2A Newsletter: October 22nd

Ohio Senate Approves Bill to Uphold Gun Sales During Emergencies

Finally, a piece of good news. It’s been a string of nothing but increasing worries for a while so it’s good to take note of our wins when we can. This week, Ohio’s state senate passed a bill that would prohibit the stoppage of guns or ammunition sales during a public emergency. Some examples of a public emergency would be during a riot, mob or when stay-at-home orders are issued due to the pandemic — it will not include gun stores in the list of businesses that must close. “This new measure isn’t adding any new gun rights, it’s merely protecting existing ones.” - Sen. Tim Schaffer, a bill sponsor and Lancaster Republican.

There are several good reasons for this which include the very valid concerns of police brutality or racial injustice as we saw much of in the summer of 2020. It’s worth mentioning that Ohio’s state senate currently has a GOP majority so make sure you pay attention to who you’re voting for and in turn, how those representatives are voting on bills. Obviously, no political party is always 100% behind the 2nd Amendment. But during the bill’s voting proceedings, an opposing Senator to this bill, Sen. Cecil Thomas, a Cincinnati Democrat and former police officer, expressed his concerns about “the bill’s potential for eroding local municipalities’ home rule authority.” Interesting, to say the least.

Gun Control Groups Are Taking Advantage of Emergency COVID Funds

By now, some of you may have received some additional Stimulus checks this year from either federal and state stipends. A LOT of money has been going around since the beginning of the pandemic and now, Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun control group bankrolled by Michael Bloomberg, is teaching people how to tap into the available $130 billion to further advance gun control initiatives. And that's not even including the extra $2.1 billion the Biden Administration has set aside for the  2022 discretionary budget plan for the DOJ to treat crime as a public health crisis. 

Along with Giffords, these gun control groups are claiming that the rise in criminal violence is directly linked to and caused by COVID-19. Therefore, “violence intervention professionals” are required to be on the pandemic’s front lines. This is not only illogical but infuriating. Rather than solving actual societal problems and civic issues… The fact that these groups would take federal emergency funds to whittle away at the 2nd Amendment is pretty disgusting.

Take a look at what the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, had to say about this. They cited that it is far more likely that changing police activity and policies, in response to COVID-19 infections and communities pulling away from police departments, which only further divide the public trust in law enforcement, as two of the major reasons for increased trends in crime such as murder.

Britain to check medical and social media records before issuing gun licenses

Last month,  Britain experienced their first mass shooting in over a decade. It was over within minutes, but a 22 year old male killed five people in public after shooting his own mother at home. As armed police closed in on him the shooter turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. The investigation was an isolated incident but Britain’s police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, said that they would look into the police decision as to why they returned a shotgun and the license for it to the shooter after taking them from him eight months prior to the shooting.

In response to this event, beginning November 1, 2021, new guidance requires all British citizens to provide a medical form alongside their application for a gun license that is filled out and signed by a licensed doctor. UK officers will also be expected to conduct more thorough background checks to include interviewing members of shooting clubs, probations servers and domestic violence agencies as well as applicant’s financial records and social media posts. “Public safety is paramount and we are delighted that this finally sets the standards, clarifies the national process and provides a clear approach for doctors and police forces to follow,” said Mark Sanford-Wood, the deputy chair of the British Medical Association.

The UK shooter last month was a troubled young man and that is unfortunate. It’s unfair that he took out his own frustrations and shortcomings in life on innocent bystanders but these new measures set by the British government are exactly what we’ve been afraid of here in the United States. Each of the aforementioned policies have already been implemented in small portions across America. We cannot continue to trade individual freedoms and liberties in the name of “public safety.” That’s called communism.

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