Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

CA: Follow the facts about guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Regarding Peter Quercia�s recent Ramona Sentinel commentary titled �Guns Offer False Sense of Security�:

I haven�t seen an opinion article so filled with so much ignorance since another article a few months ago telling us to boycott the Miramar Air Show and thus disrespecting our military. You know, the people who protect our freedom and allow us to express our opinions in articles like this.

Mr. Quercia uses typical left wing liberal socialist scare tactics, throwing out a bunch of big numbers of death and murder, and then tries to connect all these terrible events to guns.

DE: Support gun control? Take a hunting trip
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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It is true that there are some gun reforms that ought not to worry gun owners. It seems almost everybody, including � reluctantly � the NRA, thinks we should do something about bump stocks, which turn semi-automatic guns into basically machine guns and contributed to the bloodbath in Las Vegas.

I'd go further: there are "assault-style" weapons that are grossly over the top for hunting or self-defense. Background checks and other safeguards, like the ones we put on drivers, could be implemented without unduly burdening responsible gun owners.

NV: Truth, Politics and Power: Gun Rights and Gun Control
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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As the nation struggles to come to terms with the mass shooting in Las Vegas, host Neal Conan delves into the history of the debate between gun rights and gun control with UCLA Constitutional Law Specialist Adam Winkler, author of Gun Fight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America. The Founding Fathers required every adult white male to own a musket, and bring it to musters where it was inspected and registered. On this edition of Truth, Politics and Power, how a duty for community self defense evolved into an individual right to bear arms and how the laws changed with both weapons technology and the rise of the National Rifle Association. Plus restrictions on research into guns and gun deaths.

DC: Shall-Issue Concealed Carry Coming Soon to the Nation�s Capital!
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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In a major development to restore the Second Amendment in the nation�s capital, District of Columbia officials announced last week that they will not appeal a lower court decision to the U.S. Supreme Court that effectively requires the District to issue concealed carry permits to qualified applicants.

The legal issue at stake had centered on whether District officials could require applicants to show a �good� or �proper� reason for needing to carry a concealed handgun that distinguished them from the general population. This meant that most otherwise qualified applicants could not obtain a permit, which is the only way to lawfully carry a loaded, accessible firearm in D.C. for self-defense.

GA: Data show campus carry is unwise and unnecessary
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Or consider the �pro-gun� scholars at the Cato Institute who searched news accounts and found 5,000 incidents of self-defense use of a gun from 2003 to 2011. But they found that only 285 of those people had a concealed carry license, aka the �good guys� gun advocates consistently tell us we need more of. While they found 14 cases of legally armed college students stopping crime off-campus in those eight years, they did not find one case of such an act on campus.

Ed.: Probably because campus carry was illegal in nearly every state during that time, and even today is still illegal in most states?

NV: Nevada Democrats join bill to ban high-capacity gun magazines
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Nevada�s congressional Democrats have joined in legislation that would bar the sale, importation or possession of gun magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Reps. Jacky Rosen, Dina Titus and Ruben Kihuen all signed on the �Keep Americans Safe Act,� authored by Elizabeth Esty of Connecticut.

Rosen said there�s no single solution to the gun violence and the massacre that occurred in Las Vegas but restricting the number of rounds a weapon�s magazine can carry would reduce the threat.

Home Carry: The Carbine Reconsidered
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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It seems impossible that we last dealt with carbines�short rifles, that is�as a serious home defense firearm well over two years ago (here). Quite evidently, time flies; just more so when you�re having fun. The topic is also ripe as an adjunct to our recent home carry considerations, so we�re due in at least two senses. Ergo, onward!

Part of our previous exploration dealt with clarifying the (stupid) terms of a laughably ignorant assertion: That a two-foot long, six-pound AR �pistol� was any sort of likely choice for carry (as then-White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest had suggested). In our defense, we felt as though we were walking a slightly delicate line at the time.

Now is the time for action on guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The day after a gunman mowed down hundreds of people in Las Vegas, Archbishop Michael Jackels of Dubuque, Iowa, posted a message to his diocese. "Our faith inspires us to offer condolences," he wrote. He offered "prayers for the happy repose of the souls" and called for respect for life and for common good.

And then, in an abrupt needle-scraping-across-the-album moment, he simply wrote "Jesus, mercy" and ended with this parenthetical: "This is substantially the same statement as last year after the Orlando shooting. I figured: why write something new; nothing of substance has changed in the area of gun control. And that is I think yet another level to the sadness of Sunday's tragedy."

Gun Banners Unmasked: The Vengeful Face of the Anti-gun Agenda Emerges Once Again
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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In the aftermath of tragedy, when emotions are running high, some people reveal perhaps more than they intend about themselves and their true intentions. Gun control advocates are feeling especially emboldened in the wake of the terrible murders in Las Vegas, and their predilections and prejudices are again on full display. To no great surprise, they are openly speaking of repealing the Second Amendment, retroactively turning gun owners into criminals, and confiscating firearms en masse. And while their publicly-expressed furor will eventually subside when reason again dominates the national discussion of gun policy, it�s important to keep in mind that what they say now is what they really want. It�s not �reasonable regulation.�

Viridian Interviews Massad Ayoob In �Just The Facts�: Episode Two
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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In the second episode of �Just the FACTs,� author and instructor Massad Ayoob discussed a number of topics, including his new book, expert testimony, the 5-Point Checklist and more.

