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President Donald Trump addresses a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020 at MBS International Airport in Freeland. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

President Donald Trump addresses a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020 at MBS International Airport in Freeland. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Photo: (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

President Donald Trump addresses a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020 at MBS International Airport in Freeland. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

President Donald Trump addresses a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020 at MBS International Airport in Freeland. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Rally attendees leave with thoughts on Trump's event

FREELAND Attendees to the Trump campaign rally on Thursday began to leave before the president was done with his 90-minute speech, which ended before 9 p.m.

As they left, they were handed bumper stickers, lawn signs and other supportive gear. Though the event was over, many were still feeling the energy, sending the president off with cheers.

Here's what some of them had to say before they headed home.

"I like a president who is proud of his country and not ashamed of it," said Doug Engwis, of Rhodes, on his way out of the rally. "I like the idea of a president who wants to put this country back on the path of manufacturing leading this world and not getting on plane and apologizing to every country."

Shelly Ross, of Midland, said she wanted to get a couple of assurances at the rally.

"What I really wanted to hear was he was going to continue to make sure the unborn was protected and our jobs were going to be secure here in Michigan and he's still for us as the people and to get that sign that he is still for us, I do."

Clinton Township resident Tara Warner said she attended with her fianc and mother, arriving around 4 p.m. Shes attended many rallies in addition to Trumps inauguration, though she said she usually keeps her political views low key, meaning not many people know her political affiliation.

His rallies are just fun! she said. I feel like Im at Coachella or something.

Lindzy Jackson, Nancy Jo Serna and Ben Serna attended the event together, traveling from Grass Lake. Jackson said it was her first Trump rally but they all left feeling energized. Theyre excited for the election, which they emphasized they will be voting in-person at the polls for.

It was electric, Nancy Jo said about the event.

It honestly felt like family, Jackson said. We all connected in some sort of way.

Jacksons words rang true as two new friends walked out of the event together. Elise Bennett and Christopher Ward said they met inside the rally.

We were happy strangers that found each other, Ward said.

They were both impressed with what Republican senate candidate John James had to say.

I would qualify him as a military cheerleader for the president, Ward said.

Janae Zettle and Connor Robelli of West Branch thought there was a good turnout despite the cloudy, cool weather. Robelli is an employee with the McNally Nimergood Crane, which supplied the crane that hung the American flag on the tarmac.

Trump supports the farming community, Zettle said, adding she works for a dairy farmer and comes from a small family farm. Hes here for the businesses.

Tamera Feldhouse of Elkton and member of America Bikers Aiming Toward Education (ABATE) of Michigan, called the rally uplifting, encouraging. She was particularly moved by the presidents comments about the Edenville Dam and the Soo Locks.

Ive been to the Soo Locks and they need a lot of work. Thankfully, theyre going to get the work they need, Feldhouse said.

She appreciates Trumps stance on schooling, stating her concerns about educating students.

Thankfully, he cares about the future of our young people," she said.

David Langley, of Bad Axe focused, on the presidents comments on the Second Amendment, bringing back jobs to the country and saving Social Security.

It was awesome. I loved it. I wish we couldve gotten more people to come, Langley said. Trumps got the go to push people. I think he can get a lot to swing over to vote for him.

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Rally attendees leave with thoughts on Trump's event - Huron Daily Tribune

(The Center Square) A Republican state representative recently scored a legal victory in his fight against a ban on firearms at the Statehouse in Concord.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court sided with Rep. John Burt, R-Goffstown, but stopped short of overturning the ban.

New Hampshire Public Radio reported that Burt filed a lawsuit in response to the ban, calling it an infringement of his Second Amendment rights. In 2018, the majority Democratic New Hampshire House of Representatives enacted a rule forbidding weapons inside Representatives Hall.

While a lower court tossed Burts complaint, the four-member Supreme Court opined that the judicial branch does not have a role to play when internal rules raise constitutional questions.

The case has been remanded to the same lower court.

Burt told WMUR he was excited about the ruling.

It's a huge win for the Second Amendment, in my eyes, the lawmaker told the station.

Dan Hynes, Burt's attorney, said the state Supreme Court did what the lower court refused to do.

They're sending it back to Superior Court, saying, 'You have to hear this case,' Hynes told WMUR. It involves the Constitution, and they said the Legislature does not have the authority to violate the Constitution.

Burt and Hynes feel good about the ruling but are unsure what the lower court has in store.

If we start allowing any state to start dictating what they can do to the Constitution over a 50-year period, a 25-year period, we will start losing the Constitution, Burt told WMUR.

Weapons in the Statehouse has been a much-debated issue for at least half a decade.

