Daily Archives: November 17, 2020

When it came to her final word at the Miss USA pageant, Asya Branch was asked to speak on gun laws. And she wasn't afraid to state her support for the Second Amendment.

"I think it's important that we not ban guns because, obviously, people will find a way to get what they want anyway," Branch, who represented Mississippi, said onstage as she stood among the final five contestants on Monday night. "But I think it's our Second Amendment right, and I think we just need more safety surrounding that."

Branch's words caught the attention of Twitter and various media outlets especially after she was announced as the winner mere minutes later.

Branch spoke out in support of the Second Amendment during the pageant. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

"I think that AK-47s and other guns along those lines should be left to our military," Branch said. "There's no reason for civilians to have those types of weapons."

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994 expired in 2004. Congress has passed scant gun legislation in recent years, despite a wave of mass shootings in the country, and the fact that a 2019 Politico/Morning Consult poll found that nearly 70% of all American voters would support a new ban on assault weapons.

During her final word in the Miss USA pageant, Branch noted that she had grown up in a home with guns and "learned from an early age how to load, how to fire, and gun safety."

Branch said she grew up with guns in her home from an early age. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

"As our Second Amendment right, we obviously have the right to bear arms," she said. "And where I'm from, there are a lot of guns people like to hunt. It's important that we just really enforce gun safety and make sure that people have permits and that they're legally able to own a gun."

"It's just a matter of making sure that when we put guns in the hands of people, that they're capable of being safe and making sure that they're using it for the right reasons," she added. "Go hunting, go shoot targets, use it as more of a sport. Let's not harm each other."

People on Twitter recently criticized Branch after a photo of her singing at a Trump rally resurfaced on Monday night. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

The pageant queen also caught Twitter's attention when an Instagram photo of her singing at a Donald Trump rally in 2018 resurfaced.

Branch told Insider that she had been contractually obligated to sing the national anthem at the rally while she was Miss Mississippi for the Miss America organization, which is separate from Miss USA.

"I think what people miss a lot of the time is the fact that, as Miss Mississippi in the Miss America system, I was under a contract as an employee of the organization," she said. "Part of my contract obligated me to attend appearances, and that [Trump rally] was one of them."

"And I think that any opportunity that I get to sing the national anthem is a true honor, regardless of where it takes place," she added.

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Miss USA does not believe that the country should ban guns - Insider - INSIDER

Although voters in Novembers election had a refreshing break from initiatives to impose new gun-control laws, there was a pro-gun ballot measure this fall in Big Sky Country.

LR 130, a ballot measure to limit local government authority to regulate firearms, was supported by the NRA and approved by Montanas voters. Voters had to contend with a barrage of misinformation along with the typical outsized spending by Michael Bloombergs Everytown for Gun Safety to defeat the measure.

The path to this vote started when the City of Missoula enacted a 2016 ordinance to criminalize private firearm sales, gifts, loans, and other transfers unless the parties processed the transaction through a licensed firearm dealer and had a NICS check done. Like almost every other state, Montana has firearm preemption laws that prohibit local governments from regulating firearms as they please. The Montana Attorney General concluded that state preemption statutes prohibited Missoula from enforcing its ordinance. The city responded with litigation against the Attorney General, seeking a declaration that its ordinance was lawful. A year ago, the states highest court ruled 5-0 in favor of the Attorney General, finding that the ordinance violated the preemption laws.

State lawmakers then passed HB 325, an amendment to the preemption laws that would confine local governments authority to regulate firearms to firearms carried by unlicensed persons in publicly-owned buildings controlled by that locality. Bloombergs Everytown/ Moms Demand Action opposed the legislation and called on Governor Bullock to veto HB 325. Governor Steve Bullock (D) did veto HB 325, which triggered the placement of an identical measure, HB 357, on the ballot as LR-130, a legislatively referred statute (Montanas constitution and statute law protect such measures from a governors veto).

Opponents of LR-130 used deceptive mailers that painted the measure as an attempt by lobbyists and out-of-touch politicians to take away our freedom; elsewhere, they referenced the need to protect our Second Amendment rights and claimed LR-130 was unconstitutional. Ignoring the 2019 court ruling invalidating Missoulas ordinance, opponents alleged that local government decisions on firearms had not been challenged by proponents because they know theyd lose. Besides these desperate assertions, Everytown and its gun-control allies spent 27 times the amount spent by supporters of the measure in the lead-up to the election.

Voters were not deceived.

