Police to resume conducting background checks on private sales. Governor Abigail Spanberger’s amended version contained language that declared the act an emergency, which would allow it to take effect immediately, but the legislature did not approve the changes with a 4/5ths vote, which is supposedly what’s required in order for that “emergency” provision to be adopted. 

The Virginia legislative website lists the effective date for HB 1525 as July 1, but the Virginia State Police put out a notice on Tuesday that declared the law is already in effect. That was the good news for Spanberger. 

The bad news? The VSP won’t be resuming background checks on private sales of firearms anytime soon… at least not without a court order. 

Gun Owners of America and VCDL had threatened to seek contempt charges against the head of the VSP if they abided by Spanberger’s edict, and it looks like the VSP didn’t see that as an idle threat. 

Keep in mind that there are three parts to HB 1525; a ban on those under 18 from possessing handguns and “assault firearms” except under limited circumstances, the ban on handgun and “assault firearm” sales to adults under the age of 21, and the edict to the VSP to start enforcing the enjoined universal background check law. The only portion of the law that the state police say will not be enforced is the section of law regarding background checks on private sales of firearms, and as far as the agency is concerned it’s now against the law for a 20-year-old to purchase an AR-15 in Virginia, even through a private sale. 

Of course, as of July 1 it will be illegal for any adult over the age of 21 to purchase an AR-15 too. The sale ban wasn’t the primary motivation for HB 1525. It was the restoration of the state’s universal background check law, and the VSP just said that isn’t happening until a judge tells the agency it can resume enforcement. 

So what will that take? The case cited by VSP has concluded, with then-Attorney General Jason Miyares declining to appeal the decision. Current AG Jay Jones attempted to intervene before he took office, but the Virginia Court of Appeals shut down that effort fairly quickly. 

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Tim Walz’s Daughter Just As Dumb As Dad on Gun Control

Gov. Tim Walz was in a position to become vice president. I think I speak for most of us when I say that I’m glad he’s still governor of Minnesota. It’s not because he’s been stellar at his job there, mind you, as the Minneapolis day care scandal, and Walz’s reaction to it, amply illustrates that he sucks at it. It’s because it means he and Kamala Harris aren’t in charge in Washington.

Both were terrible on gun issues, despite Walz trying to portray himself as a macho man who could out shoot any of us. In fact, when he tried to act big and bad, he just embarassed himself.

When it comes to guns, though, it seems the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree.

Hope Walz, the daughter of disgraced Minnesota governor and failed vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, called for gun control this week in the aftermath of another attempted assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.

“Gun control doesn’t just save Democrats’ lives. It also saves Republican lives,” she said in a TikTok video posted this week, apparently attempting to position herself as a leftist taking moral high ground.

“You’d think we’d be at a point now where we could call for some common sense legislation, but I don’t know. I don’t know,” she said sarcastically. “Also here to say that political violence is never ok. Duh. That’s the difference between us and them. It’s never ok.”

Walz continued, “But there’s something we can do about it: common sense gun legislation.”

She ultimately called on her audience to “do something about that for everybody’s sake.”

“For everybody’s sake, yeah. Yeah. Happy Tuesday,” she added. “Feeling a little anxious today, but we’re going to get through it.”

Notably, this is the same “anxious” Walz who described Trump’s previous crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital as nothing more than “bitch baby, wussy, scaredy cat behavior.”

Fascinating, ain’t it?

Look, I agree that political violence isn’t OK. I’ll point out, though, that the left hasn’t exactly been showing any belief in that position. How many have been upset that Thomas Crooks missed, or that this guy didn’t get a shot at the president? How many celebrated the assassinations of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and Charlie Kirk?

Yeah, don’t do the “That’s the difference between us and them” bit. It’s not going to fly.

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Trump DOJ, ATF Unleash Massive Second Amendment Overhaul — 34 New Reforms Slash Red Tape for Gun Owners, Dealers and Small Businesses

In a HUGE victory for the Second Amendment and law-abiding Americans everywhere, the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives announced this week they are unleashing 34 notices of final and proposed rulemaking to slash the mountain of Biden-era red tape strangling gun owners and Federal Firearms Licensees.

The move follows a top-to-bottom review of ATF regulations ordered by President Trump’s Executive Order 14206, “Protecting Second Amendment Rights.”

