Homeland Safety And Security Act Of 2016 Aka We Have To Do Something Act

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) introduced HR 5611, the Homeland Safety and Security Act of 2016, on Friday, July 1st. This bill is an amalgam of items that are supposed to protect us from the Islamofascists. The findings in Sec. 2 of the bill explicitly mentions ISIS and al Qaeda.

This bill has the full support of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) who said:

“While the enemy’s tactics are evolving, the Obama administration’s strategy to defeat radical Islamist extremism is not. We have to step up our game. This counterterrorism legislation provides new tools to protect our homeland, including a provision to prevent terrorists from buying guns. It is a responsible measure that confronts this threat while protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens. I look forward to a debate and vote on the House floor next week.”

I seem to remember it was not so long ago – like a week earlier – that Speaker Ryan said the Democratic sit-in was nothing more than a publicity stunt and that the Constitution must be defended. He went to say that they wouldn’t take away a person’s guaranteed rights without due process.

Sec. 5 of HR 5611 states:

SEC. 5. GRANTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE AUTHORITY TO DENY THE SALE, 
              DELIVERY, OR TRANSFER OF FIREARMS OR EXPLOSIVES TO KNOWN 
              OR SUSPECTED TERRORISTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 922(t) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(7)(A) When the Attorney General is notified of a request to 
transfer a firearm or an explosive to a person who is being, or has 
been investigated during the previous 5 years, as a known or suspected 
terrorist, the Attorney General shall, as appropriate, notify relevant 
Federal, State, or local law enforcement agencies or intelligence 
agencies concerning the identity of the prospective transferee.
    ``(B) Upon being notified of a prospective transfer of a firearm or 
an explosive to a person who is being investigated as a known or 
suspected terrorist, the Attorney General or the United States attorney 
for the district in which the licensee is located may--
            ``(i) delay the transfer of the firearm or explosive for a 
        period not to exceed 3 business days; and
            ``(ii) file an emergency petition in a court of competent 
        jurisdiction to prohibit the transfer of the firearm or 
        explosive, which petition shall receive the highest priority on 
        the docket of that court.
    ``(C)(i) An emergency petition filed under subparagraph (B) shall 
be granted upon a showing of probable cause to believe that the 
prospective transferee will commit an act of terrorism, or is 
prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm under subsection (g) 
or (n).
    ``(ii) An emergency petition filed under subparagraph (B) to 
prohibit the transfer of a firearm or explosive may be granted only 
after a hearing--
            ``(I) of which the prospective transferee receives actual 
        notice; and
            ``(II) at which the prospective transferee has an 
        opportunity to participate with counsel.
    ``(iii) In the case of an emergency petition filed under 
subparagraph (B) which is denied, the court shall require that the 
United States pay the costs and attorney fees of the prospective 
transferee.''.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--The amendments made by this section do 
not preclude the Attorney General from arresting and detaining a 
person, including a person described in section 922(t)(7) of title 18, 
United States Code, with regard to whom an emergency petition has been 
filed under such paragraph, if the Attorney General has probable cause 
to believe that the person has committed, conspired to commit, or 
attempted to commit an act of terrorism.

Sec. 5 is a variant of the Cornyn Amendment (S. Amdt. 4749) which failed to secure enough votes in the Senate on a cloture motion. Knowing that there are not enough Senators who would vote in favor of a cloture motion on this bill, isn’t this just as much a publicity stunt as the sit-in by the Democrats? Clearly not as visually pleasing to the media as the sit-in, it is still a stunt as it allows the Republican leadership to say, “We did something!”.

While Sec. 5 marginally protects due process, lawyers are expensive and there is no guarantee of winning so as to recoup your legal expenses. Moreover, what is to say that someone like Mike Vanderboegh was not put on the list as a domestic terrorist for his Second Amendment activism at the recommendation of the BATFE, the BLM, or even the SPLC. Heck, for all we know it could be all gun rights bloggers, podcasters, or Facebook commenters just because Loretta Lynch doesn’t like us.

