The 80-page bill includes provisions that would help states keep guns out of the hands of those deemed to be a danger to themselves or others and close the so-called boyfriend loophole by blocking gun sales to those convicted of abusing unmarried intimate partners.

After mass shootings at a New York grocery store and a Texas elementary school that authorities said were committed by teenagers, the legislation would allow states to provide juvenile records to the national background check system for gun purchases.

Lawmakers said the Senate was likely to take its first procedural vote later yesterday on a motion to proceed to a bill from the House of Representatives that would serve as the Senate’s legislative vehicle.

“I believe that this week, we will pass legislation that will become the most significant piece of anti-gun-violence legislation Congress will have passed in 30 years. This is a breakthrough,” Senator Chris Murphy, the lead Democrat in the talks, said on the Senate floor. “And more importantly, it is a bipartisan breakthrough.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged to move forward as soon as possible, with an expected motion to proceed.

“This bipartisan gun-safety legislation is progress and will save lives. While it is not everything we want, this legislation is urgently needed,” Schumer said in a statement.

Schumer’s Republican counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, called the legislation “a commonsense package” in a statement pledging his own support.

With the 100-seat Senate split evenly, the legislation will need support from at least 10 Republicans to pass a procedural hurdle.

The biggest gun lobby in the country, the National Rifle Association, said on Twitter that it opposed the legislation because it could be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases. The politically powerful group’s statement could affect how many Republicans vote on the measure.

Senator John Cornyn, the lead Republican negotiator in the bipartisan talks, held out hope the legislation would succeed.

“We know there’s no such thing as a perfect piece of legislation. We are imperfect human beings. But we have to try, and I believe this bill is a step in the right direction,” Cornyn said on the Senate floor.

The legislation’s release yesterday would help ensure the odds of Senate passage before lawmakers leave for their two-week July 4 break. Some aides suggested lawmakers could stay into the weekend to vote on the bill.

The bipartisan group has been working on a deal to curb gun violence since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, less than two weeks after 10 people were killed in a racist shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

‘Red flag laws’

The measure announced yesterday does not go as far as Democrats including President Joe Biden had sought. Still, if passed, it would be the most significant action to combat gun violence to emerge from Congress in years.

Lawmakers reached agreement on a provision to encourage states to adopt “red flag” laws, in which guns can be temporarily taken away from people who are deemed dangerous. It also provides funding for states that use other forms of intervention to accomplish the same outcome.

The bill also aims to close the “boyfriend loophole” by allowing authorities to block gun purchases by those convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse against partners to whom they are not married. ― Reuters

Source: https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2022/06/22/us-senate-poised-to-move-forward-on-first-significant-gun-legislation-in-decades/13562

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HOUSTON – Former President Trump traveled to Houston on Friday to offer support for the National Rifle Association and echo the group’s mission as it faces pushback from gun control advocates following a deadly school shooting in Texas this week.

Speaking from the George R. Brown Convention Center, Trump addressed NRA members and touted the work his administration did to preserve the Second Amendment during his tenure in the White House.

NRA’S LAPIERRE SAYS GUN CONTROL NOT THE ANSWER TO TEXAS MASSACRE

Trump’s remarks at the 2022 NRA convention came days after a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two adults dead.

“The existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens and that is why one of the core missions of the NRA is to train, prepare and equip responsible American men and women with the knowledge and tools they need to defend themselves,” Trump said, highlighting efforts from the NRA to enhance gun safety measures.

“The NRA has 125,000 certified instructors,” he added. “These are highly trained, very, very capable people. They train an incredible 1,000,000 Americans to be safer. Gun owners ready to act when the situation calls… incredible job.”

Trump said his administration worked to stop the siege on the Second Amendment and told those in attendance at the convention that “those on the left” will soon come for guns of all types.