After years of the Biden ATF acting as an unaccountable attack dog against honest gun shops and citizens, the agency is finally being forced to listen to industry experts, FFLs, and everyday Americans who just want to exercise their God-given constitutional rights without the federal government breathing down their necks.

This is the first wave of reforms. More are coming. The Trump administration is keeping its promise to dismantle the deep-state gun-control apparatus piece by piece.

“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” said U.S. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This Department of Justice is ending the weaponization of federal authority against law-abiding gun owners. We will continue to vigorously defend their rights as the Constitution demands.”

Below are the summary of the 34 proposed and final regulatory changes affecting firearms, explosives, importation, federal firearms licensees (FFLs), and ATF procedures.

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Blanche Shuts Down CBS’s Margaret Brennan After She Tries to Turn the WHCD Shooting Into a Gun Control Debate

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation with host Margaret Brennan to discuss yet another attempted assassination against President Trump and his administration officials.

Margaret Brennan tried to get Blanche in a debate about gun control after a left-wing would-be assassin stormed the lobby of the Washington Hilton and opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The shooter, Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, traveled to DC by train. Margaret Brennan tried to get Blanche into a debate about gun control.

Allen sent his family a manifesto parroting Democrat-media talking points and expressing his hatred for “rapist, traitor” Trump.

Margaret Brennan wanted to make the attempted assassination by a left-wing lunatic about gun control.

“Here in the District of Columbia, open carry is not permitted. You just said he traveled from California across the country by train,” Brennan said.

“At this point, are you thinking at the federal level of changing security protocols in any way to, for example, match on trains what you are expected to go through when you fly, when you do have to declare a weapon when you cross state lines?” she added.

Blanche did not take the bait.

“Look, this isn’t about, in my mind, changing the law or making the laws more restrictive around possession of firearms,” Blanche said.

“It appears he purchased the firearms in the past couple of years. We don’t know how the firearms ended up in his possession in DC,” Blanche added.

“We can make some assumptions based on what I said of how he got to DC, but I don’t think the narrative here is about changing laws or making our laws more restrictive,” he said.

“This is about law enforcement who are doing their jobs and a suspect who tried to do something and failed miserably,” Blanche said.

Brennan still wanted to take the conversation back to gun control.

“Well, I’m not talking about changing the law in terms of possession of a firearm,” she said.

“I’m asking about crossing state lines with that firearm and arriving in the capital,” she added.

“Well, look, you are talking about — if we’re asking the question, that’s talking about changing the laws,” Blanche said.

“And I don’t think that that’s something we should be focused on right now in any way, shape or form,” he said.

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Judge Overturns Firearms Prohibition on James O’Keefe After West Palm Beach Police Confiscate His Guns

A judge on Friday overturned the firearms prohibition on James O’Keefe after West Palm Beach Police confiscated his guns.

Last month James was served with a restraining order while he was livestreaming at his West Palm Beach, Florida, headquarters on Tuesday.

The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Deputy served James with a domestic violence restraining order.

The domestic violence restraining order was from Matthew Tyrmand, a former Project Veritas board member.

“Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department just served me with a domestic violence restraining order from Matthew Tyrmand. The former board member from Project Veritas who said he wants to murder me,” James O’Keefe said.

“Despite admitting multiple times on hidden camera wanting me dead, Matthew Tyrmand filed a restraining order against ME in Miami Dade County,” O’Keefe said.

“Saying such things as: “I would kill him [O’Keefe]. Because he is one of the most evil people I’ve ever known.,”” he said.

“He even shot up my book with rifle bullets through my heart on the cover. The audacity of evil has no bounds,” O’Keefe said.

James O’Keefe previously honey-trapped Matthew Tyrmand at a restaurant.

During the encounter in Miami Beach that was recorded by camera, Tyrmand ‘admitted’ to being an FBI-Southern District of New York (SDNY) informant.

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Connecticut House Passes Controversial Gun Control Bill

Glocks are the most popular handguns in the country. They’re preferred by law enforcement, and a lot of people expected them to beat out the Sig P320 to become the new military sidearm. That didn’t happen, but they’re all over the place.

However, a lot of states are trying to ban them, including Connecticut, and not because of anything Glock has done.

