riends who own guns, and nearly three-quarters have fired a gun. The prevalence of gun violence and gun ownership has made gun controlamong the most hotly (and frequently)contested issues in the United States.

Advocates for gun control want tighter restrictions on the sale, possession, and use of firearms, while advocates of gun rights see ownership as an essential right protected by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The debate heats up each time a mass shootingdefined as a shooting involving the death or injury of four or more peopleoccurs, which now happens, on average, every day in the United States. Six of the 10 deadliest U.S. shootings have happened in the past decade.

Reform advocates point to evidence showingfewer people die from gun violence in states with strong gun laws. Case in point: Alaska has the highest gun death rate and some of the weakest gun laws, while Hawaii has the lowest gun death rate and some of the strongest gun laws.Advocates for reform have steadily gathered momentum:Some young survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, for example,have proposed a blueprint for comprehensive gun control. Everytown for Gun Safety, founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has spent millions of dollars to promote gun control through ballot initiatives and state elections and has challenged the clout of the National Rifle Association (NRA) at the federal level. From 2017 to 2019there was a rise in the amount of Americans who support stricter gun laws.

Meanwhile, well-organized and well-funded groupssuch as the NRA, along with more hardline groups such as Gun Owners of America, fight hard in WashingtonD.C.for lawmakers support. Gun advocates argue that more guns, not less, will help to prevent or stop shootingsand that stricter gun-control laws will only keep guns out of the hands of honest people.

As gun violence spread to protests and the presidential election looms, the debate over guns in the United States only amplifies. Here are 25 terms critical to understanding and participating in the conversation about the issue.

You may also like: How Americans feel about 30 major issues

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25 terms you should know to understand the gun control debate - Daily Local News

The Supreme Court decision which opened the door to allow almost any American to own firearms specifically stated that the Second Amendment does not prohibit laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places.

In the District of Columbia vs. Heller in 2008, the court ruled 5-4 that citizens have the right to possess firearms even when not in a state militia, and people can use them for lawful purposes, which include self-defense in their homes, according to Britannica.com.

Using that backdrop, an armed caravan driving into the center of Portland to confront a group of protesters with whom they strongly disagree should have been disarmed by the police.

The court referred to schools and government buildings as examples of sensitive places but it is hard to imagine any place more sensitive than a protest line being openly challenged by a caravan of armed counter-protesters.

We have seen twice in less than a week that the presence of gun-toting vigilantes has resulted in unnecessary deaths during protests that were against unnecessary deaths.

Defending ones homes with lethal force is legal. Racing to a protest with ones personal armory is ridiculous, often dangerous and in no way defendable.

Police departments should bar firearms in any future similar situations.

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Our view: Heller ruling could be used in 'sensitive' locations - Journal Inquirer

Black Lives Matter and others hold a peaceful protest in Carson City on Aug. 29, 2020.(Photo: JASON BEAN)

A firearm accidentally discharged towardthe end ofa Black Lives Matter protest Saturdayin Carson City could have had disastrous consequences, according to law enforcement.

The moral to this weekend is guns and demonstrations dont belong in the same place at the same time," Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said. "Unfortunately, there are no laws against it. People who are carrying weapons need to apply extra safety measures. Its their responsibility. Folks attending demonstrations should really think twice about carrying a weapon down there. We got very lucky.

Had the circumstances been different, people could have been hurt and it could have been a disaster.

In video footage shot by This is Reno reporter Don Dike Anukam, a gunshot can be heard going off at the Carson City capital complex. The gunshot goes off about an hour and a half into the video as Anukam is interviewing someone.

Anukam started streaming on Facebook Live just after 4 p.m., which places the gunshot at around 5:30 p.m.

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Furlong said the protest started around 2 p.m., and that the gunshot happened after most protesters had left the area.

"The incident followed the end of the weekly demonstration that was otherwise peaceful," Furlong said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

After the gunshot, Anukam turns the camera toward Carson Street, where a man in a red shirt is shown on his knees next to a large firearm with his hands raised above his head. As law enforcement approach him, the man stands up and steps away from the gun.

In the video footage, the firearm is seized by law enforcement and the man is questioned for about 20 minutes. Anukam stops the man as he is walking away from law enforcement and asks him what happened.

The man identifies himself as Grant McBeth, 22, of Sparks, and says the discharge is accidental.

My rifle was this way, pointed upward with the sling on, he tells Anukam. I accidentally placed my hand where the trigger was.

News: The story behind the photo that came to define the Black Lives Matter protest in Minden

Before McBeth can describe what happened after, someone advises him to stop talking. While on camera, McBeth tells a woman that the discharge was an accident.

Furlong said the bullet came from a knockoff version of an AK-47 and that the bullet went straight into the air.

Everybody recognized from the onset this was not a shootingbut an accidental discharge, Furlong said. He did not intend the gun to go off.

Furlong added, "Its ridiculous that he had this weapon on fire and not on safe The onus is on the person carrying the weapon.

Nevada law allows citizens to open carry firearms without any sort of safety training, according to Sharon Oren, owner of Maccabee Arms Ltd. in Reno.

News: Someone wrote 'Black Lives Matter' in the Black Rock Desert. It's 4 miles wide.

Theoretically, you can just have one on you, he said. Now, responsible gun ownership is responsible gun ownership. If you own a firearm, be proficient with it. This is the type of person giving the Second Amendment and responsible gun owners a bad name.

To conceal carry a weapon in Nevada, gun owners must take an eight-hour class, he said.

Furlong said the case will go to the Carson City District Attorneys Office for review to see if McBeth should be charged.

We hope that everybody calms down from the weekend and this past weekends events dont become agitation sources, he said.

Amy Alonzo covers the outdoors, recreation and environment for Nevada and Lake Tahoe.Reach her at aalonzo@gannett.comor (775) 741-8588.Here's how you can support ongoing coverage and local journalism.

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Carson City sheriff: Accidental firearm discharge at BLM protest 'could have been a disaster' - Reno Gazette-Journal

PENDLETON Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts praised the proactive safety planning of organizers with the Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday, Aug. 29, as a key in keeping the event peaceful.

And aside from a few minor incidents between some protesters and counterprotesters, the planning paid off.

I think what really gave us an opportunity to prepare to the best of our ability was the willingness on the part of the BLM organizers to communicate, Roberts said on Aug. 31.

Roberts said he held five meetings with the protests organizers Briana Spencer, Nolan Bylenga and John Landreth in the days leading up to the event, and said they were communicative, engaged, and flexible in their planning.

Roberts said he also made contact with those associated with the counterprotest, which he noted as being more loosely organized.

In addition to 11 Pendleton police officers stationed at the event, Roberts said there were also two deputies from the Umatilla County Sheriffs Office, two officers from the Umatilla Tribal Police Department and 10 troopers from Oregon State Police providing assistance on Aug. 29.

While police had a number of operational and contingency plans in place ahead of time, according to Roberts, there was still the need to be fluid and reactive to unexpected events.

Probably the most significant thing that occurred that wasnt anticipated was when some of the Three Percenters decided to rush the back of the march and created a lot of conflict, he said.

As the protests planned speeches ended at Roy Raley Park on Southwest Court Avenue, those with the Black Lives Matter group took to the streets of Pendleton, while law enforcement officers helped block and secure the route from other traffic as planned.

However, some counterprotesters carrying flags and firearms, who were standing on the south side of Court Avenue quickly crossed the street and attempted to follow the march. That resulted in verbal jawing and minor pushing and shoving between some protesters and counterprotesters while Pendleton police, including Roberts himself, tried to keep the groups separated.

At one point, Roberts said a firearm from one of the counterprotesters fell to the ground, exemplifying the heightened safety risks brought on by those who introduced firearms to the event.

I get the whole Second Amendment piece of this, but why carry the firearm? Roberts said.

Though the counterprotest claimed to be there to voice support for police, Roberts said the actions and intentions of some in attendance were merely antagonistic.

When I challenged them verbally they wanted to debate with me their rights and said they were here to support the police, Roberts said of the counterprotesters who tried to trail the march. My position is youre not supporting me by creating more work for me or making my job more difficult.

As the march returned to Roy Raley Park and participants on both sides began dispersing shortly after 6 p.m., a small group of Black Lives Matter protesters remained on the north side of Court and traded obscenities, insults and offensive gestures with a group of counterprotesters who remained on the south side until groups left sometime after 10 p.m.

The fact that we have to stand there for multiple hours and endure that Im less than impressed, Roberts said. Its not representative of this community and, quite frankly, its offensive to a lot of people.

Along with trying to keep each group to their respective side of the street, Roberts said nearly every officer at the protest was on overtime pay.

Make no mistake, it was an expensive day for the city and state, Roberts said.

Roberts also provided a written statement to organizers that was read at the start of the event and supported protesters voicing their pain over the killings of George Floyd and other people of color, which he condemned as inexcusable, while urging protesters to hold officials accountable and seek change peacefully.

