District of Columbia v Heller

Happy Friday, bikers, Patriots and friends! It is the first Friday of June and it’s going to be a beautiful weekend here in Middle Tennessee. Hopefully this post finds you well. What have you been doing to enjoy spring with the renewed freedom in a post-COVID America? Racy Sicilian™ and I have been doing a lot of riding and look forward to catching up with some of you during our travels. One thing neither of us have enjoyed this spring is the constant trampling on our God Given rights by the #Leftist politicians in Washington DC. The biggest threat to freedom in the United States has to be the spate of gun-grabbing legislation being proposed in our Federal House of Representatives. So with this as a backdrop, I thought a refresher on our Founders Fathers’ intentions when writing and ratifying our Bill of Rights would be a good use of time.

The Bill of Rights

As citizens of the United States, we have several constitutionally protected rights enumerated in amendments to our Constitution, which was adopted by the states in 1788. The first twelve amendments were introduced after the constitution was ratified, by future president, James Madison. These amendments were suggested by another future president, Thomas Jefferson, who was minister to France at the time. Of these twelve amendments, ten were ratified by the states and became the Bill of Rights.

The first three amendments were written to safeguard personal liberties, the next five were written to safeguard personal justice and the last two dealt with un-enumerated rights and reserved powers (protection of the states’ rights). The first three are sacred rights of the citizens of the United States, and are widely considered God Given rights:

First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms (more on this later)

Third Amendment: No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in the time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

These three amendments are the backbone of the liberty we, as Americans, have fought bravely to protect and were largely responsible for our original fight for freedom: The Revolutionary War. Based on Jefferson’s urging, Madison wrote these amendments to protect the fundamental rights of our ancestors – rights they did not enjoy under British rule.

The Second Amendment is what this article is about. It may be the least understood and the most easily twisted (by those who want to limit your freedoms) of the first three amendments. Only 27 words in length, it may well be the most controversial of all amendments in the Bill of Rights:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

What were the true intentions of our Founding Fathers when they wrote this amendment? Was it so a strong state militia could be easily called to service in the event of an attack by enemies, either internal or foreign? Was it to allow people to keep and bring arms to bear in the event they were being threatened? While easily contorted by those who wish to threaten our 2^nd Amendment rights, the answer is very simple. The amendment was written to allow all legally authorized citizens to own firearms and bear them for their protection. The first part of the amendment, referring to a well-regulated militia, is misleading. Because the United States had such a small Federal Army at the time, it necessitated the citizenry be able to quickly assemble to protect the new nation. But the most important consideration about all the amendments in the Bill of Rights, with the exception of the tenth, is that they all apply to individual citizens and not the Federal government or state governments. If the Founders believed it was only about the militia, it would not be placed amongst all of the individual rights.

Our right to keep and bear arms is a God Given right. One should be able to protect themselves, their family and their friends. Federal courts have upheld this right in District of Columbia vs. Heller and McDonald vs. Chicago. But this sacred right is constantly under assault. Gun rights groups are under constant assault by gun grabbers who want to restrict our ability to keep and bear arms – and most importantly own the types of guns we want to own. In fact, as recently as June 9, 2016, the 9^th Federal Appeals Court of San Francisco ruled there was no constitutional right to carry concealed guns. Federal appeals judge, William Fletcher, writing for the 7-4 majority, stated,

“We hold that the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public.”

While the San Francisco Federal Appeals court is a very left leaning, the gun grabbers had a very significant victory with this ruling. It will inevitably be appealed – probably all the way to the Supreme Court – a court which currently, thanks to President Trump, has a majority of conservative justices. But with Chief Justice John Roberts the wild card, we cannot count on the Supreme Court to protect our Second Amendment rights.

Conclusion

Given our current political climate, we face grave threats to the freedoms our sage Founders desired to protect for all future citizens of our great Republic. Whether it be limitations on free speech, freedom of assembly or our “Right to keep and bear arms,” we must not sit on the sidelines passively. Call or write your U.S. representatives and your senators. Let them know that you want your freedoms protected. Do it today. Once these freedoms are gone, they will be nearly impossible to get back.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ,
The Grey Beard Biker™
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Happy Tuesday, bikers, friends and Patriots! I hope all y’all are having a great start to the new week. Here in Middle Tennessee it was a dreary, gray, drizzly and cold weekend. I did ride a bit recently – a whopping 22 miles! And believe me, when I say, it was too cold to do much more!

