Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

TN: Fact Check-Nashville school shooter was armed with two assault-style weapons
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Experts and officials say that the suspect in a Nashville, Tennessee school shooting on March 27, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, was armed with two assault-type guns and a handgun, contrary to claims online that Hale did not use assault-style weapons.

One Facebook user said, �Any excuse to try and ban our rights to defend ourselves� while sharing a post with text reading, in part, �She didn�t use the big bad assault guns they want banned.� (here) More examples can be seen (here) and (here).

Ed.: 'Meets an anti-gunner definition of assault-style weapons' doesn't make them assault weapons.

Streamlight TLR-8 Sub Light / Laser Combo Review
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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That�s a lesson that many victims of violent attacks have learned the hard way. Predators, both the two-and four-legged variety, use the cover of darkness and our resulting vulnerability to their advantage. But you can level the playing field when you carry your own light source, and there are few companies that offer more solutions to illuminating your world than Streamlight.

The company�s newest family of weapons lights are the TLR-8 subs, which offer 500 lumens of illumination at the touch of a button as well as a red (TLR-8 sub) or green (TLR-8 G sub) aiming laser.

RSWC #154, Bill Dalpe, Patriot Firearms School
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Bill Dalpe and I have been social media friends for a while. I will admit that I�ve got another friend using �Patriot� for his training business and I may have gotten them mixed up at first. I met Bill at the GOAL Breakfast this past year and I took the Before You Carry & Defend class with my good friend Mark, who I�ve done a few other courses with. I�m glad that Bill and I finally made it happen this summer.

No federal assault weapons ban will pass. And the Supreme Court could soon overturn all state bans
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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While the latest massacres of schoolchildren have again stirred support for a renewed federal ban on assault weapons�like the AR-15�with the most prominent supporter being President Joe Biden, there is simply no way the current Senate majority�or any likely majority in the near future�is going to ban these weapons. And even if Congress were amenable, within the next 12-18 months the Supreme Court may very well make passing a federal ban impossible even in the distant future if it overturns one of the nine existing state assault weapon bans. Maryland�s and California�s bans are two prime candidates for the court�s attention.

WI: Protect the Second Amendment
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Three children and also some adults were killed in a mass shooting in Nashville on March 27.

Don't let emotional people persuade you this is a reason to limit the ownership of guns. Americans accept the deaths of thousands of young people under 18 from shootings every year. Just because a bunch of kids die all at once instead of one at a time is no reason for limiting our rights to own whatever weapons we wish.

As far as I can tell, the only people working hard to preserve our God-given Second Amendment rights are Republicans and Libertarians. Give them the support they deserve.

TX: Texas Senate approves bill that would create mandatory prison or probation terms for some gun crimes
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Criminal justice reform advocates see the bill as a regression to tough-on-crime policies. Gun rights groups fear law-abiding gun owners who defend themselves with their weapon could face time in prison.

�We know that extended sentences do not reduce crime. Most offenders commit the crime while under the influence of drugs or alcohol or they are emotionally unstable, and they don�t take into consideration the actual penalty of the crime,� said Wes Virdell, Texas state director for the Gun Owners of America, who shared self-defense concerns. �While we truly believe in fair and just punishment, a one-size-fits-all approach is not the solution.�

Self-refuting Washington Post: 'No one needs' gun 1 in 20 Americans already own
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The Washington Post on March 29 published an editorial titled, �No one needs an AR-15 � or any gun tailor-made for mass shootings.� That piece followed an earlier series of articles about the AR-15 under the heading, �AMERICAN ICON: The gun that divides a nation.� Both efforts were meant to echo and amplify Joe Biden�s call to ban semiautomatic long guns and �large capacity� magazines. They were, however, ironically self-refuting and established beyond any doubt that AR-15s are in fact shielded by the Second Amendment.

FL: Gov. DeSantis makes constitutional carry legal in Florida
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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After Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday making constitutional carry legal in Florida, the practice is now allowed in a majority of states.

Proponents of constitutional carry (concealed carry of a firearm without a permit) argue it is a Second Amendment-guaranteed right as the Constitution assures, �the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.� Nevertheless, many states, including red states, have imposed limitations on this right. Constitutional carry laws seek to remove those limitations.

Ed.: Effective July 1, 2023.