Rest assured, I applaud your unwillingness to accept the status quo, but I also challenge you to do everything within your power to affect the change you seek through peaceful dialogue and debate, not just presenting problems with no thoughtful solutions, Bylenga read from Roberts statement.

Roberts stressed his statements werent political or personal but were completely his own words and thoughts on the current protest movement.

I cant think of a more contemporary issue that requires leaders to lead than this activity thats going on currently across this nation involving civil unrest, Roberts said.

After the event, Bylenga, a local organizer and Democratic candidate for House District 58, praised the efforts of police to maintain safety between the groups.

Chief Roberts has done everything in his power to let everyone here exercise their rights, Bylenga said.

A Facebook message from one person associated with organizing the counterprotest indicated they couldnt be reached for comment by deadline on Aug. 29. A message from the East Oregonian to the person listed as the host of the protests Facebook event went unanswered.

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Pendleton police chief praises proactive planning of BLM organizers - East Oregonian

by Charles C.W. Cooke - Saturday, August 29, 2020

Defenders of the right to keep and bear arms might be forgiven for wondering whether the U.S. Supreme Courts copy of the United States Constitution is missing a few pages.

It has been twelve years since the Court affirmed in D.C. v. Heller that the right of the people to keep and bear arms actually means the right of the people to keep and bear arms, and ten years since the court affirmed in McDonald v. Chicago that the Second Amendment applies to the states as well as to the federal governmentand yet, as valuable as those decisions are, the last decade has made it clear that the U.S. Supreme Court is not especially interested in ensuring that they are enforced. In June, the justices continued this unfortunate trend by denying certiorari on no fewer than ten Second Amendment cases. For now, then, the right will remain a mere abstraction to the nations network of courts.

This matters, as it is difficult to think of another right that has been so willfully ignored and abused by our lower-court judges. In case after case, panels at the state and circuit levels have elected either to pretend that Heller and McDonald never happened at all, or, alternatively, to parse their language so carefully as to render those cases meaningless. Despite this insubordinationand it is just that: insubordinationthe Court has done nothing.

This abdication of responsibility has not sat well with all of the justices. Teaming up first with Justices Scalia and Alito, and then with Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, Justice Clarence Thomas has taken to dissenting when the Court declines to take an important gun case. The Second Amendment, Thomas has complained, is a disfavored right in this Court, and its steadfast refusal to consider gun-related appeals stands in marked contrast to the Courts willingness to summarily reverse courts that disregard our other constitutional decisions. Ultimately, Thomas has concluded, the Courts unwillingness to step in has had the effect of relegating the Second Amendment to a second-class right.

In and of itself, the Courts refusal to do its job is a big problem: A right delayed, we are told, is a right denied. But, as time rolls on, it is hard not to agree with Justice Thomas when he suggests that the continued refusal to hear Second Amendment cases only enables this kind of defiance. In law, as elsewhere, human beings respond to incentives, and at present, the incentives all line up in the wrong direction. Why did the Fourth and Seventh Circuits ignore the plain language of Heller in upholding bans on the most commonly owned rifles in America? Why has the Ninth Circuit allowed California to turn the right to carry into a privilege for the well-connected? Why do New Jerseys flagrantly illegal gun laws still exist? Because the judges who heard those cases knew that the chance of their work being reviewed and overturned by the Supreme Court was vanishingly small, and they acted accordingly.

For those of us who believe that the U.S. Constitution should be read and upheld as it is written, it has proven extremely frustrating that the U.S. Supreme Court seems willing to involve itself in all sorts of areas that are not mentioned anywhere in the document, but seems unwilling to protect a right that is explicitly mentioned in the text. That most of Americas progress in restoring the Second Amendment has come from the people themselves is a blessing indeed; the story of the last three decades has been the story of legislatures, at the behest of voters, changing their laws to minimize restrictions on law-abiding gun owners. But we have a Constitution so that the people who are left behind have somewhere to appeal. For now, at least, the Court seems to have shut its doors on them.

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Parting Shot: The U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Give Us Our Freedom - America's 1st Freedom

First lady Melania Trump closes the second night of the Republican National Convention with an address on opportunity in America, but also division. Associated Press

The second night of the Republican National Convention painted a picture of a compassionate White House in action. But it also showed the blurring of long-standing traditions, and maybe laws, about not mixing politics and government.

President Donald Trump pardoned a man who robbed a Nevada bank and now runs a nonprofit. Trump conducted a small naturalization ceremony inside the White House. Mike Pompeo broke from previous secretaries of state by not only giving a convention address, but doing so from Jerusalem.

First lady Melania Trump wrapped up the night with a speech from the renovated Rose Garden, telling a largely unmasked audience seated on the lawn that her husbands administration has been relentless in its effort to find a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19.

"Donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible pandemic," she said.

Before ending her address, she alluded to her husbands brash reputation. "Total honesty is what we as citizens deserve from our president," she said. "Whether you like it or not, you always know what he's thinking."

Her speech didnt leave much work for fact-checkers, but other remarks from the presidents adult children, a former impeachment lawyer and his economic adviser did.

Experts also hadplenty to sayabout top administration officials possibly violating the Hatch Act, a 1939 law that limits government officials from mixing political activities with their official duties.

Heres what we fact-checked from the RNCs second night.

Eric Trump, son of U.S. President Donald Trump, pre-records his address to the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium on August 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. 603791(Photo: Drew Angerer, Getty Images)

"Biden has pledged to defund the police and take away your cherished Second Amendment."

Both claims areFalse.

Biden has directlysaidhe does not support defunding the police. He said that abuse of power in police departments must stop and reforms are needed. But hes said police departments should be given the money they need to institute changes. Biden proposed an additional $300 million for community policing.

Bidensplan to end gun violencecalls for banning the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and for the regulation of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act. His plan also calls for a buy back of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. But it does not say the Second Amendment should be revoked. "Its within our grasp to end our gun violence epidemic and respect the Second Amendment, which is limited," his plan says.

In a heated exchange with an auto worker in Detroit in March, Bidenrejectedthe idea that he supported taking guns away from people.

"Biden has pledged to stop border wall construction and give amnesty and health care to all illegal immigrants."

Some elements of this claim are true but need clarification.

Biden hassaid"there will not be another foot of wall constructed" if he is elected president. "I'm going to make sure that we have border protection, but it's going to be based on making sure that we use high-tech capacity to deal with it and at the ports of entry," Biden said during aninterviewaired Aug. 6.

Bidensayshe supports a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living illegally in the country; they would have to have paid taxes and pass a background check. Some argue any path is a form of amnesty. Thecommon reference for amnestyin modern U.S. politics is the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, signed by President Ronald Reagan. The law paved the way for immigrants who were in the country illegally to become lawful permanent residents if they met certain requirements, including being in the country by Jan. 1, 1982.

Biden hassaidthat people should have access to health care, regardless of immigration status; he has not said it should be free. A task force comprised of appointees of Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.recommendedthat Biden extend Affordable Care Act coverage to immigrants illegally in the country who are protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. It recommended allowing additional immigrants illegally in the country to also buy health insurance, without financial assistance from the government.

"My father on the other hand, delivered the largest tax cuts in American history."

False.Several billssince 1980 were larger than the2017 tax bill, measured not only by contemporary dollars but also by inflation-adjusted dollars and as a percentage of gross domestic product, which is a measure of the size of the overall economy. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the recent tax bill is the fourth-largest since 1940. And as a percentage of GDP, it ranks seventh.Weve summarized the tax laws here.

"A corrupt Ukrainian oligarch put Hunter on the board of his gas company, even though he had no experience in Ukraine or in the energy sector. None. Yet he was paid millions to do nothing."

Bondi has a point that Hunter hadno experience in Ukraine or the energy sector.

Despite the lack of expertise, he joined the board of Burisma beginning in 2014 when his father as vice president was publicly representing U.S. policy on the country, which had become the center of a tug-of-war between Russia and the West.

Most of thecriticismwevefoundfocused on the conflict of interest Hunter Biden created by accepting the position. We foundno evidenceto suggest Joe Biden did anything wrong or inappropriate in his official capacity as vice president.

Hunter Bidens work attracted attention at the time. Theoligarch behind the firm, Mykola Zlochevsky, faced investigations for money laundering and tax evasion. (Zlochevsky and the company have denied the allegations.)

Staff at the State Department said they expressed concerns in 2015 when Hunter Biden started serving on the board of Burisma.

The details of what Hunter did have been mysterious.Reuters, using unnamed sources, reported that Hunter weighed in during scheduled meetings but did little of substance. The report suggests he was compensated for contributing his high-profile name.

Exactly how much Hunter Biden was paid remains unclear. As a director, Biden made up to $50,000 per month some months,according tothe New York Times. He left Burisma in spring 2019, around the time that the elder Biden announced his 2020 presidential run.

In 2019, the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives launched animpeachment inquiryinto Trump for withholding aid to Ukraine while asking the government there to look into the Bidens activities.

Wefound no evidencethat Hunter Biden himself was investigated by Ukrainian or American authorities for his role as a board member of Burisma.

Read more of our fact-checking of Bondi's case against the Bidensin this story.

