by Bob Barr | Dec 30, 2019 | Uncategorized |
The Daily CallerAn attack by a knife-wielding assailant Saturday night at the home of a rabbi in Monsey, New York — a normally quiet community just north of New York City – left five individuals injured, two critically.While Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took to the media to condemn the attack, they failed to mention how difficult it is in the Empire State, especially in the New York City metropolitan area, for citizens to arm themselves in their own homes to defend against such vicious attacks.The attacker was arrested shortly after the late evening attack, but his motive remains unclear. However, the location and timing of the attack — during a Hanukkah celebration at the home of a well-known rabbi right next door to the orthodox congregation he leads — lends credence to early assessment that it was yet another in a recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks in and around the Big Apple. The county in which the rabbi’s home is located — Rockland County — is home to the largest per capita population of Jews in the entire country.During an appearance Sunday at the site of the attack, Cuomo labeled it “domestic terrorism” and vowed to “strengthen” New York’s state laws to prosecute such acts; notwithstanding such laws already being among the most robust in the nation. New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James, declared herself “deeply disturbed” by the attack. Democrat presidential candidate Julian Castro, a vocal gun control advocate who regularly blisters the NRA for expressing its “thoughts and prayers” for victims of mass shootings, declared on social media that his...
by Bob Barr | Dec 25, 2019 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.comVirginia is the birthplace of America’s independence and the state that gave us such towering patriots as Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Today, however, the Commonwealth is home to a governor and legislative majority that proposes to do what the British Crown never could: disarm the citizenry by force. When reporting on parts of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposals for gun control first broke over the summer, the barely believable extremism could easily have been mistaken as fake news. Now, after the November election which gave Democrat Northam majorities in both houses of the state legislature, it is clear the former practicing physician is deadly serious in targeting not only gun owners and retailers but even self-defense experts. His objectives are sweeping, and include among other measures, bans on so-called “assault weapons,” high capacity magazines, and suppressors; universal background checks; handgun purchasing limits; a “red flag” law; and a ban on any self-defense classes that conceivably could be construed as hostile to government interests. “Assault rifles” would be redefined to that of the discredited 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban; a cosmetically driven definition that makes illegal common sporting rifles enjoyed by millions of law-abiding Americans, simply because they “look mean.” Shotguns and pistols with similar accessory feature likewise would be banned under the proposed legislation. Furthermore, the bills would also ban sound suppressors, a crucial safety device for home defense, along with magazines that have a capacity greater than the arbitrary 10 rounds long favored by gun control advocates.The legislation filed in June, expanded this fall, and now being readied for the new legislature to be sworn in...
by Bob Barr | Dec 23, 2019 | Uncategorized |
The Daily CallerFor 23 years, gun control advocates have pressed to have the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dip its beak into the study of gun violence. Thanks to Democratic pressure and Republican acquiescence, they now will have their way. Tucked into the nearly $1.4 trillion spending bill signed by the president on Friday, is $25 million for the CDC and its sister agency, the National Institutes of Health, to study gun violence and safety.This is not the first foray by CDC into non-disease matters. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the Center has become a master at the mission creep to which every federal agency aspires. Initially established in 1946 to combat the spread of malaria, the CDC has mushroomed into a sprawling bureaucracy that over the years has spent taxpayer dollars studying all manner of non-disease problems, including workplace hazards and school bullying.In fact, before 1996 CDC did spend time and money on matters relating to gun violence. That was the year the Congress, tired of the Clinton Administration using the CDC to further its aggressive anti-firearm agenda, restricted the Center’s ability to engage in such politically oriented “research.” Despite efforts by Democrats to rekindle the CDC’s work in this arena, including a major push by President Obama in 2013, Republicans in Congress have held firm and not funded such activity. Until now.For the past 23 years, gun control advocates have bemoaned that one of the reasons we have not solved the problem of gun violence in America is because the CDC is not a funded player. This perspective, of course, is not borne of any genuine...
