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2nd Amendment Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 03, 2015 28 Comments
In Israel, as the Knife Intifada was in full swing in early October, the Mayor of Jerusalem urged those with gun permits to carry for defense of themselves and others against random and surprise attacks. https://twitter.com/NirBarkat/status/652065143942160384 It was a variation on the theme, "when seconds count, the police are only minutes away." Now a Sheriff in Ulster County, NY, north of New York City, has urged residents to do the same in light of recent terror attacks like that in San Bernardino. The local CBS News affiliate reports:
All licensed handgun owners in Ulster County should carry their pistols. That’s the message Thursday from the Ulster County Sheriff. Ulster County is located about two hours north of New York City.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 03, 2015 43 Comments
In this particular tale of media hit job turned embarrassment, we have what might be one of the best public displays of gun ignorance presented as fact I've ever seen. The only things missing are a barrel shroud and a couple rounds of rubber bullets. Gizmodo reporter Wes Siler thought he'd pegged Republican Presidential Candidate Senator Ted Cruz as a gun safety hypocrite. Last weekend, the Junior Senator from the Lone Star State went pheasant hunting. Note the unloaded, break-action shotgun resting on Cruz's shoulder.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 03, 2015 18 Comments
Back in October, I covered a Gallup poll that showed the majority of Americans don't support a handgun ban. At the time, only 27% of Americans said they would support such a ban. Two studies covered by Legal Insurrection later that month revealed that the Obama Administration's renewed push for stricter controls and limited carry actually runs contrary to the social science of controlling violence and keeping people safe. The thing is, you'd never know it with the way the mainstream media covers issues like gun control, urban violence, and the Second Amendment. The scope and tragedy of deaths due to gun violence aren't just fodder for "very special episodes" of shows like Dateline---they're chum in the water for an opportunistic media determined to forward the interests of anti-gun, pro-regulation activists. Case in point: in the wake of the Umpqua Community College shooting in Rosebud, Oregon, the New York Times unleashed an apparent expose on Sheriff John Hanlin, drawing out his past, pro-gun thought crimes and using them to turn the conversation away from mental illness and toward the Brady Campaign's push for Hanlin's firing---and a strict, anti-gun agenda. We saw it coming from a mile away, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. We as conservatives have learned not to trust the media when it comes to reporting on guns---which is what makes this next video so refreshing. Atlanta-area journalist Ben Swann has committed a cardinal sin: he looked directly into the camera and defended the Second Amendment. Watch:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 01, 2015 23 Comments
In the 48 hours immediately following the GOP debate, Ted Cruz's presidential campaign raised over a million dollars.  His performance during the debate included some significant comments directed at the moderators that resulted in the highest score pollster Frank Luntz has seen in his career conducting debate focus groups. The Business Insider reports:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had arguably the most memorable moment from Wednesday night's Republican primary debate on CNBC when he slammed the moderators. But for Frank Luntz, the veteran GOP pollster who ran a focus group during the debate, the results were clear. "I have been doing this since 1996 and tonight is a special moment. I've never tested — in any primary debate — a line that scored as well as this," Luntz said after the debate on Fox News' "The Kelly File."
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Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 30, 2015 21 Comments
As Obama stumps for gun control in Chicago, an interesting case has been filed in an effort to protect both religious liberty and the Second Amendment.  An Amish man from Pennsylvania attempted to purchase a gun via legal channels and was denied because he did not have a photo id, and he did not have that photo id because of his religious beliefs. The Amish in Lancaster Country believe that a photograph of themselves is the equivalent of a disallowed "graven image" and thus refuse to allow themselves to be photographed.  This is a religious exemption/exception that has been readily acknowledged and accepted by state and local government who have issued photoless ids and drivers' licenses to Amish people. The Washington Post reports:
In a suit that brings together the Second Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), an Amish man filed a federal lawsuit in Pennsylvania last week because he wants to buy a gun without the required photo ID — and because getting that photo ID would violate his religious beliefs.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 26, 2015 30 Comments
In the twilight of his administration, President Obama is renewing his fight for stricter gun control laws. Tuesday, President Obama will travel to his hometown Chicago. But he's not there to visit family, the President is headed to Chicago for one reason -- to renew the fight for gun control. The LA Times reports President Obama will be speaking to the International Association of Chiefs of Police and there he will make his case for tougher gun laws.
Obama will talk about the need for tougher gun laws with police chiefs gathered in Chicago on Tuesday, aides say, as part of a broader conversation about violence and how police can work more effectively with their communities to combat it. He’s traveling to Chicago simply because that’s the site of the annual gathering of the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police, but advisors say he’s well aware of the symbolism in returning to his hometown amid this debate. Chicago has long been a battleground for both pro- and anti-gun forces. Three decades ago, in the wake of the assassination attempts on President Reagan and Pope John Paul II, the City Council banned new sales and registration of handguns in the city in 1982. Chicago was the first major city to take that step. Now, with Obama renewing his rhetoric about more gun control in the wake of massacres at a church in South Carolina and a community college in Oregon and considering imposing gun safety rules by executive order, critics once again are pointing to the president’s hometown for proof of the folly.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 19, 2015 14 Comments
A Gallup poll released today shows that the vast majority of Americans do not believe that handgun ownership should be limited to "authorized" persons like police or other law enforcement officials. Only 27% of Americans say they support this type of ban (with 72% opposing); additionally, 43% of Americans say they have a gun somewhere in the home, with 28% saying they own one personally. gallup handgun possession october 2015 chart

