Legislation Proposed in 26 States to Protect Second Amendment Civil Rights

Connecticut is the third state since the Dec. 14 Newtown shooting to approve strident new gun control measures, joining New York and Colorado in requiring universal background checks for all gun purchases and prohibiting magazine capacities beyond 10 rounds.  Maryland will be the fourth when anti-gun Gov. Martin O’Malley signs similar legislation this week, which includes fingerprinting of all gun buyers.

These states already had strict gun control laws, including “assault weapons” bans and prohibition of concealed carry for over 99% of civilians, except for Colorado.  The Colorado legislation was written and paid for by Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors Against Guns.  The 2014 elections in Colorado will be among the most interesting to watch. 

There are harsh, irresponsible and irrational gun control laws being passed in heavily liberal states, but they can be repealed in time as political control passes to legislators who get elected running against them. The Wall Street Journal reports that “This year, five states have passed seven laws that strengthen gun restrictions, while 10 states have passed 17 laws that weaken them, according to the Anti-Gun Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which tracks and promotes gun-control-laws.

The Progressive Propaganda Machine (Main Stream Media) lead by MSNBC is reporting that expanded gun control legislation has “90%” voter support, including most members of the NRA.  Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.   Here are the facts, which most of the MSM ignores.           

The Hartford Courtant reports that 17 states and Washington D.C. are considering gun control legislation during 2013 sessions, noting that 26 states are seeking to expand Second Amendment civil rights. 

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence tabulates that more than 600 bills have been introduced to strengthen gun control in state legislatures nationwide, while about 540 bills are being considered to expand gun rights.
               
According to the Associated Press, these are among those states expanding gun-owners’ rights:
               
* In Michigan and Ohio, lawmakers have made it easier to obtain a gun.
               
* Arkansas, Maine and Mississippi have passed laws to protect the privacy of gun owners.
               
* Wyoming enacted legislation allowing judges to carry weapons in the courtroom
               
* South Dakota passed a law authorizing school employees to carry guns on the job.

* More than a dozen other states are considering legislation that would enhance gun rights, including Texas, North Carolina, Missouri and Georgia.

“The best we can help for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.”
Alexander Hamilton -The Federalist Papers at 184-8

Biden: BUY A SHOTGUN, BUY A SHOTGUN

This is must see TV.  Watch Double Barrel Biden blow what little credibility he had when it comes to firearms and self-defense.  We are not trying to pick on the ladies.  A 12 gauge shotgun is one of the most difficult firearms for anyone to shoot safely and accurately.  Hang in until the end of the video for a man size surprise. 

ANYONE who thinks it is easier to safely and accurately operate a 12 gauge shotgun or other large caliber rifle, rather than a modern sporting rifle like the small caliber AR15 is either a moron, a liar or in the case of Crazy Joe, BOTH.

Stand and Fight America.  The war against our civil rights is one that those of us who cherish freedom can afford to lose. We will NOT be France or England or Australia or Japan or even Canada.  WE ARE AMERICANS. We will protect and defend our Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Speak up and vote the gun grabbers out!

Progressivism, liberalism, or whatever you want to call it has become an ideology of power. So long as liberals hold it, principles don’t matter.

Update on Sunday, March 3, 2013 at 7:38AM by Bonzer Wolf

Erika, is now an accomplished shooter, but in this video she is at the range for the first time shooting a Bushmaster XM-15 E2S, which is a modern sporting rifle, which gun grabbers call call an “AR15 assault rifle”.  As you can see from this video, this is one of the easiest firearm platforms to operate, even for first timers and novice shooters.

I took my sister Erika to the range for the first time and this is her shooting my Bushmaster XM-15 E2S.

Shooting Holes in Gun Banners Silly Musket Argument

Many anti-Second Amendment advocates use the silly argument that the Founding Fathers’ intent is anachronistic since they couldn’t envision greater weapons capability beyond muskets in their time. Really?

This is easily disproved simply by noting the evolution of firearm technology during the time prior to, and during, the Revolution. Matchlit progressed into matchlock, which progressed into flintlock and so forth. In fact, muskets were slowly being replaced by long rifles during the time of, and after the Revolution. 

Rifling gave shots increased accuracy over greater distances. Nock guns were the arms of choice for the British Navy, an experiment of sorts that lasted a short time because the recoil was powerful enough to break the shoulder of those firing them. In 1718 the “Puckle gun,” the first machine gun, appeared. (One could argue that the so-called “assault rifle pre-dated the Second Amendment.)

The Colt revolver followed not long after and in the late 1800s the Gatling gun, which fired 200 rounds per minute, appeared on the market. The evolution of firearms was observable during the time that the Constitution was drafted; to argue that the Founding Fathers were unaware of, or not living through, the ever-evolving capabilities of firearms is blatant ignorance of both common sense and fact. Jefferson himself was a noted collector and in letters explained what technological capabilities he favored in pieces over others in his collection.

Prior to the Civil War, the Supreme Court of the United States indicated that the privileges of citizenship included the individual right to own and carry firearms.

And here is the introduction and initial reason for gun control:

Following the Civil War, the legislative efforts which gave us three amendments to the Constitution and our earliest civil rights acts likewise recognized the right to keep and bear arms as an existing constitutional right of the individual citizen and as a right specifically singled out as one protected by the civil rights acts and by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, against infringement by state authorities. Much of the reconstruction effort in the South had been hinged upon the creation of “black militias” composed of the armed and newly freed blacks, officered largely by black veterans of the Union Army. In the months after the Civil War, the existing southern governments struck at these units with the enactment of “black codes” which either outlawed gun ownership by blacks entirely, or imposed permit systems for them, and permitted the confiscation of firearms owned by blacks. When the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was debated members both of the Senate and the House referred to the disarmament of blacks as a major consideration.

