Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Building Thoughtful Gun Owners- defense of others..or not
Submitted by: Rob Morse
Website: https://slowfacts.wordpress.com/

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You want to protect the people around you. If you�re a gun owner, now is the time to think about the use of lethal force in defense of our lives or others. We can do too much as well as too little. It is too late to make fine moral distinctions in the fleeting moment when your friends need help.

Think about it now.

There are other ways you can help people protect themselves. Take your friends shooting. Ask if they will join you when you take a training class. One kind of hero leads by example and is a disciple for the art of self-defense.
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FL: New Bills Modify Stand Your Ground Law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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On June 9th, Governor Scott signed sixteen bills in to law. Two of the bills modify the "Stand your Ground" law.

The Self-Defense Immunity bill doesn't change the concept of stand your ground, but what it does is affect the procedure for how it's presented and defended. The phrase "clear and convincing" in the bill is a higher standard of proof but not the same level of proof that prosecutors must clear at trial. The procedure will make it much easier for the defense because they don't have to present as much evidence, whereas the prosecution has a higher burden initially.

CA: Use of Juneteenth as marketing ploy to sell guns doesn't go over well Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
In the world of boneheaded marketing ploys, this has to rank as one of the boneheadedest. Seriously. Kendall Jenner and that dumb Pepsi ad? Move over. Fliers from Second Amendment Sports, a local gun shop and shooting range, started showing up in mailboxes late last week. I got one on Saturday. Wow.

ME: Maine becomes 9th state to ban future gun registration
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Republican Gov. Paul LePage on Monday gave his signature to a bill that prohibits the keeping of a list or registry of privately-owned firearms or gun owners.

The measure signed this week without comment, LD 9, passed the Maine House 122-24 and the Senate 35-0 earlier this month.

�In the United States a hallmark of how we exercise our rights is that it can be done anonymously,� said Rep. Patrick Corey, R-Windam, the measure�s sponsor. �This is especially true for people who may hold unpopular opinions and beliefs, and let�s face it, gun ownership is unpopular with some people. This is as true for the Second Amendment as the First and for good reason.�

Another Major Shooting Unfolds as Justices Weigh Latest Firearms Case
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A year after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, at an Orlando nightclub, another major shooting�Wednesday�s gunfire that injured a member of Congress�unfolded as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider the latest challenge to gun regulations.

The justices on Thursday are scheduled to review the case Peruta v. California, a challenge to restrictions in California against carrying concealed firearms in public. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in June 2016 said there is no Second Amendment protection to such carrying of a gun.

FL: State won�t appeal ruling against �docs vs. glocks� law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Six years after Florida lawmakers tried to stop doctors from asking patients about guns, health-care providers have emerged victorious in a legal battle as the state did not appeal a federal-court ruling striking down major parts of the 2011 law.

The controversial measure, dubbed the �docs vs. glocks� law and supported by the National Rifle Association, included a series of restrictions on doctors and other health providers.

A day with guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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I have gone from apprehensive to intrigued.

As I wrote in my column last Saturday, crime rates here had me wondering if I should get a handgun.

I don�t like the stats. Mother Jones magazine reports that a study in Philadelphia found the odds of an assault victim being shot were 4.5 times greater if he carried a gun. His odds of being killed were 4.2 times greater.

States with higher gun ownership rates have higher gun murder rates � as much as 114 percent higher than states with lower gun ownership rates.

And I heard that something like 70 percent of people could not � just couldn�t � pull the trigger on another human being. That would be me.

That was my mindset going into a beginner�s handgun class last weekend.

No, the Second Amendment Is Not Given Special Treatment
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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In the course of yet another dull, straw-clutching broadside against the right to keep and bear arms, the Atlantic�s David Frum repeats a commonly asserted myth: That kind of supposedly defensive, actually aggressive, violence has become an even graver risk after today, in an American society that regards personal arsenals to be at least as much of a human right as the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly�and in actual practice, often a more fundamental right.

This is a popular talking point based upon a popular premise: That the Second Amendment is accorded a latitude that is no other.

The trouble for Frum is that it�s nonsense.

AL: Brooks Affirms Second Amendment Support After Being Asked if Scalise Shooting Changed His Gun Views
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A reporter at a press conference asked Brooks if the shooting changed his view on the "gun situation" in America.

"Not with respect to the Second Amendment," Brooks said. "The Second Amendment right to bear arms is to help ensure that we always have a republic. And as with any constitutional provision in the Bill of Rights, there are adverse aspects to each of those rights that we enjoy as people, and what we just saw here is one of the bad side effects of someone not exercising those rights properly."

