PA Bill Number: HB2663
Title: Providing for older adults protective services; and making a repeal.
Description: Providing for older adults protective services; and making a repeal. ...
Last Action: Referred to AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES
Last Action Date: Nov 19, 2024
FOAC's Weekly Message For Saturday September 12th 2020 :: 09/12/2020
The September FOAC Membership Meeting (Sept. 13th) will be online (only) for all members and interested Second Amendment advocates. The stay-at-home order and mandatory mask order of Gov. Wolf (which is still in effect), caused us to cancel the in-person meeting and will be totally online.
Meeting Connection Details (also available at the end of the newsletter) are as follows: Join the FOAC Meeting by Clicking this Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85750524586
**Please Note: To join this FOAC meeting you must RSVP by sending an e-mail info@foacpac.org and the Meeting Password will then be e-mailed to you by one of the officers. (Time: 10:00 a.m.)
You can view or download a copy of the Meeting Agenda at this Link: Meeting Agenda!
HB 1747 Pro-2A Action in PA Senate Judiciary Committee
The PA Senate Judiciary Committee successfully passed (on a party line vote) HB 1747 (Sponsor Rep. Dowling) this past Wednesday (9/9). This legislation was introduced at the request of FOAC nearly four years ago to correct serious flaws we exposed then in PA law, Title 18, Section 6107. HB 1747 removes the Governor’s power to suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, transportation and even possession of firearms during a declared emergency.
Currently, this law (Title 18, Section 6107) negatively (and in our view, unconstitutionally) disenfranchises ALL PA Citizens who do not have a Concealed Carry License (LTCF) in declared Emergencies.
It’s important understand what current law does and how much at risk individual citizens are. The limiting of a citizen’s right to self-defense and to exercise their 2nd Amendment/Article 1, Section 21 rights, under the US and PA Constitutions, cannot and should not be condoned and HB 1747 corrects these issues! The Governor’s issuance of his Opioid ‘emergency’ proclamation(s), as well as, a state of emergency regarding COVID-19; pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S § 6107, an individual is prohibited from carrying/possessing ANY firearm on “public streets or upon any public property” during the state of emergency, unless one has an LTCF.
Further, the public has been misled as to the consequences of a violation of 18 Pa.C.S § 6107 because pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S. § 6119, it is a misdemeanor of the first degree – our most serious graded misdemeanor with a possible sentence of up to FIVE years. As a result, if an individual would be convicted of a violation of Section 6107, it triggers the federal prohibition of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1); whereby, that individual will be prohibited for the remainder of his/her life from possessing (current firearms) and purchasing any firearms and ammunition.
On June 24th, the Pennsylvania House passed HB 1747 (Emergency Powers Legislation). This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee moved this critical Right to Bear Arms legislation one step closer to final passage on a 9 to 5 vote, another partisan vote with Democrats opposing citizens’ rights.
Leading up to this Senate Judiciary vote was the informational hearing on September 4th for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Often times we, as supporters of the Constitution, fail to grasp the mindset of elected officials on Constitutional issues let alone the facts they seem to consider on 2nd Amendment issues. I recommend that you take ten minutes and listen to ‘how’ this legislation is being debated so you can arm yourself for debates about this and other issues with legislators. To view the September 4th Judiciary Committee discussion, see https://www.pasenategop.com/blog/090920-4/ Timestamp: 5:28 to 14:33.
House Bill 1747 next moves to the Senate floor for a full vote. Please contact your State Senate Leadership (Senator Corman and Senator Scarnati) as well as your own State Senator and respectfully request that this bill be brought to the floor and that they vote in favor of HB 1747. Remember, IF you sign into the membership portal of the FOAC website you can send your e-mail right from the HB 1747 page and contact your Senator in that fashion as well.
A Time of Remembrance
Yesterday marked the 19th anniversary of one of the worst days in our nation’s history. On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 men and women were killed in devastating terrorist attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Yesterday also marked the loss of even more Americans in 2012 on this same date in Benghazi, Libya.
The lost friends and loved one’s were honored and remembered in observances across the country, including one at Pennsylvania’s own Flight 93 Memorial, near the site where one of the four planes hijacked that day crashed. Let us resolve to never forget the threats our nation and, especially, our Freedoms face!
