Archive for the ‘Second Amendment’ Category

Five myths about the National Rifle Association – Newsday

"Never is the Second Amendment more important than during public unrest," a National Rifle Association video claimed in March. Rhetoric about owning, wielding and using guns has grown especially heated in recent weeks. In response to protests against police brutality, President Donald Trump tweeted, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts,"echoing a Miami police chief from the 1960s and an NRA article published after the Los Angeles riots in 1992. "You loot we shoot," wrote Marion Hammer, the organization's first female president. Meanwhile, armed protests of state health measures, such as those that shut down the Michigan Legislature last month, seem rooted in an ideology promoted by the modern NRA: that only firearms in civilian hands can safeguard the nation from government overreach. Here are five myths about the group's mission and history some told by critics, others told by the NRA itself.

Myth No. 1: The early NRA was involved with the Ku Klux Klan.

Michael Moore, in his 2002 documentary "Bowling for Columbine," insinuated that the NRA and the KKK were linked, because they were formed six years apart. The New Republic drew a similar connection in a 2013 article on the history of gun control. In a recent review of my book (which reported no ties between the organizations), the New York Times wrote that the NRA "came to the rescue of Southern members of the K.K.K.," before issuing a correction.

Documents from the era, including an exhaustive tome by NRA co-founder William Conant Church, show that this isn't true. The early NRA, founded at the peak of Reconstruction in 1871, never went much farther than its shooting range outside Manhattan, and played no role in the South during Reconstruction or for years thereafter. Church and other early NRA leaders, nearly all of whom were veteran Union officers, unequivocally supported President Ulysses S. Grant's efforts to crush the Klan.

But, contrary to claims by NRA board director Allen West, who has said that the group "stood with freed slaves to make sure they had their Second Amendment rights," the organization didn't play a major role in opposing white supremacists, either. The NRA was so provincial at the time that, in 1877, Church had to remind the board that New York City and its environs "are only a part of the great rifle movement in America."

Myth No. 2: The NRA originated as a champion of gun rights.

The group calls itself "America's longest-standing civil rights organization," a claim constantly repeated by its leaders and lawyers, and by media outlets including NPR.

But the NRA did not raise gun rights at all over the first half-century of its existence. It focused instead on improving marksmanship in anticipation of future wars. In 1922, an editorial in the NRA's first official journal flagged gun rights as an area of concern for the first time, citing both a 1911 New York law and Russia's recent outlawing of civilian ownership of guns. The Second Amendment came up only as the Cold War set in: The NRA first asserted what it called "the Second Article of the Bill of Rights," along with the "the right of the people to keep and bear arms," in a 1952 American Rifleman editorial.

Go inside New York politics.

By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.

In 1977, the NRA finally embraced gun rights as its "unyielding" aim, in the words of its leader Harlon B. Carter. At that year's national convention, Carter, a former Border Patrol chief, led the "Cincinnati Revolt," an internal rebellion that transformed the NRA into the nation's largest gun rights organization.

Myth No. 3: Armed Black Panthers led the NRA to support gun control.

"When Black Folks Armed Themselves The NRA And Republicans Suddenly Supported Gun Control," read a headline on NewsOne. "Back in the 1960s, even the NRA supported gun control" when it came to disarming the Black Panthers, says the History Channel. Indeed, in 1967, mere months after a group of Black Panthers entered the California State Capitol with long guns and holstered sidearms, Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a law banning the open carry of firearms. The NRA helped write that legislation and monitored its passage in American Rifleman without comment; race no doubt influenced the bill.

But this event was not a turning point for the NRA. By the 1960s, it had disavowed the "private armies" of white supremacists that arose during the civil rights era, and it broadly supported greater regulation of firearms, such as those tied to recent political assassinations. "The NRA does not advocate an 'ostrich' attitude toward firearms legislation," said its chief executive, Franklin L. Orth, three weeks before the Black Panthers protested at the California capitol. "We recognize that the dynamism and complexities of modern society create new problems which demand new solutions." The following year, the NRA supported a federal law banning, among other things, mail-order guns, adding to a 1934 NRA-backed law sharply restricting "machine guns."

Myth No. 4: The NRA is just an extension of the gun industry.

People often declare that the group is a mere "front for gun makers," as one HuffPost article put it. It's true that the NRA was born at the gun industry's hip: All seven editions of the "Manual for Rifle Practice," by co-founder George Wood Wingate, were packed with firearms ads. Today, large donations from gun manufacturers make up a substantial portion of the NRA's revenue, as membership dues have declined.

