Here. Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune, and for Cagle Cartoons.
When is the Pulitzer committee going to give Bagley the prize for his work?
Tip of the old scrub brush to Twitter, and @PatBagley.
Ten most terrifying words in English language
September 28, 2020
1 Comment | 
Civil Rights, History, Nonviolent protest, Political cartoons, Politics, Second Amendment, Violence | Tagged: Cartoos, Non-violent Protest, Pat Bagley, Right Wing Terrorism, Second Amendment | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
2nd Amendment? Don’t forget Article III, section 3; treason still a crime
August 3, 2017
Constitution Article III section 3; image origin unknown
Second Amendment fanatics (distinguished from Second Amendment scholars) often claim a right to overthrow the U.S. government by force, and use that as justification for complete, unbridled rights to own guns and threaten neighbors, city governments, state governments and federal government with violence.
Regardless the history of the Second Amendment and what it was intended to say, no scholar I can find argues that it vitiates or even touches Article III’s provisions against insurrection and violence against the government and government officers.
It may be good simply to review what that clause says.
Article III, Section 3, of the U.S. Constitution:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
No commentary I can find suggests the Second Amendment confers a right to rebellion, a right to revolution, or any exemption from Article III treason.
What do you think? Comments open.
More:
- Annenberg Classroom explanation of the text of Article III Section 3
- “Should Citizens Have a Right to Rebel?” The Atlantic, Daniel Lansberg-Rodríguez Jun 6, 2014
2 Comments | History, Politics, Revolution, Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: Article II Section 3, History, Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Guns to protect against U.S. government? Constitution doesn’t protect that
May 16, 2014Today, May 16, 2014, a group of yahoos promises 10 million armed Americans will descend on Washington to force changes in government, maybe depose the President, and have other yahoo fun squealing tires, drinking beer, and scaring good folks with the guns they wave.
They’ll be lucky to have a thousand people show up and politely decline to run afoul of the District of Columbia’s gun laws and the concomitant prison time.
If they stay out of jail, it won’t be because the Constitution protects them.
Yes, the Second Amendment says they have — and you and I have — a right to “keep and bear arms.”
Yahoos, true to their yahoo ways, really don’t read the Constitution thoroughly. Otherwise, I suspect they’d be more circumspect.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
Neither the First Amendment nor the Second Amendment excuses treason.
How will today turn out in Washington? There may be some traffic tie-ups. There always are. Anything out of the ordinary, though? Not if citizens use common sense, and stick to the Constitution that protects their protests.
Yahoos, in one of their nicer portrayals from the 1947 Crown edition of Gulliver’s Travels; drawing by Luis Quintanilla. Image from Wordmall.
Update: As of Friday afternoon, the rally fizzled. Organizers blamed the rain. Proof that rain falls on the unjust, too?
More:
- Why didn’t more protesters show up? Twitter hashtag discussion, #OperationAmericanSpringExcuses
- Voice of Russia story on the protests
- Rachel Maddow’s pre-protest analysis, “Big nutball day”
- Wonkette has fun with the idea
- By the way, how did George Washington deal with American citizens who took up arms against the U.S. government in protest? A small army and a dozen nooses . . .
7 Comments | First Amendment, History, Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: #OperationAmericanSpring, Article III Section 3, Constitution, History, Second Amendment, Treason, Yahoos | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Gun nuts twisting the words of President Kennedy
May 4, 2014Here’s the full text of President Kennedy’s statement on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s birthday in 1961, urging Americans to join Kennedy in making things better, including enlisting in the military, from the Kennedy Library [links added here]:
January 29, 1961
This year, the celebrations of Roosevelt Day has special significance for Democrats everywhere; for we celebrate not only the triumphs of the past but the opportunities of the future.
Twenty-eight years ago Franklin Roosevelt assumed the leadership of a stricken and demoralized nation. Poverty, distress and economic stagnation blanketed the land. But it was not long before the great creative energies of the New Deal had lifted American from its despair and set us on the path to new heights of prosperity, power and greatness.
Today America is the richest nation in the history of the world. Our power and influence extend around the globe. Yet the challenges and dangers which confront us are even more awesome and difficult than those that face Roosevelt. And we too will need to summon all the energies of our people and the capacities of our leaders if America is to remain a great and free nations — if we are to master the opportunities of the New Frontier.
The dimensions of out problems overwhelm the imagination. At home millions are unemployed and the growth of our economy has come to a virtual halt. Abroad, we are faced with powerful and unrelenting pressure which threaten freedom in every corner of the globe, and with military power so formidable that it menaces the physical survival of our own nation.