No one knows how, why, or if they are on the Terrorist Screening Database. There are thousands on the list because they have a similar name, a letter or number was transposed in the original report, or for any number of errors. There are also truly evil and dedicated terrorists on the list who may or may not be under surveillance by the FBI, DHS, or some other alphabet agency. Larry Keane of the NSSF pointed out late last year that under such a law all it would take to confirm to a terrorist that he or she was under suspicion was to try and buy a firearm. The NICS denial would be all the confirmation that they needed.

HR 5611 has been sent to a number of House committees. That said, all indications are that it will be voted on sooner than later. I don’t care if the NRA was marginally OK with the Cornyn Amendment or that Donald Trump thought it might be a good idea. I object to secret lists, I object to any attempt to abridge enumerated Constitutional rights, and I object to Sec. 5 of this bill.

Call, email, fax, or write your House member and let them know that you oppose Sec. 5. As the Sultan Knish blog (thanks Kevin Baker for the link) said last year, you can’t have a truce with the Left. If you think that the Mike Bloomberg’s, Shannon Watts’, or Ladd Everitt’s of the gun control world are going to compromise with us, you need to think again.

I Wish Sen. Collins Would Stick To Worrying About Lobsters

Sen. Susan Collins (RINO-ME) usually worries about important things like whether Maine lobsters are invading Europe. Now she and an unholy alliance of senators are introducing a “compromise” bill that allows the Attorney General to deny firearms purchases to anyone on the No-Fly List or the “Selectee” List. Their idea of due process is to allow you to appeal to the US Court of Appeals if denied, pay an attorney big bucks, and then, and only then, recover your attorneys fees if your appeal was successful.

The bill is entitled the Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act of 2016. I wonder if she considers the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) or Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) as terrorists as both ended up on the No-Fly List. If not for their positions in Congress they still might be on it. The bill is pitched as a compromise between the failed bills of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). While I didn’t like either of those bills, the Cornyn bill at least had some recognition of the 5th Amendment guarantee of due process. The ACLU, to their credit, didn’t like either bill.

Here is a summary of the bill as put out by Sen. Collins. Please notice item no. 4 which gives the Attorney General the power to approve a sale to someone on the list so as to not impede a FBI counter-terrorism investigation. Given that current Attorney General Loretta Lynch can’t even say the word “Muslim terrorist”, what’s to say that all terrorists won’t be OK’ed as a matter of policy. As we saw during Project Gunwalker, most of those firearms are still in the hands of the cartels.

Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act of 2016

Sponsor: U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)

Cosponsors: U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND); Kelly Ayotte (R-NH); Martin Heinrich (DNM);
Jeff Flake (R-AZ); Tim Kaine (D-VA); Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Angus King (I-ME); Bill
Nelson (D-FL); Joe Manchin (D-WV); Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); and Mark Kirk (R-IL)

The bipartisan “Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act of 2016” would prevent people who are on the No Fly
List or the Selectee List from purchasing firearms. If our government has determined that an individual is
too dangerous to fly on an airplane, that person should not have the opportunity make a legal firearm
purchase. Due process principles require that Americans denied their right to purchase a firearm under
this provision have the opportunity to appeal this denial to a federal court.

What the Amendment Does:


1. Gives the AG the authority to deny firearms sales to individuals who appear on the No Fly List or the
Selectee List.

2. Provides a process for Americans and green card holders to appeal a denial in U.S. Court of Appeals
and to recover their reasonable attorneys fees if they prevail.

3. Sets forth a procedure for protecting classified information during the appeal.

4. Protects ongoing FBI counter-terrorism investigations by giving the AG the discretion to allow gun
sales to go forward to individuals covered by this Act.

5. Includes a “look-back” provision that ensures prompt notification to the FBI if a person who has been
on the broader Terrorism Screening Database (TSDB) within the past five years purchases a firearm.


How It Works: The TSDB is the broad consolidated watch list comprised of several more narrow threat
databases that various government entities maintain. The No Fly List is a subset that precludes an
individual from boarding a commercial aircraft that departs in, arrives from, or flies over the United
States. The Selectee List is used to identify individuals who require additional screening.