Tiffany Trump speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020.(Photo: Republican National Convention)

"And if you believe in expanding quality and affordable healthcare, only President Trump, my father, signed Right to Try into law, the favored nations clause, and other actions to lower drug prices and keep Americans from getting ripped off."

This is somewhat misleading. TheRight to Try lawthat Trump signed in 2018 law allows individuals who have life threatening conditions, have tried all approved treatment options and cannot participate in clinical trials to access unapproved treatments. It did not, however, lower drug prices.

Trump also signed anexecutive orderon July 24, that both hehas referenced as the "favored nations clause." But it has not been put into action. Nor has the text of this executive order been made public, so the details of how it would be executed are unclear. The idea of the "favored nations" proposal is that the U.S. would pay similar prices as European countries do for some Medicare Part B physician-administered drugs. This proposal has been strongly opposed by drugmakers andexperts told usthey were skeptical that it would actually be implemented.

While Trump has long talked about lowering drug prices as one of his top health care goals, he has made little progress in doing so, outside of issuing several executive orders that have yet to be enacted.

Says Joe Biden "voted for the Iraq War He supported war in Serbia, Syria, Libya."

This isMostly True.

Biden as a senator voted for resolutions that supported interventions in Iraq and Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).

As vice president, Biden publicly followed the policies of the Obama administration, which included interventions in Syria and Libya. Bidens campaign pointed to 2016 reporting that said Biden within the White House argued against intervention in Libya.

President Donald Trump inherited "a stagnant economy" and then "rebuilt" it.

The idea that Trump inherited a weak economy from President Barack Obama and turned it into a strong one isFalse and that was before COVID-19 through the country back into a recession. In the big picture, Obama inherited the most severe recession in decades. Trump inherited a slow but steady recovery several years in the making.

For instance, for unemployment rates and median weeks of unemployment, the declines under Obama were at least as fast if not faster than they were under Trump, pre-coronavirus. That holds for several racial and ethnic groups as well as women. The pattern of monthly job gains was also similar under both Obama and Trump.

Inflation-adjusted wages fell for much of Obamas first term, but they began rising again during his second term. Their path under Trump has been rising on much the same trajectory.

The poverty rate and food stamp use declined under Trump, but those declines began during Obamas final years in office. The big declines in foreclosures, bankruptcies and bank failures occurred under Obama, with marginal advances under Trump. Even the stock market, which Trump often notes has risen to record highs on his watch, rose at roughly similar rates under both presidents.

Its important to remember that no president has total control over the factors affecting the economy.

The pandemic "was awful. Health and economic impacts were tragic. Hardship and heartbreak were everywhere. But presidential leadership came swiftly and effectively, with an extraordinary rescue for health and safety to successfully fight the coronavirus."

To hear chief White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow say it, the pandemic is in the rearview mirror. There are states, such as Texas and Florida, where a deadly surge has eased. Nationally, however, the death toll continues to climb.

Data from theCovid Tracking Projectshow deaths topping 170,000. And the recent rise in deaths is only slightly less compared with the early months of the pandemic.

TheInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluationat the University of Washington estimates that the number of deaths will exceed 300,000 by Dec. 1. That would be nearly double the deaths seen so far.

Kudlow offered an optimistic picture of the economic recovery and the growth to come, telling Americans to expect 20% growth in a "V-shaped recovery" in the second half of the year.

But much hinges on the course of the virus. Current trends show an ongoing threat to the prosperity Kudlow described.

"Margaret Sanger was a racist who believed in eugenics. Her goal when founding Planned Parenthood was to eradicate minorities."

This statementis misleading.Sanger has been routinely criticized for supporting eugenics the belief of improving the population by controlled breeding for desirable characteristics. But historians and scholars who have studied Sangers life say her opinions concerned public health, and were not specific to race.

The basic concept that humanity could be improved by selective breeding was firmly held belief for many in the years before World War II. Winston Churchill, Herbert Hoover, Theodore Roosevelt, George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells all supported the eugenics movement. The philosophy fell out of favor afterNazis adopted eugenicsto support exterminating non-Aryan races.

Still, Planned Parenthoodrecently announcedthat it would remove Sangers name from its Manhattan Health Center over her eugenics beliefs, and there issome disagreementabout her views and whether they should be reevaluated amid protests against systemic racism and a pandemic that has disproportionately affected minorities.

Sanger was a birth control activist, which means that she wanted women to be able to avoid unwanted pregnancies. The historical record shows she worked for women of all classes and races to have that choice.

Those who call Sanger a racist often cite her work on what was called the Negro Project, an effort that started in 1939 that brought birth control services (but not abortion) to Black communities in the south. Black leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois and Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of the National Council of Negro Women, were members of its advisory council.

Louis Jacobson, Amy Sherman, Samantha Putterman, Jon Greenberg, Miriam Valverde and Kaiser Health News reporter Victoria Knight contributed to this report. Photos by the Associated Press.

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Republican National Convention 2020: Fact-checking the second night - Detroit Free Press

In the midst of a challenging pandemic, many American cities have been under siege. Amid violence and riots, the rule of law has been abandoned by the same elected officials who swore to uphold it. Law-abiding citizens who unwittingly drove through protests have found themselves attacked or left to the mercy of a mob.

Many Americans are indeed now choosing to exercise their Second Amendment rights; a national indicator for gun sales is at an all-time high.

The promotion of civil unrest and the systematic destruction of neighborhoods and businesses have been permitted with limited consequences under the guise of the First Amendments protection of the right to protest. Yet when the case for protecting the Second Amendment couldnt be stronger to reasonable Americans, the left is yet again trying to weaken it.

As Americans, our constitutional rights and individual liberties are not just a source of patriotic pride but the lifeblood of our democracy. The founders knew that the right of citizens to bear arms was essential to the preservation of democracy and liberty. The Second Amendment ensures that Americans can protect themselves, their families and their businesses, especially when the government is unwilling or unable to do so. And many Americans are indeed now choosing to exercise their Second Amendment rights; a national indicator for gun sales is at an all-time high.

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The left has long attacked the Second Amendment, as they believe it is antiquated and unnecessary, and have assured us they can protect us better than we can protect ourselves. But in a time of crisis, many of them have revealed that they wont actually use law enforcement and even support defunding the agencies that protect and serve all communities. Now they are attacking a private organization thats trying to do the same.

Just three months before a presidential election, New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed suit against the NRA and several members of its leadership, seeking to have the gun rights organization dissolved. This lawsuit, filed in New York state court, is the apex of a longstanding feud between the NRA and the Democratic state attorney general. James attacked the NRA while she was a candidate for attorney general, calling it a terrorist organization and a criminal enterprise.

James knows that if the NRA were dissolved, it would be a huge personal and political victory, as the Democrats would finally be able to silence the largest Second Amendment and gun safety advocate in the country. The NRA promotes responsible and safe firearm ownership and self-defense, and it encourages favorite pastimes like hunting and recreational shooting. Thats a staple of life for folks like us in Arkansas, and a far cry from James nefarious terrorist organization and criminal enterprise labels.

As state attorneys general, we are tasked with protecting the interests of consumers and holding bad actors accountable. Since the NRA is based in New York, James office has the jurisdiction to investigate this organization, like any other charity or nonprofit. But while the lawsuit alleges that NRA leadership misused the organizations funds for their own personal gain, no NRA executives have been charged with any crimes, though James has threatened criminal charges pending the outcome of her offices investigation.

Moreover, James doesnt seem to be too worried about protecting the interests of the consumer: those who are NRA members. If successful, the lawsuit could permanently bar the strongest Second Amendment advocate from raising funds for its cause and ultimately dissolve the multimillion member organization. Instead of holding the alleged bad actors accountable, James seems to believe she has found a way to finally rid the left of one of its greatest political adversaries and, possibly, its least favorite constitutional amendment.

However, like any good defender of freedom, the NRA is fighting back. The same day New York filed its state suit, the NRA filed its own lawsuit in federal court, pointing to then-candidate James campaign promise to take on the NRA if elected. The NRA claims that James lawsuit is nothing more than a politically motivated stunt to deliver on that promise not a response to any real fraud.

The NRAs lawsuit is based on the First Amendment and similar New York state law. The NRA argues that it is being targeted for its pro-Second Amendment advocacy and that James request to dissolve the NRA is nothing more than an attempt to silence political speech. The NRA is also asking the federal court to stop James from interfering with its free-speech rights and to declare that the NRA is in substantial compliance with New York not-for-profit law.

As Americans, our constitutional rights and individual liberties are not just a source of patriotic pride but the lifeblood of our democracy.

So, is this lawsuit really about the NRA, or does it represent a bigger agenda of the left? While the suit may be a great political rallying cry for James in New York and other liberal arenas heading into the November election, the rest of us see this lawsuit for what it truly is: a deliberate attack on the Second Amendment and those of us who support it.

I understand the importance and duty of attorneys general to investigate allegations of corruption and fraud, but James eagerness to dissolve the entire organization rather than to hold potential bad actors accountable speaks volumes about her real motives. The left has worked tirelessly to rewrite history, but we will not and cannot allow it to try to rewrite the Constitution.