To meet these problems will require the efforts not only of our leaders or of the Democratic Party–but the combined efforts of all of our people.; No one has a right to feel that, having entrusted the tasks of government to new leaders in Washington, he can continue to pursue his private comforts unconcerned with American’s challenges and dangers. For, if freedom is to survive and prosper, it will require the sacrifice, the effort and the thoughtful attention of every citizen.
In my own native state of Massachusetts, the battle for American freedom was begun by the thousands of farmers and tradesmen who made up the Minute Men — citizens who were ready to defend their liberty at a moment’s notice. Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of American, cannot succeed with any lesser effort.
It is this effort and concern which makes up the New Frontier. And it is this effort and concern which will determine the success or failure not only with Administration, but of our nation itself. [emphasis added]
Source: White House Central Subject Files, Box 111, “FDR”.
Other Information Sources:
“Know your Lawmakers,” Guns Magazine, April 1960.
“Letter to President John F. Kennedy from the NRA,” [NRAcentral.com].
“New Minute Men Urged by Kennedy,” The New York Times, 30 January, 1961, pg. 13.
“Kennedy Says U.S. Needs Minute Men,” Los Angeles Times, 30 January, 1961, pg. 4.
“Minutemen’s Soft-Sell Leader: Robert B. DePugh,” The New York Times, 12 November 1961, pg. 76.
It seems to me that Kennedy was not asking yahoos to take up arms against the government, but was instead asking Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Specifically in the last paragraph, he noted his call was to join in the New Frontier efforts his administration pushed.
FDR, left, and JFK: Kennedy took the opportunity of Roosevelt’s birth anniversary in 1961, January 29, to urge Americans to volunteer to serve the nation, to serve as the Minutemen did, voluntarily, where the nation needs help, and in support of the nation. Image from Ring of Fire Network
If you’re not much a student of history, you may have forgotten about Kennedy’s New Frontier. As presidents before him, with the Square Deal (Teddy Roosevelt, 1904), the New Deal (FDR, 1933), and the Fair Deal (Truman, 1949), Kennedy sought a shorthand term to apply to much of his program of changes. In his speech accepting the nomination of the Democratic Party to run for president, he called this a New Frontier.
For I stand tonight facing west on what was once the last frontier. From the lands that stretch three thousand miles behind me, the pioneers of old gave up their safety, their comfort and sometimes their lives to build a new world here in the West. They were not the captives of their own doubts, the prisoners of their own price tags. Their motto was not “every man for himself” –but “all for the common cause.” They were determined to make that new world strong and free, to overcome its hazards and its hardships, to conquer the enemies that threatened from without and within.
Today some would say that those struggles are all over–that all the horizons have been explored–that all the battles have been won– that there is no longer an American frontier.
But I trust that no one in this vast assemblage will agree with those sentiments. For the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won–and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier–the frontier of the 1960’s–a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils– a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats.
[emphasis added]Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom promised our nation a new political and economic framework. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal promised security and succor to those in need. But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises–it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them. It appeals to their pride, not to their pocketbook–it holds out the promise of more sacrifice instead of more security.
But I tell you the New Frontier is here, whether we seek it or not. Beyond that frontier are the uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. It would be easier to shrink back from that frontier, to look to the safe mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions and high rhetoric–and those who prefer that course should not cast their votes for me, regardless of party.
But I believe the times demand new invention, innovation, imagination, decision. I am asking each of you to be pioneers on that New Frontier. My call is to the young in heart, regardless of age–to all who respond to the Scriptural call: “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.”
For courage–not complacency–is our need today–leadership–not salesmanship. And the only valid test of leadership is the ability to lead, and lead vigorously. A tired nation, said David Lloyd George, is a Tory nation–and the United States today cannot afford to be either tired or Tory.
Kennedy famously challenged Americans to stand up for service to the nation in his inaugural speech, and when he founded the Peace Corps, asking Americans to give up two or three years to work, peacefully, in other lands to promote progress there. Kennedy called Americans to share his vision, and to work for change, for a better America.
What were specifics of the New Frontier agenda? Kennedy pushed a broad range of programs, many turned into laws in his brief term; Kennedy aimed to change America in economics, taxation, labor, education, welfare, civil rights, housing, unemployment, health, equal rights for women, environment, agriculture, crime and defense. In each of these areas Kennedy sought to build on the legacies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman — in ways that conservatives today become apoplectic just thinking about.
