Tag: Gun Rights

Guns In The Age Of Donny

Note:  Today is my chemo session and because of the side effects this will be my only post today…..sorry about that….not to worry I will be back as soon as possible.

I guess a good place to start is with a recent set of findings….

A sweeping new review of nearly 30 years of gun policy research finds a small number of firearm laws consistently show measurable effects on deaths and violence in the United States, while many others remain surprisingly unproven.

The report, released by the RAND Corporation, concludes that policies focused on limiting access during moments of crisis, such as safe-storage requirements, waiting periods, and age restrictions, are associated with reductions in suicides and some homicides. At the same time, laws that expand public carry and legal protections for the use of deadly force are linked to higher rates of violent crime.

The findings underscore how much of the gun debate is driven by assumption rather than evidence, and how narrow the list of policies with strong data behind them really is.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/military-news/rand-us-gun-policy-research-data/

Under Donny’s control ICE has been the focus of the news especially all the people they have killed and at the same time massive shootings has taken a backseat to the antics of the Goon Platoon.

We know our Little Donny cares nothing for our Constitution and that seems to carry over into the realm of guns a GOP standard or it use to be….

…

Trump and his MAGA underlings have decided, in other words, that the Second Amendment—long an inviolable part of Republican orthodoxy—does not apply to anti-ICE protesters. This has dismayed not only guns rights groups but even some Republican lawmakers. “Why is a ‘conservative’ judge threatening to arrest gun owners?” Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky asked on X. Representative Greg Steube of Florida tweeted at Pirro, “I bring a gun into the district every week…. I have a license in Florida and DC to carry. And I will continue to carry to protect myself and others.” Of course, they were in the minority: Most Republicans have remained silent, tacitly acknowledging that they don’t have absolutist positions on gun rights and states’ rights after all.

(newrepublic.com)

Everything this admin does is hinkey in some way or another…..and guns are no different….

n December 31, in the waning hours of 2025, the Washington Post reported on an internal ICE document that concerned the agency’s “wartime recruitment” strategy, or rather its attempt to expeditiously swell its ranks of deportation officers. The memo, according to the Post, had in mind a pool of ideal candidates who lead a “patriotic” lifestyle and have an interest in “military and veterans affairs,” “physical training,” “gun rights organizations,” and “tactical gear brands.”

The memo’s logic was easy enough to understand, since what it described, if you read between the lines, was an informal paramilitary that was waiting to be tapped. Over the last month—as a violent federal occupation has unfolded in Minneapolis, where veteran immigration agents brutally killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti—both the memo and the new recruits it would draw into the fold began to take up outsized space in my mind. For a long time now, the gun rights movement has been animated by the promise of a violent reckoning, a sentiment nurtured by the groups that represent it and Republican politicians, who seek to channel a wild, truculent energy into votes and profits. It seemed the promise was being fulfilled in Minneapolis, like the fatal denouement of a production that had one harbinger after another.

Minneapolis Is the Violent Reckoning the Gun Rights Movement Has Long Wanted

This ‘new’ recruitment floes in the face of democracy and creeps closer to a police state….

Picture it: an America with no guns.

Our children would be safe in school. Our neighborhoods would be positively dreamy. Life expectancy would rise and America might just get a shred of respect from the rest of the world, which looks at us these days as the complete maniacs we most certainly have become.

But you think I’m the one who has completely lost his mind.

Never happen, Earl. Guns are here to stay.

You know, it wasn’t so long ago, that some sort of meaty gun control actually looked doable. Back then, when America was at least semi-sane, gun control was my No. 1 issue. I railed about it. I marched for it. I joined gun-control groups, and put some of my limited treasure into furthering this noble cause.

Hadn’t we seen enough of our children brutally slaughtered in all those classrooms?

America: Awash in Guns and Fast Becoming a Police State

For years the argument about guns was the 2nd was there so the people could protect themselves from the government….now think about this….what is happening in our cities with the Goon Platoon, who are acting as agents of the government, is it not what the whack jobs in the Tea Party were so concerned with happening?

If not then just what the Hell was the 2nd intended to be used for if needed?

I have found it interesting that the gun echo chamber has fallen silent in the days of ICE.

If you have any ideas then please voice them here and we all can try to understand.

I Reads, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

SCOTUS Does Guns (Again)

It is that time when the Supreme Court hands down its judgements again…this is the latest to be handed down….