BETO O’ROURKE, GUN-CONTROL ADVOCATES PROTEST OUTSIDE OF NRA CONVENTION: ‘SHAME ON YOU’

“Let’s not pretend that those on the left are just talking about limiting one class of gun or one category of ammunition,” Trump said. “They’re not doing that.

“We all know they want total gun confiscation, we know that this would be a first step,” he added. “Once they get the first step, they’ll take the second step, the third, the fourth, and then you’ll have a whole different look at the Second Amendment, which is, by the way, totally under siege. But we stopped it for four years. We stopped it.”

Trump also told the NRA members that “schools should be the single-hardest target in our country” and noted the need to mend the issues surrounding “broken families” and mental health. He also suggested that some teachers should be able to “conceal carry.”

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Speaking at the convention on Friday, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre pushed back against calls for legislative gun control measures after the shooting in Uvalde.

“If we as a nation were capable of legislating evil out of the hearts and minds of criminals who commit these heinous acts, we would have done it a long time ago,” LaPierre said.

Kyle Morris covers politics for Fox News. On Twitter: @RealKyleMorris.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-existence-of-evil-is-why-law-abiding-americans-need-second-amendment

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President Biden on Thursday announced a set of executive actions and legislative proposals on gun control, saying that gun violence is “a public health crisis” and the administration’s actions do not contravene Second Amendment rights.

The administration aims to “confront not just the gun crisis but what is actually a public health crisis,” Biden said in his remarks in the Rose Garden. He was joined by Vice President Harris.

“Nothing I’m about to recommend in any way impinges on the Second Amendment,” Biden said. “These are phony arguments suggesting that these are Second Amendment rights at stake from what we’re talking about.”

Continuing, Biden said: “But no amendment to the Constitution is absolute … From the very beginning, you couldn’t own any weapon you wanted to own. From the very beginning the Second Amendment existed, certain people weren’t allowed to have weapons. So the idea is just bizarre to suggest that some of the things we’re recommending are contrary to the Constitution.”

BIDEN TO TARGET ‘GHOST GUNS,’ STABILIZING BRACES IN NEW GUN CONTROL ACTIONS

In attendance were several high-profile gun control activists, including Brady United president Kris Brown, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., and Fred Guttenberg.

An administration official detailed the actions to reporters on Wednesday. Among them, Biden is asking the Justice Department (DOJ) to propose within a month a rule to stop “ghost guns,” which are “kits” people can buy legally to assemble a functioning firearm that does not have a serial number.

Biden is also asking the DOJ to propose within 60 days a rule on braces used for handguns, which make them more accurate; to propose action on “community violence intervention”; to publish suggestions for “red flag” legislation; and is asking his administration to issue a report on gun trafficking.

Biden also formally announced David Chipman as the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

A senior administration official Wednesday said that Chipman will respect the Second Amendment while he enforces gun laws.

President Joe Biden speaks about the economy in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“I’ve seen with my own two eyes what a bullet can do to the human body … and I’ve fought my entire career to fight this violence and to pass reasonable gun safety measures,” Harris said as she introduced Biden.

“What are we waiting for? Cause we aren’t waiting for a tragedy… We’ve had more tragedy than we can bear,” she said. “The solutions exist… people on both sides of the aisle want action, real people … so all that is left is the will and the courage to act.”

The Biden administration is also expected to throw its weight behind gun control proposals in Congress.

“Enough prayers, time for some action,” Biden said of Congress. “I believe the Senate should immediately pass three House-passed bills to close loopholes that allow gun purchases, purchasers, to bypass the background checks.”

BIDEN ON THE SECOND AMENDMENT: ‘NO AMENDMENT IS ABSOLUTE’

He also pushed for two gun control laws that would go even further than that.

“We should also ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country,” Biden said. He said “there’s no reason” a person would need a weapon that can hold “100 rounds.”

“We should also eliminate gun manufacturers from the immunity they receive from the Congress,” Biden said, referring to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a law that prevents gunmakers from being sued for crimes committed with guns they sell legally.

