Advice on weaponry

Andy said:

I think the idea of individual firearm ownership might be kind of like Vegemite. It's understood and appreciated by those brought up with it but to people unaccustomed to it, it's weird and scary and gross.

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No Way: 26 Democrats Who Participated in House Sit-In Are Gun Owners
Matt Vespa Matt Vespa
Posted: Jun 27, 2016 12:30 PM

The House is in recess for the Fourth of July holiday, but that doesn’t mean Democrats' push for more gun control is taking a halftime break after the Orlando attack. In that horrific incident, Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, making it the worst mass shooting in American history. It was likely a terrorist attack, as Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS during the shooting. But he used a Sig Sauer MCX rifle, which looks like the AR-15—the harbinger of pure evil to the anti-gun Left.

So, gun control was back in the spotlight, with Democrats fundraising off the victims in their effort to curb American civil rights. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) fired the first salvo in the Senate, holding up a Department of Justice spending bill so the chamber could vote on gun control amendments. Senate Republicans relented, allowed a vote on increasing background checks and keeping those on terror watch lists from buying guns, and both of them failed along party lines. In the House, 26 Democrats occupied the floor to pressure Speaker Paul Ryan to hold a vote. That failed too. Yet, here’s an interesting fact—all 26 House Democrats who put on that clown show are gun owners (via Heat Street):

The controversial sit-in included 26 Democratic lawmakers who themselves own guns, Heat Street learned after examining 2013 USA Today data on congressional firearms ownership. The participants also included 12 more Democrats in Congress who either didn’t respond to USA Today’s gun survey or declined to say whether or not they possessed a firearm.

[…]

The participation of Democratic gun owners can be viewed as the pursuit of reasonable compromise by left-wing firearm fans—or, potentially, as hypocrisy.

[…]

Here’s the full list of Democratic gun owners who participated.

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick
Rep. Bennie Thompson
Rep. Dina Titus
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger
Rep. Jared Huffman
Rep. Jim Cooper
Rep. Jim Costa
Rep. John Carney
Rep. John Garamendi
Rep. Keith Ellison
Rep. Mike Thompson
Rep. Peter DeFazio
Rep. Peter Welch
Rep. Rick Nolan
Rep. Ron Kind
Rep. Steve Cohen
Rep. Tim Ryan
Sen. Gary Peters
Sen. Harry Reid
Sen. Mark Warner
Sen. Martin Heinrich
Sen. Patrick Leahy
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
Sen. Tammy Baldwin
Sen. Tim Kaine
Sen. Tom Carper

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Democrats are already planning day of action events in their respective districts to push the issue of gun control. Don’t see how that will move the needle in any direction whatsoever. These Democrats mostly hail from deep blue, anti-gun states. All they’re doing is just increasing the war chests for pro-Second Amendment community, along with increasing awareness to an issue they lose consistently across the sociopolitical spectrum. The courts, the polls, and the people have spoken, but who am I to tell the Left to stop wasting their resources on an awful gun control bill (via the Hill):

Energized by their recent takeover of the House floor, the Democrats are eying a series of tactics and events for members to bring to their home districts through the break, including a "national day of action" designed to remind voters that Republicans have refused to bring the issue on the floor.

In a letter sent to all Democrats on Friday, the organizers behind the sit-in urged their colleagues to "build the momentum" created by the protest, in hopes of forcing the Republicans' hands by dint of public pressure.

"Our sit-in showed that the Republican Leadership can no longer ignore the epidemic of gun violence," the Democrats wrote. "A movement was born and will only continue to grow."

The letter was signed by Reps. John Lewis (Ga.), John Larson (Conn.), Katherine Clark (Mass.), David Cicilline (R.I.), Robin Kelly (Ill.) and Mike Thompson (Calif.).

Their suggested day of action: June 29.

Their suggested tactic: almost anything.

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Yeah, this is the hill Democrats want to die on in 2016. To pressure the GOP and raise awareness on a new bill that would strip Americans of their gun rights without due process. Those are hallmark characteristics that define these secret government lists, the criteria for which one is added is unknown. Finding out if you’re on it? That’s even harder. How does one remove oneself from any of the terror watch lists? It’s another unknown factor. There’s really no mechanism to challenge the charges lobbed against you, hence why this is such a nightmare of a bill. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who was one of the ringleaders in the House sit-in should know all about the due process concerns and the horrific inaccuracy of these lists. After all, Lewis was on one of them. Should he be deprived of his right to bear arms? And therein lies the problem, folks.

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Black Dems plan disruptions during 'day of action' on guns
By Rebecca Savransky
July 03, 2016, 08:37 am


The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is planning to disrupt the House when members return as part of a push for more action to stop gun violence, according to a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner.

