Trump has come out and announced he will save us from HR 8 and HR 1112. That is assuming the Senate doesn’t save us, which all indications suggest it will. So we at least know what the Dem priorities are:
- Ban all gun transfers between non FFLs except with narrow exceptions.
- End default proceeds, or at least get to as close to ending them as possible. This means they can deny gun rights to people just by refusing to conduct or finish background checks.
- Restrict magazine capacity.
- Ban assault weapons. I’m curious to see if Pelosi pushes this.
I keep saying, these people are not strategic dummies, and should not be lightly dismissed. Bloomberg didn’t make his fortune by being a moron. For the first two, I have to do a lot more education to make sure gun owners understand the issues. Most have no idea what a default proceed even is. But PICS outages they are well familiar with. So you have to put it in that context. This is just an example.
The latter two gun owners are already well-educated on. At this point there are more AR-15s out there, I’d wager way more AR-15s out there, than there are Mini-14s and M1 Carbines, two firearms that were exempted in the 90s bans because there were just too many owners out there who would raise hell.
Most gun people, even people who shoot a lot or own a lot, and therefore have something to lose, don’t really follow this stuff or know the ins or outs of the law. They will happily go through life blissfully unaware of the maze of laws that surround them like a pride of lions waiting for them to drift from the herd. Their goal is to “create a culture of compliance” among us. You will bend to their will, or else.
It will indeed be interesting to see how far-left on any issue Pelosi is willing to go at this point. Between the Democrats getting polling backlash over that “Green New Deal” Fiasco and really shooting themselves in the foot with that filthy “Reparations for Slavery” crap, gun control could be the final strike for a good electoral backlash in 2020.
Ted Deutsch may have been the one who sparked a straw potentially breaking the camel’s back. Apparently, listening to and seeing social media activity from Groups like Ohio Carry and Ohio Gun Owners, that Ted Deutsch bill putting all Semiauto Rifles under the NFA Machinegun Tax Stamp Regulations got a massive push of gunowners to “melt the phone lines” of the Senate and Whitehouse……Good!
Heard some stuff from an Ohio Gunowners Facebook podcast that Gun Owners of America had credible sources telling them that Democrat Senators, most likely that of Elizabeth Warren, Dianne Feinstein, and Chris Murphy, were apparently going to introduce a fused AWB and Ted Deutsch NFA Senate Bill that would ban all Semiauto rifles with detachable magazines as “Assault Weapons”, and put all Semiauto Rifles and Handguns under the NFA Machinegun regs.
If they take the WH and Senate in 2020, they will up the anti even further. Every Semiauto Rifle and Handgun would be called an “Assault Weapon” and all of them, alongside Revolver Handguns, Semiauto and Pump Action Shotguns will be put under NFA Machinegun regs.
On death ground, fight.
This is both advice to the defenders and a warning to the attached.
I think their leadership is smart enough to avoid putting gun owners on Sun Tzu-ian death ground (AWB with no grandfathering with actual enforcement).
They are pushing for an AWB so that (1) the GOP can compromise by just going for UBCs and maybe NICS default proceeds, and (2) to signal to their base.
Other than 5 (?) R’s, all of whom are known to be anti-gun, no pubbies voted for it.
“The universal background check legislation had five Republican co-sponsors, Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ), and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI).”
And “Before the passage of the bill, Republican lawmakers were able to add an amendment that would require the notification of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if an illegal immigrant attempts to buy a firearm, which several Democratic representatives crossed over to support”
(IIRC, that actually was a “notify appropriate federal LEOs of a purchase attempt by a prohibited person, including ICE for the specific case of…”)
What about Re Flag Laws or bumpstock bans?
Where do those stack on the Dem priorities?
A bumpstock ban (that could ban things beyond bumps stocks like binary triggers, competition triggers, buffers, and all sorts of stuff), could beyond sneaking a bunch of other bans be a way for the Dems to go “So GOP will you vote for a gun ban that even Trump supports!”
And just because Trump is banning it isn’t a reason to /not/ ban legislatively. A few states are still working on their own bumpstock bans.
Red Flag laws are, more than UBCs an area where the dems can wedge the GOP.
Or…. is that why they’re not as high a priority on the Dem House Leadership?
Is there fear that with “The NRA supporting Red Flag laws”, a GOP Senate Leadership supported Red Flag law would have the NRA’s input?
And thus have too much icky “due process”?
Much like how an NRA supported UBC bill (with no records retention) was DOA in the post SandyHook push.
But fighting for votes was hard – that’s why the DNC decided to import enough new voters to skip all that hassle.
