Antigun Lawmakers’ Lie Loudly Over Suppressors

Opinion
By Larry Keane

Adobe Stock 76207749

Antigun politicians in Washington, D.C., must be getting nervous that provisions to remove unnecessary suppressor regulations – or at least the punitive tax that’s required to buy one – is getting close to reality. You can tell by how loudly they lie about suppressors.

Gun control lawmakers are cranking up the volume on their opposition to removing onerous regulations on suppressors – and the rhetoric is astoundingly without merit. Put another way, it lacks facts. Or more bluntly – these politicians are straight out lying.

Like many things on Capitol Hill, when facts aren’t on your side, you just say it louder hoping to drown out the truth.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed provisions in H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” that would remove suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA) but continue to regulate them like a firearm under the Gun Control Act (GCA) as they are now. That provision would eliminate the need for duplicative background checks, submission by the purchaser of a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Form 4, fingerprints, photos, notification of a chief law enforcement officer and payment of a $200 tax stamp requirement. That’s all been proposed in previous legislation called the Hearing Protection Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) as H.R. 404 and U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) as S. 364. Both bills are supported by NSSF.

This isn’t a forgone conclusion, though. The bill’s provision has to survive the “Byrd Bath,” a rule named for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) that limits the contents of reconciliation bills to prevent major legislation that does not directly affect the federal budget.

That’s why the House of Representatives passed another provision in H.R. 1 that reduces the tax stamp to $0 from $200.

Removing suppressors from the NFA  has gun control politicians howling.

Sen. Chris Murphy

Mass murderers use silencers so their targeted victims can’t hear the gun shots, and they can kill more people who don’t flee when the shooting begins.

That’s why we MUST stop the Republican effort to pad the profits of the gun industry by ending background checks on silencers. pic.twitter.com/gfcheMdzht

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 12, 2025

Among the loudest voices is Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who posted to X, “A hidden provision of the bill…wait for it…legalizes gun silencers!! What?? So now criminals will be able to hide their crimes and police will lose the ability to respond to mass shootings. WTF.” He followed that up by also posting a speech, saying “silencers” will allow murderers to commit crimes in secret, claiming the firearm report would be completely silenced, “Silencers are the tools of killers, they are the tools of criminals, period, stop.”

That’s a lie.

Suppressors don’t completely silence a firearm. They only reduce the firearm’s report from a level that causes instant and irreversible hearing damage to a safe hearing level. That’s about 165 decibels (or the louder than a jet taking off) reduced 30-35 decibels (the sound of a jackhammer).

Sen. Murphy’s claim that suppressors would result in increased mass shootings, because guns are “silenced,” is false. In May 2019, a deranged murderer used a suppressor in his crimes in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Witnesses said, “We kept hearing gunshots,” according to The Washington Post. That was a tragic event, but despite Sen. Murphy’s claim that suppressors are the “tools of criminals” falls flat.

Sen. Chuck Schumer

Sen. Murphy wasn’t alone in his uninformed hysteria. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) couldn’t help himself.

“Who wants a silencer? Not the average citizen,” Sen. Schumer said in a speech. “They’re law-abiding. Not our police officers. They’re against these provisions that allow anyone to get a silencer. The only people who want silencers are criminals because they don’t want people to hear their bad, horrible, deadly deeds.”

Suppressors are legal to own in 42 states (including in Sen. Murphy’s Connecticut) and legal for hunting in 41 states. Lawful suppressor ownership has increased exponentially in recent years, with an NSSF study finding a 265 percent surge in annual suppressor registrations. As of December 31, 2024, there are more than 4.5 million suppressors registered and an estimated 3.14 million suppressors belong to consumers – a number that has only grown in the past six months as application processing times have dramatically gone down.

In another study looking at the criminal misuse of suppressors in California and nation-wide between 1995 and 2005, there were just 153 federal criminal cases involving suppressors, only 15 of which involved the actual use of the suppressor in the commission of a crime. Less than 0.1 percent of homicides in federal court, an infinitesimally low 0.00006 percent of felonies in California and a mere 0.1 percent of armed robberies involved a suppressor. Suppressed firearms are clearly not the choice for criminals.

That’s why Ronald Turk, former Acting ATF Deputy Director, recommended in a 2017 White Paper that “Given the lack of criminality associated with silencers, it is reasonable to conclude that they should not be viewed as a threat to public safety necessitating NFA classification, and should be considered for reclassification under the GCA.”

Sen. Mark Kelly

Gun control senators weren’t done, however. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) claimed that suppressors would effectively negate “ShotSpotter” gunfire detection systems used by law enforcement in cities to triangulate gunfire for responding police.

“These silencers circumvent that system,” Sen. Kelly argued. “That system will no longer be effective when a gunman has a silencer.”

That’s just untrue. Sen. Kelly knows better but he doesn’t let facts – or ShotSpotter’s own fact sheets – get in the way of his gun control narrative. ShotSpotter’s fact sheet debunks his lie.

“The ShotSpotter sensors are designed to pick up the sound of gunfire from suppressors, but it does make it more challenging,” reads SoundThinking’s fact sheet, the company that owns ShotSpotter.

