National Second Amendment Day

Officially or unofficially, today is 2A Day or National Second Amendment Day. That is because the date is 2/22/22 or all two’s when written that way.

Brownells has set up a separate website to celebrate the day. They suggest three ways to commemorate the day. They are to celebrate it by going out shooting, advocate for the Second Amendment by contacting legislators, and by joining 2A organizations. In North Carolina, they suggest Grass Roots North Carolina and I heartily endorse that suggestion.

Brownells is also putting their money where their mouth is.

The third element of the Inaugural National 2nd Amendment Day is a calling on gun owners to join a national and/or state-level gun rights organization. Brownells will promote Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and the American Suppressor Association (ASA) on its website. Brownells will also feature a clickable map of the United States visitors can use to find a state-level organization to join.

In the spirit of joining, Brownells will purchase FPC memberships for its employees, and donate $22,222 each to FPC, SAF, the ASA, and the Iowa Firearms Coalition.

As an aside, I would point out there is an organization missing from this list for which Brownells’ Chairman of the Board Pete Brownell used to serve as president. Just saying.

National Second Amendment Day is not just Brownells. The DC Project produced the powerful video below featuring Lucretia Hughes, Georgia delegate, and Mary Forgues, Connecticut delegate.

I know many of the women in the DC Project and this is another organization that is definitely worthy of your support.

If you do go to the range today or participate in a shooting sport, make sure to post pictures to social media and use the hashtag #2ADay.

GRNC Demonstration In Raleigh Canceled Due To Fears Of Violence

Grass Roots North Carolina President Paul Valone sent out notice within the hour saying that the protest against Sheriff Baker for not doing the job for which he was elected is off. The GRNC office received tons of emails and calls from supporters saying since state law prevented them from being armed in the face of potential violence they just couldn’t be there.

The notice from Paul Valone:

Unfortunately, GRNC is cancelling the demonstration against Sheriff Gerald Baker over his refusal to comply with the law in issuing gun permits which was scheduled for September 26, and here is why.
     Our office has been receiving a regular string of emails and voice messages with variations of, “I’ve been a member and supporter of GRNC for years, but this demonstration is scheduled for a political environment in which crazies from the left are lobbing bricks and Molotov cocktails, and under North Carolina law, I’m not allowed to carry a firearm for self-protection at a demonstration.”
     To the thousands of GRNC members who have expressed those sentiments in either words or thoughts, I say: “I hear you.”
     It is a sad day when lawful citizens can’t peacefully assemble for a redress of political grievances without fear of radical Marxists attacking them for simply expressing their views, but unfortunately, that day is upon us.
GRNC will address your inability to protect yourself during a peaceful assembly in the next session of the legislation … if we win the election.
It is increasingly obvious that the only way out of this poisonous environment we face is a decisive victory in the 2020 elections – not just a victory, but an overwhelming victory.
Rigging the election
As I write this, Democrats are busy rigging the election, not just nationally, but right here in North Carolina.
Yesterday, the Democrat-dominated State Board of Elections decided to “help” all those poor voters who fail to properly complete or mail the absentee ballots Democrats insist they must use. In an election rife with voter fraud, this will be “hanging chads” times ten.
The point of all the mail-in ballot nonsense, of course, is to undermine the legitimacy of an election they expect Donald Trump and Republicans to win.
Why we must have overwhelming victory
By claiming a Trump victory “illegitimate” after a narrow win, leftists will look for any excuse to riot, burn and otherwise tear down our society in order to replace it with their “Great Socialist Utopia.”
A narrow victory will give Obama-appointed judges and “deep state” boards of elections an opportunity to manufacture enough “hanging chads” to declare victory.
And don’t forget that North Carolina is one of a handful of critical “battleground states.”
Decisive victory depends on YOU!
To win overwhelmingly, you must not only go to the polls, but also:

  • Check your voter registration to ensure it is updated and valid;

  • If you using an absentee ballot, check your ballot carefully and mail it early (rest assured you won’t get the same “help” Democrats will);
  • Distribute GRNC “Remember in November” voter guides to like-minded friends, family, acquaintances, and co-workers;

  • Bring like-minded voters to the polls; and finally

  • Help GRNC elect pro-gun candidates by contributing to the GRNC Political Victory Fund.

     As you know, GRNC is limited in using membership funds to impact elections. Accordingly, we created our federal PAC, GRNC-PVF, to elect candidates who will support your freedom.
Please contribute by going to: www.grnc.org/pvf
With your help, we will decisively win the 2020 elections, and by so doing defeat the radical left and  end the poisonous political environment they have created.  