Montanas voters not only supported LR-130, they made it clear that theyd had enough of Steve Bullock and his side-winding ways on the Second Amendment. After failing in his bid to be the Democrat nominee in the 2020 presidential race, Bullock had opted to run for the U.S. Senate, facing off against incumbent Steve Daines (R). Unlike the anti-gun positions he espoused as governor and presidential candidate, senatorial candidate Bullock found it expedient to profess his support for gun rights, with a fake hunters group even advertising that he was strong on guns.

Although Bullock did well in Missoula County, the flip-flopper flopped with Montanans overall, who preferred his opponent by a decisive ten percent margin.

For billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the defeat on LR-130 is likely another indication that, regardless of the huge funding disparities between real grassroots organizations and the anti-gun advocacy groups bankrolled by his millions, everyday Americans feel their freedom is not for sale.

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Bloomberg Scores Another Failure in Big Sky Country - NRA ILA

LETTER from CHRISTIAN BASHEAR

To the Editor:

To express my support of the Second Amendment, I joined the 2AS group here in Otsego County when it was first organized. For far too long, the New York State government has passed more and more insane gun controls without seeming to care at all that they may be unconstitutional infringements to myright to keep and bear arms.

I also am sick of the insulting name-calling pro-gun control people use to label us.

There is nothing unreasonable to champion the Second Amendment as written and nor is it unreasonable to call into question certain gun control laws.

I have grown up in a household that enjoyed hunting and target shooting. The same with many ofmy friends and neighbors. We are not gun nuts and I dont know of anyone who is.

In fact, I cant see any of my friends or family even wanting to be around people who dont respect their firearms. But that doesnt mean its OK for the government to place one obscure restriction after another.

I want to see a future where my kids can enjoy hunting and target shooting as I did growing up. It has been a tradition that I fear might be stripped away.

There is talk every week on passing more infringing gun control laws throughout New York. We cannot stand for this anymore. Im tired of it and its time for freedom to fight back.

Having the freedom of self-defense is not only our right, it is our duty.

CHRISTIAN BRASHERRichfield Spring

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BASHEAR: Protect Our Gun-Using Traditions - AllOTSEGO

SAF Rising as 2A Warrior, Challenging Restrictive Carry Laws (Dave Workman photo)

U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- Empowered by its landmark 2010 Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago, which nullified the Windy Citys handgun ban and incorporated the Second Amendment to the states via the 14th Amendment, the Second Amendment Foundationa scrappy gun rights group based in Washington Statehas become a legal powerhouse that is now targeting at least three states for their alleged arbitrary, prohibitive concealed carry laws.

This year alone, according to SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, SAF has filed an average of two lawsuits each month. With its most recent legal actiona federal lawsuit challenging Marylands arbitrary good and substantial reason requirement to obtain a concealed carry permitthe foundation has launched, usually in cooperation with other groups, 24 lawsuits so far in 2020. And, he acknowledged with a wink, the year isnt over. December could see even more activity, he indicated.

Most of these lawsuits have been filed in federal court. In addition to the Maryland case, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, recent days have seen SAF filing similar actions against New York City and the State of New Jersey.

Its part of a strategy announced by Gottlieb some five years ago with the intention of Winning Firearms Freedom, One Lawsuit at a Time. The organization, founded more than 40 years ago, has been constantly active since the June 2010 McDonald ruling, and this year has seen their legal gears shift into overdrive.

Depending upon the case, SAF is often joined by the California-based Firearms Policy Coalition, another group flexing its legal muscle. In some cases, SAF partners with the National Rifle Association. In the New Jersey and Maryland cases, SAFs sister organization, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, is also participating.

State-level groups have also come aboard on occasion, including the Illinois State Rifle Association, New Jersey Second Amendment Society, San Diego County Gun Owners, Massachusetts Gun Owners Action League, Illinois Carry, Florida Carry, Commonwealth Second Amendment, Maryland Shall Issue, Inc., and Washington Arms Collectors, to name a few.

Cases havent always been about right-to-carry, either. SAF has been involved in legal actions to thwart gun bans in public housing, stopping local municipal governments from instituting regulations in defiance of state preemption laws, and in at least two cases, defending the First Amendment.

For example, SAF and NRA are challenging a City of Seattle safe storage requirement for firearms owners, in apparent violation of Washington States 35-year-old preemption law, which prohibits cities and counties from adopting their own gun control laws. The now-retired trial court judge tossed the suit on a technical standing issue, but last month, a three-judge panel on the State Court of Appeals unanimously reinstated the case and remanded it back for further action. A similar law in nearby Edmonds was struck down last year by the trial court.

