LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Race doesn’t matter to Second Amendment – Martinsville Bulletin

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In her recent My Word ("Letter misrepresents people and guns, Feb. 26), Katina Vipperman in the second paragraph says that Lonnie Reynolds and Jermain Penn Jr. should not be labeled "thugs," as I had done in a prior letter. Webster's Dictionary defines thugs as, "a violent person or criminal." These young men are being charged with second degree murder that took place at drug deal gone bad. They certainly fit the definition of a "thug."

Vipperman letter asks if I am a "white supremacist or just plain racist?" Why would she even ask that? In none of my letters to the editor did I ever mention anyone's skin color. I used names, ages, locations and the fact that an AR-15 was NOT used in the alleged crime. Every Sunday I worship with the Church of Christ, where the membership is 50% black.

Vipperman is not the first person to play the race card in this Second Amendment discussion. Pamela Chisholm said in her letter ("What's in the heart does matter," Feb. 23), "Referencing the Constitution, I can safely state that they all believed in white supremacy." You know Ms. Chisholm, the Second Amendment is not for white folks only? Every law-abiding citizen who is "non-Caucasian" should have a gun in their home for self defense against criminals of any skin color.

Ms. Chisholm goes on to say that "only the police and military should have a weapon as powerful as an AR-15."... That's what the Gestapo Nazis said in the 1930s. Will we repeat history in Virginia? I hope not.

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Race doesn't matter to Second Amendment - Martinsville Bulletin

Why another Pa. town passed 2nd Amendment sanctuary rule even though it can’t be enforced – Lebanon Daily News

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Nearly all of Kentucky's 120 counties have adopted versions of Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions. Resolutions are not legally binding. Louisville Courier Journal

By unanimous vote, Jackson Twp. supervisors declared, 'No Township Officer shall uphold any law or statute nor expend any Township funds in any effort contrary to this resolution.'

Officials in Jackson Township, Lebanon County,passed a resolution Monday declaring the municipality a "Second Amendment sanctuary," following a growing trend of local governmentstrying to pre-empt future state or federal gun control measures.

The resolution, which passed the board of supervisors unanimously, is mostly symbolic, asit doesnot supersede state orlaw.

But two supervisors said they wanted to send a message about their support of the SecondAmendment anyway.

"Really what itboils down to,is this was ... really justa policy statement saying that we recognize the Second Amendment,wesupport people'srights to bear arms andwe would never do anything to circumvent ortake away from that right," Supervisor Thomas Houtz said.

The resolution was prompted by news of a similar effort in West Manheim Township, York County, Houtz said.

The ordinance passed in West Manheim Township statesthe township will not use its money or personnel "in ways that are inconsistent with the Second Amendment to the constitution of the United States of America."

Jackson Township supervisors have declared the Lebanon County town a Second Amendment sanctuary, calling on officials there to refuse to enforce any laws that might be passed in the future that would infringe upon the rights of gun owners.(Photo: Lisa Marie Pane/AP)

The recent push forSecond Amendment sanctuaries largely began in Virginia, where dozens of municipalities passed similar resolutions in response to gun control efforts in the Virginia General Assembly.

According to The Trace, anews outlet focused on covering gun violence, over 400 municipalities have passedsanctuary ordinances and resolutions nationwide, with many containing language that local law enforcement can not enforce potential gun control measures such as a ban on assault-style weapons.

ChristianSoltysiak, the interim executive director of gun-control advocacy group CeaseFire PA, called the Second Amendment sanctuary movement a "fear-mongering tactic."

"It doesn't make our communities any safer, and that's really what we should be talking about," Soltysiak said.

Other news: Lebanon's opioid crisis: Battle to stem fatal overdoses at a standstill for another year

The resolution states: "the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental individual right that shall not be infringed.

Therefore, the Township of Jackson, County of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, shall hereby be known as a Second Amendment Sanctuary. No Township Officer shall uphold any law or statute nor expend any Township funds in any effort contrary to this resolution."

Jackson Township does not have its own police department, so this resolution will have few implications on any future gun control measures.

Bob Power, a professor emeritus of lawat Widener University School of Law, said the resolution as written does not limit the criminal justice system's ability to enforce the law.

"It's really just words," Power said. "I suspect that to a police officer or the district attorney it's a message, and the message is: 'We don't want you to come down hard on minor weapons offenses,'" Power said. "But they're not making it legally impossible."

Supervisor Thomas Morrissey said they wanted to make their opinionknown.

"We're just reaffirming our stance and support of the Second Amendment," Morrissey said.

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Why another Pa. town passed 2nd Amendment sanctuary rule even though it can't be enforced - Lebanon Daily News

Debate is Over Concerning This Part of the Second Amendment? – Townhall

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The Left has long lost this debate, but they keep trying to relitigate it on the campaign stump. The Second Amendment grants the individual right to keep and bear arms. That was the landmark D.C. vs. Hellerdecision, though it applied only to federal enclaves. The McDonald v. Chicago decision extended this right to the states proper. But the Left is obsessed with the militia portion of the 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

The Atlantic has a good piece about this whole debate, including an analysis of the opinions from the late Justices Antonin Scalia and John Paul Stevens on Heller. The publication explained that they used two databases Corpus of the Founding Era American English (COFEA) which has 140 million words from documents between 1760-1799 and Corpus of Early Modern English, a massive text bank based on one-billion words British English from 1475 and 1800, to analyze their opinions. To no ones surprise, Scalias majority opinion was more grounded in historical fact than Stevens, though both had inaccuracies. Still, even in the afterlife, Scalia is still right for the most part (via The Atlantic):

Scalia concluded that the phrase bear arms unequivocally carried a military meaning only when followed by the preposition against. The Second Amendment does not use the word against. Therefore, Scalia reasoned, the phrase bear arms, by itself, referred to an individual right. To test this claim, we combed through COFEA for a specific pattern, locating documents in which bear and arms (and their variants) appear within six words of each other. Doing so, we were able to find documents with grammatical constructions such as the arms were borne. In roughly 90 percent of our data set, the phrase bear arms had a militia-related meaning, which strongly implies that bear arms was generally used to refer to collective military activity, not individual use. (Whether these results show that the Second Amendment language precludes an individual right is a more complicated question.)

Further, we found that bear arms often took on a military meaning without being followed by against. Thus, the word against was sufficient, but not necessary, to give the phrase bear arms a militia-related meaning. Scalia was wrong on this particular claim.

Next, we turn to Justice Stevenss dissent. He wrote that the Second Amendment protected a right to have and use firearms only in the context of serving in a state militia. Stevens appears to have determinedthough his exact conclusion is somewhat unclearthat the phrase keep and bear arms was a unitary term of art. Such single linguistic units, called binomials or multinomials, are common in legal writing. Think of cease and desist or lock, stock, and barrel. As a result, Stevens concluded, there was no need to consider whether keep arms had a different meaning from bear arms. Therefore, he had no reason to determine whether keep arms, by itself, could refer to an individual right.

Was Stevenss linguistic intuition correct? No.

[]

Based on these findings, we are more convinced by Scalias majority opinion than Stevenss dissent, even though they both made errors in their analysis. Furthermore, linguistic analysis formed only a small part of Scalias originalist opus. And the bulk of that historical analysis, based on the history of the common-law right to own a firearm, is undisturbed by our new findings.

Oh, and as for the militia aspect of all of this, well, it looks like the Second Amendment was written in a way to show that gun ownership was applicable to the military, or militia at the time, and individual use. The Washington Free Beacons Stephen Gutowski noted this part of the article as well:

So, yeahthis really hasnt been a debate since 2008, when Heller was decided, but keep hitting against that wall, liberal America.

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Debate is Over Concerning This Part of the Second Amendment? - Townhall

Billionaire 2nd Amendment Hater Bloomberg, Spends Whatever It Takes To Win Presidency – AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

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OpinionBillionaire Michael Bloomberg, globalist elite, will spend whatever it takes to win the U.S. Presidency and, if successful, would then proceed with his goal to destroy the second amendment.Part two

New York -(AmmoLand.com)-Were Michael Bloomberg to win the Democrat party's nomination for U.S. President and to prevail in the 2020 general election, he would, as his first order of business, undermine the second amendment, paving the way for the destruction of the nations free constitutional republic

There are two strains of Collectivism in evidence in the modern Democrat Party: one, the Universal Socialist stateless world union governed by labor, as envisioned by Karl Marx, and, two, the Universal stateless Corporatist world, governed by an elite ruling Class: a central banking oligarchy. Either governmental construct is anathema to those nation-states that function as Constitutional Republics. And, only one true and free Constitutional Republic presently exists: The United States. The Blueprint and governing principles of this free Constitutional Republic is the U.S. Constitution.

