Posted on 05/17/2009 6:25:32 AM PDT by marktwain
During last year’s presidential campaign, gun-owners’ groups like the National Rifle Association said Barack Obama, if he were elected, would be the most anti-gun president in the history of the United States.
That claim and similar statements sparked a buying spree on guns and ammunition immediately following the election, which continued well into this year. I bought some shells last week, and told I was limited to two boxes.
There is nothing to indicate that this shortage is the result of Obama administration actions, however.
I’m not here to proclaim that President Obama is really a great friend to gun owners, or that he and Attorney General Eric Holder won’t concoct some plan to make it harder to acquire and keep guns.
But I will say that, after nearly four months of the Obama administration, the great gun grab that some folks anticipated hasn’t begun to show itself. In many ways, it’s been a good four months for gun owners and Second Amendment supporters.
For instance, there was the news last week that the U.S. Senate had approved an amendment (to a credit-card reform bill, of all things) which would allow holders of concealed-weapons permits to carry guns in national parks if state law authorizes doing so.
Colorado’s senators were among the 27 Democrats who voted in favor of the amendment.
Readers may recall that President George W. Bush, with the support of senators from both parties, issued an executive order late last year allowing concealed weapons to be carrried in national parks. That order was struck down, not by the Obama administration, but by a federal judge.
Even so, gun rights have fared reasonably well in court lately. The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals — viewed as the most liberal in the country — has issued two key rulings recently that gun groups have applauded. In April, it held that the Second Amendment limits the ability of state and local governments to adopt laws which infringe on gun owners’ rights. And just last week, the Ninth Circuit made it clear local government couldn’t sue gun manufacturers for crimes committed by people who used their products.
At the state level, legislatures around the country have adopted or are considering laws that make it easier for gun owners to carry their weapons in vehicles in public places or otherwise extend gun rights. The Colorado Legislature has passed Rep. Steve King’s bill to make a background check unnecessary for a gun buyer if he or she has a current concealed-weapons permit. Gov. Bill Ritter has yet to sign the bill.
There is also a move afoot, led by Montana, to challenge federal authority to control guns in some circumstances. Montana has passed legislation that says if guns are manufactured in that state for sale only in Montana, then the federal government has no authority over them because their sale doesn’t involve interstate commerce.
This fight is as much about the 10th Amendment as the Second, and it is almost guaranteed to face a court challenge. But other states are already lining up to consider similar legislation.
And what’s going on at the White House?
Obama and his team have been taking fire, so to speak, from gun-control groups that are outraged the president is not pushing to re-establish the so-called assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. And they are mad that he has not sought to eliminate the Tiahrt Amendment, which requires records from gun background checks to be destroyed within 24 hours and keeps other gun records confidential. Based on his actions so far, Obama hasn’t been the gun-control fanactic that some predicted.
I don’t mean to suggest gun owners should breathe a sigh of relief, say all is well, and become complacent about possible changes in gun laws.
Obama’s picks for Supreme Court justices and other judicial appointments may have a great deal of influence on Second Amendment rights in the future.
There are plenty of folks out there who still want to impose more limits on guns. Several members of Congress are talking about trying to re-establish the assault weapons ban. There are perennial efforts to place new limits on ammunition or to substantially expand registering of weapons and licensing of gun owners.
One proposed piece of legislation would allow the attorney general to deny firearms to “known or suspected dangerous terrorists.” That may sound fine on its face. Who doesn’t want to keep guns out of the hands of Osama bin Laden’s minions? But if the Department of Homeland Security’s recent definition of potential terrorists were to be used, an awful lot of law-abiding Americans could be denied guns.
The problem for all of those who support such control, however, is that virtually all Republicans and a substantial number of Democrats want nothing to do with these measures. They know they are political losers that will hurt them come election time.
As I said, the Obama Era could yet prove to be devastating to gun rights. But, it hasn’t started out that way.
Give it time pal. It’s coming.
Obama is a bit busy right now with bankrupting us getting higher taxes, apologising to the world, giving our sovereignty to the UN, and destroying the Catholic Church. Give him time , he will get around to guns.
Key word in the title: YET. Plenty of time on the clock and willing legislative Obamatrons to wreak significant havoc, IMO.
