Where Things Stand At The Federal Level

U S Capital Building Congress
U S Capital Building Congress

United States/Washington DC – -(AmmoLand.com)- There is no sugar-coating it: Second Amendment supporters are in a tough spot at the federal level. The fact of the matter is that anti-Second Amendment extremists have taken the Presidency and have very narrow margins in the House and Senate. This is not an impossible situation, but Second Amendment supporters should be under no illusions about the difficult fights in the next four years.

There is good news: California showed that we can adapt to mail-in ballots. The underlying issues remain, and we should not underestimate an enemy willing to turn to censorship, de-platforming, corporate blacklisting, and abuse of power, but if Second Amendment supporters can flip congressional seats in California, we have a damn good shot of overcoming similar obstacles in states like Georgia, which is nowhere near as difficult a climb.

That means no sitting out. Anyone encouraging Second Amendment supporters to sit out an election is not helping the cause of restoring our constitutional rights. Because who controls Congress matters. Do you want Chuck Schumer to set the agenda, or did you prefer when Mitch McConnell set the agenda?

Now, the Senate is probably in much better shape, despite Schumer running the agenda.

It means trusting Joe Manchin and Jon Tester, who have not been the most reliable supporters. Yet for now, we must trust Joe Manchin’s word that he will oppose ending the filibuster, court-packing, and other ways of enabling the injustices Schumer has in mind.  That can be rectified in 2022 and 2024, but in the meantime, we have to deal with the Senators and Representatives we have, not the ones we wish we had.

The House is both better and worse. With a maximum of 223 Democrats when vacancies are filled and a disputed election resolved, Nancy Pelosi cannot lose more than five votes on any piece of legislation. This is a chance for significant work at the grassroots level to peacefully assemble and to petition for the redress of grievances. That said, the rules of the House give her much tighter control over the agenda.

We’re in for a hard time, no doubt about it. We did not get to a situation where our freedoms were compromised overnight. We won’t get them back overnight, and we need to accept that there will be setbacks. Our enemies won’t just let us regain our rights. We need to get ready, and to build up the resources of those who fight for us. Among the things to do is to support the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action and Political Victory Fund to improve our situation in the next Congress and to ensure that the Biden-Harris regime is a one-term wonder.


About Harold Hutchison

Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.

Harold Hutchison

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RoyD

Well, Harold, I don’t have to “regain” my rights because I never lost them. They have been “infringed” upon but that is not the same as having been “lost.” Ask a big game hunter what type of animal is the most dangerous. They will all tell you it is one which has been wounded.

Knute

“It’s the dead ones that kill you”
Old African saying. I got it from Peter Capstick, but he made no secret of hearing if from others before his time.

JSNMGC

Harold, Send money to the NRA’s ILA is the answer? The NRA gave money to Cornyn and gave him an A rating. Go look at the video of Cornyn on 2/28/18 – is this the kind of guy who is worthy of our support to stand tall in defense of our rights that are protected by the 2nd Amendment? He was absolutely begging for more gun control. He wanted “Fix NICS,” banning of bump stocks, and he didn’t make one argument against any of the other proposals the other legislators were making. He just sat there like a toad with… Read more »

JSNMGC

Hello. So far so good. I hope your day is going well too.

Laddyboy

@44; Yep, some of my posts have magically vanished. I hope the CENSORSHIP crew is asleep, or better yet FIRED!

JoeUSooner

I’ve had a number of my posts “held” pending approval, but so far they have all been eventually “passed” by the inspector and have been released (posted). I’ve asked several times WHY my posts are held – what, specifically, do I write that triggers a censor – but I have not yet received a response.

JoeUSooner

I finally received a reply! I was told that the censors are triggered because my writing “closely resembles machine-created writing.” Whatever the hell THAT means…

Dave in Fairfax

Joe,
You know what a Turing Machine is? The filter is finding that your writing is, for whatever reason, more mechanical than organic. It’s not a bad thing, and could, I suppose, be seen as a good thing since it suggests either fewer errors or more errors of a specific type. But now you know at least. Embrace your humanity. %-)

Last edited 3 years ago by Dave in Fairfax
JoeUSooner

True! 🙂

AZ Lefty

Remember one must give to the NRA since Bespoke suits are not cheap! I quit donating to the ILA and PVF when they made it clear they did not support Pro gun independent candidates you had to have a (R) or (D) or TFB. I refuse to donate to ANY NRA fund until Wayne and his Cretin Cabal are gone and no longer using the NRA as a personal enrichment tool.