Leslie Rutledge is the first female and first Republican to be elected attorney general in Arkansas. A strong advocate for individual liberties, she defends those same constitutional rights deemed essential to the preservation of our democracy by the Founding Fathers.

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Guns, the NRA and the Second Amendment are under assault from the left - NBC News

Chippewa Falls (WQOW)- Dozens of Second Amendment advocates took their cause on the road Saturday, to, in their words, defend their rights as gun owners, and to promote voting for pro-second amendment candidates come November.

It was the second annual "Freedom Day," hosted by area motorcycle groups.

The advocates traveled in a caravan from Chippewa Falls, to Augusta, Fairchild, and Eau Claire, to raise awareness for what they called political attacks against constitutional rights.

Former National Rifle Association president David Keene joined the rally, saying that it's more important now than ever for Americans to have the right to defend themselves with firearms.

"The Second Amendment was not adopted to give us the right to posses fire arms for legitimate purpose," said Keene. "The founders wrote the second amendment to say we will not interfere with a preexisting right you have to defend yourself, your family and your community."

Rally participants also raised funds for area concealed carry classes.

News 18 reached out to local democratic lawmakers for comment, but have not received one as of Saturday afternoon.

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Motorcyclists, gun owners rally for the Second Amendment - WXOW.com

We are living in extraordinary times, and it will take an extraordinary effort by freedom-loving Americans during this years presidential election to emerge with our liberties intact. The candidates could not be further apart in how they view your fundamental right to protect yourself and your loved ones. Regardless of party affiliation, if you value the right to keep and bear arms and wish to preserve it for this and future generations, you must vote to re-elect President Donald J. Trump in November.

I explained last month why the election of Joe Biden would be a disaster for gun owners and would cripple the Second Amendment as we know it. That alone makes the choice easy.

But for his part, President Trump has earned the gun vote by keeping his promises to Americas firearm owners and by proving time after time that he is a stalwart and trusted ally to Second Amendment supporters.

Gun owners will remember that 2016s presidential election was largely a referendum on who would choose the successor to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, author of the landmark 2008 opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. Scalia used text, history and tradition to establish as a matter of law what was already common knowledge to most Americans: the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, independent of service in an organized militia. Justice Scalias decision led to the end of handgun bans in the District of Columbia and Chicago. It also signaled that the Second Amendment must be afforded the same respect as other individual liberties protected by the Bill of Rights.

Gun prohibitionists reacted with fury and have been trying to undermine and reverse Hellers individual-rights holding ever since. They may well have succeeded, had the Senate confirmed Barack Obamas choice to fill Scalias vacant seat on the court. That nominee, Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, had voted to rehear the lower court decision that would eventually become the Heller case before the Supreme Court. Garland manifestly believed the full D.C. Circuit needed another crack at interpreting the Second Amendment, after a three-judge panel issued an opinion holding that D.C.s handgun ban violated the Second Amendments individual right to keep and bear arms.

Donald Trump made appointing a worthier successor to Scalias legacy a keystone of his presidential platform. He even published a list of potential Supreme Court nominees during his campaign, so voters could see for themselves what sorts of judges Trump would appoint to the nations highest court. The common denominator among these judges (besides impeccable professional credentials) was a demonstrated respect for Americas constitutional order, legal traditions and Second Amendment.

Most had also adopted Scalias signature originalist style of constitutional interpretation, which limits judicial policy-making by deferring to the meaning of constitutional language as it was understood at the time of its adoption. This ensures permanence and stability for the nations founding principles, unlike the contrary practice of simply declaring constitutional precepts out of thin air to suit the judges preferred politics and to keep up with the elite trends of the day, whatever they happen to be.

Gun owners understood the stakes in 2016 and voted for Donald Trump in droves. After his election, President Trump kept his most important promise by nominating Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, then of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, to ascend to Scalias vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Gorsuch, in contrast to Garland, had demonstrated his respect for the Second Amendment, writing in one case that the Second Amendment protects an individuals right to own firearms and may not be infringed lightly. Like Scalia, Gorsuch also emphasized textualism and originalism in his approach to constitutional interpretation.

President Trump had another opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice with the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2018. Kennedy was widely recognized as the critical swing vote in Heller and the follow-up case of McDonald v. City of Chicago. Yet he was also typically characterized as a centrist, and it wasnt clear how far his support for the Second Amendment extended. Many believe the reason the Supreme Court remained silent on the Second Amendment in the years after Heller and McDonald was that neither the evenly divided pro- and anti-gun wings of the court had confidence that Kennedy would vote their way.

Trumps choice to succeed Kennedy was Brett M. Kavanaugh, then of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Kavanaugh had one of the strongest records on the Second Amendment of any potential nominee, having penned a lengthy and well-reasoned dissent from a case that upheld various aspects of D.C.s onerous post-Heller gun control regime. It was clear he would take the Second Amendment seriously if elevated to the high court.

In judicial appointments and many other ways, President Trump has unapologetically supported the Second Amendment.

Since their appointments to the Supreme Court, both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh have been even clearer about their concern over the lower courts dismissive treatment of the Second Amendment and their desire for the court to rectify that situation. Both have joined or written opinions expressing this sentiment in cases in which the court ultimately declined to revisit the right to keep and bear arms. No one knows when the Supreme Court will take up another Second Amendment case, but when they do, few doubt that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh will be among the strongest defenders of that essential liberty.

Speaking of the lower courts, President Trump has been busy there as well, in June reaching the milestone of 200 judicial appointments. Only a tiny fraction of cases ever reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The decisions that affect Americans lives and libertiesincluding the right to keep and bear armswill mostly be rendered by judges at the district and circuit court levels. President Trump recognizes this and has made an investment in the judiciary that will pay dividends for gun owners for decades to come. Even Trumps detractors recognize that his reshaping of the federal judiciary will be his most important and lasting legacy.

Yet President Trumps support for the Second Amendment goes well beyond his judicial appointments. Shortly after taking office, he wasted no time repealing an Obama-era scheme that forced Social Security recipients to choose between their benefits and their Second Amendment right to possess a firearm. President Trump made sure that Americans rights should never be the subject of such a false choice.

During his 2016 campaign, Trump promised to abolish so-called gun-free zones that empower criminals and disarm the law-abiding. He did exactly that in April, initiating a rulemaking to end a ban on the possession of firearms in water resource development projects administered by the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE). These areas comprise one of the largest networks of outdoor recreation sites in America, encompassingmore than 400 lake and river projects in 43 states. Visitors use these sites for hiking, boating, fishing, camping, hunting and geo-caching. Yet carrying firearms for self-defense in these areas is prohibited.

The proposed rule would abolish an existing gun-free zone on 12 million acres of public lands and waters nationwide, including 55,390 miles of shoreline, 7,856 miles of trails, 92,588 campsites and 3,754 boat ramps. It is set to be one of the single largest expansions of the right to carry in the nations history.

The Trump administration also reformed Americas antiquated system for regulating exports of firearms and ammunition in a way that benefited both individual gun owners and the lawful industries that support them. Among other things, this move reversed Obama-era polices that wreaked havoc with gunsmiths and gunsmithing schools, as well as with hunters traveling abroad with personally owned firearms and ammunition.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many state governments were poised to use the novel virus as a means to restrict Second Amendment rights, President Trumps administration identified the firearms industry as critical infrastructure, forcing all but a few states to keep gun stores and other firearm businesses open. In doing so, President Trump made clear that the self-defense rights of law-abiding Americans are and forever will be essential.

And, who could forget the historic moment when President Trump unsigned the Arms Trade Treaty on stage at our 2018 Annual Meeting. His leadership freed the U.S. from a terrible treaty that could have imposed restrictive international gun control on American gun owners.

The president additionally used his authority to increase access to public lands for the use of hunters and sport shooters, both through executive orders and by signing federal legislation to that helps states provide more shooting ranges on public lands.

More so than any of his predecessors, President Trump has unapologetically supported the Second Amendment, even when elite opinion has railed against it.

President Trump understands that despite what these so-called elites claim, nothing is more important than the fundamental freedoms we enjoy as Americans. Thats why Ive whole-heartedly endorsed him in my role as Chairman of NRA-PVF, and why I look forward to casting my ballot to help re-elect him on November 3. I invite you to join me by doing the same.

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The Choice Is Clear: President Trump's Second Amendment Record Has Earned Him the Gun Vote in 2020 - America's 1st Freedom

Chrissy Suttles|Beaver County Times

Republican Sean Parnell lauded President Donald Trumps policies during his Monday Republican National Convention speech, imploring disillusioned Democrats to join the ranks of conservative American voters.

Parnell, the combat veteran and former Army Ranger challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb in Pennsylvanias 17th Congressional District, began his nearly five minute opening night speech recounting his time in Afghanistan as aplatoon leader placed in command of Americans from every corner of our planet.