The Supreme Court handed advocates for gun rights a major victory on Thursday with a ruling expected to make it easier for people to carry concealed handguns:

  • Decision: The court struck down a New York law requiring that people who want to carry concealed weapons must show a “proper cause” for doing so, reports the New York Times. The 6-3 decision split along the court’s conservative and liberal lines.
  • Majority: The court’s conservative justices declared that New York’s law was so restrictive that it violated the Constitution. “The Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home,” wrote Clarence Thomas, per the Washington Post. His opinion declared that the state’s law violated that principle.
  • Dissent: “Many States have tried to address some of the dangers of gun violence … by passing laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds,” wrote Stephen Breyer. “The Court today severely burdens States’ efforts to do so.”
  • Precedent: The ruling will have consequences beyond New York, notes the AP. For example, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have “proper cause” laws similar to New York’s, and those will likely be challenged, too. The AP estimates that a quarter of the US population currently lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling.
  • Background: New York’s law has been on the books for more than a century, notes the Post. Two men, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch, sued, saying it made it “virtually impossible for the ordinary law-abiding citizen to obtain a license,” per the Times. The court agreed.

Ain’t it grand?

I am sorry but this has nothing to do with personal safety, in my mind, this is just another masculine thing….letting some to feel like a ‘big man’ because that are a tottin’.

There comes a time for sanity but when it comes to the sacred gun sanity leaves the room for paranoia and silliness……since the Court is not positive in the eyes of the population.

With the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, Americans’ confidence in the country’s top court has fallen to a record law, according to the latest Gallup poll. The pollsters say just 25% of Americans have “quite a lot” or a “great deal” of confidence in the court, down 11 points from a year ago. It’s the lowest number in polling going back to 1973, the year of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, when confidence was at 45%. The previous low was in 2014, when confidence in the court was at 30%. The highest figure over the last 49 years was 56%, recorded in 1985 and 1988.

Gallup says the poll was carried out from June 1 to 20, weeks after the leak of the draft decision on abortion rights. With a conservative supermajority in place, pollsters say only 13% of Democrats have high confidence in the top court, CNN reports. Confidence among independent voters has dived from 40% to 25% year-on-year, according to Gallup, while among Republicans, it has edged up from 37% to 39%. In a poll taken in 2020, before Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as then-President Donald Trump’s third SCOTUS pick, the figure for Republicans was 53%. Gallup says confidence in the court among Republicans hit a record low of 26% in 2010.

Biden signs ‘landmark’ gun deal…..

  • The bill would make the local juvenile records of people age 18 to 20 available during required federal background checks when they attempt to buy guns. Those examinations, currently limited to three days, would last up to a maximum of 10 days to give federal and local officials time to search records.
  • People convicted of domestic abuse who are current or former romantic partners of the victim would be prohibited from acquiring firearms, closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole.”
  • There would be money to help states enforce red flag laws.
  • The measure expands the use of background checks by rewriting the definition of the federally licensed gun dealers required to conduct them. Penalties for gun trafficking are strengthened, billions of dollars are provided for behavioral health clinics and school mental health programs, and there’s money for school safety initiatives, though not for personnel to use a “dangerous weapon.”

The big tagline for this bill is “it will save lives”……tell me where.

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Gun Debate Op-Ed #7

The debate continues and as usual absolutely nothing is getting accomplished…semantics and bullsh*t seem to be the only thing all agree on.

While the debate rages with nothing more than accusations and lies….there are a few solutions that are popular and they work (according to this op-ed)……..

While there are many factors contributing to the scourge of gun violence in the United States, one thing is clear: The data—and the majority of Americans—support laws that sensibly restrict access to firearms under certain conditions.

“We have evidence-based solutions that exist right now that are supported by the majority of Americans from a range of backgrounds and experiences,” said Cassandra Crifasi, director of research and policy at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. “We have the tools, we have the support, and we need to act.”

Crifasi and four of her colleagues from the Center for Gun Violence Solutions discussed the policies that are proven to decrease while also receiving significant public support during a virtual briefing Thursday hosted by Johns Hopkins University. They discussed topics including proven methods for reducing gun violence in schools, the intricacies of extreme risk protection orders, and the various effects gun laws have on democratic participation.

But they were united in presenting the facts supported by their gun policy research—particularly the demonstrated effectiveness of proposed policies, and their support among Americans.

https://phys.org/news/2022-06-gun-policy-solutions-effective-popular.html

An article below is from Reader’s Digest……

The recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 grade school students and two elementary school teachers—and devastated the entire country. In the wake of the violence, many Americans are looking for ways to help the victims and families and asking how to help with gun control to prevent school shootings in the future.

