Thread: 50 of Bloomberg’s Mayors Quit After Gun Confiscation Plan Leaked

How Microsoft Money Is Driving Washington State’s Gun Control Debate

August 20, 2014

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Binaryloop | I've lived all over the US and found that most Americans love liberty but, get fooled into partisan politics. My goal is to wake people up and help them see it's not about left or right -- it's about freedom!

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Three former executives — all of them among the world’s richest men — and their spouses have contributed more than $1.1 million to an anti-gun campaign pushing Washington state to adopt ‘universal background checks‘ for all gun sales.
Of the nearly $3.5 million raised by all groups fighting for and against the anti-gun universal background check ballot measure (I-594) roughly a third of the funds have come from that trio: Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Paul Allen, who rank 1st, 26th and 21st, respectively, on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America.
Allen, a co-founder who resigned form the company decades ago, contributed the largest amount — $500,000 — last Monday, though Ballmer, who stepped down as CEO this February, and his wife Connie have together donated $580,000 in recent weeks. Bill and Melinda Gates contributed $50,000 last October. All the contributions were given to one group, the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, which has raised $3.3 million, according to Secretary of State data.
How Microsoft money is driving Washington State’s gun control debate [continued]


GovBeat
How Microsoft money is driving Washington’s gun background check debate

By Niraj Chokshi August 19

(Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
It looks like you’re trying to add gun controls. Can Microsoft help?
Three former executives — all of them among the world’s richest men — and their spouses have contributed more than $1.1 million to a campaign pushing Washington state to adopt universal background checks for all gun sales. Of the nearly $3.5 million raised by all groups fighting for and against the universal background check ballot measure—Initiative 594—roughly a third of the funds have come from that trio: Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Paul Allen, who rank 1st, 26th and 21st, respectively, on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America.
Allen, a co-founder who resigned form the company decades ago, contributed the largest amount — $500,000 — last Monday, though Ballmer, who stepped down as CEO this February, and his wife Connie have together donated $580,000 in recent weeks. Bill and Melinda Gates contributed $50,000 last October. All the contributions were given to one group, the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, which has raised $3.3 million, according to Secretary of State data. Two groups opposed to the measure have raised less than $90,000.
“I would imagine this will be the one of the most expensive initiative campaigns in the country because of what it symbolically stands for,” University of Washington political science Prof. Matt Barreto told the Associated Press recently.
The measure would apply the background checks already required of sales by licensed dealers to all sales in which either the buyer or seller is in Washington, meaning the checks would be conducted for sales at gun shows, online, and between individuals. The checks would have to be conducted even if a firearm is given as a gift or loan.
Gifts between family members, the transfer of antique firearms, temporary transfers to prevent death or injury, transfers involving members of public agencies including law enforcement, and transfers to licensed gunsmiths who service firearms would all be exempt. A firearms dealer risks losing his or her license for violating the rule.
An April poll found support for the measure at more than 70 percent.
Niraj Chokshi reports for GovBeat, The Post's state and local policy blog.

Read more at http://libertycrier.com/how-microsof...F5sKFTHKyC7.99

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-check-debate/

Anti-Gun Michael Bloomberg Has Armed Guards

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Gary DeMar

Former NY mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending $50 million to oppose the NRA. More restrictions on guns only make it easier for lawless people to take advantage of law-abiding citizens.

As Mr. Bloomberg travels around the country trying to amend the Second Amendment through legislation, he is accompanied by armed guards.

While Bloomberg might be worth billions of dollars, his life is no more important than mine. If he gets to have armed guards to protect him, why should I be denied the right to arm myself to protect me?

So how does Bloomberg answer critics who claim he’s being a hypocrite? This is from Erika Soto Lamb who is a spokesperson for Bloomberg’s new “Everytown for Gun Safety” gun control group: “Because people on your side of the debate threaten our lives. We’re not anti-gun. Why do you criticize our security?”

It’s OK for Bloomberg to have armed security because of the chance that someone might try to harm him. Exactly! She made our argument.
We’ve seen this hypocrisy before. It’s common among liberals.

Anti-gun crusader Juan Williams admitted that when his wife had her car stolen at a gas station, the first thing she said was, “I wish I had a gun.”
A few weeks ago Williams said that what’s needed today is a “gun-free America.” Hey, Juan, tell that to your wife! Maybe the thief heard what you said on the subject and knew your wife would be an unarmed easy target.