He told viewers about a 2006Taliban attack his platoon was heavily outnumbered and wounded within minutes, but his soldiers fought back and ultimately held their ground.

When he returned to the U.S. years later, he was eager to enjoy the "freedoms he defended," butfound the Democratic Party had shifted too far left.Parnell's speech then focused on Democrats and presidential candidate Joe Biden.

I watched with alarm as the party of my grandfather, a lifelong union Democrat, turned against the very people it professed to represent, Parnellsaid. I watched as Joe Biden spit venom at an autoworker who dared to question Joes intention to dismantle the Second Amendment and take your guns.

That exchange between Biden and a Michigan autoworker took place in March, when Biden said the man was "full of [expletive]," becausethe candidateonly plans to endthe sale and manufacture of AR-15s and other assault weapons oftenused in mass shootings.

In his speech, Parnell said Democrats once stood for hard working, law abiding Americans, but the new party is now comprised of hedge fund managers, celebrities and university professors with contempt for America."He called on disillusioned Democrats to join the chorus of patriot voices, and praised President Donald Trumps policies on energy independence and the Second Amendment.

The 17th Congressional District, which includes the north, south and west Pittsburgh suburbs in Allegheny County, Beaver County and a small part of Butler County, is one of Pennsylvanias high-profile races. Parnell, anauthor and occasional Fox News show guest, recently moved from Cranberry to Ohio Township.

Parnell has called Marine Corps veteran and former federal prosecutor U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mount Lebanon, too liberal for the district he represents. Democrats, however, are confident that Parnellsconservative rhetoric andloyalty to Trump wont appeal to suburban moderates.

Lamb, who flipped the historically Republicandistricttwo years ago, was among the Democrats who gave a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention last week.

Another RNC speaker with ties to western Pennsylvania on Monday was Patricia McCloskey, a Beaver County native and Penn State graduate who rose to notoriety in June when she and her husband, Mark, were recorded pointing guns at Black Lives Matter protesters marching by theirSt. Louis home.

The personal injury lawyers, both facing weapons charges for brandishing guns at protesters, warned viewers that what you saw happen to us could just as easily happen to any of you.

Their grim speech played into suburban fears the pair called protesters who marched by their Missouri mansionMarxist liberal activists and an out-of-control mob who should have faced criminal charges.

They actually charged us with felonies for daring to defend our home, Mark McCloskey said, as the two pushed President Trumps narrative that Joe Biden would abolish the suburbs.

Patricia McCloskey praised Trump for ending government overreach by promoting more single-family home construction. Reducing zoning for single family homes would bring low-quality apartments and more crime to thriving suburban areas, she said.

The McCloskeys then criticized Democratic criminal justice reform proposals such as defunding the police and ending cash bail.

They want to walk the halls of Congress, they want to take over, they want power, Mark McCloskey said during the speech.

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Parnell asks voters to join the chorus of patriot voices at RNC - The Times

One of the most hotly-debated issues in America today revolves around the Second Amendment: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

In this week's Mic'd Up,the Second Amendment is defended from a Catholic angle.

Michael Voris interviews Jason Jones, executive producer of the 2006 People's Choice Award-winning film Bella. Jason, along with his co-author John Zmirak, also wroteThe Race to Save Our Century: Five Core Principles to Promote Peace, Freedom, and a Culture Of Life.

God endows as part of His design the natural and inalienable right for humans to defend themselves, and if they're responsible for the lives of others, this defense is a grave duty. Government, therefore, doesn't give the rights, but defends them.

This comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the respect for human life, and more specifically, legitimate defense: "Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm."(CCC 2265)

Since self-defense is a natural right freely given by God, it makes sense that historically, the irreligious have stripped people of these rights in order to bring about their own agenda.

In 1918, as the Russian Revolution was launchedunder Vladimir Lenin, the Council of People's Commissars, which became the highest authority of the Soviet Union, put together "On the surrender of weapons." This decree ordered citizens to surrender their firearms, swords and bayonets.

This communistrevolution is thought to haveresulted in the murder of millions of Russians from 19171922.

Since then, Hitler's Nazi Germany, Mao's communist China, and even socialist Venezuela have all stripped their own people of their natural right to defend themselves.

In the United States, some Churchmenlike Cdl. Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey have joined many Democrat politicians in calling for "a ban on the sale or possession of all assault weapons."Fr. James Martin has even portrayedgun control as moral issue equal to abortion.

Jason Jones and John Zmirak, both Catholic writers at The Stream, wrote a thorough articledebunking these assertions.

Watch the full episode of Mic'd Up: God, Guns and the Government.

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Catholics and the Second Amendment - Church Militant

The past few months have been somewhat of a topsy-turvy ride when it comes to the issue of gun control. This past June the Supreme Court rejected 10 different cases that could have expanded gun rights. The refusal to take up the expansion of gun rights caught some liberal-leaning organizations by surprise and the theory that Second Amendment cases are in season with a solid conservative majority on the Supreme Court seemed to be cast in serious doubt. Just over a week ago, however, the Ninth Circuit gave gun rights advocates reason to hope again.

Before we get into the specifics of the Ninth Circuit decision, it is vitally important to discuss the context in which this decision takes place. Because although we are currently living in an era where major restrictions on gun ownership have been overturned, or lapsed, the rate of violence, including gun violence, has nevertheless steadily decreased. Jacob Sullum at Reason recently summarized this remarkable trend well:

According to the FBIsnumbers, total homicides in the United States fell from 24,700 in 1991 to a low of 14,164 in 2014 a 43 percent drop. The homicide rate fell even more dramatically, from 9.8 per 100,000 in 1991 to 4.4 per 100,000 in 2014 a 55 percent drop. Homicides rosein 2015 and 2016, then fell in 2017 and 2018, when the rate was 5 per 100,000, up 14 percent from 2014. The FBI has not published final data for 2019 yet, butpreliminary numbersfor the first half of the year indicate that homicides fell by 7.4 percent.

The trends for murders committed with firearms are slightly different because the type of weapon usedvaries over time. Gun homicides fell from apeakof 17,075 in 1993 to alow of 7,803 in 2014 a 54 percent drop. The number rosein 2015, 2016, and 2017, then fell in 2018, when it was 32 percent higher than in 2014 but still 40 percent lower than the 1993 total. The gun homicide rate in 2018 was about 3.1 per 100,000, half the1993 rate.

As I have written before, the only thing that could turn the incredibly good news that gun violence is steadily decreasing into something depressing is if nobody actually believes it, which most Americans sadly dont.

At the risk of going all both sides on you here, it must also be pointed out that there is a lot of blame to go around for the current misconception surrounding gun violence. The presidents repeated depictions of American carnage are simply not true, but a lot of people believe him anyway. Moreover, as Sullum points out, Joe Biden characterizes gun violence as an epidemic that is seemingly out of control when, again, the only notable attribute about gun violence rates lately is that they have gone down, drastically. Thankfully, our courts have largely not taken the bait with either form of misleading political rhetoric, choosing instead to focus on the facts. Which brings us to the recent Ninth Circuit decision.

The Ninth Circuit case focused on whether Californias criminalization of large capacity magazines (LCMs) that hold 10 or more rounds passes constitutional muster. As the court noted in its decision, these LCMs are extraordinarily common. In fact, they make up about 115 million LCMs out of a total of 230 million magazines in circulation and, perhaps most importantly, are commonly the standard with many handguns. If you are asking why it should matter that these LCMs are common in handguns, well, the Supreme Court has recognized that the handgun is the quintessential self-defense weapon. Moreover, like with the First Amendment, courts view the Second as an individual right. Indeed, the Ninth Circuit has recognized that gun-control must be individual-based and that general bans that limit this individual right to self-defense should be viewed with strict scrutiny.

In order to pass strict scrutiny, the government must have a compelling interest. But while the Ninth Circuit recognized that California did advance a compelling interest of preventing and mitigating gun violence in its LCMs ban, the decision to categorically criminalize nearly every weapon that can be reasonably expected for use in self-defense was not an acceptable means of achieving the compelling interest. Indeed, the Ninth Circuit decision goes into great length about the value of the legal right of self-defense that is essentially being taken away by Californias criminal prohibition, particularly on those who may not be equally protected by the state.

I understand that many will not agree with the Ninth Circuit, or me, on the subject of gun control. But we should be able to agree with basic facts about gun violence and acknowledge that these facts make the issue extraordinarily complicated. For example, it is a fact that many people should not be allowed to have guns and that most guns intended for self-defense will never be used. Indeed, bringing a gun into the home is to bring a certain degree of risk. But at the same time, it should be said that there is nothing illogical about courts recognizing the right of psychologically stable people, committed to safe handling, to use common tools such as firearms for their self-defense.

Tyler Brokers work has been published in the Gonzaga Law Review, the Albany Law Review, and is forthcoming in the University of Memphis Law Review. Feel free to email himor follow him onTwitterto discuss his column.