Individuals on the narrower No Fly and Selectee lists would not be allowed to purchase guns, but
Americans and green card holders would have due process rights to appeal in the Court of Appeals
following a proscribed procedure. The AG would have the burden of proof, and the court would be
required to make a decision in 14 days.

Classified information would be reviewed by the court following procedures similar to those in the
Classified Information Procedures Act used for criminal proceedings. In cases where the classified
information is relied upon, the court would have a range of options to protect the information while fully
ensuring due process. These options range from providing an unclassified summary to disclosing some or
all of the classified information.

To ensure appropriate oversight and transparency, the Attorney General would be required to report to the
Intelligence and Judiciary Committees of the House and Senate on the number of persons denied a
firearm, the number of appeals filed, and number of persons who prevailed in their appeals under the
provisions of this Act.

GRNC On Anti-Gun Bills Looming

Grass Roots North Carolina sent out this alert yesterday. It is asking that people contact their Federal representatives to oppose any of these measures.

I agree with GRNC that it is disappointing that NC Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper (D-NC) is calling for the no-fly list gun ban. You would think that after 16 years as the state’s attorney general he would have at least a little appreciation for due process. However, he must feel that it is politically expedient to ignore constitutional rights.

ANTI-GUN MEASURES LOOM
AFTER TERRORIST ATTACK

The Battle is Not Over! Weak politicians continue to teeter on your gun rights. . .
Even after a massive outcry from law-abiding Americans demanding that Congress respect their rights, and instead take effective steps to stop terrorism, many US Congressmen and Senators appear ready to cave to dangerous political correctness. Many politicians continue to indicate that they might support new legislation, or a return to failed legislation, such as the prior Clinton assault weapons ban laws.  Those laws were repealed because they did nothing to reduce gun crime, and they infringed on the rights of the citizenry.
U.S. Legislators Cannot be Trusted

Senators Schumer, Feinstein and other anti-gun elected officials will still be pushing anti-gun bills and amendments this coming week in the U.S. Congress!  


Roy Cooper Joins the Gun Control Frenzy

If there has ever been a time when Americans need to be prepared to protect themselves and their families from the unexpected and unthinkable, this is the time! 

Yet, even after the horrific event in Orlando, there’s now talk of a “No Buy List” and Trump and GOP Lawmakers in Washington are opening the door to restricting gun buys for those on a watch list. The problem is that you can be put on the Watch List without ever knowing it and once you’re on there you’ll find it almost impossible to get off the list.Mitch McConnell is opening the door to this as well. He’s announced that the GOP is “open to keeping guns from terrorists” but we have to be careful that sloppy legislation rushed through to appease the anti gun nuts doesn’t restrict the rights of law abiding gun owners. Appeasing noisy protesting anti gun nuts will do nothing to make us safer. 

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

  • PHONE YOUR SENATORS AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE using:202-224-3121.
  • EMAIL YOUR SENATORS AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE Use the links below, which will connect you to their contact web forms. You can use the copy/paste message under ‘Deliver This Message.’
  • Please contact other gun owners to tell them this threat is real, and ask them to take action as well.

U.S. Senate
Senator Richard Burr (R- NC)
Senator Thom Tillis (R- NC)
U.S. House of Representatives
Representative G. K. Butterfield, Jr. (D – 01)
Representative Renee L. Ellmers (R – 02)
Representative Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R – 03)
Representative David Price (D – 04)
Representative Virginia Foxx (R – 05)
Representative Mark Walker (R – 06)
Representative David Rouzer (R – 07)
Representative Richard Hudson (R – 08)
Representative Robert Pittenger (R – 09)
Representative Patrick McHenry (R – 10)
Representative Mark Meadows (R – 11)
Representative Alma Adams (D – 12)
Representative George Holding (R – 13)

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “ No Gun Control for Law-abiding Voters in Wake of Terrorist Attack!” 