But the NRA has still operated relatively autonomously over the past 149 years. In 1937, its leadership even labeled a new, powerful Magnum revolver by Smith & Wesson a " 'freak' class of weapon" that should be restricted to police.

More important, the modern NRA is a political force in its own right, commanding outsize influence that can't fully be explained by the deep pockets of the companies that fund it. Since 1977, when the group started to back the notion that civilians are entitled to nearly the same level of firepower as police, it has helped to roll back federal gun laws it once supported and to block almost all new federal regulations, whileworking to expand concealed-carry laws in most states.

Though money is important to its operations, "the real source of its power, I believe, comes from voters," law professor Adam Winkler told the Guardian. In recent elections, especially primary contests, the NRA has mobilized voters at every level, attacking opponents and rewarding "pro-gun" candidates. That electoral following helped Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre persuade President Trump last summer to reverse himself on expanding background checks.

Myth No. 5: The NRA isn't threatened by its current troubles.

The NRA is in turmoil. A 2019 tax investigation by the New York attorney general prompted a billing dispute between the group and the advertising firm Ackerman McQueen, its chief vendor and longtime communications partner. What ensued was a crossfire of charges of financial improprieties, pitching LaPierre against the group's president, Oliver North, who eventually stepped down. Its top lobbyist was forced out. Several board members resigned. Still, members insist that the organization's leadership remains strong. "It's going to take a big revolt to get them out of power," John Crump, an NRA member and firearms instructor, told the Chicago Tribune. The NRA has endured "these sorts of internal discussions, debates, and changes without losing a step,"board director J. Kenneth Blackwell said in the Washington Times.

The NRA also faces significant financial issues. Already in debt from the more than $30 million it spent on Trump and other candidates in 2016, its recent legal troubles have cost an additional $100 million, according to secret recordings obtained by NPR this year. "To survive," LaPierre said, he took the group "down to the studs," laying off dozens of people and cutting the pay of others. Meanwhile, the New York authorities continue to investigate whether the NRA illegally diverted funds from its tax-exempt foundation, threatening the organization's nonprofit status. This combination of internal and external pressures presents LaPierre with the biggest crisis of his career and the NRA as a whole with its worst crisis since the Cincinnati Revolt.

Smyth is an award-winning investigative journalist and the author of "The NRA: The Unauthorized History." This piece was written for The Washington Post.

More:
Five myths about the National Rifle Association - Newsday

Journalists have soiled their bed, now wallow | News, Sports, Jobs – Alpena News

In recent weeks Editor Bill Speer and Managing Editor Justin Hinkley have been preaching about the need for citizens to support The Alpena News and journalism in general. Hinkleys May 30 commentary took to task President Donald Trumps issues with Twitter and Facebook. He began his commentary with the quote, Congress shall make no lawabridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. The First Amendment.

As far as the press and journalists are concerned, you can pick and choose which amendments and rights deserve support. The press and Hinkleys fellow journalists have been relentless in attacking our Second Amendment Rights. So, allow me to quote: the right of the people to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED the Second Amendment. The mainstream press has not seen a gun control law or proposed law that is worthy of their objection.

The biased press is losing support of the citizens, as evidenced by drops in subscribers and readership. You cant get straight news in the newspapers or on television anymore. It is always slanted toward the liberal progressive side. Case in point in the June 2 paper, the Associated Press (AP) offered their misleading defense of antifa. The article portrayed them as an unorganized group confronting neo-nazis and white supremacists and compelling outside organizations to cancel any speakers or events with a fascist bent. Their definition of fascist bent is all-encompassing of everything and anybody that doesnt espouse liberal or progressive propaganda. Antifa is a terrorist group, as evidenced by the violence that follows wherever they appear.

So cry me a river, but I cannot have much sympathy for a press that is rightly suffering a decline in standing and readership among the general population. Theyve soiled their bed and now they need to wallow in it.

MIKE LEOW,

Rogers City

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Continue reading here:
Journalists have soiled their bed, now wallow | News, Sports, Jobs - Alpena News

Orlando Sentinel: Police targeting journalists during protests is an assault on the First Amendment – The Decatur Daily

It's not unusual for politicians and candidates for office to express their fervent and unwavering support for the Second Amendment.