At the end of the episode, Ayoob answered questions from the audience during an extended Q&A session. Like all �Just the FACTs� episodes, the interview was filmed with the new FACT Weapon-Mounted Cameras (WMC).

NY: Guns should be locked up when owner is not home
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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What a shame. A 19-year-old man is dead, and his 20-year-old friend was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to a term of up to 12 years in prison. Their lives, and those of their families, have been forever changed.

The 20-year-old, who was entrusted to watch the home of an Elma man, found an unsecured handgun. As he handled it, the gun went off and his friend was killed.

The homeowner, a legal gun owner and law enforcement officer, faced no charges for having an unsecured gun in his home.

MI: Robbery victim turned tables on his armed attacker by pulling out gun of his own
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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An attempted armed robbery was thwarted when one of two intended victims pulled out his own gun and began shooting in self-defense � and the intense ordeal was all caught on video.

Sanchez Quinn, 29, tried to rob two men at gunpoint outside of a Detroit supermarket Sunday night according to the New York Post. Much to his surprise, however, one of his victims turned out to be a concealed pistol license holder.

CA: Governor signs bill making it a misdemeanor to openly carry a long rifle in unincorporated areas of a County Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 7, authored by Mike Gipson (D-Carson) that specifies that "it is a misdemeanor to openly carry a long gun in a public place in an area where discharge of a firearm is prohibited in an unincorporated area of a county."

�Death by a Thousand Cuts� � Latest Ninth Circuit decision proclaims �selling firearms is not part or parcel of the right to keep and bear arms�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark rulings in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago, lower courts across the country have expressed their disagreement with � or downright hostility to � the Second Amendment by distorting or disregarding these rulings to the detriment of gun owners.

Joining this judicial obliteration of the fundamental right to keep and bear arms is a new decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, regarding the extent to which the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding Americans to sell and buy firearms.

The time to act is now: Gun control is no longer just an option
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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I�d also be lying if I said I wasn�t concerned for my life. I attend music festivals. I attend university. I go to clubs on the weekends. Being at a mass shootings is well within the realm of possibility, and it scares the crap out of me.

I shouldn�t have to be on alert in every public gathering downtown, but I am.

I shouldn�t have to constantly scan the crowd for any sign of havoc when I�m at a concert, but I do.

Ed.: Yes, you should. You are responsible for for own safety. Cops may help if they want to, but it is your responsibility.

IL: Chicago's gun laws are not as strict as everyone thinks
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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It is true that Chicago once had some of the most stringent gun laws in the country.

They were one of few cities that outlawed handguns, gun shops, and concealed weapons permits, but none of those laws are currently in effect. In 2010, The Supreme Court shot down the handgun ban in the landmark case McDonald v. Chicago citing that denying handguns to citizens violated a second amendment right to self-defense. Courts would eventually overturn Chicago�s bans on gun shops and concealed weapon permits as well. According to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago�s current firearm laws are no stricter than many other American cities and are similar to the rules in Los Angeles and New York.

UT: What is the Second Amendment really about?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Ask any gun enthusiast what the Second Amendment says and the answer will likely be a paraphrased version of, �The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.� But this is only the concluding half of the amendment.

The generally ignored opening clause provides an interesting premise for that conclusive final statement. �A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,� the amendment begins. What does this mean, and why was it included?

Second Amendment actually a blow against standing armies
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Several states used their ratification conventions to set forth changes they wanted. New York�s declared that �standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty.� New York�s convention asserted that �a well-regulated militia, including the body of the people capable of bearing arms, is the proper, natural and safe defense of a state.�

New Hampshire�s ratifying convention recommended several new provisions, including, �No standing army shall be kept in time of peace, unless with the consent of three-quarters of each branch of Congress,� as well as, �Congress shall never disarm any citizen, unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion.�

WA: Founding Fathers Would Be Horrified by NRA�s Second Amendment Interpretation Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are 4 comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The founding fathers would be horrified to know that the Second Amendment to the Constitution was being interpreted to sanction laws that enable mass murder of civilians. Horrified. The Second Amendment was intended to enable militias, the only �standing� military of that time.

CA: Jerry Brown OKs open-carry gun restriction, vetoes second bill Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed into law a bill further restricting the open carrying of firearms in California, while vetoing a bill that critics said would have harmed gun stores.

IN: Angered by gun control, this lawmaker drafted a bill to require licenses for journalists
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A state lawmaker in Indiana has drafted a measure to require licenses for journalists akin to those that pertain to handgun owners, a proposal legal experts says directly violates the First Amendment.

The measure would require journalists � defined as anyone writing or broadcasting news for a newspaper, magazine, website or television or radio station � to be registered and fingerprinted by the police and vetted for their �character and reputation.�

State Rep. Jim Lucas, a Republican from the southeastern part of Indiana and a vocal critic of his state�s gun restrictions, drafted the bill by copying language from a state law that requires a license to carry a handgun in public.

What Would The U.S. Look Like if We Built it from Scratch?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A lot of stuff would be different. Like, there wouldn't be an electoral college. (Only a handful of countries, mainly autocracies in the developing world, do.)

There probably wouldn't be a Second Amendment; if there were, it would certainly be limited to the right to own pistols and hunting weapons. And the vast majority of gun owners believe in regulations like background checks.

Does anyone believe we would choose the two-party duopoly over the multiparty parliamentary model embraced by most of the world's representative democracies?