Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Why Republican Politicians Ignore Gun Owners
Submitted by: Rob Morse

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Republican politicians ignore gun owners for two prominent reasons. Money and political factionalism have marginalized the gun vote. The Republican leadership would rather oppose President Trump than support the grassroots. Most politicians are in it for the money, and the Republican leadership certainly is. Today, gun owners have to speak up if they want to move their agenda. Bills for national reciprocity and for making silencers more available languish in sub-committees.

MI: Police Commission opposes relaxed CPL rules in wake of Las Vegas shooting
Submitted by: Corey Salo

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Days after the mass shooting in Las Vegas, the Detroit Police Commission, a citizen oversight board of the police department, unanimously passed a resolution opposing a series of proposed laws in Lansing that would relax rules for concealed pistol license holders.

The proposed laws, Senate bills 584 and 585, would allow Michigan CPL holders, who apply for an exemption, take an additional eight hours of gun training and fire at least 94 bullets at a gun range, to carry firearms in gun-free zones, such as schools, arenas, bars and churches.

The decision to publicly urge the Legislature not to pass the series of laws appeared partly motivated by the Las Vegas attack.

MI: Redford Township homeowner shoots intruder
Submitted by: Corey Salo

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

A Redford Township homeowner shot an intruder Thursday night in the 11600 block of Kinloch Street, police said.

The intruder entered the home about 7:50 p.m. when only a woman and her infant child were there, police said. The intruder wanted property from inside the home.

However, a man who lives at the home returned while the intruder was still inside. A fight ensued and the suspect tried to flee, police said. But the man fired a gun, striking the intruder.

Police said the suspect was arrested and is being treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The residents were not injured.

The homeowner and intruder did not know each before this incident, police said.

Obama Study Concluded Firearms Used for Self-Defense �Important Crime Deterrent� Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There is 1 comment on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
�Self-defense can be an important crime deterrent,� concluded a study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) mandated via executive order by President Barack Obama. The findings also question the effectiveness of gun-control measures. The $10 million study was commissioned by President Barack Obama as part of 23 executive orders he signed in January of 2013.

SC: Police in S Carolina rule self-defense in neighbor�s death
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Authorities have ruled a homeowner acted in self-defense when he shot and killed a neighbor in the front yard of a South Carolina home.

Lexington Police Chief Terrence Green said autopsy results show 31-year-old Derek Fogle had marijuana and several psychiatric prescription drugs in his system when he was killed July 23.

Green says Fogle ran up to Joseph Nicewonger, yelling before attacking him, throwing him to the ground and beating him in the head.

Is Carrying a Knife for Self-Defense a Good Idea?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Knives are very useful as utility tools and you may also carry one as a personal-defense tool, but is this a wise decision?

Dending upon assignment, my clients who are either Department of Defense (DoD) employees or civilian law-enforcement officers (LEO), carry a primary and secondary weapon system. High-profile operators carry a carbine as their primary and handgun as their secondary. If the handgun is the primary, then their secondary or backup is often another handgun.

NY: Taking Steps to Reduce Gun Violence
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are 2 comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Politics is the art of the possible, and Bret Stephens�s suggestion of repeal is not possible. However, it may be possible to replace the Second Amendment in a way that clarifies both the right of Americans to own guns and the powers of the government to regulate that right. It could read as follows:

�The right of individuals to keep and bear arms consistent with the purpose of self-defense shall not be infringed. Congress and the states shall have the power to regulate the possession, ownership, sale, production and transportation of arms and ammunition, provided that such regulations do not infringe the right of individuals to keep and bear arms consistent with the purpose of self-defense.�

VA: Vogel, Fairfax agree on 1 issue � but disagree on most � in Lt. Gov. debate
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Vogel, while denouncing the Las Vegas shooting suspect, stood by her support of the Second Amendment and argued that guns are a crucial means of self-defense for many Virginians.

