Posted on 01/12/2013 11:25:29 AM PST by forty_years
Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that President Barack Obama could use executive action and bypass Congress to further restrict gun ownership by private citizens. ...
"I want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion (that) unless we can do everything we're going to do nothing," Biden said. "It's critically important (that) we act."
"Unless we can do everything?" What does this man mean? "Do everything" means an unlimited set of options. Does Biden mean that he and President Obama will ignore the U.S. Constitution, ignore legal precedents, and even call out the Armed Forces to take away the gun rights of all Americans? This sounds like a power-grab -- and a fear of empowered citizens -- given the fact that gun control has no effect on reducing crime. For example, "the homicide rate in England and Wales has averaged 52% higher since the outset of the 1968 gun control law and 15% higher since the outset of the 1997 handgun ban." Biden's words are absolutely frightening, but even more so as he uttered them in the same venue where he tabled the equally ominous possibility that "President Barack Obama could use executive action and bypass Congress to further restrict gun ownership by private citizens." We already know that President Obama is willing to disregard the Constitution he is sworn to uphold:
A new paper by John Yoo (UC Berkeley School of Law) and Robert J. Delahunty (University of St. Thomas School of Law, Minnesota) raises many questions about President Obama's decision to grant legal status to nearly two million illegal aliens under deferred action and concludes that the president's act "threatens to vest the executive branch with broad domestic policy authority that the Constitution does not grant it." If taken to its logical conclusion, President Obama's lawless action has the power to undermine the entirety of immigration law, while expanding the presidential power in all domestic policy areas. ...
Are we faced with the president who would be king? This nation was founded on the throwing off of tyranny. Are we now seeing the return to tyranny, where Obama rules by caveat? The president has friends in high places when it comes to attempting to take away Americans' right bear arms.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has crafted legislation that is a direct attack on the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment. Her "bill" would place all sorts of heinous restrictions on U.S. citizens' sacred right to bear arms:
According to a Dec. 27th posting on Sen. Feinstein's website and a draft of the bill obtained by NRA-ILA, the new ban would, among other things, adopt new definitions of "assault weapon" that would affect a much larger variety of firearms, require current owners of such firearms to register them with the federal government under the National Firearms Act, and require forfeiture of the firearms upon the deaths of their current owners. ...
Feinstein's legislation is Orwellian in the restrictions it would impose on Americans. For example, her bill would "ban all models of the AR-15, even those developed for compliance with California's highly restrictive ban." She's not even satisfied with her own state's (California's) over-the-top gun laws. The bill uses extremely complex definitions which could be applied to many different types of firearms. This type of language will set up a scenario where armies of gun-control lawyers will use convoluted law-fare to try to ban everything under the sun:
... For example, whereas the 1994 ban applied to a rifle or shotgun the "pistol grip" of which "protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon," the new bill would drastically expand the definition to include any "grip ... or any other characteristic that can function as a grip." Also, the new bill adds "forward grip" to the list of prohibiting features for rifles, defining it as "a grip located forward of the trigger that functions as a pistol grip." Read literally and in conjunction with the reduction from two features to one, the new language would apply to every detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifle. ...
Just reading the wording of this law-babble is nauseating -- but it's meant to be confusing. Feinstein uses scare tactics, wants to create Stalinist-era-like lists of citizens, prevaricates about the effectiveness of gun control, and sets forth unconstitutional provisions. Her legislation:
... Carries hyperbole further than the 1994 ban. Feinstein's 1994 ban listed "grenade launcher" as one of the prohibiting features for rifles. Her 2013 bill carries goes even further into the ridiculous, by also listing "rocket launcher." Such devices are restricted under the National Firearms Act and, obviously, are not standard components of the firearms Feinstein wants to ban. Perhaps a subsequent Feinstein bill will add "nuclear bomb," "particle beam weapon," or something else equally far-fetched to the features list. ...