Armatissimi e liberissimi,

 
F. Paul Valone
President, Grass Roots North Carolina
Executive Director, Rights Watch International

Tell Sheriff Baker To Do His Job

Do you live in the Piedmont of North Carolina? Or actually anywhere in NC? Are you sick of government officials blaming the pandemic for not doing their jobs? Do you have a few hours free on Saturday late morning? Looking for something to do?

Then Grass Roots North Carolina has just made your weekend!

There will be a peaceful demonstration in Raleigh on Saturday starting at 10am outside the Wake County Department of Public Safety.

The GRNC Alert below gives more details!

Demonstration is not just about Baker
You live in a world gone mad:

Cities refuse to protect you from violent mobs, as sheriffs like Gerald Baker refuse to grant you the permits you need to protect your family.

Schools radicalize your children, turning them against their own Republic.

And now Democrats threaten “Armageddon” if Trump and the Senate do their duty by appointing a Supreme Court Justice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

It is time for you to make your voice heard!
If you are
“Mad As Hell And Not Going To Take It Anymore,” we have just the activity for you: GRNC’s demonstration against Sheriff Gerald Baker and his refusal to issue pistol purchase and concealed handgun permits to lawful citizens.

But this isn’t just about Baker: GRNC plans to demonstrate to sheriffs and legislators across the state that we are “mad as hell” about both the widespread inability of citizens to obtain guns to protect their families and the collusion of leftist media and leftist politicians to undermine our rights … permanently, if they win the election.



No excuses: You have no excuses not to attend. It will be held on a Saturday (Sept. 26).

* If you are one of the hundreds who have contacted us to express utter frustration at Baker’s (and other sheriffs’)  refusal to issue gun permits as required by law at a time when national riots make it more important than ever … BE THERE!
* or even if you aren’t, BE THERE!  
*Regardless of where you live in NC: BE THERE!

Details:
What: A peaceful demonstration against Sheriff Baker, the inability to obtain firearms for self-protection, and the present state of affairs

When: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 at 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Where: Wake County Sheriff/Wake County Department of Public Safety, 330 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 

Why: Because it’s high time somebody did

Added bonus: GRNC will have “Remember in November” voter guides and JFP Judicial Voter Guides available in quantities for you to distribute to friends and acquaintances.

Please R.S.V.P.: Please confirm attendance, including name and approximate number of people attending by emailing: DirectorofDevelopment@GRNC.org 

Guidelines for demonstrators:

* Under § 14-277.2(a), “It shall be unlawful for any person participating in, affiliated with, or present as a spectator at any …  demonstration upon any private health care facility or upon any public place owned or under the control of the State or any of its political subdivisions to willfully or intentionally possess or have immediate access to any dangerous weapon.”
* Please dress for the press: Please avoid clothing with inflammatory slogans, camouflage, or other items which would allow the media to dismiss us as a fringe element.
* Please show the world what a truly peaceful protest looks like.

UPDATE: Now this is interesting. I just tried to post a link to this post on my dedicated blog page on Facebook. It was denied because someone had reported this information as “abusive”.

Surrounded in all red, the message read:

Warning Your message couldn’t be sent because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive.”

Rachel’s Moments

My friend and fellow Polite Society Podcast co-host Rachel Malone posted this video yesterday. For those that don’t know Rachel, she started out life as an anti-gunner, had an epiphany, and then learned to shoot. What makes Rachel’s epiphany even more remarkable is that she didn’t stop there. She became a firearms instructor, a Texas CCW instructor, and founded Texas Firearms Freedom to fight for gun rights in Texas.

Oh, and did I add that Rachel is a professional musician and music teacher living in Austin? Not what you expected, was it?

The Ground War

The fight to preserve our gun rights in the face of the attacks that have been launched by the Obama Administration will come down to who has the better ground war – us or them.

On Monday, Vice-President Joe Biden met with a group of House Democrats regarding the proposals that would be put forth to advance gun control. In addition to laying out the proposals he was going to present to President Obama, he discussed the campaign to get them enacted by Congress.


But Biden did indicate that the remains of the Obama campaign apparatus may be activated in the effort.

“He said that this has been a real focus on the policy and that the politics of this issue, that a strategy on the politics of the issue hasn’t been undertaken yet,” Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) told POLITICO. “He did remind us that the campaign infrastructure is still accessible.”

Not only is that campaign infrastructure still in place but Obama for America is still actively raising money even though Barack Obama is Constitutionally limited to two terms.