ShotSpotter’s CEO Raph Clark dismissed these concerns in 2017 in Washington post column. Former Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-.S.C), who first introduced the Hearing Protection Act, wrote about it in a USA Today op-ed, noting Clark saying, “We have successfully if not inadvertently detected confirmed suppressed gunfire within our existing deployments.”

The facts don’t lie. But antigun politicians do. And they’re doing so more loudly now than ever.

FALSE: Fact Checking CT Senator Chris Murphy on Hearing Protection ~ VIDEO

Sen. Schiff Picks Up ‘Ban-Them-All’ Torch for Gun Control ~ VIDEO

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About The National Shooting Sports Foundation

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations, and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org

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Senate Must Pass Gun Rights Provisions in “Big Beautiful Bill” or Face the Wrath of Gun Owners

Political Podium iStock Wallentine 104257649

Washington, D.C. – The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) is warning Congress: Gun owners are watching, and they expect action. The latest draft of the Senate Finance Committee’s reconciliation bill includes long-overdue rollbacks of the National Firearms Act — repealing the tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns.

After the House passed the reconciliation bill in late May, NAGR and gun owners across the country unleashed a torrent of grassroots pressure demanding that the Senate include provisions from the SHORT Act, which removes SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs from the NFA. If passed, it would mark the most significant restoration of Second Amendment rights under federal law in nearly a century.

“The NFA is a relic of the gangster era, a law that treats gun owners like criminals for daring to own common firearms and accessories,” said Dudley Brown, President of the National Association for Gun Rights. “It was designed from the start to strangle the Second Amendment with taxes and red tape, and now, thanks to the relentless work of gun owners, we are finally tearing pieces of it down.”

The SHORT Act guts key NFA regulations, while Section 3 of the HPA (Hearing Protection Act) goes even further, blocking states from enforcing federal suppressor regulations that Congress never gave them the power to enforce in the first place.

“The gun control mob has used the NFA to harass, tax, and punish gun owners for nearly a hundred years, and this is the biggest threat to that agenda we’ve ever seen,” said Brown. “Short-barreled rifles and shotguns are in common use, and suppressors make shooting safer. There’s no excuse to delay. The only people afraid of this bill are those who hate freedom.”

However, the Finance Committee omitted critical preemption language protecting suppressors, an apparent oversight, as the bill does contain similar language for SBRs,  SBSs, and AOWs.

National Association for Gun Rights is urging all gun owners to call their Senators and demand that suppressor preemption be added to the final draft and the bill be passed.

National Association for Gun Rights is also demanding Senate Republican Leadership defend these pro-gun provisions against hostile efforts by Senate Democrats to gut them from the bill.

“This is a test,” Brown said. “The NFA is a tax, and gun owners will remember who stood strong to repeal it — and who caved. Pass it, or prepare to explain why you didn’t in the next election.”

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Suppressors and SBRs One Step Closer to Freedom, Senate Backs HPA and SHORT Act

HPA Passes House in Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill

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The National Association for Gun Rights is a 501(c)(4) organization headquartered in Loveland, Colorado, dedicated to defending the Second Amendment and fighting for the rights of peaceable Americans to keep and bear arms. Since its founding in 2001, NAGR has worked to hold anti-gun politicians accountable and promote maximum individual liberty by mobilizing more than 4.5 million members and grassroots activists nationwide.

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Oregon: Concealed Carry Patchwork Bill Passes Committee

Opinion

iStock

As expected, SB 243 passed the House Rules Committee and is now on its way to the full House and the Ways and Means Committee.

But not without Representative Kropf once again demonstrating his complete and total ignorance of Oregon gun law. His inability to read black letter law is truly unsettling.

243 creates a vast new patchwork of prohibited places for concealed handgun licensees. Virtually any government entity will be empowered to ban license holders from “their” property.

The sponsors of the bill made it clear that while there were no examples of CHL holders creating problems, they were ramming the bill through because some people were afraid that others might be exercising a right. So, the rights of some will be eliminated by the neurotic “feelings” of others.

To be clear, the bill includes exactly nothing to prevent truly dangerous people from bringing guns into public meetings. It only advertises to them that they will meet no resistance. It’s interesting that the paranoid red shirts are perfectly fine with giving criminals access to public meetings while armed. But clearly, now Oregon is legislating based on the whims of the emotionally unbalanced. But we are getting used to that.

The bill also bans “rapid fire actuators”. Many of the banned items are already illegal under federal law. The thousands of people who own the other ones lawfully in Oregon will become criminals when the bill goes into effect and felons should they attempt to dispose of them.

Far left crank Floyd Prozanski suggested that all those people only got them to commit mass murders. As of now, it is unclear why they have not. Perhaps Floyd can clarify in his next incoherent floor speech.

The bill was also amended to include implementation dates for the permit and component ban sections of Mz 114 which, as you know, is currently held up in the Oregon Supreme Court.

The damage this bill will do cannot be adequately calculated. Republicans have promised to do all they can to “fight it.”

But the simple truth is they don’t have the power to do a damn thing about it except run their mouths and send out press releases. The only tool they have is to refuse to participate and keep the Democrats from one more irrational attack on your rights.