Many people have forgotten Carl Rowan (1925–2000). Rowan was a nationally-syndicated op-ed columnist for the Washington Post and the Chicago Sun-Times. He was one of the most prominent black journalists of the 20th century. He was also a gun-control advocate.

In a 1981 column, he advocated “a law that says anyone found in possession of a handgun except a legitimate officer of the law goes to jail — period.”
In 1985, he called for “A complete and universal federal ban on the sale, manufacture, importation and possession of handguns (except for authorized police and military personnel).”

On June 14, 1988, Rowan gained national attention when he shot a teenage trespasser who was on his property illegally. Rowan was charged for firing a gun that he did not legally own. Rowan was arrested and tried. During the trial, he argued that he had the right to use whatever means necessary to protect himself and his family.

In 2006, Rosie O’Donnell said that “the right to bear arms” is “not really a right.” What she meant to say is that it’s only a right for some people; it does not apply to people like her. During the April 19, 1999 broadcast of her talk show, she stated, “You are not allowed to own a gun, and if you do own a gun, I think you should go to prison.”

This all changed when she felt threatened. An article in the May 25, 2000 issue of The Stamford Advocate reported the following:
“An application for a concealed weapon permit by Rosie O'Donnell's bodyguard has some Greenwich neighbors of the television personality and gun-control advocate up in arms.

“The application, which is pending with the Greenwich Police Department, led to a rumor that the permit’s purpose would be to allow the bodyguard to legally carry a gun when accompanying O'Donnell's son to public school in September.”

These elitists live above the law. Their lives are more valuable than yours or mine. They are the philosopher kings who know what’s best for the “little people.”

Read more at http://godfatherpolitics.com/15357/a...uiY2fkPTZAm.99

Across the nation, guns can be carried into more public places


Lee Bird carries his .38-caliber pistol on his hip everywhere he goes. That includes his local grocery store in Wickenburg, Ariz. (Jacob Byk / News21) (Jacob Byk)
Print
By News21
on August 24, 2014 at 8:00 AM, updated August 24, 2014 at 9:40 AM

Gun Rights in Alabama

• Across the nation, guns can be carried into more public places
• Which 7 states recognize Alabama's concealed-carry permits with stipulations?
• How many people has your Alabama county blocked from buying guns for mental health commitments?
• Have gun, won't travel: Which states won't honor your Alabama pistol permit
• Most states, including Alabama, strengthened 'stand your ground' gun laws over last decade

By Kristen Hwang and Kate Murphy / News21

WICKENBURG, Ariz. -- More Americans can carry guns in more places than ever before. In the majority of states, law-abiding gun owners can walk into bars, restaurants and churches with their guns without fear of legal ramifications, a News 21 review of all 50 states found.
"It's a situation just like getting up in the morning and putting your shoes on or your boots on. For me it's putting (my gun) onto my side," said Lee Bird, owner of Twin Birds Saddlery in Wickenburg, Arizona, 60 miles northwest of Phoenix. Bird openly carries a .38 Smith & Wesson Special revolver on his hip everyday.
"People look at you, but I ignore it," Bird said. "I'm not carrying it for attention. I'm carrying it because I want people to know that if there is an incident somewhere, that I am there to defend myself or my family."
Although Bird prefers to openly carry, sometimes he keeps his gun concealed in his briefcase or pocket. Arizona has some of the strongest gun rights laws in the country. It is one of seven states that do not require gun owners to get a permit to carry a concealed gun.
"If the criminal isn't going to abide by the law, then I should have more places to carry."
Thirty years ago, Bird wouldn't have been able to carry his gun concealed at all. Historically many states heavily restricted who could own a handgun or banned the concealed carry of handguns altogether.
"People have come to think of the Second Amendment as protecting the individual right to keep and bear arms," said Joseph Blocher, a law professor at Duke University specializing in constitutional law. "Also, I think people have come to oppose strong handgun laws and things like that which have in the past found favor."

Public Carry Policy Data
Use this page as a way to quickly see state laws.
News21 read the firearms statutes for all 50 states. In some cases the law was not specific in outlining where a firearm could be taken. The term “unclear” was used to illustrate those places that were unregulated by state laws, where the law was contradictory, or places that were not specifically prohibited by the state’s firearm code.)