�I�m not running for lieutenant governor to take anybody�s rights away,� Vogel said. �If you restrict people�s gun rights, it does violate the Constitution.�

Fairfax was quick to point out Vogel�s A+ rating with the National Rifle Association and criticized her strict loyalty to the Second Amendment � something Fairfax said would put Virginian lives in danger.

Are gun manufacturers and politicians complicit in the Las Vegas massacre?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are 2 comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Most people surely agree with President Donald J. Trump�s calling the massacre in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 1, an �act of pure evil.� No one would dispute that Stephen Paddock is primarily responsible for this evil. However, can we also say that gun manufacturers bear some responsibility for the evil of Las Vegas, Orlando, San Bernardino, Sandy Hook and the carnage on our streets every day? What about politicians who refuse to enact reasonable gun control laws? In the language of Catholic moral theology, do they cooperate in this evil?

ID: Reduce the numbers Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
We�ll never end maniacal shootings. But, let�s at least reduce the body count. How many would have been killed in Las Vegas if this guy had 14, 24, whatever number, of hunting rifles or skeet shooting shotguns, or self-defense pistols? They are the only weapons that should be in the hands of the public. �If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.�

DC: A major gun control case comes to an end
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Fearing that an appeal to the Supreme Court could bring a nationwide ruling against gun control, officials of the local government in the nation�s capital have abandoned the defense of a strict law limiting the right to carry a concealed handgun outside the home.

Their decision will thus keep out of the reach of the Justices a highly visible case that could have clarified the scope of the Constitution�s Second Amendment right to �keep and bear arms.� And the decision came as the public conversation over gun control has intensified following the latest mass shooting in America, in Las Vegas last Sunday.

The NRA�s Intellectually Dishonest Stand On Bump Stocks, Explained
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

As I�m sure you�ve heard � because the mainstream media is falling over itself to tell you � the NRA is relenting on a potential gun regulation in the aftermath of the deadly shooting in Las Vegas. The NRA is willing to consider additional regulations on �bump stocks,� which are extended clips that bounce against your shoulder, causing your finger to pull a semi-automatic trigger inhumanly fast, causing the semi-automatic to fire like an automatic weapon.

Ed.: LOL.

AZ: A modest proposal for gun control
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Since the Constitution is interpreted incorrectly to guarantee gun ownership, I propose the following to control the mass murders and mindless killings. Let the gun owners have all the guns they can carry. Restrict the purchase of ammunition for all those guns. Allow one box of ammunition per gun (50 bullets per) where a new box may be redeemed for another box upon return of the empty shell casings of the use box of bullets. No one needs more than 50 shells at one time for hunting , target shooting, or self defense. Used shells could be exchanged at licensed shooting ranges for expanded target practice. I believe gun owners should be allowed to own all the Musket balls they want.

CA: We may never know what inspired the Las Vegas shooter. But why did we make it so easy for him?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

What is going on in the mind of a mass killer? What does a man think as he stands at the smashed out window of his hotel room, high above a crowd of music festival attendees and opens fire on those men and women, these anonymous strangers, far below? What motivations animate him as, mercilessly, he rains bullets from his carefully modified weapons � modified to become even faster, even more brutal killing machines � on the panicked crowd?

We will likely never know exactly what �inspired� Stephen Paddock last week, as he racked up victims, as he methodically worked his way to infamy � becoming, over the course of several minutes, the perpetrator of the largest mass shooting in modern American history.

OH: The Slippery Slope to a Total Firearms Ban
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

And for those who consider it crazy to say that passing just one or two little laws is a slippery slope, consider this �

The spent casings were not even cold before there were calls to ban AR-15s and high-cap magazines, force private sales to go through background checks, limit the number of firearms someone can buy in a month, force Americans to use so-called �smart� gun technology, and on and on.

There are even people who are literally calling for the repeal the Second Amendment! That sure sounds like a pretty big slippery slope!