The common denominator in New York City, New Jersey and Maryland are restrictive requirements to demonstrate something generically called justifiable need or good and substantial reason. SAF considers this nonsense because applicants are routinely denied, amounting on a ban of concealed carry by average citizens.

But the State of Maryland has criminalized the carrying of handguns by ordinary citizens, making it wholly unlawful for law-abiding citizens to exercise their fundamental right to bear arms in public for self-defense without first satisfying the State that they have a good and substantial reason to do so.

Worse still, Maryland has made clear that a general desire to carry a handgun for the purpose of self-defensethe central component of the Second Amendment, District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 599 (2008)is not a sufficiently good reason to exercise the right. Instead, according to Maryland, an ordinary citizen must provide documented evidence of concrete threats or recent assaults to obtain a permit from the state to carry a handgun in public. That restriction is akin to a state law concluding that the general desire to advocate for lawful political change is not a sufficiently good and substantial reason to exercise the right to free speech, and it cuts to the very core of the Second Amendment, no less than such a restriction would gut the First.

But the State of New Jersey has criminalized the carry of handguns by subjecting those who unlawfully do soeven if by an otherwise law-abiding person who carries a handgun to exercise their fundamental right to bear arms in public for self-defenseto punishment for a crime of the second degreea serious felonyplacing such conduct among crimes for aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury, aggravated arson, robbery, and sexual assault.

Adding further insult to constitutional injury, should an unlicensed person be convicted for exercising his rights by carrying a handgun in public, he would lose his Second Amendment rights under state and federal law.

The States few exceptions to this broad criminal statute do not allow law-abiding citizens to carry a handgun outside their homeIndeed, the law sweeps so broadly that it bars anyone from having a handgun in their possession unless they can show that they fall into one of the limited Case.

The Rules of the City of New York provide that, in order to obtain a Carry Business License or a Special Carry Business License, an applicant must show proper cause. The Rules define proper cause as follows:

Proper cause is determined by a review of all relevant information bearing on the claimed need of the applicant for the license. The following are examples of factors that will shall be considered in such a review.

Example: Employment in a position in which the applicant routinely engages in transactions involving substantial amounts of cash, jewelry or other valuables or negotiable items. In these instances, the applicant shall furnish documentary proof that her/his employment actually requires that s/he be authorized to carry a handgun, and that s/he routinely engages in such transactions.

Example: Instances in which Police Department records demonstrate that the life and well-being of an individual is endangered, and that s/he should, therefore, be authorized to carry a handgun. The factors listed above are not all inclusive, and the License Division will consider any proof, including New York City Police Department records, which document the need for a handgun license. It should be noted, however, that the mere fact that an applicant has been the victim of a crime or resides in or is employed in a high crime area, does not establish proper cause for the issuance of a carry or special handgun license. [38 RCNY 5-03]

In addition, the Rules of the City of New York require a person seeking a Carry Business License or a Special Carry Business License to submit a letter of necessity [that] explains the need for the license. 38 RCNY 5-05(b)(8)(i). Pertinently, the letter of necessity shall contain . . . [a] detailed description of the applicants employment and an explanation of why the employment requires the carrying of a concealed handgun and [a] statement acknowledging that the handgun shall only be carried during the course of and strictly in connection with the applicants job, business or occupational requirements, as described herein. Id. 5-05(b)(8)(ii)(A)-(B). The letter of necessity requirements make no reference to the need for a defensive firearm outside the context of employment.

Its the bill of rights, not the bill of needs, Gottlieb says in a SAF radio advertisement that frequently airs on Mark Walters Armed American Radio.

With Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett now on the Supreme Court, there is at least a 5-4 conservative majority, and if Chief Justice John Roberts comes back on gun rights issues, that would make for possible 6-3 rulings, provided Republicans retain control of the Senate.

Fox News is reporting that some Capitol Hill Democrats admit their chances of pushing a progressive agendawhich will undoubtedly include extremist gun control measuresare diminished by the strong GOP showing on Election Day. Efforts by Far Left Democrats to push Joe Biden farther in their direction could be dashed if two special elections in Georgia in January leave Republicans with a slim Senate majority. Under that scenario, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can stop legislation and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary might even prevent some cabinet nominees. They would certainly be able to prevent Biden and Vice President Kamala Harrisif they are declared the winners and take officefrom stacking the Supreme Court.

With record voter turnout in several states, it does not appear gun owners sat this one out. The presumed election outcome does not appear to have had any impact on SAFs legal activities, however. Indeed, SAF has been stepping up its game.