Guns, Gender and Masculinity
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Most American gun owners are responsible and non-violent, their gun purchases and use reasonable. However, there is a subset of gun owners that buys guns for reasons other than pleasure or protection. For them, it is a symbol of power and masculinity. It binds them together with like-minded individuals. It is �part of their religion,� as some describe it.

Gun ownership has become a symbolic custom for the far right and conservatives in general. Members of Congress have been seen wearing AR-15 lapel pins. They tie their fervor to the Second Amendment as an immutable right, thus stymieing any discussion of reasonable gun control in this country.

MS: DPS Commissioner Sean Tindell discusses bill allowing teachers to be armed
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Teachers at schools in Mississippi may soon be able to be armed in classrooms with the passing of the Mississippi School Protection Act, or Senate Bill 2079.

The bill, which allows school districts to opt into a program that grants volunteering staff members the opportunity to become certified to possess a gun on school grounds, was sent to the desk of Governor Tate Reeves on Monday for approval.

On the U.S. Constitution
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Blackstone's view of the right to bear arms is stated in the following quote: �The fifth and last auxiliary right of the subject, that I shall at present mention, is that of having arms for their defense . . . is indeed, a public allowance under due restrictions, of the natural right of resistance and self-preservation.�

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that a �well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.� The American belief in the right to bear arms has its roots in �civil jurists of the period who had specifically dealt with the question of self-defense as a natural right.�

NV: Nevada Legislature bill would create the Safe Firearm Storage Act
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A bill in the Nevada Legislature would create the Safe Firearm Storage Act, making it a crime for the unsafe storage of guns around children but with some exceptions, if passed.

SB 294 states the crime of unsafe storage of a firearm is committed when someone knows or should know a child under 18 years old or a resident of the premises who is prohibited from possessing a firearm can gain access to one.

It also states it�s a crime to fail to secure a gun, like in a locked safe or another secure container, inhibiting access to children or others not allowed to have guns.

FL: Florida's permitless carry gun law: What you need to know
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A Daytona State College student carrying a gun without a holster accidentally shot himself Tuesday in the school�s parking lot, only a day after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that eliminates licensing requirements for state residents to carry a concealed firearm in most public places.

Under the new law, which goes into effect on July 1, the student still would have been forbidden from carrying the gun on a school campus, a place where guns remain prohibited in a list of exceptions contained in the bill.

Here�s what you need to know about the state�s new permitless carry law and how it might have applied to Tuesday�s incident in Daytona Beach:

CA: San Diego judge blocks key parts of California�s strict handgun law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A San Diego federal judge has issued a ruling that blocks four provisions of California�s strict handgun law, becoming the second U.S. district judge within two weeks to rule that parts of the state�s Unsafe Handgun Act likely violate the Second Amendment.

Judge Dana Sabraw�s ruling in the San Diego case could potentially open the door for Californians to purchase hundreds of types of semiautomatic pistols that state officials currently deem �unsafe� and thus do not include on a roster of approved handguns. But the judge issued a stay on his decision, giving Attorney General Rob Bonta time to appeal the ruling.

TX: Lead detective: I didn't arrest Daniel Perry because self-defense was possibility
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The lead police investigator in the Daniel Perry murder case testified Wednesday that he didn't arrest Perry the night the Army sergeant fatally shot Austin protester Garrett Foster because an argument could be made that it was in self-defense.

"I felt I needed to do more investigation," David Fugitt, who was a homicide detective at the time of Foster's death, told jurors Thursday. Fugitt, the final witness in the eight-day trial, now works for the Texas attorney general's office. He testified Wednesday as a defense witness.

ND: Self-defense gun bill fails in state senate Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
State lawmakers rejected one gun bill relating to self-defense. House Bill 1213 narrowly passed in the House this session. It was seeking reimbursement for a person who is charged with a violent crime while defending him or herself. Gun rights advocate Kyle Rittenhouse testified to a House Committee in support of the bill earlier this winter.

University of Wyoming Professor Urges Supreme Court To Rule In Favor Of NRA
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A Wyoming law professor is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a federal court decision letting governments dissuade banks and insurers from doing business with pro-gun groups.

George Mocsary, University of Wyoming law professor and co-founder of the UW Firearms Research Center, filed an amici brief in the National Rifle Association's appeal to the high court last week, alongside Brian R. Knight, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

Mocsary, who is a Second-Amendment expert, said he co-authored the brief to curb regulatory abuse against the NRA and other entities.

