Archive for the 'Gun Control' Category

‘Long guns’ removed from legislation, setting up showdown with House

Of course, 18-year-olds have the right to carry a firearm, but we are most interested in the open carry of Long Guns for all Tennesseans.

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The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to drop the permitless gun-carry age to 18 from 21, aligning Tennessee with a pending court order.

The panel endorsed the legislation by Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, on a 7-2 vote after amending the measure to exclude “long guns.” Removal of rifles from the legislation puts it in conflict with the House version of the bill and could force a compromise.

Note that two of the senators voted to violate the rights of 18 to 20-year-olds even in the face of a recent civil rights lawsuit that states folks in this age range have a civil right to go armed in Tennessee.

Stevens, an attorney, argued that the right to bear arms is not granted by the government.

“It’s something we’re born with as Americans, and it’s to be preserved. It’s for self-defense. That’s not a right we’re given, it’s a right we have, we’re given it by God alone,” Stevens said. “We have to protect life, and that’s consistent. It’s our number one duty as legislators.”

The bill passed along party lines with Democratic Sen. London Lamar contending that 18-year-olds shouldn’t be given the right to carry weapons, especially without a state permit.

The other Democrat isn’t named?

“We are killing people in our community by expanding access to guns. Homicide rates in our state are increasing,” said Lamar, D-Memphis. “We are leading the nation at killing folks and we are passing irresponsible legislation that allows 18-year-olds to have access to guns when they can’t even drink ’til they’re 21.”

Blood in the *checks notes* community! Also, “we” are killing people.

Firearms Policy Coalition Inc. of California sued the state in April 2021 when the legislature passed the permitless carry law, arguing it was unconstitutional because it didn’t apply to the 18-to-20 age group. The law also allows active-duty military and those who’ve been discharged to carry, even if they’re under 21.

Any firearms bill that comes out of House and Senate committees usually means it gets a floor vote. The good news is that if the bill gets a floor vote, it’ll automatically pass. Here’s the “Inside Baseball;” in Tennessee; this indicates that the Republican supermajority, including the Governor, supports it. We pray the House does the right thing and demands that Long Guns be included in the final version. The length of a gun has no bearing on our civil rights!

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Florida gun rights activists will have to settle for, at most, permitless carry this Legislative Session.

Maybe so (via David Codrea).

“In passing Senate Bill 41, today was a great victory for the Second Amendment. GRNC wishes to thank Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, as well as sponsors and “main movers” of the bill including Sens. Danny Britt; Warren Daniel; and Jim Perry; and Reps. Destin Hall; Jay Adams; Hugh Blackwell; Allen Chesser; Kyle Hall; Bobby Hanig; Kelly Hastings; Neal Jackson; Keith Kidwell; Jeff, McNeely; Ben Moss; Mark Pless; Jason Saine; Carson Smith; plus Democrats who stood courageously: Marvin Lucas, Michael Wray, and Shelly Willingham, and finally the many others whose co-sponsorship and votes who made the victory possible. GRNC particularly thanks our members and supporters, whose thousands of emails and phone calls made this victory inevitable. We are confident that we will over-ride the inevitable veto by anti-freedom Governor Roy Cooper. Very soon, we will release more details of the vicious floor fight waged by Democrats to stop the bill, and the well-managed efforts Republican leadership used to stop it.”

Here’s another report.

And veto it [s]he will.  Roy Cooper (to whom I customarily refer to as “Goober Cooper”) is this administration’s boy toy.  After all, what would it look like to follow in Biden’s footsteps, only to get clocked in the head with repeal of permits for pistol purchases?

If you’ll recall, we’ve followed this for a while now, and while it was always going to pass, there was a question whether it could pass with a veto-proof majority.  According to Paul Valone, we’ve got a veto-proof majority.  So there, goober.  I’m glad to see the end of this ridiculous scheme.

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The number of shootings, gun murders and suicides using firearms is rising across the country.

Mass shootings are commonplace in the U.S. and although they get most of the attention, they don’t happen nearly as often as a shooting on the street or in a home. Philadelphia and other large cities are setting records for gun deaths but here in Central Pennsylvania, not a week goes by that we don’t hear of a shooting nearby.

No one has been able to identify any one reason why gun violence is increasing – other than the availability of guns.

The “one reason” for “gun violence” is the gun. Apparently, they’ve never heard of sin but ascribe voodoo-like powers to inanimate objects. The New Religion truly is an irrational scattershot of bazaar beliefs and dogmas disconnected from reality.

So when you deny sin and the reality of the state of man’s soul before God, naturally, you find a fake religionist who ascribes to the same worldview of blaming objects for the actions of men.

A new group — the Saving Lives: Ending Gun Violence Committee — is led by the religious community, in particular Pennsylvania’s Episcopal Diocese,  is calling for tougher gun laws.

