Mitch McConnell

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Deals With The Devil

June 12, 2022 by 7 Comments

Every news source this afternoon is all excited that “a bipartisan deal has been reached on gun reform” or something like that. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly has been pushing for some “compromise” so that guns as an issue are negated for the mid-term elections. The problem with that is that gun control supporters are still going to vote for the Democrats and many pro-rights supporters might just say screw you and not vote.

When you make a deal with the devil, the devil is in the details. Of course, other than about nine bullet points, there are no hardcore, defined, written in stone details.

To even get the release on the “deal”, I had to go to Sen. Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) website. My own Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) who were both negotiators on the “deal” were so proud of their own actions that they aren’t going public with the details.

Support for State Crisis Intervention Orders

Money goes to states and tribes to set up their own system of gun confiscation orders aka red flag laws. Supposedly, consistent with state and Federal due process. Right.

Investment in Children and Family Mental Health Services

I’ll give them a pass on this one. They say: “National expansion of community behavioral health center model; major investments to increase access to mental health and suicide prevention programs; and other support services available in the community, including crisis and trauma intervention and recovery.”

Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence
This would expand the Lautenberg Act prohibitions to convictions for domestic abuse and restraining orders involving current and ex romantic partners. Thus, a vengeful ex-boyfriend (or girlfriend) could get a restraining order against you which would prevent you from protecting yourself from their wrath. Think Carol Bowne in New Jersey who was stabbed to death while waiting for a pistol permit with which to protect herself.

Funding for School-Based Mental Health and Supportive Services

I don’t have many issues with this. The release says: Invests in programs to expand mental health and supportive services in schools, including: early identification and intervention programs and school based mental health and wrap-around services.

Funding for School Safety Resources

It says it will invest in programs that increase school safety in K-12 schools including providing training to school personnel and students. I doubt they mean programs like the FASTER Programs in Ohio and Colorado. At the very least, they should have “Stop the Bleed” training as well as blow-out kits for every teacher.

Clarification of Definition of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer

This one will definitely be the devil in the details. Will it be based upon how many firearms you sell in a year such as dispersing an estate or will it be based upon intent as the current law does? Current law says that if the intent is to engage in it as a business, you need a FFL.

Telehealth Investments

The release says, “Invests in programs that increase access to mental and behavioral health services for youth and families in crisis via telehealth.” That is fine but I wonder if this will just become another government boondoggle.

Under 21 Enhanced Review Process

For those under age 21, there will be an “investigative period” with checks of juvenile and mental health records. As Stephen Gutowski notes, this could mean a non-instant background check process for those under age 21. They also say they will check with local law enforcement and state databases.

Penalties for Straw Purchasing

Is this going to be like doubly illegal? It is already against the law to engage in a straw purchase. As it is, US Attorneys and Federal law enforcement rarely bring cases to trial involving straw purchases. I think they believe the optics of going after the girlfriends and “intimate partners” of gang members have too many racial overtones.

Charles Blow, a columnist for the New York Times, had an op-ed a couple of Sundays ago calling for more gun control as well as attacking the gun culture. He said he did agree with the Republicans on one thing.

But I am on the same page as they are on one point. They see the passage of gun safety laws as a slippery slope that could lead to more sweeping laws and even, one day, national gun registries, insurance requirements and bans. I see the same and I actively hope for it.

While I vehemently disagree with Blow, at least he is honest about it unlike most politicians on either side of the aisle. It is a slippery slope and must be fought tooth and nail.

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Every GOP Senator Needs To Read These Two Articles

June 9, 2022 by 7 Comments

While there may be other reasons to vote for Republicans, I would wager the reason most gun owners vote for the GOP candidate is they are expected to be more pro-rights and less anti-gun. Now we are watching a dance in the US Senate between Democrats gun prohibitionists and some Republican senators. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has been detailed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to “negotiate” with the Democrats on gun control measures.

It is not portrayed as gun control but gun reform. That is the new buzzword that has replaced gun safety in the lexicon of the mainstream media and the gun prohibitionists.

I try not to curse on the blog but why the fuck should we bother voting for Republicans when they are scheming with Democrats on how to stab us in the back. Is the death by a thousand cuts over time any better than one big thrust of the gun control knife? Our rights are still gone.

I suggest every Republican senator needs to be required to read these two articles by Kurt Schlicher and Lee Williams respectively.

Kurt’s article is published at Townhall.com. As he notes, compromise involves getting something in return for giving something up.

See, I’m missing the part where we get something in return instead of merely losing less. But the durwoods of the softcon wing of the GOP seem pretty eager to fail less spectacularly than they might otherwise and call it a victory. 

