Gun Banners Trying to Hijack the Tragedy in Virginia

GOA Responds to Today’s Tragedy, Counters Anti-Gun Shrills for More Gun Control

No doubt you’ve heard the sad news today — the tragic shooting in Alexandria, Virginia, which is just 20 minutes from our offices here at Gun Owners of America.

Several people were shot and wounded, one of them being House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

There were others, including brave law enforcement officers, who were wounded as well.

We have been praying for their speedy recovery and that God would grant their families peace during this time.

Already, anti-gun mouthpieces are trying to politicize this event.

And they are stepping over the injured bodies to call for more gun control.

You can click on the picture to the right to view my Facebook Live response from earlier today. 

Shannon Watts, who heads up a group for Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, said the answer to this tragedy is “not more guns and fewer gun laws.”

In other words, she wants more gun control.

Anti-gun journalist David Frum said the problem was that Virginia has:

— No background checks [which, by the way, is a lie];

— No licensing [which is a lie];

— No registration [which is a partial lie];

— No permit required for concealed carry of long guns [which really, is a stupid thing to say because no one actually conceal carries long guns].

Frum also faults Virginia’s laws for protecting “Open carry [of] long guns & handguns.”

A long list of things to blame.  But nowhere does he actually blame the shooter — who, by the way, was reportedly a radical, left-wing, Bernie Sanders supporter who frequently railed against Republicans.

And finally, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in response that there are “too many guns on the street” and then went on to call for more background checks.

McAuliffe even said that “we lose 93 million Americans a day to gun violence.”

It was only after a reporter observed that this level of murder would eliminate the entire population of the U.S. within four days that McAuliffe retreated from that statement.

Of course, what McAuliffe and these other gun haters all miss is that no matter how many guns you ban or restrict, any individual with hatred in his heart can use any item to kill huge numbers of people.

Have they already forgotten that more people were killed recently on the London bridge with just knives and cars?

Have they forgotten that more people were killed with a truck in Nice, France? Over 80 people were killed.

All these gun haters willfully ignore this simple truth — when bad guys, filled with hate, try to kill, guns are the best way to stop them.

Thank God for the brave officers who heroically risked their lives.

Reportedly, the officer who actually took down the active shooter was himself injured as well.

And in doing so, that brave officer prevented a Mass Shooting.

This is the Second Mass Shooting prevented in as many months.

The previous one was deterred last month at a sports bar in Arlington, Texas, where a concealed carry holder shot and killed an active shooter.

After the concealed carrier opened fire, not one additional person was injured.

And police credited him with saving countless lives.

This is why Gun Owners of America has pushed for Constitutional Carry in the states — and for Congress to pass national reciprocity legislation.

You can see our most recent action alert on this issue here.  We are very close to getting the number of co-sponsors we need to pass concealed carry reciprocity, which is why we are pushing so hard.

Good guys with guns will save lives, but attempts by the anti-gun Left to disarm citizens will only make us less safe.

 

Bill Whittle’s Hot Mic | Fighting Anti-Gun Propaganda ….

It’s Time for Senate Democrats to Put Up or Shut Up

It’s Time for Senate Democrats to Put Up or Shut Up 

 

For liberal Democrats, it’s “the year of the veteran.”

Eager to pretend that they don’t hate America’s heroes as much as they have in the past, Leftist Democrats are scouring the weeds for anti-gun candidates who have served in some capacity in the military.

In Virginia, for instance, one goofball is running for governor on a platform that essentially says that his service as a military doctor taught him to hate guns.

So it is about time that Senate Democrats “put up or shut up” with regard to their love — or hate — for our men and women in uniform.

For two decades, America’s veterans have received shoddy treatment from the VA — in virtually every respect.  Their medical treatment has frequently been substandard.

But, even more important, the politically correct VA has fallen over itself to take away the guns of 257,000 law-abiding veterans with no due process whatsoever.

