Why Does The NRA Still Support NICS?

The NRA recently re-stated its longstanding support for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), a program that was originally mandated by the Brady Bill in 1993.

In a statement directed at the North Carolina Sherriff Association last week, the NRA said:

“[North Carolina’s] antiquated and inefficient system has been in place for nearly a century and was enacted long before the age of computers and computerized records. Unfortunately, the [North Carolina Sherriff’s Association] has determined it would like to continue to use discretion to deny permits to purchase handguns, rather than simply use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) utilized by the majority of other states.”

The NRA has publicly supported NICS for years, arguing it should be “improved” and  “limited” rather than completely eradicated.

The reasons for this are almost certainly political. As The Truth About Guns pointed out recently, the NRA would take a serious hit with lawmakers and the public if it came out against any and all criminal background checks.

But this “compromise” approach gives the enemy a permanent foundation to expand gun control.

Just yesterday, New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney introduced a bill that would require anyone buying or selling firearms to undergo a NICS background check, and further require that every gun transfer be reported to the United States Attorney General.

Maloney’s bill has no chance of passing, but it won’t be the last. For as long as NICS is around, the anti-gun crowd will keep using it as a foundation for laws that limit our rights.

By continuing to publicly support an unconstitutional system, the NRA is playing with fire.

Anti-Gun Politician Fires Shotgun At Ex-Wife In Domestic Argument

Michigan State Senator Virgil Smith (D-Detroit) is in police custody after firing a gun during a domestic argument with his ex-wife.

Police responded to a domestic dispute at Smith’s home in Detroit at 1 AM on Sunday morning. Witnesses reported that Smith fired multiple rounds from a shotgun toward his ex-wife’s car, a 2015 Mercedes Benz.

Smith reportedly fled the scene after the shooting, but “made himself available” to police the next day. He is expected to face charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of property.

Smith, a Democrat, has amassed a lengthy anti-gun voting record during his four years in the Michigan legislature. Blogger Rob Hoey wrote (via Bearing Arms):

Sen. Virgil Smith (D-MI) represents parts of Detroit, Dearborn and all of Allen Park. As a Democrat, it should come as no surprise that he is rated at 0% by the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Ownership. 

Smith has voted anti-gun since taking office in the House of Representatives back in 2003 to 2008, and now as a state senator. 

The NRA rated Smith ‘D’ regarding his voting on gun rights, which translates to 21% overall. 

He voted ‘nay’ on SB 59 bill that: ‘Expands Areas Where Concealed Weapons are Authorized,’ and voted ‘nay’ on SB 789 that ‘Amends Firearm Licensing Procedures,’ that makes obtaining a license easier but with more training. 

He did, however, vote ‘yea’ on H-1 Self-Defense/Deadly Force Bill. 

State senators in Michigan earn a minimum annual salary of $71,000.

Are Republican Leaders Letting Obama Advance His Gun Control Agenda?

Republican leaders in Washington are working furiously to pass a massive free trade deal, the Trans Pacific Partnership, some time this month. In their desperation to get the deal done, they are giving President Obama an opportunity to advance the worst parts of his agenda – including gun control.

The trade agreement, negotiated in secret by Republican leaders and the President, would give Obama so-called “fast track authority” to ratify the agreement without permission from Congress.

This would give Obama the power to insert any restrictions he wants into the trade agreement -- including ones that infringe on the rights of American citizens -- without a majority vote from the Senate.

Some conservatives are already wondering whether Obama might use this power to add language to the bill aimed at bringing foreign workers into the United States. Senator Jeff Sessions said Sunday there are “numerous ways” the deal “could facilitate immigration increases above current law – and precious few ways anyone in Congress could stop its happening.”

But Obama could just as easily use this authority to sneak a gun ban into the bill. It wouldn’t be the first time he tried to use treaty power to impose gun control, having tried (and failed) to pass the UN Arms Trade Treaty last year.

What makes you think he won’t be tempted to do it again?

If and when Obama uses “fast track” to push his anti-gun agenda, Republican leaders will have no one to blame but themselves.

Some Mississippi State Parks Still Banning Guns

Despite laws allowing people to carry guns in state-owned parks in Mississippi – along with most other places in the state -- some state-owned parks in Mississippi continue have strict no-gun policies.

An article published in Mississippi Watchdog last week found a number of parks in the Pascagoula River Basin prohibit firearms altogether.