He goes on to conclude:

But you are supposed to be dazzled by the stars and submit. You can be sure there are GOP dummies just aching to, held back only by Mitch McConnell – the frustrating Murder Turtle who nevertheless is no dummy – whispering in their ears that screwing us over on guns is just about the only thing that can turn an electoral environment of $6 a gallon gas and public school groomers into a Republican rout.

No, this is not the time to go soft. This is not the time to indulge the perennial Republican disease of craven spinelessness in the face of Democrats and their regime media minions screaming lies about them. This is the time to say “No.”

No compromise on our rights. Not now. Not ever. 

Likewise, Lee Williams, The Gun Writer, has published an article on Substack entitled, “No. No talks. No compromises. Nothing. No means no.” As he notes, the gun prohibitionists know that getting us to give up a slice of bread now means that eventually they will get the whole loaf.

I’m with Lee when he writes:

I am sick of watching our gun rights being bartered away by RINOs, Quislings and traitors, none of whom speak for me. None of whom understand guns. None of whom have likely even fired a damn gun. And, quite frankly, I don’t care which liberal Hollywood actor they drag in next to buttress their case.

Lee notes and I concur that we have nothing to gain in any of these negotiations or discussions with Sen. Chris Murphy (RD-CT) and others of his ilk. The Democrats and their legacy media allies want to drag this out as long as possible in an effort to make us forget about gas prices, inflation, supply-chain issues, and our rapidly diminishing retirement savings.

If you are represented in the Senate by a Republican senator (or even a Democrat like Sinema, Tester, or Manchin), you need to be writing, calling, emailing, and faxing their offices daily. Let them know where you stand. Send them these articles. Make sure they know their chances of re-election are between slim and none if they cave to the gun prohibitionists. If you have donated to them in the past, make sure they know it and that the money stops if they cave. The only way we are going to win this is if they know to fear us more than what is being broadcast on the legacy media non-stop.

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GRNC Urges NC Gun Owners To Contact Burr, Tillis, and McConnell

October 9, 2017 by

I spent part of Saturday morning working the Grass Roots North Carolina booth at the Asheville Gun and Knife Show. Paul Valone, President of GRNC, was also helping out at the booth and we had a chance to chat. He told me we needed to put pressure on Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) over Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s moves to outlaw bump fire stocks. Paul said it was only a first step for Feinstein and having read her bill I agree. The bill itself contains what I consider a Trojan Horse as it would outlaw anything that accelerated a semi-automatic rifle.

The alert that Paul alluded to in our conversation was released late this afternoon. It asks gun rights supporters to call and email Senators Burr and Tillis as well as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell regarding Feinstein’s ban bill.

The alert is below:

Do you want Washington deciding what should or shouldn’t be your next gun
accessory?


While
our nation continues
to mourn the senseless tragedy in Las Vegas, lawmakers in Washington are
rushing to fix (i.e. exploit) an issue they barely understand. Senator
Dianne Feinstein (D-California) is reportedly proposing legislation that
will eliminate all after-market devices which increase the firing rate
of
legal guns. Of course, this would ban the now infamous “bump stocks”.
But, it would also make illegal many other accessories, such as
systems that enthusiasts use to make semi-automatic versions of belt-fed
machine guns.

Even more troubling, this proposal would NOT grandfather
any of these devices. This would potentially have the chilling effect
of making tens of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens, criminals
overnight — just for owning the “wrong” accessory.

If
this dangerous proposal were to become law, nobody knows how far the
government
would go to make sure millions of gun owners have only the “politically
correct” accessories. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has even said that
she “certainly hopes” this is will be a slippery slope to more gun
control. This is so much more than a Second Amendment issue — this is
an
attack on our right to own private property, a freedom enshrined in the
Fifth Amendment.

IMMEDIATE ACTION
REQUIRED!

  • Call AND email North Carolina
    Senators Tillis and Burr, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office:     Let them know that as a well-informed voting citizen you refuse to stand idly by while
    Congress debates how to strip millions of law-abiding Americans of their private property rights.
  • Contact
    the NRA:     Call them (at
    800-672-3888) and email them
    and
    tell them to grow a spine. Make it clear you will not hesitate to resign
    your membership unless they ramp up the fight to protect our
    fundamental
    freedoms.
  • Donate to GRNC: As an all-volunteer grassroots
    organization, we work hard to protect our American liberties. It takes a
    lot of
    resources to fight this rising tide of hysteria and disinformation, and
    every little bit helps to keep the torch of liberty burning. Please click here or go to
    https://www.grnc.org/join-grnc/contribute.
CONTACT INFO
Senator
Richard Burr: email link,
202-224-3154
Senator Thom Tillis: email link, 202-224-6342

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: 202-224-2541

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “Oppose the Feinstein Gun Ban”  
Dear Senator:

I understand that
California Senator Dianne Feinstein is currently proposing legislation
that
would ban all devices that increase the firing rate of legally owned
firearms. This would have the chilling effect of turning tens of
thousands of
otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals. It would also strip them
of their private property rights, a right enshrined in the Fifth
Amendment.

