Renewed calls for gun control laws spur sales

WASHINGTON — Renewed calls for more restrictive gun laws, following a succession of fatal shootings in the United States, immediately appear to be generating a boost for the gun industry.

Newly released August records show that the FBI posted 1.7 million background checks required of gun purchasers at federally licensed dealers, the highest number recorded in any August since gun checks began in 1998. The numbers follow new monthly highs for June (1.5 million) and July (1.6 million), a period which spans a series of deadly gun attacks — from Charleston to Roanoke — and proposals for additional firearm legislation.

While the FBI does not track actual gun sales, as multiple firearms can be included in a transaction by a single buyer, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System's numbers are an indicator of a market upswing in the face of growing anxiety about access to guns.

"Whenever there is a call for gun control, sales increase,'' said Larry Keane, general counsel for the firearm industry trade association National Shooting Sports Foundation. "Unfortunately, this is a pattern that repeats itself.''

USA TODAY

Gun control measures debated in wake of Roanoke journalist killings

The summer trend is not on par with the panic buying boom that followed the 2012Newtown massacre, which jump-started state and federal campaigns for a host of new firearm measures. During the months that followed the Connecticut attack, which featured new calls for an assault weapons ban and expanded background checks, apprehensive gun buyers emptied the shelves of dealers across the country. Yet, the recent uptick represents a similar buying pattern that dates to the uneasy period before 1994 adoption of the assault weapons ban. (That ban expired in 2004.)

Virginia Del. Patrick Hope, a Democratic member of the state Assembly who proposed an expansion of background checks following last month's shooting deaths of two journalists near Roanoke, said the stockpiling of weapons represented an "over-reaction.''

Via: USA Today

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GABBY GIFFORDS, MARK KELLY: WE’RE FOR ‘GUN RESPONSIBILITY’ NOT ‘GUN CONTROL’

On August 20, the Essex News Daily ran a story in which Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords claimed they “actually do not support ‘gun control’ in the traditional sense of the phrase,” but “gun responsibility.”

This comes after they have spent nearly three years supporting new gun trafficking laws, new laws on gun show sales, new laws on internet sales, limits on ammunition magazine capacity, expanded background checks, and gun control ubiquitously under the guise of domestic violence prevention.

Yet they say they are not for gun control.

They supported expanded background checks when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) pushed them in 2013, in Washington state during the 2014 midterm elections, and, more recently, they sided with Sandy Hook Promise on SB 941 in Oregon.

Although SB 941 makes background checks universal and sets the stage for the state to confiscate privately-owned guns more easily, Kelly and Giffords say they are not for gun control.

On March 4 Giffords stood with Representative 

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA)

18%

 (D-CA-5th) to demand that every would-be gun owner pass the same background check her attacker passed, yet she and her husband claim they are not for gun control “in the traditional sense.”

According to the Essex News Daily, Kelly said, “Nobody likes to be controlled.” He went on to say that the gun control group he and Giffords launched simply supports “basic principles” to keep communities safer.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

Via: Breitbart

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Obama Pledges to Use Last 18 Months in Office Pushing Gun Control

(CNSNews.com) – President Obama on Thursday pledged to use his last 18 months in office to work on gun control, calling it “the one area where I feel that I’ve been most frustrated and most stymied.”

“If you ask me where has been the one area where I feel that I’ve been most frustrated and most stymied, it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient, common-sense gun safety laws – even in the face of repeated mass killings,” he told the BBC in an interview.

“And if you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it’s less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it’s in the tens of thousands," Obama continued.

“For us not to be able to resolve that issue has been something that is distressing, but it is not something that I intend to stop working on in the remaining 18 months.”

In the U.S., at least 34 Americans have been killed in terror attacks since 9/11. Those attacks include the 2009 killing of 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and the Chattanooga, Tennessee shootings last week which cost the lives of four U.S. Marines and a sailor.

Abroad, another 363 U.S. citizens have been killed in terror attacks since 9/11, according to data accumulated from State Department country reports on terrorism – or in years where data is incomplete, from the department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs’ record of citizens killed due to “terrorist action.”

The annual breakdown of terrorist fatalities abroad is 24 in 2014, 16 in 2013, 10 in 2012, 17 in 2011, 15 in 2010, 9 in 2009, 33 in 2008, 19 in 2007, 28 in 2006, 56 in 2005, 74 in 2004, 35 in 2003 and 27 in 2002.

