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The mainstream---or now often called "legacy" media is deep diving in their explanation of how the "Red Flag" gun law will reduce what they call "gun violence," but tippy-toeing around what the law will actually do to freedom and liberty.
And the Second Amendment.
Be informed, not misled.
The quick draw.
The Left is moving at breakneck speed to get the "red flag" law enacted before they leave for summer break on the 4th of July. Some on the right are providing the "bipartisan" part of the narrative.
NBC News is reporting that a "bipartisan group of senators overcame last-minute hurdles" to move the red flag legislation forward.
Co-chair Sens, Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and John Cornyn, R-Tx., said Tuesday, "Today we finalized bipartisan, commonsense legislation to protect America's children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country."
The Washington Post noted the significance "that 10 Republican senators along with 10 Democrats, have signed a statement indicating they are on board to push these laws at the state level."
Millions of dollars have been allocated to incentivize the states to facilitate the new gun control law.
The Texas Tribune says they doubt that Gov. Greg Abbott will be moved by the bill or the money. They're very sure Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the state Senate and wields tremendous sway over what legislation is considered, won't buy in either.
Is the rush to get this bill passed merely a politically motivated exercise that the Left can take home to their "progressive" constituents and tell them how they forced some Republicans to forsake their party and platform...and the NRA?
Do they really believe this will, quote: "Keep our schools safe?"
Or is this the first step toward something more, like stricter gun laws and ultimately confiscation of guns altogether?
It's telling that the media had a copy of the bill before the senators had their copy.
Shooting from the hip.
He says, "There were a group of senators, ten Republicans, and ten Democrats, who got together and wrote this behind closed doors. I hope they read it. But I don’t think anyone else had the chance to. In fact, by yesterday afternoon, mid-afternoon, a number of news media outlets were reporting that they had the bill text. Senators still didn’t."
And he said, "We received the bill text, just moments before we were expected to vote on it. It ended up getting an overwhelming vote because basically all Democrats and ten or 15 Republicans voted for it. This is stunning to me. This is not how the Senate is supposed to operate."
Sen. Rand Paul is refusing to shoot from the hip on this important legislation. He said this:
No one wants to see guns in the hands of criminals, and no one wants to see tragedies like we saw recently in Texas. I’m both a law-abiding gun owner, and a parent, and I want our schools and kids safe,” Paul said, explaining that some aspects need to be improved, such as including “juvenile records of violent crimes … in background checks.”
“Looking at the recent criminal past of anyone is a good idea before assessing gun ownership. However, that idea was paired with many questionable or bad ones in this legislation.”
“I cannot support any legislation that funds or encourages laws that allow ex parte gun confiscation without legal representation, or even sometimes without prior notification to the defendant of any accusation at all,” he began, adding that he also “cannot support legislation that funds or encourages laws that allow gun confiscation with a standard lower than the constitutional criminal standard of ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’
“I cannot support legislation that funds or encourages gun confiscation predicated on anonymous accusations,” he said, also asserting that it is “unwise to prohibit the appropriated funds from being used for firearms or firearms training for any school personnel.” Rather, Paul believes the legislature should encourage schools to take such action.
“Unfortunately, this legislation was assembled as many are – in secret, absent well placed leaks to journalists. There doesn’t appear to be a willingness or time provided to read, understand, debate, or amend this bill,” Paul said, promising that he will try to propose amendments to correct the glaring issues in the bill, regardless.
The real target.
I'm sure all of us want to think the best about all of our public servants in Washington DC. However, with these folks, things are often not as they seem.
Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar D-MN. had a very revealing chat with CNN's Anderson Cooper Wednesday evening.
Here's a part of the interview:
Host Anderson Cooper asked, “Well, there [are] probably a lot of people who wanted this to — obviously, you said you wanted this to go farther in terms of gun safety or gun control. What do you say to those who say that this doesn’t go far enough and that this may make it harder to try to get further changes in the future?”
Klobuchar responded, “We have worked on this for decades. And after Parkland, I sat across from Donald Trump at the White House, along with a number of senators, he said he was going to do something about background checks. I still have the piece of paper, eight times, nine times, he said it…nothing happened. After Sandy Hook, nothing happened. And when you talk to the families who have been working on this for so long, they understand how difficult this has been, how disappointing this has been. So, to start with something that’s going to save lives, even if a particular provision wouldn’t have saved their own babies’ lives, that is an act of love and generosity of spirit that you hear from the families of those that have lost loved ones.
That’s why we’re moving ahead. And I think it actually paves the way in the future to look at some of these other provisions. But if you do nothing and you just go home, then we’ve got nothing. And that’s why it’s so important to pass this bill on a bipartisan basis.”