SAF, CCRKBA Congratulate President-Elect Trump and Gun Owners Who Made Victory Possible
In a joint statement, the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms congratulated the nation’s gun owners for making possible Tuesday’s victory that will send Donald J. Trump to the White House in 2017.
SAF and CCRKBA also offer their sincere congratulations to President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence for their historic and stunning victory, and especially for Mr. Trump’s gracious call for unity among all Americans.
“What happened Tuesday night was a reaffirmation that Americans can make the system work, and that this nation’s gun owners are a cornerstone of that system,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “It cannot be ignored that this nation’s tens of millions of honest firearms owners turned out to protect their constitutional rights. From the outset, Mr. Trump made it clear that the Second Amendment will be safe on his watch.
“While America’s hard-working gun owners can celebrate the victory they helped make possible,” added Gottlieb, who also chairs the CCRKBA, “we must remain mindful that the gun prohibition lobby, which is largely funded by elitist billionaires like Michael Bloomberg, will almost certainly double down on their efforts to erode our Second Amendment rights at the state level, whenever and wherever they can.
“Every gun owner owes a huge ‘Thank You’ to our good friends at the National Rifle Association for their efforts and expenditures to educate and guide voters,” Gottlieb noted.
NSSF Post-Election Day 2016 Statement
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, today congratulates President-Elect Donald Trump on his historic victory.
The American people have spoken. We have elected a president who has pledged to protect our Constitutional rights and a majority of both houses of Congress that will work to ensure that our individual right to keep and bear arms will be preserved.
The work of those who love liberty and our nation’s hunting and shooting traditions is never over. Americans need to remain involved to help ensure that the defense of our Second Amendment remains strong and the lawful commerce in firearms is protected at all levels of government.
We thank all those Americans who supported NSSF’s 2016 #GUNVOTE voter education and registration initiative. We know that we can count on you. You should know that we remain steadfast in our mission to help promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports.
Trump: The Official NRA Q&A
via NRA-ILA
This year’s race for the White House is like no other in our history. Hillary Clinton has made it clear that, if elected, she will come after our firearm freedoms on her very first day in office. So it’s no exaggeration to say that the Second Amendment is on the ballot this November. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, to discuss our right to keep and bear arms and what’s at stake for America’s gun owners in this election.
Chris W. Cox: Mr. Trump, I’d like to begin with an issue of concern to many gun owners. In your 2000 book, The America We Deserve, you stated that while you oppose gun control, you support the federal ban on semi-automatic firearms—the so-called “assault weapons” ban—and also support a longer waiting period to purchase a firearm. During this election, however, you’ve repeatedly pointed out you oppose gun and magazine bans and only support background checks that are instant, accurate and fair. Would you say your position has evolved on these issues?
Donald J. Trump: Absolutely. Over the past 15 years I’ve learned a great deal about how we can protect the good people of this country from those who mean to do us harm. Gun control is not the answer—protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens is the answer. Furthermore, gun bans don’t work. Studies were done after the 1994 “assault weapons” ban expired. They clearly showed that the ban didn’t protect anyone, didn’t reduce crime. It just made it harder for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves with the firearm of their choice. Like with all things, I believe in what works, and gun bans don’t work. I have two sons who don’t just believe in the Second Amendment, they live it. They hunt, target shoot, shoot competitively and carry firearms for personal protection. They’re NRA members, and so am I. I also have a concealed-carry permit. Our commitment to the Second Amendment is unshakable.
CWC: As you know, the future of our firearm freedoms hangs in the balance with the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia—the author of the Heller decision—which held that the Constitution guarantees the individual right to keep and bear arms. I have a couple of questions related to the Supreme Court, but first, do you agree that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental, individual right to own and use firearms for lawful purposes? Continue reading
#GunVote 2016 – Get Involved
For Gun Owners, This Is The Most Important Election Ever
Of course, we all know by now that the democratic front-runner in the 2016 race for the office of the President of the United states has made gun control a major part of her platform, which includes vowing to attack gun rights on her first day in office if elected. That is a given, since her name is on some of the worst Second Amendment-violating legislation in the United States from the last time she was in the White House.
However, following the passing of of Justice Antonin Scalia (often the deciding opinion on Second Amendment cases before the SCOTUS), the implications of this election go much further and will have much longer lasting repercussions. Justice Scalia’s vacant seat will be filled by someone appointed by the president we elect in November. With the balance of the Supreme Court at stake, this election will affect our constitutional rights. It is crucial that all gun owners and Second Amendment supporters register to vote, become informed about candidates’ positions, and on Election Day, #GUNVOTE. Don’t risk your rights!
Gee Whiz – Secret Service Says No Guns at Republican Convention
Here is a real shocker. As we guessed in our comment on our previous post about a petition to allow firearm carry at the Republican National Convention, the Secret Service does not want a bunch of random armed people around the event. They are apparently still expecting a fair turnout of loons, as Cleveland shells out a $1.5M brokerage fee to AON Risk Services for a $10M “protest insurance” policy for the event.
The Secret Service says only authorized law enforcement will be allowed to carry firearms at the Republican Party nominating convention, ignoring an online petition calling for convention attendees to also be permitted to carry them.
The petition, started anonymously last week on Change.org, has attracted the signatures of over 50,000 people who said they want the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, which is hosting the convention, to reverse its ban on weapons.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for security at the July event, said in a statement that only “authorized law enforcement partners…may carry a firearm inside of the protected site.”
“Individuals determined to be carrying firearms will not be allowed past a predetermined outer perimeter checkpoint, regardless of whether they possess a ticket to the event,” the statement added.
The three remaining Republican U.S. presidential candidates have each advocated allowing people to openly carry firearms. Both Texas Senator Ted Cruz and businessman Donald Trump have criticized so-called gun-free zones, especially schools, saying those policies make the sites less safe.
Many of those sharing the petition on Twitter are less interested in the issue for reasons of defending 2nd Amendment rights to firearms than pushing the Republican Party on its adherence to the issue.
Firearms were also banned at the previous Republican convention, which was held in Tampa in 2012.
There are already concerns that this year’s convention will be testier than usual, especially if no Republican presidential candidate has emerged as the party’s nominee.
Are you ready for #GunVote 2016?
Every election is, of course, important and we hear the “most important election ever” rhetoric in just about every election cycle. This one, however, is quite important for gun owners. Not only because we are electing the next commander in chief and we want the POTUS to be a solid supporter of gun rights as proscribed in our country’s founding documents, but because – provided that Mitch McConnell isn’t completely full of it – the next President is guaranteed to nominate at least one Supreme Court justice.
Being a well informed voter and being active in helping others to be the same is paramount and, for gun owners, there is a great resource to help with that: the NSSF #GunVote voter education initiative.
The crowded GOP field is still narrowing itself down and there are some solid (and not so solid) pro-gun candidates. The democrat presidential candidate for the general election will almost certainly be Hillary Clinton.
Despite making a lot of noise about enacting gun control measures, the current president has proven himself to be an inexperienced, politically impotent empty suit who achieved nothing more than stirring up a few uninformed rabble rousers who complained enough to get their coffee shop posted as a gun-free criminal protection zone. The running joke among… pretty much everyone… is that he is the Gun Salesman of the Century thanks to the ensuing panic buying every time he picks up his pen and his phone. Clinton, on the other hand, has been engaged in politics for more than five decades, including being part of the administration that enacted the 1994 so-called “Assault Weapon” Ban, which outlawed many of the most popular firearms based on cosmetic features. Continue reading