... Requires owners of existing "assault weapons" to register them with the federal government under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The NFA imposes a $200 tax per firearm, and requires an owner to submit photographs and fingerprints to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), to inform the BATFE of the address where the firearm will be kept, and to obtain the BATFE's permission to transport the firearm across state lines. ...
... The Department of Justice study. On her website, Feinstein claims that a study for the DOJ found that the 1994 ban resulted in a 6.7 percent decrease in murders. To the contrary, this is what the study said: "At best, the assault weapons ban can have only a limited effect on total gun murders, because the banned weapons and magazines were never involved in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders. Our best estimate is that the ban contributed to a 6.7 percent decrease in total gun murders between 1994 and 1995. ... However, with only one year of post-ban data, we cannot rule out the possibility that this decrease reflects chance year-to-year variation rather than a true effect of the ban. Nor can we rule out effects of other features of the 1994 Crime Act or a host of state and local initiatives that took place simultaneously.""Assault weapon" numbers and murder trends. From the imposition of Feinstein's "assault weapon" ban (Sept. 13, 1994) through the present, the number of "assault weapons" has risen dramatically. For example, the most common firearm that Feinstein considers an "assault weapon" is the AR-15 rifle, the manufacturing numbers of which can be gleaned from the BATFE's firearm manufacturer reports, available here. From 1995 through 2011, the number of AR-15s -- all models of which Feinstein's new bill defines as "assault weapons" -- rose by over 2.5 million. During the same period, the nation's murder rate fell 48 percent, to a 48-year low. According to the FBI, 8.5 times as many people are murdered with knives, blunt objects and bare hands, as with rifles of any type.
Traces: Feinstein makes several claims, premised on firearm traces, hoping to convince people that her 1994 ban reduced the (relatively infrequent) use of "assault weapons" in crime. However, traces do not indicate how often any type of gun is used in crime. As the Congressional Research Service and the BATFE have explained, not all firearms that are traced have been used in crime, and not all firearms used in crime are traced. Whether a trace occurs depends on whether a law enforcement agency requests that a trace be conducted. Given that existing "assault weapons" were exempted from the 1994 ban and new "assault weapons" continued to be made while the ban was in effect, any reduction in the percentage of traces accounted for by "assault weapons" during the ban, would be attributable to law enforcement agencies losing interest in tracing the firearms, or law enforcement agencies increasing their requests for traces on other types of firearms, as urged by the BATFE for more than a decade. ...
... Targets handguns in defiance of the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects the right to have handguns for self-defense, in large part on the basis of the fact handguns are the type of firearm "overwhelmingly chosen by American society for that lawful purpose." Semi-automatic pistols, which are the most popular handguns today, are designed to use detachable magazines, and the magazines "overwhelmingly chosen" by Americans for self-defense are those that hold more than 10 rounds. Additionally, Feinstein's list of nearly 1,000 firearms exempted by name ... contains not a single handgun. Sen. Feinstein advocated banning handguns before being elected to the Senate, though she carried a handgun for her own personal protection.