Upcoming Elections!
There are roughly 52 days until Election day, November 3rd, the day that will decide the fate of our nation and the very fabric of our Freedom itself. This year's state and federal elections are going to be more critical for individual rights than any in our history.
Make no mistake, your essential human right of self-defense on the line.
Don’t be fooled when the gun confiscation brigades use woefully meaningless phrases such as “Assault Weapon” or “Military-style”. These are deliberately undefined, so they can and will apply to ANY gun. That means YOUR guns will be up for grab, no matter what they are. The socialist-left is bent on gun confiscation and that is on their national agenda if they win in November.
The only way to keep your guns is to keep them out of office.
We already know that Pennsylvania is a primary target for Michael Bloomberg and his pay-for-play cronies, CeaseFire PA, Everytown and Mom's Demand Action. Money is pouring in to try and swing the election in favor of pro-gun confiscation, anti-liberty politicians just like they did in Virginia, and we will NOT stand for it.
FOAC has compiled a voter guide for 2020, highlighting the politicians running who believe in the constitution, and believe that the 2nd Amendment is a fundamental right that cannot be restricted by those in government, but WE NEED YOU.
Find your County 'or' Personal Voter Guides
First, talk to your network. Friends, family, acquaintances, coworkers, barber, anyone and everyone you know and ask if they are registered to vote this fall. Encourage them to register if they are not. We need every single liberty minded voter to show up to the polls this November.
- The election is on November 3, 2020. The deadline to register to vote is October 9, 2020. The deadline to apply for absentee ballots is October 27, 5pm.
- You can find voter registration information here.
- You can look up voter information, such as registration, address, etc here.
- You can find early voting locations here.
Second, encourage them to ‘subscribe’ to FOAC Alerts. They can sign up by clicking this link and entering their data into the 'subscribe' box on the right hand side. These alerts are the fastest way to receive news about what is happening around the state, and are critical to staying informed so we can hold those in office accountable to their oath.
HELP FOAC ELECT PRO GUN LEGISLATORS
Success of FOAC's voter education project, "Remember in November: A Guide to Candidates' Views on Guns" depends on distributing hundreds of thousands of voter guides covering ‘hundreds’ of races and candidates at the ‘state’ and ‘federal’ levels.
TELL VOTERS WHERE CANDIDATES STAND ON GUN ISSUES: We want you to distribute voter guides to any club or civic organization you think likely to use them. Some examples: gun shops & dealers, VFW, American Legion, wildlife clubs, volunteer fire departments, shooting leagues, churches, etc. PLEASE DON'T WAIT FOR US TO CALL YOU! If you can help, please click the link below to help us ensure a PRO LIBERTY, CONSTITUTIONAL VICTORY this November.
Update: FOAC Candidate Endorsements are now available on the website.
As American Cities Burn, Millions of Americans Buy Guns
It’s increasingly clear to even the average American that if riots come to your neighborhood, you’re on your own. The message received is increasingly be this: if your plan is to wait until the police show up to provide "protection," be prepared to wait a long time. Consequently, as violence appears to surge in America's cities, millions of Americans have become first-time gun owners.
Government Officials Aren't Keeping Us "Safe"
There are two trends at work which are making Americans doubt that government law enforcement is reliable and effective.
On the one hand, the public is witnessing nightly displays of looting, rioting, and general civil unrest. At the same time, many police officers don't appear particularly able or willing to defend the public against looters and rioters. Homicide rates in New York, for example, have surged among accusations of a "police slowdown." A number of police departments (including those in Los Angeles and Atlanta) are rumored to be using strategies such as the "blue flu" in which police personnel pretend to be ill as a negotiating tactic for obtaining political favors from lawmakers. But even when police personnel are able, there are not enough of them in most cases to truly address the ongoing nightly violence in many cities. And in some cases, elected officials, like in Portland and Chicago, appear uninterested or incapable of confronting rioters with much enthusiasm at all.