Yes, the Bubbas Can Beat Uncle Sam
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are 3 comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Sometimes people put Schermer�s argument more baldly. They ask something like this: �Do you really think Bubba in camo gear hiding in the forest is going to take on the U.S. military? The U.S. military has nuclear weapons!�

Who exactly do you think has stymied the U.S. in Afghanistan for 16 years? The Taliban is made up of Afghan Bubbas. The Taliban doesn�t need to defeat nuclear weapons, though they are humiliating a nuclear power for the second time in history. They use a mix of Kalashnikovs and WWII-era bolt-action rifles. Determined insurgencies are really difficult to fight, even if they are only armed with Enfield rifles and you can target them with a TOW missiles system that can spot a cat in the dark from two miles away.

Las Vegas Reaction Shows Risk of Con-Con to Second Amendment
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

The reaction to the Las Vegas shooting demonstrates the dangers of an Article V Constitutional Convention to the Second Amendment�s protection of our right to keep and bear arms. With even many members of Congress who have been public champions of the Second Amendment wavering, we must ask, if you are a supporter of the right to keep and bear arms, would you want to see an Article V Constitutional Convention in session during this highly-charged moment?

WA: Who among Washington�s congressional delegation will act to reduce gun violence?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

A concerted effort by lawmakers is needed to address our country�s deadly epidemic of gun violence. Murder won�t be eliminated, but we can reduce the severity of gun violence with common-sense regulations.

Washington state has an opportunity to show leadership on this front. Its gun-ownership rights are secured by our state constitution. It also has a strong congressional delegation with ranking members of the House and Senate.

With mass shootings of children and innocent women and men occurring on a roughly daily basis in America, the question is how quickly stricter but reasonable gun laws can be implemented.

CA: Why Vegas might change gun control loses
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

But there is one way in which the latest massacre could be different. If, as it seems right now, there was a link between the sheer scale of the Las Vegas killer�s spree and his apparent use of a �bump stock� that lets a semi-automatic weapon fire at the rate of a machine gun, then gun-control advocates could make a more-direct-than-usual case for making such stocks illegal in response.

Right now tight regulations on fully automatic weapons are a settled part of our gun laws, and as restrictions go they seem relatively effective; no recent mass killer has acquired or used a machine gun.

Australia: Message from Australia: 'We pray the U.S. will come to its senses' Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Instead of ritually wringing our hands today about the latest self-inflicted domestic massacre, instead of recycling all the policy pros and cons we've heard since Columbine in '99, let's get a fresh perspective from friends of ours across the sea.

AZ: Man Surrenders All His Guns to Make a Statement After Vegas Attack Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There is 1 comment on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Ironically, Arizona law prohibits police departments from destroying guns that come into their possession. They are required to sell the firearms. Therefore, instead of making America a nation with one less armed citizen, Pring�s two surrendered firearms may end up in the hands of two new armed citizens.

Chris W. Cox Calls For National Reciprocity On Tucker Carlson Tonight Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Cox�s appearance on Fox News came on the same day he and Wayne LaPierre released a joint statement, which called on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to immediately review whether bump stocks comply with federal law. Ed.: Liars. NRA explicitly called for more gun control laws to regulate bump stocks.

How NRA Advertising Changed The Second Amendment�And American Gun Culture
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

The day after Stephen Paddock killed 58 people, and injured almost 500 others in Las Vegas, news emerged that the National Rifle Association had postponed a political ad buy in Virginia, meant to help sway voters in that state�s governor�s race. This response seems to mirror how they responded to previous tragedies�stay very quiet.

But only temporarily. Because, if the aggressive tone of its most recent ad campaign is any indication, the Las Vegas shootings won�t keep the organization quiet for very long. On Thursday, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre appeared on Sean Hannity�s Fox News show to blame the organization�s opponents for politicizing the tragedy.

6 Reasons Your Right-Wing Friend Isn�t Coming To Your Side On Gun Control
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

I�ve seen my friends and colleagues on the Left side of the gun control debate dumbfounded at why Second Amendment advocates don�t seem to budge on their views after mass shootings. So I thought I would try my hand at explaining this phenomenon in the hopes that maybe more will be inclined to have a better conversation about guns and the Second Amendment in America. There are several reasons 2A advocates aren�t running to your side of the argument, and it might not be the ones you think.