Dear (Congressman or Senator):

Many members of the House and the Senate are weakening their previously stated strong promises to gun owners that they will not sponsor or vote for any legislation that would weaken the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. I’m writing you to insist that you not co-sponsor or vote for any knee jerk legislation that is now being suggested in the wake of the Orlando tragedy.

Blaming law-abiding gun owners is wrong. Instead of fixing blame I want you to fix the problem and make Obama answer for his complete failure in the war on terror. The introduction of any legislation to restrict our 2nd Amendment Rights is a depraved attempt to politicize a tragedy that will result in destroying our freedom.

I will be monitoring your actions on this topic through legislative alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.


Respectfully, 

Yo, Donald! Fuhgeddaboudit (updated)

I just saw this tweet from presumptive GOP nominee for president Donald J. Trump.

You will need the gun culture if you want to be elected. You have been tough on other stuff so now is no time to go wobbly.

As I’ve written in the past, the Terrorist Screening Database, the TSA’s “no-fly” list, and the FBI’s terrorist watch list should not be used to deny an otherwise non-prohibited person from making a firearms purchase. Secret lists, even if created with the best of intentions, have no place in a free society and definitely no place in the United States.

The possibly gay Islamofascist who pledged his allegiance to ISIS during the middle of killing 49 good people had been interviewed by the FBI multiple times yet was not on any so-called watch list. Saying the addition of people on these secret lists to the NICS banned list would prevent further attacks is nonsense.

UPDATE: The NRA-ILA released this statement about meeting with Trump regarding no-fly and terrorist watch lists.

Fairfax, Va.— The executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, Chris W. Cox, released the following statement regarding terror watchlists:

We are happy to meet with Donald Trump. The NRA’s position on this issue has not changed. The NRA believes that terrorists should not be allowed to purchase or possess firearms, period. Anyone on a terror watchlist who tries to buy a gun should be thoroughly investigated by the FBI and the sale delayed while the investigation is ongoing. If an investigation uncovers evidence of terrorist activity or involvement, the government should be allowed to immediately go to court, block the sale, and arrest the terrorist. At the same time, due process protections should be put in place that allow law-abiding Americans who are wrongly put on a watchlist to be removed. That has been the position of Sen. John Cornyn (R.-Tex.) and a majority of the U.S. Senate. Sadly, President Obama and his allies would prefer to play politics with this issue.

If the Democrats really believe that a no-fly list and/or the terrorist watch list will stop them from obtaining the means to kill Americans, they are sadly mistaken. Gangs use straw purchasers all the time. Am I to think that ISIS terrorists are so mentally disabled that they won’t emulate this? No!

As to the efficacy of no-fly lists, this CNN story details some of the people who have been prevented from flying due to the list including Democratic icon Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA).

Setting The Hook

Watching Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) questioning a governmental official is a thing of beauty. It is like watching a master angler letting the fish nibble the bait and then suddenly setting the hook. The fish is hooked and wondering just what the heck just happened.

This past Thursday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security held a hearing on “Terrorism and the Visa Waiver Program”. The lead witness was Kelli Ann Burriesci, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She heads the Screening Coordination Office. Part of her office’s job is to facilitate transfer of information from the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database to the TSA’s No-Fly List.

The video below shows Gowdy questioning Burriesci. The first two minutes are setting the stage for Gowdy’s question where he sets the hook. That question is at 2:50 in the video. While excerpts of this questioning are out there, I think it is instructional to watch Gowdy’s questioning before he begins to set the hook.

Gowdy’s key question is “Let me ask you another question about the terrorism list, what process is afforded a U.S. citizen before they go on that list?”

Burriesci’s answer is that there is no process afforded a citizen before they are put on the list but only a process after they get on the list. This is just the answer Gowdy wanted and as a prosecutor in a prior life he knew he was going to get it.

It only gets better after that.

Gowdy’s point, of course, is that the denial of due process with regard to an enumerated right such as the Second Amendment is, by its very nature, unconstitutional.