Lions vs zebras indeed.
I think a lot of fudd zebras have no idea how vulnerable they are, even under longstanding preexisting law, let alone whatever new horrors the anti-gun lions dream up.
Imagine this, an executive order under President Kamala Harris that instructs the ATF, to no longer grant the “suitable for sporting purposes” exemption of the GCA 68, to any shotguns which are capable of shooting more than three times before reloading. In an instant, most of the shotguns in the U.S. would be illegal NFA firearms. Maybe there would even be an amnesty period allowing people to register their newly designated NFA shotguns?
All of this would be possible under the Gun Control Act of 1968. No new legislation needed.
Would President Harris do such a thing? Wouldn’t it be political suicide? Maybe. But you could say the same thing about anti-gun legislation the Democrats are pushing right now.
Now imagine that President Harris can’t move anti-gun legislation through Congress in 2021. Many things could stymy her. Perhaps the Democrats aren’t willing to blow up the Senate filibuster process. Maybe the Republicans even hold onto majority control of the U.S. Senate. If so, she could always resort to purely legal executive action, with the power she would have under the Gun Control Act of 1968.
This might be a good time to invest in .410 shotgun production…
Serious question: were we really better off when both Parties competed for our vote? Exactly what does “competed” mean? Exactly when was this golden age? 1994? 1986? 1968?
I could argue that things are better now, and have been getting better ever since the battle lines of the gun-control issue have become sharper and more partisan.
Sure things suck now if you are in California. And sure things are going to get worse (for the moment at least) if you live in a place like Washington State. But are things, on the nationwide average, actually the worst now? Worst in terms of gun policy? Worst in terms of political power prospects?
Perhaps things look dark now. But we could also be on the precipice of a nationwide victory as broad and quick as the gay marriage proponents enjoyed.
Brad, back some years ago there used to be pro-gun democrats on the national stage. They are gone now. You used to be able to buy ar-15s and hicap mags in most left wing states. You can’t now.
We are not in good shape.
Today Oklahoma signed Constitutional Carry into law. Odds are two or more States will follow this year. Maybe even Texas.
Back when you could still buy a normal magazine in Commiefornia, handguns were banned in Chicago and Washington D.C.
Today, not only can you own handguns in both cities, you can even get a carry permit.
The political tide rolls in both directions. I’m betting that tide is eroding the enemy more than us.
Gun rights are more secured when the culture supports the shooting sports Since Democrats control a good part of the culture , gun rights are at risk. As people get more partisan the breaks become more clear. CA , WA, Oregon , NY, NJ ,Hawaii and MD are Democrat blue states Purple state like VA and CO become battlegrounds.
We now have 16 states that are no permit carry KY just became the 16th. That is a big gain. CCW is practically in every state Very few states are shall issue.
As the democratic left become more totalitarian more liberal gun owners will flip.
I read a Time article on the rise of trap clubs in high schools That changes the culture. How many of you at gun clubs have pushed for these programs In PA MD NJ NY? If more young people are pro gun that helps push Democrats to consider gun rights in a positive light.
Politics follows culture . So lets change the culture in blue states. It is possible
As long as we are in the same country with these maniacs, we will never be safe. They are relentless.
Actually we can be safe. What will make us safe is for our side to convert from a policy of block and delay to defeat, vanquish, and prevent regrowth. We need cultural outreach and to kick the anti gun side out of where they occupy. How? Treat them the way they treat us, do what they do. Moreover, make their attepts cost them something and raise that cost unacceptably high for them to continue. Toate our side hasn’t been willing to do this.
Okay. That all sounds good.
How?
I mean, it’s easy to say that you want to destroy the gun control movement and salt the earth where it grew. But what’s your plan for actually achieving that?
How about portraying them as the Pol Pots they are, instead of talking like they have something valuable to say? Also, hire PI’s to get dirt on them–dirt other than gun-related stuff. For instance, what is the REAL relation between Michael Bloomberg and the thrice-divorced Shannon Watts?
How do you propose that we “portray them as the Pol Pots they are” in a way that makes an observable dent in the culture?
Please be specific.
Rifle and skeet and trap in high school Get to the next generation and on coming future shooters in the sport in schools.
NRA has been pushing gun safety classes in schools That is a start In your local schools try to organize shooting clubs and teams
A very good question. For starters:
– Take over school boards and root them out of primary education. Organize county by county and review each, and put people in on our side. Remove every anti gun principal, superintendent, etc.
– Do the same for university boards of trustees. Once occupying sufficient seats, remove anti gun president/chancellor/provost etc. Start focusing on who gets hired as professors, direct funding for departments, etc. Reward friends and punish enemies.