Kennedy pushed for a higher minimum wage with built-in step increases over time not keyed to inflation. He called for more taxcuts for the poor, coupled with targeted tax incentives to get businesses to spend their cash to create jobs. Kennedy favored changes in law to give unions greater say in corporate expansion, tougher protection for workers from firing, and he extended collective bargaining to federal workers. Kennedy called for expansion of federally-funded loans and scholarships for college students, and he started a program to use federal money to put technology into classrooms at the elementary and secondary levels. Kennedy expanded unemployment and welfare benefits, and got a 20% increase in Social Security benefits.
Kennedy’s New Frontier called for sweeping changes in the way government protects the rights and welfare of all citizens.
Did Kennedy actually call for armed militias to fight government “over-reach” or expansion?
What do you think? When a proponent of getting guns to protect himself against the U.S. government, by killing agents of the U.S. government (we must imagine), cites a part of Kennedy’s statement from 1961 as supporting arming individual citizens, is he being honest?
Please tell us what you think, in comments. Your opinion counts.
Poster from Americanfirearms.org; the quote from Kennedy is accurate, but did Kennedy mean what this group wants us to think it means?
Kennedy appears to have been fond of the image of the Minutemen at Lexington and Concord, trained militia from citizen volunteers, who started the path to American independence from Britain. He invoked that image earlier, as senator from Massachusetts, in a speech honoring the Polish hero Casimir Pulaski, at a Pulaski Day Dinner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 17, 1959:
We pay tribute to Casimir Pulaski tonight by honoring a great American of Polish descent, Clem Zablocki. For he has demonstrated, in Washington and Wisconsin, the same courage and conscience, the same zeal for liberty, the same tireless patience and determination to help all who call for help. He is a great Congressman – not only from Wisconsin – but of the United States . . .
But we also think of Casimir Pulaski tonight because his beloved Poland has once again fallen victim to a foreign power. The independence for which he fought against the Russians at Czestochowa has been once again suppressed – and once again by the Russians. Were he alive tonight, the hero of Savannah and Charleston would weep for his homeland – and we, inwardly or outwardly according to our custom, weep with him.
But weeping is not enough. We know it is not enough. And yet, while we give vent to our feelings of resentment and outrage, we are also caught up in a feeling of frustration. What can we do about the situation in the satellites? How can we help those liberty-loving peoples regain their liberty, without subjecting them to even more cruel repression – or subjecting the world to an even more disastrous war? How can we let them know their fate is not forgotten – that we have not abandoned them to be – like the Irish of 1647 considered themselves when Owen Roe O’Neill was poisoned – “sheep without a shepherd when the snow shuts out the sky?”
This is the dilemma we face, as both last month and next year the President and Premier Khrushchev are pictured together in the press on both sides of the Iron Curtain. And this is the dilemma with which this Administration has been confronted, in trying to make good on its tarnished promises of a new “liberation” policy. For this is no longer an age when minutemen with muskets can make a revolution. Hungary, we know, is not Cuba – and neither is Poland. Mr. Khrushchev is not to be overthrown like Mr. Batista. Brave bands of young men and women may be able to stop a few tanks – but street barricades and home-made hand grenades cannot long stand against a modern army and an atomic air force. [emphasis added]
The facts of the matter are that – no matter how bitter some feelings may be, or how confident some are of a victorious war for liberation – freedom behind the Iron Curtain and world peace are actually inextricably linked. For if war should ever break out, the control and occupation of Eastern Europe would certainly be even more rigid and repressive than it is today. That is why, in the days of upheaval in 1956, when Poland could have turned to violent rebellion as Hungary did, Cardinal Wyszynski kept advising his people that the condition of Polish freedom was peace. Many scoffed – many thought him faint-hearted. But by following his advice, Poland has now attained at least a measure of national independence and at least a relaxation of Communist rule. Forced collectivization of the farmers has ceased and most of the collectives were dissolved – religious freedom has been restored in considerable degree – and freedom of speech is returning.
No one says that land of ancient freedom is once more free again. But if Poland had not accepted this half-way house to freedom, it could have been, as Prime Minister Gomulka warned, wiped off the map of Europe. If the present emphasis on a thaw in the Cold War should end and tensions rise again, the present good relations between Poland and the United States would undoubtedly cease, the growing contacts between the Polish people and the West would be cut off, and the present degree of freedom of speech and religion in Poland would prove to be short-lived. On the other hand, if a real thaw develops and Soviet-American relations improve, the prospects for the continuation and perhaps the expansion of this limited degree of Polish freedom are good. So, in a real sense, the condition for Polish freedom is peace.
