Free Republic

Writer and film director David Mamet has weighed in on the current gun control push, and what he sees as government overreach couched in an "assault weapons" ban that is actually "a political appeal to the ignorant." Mamet describes it as a "hoax"– a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, because "assault weapons" are used in few crimes, and the very designation "assault weapon" is based on a gun's cosmetics--i.e., does it look menacing? Going after such guns makes some people feel safer because they have slowly, and perhaps unknowingly, traded their independence for a "government knows best" mentality....

There were fairly clear policy rules once upon a time. If you wanted to pass gun control, you would get up, use a bunch of kids as props and put in a Senate bill that would get the job done. That’s still being done, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Obama Inc. is consolidating control over the economy which puts its minions in the position of being able to make policy through economic pressure and policy. Under Socialism, you don’t have to pass a law, you just have to use your economic control to make the companies enforce...

In comments made Friday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the National Rifle Association (NRA) is a "fringe group" that is "very extreme." Moreover, according to Schumer, the NRA doesn't "represent average gun [owners]." Schumer says that during the 1990s the NRA used their lobbying power to fill background checks with loopholes, thus leading to a situation where "40 percent of all guns sold in American have no [background] check." You'll recall that Obama also used this "40 percent" claim when pushing for more gun control earlier in the week. This claim goes back to a 2011 study by Mayor Michael...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) campaign is calling for supporters to back his opposition to expanded gun controls, warning in a new email that "they're coming for your guns." "You and I are literally surrounded. The gun-grabbers in the Senate are about to launch an all-out-assault on the Second Amendment. On your rights. On your freedom," the email opens. It goes on to warn that "our freedom is under direct assault ... from those who want to shred our Constitution."

The Miami gun-show line stretched 200 people long. Many blamed President Barack Obama. This is what the president’s gun-control talk has wrought: long waits to get into gun shows, higher firearm and ammunition prices and more paranoia. The word “Obama” was frequently mumbled, muttered, hissed, cursed at Saturday’s Southern Classic Gun and Knife Show. “Obama” was a catch-all word, a gun-rights shibboleth of sorts, a no-longer-shocking swear, a conversation starter. To Calvin Hudson, a Miami Gardens resident bargain-hunting at the Miami-Dade fairgrounds firearms bazaar, the Obama-blaming was a sign people were being fooled into paying more in a firearms market...

As has been widely reported, an NRA representative recently met with an Obama administration-directed firearm task force led by longtime gun control supporter Vice-President Joe Biden. It came as no surprise that the meeting had little to do with keeping our children safe and much to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment. But you may be surprised to know one of the revelations that came out of the meeting. Jim Baker, NRA-ILA's Director of Federal Affairs, represented NRA at the meeting. As detailed in a recent Daily Caller article, Mr. Baker was given five minutes to present...

Sneaky executive order bankrolls anti-Second Amendment propaganda. The directives on gun violence President Obama signed Wednesday were meant to seem harmless. A closer look at the president’s first memorandum reveals it to be a sneaky assault on congressional authority in order to fund gun-control propaganda. Getting this done has been on the White House “to do” list for some time. In his 2013 budget submission, Mr. Obama deleted the prohibition that has been in effect since 1995 on the use of federal funds to advocate or promote gun control.

After reviewing President Obama‘s 23 “executive actions” signed into law yesterday, Joe Scarborough said Thursday morning that his Republican Party had better proceed with caution, seeing as how he believes the policy proposals have the “overwhelming” support of the American people. The president’s plan included universal background checks on gun purchases, which Scarborough said has the support of at least “85% of Americans.” The president’s call for a

Of all the gun-control measures touted by President Obama on Wednesday, the one that got top billing was a dramatic tightening of background checks on gun purchasers. Obama himself said the need was urgent because “40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check.” But before we make the most sweeping changes in federal firearms law since the 1960s, shouldn’t we at least examine the validity of that figure? It’s about as dubious as they come.The administration is focusing on background checks in an attempt to drive a wedge between staunch anti-gun-control absolutists such as the...