The foundation is involved in more than three dozen court cases right now, and the intent clearly is to get one or more of these to the Supreme Court. SAF had several cases seeking review earlier this year, none of which the high court accepted. That was a major disappointment for Gottlieb and his legal team. While the organization has no in-house attorneys, it works with several lawyers who have become specialists in gun rights issues.

Filling federal court vacancies with conservative judges and justices maybe Trumps longest-lasting legacy and his most significant political victory. With some semblance of balance restored to the federal courts, there is a strong possibility that one or more of SAFs pending cases could wind up before the high court.

One significant disadvantage for SAF is that the other side has lots of money because it typically comes from the taxpayers. In some cases, anti-gun organizations provide pro bono legal support to some lawsuit defendants, such as the City of Seattle. SAF nor any of its allies has enjoyed that luxury.

Over the past several months, with gun rights being a major shadow issue in the election cycle, donationswhich are tax-deductibleto SAF have been improving, but every little bit helps. No doubt with a Biden administration pressing a gun control agenda and local governments doing likewise with support from the gun prohibition lobby, there will be even more support for SAF and its allies in their legal battles.

It will take more court victories to restore the Second Amendment to its rightful stature, Gottlieb acknowledges. That could take years, but SAF is in this for the long haul.

For information about the Second Amendment Foundation, visit http://www.saf.org

About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor atTheGunMag.comand Liberty Park Press,author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.

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SAF Rising as 2A Warrior, Challenging Restrictive Carry Laws - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

Just in case anyone needed further proof that much of the federal bureaucracy is more interested in serving themselves and left-wing political interests than public service, news broke this week that rogue elements of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) have been conspiring with Joe Bidens transition team to enact gun control by executive fiat. At the top of these anti-gun government functionaries wish list is executive regulation of commonly-owned pistol stabilizing braces and materials used by individuals to make their own firearms sometimes referred to as unfinished or 80%frames or receivers.

On November 10, gun rights activist John Crump published a piece for Ammoland.com with details of a leaked BATFE conference call in which BATFE Acting Director Regina Lombardo and Associate Deputy Director Marvin Richardson participated. According to the article, Acting Director Regina Lombardo told those in attendance that the anti-gun Biden transition team has reached out to the ATF to get the agencys top priorities.The item went on to note that Lombardo told those on the call that her priorities would be pistol braces and 80% lower receivers.

It is unclear from Crumps initial report how Lombardo wants the BATFE to target these items, but under a proper reading of federal law the agencys options are limited.

Pistol stabilizing braces are an item that attaches to the rear of many configurations of commonly-owned semi-automatic pistols that helps stabilize the pistol on a shooters arm so that they may effectively shoot the firearm with one hand. These items are particularly valuable for differently-abled shooters who may not have the use of two hands. BATFE has approved several arm braces for this purpose. At present, Americans own over 4 million of these items.

BATFE already has a fraught history with pistol stabilizing braces. In January 2015, BATFE released an Open Letter on the Redesign of Stabilizing Braces. With the letter, BATFE sought to stop individuals from using pistol stabilizing braces in a manner in which they were not designed for specifically, using a brace to shoulder the pistol.

Federal law defines rifleas a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder.Further, a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in lengthis categorized as a short-barreled rifle.Short-barreled riflesare subject to the National Firearms Act and must be registered with the federal government in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. On the other hand, a handgunis defined as a firearm which has a short stock and is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.

In the letter, BATFE contended that an individual who shouldered a pistol equipped with a pistol stabilizing brace was creating a short-barreled rifle.

This reading of the law was patently absurd. The definitions of both rifleand pistolturn on how a particular firearm is designed and intended to be used. Pistols equipped with a pistol stabilizing brace are designed and intended to be fired by the use of a single hand.The object of a pistol stabilizing brace is to facilitate single-handed shooting.

A person using a firearm equipped with a pistol stabilizing brace in a manner in which it was not designed for, by shouldering it, does not change the fact that the firearm was designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.Under such tortured logic, someone who attempted to fire a stock Glock 19 by placing it upon his shoulder would be creating a short-barreled rifle. What matters under federal law is what the firearm was designed and intended for, not how any individual user might use it.

In early 2017, BATFE reconsidered its incorrect reading of the law. In a letter to pistol stabilizing brace manufacturer SB Tactical, the agency explained,

To the extent the January 2015 Open Letter implied or has been construed to hold that incidental, sporadic, or situational use of an arm-brace (in its original approved configuration) equipped firearm from a firing position at or near the shoulder was sufficient to constitute redesign, such interpretations are incorrect and not consistent with ATFs interpretation of the statute or the manner in which it has historically been enforced.

