Weekly Spotlight 3/18/23 – 3/24/23

President Biden’s Executive Order: Another Measure Doing Little To Stop Violence Or Save Lives

“Today, I’m announcing another executive order that will accelerate and intensify this work to save lives,” President Biden said on Tuesday in Monterey Park, California, where 11 people were killed by a gunman back in January. “Do something. Do something big,” the President told the crowd. 

The reality is that this executive order, which among other things attempts to make firearms purchases more onerous for law-abiding citizens, will not do anything “big” to combat violence or save lives.  

In a statement issued to the Associated Press, Katie Pointer Baney, Managing Director of Government Affairs for the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, pointed out that “nothing in the President’s executive order today would have done anything to prevent the recent mass shootings in California, Michigan or elsewhere. It’s time for the President and political leaders across the country to have an honest conversation with the American people and acknowledge there is no legislative fix that will permanently solve the issue of gun violence.” 

This is not the first time a misguided and ill-equipped executive order has been introduced in an effort to circumvent Congress.  In fact, President Biden’s latest background check measures singling out gun dealers are eerily similar to one issued in a 2016 President Obama executive order that required used gun salesmen to obtain Federal Firearms Licenses. Seven years later, violent crime rates are higher than ever. 

Unlike these executive orders, defensive gun use has proven to be a proactive means of preventing violent crime. Across the country, concealed carry permit holders have helped ensure that more lives aren’t lost to senseless acts of violence. “Our elected leaders should be supporting those law-abiding Americans instead of finding more ways to hinder their right to defend themselves,” Baney noted in a statement to the New York Times. 

“The bottom line is that permitless carry will make it easier for law-abiding citizens to exercise their inalienable right to self-defense,” Mike Lowney states in a recent op-ed. “Additionally, despite what gun control proponents might tell you, permitless carry laws do not make it easier for criminals to obtain a firearm,” Lowney continues, adding that “offenders who use firearms during a crime obtain them illegally 90% of the time, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.” 

Help put an end to violent crime – protect America’s right to self-defense! 

OTHER NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

• Tampa Bay Times: Permitless Concealed Carry Makes Sense For Florida | Column                      As many Floridians witnessed in recent years, leaders of state governments can either be emphatic defenders of freedom, or the greatest impediment to it. This is applicable to a host of issues, but perhaps none more so than the Second Amendment and Americans’ right to self-defense. Many states, like California, New York and Illinois, have restricted this right — even as violent crime surges — while at the same time rolling back penalties for criminals.

• CBS Miami: Florida Legislature Moves Closer To Allowing License-Free Carry                                  A Senate panel on Thursday moved Florida one step closer to allowing people to carry concealed firearms without licenses, as critics on opposite sides took aim at the proposal. The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee voted 13-6 along party lines to approve the bill (SB 150), which is now ready for consideration by the full Senate. Senate sponsor Jay Collins, R-Tampa, said minor changes Thursday made the bill identical to a House version (HB 543), which is poised to go to the full House. Roughly 50 people signed up to testify Thursday, mostly opposing the bill. “On one hand, we have people who feel the gun is the problem. On the other, I believe that as a law-abiding citizen, that gun is a tool to help protect those things we love and that the answer to criminals with guns is good people, and law-abiding citizens, there to protect our citizens,” Collins said.
• Tahlequah Daily Press:Firearms Safety Classes Help Attendees Prep For Concealed Carry License        Many Oklahomans are familiar with guns, but gun safety is not always so intuitive. It takes training to not only be proficient in gun safety, but also be eligible to receive the Oklahoma concealed carry license. Northeastern State University’s Continuing Education Department offers Pistol I and Pistol II courses as means of providing such training to interested students, both on campus and from the community in general.Anthony McCarty, continuing education coordinator for NSU, has been working in partnership with Dr. Thomas Salmon to offer this option and more for enrollees. “We have two firearms courses that we offer on a monthly basis and the two others that can be taken but need to be scheduled with the instructor,” said McCarty. The instructor, Dr. Thomas Salmon, is a retired NSU optometry professor as well as a U.S. Army veteran.