President Kennedy addressing a Wisconsin group during the 1960 presidential campaign. (Do you have more details?) Photo by Robert W. Kelley//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
One does not get the sense that President Kennedy was urging citizens to establish their own arsenals, contrary to the actions of the Minutemen at Lexington and Concord, nor to take up arms against the U.S. government.
Who would suggest that’s what Kennedy meant? Oh, yeah: AmericanFirearms.org.
More:
Page one of a speech text then-Sen. John Kennedy delivered regarding why America arms, on March 9, 1960, in Mauston, Wisconsin. JFK Library image
- Kennedy’s speech of March 9, 1960, at a campaign stop in Mauston, Wisconsin: “Winston Churchill said: ‘We arm – to parley.’ We prepare for war – in order to deter war. We depend on the strength of armaments – to enable us to bargain for disarmament. We compare our military strength with the Soviets – not to determine whether we should use it – but to determine whether we can persuade them that to use theirs would be futile and disastrous – and to determine whether we can back up our own pledges in Berlin, Formosa and around the world.”
- Kennedy’s visit to Hyde Park, New York, to speak with Eleanor Roosevelt and honor the 25th anniversary of Social Security
61 Comments | Accuracy, Battle of Concord, Battle of Lexington, History, John F. Kennedy, Minutemen, New Frontier, Quotes, Second Amendment, Shot Heard 'Round the World | Tagged: Accuracy, FDR, History, John F. Kennedy, Kennedy Library, Minutemen, New Frontier, Quotes, Second Amendment | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Beleaguered Texas GOP governor candidate Greg Abbott goes on offensive makes offensive Tweet
April 8, 2014This guy just can’t seem to figure out when it’s polite to talk about some things, and when one should just be quiet.
In short, he’s not got the judgment to be governor of Texas.
We’re just five days out from a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, where gun packing has taken too many innocent lives in the past few years.
Doesn’t Abbott have any sense of decency?
No wonder his campaign is troubled. At this point, a candidate for governor should be working on a message about building the state to make it stronger (hows that for generic?).
Abbott’s cracking Second Amendment gun jokes while families grieve. Ouch.
This isn’t funny, five days after the April 3 incident at Fort Hood.
Not funny sign, at this time, if ever.
Leave a Comment » | Campaigns, Elections, Guns, Second Amendment, Texas | Tagged: Elections 2014, Fort Hood, Greg Abbott, Manners, Second Amendment, Texas, Twitter | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Powerful demonstrations of how concealed carry permits may not make us safer
September 20, 2013Wholly apart from the two guys in Michigan who shot each other to death yesterday.
ABC News ran some tests. People with concealed carry permits — how would they help in mass shooting situations?
Part 1:
Part 2:
Liberals Unite commented on these videos:
The controlled study documented in these videos show that concealed carry permit holders are fooling themselves if they think they will be able to react effectively to armed aggressors. Most CCW holders won’t even be able to un-holster their gun. They will more likely be killed themselves or kill innocent bystanders than stop the aggressor.
For more details, see “Unintended Consequences: Pro-Handgun Experts Prove That Handguns Are a Dangerous Choice for Self-Defense.” http://www.vpc.org/studies/unincont.htm.
CCW permit holders don’t protect innocent people. They kill them.
Perhaps we should discuss preventing these cases altogether. Discuss politely.
More:
- 50+ age group hold the majority of Texas concealed carry permits (guns.com)
- Woman with Concealed Carry Permit Stops 6 Robbers in Houston (townhall.com)
- Navy Yard Shooter Was Too Mentally Unstable for Navy, But Had No Problem Buying Guns (alternet.org)
- Concealed carry showdown – two dead (arktimes.com)
It’s a cotton t-shirt, not Kevlar.
30 Comments | Guns, Politics, Second Amendment | Tagged: ABC News, Concealed Carry Permit, Guns, Politics, Public Safety, Second Amendment | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Herblock was a prophet
July 19, 2013I have no idea whether he was Catholic, but some organization should consider canonizing the great political cartoonist Herblock. He was a prophet.
See this cartoon of his from 1999, 14 years ago.
Herblock cartoon from 1999. “Kids these days. Craziness in schools, movies, video games — terrible! Here [showing a handgun to a customer], try this little dandy.”
Tip of the old scrub brush to Dan Wasserman. Another tip of the old scrub brush to Brian Cronin at Comic Book Resources.