– Do the same for any and all youth organizations and civic organizations.
– Do the same for corporate boards. Organize proxy votes of shareholders. Fire anti gun board members. You’d think Dick’s would be prime for such because of how much money they lost their investors. Once in charge, cease all donations and support of anti gun groups and their messages. Change every handbook to remove any and all prohibitions against CCW/LCTF holders at very least having parking lot options. Remove every single no carry sign from everywhere.
– Get government to go after anti gun political activism groups: revoke nonprofit status, investigate for campaign impropriety, tax discrepancies, etc. Go after them as hate groups, as in fact they are. Make them unwelcome everywhere.
– Kick out anti gun county level political party leadership. There should not be a such thing as anti gun Republican ANYWHERE nor anti gun D’s in any place other than NYC and CA–tolerate it no longer anywhere else. Someone is letting this ***t slide and it needs to end TODAY.
– Speak directly to political donors instead of politicians. You know who made your Congress person and/or state legislator vote the way they did? The person writing the check that put up their billboards, TV ads, road signs, etc. Make that specific person or persons known publicly and 100% accountable to you. Tolerate NONE, ZERO anti gun political behavior–see any of it, confront them, not just once, but until that behavior stops. Make it 100% socially unacceptable to fund, support, or enable it.
– Ditto union leadership and professional organizations. Seriously, how many tradesmen and other professionals do we have who are gun owners? 50%? 75% 90%? Yet why do your professional organizations almost without exception all bleed blue and scream at the top of their lungs for every leftist cause and especially gun control? FIRE THEM TODAY. “Oh but I can’t.” Oh yes you can, or find who can and see to it being done. TODAY.
– Ditto churches.
– Local TV and radio stations: who owns them? Start talking to the owners thereof. Bring them to our side.
– All of the public efforts to vilify us, blaming us for murder, suicide, muggings and all other manner of societal ills: go after them for libel and slander. Make it as bad for someone to hate a gun owner, the NRA, black rifles, etc. as it is to publicly express the same thing towards Jewish folks, blacks, Muslims, LGBTwhatever, etc. Put the anti gun ideology on trial for exactly what it is. Assert ourselves socially and culturally instead of being on the defensive. Be the squeaky wheel.
In total, take everything they do and everywhere they exert influence and turn it around on them. Kick them out of the strongholds they have and reverse every gain they have made. Block them out of society. Eradicate like a disease or crop pest.
Is it a tall order? Sure it is. But we have a 5 million+ member organization (that has a couple hundred million dollar net worth and supposedly an eight figure PR company), a few 500K-1 million member orgs, etc. It’s about damn time we started doing things like we actually wanted to win. Quit temporarily blocking the enemy and instead break them, do things to make them eventually not be there. I don’t know why we don’t but we had better stop whatever the reason is and start permanently winning. Seriously, this crap should have been over in 2004. Period.
Recruit candidates for school boards and city and county seats that are pro gun Organize and support their campaigns We need more people who can be active Most of us work too much and can not afford the time. Bill C has a good broad outline. Many of you that belong to gun clubs can talk to other members and see if you can recruit them for these seats. We have to break out that we only care as a hobby.
Additionally:
– Direct our pro gun communication efforts outward to the non-gun owning crowd. Stop speaking exclusively among and to ourselves. A great example is Silencerco’s social media campaign. All of their YouTube videos and Instagram posts are absolutely PERFECT for the public to see us. This is how we should be seen on TV and in print magazines and websites that aren’t gun company and gun org…
Yet to date the only place we see ourselves is in our own companies’ and organizations’ pages and sites. What the ****?!?! Why are we only talking to and amongst ourselves? The people who need to see this are the people in Philly and Pittsburgh and other large cities who don’t know us, who haven’t ever seen what we do. We need to reach families. We need to reach young adults. Be recognizable and likable. Be who they identify with.
– Completely redesign our own individual public outreach methods. Rallies–as you know, I’m not a fan. Why? Because they do nothing to reach the public and change the culture. We need to do what does. Create incentives to take kids to ranges. Put ourselves back in kids’ growing up: in toys, in TV shows or cartoons, whatever is in their heads.
Gun rights are probably our most successful front in the culture war. More or less everything else is a disaster. But it is all interconnected and culture is upstream of politics. So I am not nearly so optimistic as you for the long run.
Maybe they want to create a culture of NON-compliance so that we are all automatic felons and they can lock us up at will. We already have such a byzantine labyrinth of laws that it’s impossible to know you are truly in compliance. When you become persona non grata, they WILL find something to nail you with!