On The Spark Tuesday, The Rev. Jennifer Mattson, Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Lancaster and Chair of the committee outlined the laws the group is advocating for,”Limiting purchases to one handgun a month to make it harder for illegal handgun trafficking to occur, an extreme risk protection order, which would be a temporary judicial removal of (guns)... Prohibition on the sales of assault weapons and large capacity ammunition style magazines, which, by the way, are the weapons most typically used for mass shootings, and then a prohibition on the sale and the possession of ghost guns. So these are the parts of guns that are kits that can be available that people can then put together their own gun that wouldn’t have identifying markers or information, which can make it more difficult actually, for law enforcement to solve crimes.”

The article goes on to explain that a piece of parchment grants rights to us, again, devoid of the knowledge and understanding of God’s existence, let alone a rational and healthy fear of the Almighty as Creator and Lawgiver. Read the rest of the drivel if you want to.

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According to the White House some of the changes that the executive order will make include expanding background checks by expanding the statutory definition of a firearms dealer. It will also require Attorney General Merrick Garland to prevent former federally licensed dealers, who have had their licenses revoked or surrendered, from engaging in the business of firearms.

The attorney general will also be required to release the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) records from inspections of dealers that were in violation of firearms laws.

The order will require the secretary of transportation to work with the Department of Justice to “reduce the loss or theft of firearms during shipment” by engaging with carriers and shippers.

The White House said that the gun industry will be held “accountable” by providing “more information regarding federally licensed firearms dealers who are violating the law.”

The order will require law enforcement agencies to issue “rigorous requirements regarding NIBIN data submission and use of this tool.” The National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) allows law enforcement to match fired casings to the guns from which they were fired. This makes it easier for law enforcement officials to connect multiple crimes and catch shooters.

[ … ]

Biden is also directing his cabinet to encourage “the effective use” of the new orders by partnering with law enforcement, health care providers, educators, and other community leaders.

[ … ]

The order will also close the “boyfriend loophole” which had allowed spousal domestic abusers to have their gun rights taken away but not unmarried ones.

There are several perfidious things here.  I’ve highlighted the first item.  What this means, as best as I can tell, is that a single violation means that the FFL has to turn over records of sales, which undoubtedly will go into the development of a registry.

He’s going to make transportation of firearms and ammunition even more difficult and costly than it is now.

Finally, be careful who you buddy up with.  Your firearms collection will depend upon it.

A comment was posted on this article here at TCJ by BAP45: “Great stuff but I’m surprised you linked inrange.”

I didn’t author the article, my co-writer did.  However, I suspect he simply copied the entirety of the linked article (the part he lifted out) for perspective and context.  It’s fine.

Apparently, the video was done by someone named “Karl.”  I have never watched InRange TV, don’t know who Karl is, and had no idea why anyone would bring this up.

So I did a little digging.  Apparently, there’s a lot of water over the dam on this guy, as well as online fights between him and folks at ARFCOM.

This thread is gruesome.  Karl is apparently a socialist, perhaps a member of ANTIFA, defends exposing children to “drag queens,” and according to the thread there is a video of him admitting to being a priest in a satanic “church.”

Gross.

I had no idea and am not familiar with these people at all.  I don’t have the time necessary to fisk everything some guys do during the day (I have a day job), and I certainly don’t have time to fisk everything we link.

But everything that guy stands for is diametrically opposed to what I stand for, and vice versa.  I am a Christian, and Jesus is the Lord of Lords.  I defend liberty and firearms ownership not because I want to see little children exposed to drag queens, but because I don’t want that.  I want a godly society and liberty from tyranny.  I am a Christian libertarian.  Karl sounds like a jerk and an awful man.  I put him in the same category as gun controllers, regardless of what he claims.  Being made in God’s image is the only reason we have right to liberty and self defense.

Having said that, I don’t think his video was particularly useful or informative.  I think the NGSW is the wrong weapon for the future, and I’ve already said what I think the best option would have been: a barrel and magazine swap and change over to the 6mm ARC.

I won’t be proven wrong about this.

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Visa and Mastercard paused their decision to start categorizing purchases at gun shops, a significant win for conservative groups and Second Amendment advocates who felt that tracking gun shop purchases would inadvertently discriminate against legal firearms purchases.

The decision is, at the same time, also a defeat for gun control groups. There had been hope that categorizing credit and debit card purchases would allow authorities to potentially see red flags — like significant ammunition purchases — before a mass shooting could happen.

After Visa and Mastercard announced their plans to implement a separate merchant category code for gun shop purchases, the payment networks got significant pushback from the gun lobby as well as conservative politicians. A group of 24 GOP state attorneys general wrote a letter to the payment networks threatening legal action against Visa and Mastercard if they moved forward with their plan.

There are also bills pending in several state legislatures that would ban the tracking of purchases at gun shops, which would have made it even more difficult for Visa and Mastercard to implement the categorization.

Washington Examiner (via MSN) is also reporting on this story, along with Bloomberg.

Oh, I suppose this isn’t a win for us and loss for the controllers.  I suspect it’s a strategic retreat.  They are retreating for some period of time.  The controllers never sleep and won’t let up their efforts.