And they’re struggling with why it’s so hard to stop gun violence in America, especially when most of the country is in favor of strengthening gun laws. A recent Morning Consult/Politico poll found that the majority of Americans support laws that require background checks for all gun sales, set age minimums for gun purchases, and ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. Overall, 65 percent of Americans support stricter gun laws.

The tragedy has prompted people to examine how other countries respond to mass shootings, debate what the right to bear arms means in the context of the Second Amendment, and question what it would take to amend the Constitution. But those are large-scale changes. Fortunately, there’s a lot individuals can do to reduce the chances of another mass shooting, whether in a school or in another public area, like the recent supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York. If you’re interested in how to help with gun control, keep reading for ways to take action.

How to Help with Gun Control: 12 Things You Can Do Now to Stop Gun Violence

As I stated earlier….these op-eds are from others who feel they need to voice their opinion…..your thoughts will be appreciated.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Gun Debate Op-Ed #6

I have stated on many occasions that the debate about guns will never go anywhere until there is honesty among the participants….all we have now is recriminations, accusations, lies and misinformation……

I recently came across an op-ed that asks some interesting questions and thoughts….it was published in a law journal…..

I’m an equal-opportunity offender. Allow me to offend everyone, by offering a few thoughts (on both sides of the issue) on gun control:

First, shouldn’t we require the microstamping of all gun cartridges nationwide? We should require manufacturers to place a microscopic engraving on cartridge cases identifying the gun from which the cartridge case was expelled. I understand that folks want to possess guns, but I don’t understand why anyone should have the right to fire a gun anonymously. Police should be able to immediately trace a cartridge to a specific gun.

Does anyone disagree in good faith?

(I don’t want to hear that requiring microstamping would increase the price of guns or ammunition. It probably would. The Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms, but it doesn’t impose any price controls.)

Second, those who oppose gun control are missing a trick: Although you hear this argument all the time, the truth is that almost no one ever fires a gun in self-defense. (I know that the pro-gun folks always insist that “a good guy with a gun” could have stopped a crime, and we see occasional anecdotal reports of this having happened once in a blue moon. But the average gun owner will never in his or her life fire a gun in self-defense.)

Some people, however, probably make a “defensive display” of a gun without discharging it. For example, a john is about to assault or rob a prostitute. The pimp enters the room and displays a handgun. The john leaves peacefully; no one is hurt. This defensive display of a gun served a useful purpose, but I’d bet dollars to doughnuts incidents such as this are not reported to the police (and thus are not counted in the statistics).

https://abovethelaw.com/2022/06/unspoken-thoughts-about-gun-control/

Anything to add?

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“lego ergo scribo”

Gun Debate Op-Ed #4

Part 4 of my limited series on the gun debate…..as I have stated I will present both sides of the dialog as I do not wish to influence one’s thinking only to inform for a better understanding.

This op-ed is about the Second Amendment……

Gun-control advocates in the United States are experiencing quite a bit of Canada envy, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced this week that he will be banning import, sales, and transfers of handguns. He also announced legislation to require citizens to turn over their “military-style assault weapons” in a mandatory buy-back program. As of now, there is no legal definition of “military-style assault weapon,” so Canadians with guns will presumably be alerted when they become criminals on a TBD basis.

This is in addition to the banning of 1,500 rifle models in the wake of a 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia, were 22 people were killed. It’s part of an “ever-expanding” list of prohibited models maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The proposed legislation also includes tighter red-flag restrictions, provisions for confiscation and disabling of banned guns, and a blanket restriction of magazines to only five rounds.

Why can’t we enact Canada’s wish list of restrictions in the U.S.?—our gun control activists wonder.

 

Well, it’s not the gun lobby. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been seriously weakened, is floundering in corruption accusations, and has filed for bankruptcy in the past two years. But it was also never the primary strength of gun-owners’ side of the argument. That strength lies in the Second Amendment, which whatever you think of its protections of Americans’ right to a firearm, is a hard fact with which activists must contend.

If the goal is to significantly curtail the number of guns—or even slow its growth, which is the purported goal of many activists—they must deal with the Constitution. No matter how “commonsense” you might consider some gun regulations, they have to pass constitutional muster to become a reality.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/im-pro-second-amendment-but-if-the-libs-want-to-get-rid-of-it-heres-what-theyd-have-to-do

Now I know somewhere someone has a rebuttal to this proposal…..

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“lego ergo scribo”

Gun Debate Op-Ed #3

Part 3 of my limited series on the debate and op-eds being written about the gun violence and the possible solutions.

These op-eds are pro and con on the need for more and better gun laws……I do NOT necessarily agree or disagree with these thoughts….they are only an exercise for FYI to help my readers try to understand the debate as it is today.