Prison is for people who won’t bend to their will. If you’re a good little gun owner and don’t insist on your rights, everything will be fine.
Speaking of culture of Non-compliance have you been following the “Sanctuary County” movement in Washington State and how it’s gone to New Mexico?
Over a dozen Country Sheriffs in each state. (Making a majority) Plus county governance in those areas by and large passing “sanctuary” resolutions. Is there some organization behind this?
https://apnews.com/1076051a0445455eac4f5e9025dc4c21
Or it this more “City slicker’s aren’t the boss of us.”
So far in New Mexico it hasn’t stopped a UBC law. And it remains to be seen in Washington how the chips fall with further gun control.
But the Governors and AG’s of both states are not happy and making noises.
(It’s noteworthy that Illinois is pondering a bill to ban Sanctuary (but only for guns) counties, but again… how will they enforce it?)
Which brings a question of push come to shove…
How far will these state governments go to push local police?
There’s also that this is happening in New Mexico and Washington state… over laws that aren’t gun bans let alone confiscations.
So take this with your earlier article about “Bleeding Oregon….”
As we’re starting to see non-compliance, at the LEO and county gov, in these Western states.
It very much remains to be seen how this will shake out.
If there’s one thing people in governance do /not/ like, especially those pushing laws like this, is the *little people* telling them no. Moreso if the little people are their normal means of enforcing said laws.
I could foresee removal from office, threatening pensions, laws mandating that LEO’s /have/ to enforce these gun laws, with a certain amount of time / arrests. Or making it a crime for a CLEO to say such things
The answers to your questions are both ‘yes’, and, 1-Party Democrat Controlled States will start mobilizing the State Police to forcefully arrest dissenting Sherriffs and Their Deputies. Dissenting Local Police will also be targeted.
We have talked about that “Bleeding Oregon” scenario being Police Vs. Citizens, but it looks like it’s gonna be Round 1; State Police Vs. Sheriffs, Sheriff’s Deputies, and Local Police Departments.
This Precedent was set into motion by the Democrats and their ruthless allegiances to Illegal Aliens, all going back to the 1st Sanctuary Cities.
It’s not just Sanctuary policies for Immigration.
Though if they start targeting local police…
Well that will have some interesting knock-down effects on local law enforcement and trials and the like.
The Pot legalization movement has been /massive/ nullification of federal law.
And in many states doing so for explicitly /recreational/ purposes.
I disagree with federal law but the example still stands.
Frankly, if that does come to pass, I predict that at least some of those Sheriffs will start deputizing large possies in order to fend off the urban usurpation.
If THAT happens, the urbanites will either back down and bide their time for another day, or things will get squirrely fast.
Our side needs to get in the habit of breaking the anti gun political complex’s will. Make meaningful wins and exact meaningful costs upon them such that they be the ones hesitant to do as they wish. As pointed out above, instead for too long the problem has been merely stalling them or making gains only in places we’re already ahead. Nimitz observed the necessity of doing this to the Japanese in WW2:
“The basic objectives and principles of war do not change. The final objective in war is the destruction of the enemy’s capacity and will to fight, and thereby force him to accept the imposition of the victor’s will.”
Remember Newt Gingrich? Trent Lott? Dick Armey? Those were effective politicians on our side. What happened to them? They were driven out of office. They had power, used it for our side, and the left exacted a cost upon them. Upon doing so, no serious effort has been made to reduce federal spending (instead merely the rate of increase), cut or delete social programs, phase out/privatize SS, etc. Imagine if we did that against the anti gun forces. Feinstein and Schumer should have been kicked out of office in 1994. That was literally 25 years ago. 25 years they have sat comfortably in office at ZERO consequence for being anti gun, instead of instant political destruction. The ones that lost their seats were moderate D’s in states that could have been flipped to our side and then we would have the D party AND R party begging for our votes now. Why in the ever living hell did our side not kick out the real offenders instead? Regardless of reason then, the gloves need to be off now.
As for those who want to use gun laws to threaten us, where is our pressure on LE not only to oppose it, but to actively work against the LE who are on the anti gun side? Anti gun LE need to be regarded as Hessians.
Banning private gun “transfers” without a background check is a great way to make millions of gun owners felons.
The average person thinks this means only gun sales.
Nope, it potentially turns into felons folks who let anyone others use or borrow their guns. I have done this multiple times. It’s obscene, and an attack that is meant to cripple teaching anyone else to use guns.
Show me the man and I will show you the crime.