Via: CNS News

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Dem senators call for executive action on gun control

Connecticut Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both Democrats, have called on President Obama to take executive action to close a “loophole” in federal gun control legislation.

 

The so-called “default to proceed” rule under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act allows firearm dealers to sell a weapon to an individual if they have not been notified by the FBI of a buyer’s criminal background within three business days.

 

If the background check has not been completed within three days, the dealer has discretion to sell the firearm.

The rule allowed Dylann Roof, the alleged killer of nine people at a predominantly black church in Charleston, S.C., to purchase a gun even though he was arrested on a felony drug charge and admitted to possessing drugs.

 

"We shouldn't give known criminals the benefit of the doubt when it comes to guns. If law enforcement needs more than three days to ensure they're not giving weapons to dangerous people, Washington must allow them the time to do their jobs,” Blumenthal and Murphy said in a joint statement. 

 

“If we refuse to act, we're just biding time until this happens again."

 

The criminal background check on Roof was not initiated until two days after Roof first attempted to purchase the gun and did not discover his admission of drug possession until five days later.

 

FBI Director James Comey told reporters Friday that Roof “should not have been allowed to purchase the gun he allegedly used that evening,” referring to the deadly June 17 attack.

 

Republicans, however, blame the failure to bar Roof from obtaining a gun on “bureaucratic bungling” and say additional regulation is not necessary.

 

“It’s disastrous that this bureaucratic mistake prevented existing laws from working and blocking an illegal gun sale. The facts undercut attempts to use the tragedy to enact unnecessary gun laws,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement.

Via: The Hill

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[VIDEO] Obama admin looks to ban some Social Security recipients from owning guns

The Obama administration wants to keep people collecting Social Security benefits from owning guns if it is determined they are unable to manage their own affairs, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The push, which could potentially affect millions whose monthly disability payments are handled by others, is intended to bring the Social Security Administration in line with laws that prevent gun sales to felons, drug addicts, immigrants in the United States illegally, and others, according to the paper.

The language of federal gun laws restricts ownership to people who are unable to manage their own affairs due to "marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease” – which could potentially affect a large group within Social Security, the LA Times reported.

If Social Security, which has never taken part in the background check system, uses the same standard as the Department of Veterans Affairs – which is the idea floated – then millions of beneficiaries could be affected, with about 4.2 million adults receiving monthly benefits that are managed by “representative payees.”

The latest move is part of the efforts by President Obama to strengthen gun control following the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012.

Critics are blasting the plan, saying that expanding the list of people who cannot own guns based on financial competence is wrongheaded.

The ban, they argue, would keep guns out of the hands of some dangerous people, but would also include people who simply have a bad memory or have a hard time balancing a checkbook.

The background check for gun ownership started in 1993 by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, named after White House Press Secretary James Brady, who was partially paralyzed after being shot in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

Gun stores are required to run the names of potential buyers through a computerized system before every sale.

Via: Fox News

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PELOSI USES MURDER BY ILLEGAL TO TOUT GUN CONTROL

Democrats held a press conference yesterday pushing for more gun control after the Charleston shooting and Pelosi made sure to mention the murder of Kate Steinle, calling it another example of ‘gun violence’, suggesting it’s why we need more gun control:

The gun used in Kate’s murder was stolen from a federal agent which means the gun was obtained criminally and there’s not a single law in this nation that would have prevented that.

As a side note, the murderer in Charleston also obtained his gun legally as well. LEGALLY.

More to the point though, it was an illegal who committed the murder and if he hadn’t been here Kate would still be alive!

We don’t need more gun control, we need more ‘illegal’ control!

But Pelosi has an agenda to push so to hell with the facts.

Via: The Right Scoop

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Dems confront past failures on gun control

DEMS CONFRONT PAST FAILURES ON GUN CONTROL

“When I ran in 2008, I in fact did not say I would fix it. I said we could fix it.” –President Obama at a Beverly Hills fundraiser discussing the mass murder at a Charleston, S.C. church.
The only really clear mandate after President Obama’s 2012 re-election was to not be Mitt Romney. Obama had won more in spite of his policies than because of them, but had successfully convinced voters that Romney was too risky a pick.

After the grindingest grind of an election in presidential political history, Obama had won another term of what, exactly? Endless battles with the GOP House on taxes and spending? Foreign policy headaches? More scorched earth fights protecting ObamaCare? Blech.