Leave a Comment » | Cartoons, Political cartoons, Second Amendment | Tagged: Handguns, Herblock, Political cartoons, Second Amendment, Teenagers | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Critics of school safety, anti-gun violence bills, haven’t read them
April 14, 2013You couldn’t make this stuff up.
Sen. Marc Rubio, R-Fla, admitted that he’s opposing a bill that he hasn’t read — not just that he hasn’t read it, but that he doesn’t really know what’s it in.
“On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Marco Rubio [R-Florida] denounced the Senate’s gun control bill while admitting that he hasn’t actually read it all. [Give him points for honesty; now, we watch to see if he does the remedial work.]
This is the bookend to the complaint that the anti gun violence bill shouldn’t be debated, because it’s unavailable to read. Actually, it is available.
It’s not the contents of the bill that got their ire up. It’s the surface politics, the public relations, the political correctness.
PoliticsUSA didn’t see the humor in it, but instead joined the unedified braying:
When asked by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace if his filibuster threat on background checks meant that he would also vote against the final Manchin/Toomey bill, Rubio said, “Well to be fair, I haven’t read it in its totality, but I can tell you this, I am very skeptical of any plan that deals with the Second Amendment because invariably these gun laws end up impeding on the rights of people to bear arms who are law abiding and do nothing to keep criminals from buying them. Criminals don’t care what the law is.”
Rubio also added that we shouldn’t be focused on guns. We should be focused on violence.
How in the world does a sitting United States Senator prepare for appearing on all five Sunday shows and not read the legislation that is currently being debated in place where he works?
What are taxpayers paying Rubio to do?
Here’s a clue, senators: We need work from you to help control gun violence, and mass violence in our schools. You’ve narrowly voted to discuss such a bill, which is the purpose for which you were elected and collect more than $100,000 in salary.
Do your jobs, gentlemen and ladies. Get off your duffs, go to the floor, discuss with other senators, and vote on the stuff the nation needs you to pass to keep up our drive to peace, prosperity, truth and the American Way.
High school debate was about winning the round. Senate debate is about improving the nation. You’re in the big leagues now. Act like you know it, and like you know how to play the game.
(PoliticsUSA has video, but in a format I can’t embed here; if you know where embeddable video might be found, please let us know in coments.)
More:
- Rubio, Inhofe vow to filibuster gun bill – UPI.com (upi.com)
- CT Gov. set to sign gun control bill (foxprovidence.com)
- Inhofe on victims’ families: Obama made them think gun debate ‘has something to do with them’ (dailykos.com)
83 Comments | History, Politics, Second Amendment, U.S. Senate, Violence | Tagged: Gun Violence, Politics, Second Amendment, Sen. Marco Robio, U.S. Senate | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Shutup and read: Text of S. 649, Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013
April 11, 2013Sen. Ted Cruz claims no one has read the text of S. 649, the Safe Communities and Safe Schools Act of 2013.
Reading-impaired U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. Wikipedia image
Contact: (202) 224-5922 / press@cruz.senate.gov
Thursday, April 11, 2013WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) released the following statement regarding the pending vote on the motion to proceed to new gun control legislation:
This morning the Senate will vote on the motion to proceed to the firearms bill (S.649). It is expected that the Toomey-Manchin provision announced yesterday will replace the current language regarding background checks. Yet, as of this morning, not a single senator has been provided the legislative language of this provision. Because the background-check measure is the centerpiece of this legislation it is critical that we know what is in the bill before we vote on it. The American people expect more and deserve better.
Unfortunately, the effort to push through legislation that no one had read highlights one of the primary reasons we announced our intention to force a 60 vote threshold. We believe the abuse of the process is how the rights of Americans are systematically eroded and we will continue to do everything in our power to prevent it.
He’s an idiot, I know.
Amendments to the original text are pending — but here is the text of the proposed law as introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 22; amendments will be available at several places as they are proposed or approved, including the Library of Congress’s Thomas legislative tracking site.
Sen. Toomey published a quick summary of the bill as amended — this is what Cruz really fears: Legislation that might make public schools safer (never forget Cruz opposes public education):
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, D-Pennsylvania, in a committee hearing room; photo released by Toomey’s office
Bottom Line: The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act would require states and the federal government to send all necessary records on criminals and the violently mentally ill to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The bill extends the existing background check system to gun shows and online sales.
The bill explicitly bans the federal government from creating a national firearms registry, and imposes serious criminal penalties (a felony with up to 15 years in prison) on any person who misuses or illegally retains firearms records.
