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Obama Is Anti-Gun
Obama has been
embracing anti-gun policies in the run-up to a Democratic
presidential debate scheduled on the one-year anniversary of the
Virginia Tech shootings.
"I am not in favor of concealed weapons," Obama told the Pittsburgh
Tribune. "I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more
innocent people could (get shot during) altercations."
These remarks break from Obama’s previous moderate rhetoric on gun
control.
While campaigning in Idaho in February, Obama promised, "I have no
intention of taking away folks’ guns." This statement is
a bald-faced lie.
Obama favors complete ban of handguns (except for the Black Panthers).
Obama’s presidential campaign
has worked to assure uneasy gun owners that he believes the
Constitution protects their rights and that he doesn’t want to take away
their guns.
But before he became a national political figure, he sat on the board of
the Joyce Foundation, a Chicago-based foundation that doled out at least
nine grants totaling nearly $2.7 million to groups that advocated the
opposite positions.
The foundation funded legal scholarship advancing the theory that the
Second Amendment does not protect individual gun owners’ rights, as well
as two groups that advocated handgun bans. And it paid to
support a book called "Every Handgun Is Aimed at You:
The Case
for Banning Handguns."
Obama Wants Cling-Free Citizens
On the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (01:28)
Obama's 5 Mile Ban
Obama's proposal to
ban gun stores within 5 miles of a school.
"Barack Obama supported a proposal to ban gun stores within 5 miles of a
school or park, which would eliminate almost every gun store in
America." is more than just a little exaggeration.
Obama's Against Self Defense
Barack Obama voted four times to allow criminal charges against
homeowners who defend their person and home with a gun.
Despite Obama's propensity to say and do anything to get elected,
Obama's record does not match his rhetoric.
In fact, Barack Obama specifically
voted four times
in the Illinois Legislature to allow criminal charges against a
homeowner who used a firearm in self-defense of their person and home --
specifically what the Supreme Court says is a constitutional right.
Obama may say he supports it, but his record says exactly the opposite.
"I believe that the Constitution confers an individual right to bear
arms. But just because you have an individual right does not mean that
the state or local government can't constrain the exercise of that
right."
Here's a few examples -- make up your own:
"Just because you have an individual right [to free speech] does not
mean that the state or local government can't constrain the exercise of
that right."
"Just because you have an individual right [not to be searched
unreasonably] does not mean that the state or local government can't
constrain the exercise of that right."
"Just because you have an individual right [to freely exercise religion]
does not mean that the state or local government can't constrain the
exercise of that right."
"Just because you have an individual right [to an abortion] does not
mean that the state or local government can't constrain the exercise of
that right."
"Just because you have an individual right [to bear arms] does not mean
that the state or local government can't constrain the exercise of that
right."
Does anyone else find this disturbing?
"One Of The Most Blatant Lies Ever To Come From
A Politician's Mouth"
... is how the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) is
characterizing a recent statement by U.S. Senator Barack Obama.
Speaking in the latest issue of "Field & Stream," Obama claims that
Illinois sportsmen know him as an advocate for their rights. On the
contrary, Obama's voting record while a state senator clearly indicates
that he has nothing but contempt for the law-abiding firearm owner.
"Any sportsman who counts Barack Obama as one of his friends is
seriously confused," said ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson.
"Throughout his tenure in the Illinois Senate, Obama served as one of
the most loyal foot soldiers in Mayor Daley's campaign to abolish
civilian firearm ownership. While a state senator, Obama voted for
legislation that would ban and forcibly confiscate nearly every shotgun,
target rifle and hunting rifle in the state. Obama also voted for
bills that would ration the number of firearms a law-abiding citizen
could own, yet give a pass to the violent thugs who roam our streets.
And, inexplicably, Obama voted four times against legislation that would
allow citizens to use firearms to defend their homes and families."
"Let us also not forget that Obama served as a director of the Joyce
Foundation," continued Pearson. "While on the Joyce Foundation
board, Obama funneled tens of millions of dollars to radical gun control
organizations such as the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence and
the Violence Policy Center."
