Archive for the 'Gun Control' Category

This case has wider implications than just in Illinois. The SCOTUS is showing itself to be emphatic, insisting that its rulings be applied.

On May 1, Justice Amy Coney Barrett directed the State of Illinois and the City of Naperville to respond to the emergency application for injunction pending appellate review filed by the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR).  As I explained in “An Opening Judicial Salvo in Defense of Illinois’ New Rifle Ban,” the U.S. district court (N.D. Ill.) denied a motion for preliminary injunction against the State’s ban on semiautomatic rifles and standard-capacity magazines, greatly departing from  Supreme Court precedent on the Second Amendment.

While that denial was being appealed to the 7th Circuit, Judge Stephen McGlynn (S.D. Ill.) found that plaintiffs in another challenge were likely to succeed on the merits that the law violates the Second Amendment, and he issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement.  See my post. The 7th Circuit immediately granted the State’s motion for a stay against the injunction in a one-sentence order without giving the plaintiffs an opportunity to respond.

So now the challengers have filed amicus briefs supporting NAGR in the Supreme Court, and we await a decision there.

While granting the emergency application in an interlocutory appeal of this type would be unusual, there are compelling reasons to do so here, as perhaps explained best in the amicus brief filed by Paul Clement and Erin Murphy on behalf of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).  As they note, there were only six states with bans last year when New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen was decided, and now there are ten.  “Instead of treating Bruen as an occasion to reconsider existing restrictions on constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens, they have enacted new ‘assault weapon’ and/or ‘large-capacity magazine’ bans, with more still on the way.”  Quoting phrases from Bruen, they argue:

Rifles, pistols, and shotguns plainly “constitute bearable arms”—i.e., “instruments that facilitate armed self-defense,” …—no matter what kind of grip, stock, ammunition feeding device, or other features they may have. The right to keep and bear them is thus “presumptively protect[ed]” by the Constitution.  In breezily concluding that the firearms Illinois has banned are not even “Arms” covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment, the district court in this case inexplicably ignored the test that Bruen articulated, and instead simply declared that “[t]he text of the Second Amendment is limited to only certain arms.”

The particulars of the Illinois case and some further history are at the link.

Red Flag laws are gun control. There’s no way around that fact.

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” – 2 Corinthians 6:17

I have to bite my tongue here but will say, get out of the false church and touch not the unclean thing; “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” – 2 Corinthians 6:14

Brent Leatherwood is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Never ever forget this fact, dear Christian brothers and sisters; ethics is just something the wicked use to justify their sin and is the pinnacle of modern self-righteousness.

Leatherwood looks just as you’d expect, a pretty effeminate (which is sin) do-gooder in his own mind, yet breaking the covenants of God by multiples. And I’ll say it again; this law will not be used against sodomites who obviously are devoid of spirit and unhinged in their minds by the devil, but it will be used against you!

The head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm, who is a Covenant School parent, is urging the Tennessee General Assembly to back Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal for an extreme risk protective order law.

“The Covenant School tragedy was the worst school shooting in our state’s history,” Brent Leatherwood, president of the Nashville-based Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, wrote in a letter to Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and every member of the legislature. “I am asking that you take steps now to ensure no school in Tennessee ever has to endure our nightmare again.”

Leatherwood’s letter, an appeal from both his personal experience and on behalf of majority Southern Baptist sentiment, comes amid uncertainty about the success of Lee’s proposal to prevent people deemed a danger to themselves or others from accessing firearms.

Lawmakers are rushing this week to wrap up the legislative session, a tight timeline that makes debate on the legislation difficult.

“Other voices are saying there is too little time left in this legislative session to consider such a proposal. Little credence should be given to that,” said Leatherwood, former executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party.

Woe unto all who vote in support of this; may the wrath of God abide on them!

Eugene Volokh.

The case arose before Bruen, when New York required a showing of special need to get a license to carry a gun for self-defense. The petitioner had argued that she needed a gun because she and her husband would often carry substantial sums of cash for business, but the New York licensing authorities responded that she “failed to explain why her stated self-defense needs were not already adequately and independently addressed by her husband’s recent acquisition of an unrestricted concealed carry license.”

The New York intermediate appellate court rejected that logic (Matter of DiPerna-Gillen v. Ryba, decided Thursday in an opinion by Justice Stan Prizker, joined by Presiding Justice Elizabeth Garry and Justices Michael Lynch, Molly Reynolds Fitzgerald and Eddie McShan). The court’s main point was that, given the decision in Bruen, which came down while the appeal was pending, petitioner had a constitutionally protected right to carry, even without a showing of special need.