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 16, 2015 41 Comments
Despite popular opinion in favor of second amendment rights, Hillary Clinton has made gun control a centerpiece of her White House bid. Speaking in New Hampshire Friday, Clinton was asked about gun control. "Recently Australia managed to get away, or take away tens of thousands, millions of handguns. In one year, they were all gone. Can we do that? If we can’t, why can’t we?" Clinton responded saying Australia's eradication of firearms was "worth considering" on a national level.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 15, 2015 24 Comments
Enunciation saves lives. Ok, maybe not. But it probably prevents needless miscommunications like this one in Kyle, Texas. According to KVUE:
When a Lehman High School student asked for some chewing gum, another person misheard and thought the student said the word "gun," causing a scare on campus. School officials investigated the concern while students were held in their extended class periods. Later, Hays County CISD sent a letter out to parents stating: "The safety of our students is always foremost on our list of priorities, so we take these concerns seriously," the letter read in part. "We continue to encourage students to report anything they see or hear that causes them concern. Fortunately, in this case, it was a misunderstanding and there was no threat to our school or need to conduct a lock down." The investigation had little to no disruption to students' schedules, officials said.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 15, 2015 10 Comments
There was plenty of talk about gun control and the NRA at the Democratic Party debate Tuesday night. These talking points make great fodder for a progressive audience but ignore the truth. Good people need to be able to defend themselves from bad people. A new ad from the NRA features a man who lived through the horror of World War II and ultimately made it to America. He reminds us of the importance of the Second Amendment in this new ad from the NRA. Transcript via the NRA News website:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 12, 2015 43 Comments
Longhorn alumna Jessica Jin plans to protest campus carry in a somewhat unconventional way -- by organizing a "Campus (Dildo) Carry" protest at the University's Austin campus. Jin graduated from the University of Texas last year with a degree in violin performance. Campus carry, a law that extends concealed carry privileges to license holders on university campuses, was signed into law by Texas Governor Abbott this year. Using the social media hashtag, #CocksNotGlocks, participants are encouraged to wield dildos to demonstrate the absurdity of campus carry. Yeah, we don't get it either. Organizer Jin wrote on the event's official Facebook page:
The State of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms, however it DOES have strict rules about free sexual expression, to protect your innocence. You would receive a citation for taking a DILDO to class before you would get in trouble for taking a gun to class. Heaven forbid the penis. ...Starting on the first day of Long Session classes on August 24, 2016, we are strapping gigantic swinging dildos to our backpacks in protest of campus carry. ANYBODY can participate in solidarity: alum, non-UT students, people outside of Texas. Come one dildo, come all dildos. "You're carrying a gun to class? Yeah well I'm carrying a HUGE DILDO." Just about as effective at protecting us from sociopathic shooters, but much safer for recreational play. #CocksNotGlocks

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 10, 2015 42 Comments
There is not a single campus where the failure to ban lawfully-possessed concealed guns caused a mass shooting. In fact, almost all places where mass shootings have taken place are "gun-free zones." The results are predictable, as I explained in my viral column at USA Today, Time to talk about gun free zones:
In almost all mass shooting situations, particularly at schools, the common theme is a gun-free zone, with the shooter being the only one armed person in the building for minutes or longer. And in each case, the shooter couldn’t care less about the gun-free nature of the building, and if anything, was drawn to such a location. Gun-free zones presume the good intentions of those entering the zone. And the overwhelming majority have such good intentions. But for those who have bad intentions, gun-free zones turn schools and other locations into shooting galleries. The good people are unarmed, the evil person is armed.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 05, 2015 30 Comments
You'll be glad to know that anti-gun activists have finally found a scapegoat for last week's mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Rosebud, Oregon. They haven't gone after the shooter(!), or the gun(!!), or the GOP(!!!); instead, they've decided to demand the head (and job) of Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin. Hanlin's force responded to the situation at Umpqua, took the initial lead in the investigation, and handled the massive media response.