Ltbdb

If you are a NRA member go to http://WWW.helpsavethenra.com to sign the petition to get rid of LaPierre. We need a fresh start in leadership.

nrringlee

Resist at all levels of government. Focus your personal effort on the local level. Folks who are placing their faith in the national parties are in for a big disappointment. This is what effective resistance looks like at the state level, from Arizona: https://azcdl.org/news-alerts/legislative-update-2/ At the local level support elected officials who refuse to usurp liberty. Call out those who are usurpers. The devil hates to be mocked. Call out and mock, vilify and illuminate those who work against your liberty. Ignore party tags. Look at actions. As far as placing your faith in federal leaders take this test. For… Read more »

Laddyboy

Where do Second Amendment / First Amendment Constitutionalists stand at the Federal level? We are sitting in a canoe up the creek without a stubby paddle in our hands. EVERY Patriot in America who wants to keep OUR RIGHTS and FREEDOMS —- MUST — get involved in the political arena!!!!!! Keep contacting your Representative. Even IF the “representative” is a died with a wide yellow stripe down the back DemoKKKrat or RepubliCANT!!! IE: Like these DemoKKKrats and RepubliCANTS who have shown their TRUE COLORS in the year of 2020. KEEP letting them know YOU want to RETAIN YOUR RIGHTS and… Read more »

Dave in Fairfax

Don’t worry about the NRA, they’re taking themselves out. The main office has been pretty much empty since March and the phone lines only go to the operator sometimes. If you try to go to nramedia, you’ll find it down. They forgot to renew their security certificate, so you can’t connect properly.

Graham

Where have you been Harold?

The NRA have been Negotiating Rights Away since 1934. Once a life member (which I regret) seems I can’t “leave”

My money and support goes to GOA and FPC… and of course my own cause…

willyd

MM44MAG; I get that reviewed block quite a few times, and get told to read their acceptance page but never find out what I put in my statement to activate the review!!!!!!!!!!!

Stag

It’s hilarious that Harold talks about saving our rights and then says to support a treacherous organization like the NRA who has actively lobbied for the violation of those same rights.

Considerthis

I would not trust Manchin anymore than I trust Harold. Years back when the anti-rights cabal were beating the ” Gun Show Loophole” drum, democrat Joe Manchin and Rhino Pat Toomey reached across the aisle and came up with a “common sense” compromise – Universal Background Checks.
When the head of SAF, Alan Gottilieb , endorsed that proposal. I quit supporting the SAF , and now I only maintain memberships in GOA and FPC and make contributions to them. If either of those two make the wrong move, I’ll cut them loose too. The NRA is ancient history for me.

uncle dudley

There is no way that I would recommend doing anything that California has done when it comes to politics, just look at the state and who controls it, also look at how many people are fleeing it because of the politics by democrats and their poor management.
The new administration will want to do the same policies to us gun owners that California has done and for my money there is too many folks from that state having jobs with Biden.
Vote in person with ID.

Phillip Journey

There is proof in the Federal Election Commission’s database that is available to all. Only 1 Gun rights group is active in elections advocating the election of Pro-Rights Candidates. How much did SAF spend on elections directly? What about GOA? NADA, Nothing! Only members can donate to NRA-PVF. Those donations may only by be spent in support or opposition to individual candidates. To Be fair SAF is a 501c3 and is prohibited under law from campaign advocacy, that does not prevent the creation of a Pac or Super PAC. But the facts are, no one else done it.

JSNMGC

Watch the NRA donations at work. Go get ’em John:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?441884-1/president-trump-calls-comprehensive-gun-bill

What would we do without him?

JSNMGC

Over the last decade, the NRA has given Cornyn about $28,000. Just during the last campaign cycle, Cornyn raised almost $34,000,000 from all sources. Here are the top three contributors: Apollo Capital Management $138,850 KKR & Co $98,615 Blackstone Group $58,855 Do you think private equity is paying Cornyn to influence legislation on gun control? What the NRA donates is a drop in the bucket. Cornyn advocates for more gun control because he is chasing the votes of white, suburban women. White, suburban women want more gun control because they think the government can keep their children safe. White, suburban… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by JSNMGC
JSNMGC

Phillip Journey, As an NRA board member, what do you think about John Cornyn’s performance on 2/28/18? Do you agree with me that he sat there like a toad with a ridiculous look on his face while legislators proposed one gun control law after another and all he did was propose some of his own and not make any argument against what the others were proposing? What was your reaction to the urgency he expressed about getting something (meaning some gun control laws) done now and not going home empty handed? You mentioned the NRA is the only pro 2nd… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by JSNMGC