What a bunch of jerks.  They would force the husband to accompany the wife everywhere she went in order to obtain means of self defense, which might be a good idea at times, but comports more with Islamic culture than it does with Christianity.

This would be funny if it weren’t sad, and also a serious warning to free people. Forget for the moment that this resolution has no force of law, and this post isn’t about Red Flag laws necessarily.

On a nearly straight-line party vote, Knox County commissioners rejected a resolution supporting a “red flag” gun reform law backed by Gov. Bill Lee.

The governor has asked GOP lawmakers to pass the safety measure, which is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans and can help stop mass shootings like the one that killed three 9-year-olds and three adults in Nashville.

The Knox County resolution, which was drafted by local high school students on the new Junior Commission, urged lawmakers to pass a law that temporarily takes away guns from those who are deemed to be a threat. The resolution was sponsored by Courtney Durrett and Dasha Lundy, the commission’s two Democrats.

Larsen Jay was the only Republican to support it. Kyle Ward was absent.

Jay said the resolution was “a statement that at its core says we support our governor in his efforts to make this a better state.”

Rhonda Lee, explaining her vote against it, said gun rights are too important to weaken with any proposal to limit access to guns by mentally ill people.

West High School junior Caroline Scoonover told the commission during the meeting that the resolution she helped draft was intended to be a nonpartisan approach to stopping gun violence.

“This resolution is in no way, shape or form extreme,” she said. “We’re simply trying to protect ourselves with common sense solutions.”

Dain Shelton, a senior at Hardin Valley Academy, asked commissions to stand up for kids in the community who are terrified of school shootings.

“Technically we may be children, but I can assure you, we are not children,” Shelton said. “I wish we were. We’ve had our childhood stripped from us.”

I don’t want to say anything against this terribly ill-raised and misled student, but Dain Shelton’s parents should be ashamed of themselves. Hardin Valley Academy is populated by some of the most privileged people on earth. They, every parent, teacher, and student should be on their knees before the Christ of God, worshiping Him and giving Him all glory, praise, and honor for the absurd level of abundance of every resource of provision that even the people in the next county over could only dream of. This abundance includes layers of security and safety from parents, neighbors, and the government. Hardin Valley is one of the safest and most comfortable places on earth.

“Childhood stripped?” Seriously? Go work the lithium mines for your Teslas! I’m not classist; the people who have built the businesses and provided the jobs and homes are critical to this area, but listen to these children; they’ll turn on the productive in a heartbeat.

Other students echoed his statements, with Gabriela Sanchez Benitez adding, “This is not how it should be. We are not free. We are tied down by chains of fear.”

Irrational fear comes from a spirit of evil through the absence of Holy God (2 Timothy 1:7). “Tied down by chains of fear?” This rises to the level of AOC silliness.

What should bother the reader is the training these young people have received; that should make Americans fearful for the future. They have no concept of reality, truth, or the hard work it took to make Knox Country, and particularly Hardin Valley, prosperous and free. And despite all of Knox County’s problems and vanishing liberty every day, it’s still relatively free compared to much of America. Ungrateful to God, thankless to their forebears, whiny children of privilege! Pathetic.

They’re so ill-educated that the concept of those same laws being used against them is inconceivable to their feebly trained minds. Of course, purposefully retarding their ability in logic, reason, and critical thinking is all part of the communist program, even in East Tennessee.

Edit: look at this propaganda headline from Fox News. If you still watch and read them, you’re daft! “Tennessee governor defends Second Amendment in previewing special session on public safety, gun reform”

No Red Flag law! Tennessee already has a sufficient law for criminal threats.

On Instagram, Aero Precision posts this.

They also issued a statement of disagreement, of course, and intent to fight this in court.

This gun ‘toober predicts the end of Aero Precision.  I don’t think so.  Here is the law.  It doesn’t prevent Aero from continuing to manufacture rifles, just from distributing them within state.  Here is the relevant part.

The manufacture, importation, distribution, offer for sale, or sale of an assault weapon by a licensed firearms manufacturer for the purposes of sale to any branch of the armed forces of the United States or the state of Washington, or to any law enforcement agency for use by that agency or its employees for law enforcement purposes, or to a person who does not reside in this state;

That’s an exception to the law.  Having said that, I think it was a mistaken for Aero Precision to relocate and stay within the state.  They should have moved South a long time ago.

