We’ve discussed it many times, this proposed extended and expanded assault weapons ban proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein. The new legislation may fail, but the White House has it’s own front in this war on firearms. But their own propaganda betrays a serious weakness in their approach.
The White House is also developing strategies to navigate the rocky and emotionally fraught terrain of gun politics once final policy decisions are made. The administration is quietly talking with a diverse array of interest groups, including religious leaders, mental-health professionals and hunters, to build as broad a coalition as possible, those involved in the discussions said.
The president is expected to face fierce opposition from the NRA and its allies in Congress, including most Republicans and some Democrats.
But Biden signaled to those involved in the policy discussions that the White House is not afraid of taking on the NRA, the nation’s largest gun rights group. At the Dec. 20 meeting, according to Stanek, when one law enforcement leader suggested focusing on only the most popular proposals, Biden responded: “Look, what I’m asking you for is your candid opinion and ideas about extreme gun violence. Leave the politics to the president. That’s our job with Congress.”
They want to turn hunters against the NRA and modern sporting rifles. Fat chance. That didn’t work out so well for David Petzal or Jerry Tsai. Their plans to divide and conquer the NRA will meet with disastrous results. Every minute spent on such a tactic is wasted, and thus we have to hope that they expend a lot of energy on it.
But the later part of the strategy, i.e., politics, is far more fearsome and they have proven very adept at that approach. Gun Owners of American (h/t Mike Vanderboegh) gives us an inside baseball look at the current tactics. In summary, John McCain is working against gun owners by pressing (along with the Democrats) for a rule change that would essentially be a work-around of the filibuster rule. Lindsey Graham has vowed to vote against new gun control measures, but since he is McCain’s lap dog, he may be looking for cover as he works silently behind the scenes to assist in Feinstein’s plans. Joe Manchin has backed off of his public calls for new gun control measures, but he may be playing the same game as McCain and Graham.
Currently in the Senate, Rand Paul is the only immovable champion of second amendment rights. If new laws pass the Senate, they must also pass the House before going to the President’s desk. It isn’t clear what the House will do. If history is any indication, they are in a weakened state, and lack any backbone anyway.
However, the Republicans stand warned. If – controlling the House of Representatives – they allow new gun control measures to pass to the President’s desk, the GOP will cease to exists as a viable political party. Voters are having difficulty finding differences between them and the Democrats anyway. Caving on gun control would seal the fate of the GOP as a historical relic rather than a future possibility.
If new gun control measures don’t pass the Senate and House, the game is far from over. The Obama administration is investigating the possibility of executive orders reclassifying semi-automatic firearms as title 2 weapons, thus doing by fiat what the legislative branch rejected. The fight will continue, just in a different locale than the Senate and House.
Finally, if new gun control measures pass to the President’s desk (in which case he will surely sign the measures into law), it means more than just new background checks. All semi-automatic firearms will be taxed, required to be submitted to the ATF for approval, controlled from crossing state lines, and prohibited from being bequeathed to your children or grandchildren in your wills. Violation of any of these rules will turn you into an instant felon. Of course, this would mean a resistance for which America isn’t prepared.
Karl Denninger writes:
It is time for We The People to take a stand, as did John Hancock, Richard Stockton, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Penn, Arthur Middleton and others.
Your right to life is not bestowed by government. Your right to liberty is not bestowed by government. Government never possessed those rights and you cannot bestow what you do not first lawfully possess.
You right to life and liberty were bestowed by your creator. Those rights inure to each and every one of us by virtue of being human. And here’s the point which many of you wish not to discuss:
A right without the ability and willingness to defend it is no right at all.”
Bob Owens writes:
“The Second Amendment of the United States was never written to protect hunting or target shooting. It was written by men who had just fought a successful armed revolution against the most advanced military of their day, and who wanted to ensure that future generations would be armed with weapons of contemporary military utility in order to stand against the day that once more, tyrants would attempt to consolidate power and lord over the people as their betters.