Oh no, you see, the problem isn’t that Glock did anything wrong, but that a third party developed something, different third parties make and/or sell them, and so Glock is somehow responsible for all of that.

I’m talking about the so-called Glock switch, or auto sear, full-auto switch, or whatever you want to call it.

And the House in Connecticut just passed a bill that would ban these popular handguns.

A controversial gun bill has passed the House.

It includes a ban on a pistol that can be converted to fire more than 1,000 rounds per minute, converting it into a fully automatic weapon.

However, some people argue most gun owners are not using it that way.

The pistol is a Glock.

It is not the gun itself that is the problem. It is a small switch that when installed can turn the gun into a fully automatic weapon.

Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Judiciary Committee chair, wants to ban the sale of the Glock style switches. They are going after the manufacturer to change the design so these switches cannot be used.

“We in Connecticut have shown over the last 15 years that we have been smart on crime, tough on guns. What that has done has cut our prison population in half, and also cut violent crime rate in half,” Stafstrom said.

This would only affect the sale of new guns starting Oct. 1. Anyone who already has one would be grandfathered in and allowed to keep it.

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West Palm Police CONFISCATE ALL of James O’Keefe’s Firearms in Shocking Escalation

The war on the First Amendment has just turned into an all-out assault on the Second.

Legendary investigative journalist James O’Keefe announced on Thursday night that police stormed his O’Keefe Media Group office and seized EVERY SINGLE ONE of his firearms.

“The police just came to my office and confiscated all my firearms. Just happened,” O’Keefe posted on X.

This is the direct result of a Miami-Dade family court “domestic violence stalking” temporary restraining order pushed by none other than Matthew Tyrmand, a former Project Veritas board member.

Earlier this month, James was served with a restraining order while livestreaming from his West Palm Beach, Florida, headquarters on Tuesday.

“Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department just served me with a domestic violence restraining order from Matthew Tyrmand. The former board member from Project Veritas who said he wants to murder me,” James O’Keefe said.

“Despite admitting multiple times on hidden camera wanting me dead, Matthew Tyrmand filed a restraining order against ME in Miami Dade County,” O’Keefe said.

“Saying such things as: “I would kill him [O’Keefe]. Because he is one of the most evil people I’ve ever known,” he said.

“He even shot up my book with rifle bullets through my heart on the cover. The audacity of evil has no bounds,” O’Keefe said.

It can be recalled that the Project Veritas board conducted a coup and removed founder James O’Keefe as its Chairman in February 2023.

This was after James turned Project Veritas into a multi-million-dollar company through one of the most successful undercover operations in history.

Since 2023, James has been fighting to gain control over his Project Veritas. In the meantime, James started a new business, O’Keefe Media Group, and it has quickly grown into another successful media venture.

Since 2023, James has been fighting to gain control over his Project Veritas. In the meantime, James started a new business, O’Keefe Media Group, and it has quickly grown into another successful media venture.

Then, in February, James O’Keefe honey-trapped Matthew Tyrmand at a restaurant.

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Minneapolis Man’s Conviction Really Proof Gun Control Is Useless

Gun control advocates insist on arguing that gun control works. They go to great pains to “prove” it works, too, which means garbage studies, ridiculous claims, and correlation lacking causation except when it works against them.

One of my all-time favorite arguments was one where someone tried arguing that the NFA was proof that gun control works because there are so few crimes carried out with machine guns since it passed. Never mind that it wasn’t sold to the public as gun control; it was proof. Especially with the 1986 ban preventing new weapons from being registered.

In fairness, it wasn’t as easy to offer a rebuttal as some might like to think, because crimes with NFA weapons were pretty low, and this was after the full-auto drive-bys of the 1990s. It wasn’t common.

Now, it was clear that wasn’t the case, but it was harder to argue against than a lot of other anti-gun claims.

But these days, it’s not difficult at all to show just how idiotic the whole thing is, especially now. I mean, if the NFA worked as that guy claimed, then how did this guy get in a position to be convicted in the first place?