“This is the only outfit that is exempt from being sued,” he continued. “If I get one thing on my list… give me that one because I tell you what there would be a come to the Lord moment these folks would have real quickly.”

Vice President Harris meets virtually with community leaders on the COVID-19 public education efforts in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 1, 2021. (Leigh Vogel/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Some of Biden’s claims during the press conference are regularly disputed by Republicans, including that gun manufacturers can’t be sued and that background checks aren’t required at gun shows.

Indeed, the PLCAA only protects against suits for “harm solely caused by the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearm products or ammunition products.” This does not count, for example, if a gun is defective or if a gun was knowingly given to a person who is banned from possessing one.

BIDEN TO NOMINATE GUN CONTROL BACKER DAVID CHIPMAN TO HEAD ATF: WH OFFICIAL

Further, the “gun show loophole,” as it is known, is not actually about gun shows. All federally licensed commercial dealers, at gun shows or not, must conduct background checks. But federal law permits some non-commercial sellers who don’t need to be licensed to sell guns without conducting background checks. These sales sometimes happen at gun shows.

Republicans, meanwhile, have expressed their suspicion of Biden’s agenda which goes even further than what he announced Thursday.

“By appointing the anti-gun Merrick Garland as attorney general and nominating David Chipman — formerly a senior staffer at the leading gun control lobby —  to head ATF, Biden has made clear his sights are set on restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners while ignoring criminals and foregoing substantive measures that will actually keep Americans safe,” the National Rifle Association (NRA) said in a statement.

“Further, the proposals Biden announced tonight could require law-abiding citizens to surrender lawful property and enable states to expand gun confiscation orders. The NRA will fight this nomination and ill-conceived executive actions,” the NRA also said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., added: “President Biden plans to announce his attempts to trample over our constitutional 2A rights by executive fiat. He is soft on crime, but infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens. I won’t stand for it. And neither will House Republicans. Follow the Constitution!”

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said, “The answer is not to restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, the answer is to go after violent criminals and come down on them like a ton of bricks.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland also spoke at the event. He said that gun control is needed to prevent further “tragedy” from gun violence.

“We stand here today not at a moment of tragedy but in the midst of an enduring tragedy,” Garland said.

Brady United, one of the highest-profile gun control groups in the U.S., billed Biden and Harris as “the strongest gun safety ticket in history” at an event last fall.

“President Biden’s actions are historic and they will have an immediate impact. These are tangible and powerful policies that will save lives,” Brown said of the president’s executive actions in a statement Wednesday.

Fox News’ Brittany De Lea, Sally Persons and Kristina Biddle contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-guns-remarks-executive-actions

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KEY FACTS

CRUCIAL QUOTE

Biden also referenced the well-documented rise in homicides across major U.S. cities last year—“including the gun violence disproportionately devastating Black and Brown individuals in our city”—in his statement. “We mourn for all those who have lost loved ones to gun violence,” wrote Biden.

KEY BACKGROUND

Biden campaigned on these gun control reforms, which have already drawn the ire of gun advocacy groups like the National Rifle Association. An NRA representative recently told the Wall Street Journal that Biden “may become the most anti-gun president in American history.” Former President Trump, who was in office during the Parkland shooting, initially said he would confront the gun lobby in the tragedy’s aftermath, but ultimately backed away from any commitments to broad reform.

Update: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that 14 people died in the Parkland shooting.

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The National Rifle Association is fighting back against a lawsuit filed Thursday by New York’s attorney general by submitting its own civil suit against the state official, accusing her of defamation and violating its rights to free speech.

The NRA’s lawsuit was filed in the federal court of New York and alleges Attorney General Letitia James “made the political prosecution of the NRA a central campaign theme” when she was running for the AG’s office in 2018 and has not treated the association fairly since.

“Despite hopes that playing by the rules would procure a just outcome, the NRA has not been treated fairly by James’s office,” the 19-page suit states. “The New York Democratic Party political machine seeks to harass, defund, and dismantle the NRA because of what it believes and what it says.”