"If Senator Obama considers his legislative record and his philanthropic
endeavors to be acts of advocacy on behalf of sportsmen's rights, then I
submit that the Senator is seriously confused as well," asserted
Pearson.
"Nobody knows Obama's record on guns better than I do, and it's rotten
to the core," said Pearson. "I've been involved in Illinois
politics nearly as long as Obama has been alive. In that time, I
have never encountered a legislator who was more hostile towards or more
disinterested in sportsmen's rights than Barack Obama."
While a state
senator, Obama
voted for legislation that would ban and forcibly confiscate nearly
every shotgun, target rifle and hunting rifle in the state. Obama also
voted for bills that would ration the number of firearms a law-abiding
citizen could own, yet give a pass to the violent thugs who roam our
streets. And, inexplicably, Obama voted four times against
legislation that would allow citizens to use firearms to defend their
homes and families.
Kagan's Threat To Gun Owners
The Washington Times
says the nominee has a past that is opposed to individual
self-defense.
Obama poses a real and present danger to the Second
Amendment, and he's working to pack the Supreme Court with justices who
will undermine Americans' gun rights.
Obama didn't fess up to
this radical agenda when running for the highest office in the land.
"I have said consistently that I believe that the Second Amendment is an
individual right, and that was the essential decision that the Supreme
Court came down on," Obama told Fox News in June 2008. Despite the
campaign rhetoric, Obama is appointing judges who strongly oppose that
position. The most recent pick, Elena Kagan, ran much of Clinton's
war on guns from 1995 to 1999.
When Kagan served as Clinton's
deputy domestic policy adviser, she was a feverish proponent of gun
control. From gunlock mandates to gun-show regulations, she was
instrumental in pushing anti-gun policies, according to the Los Angeles
Times.
Every court nomination counts. Two years ago, the
Supreme Court barely mustered a narrow 5-4 majority to strike down the
extreme District of Columbia gun ban. Should Justice Anthony
Kennedy or one of the four more conservative justices retire or die
while Obama is in office, the high court likely will undo such narrow
victories for the Second Amendment. While Kagan was nominated to
replace the liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, and thus won't swing the
court in a new direction, her being there will necessitate that gun
owners concentrate more than ever on fighting outright gun bans.
Kagan's defenders acknowledge her liberal political views but claim that
as a judge, the former Harvard Law School dean will somehow manage to
separate her judgments from her political opinions. The hitch is
that her legal views correspond with her political views. When
Kagan clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall, she wrote, "I'm not
sympathetic" to the claim that "the District of Columbia's firearms
statutes violate [an individual's] constitutional right to 'keep and
bear Arms.'"
Her memos to Justice Marshall foreshadow an activist
judge who wouldn't hesitate to fall back on her own personal views to
override policy decisions made by elected officials. She clearly
counseled Justice Marshall on how he should rule based upon whether she
thought policies made "sense." Take her advice in the case of
Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council, in which an appeals court
stopped federal agencies from issuing a permit to build a ski lodge in a
national forest. Kagan might feel that stopping ski resorts from
such building makes "policy sense," but that isn't the job of a judge.
Kagan is Justice Sonia Sotomayor's soul sister when it comes to gun
control. Last year, during her confirmation hearings, Sotomayor
insisted the Supreme Court had never found that an individual right to
self-defense exists. Two of Justice Sotomayor's own appeals court
decisions came to the same conclusion. One ruling denied there is
an individual right to self-defense. In another case, even after
the Supreme Court struck down the District's gun ban, Judge Sotomayor
opined that any restrictions on self-defense would pass constitutional
muster so long as politicians who passed it said they had a good reason.
Senators must realize that a vote for Kagan for the Supreme Court is
another vote against gun rights.
Gun Rights Extended By Supreme Court
The Washington Post is reporting The Supreme
Court held Monday that Americans have the right to own a gun for
self-defense anywhere they live, advancing a recent trend by the John
Roberts-led bench to embrace gun rights.
By a 5-4 vote, the
justices cast doubt on handgun bans in the Chicago area, but signaled
that some limitations on the Constitution's "right to keep and bear
arms" could survive legal challenges.