It easy to see how ordinary Americans could look on current events with increasing alarm. On August 29, a man was allegedly murdered by at least one protestor among the many who have been protesting, rioting, and looting in Portland for more than three months. Several weeks ago, a truck driver sustained serious injuries, also in Portland, when he was attacked by a group of “protestors” while reportedly attempting to help a woman who was being robbed. Last week in Kenosha, protestors were seen attacking a teenager who had been attempting to protect businesses from looting and vandalism. The teen reportedly opened fire in self-defense. In Washington, DC, a mob threatened restaurant patrons, and in Minneapolis, dozens of businesses have been burned and looted.
But even before the current rash of arson, looting, and violence, the police response to serious crime was never terribly impressive. For violent crimes, studies have shown police may take up to an hour to respond more than one-third of the time. (This summer, response times for the NYPD are up compared to last year.) And if one survives an attack from violent criminals, one shouldn’t assume justice will be done. Fewer than half of violent crimes are ever “solved” in the United States.
Gun Purchases Are Growing
Meanwhile, gun purchases have surged.
According to new estimates from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), using the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System (NICS), “there were over 12 million guns bought in the first seven months of 2020—up more than 70 percent over the same time span in 2019. This number is likely to include nearly 5 million first-time gun owners so far this year.”
Moreover, as noted in an unsigned editorial at the Wall Street Journal,
The FBI’s most recent gun-sale figures are stunning. They show that in July the bureau carried out 3.6 million background checks, the third highest month on record. [T]his translates to 1.8 million gun sales for July 2020—a 122% increase over July 2019. The 12,141,032 gun sales through this July is just shy of the 13,199,172 sales for all of 2019.
Gun retailers saw a 95 percent increase in firearm sales and a 139 percent increase in ammunition sales in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2019.
Statistically, it remains unclear that life for the average American is much more dangerous this year than it has been over the past five years. After all, in 2014, the homicide rate in America hit a 51-year low. But the American public has never been one to sit back and conclude everything is fine just because homicides are relatively low.
After all, gun purchases were already surging even before the apparent killing of George Floyd touched off a wave of protests followed by riots and looting. Gun purchases that had been fueled by general uncertainty and anxiety over the covid-19 panic soon became gun purchases fueled by far more immediate fears of violent crime.
Also notable is that many new gun owners are outside of groups known as the usual suspects when it comes to gun purchases. The NSSF reported that 58 percent of the new firearms purchases were by black men and women, while “women comprised 40% of first-time gun buyers.”
Millions Aren't Buying the Usual Gun Control Claims
Needless to say, these trends are going very much against the grain of the usual narrative employed by gun control advocates, a narrative that generally employs several main tenets we’ve seen many times. They include:
- Government police agencies provide better protection than a private firearm ever could.
- If you’re in danger, it’s best to call 911 and then wait.
- If you buy a gun, the gun is more likely to kill someone you love than to stop a criminal.
- America would be safer if fewer people had guns.
- People who buy guns are mostly just right-wing hayseeds. Hillary Clinton calls these people "deplorables."
And while opponents of private gun ownership rarely say this explicitly, the sum total of their narrative is this: only police and military personnel should own guns. The basic idea here is that private gun owners cannot be trusted, and that government officials will keep us safe. But as so often occurs when there are riots—as happened in Ferguson (in 2014) and as is happening in Kenosha police officers and other government "public safety" personnel mostly just protect government property. The private sector must just fend for itself.
Many Americans appear to have gotten the message.
FOAC Firearm Safety Series
by Klint Macro, FOAC 2nd Vice-President
Muzzle Awareness
Part 1 in a multiple part series on the Safe and Proper use of your defensive tool
The cornerstone of all firearms training, no matter the context is safety. All Americans who exercise their 2A Rights must also exercise them responsibly; this begins with safe gun handling.
Many training organizations have various “Safety Rules” that if followed will prevent someone hurting themselves or someone else. A firearm is like a hammer or a chainsaw, it, on it’s own, is incapable of inflicting harm. However, just like a hammer or a chainsaw, in the hands of a person who is ignorant, physically incapable, undisciplined, or criminally inclined, then that PERSON has the potential to pose danger to themselves or those around them.
Although it is good to know the parts and nomenclature and basic operations of your firearm, you don’t have to be a junior gunsmith to be able to handle a gun safely. The 2 most important “gun parts” to know is the muzzle and the trigger. This article I will discuss the Muzzle and Muzzle Awareness.
