Showing posts with label 2nd Amendment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2nd Amendment. Show all posts

Friday, July 21, 2017

Sen. Lee and Rep. King introduce enhanced Pro-Gun Legislation

National Association for Gun Rights

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative Steve King (R-IA) introduced companion bills to remove suppressors, or “silencers,” from federal regulation. The Silencers Helping Us Save Hearing Act of 2017 (SHUSH Act), introduced as S. 1505 and H.R. 3139, further deregulates suppressors by completely removing them from all federal regulation – going further than the Hearing Protection Act.

“Sen. Lee and Rep. King are champions for gun rights, and their joint legislation displays their dedication to restoring the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans,” said Dudley Brown, President of the National Association for Gun Rights. “Most in Congress who support silencer freedom want full deregulation, and that’s exactly what Lee and King are doing with S. 1505 and H.R. 3139.”

Previously introduced legislation, the Hearing Protection Act, would treat suppressors as long guns under federal law, still requiring a NICS background check to purchase an accessory. The SHUSH Act removes silencers from all federal control, providing the full deregulation supported by the majority of Second Amendment supporters in Congress.

“Suppressors are accessories and should be treated just like magazines, scopes or gun stocks,” said Brown. “Pro-gun Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House. Congress has the opportunity to pass this meaningful, pro-gun legislation and we should ask for nothing less. Treating an accessory the same as a gun sets a bad precedence for anti-gun legislators to further regulate other accessories in the future.”

“We’re happy and privileged to be able to work with Sen. Lee and Rep. King on this legislation, and excited to continue pushing forward,” Brown concluded.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Travel Ban, Obamacare, Federal Hiring Freeze, Immigration, Fishery, Free Speech, 2nd Amendment, Rules

Will Hurd (R-TX, 23rd) said, concerning Trump's travel ban, that a target has been placed on our military men's and women's backs by increasing tensions in an already volatile region. These men and women are fighting alongside citizens of those countries in order to keep Islamic Extremists on the run and off our shores.

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U.S. Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS, 3rd) introduced H.R. 633, the Patient Fairness and Relief Act of 2017, which allows individuals to maintain the health insurance policies they had before passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

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Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, on Tuesday sent a letter to President Trump urging prompt clarification of his memorandum implementing a federal hiring freeze as it pertains to Department of Defense (DOD) civilian personnel and support for complete staffing of DOD contracting personnel.

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Upon returning to the nation’s capital, Congressman Denny Heck (WA-10) added his support to three bills that prevent President Trump’s harmful executive order from being administered by the United States government.

If passed, the Statue of Liberty Values Act (SOLVe Act) would prevent the executive order from having any force of law and prohibit any federal funds or fees from being used to carry it out. The Freedom of Religion Act states that the United States could not bar foreigners from coming to the United States on the basis of their religious beliefs. The No Religious Registration Act would stop the government from creating or using a database of religious affiliation for the purpose of surveillance or of classifying U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and visa seekers.

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“President Trump made clear that keeping America safe is a top priority for his Administration, and it is refreshing to see that he is willing to take swift and decisive action to achieve that goal. And, while the rollout of his executive action could have gone more smoothly, I believe most Americans, and particularly the East Texans I represent, would agree that it’s just common sense to take a closer look at people trying to enter the U.S. from nations with broad terrorist networks." Jeb Hensarling (R-TX, 5th)

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The U.S. House of Representatives passed Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler’s bipartisan bill to permanently extend a decades old fishery management agreement that has been vital to Washington state’s Dungeness crab fishery. The bill passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 388-0.

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Congressmen Jody Hice (GA-10) and Steve Scalise (LA-01) introduced H.R. 781, the Free Speech Fairness Act, which would amend the U.S. tax code to restore free speech for 501(c)(3) organizations including churches, nonprofits, and educational institutions, so long as they are (1) made in the ordinary course of the organization’s regular and customary activities in carrying out its tax-exempt purpose, and (2) any expenditure related to this are de minimis. A companion bill, S.264, was introduced by Senator James Lankford (R-OK) in the Senate.

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The House passed H.J.Res. 40, a resolution to disapprove of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) rule to share information with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) on individuals who receive Disability Insurance benefits. Following passage of the resolution, Congressman French Hill (R-AR, 2nd) released the following statement:

“Having a disability and seeking help through the federal government should not be a factor in considering whether or not someone is mentally capable of owning or purchasing a firearm. This rule from SSA serves no real purpose other than to limit the Second Amendment rights of the American people, and I am confident the administration and Congress will be able to reverse this ill-conceived rule. I will always fight to uphold Arkansans right to bear arms.”

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U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08), author of bipartisan legislation that passed the House with a veto-proof majority and aimed to strengthen vetting of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, released the following statement on President Trump's exceutive order on refugees:

"At a time of grave security threats, President Trump is right to pause the flow of refugees from countries where terrorism is rampant until we can properly vet them and implement additional screening for individuals traveling to and from these countries. The facts are President Obama's own intel official told us ISIS is trying to infiltrate the refugee program and his Homeland Security Secretary and FBI Director told us we can't properly vet all of these refugees. I do have concerns that the executive order has caused confusion for those with green cards and will work with my colleagues and the administration to clarify it."