The Constitution is grounded on one, a federal government of specific, limited powers provided to and spread out among three co-equal Branches, and, two, a recognized body of elemental, primordial, fundamental, unalienable, unfettered, immutable and boundless natural rights and liberties that reside only in the American people, beyond the lawful power of the federal governments to delimit, abrogate, modify, or ignore. Political and Social Conservatives recognize the importance of the Nations Bill of Rights to a true functioning Constitutional Republic, where the citizens are sovereign. Radical Leftist and Progressive Marxist Globalists, along with Centrist Corporatist Globalist elites (the world banking community), do not. The latter two groups are presently battling for control over the Democrat Party.

But, on two matters, the respective Transnational Collectivist ideologies converge. Both groups would implement extraordinarily expansive and highly restrictive gun measures, with the aim to contain, constrain, and eventually curtail, an armed citizenry; for neither group accepts as a presumptive absolute: the fundamental, immutable, unalienable right of the American people to own and possess firearms, and, in fact, are adamantly opposed to the very existence of an armed citizenry because the presence of an armed citizenry poses an inherent and existential threat to governmental authority, and to the implicit idea of a centralized governmentthe idea that government is presumptively sovereign, not the people. But that idea turns the U.S. Constitution on its head.

But what is the explanation for the flurry of recent anti-Second Amendment bills coming out of State Legislatures? We certainly do not see Anti-Second Amendment Collectivist zealots, of late, falling back on their usual pretext for further firearms restrictions, namely, mass shootings, when pushing for more restrictive firearms legislation targeting the average, rational, responsible, law-abiding firearms' owner, as they have previously done. But, then, there has been a paucity of mass shootings of late. And, given the paucity of mass shootings, the anti-Second Amendment zealot Collectivists have been unable to rely on their usual pretext for a new wave of expansive firearms restrictions; and they simply do not wish to wait for the next pretextual exigency to occur. Perhaps this explains the recent push by anti-Second Amendment zealots and Collectivists for a new round of restrictive firearms measures.

Or perhaps these anti-Second Amendment zealot Collectivists believe they now have sufficient backing from the polity and feel that they longer require a pretext to attack the Second Amendment with renewed vigor.

Or, perhaps given the fact, in 2019, of Democrat Party majorities in some State Governments, such asand most prominentlyVirginia and New York, there no longer exists reliance on the heretofore necessary pretext for the enactment of more restrictive anti-Second Amendment measures, which we now see rolling out in record numbers.

Previously, when Republicans were in the ascendant, it would not have been possible or propitious for these Collectivists to ram through such restrictive anti-Second Amendment measures. They seem to be making up for lost time, for we see, today, a deluge of extraordinarily harsh, overbearing, and outlandish measures being tossed about with careless abandon.

Whatever the reason for dispensing with the usual pretext, the recent spate of anti-Second Amendment bills coming out of State Legislatures, principally New York and Virginia, cannot be attributed to the occurrence of a specific tragedya knee-jerk reaction to the latest mass shooting which had previously been relied on as the obligatory rationale for instituting further restrictive firearms' measures, directed, as they generally were and still are, to the average, rational, law-abiding, responsible American firearms' owner, rather than to such societal luminaries, as your garden-variety career criminal, psychopathic gang member, religious Allahu Akbar fanatic, and occasional lunatic.

And, so, the anti-Second Amendment zealots, advocates, and adherents of the tenets of Collectivism heavily financed by Globalist billionaires, intent on creating a one-world political, social, economic, legal, and cultural construct, that they alone controlproceed on their merry way, drafting ever more restrictive firearms measures, targeting the average civilian citizen as they were ever wont to do.

Most prominent and visible among the Globalist billionaires involved in heavily financing, orchestrating, and implementing expansive, precision attacks on the Second Amendment, in States across the Country, is Michael Bloomberg. He is the recent addition to the group of Democrat Party U.S. Presidential hopefuls. He has already plowed hundreds of millions of dollars of his own extraordinary wealth into his campaign, and he is prepared to invest hundreds of millions of dollars more.

Was it Bloombergs personal wish to enter the Democrat Party contest, or did the Globalist elites encourage Bloomberg, as one of their own, the Apotheosis of the neoliberal Globalist elite to enter the fray? Whatever the truth about Bloombergs sudden entry into the Democrat Party race, he intends to see it through, and the DNC is bending over backward to push his candidacy forward.

Said one source, as reported by Taegan Goddards Political Wire: Mike will spend whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump. The nation is about to see a very different campaign than weve ever seen before. But, what is a promise to the establishment Democrat Party Globalist elites, is a threat to Americans who wish to preserve a free Constitutional Republic and their fundamental rights and liberties.

Bloomberg is a darling child, the public face and great hope of the centrist, establishment Globalist Corporatist power elites. These power elites are banking on Bloombergtheir proxyto wrest control from Donald Trump, over the reins of Government, in 2020.

The centrist establishment Corporatist neoliberal Globalists are adamant that the U.S. must return to the path that they had set for the Country, decades agomoving inexorably, ever more quickly, since the early 1990s, toward its transformationone bespeaking the demise of our Country as an independent sovereign nation, and its inclusion into a one-world system of governance.

The Globalist elites agenda was rudely interrupted with the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. Presidency. But, with implosion of Bidens campaign, and fear over the ascendancy of the avowed Marxist Socialist, Bernie Sanders, and with dawning awareness of deficiencies inherent in the so-called moderates, it is now clear the Globalist elites are impatient, frustrated, and furious over the probability that Trump will indeed be elected to a second term in Office. Such a happenstance is abhorrent to them and absolutely intolerable.

But, will the Transnational Corporatist Globalist Bloomberg become the Democrat Partys Nominee for U.S. President to take on Trump? Or, will it be the Internationalist Marxist Socialist, Sanders?

Whomever it is, the Nation will face complete ruin. For, in either event, the existence of a free Constitutional Republic is incompatible with the ideology of either faction of Collectivism. The framework of the Nation the founders created and fought so hard to foster cannot exist under any world governmental scheme. The Nation will falter and fall.

About The Arbalest Quarrel:

Arbalest Group created `The Arbalest Quarrel' website for a special purpose. That purpose is to educate the American public about recent Federal and State firearms control legislation. No other website, to our knowledge, provides as deep an analysis or as thorough an analysis. Arbalest Group offers this information free.

For more information, visit: http://www.arbalestquarrel.com.

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Billionaire 2nd Amendment Hater Bloomberg, Spends Whatever It Takes To Win Presidency - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

Moss to face Brewer in House race – Richmond County Daily Journal

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CORRECTION: This article mistakenly quoted Ben Moss as saying he was 10% devoted to his county commissioner seat. Moss said he was 100% devoted. The article has been updated to correct this.

ROCKINGHAM Richmond County Commissioner Ben Moss has won the Republican primary for North Carolina House District 66, and will move on to face Democrat Scott Brewer in November.

Moss garnered 56.7% of the vote (3,582) against Republican Joey Davis who finished with 43.3% of the vote (2,735). The district includes Richmond, Scotland an part of Montgomery counties.

When reached after the unofficial results came in Tuesday, Moss was still in shock at moving on to the next phase in reaching state office.

Its humbling, Moss said. Im still sort of shell-shocked.

Moss, who works for CSX, has been an outspoken supporter of the second amendment, pushing for the county to become a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary in recent months. He also was the high vote-getter in his last campaign for re-election.

Im very blessed in my mind, Moss said on his political success while still in his 30s. Ive prayed a lot during this election and I feel like Im trying my hardest to prove myself to the county and district, and I feel like theyre seeing my efforts.

On his November opponent, Moss said that he likes Brewer as a person, but they are just on different ends of the spectrum when it comes to governance.

Moss thanked Davis, who he said he has spoken to frequently throughout the race, for running a good, clean campaign.

Weve never had any hard feelings among each other, we just put it out there and let the voters choose, Moss said.

Moss will remain in his county commissioner seat unless he wins in November, he said, adding that he is still 100% devoted to his role at the county level.