The caucus said its members should be "as disruptive to Speaker [Paul] Ryan [R-Wis.] as possible next week" when the House gets back on Tuesday as part of a "day of action on the floor in regards to gun violence," the memo, sent to Democratic offices, said.

Members will give speeches pushing for more restrictions on the possession and use of guns, the Examiner reported. They will also attend a House Rules Committee hearing on Tuesday afternoon, where legislation on terrorism and gun control will be addressed.

"During Votes – Members are encouraged to have a picture (not poster board, but a printed piece of paper with an image of a constituent killed by a firearm)," the memo said.

Ryan said last week the House will vote this coming week on legislation to block suspected terrorists from buying guns. The measure will be a provision to a terrorism package that includes measures to disrupt radicalization and recruitment.

The news of the vote came a week after Democrats staged a nearly 26-hour sit-in demanding a vote on gun control measures in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting that left 49 people dead and 53 more wounded.

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Sarasota father who accidentally shot his son: 'The gun didn't kill my boy. I did.’
Colleen Wright, Times Staff Writer
Monday, July 4, 2016 10:48am

The small pistol was perfect for training, the father said.

It unofficially belonged to Clayton Brumby's 12-year-old daughter, but he was up next to fire the .22 semiautomatic Ruger SR22 at the shooting range at High Noon Guns in Sarasota on Sunday.

His 14-year-old son, Stephen, patiently sat in the back of the lane next to his sister, awaiting his turn. Stephen didn't like smaller guns anyway. The teenager preferred bigger ones, like his dad's 9mm Glock.

When Clayton Brumby fired his last shot, he said a smoking hot casing flew out of the pistol and went down the back of his shirt. Both arms flailed up in the air, he said, his finger still on the trigger. The gun fired.

"Dad, Stephen's been shot," the father heard his 24-year-old son shriek.

The father said the bullet he fired ricocheted off the ceiling and struck the 14-year-old's jugular vein. The teen was rushed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where deputies said he was later pronounced dead.

"The gun didn't kill my boy," the 64-year-old father of seven said Monday. "I did."

• • •

A morning full of fishing and tennis wasn't enough to exhaust the outdoorsy Brumby family. They had time to spare before planning to dance the humid July night away at a friend's house, so four of the Brumbys finished their lunch and headed 10 minutes south of their home to the gun range at 4583 Bee Ridge Road, where they were members.

Clayton Brumby said he's been shooting for three years now. Stephen took up shooting about 18 months ago. In recent months, the family started going to High Noon Guns to shoot on the weekends.

"(Stephen) was a natural," the father said. "He would shoot a .45. He would shoot anything."

The account the father gave of the shooting differed from the one given by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. Deputies offered this version of events based on witness statements and after reviewing video footage:

Clayton Brumby was in the last shooting lane, with a solid wall to his right side. When he fired, the spent shell casing struck the wall and bounced into the back of his shirt.

The father tried to remove the casing with his right hand, deputies said, which held the weapon. "While doing so, he inadvertently pointed the firearm directly behind him and accidently fired," according to the Sheriff's Office. That's when the 14-year-old was struck.

No one else was injured. The Sheriff's Office called the incident an "accidental shooting" and said that as of Monday there were no charges pending against the father. The investigation is continuing.

When asked about the father's version of events, Sarasota sheriff's spokeswoman Kaitlyn Johnston said the agency's understanding of events remains the same but "things are fluid, so that could change."

High Noon Guns bills itself as "a safer, greener, quieter, cooler gun range" on its website. An employee reached Monday said the gun range reopened on Sunday afternoon. He could not comment further.

• • •

Stephen had many talents, his father said. Born the fourth of seven homeschooled children, the 14-year-old could recall the details of a story his mother read to him at the drop of a hat — a trick envied by his younger siblings.

His older siblings' ears couldn't pick up the musical notes that Stephen could. He played the ukulele and the piano and was learning to master the guitar and drums for the music group he played in at the nondenominational Remnant Church.

On the GoFundMe.com page set up by the family, Stephen was described as "a meteor that couldn't be contained" who loved fishing, tennis music, archery and knife throwing.

"We have some bright children in this family," Clayton Brumby said, "but none were brighter than he was."

Family and friends came to the Brumby home in droves to comfort the father, who said he blames himself for what happened.

Clayton Brumby said he preaches gun safety, trained his kids and always goes through the rules.

"That's why yesterday was so stupid and freaky on me because the gun is supposed to be pointed down range as all times," he said. "My first thought was 'That was pretty stupid of me. I should've put the gun down.' "

Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8643. Follow @Colleen_Wright on Twitter.

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ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1664 said:

This bill would revise this definition of “assault weapon” to mean a semiautomatic centerfire rifle or a semiautomatic pistol that does not have a fixed magazine but has any one of those specified attributes. The bill would also define “fixed magazine” to mean an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action.

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