This is the case for now.  It’s already being challenged in federal court.  Judge Benitez has yet to issue his ruling in the state of California.  I’ve told you what I think will happen.  Judge Benitez will strike down any ban in California.  If a federal judge in Washington upholds the law, it will go to the Ninth Circuit to handle the split.  If the Ninth Circuit strikes it down, it’s finished.  If the Ninth Circuit upholds the law, it will go to the supreme court.

This isn’t over yet.  But it’s a loss for the good folks left in Washington.

Source.

Let’s face it: Many armed Americans are deathly — and irrationally — afraid of others. And so they have become a menace to the rest of us.

According to a 2021 Gallup Poll, as many as 88 percent of gun owners are apparently terrified of being harmed, since they say the guns are for self-defense.

His link is used to justify his assertion that gun owners are “apparently terrified of being harmed,” but the link doesn’t say anything of the sort.  The link is a rundown of how many weapons have been purchased for self defense.  He just inferred that last overly-emotional part.  Normally, good writers don’t do things like that.  I’d probably respond that gun owners are the least scared of all home owners, given that they have means of self defense.

Yet very, very few gun owners end up defending themselves and their families from the sort of random crime they fear. According to The Trace, fewer than 3 percent of gun owners ever use a weapon in self-defense, and apparently some of those involve misrepresentation of what actually happened in order to paint the shooter in a good light.

Of course, the media — especially, but certainly not only, the likes of Fox — have played a large role in convincing an element of our society that they are in constant mortal danger. It’s totally false, but if all you do all day is consume random horror stories, your grip on reality becomes distorted. That is one reason for the current insanity, and we in the media need to acknowledge that and fight against it.

And of course the GOP probably would not hold any significant power in this country if they did not psychologically terrorize their base.

That metric doesn’t include harm that didn’t obtain because of the very fact that the potential victim had a weapon.  But it doesn’t matter.  Would it make any difference if the value was in reality 0.00005%?  Does Mr. Russ Baker have health insurance?  If so, why?  Does he have life insurance?  If so, why?  Does he have fire insurance?  If so, why?

He’s got it all wrong on the GOP, whose hold on power in Washington, along with the democrats, constituting the uniparty, is the subject of loathing and hatred among most conservative voters who believe they are cowards and sellouts.  He imagines that conservatives are led by leaders who tell them what to think, sort of like collectivist voters.

Just to round out the most recent toll, we had a shooting in North Carolina. Some children were playing in the street when their basketball rolled into a man’s yard. When they tried to retrieve the ball, a 24-year-old man went into his house, got his gun and came out firing indiscriminately at various people, wounding some only slightly, but a father and his six-year-old daughter were seriously injured. The shooter ran away and is being sought. And two teenage cheerleaders were shot when one accidentally tried to open the door of the wrong car in a Texas parking lot.

With such horrific assaults, our entire society is endangered — as is our mental wellbeing.

The other day, I was speaking with a doctor — Black, as that seems to matter to gun owners, many of whom apparently have a statistically unrealistic fear of Black people coming to harm them — and she said to me, “I can’t believe that the only solution is to train our kids like they’re going to die — which causes anxiety and depression.” She mentioned the incalculable toll on upcoming generations, who are basically told to prepare for gun violence at any time.

The racial component is undeniable, although gun violence affects all races as both perpetrators and victims. In the Kansas City incident, the shooter was white, and the victim was Black. In upstate New York, both the shooter and the victims were white. In the Texas parking lot, the shooter was Hispanic, the victims, white. In North Carolina, the shooter was Black, the victims, white.

Meanwhile, one of our editors at WhoWhatWhy said he loves to swim but goes to the neighborhood pool with what he knows is a statistically irrational concern that it might be the next “cool” target. He wanted to write about the psychology of his fear of an unlikely event with catastrophic consequences, but is concerned that it might “inspire” someone to target a pool.

What?

That’s one oddball string of words.  The shooter in N.C. was black, shooting a white kid for retrieving a ball in his yard.  But this example leads into a yelling session how race matters mostly to white people, I think.  And then tells me that I should care about his doctor being black.  Why I should care about him or his doctor is quite beyond me.

I simply cannot parse the word salad well enough to offer intelligent commentary, especially on the last paragraph.  But I leave it to you to ask the question, “Was this writer drinking when he wrote this?”  This is some of the most stilted, horrible writing I’ve ever witnessed.