Justice Samuel Alito,
writing for the court, said that the Second Amendment right "applies
equally to the federal government and the states."
The court was
split along familiar ideological lines, with five conservative-moderate
justices in favor of gun rights and four liberals opposed. Chief Justice
Roberts voted with the majority.
Two years ago, the court
declared that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to
possess guns, at least for purposes of self-defense in the home.
That ruling applied only to federal laws. It struck down a ban on
handguns and a trigger lock requirement for other guns in the District
of Columbia, a federal city with unique legal standing. At the same
time, the court was careful not to cast doubt on other regulations of
firearms here.
Gun rights proponents almost immediately filed a
federal lawsuit challenging gun control laws in Chicago and its suburb
of Oak Park, Ill, where handguns have been banned for nearly 30 years. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says those laws appear to be
the last two remaining outright bans.
Lower federal courts
upheld the two laws, noting that judges on those benches were bound by
Supreme Court precedent and that it would be up to the high court
justices to ultimately rule on the true reach of the Second Amendment.
The Supreme Court already has said that most of the guarantees
in the Bill of Rights serve as a check on state and local, as well as
federal, laws.
The Washington Post is
reporting The Supreme
Court held Monday that Americans have the right to own a gun for
self-defense anywhere they live, advancing a recent trend by the John
Roberts-led bench to embrace gun rights.
By a 5-4 vote, the
justices cast doubt on handgun bans in the Chicago area, but signaled
that some limitations on the Constitution's "right to keep and bear
arms" could survive legal challenges.
Obama Advocates For "Common Sense" Gun
Control
Matt Schneider
says, that on a smaller platform than some may have hoped, Obama
wrote an op-ed in today’s Arizona Daily Star launching his intention to
tackle serious and "common sense" gun control. Two months after the
Tucson, Arizona shooting tragedy, Obama seems to be searching for middle
ground on the issue in an effort to protect "our children’s futures."
Obama first reaffirmed he has no intention of confiscating guns,
calling for more stringent enforcement of existing gun laws, citing the
"awful consequences" of gun violence in American society.
Obama
says legislation to bolster criminal background checks for gun buyers
hasn't been properly implemented, with too many states providing
"incomplete and inadequate" information. He says the system needs
to be "faster and nimbler" so it works for gun sellers and "criminals
can't escape it."
Now, like the majority of Americans, I believe that the Second
Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. . . . And, in
fact, my administration has not curtailed the rights of gun owners -- it
has expanded them, including allowing people to carry their guns in
national parks and wildlife refuges.
And Obama discussed his
awareness of how difficult it will be to approach an issue that both
sides feel so passionately about:
I know that every time we try
to talk about guns, it can reinforce stark divides. People shout at one
another, which makes it impossible to listen. We mire ourselves in
stalemate, which makes it impossible to get to where we need to go as a
country.
Then Obama outlined a few practical beginning steps,
including "enforcing laws that are already on the books," strengthening
the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, rewarding states
that provide the best data, and making the background check system
"faster and nimbler" so that criminals can’t escape it.
Concluding, Obama stated, "I want this to at least be the beginning of a
new discussion on how we can keep America safe for all our people."
Given that NRA supporters often fear any increased federal gun control
legislation could be a slippery slope towards greater restrictions in
the future, and given that anti-gun activists will likely think Obama’s
first steps here don’t go far enough, it’s likely many will be eager to
participate in the "new discussion" Obama is starting.
Obama says
one thing, but . . .
"One of the most blatant lies ever to come from
a politician's mouth," is how the Illinois State Rifle Association
(ISRA)
characterized a statement by U.S. Senator Barack Obama.
Speaking in the latest issue of "Field & Stream," Obama claims that
Illinois sportsmen know him as an advocate for their rights. On the
contrary, Obama's voting record while a state senator clearly indicates
that he has nothing but contempt for the law-abiding firearm owner.
"Any sportsman who counts Barack Obama as one of his friends is
seriously confused," said ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson.