The defamation allegations stem from James’ public descriptions of the NRA as a “criminal enterprise” and “a terrorist organization.”

“James boasted that she would strike foul blows against the NRA and pound the NRA into submission. She vowed that she would use the NYAG’s investigative and enforcement powers for the precise purpose of stanching political speech (‘deadly propaganda),” the lawsuit states. “She has begun to deliver on her campaign promises to retaliate against the NRA for constitutionally protected speech on issues that James opposes. As NYAG, James has regrettably succumbed to ‘individual passions, and individual malevolence.’”

NEW YORK AG SEEKS TO DISSOLVE NRA IN NEW LAWSUIT

WILL FIRST-TIME GUN BUYERS SWAY POLITICAL SUPPORT FOR THE SECOND AMENDMENT?

President Trump also slammed James’ suit against the group, calling it “a very terrible thing.”

“I think the NRA should move to Texas and lead a very good and beautiful life. And I’ve told them that for a long time. I think they should move to Texas – Texas would be a great state or to another state of their choosing – but I would say that Texas would be a great place and an appropriate place for the NRA.”

James sued the NRA, which is headquartered in Fairfax, Va., in an effort to dissolve the gun-rights group “for years of self-dealing and illegal conduct,” she announced Thursday.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, alleges that the NRA “diverted millions of dollars away from its charitable mission for personal use by senior leadership.” She further slammed the association for what she called “years of self-dealing and illegal conduct that violate New York’s charities laws and undermine its own mission.”

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National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax, Va.Credit – CreditJustin T. Gellerson for The New York Times

Unsettled by recent mass shootings across the nation, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution this week declaring the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization.

The resolution was introduced by Supervisor Catherine Stefani on July 30, two days after a shooting at a garlic festival in Gilroy, Calif., in which three people were killed and more than a dozen others injured.

Before the resolution was put to a vote on Tuesday, Ms. Stefani spoke about the “carnage across this country,” also citing mass shootings last month in El Paso; Dayton, Ohio; and near Odessa, Tex.

Ms. Stefani said the N.R.A. conspires to limit gun violence research, restrict gun violence data sharing and block every piece of sensible gun violence prevention legislation proposed at local, state and federal levels.

“The N.R.A. exists to spread pro-gun propaganda and put weapons in the hands of those who would harm and terrorize us,” Ms. Stefani said in a statement. “Nobody has done more to fan the flames of gun violence than the N.R.A.”

While the resolution has no practical effect, Ms. Stefani said in an interview on Wednesday, “I firmly believe that words matter, and I think this is a step in fighting the negative impact of the N.R.A.”

The N.R.A. saw the action as a publicity stunt.

“This is just another worthless and disgusting ‘sound-bite remedy’ to the violence epidemic gripping our nation,” Amy Hunter, a spokeswoman for the association, said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is a reckless assault on a law-abiding organization, its members, and the freedoms they all stand for. We remain undeterred, guided by our values and belief in those who want to find real solutions to gun violence.”

The N.R.A. also responded on Twitter, saying that it was “the fabric of American society” and “San Fran should be ashamed.” The post included a video of Wayne LaPierre, the organization’s chief executive, calling on N.R.A. members to stand up as Americans.

In a news release on Wednesday, Ms. Stefani referred to the federal Justice Department’s definition of terrorist activity, which involves the use of a firearm, weapon or dangerous device to endanger the safety of individuals. The definition also includes members of organizations that provide funds, weapons or training to individuals who commit terrorist acts.

The gun homicide rate in the United States is 25 times higher than that of any other high-income country and the gun ownership rate is two times higher, Ms. Stefani said. With 393 million guns in this country, there are more guns than people, she added.

“Every country on earth has video games, movies and mental health issues, and yet only the U.S. has gun violence at elementary schools, at the movies, at Walmart,” Ms. Stefani said. “The difference is guns. No other country has so many assault rifles on their streets.”