We all feel this mounting dread, yet the Republican Party keeps making it easier for people to buy deadly weaponry, and the Democratic Party and many gun reform advocates still propose only marginally ameliorative measures, like more effective registration and so forth.

How on earth is the republican party making it easier for people to buy deadly weaponry?  Tell me one thing they’ve done for the second amendment in the last forty years?  Is hearing protection like suppressors off the NFA?  Nope.  Have they been true to their calling and appointed only judges who honor the second amendment?  Nope.

I think what Mr. Baker probably should have meant is that the supreme court is increasingly siding with the founders in Heller, McDonald, Caetano and Bruen (I know, they waffled on a number of things, but they’re gradually coming around, and eventually we may rid ourselves of the “common use” test and replace it with outright respect for the 2A).  So Mr. Baker might have pointed the finger at the founders, knowing that the supreme court would strike down most or all of the gun control measures he wants to see passed.  Surely he isn’t stupid enough to believe that if Congress passes an AWB, it would stand when the supreme court hears it?  There are some 30 – 40 million ARs in use for lawful purposes.  Under Heller, if a firearm is in common use for lawful purposes, it cannot be banned.  Heller dealt with the keeping part of the RKBA, Bruen dealt with the bearing part of RKBA.  Full stop.  End of discussion.  I’d call 40 million common use.

Why is he looking to mankind as his savior anyway?  And the worst of the worst of the dregs of society at that, i.e., beltway politicians.  What sort of sad existence obtains in life when a man has to turn to other men as his savior?  What sort of dark clouds engulf a man who believes that a body of pit vipers, gargoyles and demons will save him?  From what does he need to be saved?  Has he given that question much thought?

If others won’t say it, I will: We do not need 400 million guns in our society — and there are very strong reasons to get rid of almost all of them. None will actually defend us against our military or other militaries. Guns in the hands of untrained, unvetted, potentially irresponsible users do much more harm than good. Period

[ … ]

Obviously, law enforcement, the US military, and members of those “well-regulated” militias would be exempted.

We could start with something like this: Civilians have three months to surrender (for generous buyback with full amnesty) every assault weapon (AR-15, AK-47, Kalashnikov, etc.) in their possession. After that, anyone convicted of possession receives a mandatory sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

So there you go.  Mr. Baker isn’t against guns.  He’s very much in favor of guns – just not in your hands.  He advocates that government have a monopoly on power.  But he ignores that in the twentieth century alone, mass shootings at the hands of the state have caused at least 170 millions deaths.  Or maybe he doesn’t really ignore it.  Maybe Mr. Baker is okay with mass deaths as long as it is all inflicted by agents of the state.  Perhaps he even prefers to see mass shootings as long as they are approved by the very people who stand to benefit from those shootings by the concentration of power in a single body of horrible people.

As to that little thing about “None will actually defend us against our military or other militaries,” that’s amusing.  Try telling that to the guys who fought and lost in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the last example where goat herders ran the most powerful country on earth out of their land – not once, but twice, once with the Soviet Union and then with the U.S.

He isn’t interested in the second amendment because he doesn’t see the constitution as a covenant between men, with blessings for obedience and curses for breakage.

He may find out soon enough though.

I assume Mr. Baker will be among that crowd that confiscates all of those ARs and AKs?  Have you volunteered to lead the stack into the first house, Russ?  Or, like a coward, are you volunteering others to do this dirty work for you?

Source.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats advanced seven of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees through committee on Thursday with Republican votes, shelving others that lack bipartisan backing with Sen. Dianne Feinstein absent.

The move by Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., marks a change in course after he had repeatedly delayed meetings since early March to advance a package of judges, lacking the decisive vote of Feinstein, D-Calif., who is out indefinitely on medical leave.

[ … ]

Democrats unanimously voted for all of them. They received varying degrees of Republican support, most notably from Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the ranking member.

“I hope Senator Feinstein returns quickly. I hope she recovers,” Graham said, adding that the committee can still operate without her. “Sometimes we just can’t agree, and that’s just part of life.”

Since they were Biden nominees, I’m absolutely certain the list included judges who would strip citizens of their RKBA.

Hey S.C. voters – remember that the next time Ms. Lindsey Graham trots out his AR-15 for people to look at during the next primary.