For three years gun owners enjoyed some measure of sanity on the pistol stabilizing brace issue. However, the BATFE - perhaps anticipating a more anti-gun political climate has begun targeting pistol stabilizing braces again.

In August, the agency sent firearm manufacturer Q LLC a cease & desist letter informing the company that its Honey Badgerpistol, which is equipped with a pistol stabilizing brace, was in the agencys view a short-barreled riflesubject to the NFA. After grassroots action taken by NRA members and other gun rights supporters in early October, BATFE suspended the cease & desist order for 60 days.

Concerning unfinished frames and receivers, the current federal statute and regulations are clear. Federal law defines a firearmto include any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosiveand the frame or receiver of any such weapon.In the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), firearm frame or receiveris further defined as That part of a firearm which provides housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock, and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel.

In order to target unfinished frames and receivers, BATFE would likely attempt to broaden the definition of firearm frame or receiverin the CFR. Such a change is inadvisable and should at the very least require a formal rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act.

By targeting the materials Americans use to make their own firearms, BATFE is striking at the core of the Second Amendment right in a manner that has no basis in the text, history, and tradition of the right. Since long before the founding, Americans have enjoyed the right to make their own firearms for personal use without government interference.

The interest in regulating these items by executive diktat shows a willingness at BATFE and in a prospective Biden administration to ignore the law. This is not the opinion of NRA-ILA, but of the Barack Obama administration.

In late 2015, Obama tasked his White House with doing everything within their lawful authority to pursue gun control through executive action. Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said of Obamas administrative gun control efforts, he has asked his team to scrub existing legal authorities to see if theres any additional action we can take administrativelyThe President has made clear hes not satisfied with where we are, and expects that work to be completed soon.In remarks announcing the new actions, Obama stated were going to do everything we can to ensure the smart and effective enforcement of gun safety laws that are already on the booksFurther, a press release that accompanied the announcement of these measures, stated, The President and Vice President are committed to using every tool at the Administrations disposal to reduce gun violence.

Both pistol stabilizing braces and unfinished frames and receivers existed at the time of the Obama administrations efforts, yet they were not targeted for prohibition. The fact that BATFE, and possibly the Biden team, believe they could do even more than Obama suggests that they are willing to go beyond what even the anti-gun Obama administration considered a legitimate use of executive authority.

As BATFE leadership scheme with a potential Biden administration, gun owners must remain vigilant to protect their rights by providing a political counterweight to unwarranted unilateral executive action. Biden has already made clear that he does not recognize the supreme law of the land, the U.S. Constitution and its Second Amendment, so there is no telling the lengths he would go to subvert the law by edict.

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BATFE Leadership Push Biden to Target Pistol Stabilizing Braces and Unfinished Receivers - NRA ILA

Although the 2021 session of the Texas Legislature convenes on January 12, gun control advocates financed byNew York billionaire MichaelBloomberg and Beto "Hell Yeah, I'll Take Your Guns" O'Rourke wasted no time in announcing their declaration of war on your Second Amendment rights in the Lone Star State. Monday was the first day for the pre-filing of bills, and more than three dozen measures attacking your rights have already been introduced!

Here are some of the highlights of what's to come:

That's after ONE day of pre-filing. Gun owners need to send a resounding message to their state lawmakers in opposition to these gun control bills RIGHT AWAY.Please contact your State Representative and urge them to OPPOSE any and all gun control measures and feel free to list these specifically.

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Record Amount of Gun Control Legislation Introduced on First Day of Bill Pre-Filing for 2021 Texas Legislative Session - NRA ILA

Georgia Special Election An Embarrassment Of Riches

Georgia -(AmmoLand.com)-Barring a miracle in the courts and some state legislatures willing to act should the court rule, Second Amendment supporters will have an avowed enemy in the White House who will seek to unjustly punish them for the many crimes and acts of madness they did not commit. This needs to be acknowledged (to concede would, to borrow the phrasing of one anti-Second Amendment extremist, be to admit and accept that what happened with the vote counts and the ballots in multiple locations on November 3 was right and based on what we know, what happened wasnt right). I would be lying if I said it was right, and I have pretty much-called things as I see it on Ammoland.

Now comes the task of maintaining a firewall against the plans for court-packing and other methods of permanently rigging the election system against us. Right now, that means working to win the two runoff elections for the Senate seats from Georgia. One, as we noted earlier, is a special election. The good news is that the GOP has Kelly Loeffler running, and in her brief time as an appointed Senator, she has delivered for Second Amendment supporters.