But at that very moment, a meteor crashed into American public life: The senseless slaughter of 20 children and six educators at a Connecticut elementary school less than two weeks before Christmas. A fatherless, mentally ill 20-year-old had killed his mother, stolen her guns and laid waste to a group of students at a nearby school, all aged 6 and 7.

Obama wept in private and shed tears in public, as most parents must have. He also found new purpose for the second term of his presidency. Two days after the murders, Obama would make a mighty vow: “In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens … in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this.”

Via: Fox News

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Black activists fear ‘race war’ amid Charleston shooting

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Black community activists raised alarms Thursday about the mass murder at the historic black church potentially sparking race riots in Charleston, South Carolina.

“We don’t need any more bloodshed and we don’t need a race war,” pleaded J. Denise Cromwell, a black community activists. “Charleston has a lot of racial tension. … We’re drowning and someone is pouring water over us.”

Ms. Cromwell said that nerves were still raw from the fatal shooting two months ago of a black man, Walter Scott, by a white police officer in neighboring North Charleston, which ignited major protests.

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SEE ALSO: Obama calls for gun control in wake of ‘senseless’ S.C. church murders

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Black activist Michelle Felder, 58, said she feared the city’s young people “aren’t thinking” and might seek revenge, an emotional reaction that she said she understood but was mature enough to resist.

“This is 2015 and we are still going through the same things we went through 50 years ago,” she said. “This is so sickening. We are so tired.”

Religious and political leaders have repeatedly called for calm since the shooting Wednesday night.

Via: Washington Times

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Gun Control Success: 30 Shot In Chicago Since Friday…Update: Reportedly Now Up To 42, 12 More Folks Shot…

The article linked above only covers the Saturday shootings. This one covers the Friday shootings, including of an 81 year old grandmother. “This is the genocide that happens in our backyard,” said one neighbor.

But #BlackLivesMatter, right?

Via: Weasel Zippers

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BUYING GUNS ON BLACK FRIDAY BECOMES TRADITION UNDER OBAMA

Although much of the gun control push under President Obama has failed to result in new laws, it has succeeded in creating a new tradition where shoppers scoop up guns on Black Friday so they can place them under the tree on Christmas Day.

Consider the numbers: in 2008, ABC News reported 97,848 background checks on Black Friday. In 2009, the numbers remained somewhat static but then began to grow exponentially as the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats began to flex their muscles.  By 2011, there were 129,166 background checks on Black Friday alone. 

As the National Shooting Sports Foundation reported, the jump in 2011 marked "a 32.01 percent increase over" the sales on 2008 Black Friday--the year Obama was first elected.

In 2012, the number of Black Friday background checks rose to 154,873. Remember that because numerous guns can be purchased with each background check, these figures don't even begin to indicate how many firearms may actually have been sold. 

This information is not lost on retailers like Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, and Wal-Mart. Cabela's literally gave away shotguns to early bird customers in some cities on Black Friday--those receiving the guns went through a background check--and Huffington Post reported that Bass Pro Shops was running hot deals on Bushmaster AR-15 rifles. 

Wal-Mart ran a "Manager's Special Sale" that translated into "20 percent off select rifles and shotguns."

Buying a firearm on Black Friday has fast become an American tradition under President Obama. 

Via: Breitbart

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Kerry to sign UN arms treaty opposed by Senate, NRA

Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to sign an arms trade treaty opposed by the Senate and the gun lobby as early as Wednesday, and Republicans aren't happy about it.

Kerry's plan to sign the treaty on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City this week has sparked immediate criticism from GOP opponents. 

“This treaty is already dead in the water in the Senate, and they know it,” said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services. “The Administration is wasting precious time trying to sign away our laws to the global community and unelected U.N. bureaucrats.”

A majority of Senate oppose the treaty because it covers small arms, making ratification impossible in the short term.

Kerry had already announced in June that the administration would sign the treaty as soon as it was satisfied with its translations into the different official U.N. languages. Reuters reported that he is likely to sign the treaty this week.

The news sparked immediate criticism from Republicans. 

An Inhofe amendment to the Senate Budget resolution in March blocking the U.S. from joining the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty garnered 53 “yes” votes.

The National Rifle Association insists the pact is a U.N.-backed gun grab. Advocates of the treaty say it's only aimed at regulating international sales to prevent terrorists and other rogue actors from getting their hands on weapons.