Sen. Rand Paul�s year-old Second Amendment tweet resurfaces after shooting
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, a debate on the availability of gun silencers scheduled Wednesday afternoon was delayed after the shooting.

As the heated debated centered on Second Amendment rights intensifies once again, one of Sen. Paul�s own tweets resurfaced�one that some suggest smacks of hypocrisy, given his press statements.

In June last year, the Republican appeared to quote Fox News contributor Judge Napolitano on Twitter, which said: �[We] have a Second Amendment � to shoot at the government when it becomes tyrannical!�

It�s Time to Redraw the Line Between Violent and Nonviolent Political Activism Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are 2 comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
A good starting point for conservatives would be renunciation, once and for all, of rationales for the Second Amendment that suggest the population needs to arm itself in order to shoot police officers and members of the military in case a government they consider �tyrannical� appears. Ed.: Never going to happen; that is the purpose of the Second Amendment.

CA: UPS shooting leaves four dead, including gunman, in San Francisco
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A UPS driver armed with a handgun opened fire at a United Parcel Service Inc package-sorting center in San Francisco on Wednesday, killing three people before fatally shooting himself as officers closed in.

The victims, like the gunman, were also company drivers, said Steve Gaut, head of investor relations at UPS. The man opened fire while the workers were gathered for their daily morning meeting before they were due to head out on their delivery routes, he added.

Ed.: Alternative title: "Three innocent victims killed in 'gun-free' zone where only the killer had a gun"

MA: Now is not the time to talk about guns. Or is it?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Let�s not talk about Wednesday�s tragedies, two of the 1,399 mass shootings since 20 small children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook less than five years ago, as if slowing the flood of guns might have prevented them.

Let�s not talk about the correlation between the millions the National Rifle Association gives to the very Congress targeted on that ball field, and the waves of weapons washing over the country.

Scalise Shot: What The Virginia Attack Should Teach Us - The Second Amendment Is Not The Problem, In Fact It Can Save Lives
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Within the whirlwind of the news cycle the anti-Second Amendment refrain has already begun. CNN hosts and the editorial boards at many big newspapers are muttering �the gun, the gun,� as if the gun is responsible, as if the gun had an evil spirit that convinced this man�not a �shooter� as so many in the media will call him, but a killer, a would-be murderer�to shoot members of Congress and their staff. As if an American freedom is causing some to do evil.

Second Amendment Foundation: Alexandria Shooting the Result of �Democratic Hate Speech�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Today�s shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA), and others including an aide and two Capitol Police officers is the result of Democratic hate speech toward President Donald Trump and majority Republicans, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.

�This hate speech that has been going on since Donald Trump was elected,� said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. �It gets their voter base agitated and this is what happens as a result. Is this just a coincidence this happened on the president�s birthday?�

Vox Founder Notes GOP Supports 2nd Amendment To Overthrow Gov�t While Blood Is Still On The Field
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Liberal writer Matthew Yglesias brought up Senator Rand Paul�s support for the second amendment as a way to check tyrannical governments mere hours after the Kentucky Republican and others were shot at while practicing baseball.

A shooter opened fire on Republican lawmakers and staff Wednesday morning as they practiced for an annual charity baseball game. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and others were shot.

In response to the news, Yglesias tweeted out a June 2016 comment from Paul where he said that the purpose of the Second Amendment was �to shoot at the government when it becomes tyrannical.� Ygelsias is a co-founder of the liberal news site Vox.

Left-Wing Writer Describes Scalise Shooting as �Self-Defense�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A left-wing writer is making no apologies after suggesting on Twitter that the Wednesday morning shooting of a Republican congressman and staffers may have been tantamount to an act of �self-defense.�

Malcolm Harris, who has a book contract with Little, Brown of New York, made tasteless tweets Wednesday morning following the shooting of at least four people in Alexandria, Virginia, including Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.).

FL: Change to �Stand Your Ground� law taking center stage in murder trial
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Juan Carlos Ramirez, 32, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Jose Luis Mendoza Aguilar, 48. He was scheduled to stand trial beginning Monday when the defense told the court they wanted to argue to have the charges dismissed based on the �Stand Your Ground� law.

On Friday, Gov. Rick Scott signed SB 128 into law, and effective immediately it shifted the burden from the defense to the prosecution in a pretrial hearing claiming a �Stand Your Ground� defense.

Now Circuit Judge Susan Maulucci is deciding whether Ramirez was justified in shooting and killing Mendoza Aguilar in self-defense under the new changes to the law.