Those who would use the No-Fly list, the Terror Watch List, or the FBI’s omnibus Terrorist Screening Database as the basis to deny a citizen’s rights under the Second Amendment – or any civil right for that matter – are playing a dangerous game. That many Democrats and gun prohibitionists are doing it to score political points makes it unconscionable.

An Oldie But Goodie On The Terror Watch List



A 2008 story from the Washington Post regarding the terror watch list and death penalty opponents illustrates the danger of taking names on that list at face value. The Maryland State Police acknowledged before a Maryland Senate Judicial committee that they had added 53 non-violent activists to both state and Federal terror watch lists.

The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police chief acknowledged yesterday.

Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan revealed at a legislative hearing that the surveillance operation, which targeted opponents of the death penalty and the Iraq war, was far more extensive than was known when its existence was disclosed in July.

The department started sending letters of notification Saturday to the activists, inviting them to review their files before they are purged from the databases, Sheridan said.

“The names don’t belong in there,” he told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. “It’s as simple as that.”

The surveillance took place over 14 months in 2005 and 2006, under the administration of former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R). The former state police superintendent who authorized the operation, Thomas E. Hutchins, defended the program in testimony yesterday. Hutchins said the program was a bulwark against potential violence and called the activists “fringe people.”

The people singled out in this case were death penalty opponents and anti-war protesters. According to logs obtained by the ACLU, the “primary crime” of some of these activists was “terrorism – anti-government.” MD Police Superintendent Sheridan said these names were added to the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database (which tracks terrorists and that they may have been shared with the National Security Agency and other Federal agencies. He added, however, that they were not on the Federal terrorist watch list which is a statement that I seriously doubt.

People considered anti-government terrorists during a Republican administration were peace activists and death penalty opponents. You have to wonder who the Obama Administration would consider anti-government terrorists today. We know that neither of the San Bernadino killers were on the list and they were actual terrorists. Could it be that gun rights activists, Tea Party activists, anti-ObamaCare activists, and anti-Common Core activists are considered anti-government terrorists?

I would hope more rational minds would reject this but gun rights activists have certainly been labeled that by Media Matters, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic). This is all the more reason to fight the inclusion of names on some ephemeral government “terrorist” list into the NICS system.

Something To Think About

There has been much talk in recent days on whether persons on the FBI’s terrorist watch list, the Terrorist Screening Database, or the TSA’s No-Fly list should be allowed to purchase firearms.

The day after the terrorist attack in San Bernadino, Sen. Dianne Feinstein proposed Sen. Amendment 2910 to HR 3762 (a budget bill), which would have granted the attorney general the discretion to deny the right to purchase a firearm to anyone known or suspected of having been involved in any way with domestic or international terrorism. The Senate voted down this amendment 45-54.

Then this past Sunday in a televised speech to the nation from the Oval Office, President Obama said this:

To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security.

There have been many who have taken exception to using this no-fly list as means to deny someone the right to purchase a firearm. Prof. Eugene Volokh, among others, has objected to it on the basis of denial of due process noting that we don’t deny rights based upon mere suspicion. The New York Times was against them before they were for them. (My friend Prof. David Yamane has two very well-reasoned responses to the Times on this.) The NRA has long opposed using terrorist watch lists to deny firearm rights. Charles C. W. Cooke, a Brit who has a better appreciation for the Bill of Rights than many American politicians, says those who would use terror to subvert the Second Amendment should be tarred and feathered. That sounds appropriate to me.

Legal and philosophical arguments are fine and are needed. However, the most practical reason for not including those on any watch list on the NICS denied list is that it aids the terrorist.

What!? Aids the terrorist? The hell you say.

Larry Keane, General Counsel of the NSSF, explained his opposition to using these list to deny gun rights in a conversation with Jim Shepherd of the Gun/Outdoor/Tactical Wires.

His answer wasn’t based on individual gun rights.

Instead, it focused on the fact that adding a person who might be under suspicion for a criminal activity to the prohibited persons list wouldn’t keep them from getting firearms illegally, but it would create a de facto “terrorist notification system.