Loeffler introduced the Gun Owner Privacy Act, which would eliminate wiggle room for using the National Instant Check System (NICS) as a back-door means of gun registration. The legislation did not move in the 116th Congress, but if Loeffler is elected to fill the rest of Senator Johnny Isakson, she could reintroduce it in the 117th.

Loeffler also backed S Con Res 40, which would have put both houses of Congress squarely against the may issue laws in states like New York, California, and New Jersey that have really become de facto nonissue states. Such a declaration would be an asset in the litigation that the Second Amendment Foundation is pursuing.

But for the SAFs litigation strategy to prevail, the possibility of the courts being packed with anti-Second Amendment extremists must be foreclosed for as long as possible. To do that, Loeffler needs to be re-elected. While control of the Senate will not be enough to completely prevent the administrative moves that we will likely see be made against our rights over the next four years, it can keep the courts as a bulwark against the worst of them.

To support Loefflers bid to finish Isaksons term, Second Amendment supporters can check out her campaign website. They also need to donate generously to the National Rifle Associations Political Victory Fund. This special election, as well as the regular runoff between Senator David Perdue and Jon Ossoff (which we will discuss later), is for all the marbles.

About Harold Hutchison

Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.

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Loeffler One of the Last Chances to Hold the Line in Georgia - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

John Oliver tore into Donald Trumps pathetic, dangerous refusal to acknowledge Joe Bidens victory on Last Week Tonight, after two weeks of the presidents attempts to delegitimize the results of the election with baseless claims of voter fraud, backed by most congressional Republicans. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, for example, said Trump is 100% within his rights to challenge the election result, and chastised Democrats on the Senate floor for any lectures about how the president should immediately, cheerfully accept preliminary election results from the same characters who just spent four years refusing to accept the validity of the last election.

First, no one expected Trump to immediately, cheerfully accept the results, Oliver countered. Hes incapable of cheerfully accepting anything apart from blowjobs, Nazi endorsements and the opportunity to scream inside a strangers truck, to harken back to a photo-op from two years or what feels like two decades ago.

Furthermore, Democrats in Washington never refused to accept the election results in 2016: Hillary Clinton formally conceded the morning after election day, and Obama hosted Trump in the White House the day after that. And yet Republicans are trying to defend their support for Trumps indefensible behavior, Oliver continued. One senior White House official asked the Washington Post: What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time? which Oliver called a question that never ends well, whether the ones asking it are overworked parents who need a break or the Weimar Republic.

The Trump campaign and its television surrogates on Fox News have lobbed numerous unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud before, during and after the election, and if youre a casual viewer of rightwing media, you might think, Well, there must be something here, they wouldnt be going to all this trouble over nothing, Oliver said. But the thing is, they are. This really is nothing.

Oliver summarily disproved Trump voter fraud claims from Pennsylvania to Georgia to Michigan I could spend the rest of this show debunking stories, he said. The problem is, its endless and often nonsensical. And who knows why Republicans are entertaining this maybe its the fact that Georgia has two Senate runoffs coming up and they want to keep Trump happy so hell help rally voters for him there, Oliver added. Maybe theyre currying favor with him because theyre worried hell be a power broker going forward, I dont know. What I do know is that the answer to the question what is the downside of humoring him? is a lot.

The Trump administrations refusal to acknowledge the elections outcome prevents Biden from receiving high-level intelligence reports or accessing funds for his transition team. More pressingly, it blocks Trump officials from sharing critical details of a distribution plan for a Covid vaccine with Bidens team. As cases surge to new records across the country heading into the holiday season, you really want the new team handling the pandemic to be able to talk to the old team, said Oliver, even if, as I suspect, the old teams plan was just a single white board in Jareds office with nothing on it other than discover cure? circled five times and then a drawing of Donald Trump saying: Good job, new son.

Many of Trumps election fraud claims are laughable or ridiculous, Oliver continued, but the fact is, a lot of people believe stuff like that. And when you continually insist that the election was stolen in big cities and suggest that remedying this calls for the biggest fight since the civil war, to quote a video retweeted by Trump of the actor Jon Voight comparing contesting Biden to battling Satan, things start to get deadly serious. Earlier this month, two armed men were arrested outside the Philadelphia convention center, where city officials were counting ballots. One of the citys commissioners, a Republican, told CBS news that the vote-counting center had received threatening phone calls reminding us that this is what the second amendment is for.