In a mass email today, House Rep Jeff Helfrich said, “While Democrats and the supermajority are slowly trying to chip away at your right to bear arms, we hope that the courts will uphold our federal and state constitutions.”

They can “hope” all they want, but as we have learned, they expect others to foot the bill for any lawsuits.

In an email to a voter, House Republican “Leader” Christine Drazan said: “A walkout is not a substitute for winning elections. The supermajority has 2 years to control the state and walking today doesn’t stop anything from passing the next time we are called into session.”

This is absurd. The Democrats keep ramming through anti-rights bills because they know the Republicans are going to roll over time after time after time. And then ask you to re-elect them.

Because the House made changes in this bill, it will need to go back to the Senate for concurrence. That means that, as of now, both the House and Senate Republicans still have the opportunity to do the right thing.

The Legislature must close up shop on June 29th. The Republicans would not risk the seats they are determined to keep (for no apparent reason) unless they have ten or more absences that are not “excused” by their Democrat overlords. You can do the math.

We will soon be seeing if their jobs are more important than your rights.

Oregon: James Manning & His Anti Militia Bill ~ Are Both Just Plain Stupid

Oregon: Democrat’s Absurd Gun Owner Entrapment Bill Moves Ahead, Yeah It Is That Crazy!?

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About Oregon Firearms Federation:

The Oregon Firearms Federation has proven itself to be Oregon’s only no-compromise lobbying group; OFF takes the same tough stands and serves as a vehicle for educating gun owners, promoting their rights, and, when necessary, fighting the freedom haters in court. Visit: www.oregonfirearms.org

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Suppressors and SBRs One Step Closer to Freedom, Senate Backs HPA and SHORT Act

The POF 5PK makes a great suppressor host. IMG Jim Grant

Gun owners have been calling on Congress to add the full Hearing Protection Act (HPA) and the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act to be added to President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Now, those gun owners are getting their wish.

When the United States House of Representatives passed the reconciliation bill, it only included Section 2 of the HPA. Section 2 of the HPA removes suppressors from the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). The HPA would leave suppressors as a Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) item. The removal from the NFA means gun owners will no longer be required to submit fingerprints and passport photos, nor pay a $200 tax stamp fee, to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Section 3 of the HPA, which would protect suppressor owners from restrictive state laws, was not included in the House version. Currently, if the HPA passes with only Section 2 intact, 16 states where suppressors are currently legal could make them illegal overnight. States like Ohio have laws on the books that require suppressors to be registered under the National Firearms Act (NFA). If suppressors are removed from the NFA, these hearing-saving devices could have their legal protections removed in these states. Section 3 offers state-level protection from the results of suppressors being removed from the NFA.

Also absent from the House version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” was the SHORT Act. That act would remove short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and any other weapons (AOWs) from the NFA. The original target of the NFA was handguns. Congress was concerned that people would use SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs to circumvent NFA regulations on handguns, so they preemptively closed what they saw as a loophole, but during the debate on the NFA, handguns were removed, leaving the SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs on the NFA. Eliminating these items from the NFA would fix a nearly hundred-year-old mistake.

When the reconciliation bill reached the Senate, the outcry from the gun community was massive. There was a push to include the SHORT Act and Section 3 of the HPA.

With the phone lines ringing off the hook, emails exploding, and politicians being called out on social media, the Republicans in the Senate relented and included both Section 3 of the HPA and the SHORT Act. Since this is a reconciliation bill, the filibuster is not a concern, as only a simple majority is required to pass the bill.

The Democrats are expected to protest the bill by claiming it violates the Byrd Rule. The Byrd Rule states that only budget and tax-related items can be passed through reconciliation. Democrats will argue that the NFA is not a tax but a policy item, which will put them at odds with the Supreme Court, which has since 1937 held that the NFA constitutes a tax law. They claim that removing suppressors from the NFA would eliminate the need for a background check, which is why it fails the Byrd Rule. Republicans will push back because that statement is incorrect. Unlike the Silencers Help Us Save Hearing (SHUSH) Act, which removes suppressors from both the NFA and the GCA, the HPA only removes suppressors from the NFA.

Both the NFA and GCA use the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Currently, because suppressors are regulated by both the NFA and GCA, the item undergoes the same background check twice. The checks are identical, and the information is the same.

The decision on the Byrd rule will be made by Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. MacDonough is a Democrat, but the role is that of an advisor. Ms. MacDonough has a history of non-partisanship, but even if she decides to ignore the fallacies of the Democrats’ argument, the presiding officer of the Senate, who is a Republican, can choose to ignore her advice. If that happens, the Democrats will surely object. The full Senate will vote on whether to accept or reject the advice. With Republicans holding the majority, they should win the dispute. The Senate has rejected the Senate Parliamentarian’s advice multiple times in the past.

This bill is the closest gun owners have ever been to dismantling the NFA. If the bill passes, only destructive devices and machineguns will be left on the NFA. The Senate plans to vote on and pass the bill by July 4.

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About John Crump

Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.