“If someone suspected they were being surveilled -or they were doing something illegal and wanted to know if they’d done something to alert authorities,” Keane said, “they could go to a gun store and try to make a legal purchase. If they were denied, well.there’s their answer.”

In essence, smart terrorists (and we better get used to the idea that our enemies are pretty smart) would use the NICS denial process as the on-line equivalent of a storefront’s glass windows. Spies, terrorists, and anyone being followed is trained to use the windows as a way to spot a tail. Terrorists could easily use the NICS system in much the same manner.

Moreover, by the time the NICS Center in Parkersburg, WV notifies a FBI Special Agent in eastern nowhere North Carolina that Mohammed al Mohammed was denied while trying to buy an AK at Bubba’s Bait, Tackle, Guns, and Beer in Chocowinity, old Mohammed will have gone underground. Furthermore, that overworked FBI Special Agent is probably working 10 MediCare fraud cases, 2 bank robberies, and a kiddie porn case and this will be just one more thing on his or her plate.

Forewarned is forearmed and that is the last thing you want to do when dealing with a terrorist. You want the terrorists rolled up with their guns and explosives in hand long before they’ve perpetrated this act of jihad. You absolutely don’t want them to accelerate their plans because authorities are on to them.

As I said, this is something to think about.

NC Attorney General Roy Cooper Jumps On The “No-Fly, No-Gun” Bandwagon

Roy Cooper has been the Attorney General of North Carolina for the last 15 plus years. You’d think that in that time he’d have learned a little bit about protecting civil liberties. While he refused to sign on to the multi-state attorney general amicus brief in the Heller case, he did sign on to the one for McDonald v. Chicago. Cooper also intervened in the Duke lacrosse case which ultimately dismissed all the (false) charges against the three Duke University lacrosse players.

Now that Cooper, a Democrat, is running for governor he is going all out to look tough on crime and secure the votes of those who are feeling insecure during these times of Islamofascist terrorist attacks. To that end, he has proposed that the North Carolina General Assembly preempt Congress and prohibit those in the FBI‘s Terrorist Screening Database from purchasing firearms. It should be noted that neither of the San Bernadino killers was on the list.

Attorney General Roy Cooper on Monday called on state lawmakers to approve legislation that would prevent anyone being monitored by the FBI as a terror suspect from purchasing firearms in North Carolina.

“Stopping terror suspects from getting weapons that could harm our state and its people makes common sense,” Cooper said in a statement. “Even if Washington won’t act, we can.”

In the wake of last week’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., the U.S. Senate voted down a measure that would have curtailed the gun rights of people on the government’s no-fly list and other FBI databases of terror suspects.

Hasan Harnett, Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, immediately fired back at Cooper.

“It’s shameful that Roy Cooper has chosen once again to side with Washington, D.C. and follow President Obama’s lead, using the recent terrorist attack as a bait-and-switch to push for more gun control in North Carolina. Considering anyone can be placed on the terror watch list for any number of reasons arbitrarily, it is equally as scary that our state’s elected attorney general and top law enforcement officer is for stripping our citizens of their constitutional rights and denying them due process in order to score points with the far-left elements of his party.”

 Roy Cooper has finally come out of the closet on gun control. For years he has been rather wishy-washy on gun rights. I’m actually glad that he has decided to ally himself with the national Democrat Party on gun control issues. Given that Michael Bloomberg spent millions to make sure the state kept it racist Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permit system, I would fully expect Cooper to get Bloomberg’s monetary support.

Grass Roots North Carolina is not taking Cooper’s proposal lying down. They have issued an alert and are asking people to both email and call Cooper regarding his proposal. They refer to it as “modern-day McCarthyism”. I would suggest everyone who is reading this to cut and paste the message and flood “No Fly” Roy’s mailbox.