At the close of a recently-finished press conference, Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin expressed his "most sincere appreciation to those most directly touched by this incident."

Posted by Fox News on Saturday, October 3, 2015
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has issued a statement demanding Hanlin's resignation following reports that Hanlin has expressed views contrary to the politically correct post-tragedy narrative espoused by pro-gun control advocates. From the Brady Campaign:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 02, 2015 41 Comments
I have a column at USA Today, Time to talk about gun free zones. Here is an excerpt:
Gun-free zones presume the good intentions of those entering the zone. And the overwhelming majority have such good intentions. But for those who have bad intentions, gun-free zones turn schools and other locations into shooting galleries. The good people are unarmed, the evil person is armed.... Gun-free zones achieve the opposite of what is intended. Rather than making good people safer, it puts them at the mercy of the evil people.
You know the drill. You go over to USA Today, read the whole thing, and share it on Facebook and Twitter. There has been an attempt by Think Progress and some others to dispute whether the campus and/or buildings were gun free zones, but it's pretty clear they were:

Posted by Amy Miller on October 02, 2015 99 Comments
Yesterday, a 26 year old man loaded a gun and committed mass murder at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. New reports indicate that the man (whose name doesn't deserve any more ink on this site) killed at least 9 people and injured many more before police neutralized him. Four guns believed to belong to the shooter were recovered at the scene. Amid the horror comes the story of 30 year-old Chris Mintz, a student and Army veteran who was shot 7 times while trying to protect his classmates from the gunman. That's his picture at the top of the page---his actions earned him the spot. Mintz reportedly blocked the door to the classroom he was in to prevent the shooter from entering. When the shooter did manage to enter the room, Mintz was shot several times. He is currently recovering in a local hospital and is expected to survive. More from ABC News:
"I just hope that everyone else is OK," he told ABC News this morning. "I'm just worried about everyone else. The man’s actions in the fatal shooting, where 10 people died and seven, including himself, were injured, did not go unnoticed by his peers.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 01, 2015 71 Comments
At least 10 people were murdered today when a gunman opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. According to authorities, the shooter was a 20 year old man. They haven't released his name, or any other information about him, but officials did confirm that he is dead. Now, investigators are looking at social media posts from as early as last night trying to figure out more about the shooter, and what motivated him to kill. More from CNN:
According to the source close to the investigation, authorities are looking at social media posts between a person they believe may have been the shooter, and others. The conversation happened Wednesday night on 4chan. In it, the writer talks about planning to carry out a shooting. Others egg him on, giving him suggestions on how to do it, and the type of weapons to use. The responses are mixed -- with some users characterizing the would-be gunman as a pathetic loser. Others called him a twisted hero. In the posts, there is a reference to the UC Santa Barbara shooter, who wrote a manifesto and videoed himself before opening fire a year ago. "This is the only time I'll ever be in the news. I'm so insignificant," reads an apparent post by the would-be Oregon gunman.
During a press conference, President Obama seized the opportunity to initiate another outright push for more gun control legislation, saying, "somehow, this has become routine." Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on September 29, 2015 18 Comments
Earlier this month, Dana Loesch appeared in an NRA promo video asking women to take a second look at safe, legal handgun ownership as an effective form of self defense. It was awesome. Watch it if you haven't already: This video is the definition of speaking truth to power, and highlights an important difference between the conservative, pro-gun narrative, and what the left twists that narrative into. Anti-gun advocates feed off of the fear, sadness, and confusion that hits in the wake of mass or high profile shootings; they don't want you to know about the lives saved by guns---all they want is to convince Americans that their families would somehow be safer if only criminals had access to guns in a gun-free society.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 24, 2015 12 Comments
Gallup released an interesting poll this week showing that nearly half of all Americans view government as "an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens."  Interestingly, this is "similar to what was found in previous surveys conducted over the last five years"; however, "when this question was first asked in 2003, less than a third of Americans held this attitude." Gallup reports:
The latest results are from Gallup's Sept. 9-13 Governance poll. The lower percentage of Americans agreeing in 2003 that the federal government posed an immediate threat likely reflected the more positive attitudes about government evident after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The percentage gradually increased to 44% by 2006, and then reached the 46% to 49% range in four surveys conducted since 2010. The remarkable finding about these attitudes is how much they reflect apparent antipathy toward the party controlling the White House, rather than being a purely fundamental or fixed philosophical attitude about government.
It's no accident, for example, that when Democrats start and/or renew pushes for gun control, gun and ammo sales skyrocket. Of course, this isn't just about gun control; it encompasses everything from government surveillance to over-regulation to fundamental First Amendment rights.
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