“Right now, it’s policy that weapons aren’t allowed in the parks,” said Steven Wright, director of the Pat Harrison Waterway District, a state organization that runs the parks. “To allow someone to carry one on their hip and walk around the park with it, no, that’s just a recipe for disaster, in my opinion.”

SB 2862, which passed in 2010, specifically allows gun owners to carry in state parks. State Rep. Andy Gipson said parks that continue to ban guns are in violation of this law.

“A concealed carry license holder should be able to have their firearm concealed, open or however they want to carry it in a public park,” Gipson told Mississippi Watchdog. “With all of those statutes, I don’t see any authority for any state board or district to ban the carrying of firearms for people to protect themselves and their families.”

State parks may be safer than a city street, but they are often hideouts for criminals and other unsavory types, making it all the more necessary that they remain gun-friendly.

 “If you’re going to a state park, criminals like to use parks and there all kinds of case where fugitives were arrested at parks on the run because they don’t want to be at a hotel with surveillance cameras, use a credit card and be tracked,” gun rights advocate Rick Ward told Watchdog. ” You’re there with your family and there’s a pervert who’s a fugitive on the run next to you. You should be able to have your gun.”

Poll Finds Gun Rights More Popular Than Gun Control

The Pew Research Center published a poll today revealing that most Americans prefer gun ownership to gun control by a margin of 52 to 46, meaning that support for gun rights has reached another all time high.

The poll says more Americans are coming to support their gun rights because of rising crime, finding “We are at a moment when most Americans believe crime rates are rising and when most believe gun ownership – not gun control – makes people safer.”

Sixty-three percent of Americans said that controlling gun ownership was the best way to prevent crime, meaning that more and more voters are coming to see the value of defensive gun use.

This means that the hypocrites in the White House and the left wing media have had it wrong this entire time. Town Hall reports:

“These numbers suggest that Americans are rejecting the Obama administration's gun control agenda. Two years ago, after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Obama showed real remorse for the young lives lost, yet offered a misguided response by trying to push through anti-gun legislation. His gun control measure, which would have expanded background checks and banned "assault weapons," didn't get very far in Congress. Now, it's clear his gun control agenda is just as unpopular outside Capitol Hill.” 

Colorado Dems Shoot Down Three Gun Control Repeals

Democrats in Colorado successfully squashed a repeal of the state’s universal background check law and 15 cartridge magazine cap.

The House Committee on State, Veterans and Military Affairs voted to indefinitely postpone the two bills, which had previously passed the Republican-controlled Senate.

Senate Bill 86 and 175 were passed in the months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012. The former bill would have removed expanded background check language applicable to private sales, while the latter would have repealed the state’s prohibition on the sale, transfer and possession of “large-capacity” magazines.

Colorado’s House Committee on State, Veterans and Military Affairs also indefinitely postponed House Bill 1169, which would have eliminated gun free zones around the state’s elementary, middle, junior high and high schools and allowed lawful concealed carry on public school grounds.

Republican Rep. Patrick Neville of Castle Rock, a survivor of the 1999 Columbine shooting, sponsored House Bill 1169.

“I remember fathers coming up to me whose sons I knew well, asking where they were,” Rep. Neville told the Colorado Independent. “People I’d known since elementary school are no longer with us today. I think some of the staff who were heroic in so many ways that day, if they’d had the ability to equip themselves, some of my friends might still be with us.”

Constitutional Carry Passes In Kansas, Under Consideration In Ohio

Kansas became the sixth constitutional carry state in the country last week. Now, Ohio is looking to become the seventh.

Kansas governor Sam Brownback signed constitutional carry into law last week, making it legal for law abiding gun owners in the state to concealed carry without a permit (starting this summer).  The bill easily passed both chambers of the Kansas legislature earlier this year.

“We have been conditioned to accept licensing, fees, mandatory classes, and other such restrictions,” said Representative Steve Brunk. “Government must trust its law abiding citizens.”

Kansas’ previous concealed carry law passed in 2006.

Less than a week after Governor Brownback signed the law, lawmakers in Ohio introduced similar legislation. The Ohio bill is more comprehensive than the Kansas version, legalizing permit-less concealed carry not only for handguns but also for rifles and shotguns.

However, gun rights supporters in Ohio are skeptical about the bill’s chances.

“I think it would be great to see this become law in Ohio,” said Joe Eaton of the Buckeye Firearms Association. “But, unfortunately in the past, the Ohio legislature has not even been willing to allow a licensed person simple rights.”