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Lott Expounds on FBI Politicized Resistance to Data Sharing

John Lott at Atlanta, 2025 Seminar

At the NRA Annual Meeting in Atlanta in 2025, noted researcher and author John Lott gave several seminars. They included three seminars on “Gun Control Myths”, a seminar on “Hollywood’s Bias Against Guns”, and two seminars on “The FBI Crime Data is Politicized and a Mess”.  This correspondent considers John a colleague and a friend and has read and studied John’s academic work for decades.

When attending the seminar on The FBI Crime Data is Politicized and a Mess on Sunday, April 27th, much of the material was familiar. Some material was unfamiliar. This correspondent accepted that the FBI had refused to cooperate by withholding data when John was part of the first Trump administration in 2020. The resistance was much more extensive than previously understood. A voice recording of John’s presentation is available at Crimeresearch.org.

Lott found significant anomalies in the way the FBI handles “active shooter” data.  John and the Crime Reduction Research Center have shown that many “active shooter” incidents are missing or mischaracterized in FBI data.

In the National Instant background Check System (NICS) data, it appears most of the denials are false positives. Hard data on the errors found in the NICS system is not available.  John has pointed out there are very few prosecutions of people who have been denied by the NICS system compared to the number of those denied. John stated that NICS denials are often based on the phonetic spelling of the last name. The denials are not done with high levels of certainty. Because many people in the same ethnic group have similar sounding names, and because Blacks and Hispanics have much higher rates of felony convictions than Whites or Asians, it is likely Black and Hispanic people are denied from purchasing firearms in the NICS system at a much higher rates than people who are not Black or Hispanic.

In October 2020, John Lott was appointed as a senior adviser for research and statistics at the Office of Justice Programs. This was the second time he had worked for the government in D.C. When he got to DC, John went to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and proposed a study of the NICS denials, including data on race and sex. The BJS thought it was a great idea.

The BJS sent the request for data to the FBI. went through the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The BJS thought the idea of analyzing the NICS data was very good. When the Bureau of Justice Statistics contacted the FBI, the FBI responded, claiming there was no way we could get this done before January 20th. In any case, we are sure the Biden Administration will not be interested. After more emails and calls, the FBI’s response was: We just can’t think of any reason why anyone would want to break down this data by race and sex.

John responded: “You guys break down everything by race and sex.  What’s the big deal with this?”

The BJS tells the FBI, it is not your decision to make. We decide what to look at and study. Your job is to collect and give us the data.  The FBI refuses and the BJS persists. Finally, the FBI says the BJS will have to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Such a response is very unusual between federal governmental agencies.

On the day before Thanksgiving, John gets a call from Grover Norquist, who John had written a book with.  Mark Meadows, the Chief of Staff, asked Grover for ideas for projects in the Department of Justice that can be finished before the Biden administration takes power on January 20th. John suggests the active shooter data study and the NICS denial and data study. The suggestions are sent up the chain of command. Three projects are approved for completion. John’s suggestions are two of them. The AG, Bill Barr, orders the FBI to stop mucking around and send the data to the BJS.

The day after Barr requested it, Politico ran an article questioning why John was working in the Department of Justice.

On the Monday after Thanksgiving, all the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote a letter to AG Bill Barr asking him how he could ever hire a person such as John Lott. Barr responded by having a picture taken with John Lott.

The FBI dithers and delays. After a couple of weeks, the BJS receives the data, but something is wrong with it. It does not make any sense. The BJS complains, and the FBI apologizes, saying they do not understand what went wrong.  There are more delays, and then the FBI sends another batch of data, which still doesn’t make any sense. This sequence happens a couple more times. The last time the FBI sent data that did not make sense was on January 19, 2021. Then the Biden administration takes power.

The Biden administration is not interested in having the FBI send data to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.  Eventually, the BJS issues a report that includes a section about errors in the NICS system. The Biden administration pulls that section from the report before the report is published.

It is clear the FBI does not want anyone outside the FBI to analyze the NICS data, or to have access to the data showing the statistics of errors in the NICS data. The reason is likely that such an analysis would show the NICS system to be fundamentally flawed. It is likely that the flaws are such that Black people and Hispanics are denied approvals with false positives at much higher rates than everyone else.

John Lott has not been asked to take a position with the new Trump administration. It is early, and many thousands of appointments remain to be filled.

John believes the big problem is that virtually all the data people at the FBI have the same political views. It is difficult to fire all of them because they retain significant, useful, institutional knowledge.

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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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Opportunity to Buy Guns Cheap in Alabama this Month

Firearms turned in at the 2018 gun “buyback” Montgomery Police Dept Facebook

On June 28, 2025, there will be a gun turn-in (buyback) in Montgomery, Alabama, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. From blackbeltnewsnetwork.com:

On June 28 CrimeStoppers will host a gun buyback event at Bryant Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery. 