In August alone, 53 people died in mass shootings, including 22 in El Paso; nine in Dayton; and seven near Odessa. The Justice Department defines a mass killing as three or more deaths in a single episode, excluding the death of a gunman.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/us/san-francisco-nra-terrorist.html

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On Tuesday, the president made clear he was listening. He reversed course and backed away from potential new restrictions on gun sales that he had embraced days after the massacres in California, Texas and Ohio, suggesting less controversial responses like more money for mental health care and stiffer prosecution of federal gun crimes.

“A lot of the people that who put me where I am are strong believers in the Second Amendment, and I am also,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

US President Donald Trump has backed down over gun control.  ALEX BRANDON/AP

hen he argued that any efforts to restrict gun sales would inevitably lead to confiscation of privately owned weapons from law-abiding citizens, although no one has proposed that drastic remedy on Capitol Hill.

“They call it the slippery slope,” he said. “And all of a sudden everything gets taken away. We’re not going to let that happen.”

Trump also retreated from his previous call for more aggressive background checks of people who buy firearms.

“We have very, very strong background checks right now,” he said.

The about-face followed a familiar pattern for Trump, a native New Yorker who lacks a personal affinity for guns but has championed gun rights since entering politics. Before he ran for president in 2015, he supported restrictions championed by Democrats, but now he fears upsetting his hard-core Republican supporters – especially as he heads into what polls indicate will be a difficult reelection race.

Trump’s gun control back down comes amid pressure from pro-gun groups in the US.  – SUSAN WALSH/AP

“Donald Trump has looked into the abyss of destroying his base and decided that isn’t something he wants to do,” said Mike Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, an advocacy group based in Virginia.

Although presidents often are forced to disappoint their most loyal fans when cutting political deals in Washington, Trump has been particularly wary of alienating his base. His latest retreat reflects not only his desire for adulation from the crowds that pack his rallies but also a recognition that turning out his passionate supporters in 2020 may be a better route to a second term than trying to attract undecided voters.

“Without the support of gun owners, it’s unlikely that Donald Trump would ever have been elected,” said Adam Winkler, a University of California, Los Angeles law professor who researches politics and gun laws. “He needed those votes and he got them.”

Trump initially appeared open to strengthening gun laws after recent shootings echoed across the nation.

On July 28, three people were shot to death at a garlic festival in Gilroy, Calif. Then, on August 3, a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 people in an attack that investigators say targeted Mexicans. The next day, nine people were killed outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio.

As the horrors sunk in, Trump addressed the nation from the White House on August 5. He said he supported “red flag” laws that would allow law enforcement to temporarily remove guns from people who courts determine to be an imminent threat to themselves or others. More than a dozen states, including California, already have such laws.

“We must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms and that if they do those firearms can be taken through rapid due process,” Trump said.

Four days later, Trump went further, telling reporters that “we have to have very meaningful background checks” before gun sales. He even talked with Senator Christopher S Murphy, an outspoken advocate for universal background checks and other reforms since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in his state in 2012.

“He expressed support for working together with Republicans and Democrats to come up with a background checks bill that can pass the Senate and save lives,” Murphy said at the time.

After that, pro-gun groups began blanketing Capitol Hill and the White House with emails and phone calls, demanding lawmakers block any new restrictions. The National Rifle Association, which usually hunkers down after mass shootings, publicly criticized what it called a push for “sound-bite solutions,” and its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, spoke to Trump on the phone.

Activists argued that while public opinion polls show background checks for gun sales are extremely popular, such restrictions won’t stop mass shootings, which typically are committed by people who buy guns legally. The NRA has tried to point the president toward policies that could satisfy his desire to take some action worthy of a Rose Garden ceremony, without upsetting his pro-gun supporters.