Ironically, Uncle Sam had no problem handing our servicemen M16’s and M4’s and setting them loose to patrol the streets of Baghdad and Kabul.

And yet, when a GI returns to the U.S., perhaps haunted by a disturbing experience in the theater of war, the VA has not hesitated to appoint a guardian for the veteran on the basis of a psychiatric diagnosis — and then take away his guns without any due process whatsoever.

If it’s any indication how irrational this process is, 107,000 of those veterans who are currently subject to a gun ban are now over 80 years of age.

And, while they can theoretically appeal the VA’s determination taking away their constitutional rights, few veterans have the $10,000 or more that it would take to hire a lawyer and experts to do so.

So the champions who have fought to secure our freedoms are the first to have it taken away from them.

But the good news is that H.R. 1181, which would restore the gun rights of 257,000 veterans, has now been passed by the House by a largely party-line vote of 240-175 — and has been placed on the Senate calendar.

At any time, it could be called up, passed, and sent to President Donald Trump’s desk for his guaranteed signature.

There is only one problem:  an anticipated filibuster by gun-hating Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and his gaggle of gun-hating Democrats.

And so now, this is our challenge to the Senate:  Put up or shut up.

Stand up for veterans — or stop pretending you really care about them.

By moving to take up H.R. 1181 and sending it to Donald Trump’s desk, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be forcing Senate Democrats to stand up for veterans — or to spit in their face.

So please contact Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) and Sen. Al Franken (D). Demand that they call for the Senate to take up and pass H.R. 1181, the Veterans Protection Act.

 

Hearing Protection Under Attack in the U.S. Senate

Time to Counter by Moving the “Hearing Protection Act”

First, Gun Owners of America needs your help to stop anti-gun Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) from scoring an anti-gun coup.

Second, I want to remind you that one of the best ways you can support Gun Owners of America is by becoming a GOA Patriot member.

GOA Patriots are monthly contributors who are serious about defending the Second Amendment.

Not only will you help GOA stay on the front lines, you will get a great-looking GOA cap as a thank you!

GOA Successfully Working to Block Possible Attacks on Hunters

A week ago, the Senate HELP Committee — seriously, that’s its real acronym:  HELP! — voted out legislation which would revamp regulation of over-the-counter hearing aids.

The legislation is crafted by Senator Elizabeth Warren.

In the pro-gun House, representatives recognized that similar legislation might have ramifications for hunting-related listening devices.

Several news outlets covered GOA’s progress on this legislation, and noted how GOA is leading the fight against gun control.

Says BearingArms.com: “Things are getting heated in the gun world, especially with gun control advocates doing everything in their power to defeat the Second Amendment. But there’s one group who has ramped up [the pressure]: Gun Owners of America (GOA).”

And Guns.com reported that, “Gun Owners of America told House lawmakers last week to delete ‘anti-gun’ language added to a prescription drug bill winding its way through Congress.”

The results have been encouraging.

Under the auspices of pro-gun champion Richard Hudson (R-NC) and the Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), GOA worked with Representatives who agreed to language alleviating any potential impact on guns.

But so far, this pro-gun language has not been agreed to in the Senate.

Hence, the bigger question is this:  If Congress is going to protect people’s hearing, how about deregulating suppressors?

GOA Working to Deregulate Suppressors

On January 9, Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced legislation to allow gun owners to protect their hearing by removing suppressors from the requirements of the National Firearms Act.

If Warren is allowed to move her legislation forward — on behalf of her wealthy constituent, Bose electronics — legislation to protect the hearing of hunters ought to be allowed to proceed in tandem.

As it now stands, firearms suppressors, which are little more than elaborate metal tubes, are treated like machine guns under federal law.

To obtain one, you have to pay a hefty tax, submit fingerprints, undergo an elaborate FBI background check, and (under illegal Obama directives) obtain the permission of sometimes-hostile local law enforcement.

