|
|
HI: School administrator bans distribution of US Constitution on campus
Submitted by:
Anonymous
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Stuff like this doesn't surprise us anymore, but the school administrator from the University of Hawaii-Hilo who prevented two students from handing out copies of the US Constitution on campus reminds us of just how easy it is to lose our freedoms when jack-booted authoritarians are in charge. ...
Apparently, it is the university that determines your rights, not the Constitution. And don't you love the university's idea of a "free speech zone"? You can stand up to your ankles in mud and scream to your heart's content. Just make sure you wipe your feet before you enter the dining hall.
Many school administrators fear the Constitution because it causes students to think independently. |
IN: Dems don't believe in the Second Amendment
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) on Friday called President Obama and his allies "gutless" for not coming clean about their opposition to the Second Amendment.
In remarks at a National Rifle Association conference in Indianapolis, Jindal said Obama's allies believe gun-rights supporters and the NRA are "dumb rubes or dumber still because we cling bitterly to our guns and our religion."
"Now these folks on the left, they are audacious, but I'll share a secret with you," he said. "They are also gutless. They refuse to admit their real agenda. The truth is Michael Bloomberg, Eric Holder, so many of President Obama's wealthiest liberal backers in Hollywood do not in fact believe in the Second Amendment at all." |
OK: Tulsa To Allow Guns In Parks
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
As it is right now, parks in the city of Tulsa are gun-free zones, a status that's about to change.
"City of Tulsa we do not desire to have stricter gun restrictions than what state law allows," said Jarred Brejcha, of Mayor Bartlett's administration.
State law says it's ok to have guns in parks, so the city will soon be erasing it's current ordinance that keeps them out.
"We agree with the state law, and we should comply with state law," said Brejcha. |
FL: Legislation keeps state in the dark
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
While this good bill languishes, lawmakers have moved forward with several others to reduce access to public records. The worst, HB 89, would keep secret all records involving "stand your ground' cases where criminal charges were dropped because the accused claimed self-defense. |
He Is the Very Model of a Modern Retired Justice
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
My second piece is a quick-and-dirty critique of all six amendments, three of which are structural—(1) requiring state officials to enforce federal law; (2) doing away with political gerrymandering; and (3) eliminating state sovereign immunity—while the other three relate to individual liberties—(4) excising the Second Amendment’s protection for the right to armed self-defense; (5) allowing Congress and state legislatures to limit the money people can spend on election campaigns; and (6) outlawing the death penalty. I’m firmly against 1, 4, and 5, on balance against 6, am sympathetic to 2 but it needs to be redrafted, and support 3 (but it could go farther). |
The real reason Michael Bloomberg cares about guns
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
There’s no doubt America needs to curb gun use and possession. The question is, whose guns? There are 34,500 members of the NYPD, and in 2012 they fatally shot 16 people. That gives Bloomberg’s army a rate of over 46 shooting deaths per 100,000, killing people at a clip that dwarfs any civilian level in the country. To put it in perspective, Chicago — an American city known for gun violence — hit its peak murder rate of 34 per 100,000 in 1992. American law enforcement is increasingly militarized — as Radley Balko reports in his book “Rise of the Warrior Cop”: ... |
IN: NRA: 2014 ‘do-or-die year’ for Second Amendment as convention starts
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
“This really is a do-or-die year for the NRA and for Second Amendment rights,” said NRA spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen as she stood in the middle of the convention center floor while crews erected displays for the convention. The event is expected to attract approximately 70,000 visitors. “We think we have an unprecedented organization opposing us this year.”
Mortensen was speaking about former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his retooled “Everytown for Gun Safety” campaign aimed at reducing gun violence and matching the NRA dollar-for-dollar in its lobbying and organizing efforts. |
TX: End Texas waiting period on free speech
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
It is perhaps unexpected in a state so famous for safeguarding liberty, but Texans are freer to obtain firearms than they are to join together to speak out about the elections and issues that impact their daily lives. Indeed, Texas imposes no waiting period upon aspiring gun owners; nonfelons over 18 without mental health issues can obtain a gun in as little time as it takes to complete a short form. (A form, mind you, required by the federal government — not the state). |
‘Our gun laws are so crazy, even crazy people know that they’re crazy’
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Bill Maher and his Real Time panel ripped Democrats again on Friday for not setting themselves apart from Republicans when it comes to gun safety laws, pointing out that even Fort Hood shooter Ivan Lopez questioned how easy it was for a person with mental health issues to have access to firearms months before attacking the base.
“Our gun laws are so crazy, even crazy people know that they’re crazy,” Maher said.