NC’s
Attorney General to
Bring
Modern Day
McCarthyism to North

Carolina

Parroting Barack Obama and
Hillary Clinton,
North
Carolina Attorney General
Roy Cooper recently
demanded
state legislation to
deny gun purchases for
anyone
on the Terrorist Watch
List, saying:
“Stopping terror suspects from
getting weapons that could

harm our state and its people
makes common sense. Even if

Washington won’t act, we can.”
By barring gun purchases to

1,000,000 people on the
Terrorist Watch List, Cooper

surpasses even Barack Obama’s
proposal to deny roughly

50,000 people on the No Fly
List.

Fret not that tens of

thousands of lawful citizens –
including Senator Ted
Kennedy – have been
denied airline
transportation
thanks to
misidentification. Never mind
the
Terrorist Watch List is so
inaccurate it includes
72 Department of Homeland Security employees
.

Forget that stringent gun
control in both France and

California failed to stop
terrorists from getting

weapons. And don’t bother to
read the Huff Post’s “7

Ways You (Yes, You) Could
End Up On A Terrorist Watch

List“.

Why not? Because all that is
trivial compared to having the

state’s top cop and would-be
governor proposing to flout

the Constitution by denying
you due process under both the

Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments. You have no

“right” to fly, but as
affirmed by the Supreme Court
in DC v. Heller and
McDonald v. Chicago,
you
definitely have a
right to keep and bear
arms.

America has traveled this road
before, and the landscape

wasn’t pretty. Widespread
violations of Constitutional

rights and civil liberties in
the late 1950s against

“subversives” on secret
blacklists compiled by the FBI
were so shockingly
un-American, they earned their

own moniker: McCarthyism.

Where
will Cooper’s modern
McCarthyism end? Once
government is free to deny a

fundamental, enumerated
Constitutional right for

merely being included on a
secret list, are our other

cherished freedoms far behind?
Free speech? Freedom of

religion? History demonstrates
that when governments are free

to use the full powers of the
state against those on secret

lists, the first casualty is
liberty.

Due process

notice, an opportunity
to be heard, the
right to
face one’s accuser –
has been America’s
bulwark
against tyranny since
the Founders penned the

Constitution.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

  • EMAIL ATTORNEY GENERAL ROY
    COOPER.
    Use this contact form on the NC
    DOJ website:
    http://ncdoj.com/Home/ContactNCDOJ.aspx

    and use
    the copy/paste
    message provided below,
    under ‘Deliver This

    Message.’

  • PHONE ROY COOPER at this
    number: (919) 716-6400

    Tell
    him that you’ve
    read about his proposed

    scheme to suspend the
    Second Amendment rights

    of North Carolinians
    using the arbitrary and

    secret “Terrorist Watch
    List.” This would
    suspend the rights of
    certain citizens absent

    any proper due process.
    Suppressing the Fifth

    and Fourteenth
    Amendments is clearly

    illegal, and would be an
    example of modern day

    McCarthyism. It will not
    be
    tolerated.

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE


Suggested Subject:
‘Watch List:’ No McCarthyism in
North Carolina!
”  
Dear Attorney General Cooper:
I
have just read of
your
proposal to use the
“Terrorist Watch List” to
deny Second Amendment rights
to North
Carolinians. I
am absolutely
mortified to hear
this, and I
demand that you
immediately cease any effort

to establish what can only
be called modern day

McCarthyism.

The “watch list” is an
arbitrary and secret
government list. Citizens
who are placed on this list

usually have no knowledge of
the fact that they are on

it, have had no hearing, and
no opportunity to face their

accusers. There are also
numerous examples of

innocent civilians being
placed on this list in

error. The “watch list”
sidesteps due
process, and denying
citizens their
Constitutional rights
outside of proper due

process is a clear violation
of the Fifth and Fourteenth

Amendments.

There is no Constitutional
right to “fly commercial,”
but there is a
Constitutional right to keep

and bear arms. Do not
attempt to use an arbitrary

and secret government list
to deny human rights to
this
state’s citizens. It
would be a huge
mistake.

I
will be monitoring this
issue through alerts from

Grass Roots North Carolina.

