In America’s current atmosphere, selective prosecution and defunding law enforcement are the themes of politicians whose primary interest is being reelected. Urban elites are systematically attacking free speech, freedom of the press, religious freedom, freedom of assembly, America’s heritage and history, and your Second Amendment.
Let’s hope that those who have chosen to get background checks for the purposes of having a firearm use due diligence in getting trained. I’m all for 2a but also feel pretty strongly about having the aptitude and attitude to carry responsibly. The last thing we need is bad press about gun use although good press about responsible firearms use seems to be on the rise
I know it’s an unpopular opinion, but I personally feel that a Firearms Safety class with range time should be at least a minimum for obtaining a carry permit of any kind (handgun, long gun, ANYTHING.) Be a Responsible Armed Citizen. Take the class, have the cert, get the permit. It’s not that difficult.
Interesting that Rick Sapp brought up the BREATHE Act. The same group in congress that wants to defund the police , ICE and other LE agencies are starting to demand limiting or defunding the military. I searched “defund military” this morning and filtered to “this week”. I did not use Google. Fascinating results. Why defend a country when you are trying to destroy it?
It is heartening to see more of our country woke to the realization that they need to take responsibility for their own security in the form of personal protection. Responsibility includes developing and maintaining proficiency in your chosen tools. A personal responsibility.
We have too many gun laws and restrictive regulations on the books today. I can’t even drive across my own state with a valid CCP without breaking a law. So “shall not infringe” really means be as restrictive as you want because a challenge will be slow-rolled in our politicized court system unless you legally defend yourself, then you get raked over the coals rather quickly.
What I see common place are several states acknowledging veterans as certified trained. I am a US Army Retiree and 2 tour combat decorated veteran as I’m sure several here are as well. I believe we’ve proved our abilities in all fairness.
However…,
I still say I don’t believe in gun control, but let’s face it on one issue. Everyone, and I do mean everyone should receive a level of certified approved training and prove a level of proficiency before a carry license is issued. It’s done with job certifications, drivers licenses, pilot licenses, etc…, yet we see several states issuing without a proficiency test being conducted. First time buyers with the nervous anxieties of thinking “What if I actually have to shoot?”, or over confident mentalities are a perfect disaster waiting to happen.
There has to be some level of “getting people up to speed” before releasing just anyone with little or no experience loose on the streets with a loaded firearm.
@Aaron40 Welcome to the community! I gave you a 
because I appreciate you joining the conversation. Our community is all about personal responsibility including education and training in self-defense. I will note the difference between a guaranteed right and a privilege. Driving a car and flying an airplane is a privilege. Owning a firearm for self-defense is a right. Plenty of us old-timers have seen our 2A right being whittled down to the “privilege” category.
It is commendable to desire to understand ROE for the area we live in. Good reason to seek out localized training and council. Best wishes,
I love that USCCA is keeping us up with the news, but I could do without it being delivered in a coating of deep political bias.
Eg:
To my mind, this is a deeply flawed generalization of really complicated political issues, couched in a way that perpetuates the “culture wars” view of gun issues, which in turn gets us nowhere in terms of dialogue or political advancement.
It feels to me that there are (at least) two ways to see today’s world. The “culture wars” view suggests that all the evils that befall us are because of the duplicity of the “other” side (whichever you choose), who hate America and are out to destroy it. People on both the right and left perpetuate a version of this, and self-generate their own echo chambers.
USCCA can pursue this path if you’d like. NRA certainly did (which is why I no longer affiliate with them). Perpetual anger and fear certainly sells guns (and probably gun insurance), but if our goal is advancement of gun rights, it is politically self-defeating, necessarily relying on only one party. As political winds shift, so too do our rights.
The other view is that both extreme right and left are being perpetuated by those who benefit from conflict, or who profit while our attention is thus diverted. This view holds that the vast majority of us tend more towards the center than we are being spun, and that there is more that we agree on than not.