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The Ninth Circuit Doesnt View Commonly Used Gun Magazines As Unusual - Above the Law

The Posts fact check on the convention speeches last night includes this passage:

Most abortions are performed in the earlier stages of pregnancy. About 1 percent happen after the fetus reaches the point of viability. In short, [RNC chairwoman Ronna] McDaniel and the president are describing something that rarely happens and that no Democrat is calling for, anyway.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and some others who competed in the Democratic presidential primary said they favored having no restrictions on abortion.

Biden does not take such a sweeping position; he supports abortion rights and says he would codify in statute the Supreme Courts landmark ruling inRoe v. Wadeand related precedents.

Experts told us that support for abortion rights doesnt mean Democrats support extreme late-term abortions. Thats like saying everyone who supports the Second Amendment supports school shootings, Katie L. Watson, a professor at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine, previously told The Fact Checker. Abortion until the moment of birth does not exist its a boogeyman abortion opponents have created to frighten voters and derail rational conversation about constitutional rights, Watson said. Nobody supports it, and nobody does it. No patient ever asks a physician to end her pregnancy the moment before birth, and no physician would agree to do it.

Biden, exactly like Warren and Sanders, believes that abortion should be allowed, even late in pregnancy, if needed to preserve a womans emotional health. Thats what those related precedents (chiefly Doe v. Bolton, Roes companion case) suggest.

Watsons parallel would work if Second Amendment activists believed that school shootings should be legal. Of course, they dont.

A previous Post fact-check estimated (conservatively, insofar as it is using CDC numbers for the incidence of abortion) that more than 8,000 abortions are performed each year after viability. In the 2018-19 school year, there were 13 school-shooting deaths (according to Wikipedia). It is not my impression that the Post treats school-shooting deaths as events so rare that politicians should stop talking about them.

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The Washington Posts Abortion Fact Check Gets It Wrong - National Review

MIAMI (CBSMiami) They are survivors turned activists students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who witnessed unimaginable horror on Valentines Day 2018.

Now, the documentary Us Kids launches a national drive-in screening tour in tandem with March For Our Lives, chronicling the gun violence prevention youth movement.

Kim A. Snyder directed the film, that follows 18 pivotal months in the development of the March for Our Lives movement through a very personal lens.

It became a film not about Parkland. I really say Us Kids is about a film about a youth movement it was sparked by that horrible moment that happened on February 14 that everyone remembers, Snyder said. This is a film about a whole generation of young people born out of trauma and rage that transformed it into action and ultimately hope. Its a very helpful movie in my mind.

Filmgoers will see real life scenes as these high school students set out across the world to build an inclusive youth movement that addresses racial justice with a goal to change gun laws. In many cities, they were met with strong resistance.

They was brave and they were patient and they were well schooled and they did their homework, Snyder said. Theyve never been advocating to threaten the Second Amendment. Its about their genuine feeling of coming out of a school shooting and teaming up with kids across the country from inner-city places that have endured gun violence that said we want to safe. Its not a red or blue thing, its a public health issue.

The film premiered in early 2020 at Sundance Film Festival. It embarks on a nationwide, nine city drive-in screening tour, which begins in Wynwood Tuesday night.

Students Samantha Fuentes and Alex Dworet, who both survived wounds by an AR-15 in their classrooms, will hit the road following the Miami kick-off to engage with youth across the tour.

Its really about telling other people to have that inner generational respect. We cant attack them, we need to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. They do know a lot about what theyre doing. Theyre resilient and they have their whole futures ahead of them, she explained.

Us Kids will premiere Tuesday, August 25 at 7 p.m. at the Carpool Cinema Wynwood.

There will be free tickets available to young people on their website at uskidsfilm.com.

They will be releasing the film nationwide in the near future, though theres no exact date as of yet.

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Us Kids Documentary Premiering At Wynwood Drive-In Chronicles Youth Movement Against Gun Violence In Wake Of Parkland Shooting - CBS Miami

109636109636109636Governor's budget borrows $4B, raises $1M in taxes, feesFacing a pandemic-sized budget hole, Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a spending plan for the rest of FY2021 that would borrow $4 billion and raise taxes on millionaires, cigarettes, yachts and firearms. Business groups called it "irresponsible" and Republican lawmakers condemned it as a burden New Jersey taxpayers simply can't afford.2020-08-25 08:33 amdisabled8g5HzP8jXZAtrue

Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled his budget plan on a sweltering Rutgers football field facing socially-distanced lawmakers, officials and news media. He proposed a COVID-19 driven, $32.4 billion budget proposal for the rest of the fiscal year. It would borrow $4 billion and raise more than $1 billion in fees and taxes on millionaires, cigarettes, yachts and gun permits.

The governor explained the pandemic lockdowns crushed tax revenues, confronting the state with an estimated $5.6 billion budget deficit.

Beside setting off an unprecedented public health crisis, this pandemic also unleashed an economic crisis, Murphy said. 1.4 million have filed for unemployment, but we cannot send the false hope things are going to simply snap back to the way they were before.

Murphys proposal finally completes his original fiscal year spending plan that was put on hold when the pandemic surge sent the state into lockdown in the spring. It restores the Senior Freeze and Homestead Rebate programs that benefit senior, disabled, and low-income homeowners and leaves school funding and municipal aid flat.

It also makes a massive $4.9 billion payment into state public worker pension system. And, it borrows an idea from Sen. Cory Booker the creation of Baby Bonds, a $1,000 deposit for each qualifying newborn that they can use at age 18.

And as this child grows, so too will the value of this bond to help pay for things like college, to help ultimately to make a down payment on a home or start a small business, Murphy said.

The governor again called for more federal aid from the president and Senate Majority Leader McConnell an unlikely event. So Murphys pushing to borrow $4 billion, but doesnt plan to spend it all. Hed set aside half of the money for a COVID-19 surge.

This budget envisions a closing surplus of more than $2.2 billion, a much needed cushion against revenue shocks from a second wave, Murphy said.

The budget does require state departments to cut $1.25 billion in spending. This is Murphys third attempt to generate $390 million by raising the so-called millionaires tax from 8.97% to 10.75% on gross income between $1 million and $5 million. Thats the rate already paid on income over $5 million.

I would urge those who would pay this tax to see it this way: were asking you to sacrifice pennies on your top dollar to ensure every New Jerseyan has the same opportunity to succeed that you did, Murphy said.

Democrats in the Legislature have blocked Murphys previous efforts to hike taxes on New Jerseys wealthiest taxpayers.

Senate President Steve Sweeney expects tax revenues might be better than the governor predicted, but said nothings off the table.

Im not excited about taxes, period, but you cant rule anything out right now. That would be irresponsible. Weve never been in a place like this, so weve got to look at everything, Sweeney said.

Items expected to prompt protests include the proposal to let a temporary 2.5% Corporate Business Tax surcharge become permanent. Its a move the business community calls irresponsible. Plans to raise taxes and fees on firearms will draw fire from Second Amendment advocates.

Republican lawmakers panned the tax hikes and borrowing.

This was a political speech, 100% political, and he forgot one interest group: the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey, said Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick. This is a governor who is totally out of touch with the working people who are paying the taxes.

Eight new taxes during the worst recession. New Jersey residents dont have the luxury of going out and borrowing $9 billion, even if theyre the ones whore going to foot the bill so its very disappointing, said Assemblyman Hal Wirths.

A special commission must approve the borrowing plan before it even gets to lawmakers for debate. Its uncertain how much input the public is going to get. This budgets on a fast track with a tight Oct. 1 deadline.

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Governor's budget borrows $4B, raises $1M in NJ taxes and fees - NJTV News

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Black Lives Matter 757 Boogalo along with other groups took part in a Second Amendment gun rally Sunday afternoon.

The rally was held in response to Newport News city leaders approving an ordinance that bans open carry of firearms in city buildings, facilities and parks.

The ordinance passed in July in a 6-1 vote.

Sunday's rally was held by Liberate Hampton Roads.

"They wanted to take away our guns and that's a way to control things and now they're literally putting everything forward and putting it together as if people are just suppose to accept it," Aubrey Jones, the president of BLM 757, said. "We are not accepting it and we refuse to comply."

Protesters also told News 3 they think the ordinance is unconstitutional.

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Groups come together for open carry rally in Newport News after city passes open carry ban ordinance - wtkr.com

Chip SomodevillaGetty Images

This is what I learned on the first night of the Republican National Convention. I learned that Joe Biden is a Communist, a Socialist, the next Castro, and a puppet controlled by cosmopolitan elites, Hollywood moguls, the Chinese government, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I learned that the streets of California are paved with heroin needles, that MS-13 will be moving in next door, and that HUMAN SEX DRUG TRAFFICKERS!!!!!!!!!!! I learned that the Democrat Party plans to abolish the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, Jesus, and the suburbs. I learned that El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago is the last bodyguard of Western Civilization, and that is an actual thing that actually was said.

And, throughout the first night of the Republican National Infomercial, I kept repeating to myself as a mantra, over and over again.

This is not for you. You are not the political cosmos. An audience has been carefully built for this over the past 40 years, and that audience believes this stuff down to the last dipthong. This is not for you.

OK, so it's a lousy mantra.