"Throughout his tenure in the Illinois Senate, Obama served as one of
the most loyal foot soldiers in Mayor Daley's campaign to abolish
civilian firearm ownership. While a state senator, Obama voted for
legislation that would ban and forcibly confiscate nearly every shotgun,
target rifle and hunting rifle in the state. Obama also voted for
bills that would ration the number of firearms a law-abiding citizen
could own, yet give a pass to the violent thugs who roam our streets.
And, inexplicably, Obama voted four times against legislation that would
allow citizens to use firearms to defend their homes and families."
"Let us also not forget that Obama served as a director of the
Joyce
Foundation," continued Pearson. "While on the Joyce Foundation
board, Obama funneled tens of millions of dollars to radical gun control
organizations such as the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence and
the Violence Policy Center."
"If Senator Obama considers his legislative record and his philanthropic
endeavors to be acts of advocacy on behalf of sportsmen's rights, then I
submit that the Senator is seriously confused as well," asserted
Pearson.
"Nobody knows Obama's record on guns better than I do, and it's rotten
to the core," said Pearson. "I've been involved in Illinois
politics nearly as long as Obama has been alive. In that time, I
have never encountered a legislator who was more hostile towards or more
disinterested in sportsmen's rights than Barack Obama."
While a state
senator, Obama
voted for legislation that would ban and forcibly confiscate nearly
every shotgun, target rifle and hunting rifle in the state. Obama also
voted for bills that would ration the number of firearms a law-abiding
citizen could own, yet give a pass to the violent thugs who roam our
streets. And, inexplicably, Obama specificallyvoted four timesagainst
legislation that would allow citizens to use firearms to defend their
homes and families -- specifically what the Supreme Court says is a
constitutional right.
Obama may say he supports your right
to keep and bear arms, but
his record says exactly the opposite.
Obama Plans Changes To Gun Policy
Sam Stein
says the Obama administration has conducted informal discussions
with groups from both ends of the gun-policy spectrum, including law
enforcement and gun-rights organizations, and is set to hold formal
meetings as early as this week in an effort to chart out a set of new
firearms policies, administration officials say.
Spearheaded by
the Department of Justice, the talks were described by one individual
involved in the discussions as a "feeling-out process." With more
official meetings set to begin shortly, they provide the clearest
indication to date that the White House is readying a response to the
shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 19 others at Tucson in
early January.
"As the president said, we should focus on sound,
effective steps that will keep guns out of the hands of the criminals,
fugitives, people with serious mental illness, and others who have no
business possessing a gun and who are prohibited by laws on the books
from owning a gun," Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
"We will be meeting with stakeholders on all sides of the issue to
discuss how we can find sensible, intelligent ways to make the country
safer."
The goal is to finalize a set of policy changes,
including, perhaps, legislation that could pass through a Congress
hostile to abridgments of Second Amendment rights. The last
serious bite at the apple occurred following the shootings at Virginia
Tech in April 2007.
In a Sunday op-ed for the Arizona Daily
Star, President Barack Obama called for a three-pronged approach:
enforcing the laws already on the books, including the National Instant
Criminal Background Check System; pushing for greater state-to-state
coordination; and expediting background checks and the release of
relevant data.
On Sunday, March 13, the Arizona Star
published an op-ed from President Barack Obama that discussed his
belief that we should seek "agreement on gun reforms."
Those
"agreements" would almost certainly include new restrictions on the
Second Amendment rights of the American people that are unneeded and
unacceptable for law-abiding gun owners.
It's interesting that Obama didn't ready a response
to the murder of 13 and the wounding of 30 others at Fort Hood, but that
terror attack doesn't fit Obama's narrative.
Obama Looking For Ways Around Congress On
Gun Policy
Faced with a Congress hostile to even slight
restrictions of Second Amendment rights, the Obama administration is
exploring potential changes to gun laws that can be secured strictly
through executive action, administration officials say.
The
Department of Justice held the first in what is expected to be a series
of meetings on Tuesday afternoon with a group of stakeholders in the
ongoing gun-policy debates. Before the meeting, officials said
part of the discussion was expected to center around the White House's
options for shaping policy on its own or through its adjoining agencies
and departments -- on issues ranging from beefing up background checks
to encouraging better data-sharing.