The Bangor Daily News reported that depending on which party controlled the House, firearms were either allowed or forbidden.

When Burt and his partymates held the majority, it was legal to walk into Representatives Hall with a firearm.

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New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling allows state representative to continue fight to carry firearm at Statehouse - The Center Square

Alleged corruption within the National Rife Associationhasnt exactly been a secret.

But thescope ofthe organizations problemsgotnew attentionafter New Yorks Attorney General, LetitiaJames, filed a lawsuit to dissolve the organizationin August 2020.

One of the people the Attorney General namedis Joshua Powell,former NRA senior strategist and CEO WayneLaPierreschief of staff.

Powell was fired from the organization in January. Since then, he published a book:Inside the NRA: A Tell-All Account of Corruption, Greed, and Paranoia within the Most Powerful Political Group in America.In it, he made some big claims abouthow the organization was run.

He spoke to NPRs Brian Mann about his work there.

The term pour gasoline on the fire is from Waynes lips to Gods ears and was used regularly. If youre pandering to the fringe of the gun movement and you beat it into their head that Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are going to jump out of a black helicopter and take their guns and jackbooted thugs are just around the corner, its very easy to raise money off of fear.

What does he make of the groups influence? And what else did he see while he was there?We ask him about that and more.

We reached out to the National Rife Association about this show.

Lets get this straight a self-confessed wrongdoer who was terminated for cause is now glorifying himself, hawking books, and blaming everyone else? The facts are that Mr. Powell was fired for cause after his financial abuse was discovered by the accounting staff at the NRA, says Andrew Arulanandam, managing director, NRA Public Affairs. This is a fictional account of the NRA, period.Arulanandam continued, Mr. Powells words speak for themselves. As recently as last year, he was a full-throated supporter of Mr. LaPierre, the NRA, and its Second Amendment advocacy. Today, he has been outed as someone who abused the NRA for years directing contracts to family members, using NRA money to fly his family to Palm Beach, and other abuses.Arulanandam added, Here are the important points: the NRA is in great financial shape, enjoying record support, and moving on from the cloud of this individual and a handful of other fiduciaries who took advantage of the trust placed in them.

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Its Very Easy To Raise Money Off Of Fear: The NRA, According To A Former Inside | New Hampshire Public Radio - New Hampshire Public Radio

A new book suggests that President Trump understood the threats of the coronavirus even as he told the nation it was no worse than the seasonal flu. USA TODAY

Opinion: Donald Trump has built his entire political career on sending people into a panic. But ... not when it came to the greatest health threat we have faced in a century.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump explained why he lied to the public in the crucial early days of the pandemic, publicly proclaiming the novelcoronavirus no more dangerous than the flu while privately warning that it was deadly stuff.

I dont want people to be frightened, Trump told reporters on Wednesday.I dont want to create panic, as you say. And certainly, Im not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy.

This, from the president who on Thursday sent out this tweet:

Trumps entire political career is built on sending people into a frenzy, if not a full-blown panic

Whether its Mexicans who illegally cross the border (The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc. drug dealers, criminals, rapists, etc)

... Central American caravans. (Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy [sic]. Must change laws!") ...

...The Supreme Court, if he's not re-elected.(Radical justices will erase the Second Amendment, silence political speech and require taxpayers to fund extreme late-term abortion. They will give unelected bureaucrats the power to destroy millions of American jobs. They will remove the words under God from the Pledge of Allegiance. They will unilaterally declare the death penalty unconstitutional, even for the most depraved mass murderers. They will erase national borders, cripple police departments and grant new protections to anarchists, rioters, violent criminals and terrorists.) ...

...Or the Democrats. (Joe Biden and the radical, socialist Democrats would immediately collapse the economy. If they got in, they would collapse it. Youll have a crash the likes of which youve never seen before. Your stocks, your 401(k)s.).

Trump is a walking, talking, tweetingklaxon, forever blaring out a warning that the boogeyman is at the gate. FDR said there was nothing to fear but fear itself. Trump, meanwhile, warns us daily of the many dangers confronting the average American, from terrorists amassing at the bordertoanarchists invading our suburbs.

But not, apparently, from the greatest health threat we have faced in a century: a global pandemic that has killed more than190,000 Americans and counting.

One that for months our president publicly downplayed as it took hold across America.

We dont want to instill panic, he explained on Wednesday. We dont want to jump up and down and start shouting that we have a problem that is a tremendous problem, scare everybody.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com.

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Donald Trump says he didn't want to panic people ... then he tweeted this? - The Arizona Republic

Justin McFarlin, Opinion contributor Published 4:00 a.m. ET Sept. 9, 2020 | Updated 2:16 p.m. ET Sept. 9, 2020

Open carry and concealed carry are white privilege at protests and everywhere. I'm a Black, trained, licensed veteran afraid authorities will kill me.