Given the Fascist nature of the coupling of large corporations with the FedGov, I suspect we’ll see attempted action at the federal level to push this forward.  They’re just handing the football off to a different runner.

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A Missouri law banning local police from enforcing federal gun laws is unconstitutional and void, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes ruled the 2021 law is preempted by the federal government under the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause.

“At best, this statute causes confusion among state law enforcement officials who are deputized for federal task force operations, and at worst, is unconstitutional on its face,” Wimes wrote.

Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey in a statement said he will appeal the ruling.

“As Attorney General, I will protect the Constitution, which includes defending Missourians’ fundamental right to bear arms,” Bailey said. “We are prepared to defend this statute to the highest court, and we anticipate a better result at the Eighth Circuit.”

The Missouri law had subjected law enforcement agencies with officers who knowingly enforced federal gun laws without equivalent state laws to a fine of $50,000 per violating officer.

Federal laws without similar Missouri laws include statutes covering weapons registration and tracking, and possession of firearms by some domestic violence offenders.

Well then.  I expect we’ll see all city, county and state LEOs enforcing immigration laws and arresting illegals now, right?

Oh, wait.

Consider the irony.  States like NY, NJ, California and Illinois get to infringe upon rights outlined in the 2A despite what the Bruen decision said, but when states don’t have these corresponding laws to the FedGov, they have to enforce them anyway.

It’s almost like the scales are always tilted toward infringement, yes?

Gun Owners of America has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the ATF concerning the pistol brace rule.  The motion can be found in its entirety here.  The motion concludes as follows.

The fact that the Final Rule technically presents a (forced) choice does not absolve it of its unconstitutional sins. As the Fifth Circuit observed in BST Holdings v. OSHA, “the loss of constitutional freedoms ‘for even minimal periods of time … unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.’” 17 F.4th 604, 618 (5th Cir. 2021) (burden on liberty interests posed by vaccination mandate was irreparable harm) (quoting Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 373 (1976)). The vaccination mandate in BST Holdings “threaten[ed] to substantially burden the liberty interests of reluctant individual recipients put to a choice between their job(s) and their jab(s).” Id. Here, the Final Rule imposes a similar choice, forcing individuals to choose between destroying their property or prosecution.

When the government is a party, the balance-of-equities and public-interest factors merge. See Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 435 (2009); Texas v. United States, 809 F.3d 134, 187 (5th Cir. 2016) (same). A court therefore must weigh whether “the threatened injury outweighs any harm that may result from the injunction to the non-movant” and whether “the injunction will not undermine the public interest.” Valley v. Rapides Parish Sch. Bd., 118 F.3d 1047, 1051, 1056 (5th Cir. 1997). There is no harm to ATF from pausing enforcement of the Final Rule and maintaining the status quo. The Final Rule claims to “enhance[] public safety,” 88 Fed. Reg. at 6481, yet ATF is able to point to only two handgun braces (out of millions) that have been criminally misused, see 88 Fed. Reg. at 6495. Even then, there is no evidence that those crimes could not have been committed using a different firearm. Weighing against this are the very real and ongoing irreparable harms to Plaintiffs discussed above. Indeed, the public is served when the law is followed, and “there is generally no public interest in the perpetuation of unlawful agency action.” Wages & White Lion Invs., LLC, v. U.S. Food & Drug Admin., 16 F.4th 528, 560 (5th Cir. 2021) (citation omitted). The balance of equities and public interest weigh heavily in favor of an injunction.

GOA and GOF have members and supporters nationwide. Exhibit 13 at ¶ 6. The geographic scope of interests presented, as well as the complications inherent to a piecemeal implementation or injunction of the Final Rule, which impacts criminal prosecutions and fundamental rights, support this Court granting nationwide relief.

For the foregoing reasons, this Court should preliminarily enjoin Defendants from enforcing the Final Rule.

Our friend Stephen Stamboulieh is one of the attorneys in this case.

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Lawmakers are poised to let Floridians carry guns, without the need for a concealed weapons permit. In a strange crossfire, though, the pro-gun bill is drawing heat from both sides of the battle over access to firearms.

So-called ‘constitutional’ carry advocates are angry because they want people allowed to openly display weapons, a step not allowed in the legislation. Supporters of more gun limits call it crazy to give more untrained Floridians the opportunity to wield guns.

But the delicately crafted ‘permitless’ compromise has the support of the Florida Sheriffs Association and other law enforcement groups, who balk at open carry. A question hovering: Will DeSantis sign a bill that doesn’t satisfy Second Amendment ideologues?

I’ve written on how this so-called “constitutional carry” bill is a farce, a phantom put forward by workers of magic and flim-flam artists.  I’ve also written DeSantis to tell him that no one will be happy with this outcome.

The progs will hate him for it, of course.  But this doesn’t appease those who want their liberty recognized by law.

No one wins.  It means nothing.  It’s worthless.

Will DeSantis sign it?