In the past, when a member of the United States Congress mentioned the “nuclear option,” it was a reference to a parliamentary maneuver by which the Senate majority party could do with a simple majority what would otherwise require clearing the more difficult hurdle of a three-fifths majority. It was given that name due to
When the bruising fight over President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as the newest Associate Justice of the Supreme Court finally ended with Kavanaugh’s confirmation, there was much celebration in gun rights advocacy circles. Indeed, the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the forcible citizen disarmament lobby was by itself something to please any
During the United States Senate confirmation proceedings on President Donald Trump’s second nomination to the Supreme Court, an exchange between that nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was very instructive. Feinstein, who by virtue of her rank and power on the Senate and her longstanding
With each new murderous beast apparently in competition with all who came before for the “Most Evilly Depraved” trophy, the sad reality is that we are in the age of mass shootings. Where concerts, movies, church sermons, and schools become killing grounds. Where to be a soft target is to court death. Given that reality,
In 2013, Cody Wilson shocked the world (particularly the gun-ban zealots) when he introduced the “Liberator,” the world’s first firearm to be produced entirely on a consumer-grade 3-D printer. A very rudimentary weapon constructed of plastic, the pistol is single shot, fires the relatively low-powered .380 APC cartridge, and even so can only be counted
The newest push to replace reliably useful guns with so-called “smart guns” came in June, courtesy of U.S. Representative Jim Himes (D-CT). Himes’ H.R. 6109, the “Start Advancing Firearms Enhancements and Technology (SAFETY)” Act of 2018 would provide significant tax relief for gun manufacturers’ efforts to design, produce, and market “smart guns”—guns that are specifically
We knew it was coming. The gun-ban zealots in Congress have danced around it for decades, but have almost never dared to come right out and say it in public: that banning so-called “assault weapons” will never be enough while existing owners are permitted to keep them. That reticence is now over. The current, toxically
In an op-ed piece published in the New York Times in March, retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens argued that, for the sake of public safety, proponents of more restrictive gun laws should press for the repeal of the Second Amendment. For gun rights advocates, this should come as good news. Yes, you read
In late February, in the face of the anti-gun frenzy sweeping the nation since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, President Trump called a White House meeting with lawmakers from both major political parties and both chambers of Congress to discuss measures to stop such senseless atrocities. In this
At the time of this writing, America’s collective heart is broken, reeling from the slaughter of 17 innocent students and educators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The alleged killer is a deranged ex-student with a long history of behavioral problems and violence. His weapon of choice was a semi-automatic, detachable magazine-fed