Administration officials
said talk of executive orders or agency action are among a host of
options that Barack Obama and his advisers are considering. "The purpose
of these discussions is to be a productive exchange of good ideas from
folks across the spectrum," one official said. "We think that’s a good
place to start."
Earlier in the day, House Democrats joined New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to offer another possible starting
point, announcing legislation that would make fundamental changes to the
nation’s gun background check system. Sponsored by Rep. Carolyn
McCarthy (D-N.Y.), a longtime gun control advocate, the bill mirrors one
introduced late last month by another New York Democrat, Sen. Chuck
Schumer.
"Too often, any serious discussion about guns devolves
into ideological arguments that have nothing to do with the real
problem," Bloomberg, a co-founder of the coalition Mayors Against
Illegal Guns, told reporters at a press event outside the Capitol.
"Our coalition strongly believes in the Second Amendment. We also
know from experience that we can keep guns away from dangerous people
without imposing burdens on law-abiding gun owners."
For gun
control advocates, however, executive action remains a more promising --
albeit more limited -- vehicle for reform than Congress. On
Monday, The Huffington Post first reported that the Justice Department
was convening meetings with groups from across the ideological spectrum
in an effort to chart potential policy changes to Second Amendment law.
[ ... snip ... ]
"We need tougher laws, but
there’s a lot we can and should be doing to enforce the laws we have,"
said Mark Glaze, the executive director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
"Sometimes it’s a question of manpower and money, but in many cases it’s
just a question of political will. We think the president knows
that and is getting there."
The extent to which Obama can change
gun law without the hand of Congress is not, gun control activists say,
wholly insignificant. Though they say they'd prefer
longer-lasting, broader legislative responses to shootings like that
which occurred in Tucson, Ariz., in early January, there are notable
gaps that can be filled with presidential action.
What that
official meant was, a productive exchange of good ideas from folks
across the "anti-gun and gun control' spectrum.
"Under The Radar"
David Codrea
is reporting that anti-gun activist Sarah Brady claims Barack Obama
is committed to stealth gun control according to a report in The
Washington Post.
Recounting a March 30 meeting between Brady, her
husband Jim and White House Press secretary Jay Carney, The Post
reports:
During the meeting, Obama dropped in and,
according to Sarah Brady, brought up the issue of gun control, "to
fill us in that it was very much on his agenda," she said.
"I
just want you to know that we are working on it," Brady recalled
Obama telling them. "We have to go through a few processes,
but under the radar."
Among the measures discussed:
[H]ow records get into the system and what
can be done about firearms retailers. Her husband specifically
brought up the proposed ban on large magazine clips…
While Brady reports Obama "just laughed," she also
expressed "absolute confidence that the president was committed to
regulation."
That Obama is coyly discussing "processes…under the
radar" directly contradicts a campaign pledge further documented via an
official White House
memorandum:
My Administration is committed to creating
an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work
together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of
transparency, public participation, and collaboration.
Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and
effectiveness in Government.
There is nothing transparent, open or participatory
about maneuvers to exercise control over unalienable rights. The
entire purpose of being "under the radar" is to escape detection.
For the administration to continue an "under the radar" gun policy
points to directed practices very different from its public promises.
But it does give insight into how another stealth program, "Project
Gunwalker," was allowed and encouraged, and why accusations of
stonewalling continue to be made by both Senate and House investigators.
When Barack Obama claimed that
Illinois sportsmen know him as an advocate for their rights, the
Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) released the following statement:
"One of the
most blatant lies ever to come from a politician's mouth. Any
sportsman who counts Barack Obama as one of his friends is seriously
confused."
"Throughout his tenure in the Illinois Senate, Obama served as one
of the most loyal foot soldiers in Mayor Daley's campaign to abolish
civilian firearm ownership. While a state senator, Obama voted for
legislation that would ban and forcibly confiscate nearly every
shotgun, target rifle and unting rifle in the state. Obama also
voted for bills that would ration the number of firearms a
law-abiding citizen could own, yet give a pass to the violent thugs
who roam our streets. And, inexplicably, Obama voted four times
against legislation that would allow citizens to use firearms to
defend their homes and families."