Anyone who is interested in surrendering a gun can bring in a rifle or shotgun for $50, a functioning handgun for $100 and an assault style/semi-auto rifle for $200.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  The Church is on Norman Bridge Road, #3645.  The guns can be turned in anonymously. Guns are to be unloaded with ammunition turned in separately. The turn-in is an annual event in Montgomery. It was started in 2017.  In 2018, 73 firearms were turned in. Some of the firearms were decent-quality guns. In 2018, gift cards worth $50 were being given out for working handguns.  Here are some of the handguns turned in, for $50 in 2018:

From Montgomery Police Dept Facebook

In the above image, there are what appear to be a Smith & Wesson 1917 revolver in .45 ACP, a Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolver, a Beretta tip-up semi-automatic in .22 Short or .25 ACP, and a Colt 1903 model semi-auto, probably in .32 ACP.

In the larger picture, there is a High Standard Military HD and a TEC-22. One of the long guns turned in appears to have been a Remington Model 30, with a scope mounted on it. There is a sporterized Lee Enfield and at least one air rifle.

In the Montgomery  2019 gun turn-in event, 100 firearms were turned in. It was reported by wsfa.com that “Any guns that cannot be used in officer training will be destroyed.”  This correspondent suspects the policy was in effect since the first event in 2017. It may be the Smith & Wesson revolvers, the Colt and Beretta Semi-autos, and the scoped centerfire rifles were all usable for training.

In 2023, a gun turn-in event resulted in 89 firearms being turned in, with $6,450 being paid out in gift cards.  It appears about a hundred firearms are turned in every year. After the 2018 event, AL.com reported:

CrimeStoppers Executive Director Tony Garrett said, just as last year, the majority of guns collected were from residents who were not gun users.

This is common. Many of the people turning in guns do not know how much the firearms are worth.  There are often a number of bargains available at these events to private purchasers who are willing to pay cash for the desirable firearms that uniformed people want to turn in. Private purchasers allow the organizers of the event to take more guns out of the hands of people who do not want them, and place them into the hands of responsible, legal owners.

Private purchases appear to be legal in Alabama. Alabama is a fairly gun-friendly state. Rifles and shotguns may be the best bargains, as they will only bring $50 in gift cards at this turn-in. Nothing is being paid for ammunition, so there could be some good deals. Sometimes the best deals occur when the organizers run out of gift cards.

For those who attend these events, do your homework.  Know what the Alabama laws are. It is best to have more than one person present. Take some pictures to memorialize the event. Be polite and reasonably well dressed. A sign notifying others of your interest in purchasing firearms, and your obvious legal status, is a good idea. Those who show up early and are willing to stay late have the best chances of obtaining the best deals.

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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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No One But Perpetrator of Shooting Attacks on Minnesota Lawmakers Will Be the One Responsible

If it was him, then it wasn’t you and it wasn’t me. And it certainly wasn’t Donald Trump. (Minnesota Department of Public Safety)

A former appointee of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is being sought in connection with the assassination of a state lawmaker and the shooting of another, police sources said,” The New York Post reported Saturday. “Vance Luther Boelter allegedly posed as a police officer when he shot Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in their Champlin home early Saturday, leaving them seriously injured before moving on to former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman’s house — where he is believed to have slaughtered her and her husband…”

Based on an Instagram photo of Gabby Giffords paying tribute to “my friend [who] was a true public servant who dedicated her life building a better, safer Minnesota,” and that she and Hoffman were both leaders in the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) that passed an anti-gun “omnibus bill [that] was opposed by every Republican and supported by every Democrat,” it may be fair to presume neither were versed in defensive gun use. In any case, the fact that their armed attacker presented himself as an officer of the law leads to a warning too few think about because they’re knee-jerk conditioned not to question authority:

“Members of the public are encouraged to call 911 if they are visited by someone in a police uniform to confirm their identity.”

I’ve been cautioning about that for years on my The War on Guns blog. In addition to an archive called “The Only Ones Files,” presented to amass a credible body of evidence to present when those who would deny our right to keep and bear arms use the argument that only government enforcers are professional and trained enough to do so safely and responsibly, there’s another growing curated collection of posts I call “The Fauxnly Ones Files.” The purpose of that is to alert readers not just to the reality that it happens more often than we might think, but also because, with all the incredibly abusive official behavior directed at gun owners for exercising their right,  the day may come when we may need an “I did not believe they were real cops” defense to justify resistance, and it wouldn’t hurt to be able to document such fears are not unfounded.

Reactions from the political “left” are noteworthy and predictable.

Everytown, for instance, was unconvincing in its self-serving and sanctimonious attempt to establish a moral high ground by proclaiming, “Political violence has no place in a healthy democracy.” That’s exactly what the prohibitionists rely on when the state enforces the treasonous citizen disarmament edicts they engineer.

And reports with Gov. Tim Walsh conceding the attacks were “politically motivated” set off the usual barrage of finger-pointing and blame we’ve come to expect.

“We must defeat the violence and dehumanization which is central to Trump and MAGA,” a Democrat “political strategist” proclaimed. “The hatred being stoked by Trump and his fascist authoritarian regime against Democrats has consequences,” another apparatchik quick to lead the lynch mob chimed in.

Understand, at this point, Boelter has not been proven guilty. Nor are his political opinions known at this writing.

Challenging the knee-jerk “certainty” of the Trump MAGA haters is an inconvenient find:

Authorities said “No Kings” flyers were found in the vehicle.

I went. Did you?