Reach Gavin Stone at 910-817-2673 or [emailprotected]

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Moss to face Brewer in House race - Richmond County Daily Journal

Nebraska Governor Ricketts Openly Supports Second Amendment and Open Carry – AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

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From twitter, cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten

U.S.A. -(Ammoland.com)- Governor Pete Ricketts has come out strongly in support of people exercising their First and Second Amendment rights at the Nebraska State Capitol.

President Trump's use of social media outlets such as Twitter is serving as a template for other politicians to go directly to the people and around the coverage of the legacy media.

On 21 February, at the Nebraska Capitol, hundreds of Second Amendment supporters showed up to the Judiciary Committee hearing to oppose further restrictions of the right to keep and bear arms, particularly LB 816.

The Second Amendment supporters exercised their intertwined First and Second Amendment rights. Those rights are reinforced with protections in the Nebraska Constitution.

LB 816 would place severe restrictions on the sale of most semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.

Governor Pete Ricketts, (R) Nebraska, refused to follow the Democrat script that proclaimed the exercise of rights as a problem. He straightforwardly supported those who exercised their rights. From ketv.com:

The men with guns do have the support of Gov. Pete Ricketts.

I support our Second Amendment rights and I support our folks who are going to take advantage of that with our right to open carry, he said. That's what we have in the state of Nebraska and this is the people's house.

This is noteworthy. Most politicians claim to support the right to keep and bear arms, with caveats and cutouts. The word but is prominently displayed at the end of their sentences. Governor Rickets did not qualify his support. The number of governors who support open carry in their capitols is small. Governor Ricketts is displaying political courage. He risks castigation by the media. He is refusing to be politically correct.

Just a few days before, on 18 February, Governor Ricketts issued this statement. From governor.net:

The United States Constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. The first sentence of Article I of the Nebraska Constitution reasserts this right: The right to keep and bear arms for security or defense of self, family, home, and others, and for lawful common defense, hunting, recreational use, and all other lawful purposesshall not be denied or infringed by the state or any subdivision thereof.

Over the past few years, my team has worked to safeguard your rights. For example, we have created an online process to renew, update, or replace a handgun permit, saving gun owners across the state valuable time. In 2018, I signed LB 902, a bill brought by Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard, which protects the identities of gun owners with concealed carry permits. And when the National Rifle Association (NRA) was under attack, we invited them to Nebraska because the people of our state understand the importance of the Second Amendment.

There is more to the statement. Governor Ricketts comes out in favor of protecting the right to keep and bear arms to defend property from pests and predators, to hunt, and to use them for recreation, as well as for self-defense.

All of those actions are protected under the Second Amendment and the Nebraska Constitution.

Most politicians have been unwilling to point out the obvious. Constitutionally protected rights can and should be exercised; peaceful practitioners should be praised for their upholding of the Constitutional order. This is how the rule of law is promulgated and passed from one generation to the next.

Governor Ricketts deserves kudos for his straightforward support and defense of Constitutional rights, in the face of heavy disapproval by those who do not believe in limits on government power. Those who do not approve seem to include most of the legacy media.

So many Second Amendment supporters showed up at the hearing the vast majority were unable to get into the hearing room. The committee cut the allotted time to speak from three minutes to a minute and a half per person. About 50 people spoke against the bill, while 5 spoke for it. Hundreds more waited in the halls outside.

The bill was touted in the media as an anti-suicide bill.

Second Amendment supporters have been learning it is important to show up and make their voices heard. The efforts of many years of organizing and building communication networks are paying off.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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Nebraska Governor Ricketts Openly Supports Second Amendment and Open Carry - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

2A Sanctuary area support on the rise | Local News – SoMdNews.com

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After Commissioner John OConnor (R) encouraged citizens to express their support for St. Marys County becoming a Second Amendment sanctuary area at several commissioner meetings, the county received several letters of support for the initiative from citizens.

OConnor told The Enterprise this week that the county has received a ton of support through letters, emails and the St. Marys 2A Sanctuary Facebook group, which has more than 6,000 members as of Monday evening.

Even as the county commissioners consider voting on the designation for St. Marys, its somewhat unclear whether it would have any actual consequences.

The clarion call for the sanctuary comes in response to several pieces of legislation being discussed in Annapolis that backers say would restrict firearm ownership, including requiring additional background checks on secondary firearm transfers, safer gun storage when minors could gain access and registration for certain guns.

When asked last month what this designation could actually mean for the county, OConnor told The Enterprise taking this stance would support not providing any resources or funding to legislation deemed as unconstitutional against the Second Amendment, such as bans on handguns and assault weapons and registration fees on shotguns and rifles.

The decision whether or not to approve the designation is due for a vote on the commissioners agenda for a date in March, the commissioner said this week.

When asked how this designation would impact the county, St. Marys Sheriff Tim Cameron (R) told The Enterprise, in his opinion, the resolution is symbolic in nature and is a way for citizens to send a message to legislators that they are mindful of their Second Amendment rights.

Although Cameron said he supported the movement, he also mentioned it doesnt change anything you still have to obey state law.

He said, no matter what, Im always going to do my job, but the Second Amendment area designation is a civil way of communicating with elected officials and its notable how citizens have come together to express support. He mentioned a movement of Second Amendment support is happening throughout the state of Maryland.

Richard Fritz (R), St. Marys states attorney, said this week, From my view, I am a strong believer in the second amendment and a 2A sanctuary acknowledges that law abiding citizens have the right to bear arms its that old saying, what do you do to protect your family from a dangerous criminal in your home when hes 30 seconds away and the cops are 20 minutes away?

Dan Belson contributed to this report.

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2A Sanctuary area support on the rise | Local News - SoMdNews.com

Former White House physician heading to runoff in Texas congressional race | TheHill – The Hill

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Ronny Jackson, the former White House physician and retired Navy rear admiral, is heading to a runoff in the Republican primary in Texass 13th Congressional District.

Jackson will face off against agricultural expert Josh Winegarner. Winegarnerearnedthe most votes in Tuesdays Republican primary with nearly 39 percent, with Jackson coming in second with roughly 20 percent of the vote.

Since no candidate hit the 50 percent threshold, the top two vote-getters willcompete inthe runoff on May 26.

President TrumpDonald John TrumpDems unlikely to subpoena Bolton Ratcliffe nomination puts Susan Collins in tough spot Meet the adviser shaping foreign policy for Sanders MORE threw his support behind Jacksonlast month, saying he is strong on Crime and Borders, GREAT for our Military and Vets, and will protect your [Second Amendment].

However, Jackson has had to grapple with lingering controversy from his time working in the White House. His nomination to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs was withdrawn from consideration amid allegations of professional misconduct, including drinking on the job and overprescribing medication.

Jackson is running for the chance to replace retiring Rep. Mac ThornberryWilliam (Mac) McClellan ThornberryFormer White House physician heading to runoff in Texas congressional race Overnight Defense: US, Taliban deal hits snag in first days | Military helping to find coronavirus vaccine | White House withdraws nomination for official who questioned Ukraine aid hold Signs of trouble mar Trump deal with Taliban MORE (R), who was first elected to the House in 1994.

The Democratic Party will also see a runoff between retired business consultant Greg Sagan and office manager Gus Trujillo.

Republicans hold a huge advantage in Texass 13th Congressional District, which Thornberry won with over 81 percent of the vote in 2018.

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Former White House physician heading to runoff in Texas congressional race | TheHill - The Hill

Commissioners to repeal 19-year-old ‘dangerous weapons’ ban on St. Clair County property – The Times Herald

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People in attendance of a St. Clair County Board of Commissioners meeting hold signs in support of the Second Amendment Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, in the St. Clair County Admin Building. A crowd had gathered at the meeting to voice their opinions on a Second Amendment resolution passed by the county.(Photo: Brian Wells/Times Herald)

A ban of weapons, including firearms, on St. Clair County property thats been on the books for nearly two decades is slated to be repealed by officials later this month.

St. Clair County Board Chairman Jeff Bohm said the countys dangerous weapons ordinance came up in talks while county commissioners were doing their due diligence on a Second Amendment resolution before it was passed in early February.

The ban, in place since late 2001, addresses the possession of a slew of weapons on land owned, leased or contracted by the county. On paper, the penalty for violating the law included forfeiture of the weapon, a fine up to $1,000, or up to six months in jail.

However, Gary Fletcher, the countys corporate counsel, said the way it was written, the ordinance conflicts with open carry and concealed carry laws in Michigan.