This is vital for adancing 2A rights. According to one quote in the NPR story on USCCA from a year or so ago, 40% of members are democrats. (@Dawn – how do we know? I don’t remember ever being asked.) If there is legislation that needs attention, wouldn’t it be more effective if people from BOTH parties approached their legislators on the topic? That’s much more likely if we have not painted everyone to the left as the enemy, and alienated them from within the ranks.
I know there are folks here who land on all sides of the spectrum, and I deeply value the dialogue that results. From USCCA itself, though, I’d like to be able to expect less spin and more dialogue.
BTW, I hope it goes without saying that none of this is meant personally. I deeply appreciate Rick and his experience (and of course his service), and I have huge respect for Dawn, who keeps us all respectful.
Please remember that some of the posts in the Community are blog posts that are written by outside bloggers. We welcome a diversity of opinions in the Community as long as they are expressed respectfully.
I stumbled upon an article today, which made me see gun ownership in an even different light. Listening to the young lady in this attached video and article (linked below), made me think how many years ago, reportedly, many individuals in the U.S. did not have a right to purchase and own a firearm, and how we have come a long way. It made me feel or sense just how precious such rights are. Whereas, perhaps I took such rights for granted. We stand on their shoulders.
Supposedly Federal level gun laws about to go to a vote in September 2020.
Joe Biden has said he wants to do away with several classes of firearm types, while several sides of Congress on both sides wants to implement new federal laws that pushes immediate buys to 10 day holds- eliminate classes of firearms altogether- severely restrict private sales- eliminate hereditary transfers- and propagate less licensing issuances to individuals- remove several CCW issuances- and that’s just the scratch on the surface.
What these politicians don’t get is this: When you strip law abiding citizens of their rights as decreed by our national documents , it opens the doors to show governments including ours how many other creative - less traceable ways that firearms aren’t the problem with mass murders.
Chemical aisles- fertilizers ( Timothy McVeigh- Terry Nichols), along with average serial killers that took years to catch and the unsolved cold study of ( Jack the Ripper- my theory there was a group not just an individual), BD Cooper highjacking an airline and disappearing into obscurity
( although he killed no one- he displayed a fake bomb to get his way), and etc.
This anti agenda out there is falling in step with the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Federick Engel 1895, shows the agenda trend progression lines.
What collection I do have I will break down and stash if I have to. We live in a state where there are no required registrations. The laws in Sept 2020 if passed through our current Congress will also change all of that.
Problem is the gun industry has kept things in check so to speak and with current firearm sales and ammo shortages it just reinforced those deliberations. Along with these cancel culture groups doing what they are and states surrendering to it have kicked the doors wide open to create a way to attempt to leave Americans defenseless.
There are no paths to discuss gun control issues anymore without addressing what’s currently going on. To make matters worse…, the FBI after the impeachment hearings and ongoing investigations of the bureau along with the flood of the background checks ( which are about to get worse) literally have overwhelmed and over extended the FBI duties.
We’re losing ground across the board, and the NRA in NY is being sued as a terror organization in a current case with the top 2 leaders being named in the suit. Anti-2A groups wants to shut down our orgs like USCCA because we live by a “ Golden Rule”…, “ Take Care of your Buddy!”
We live by a “Battle Buddy Creed “ that these cancellites just don’t get!
November won’t matter if they push the agenda in Sept 2020 and if Sloppy sleepy joe wins we absolutely lose. Look at all of his choices for a VP and really asked yourselves a serious question…, “ How many of us are about to be outlaws, listed as terrorist, listed as insurgents, dissidents, or aggressors, gun runners, or outliers.
If it comes down to this I’ll take all of those names!
Many of us here fought with the “Oath of Defense” always in our minds. But…, I too have my line in the sand.
I agree with you. What I disagree with is the existence of carry permits. They are unconstitutional…but so is most everything else going on these days, too. So I have mine just like most everybody else here. I even trained and tested a bunch of people to get theirs.