Representative Also Pushing for Senate to Reconvene and Pass House’s Commonsense Gun Safety Bills
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA-02) this week joined 47 members of Congress to call on House and Senate leadership to take immediate action to address the rising threat of white supremacist terrorism.
“In the wake of the El Paso shootings, it is clear that terrorists motivated by a common white supremacist ideology are committing deadly attacks against African-American, Jewish, Muslim, Hispanic and other non-white communities in the United States and around the world, and that they pose a clear and present danger to our national security,” the members wrote. “We should not wait until the district work period ends on September 9 to take action that will protect the American people.”
The letter comes on the heels of Congresswoman Luria calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel August recess and take up commonsense gun safety legislation passed by the House in February.
“Republicans and Democrats have an opportunity to come together and do good work for millions of Americans,” Congresswoman Luria said. “These are important matters of security and national character. Congress can and should rise to the challenge.”
Ray Otton says
Went to the link, read the statement. Why do I shiver when a politician calls for common sense gun control measures?
Common sense, as in “Red Flag Laws”?
1. There’s No Evidence Red Flag Laws Reduce Gun Violence
Red flag laws aren’t new. Connecticut enacted the nation’s first red flag law in 1999, followed by Indiana (2005). Social scientists have had decades to analyze the effectiveness of these laws. And what did they find?
According to a study by the RAND Corporation on the effectiveness of gun control safety measures, there is no direct correlation.
2. Congress Lacks the Authority
The Founding Fathers enumerated the powers of the federal government in the Constitution. Among the powers granted to Congress are the power to coin money, to regulate commerce, to declare war, to raise and maintain armed forces, and to establish a Post Office.
Regulating firearms is not among the powers listed in the Constitution, In fact, the document expressly forbids the federal government from doing so, stating in the 2nd Amendment that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
3. Red Flag Laws Violate Due Process
The Constitution mandates that no one shall be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”
Seizing the property of individuals who have been convicted of no crime violates this provision. Gun control advocates claim due process is not violated because people whose firearms are taken can appeal to courts to reclaim their property. However this is a backward process making the 2nd Amendment a privilege, not a right.
Depriving individuals of a clearly established, constitutionally-guaranteed right in the absence of criminal charges or trial is an affront to civil liberties.
4. It’s Not Just the Mentally Ill Who Are Flagged
In theory, red flag laws are supposed to target individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. In practice, they work quite differently.
The reach of Red flag laws go far beyond any efforts to address mass murderers. Individuals who find themselves involved in these proceedings often have no clear constitutional right to counsel.
A person could be subject to an extreme risk protective order (ERPO) without ever having committed, or even having threatened to commit, an act of violence with a firearm. Happens all the time with restraining orders.
In addition, Trump supporters have been accused of being mentally ill for supporting the president and for holding perfectly valid conservative opinions.
How long would it take for a Democrat / Liberal president to declare that conservative opinions are a sign of mental illness and thus enact Red Flag laws on roughly half the country.
The half who own all the guns, BTW.
Doug Smith says
How about The Deep State in all it’s glory?
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/08/10/report-prison-guards-skipped-mandatory-checks-before-jeffrey-epsteins-death/#disqus_thread
This is literally one of those instances where everyone knows a person was snuffed out by the political elite to keep him from exposing high powered people – the vast majority of which appear to have been leftists including Bill Clinton.
And THEY talk about Russian influence? My God – it appears that the Deep State literally believed that what Epstein might reveal was even MORE dangerous than blatantly taking him out while everyone watched.
This is what we’re dealing with here……
They’re no better than Putin’s assassins taking out adversaries at this point.
America – what are you going to do about this?
tokenny says
Hey Doug, Clinton was a pal of Epstein …. so he must be involved. Right? Last I checked Donny was a pal of Epstein …. so he’s innocent? LOL, what a joke. Stay out of the sun with your tin-foiled hat. It will fry the little amount of brains you have.
Publius Americanus says
A ‘pal’ of the POTUS? Nope, not even close. DJT tossed EpsteinDeDemocrat OUT of his club for being a lech.
Not that facts or truth have any place in a conversation with a lefty but ya know……….reality and all that.
tokenny says
A brain is a terrible thing to waste Obviously, there isn’t much left of yours.
Trump knew him for 15yrs, he tossed him out of this club around 2004 more than likely over a real estate deal.
If you have some alternative facts, please present them. Otherwise, keep drinking that kool aide.
So again – if Epstein was pals with Clinton at some point in time and by association Clinton must be guilty, it must hold true that Donald is guilty too, because he also was pals with Epstein. Just simple logic which I think might escape you.