It was an old ordinance, number one, and it was never enforced not in the parks, not anywhere, Fletcher said. He called the ordinance overly broad, adding that outside of certain parts of the county where for obvious reasons people couldnt carry a gun like the courthouse or county jail, its unenforceable.

Repealing the ordinance is on the agenda during the county board meeting Thursday. Typically, commissioners discuss agenda items in committee before sending them on to the regular board meeting later in the month.

Bohm credited Casey Armitage, a representative for Michigan Open Carry who works with St. Clair County Republicans, with bringing the conflict with the county weapons ban to the attention of officials.Armitage did not return multiplemessages requesting comment and could not be reached over the phone as of Tuesday.

The next meeting is set for 6 p.m. Thursday on the second floor of thecounty administration, 200 Grand River Ave., in downtown Port Huron.

Places people may not be able to possess a concealed firearm already under state law include churches or places of worship, school properties, licensed bars or taverns, sports arenas, and hospitals, among others.

The county property is not included in the types of buildings where you cant carry a weapon, Fletcher said. So, that ordinance is unenforceable and needs to go.

James Empey, of Marine City, carries his AK-47 as he joins others in gathering in the parking lot of the St. Clair County Admin Building before a Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020.(Photo: Brian Wells/Times Herald)

The county board had a change of heart Feb. 6, approving a resolution supporting Second Amendment rights that'd been originally pulled from an agenda in January. The resolution, proposed by state Rep. Gary Eisen, R-St. Clair Township, is part of a statewide sanctuary movement in response to gun control measures pursued in other states.

On Feb. 20, protesters crowded the county board meeting room, largely in upset that the county resolution didnt do enough to protect local gun rights. The group thatd spearheaded a related rally had also come with a list of demands that included repealing the county weapons ban.

Bohm said he understands that movement may take credit for its repeal. But he saidthat they met with Armitage several days before that meeting, asking Fletcher to come back with a recommendation.

When asked why officials didnt address that at the Feb. 20 meeting, he said, It wasnt on the agenda. I didnt have a review back from Gary (Fletcher) yet.

The original 2001 weapons ordinance, which was amended several years later, predates both Bohm, whos been on the board for 15 years, and Fletcher.

There could be other ordinances for different stuff on the books that (became obsolete) over the years, Bohm said. When things are brought to our attention, we fix them.

Jackie Smith is the local government reporter for the Times Herald. Have questions or a story idea? Contact her at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

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Commissioners to repeal 19-year-old 'dangerous weapons' ban on St. Clair County property - The Times Herald

Guzi: Of God and guns and sanctuaries – Roanoke Times

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Guzi is a small business owner in Roanoke.

Our Creator gave us this Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Kill.

The original purpose of a gun: To Kill.

(On another matter,) Jesus said: For you ignore Gods law and substitute your own tradition. (Mark 7:8)

With our love of guns, and near-idol-worship of the Second Amendment In America, so richly blessed by Him, have we ignored Gods law, and substituted our own tradition? (To the detriment killing, injury, heartbreak of COUNTLESS children, women, men?) Have we created a culture that is in violation of His Commandment, His law?

We Virginians have seen gun violence that plagues America, and Virginia: Virginia Tech, Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia Beach. MANY more.

When any shooting happens, it affects the victims and many others. Each, breaking hearts.

Its worse than it used to be. How in the world did we get here?

Our gun culture of hunting, home protection, and target shooting somehow insidiously morphed into something much different. Something harmful, deadly, destructive, costly.

Some blame mental illness, video games, or Godlessness. These are deflections. Other developed countries have these. But they dont have the gun violence, killings, and injuries America has.

So, what is it? I respectfully suggest that our once-normal responsible gun ownership and use has been co-opted and firestorm-fanned by greed, fear, selfishness, and power politics.

Greed of gun manufacturers, dealers, sellers, lobbyists. Similar to Big Tobacco, and Big Pharma, who knew their products harm, injure, even kill, Americans, the gun industry knows. They ignore. They substitute their own self-serving reasoning.

Fear of others, of being outgunned, of tyranny, of having my guns taken away. Fear sells.

Selfishness MY rights. To all the guns, and firepower I want, wherever I want. To heck with others ... their rights, their life, their liberty, their pursuit of happiness. Their safety. (And no, more guns dont save lives. More guns, more gun violence.)

Power Politics Those profiting from gun sales and their special-interest lobbies fund and lobby to get their way. Congressional, state legislators, even citizens argue, debate, protest to get their way, their political win. Then like American Russian Roulette carnage comes. Again. The political victors offer thoughts and prayers. Only. Again.

We absolutely have the right to defend ourselves, our families, our homes, but that right is not absolute.

What about the Second Amendment? From 1791, until 2008, it referred largely to militia.

Even when this interpretation changed, including individual home gun ownership (U.S. Supreme Court, Heller case, 2008), that (5-4) case ruling included:

Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Courts opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.

In The Atlantic (May 14, 2019) Justice John Paul Stevens said of the Heller case: The Supreme Courts Worst Decision of My Tenure.

District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized an individual right to possess a firearm under the Constitution, is unquestionably the most clearly incorrect decision that the Supreme Court announced during my tenure on the bench.

So well settled was the issue that, speaking on the PBS NewsHour in 1991, the retired Chief Justice Warren Burger described the National Rifle Associations lobbying in support of an expansive interpretation of the Second Amendment in these terms: One of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American public by special-interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.

I now realize that I failed to emphasize sufficiently the human aspects of the issue ..

Most importantly, all of us working together, providing common-sense .. knowledge of guns, gun violence, gun laws, gun safety programs that stem gun violence in Virginia, and the U.S.

God is of His commands, Word, covenants, life.

We dont need false idols.

We dont need sanctuaries for tools of killing.

Of freedom from gun violence.

Originally posted here:

Guzi: Of God and guns and sanctuaries - Roanoke Times

Letter to the Editor: A STRONG CONSERVATIVE AND UNYIELDING ADVERSARY ON 2ND AMENDMENT – Valley Roadrunner

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By admin | on February 27, 2020

Editor Roadrunner:

Im Gina Roberts and Im running for reelection to the Republican Central Committee for the 75th Assembly District. In the last three and a half years I have proven myself to be a strong conservative and an unyielding adversary on the Second Amendment.

I have attended all but one meeting and convention since I was elected and have represented the values of the Republican party to mainstream and non-traditional sectors of the electorate. I have worked hard to eliminate the stigma of identity politics from the Republican Party and promote the Big Tent concept for inclusion in the Party. I was designated Coalition Builder of the Year in 2018 in recognition of my outreach to all Republicans regardless of how society and our opponents choose to categorize and recognize them.

We have made huge strides in the San Diego County Republican party, we are recognized nationwide as the strongest county party anywhere, and Im proud to have assisted in the recovery and hopeful triumphs in the next four years. Our 75th Caucus has been a great, functional, and influential team in advancing the improvements we need to see to be successful. The current members or alternates that are up for reelection are Regina W. Roberts, Kimberly Mead, C. Brian Melonakos, and Lee DeMao. Two others that have been active and contributing to the Republican Party have been Randy Berholtz (currently Secretary of the State Party who recently moved to our district) and Matt Stockton. I would highly recommend this team for election.

My name is listed on the Ballot as Regina W. Roberts in the number one position and I would appreciate your vote on March 3, 2020.

GINA ROBERTS, Valley Center

* * *

*Note: Opinions expressed by columnists and letter writers are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the newspaper.

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Letter to the Editor: A STRONG CONSERVATIVE AND UNYIELDING ADVERSARY ON 2ND AMENDMENT - Valley Roadrunner

‘Permitless Carry’ legislation advances in Senate – Cleveland Daily Banner

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Mike Bell

By TIM SINIARD

Despite a tearful plea from the mother of a young man who was killed in 2018 by a gunman at a Nashville restaurant, and over objections from some members of the law enforcement community, Gov. Bill Lees sweeping permitless carry bill advanced out of the state Senates Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

The legislation, which is being shepherded by state Sen. Mike Bell (R-Riceville), was passed 7-2 and will now move on to the Senate Finance Committee.

Introduced by Gov. Lee last week, Senate Bill 2671 will allow for both open and concealed carrying of handguns for Tennesseans 21 years old and older.

The measure also has stricter penalties for stealing firearms, including increasing incarceration sentences for stealing a gun from a car, providing a handgun to a minor and unlawful possession of a handgun by a felon.