Its clear, Oliver said in response to the situation in Philadelphia, that Trump is playing a dangerous game here, because theres a huge difference between not my president and not the president. And to be clear, people who are that angry are not riling themselves up in a vacuum. Theyve been fed a steady diet of misinformation, bullshit fraud claims, and a victim narrative from outlets like Fox News, Newsmax, OANN and, most importantly, Trump himself.

Trumps continued propagation of election conspiracy theories via Twitter since the election are an appropriate coda to a presidency that has destroyed so many lives, said Oliver. So many of us have lost loved ones, either because you can no longer square your love for them with their love for him, or because they fell down a mind-melting rabbit hole of conspiracy theories that he happily perpetuated, or because he let a deadly virus run wild, and it fucking killed them.

And now, as a parting gift to the country, he concluded, Trump is somehow managing to divide us even further while also hobbling his successor at the worst possible time, which is absolutely unforgivable.

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John Oliver on Trump's refusal to concede: 'Absolutely unforgivable' - The Guardian

In 2016, Republican Matt Bliss beat incumbent DFL state Rep. John Persell in a race for the Minnesota House, setting off a heated back-and-forth rivalry in the Bemidji area. After losing by more than 1,500 votes that cycle, Persell ran again in 2018, and won by a mere 11 votes.

This year, Bliss challenged Persell another time, and Bliss took the seat back, winning by roughly the same margin he did in 2016.

State Rep. John Persell

Yet Republicans this year swept the region definitively, winning both state House seats and a state Senate race amid a campaign that, like many others in Minnesota, featured debates on gun policy, police reform and unrest after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd.

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Persell maintains his loss was the result of some unique factors: high turnout in a presidential year, Trump and a GOP campaign centered on fear. Republicans and political experts however, see something else in the results: a changing political tide in the area that may signal a broader shift away from the DFL.

Persell, who spent much of his career as an environmental policy analyst for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, was first elected to the state House in 2008, and served four consecutive terms before losing to Bliss in 2016.

That year, Persell wasnt the only DFLer in the area to be ousted. Republican Sandy Layman beat long-serving DFL state Rep. Tom Anzelc in the nearby Grand Rapids area. Republican Justin Eichorn also defeated long-time DFL state Sen. Tom Saxhaug in Senate District 5 which is made up of those two House districts.

Donald Trump also handily won SD5 in 2016, a shift from 2012, when Barack Obama won a narrow victory there.

In 2018, however, spurred by dislike of Trump, Persell came back and won his seat in a razor-close race. Ive never felt about any politician the way I feel about Donald Trump, Persell said, calling the president a racist dude with a habit of insulting veterans like John McCain. I said, well, I cant leave politics like this.

Former and future state Rep. Matt Bliss

Like most of the state, turnout increased in the Bemidji-area districts. Persell tallied 1,500 more votes in 2020 than his winning 2018 campaign, but Bliss tacked on more than 3,000 votes over his 2018 performance.

Bliss, who owns a resort on the Cass Lake chain of lakes, said he touted his past accomplishments in St. Paul on the campaign trail, including work to secure money for a veterans home. He criticized Persell for supporting whats known as a red flag law, which allows a judge to take guns from people who are determined to be a danger to themselves or others. My area up here is very, very pro Second Amendment, Bliss said. I couldnt believe my legislator actually co-authored that bill.

A veteran of the war in Vietnam, Persell said he believes a red-flag law would prevent suicides among veterans, not tarnish Second-Amendment rights.

Bliss also said people in his region disliked Minneapolis efforts to dismantle local police and pump money into alternative public safety initiatives. Bliss said voters in his district also abhorred arson and riots that followed police killing George Floyd.

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Persell said he doesnt support defunding or dismantling police, and in fact advocated for more public safety funding, though Bliss said he believes local DFL leaders such as Persell did not push back on the idea with enough force. Your party is pushing this and you dont stand up? Bliss said. Thats a problem.

State Sen. Justin Eichorn

He said Republicans are trying to deflect focus from improving police departments and squashing racism and are instead using fear to politicize the reaction in Minneapolis toward the Floyd homicide. Persell said he wants to give law enforcement more resources to pair with mental health professionals and work with the Legislature to eliminate racism toward Native Americans in the area from police and others.

Defund the police, that phrase was unfortunate, Persell said. It came out of an abundance of frustration for people who saw George Floyd murdered in front of them.

Patrick Donnay, a political science professor at Bemidji State University, said there are several reasons why the GOP has had an advantage in local legislative elections.

For one, when the state created new legislative districts in 2010, the ones centered on Bemidji and Grand Rapids grew larger and incorporated more rural and conservative voters.