I am an Army combat veteran and an NRA-certified pistol instructor. I own guns for hunting and personal protection. I have possessed concealed carry licenses in Virginia and North Carolina. I believe in the Second Amendment, but I wont even consider carrying a firearm openly in public. I havent exercised my right to carry a concealed handgun in more than four years.

The reason: I am Black.

It has become clear to me that open carry and concealed carry are white privileges permit or not. Despite having a license: I am afraid of being killed by police if I carry a gun in public.

I have good reason to be afraid. In 2016 in Minnesota, a Black school cafeteria worker named Philando Castile was killed during a routine traffic stop after merely mentioning the fact that he was legally in possession of a concealed firearm. Tamir Rice, a 12-year old Black boy in Ohio, an open carry state, was fatally shot by policein just seconds for holding a toy gun in 2014. That same year,John Crawford III was slain in a Walmart holding a BB gun that was for sale in the store.

There are too many more to mention.

On the other hand, just last month, when a 17-year old white male shot three people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, killing two, police wouldnt even accept his surrender. Despite the fact that he was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and onlookers clearly identified him as the shooter, the police let him walk by. Before eventually being arrested, he crossed state lines andgot to sleep in his own bed the night he killed two people and wounded another.

Compare that withthe excessive force used by authorities in protests sparked by the killingof George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Peaceful protesters many of whom were Black were harassed, arrested, pepper sprayed, tear gassedand beaten. Meanwhile, white counterprotesters again showed up openly carrying guns to intimidate them, making clear they were ready to use deadly force while law enforcementlooked on.

Increasingly, white protesters use open carry not just as an expression of privilegebut also as a way to intimidate Black Americans. At a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 against the removal of Confederate statues, and at racial justice counterprotests, guns have been used as an implicit symbol of white supremacy.

Protesters at an open carry protest on July 4, 2020, in Richmond, Virginia.(Photo: Eze Amos/ Getty Images)

That was on clear display when a St. Louis couple threatened Black Lives Matter protesters with an AR-15 and a pistol in June, and despite being charged with felonies,they were featured speakers at the Republican National Convention.

Day after day, the country that was founded on the words all men are created equal demonstrates that white citizens may carry firearms in protest, while Black citizens have limited rights to protest at all.

Mass shootings: Limiting magazine capacity saves lives,doesn't infringe on rights

But none of it surprises me. Black gun ownership has always been treated differently. An early post-bellum purpose of the newly formed Ku Klux Klan was to confiscate guns from Blacks in the South even if the guns had been obtained through service in the Union Army.

Lawmakers and law enforcement have long seen Black gun owners as a threat. In 1967, after a group of armed Black Panthers peacefully marched on the California Capitol, a state law banning open carry was enacted nearly immediately under Gov.Ronald Reagan. But no such law was passed this year after armed protesters demanded the end of stay-at-home orders at the Michigan Capitol.

During the 2015 protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after the police killing ofMichael Brown,Black men were arrested on suspicion of firearm possession despite being unarmed, while heavily armed whitemen claimedthey had police permissionto walk through the same city at the same time.

In each case, what these men are demonstrating is their privilege as white people to open carry guns wherever they want and the ability to implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, threaten violence if they dont get their way.

In obtaining my concealed carry license, I underwent training before being granted the privilege. It wasnt nearly as comprehensive as my military weapons training, but it was something. Meanwhile, open carry is permitted by default as a result of the silence of the law in 41 states which means that almost anyone who possesses an AR-15 or shotgun can legally carry in public, with no training requirement.

This country has a long road ahead in the fight for racial justice, but when it comes to open carry, we can take action sooner. States must prohibit firearms at demonstrations held on public property or at capitol buildings. If you want to protest, bring signs, not guns.

The NRA:The National Rifle Associationfaces its worst nightmare: accountability

Weak open carry laws should never be used to enable armed intimidation or suppression of the constitutional right to assemble and peacefully protest. More states should follow the example of the handful that already regulate the open carry of firearms in public, by prohibiting it or requiring a license. And where we have these laws, they must be equally enforced.

I carried a firearm on behalf of this country in uniform. But I cant feel safe carrying my own firearms here at home. Something must change.

Justin McFarlin is a service-disabled veteran of the war in Iraq, a former U.S. Army officer with over a decade of aerospace and defense experience, and a member of the Everytown for Gun Safety Veterans Advisory Council. Follow him on Twitter: @justinkmcfarlin

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I'm a licensed gun owner but I haven't carried in years. Why? I'm Black and I'm scared. - USA TODAY