They also called for stricter enforcement of existing laws, pointing to a standoff in Philadelphia last week where six police officers were wounded with an assault-style rifle. The suspect was a felon and should not have had access to a gun. He was later charged with attempted murder.

Trump tweeted about the shooting, saying “must get much tougher on street crime!”

Lobbying the president has required navigating Trump family politics. Ivanka, the president’s older daughter, and a White House adviser, backs increased gun restrictions. So pro-gun groups turned to Donald Jr, the president’s eldest son, and an avid hunter, to push back.

“The president’s son has a lot stiffer spine on the gun issue than the president, and I think a better handle on it,” said Dudley Brown, president of the Colorado-based National Association for Gun Rights, another advocacy group.

Pro-gun groups were hesitant to declare victory this week since lawmakers still could take action when Congress returns from its August recess next month.

Senator Joe Manchin III, a Democrat, and Senator Patrick J Toomey, a Republican, have authored a bipartisan measure to expand background checks, and Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, is pushing “red flag” legislation.

But the momentum for such change seems to have dissipated. Trump said little about gun control Thursday in Manchester, New Hampshire, in his first political rally since the shootings.

“It’s not the gun that pulls the trigger, it’s the person holding the gun,” he told crowd, which gave a rapturous response.

Trump’s critics cited a similar cycle after a gunman killed 17 students and teachers at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018. During a televised round table with bipartisan lawmakers, Trump voiced support for new restrictions and insisted that the NRA had “less power over me.”

But no new gun laws were passed, and at this point, it’s hard to see Congress passing, or the president signing, any new legislation.

“These retreats from President Trump are not only disappointing but also heartbreaking, particularly for the families of the victims of gun violence,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a statement.

John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, which pushes for stiffer gun laws, said Trump should be more aggressive because the NRA, which has faced internal power struggles and a scandal over lavish spending by its leaders, “has never been weaker.”

“Voters across the political spectrum are demanding change – and politicians who ignore them today will suffer the consequences in 2020,” he said.

MCT

Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/donald-trumps-america/115185533/trump-retreats-from-gun-control-proposals-three-weeks-after-us-mass-shootings

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The New York lawmaker condemned the fatal attack on Twitter, focusing her message on the American gun group.

“At 1st I thought of saying, ‘Imagine being told your house of faith isn’t safe anymore.’ But I couldn’t say ‘imagine,’” the lawmaker wrote, citing the deadly shootings at a Charleston, S.C., church, a Pittsburgh synagogue and a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church.

“What good are your thoughts & prayers when they don’t even keep the pews safe?” She added.

Ocasio-Cortez noted that “thoughts and prayers” is a reference to the NRA phrase she says is “used to deflect conversation away from policy change during tragedies.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez@AOC

At 1st I thought of saying, “Imagine being told your house of faith isn’t safe anymore.”

But I couldn’t say “imagine.”

Because of Charleston.
Pittsburgh.
Sutherland Springs.

What good are your thoughts & prayers when they don’t even keep the pews safe?

---

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez@AOC

(“Thoughts and prayers” is reference to the NRA’s phrase used to deflect conversation away from policy change during tragedies. Not directed to PM Ardern, who I greatly admire.)

---

The progressive congresswoman called on communities to “come together, fight for each other & stand up for neighbors.”

“Isolation, dehumanizing stereotypes, hysterical conspiracy theories & hatred ultimately lead to the anarchy of violence,” she wrote on Twitter. “We cannot stand for it.”

Ocasio-Cortez added that she greatly admires New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. 

Ardern called the shootings “one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” according to The Associated Press, adding that it was “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”

“It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Ardern said.

The prime minister raised the national security threat to the second-highest level following the shootings.

Authorities have charged one person and detained three others in the attack. They also defused explosive devices after the gunman published live footage of the shooting and published a “manifesto” calling immigrants “invaders.”

---

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/434190-ocasio-cortez-calls-out-nra-after-new-zealand-shootings-what-good-are-your

[Disclaimer]

The post Ocasio-Cortez hits NRA after New Zealand shooting: ‘What good are your thoughts and prayers?’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

And an ethics watchdog anticipates more states could join.