Open Carry

• Permit required
• Public
• Transportation
• Restaurant
• Bar
• Place of worship
• University campus
• K-12 school

Concealed Carry

• Permit required
• Public
• Transportation
• Restaurant
• Bar
• Place of worship
• University campus
• Airport or airport parking lot
• K-12 school

SOURCE:State statutes
INTERACTIVE BY: Kristen Hwang and Kate Murphy

Guns are increasingly common in public spaces.
Georgia's Legislature recently passed the Georgia Safe Carry Protection Act, which significantly expanded where gun owners could take their firearms. It allows licensed gun owners to bring their firearms in to churches, schools, bars and restaurants. Critics of the bill have called it the "Guns Everywhere Bill."
"I open my front door and walk in public spaces in Georgia," said Kathryn Grant, co-founder of the Georgia Gun Sense Coalition. "Most people don't think about the potential of violence erupting because it's not a reference point, it's not a part of their experience yet."

Number of states that prohibited concealed carry in 1981: 19

States that prohibit it today: 0

Number of states that do not require a concealed carry permit: 5

An open-carry permit : 25

For some, the acceptability of guns and the number of people who could potentially be carrying is terrifying.
"If I thought about the possibility of the increased number of guns now that are being carried in places, it would have a paralyzing effect, and I won't let that happen," Grant said.
But Georgia Carry, an influential gun-rights group, pushed the Safe Carry Protection Act through the Legislature to reinforce its members' Second Amendment rights.
"If the criminal isn't going to abide by the law, then I should have more places to carry," Georgia Carry Executive Director Jerry Henry said. "Or it's the responsibility of the place that denies my right to carry to protect me."
On their way to a community event, Citizens Militia of Mississippi members, from left, Mark Glidewell, Robert Mitchell, Doug Jones, and Jones' daughter Raven, center, stop for lunch at Hardee's. (Jim Tuttle / News21)
Georgia Carry aims to educate the public about gun owners' carry rights in the state and to ensure that people understand that guns are an acceptable part of society, Henry said.
The expansion of gun rights into the public sphere is a relatively new phenomenon, although not unique to Georgia.
In the 1960s, legislators responded to race riots and rising violent crime by passing restrictive gun laws. However, recent gun violence has spurred legislators in some states to strip away restrictions on where people can carry guns outside the home.

Number of states that allow concealed carry in churches: 25
In schools: 28
Number of states that ban concealed carry in bars: 16
In restaurants: 0

In 2013, following the Newtown school shooting, 63 laws in 26 states were enacted that made it easier to carry in public, according to an analysis by Mother Jones magazine. Only two laws were enacted in two states that made it harder to carry.
"It's now just a sort of empirical social fact in most of this country that when you go to the shopping mall or the ballet or wherever, some of the people in the crowd of the few thousand around you, there's going to be a percentage carrying guns," said Dave Kopel, adjunct law professor at Denver University who specializes in Second Amendment law.
"The best states have strong permitting standards to make sure that people who have a history of alcohol abuse or of violent arrests are not carrying guns in public," said Brina Milikowsky, a spokeswoman at Everytown for Gun Safety.
Gun owners making legal purchases are required to pass a federal background-check and in most states must meet certain standards to obtain carry permits, such as age and training.

Blood-alcohol content under which an individual in Nevada can legally drive a car: 0.08
Can legally carry a gun: 0.10
Number of drunken-driving-related deaths in Nevada in 2011: 70
Firearm-related deaths in 2011: 376

"I have been through all the safety courses that are necessary," said Bird, who calls himself a "middle-of-the-road" gun owner. He has no problem with background checks and gun laws for legitimate gun buyers, as long as they are not too restrictive, he said. Bird grew up hunting and target-shooting with his father and has been using guns since he was 4.
Gun laws regulating where people could carry used to fall along rural and urban boundaries. But the advent of pre-emption laws, which prevent municipalities from passing their own firearms ordinances, has polarized the issue of public carry.
States began passing firearms preemption laws in the 1980s. Prior to that it was illegal to carry a gun inside city limits in many places.
"You could have one outside because it was more rural, not as much of a police presence so you might need one to defend yourself," said Blocher, the Duke law professor. "But in the city, people drew a different public-safety balance. That has changed a lot, especially in the last 30 years."
In the majority of states, the cities and counties cannot make their own firearms ordinances but must abide by state law. However, pre-emption laws are not uniform across the country, and in some states, municipalities may have more-stringent firearm controls than the state.
"We're a country that has more access to guns than any industrialized country," said Grant, from the Georgia Gun Sense Coalition. "It's important to stop this epidemic of gun violence. As a public safety issue it's incredibly important."
"All of the legislation points to more guns in more spaces being a good idea," Grant said. "The research isn't out there. It's fundamentally flawed logic."