Keep in mind, that no matter the type, make, model, shape or size all guns are going to have a muzzle. The muzzle is the hole at the end of the barrel of the gun where the projectile(s) exit at a high velocity. All of the national training organizations have a safety rule to address this:
- NRA: ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction (This is NRA’s golden rule)
- USCCA: Do not point the gun at something that you are not willing to destroy
- I.C.E. Training: Keep the gun pointed in a generally safe direction whenever possible
We must have an “awareness” of our muzzle and be disciplined to control that muzzle when we are handling the gun. Handling means anytime our grubby paws interface with the gun; shooting it, admiring it, passing it to a friend, putting it into a holster, taking it out of a holster, cleaning it, taking a selfie with it, etc..…. ANYTIME and EVERYTIME…. Even if we are defending our self against an attacker, we must be aware of our muzzle and what it is pointing at. It should be pointed in that generally safe direction whenever possible.
What constitutes a safe direction?
A safe direction is where there aren’t any people and if the gun were fired the projectile would remain in the “area”. This is relatively easy at the range. So long as there aren’t any people in front of the firing line, downrange towards the backstop is most often a safe direction and if a round was fired it would land safely in the backstop. However, outside of controlled shooting environments, safe directions can change with every step. In the woods of Pennsylvania, for example, down at the ground is most often times a safe direction; unless our foot is between the muzzle and the ground… then it is no longer a safe direction. Get the point? If you are amongst a group of people Up MAY be a safe option, however, if a round were to go off where would the bullet ultimately land? An errant round into the sky can potentially hit a bystander miles away. An incident just like this struck an unsuspecting citizen multiple miles away and almost closed down a local sportsmen club some years ago. We must have a solid backstop to capture any round we fire. There is an old adage that every bullet that leaves your gun has a lawyer attached to it. There may be wisdom in that statement.
Another rule, “Know your target and what is beyond/around it” is a very important rule that can be considered with muzzle discipline and the safe direction concept. As hunter shooting related incidents in the woods are becoming more rare, when they do happen it is often time when folks are mistaken for game or when someone was in the line of fire. Remember that even in a dynamic critical incident if you are defending yourself against an attacker, if you engage the bad guy and there are good folks behind them you must do your best to change your angle so that if you miss or the round over penetrates then you don’t unintentionally harm an innocent bystanders or a loved one. Unfortunately this is a lot to consider when seconds count during an attack that we didn’t start and could not get away from, but it is part of our duty as responsible gun owners to consider it. This should further emphasize the importance of training. Remember, the 2nd Amendment has 2 components: Armed and Well Regulated. Seek out training, learn to run your gun efficiently and intuitively.
Lastly, as I wrap up this installment, consider one more rule, “The Big Picture Rule”. Every time you pick up your gun, consider this:
Recognize that YOU are in control of a firearm, if YOU use this firearm carelessly, ignorantly, or with malice, YOU have the potential to harm or kill yourself or someone else.
Act accordingly. Don’t just be an armed American, be a responsibly armed American!
Stay armed, alert, safe, and be well regulated!
Are Democrats Embracing Forcibly Disarming Citizens
“Democrats [are showing an] unprecedented embrace of gun control,” The Atlantic noted Thursday. “The party is betting that support for restrictions is more likely to attract moderate voters than turn them off.”
If nothing else, this shows the goalposts are continuously being moved to the left. If the “centrists” of the party are all in for eviscerating a keystone right and ignoring the crystal clear mandate of “shall not be infringed,” you know what those pulling sentiment in that direction intend to end up with. That also allows those previously considered “moderate” to now be smeared as “extremists,” with accusations of being haters not far behind.
It wasn’t always this way, of course – at one point within the lifetimes of many of us, even Democrat “liberals” were on record expressing belief in the Second Amendment and demonstrating that they understood founding intent in a way that today would have them condemned as insurrectionist traitors.
Two cases in point:
“By calling attention to ‘a well-regulated militia,' the ‘security' of the nation, and the right of each citizen ‘to keep and bear arms,' our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy,” John F. Kennedy responded to GUNS Magazine’s inquiries in the April 1960 issue’s “Know Your Lawmakers” feature. “Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.”