Without my constantly reminding myself that I am not the audience here, I might have felt like I was stuck on a shuttle bus at the Greater Neptune International Airport. Four years ago, in Cleveland, there at least was the mad, crackling energy of the unbridled Caucasian political ID to put a charge in the proceedings. You felt alive in the world anyway. Now, after nearly four years of this presidency*, and knowing what we know and seeing what has been plainly obvious, to be stuck in what circumstances have dictated as a bell jar of alternate reality is to feel like you've been unwittingly dosed with STP and sent off to regions of the mind best left unexplored.

It is impossible to engage the arguments mustered on the television Monday night. I don't speak the language. I am unfamiliar with the syntax. The vocabulary eludes me. And it all eludes even my considerable gift for mimicry. (I know Senator Tim Scott doesn't really believe Joe Biden is the socialist tool of cosmopolitan elites, but his ability to fake it caused his soul to ascend visibly from his body.) The only way I know what they're saying is by understanding as best I can the specific set of my fellow citizens to whom they're saying it. And by reminding myself, constantly, that I am not part of that group.

OLIVIER DOULIERYGetty Images

What is left, then, except mockery and derision? When Kimberly Guilfoyle goes full Evita, arm-waving and all, in an empty function room, am I supposed to engage her arguments? When Junior cracks that Biden is "the Loch Ness monster of The Swamp," am I not obligated to point out that Loch Ness isn't a swamp? Or when Scott warns us against a "socialist utopia," should there not be a clarification that any kind of "utopia" is a really good thing? When words stop meaning what they mean, we're all reduced, again, to grunts and squeaks and hand signals.

And when Charlie Kirk kicks things off, in a speech promoting this particular president*, by noting that "churches can't open, but casinos can," how am I not supposed to dissolve into helpless laughter and heckling? What's left for me to do? Point out, politely, the self-evident fact that the president* is the most thoroughgoing heathen ever to occupy that office? And that he once owned casinos, but that he doesn't anymore, because he was a terrible businessman who stiffed his contractors and then hid in the thickets of the bankruptcy laws until the next scam revealed itself to him?

If I say that, then the audience to whom Kirk was talking will look at me as though I've suddenly taken to talking in Klingon. And that audience is too big to fit into any comfort zone, although I think it may be smaller than it was four years ago, because we're all livingor not livingthrough the consequences of the gamble that audience took in 2016.

Night Two coming right up.

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The First Night of the Republican Convention Was Like Getting Stuck in a Bell Jar of Alternate Reality - Esquire

Playoff pitches

LeBron and the Lakers DEEEEE-stroyed Portland in Game 4. LeBron went 10-of-12 from the floor and finished 30-6-10 in 28 minutes.

And with that, the Lakers are up 3-1 on an eighth-seeded Portland team that Chuck Barkley thought would bounce the LeBron from the bubble.

In a lot of ways, the sports definition of all-timers is making greatness expected.Think Tiger in his heyday. It was surprising when he missed a 10-footer rather than making it.

Think about Mariano Rivera. It was surprising when someone got on base, never mind score a run against him.

The list goes on. Jordan and winning. Manning and Brady in so many ways. Bonds in the early 2000s hitting the baseball hard.

Those are the peak levels of all-timers over the last quarter century.

And of those, is LeBron the most hated of those?

I ask because he again spoke about the racial divide in our country and how Black people are afraid in America after last night's game. Heck George Hill even went as far as saying the players should not have played this year and stayed focused one social justice after the Bucks' win last night. (Side note: Uh, George, ain't no one making you stay in the bubble and cash millions in checks my man.)

I'm not trying to be political about this, and LeBron's hypocrisy on China truly hurts his credibility when discussing social justice issues.

But I do believe that as a player LeBron's the best I've ever seen. Yes, a better player than Jordan, but not a better winner or the competition that MJ was.

And his decision to speak on social issues something that MJ and just about all the others of the all-timers listed above certainly affects his stature in a lot of people's eyes in my opinion.

And now it's the GOP's turn

OK, last week, after day one of the Democratic National Convention, we reviewed what we saw, what we liked, what we didn't and what left a lasting impression.

Regulars around these parts know I'm a conservative. I've voted Republican all my life.

I watched way more of last night's opening salvos from the Republican convention than I expected. The Lakers KER-rushing the Blazers made that choice rather easy.

Let's review this in the old-school Clint Eastwood way. Deal? Deal.

The good: Tim Scott makes me hopeful for the future of the GOP and for leadership in America. Truly. Nikki Haley taking the stage after a cattle call of curious speaker selections the Mattress Guy? really? reminded me that there are still mindful adults in the inner circle. Also, the strong number of minority speakers, including Haley and Scott and Herschel Walker and others, was a clear and smart political maneuver.

Side tangent, part I: How great was Scott, seriously? He delivered monster lines like his family went from "cotton to Congress in one generation" that truly framed the American dream. He pointed the finger back at the system remember how much hay Trump made four years ago with the Swamp allegories? and said, ""It's about how we respond when tackling critical issues like police reform. When Democrats called our work a token effort and walked out of the room during negotiations because they wanted the issue more than they wanted a solution."

The bad: The parade of Trumps heading to the podium Monday was dizzying, and Donald Trump Jr. looked like he showered after an all-night bender and the last piece of advice he got was "Don't forget to move your hands when you speak." His passion was clear; hey, who among us would not adamantly defend our dad. But his message seemed amateurish and kind of SNL-ish. Andas I asked today on A2, with half of the 12 pre-convention announced speakers being named Trump and turning this into the ReTrumplican National Convention is Junior a better pitch man to America than Dan Crenshaw form Texas or Mike Gallagher or James Lankford? Also, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the young lady who is Trump's campaign finance chairperson again, why are paid staffers and family getting mic time rather than some of the other national GOP leaders must have either had some hearing loss or been told her mic was off. Why was she yelling so much? I understand the decision to play to the fear of middle America truly I do but it's sad and not a solution to our problems as much as a path to political persuasion in my view. Not unlike the complete abandonment of fiscal conservatism that a vast majority of those in D.C. and everyone trying to get elected this fall have completely embraced.

Side tangent here because as I wrote in the A2 column, it seemed to me to be a curious decision to have so many Trump trumpeters rather than GOP decision makers and fiscal conservatives. Does this story from the Wall Street Journal late last month that says only 13 percent of polled people are in play make that decision seem smarter?https://www.wsj.com/articles/poll-finds-just-13-of-voters-still-up-for-grabs-for-trump-biden-11595678400?mod=wsjtwittertest19I'm not sure, because for the first time in a long time, the middle ground seems more important in this race. I believe there are 35-plus-percent that love Trump and 35-plus-percent (and maybe more) that will never vote for Trump. I think Biden leads in the polls and if the election was held today, I think he would win, but I think it's much, Much, MUCH closer than any national number I've seen.

The ugly: Again, I don't need to hear from the My Pillow Guy. I supported the Missouri couple who went into their yard with weapons out of fear in terms of being charged with crimes, but I don't really care about their viewpoints, and in some ways trying to push the fear button for the undecided pulls back the curtain to see some of the seedy underbelly of those in the party you call your own. (That said, the father of the Parkland girl who was killed in that tragic shooting was very powerful.) Also, my profession did not have a good day on Monday. Whether it's CNN not airing the coverage of the convention's roll call was it boring TV, yes it was, but is it, you know, news, uh HECK yes it is or the ever-disappointing Chuck Todd on MSNBC, who is framed as a news person and anchor who asks questions, not a columnist or analyst or opinion-giver who crafts hot takes. Todd, on air, said Monday afternoon that Trump delivered a "grievance-filled informal acceptance speech" that was "filled with so many problems about mail-voting that if we were to air only the truthful parts, we probably could have only aired only a sentence, if that much." In a big picture view here, Todd likely should be under review as whether a 'news person' with that much of a political slant should be hosting an NBC show with the history and purpose of being a true news show like "Meet the Press."

In the end, the results were mixed, and likely did not change your mind one way or the other.

The directions are clear fear and law and order are a top priority, so is freedom and personal liberties from the second amendment on down from the first day of the GOP convention.

Those directions are designed to fire-up his base and reach out to minorities. Those directions are based simultaneously in the American Dream and the fear of lawlessness.

Are those directions wise? Debatable, but they are certainly understandable.

Will those directions work? No way to tell until November.

Tuesday in the kitchen

Been a minute since we spent some time cooking. We got back to work last weekend with a couple of items.

Some are familiar and family favs made a pot of chili and a pan of hash brown casserole, both of which are fine on their own and even better merged for a hot lunch this week and some are next experiments.

We'll review one of the new dishes, and considering some of the regulars around these parts Hi Intern Scott, working from home today heckled some of my previous dishes in terms of calories, cholesterol and some heavy doses of heady doses.

We made eggplant parmesan with noodles. It was well-received.

(And yes, we have been getting a fair amount of eggplant in our CSA boxes over the last few weeks.)