Information provided by the governor's office points to additional components of the "Permitless Carry," which is also known as "Constitutional Carry." As proposed, the legislation includes:

Increases the penalty for theft of a firearm to a felony;

Provides a sentencing enhancement for theft of a firearm from a vehicle;

Increases minimum sentences for theft of a firearm from 30 days to 180 days;

Increases sentences for unlawful possession of a firearm by violent felons and felony drug offenders, possession of a handgun by a felon and unlawfully providing a handgun to a juvenile or allowing a juvenile to possess a handgun.

The bill also contains a provision extending the right to 18 to 20-year-old members of the military.

Those who would want to legally buy a handgun would still have to pass federal background checks, although there are some loopholes to the requirement, according to previously published media reports.

Further details about the governor's legislative proposals are expected to be released soon.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Bell chairs, heard testimony from those who supported and opposed Lees legislation, among them a grieving mother, and the National Rifle Association state director, as well as members of law enforcement.

Shaundelle Brooks, the mother of Waffle House shooting victim Akilah DaSilva, implored the committee to vote against the bill, stating that he was taken from us and none of our lives will ever be the same.

She told lawmakers it was impossible for them to imagine the pain she feels when your loved one has been murdered until you experience it yourself.

My son was a beautiful soul, Brooks said.

DaSilva, 23, a student at Middle Tennessee State University, was shot and killed along with three others on April 22, 2018, by Travis Reinking after the gunman entered the restaurant and fired several shots from a Bushmaster AR-15.

While living in Illinois, Reinking had had his gun license revoked; however, it was later learned that his father had handed his gun back to his son, the same one used during the mass shooting at the Waffle House.

The father, Jeffrey Reinking, was charged last year with unlawful delivery of a firearm.

Since her sons murder, Brooks said she has learned a great deal about gun violence in the United States.

I have studied data, she said as her voice broke. I've also dedicated my life to doing what I can to prevent another family from suffering the way my family has suffered and to prevent another mother from having to bury a child and wake up every day with a broken heart.

Judiciary Vice Chairman Sen. Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) expressed his condolences to Brooks.

I will tell you that I think every every member of this committee feels for you, he said. Thank you.

Following Brooks was Matt Herriman, state director for the National Rifle Association, who said he believed that citizens do not need the government's permission to exercise a right, given to them by the Constitution.

Today, Tennessee's current system is set up as a privilege, not a right, he said.

Herriman said the bill would not result in increased crime, "especially murders with a handgun."

He said the legislation being considered by the committee is for law-abiding Tennesseans, not criminals.

Criminals already carried concealed firearms without regard for the law, Herriman said. This legislation is not for those people. It simply puts law-abiding Tennesseans on equal footing. This bill contains stiff penalties for those criminals who choose to unlawfully possess or steal a firearm. These are the people that we need to target, not law-abiding citizens.

But Brentwood Chief of Police Jeff Hughes, who was accompanied by Maggi Duncan, executive director of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, opposed the legislation.

He said those in law enforcement are generally pro-Second Amendment, but with some reservations, particularly when the safety of officers is concerned.

"This simply raises concerns," Hughes said of the legislation, "particularly as it relates to the safety of our officers that are on the street. I'm personally concerned about my officers that are out there on the street trying to ascertain whether someone is legally carrying or not legally carrying, and the jeopardy that that might put them in while they're trying to make that determination.

Hughes said making such determinations would place a burden on law enforcement officers.

Duncan said the new proposal would also end the state's ability to deny permits to those with mental instabilities.

Last year for Tennessee alone, there were over 53,000 denials from mental defects, she said. And that would be a large concern for us because you're not just protecting your law enforcement officer, we're also trying to protect the rest of the community.

Bell responded he had many friends in the law enforcement community who lay their lives on the line every single day in the United States.

But this is what I want to say gently, Bell said. Law enforcement has opposed every expansion of Second-Amendment rights that the Legislature has passed since we enacted permit carry in 1995 every one of them.

He said the law enforcement community in Tennessee does not have the same perspective regarding the Second Amendment as a right for all citizens.

I love our law enforcement, he said. But they have a perspective and a focus that does not take into account every time, what is in my opinion not just the best thing for the citizens, but what is true and right and in line with our Second-Amendment constitutional rights.

Continued here:

'Permitless Carry' legislation advances in Senate - Cleveland Daily Banner

I-4 Votes: Gun Policy, Immigration Sway Voters Along The Corridor – WMFE

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Frank DiMeglio, is a member of the NRA and worries about the Second Amendment. Photo: Abe Aboraya, WMFE

Floridas primary election is just two weeks away and public media stations WUSF in Tampa and WMFE in Orlando are banding together to cover stories along the I-4 Corridor this election season.

The stories from the I-4 Votes collaboration are based on what residents consider the most pressing issues in the 2020 presidential election. This week, were taking a deep dive into a survey of people living in this region of Florida a critical part of a key swing state.

We start with two hot-button issues: Guns, and immigration.

Frank DiMeglio is a Rhode Island transplant who lives in a Daytona Beach condo just five miles from where Interstate 4 starts at the Daytona International Speedway.

His number one national issue in the 2020 presidential election? Gun policy. He owns two handguns, is a member of the NRA, and worries about the Second Amendment.

Why restrict me from owning a gun, a rifle, a hunting rifle, a self-protection rifle, a shooting gun, whatever, DiMeglio said. The Second Amendment is not what guns you own, its about having the right to own them.

DiMeglio said that view puts him in a camp with conservatives and Republicans. He does support some restrictions: Background checks, for example, and closing the gun show loophole.

He was one of more than 800 voters along the I-4 corridor who responded to a survey from WMFE and WUSF. Now, a few caveats. This was not a scientific poll. The results, collected between September and December online and at public events, are skewed. Many of the people filling out the poll identified as leaning Democrat, female, older and well-educated.

In the survey, gun policy was the number one national issue, beating out things like immigration and Donald Trump. Later, well be sharing results on the top economic issues in the survey: health care and the environment.

DiMeglio said he cant see himself voting for a Democrat for president because of their stance on guns. But in a local election, the issue could sway his vote.

On a local level, sure, DiMeglio said. Without a doubt.

Gun policy was also a top issue for Michael Gunn. He lives in Lakeland, the mid-point of the I-4 Corridor, between Tampa and Orlando.

Parkland really hit home, Gunn said of the 2019 mass shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school in Parkland. You know, Ive got kids that age. Ive got a daughter in high school.

Michael Gunn is a father who says the mass shootings at a high school in Parkland are shaping his decisions in the 2020 presidential election. Photo: Abe Aboraya / WMFE

Gunn pauses for a moment.

And nothings been done about it, he says. I mean, Florida did some things, which is good, but not nearly enough. And it just needs to be a nationwide movement.

Gunn said he was a Republican. Hes former military, cares deeply about the Afghanistan war and the deficit. But in 2016, he voted for Hillary Clinton.

Yeah, you know, its funny, I remember telling my wife when she started running for president, I was like, Oh, god, anybody but Hillary, Gunn said.

He said its possible for a Republican to get his vote back. But not in 2020 and not for president.

Its possible, maybe down the road in the future, a good, moderate Republican with sensible gun control could maybe get my vote, but now, no, Gunn said. Its pretty hard set its going to be whoever the Democrat is.

Immigration Important Topic For Republicans

The I-4 Votes issue survey showed for Republicans, immigration is their biggest concern.

Brandon Ryerson, a biomedical science student at the University of South Florida, said immigration is one of the issues that will help him decide who to support in the 2020 presidential election.Credit: Steve Newborn / WUSF Public Media

That includes Brandon Ryerson, 22, a biomedical science student at the University of South Florida. The Brooksville resident said conservatives like him are sometimes considered persona non grata at universities. So free speech, gun rights and immigration top his list of issues hes thinking about when voting.

Ryerson said that of all the candidates, President Donald Trump most closely reaches his stance on immigration. He credits the president for stopping the migrant caravans from Central America.

But hes with Trump on this only so far.

I think that his immigration policies maybe do go too far, he said. The wall, for example Im not a huge fan on that. I dont think its going to decrease illegal immigration that much and I dont really think its a good use of our money.

While he doesnt believe in open borders, Ryerson said he would favor increasing legal immigration for people with skills the country needs.

I dont want to say merit-based, because theres a lot of negative connotations around it, but something like that wouldnt be bad, he said. We obviously want to be taking in good people even people who dont have the best education, we still need those people. At the same time, we dont really want to be taking in criminals.