TITLE ONE: GETTING ALL THE NAMES OF PROHIBITED PURCHASERS INTO THE BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM
Summary of Title I: This section improves background checks for firearms by strengthening the instant check system.
• Encourage states to provide all their available records to NICS by restricting federal funds to states who do not comply.
• Allow dealers to voluntarily use the NICS database to run background checks on their prospective employees
• Clarifies that submissions of mental health records into the NICS system are not prohibited by federal privacy laws (HIPAA).
• Provides a legal process for a veteran to contest his/her placement in NICS when there is no basis for barring the right to own a firearm.
TITLE TWO: REQUIRING BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR FIREARM SALES
Summary of Title II: This section of the bill requires background checks for sales at gun shows and online while securing certain aspects of 2nd Amendment rights for law abiding citizens.
• Closes the gun show and other loopholes while exempting temporary transfers and transfers between family members.
• Fixes interstate travel laws for sportsmen who transport their firearms across state lines in a responsible manner. The term “transport” includes staying in temporary lodging overnight, stopping for food, buying fuel, vehicle maintenance, and medical treatment.
• Protects sellers from lawsuits if the weapon cleared through the expanded background checks and is subsequently used in a crime. This is the same treatment gun dealers receive now.
• Allows dealers to complete transactions at gun shows that take place in a state for which they are not a resident.
• Ensures that sales at gun shows are not prevented by delayed approvals from NICS.
• Requires the FBI to give priority to finalizing background checks at gun shows over checks at store front dealerships.
• Authorizes use of a state concealed carry permit instead of a background check when purchasing a firearm from a dealer.
• Permits interstate handgun sales from dealers.
• Allows active military to buy firearms in their home states.
• Family transfers and some private sales (friends, neighbors, other individuals) are exempt from background checks
• Adds a 15 year penalty for improper use or storage of records.
TITLE THREE: NATIONAL COMMISSION ON MASS VIOLENCE
Summary of Title III: : This section of the bill creates a commission to study the causes of mass violence in the United States, looking at all aspects of the problem, including guns, school safety, mental health, and violent media or video games.
The Commission would consist of six experts appointed by the Senate Majority Leader and six experts appointed by the Speaker of the House. They would be required to submit an interim report in three months and a completed report in six months.
WHAT THE BILL WILL NOT DO:
The bill will not take away anyone’s guns.
The bill will not ban any type of firearm.
The bill will not ban or restrict the use of any kind of bullet or any size clip or magazine.
The bill will not create a national registry; in fact, it specifically makes it illegal to establish any such registry.
The bill will not, in any way at all, infringe upon the Constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.
Sen. Cruz, you have money in your office budget for training for you and your staff in tracking legislation — I’ll be pleased to come show you how to track down such language.
Below the fold, the current text of the bill (as of 4:26 p.m., April 11, 2013).
Update: Below the fold, the text of the bill as proposed to be amended, published by Sen. Toomey late yesterday; then, below that, the original bill as introduced by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada — compare them if you like.
7 Comments | Law, Legislation, Police Powers, Political Smear, Politics, Second Amendment, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate | Tagged: Gun Violence, Guns, Law, Legislation, National Instant Criminal Background Check System, NICS, S. 649, Safe Communities and Safe Schools Act of 2013, Second Amendment, U.S. Senate | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Powerful argument for limiting bullets in a clip: Colorado Sen. Mike Johnston pleads to give victims a chance to escape
March 17, 2013Here’s one of my nominees for the next editions of Great Speeches of the 21st Century, and Great Speeches in American History. Sen. Mike Johnston, on March 11, in the Colorado State Senate, spoke against coward, “hollow men,” who commit mass shootings, and how to protect from them:
Notes from YouTube posting:
Published on Mar 12, 2013
March 11, 2013: Sen. Mike Johnston (D-Denver) describes how gun safety legislation, particularly HB 13-1224, can make a difference.
What do you think?
Colorado State Senator Michael Johnston – Wikipedia Photo
‘Eleven kids saved in eleven seconds’ seems like a powerful argument, to me.
And this: “And so the bad news is that at that moment will be outgunned. The good news is that in America that never means we will be outfought.”
And this: “The task of taking lives, and the task of saving lives, are fundamentally different endeavors, and they require different tools.”
At about 6:04 into this, listen to Sen. Johnston talk about the “cost of living and loving is that it takes up so much space in our lives.”
Wow.