Cut your eggplant in 1/2-to-1 inch slices. I peel the purple skin off the outer rings. Space the slices on paper towels and sprinkle generously with Kosher salt. This soaks up some of the natural bitterness of the eggplant. Let them sit for 30-minutes or so.

Wash the eggplant and get ready to coat. I use several egg whites and half a cup of milk and mix. (If you want a little more Southern taste with a kick, add a few dashes of tabasco to the mixture. I don't normally do this when cooking for the family because I like food really spicy; the rest of the family does not.)

For the coating, I use breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, light salt, pepper and in this case Italian seasoning. Mix.

Dip each eggplant slice into the egg white/milk mix and dredge both sides through the breadcrumbs. Make sure both sides are covered. Repeat for each eggplant slice.

You can fry them if you want it's a pretty easy effort in a skillet or large pan since the eggplant slices are thin but I actually bake mine. (Hi Intern Scott. Yes, I am heavy.)

I bake them at 400 for 20 minutes and then flip them and do them for 10 more.

As for the marinara, you can make your own I do or you can go with a a jar depending on your time.

In a greased casserole dish, put a foundation of marinara and spread half the eggplant on top of it. If you prefer thinly sliced eggplant you can add multiple layers. I normally go thicker and one layer of the eggplant works fine.

Scatter a layer of shredded mozzarella and parmesan, and cover that with more marinara and cheese. (I also try to work in fontina cheese a wicked underrated choice on occasion.)

Viol.

This and that

You know the rules. When TFP college football expert David Paschall writes college football, we read and link Paschall's prose on college football. Here's DP breaking down some interesting angles on some SEC defensive dudes inUT linebacker Henry To'o To'oand Alabamasuperstar corner Patrick Surtain II.

You know the rules, part II. Here's Stephen Hargis, TFP sports editor and prep sports guru,naming this week's player of the week. Kudos.

So UTC will play one game only in the fall. Only in 2020 right friends?

Man, amid the drum-banging and all the headlines from Wisconsin to LeBron to the bubble to the Corona to the convention to all parts in between, Albert Pujolscontinues to etch his nameamong the all-timers. Dude is now second all-time in RBIs in MLB history.

Spell check say what? Seriously, we now have a second sports media voice who is in hot water for typing the N-word on social media and claim it's spell-check changing Nuggets to the Queen Mother of all racial slurs.This one is a guy namedDarren McKee, a sports radio host in Denver, who Tweeted, "Utah is 48% from 3. Dang. But n@#$%^s are right there." OK, it's clear from the context that he was looking for Nuggets, who are playing Utah in the first-round of the NBA playoffs. But as Jay Williams wondered on ESPN last week when discussing the Charlotte radio guy who did something similar and also said spell-check got him, does anyone's spell-check just automatically got to the N-word? Is the iPhone racist? A better explanation, as Williams noted, is the 'predictive text feature' on iPhones, that automatically go to words that are frequently typed on the phone. Not sure what happened here friends.

TheCollege Football Playoff is movingforward and will not recognize Spring 2021.

Today's questions

True or false, it's a Tuesday.

True or false, Madden is the best video game of all time. (We offer this because Madden 21 is released today, and the Lil' 5-at-10 is pumped. And he's not the only one. Giddy-up.)

True or false, you'll take LeBron and the LeLakers over the field to win the NBA title.

True or false, you will play fantasy football this year.

True or false, spell-check changing Nuggets to not-'Nuggets' rings true to you.

True or false, Albert Pujols is the best first baseman in MLB history.

True or false, if your team won the 2020 College Football Playoff you would claim it.

As for today, Aug. 25, let's review. George Wallace would have been 101. Billy Ray Cyrus is 59.

Two American heroes died on this day Neil Armstrong in 2012 and John McCain in 2018.

Sean Connery is 90 today. Not sure he will make it, but who is on the SNL Rushmore of best/funniest actor impersonations, because the Sean Connery on Jeopardy! is pretty dang good.

See the article here:

5-at-10: LeBron's greatness and social stances, Good, bad and ugly from Day 1 of the RNC, Back in the kitchen - Chattanooga Times Free Press

Shortly after the Republican National Convention started Monday it moved to one of the key features of such a gathering, the roll call of the states to cast delegate votes for the partys nominee.

Unlike last weeks virtual Democratic Convention which featured short video speeches from a location in each state, GOP votes were castin Charlotte, North Carolina, wherehandfuls of delegates representing each state were gathered.

The roll call was interrupted several times, for speeches from President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. As usual, the outcome was never in doubt. So the entertainment value, as usual, was to see what each state slipped into the tally to brag about its features or virtues.

Caleb Heimlich, Washington State Republican Party chairman, tried to pack as much as possible into a single sentence.

On behalf of the Evergreen state, proudly named after our first president; the most beautiful state in the nation, home to majestic mountains, rivers, hydro power, lakes and the Pacific Ocean; home to entrepreneurs, innovators, tech companies, manufacturing, farming, agriculture, natural resources and many other fantastic industries; and a state that well knows the consequences of Democrat rule and their giving in to radical socialists in Seattle; on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of Republican voters and our 43 delegates, we cast all of our votes for President Donald Trump.

Layne Bangerter, Idaho director for the Trump campaign, also stretched the standard limits of a sentence:

Madam secretary, on behalf of Idaho, the Gem State, and all of our happy people, all the hard-working beautiful people there; encompassed by the Rocky Mountains, where people love the fish, the wildlife, the land and the water; where people are focused on God, family, country and our sacred Second Amendment and along with our other individual liberties; and because of those important, and in defense of those individual liberties, Im proud to cast all of Idahos votes, 32 votes, to Donald John Trump.

Trump needed 1,276 delegate votes to be nominated. He got 2,521.

Continued here:

GOP convention offers traditional roll call with Washington, Idaho bragging about features - The Spokesman-Review

ISLAMABAD - The PTI government yesterday managed to approve The Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020 with majority of votes in the National Assembly.

The House saw rumpus as the Opposition members blew hot and cold over the clause of the bill related to arrest of suspects of money laundering without warrant. The members from Opposition parties termed the bill as black law. They feared that the proposed amendments in the bill could be misused against the politicians in future, but the government with majority of votes passed the bill.

The government, in the amended bill, proposed to regulate the jewellers, lawyers, real estate agents including builders, developers, property dealers and housing authorities, chartered accountants and people involved in businesses related to precious stones.

Adviser to Prime Minister Dr.Babar Awan said that the government would not compromise on the matter of national sovereignty.

The government is not taking any step against national sovereignty, he said and offered the Opposition to sit with the government on the matter of regulating arrest order.

However, the Opposition did not listen to him and opposed the amended bill. Minister for Law and Justice Faroogh Naseem clarified that this law was not against Islamic laws. Taking part in the debate, Special adviser to PM on accountability Shahzad Akbar said that the government wants to move the country out of the grey list by the legislation. There is confusion only on putting the NAB as an investigating agency in the list, he said, giving reference to some money laundering related cases including Manzoor TT case and Faloda seller case.

We are not in favour of closing the NAB but want a balanced legislative system, says Khawaja Asif

We are ready to discuss clauses of the bills with the Opposition he said, inviting rumpus from Opposition benches.

The Opposition members stood up on their seats in protest as they were interested to take the floor. The House witnessed rumpus when PML-Ns MNA/ former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi used insulting words against the chair.

You have been Prime Minister of the country. Avoid this language, said the chair, adding, that this was not the way to address the chair.Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi intervened to cool down the situation. He requested to expunge words used against the chair by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

The government members from backbenches raised slogans of Chor [Thief] against Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Former Prime Minister responded to the members in the same manner. The chair also gave the floor to the senior member to express his stance on the bill.Abbasi, taking the floor, said that the chair had given the floor to an unelected member in the House. If this black law is passed in the House, it could be used against the politicians in future, he added.

Earlier, PML-Ns Parliamentary leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the government and the Opposition should adopt any legislation with proper consultation and deliberation. We are not in favour of closing the NAB but want a balanced legislative system, he said and blamed the biased role of the NAB. Is NAB not being used against Opposition? What action was taken against the thief of sugar?, he posed a volley of questions. About clauses of the amended bill, Asif said that they [Opposition members] had faced NAB in the past and were ready to face it in future.

PPP-Ps Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, opposing the clauses of the proposed legislation , said that this bill was against the basic rights of citizens. It is definitely a black law, if the proposed amendment is not included in the bill, he commented. How can a person arrested without any warrant?, he raised a question, about the clause of the bill.

PPP-Ps senior leader said the right to arrest a person for investigating agencies would be unfair. Human rights are being ignored in this bill, he said.

REOPENING OF EDUCATION INSTITUTES EXPECTED

oN SEPT 15

Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood said that the final decision about opening the schools would be made on September 7. It is in the plan to open schools by the mid of September, he said, mentioning that coronavirus [COVID-19] had badly affected education and other departments.Responding to a call-attention notice, he said the government was planning to introduce a special package for education institutes. State Bank has given a package of three to five per cent which would help school administration, he said,

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Anti-Money Laundering (2nd Amendment) Bill approved amid rumpus in NA - The Nation