Daily Beast editor-in-chief John Avlon agreed, mentioning the bipartisan gun bill that could not make it into law despite overwhelming public support following the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. |
Everytown for Gun Safety issues ‘Not Your Grandparents’ NRA’ report
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
The National Rifle Association (NRA) is no longer the hunting club its founders created in 1871. Once dedicated to supporting hunting, marksmanship and responsible gun use, today’s NRA pursues a radical agenda that puts public safety at risk, according to a report released yesterday by Everytown for Gun Safety. Everytown is an organization recently formed by the merging of Governors Against Illegal Guns and Moms demand Action for Gun Sense in America. |
TX: Open carry advocates are missing their mark
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Shortly thereafter, though, the council voted unanimously to ban weapons or simulated weapons — even those permissible under state law — from being brought into City Hall or other city buildings where public meetings are being held.
Contrary to the views of some, the potential impact of such a weapons’ display on attendance and participation in public meetings is a legitimate concern.
And the City Council’s decision was intended to help preserve democracy, not hinder it. Even the staunchest gun rights advocate should recognize that. |
IN: McConnell Pledges Gun Ownership Privacy Push to NRA
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Shortly thereafter, though, the council voted unanimously to ban weapons or simulated weapons — even those permissible under state law — from being brought into City Hall or other city buildings where public meetings are being held.
Contrary to the views of some, the potential impact of such a weapons’ display on attendance and participation in public meetings is a legitimate concern.
And the City Council’s decision was intended to help preserve democracy, not hinder it. Even the staunchest gun rights advocate should recognize that. |
NV: One U.S. senator’s ‘terrorist’ is another one’s ‘patriot’
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
To us it matters less what you call the citizens on hand to protest the Bureau of Land Management attempt to confiscate several hundred head of Bundy’s free-range cattle, than what you call the unmitigated show of militaristic force displayed by the estimated 200 heavily armed federal agents on the ground and in the air and lying prone atop hills with sniper rifles aimed.
The operation was scrubbed and the cattle already rounded up were released on April 12 when a tense standoff between the federal agents and the armed civilians threatened to explode into a massacre. |
OK: Parents gun shy of gun law
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A man carrying a gun in his belt’s holster at Fowler Park had a lot of concerned parents calling the authorities.
“We were getting a call every five minutes,” said Deputy Doug Rainwater, a spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident unfolded at the United Futbol Academy soccer field at Fowler Park on Monday and Tuesday, April 21 and April 22. The man walked up to the spectator benches and stood there with his gun in his holster in his belt — getting a lot of people’s attention. |
3 Laws Targeting the United States Gun Debate
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
The SAFE Act is a less recent piece of legislation; it passed in 2013, but had an important deadline recently on April 15. The act required that assault weapon owners register their guns with the state of New York, but as of April 16 The Christian Science Monitor reported that a solid 1 million gun owners had ignored the new gun control legislation and had failed to do so. |
IN: NRA political commentators take aim at Bloomberg
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Before delivering practical advice, the National Rifle Association warmed up the crowd at the grassroots politics seminar Friday with some Bloomberg bashing.
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and the NRA’s chief lobbyist, Christopher Cox, took shots at former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who last week announced $50 million to start an anti-gun umbrella group to compete with the NRA. |
PA: Common-sense gun control still needed
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
April 17 marked the first anniversary of the U.S. Senate’s failure to achieve the super-majority required to pass bipartisan legislation that could help curb the gun violence that frequents the news coming out of the Philadelphia region on a seemingly daily basis as well as the rest of the nation.
Nearly 90 percent of Pennsylvanians supported the bill requiring background checks for all gun purchases, proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. It also had the support of Pennsylvania’s other U.S. senator, Democrat Bob Casey. All three formerly had earned high “grades” from the National Rifle Association. |
IL: Downstate woman became concealed carry icon
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Long before she became the lead plaintiff in a concealed carry lawsuit against Illinois, Mary Shepard had fallen in love with guns.
It was 2007 when Shepard stumbled upon a story about women and guns in the local newspaper. What piqued her interest, though, was the note at the end. The community college was sponsoring a basic pistol-shooting class beginning the next day. |
CA: ‘Shall-issue’ legislation introduced to Calfornia Assembly
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A sweeping handgun carry license reform bill introduced into the state Assembly could make California a ‘shall-issue’ state if adopted.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, (R), would be the biggest change to the Golden state’s gun laws since 1923.
It follows in the wake of the groundbreaking Peruta decision by a federal appeals court which found San Diego County’s ‘may-issue’ standard of granting concealed-carry permits to be unduly harsh. |
The NRA Meets Its Potent New Foe: Moms
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
For years, advocates of stricter gun laws have rallied at the barricades of the National Rifle Association's annual meeting. But this year, as the gun lobby convenes in Indianapolis, there's a new posse in town. They're mothers, they're survivors of gun violence, and some of them are both. And they're dead set on disarming the NRA of its outsize political power.
They operate as Everytown for Gun Safety, a new organization combining the grassroots group Moms Demand Action, launched after the Sandy Hook massacre, and Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns. At a press conference in a packed downtown hotel conference room on Friday, the group unveiled a forceful new report and political ad. |
|
|