Respectfully,

Sneak Attack By Dems Fails

If it hadn’t been for an alert from the National Shooting Sports Foundation this afternoon, I would not have known that the Democrats were planning to bring up gun control amendments to H.R.3762 – Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015. That bill would repeal parts of ObamaCare so it was near and dear to the Republicans’ heart.

The two major anti-gun amendments were brought up by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Feinstein’s amendment would have made anyone listed on the FBI’s secret Terrorist Screening Database a prohibited person for NICS checks. The Manchin amendment was a repeat of 2013’s Manchin-Toomey universal background check bill.

Both amendments needed 60 votes to pass. Fortunately, neither even got a majority.

Feinstein’s amendment failed 45 Aye to 54 Nay. Meanwhile, Manchin-Toomey failed by a vote of 47 Aye to 50 Nay as reported live on the Senate’s livestream. It seems that an additional vote was added to the Aye column in the final reprot.

As NSSF General Counsel Larry Keane pointed out on Twitter, Manchin-Toomey got 7 fewer votes in 2015 than in 2013. (Actually, 6 but still…)

Both of these votes were cynical efforts on the part of Democrats to play off on yesterday’s terrorist attack in San Bernadino, California. I think we can come to expect to see this come up with every major vote or after any mass shooting that doesn’t involve JJ, Pookie, Ice Dog, or Ray-Ray.

The roll call vote on Feinstein’s amendment breaks down like this:

YEAs —45
Baldwin (D-WI)
Bennet (D-CO)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Booker (D-NJ)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Coons (D-DE)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Hirono (D-HI)
Kaine (D-VA)
King (I-ME)
Kirk (R-IL)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Leahy (D-VT)
Manchin (D-WV)
Markey (D-MA)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murphy (D-CT)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Peters (D-MI)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-NM)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs —54
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Capito (R-WV)
Cassidy (R-LA)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Cotton (R-AR)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Daines (R-MT)
Enzi (R-WY)
Ernst (R-IA)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Gardner (R-CO)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Paul (R-KY)
Perdue (R-GA)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rounds (R-SD)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sasse (R-NE)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Sullivan (R-AK)
Thune (R-SD)
Tillis (R-NC)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)


Not Voting – 1
Warner (D-VA)

And the roll call vote on this year’s Manchin-Toomey universal background check amendment is as follows:

YEAs —48
Baldwin (D-WI)
Bennet (D-CO)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Booker (D-NJ)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-ME)
Coons (D-DE)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Hirono (D-HI)
Kaine (D-VA)
King (I-ME)
Kirk (R-IL)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Leahy (D-VT)
Manchin (D-WV)
Markey (D-MA)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murphy (D-CT)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Peters (D-MI)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Toomey (R-PA)
Udall (D-NM)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs —50
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Capito (R-WV)
Cassidy (R-LA)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Cotton (R-AR)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Daines (R-MT)
Enzi (R-WY)
Ernst (R-IA)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Gardner (R-CO)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Paul (R-KY)
Perdue (R-GA)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rounds (R-SD)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sasse (R-NE)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Sullivan (R-AK)
Thune (R-SD)
Tillis (R-NC)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)


Not Voting – 2
Johnson (R-WI) Warner (D-VA)

Just like in 2013 the only Republicans voted for Manchin-Toomey were Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and, of course, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). (Corrected to add Collins who I missed when I first scanned the list)

This Is Getting Tiresome

The New York Daily News – “New York’s Picture Newspaper – is keeping up their propaganda campaign against the NRA and Republicans for refusing to add those on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database to the NICS denied list.

They are now reporting that NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) are supporting efforts to add those on the “No-Fly” list to the NICS denied list. What they are forgetting is that the FBI still runs a check on everyone who buys a gun through a FFL.

As Bratton made clear yesterday on NBC’s Meet The Press, he is more worried about people put on a list for some unknown and ephemeral reason buying a gun than he is about ISIS using Syrian refugees to smuggle in jihadis into the United States. Clearly one does not get to be the commissioner of police without bowing to one’s political masters.