Was Boelter supportive of the rallies? There sure were a lot of Democrat names on the presumed “hit list.” Did he have the flyers for another reason? At this point, evidence is scant.

I typed “Is Vance Luther Boelter a Democrat or a Republican?” into Google and AI mode came back inconclusive. That said, another query I asked X.com’s Grok showed the program had changed its mind on him being the suspect, where it first had called reports “unverified and likely false.”

We, and by that, I mean the people vilified by the “No Kings” mob (and make no mistake, calling Trump a “fascist” means they think the same of those who voted for him), we wo believe in Founding principles have one best defense against the outraged wailings of the collectivists, and that’s the truth. As this is being written, much of this story is still unfolding. Just keep one thing in mind if it turns out the killer really did hate Democrats (or had some other motive not yet known):

No Constitutionalist, that is, no believer in due process, would set himself up as judge, jury, and executioner. No matter how much those with mob mentality may want to scream it’s our fault for believing what we believe, it’s simply and demonstrably not.

That Boelter is white and a man could play right into another weaponized meme of the left, that “far right white supremacy” is the greatest and most violent threat to “democracy,” despite the fact that nobody can seem to convince an NRA Life Member (one would assume the  most extreme of the extreme) to stop being “law-abiding” and prove them right.

That’s the difference between collectivists, who blame whomever they feel it’s politically advantageous to demonize and condemn, and individualists, who, after proving beyond a reasonable doubt, contend that the perpetrator is the one who should be held accountable.

UPDATE

Suspected Minnesota lawmaker assassin Vance Boelter captured [More]

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About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

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Up This Weekend: The Left’s Impending ‘Color Revolution’ ~ VIDEO

Opinion

“A government of laws, and not of men.” – John Adams.

Welcome to America’s second civil war, which is only marginally more “civil” than the last. As expected, it is not, strictly speaking, a war between the states, nor even between Democrats and Republicans; this time the war is between those who want America, and those hell-bent on tearing it down to replace it with The Great Socialist Utopia.

In a tactic plagiarized from the Soviet Union, neo-Marxists now project upon Donald Trump all the crimes of which they themselves are guilty, claiming he is creating a “constitutional crisis” which they, themselves, are busily manufacturing.

I’ve long said that we have reached a point in American political debate where facts no longer matter. Unfortunately, that cancer has now metastasized into a body politic for which, at least in some quarters, laws no longer matter.

Inside vs. outside battles

Leftists employ a two-front strategy in attacking our political system:

1. From within using scores of lawsuits, deep-state leakers, and refusals to comply with federal law (which could be federal, state or local entities); and
2. From the outside by “from-the-river-to-the-sea” anti-Semitic protests, obstructing immigration raids (including doxing ICE agents), burning Teslas and dealerships (Blast those onboard cameras!), and inciting nutcases to kill the occasional Jew (are you sensing a theme yet?), all leading to “la Pièce de résistance” … the one critical step they had not yet been able to orchestrate …

Widespread civil unrest.

Only with widespread civil unrest (or the perception thereof) are “Color Revolutions” born. And what exactly is a “Color Revolution?” As Mike Shelby of Gray Zone Research succinctly defines it:

“A Color Revolution is a type of irregular warfare that uses predominantly non-violent action to topple an existing government, usually through mass protests, demonstrations, and public displays of mass political defiance.”

In Los Angeles, they have now achieved the first step toward that goal. Fresh from the Department of Homeland Security:

“Last night, over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer funded property. It took the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) 2 hours to respond.”

The message being delivered by the left? “Game on: Federal facilities are now targets for the perpetual malcontents we have already radicalized.” As such, you can expect more to come.

What the riots really mean

Given the usual inaction from leftist governments – this time Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom – to restore order, Trump promptly used his authority under Title 10 of the U.S Code to dispatch the National Guard, producing inevitable outcries from the left and leading Time Magazine to accuse Trump of “sparking a backlash”:

“In a move that prompted division, Trump ordered the California National Guard to quell the immigration protests, moving to deploy 2,000 soldiers to the Los Angeles area. ‘These radical left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will not be tolerated. Also, from now on, masks will not be allowed to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why?” Trump said via Truth Social.’”

As lefty strategists planned, the introduction of the National Guard further inflamed rioters, resulting in days of clashes featuring thrown bottles, burned cars, and tear gas. The narrative from Gavin Newsom and leftist media, of course, is that it’s all Trump’s fault. “Bad. Bad Donald,” say the legacy media. “How dare you enforce the law?”

Even Fox News doesn’t know how to reply, as anchors moan about poor people whose cars are obstructed by rioters, blithely ignoring the reality of the situation: This isn’t about Palestinians, nor immigration, nor even the big, bad Donald Trump. This is a coordinated effort, likely buoyed by Chinese money laundered via leftist non-profits like the ones Trump defunded through USAID, all intended to destabilize the administration effort to undo the damage of the left’s relentless march toward socialism.

Supported by liars from within

So far, Trump is faced with a no-win situation. Leftists orchestrated the heavy-handed response, allowing their media cohorts to claim Trump is a dictator. But had Trump done nothing, we would have seen federal buildings burned as in Portland in 2020, and he would have been called “weak.”