The state will redistrict again following the 2020 Census, and due to stagnant population growth compared to the Twin Cities suburbs and exurbs, Donnay predicted the House and Senate districts would grow in area again, making it more difficult for the DFL to win.

Democrats also must put together a more fractured coalition that includes pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ, environmentalist progressives and more conservative voters, including some trade union members who often support Enbridges Line 3 oil pipeline and oppose gun restrictions and abortion. Its these different elements youve got to all pull together and its just a harder group of people to get all on the same page, Donnay said.

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Republicans, on the other hand, have a more straightforward message, Donnay said.

Perhaps anticipating a tough election, Democrats and their allies dropped just $21,961 of independent spending to help Albrechts state Senate campaign, according to state reports filed the week before the election. The GOP and their allies had spent more than $241,000 to help Eichorn. At that point, political groups reported spending $130,322 in favor of Persell, as well as $131,030 in favor of Bliss, however, making it one of the more expensive state House races.

Donnay said Persell and Albrecht also refrained from door knocking out of fears they would spread COVID-19, while Republicans did such in-person canvassing.

Still, Trump remains a wild card for the future of politics in the region. Bliss won the two years Trump was on the ticket, but lost in 2018. Donnay said the president has a rare ability to turn out low-propensity voters and build his own unique coalition. While Trump also fires up the opposition, there is something in him that draws people out, Donnay said. Trump may have juiced turnout even higher when he visited Bemidji in September.

You put an ordinary Republican at the top of the ticket, what happens to that coalition of people that turned out for him in large numbers? Donnay said. Does turnout again return to something like it was in 14 and 18?

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For his part, Bliss said turnout was low in 2018 because his voters got complacent and expected an easy victory. He primarily faulted himself for not working hard enough to get people to the polls. After an 11-vote loss, he said he knew four people within two miles of his house that thought I had it in the bag and didnt vote.

Republicans always had a problem turning out voters in non-presidential years, Bliss said.

He predicted the 2022 election would be close, and while the GOP has an edge, he said its not as wide as in some rural districts. Persell also said the electorate in a non-presidential year will favor Democrats. I have no reason to expect theres going to be an outcome thats going to be more Republican than it was in 2018, he said.

Will Persell challenge Bliss to a fourth matchup?

I have not ruled anything out, he said.

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What the results from a seesaw political rivalry in Bemidji says about the 2020 election - MinnPost

DENVER A shooting range in the historic Five Points neighborhood aims to help educate communities of color about gun safety at an affordable price and in a virtual environment to help pierce through intimidation.

In a red brick building off Washington Street and 24th Avenue, the cars zipping by make more noise than the Second Amendment rights being practiced inside.

The 1770 Armory and Gun Club owners take pride both in their military background and as Black business owners in a market where minorities make up a small margin.

Wanda James and Shawn McWilliams own the shooting range. James served four years in the Navy and McWilliams served eight years in the Marines.

"Given where we are in America and where we are today, it is vitally important that we are able to protect your family and the people that you love," James said.

She says a lot of people in the Black community, "don't feel safe."

Unlike your traditional shooting ranges, this one feels a bit like a video game with real guns.

We wanted to create a virtual range that allowed them (clients) the opportunity to bring their weapon in, fire their weapon efficiently, get comfortable with that weapon, co-owner Shawn McWilliams said.

Customers can bring their personal gun or one will be provided. The gun is loaded with a shell casing equipped with a laser which looks like a bullet. When the trigger is pulled, a pin hits the casing and a laser shoots out. A target on the wall marks the X and a computer program records how close the laser shot landed to the target and awards points.

McWilliams says most people dont know the basics of holding a gun properly.

There is a lot of people that go out and buy firearms who never get an education, so Im against that, McWilliams said.

The virtual shooting range opened its doors in October. The owners hope the virtual environment will appeal to women, particularly those in minority communities who may fear guns or have a negative perspective about them.

The two owners served their country and now theyre working to serve their community to increase education and help prevent a potential tragedy.

The price of ammunition skyrocketed at the beginning of the pandemic and McWilliams says their range is an affordable alternative to get practice.

Just having a gun in your house can actually be a detriment to you and your family if you are not trained on it and you are not comfortable, James said.

If you dont know how to use that firearm, you can take someones life and you can change your life forever, McWilliams said.

Once a month, the owners will hosts Second Amendment Tuesday and invite guest speakers to discuss gun laws.

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Virtual shooting range opens in Five Points and aims to increase gun safety - The Denver Channel