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Water, Power, and Oceans Subcommittee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-CA) and House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) sent a letter to President Trump today urging him to rescind the “one in, two out” executive order on federal rules issued earlier this week and an earlier memorandum instituting a regulatory freeze. These two actions have the combined effect of preventing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from opening or closing commercial and recreational fishing seasons in federal waters; making in-season adjustments to conservation and management measures; or implementing new or revised fishery management plans without first seeking a waiver from the Trump administration.

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Capital Markets Chairman Bill Huizenga (MI-02) released the following statement after the House passed House Joint Resolution 41, Rep Huizenga's legislation to reform a burdensome provision of Dodd-Frank and require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to rethink their approach to rulemaking:

"Last night's vote helps reset the regulatory process," said Capital Markets Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga. "For too long, regulators have saddled U.S. companies with burdensome regulations putting them at a competitive disadvantage on the global stage. By sending the SEC back to the drawing board, Congress is demonstrating that it is serious about strengthening the economy, boosting private sector job creation, and helping American workers."

During the debate on H.J. Res. 41, Congressman Huizenga explained the core mission of the SEC and refuted false claims made about his legislation. To watch Rep Huizenga's speech, click play on the video below.

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Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) sent a bipartisan letter to President Trump in support of the request by Secretary of Defense James Mattis to exempt Iraqis who served alongside our military. The letter expands on the need for a special review process for those who directly supported American personnel overseas.

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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

How Donald Trump Can Make Second Amendment Great Again

December 7, 2016 (The Ponder News) -- Pledging to protect the Second Amendment is what brought millions of beleaguered American firearms owners to the polls Nov. 8 to elect Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States, and one thing Trump can do to assure them that he deserves their trust would be to instruct his attorney general early in 2017 to name a special assistant whose job would be to protect Second Amendment rights.

Over the years, the Department of Justice has taken action against various other civil and constitutional rights abuses. It is time for the DOJ to prosecute violations of the Second Amendment and federal laws including the Firearms Owners Protection Act. The next attorney general should take action against states and local governments that adopt laws designed specifically to infringe on the rights of honest firearms owners or discourage people from exercising their right to keep and bear arms for legitimate reasons, including self-defense.

For too many years, cities including Washington, D.C. and Chicago, and states including New Jersey, New York and Maryland have prosecuted firearms owners, including those in transit from other states, for actions that would be legal anywhere else in the nation. This must cease, and those states must be held accountable for their abuses.

Egregious laws have been adopted also in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Illinois. Bans on certain commonly-owned firearms in all of these states began as simple licensing and/or registration requirements. Earlier this year, for example, anti-gun Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey unilaterally decided to expand the definition of “assault weapon” in the Bay State, essentially rendering tens of thousands of legally-owned firearms as contraband. Her claim that the state law on “assault weapons” has been misinterpreted for the past 18 years, and that she was merely correcting that problem is specious at best.

California is another example of a state where rights have been gradually eroded to the point where owning a firearm has become little more than a privilege. The state initially banned a limited number of firearms, and has gradually expanded that to cover a whole class of firearms, making previously legal firearms illegal. A deputy U.S. attorney general could bring the full force of the Justice Department against such demagoguery.

That all of this has been done under the guise of “gun safety” is an insult to the intelligence of gun owners. They see their rights have been infringed, and they deserve to have those rights protected and defended by the Justice Department rather than surrendered piecemeal to gun control extremism.

It should not simply be up to gun rights organizations like the Second Amendment Foundation to challenge such laws while the Justice Department acts like a spectator.

It would also be the task of this special assistant AG to make sure the DOJ does not take anti-Second Amendment positions on any legal action. This individual would also serve as a liaison with gun rights organizations, working with them rather than against them to assure that the nation’s laws are used to prosecute criminals rather than persecute law-abiding gun owners.

This assistant AG could work with members of Congress and gun rights organizations to restore funding for the long-neglected rights restoration investigations that once were conducted by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

President-elect Trump pledged to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the untimely death of Justice Antonin Scalia with someone who shared his view that the Second Amendment protects an individual civil right not contingent with service in some militia. At some point, the high court must address the right to bear arms, sending a message to state governments that a right so encumbered by Draconian restrictions that its exercise is impossible is not a right at all, but a prohibitively-regulated privilege.

Donald Trump has been given an opportunity to right so many of the wrongs that have been committed against millions of citizens whose only crime has been a wish to exercise their constitutionally-delineated civil rights. They helped to make him president and it is time for the government to treat them as the first class citizens they are and have always been.

It is time to make the Second Amendment great again.

Alan Gottlieb and Dave Workman are co-authors of “Right To Carry,” published by Merril Press. Gottlieb is founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. Workman is Senior Editor of The Gun Mag.com.