Category: Guns

From Florida Carry’s press release:

TALLAHASSEE, FL, March 10, 2015 — A new anti-gun advertisement produced by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s astroturf propaganda efforts, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Bloomberg’s attempt to sell Floridians magical elixirs to keep them safe amounts to little more than wishful thinking, wild imagination and frankly, snake oil. Rather than addressing the realities of today’s on and off campus life, the release instead touts a new initiative – “Backpacks, Not Bullets”. It goes on to list the five bills dealing with school carry. Two of the bills deal with college/university campuses, and appear to be the focus of the Bloomberg release. Yet by combining the two disparate topics, the ad attempts to confuse viewers into seeing one issue – kids and guns together. That’s right, according to Everytown/MDA, a 25 or 30 year old grad student is no different than a five year old who has just mastered the shoelace! FACT: Adults are NOT kids. Colleges and universities are NOT elementary schools. HB 4005 and SB 176 would simply remove colleges and universities from the prohibited places list for licensed adult carriers, who can legally carry practically everywhere else in the state, and who do so with more responsibility than even law enforcement according to state government data. Licensees are prohibited by law from being able to protect themselves, yet the criminals who commit violent crimes on campus don’t seem to mind the fact that carry without a license is a felony. FACT: Colleges and universities are not as safe as one might think. According to the US Department of Education, 392 violent crimes (homicide, aggravated assault, forcible sexual assault, robbery, and arson) occurred on Florida campuses and in on-campus housing in 2013. Almost 400 felons didn’t care that what they did was illegal, and almost 400 victims were denied the potential of avoiding or stopping that crime. And this doesn’t count what happens in off-campus university housing, frat houses, or in the neighborhoods immediately surrounding campuses in the state. What does Everytown/MDA say about the safety and security of those “children”?  Just this weekend an armed home invasion attack took place in campus housing at the University of North Florida.  The armed attacker was out on bail when the attack occurred.  Despite being too young to have a concealed carry license, despite being prohibited from possessing guns pending trial, and despite the campus gun ban…  The only people who followed the law were the only people who didn’t have a chance to defend themselves. This isn’t about allowing guns on campus. Guns are already ON CAMPUS, in the hands of those who don’t care about laws or victims.

About Us: Florida Carry, Inc. is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental rights of all Floridians to keep and bear arms for self-defense as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 2 and 8 of the Florida Constitution. Florida Carry stands to represent our supporters, members, and millions of defensive arms owners of Florida. We are not beholden to any national organization’s agenda that may compromise that mission. Florida Carry works tirelessly toward striking down ill-conceived gun and weapons control laws that have been proven to provide safe havens to criminals and be deadly to law-abiding citizens.

The ATF released a statement backing away from their plan to reclassify M855 “green-tip” rounds as armor piercing.

“Although ATF endeavored to create a proposal that reflected a good faith interpretation of the law and balanced the interests of law enforcement, industry, and sportsmen, the vast majority of the comments received to date are critical of the framework, and include issues that deserve further study. Accordingly, ATF will not at this time seek to issue a final framework. After the close of the comment period, ATF will process the comments received, further evaluate the issues raised therein, and provide additional open and transparent process (for example, through additional proposals and opportunities for comment) before proceeding with any framework.”

The NRA and others are claiming victory, but I’m skeptical. It wouldn’t surprise me to see ATF “process the comments” and quietly try this again in six months.

Florida Carry is reporting on the Book of Face that the Suncoast Gun Show promoters is now providing tables to Florida Carry. Apparently it was a case of Florida Carry being mistaken for another group.

So, if you’re going to the gun show, make sure to stop by the Florida Carry table and join up if you haven’t already.

The NRA has backed a bill in the Senate that would allow national reciprocity for concealed carry license holders.

IMHO (and this is my blog), national reciprocity is the big legislative win we should be going for right now. It’s something we can easily explain to the general public. We just want our CCLs to be treated like drivers licenses.

My senators will be hearing from me on this issue. Will yours?

You’ve been able to buy long guns in other states, but doing so with handguns has been verboten. The court has decided that’s unconstitutional.

From Reason:

“The federal interstate handgun transfer ban is unique compared to other firearms restrictions because it does not target certain people (such as felons or the mentally ill), conduct (such as carrying firearms into government buildings or schools), or distinctions among certain classes of firearms (such as fully automatic weapons or magazine capacity). Instead,” Judge O’Connor wrote in Mance v. Holder, “the federal interstate handgun transfer ban targets the entire national market of handgun sales and directly burdens law-abiding, responsible citizens who seek to complete otherwise lawful transactions for handguns.”

Some are saying this is the death knell for local magazine restrictions or “approved” guns lists. I’m skeptical. The courts have been more lenient in those areas.

Still an excellent win from Alan Gura.

According to Fox News, the murder of three Muslims may have been over a parking space instead of theology.

The murder of three North Carolina college students was motivated by an ongoing dispute over a parking space, despite widespread speculation the victims were targeted by an avowed atheist because of their Muslim faith, police said.

First off, this guy was batshit insane. Using him to paint all atheists and/or progressives as violent murderers is just as wrong as when they accuse Second Amendment supporters of being at fault when there’s a mass shooting.

Here’s the takeaway – the anti-gunners do view everyone, including themselves, as being similar to this asshole. We’re all just a dispute away from pulling a gun and murdering someone(s). They have no concept that those of us who own and carry guns actually try to avoid or de-escalate fights because we understand that we are carrying lethal instruments.

When they call for new restrictions on our rights, remember – this is how they see us.