A federal jury in the District of Minnesota convicted a Minnesota man today of possessing a machine gun created by attaching an illegal machine gun conversion device to a semi-automatic firearm.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Amiir Mawlid Ali, 19, of Minneapolis, was arrested after officers found a machine gun in his possession during a routine traffic stop as he was on the way to a high school graduation. Mr. Ali tried to flee the scene during the traffic stop but officers apprehended him before he could get away. The firearm was equipped with a machine gun conversion device and an extended magazine, which was loaded with over 30 rounds of ammunition. A firearm expert testified at trial that the machine gun possessed by Ali test fired 15 bullets in 2 seconds.

“This defendant possessed an extremely dangerous weapon – a machine gun created by the application of a device known as a switch that converts a legal firearm to an illegal one,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Illegal weapons like this are unduly dangerous and offer nothing legitimate in a law abiding society. The Criminal Division will continue to prosecute illegal firearms offenses like this one to keep communities safe.”

“The verdict announced today makes clear that possession of a firearm modified to function as a machine gun will not be tolerated,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson of the FBI Minneapolis Field Office. “The FBI is proud of our work on this case, and we thank our Local, State and Federal law enforcement partners for their assistance. Together we will work to stop those who put innocent lives in our community at risk.”

The rise of the 3D printer has done something that cannot be undone. It has made it so people can make things for themselves, even if the authorities don’t approve.

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Gun Control Activist Calling on Fellow Travelers to Say Quiet Part Out Loud

We all know it’s gun control, even if they use phrases like “gun safety” or “gun violence prevention.” We know because their solutions are always about restricting the right to keep and bear arms. Always.

Oh, they might offer some kind of education, but even that generally boils down to, “You’re too incompetent to be trusted with a gun, so you really shouldn’t get one, and if you do, the only way to be safe with it is to make it useless for self-defense, so here’s how.”

It’s stupid.

But Po Murray, co-founder and chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, thinks it’s time to take the euphemisms and toss them.

In the years that followed, I embraced the language many in our movement adopted. I spoke about “gun safety” and “gun violence prevention” because we were told these terms would resonate more broadly, reduce polarization, and help us reach people who might otherwise shut down when they heard “gun control”. That strategy had value. It opened doors and helped grow the movement, but it did not change the fundamental political reality we are up against, and it has not been enough to meet the scale of this crisis. I strongly believed in that approach, and for many years, I used that language intentionally. I even castigated my husband for using “gun control” during the first year of my advocacy journey.

But as I reflect on where we are today, I no longer believe this is a choice between one set of words or another. I believe we need all of them, and we need to use them more intentionally.

At the same time, we need to be clear about what this work is ultimately about. It is about freedom. Not abstract freedom, but the freedom to live our daily lives without fear. The freedom to send our children to school, to gather in our communities, to worship, to work, and to simply exist without the constant threat of gun violence. When that fear shapes how we move through the world, our freedoms are no longer fully ours.

Of course, me being disarmed would mean I have to live in fear, which never seems to factor into their equations. It seems their fears are the only ones that matter. Strange, isn’t it?

I’m also trying to figure out how gun rights are “abstract freedom,” but freedom from someone that you’re probably never going to experience anyway isn’t abstract.

Anyway, I get that Murray wants to be safe. She even talks a bit about the benefits of “gun safety” and “gun violence prevention,” then she gets to the money shot, the one where it’s clear what this is all about, and it’s about how she doesn’t want gun control activists to keep the quiet part quiet.

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You’ll Roll Your Eyes When You Find Out What New York Democrats Want to Ban Next

Democratic lawmakers in New York are championing an innovative new piece of legislation that would protect residents by banning BB guns.

You read that right. Democrats think preventing people from using BB guns and other imitation firearms will somehow keep people safe.

New York Senate Bill S9212 was introduced in February, and it would amend the state’s General Business Law to expand regulations around airguns and other imitation weapons. It updates the legal definition of “imitation weapon” to include air rifles and pellet guns. Under the updated language, “Imitation weapon” refers to any device or object, “including an air rifle, pellet gun, or ‘B-B’ gun,” made of plastic, wood, metal or any other material which can be perceived as a firearm. 

The measure would also impose more severe restrictions on who can purchase certain types of air guns. It prohibits companies from selling these products to anyone under 18. Currently, one has to be at least 16 to purchase these products. 

The bill also toughens enforcement by increasing the financial penalty for violators. Anyone who breaks this law “shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each violation,” an increase from the previous cap of $500.

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