Source:

Tennessee has been wooing firearms industry manufacturing for years now. Several smaller operations are located here along with Baretta. Some of this bill can is attributed to direct lobbying efforts by a small group of vocal firearms advocates in Tennessee.

This might seem like a small win, but the pro-gun crowd should push for similar legislation in their own states. The controllers have openly stated a desire to destroy the firearms industry through civil liability.

Members of the Tennessee state Senate voted on Tuesday in favor of a bill that would protect gun and ammunition manufacturers and sellers from civil liability when their products are used to commit crimes.

The Republican-controlled Tennessee Senate passed HB 1189 by a vote of 19 to 9 on Tuesday, after the Republican-controlled House voted 71-24 in favor of the bill on March 6. The legislation now goes to Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for final passage.

The legislation states a firearms industry dealer, manufacturer, or seller cannot be held liable in a civil lawsuit in the state unless they accompanied a person in committing the underlying crime for which the lawsuit was brought or unless they sold a firearm product that was defective.

The law states that if a defective firearm product discharges in the course of a voluntary criminal offense, then that voluntary act must be considered the sole proximate cause of the property damage, injury, or death for which civil liability arises, thus excluding the firearm industry member from liability in that case.

In 2005, the U.S. Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which generally protects firearm industry members from civil liability over the criminal misuse of their products. Some states and localities have explored ways in which firearm industry members can be held liable outside the existing protections of the PLCAA.

California and New Jersey have passed legislation that allows the Attorney General to pursue civil action against firearms manufacturers. Wouldn’t it be nice if the right had the same disregard for all federal law that violates the Constitution (nullification) as the left does for the law of God?

[…]

Sen. Art Swann of Maryville was one of three Republicans who opposed the legislation providing added civil liability protections for the firearms industry.

This part is attention-grabbing. I wonder if the people of Maryville know they have a traitor in their midst; I suspect so. It’s an unusual vote; he’s been friendly to Tennessee business interests. I’m sure that as a result of this, he will now be avoiding some venues and refusing certain invitations for a visit. Controllers are always cowards. I have not met him. An aggravating factor is that Maryville has a very suitable and experienced manufacturing and light industry workforce for the firearms industry. Seeing this, I suspect no firearms companies would want to relocate there. Swann may be killing potential future jobs in his district.

Swann said “gun-makers have encouraged the environment we’ve got right now,” adding, “they’re accountable for it, and we need to hold them to it.”

Harrison Kass writing at 19FortyFive.

And when there’s a problem, sticking with the status quo is unlikely to solve the problem. Something needs to give. And while second amendment enthusiasts will argue that the solution to gun violence is more guns, I don’t find that argument compelling. And while liberals believe the solution to gun violence would be to get rid of all guns, that’s just simply never going to happen.

Banning assault rifles and high-capacity magazines seems like a reasonable accommodation to make. Sure, it would impede people’s recreation. And no, it wouldn’t do anything for the assault weapons and high-capacity magazines already in circulation.

But a ban would reduce the number of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in circulation increasingly over time (the longer the ban is in effect), and resultantly, over time, that would continue to reduce the likelihood of assault weapon/high-capacity mags use in a deadly shooting.

When there’s a problem, approaching its solution from the right world and life view is critical.  His world and life view is vapid and empty.  It has no solutions for anything.  Notice the lack of ideas, the desperation, the general malaise and the complete impotence to effect anything good.

The solution to wickedness is the justification freely offered by the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.  What Harrison proposes is to remove weapons from the hands of the very people who would be left unprotected against tyranny by the government.

How much damage could that do?  At least 170 million people dead at the hands of governments in the twentieth century alone according to Dave Kopel.  Stephen Halbrook also has some stern words for the controllers.

If Harrison doesn’t have any faith in God and His Holy Word, he certainly has it in mankind, evil as it is.  It must be an awful thing to have so much faith in something so wicked, deceitful and tumultuous as the heart of man.

By the way, 19FortyFive feigns militaria and other related articles and posts, but it’s a very liberal publication.  They no more care about you and your right to live peaceably and protected from your government and other criminals than they care about God’s laws.  They are not so dissimilar to CNAS with its globalist ideas, and Harrison is not so dissimilar to Andrew Exum with his support for controlling and overbearing government.  So it’s not surprising that Harrison wants some solution, any solution, to a problem he and his ilk cannot even begin to address, i.e., evil.  That they even try would be amusing if it wasn’t so sad and pathetic.

And believe me, the so-called conservatives have them aplenty.