**A Blast to the Past! – from 22 months ago!**

The picture above was from a NRA-ILA article on March 30, 2018. This was before any of the wrangling for the Democrat nomination for president of mid-2019 when we saw on full display that any of the potential nominees were, in fact, going to “come for our guns!”

On December 30, 2019 I wrote a blog post sarcastically titled, “We are not coming for your guns!” It was not written to highlight a national push for new gun grabbing legislation, but rather for the assault on the Second Amendment in Virginia. But I have also written about the Democrat’s obsession with taking our guns in a blog post on July 3, 2019, “Commonsense Gun Reforms.” Both of these articles are worth a read, if you haven’t done so already.

They Are Coming For Your Guns!

With the knowledge that there would be a Democrat in the White House (because the election was stolen) and a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate (because the election was stolen), the assault on our Second Amendment rights began quietly on January 4, 2021. We can all thank the YUGE assnozzle, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), for proving what I have been saying all along – “They are coming for your guns!” Ms. Jackson Lee introduced HR 127 on that day, a bill named, Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act.

This bill will inevitably go down as one of the most dangerous assaults to the Second Amendment since the founding of our country. Named for Sabika Sheikh, an exchange student from Pakistan, who was killed on May 18, 2018 at Santa Fe (TX) High School, this bill is nothing less than a full frontal assault on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. It is interesting to note, that Sheikh was one of ten people killed in the shooting, so one wonders why Jackson Lee named the bill in her honor? My guess is that it is a move to pander to Muslims, and other foreign minorities, which is a typical tactic of #Leftists. This easily allows them to call those who oppose the bill xenophobes or racists!

So What Is In The Bill?

Simply put, this bill aims to license all firearms and ammunition a person owns. As you will see, there is no grandfathering of previously owned guns and ammunition.

Here are some key provisions of this bill:

Firearm owners have to transfer the make, model and serial number of all firearms they owned previous to the bill’s passage, to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – who will maintain a database
Firearms owned before the bill was passed must be transmitted to BATFE within three months
New purchases will be transmitted on the purchase date
The database will be accessible by all members of the public, Federal, state and local law enforcement, all branches of the military and state and local governments (not only do they want to know where all the guns are, they want your crazy neighbors to know as well – and let’s not forget all of the criminals who would like to steal those legally licensed firearms! WHAT A FUCKING JOKE!)

Licenses to individuals will require:

The individual to be at least 21 years old
They must pass another national instant criminal background check
They must undergo a psychological evaluation to prove they are not unsuited to possess a firearm
Complete a minimum of 24 hours of firearms training which is approved by the United States Attorney General
Have purchased a liability insurance policy through the Attorney General (the ultimate red herring!)

For those that own a scary black military assault rifle ? there are additional requirements to obtain a license:

Undergo specific training for this type of firearm of at least 24 hours
Undergo a psychological examination by a licensed psychologist approved by the Attorney General
Any family members who MAY have access to the scary assault rifle will also have to undergo the same psychological examination
The licensed psychologist will also conduct background interviews of current and former spouses, and at least two other family members or associates of the individual to determine said individual’s state of emotional, mental and relational stability (WHAT THE FUCK??? ?)

This bill puts the United States Attorney General – and Department of Justice – in the insurance business! In order to be licensed the licensee will pay an annual insurance premium of $800! The bill is somewhat vague as it doesn’t specify if an individual licensee has to purchase this for each firearm or if the one fee covers the person and all of their gun collection.

What will happen if you are in violation of any of the provisions of this bill?

If you possess a firearm without a license you face a fine of between $75,000-$150,000 and/or imprisonment for not less than 15 years or more than 25 years
If you transfer a firearm to an unlicensed individual, or loan them a firearm or ammunition, you may be fined between $50,000-$75,000 and/or imprisonment for not less than 10 years or more than 15 years
If you do not have valid insurance, issued by the Attorney General, you may be fined between $50,000-$100,000 and/or imprisonment for not less than 10 year or more than 20 years

In order for any of this to be possible, Ms. Jackson Lee’s bill would strike the previous Federal provision which prohibited the establishment of a Centralized Firearms Registration System. I have written about this before, with regards to the Leftists’ desire to enact Universal Background Checks, in my blog post, “Eliminating Mass Shootings.”