Now would be an ideal time for them to show the same allegiance to the First Amendment and its guarantee of a free press.

Journalists across the nation are coming under attack as they go about covering the protests and unrest washing across the nation one of the most consequential stories in recent American history.

Reporters and photographers are clear-eyed in understanding their job might include covering potentially dangerous situations.

But what's so appalling about many of the attacks on American journalists is they're coming at the hands of law enforcement officers, peacekeepers who swear an oath to uphold the Constitution.

Dozens of reports from around the country describe journalists getting shot at, manhandled, abused and arrested by police officers even after identifying themselves as part of the media.

Some incidents occurred in the fog of conflict, as when tear gas drifts into a crowd that includes journalists. We wouldn't be writing this editorial if that were the extent of it.

We're writing this because of what happened to Jintak Han, a UCLA journalist who was shot at with rubber bullets by Los Angeles police even though he was wearing a helmet, vest and pass clearly labeled "Press."

In Minneapolis, TV photojournalist Tom Aviles was hit with a rubber bullet and arrested even though he identified himself and attempted to comply with an officer's order to leave.

In Louisville, Ky., police shot TV reporter Kaitlin Rust and photojournalist James Dobson with pepper balls even after they complied with an order to move away.

In New York City, police struck and injured Wall Street Journal reporter Tyler Blint-Welsh with their riot shields even as he was trying to comply with an order to back up.

In Tampa, a police officer shoved Tampa Bay Times reporter Divya Kumar to the ground, zip-tied her hands and put her under arrest, all this after she showed the police her press pass.

In many instances, reporters are trying to comply with police or, after identifying themselves, are told "I don't care" or "shut up," showing these incidents aren't human error. In New York on Tuesday, two Associated Press journalists who had identified themselves were surrounded and shoved around by police.

Protesters have gone after journalists, too. A Fox News crew was assaulted by a mob outside the White House while another TV news crew was grabbed and chased by a crowd in Rochester, N.Y.

Journalists shouldn't be targeted at all, but the violence is more alarming when it's at the hands of police, whose job is to protect the public and preserve the Constitution.

The number of assaults and their brazen disregard for the First Amendment rights of journalists are unprecedented, and they're an affront to our values.

The media generally are not allowed in meetings where police chiefs and sheriffs are giving instructions to officers and deputies, so we have no way of knowing if the message to rough up journalists is coming from on high or whether some officers are taking matters into their own hands.

Whatever the case, elected officials, who like the police are sworn to uphold the Constitution, should be outraged. We feel safe in saying attacks on journalists by officers of the law is not what the founders had in mind when they drafted the First Amendment.

Are they outraged? On Wednesday morning we asked spokespeople for these elected officials whether they had said or written anything about the spate of assaults on press freedom: Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, central Florida U.S. Reps. Val Demings, Stephanie Murphy, Darren Soto and Michael Waltz, and Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Murphy responded with a statement that acknowledged freedom of assembly and press were "cornerstones of American democracy (that) are under attack. We must stand up and defend them." Bravo.

Waltz's statement acknowledged the sometimes dangerous work of journalists but placed the blame for violence on "anarchists and looters" without acknowledging the role of police.

On Thursday morning, Soto tweeted that Congress "must step up to address these attacks to protect transparency & accountability in our democracy."

We generally like bipartisan consensus, but not when the agreement is indifference over a dangerous threat to freedom of the press.

Through it all, President Donald Trump has continued his relentless verbal attacks on the press even as members of the press are physically attacked by police.

Not all heads of state are as contemptuous of a free press as Trump.

The prime minister of Australia asked his ambassador to the United States to investigate after two of his country's journalists were attacked by officers in Washington during the now infamous attempt to clear out the rabble so Trump could stroll to an Episcopal church for a photo op.

The ambassador in turn released a statement on Twitter that said, in part: "Freedom of the press is a right that Australians and Americans hold dear. We take mistreatment of journalists seriously, as do all who take democracy seriously."

If only every American politician could muster the will to stand up and defend the value of a free press at a time when it's under assault.

View original post here:
Orlando Sentinel: Police targeting journalists during protests is an assault on the First Amendment - The Decatur Daily

Biden To Texas Dems: ‘I Think We Have A Real Chance To Turn The State Blue’ – Texas Public Radio

Calling Texas an important battleground that he thinks he can win in November, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden spoke to the virtual Texas state Democratic Convention in a recorded speech on Saturday.