TX: Grandma Takes Down Armed Robber Who Tried to Hold up Her Food Truck
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A gun-toting Texas grandmother took down a gunman who tried to rob her family-owned soul food truck last week. Keshondra Howard Turner, 53, was cooking around 1 p.m. on Tuesday inside the Elite Eats and Cold Treats truck in a Houston parking lot when a 23-year-old man drove up alongside the vehicle. After asking to see the menu, he pulled a handgun on her and another employee working inside the truck. Then he got out of the car and demanded money. Read on to find out what happened next.

New York & Colorado Red Flag Laws Make Big News This Week
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Back in 1999, Connecticut passed the first �red flag� law in the country. A quarter of a century later, red flag laws are on the books in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Advocates of the law say it's a valuable tool law enforcement can use to take guns away from people before they harm themselves or someone else. Critics say the laws violate the civil rights of Americans by depriving them of due process and their right to self-defense protected by the Second Amendment.

This week, the red flag laws of two states made the news in different ways.

Is Gun Control Needed in the Black Community?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Before we dive too deeply into this, the answers to that question will always be �Maybe you need gun control but I�m good� or �We definitely need gun control. There�s a big problem here.� That�s just the constant split in opinion towards guns both within the Black community and the country as a whole.

I mean, the country was founded in violence and violence has been used to both expand the land and bolster the economy. It�s been that way well before 1776. The country�s history is tied to guns and over the years, a tool for self-defense�and offense, obviously�began to become revered.

NC: Mark Robinson, Lt. Governor of North Carolina, Eyeing a Gubernatorial Run?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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North Carolinians� might have another reason to celebrate after overriding their sitting governor�s veto this week, an event announcement from Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, R-N.C., might be teasing a gubernatorial run. The sweet irony is the current governor, Governor Roy Cooper, D-N.C., vetoed a bill passed by the legislature that would abolish a Jim Crow-era law requiring purchase permits to procure a pistol. Robinson made waves and was thrust into the limelight in 2018 when giving a speech at a Greensboro City Council meeting.

NC: General Assembly overrides Cooper�s veto of firearms bill
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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In back-to-back days, both chambers of the General Assembly successfully overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper�s veto of Senate Bill 41, a firearms bill that has a provision repealing the state�s pistol permit purchase process.

�This legislation preserves the Second Amendment rights of North Carolinians by repealing the outdated pistol permit system. It also allows all churches and other places of religious worship to protect their parishioners and launches a statewide firearm safe storage awareness initiative,� House Speaker Tim Moore said in a statement. �These have been long-standing goals of Second Amendment advocates in our state, and we have finally brought this legislation over the finish line.�

NY: Gun owners suing the NYPD say the agency is making it 'impossible' to qualify for a handgun
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A group of gun owners in New York and New Jersey is suing the NYPD division that reviews applications for firearm permits and licenses, arguing that the NYPD�s application requirements are �impossible to meet.�

The class-action lawsuit, filed in federal court last month, argues that a lengthy backlog in the licensing division �paralyzes� people who want to legally exercise their Second Amendment rights. The gun owners want the courts to appoint a federal monitor to oversee the gun licensing team.

NH: April 6: Crossover Day
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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On Thursday, April 6th, �Crossover Day� will be occurring in the New Hampshire House and Senate.

Crossover Day is a critical deadline in the New Hampshire General Court, as it serves as the last chance for the New Hampshire House and Senate to vote on bills in their chamber of origin, before they pass onto the other chamber. To date, thanks to the strong support of our members, several anti-gun bills have died in the House and Senate and will not move on this session.

NRA will continue to monitor all legislation and notify you of any bills that impact our Second Amendment rights.

OR: New Oregon gun control bill moves forward in legislature with amendments
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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On Tuesday, a new gun control bill moved forward in the Oregon Legislature after lawmakers passed Senate Bill 348 out of committee with amendments. Now included in the measure, which has been likened to Measure 114, a venue provision that would restrict legal challenges in the state to Marion County Circuit Court.

Senate Bill 348 would raise the minimum age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21, with some exceptions for hunting rifles and shotguns. It reflects parts of Measure 114, including banning high-capacity magazines and establishing a permit-to-purchase system for guns, but it would also postpone this permitting process until July 2024.