Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
After Obama-backed legislation imposing more infringements on the right to keep and bear arms suffered a crushing defeat in the U.S. Senate despite shrill media hysteria and the trumpeting of bogus polls, the president and anti-Second Amendment lawmakers are quietly working to revive the controversial push for gun control.
So far, gun rights defenders in Congress are still standing firm, thanks to strong pressure from constituents. If Obama and his anti-gun rights coalition get their way, however, more restrictions on Americans’ right to keep and bear arms are still in the cards.
At the state level, the polarization has become obvious. Out-of-touch governments in some states like Colorado and New York have passed draconian new restrictions on gun rights. In other states, however, lawmakers and governors are increasingly pushing for nullification of unconstitutional federal firearm statutes. Kansas, for example, recently passed a law to nullify some Washington, D.C., assaults on the Second Amendment. South Dakota passed a law allowing armed teachers at school. Numerous other states are pursuing similar pro-Second Amendment legislation.
In Congress, meanwhile, the gun-control agenda was dealt a stinging blow recently when senators from both parties voted to kill an “assault weapons ban” and “expanded background checks” that opponents said would be used to quietly build up a federal gun registry. The White House and a coalition of anti-Second Amendment zealots in the Senate, including some “RINO” Republicans like Sen. John McCain and supposedly “pro-gun” Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin, however, have not given up just yet.
"My own little prediction: I think we're going to bring this bill back before the end of the year and I think you may find some changes," radical anti-gun activist Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "We may change the bill a little bit, but I think you may find some changes out there in the public. Lots of senators who thought it was safe to vote against it because of the intensity are not so sure anymore."
Sen. McCain of Arizona, who voted with Democrats for the Senate legislation, agreed with Schumer, calling the measure “common sense.” West Virginia Sen. Manchin, a Democrat elected on a pro-Second Amendment platform who has now been accused of betraying his supporters, also vowed on Fox News to resurrect his controversial so-called “universal background check” bill. “We’re going to pass this thing,” he said while sharing a stage with extremist MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. “Don’t give up.”
The defeated legislation’s other primary co-sponsor, Republican Sen. Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, has distanced himself from the effort, with his spokesman saying it would take a “change in the atmosphere to yield a different outcome." Manchin insists that Toomey is not done with the legislation, but at this point it remains unclear whether or not the controversial GOP senator would be willing to further risk his political career for another dubious shot at enacting more restrictions.
Gun control zealots, however, are determined. Vice President Joe Biden has reportedly made infringing on gun rights his “top priority,” even prodding the law-enforcement community, which has overwhelmingly rejected half-baked gun-control arguments, to join the effort. Immediately, after the Senate refused to approve the bill, meanwhile, Obama, who poured huge amounts of political capital into the failed effort, threw the equivalent of a presidential temper tantrum.
"All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington," the president whined from the Rose Garden, surrounded by family members of shooting victims, which critics slammed as a shameful propaganda stunt. Obama also blasted “the gun lobby and its allies” — tens and even hundreds of millions of Americans who support the right to keep and bear arms — while claiming they “lied” about the legislation. "There were no coherent arguments as to why we couldn’t do this,” he alleged falsely.
The anti-gun rights crusade, however, is far from finished. The New York Times reported on April 25 that a “bipartisan” group of senators was “quietly” engaged in “talks” to revive the failed assault on gun rights — the most brazen attack on the Second Amendment in decades. “Drawing on the lessons from battles in the 1980s and ’90s over the Brady Bill, which failed in Congress several times before ultimately passing, gun control supporters believe they can prevail by working on a two-pronged strategy,” the paper reported.
The first “prong” in the plot, according to the news report, is to round up senators who may be willing to change their vote. The second part of the scheme involves building a “national campaign” to tout debunked polls claiming that almost 90 percent of Americans support the legislation — a scam that would apparently seek to ignore other polls, including one from the AP, showing that less than half of voters support tightening gun laws.
Obama’s radical “Organizing for Action” outfit, meanwhile, is working hard to build support for more restrictions on the Second Amendment as well. In a series of e-mail blasts, the far-left lobbying group urged its supporters to hammer their senators with bogus polls and emotional pleas. Other so-called “progressive” organizations, such as the billionaire George Soros-funded MoveOn.org and billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s front groups, have also been pouring money into the effort to drum up support for more gun control while attacking Second Amendment supporters.
Gun-rights advocates, on the other hand, celebrated the short-lived victory in the Senate — brought about in large part because of the relentless work of groups like the Gun Owners of America, the National Rifle Association, and their members. However, the new push to revive attacks on the Second Amendment means they are already preparing for the next round of the fight.
“You guys won a tremendous victory two weeks ago. And the press had all but written off President Obama as having been dealt a major, crushing blow,” Gun Owners of America said in an e-mail. “But now, the Left is relentlessly hammering those Senators who voted right. They are running ads in their states. Their minions are writing letters to the editor. They are using their platform in the media to relentlessly hammer those who voted for freedom.” The group also urged its supporters and members to continue working with lawmakers to defend the Second Amendment.
In a phone interview with The New American, GOA chief Larry Pratt explained some of the reasons why it was so important to defeat the controversial proposals. "The instant background check is gun registration,” he said. “The government will not answer when we ask how they are destroying the names and addresses, as required by law, of those that have been checked. They just don't respond; 'so sue us' is kind of the attitude that they have.”
While anti-gun rights extremists continue pushing for more infringements, however, pro-Second Amendment sentiment is also beginning to manifest across the country. State governments are working to nullify unconstitutional federal assaults while hundreds of sheriffs vow to protect citizens’ rights regardless of what lawless restrictions are passed in Washington. Even the states that have approved new gun control are under heavy pressure, with law enforcement fighting back and citizens refusing to comply.
Analysts remain largely divided on whether or not a second assault on the Second Amendment will succeed in the Senate. Even if it does, the legislation would still have to go through the GOP-controlled House. With concerns about the potential abuse of citizens’ privacy being expressed even by liberal groups such as the ACLU, the future of the bill remains up in the air.
Of course, another major incident could be seized upon by anti-gun extremists to push the agenda as well. If the strong pressure to protect gun rights can be maintained, however, more than a few activists and experts say the anti-Second Amendment movement may be on the verge of total defeat and irrelevance for generations to come.
Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American, covering economics, politics, and more. He can be reached at anewman@thenewamerican.com.
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