The Founders were quite clear on their views regarding firearms. In fact, earlier proposed language of the Second Amendment read as such:

And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.

- Samuel Adams (February 6, 1788); Charles Hale, Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1856)

Feinstein Continues to Block National Right to Carry Reciprocity

The ongoing effort to fully vindicate the fundamental, individual right to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense took a major step forward with House passage of H.R. 822, the “National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), has 245 cosponsors and was approved in the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 272-154.

After passage in the House, the bill was sent to the Senate, where it remains.  Since November, the Senate has failed to take any significant action on the bill because Gun Grabber Feinstein of California is blocking companion legislation.

On March 13, 2012,  U.S. Senators Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) introduced S. 2188, the “National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2012.” The bill is the Senate companion to H. R. 822, which was approved by the U. S. House last November by a vote of 272-154.

Please contact your U.S. Senators today and urge them to support S. 2188. You can call your U.S. Senators at 202-224-3121 or send them an email by clicking here.
http://www.nraila.org/get-involved-locally/grassroots/write-your-reps.aspx

Recently, the Attorneys General of 22 states and the territory of Guam wrote a letter of support for H.R. 822 to Reps. Stearns and Shuler, stating in part, “While some have suggested this legislation would endanger public safety, our experience suggests the opposite.  Individuals with concealed carry permits from our states have proven to be more law-abiding than non-licensees, and in many instances have been able to defend themselves and others effectively from criminal attack.  Many of our states also have laws recognizing out-of-state permits, and people carrying concealed handguns under those laws have done so without any unusual problems.”

The Attorneys General also urged the Senate to take action on the bill.

H.R. 822 would allow any person with a valid state-issued concealed firearm permit to carry a concealed firearm in any state that issues concealed firearm permits, or that does not prohibit the carrying of concealed firearms for lawful purposes. A state’s laws governing where concealed firearms may be carried would apply within its borders. The bill applies to D.C., Puerto Rico and U.S. territories.

It would not create a federal licensing system; rather, it would require the states to recognize each others’ carry permits, just as they recognize drivers’ licenses and carry permits held by armored car guards. 

Louisiana House Passes Strong Gun Rights Bill

With the passing of Senate Bill 303 in the state House of Representatives, Louisiana has just set the stage for gaining some of the strongest protections for firearms rights in the country. The bill, introduced by Senator Neil Riser (R – Columbia) would amend the state constitution to delete language that allows the “passage of laws to prohibit the carrying of weapons concealed on the person” and give stronger legal protections to firearm owners.

The current version of Louisiana’s constitution does indeed grant each citizen the right to keep and bear arms, stating plainly that “this right shall not be abridged.” However, the aforementioned language concerning the possibility of future restrictions on the concealed carry of firearms has many worried that an overzealous anti-gun lawmaker could use the provision to effectively gut citizens’ second amendment rights. The NRA-ILA puts the need for SB 303 this way: “This amendment is necessary because the Louisiana Supreme Court eviscerated the current right to keep and bears arms provision in 2001, action which has left Louisianans with little protection from overreaching state-imposed gun control or in the event the Heller or McDonald cases are overturned.”

So, what does SB 303 do exactly? Besides just preventing easy restrictions on concealed carry, it actually upgrades the status of Second Amendment Rights, stating:

“The right of individuals to acquire, keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer, and use arms for defense of life and liberty, and for all other legitimate purposes is fundamental and shall not be denied or infringed, and any restriction on this right must be subjected to strict scrutiny.”

By classifying the use of arms as a fundamental right, revocable only after strict scrutiny, means that second amendment rights will be given the state’s highest level of legal protection, the same given to rights such as life and free speech. For a right that is so often treated as a second-class citizen compared to others in the constitution, this is a huge breakthrough. It’s little wonder then that SB 303 already passed the Senate 31 to 6 in April, passed the House 77 to 22 on Thursday, and has the support of Governor Bobby Jindal.

While support for the bill has been strong, arguments against it have ranged from stating that there is no need for such a drastic protection to worrying that the language of the bill might allow concealed carry into churches, bars, and other currently restricted areas as the state constitution trumps local laws. Riser quashed these allegations in a written statement, saying:

“The new, stronger amendment would not allow felons or the mentally ill to obtain firearms. Felons and other dangerous people are already forbidden to possess firearms under federal law. The proposed amendment would not allow people to carry firearms into public or private schools or other sensitive places. Those kinds of restrictions have been upheld by the courts, and they would continue to be upheld under the new amendment.”

An interaction between Rep. Katrina Jackson (D – Monroe) and Rep. Chris Broadwater (R – Hammond) reported in the Louisiana Gannett News captured what seemed to be the prevailing nature of debate over the bill:

“Jackson asked Broadwater ‘What’s so important about this right that makes it more important than other rights? What’s the imminent danger that suggests to this body that we should change our constitution?’

‘There is a trend for some to view this as less than a fundamental right,’ Broadwater answered.”

The bill now has to head back to the Senate for final approval before it can appear on Louisiana voters’ ballots in the fall.

The text of the bill can be found here.