So few days and so many American things to destroy: financial infrastructure, publically traded companies, small business, 2nd amendment, 1st amendment, the whole constitution, Israel, the Catholic Church, the list goes on.
Like the legal and medical professions and congress, it'll be self-regulated, of course.
Yep, that's right.......and don't forget, we still have’em.
They are too busy laying the groundwork before actually taking them away. Plus they want a Columbine style “crisis” to use.
This guy barely sees the forest for the grass in front of the trees.
This is not factually true. The run on guns and ammo started in the summer of 2008, and there is more than one dynamic driving the boom in the guns and ammo business.
1) Yes partially driven by fear that some kinds of guns may be banned,
2) There is fear that there will be a rise in crime as our cities and towns run out of money for law enforcement pay and equippage.
3) There is also a fear of civil disorder as a result of government imposed martial law to quell riots related to the recession or a depression.
4) People in rural areas realize they might have to hunt to eat.
5) Some people believe that we will have to fight our own government which will seek to confiscate wealth and property of its citizens to pay for the huge government spending boondoggle and "redistribution."
6) Congressional representatives have not followed the will of the people on security and spending issues.We may have to take back our federal government through force or the threat of force.THe people know this as a matter of fact.
The demand for guns and ammo will remain strong as long as the nationalist socialist government of Obama is in control of the White House and Congress.It has only a little to do with fear that guns will be banned. America is arming itself to the teeth, as well it should.
Thus article seeks to define a myth that gun sales are only driven by fear of a ban. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This is why America is arming itself, fear that our liberty will be taken.We will fight to prevent that.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ON LIBERTY
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.
Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; secondly, to liberty; thirdly to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.
The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.
Samuel Adams
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There is the problem.
Remember the Heller case was decided by only 5 to 4.
It is overdue!!!!!!!!!!!
Taking control of the health care industry is much higher on Obama’s To Do List right now than restricting gun ownership. However, based on his previously demonstrated acquiescence to almost any left wing pressure group, it’s only a matter of time.
0bama just hasn’t had time to tackle the firearms ‘issue’, yet. He’ll get to it. Right after the country is bankrupt, the future is fully mortgaged, socialism is fully enabled, and SanFranNan has proven that the CIA lied to her.
It’s comin’...
Could be a helluva fight; but, it’s comin’
It’s time to take back the country.
Keep in mind that in the common vocabulary of the times when that phrase was written, "well regulated" meant "well-organized, well-trained and well-equipped", not "well-controlled".
Description: 35 Whelan
Just one short of a box of 20——19 rounds of 250 gr,
and 51 gr bullets with lead tips.these are maxi loads.
So go get the big one.
Must be 21 years of age and Texas resident to purchase.
***
I am curious about why only one fired.
Started before that.
Federal Match Large Rifle (210M) primers were scarce for at least a year before that.
There have been a number of "skirmishes" already with Dems and the Anti-Gun zealots putting out a lot of preemptive Anti-2A Gun stories such as the U.S. to Mexico "gun running" (and now the Jamaica gun running), the attempts at throwing a lot of "proposed" Anti-Second Amendment legislation out there to "feel out" how much the populace would be willing to accept... "Gun Rights Activists" have just been on the ball and nipping a lot of his crap in the bud by getting the word out.
All major national and state gun rights groups membership numbers have been exploding, gun and ammo sales off the scale even after nine months, concealed and "Open Carry" permits are off the scale with many citizens that have never even owned a gun, buying... and buying a lot.
Believe me, the people in power are watching this and it has them on their toes, Should they push to hard, their entire house of cards will collapse.
So let's keep the pressure on...
National Rifle Association (NRA)
Second Amendment Foundation (SAF)
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO)
Alarm and Muster – The document that started a movement.
Alarm and Muster – The Modern Day Call Tree for Emergency Preparation.
And your State/Local Gun Rights Group.
“I am curious about why only one fired.”
Remember - as long as you have a rifle, you still have a vote.
The guns and ammo rush is a social phenomenon, not merely a market blip.
It makes an interesting topic of study as to when it began, and what the drivers are of what has become a social movement, that the Dems want to portray as "fear of a ban."
There is a lot more going on than just that.
We were having lots of trouble getting rifle ammunition last summer, going several weeks without even being able to buy .30-.30. Now the rifle ammunition is back in stock, but we can’t find any pistol ammo!
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