Buried in Ms. Jackson Lee’s bill, under Section 3, Prohibition on Possession of Certain Ammunition, is a provision to outlaw ammunition over .50 caliber – which applies to very few individuals. But most disturbing in this section is the prohibition of magazines, or other feeding devices, which either allow for a capacity of over 10 rounds of ammunition, or can be modified to accept more than 10 rounds – except for a carve out for .22 caliber firearms.

If you possess any prohibited ammunition, that which is over .50 caliber, you may be fined between $50,000-$100,000 and/or imprisonment of not less than 10 years or more than 20 years. If you possess any large capacity magazines, or other feeding devices, you may be fined between $10,000-$25,000 and/or imprisonment of not less than one year or more than five years.

Conclusion

Ms. Jackson Lee’s proposed bill, Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act, is the largest assault on our constitution freedoms since The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 (which was signed into law by our second president, John Adams). While the proposed bill is not law, having recently been introduced, and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, it clearly demonstrates how out of control the next two years will be for freedom loving Patriots! The Democrat Party knows no bounds with regards to enacting their utopian Socialist ideologies on Americans! I believe that the bill, as written, has little chance of becoming law because there are many moderate #DemonRats, who live in very pro #2A states, who do not want to be defeated in the 2022 election cycle.

One glaring omission of this law, which I find oddly missing, is the confiscation, or buy-back, of their most hated firearms – those scary ass Black Assault Rifles. Other than requiring additional licensing requirements, and limiting magazine capacities, these firearms will remain legal to own. But the question remains, why doesn’t this bill prohibit them altogether? If you read deeper in the bill, it does:

First, there are plenty of reasons, all ambiguous at this time, that the Attorney General could deny you a license to own such firearms (AR-15s, AR-10s, AKs, etc.) through the more stringent psychological examinations. First, the psychologists have to be approved by the Attorney General. If the AG is extremely anti-Second Amendment, they could only approve gun-grabbing psychologists through a stringent litmus test. Second, those psychologists can search for family members, and known associates of yours, who do not like you or believe the Second Amendment only implies to the Militia, as stated in the Second Amendment, and which has been perverted in modern times to mean the National Guard of the states. For more information on the difference between the Militia of the 18th century and the Left’s obsession that the Founders really meant what is now our National Guard, read my blog post, The Second Amendment.

The one paragraph in this bill, which should scare the hell out of freedom loving Patriots is entitled “Revocation of License:”

“A license issued under this subsection to an individual who becomes prohibited by Federal or State law from possessing a firearm is hereby revoked. Such an individual shall immediately return the license, and surrender all firearms and ammunition owned or possessed by the individual, to the Attorney General.” – There it is! Confiscation!!

While I have been an advocate of hunting for many years, I believe the Second Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights to protect the citizens of this great country from the tyranny of an overarching, despotic government – not to protect our ability to possess firearms for hunting. What this bill really will do is make owning firearms punitively difficult due to licensing requirements and hefty insurance premiums – which would be paid to the Federal government. Firearms ownership will be reserved for wealthier individuals and those people who are willing to devote a huge amount of time – and effort – to going through the process of becoming “Licensed.” If you believe, like I do, that the Second Amendment is a gift from our Founding Fathers, who believed we have a God-Given right to protect ourselves, this bill, through its punitively expensive insurance requirement, would deny an entire class of law abiding individuals who are more likely to need to protect themselves: the poor. This demographic often lives in dangerous areas where thieves and thugs use illegal guns to commit their brazen crimes. In my view this is the saddest potential outcome: the disarming of people, who are law abiding, and face dangers more often than other demographics of United States citizens. People like myself, have the means to pay the premium for the Federal insurance. We will take the time to jump through all of the licensing hoops to get our licenses. Isn’t this racist on its very face? Doesn’t Ms. Jackson Lee care about the poor people in her district? I think not. She is more interested in pushing an ideological dogma with its roots tied to a socialist utopia.

Today, even in the event this abomination were to become law, it would face a huge uphill fight in the judiciary system. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), since their decision in the District of Columbia v. Heller, has supported the Second Amendment. The SCOTUS is more conservative today, because of Donald J. Trump. We have no reason to believe they wouldn’t strike down this law. So for this reason, I believe Ms. Jackson Lee’s proposed legislation is premature. The biggest #DemonRat wet dream, one which the legislature will inevitably take up, is packing the SCOTUS with more associate justices, all of course liberal gun-hating jurists. If, by the Grace of God, we can prevent this from happening, we will secure the Second Amendment for future generations. God help us if we can’t.

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab