Posted on 11/18/2008 9:02:39 PM PST by neverdem
There are pressures to give up rights, according to Wayne LaPierre
Historic victories for gun rights occurred in 2008, but the fight for firearm freedoms must continue to preserve the Second Amendment, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre told a crowd on Monday at Ashland University.
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to strike down a handgun ban in Washington D.C., that affirmed the right to keep and bear arms, there is a battle for firearms ownership in America, LaPierre said. He urged NRA members and firearms owners to stay vigilant while pressures mount domestically and internationally for them to disarm.
LaPierre said during the Major Issues Lecture Series at the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs that an "elite ruling class" of anti-gun politicians has "declared war on our individual rights" by trying to restrict Americans' ability to keep and bear arms.
"Seventy-five years ago in his first inauguration as president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt said 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,' " he said. "Today, I would argue almost the exact reverse is true. The greatest thing we have to fear in many ways is not enough Americans are afraid, because not enough realize what grave dangers are out there to our freedoms."
The Supreme Court's decision on the D.C. handgun ban was monumental, but firearms owners cannot become complacent with their liberties, LaPierre said. He said the ruling prompted the NRA to seek changes to laws that conflicted with the decision.
"Together, if we stand up for what we believe in, we'll never lose these freedoms that make our country the envy of the entire world and make the USA the greatest nation in all of mankind," LaPierre said.
LaPierre presented video testimony from residents of New Orleans who had firearms confiscated by local authorities during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. People in the video shared stories saying they were rendered defenseless against looters and other criminals after their firearms were taken.
After Katrina, the NRA successfully lobbied for federal legislation barring authorities from confiscating firearms from lawful citizens during emergencies, LaPierre said. His announcement of the law's passage received applause from those in attendance.
American gun rights also are under fire from international groups like the United Nations, LaPierre said, adding that the organization has led efforts to ban guns in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa and other countries.
LaPierre showed a taped debate from the United Nations in which Rebecca Peters, director of the International Action Network on Small Arms, called for gun restrictions in the United States. Meanwhile, during the debate, law-enforcement personnel and residents said prohibition of firearms contributed to increases in crime.
In the clip, Peters, who led the charge to tighten Australian gun regulations during the 1990s, said hunters in the United States should be relegated to single-shot rifles only. She also said she believes "American citizens should be like any other citizens in the world" and disarm.
LaPierre disagreed. He said Americans should refuse to give up their "God-given right" to own and use firearms and other countries should share those freedoms. The NRA executive vice president said the Constitution is explicit in its support of gun ownership.
"The Second Amendment says what it means and means exactly what it says," LaPierre said.
The event concluded with a video tribute to former NRA President Charlton Heston, who died earlier this year.
n Contact Travis Minnear at 419-281-0581 ext. 237 or tminnear@times-gazette.com.
Obammy will figure out a way. Maybe a treaty?
The 2nd amendment is still part of the Constitution.
And the Heller court case reaffirmed that the plain language of the 2nd amendment means exactly what we always thought it meant.
“The 2nd amendment is still part of the Constitution.
And the Heller court case reaffirmed that the plain language of the 2nd amendment means exactly what we always thought it meant.”
Never mind that. The NRA has to keep the paranoia up to keep the bucks coming in.
When we bring the troops home from Iraq, do you think they will support this cretin.
No chance.
There will be a conflict over this. BO intends to destroy this country.
In this case, the paranoia is justified, Obama and Ayers at the Joyce Foundation attempted to subvert the 2nd amendment by paying legal scholars to write anti 2nd amendment views into the legal journals that judges and lawyers and prosecuters read.
And it worked, the dissent in Heller included some of that alleged “scholarship” and that was a 5-4 decision...
Obambi got me to renew my lapsed NRA membership. Not just for the usual one year- I sprang for 5 years! I wonder has anyone seen the numbers on the increase in NRA memberships since the election?
I’m joining tonight. Right now. I should get me gun permit from Illinois in a few weeks and will be in the market for a firearm and lots of ammunition. I got rid of my guns when I left the Chicago Police Department. It’s time to rearm.
A President Obama will use the first national emergency as an excuse to declare martial law and then confiscate all firearms, IMO.
That strategy is diabolical, Obamao recognized that there is very little 2nd amendmnet case law and they attempted to fill the void with scholars writing Statist stuff.
Sure it did. It also said there could be "reasonable restrictions". What is reasonable? How do you think an anti-gun liberal politician would answer that question?
Would banning semi automatic rifles be reasonable? Pump shotguns? We should prepare for a fight like never before for firearms ownership with the government we will be facing in the coming years. They would be more than happy to regulate us to registered single shot rifles, hinge action shotguns, and revolvers.
Here's what Obami thinks of the RKBA.
As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.
That's a cut and paste from barackobama.com. The same language was on Change.gov, the website of the Office of The President Elect, until they took it down the Saturday after the election....Oh, how about that, I see It's baaack. So the question is not if the we and the NRA are paranoid, it's if we are paranoid enough. I think I am, and many here are, but I don't think the NRA is, quite.
Funny thing is the "Crime and Law Enforcement Agenda sounds just like The Crime Bill of 1994, aka Bill's Crime.
“...Obama and Ayers at the Joyce Foundation attempted to subvert the 2nd amendment...”
Could you please provide me with a link or reference to that information. It would be appreciated.
The Democrats can be split and many can even be turned against their party on this issue. I have seen evidence of serious friction within the democratic party over the second amendment. They’re having a nasty fight about it right now over at DU as a matter of fact. I would never jeopardize the second amendment for political gain but, when the fight comes, we should keep in mind, we can weaken their coalition with this.
Global Poverty Reduction Act - will subordinate US to UN and its gun-control regime (”small arms trafficking”)
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