“Any attempt to take the contemporary arms of military utility our Founders wanted us to have, which includes the standard magazines and clips used in these firearms, is an act of tyranny that the Founders would recognize as an event justifying the use of force to retain our freedoms.”
“Tread carefully.”
Brandon Smith writes:
“There is no ambiguous or muddled separation between the citizenry and the government anymore. The separation is absolute. It is undeniable. It is vast. It is only a matter of time and momentum, and eventually there will be unbridled oppression, dissent, and conflict. All that is required is a trigger, and I believe that trigger has arrived…”
Mike Hendrix writes:
“This is a society preparing for war,” writes Bob Owens.
“Reluctantly, almost unwillingly, it should be noted. But the sad truth is, war is already being made upon it, and has been for a long time now. Said society has been more than patient, more than tolerant. But eventually, enough is enough. Everyone has their limit; freedom-loving Americans’ has very nearly been reached. A few more steps over the line, and the kettle is going to boil over.”
“Any liberal-fascists who think we’re all going to go gently into that good night really, really need to reconsider. We all have to hope they do. But we all have to be prepared for the possibility, the likelihood, that they mightn’t. “This far, no further” is more than just an empty slogan.”
“Gird your loins.”
Alan Halbert writes:
“We are in far more danger from these actions of our own government than from another Sandy Hook atrocity by a crazed killer.”
“The Second Amendment’s purpose is to provide for the citizens’ defense from all who would deny their natural God- given right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” against a criminal, a foreign or domestic enemy, or our own government. We will witness the end of the Republic if this proposed legislation is passed, since all of our rights flow from the citizen’s ability to defend them.”
“As for this citizen, I will never disarm or surrender my Second Amendment rights, much less willingly comply with such a traitorous act of Congress if enacted… it is actions like these that light revolutionary fervor in a nation and its citizens. It did so in 1776 and it will do so again.”
John Jay writes:
“…when it is done, and the regime defeated, no one will talk about what he did in the war. It shall have been terrible, and brutal. Executions, murders, assassinations and the inevitable collateral damage shall be the issue of the day. This is the price that those who attempt to impose a totalitarian regime in the America’s shall face. Many of us will die, and some shall become iconic photos hanging from lamp posts, stripped naked and hoisted by their ankles, as final witness and testimony to their arrogance.”
“Those who seek to take our weapons trifle with history, heritage and firmly held belief. It should be remembered, those of us who believe this way are god fearing, and shall invoke and beseech our God for support. We have a religious underpinning and faith that shall carry us through this, as opposed to those who seek to suppress us. They have nothing but naked ambition to sustain them.”
“Do Obama, Pelosi, and Feinstein have the stomach for this sort of conflict? Are they willing to initiate, in order to try and gain the rule they aspire to? We shall find out.”
Western Rifle Shooter’s Association writes:
“Understand that once the ball opens, there will be no stopping the righteous fury of viciously-indignant Americans, especially once the 2013 versions of Waco and Ruby Ridge are re-enacted by Regime loyalists across the nation.”
“No one associated with the Federal government or its mutant-twin ruling parties will be safe.”
“Especially once the guys with the scoped hunting rifles come in.”
Mike Vanderboegh writes that there would be a revolution if the government confiscates weapons, and Herschel Smith warns that there will be resistance and writes that the resistance won’t be “the peaceful kind.” If it goes to the point of forcible implementation of the proposed legislation, it will be awful, bloody, violent and extreme. Right now we don’t know for certain what will happen in Washington. But depending upon that outcome, what will happen all across America has been written. 1.6 billion rounds of handgun ammunition won’t be nearly enough for the government.
You’ve been warned.
UPDATE: “Class II” has been changed to “Title II.” I appreciate Glenn’s attention to this article. Also, David Codrea gives a link.
UPDATE #2: Thanks to John Richardson for the attention.
UPDATE #3: Thanks to Mike Vanderboegh for the attention.
