I have no doubt at some point this shoe will drop, but it would appear our Divider-in-Cheif is preparing some more executive orders on gun control. This is kind of like news that Hillary Clinton is, in fact, anti-gun, which, of course, she is. Not even a decade ago, Democrats had convinced themselves this was a loser of an issue, and now they are clamoring to show the world who hates the Second Amendment more. This didn’t work out too well for Al Gore, when he doubled down on Clinton’s legacy on the issue. But the difference today is that Democrats have convinced themselves that shifting demographics has ensured they will win the White House in perpetuity.
Obama Preparing EOs on Gun Control. Also, it’s Monday
“But the difference today is that Democrats have convinced themselves that shifting demographics has ensured they will win the White House in perpetuity.”
And I’m starting to think this may be true. Electorally speaking it’s getting more and more difficult for a Republican to achieve victory. With just a few more shots in the arm of some key urban areas in swing states, the landscape seems to be the very thing the college was created to prevent.
It would also help if the Republicans would run electable candidates.
Except Republicans have majorities in the house and senate, and control a majority of Governorships and state legislatures. Electorally, they are actually dominating. The only arena where Republicans have been struggling recently has been the presidency.
The future is always hard to read, especially this far out. But, having said that, the Democrats have a lousy set of candidates to choose from, while the Republicans have an interesting pool of candidates (some of which I even almost like…)
Of course, my greatest fear is that Trump will get the nomination. Since I consider this a reasonable possibility, right now, I consider this a greater scare than Hillary getting the nomination. (I don’t see her winning, even if she can get that nomination, which I’m not sure if she will…)
“In perpetuity” is where they make the big mistake here. There’s a liberal belief that people with brown skin will just automatically vote for the most Socialist possible candidate and lack the ability to think past what kind of free stuff they can get (which seems a bit racist in itself). But African Americans moved from Rep to Dem, and I can see them moving back again. And Hispanics — I honestly believe — aren’t as dependable as Dems think.
We’ll see. For the short term … I still think we’ve got a shot at 2016 because Hillary is such a miserably lousy candidate, but if trends continue after that it doesn’t look so great.
The administration has already made some moves on DD ammo. I am in the 37mm hobby so track it a bit more carefully than most.
ATF is now claiming that common 40mm chalk and smoke rounds are DDs (like HE grenades), each requiring an individual stamp. I haven’t seen any letters on 37mm, but 37mm factory rounds have just about completely dried up.
I think the following are most likely:
– Continued mucking about with calibers >0.5″ (to include shotgun gauges) as DDs
– ATF 41P, crushing trusts for NFA items
– Try the M855 5.56 ban as AP again
– Leverage EPA against lead ammo
– Mucking about with ammunition, especially imported ammo
– Bans on imported guns that fail the “sporting purposes” tests
– Bans on imported accessories like standard capacity magazines that fail “sporting purposes”
– Unleashing the regulatory beast on the gun industry — OSHA, EPA, IRS, etc. It is impossible to comply 100% of the time with all the regulatory rules.
– Money diverted for antigun studies/research/propaganda
– ATF mucking about with definitions on common AR parts is probably the worst case. For example, for years, ATF has confirmed that running a full auto bolt carrier group in an AR-15 is NOT constructive intent to have a MG. That could change with the stroke of a pen in the ATF tech branch.
– ATF restarts controversial programs like Fast & Furious to get more guns into hands of perps and thus create more incidents.
– Leak information about gun owners and the industry that is supposed to be confidential. “Oh no, there was a cyber breach and all the owners of registered NFA items have been published to the internet along with their home addresses. Darn!”
– Restrictions on federal agencies and how they award contracts, spend money, and codes of conduct for federal employees/contractors (and those who receive federal funds).
All of that is legal or in a grey area that will require millions of dollars and years in court to unwind.
Congress could try to take action but I suspect he would veto any law trying to get rid of an EO. Funding riders work to a point but only if the executive actually follows them.
He’s a lame duck, Hill Dawg has signaled that she intends to go even further with Executive Actions on guns, and I don’t think Pres Obama wants to be upstaged by Hillary. Legality is really not a hugely relevant factor to these people.
And the annoying thing is that it’s crystal clear to us that none of these things will have any effect on crime, except for creating criminals out of hapless, clueless, innocent gun owners who aren’t keeping up with the law.
It’s also annoying that Congress has given up so much of their regulatory power to independent agencies that aren’t accountable to We the People.
“But the difference today is that Democrats have convinced themselves that shifting demographics has ensured they will win the White House in perpetuity”
The messed up thing is that is probably true. If current trends continue there will never be a Republican president ever again.
But then again, historically speaking a two-term president is not followed up by a president of the same party.
The only exception to the two-term rule came from someone who got us out of a recession, and set the stage for winning the Cold War.
On the one hand, the Democrats aren’t nearly in that position…if anything, they are on the polar opposite…but then, on the other hand, I expected Obama to be a one-term President…
While the AWB seems to have been a factor in the ’94 elections, it didn’t stop Bill from getting a second term. I would also point out Gore won the popular vote.
Exactly. See below. I fully expect the Dems to take back 2 seats in the senate. The thing is, the two they get probably won’t bode well for gun control.
The Oklahoma City bombing is what helped Bill Clinton win re-election. A lot of gun owners who had talked big got scared and dropped NRA membership. Or quit militias. Some even got rid of their guns.
Stand firm folks. Don’t let the bullies win.
The funny thing is the Democrat path to retaking the Senate in 2016 includes at least two strong candidates from pro-gun states who, while they certainly are not tried and true “friends” on gun rights, understand the politics of guns and how toxic it would be for the Dems to focus on. This would be Maggie Hassan (NH) and Russ Feingold (WI). Neither of which advocate anything more than the standard DNS talking points on UBCs.
Trust them to stick to the playbook once elected? Only as far as I can throw them. But… This is telling.
Gun control still fails the DNC. It was the same then as it is now.
It’s a sign that Hillary is truly worried about the nomination. If she was still cruising towards the Democrat nomination, she wouldn’t utter a peep about guns because it will be used against her in the general.
A good chance that the Dems go too far left on this and other issues – and whoever wins the nomination can’t come back from it.
A real threat to Dem influence over the court of public opinion has consistently been federal overreach on gun control.
Failure to account for the difference in atmosphere related to marketing and sources of gun-related information back in 1993 will prove to be toxic for her on the issue.
The “white ethnics” of the ’20s and ’30s were not considered white by the traditional “core demographic”, but quickly assimilated and became “white” (for lack of a better term). I can only hope that new fault lines develop and more “whites” can join our ranks, regardless of any traditional definition of what it means to be white.
Otherwise we’re doomed. People like Colion Noir give me hope.