“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms,” then-senator, soon-to-be vice president, future presidential candidate and “liberal” icon Hubert Humphrey had asserted in the February issue. “This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used, and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.”
So much for the lie that the individual rights “theory” didn’t start to gain ground until the NRA started getting more political circa 1977:
NJ Teen Receives Bill for Police Overtime After Organizing BLM Protest
A teenager in New Jersey who organized a Black Lives Matter rally received a $2500 bill from the town's mayor to cover police overtime for her gathering. Black Lives Matter events held throughout the country have culminated in widescale looting, destruction, violence, and death.
Mayor Mario Kranjac of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, doesn't believe it's right for hardworking taxpayers to be on the hook for the criminality of left-wing protesters.
"Please promptly forward your payment to the borough in the amount of $2,499.26 for the police overtime caused by your protest," the mayor wrote in a letter to the 18-year-old organizer of the event. According to the mayor, the teenager had refused to meet with officials before her protest, requiring leaders to hastily come up with security plans for the event.
"As with any privately-sponsored event that takes place in the borough requiring police safety, an invoice was sent to the organizer for police overtime since it would be unfair to require our residents to financially support a private event," the mayor told NJ Advance Media.
The legal director for the ACLU in New Jersey, Jeanne LoCicero, told the Associated Press, "the idea of sending a bill to protesters is shocking." [Shocking; REALLY?]
Is Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell's H.R. 7977 Another Bait and Switch Gun Control Bill?
Another Democrat, one Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell [FL-26], who apparently has no concept of the currently laws regulating firearms in this country, has filed a bill to criminalize dealers selling firearms to straw purchasers, the mentally ill, or drunkards.
Florida congresswoman wants gun dealers held accountable for suspected straw purchases
Brown said that when her organization uses its legal team to challenge gun laws in court, they must provide evidence that a gun dealer engaged in gross negligence while making a sale. She said Mucarsel-Powell’s bill would create a “knowing standard,” meaning that a gun dealer would be held responsible if they knew that a person was violating the law at the time of purchase.
For newcomers — particularly those millions of new gun owners who need to know this for their own protection — let’s brush up on existing law. In this case, 18 U.S. Code §â¯922. Unlawful acts.
The prohibition of unlawful firearm sales isn’t even limited to dealers. It’s already unlawful for anyone to knowingly sell a firearm to prohibited persons.
So, what is the point of Mucarsel-Powell’s bill? Is she the ignorant idiot she appears to be, or lying through her teeth (not that those are mutually exclusive)?
We’ll let you decide that for yourself!
One final thing, Mucarsel-Powell’s bill would also mandate that gun sellers carry more “business” and “liability” insurance. I strongly suspect that the real text — once it’s revealed — would gut the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, empowering violence-enabling victim-disarmers and their legal mercenaries to sue gun retailers and manufacturers into oblivion.
Why else would they need to carry more liability insurance, unless she’s trying to increase their liability for acts beyond their control? The devil is always in the details with these bills.
Interesting Legal Question: Can a Sheriff Perform a Traffic Stop Over an Expired Tag?
Police officers may initiate a traffic stop when they have probable cause that a violation of the Vehicle Code has occurred. But what about Sheriffs? Do they have that same power?
Although sheriffs and their deputies are not police officers under the Vehicle Code, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania tells us that the common law powers of the sheriff include the power to enforce the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code. More particularly, the Supreme Court has stated that a sheriff (and his deputies) may make arrests for motor vehicle violations which amount to breaches of the peace committed in their presence, where the sheriff or deputy has completed the same type of training that is required of police officers throughout the Commonwealth.
What is a breach of the peace? For purposes of a deputy sheriff's common law authority to enforce the Vehicle Code, a breach of the peace arises from an act or circumstance that causes harm to persons or property, or has a reasonable potential to cause such harm, or otherwise to provoke violence, danger, or disruption to public order. Now let’s look at the facts of a recent case to help us answer the question – does the Sheriff have the power to perform a traffic stop for an expired registration tag?
Want More? Click Here: https://www.scaringilaw.com/blog/2020/september/sheriff-makes-dui-arrest-from-an-expired-inspect/
Overall Status of 2nd Amendment Legislation Filed to Date in PA and the US:
2019-2020 Session PA State Bills (updated)
- Pro-Gun Bills: 56
- Anti-Gun Bills: 86
2019-2020 Session Federal Bills (updated)
- Pro-Gun Bills: 66
- Anti-Gun Bills: 149
1st Point to Ponder: Ever Wonder IF Gun Buy Backs Work?