None of this stops leftists from lying through their teeth about what is transpiring. Newsom decried Trump’s use of the National Guard, claiming (with a straight face), “We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved.” As bottles and bricks were being thrown and cars being burned, Kamala Harris called the riots “overwhelmingly peaceful.”

As all-the-usual-rioters get bussed to Los Angeles, Congressman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the woman who once called for rioters to get “more confrontational” once again stirred the pot by calling Trump a “cruel, dishonorable human.”

Whatever happens next, understand that none of this is spontaneous. What you are witnessing is nothing less than a struggle for the future of your country.

FALSE: Fact Checking CT Senator Chris Murphy on Hearing Protection ~ VIDEO

Millions Mobilize Against Trump in ‘No Kings’ Protests as Law-Abiding Gun Owners Stay Vigilant & Prepared

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About Paul Valone

Author F. Paul Valone has been kicking leftist tail for twenty-eight years. Alarmed by the U.S. House passage of the “assault weapon” ban in 1994, he decided to take action. Finding no suitable organization, he organized a rally leading to the creation of a 501(c)(4) organization, Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC), which remains North Carolina’s primary and most successful gun rights group to this day.

Paul Valone

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New Jersey Town Adopts Resolution To Provide Financial Relief To Concealed Carry Holders

BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms commends Englishtown. New Jersey for adopting a resolution that will provide financial relief to concealed carry holders. The action comes after CCRKBA sent a letter in support  of the resolution to the mayor and borough council.

Post-Buren, New Jersey enacted a law that raised the permitting fee for a permit to carry to $200. The $200 permit is only good for two years, and the cost to carry is an example of the “exorbitant fees” the Supreme Court said would be impermissible even under a “shall-issue” permitting system. Of that fee, $150 is appropriated to the individual municipality an applicant lives in. Englishtown resolved that a rebate program shall be instituted, refunding $150 of the money collected back to applicants. The remaining $50 goes to the State of New Jersey.

The Committee addressed the Mayor and council of Englishtown on Tuesday via a letter–which can be read here–when news about the resolution began circulating. “Seeing this body move within their powers to create a rebate vehicle for permit to carry applicants is a show of true leadership,” CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said in his letter. Gottlieb also cited the unconstitutional nature of the fee when he addressed the council.

During comments Wednesday evening, Englishtown Mayor Daniel Francisco said that the resolution “is important” and that he’s there “to try to protect people’s rights.” Later on Francisco explicitly stated when drawing an analogue, “I think if Englishtown passed the law that said every time you came to tell me your opinion about something, I charged you $150 and if you didn’t pay that fee, you would not be allowed to speak before us, that would be the most unconstitutional and abusive policy I could possibly imagine.”

“Moves like this from courageous municipalities in a state as hostile to the Second Amendment as New Jersey are very commendable,” CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said. “Mayor Daniel Francisco and his council brought forward a meaningful measure that will help the economically disadvantaged gain access to the most effective life-saving tool for self-defense; the ability to bear arms in public.

“Governor Phil Murphy and the equally misguided legislature in the Garden State may have forced these fees upon permit to carry applicants, but Trenton can’t tell municipalities what they can and cannot do with the funds they collect. In refunding these monies back to the people, it’s a clear message about the unconstitutional nature of the law–A law that Murphy enacted in December of 2022 because Bruen upended the law. The Englishtown mayor had the fortitude to put the unconstitutionality of these fees on the record, calling Trenton out on their hatred towards gun owners and the Second Amendment.”

The resolution passed by Englishtown, N.J. is good governance, as well as a roadmap for other municipalities to copy. The Committee eagerly waits to see what other jurisdictions will follow suit. CCRKBA’s support of this measure and action from their membership shows that grassroots activism is a powerful tool.

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New Jersey’s New “John Wick” Carry Permit Training Mandate

Opening Brief Filed in New Jersey “Assault Weapon” Ban Appeal

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Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.

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Supreme Court Rejects Hardware Cases, Lets Record of Anti-gun Defiance Build

Opinion

AdobeStock_83949313

Last week, after they were re-listed for conference 15 times, the U.S. Supreme Court finally denied petitions for review on two major Second Amendment cases, with just one vote shy of the four needed for review.

Snope v. Brown was an appeal of a case upholding Maryland’s ban on semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15. NRA had filed an amicus brief in the case. The Fourth Circuit denied a Second Amendment challenge to the ban by, among other things, holding that such rifles are not “arms” under the Second Amendment.

The second petition denied was Ocean State Tactical v. Rhode Island, an appeal pertaining to Rhode Island’s magazine capacity limit. The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit left the law in place by erroneously holding that the ban on standard capacity magazines does not put a “meaningful burden” on the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense and additionally does not violate the Bruen test under a historical tradition of regulating firearms.

These two challenges on critical Second Amendment issues expended considerable time and resources on their way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Snope case, in particular, appeared very well suited for review.

So, what is the court waiting for to take up these questions?

Apparently, more opinions. It is a disappointing outcome and approach, but NRA continues to be up to the legal task of continuing the work of challenging similar gun and magazine bans in California, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington. As litigation continues, so the thinking goes, the issues will be more thoroughly vetted and ripe for Supreme Court consideration.