There are at least two ironies to this:  The first is that it’s pretty easy to make a makeshift suppressor.  The second is that, even in gun-hating countries like Norway, suppressors are actively encouraged as hearing-protection measures.

Tragically, the anti-health aspects of the 1934 National Firearms Act were written on the basis of mythology that Al Capone could use “silencers” to mow down “G-Men.”

This storybook fiction is foolish from a variety of standpoints — not the least of which is the fact that “suppressors” are not “silent.”

So gun owners — and public health experts — are now asking why public health should be sacrificed on the altar of some comic book scenario that defines a “machine gun” to include a metal tube.

But, one way or another, it’s time for the Senate and the House to take a stand on this health issue.

And the Senate, in particular, should not allow the anti-gun Warren to put “points on the board” without considering how the hearing of gun owners can be protected at the same time.

So please contact Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) and Sen. Al Franken (D).  Urge them to cosponsor S. 59, and to support the “Hearing Protection Act” when it is considered by the Senate.

 

Who Voted Against Jeff Sessions?

Anti-gun Senate Democrat Puppets Dance on Chuck Schumer’s Strings

 

The Senate just had its first big test on guns in the 115th Congress.

And with one exception, every single Democrat voted anti-gun.

The vote was on the confirmation of GOA ally Jeff Sessions to be U.S. Attorney General.

With the exception of West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, the successful 52-47 vote was otherwise completely party-line, with Republicans voting for the Second Amendment, and Democrats opposing it (Sen. Sessions abstained).

As a senator from Alabama, Sessions had been one of that chamber’s most pro-gun votes.

Most recently, Sessions led the fight which killed the anti-gun sentencing bill. That legislation would have created mandatory 5-year minimum sentences for gunsmiths who didn’t get a $2,250 gun license.

It would also have increased prison sentences by 50% for gun-owning veterans caught up in the Veteran’s Disarmament Act.

Senator Sessions has been a long-time supporter of national constitutional carry reciprocity and due process for veterans — and an opponent of unconstitutional “no-fly no-buy” and background check/gun registry legislation.

We had expected endangered Democrats from pro-gun states who are up in 2018 to pretend to be pro-gun — at least for the next two years.

These include Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota, Joe Donnelly from Indiana, Jon Tester from Montana, Claire McCaskill from Missouri, Bill Nelson from Florida, Bob Casey from Pennsylvania, Debbie Stabenow from Michigan, Sherrod Brown from Ohio, Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin, and Angus King from Maine.

Instead, these anti-gunners danced on the end of Chuck Schumer’s strings — apparently more indentured to Washington’s Leftists than to their own constituents.

This is particularly notable since all of these anti-gun Red State Democrats (if they were in the Senate at the time) also dutifully voted for political hacks Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch — both of whom spent their tenures trying to shred the law and the Constitution in order to go after gun owners.

As we said, anti-gun icon Joe Manchin is apparently making a frantic effort to save his seat among West Virginia’s increasingly hostile electorate. That said, the gun-control supporting Manchin immediately announced that he would oppose the HHS nomination of Tom Price — apparently because Price wants to repeal the anti-gun ObamaCare program.

A humorous political sidebar was the Left-wing Elizabeth Warren, who spent an hour throwing insults at her fellow senators until an almost infinitely tolerant Senate finally had had enough — and forced the startled Warren to shut up and sit down.

So it’s going to be a fun two years. Perhaps as many as eleven or twelve Democrats up for reelection in pro-gun states are effectively telling their constituents to “drop dead.” Our guess is that it’s these twelve whose political careers that are dead.

ACTION: Write your senators. The prewritten letter will thank those who voted in favor of Jeff Sessions’ confirmation and express disappointment in those opposed.

 

Constitutional Carry & Self-Defense Law Reform introduced in the Minnesota House today!

Contact your local Rep.

Talk nicely to them.