Gun control is back. President Obama on Wednesday unveiled a series of feel-good measures designed to play on the emotions of Americans saddened by the horrific shooting of 20 students at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month. Almost nothing he proposes to do would make anyone safer. Surrounding himself with children, Mr. Obama said, “This will be difficult. There will be pundits and politicians and special-interest lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical, all-out assault on liberty — not because that’s true, but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves.” The president said that...

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system. 2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system. 3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system. 4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks. 5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full...

President Barack Obama announces 23 executive actions on gun control, separately asks Congress to pass gun-control laws Obama asks Congress to pass laws that would: require background checks on all gun sales; restore a ban on "military-style assault weapons"; ban gun magazines with capacities of more than 10 rounds; and toughen penalties on people who sell guns to those who can't have them Below are the latest updates as they come to us. Also, you can read our full story. [Updated at 12:43 p.m. ET] Senate Democratic leadership sources tell CNN that passing any new legislation will be extremely difficult...

The following is a list, provided by the White House, of executive actions President Obama plans to take to address gun violence. 1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system. 2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

For those of us following The Won's address to his subjects.

A quarter of a million people have signed up for new NRA memberships ahead of the White House Task Force's findings. A day before President Barack Obama is scheduled to release Vice President Joe Biden's recommendations to curb gun violence in the United States, the National Rifle Association told U.S. News and World Report that they have seen membership grow by 250,000 in the month since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Politico reported membership had grown by more than 100,000 five days ago. The NRA says that when Politico reported the story, membership was close to...

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced this afternoon that President Obama will unveil a “concrete package” of gun control proposals including assault weapons bans, high capacity ammunition magazine bans, and closing loopholes on background checks. Carney said that the president will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden as well as children who wrote to the president after the Newtown shootings. “They will be joined by children around the country expressing their concerns about gun violence and school safety, along with their parents,” Carney confirmed.

The White House has identified 19 executive actions for President Barack Obama to move unilaterally on gun control, Vice President Joe Biden told a group of House Democrats on Monday, the administration’s first definitive statements about its response to last month’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Later this week, Obama will formally announce his proposals to reduce gun violence, which are expected to include renewal of the assault weapons ban, universal background checks and prohibition of high-capacity magazine clips. But Biden, who has been leading Obama’s task force on the response, spent two hours briefing a small group...

The Left Is Convinced Americans Won’t Fight For 2nd Amendment Rights Once cowed at the thought of provoking Second Amendment supporters, leftists will soon attempt to ban “assault weapons” (and much more) as legislation offered by Dianne Feinstein makes its way to the Senate floor. It seems that D.C. liberals have finally become convinced that American gun owners are too cowardly, too lazy or too dependent upon the generosity of Big Brother to fight for their Second Amendment rights. During the past four years, the gun banning-Left have watched as American buyers broke sales records in the purchase of semi-automatic...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The powerful gun lobby is gauging enough support in Congress to block a law that would ban assault weapons, despite promises from the White House and senior lawmakers to make such a measure a reality. Senators plan to introduce a bill that would ban assault weapons and limit the size of ammunition magazines, like the one used in the December shooting massacre that killed 27 people, most of them children, in Newtown, Conn. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has promised to push for a renewal of expired legislation. -snip- You don’t want to bet your house...

On gun control, immigration, and Hagel, the president's biggest roadblocks are Democrats. The White House’s ambitious agenda on gun control, immigration reform, and, perhaps, even climate change is a sign that President Obama believes he locked up precious political capital with his reelection and intends to spend it quickly. But that isn’t welcome news to many of the Democrats who need him the most in the short term--the seven Democratic senators in conservative states facing tough reelection bids. Just one week into the new year, Obama has already hit some unpleasant stumbling blocks with his own party. On gun control,...