President Donald Trump

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Guess Who Will Be At The NRA Annual Meeting

April 15, 2017 by 2 Comments

That’s right, President Donald Trump. The NRA posted this on their official Instagram page yesterday.

Donald Trump becomes the first sitting president to address a NRA Annual Meeting since Ronald Reagan did it back in 1983.

From Bloomberg Politics:

“The NRA is honored to have the president address our annual meeting at the leadership forum,” said Jennifer Baker, a spokeswoman for the NRA. “We’re excited to once again have a president who respects the Second Amendment.”


The NRA endorsed Trump’s bid for president last May, after the then-candidate addressed the group’s annual forum in Louisville, Kentucky. Trump pledged at the time to “save our Second Amendment” and appoint judges which would support expansive gun rights.


His return visit to speak to the group’s 2017 Leadership Forum in Atlanta is likely to appeal to Trump’s base at a time when he has received criticism for reversing himself on promises to his most ardent supporters. At the same time, Trump’s speech to the influential lobby could repel Democrats and moderates who have been chafing under his presidency and have blocked some of his proposals from advancing in Congress.

Speaking to the NRA might repel Democrats but there isn’t much Trump does that doesn’t repel liberal Democrats. However, I see Trump’s visit as part of a “thank-you tour” to those who supported in 2016 and whose support he continues to need.

Appointing Justice Gorsuch and signing the repeal of the anti-rights Social Security regulations were good first steps. Now we need to see movement on national reciprocity and the Hearing Protection Act. More solid judicial appointments would not hurt either.

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Comment Of The Day

February 17, 2017 by 2 Comments

President Trump held a news conference yesterday and, from what I’m reading, it was pure Trump.
The heads of the media personalities are still exploding and they don’t know why.

The best comment came in response to a post by Professor William Jacobson regarding the news conference. VaGentleman had this to say:

I’m reminded of the scene in ‘Patton’ where he is standing on the hill overlooking the battlefield and shouts, “Rommel, you bloody bastard, I read your book!”. Alinskyites, take note.

Charles Heller of Liberty Watch Radio, JPFO, and AzCDL made the nearly the same point when we recorded him for an interview with The Polite Society Podcast. He urged gun rights activists to read the Rules for Radicals and use them.

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NRA Going All In For Gorsuch

February 1, 2017 by

The NRA-ILA reacted very quickly to the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to be the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. They released a statement within minutes as well as this graphic which was placed on Instagram.

NRA Applauds Neil Gorsuch’s Nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court

Fairfax, Va.— The National Rifle Association (NRA) applauds the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the United States Supreme Court.

“President Trump has made an outstanding choice in nominating Judge Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court. He has an impressive record that demonstrates his support for the Second Amendment,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director, NRA-ILA. “We urge the Senate to swiftly confirm Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, just as it did in confirming him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit by a unanimous voice vote.”

During his tenure on the Tenth Circuit, Gorsuch has demonstrated his belief that the Constitution should be applied as the framers intended. To that end, he has supported the individual right to self-defense. Specifically, he wrote in an opinion that “the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own firearms and may not be infringed lightly.”

“On behalf of our five million members, the NRA strongly supports Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. We will be activating our members and tens of millions of supporters throughout the country in support of Judge Gorsuch. He will protect our right to keep and bear arms and is an outstanding choice to fill Justice Scalia’s seat,” concluded Cox.

And from Instagram:

We will need the NRA going all in for Judge Gorsuch as the battle lines were being drawn in minutes. The NY Times had an editorial out within minutes calling it a “stolen seat” and Merrick Garland “better qualified”. I’m sorry but mere tenure on the bench does not make you a better judge or better legal mind. It only means you are older.

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SCOTUS Pick To Be Announced Tonight

January 31, 2017 by

President Trump’s nominee to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia will be announced tonight, in prime time, at 8pm EST. During the campaign, Mr. Trump released a list of 21 potential nominees. That list has been whittled down to the two or maybe three finalists.

The three reported to be on the final list are Judge Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Neil Gorsuch of the 11th Circuit, and Judge William Pryor of the 5th Circuit. Of those three, Judge Pryor is considered to be the most contentious choice as he was barely confirmed when appointed to the Court of Appeals. He is also a protegee’ of Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions.

According to CNN, Judges Hardiman and Gorsuch have been brought to Washington which would seem to indicate it is now down to those two.

The SCOTUS Blog has done a good job of summarizing the background of the three finalists.

All three are youngish, conservative, and have good credentials. However, only Judge Hardiman has ruled on Second Amendment issues directly. He had a 40-page dissent in Drake v. Filko which centered around the impediments that New Jersey puts on obtaining a carry permit. His dissent would make him appear to believe that the right of self-defense is guaranteed both inside and outside the home. Second Amendment attorneys David Jensen and Alan Gura were the attorneys of record for the plaintiff in the appeal. Jensen commented on a post I had on Facebook today that he thought it was a good dissent. That sounds good to me.
Of course, given President Trump, this could all be window-dressing and he nominates either Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). They would already be in DC and bringing Judges Hardiman and Gorsuch to town was to throw off the media.

UPDATE: Politico and Independent Journal Review are reporting that “Trump insiders” have confirmed that Judge Neil Gorsuch will get the nod. We’ll see.

UPDATE II: Interesting trivia on Judge Gorsuch – his mother was Ronald Reagan’s first head of the EPA, Anne Gorsuch, who was forced out of office over a House contempt citation pertaining to toxic waste clean-up records. She was never charged with a crime despite allegations.

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#2A Selfies

January 22, 2017 by 3 Comments

Among the many things President Trump is known for include his use of social media and his use of his three oldest children as advisors. A number of weeks back I remember Mr. Trump telling 60 Minutes that he had 28 million followers of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

This got me to thinking about how we in the gun culture at the grassroots could use this to advance our Second Amendment rights. Mr. Trump owes us in the gun culture for our support throughout the general election campaign in return for his promises of supporting the Second Amendment. I’d wager, though I haven’t seen any hard statistics, that Mr. Trump’s pro-gun stance helped him eke out wins in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

My idea is to use social media and in particular Twitter and Instagram to communicate our grassroots message to Mr. Trump and his kids. For it to be effective, it has to go viral.

Simplicity is the key. While I have a whole list of things I want, picking 2-3 is more effective. It is also more readable in a picture which I have found out by experimentation. See the difference below. The first is my laundry list and the second is the top things I want.

Large List
Highlighted List

Shadows or not, I think the second picture is more effective as it shows that a person is standing behind it and has a limited list.

All you need to participate is a phone with a camera, a Twitter account, and/or an Instagram account. I would urge you to do both. The photo doesn’t need to look professional and indeed I think it is better if it didn’t. Post the picture with this hashtag –  #2ASelfie.

Your post needs to include your selfie, the hashtag, and the following addresses:

For Twitter:

  • @potus
  • @whitehouse
  • @realdonaldtrump
  • @donaldjtrumpjr
  • @erictrump
  • @ivankatrump
  • @(fill in your Representative’s Twitter handle)
For Instagram:
  • @whitehouse
  • @realdonaldtrump
  • @donaldjtrumpjr
  • @erictrump
  • @ivankatrump
  • @(fill in your Representative’s Instagram name)
Remember that Twitter has an 140 character limit. Instagram, to the best of my knowledge, doesn’t have a character limit.

Forward this post to your friends and family who support the Second Amendment. Unlike the stuff that comes out of Bloomberg’s Everytown or the Brady Campaign, this really is a grassroots effort. Again, we need this to go viral. If it goes viral, it will have more of an impact than any Change.org petition.