“By Trump’s own description, his social relationship with Epstein started several decades ago, in the late 1980s. Describing Epstein to Landon Thomas Jr. of New York magazine for a 2002 profile, Trump made a comment that, in retrospect, was frighteningly on-the-nose:
“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump booms from a speakerphone. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
That is: Trump praised Epstein, dated their social relationship as beginning around 1987, said they shared a taste for “beautiful” women, and specifically noted that Epstein liked women “on the younger side.”””
Then later:
“Ultimately, Epstein and Trump did have a falling-out. According to a new report from the Post, however, it didn’t have anything to do with Epstein’s disturbing behavior with underage women, but, naturally, a real estate deal.
In November 2004, Trump, who was starring in NBC’s The Apprentice at the time, declared himself intent on winning “the finest piece of land in Florida and probably the U.S.,” an estate that had been seized as part of the bankruptcy of nursing home magnate Abe Gosman.… Epstein was also enraptured by the property, which Gosman had purchased in 1988 for about $12 million from Leslie Wexner, the Ohio-based retail executive who was a friend and patron of Epstein’s.”
Paul Plante says
On behalf of a grateful nation, tokenny, let me personally extend the gratitude of a multitude who follow your every word as if messages on the wall, if you remember that story, for bringing to these discussions the level of intellectual maturity that you do, which enables you to see past the surface of things and into the depths, while others simply get caught up in staring at themselves, wondering who the hell that is staring at them like that, and your mention of the Clintons running with that Epstein dude that brings to mind a New York Times article, which we can trust the truth of because it is the New York Times, which never lies and always tells the truth, entitled “Where Has Hillary Clinton Been? Ask the Ultrarich” by Amy Chozick and Jonathan Martin on 3 September 2016, where we had as follows:
At a private fund-raiser Tuesday night at a waterfront Hamptons estate, Hillary Clinton danced alongside Jimmy Buffett, Jon Bon Jovi and Paul McCartney, and joined in a singalong finale to Hey Jude.
“I stand between you and the apocalypse,” a confident Mrs. Clinton declared to laughs, exhibiting a flash of self-awareness and humor to a crowd that included Calvin Klein and Harvey Weinstein and for whom the prospect of a Donald J. Trump presidency is dire.
end quotes
Everybody recalls Harvey Weinstein as a dude who also liked the ladies and there are he and Hillary, if not tush-bumping like Iggy Azalea and J-Lo, at least rubbing elbows as old friends and confidantes who don’t judge each other by the standards that apply to mere mortals like us as we see by going back to that same article, to wit:
Mrs. Clinton’s aides have gone to great lengths to project an image of her as down-to-earth and attuned to the challenges of what she likes to call the struggling and the striving.
Yet some of the closest relationships Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have are with their longstanding contributors.
If she feels most at ease around millionaires, within the gilded bubble, it is in part because they are some of her most intimate friends.
end quotes
The gilded bubble, tokenney, just as you so aptly pointed out above – the world of the Clintons and the super-rich who live by their own rules, which are not ours.
And as you recall, tokenney, it wasn’t just Hillary who was tight with the accused sex molester Harvey Weinstein, the Obamas were as well, as we see from this USA TODAY article “Malia Obama is a video star, makes her debut in indie band’s music video” by Maria Puente on 29 September 2018, as follows:
Malia Obama, the elder daughter of the former president, is supposed to be interested in a Hollywood career once she leaves Harvard, but now she’s made a slight detour: She’s appearing in a music video.
Malia has been entertainment-world oriented for some time, despite attempting to stay out of its spotlight since she left high school.
During her gap year after high school and before Harvard, where both her parents attended law school, she worked as an intern on HBO’s “Girls,” and at movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s film company (now closed, bankrupt and sold in the wake of sex-crime charges against him).
end quotes
The world of the ONE PERCENT is a small world, so no wonder these people like Hillary Clinton and Harvey Weinstein and the now-deceased Epstein and Trump, who was a good friend of Bill (Bubba) Clinton and wife Hillary, the almost president, all run together.
Thanks for making that relationship so much clearer as you did above here.
Publius Americanus says
Twenty. Six. Trips on the Lolita Express. That’s the Clinton association. PLUS the documentary proof that ol horn dog BJC had private parties on the island.
PLUS the visits to the White House.
PLUS Clinton’s predilection for rape, ya know.
But you cut and paste very well from leftist ‘sources’. Fiction by any other name.
You have a good day, sparky. Keep sucking down that lefty kool aid.
Speaking of which, you slurp up Jim Jones’s BS too wouldn’t ya, like a good leftist.
Ray Otton says
Get a grip.
Remember how you didn’t care about Monica Lewinsky because Bill was doing all those wonderful Democrat things?
Same, same.
Paul Plante says
Do about what?
Wasn’t Epstein a symbol of what America is all about?
And how did he get into this discussion on the Democrats trying to find ways to disarm Americans that aren’t Democrats?