Justice Thomas’ dissent followed closely with his previous dissents in these types of cases, stating:

I would not wait to decide whether the government can ban the most popular rifle in America. That question is of critical importance to tens of millions of law-abiding AR–15 owners throughout the country. We have avoided deciding it for a full decade …

While Justices Alito and Gorsuch indicated they would have granted review in both cases, Justice Kavanaugh issued a statement “respecting the denial of certiorari” that specifically addressed AR-15s and implied the Court is likely to take up a similar case in the future. “Opinions from other Courts of Appeals should assist this Court’s ultimate decision making on the AR–15 issue,” Kavanaugh wrote. “Additional petitions for certiorari will likely be before this Court shortly and, in my view, this Court should and presumably will address the AR–15 issue soon, in the next Term or two.”

Whether any of the pending cases are likely to substantially illuminate the issue in ways not seen to date is certainly a debatable proposition. But, as our article this week on the Court’s unanimous decision in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos demonstrates, there is a limit to the foolishness the justices will tolerate. It’s hard to imagine, moreover, anything more foolish a judicial decision claiming America’s most popular rifle is somehow not a Second Amendment arm.

SCOTUS Avoidance of Semi-Auto and Magazine Ban Cases Eroding Respect for Law

SCOTUS is Right About This – It Will Need to Address State Gun Bans

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About NRA-ILA:

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org

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New Jersey Governor’s Race Gives Gun Owners a Choice

The choice is between someone gun owners can work with and this. (Mikie Sherrill/Facebook)

“Trump-backed Jack Ciattarelli captures GOP nomination for New Jersey governor,” Fox News reported Monday. “Jack Ciattarelli secures the New Jersey Republican nomination; Trump endorsement proves decisive in primary.”

Incumbent Democrat Governor Phil Murphy has been term-limited out. The general election will be in November. So, who will “former GOP state lawmaker” Ciattarellie be facing?  A current state representative from “across the aisle.”

“Democrat Mikie Sherrill wins NJ gubernatorial primary, setting up showdown with Trump-backed GOP winner,” Fox News followed up on Tuesday. “The New Jersey governor’s race is an early test of President Trump’s second term.”

With Murphy having imposed “draconian” infringements on the right to keep and bear arms, and Trump having won the presidency by making grand promises to gun owners about “our beautiful Second Amendment,” it’s fair to wonder what impact the issue will have on candidate positions.

“On gun control: Ciattarelli pledges on his website to ‘speed up’ the gun permit application process and ‘fast track’ it for victims of domestic violence and others in ‘imminent danger,’” a June 6 NJ Spotlight News profile of GOP candidates reported. “He said he would oppose fee increases for identification cards and carry permits. Ciattarelli also said he would reform or repeal laws violating an individual’s right to due process and allow all now legally purchased firearms to remain so if in the future they are deemed illegal.”

Sherill makes no secret of where she stands, with a full-throated endorsement from Giffords that starts with a false authority fallacy about what a good shot she was in the Navy, which has absolutely nothing to do with what a faithful steward of the Constitution she has been. The answer to that is pretty obvious by who’s backing her as a “gun safety champion,” and why:

In office, Representative Sherrill has pushed for commonsense gun safety measures while also protecting the Second Amendment rights of responsible gun owners [sic]. The first bill she co-sponsored was a measure to extend background checks to all gun sales—and she proudly helped pass that legislation through the House in both 2019 and 2021. Throughout her time in Washington DC, Representative Sherrill has also voted to ban bump stocks, incentivize the safe storage of firearms, secure desperately needed federal funding for research into the root causes of gun violence, disarm domestic abusers, and provide needed appropriations to lifesaving community violence intervention programs. In 2022, Representative Sherrill also played a crucial role in helping to pass the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: the first major gun safety bill to be signed into law in nearly 30 years.

And, naturally, she’s stumping for “a nationwide ban on semi-automatic weapons.”

Understand that this is New Jersey, where GOP gun squishes like Chris Christie once campaigned on keeping “assault weapons” banned, just like Sherrill. 2A advocacy writer John Petrolino reported in April that Ciattarelli has balked at the issue of reciprocity and showed himself to be a weaker candidate on guns than rival media news personality Bill Spadea, and a black mark against his record was that he co-sponsored an idiotic statewide “gun buyback” program.

But Ciatarelli’s the guy who won, and we should note he also voted against requiring a justifiable need for firearm purchases, reducing magazine capacities, and other infringements, and has pledged that he’s open to hearing gun owner concerns “based on the facts they present.”

Not perfect, is he? Inarguably, though, he is a damn sight better than the alternative, and it doesn’t have to be a total “lesser of two evils” choice.

Gun owners need to present those “facts” to him, including one important one: He’s already struck out in his race for the top spot twice, and it’ll be a guaranteed third if he doesn’t get their support. The state GOP needs to grok that, too.

Being one of the worst states in the union for eviscerating the Second Amendment, there’s much to be said on having the ear of a governor with veto power.

New Jersey gun owners do have a choice. What they do with it is up to them.

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About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

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