The news is that with just about every mass shooting gun sales go higher….as if more guns will solve the problems….

But first a stat for you to consider….there are about 393 million guns in private ownership in the US….how many are there in Ukraine or say Syria?

Guns, guns, guns, we will never have enough guns.  

I’m a 79-year-old American male, so of course I’m interested in guns. I grew up in the ’40’s and ’50s watching movies and TV shows while the good guys and the bad guys shot it out. 

In elementary school I attended a “well-regulated militia,” a military academy, and every day we practiced close order drills with 1903 Springfield rifles.  

During that time America, Russia and other countries began developing and stockpiling bigger and better nuclear weapons as “deterrents” to war. Obviously, we hoard weapons so we can feel safe.  

As a 12-year-old, I got my first gun when I joined the Boy Scouts of America, not quite a “well-regulated militia,” but close enough; we wore uniforms. We got to practice shooting at targets. 

Then along came the Vietnam war.

Like my father and my uncles and millions of other Americans before me, I got my chance to serve in an actual “well-regulated militia.” I joined the Army. 

The Army issued me a M-16. It’s like an AR-15, but better. With the flip of a selector switch, it can be fired like a machine gun and empty a 20-round magazine of high velocity bullets in less than two seconds.

https://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/contributors/valley-voice/2022/05/25/gun-violence-wont-stop-more-guns-column/9915326002/

Please once again I need to remind the reader that this is a re-post of an op-ed, not mine, but someone with an opinion and with good reason…..I do not agree or disagree…..just posted as a service.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Gun Debate Op-Ed #2

This is part 2 of more limited series on the op-eds being published about the problems of mass shootings……

This is an FYI exercise to let my readers know the extent of the debate and the positions taken by those writers……

Yes I am a Progressive and yes I also read The American Conservative (go figure)……

Every time there is a mass shooting, the same political scene unfolds. Voices on the left begin calling for “sensible public policy” on firearms. The hosts of The View lose their minds because evil Republicans won’t fix the problem. Democratic politicians haul in money while decrying Republicans’ failure to “prevent gun violence and save lives.” The president makes a speech insisting he respects lawful gun owners, before asking when the carnage will stop and demanding a host of “common sense” gun-control measures. Yes, the left wants background checks, red-flag laws, etc. But the reform they really seem to salivate over is banning supposed “assault weapons,” like the AR-15. The issue inevitably gets debated back and forth in the media. Nothing happens at the federal level. Then, after a few weeks, the issue fades.

Why this action-less cycle? Certain voices on the left claim that America suffers from a “disproportionate influence of small states,” caused by the equal representation in the Senate and the existence of the filibuster. This argument has been used in a variety of political situations over the years when the pesky middle of the country gets in the way of what the Blue Coasts want to impose. When liberals are honest, they know that this nation was never created to be a democracy. This “problem,” then, is not a problem at all; it is an intentional check on the majority’s ability to impose its will on the nation in all matters. Also, perhaps the constant failure to pass these elusive “sensible gun-control measures” is not simply a matter of unsuccessful, stymied legislative efforts. Perhaps the existence of the Second Amendment, and a United States Supreme Court willing to uphold it, are the real issues for the left.

The Left Wants to Repeal the Second Amendment

Please keep in mind that I do NOT necessarily agree with any of the op-eds I re-post…..they are as I have stated FYI……

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“lego ergo scribo”

Gun Debate Op-Ed #1

We all have our opinions on the necessity for some sort of actual solution to our ever growing gun violence problem.

I have mine of which few will probably agree….but that is your problem….I wanted to help my readers understand what others are saying beyond the chatter from the ‘reliable sources’…..

I will re-post various op-eds from around the country to let my readers know what others are thinking…..

Do you have the right to a gun? Yes. A constitutional right? No.

Fealty to the American myth of unrestricted gun ownership has run its course. Too many children have died. Try a lawyer’s perspective instead. You have the right to own a gun, but it’s not a constitutional right. Politicians beholden to the National Rifle Association bloviating about the liberal elite coming to take our guns in violation of our “Second Amendment constitutional rights” are nauseating. Shut up, Sen. Ted Cruz. No one believes that.

Why not first read the Second Amendment? It says, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/story/2022-06-03/second-amendment-gun-rights

Please keep in mind that these are NOT my thoughts….I may or may not agree, this is just an FYI exercise…..hopefully all will see as such and not go off on some rant filled rant that will serve no purpose at all.

Any thoughts?

On a closing note:  Today we celebrate the 78th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Fortress Europe.

Please take a few minutes to thank our Greatest Generation for all their sacrifice.