Reinforcing the Boundaries of Political Decency
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Unlike other terrorists, assassins select their targets. For the jihadis who rampaged across London Bridge earlier this month, any victim would do. An assassin sends his message by the identity of his victim as well as the heinousness of his methods. An assassin therefore strikes beyond the victims and their bereaved. He attacks democracy, the people�s right of self-rule. He is attempting veto by murder.

The Best Guns for Women
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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So you want a list of the best guns for women? I have a hard time recommending just one, but since I get this question all the time, here are some of my favorites. They may not be perfect for every woman, but they're a good place to start. These four handgun categories all have a place in a good personal-defense plan, and the specific models can be found chambered for reliable self-defense rounds.

Congressman Says He'll Carry A Gun From Now On To Stay Safe, But It's The Wrong Answer
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The response to gun violence should not be that we need to further arm ourselves against that violence. There are, of course, examples of armed citizens preventing shootings, as a Washington Post round-up shows, but those events are exceedingly rare. According to the Violence Policy Center's most recent analysis, there were only 224 cases in 2014 of citizens justifiably using firearms to defend themselves or others. Between 2013 and 2015, intended victims of violent crimes used a firearm in self-defense in only 1.1 percent of crimes.

Washington Post Pro-Communist Writer Wishes for Shot Congressman's death
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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"If the shooter has a serious health condition then is taking potshots at the GOP house leadership considered self defense?" Harris, a regular at the New Republic tweeted.

Another tweet said, "Steve Scalise is stable, but a lot of Americans die from hospital errors so keep crossing your fingers."

Scalise had been shot by a Bernie campaign volunteer and Maddow fan while practicing for a charity baseball game.

Shooter likely used a semi-automatic rifle not banned by law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The man who shot a top Republican lawmaker at baseball practice Wednesday likely used a semi-automatic rifle not banned by law � a fact that will set off yet another debate over gun control in America.

Federal and Virginia laws do not prohibit the possession of semi-automatic rifles if they are used for lawful purposes, including hunting. A congressional ban on certain types of rifles expired in 2004 after 10 years.

Virginia allows carrying a loaded semi-automatic rifle equipped with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition in certain public locations, but a permit is required. Failing to have a permit is a misdemeanor.

In Wake of Shootings, Gun Control Debate Must be Rational
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Increasing checks, eliminating purchase loopholes, and improved tracking for firearms are all ways that we can significantly reduce the rate of gun violence in this country. Yet, that�s not the debate we�re having. Instead, we are spending billions of dollars to stop the rare occurrence of terrorism.

One important measure we must take is to hold gun owners responsible for the security of their weapons. If it can be proven that you did not take appropriate measures to prevent unauthorized access to your guns, you should face consequences. Gun theft and �straw man� purchases made by friends or families must stop. If your gun injures or kills someone, you must bear responsibility of some sort, no matter who pulls the trigger.

NJ: NJ Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Edged Weapons as �Arms�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The decision is from the case State v. Montalvo where defendant Crisoforo Montalvo was convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon for greeting an aggressive and threatening neighbor at the door with a machete in his hand. The New Jersey Supreme Court remanded the case for retrial, but there is a larger significance to the ruling.

Highly regarded Second Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh describes this significance in his piece for the Washington Post.

WI: Proposed state gun legislation opposed by Tosa school board members
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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"I oppose any legislation that would have anyone other than a police officer able to have arms on school property," Wauwatosa School Board Vice President Sharon Muehlfeld said.

Under current law, individuals are generally barred from bringing a gun onto school property in the state of Wisconsin. A proposed bill seeks to allow guns in many places they're currently prohibited, including schools.

The bill would allow the schools to post a sign saying that anyone carrying a gun will be trespassing, which is considered a lesser offense. The bill also seeks to allow the carrying of a concealed weapon without the need for a license.

IN: Guns, prejudices and inconvenient realities
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Bet you didn�t know guns were a cure for cancer.

Or that they solve math problems faster than computers and calculators.

Or that they are even better than a mother�s love.

You would know � or at least believe � these things if you lived in the same part of the ideological landscape that Indiana Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, occupies.

Lucas is Indiana�s top advocate for the National Rifle Association and other gun lobbying organizations. In his world, guns are the solution to every problem, the tool to meet every challenge, the answer to every prayer.

Rep. Chris Collins After Scalise Shooting: I�ll Be Carrying Concealed at Next Game
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY-27) reacted to the shooting at a congressional baseball practice by pledging that he will carry concealed for self-defense the next time.
Breitbart News reported that Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and four others were shot and wounded. The shooting suspect, 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson, was killed by police.

During an interview after the attack, Rep. Collins told WKBW he will carry concealed at the next baseball event. He said, �If you look at the vulnerability, I assure you: I have a carry permit. I will be carrying when I�m out and about.