More:
- Colorado Senate passes raft of gun bills; House Democrat now wavers (denverpost.com)
- New gun control laws pass Colorado Senate (capitolhillblue.com)
- Colorado Senate OKs gun bill (politico.com)
- Text of Colorado HR 13-1224 (I think this is the final version, as passed by both houses)
- Mike Johnston’s campaign website
- Johnston’s page at the Colorado General Assembly site; note he’s the vice-chair of the Education Committee
- And in opposition, a site that favors the shooters over the school kids: Colorado Senate Dems push through gun control bill (americanthinker.com)
2 Comments | Great Speeches, Law, Legislation, Legislatures, Second Amendment | Tagged: Colorado, Colorado Senate, Great Speeches, Gun Control, HB 13-1224, Law, Legislation, Legislatures, Newtown, School Safety, Second Amendment, Sen. Mike Johnston, Violence | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Gun nuts at Fox pull a bait and switch; Obama already outflanks them
February 26, 2013
President Obama visits with survivors of the shooting in Aurora, Colorado. July 22, 2012 – White House photo. Click image to go to White House site, with more information on reducing gun violence.
Yeah, I know: Someone has sent you a post on Facebook claiming there are more murders from hammers than guns, and they quote Fox.
If they’re not complete nuts, they were careful and noted it was rifles being compared, and not all guns.
Here’s the Fox headline:
January 03, 2013
FBI: More People Killed with Hammers, Clubs Each Year Than Rifles
Then, just to rub it in, that person who sent you the link said something like, ‘so you propose hammer control, too?’
The best debaters in college learn to listen to what their opponents say, and not what they think their opponents should have said. Good lawyers listen like that, too, in court, and in depositions.
See that last word in the headline? “Rifles.”
Yeah, it’s a limited part of the total population of guns.
Total gun deaths in 2011 were 8,583 — continuing a five-year trend downward, thanks for small blessings. Homicides only, not counting suicides — according to figures compiled by the FBI.
Did more than 8,500 people die from hammer assaults in 2011?
No, the same tally shows 496 people were murdered by use of “Blunt objects (clubs, hammers, etc.).”
496 is 8,087 fewer than the 8,583 gun deaths. But rifles? Oh, yeah.
323 people died from rifle fire. 356 died from shotgun wounds. 6,220 died from handguns, 97 from “other guns,” and 1,587 died from gunshots where the type of gun was not recorded on the report to the FBI. Add them up, you get 8,583 dead, murdered by gunfire.
Now, the gun advocates nuts say that it’s fair to compare rifle deaths only, since only the AR-15 is being questioned, and is the target for “taking guns away.”
That’s inaccurate. President Obama laid out a plan of more than a score of actions, but only two refer to assault rifles, and only one refers to assault rifles directly:
Reinstate and strengthen the ban on assault weapons: The shooters in Aurora and Newtown used the type of semiautomatic rifles that were the target of the assault weapons ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004. That ban was an important step, but manufacturers were able to circumvent the prohibition with cosmetic modifications to their weapons. Congress must reinstate and strengthen the prohibition on assault weapons.
And:
Limit ammunition magazines to 10 rounds: The case for prohibiting high-capacity magazines has been proven over and over; the shooters at Virginia Tech, Tucson, Aurora, Oak Creek, and Newtown all used magazines holding more than 10 rounds, which would have been prohibited under the 1994 law. These magazines enable any semiautomatic weapon to be used as an instrument of mass violence, yet they are once again legal and now come standard with many handguns and rifles. Congress needs to reinstate the prohibition on magazines holding more than 10 rounds.
President Obama laid out a plan that will make it substantially more difficult for people who shouldn’t have guns suitable for mass killings, to have them. More important, however, the President’s plan steps up the non-gun means available to stop mass shootings before a shooter gets to a campus armed and ready to kill.
The “discussion” will get more ugly, I predict, before it gets better.
More:
- Gun Nut Claims that Hammers Are More Deadly Than Guns (slog.thestranger.com)
- Good Question: How Many People Are Killed By Assault Rifles? (minnesota.cbslocal.com)
- ‘Assault’ rifles are not involved in many U.S. murders: A look at the data (blogs.marketwatch.com)
- Conservatives demand hammer control (salon.com)
- Judiciary to consider assault weapons ban (politico.com)
- The Caucus: Senate Judiciary Committee Set to Consider Gun Legislation (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)
10 Comments | History, Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution, Violence | Tagged: Accuracy, AR-15, Assault rifle, Fox News, History, Murder, National Rifle Association, NowIsTheTime, Rifle, Right to Bear Arms, Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution, Violence, Weapons Legislation | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
When the decision NOT to use a gun changed the world
December 24, 2012Sometimes it doesn’t take a gun at all.
