and our Bill Of Rights.

The noted seller of sneakers and leotards; Dick's, is ONCE again letting everyone who will listen know, just how virtuous that they are...
Rob

Rich Grassi <rich@thetacticalwire.com>
Bcc:rob@simplyrugged.com
Mar 1 at 9:48 AM
. . . on the book of Faces, Duane Liptak had some interesting observations, which I paste below.

This is long. Apologies.

After discussions with the K Street folks and some of the NRA leadership, here's where I believe we are at:

Yes, Trump was being exceptionally histrionic. His tone in the meeting on Sunday was much different, apparently. My biggest takeaway after watching that meeting 3 or 4 times is that he has absolutely no idea what the hell is going on with some of the prior proposals. The few talking points about things he actually wants done were age and background checks (fix NICS) plus school security, (School security being the major talking point of the NRA meeting, along with resisting any of the other ineffective measures that hurt our rights) but he had no idea what was in the Toomey Manchin bill or that they introduced that bill in defiance of the NRA, he had no idea what Feinstein's bill was at all, he has no idea that he has no power to unilaterally ban bumpfire stocks through regulation without changing the statutory definition of machine gun (Adam Kraut, et. al. are standing ready to challenge and enjoinder anything like that), and he's throwing shit all over the place to shake things up. I believe his position will end up being short of a hardware ban of any kind, except for bumpfire stocks, unless someone can explain to him what they actually do and how dumb it is to bother banning them--and especially the second and third order effects potential on quality triggers, etc. Yes, it's not ideal, no Trump was not my first choice, but we'd probably have been dealing with this a year ago if his opponent won, and we'd be selling out the country for the benefit of the Clinton foundation. Don't blame the NRA for backing him, because that was done when it became obvious that if we didn't back him, we'd have Clinton in the WH and if Trump did squeak by without the NRA endorsement, we wouldn't have a seat at the table. Politics sucks. That's a fact.

If anything gets signed through EO, the aforementioned legal efforts will likely invalidate it in short order as long as the courts aren't slow.

Ryan, of all people, still seems solid on absolutely no hardware bans and being resistant to anything else except school security. If he can hold the House together, we will be OK...and the House has the most to lose in R districts going in to 2018 if they pass Gun Control...so I'm still cautiously optimistic that we will end up with school security and no hardware bans at all. I am worried about age and fix NICS. They know that November will be a bloodbath and they will likely lose the House to dem control if they cave--and then Katy bar the door, we're screwed. We just have to make sure that if Fix NICS slips through, it still only includes the mandatory reporting parts which don't essentially change anything--just adds penalties for people that don't do what they were supposed to be doing anyway, and it's at least still at least tied to reciprocity, or doesn't go at all, and we have to fight to keep long gun purchasing age at 18. We could ensure reciprocity remains relevant by tying it to teachers rights to carry, but we need to fight to avoid any changes to NICS that could have any potential for abuse. I hate to see any changes at all, but the buffoonery in the Texas shooter lack of Air Force reporting has this one being a hot issue with bipartisan support, so while I oppose...I'm just saying where I think it stands.

Senate is less certain, as the R majority is razor thin and Rubio et.al. are already flaking, plus enough others are milquetoast that it's a risk. They also have fewer seats up, and some of those guys are in purple states or have purple bases where they are trying to play the line. I haven't had confirmation on where McConnell's head is at. He was solid after Vegas. Not sure now.

I didn't speak with Wayne or Chris, but I did speak to Pete and other leadership at the NRA. They oppose the bumpfire stock ban, they oppose the age limit, they VEHEMENTLY oppose the whole skipping due process nonsense, VEHEMENTLY oppose ANY hardware restrictions, and are supporting only school security enhancements, mental health and LE responsibilities that also protect due process, and another point that I thought was a nice touch--which is civil liability for school administrations that neglect basic physical security or have policies to avoid referring dangerous youths to LE or mental health for evaluation and awareness.

GOA doesn't seem to have a seat at the table from what I've seen, but they need to keep getting the grass roots of their membership active and contacting congress critters, too. They also need to stop trying to demonize the NRA, that's not helping and it's not valid. Some help from them on the legal fight if an EO goes through would be good, and stand by for challenges to anything that violates due process.

Bigger threats on the state level...FL bill has some REALLY dangerous language about bumpfire stocks and triggers, mental health etc., and is 66 pages of intentionally vague bullshit. If you're in FL...You need to be writing and calling non-stop for school security, culpability for school administrators, etc., and to protect the rights of law abiding citizens. Kill that bill. It's dangerous because the title and supposed topics are portrayed as "common sense controls", but it's nefarious. IL bill is absolutely draconian. Same there. Anyone there needs to be in the 2 minute drill...that bill is bad, bad, bad. I fear that one has steam and includes all the hardware bogeymen. CO has a senate majority that is holding strong, but if the Rs lose the senate this fall and don't take the governor's mansion, expect CA style gun control in the spring. UT...someone from LDS needs to slap your governor. I'm looking at where we can help in those states.

Of course all of this is a snapshot and may change tomorrow. Biggest thing is that if you haven't written your congress critters and your governors at the state and federal level, do it. If you have, write them again. Call, too. Have your spouse write them. Make sure your extended family is writing them. The minute anything specific hits the floor, write and call again.

And don't shop at Dick's."

--
Of the Troops & For the Troops