In an article in The Atlantic today, Ron Fournier discussed how Obama and his advisers plan to use his personal political organization, Obama for America, to fight for everything from gun control to higher taxes.


Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, a confidant of the president, signaled the high-testosterone approach shortly before Obama’s announcement on guns, telling MSNBC, “The president has the most exciting campaign apparatus ever built. It’s time to turn that loose.”

He speculated that the National Rifle Association is lobbying lawmakers with the names and numbers of new NRA members in each congressional district, gun-rights supporters galvanized by the Newtown elementary school massacre. “If the NRA has a list,” Gibbs said, “then Obama for America has a bigger list.”

OFA is the president’s personal political operation, affiliated with the Democratic National Committee. One of the great failings of Obama’s first term was his inability to mobilize his election coalition to advance his policy goals from the White House.

He’s going to try again.

Gibbs is probably right that Obama for America has a bigger list than all the gun rights organizations put together.

However, the people who have supported Obama in the past have a multitude of interests and causes ranging from economic issues to gay rights and everything in between. By contrast, gun rights supporters regardless of whether they belong to the NRA, GOA, CCRKBA, SAF, or any of a number of state-level organizations are focused on one thing – gun rights.

The Pew Research Center for People and the Press released the results of their most recent poll concerning gun control on Monday. According to this poll, a majority of Americans favor more background checks and a new assault weapon ban. A near majority favor restrictions on magazines. In and of itself, this is not good news. Overall, a bare majority (51% vs. 45%)  think it is more important to control guns compared to preserving gun rights.

Fortunately, the Pew Research Center did not limit their research to just who favored what ban and in what numbers. They also studied how committed and how active supporters on each side of the gun control debate were. The results were interesting.


There is a wide gap between those who prioritize gun rights and gun control when it comes to political involvement. Nearly a quarter (23%) of those who say gun rights should be the priority have contributed money to an organization that takes a position on gun policy, compared with just 5% of those who prioritize gun control. People who favor gun rights are also about twice as likely as gun control supporters to have contacted a public official about gun policy (15% vs. 8%).

While the numbers expressing an opinion on social media or signing a petition are roughly equal with a slight edge to those favoring gun rights, petitions and posts on Facebook don’t get the attention of those in Congress nearly as much as money and calls from constituents.

Make no mistake that we are in a war but it is a ground war that we can win. Those on the side of the Second Amendment put our money where our mouth is and back it up with calls and letters to politicians.

If you haven’t called your Congressman or Senators yet, do it tomorrow. If you don’t like talking on the phone, send them a fax. Indeed fax it to both their local offices and their Washington office. If you don’t have time to do either of those two, at least go to the Ruger website and use their tool to make your views known. Since it went live on Saturday, almost 450,000 people have taken advantage of that tool which sends a simple letter to your congressman, both senators, governor, lt. governor, and state representatives.

And continue contacting them each and every week for the next few months!

Counter-gun Gun Buy Back In Texas

Texans for Accountable Government and a number of private citizens decided that they would have a counter-gun buy-back when the Austin Police Department held a recent gun buy-back program. The APD was offering a grocery card worth $100 for each firearm turned into them which would be destroyed. TAG offered $110 cash and plans to give the firearms purchased to needy individuals (who are lawful to own them) for self-protection.

More on the story can be found here at Buckeye Firearms Association.

McDonald Decision: It’s Not Just About Guns Anymore

Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, thinks that Tea Party activists, libertarians, and conservatives should look to the Supreme Court’s decision in McDonald v. Chicago as inspiration.

let me offer a positive lesson from this experience, one with relevance for today’s motivated Tea Party activists and depressed conservatives and libertarians alike. Because the story of the Second Amendment, and of gun rights generally, over the past two decades is a story that offers hope for those interested in protecting and restoring liberty in all sorts of areas.

Read the whole article here.

His conclusion –

So in little more than 15 years, we’ve seen an amazing turnaround on an issue where the “establishment” side had broad support from politicians (in both parties, really) and almost universal support from the media. Gun control now is nearly dead as an issue, and the “establishment” view that the Second Amendment didn’t protect any sort of individual right, but merely a right of states to have national guards, did not get the support of a single Supreme Court justice.

So what’s the lesson for today? It’s that activism matters.

Now the issue on which activists differ from the establishment is the size of government. Politicians (in both parties, really) are pretty happy with big government. In this, they have the near-universal support of the media (now using covert e-mail lists to agree on how to slant their stories).

But if people care about shrinking government as much as gun rights activists care about protecting the Second Amendment, then this situation, too, can see a turnaround.

For the sake of the country, it had better.