“It is troubling that we have seen the government targeting individuals and organizations to silence them based on their political positions,” Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), told Fox News.

She cited similarities to the 2016 discovery that state AGs were cooperating to target skeptics of climate change. In the latest case, FACT has filed freedom of information requests with 21 states including the four publicly targeting the NRA – New York, New Jersey, California and Washington state – in search of evidence that might show such coordination here.

The requests seek communications with “any other Attorney General, Governor, or state insurance official … that mention the ‘National Rifle Association’ … or ‘Carry Guard Insurance.’”

“Carry Guard” is an NRA-sponsored insurance policy for gun owners who use a firearm in self-defense but face civil or criminal liability expenses. State officials have specifically targeted the Overland Park, Kansas-based Lockton Affinity and the Chicago-based Illinois Union, a member of the Chubb group, which were involved in marketing and selling the NRA insurance plans. The New York Department of Financial Services in May levied a combined fine of more than $8 million against the two companies.

On Aug. 4, Cuomo said: “I am calling on states across the country to join New York to outlaw this absurd program that insures intentional criminal conduct. … If the NRA goes bankrupt because of the State of New York, they’ll be in my thoughts and prayers.”

The Democratic governor followed up in a letter to fellow governors requesting action against the NRA.

Cuomo is up for re-election in November, facing Republican opponent Marcus Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive.

Among his allies in this cause, Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler commenced an investigation after issuing a cease-and-desist order in April against the NRA concerning Carry Guard.

“The Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) was in touch with the New York state Department of Financial Services after it sent a letter on Aug. 7 to our commissioner, Mike Kreidler,” Steve Valandra, a spokesman for the insurance commissioner, told Fox News in an email.

“We found the policies sold by the NRA Carry Guard program were done without an insurance producer license, a violation of Washington insurance law,” Valandra said. “That investigation began in 2017 following a consumer complaint. Our current investigation – following the cease-and-desist order – was prompted by concerns about whether the NRA Carry Guard program may have other consumer issues.”

Last month, the California Department of Insurance also issued a cease-and-desist order against the NRA insurance, alleging the NRA marketed the product without a license to do so in the state.

“The Department of Insurance is not working with any other authority regarding the NRA’s compliance issues with the sale of Carry Guard,” California Department of Insurance spokeswoman Nancy Kincaid told Fox News.

She said the state “insists on full compliance with the California law that requires persons who solicit the purchase of insurance in California must be appropriately licensed to do so.” Kincaid said the NRA has not complied with that requirement, which “led to the administrative action to address the illegal conduct in California.”

The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance also is investigating the NRA, a probe that began in August after Cuomo’s invitation to other states. A spokesperson from the New Jersey department did not respond to inquiries from Fox News.

NRA lawyer William Brewer pushed back on the state claims, though, telling Fox News the NRA conducted reviews to ensure compliance with state laws where Carry Guard is sold.

The NRA filed a First Amendment lawsuit against New York state that claims the policy restricting financial activity with pro-gun organizations amounts to viewpoint discrimination. A U.S. Northern District of New York judge is mulling a motion to dismiss by the Cuomo administration. For now, the NRA is not focused on any other litigation beyond New York, Brewer said.

“Any state that makes an inquiry into the Carry Guard program, the NRA will be quick to provide information as required, unless we see the NRA’s constitutional rights being violated,” Brewer said.

Both the NRA and FACT, the ethics watchdog, want to see whether New York and other states have made a concerted effort to target NRA finances.

“We are interested in going into discovery in our case,” Brewer said. “You don’t have to look far to see Gov. Cuomo reaching out to other states asking them to take action against the NRA.”

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for the Daily Signal.

Source:  https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomos-campaign-to-bankrupt-nra-by-targeting-insurance-program-spreads-to-more-states

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