Nelson Mandela outside of Westminster Abbey in 1962 — this trip, without permission from the South Africa government, led to his indictment and arrest.
Impressive story about the mystery of Nelson Mandela’s arrest in 1962, at The Wall Street Journal — a story by Peter Wonacott, on December 22, 2012, page C3. After all these years, how the South African government was tipped off that Mr. Mandela would be where he was, posing as who he posed as, remains a mystery. Mandela was arrested, tried and convicted of several crimes, ultimately spending 27 years in jail, refusing to give up his cause to gain his freedom. When the system bent to his wishes, he was released from jail and elected president of his nation.
The key paragraph in the story, the point where the long arc of history was forcefully bent to justice and peace:
Mr. Mandela has described how he had hidden a loaded revolver in the car that day in 1962 but decided not to use it. Choosing not to fight his way out began a journey that would take him through prison to the presidency on a platform of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation among the nation’s races.
Increasing the number of people with an increasing number of guns, however, does not offer more opportunities to change history like that.
1 Comment | Africa, Heroes, History, Second Amendment, Violence | Tagged: Heroes, History, Nelson Mandela, Second Amendment, South Africa, Violence | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
There was an armed deputy at Columbine High; his story
December 21, 2012
Deputy Sheriff Neil Gardner, talking about his experience at the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado.
More:
Denver – Columbine High School Hope Memorial Library – Photo credit: travellingzenwolf
- Michael Moore: Columbine’s armed guards were no help (twitchy.com)
- Wayne LaPierre wants armed guards at schools. Columbine had an armed guard. (David Weigel, Slate) (syracuse.com)
- What if (lawyers guns moneyblog.com)
- Columbine Had an Armed Security Guard on Duty and the NRA Is Dumb (gawker.com)
- Columbine survivors offer their support after Newtown tragedy (kdvr.com)
- ‘Columbine Had an Armed Guard.’ (nationalreview.com)
4 Comments | Education, Second Amendment, Violence | Tagged: Armed Deputies, Columbine High School, Education, Neil Gardner, Second Amendment, Violence | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
NRA reputation damaged
December 19, 2012An observer of American politics may wonder whether the past few days have changed any of the old political lines on gun control issues and the Second Amendment.
Does a view from Canada tell us anything? Here’s Aislin‘s cartoon, from the Montreal Gazette, for December 18, 2012:
Aislin, Montreal Gazette, December 18, 2012
Too brutal, or too close to the truth?
A little history quiz in a cartoon, yes? Can you identify all six symbols? How many must one know to understand the cartoon?
More:
- Six Extreme Policies That Prove The NRA Is Out Of Step With America (thinkprogress.org)
- Cracks in the NRA stronghold: pro-gun senators say ‘enough is enough’ (tv.msnbc.com)
- NRA Shuts Down Facebook Page After Connecticut Shootings (fox2now.com)
- NRA breaks silence, releases statement about Newtown shooting (wtvr.com)
- What If We Sued the NRA Out of Existence? (dissidentvoice.org)
U.S. flag at half-staff, at the Minuteman Memorial in Lexingon, Massachusetts (Summer’s End. Lexington Green, 11 September 2002. Photo taken in Minute Man National Historical Park. Sculpture : “Minuteman” by sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson (1863-1947), dedicated April 19, 1900. Erected 1899 : SIRIS Image: Wikipedia)
15 Comments | Cartoons, Disasters, History, Political cartoons, Politics, Second Amendment | Tagged: Aislin, Cartoons, Disasters, Gun Control, History, Montreal Gazette, Newtown, Political cartoons, Politics, Second Amendment | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
One more indication the Tea Party and anti-Obama forces are genuinely out of touch with reality
August 7, 2010The Tea Party hopes you never learn about this.
Friday, August 06, 2010
The U.S. Senate has passed S. 632 — the Firearms Excise Tax Improvement Act — co-sponsored by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID).
* * * * *
The bill now goes to the President for his signature.
[You may do better trying to track it under the number of the bill that really passed, H.R. 5552.]
Did your local newspaper cover the story?
Sam Adams is dead; we’re counting on modern patriots to spread the word:
13 Comments | Legislation, Politics, President Obama, Second Amendment | Tagged: Gun Excise Taxes, Legislation, National Rifle Association, Politics, President Obama, Second Amendment, Tea Party | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 