Ryerson said he likes the idea of increasing the number of visas.

You know, make it easier for people to work in the country, and, you know, get here, and that way they can spend time in the country, he said. They can, you know, assimilate a little bit.

In 2016, Ryerson backed Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and then became a big Trump supporter. Since then, hes cooled on the President.

I would say out of all of them right now, I would probably say that Trump is the closest, but you know, I would also have to do more research, Ryerson said. I dont mind, like, Joe Biden even has some great ideas on immigration and stuff like that.

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I-4 Votes: Gun Policy, Immigration Sway Voters Along The Corridor - WMFE

The Wall Some Texans Want to Build Against Abortion – The New York Times

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LINDALE, Texas A small group of women at a recent City Council meeting held hands and offered hushed prayers in an otherwise silent room.

Everyone was waiting for the council members to decide whether their community would become the next sanctuary city for the unborn.

No one was trying to build an abortion clinic in the Texas community of Lindale, population 6,000. But they wanted to keep it that way.

Persuaded by a shaggy-haired pastor in a backward baseball cap, a dozen other Texas communities already had passed measures prohibiting abortion within their borders.

Legal scholars call the efforts unconstitutional, and some critics have sued. But that hasnt curtailed Mark Dickson, the pastor, and a director for the Right to Life East Texas.

Were really trying to protect the culture and the atmosphere that these cities already have, Mr. Dickson said.

Sanctuary cities for the unborn are the latest way some American communities are attempting to wall themselves off from rules they disagree with, laws imposed by higher authorities that do not match their values.

Its a tactic embraced by both ends of Americas political spectrum: Some cities have become so-called sanctuaries from immigration crackdowns and, elsewhere, from stricter gun laws.

The new local actions on abortion are playing out as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Wednesday on a case that thrusts abortion, one of Americas most divisive issues, into the middle of the presidential campaign.

The case, a challenge to a Louisiana law that opponents say would leave the state with just one doctor in a single clinic authorized to provide abortions, could limit the scope of the constitutional right to abortion established in 1973 in Roe v. Wade.

Hope Medical Group for Women, the clinic at the heart of the case, sparked the Texas movement to create sanctuary cities for the unborn. Mr. Dickson and others worried that if fewer abortions were allowed in Louisiana because of the new law, the clinic might move across state lines to East Texas, a conservative swath of small towns and ranchland.

We are living in a nation that tends to throw away life, said Mr. Dickson, 34, who is traveling the state to rally support for his movement. This is the time to stand and to do something. If we dont do something now, then when?

A majority of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to Pew Research Center. Yet abortion rights now are facing more scrutiny than ever in the years since the Roe v. Wade decision. Planned Parenthood has described access to abortion as hanging by a thread.

Abortion politics always reflect and transform broader American politics, said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University and author of Abortion and the Law in America. Were more polarized on a lot of issues. Were not in a seeking compromise kind of mood.

In many parts of the country, access to abortion clinics is decreasing. New laws took effect last year that, if upheld by the courts, could ban most legal abortion in seven states. Last week, the Senate failed to advance two bills that frame abortion as infanticide, forcing vulnerable Democrats into uncomfortable votes and energizing a socially conservative base for Republicans. President Trump has weighed in, pointing to one of the Senate bills and falsely asserting that Democrats favor executing babies AFTER birth.

So far, Mr. Dickson has successfully lobbied 12 East Texas communities to create anti-abortion ordinances that would levy fines if an abortion clinic tries to open, though one town later changed its mind. The sanctuary city for the unborn movement is spreading to other parts of Texas, and beyond. Last month in Florida, after a heated meeting, Santa Rosa County commissioners decided to ask voters in November whether to declare the county a pro-life sanctuary. In Roswell, N.M., a measure passed that preceded those in Texas.

The notion of creating sanctuary cities of all kinds has been around for several years.

Numerous left-leaning communities across the nation have declared themselves sanctuaries for immigrants, refusing to comply with federal enforcement efforts that have been ramped up since Mr. Trump has been in office.

Dozens of right-leaning municipalities have become Second Amendment sanctuaries, adopting laws or resolutions to hinder the enforcement of gun-control measures such as universal background checks or bans on assault weapons.

Many opponents of sanctuary cities of either kind say they are illegal.

The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged some of the measures on behalf of abortion rights groups, including the Texas Equal Access Fund. And some town leaders, despite holding anti-abortion views themselves, oppose these measures because of the potential financial risk of defending them in court.

Kamyon Connor, executive director of the Texas Equal Access Fund which some of the sanctuary measures label a criminal organization said the ordinances were political stunts meant to confuse people about their rights.

Yet new communities continue to pass ordinances and resolutions that create sanctuaries of various kinds as populations in a politically divided nation respond to the feeling that their way of life their view that deportations are inhumane or their belief that abortion is murder is under attack.

There are a lot of things floating around about sanctuary this and sanctuary that, said Trey Tenery, 50, sitting in the back office of his Victory Guns and Guitar Works store in downtown Lindale. I think people are kind of putting their foot down about different things they believe in.

Mr. Tenery supports the creation of the anti-abortion sanctuary measures, as do many other residents of Lindale, where white crosses are positioned in graveyard fashion in front of a Catholic church to mark the 213 Texans who die each day from abortion.

For Mr. Tenery, the building of a metaphoric wall that aims to keep out abortion providers would preserve his values in the same way that he believes a real wall at the Mexican border would. A wall, he said, would protect people from drugs and sex trafficking coming from the Mexican border, which is about an eight-hour drive from Lindale. (The police in Lindale said sex and drug trafficking have not been major issues in the community.)

Other people who supported the sanctuary-city measures in Lindale said they saw the move as a way to take a moral stand against abortion.

It seems the liberal agenda has gotten so out of hand, said Andrea Josselet, a Lindale resident who voted for Mr. Trump and called him the most pro-life president weve had.

Paul Fancher, an engineer from Lindale, opposes abortion for religious reasons, saying, As a student of the laws of the God of heaven I have discerned that the shedding of innocent blood is something to be concerned with.

He was disappointed last year when the Texas State Legislature failed to pass a bill that would have made the death penalty possible in abortion cases. Mr. Fancher had contacted Mr. Dickson and asked him to come to Lindale to help organize a push for a measure like the one the pastor had persuaded the community of Waskom to pass in June. Mr. Dickson has since bounced among so many small towns that by the time he arrived in Lindale to address the City Council, he came armed with a blueprint for action.

He carried with him teddy bears that pulse with a recording of an in utero heartbeat and stuffs his pockets with three rubber models of a 12-week-old fetus in various skin tones props he had carted to other meetings to appeal to the emotions of council members wary of lawsuits.

The night of the Lindale Councils vote, in mid-February, he and a handful of residents were holding Choose life for all Lindale babies signs outside City Hall as council members arrived.

Not everyone in Lindale, situated in Smith County where just over 70 percent of voters supported Mr. Trump in the 2016 election, agrees with this point of view. A 25-year-old woman who did not want to be named because of the conservative nature of Lindale, said she voted for Mr. Trump and also said that was happy abortion was an option when she got pregnant four years ago. She wasnt ready to raise a child.

In conservative East Texas, many young women are stigmatized for seeking reproductive health care, said Sarah Wheat, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas. The sanctuary city movement only isolates them, she said.

Americans dont want to see people who need access to basic health care, including abortion, targeted like this, Ms. Wheat said. This is why abortion is on the ballot in 2020. People are tired of Trumps anti-abortion rhetoric seeping into their communities.

That night at City Hall, if abortion-rights supporters were present, they stayed silent. Instead, the room was packed with a mostly white crowd of men and women of all ages, some wearing T-shirts with Choose Life messages and one wearing a button that said, Babies Lives Matter.

Kayvon Richards, a college student in the audience, opened the meeting with a prayer to God about this special opportunity we have to make a decision that comes back to you, that stands up for your word, your truth and your values.

Supporters addressed the Council a few minutes at a time, punctuated by amens from the packed room. They spoke of sanctioned bloodshed and harvesters in the abortion clinics with the lists they need of different body parts.

Matt Myer had driven to the meeting 85 miles from the city of Wells, where a few nights before he and other City Council members in a single meeting had passed a measure aimed at outlawing homeless encampments as well as ordinances creating a Second Amendment sanctuary city and a sanctuary city for the unborn.

Certain that the city attorney for Wells would advise against passing the measures, Mr. Myer said he and his fellow council members decided not to seek legal advice about their actions.