Have the courage to stand up to Senator Feinstein and anyone else in
Congress who believes it is their place to decide for millions of
Americans the
“correct” type of accessories they can own.

Please
advise me of your position on this proposal. I will be monitoring your
actions via
Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully,
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The Only Proper Response To Schumer’s Threat

March 24, 2017 by

With the confirmation hearings of Judge Neil Gorsuch coming to a close, Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has announced that he will oppose the confirmation and will encourage his fellow Democrats to filibuster the vote.

In announcing his confrontational approach, Schumer said that Gorsuch “was unable to sufficiently convince me that he’d be an independent check” on Trump. Schumer said later that the judge is “not a neutral legal mind but someone with a deep-seated conservative ideology,” hand-picked for Trump by conservative legal groups.

Thomas C. Goldstein, a Supreme Court practitioner and co-founder of SCOTUSblog, said that Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee did not present a compelling case that Gorsuch was either an illegitimate nominee or that he was outside the conservative mainstream.

“None of the Democrats set the table” for a filibuster, Goldstein said. He speculated that one option for some Democrats would be to allow an up-or-down vote, and then to vote against confirmation.

In addition to Schumer, Sens. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) announced Thursday that they would filibuster Gorsuch. Casey is one of 10 Democratic senators running next year in a state that Trump won.

While I have serious doubts about the spine of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), I think his only proper response to Schumer’s threat to filibuster the nomination of a supremely qualified candidate like Judge Gorsuch is this.

“Nuke’em back to the Stone Age!” or at least back to 1917 when cloture of filibusters was first introduced.

While it is a misquotation of Gen. Curtis LeMay, it still has a resonance to it. Those ten Democrats who represent states carried by President Trump may want to heed the warning implied by that threat.

Another threat those Democrats may want to pay attention to came from Chris Cox of the NRA-ILA. Cox sent a letter to McConnell and Schumer  on March 17th saying that Judge Gorsuch has the full backing of the NRA and that they will be scoring the vote on his confirmation. If senators such as Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) or Joe Donnelly (D-IN) don’t think the NRA won’t go full scorched earth on them if they vote against Judge Gorsuch, then they are living in a Beltway induced dreamworld.

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Joe Manchin Said He Supported The Second Amendment, Too

September 28, 2014 by 2 Comments

Democrats running for the US Senate from red states love to say they are for the Second Amendment.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he was for gun rights, boasted he was endorsed by the NRA, and even showed himself shooting a rifle at the “cap and trade” bill. That was in 2010. In 2013, he introduced a bill that would “only add gun checks to online sales and gun shows.” That was a myth among many other problems.

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) said she supported the Second Amendment in 2008 when she won against a lackluster Liddy Dole in the Obama landslide. That didn’t stop her from voting for Manchin-
Toomey in 2013 along with gun prohibitionists like Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and the late Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ).

Now comes Kentucky Sec. of State Alison Lundergan Grimes who is running against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). She said she disagrees with Obama on guns, coal, and the EPA. She even ran an ad showing herself at the skeet range. She even chides McConnell’s waving a Kentucky long rifle a’la Charlton Heston at the 2014 NRA Annual Meeting saying, “That’s not the way you hold a gun.”

Then she was a guest on the Kentucky Sports Radio show in which she said was for the Second Amendment but supported closing the mythical “gun show loophole.”

I’m sorry but if you say you support closing the non-existent “gun show loophole” (sic) then that means you support universal background checks. Answering a question about whether you’d support banning any guns by saying “I support the Second Amendment” is nothing more than obfuscation. You want to appear gun friendly but you are supporting exactly the same thing as Bloomberg, Watts, and the rest.

Mitch McConnell is not my favorite Republican. I think what he’s done to undercut the non-establishment wing of the Republican Party is stupid politics. However, I vote the Second Amendment and he supports gun rights. I am also well aware that we are but one Supreme Court justice away from seeing Heller and McDonald overturned. The only way to ensure Obama doesn’t get a chance to seat another Kagan or Sotomayor on the Supreme Court is with a Republican-majority Senate. If Grimes wins, that isn’t going to happen.

UPDATE: Alison Lundergan Grimes’ support for closing the non-existent gun show loophole gets a “hallelujah” from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic).

Can we get a “hallelujah”? Thank you Alison Lundergan Grimes, for good old fashioned common sense.

We were told growing up that we are known by our friends. If these are her friends, well…..