Via: The Hill

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Washington Navy Yard Already Suffers the Restrictions That Gun Control Advocates Favor

FBIYet another mass shooting, and flags fly across the country at half-mast to mourn the 13 dead at the Washington Navy Yard—well, 12 of them, anyway, since one of the bodies was that of the murderer. Gun control advocates wasted no time in demanding new restrictions on the means of self-defense. Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), who used to carry a pistol for her own defense, responded to the crime by saying, "Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country. We must do more to stop this endless loss of life." But the unhappy truth is that the scene of the crime, the Washington Navy Yard, is subject to many of the restrictions that gun control advocates favor. And the perpetrator, Aaron Alexis, had passed a background check for a security clearance. Unfortunately, laws and databases don't create magic forcefields against criminal intent.

Navy public affairs officers have full voicemail boxes, today, for obvious reason, so it's difficult to learn if there were specific restrictions that applied to the Washington Navy Yard or to Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters, where the shootings took place. But military installations, despite their obvious role in waging war, come pretty close to being gun-free zones, given the rules by which personnel and visitors must abide. Or, if not strictly gun-free-zones, they're subject to tight regulations that keep most (law-abiding) people largely disarmed.

Via: Reason

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Reid: ‘We Don’t Have the Votes’ for Background Checks

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday that he would need to have enough votes for any gun control legislation before bringing another bill to the floor, while leaving open the option for a narrower measure than the failed background check bill from earlier this year.

“We’re going to move this up about as quickly as we can, but we’ve got to get the votes first. We don’t have the votes,” Reid told reporters in the Capitol, just a day after a mass shooting at Washington’s Navy Yard claimed the lives of 13 people, including the shooter.

The Senate could not clear a 60-vote hurdle on a background check bill in April, falling five votes short. Reid was then asked whether he could support advancing a narrower, mental-health-related measure and the majority leader indicated he wasn’t even sure there would be votes for such a bill but did not close the door to it, saying Congress should do “anything we can to help prevent” future mass shootings.

“I was asked, what about mental-health provisions, which is something we worked hard on. Sen. [Debbie] Stabenow worked really hard on that and that’s something we’ll look at, but I think to show how elementary this is … we want to stop individuals with mental illness from buying guns. We want to stop people who are felons from being able to purchase a gun. That’s what that’s all about,” Reid said, alluding to the popular-with-the-public background check provisions.

Other senators expressed a weariness about yet another mass shooting, yet a certain resignation to futility pervaded the Capitol, with lawmaker after lawmaker shrugging his shoulders at the idea of finding enough votes to pass a bill. Top Democrats Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, who chairs the committee of jurisdiction, seemed to think that Monday’s shooting did not change the Senate vote calculus. Neither did No. 2 Democrat Richard J. Durbin.

Less-battle-hardened members tried to express optimism while acknowledging the realities of a divided Congress.

Via: Roll Call

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Gun Control Failed in Congress. It’s Happening Anyway.

Gun-control legislation failed loudly following the Newtown school shooting, but that has not stopped President Obama from leaving Congress behind to launch a broad gun-control campaign of his own.

Between the December 2012 massacre and the Navy Yard mass shooting Monday, Obama has taken 25 separate gun-control initiatives, all of which came from executive actions that did not require congressional authorization.

The president's highest-profile move was to nominate and get confirmed Todd Jones as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, filling a seat that had sat empty for more than six years. But Obama has also initiated a series of quieter initiatives, including new rules to keep guns away from felons, better coordinate mental-illness screenings, and better preparing local law enforcement and schools to respond to shootings.

The White House readily admits its actions alone cannot solve the nation's epidemic of gun violence, but given that an expanded-background-check bill stalled in the Senate in April, the executive orders are—for now—Obama's only available option.

"Even without Congress, my administration will keep doing everything it can to protect more of our communities," a visibly angry Obama said after the bill fell six votes shy of the 60 needed to break a filibuster.

For Obama, the actions' main advantage is that they cannot be blocked by the powerful gun lobby—including the National Rifle Association—that successfully stymied the president's legislative push. Down the line, the rules could be changed by a subsequent administration, or Congress could hamper their efficacy by at some point cutting the funding to enforce them. But, for now at least, Obama can move forward without waiting for anyone else's permission.

Most of Obama's orders are aimed at reducing administrative weaknesses that complicate the enforcement of existing gun laws, said John Hudak, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.

It will be years, however, before anyone knows whether these policies have any measurable effect in reducing gun violence, Hudak said. "Because these policies were either launched in January or the conversation about them was launched in January, we certainly don't have any evidence about their effectiveness one way or another," he said.

Via: National Journal

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