This legalese gobbledygook bears no resemblance to one of the founding principles of this nation as enshrined in the Second Amendment, stated simply and concisely:
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
The phrase "The right of the people to keep and bear arms" is straightforward and certainly does not codify anything about "forward grips," "characteristics," "AR-15s," or "rocket launchers." How did we get from the time of being a nation that overthrew tyranny to now, where our ability to protect ourselves, families, friends, and other citizens, and to maintaining the ability to protect our democracy for internal and external threats, is threatened by people obsessed with control and power? Is it time to welcome back King George, er, ah, Obama? Look at a few examples of what our Founding Fathers said about Americans' right to bear arms:
If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual State. In a single State, if the persons entrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures for defense. The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair. -- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28
"That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms ... " -- Samuel Adams, Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at 86-87 (Pierce & Hale, eds., Boston, 1850)
"[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation ... (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." -- James Madison, The Federalist Papers, No. 46
We have all this hoo-hah despite the fact that gun control doesn't do anything to reduce crime. For example:
Claim: The federal "assault weapon" ban "was effective" in reducing crime.[Fact:] "Assault weapons" have never been used in more than a small percentage of crime. Furthermore, firearm-related and non-firearm related crime were decreasing before the ban was imposed and have continued to decrease since the ban expired, all for reasons unrelated to gun control. ... (click here for very detailed information)
[Fact:] To the contrary, since the ban expired, as the number of "assault weapons" that Americans own has risen by more than 2 million to an all-time high, the nation's total violent crime and murder rates have fallen to 41-year and 48-year lows, respectively. (click here for very detailed information)
[Fact:] Not likely, for numerous reasons. Many of the cartels' guns don't come from the United States. The cartels have machine guns and other heavy weapons not sold in the United States. And, reinstating the federal "assault weapon" ban would only prohibit various firearms from being made in the U.S. with external attachments that don't affect how a gun operates. (click here for very detailed information)
[Fact:] Contrary to what gun control supporters say, traces do not trace firearms "to crime." Moreover, the BATFE and the Congressional Research Service say that trace results cannot be used to determine the degree to which any type of firearm is used to commit crime. (click here for very detailed information)
The list of facts supporting the right to bear arms, even "assault weapons," is endless: "Millions of Americans own so-called 'assault weapons' and tens of millions own 'large' magazines, for self-defense, target shooting, and hunting. For more information about the history of the 'assault weapon' issue, please visit www.GunBanFacts.com." Those of us who believe in our Constitution and cherish the right to bear arms must ACT NOW to stop the current push by people like President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Senator Feinstein to take our inviolable gun rights. We must make our voices loud and clear. We must act through democratic means by contacting our elected representatives, who are sworn to serve us, and tell them to uphold the constitutional right to bear arms, which they are sworn to uphold.
TAKE ACTION NOW TO PROTECT GUN RIGHTS
Write a polite and factual letter to the president and each of your elected representatives in Washington. Keep it short and sweet and to the point (e.g., "I urge you to oppose Sen. Feinstein's gun control legislation"). State the facts. Follow up by calling each of your elected reps, making a short statement emphasizing what you composed in your letter. Using any/all of the following links, you'll find the resources you need to:
You can also enter your zip code below and find contact information for all your elected representatives or click on these links:
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We outnumber them 10:1.
If we can each take just ONE of them wtih us... We win.
This is a cup lifted to my lips that i will not hesitate to drink from. I will miss my life. I would miss freedom for my children more...
Of course, that isn’t plan A either....
I’m no martyr. Just resolute.
I nominate this for the most misleading thread title ever.
Exactly. What this statement actually means is that they're already facing a backlash they weren't ready for and are scrambling to find something they can do to save face. My guess is that the Republicans will roll, too, even when they don't have to because they've done it before. BTT.
Redcloak wrote:
“...Uncle Joe is saying that the Regime won’t take an all-or-nothing approach. That they will push through whatever they can get is the real message. ....”
In other words Joe is saying “ehhhh, I’ll take what I can get.”
When a negotiation gets to that point, the guy saying it realizes he has pushed WAAAAY too far.
Which is why WND will never have any credibility as a publisher.
This has to be our line in the sand. I tried to get that across to the moron aides on the phone but I'm not sure they got it.
Thanks forty_years.
Going for everything...is going off the deep end and getting nothing. May the Lord drive our enemies crazy with the lust for power and in their hatreds.
I just had a chilling vision, a team of combined forces from HS, ATF, FBI and some other agencies try a reversed role Blackhawk Down situation except they are ambushed by tens of thousands of Revolutionary Patriots with upconverted SUV technicals, big rig rolling arsenals and even crop dusters converted to well, use your imagination.
The MSM goes ape crazy ballistic watching besieged Federal Arms Collectionists under heavy fire and surrounded. Talking heads of the liberal persuasion argue the use of hellfire drones and gas attacks.
I’m willing to die defending my God-given, inalienable right to keep and bear arms. Are you willing to die trying to take it from me?
Well are ya, punk?
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