He said it was the Councils obligation to stand up for life and not worry what the attorneys say. A week later his community would be named as a defendant in the A.C.L.U. lawsuit.

When the Lindale council members returned to the public meeting room after private deliberations, the city attorney announced the measure was so poorly worded it wouldnt have the effect that supporters wanted. He worried it might be unconstitutional.

Mr. Dickson had come to town with his teddy bears and fetal models seeking an ordinance. Instead, the Council, an all-male body except for one woman, took the advice of its attorney and passed a strongly worded resolution that proclaimed its support for overturning Roe v. Wade and said that abortion in all stages of pregnancy is the act of taking human life.

It didnt include fines or bans. But the mayor looked out at the disappointed crowd and offered reassurance about its intent. Were all allies, I think, here, he said.

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The Wall Some Texans Want to Build Against Abortion - The New York Times

St. Louis Park virtual reality lab aims to use the technology for more than just entertainment – Minneapolis Star Tribune

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On a recent afternoon, Cargill employees filed into a quiet room at the company's headquarters in Wayzata. Each slipped on a virtual reality headset and headphones and watched a 360-degree documentary called "Traveling While Black."

Staff members from REM5, a St. Louis Park-based virtual reality laboratory, circled the employees, adjusting headsets and whispering instructions. When it was over, employees were encouraged to reflect on what they saw and learned.

The racial immersion activity was far from the gaming experience typically associated with virtual reality, said Amir Berenjian, co-founder of REM5. But it represents a key goal of the two-year-old company, which aims to connect students, teachers, artists and community groups with the possibilities of virtual reality.

The idea is that the technology can democratize experience and provide a more comfortable and immersive way to explore difficult subjects like racial or gender bias. "We want to use virtual reality for good," Berenjian said.

The "Traveling While Black" video, for example, seats a viewer across from the mother of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African-American boy who was playing with a toy gun when a young police officer in Cleveland, Ohio, fatally shot him in 2014. Virtual reality can simulate the experience of being homeless or show what it's like to be a woman in a meeting full of men.

"We don't ever want to view VR as a solution, but rather as a tool for this work," Berenjian said. "The real work comes when the headset comes off."

REM5 is developing virtual-reality experiences for use in diversity and inclusion training. The company has developed a prototype that has participants take a step forward or backward based on the advantages or disadvantages they've had in their lives. It's a powerful exercise, Berenjian said, but doing it in a group setting can cause some people to feel outed or ashamed. Virtual reality can shield participants yet spark open, productive conversations afterward, he said.

"You remove some of the chance for that finger-pointing mentality," he said.

About 800 Cargill employees have watched "Traveling While Black" as a part of several company activities organized around training themes of diversity and inclusion.

Many shared their reflections afterward. One employee took note of a scene in a diner.

"That was the first 'time' I was at a table with three people of color. Not the last," the employee wrote.

Another wrote, "This video really brings you into the experience and makes it real. Very powerful!"

A few participants wiped away tears after taking off the headset.

"I can see a lot of demand for more experiences like this that address different issues," said Demetha Sanders, Cargill's global head of talent and inclusion. "The impact and feedback has really been amazing."

The Institute for Lawful, Safe and Effective Policing (ILSEP), a Minnesota nonprofit aimed at building trust between communities and law enforcement, also has been working with REM5 to use virtual reality to train officers about implicit bias.

Last year, the institute began training sessions that place law enforcement officers in a virtual scenario where they have scant details about a situation that could escalate to a split-second decision about the use of force.

"They might know that the call was about someone who may have a gun or that there may be a black male in a certain kind of neighborhood," said Greg Wiley, ILSEP's executive director. "Does that affect the officer's use of force? Should it? That's what we're thinking and talking about."

Virtual reality can have more impact than watching an online training video about bias, Wiley said, because "you're immersed in the experience." He said he wants the public to walk into virtual scenarios that law enforcement officers routinely face.

"We want people to be able to put themselves in law enforcement officers' shoes to see what it's like when they're confronted with a very dangerous situation, and we want police to think about it from community members' perspectives," Wiley said.

"It's another way to help build empathy."

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St. Louis Park virtual reality lab aims to use the technology for more than just entertainment - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Objects augmented with virtual reality create a hybrid musical experience in Out There – San Francisco Chronicle

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Out There is an augmented reality animated short with a musical score by Bay Area-based Pollen Music Group. Photo: Wilkins-Avenue

The virtual reality revolution is being led by little girls.

The latest cutting-edge project by Pollen Music Group, Out There, is an augmented-reality animated short film about a shut-in girl who escapes her room through the power of her unleashed imagination. Making its U.S. premiere Thursday-Sunday, March 5-8, at San Joses Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival, Thibault Mathieus mini-musical features San Francisco songwriter Rachel Garlins score and vocals by Emmy- and Grammy Award-nominated Vanessa Williams and Berkeley teenager Mia Harte. But its the spatialized sound design by the San Francisco music and sound design collective that makes the piece the latest example of whats on the next virtual and sonic frontier.

The work in progress premiered in October at Comic Con Paris, where Pollen built a set for Out There that served as a vessel for the experience. Theyve expanded the score for Cinequest with In There, an introductory Garlin song, because in Paris we found that people wanted more context, says composer Alexis Harte, Pollens creative director. For some people its the first time theyve put on any AR/VR gear, and they spend the first minute just getting comfortable.

6 events not to miss at 2020 Cinequest film festival

Part of Cinequests extensive VR programming, this version of Out There also unfolds within a set in the Kaleid Gallery that includes physical objects built into the score. The feedback that Pollen garners from all-access pass holders, who can sign up for a slot on line instead of waiting in line, will likely lead to further tweaks when Out There returns to Silicon Valley in May for the spatial computing conference AWE in Santa Clara.

Rather than conjuring an entirely virtual realm with goggles and a headset, Out There unfolds in augmented reality, so that half of what youre seeing is actually there, explains producer, engineer and musician JJ Wiesler, one of Pollens three founding partners.

Some elements are real, and theres sound emanating from some things in the room. But its mostly a virtual audio experience, so as you move around, the sound behaves as if its emanating from a real object. We found a vintage gramophone, and when youre staring at it, the song will be spatialized and mixed to sound like its coming out of it.

What makes Pollen-ated projects so potent is that VR and AR are tools used to tell a story, rather than being the main attraction. The company gained international attention in 2017 when the animated short Pearl became the first VR film ever nominated for an Academy Award. Set to a poignant, acoustic-guitar driven score by Harte, the Patrick Osborne-directed piece tells the story of young Sara as she travels across the decades on an immersive visual and sonic road trip, accompanied by her father and various friends she gathers along the way.

Beyond the Oscar nomination, the Emmy Award, the Annie and the Peabody, theres no better measure of Pearls singular accomplishment than its ability to melt even the most iron-hardened hearts.Pollens third founding partner, composer and sound designer Scot Stafford, was in Los Angeles to consult with writers for The Simpsons on VR shortly after Google Spotlight Stories and Evil Eye Pictures released Pearl in 2016.

They had no interest in VR, Stafford recalls. They just wanted to make fun of it in the opening couch gag for the 600th episode, which was good, because VR needed to be made fun of. But in the writers room, Jim Brooks looked over and said, I saw Pearl, and I wept.

What started as a minute-long couch gag riff on VR spoofing Planet of the Apes turned into a veritable three-minute concerto of satire.

Its no coincidence that Brooks, the producer of The Simpsons, is the father of daughters, as are the three Pollen founders. But thats not to say the Pollen partners work only on girl-centric pieces while straining against technologys tether. The company is in the midst of scoring, sound designing and mixing a 30-episode Netflix childrens series, Trash Truck, which starts airing in November. Its a traditional 2-D animated production about a 6-year-old boys adventures with his best buddy, the titular sanitation vehicle, executive produced by Academy Award-winning Disney animation maestro Glen Keane (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast).

But Pollens reputation is built on fearlessly plunging into pioneering projects using technology in the process of being invented. VR and AR encourages viewers to seize control of the directors traditional purview, the picture frame. That means sound takes on even more importance as both a narrative guide and a tool for orienting audiences in space.

Held together by Garlins songwriting craft, Out There pushes the boundaries of whats possible with sound, so we do something and wait for it to be debugged, Wiesler says.

The same process happened with Pearl too, though now people are calling that traditional VR. Were trying to get the technology to fulfill a creative idea while working in tandem, half with software developers and half as songwriters.