Age that a person can purchase a shotgun or handgun in Vermont: 16
An R-rated movie ticket: 17
Number of firearm homicides in Vermont in 2012: 3
Firearm suicides: 52

Laura Cutilletta, senior staff attorney for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, says that open carry can still be jarring to some.

"The public tends to not like seeing people carrying guns openly in public places and they call the police, usually not realizing that it's actually legal in most places," Cutilletta said. "If they knew that people were carrying and they just can't see it, they would be equally disturbed by that."
The majority of gun owners have guns for personal safety, not to make a political statement, surveys have found. Despite the increased attention on open-carry rallies at state capitals or chain stores like Target, only 5 percent of gun owners said they carry to reaffirm their Second Amendment right, according to a 2013 Gallup poll.
(News 21)
"In my lifetime, I hope I never have to draw down on a person," Bird said. "It's there for my protection. If I need it, it's a tool and that's all it's used for."
Many law-abiding gun owners feel that gun control advocates wrongly associate guns with crime. Brett Pucillo, president of Ohio Carry, said he started the group to advocate for general firearms rights through community outreach.
"Our goal is to spread that awareness and show people not only what they're legally able to do and how to do it safely, but also to show them that good guys have guns, too," Pucillo said. "So it's not just the bad guys, like they see in movies."

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This report is part of the project titled "Gun Wars: The Struggle Over Rights and Regulation in America," produced by the Carnegie-Knight News21 initiative, a national investigative reporting project involving top college journalism students across the country and headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/201...ns_can_be.html

Video at link below

Head of Michael Bloomberg's Gun Control Group Stepping Down





On April 30th Mark Glaze—the head of Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG)—announced he will be stepping down in June.

This announcement comes less three weeks since Bloomberg pledged to spend $50 million to challenge the NRA in the 2014 mid-term elections.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Glaze became the executive director of MAIG in 2011. He still supports the gun laws Bloomberg is pursuing, but the fight has become tiresome for him.
Said Glaze: "This issue is unbelievably important to me. But it's a tough issue and a tough grind. And there's a point where you feel you've done all you can do."
For those who look at MAIG as a failing organization because of its inability to beat the NRA, Glaze said: "People who thought that you were going to win the hardest public policy fight there is overnight and defeat the toughest special interest were kidding themselves."
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...&utm_term=More

Second Amendment Supporters Win in Oconomowoc

By Dean Weingarten on May 8, 2014


It started when a mother posted a simple picture on Facebook, and asked a simple question: Is openly carrying a gun legal in an Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, park? Milwaukee TV station WTMJ asked Oconomowoc officials who said that they had a local ordinance forbidding the practice, and that it was enforceable. In the process, they also smeared Second Amendment supporters . . .
Wisconsin Carry president Nik Clark and other Second Amendment supporters wrote and told WTMJ that they were wrong, citing the statutes in question. The TV station then went back to the city officials, who doubled down: both the city manager and the police chief restated that their ordinance was legal and enforceable.
Outraged Second Amendment supporters flooded the station and the city with emails and tweets, citing state law. Yesterday afternoon the police chief finally took the time to read the relevant statutes…and admitted that under Wisconsin’s preemption statute, the local law was unenforceable. Nik Clark of WisconsinCarry sent an email that the Chief had called him, and is in the process of correcting the error:

I’m pleased to relay that I received a call from the Oconomowoc Police Chief today who let me know that he has reviewed their local ordinance banning open carry in parks and realized it no longer fell within state law. He said he will be asking the city council to remove the ordinance at the next meeting. In the meantime, it will not be enforced.

I saw the video of the Chief Beguhn in the second broadcast and believe that he thought he was saying was the truth. What’s telling is that he apparently wasn’t concerned with actually checking it out until enough pressure was brought to bear.
Perhaps other police officials around the nation will learn from his example, and take the time to check the relevant statutes when asked a simple question about the laws they’re charged with enforcing.
TMJ4 ran this story as a semi-retraction; no mention of how they smeared Second Amendment supporters in the first broadcast. No mention that the clear facts are against them, no mention that Chief Beguhn has now actually read the law and is going to ask for its removal.

OCONOMOWOC — City leaders decided Wednesday to stop enforcement of a ban on open carrying of firearms in parks while lawyers determine if a local ordinance is compliant with state law, the city administrator said.

In short, they grudgingly admit that the City officials might not have been completely informed on the issue, and are checking on it.
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

Link to Gun Watch
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http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/201...in-oconomowoc/