"Let
us also not forget that Obama served as a director of the Joyce
Foundation While on the Joyce Foundation board, Obama funneled tens
of millions of dollars to radical gun control organizations such as
the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence and the Violence
Policy Center."
And
Barack Obama specifically voted
four times in the Illinois Legislature to allow criminal charges against
a homeowner who used a firearm in self-defense of their person and home
-- specifically what the Supreme Court says is a constitutional right.
Obama may say he supports the 2nd Amendment, but he's lying (again) --
his record says exactly the opposite.
Obama: We're Working on Gun Control "Under
the Radar"
Fox Nation
is reporting that On March 30, the 30th anniversary of the
assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, Jim Brady, who
sustained a debilitating head wound in the attack, and his wife, Sarah,
came to Capitol Hill to push for a ban on the controversial "large
magazines." Brady, for whom the law requiring background checks on
handgun purchasers is named, then met with White House press secretary
Jay Carney. During the meeting, Obama dropped in and,
according to Sarah Brady, brought up the issue of gun control, "to fill
us in that it was very much on his agenda," she said.
"I just
want you to know that we are working on it," Brady recalled Obama
telling them. "We have to go through a few processes, but under the
radar."
And along came "Operation Fast & Furious" . . .
Follow Operation Gunrunner/Fast
& Furious Here
click image to follow Operation Gunrunner/Fast &
Furious
In March 2003,
Obama voted in the Illinois state Senate to ban semiautomatic
rifles.
However, Obama voted for legislation in the state Senate in 2004 to
allow retired police officers to carry concealed weapons, The Chicago
Tribune
reported on April 27, 2004, when Obama was running for the U.S.
Senate. The article also reported that critics charged Obama with
seeking the favor of the Fraternal Order of Police at a time when he was
running for statewide office.
Obama explained in the 2004 Tribune article, “I didn't find
that [vote] surprising. I mean, I am consistently on record and will
continue to be on record as opposing concealed carry. This was a narrow
exception in an exceptional circumstance where a retired police officer
might find himself vulnerable as a consequence of the work he had
previously done--and had been trained extensively in the proper use of
firearms.”
Bob Unruh is reporting that In July 2005, as a U.S. senator,
Obama voted against a bill prohibiting lawsuits against gun
manufacturers that would potentially hold the companies liable for
violence committed by the guns.
During the Democratic presidential primary of 2008, Obama said,
“There is an individual right to bear arms. But it’s subject to
common-sense regulation, just like most of our rights are subject to
common-sense regulations,” the Chicago Tribune reported on Feb.
16, 2008.
In April 2009, a few months after becoming president, Obama said
during a joint press conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon,
“I continue to believe that we can respect and honor the Second
Amendment right in our Constitution -- the rights of sportsmen and
hunters and homeowners that want to keep their families safe -- to
lawfully bear arms, while dealing with assault weapons that, as we know
here in Mexico, are used to fuel violence.”
After the Tucson, Ariz. shooting in early 2011, The Arizona Daily
Star
published a commentary by Obama that called for gun reforms. “First,
we should begin by enforcing laws that are already on the books,” it
stated. “Second, we should in fact reward the states that provide the
best data - and therefore do the most to protect our citizens. Third, we
should make the system faster and nimbler.”
After the Aurora, Colo. movie theater shooting in July 2012, Obama
said, “I believe the majority of gun owners would agree that we should
do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from
purchasing weapons. We should check someone’s criminal record before
they can check out a gun seller.”
During the debate at Hofstra University, Obama made one of his
strongest pronouncements in favor of gun control since becoming
president.
“What I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do
we reduce the violence generally,” Obama said. “Part of it is seeing if
we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced, but part of it is also
looking at other sources of the violence -- because, frankly, in my
hometown of Chicago there’s an awful lot of violence, and they’re not
using AK-47s, they’re using cheap handguns.”