Unfortunately mine is one whom believes Big Government should make all our decisions, including the right to protect oneself and family…

Today, in the Minnesota House, Representative Jim Nash (R, HD 47A, Waconia/Carver County) introduced two major pieces of bi-partisan pro-gun rights legislation.

• HF 238, the Defense of Dwelling and Person Act of 2017, would reform Minnesota’s self-defense laws by removing the duty to retreat, expanding the existing castle doctrine in one’s home or place of abode, and simplifying and clarifying today’s confusing mix of statutes and case law.

  Today, in order to make the right decision about the lawful use of force to defense one’s self, family, or a another, a law-abiding Minnesotan must analyze their situation, process multiple statutes, and recall more than a dozen Minnesota court cases in less than a second – all while being faced with imminent threat of death or great bodily harm.

  This law would serve to protect law-abiding Minnesotans who otherwise could be prosecuted for making an innocent mistake while trying to defend themselves against violent attack.

  HF 238 was introduced by Rep. Jim Nash with 17 co-authors. Additional authors, including DFLers, will be added in the coming days.

• HF 188, the Constitutional Carry Act of 2017, would make permits to carry optional in Minnesota. Constitutional Carry, also known as “permitless carry”, allows any person who is not already prohibited from owning or carrying a firearm under existing federal and state law, to carry a firearm without a permit.

  Permits to Carry would still be available for reciprocity reasons through the same process as exists today.

  The Second Amendment states “the right to keep and bear arms… shall not be infringed.” Forcing citizens to pay for classes and seek permission from government to exercise a fundamental constitutional right is wrong.

  Constitutional Carry is currently legal in eleven states – similar legislation is pending in more than a dozen states in 2017.

  HF 188 was introduced by Rep. Jim Nash with 14 bi-partisan co-authors

We Cannot Afford to Stand By

Get GOA’s Voter Guide Into as Many Pro-Gun Hands as Possible

Election Day is just ONE WEEK away.

The presidential polls have tightened up, and both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are in a dead heat.

If Trump is able to pull out a victory next week, Gun Owners of America will be pushing full throttle to purse an aggressive, pro-gun agenda.

These are just a few of the things that GOA wants to accomplish:

* Pass Concealed Carry reciprocity into law.

* Remove the U.S. as a signatory on the U.N. Armed Trade Treaty.

* Repeal every single anti-gun executive action that Obama implemented, including the gun ban on seniors, the draconian restrictions on gunsmiths and the limitations on private gun sales.

* Repeal the anti-gun ObamaCare law that threatens to use medical information to disqualify thousands of gun owners.

But if Democrats are able to use illegal voters to steal this election, Gun Owners have a massive job on their hands.

Under Clinton, our rights would be under their greatest assault ever.

Hillary Clinton’s gun confiscation agenda includes:

* Gun control by Executive Order, on a scale that makes Barack Obama look like a novice. If fact, she’s explicitly promised it.

* Banning private sales (because she favors Universal Background Registration Checks which ban private sales, unless buyers get government permission).

* Imposing a 25 percent National Gun Tax. As you remember, she went on the warpath for this in 1993 as First Lady. Not only would it make guns more expensive, it gives the feds a second set of paperwork to record your names, address, identity, and what guns you own.

* Appointing a radical Supreme Court to overturn the Heller decision. She has stated that she disagrees with Heller and that she will make that case every chance she gets. If Heller is overturned, the courts would no longer recognize the “individual right” to bear arms.

We only have a week left. And you can be sure that what happens on November 8 will have consequences for years to come.

Are you making sure that your pro-gun friends and family will be getting to the polls?

And have you viewed GOA’s Voter Guide — which analyzes every congressional race in the country — and distributed it to friends, family members, and gun shops?

There’s much to do, with only a little time remaining. Thank you for everything you can do to get pro-gun candidates elected next Tuesday.

Sincerely,

Larry Pratt
Executive Director Emeritus