The end results are enthralling for kids of any age.

Out There: Noon-6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, March 5-8. Kaleid Gallery, 320 S. First St., San Jose. Requires Cinequest all-access pass. 408-995-5033. http://www.cinequest.org/hyper-reality

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Objects augmented with virtual reality create a hybrid musical experience in Out There - San Francisco Chronicle

Could Virtual Reality Be the Future of Fitness? – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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Only about 20% of Americans get the recommended amount of exercise a week, according to the Centers for Disease Control, but researchers say there's a tool on the market that has the potential to change that.

According to industry experts, 2019 was the biggest year yet for virtual reality headset sales and many of the virtual reality games require players to exert an amount of physical energy.

When 28-year-old Martin Calugay straps on his virtual reality headset, his living room becomes his personal boxing gym.

The latest news from around North Texas.

He says between a new baby and a full-time job as a finance client service specialist, it's been a struggle to exercise and since he'd always liked video games, he says he got a VR headset for Christmas.

Advancements in medical technology is giving critically sick patients their best chance of getting well. That's especially true for babies born with congenital heart defects, which often require complex surgeries when babies are just days old.

"I've actually lost four pounds since I got this headset!" said Calugay.

The team at the Virtual Reality Institute of Health and Exercise at San Francisco State University has heard countless stories like Calugay's.

The Institute was formed three years ago within the school's kinesiology department to calculate the kind of workouts VR games can provide to users.

"We basically look at how virtual reality gaming can be a form of exercise," said principal investigator and Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Dr. Jimmy Bagley.

Getting bored with the same old workout? Virtual Reality is giving people a way to mix up their workout routine. You can game, go on an adventure or just put a little more fun in fitness.

They use a variety of scientific equipment to calculate how many calories a player burns while playing any of the dozens of games on the market.

"We want a really accurate measure, so we actually measure the oxygen you breathe in and the oxygen you breath out, so without getting technical, we look at the calories you're burning during gameplay and compare that to walking, jogging or tennis or whatever," Bagley said.

This is done while the player is immersed in a virtual game, where he or she doesn't have time to think about your form or calorie burn.

Instead, the player is focused on surviving or dominating in the game, whether it's by destroying objects coming at him or her, or dodging blows from a virtual reality character in a boxing game.

Virtual reality is being used to help those struggling with addiction. During a therapy session, the headset places patients in realistic virtual situations that help them work through triggers of drug and alcohol addiction.

The team has created VR Exercise Ratings, found here.

"This is a game, but at the same time, it's also an intense exercise. We hope that people go into thinking it's a game but as a consequence get exercise out of it," said project coordinator Trenton Stewart.

The VR fitness trend is resonating with entrepreneurs and consumers.

Black Box VR claims to be the world's first full-fitness virtual reality gym experience, with locations in California and Idaho.

Newly-expanded simulation lab offers invaluable experiences to Dallas nursing students.

An Austin high school teacher shared video with NBC 5 of his students using virtual reality in their P.E. class.

All of it is launching the San Francisco research team into future projects.

"Now we want to see if people stick with it, whether they'll do it at home or at the gym. We want to look at older adults, kids, people with disabilities, the sky is the limit with this kind of research," said Dr. Bagley.

He notes a couple of downsides. It may cause motion sickness at first, and the price of a headset can cost $100 to $1,000.

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Could Virtual Reality Be the Future of Fitness? - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

The Next Big Thing: XRHealth brings virtual reality to telehealth services – Westfair Online

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One of the drawbacks of telehealth has been the two-dimensional aspect of the technology, with medical practitioners as observers and patients as the observed.

However, a new technology is expanding the practice through the use of virtual reality (VR), which bridges the gap between practitioner and patient to create an uncommon state of shared experiences.

XRHealth, with headquarters in Boston and Israel, has devised an approach that blends software with VR technology solutions in a manner that enables the treatment of significant health conditions. This is achieved by putting the patients through VR-based games and activities that measure mobility and pain thresholds.

For example, a patient seeking upper extremity rehabilitation would put on an Oculus VR headset to engage in a game where virtual swords are swung at a series of balloons that appear and disappear, while another exercise explores cognitive training via a memory game using a virtual conveyor belt of items that a patient is challenged to recognize.

While the XRHealth approach might seem like fun and games for the patient, there are serious medical observations that take place during the activities. The clinical staff can control the VR unit while the patient is wearing it and is able to see what the patient is viewing. Clinicians can remotely adjust the settings and treatment while the patient is in motion. After an initial training session, the patient can use the headset independently, with the therapy data being stored and analyzed in real-time, thus allowing clinicians to monitor patient status.

XRHealth, which began in 2016 under the name VRHealth, is promoting its technology for acute conditions, including traumatic brain injury and stroke rehabilitation, chronic pain treatment, spinal cord injuries, neurological disorders, memory decline and anxiety attacks.

Eran Orr, the companys CEO, called the technology a game-changer by enabling medical practitioners to see the world albeit a computer-generated version the same way as the patient.

The VR headset is able to capture and analyze everything we do and quantify processing that had been very hard to quantify, he explained.

Last October, the company received Series A funding from AARP Innovation Labs to focus on health maintenance therapies for seniors. In November, Israels Sheba Hospital announced it would be utilizing XRHealths technology throughout each of its departments, adding it would become the worlds first VR-based hospital. Amitai Ziv, director of Shebas Rehabilitation Hospital, stated the XRHealth systems would also be able to provide improved training for our facility, along with better and more personalized care for our patients.

XRHealth partnered with the VA St. Louis Healthcare System to bring its brand of VR therapy to veterans seeking pain relief, rehabilitation and relaxation for various medical conditions. On March 1, XRHealth launched VR telehealth clinics in New York, Connecticut and six other states plus the District of Columbia, with more markets scheduled for later this year.

Orr noted his company has contracts with four health care providers and is in negotiations with 50 more, including Medicare.

The insurance companies understand that if we provide good access to medical devices, people will become healthier, he said. That reduces the cost of care.

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The Next Big Thing: XRHealth brings virtual reality to telehealth services - Westfair Online

HTC adds bundles to its Vive Pro Eye virtual reality gear – ZDNet

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HTC's Vive Pro Eye Office bundle.

HTC Vive launched a series of Vive Pro Eye bundles for the enterprise for training and simulation, analytics and navigation.

These bundles, available in the second quarter, highlight how virtual reality may be moving beyond the pilot stage to more production deployments. HTC is moving to position Vive bundles for specific uses cases by enterprise.

HTC added Vive Pro Eye Office and Vive Pro Eye Office Arena Bundle to its lineup. The bundles also include extended warranties and expedited support.

The Vive Pro Eye Office goes for $1,599 includes the Vive Pro Eye, HTC's enterprise device with native eye tracking, high resolution and comfort for long use. The primary bundle is that this bundle has expedited customer service and extended warranty included.

HTC's Vive Pro Eye Office Arena bundle includes a bundle of the Vive Pro Eye Office bundle and the addition of two StreamVR 2.0 base stations. The system, designed for entertainment venues, covers play spaces up to 10m x 10m with a 20-meter cable. Vive Pro Eye Office Arena is $2,350.

The company also said that it cut the price of the original Vive Pro Eye to $1,399.

HTC said it is targeting medical, manufacturing, transportation, commerce and design as target industries for its virtual reality bundles.

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HTC adds bundles to its Vive Pro Eye virtual reality gear - ZDNet

Matterport partners with virtual reality staging expert VRPM – Property Week

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The firm has created a tool that can place computer-generated furniture into a 3D environment captured from a real space by Matterports technology. This allows VRPM to create more economical immersive virtual reality tours without staging real furniture in an empty space.

Empty commercial or residential spaces captured with Matterport technology can be fully staged virtually by VRPM within 96 hours.

Third-party partners like VRPM are now able to use Matterports digital twins and spatial data to create new tools for the industry that other Matterport users will be able to access as well.

VRPMs service is a great example of how our partners are increasing the value of Matterport digital twins and spatial data, said Matterport chief executive, RJ Pittman. Our platform approach helps developers and partners play a key role with Matterport in digitizing the built world.

VRPMs founder and director, Mike Merron, said: We have created a range of highly effective virtual staging tools for residential and commercial properties, drawing on our teams expertise in augmented reality and 3D.

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Matterport partners with virtual reality staging expert VRPM - Property Week