The former vice president started his speech addressing the coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, then spent a significant portion of his remarks addressing Latino Democrats.

He brought up the imminent Supreme Court decision on President Trumps ending of the DACA program, which allows relief from deportation to some young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

Let me tell you something, as President, I will protect Dreamers and their families, he said. On day one I will introduce immigration reform, making sure we protect Obamacare, rebuild our economy, and ways to bring everybody along.

He called President Trumps agenda anti-Latino and anti-immigrant, citing the presidents efforts to reduce health care benefits, build a wall on the Mexican border, and reduce border crossings by separating children from their parents.

Latinos make up about 40% of the Texas population.

Democrats have long waited for demographic change to turn statewide Texas campaigns into real contests. The state has 38 electoral votes. A Democratic presidential candidate has not won in Texas since 1976. President Trump won the state by 9 points in 2016.

A recent Quinnipiac poll showed Biden trailing President Trump by one percentage point in the state.

Biden used his speech to Texas Democrats as an opportunity to repeat his mantra that the very soul of this nation is at stake in the election. It was also at the center of remarks he made in response to the death of Floyd and the Trump administrations use of law enforcement and National Guard troops to forcibly remove peaceful protesters ahead of a photo-op for the president near the White House.

The stakes in this election have never been higher for our country. We have to work harder than ever, harder than ever, Biden said Saturday. We need to stand up as a nation, stand with the black community, of all communities of color. Come together as one America to deliver justice for all Americans.

Earlier in the day, the Texas Republican Party tweeted that President Trump has delivered massive tax cuts, protected our energy independence, and fought for our #2A rights a reference to the Second Amendment. Biden, they said, may think he has TX in his pocket but this is #TrumpCountry.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, veteran Democratic political consultant Paul Begala said Biden is perfectly suited to go up against Trump.

When we replace a president, we want the remedy, not the replica, said Begala. And Joe is the remedy for Trump. I consider him to be the most potent anti-toxin Ive ever seen.

Democrats in Texas opted for a virtual convention to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. The state GOP is still planning an in-person convention July 16 to 18 in Houston.

Go here to see the original:
Biden To Texas Dems: 'I Think We Have A Real Chance To Turn The State Blue' - Texas Public Radio

Where is the peace? – Kenbridge Victoria Dispatch – Kenbridge Victoria Dispatch

This year has been a challenging one, to say the least.

The killing of George Floyd in Minnesota last week is just the latest in what seems to be a series of terrible events happening in the United States and around the world. The George Floyd killing set off a frenzy of protests around the nation, including in Virginia, that transformed into riots.

This comes on top of the first days of Gov. Ralph Northams mask order and the chaotic at best rollout and enforcement of the mandate.

There is no doubt that what happened to George Floyd was horrific and wrong there is no excuse for it. The vast, overwhelming majority of law enforcement truly stand to protect and serve. The few who abuse the power of their badge should be punished to the full extent of the law. In the midst of this, we cannot forget the valuable service our police officers provide every day by putting themselves in harms way.

Peaceful protest is not only allowed, but is welcomed in the Commonwealth of Virginia and across our nation. Americans have every right and justification for being on the streets peacefully protesting the death of George Floyd. Arson is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Vandalism is not protesting. It is tragic to see these protests hijacked by outside groups and Antifa troublemakers who want to play at anarchy.

As Republicans have pointed out many times since January, the right of the people to peacefully assemble and petition their government for the remedy of grievances is a fundamental Constitutional right.

It is telling that Governor Northam waited for two days of arson and rioting before declaring a state of emergency. When faced with a peaceful Second Amendment protest in January, he declared a state of emergency that started two days before the rally even began and before the first person ever arrived on Capitol Square.

Governor Northams reactions to both the riots and the coronavirus have been a lesson in how not to lead during a crisis.

As we look at the news, how heartbreaking it is to see the unrest and rioting that is going on in major cities across our land and for the third successive night in our own capital city of Richmond.

Where is the peace? Peace can only come when there is the peace of God in our hearts. The devil is playing havoc with us and we all must resist his ploys. Pray for peace, for God to shed his grace upon us and grant us peace. Help us to be unified regardless of the color of our skin. With God as our Father, brothers all are we.

Del. Tommy Wright can be reached via email at DelTWright@house.virginia.gov or (804) 698-1061.

Read more:
Where is the peace? - Kenbridge Victoria Dispatch - Kenbridge Victoria Dispatch