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“lego ergo scribo”

“Those Godless Commies”

Once again I can thank my friend over at….https://www.theindependentknight.com/ to give me food for thought….https://www.theindependentknight.com/trumpian-politics/the-second-amendment-protects-america-um-from-what-exactly/

The title could be about anything the idiots on the Right want to bitch about…..but in this case it is about the attempts to get some gun reforms…..since Biden is president as of this writing we will look at his lame attempts at reform…..

Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a comprehensive strategy to combat gun violence and other violent crime. This strategy implements preventative measures that are proven to reduce violent crime, and attacks the root causes – including by addressing the flow of firearms used to commit crimes.

This strategy will use the Rescue Plan’s historic funding levels and clear guidance to help state, local, territorial, and tribal governments get the money they need to put more police officers on the beat – with the resources, training, and accountability they need to engage in effective community policing – in addition to supporting proven Community Violence Intervention programs, summer employment opportunities, and other investments that we know will reduce crime and make our neighborhoods safer.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/23/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-comprehensive-strategy-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gun-crime-and-ensure-public-safety/

Those godless commies are coming for your guns…..was the expected tagline for the idiots…..

Really?

With this limp dick approach nothing will….even if it was a stronger response it would still be ineffective.

Why you ask?

Media outlets love reporting the results of polling on hot-button policy issues, but they rarely tell you if the people supporting proposed legislation (especially when it’s restrictive) are the same people who would be affected by it. That matters in several important ways, not least of which is that getting a law passed is not the same thing as getting people to obey. Nowhere does that matter more than in the heated debate over gun laws.

“Fifty-seven percent of registered voters in the March 24-26 survey said there should be more laws regulating guns in the country,” The Hill reported earlier this year of the results of a Hill-HarrisX poll. That the story might be a little more complicated is hinted at later in the article where the numbers are broken down along partisan lines to reveal that 79 percent of Democrats support tighter gun laws, but only 36 percent of Republicans agree.

Why does the partisan divide on gun policy matter so much? Because gun ownership has traditionally been divided just as starkly along partisan lines, “with Republican and Republican-leaning independents more than twice as likely as Democrats and those who lean Democratic to say they own a gun (44% vs. 20%),” according to 2017 polling by Pew Research. That may indicate an ideological difference, or it may be evidence that familiarity with firearms encourages a more relaxed attitude towards their legal status, or both. Whatever the reason for the deep disagreement, enforcing “tighter gun laws” would require the cooperation of the people who actually possess them and oppose such policy changes.

Don’t Be Surprised if Gun Owners Don’t Comply With Gun Control Laws

In case my readers needs some info on the gun facts……https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/

This is a letter challenging the right to private ownership of guns…..

***Do Not Shoot The Messenger…This Is Someone’s Opinion….Not Mine….***

Those who believe the 2nd Amendment supports private gun ownership are long on opinions and short on facts, as is shown by J.T. Coyote’s letter published in July. Actually,Mr. Coyote’s letter was somewhat confusing as he first asserts the constitution does not “give” us the right to own and bear arms, but rather God does – even though the “right” to own personal weapons is not discussed in the Bible. Regardless, having dismissed the constitution as the genesis of this “right”, the remainder of the letter is indeed about the Second Amendment.

https://www.summitdaily.com/news/2nd-amendment-doesnt-support-private-gun-ownership/

Just some food for thought.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–08Jul21

One of the big ideas for trying to control all the gun violence in the US is the use of background checks when buying that gun……

And how is that working out?

America’s gun background check system, designed to keep weapons out of the hands of people who might use them in crimes, has struggled to keep up with record firearms sales over the past year — even as violent crime has risen dramatically in many U.S. cities.

In recent years, the FBI — which manages the system that vets gun buyers — processed an average of 8.6 million gun background checks annually, according to historical data analyzed by FiveThirtyEight.1 But last year, the bureau processed 12,761,328 background checks, according to FBI data obtained by FiveThirtyEight through a public records request.

Perhaps most alarming, the FBI never finished over 316,000 background checks in the first nine months of 2020 alone — far more than in any other year on record. And that number doesn’t include October, November and December — usually the busiest months for gun sales, when 3.4 million background checks were opened last year.

In other words, it’s impossible to know how many guns were sold to people in 2020 who couldn’t legally own them because those background checks were never completed.

More People Are Buying Guns. Fewer People Are Getting Background Checks.

Glad to see the big idea to help control our rampaging gun violence is working so we….I feel so much safer knowing this (of course that is sarcasm….it is another failed attempt to stop the violence)

How does that help the situation?

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“lego ergo scribo”