Republican National Convention - Real People, Real Stories

 

Protecting our 2A Rights - Issue 35

This week was the Republican National Convention and it was like none other. I don't want to pretend to be unbiased and this isn't a comparison with the Democratic National Convention because I didn't watch a single minute.   But when I say it was like none other, I am referring to previous Republican conventions. Previoious conventions rolled out politician after politician just talking policy.  This convention had real people with real stories.  An example that demonstrates this is at the 2012 convention there were 86 speakers and I would classify only 16 of those speakers as non-politician.  This convention only had 69 speakers but 32 were real people telling their stories.   The video below is one of the more powerful speeches in my opinion. At this convention they addressed the issues head on and didn't dance around or gloss over what has been historically more contreversioly.   There was no question that this President is pro 2nd Amendment and Pro Life.  The diversity of the party was shown and it challenged directly the belief that Republicans were white racists.  Clarence Henderson, a desegregation activist, recounted historical legislation providing black americans more freedoms and all were led by the Republican party. I don't know how many minds are changed by a convention but for the first time the Republicans drew a clear line in the sand showing the difference between the parties.

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What's Happening

Efforts to defund the police reviving hopes for passage of constitutional carry in Texas The debate over Constitutional Carry was revived on Monday, several months before the start of the Texas 87th Legislative Session. State Representative Kyle Biedermann announced Monday that he will file a bill that recognizes the constitution is the only permit needed to carry a handgun. Rep. Biedermann says efforts to defund the police are giving the bill a better chance of passing than in years past. An Army Of New Gun Owners Five Million Strong Just a few months ago, the NSSF estimated that between January and June of this year, as many as 2-million Americans had purchased a firearm for the first time. Now the firearms industry trade group says that number has grown to nearly 5-million Americans, and on today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co, Keane tells me that he believes these new gun owners will be a potent force on Election Day in November. Kamala Harris on the Second Amendment So, to summarize: Kamala Harris, as D.A., definitely endorsed the view that a total handgun ban didn't violate the Second Amendment. She also seemed to endorse the view that the Second Amendment secures only a "collective" or "militia-related" right, and not the individual right that the Court ultimately recognized in D.C. v. Heller. What to know about Wisconsin's open-carry laws, self defense and more in Kenosha protest shootings Within hours of two fatal shootings of protesters by an armed counterprotester late Tuesday in Kenosha, the internet was flooded with videos of the incident that raise lots of questions. Here are some basics on Wisconsin's relevant laws and what legal experts have to say on the situation.

9th Circuit Court Ruling - A Victory for the Second Amendment

 

Last week in a 2 to 1 decision, the 9th District appeals court ruled that the ban on large capacity magazines are unconstitutional and violate the 2nd Amendment. In the ruling, Judge Lee wrote a ton of gold in his argument. It should be noted that Judge Lee is a Trump appointee. I encourage you to read it because I can't cover it all. Here is a link to the decision. A few highlights from the decision: Firearm magazines are protected under the second amendment. High capacity magazines are commonly owned and used for lawful purposes and are not “unusual arms.” Existing prohibitions are not longstanding and do not enjoy a presumption of lawfulness. Judge Lee explained that many rely on their firearms to protect themselves and their families, from those who live in rural areas where the local sheriff might be miles away to law-abiding citizens trapped in high crime areas and communities that distrust or depend less on law enforcement. ***** A history lesson from Judge Lee Semi Automatic and multi shot firearms were not novel or unforeseen inventions to the Founders. The first firearm that could fire more than ten rounds without reloading was invented in 1580. Rapid fire guns were patented as early as 1718. The Girandonni air rifle developed in 1779 had a 22 round capacity. “The record shows that firearms capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition have been available in the United States for well over two centuries. While the Supreme Court has ruled that arms need not have been common during the founding era to receive protection under the Second Amendment, the historical prevalence of firearms capable of holding more than ten bullets underscores the heritage of LCM’s in our country’s history." Another interesting point Judge Lee discusses is the denial of the right to self defense to black americans. After the founding, Southern states severely limited or prohibited firearm possession by slaves, freedmen and others. The judicial branch played a role in denying black Americans. In Dred Scott v Sanford, Chief Justice Taney stated a series of horrible things that would happen if blacks were considered citizens. He said it would give blacks the “right to enter every other state whenever they pleased,” to exercise “full liberty of speech” to “hold public meetings upon political affairs” and “to keep and carry arms where they want." Following the Civil War, state legislation and the Black Codes deprived newly freed slaves of the 2nd Amendment rights. Armed bands of ex-Confederates roamed the country disarming and terrorizing Black Americans. Republicans in Congress fought back against these efforts to disarm Black Americans by enacting the Freedmen’s Bureau Act of 1866 and the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 both guaranteed all persons the right of self-defense. Despite these efforts to pass laws, the Ku Klux Klan and other bands of terrorists slaughtered thousands of unarmed Black Americans. So, Black Americans embraced their right to self-defense,. The founder of the NAACP wrote “a Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.” The judge points out that other members of other groups also benefit from the right to bear arms including abused women and the LGBT community. The 2nd Amendment is not a second class right nor is self defense a dispensation granted at the state's mercy. Moreover, the 2nd Amendment is not a relic but a right that is exercised hundreds of times on any given day. Guns are used for defensive purposes, offering anywhere from 240,000 to 2.5 million times a year. So on average anywhere between 657 americans to 6849 Americans use guns to defend themselves every single day of the year. ***** Bottomline, California's ban on LCM infringes on the fundamental right to self defense. It criminalizes the possession of half of all magazines in America today. It makes unlawful magazines that are commonly used in handguns and substantially burdens the core right guaranteed to people under the Second Amendment.

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What's Happening

They’re Coming for Your Guns With presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s recent announcement of Kamala Harris as his running mate, and the Democratic National Convention in full swing, now seems the perfect time to take a closer look at the recently released 2020 Democratic Party Platform on gun control. Gun Control and the Alignment of the Progressive Left Americans join or support organizations based on their personal views and values. But associations or interest groups that take positions on issues that are disconnected from their apparent missions can create problems for their members who disagree with the group’s official stance. There are multiple examples of this on the progressive Left, and one involves gun control. Joe Biden Does Not Understand the Second Amendment When it overturned California's 10-round magazine limit last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit emphasized what Americans commonly do when they exercise their constitutional right to armed self-defense. Joe Biden, by contrast, thinks the relevant question is how many shells Americans are allowed to have in their shotguns when they hunt migratory birds. Why Most Gun And Ammo Makers Aren’t Expanding Production You may have wondered, as you were scanning nearly empty shelves at your local gun store or scrolling through page after page of “out of stock” ammunition at your favorite online store, why it is that firearms and ammunition manufacturers aren’t expanding their operations to meet the surge in demand from customers? After all, we’ve had record setting gun sales every month since March, the National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates that more than 2-million Americans have purchased a gun for the first time this year, and clearly these companies can’t meet the current demand. Doesn’t it make sense to expand, even if that means laying out millions of dollars to retool factories to increase productivity?