A 2013 evaluation of a multiyear gun buyback program in Buffalo, New York, found no effect on violent gun crime, including homicides. The authors also note that different parties, like law enforcement officers and politicians, may measure the success of gun buybacks in different ways.
“Given the empirical evidence, police agencies may use gun buyback programs not with the expectation of reducing violent crime, but to satisfy the public’s expectations,” the authors write. “When serious crime problems occur, mayors and police chiefs are under pressure from their constituents to ‘do something dramatic and effective’ about the violence.”
(ed. Note: sure sounds like a description of gun control as a whole doesn’t it??)
2nd Point to Ponder: The Stage is Set for Election Fraud
Flawed elections have been reported nationwide, including on the West Coast last year, when KNBC-TV reported that a lawsuit filed by the Election Integrity Project of the conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, spurred California to remove up to 1.5 million inactive voters from its rolls after it revealed that the number of individuals registered to vote in Los Angeles County represented 112% of all adults living in the county.
Besides California, fraudulently set up elections have been revealed from coast to coast – making adding additional non-requested mail-in ballots to the existing flawed voting system like pouring gas on the fire.
“Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said at the time that there are 3.5 million more names on various county rolls across the nation than there are eligible voters,” the Western Journal noted. “Conservative commentator Deroy Murdock – using Judicial Watch data – calculated following the 2016 election that there were 462 counties across the U.S. in which voter registration exceeded 100% of the adult population.” (ed. Note: There are 3,141 counties and county equivalents in the 50 States and the District of Columbia so this number is @15% of ALL counties!)
https://onenewsnow.com/media/2020/09/06/wapo-count-on-catastrophic-violence-if-biden-loses
Anti-Gunners – Comments on Guns:
“With protestors being shot in the streets and gun violence on the rise, more guns is not the recipe for public safety,” said Nick Suplina, managing director of law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. “Fortunately, polls show this jump in sales leads more Americans to support common sense gun safety laws, which is bad news for every 2020 candidate who is still taking orders from the gun lobby, starting with President Trump.”
“Gun sales have been surging since the pandemic began, so it’s impossible to identify the exact reason for this month’s sales,” said Rob Wilcox, deputy director of policy and strategy at Everytown. “But it is clear that President Trump and gun companies are recklessly fear mongering every day, which is dangerous and wrong at a time when the threat of gun violence is on the rise and hospitals are overflowing with patients.”
Really? Is it that difficult to find a reason for the sales spike?
Upcoming Events:
- 2nd Amendment Rally in Harrisburg – September 29th
- CPAC Pennsylvania event America vs. Socialism will take place on September 19th from 11-3pm at The Skyward Aviation Hangar at 187 Airport Road in Washington PA 15301. With less than two months to go before the next presidential election, we all understand what’s at stake. That is why I am excited to tell you that the American Conservative Union is taking CPAC on the road with the America vs. Socialism CPAC Tour. The tour began earlier this month in Green Bay, WI and the next stop is in our back yard.
- We know that America and our freedom is on the line, which is why it is so important to show your support and attend this critical event. There will be a number of dynamic speakers who will tell us why the socialist, anti-American agenda can NOT win in November. Confirmed speakers include ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp, Investigative Journalist Sara Carter and more! Stay tuned for more speaker announcements in the coming days!
- To register for this event, please click www.acu.link/penn
Social Media Issues:
Facebook Employing Army of 3rd Party Fact Checkers to Interfere in U.S. Elections and Cover Up for Dems Gun Control Plans
In the past, politicians accused Facebook of allowing foreign intervention in the Presidential elections. Democrats claimed that in 2016, Russia ran advertisements and shared fake news on Facebook to help Donald Trump get elected to the Oval Office.
To combat these accusations, Facebook introduced a “trusted fact-checkers” program to rid the platform of the spread of fake news. This new program leads to the question of the identity of these so-called “unbiased” fact-checkers.
Who is fact-checking the fact-checkers, and could foreign media outlets use their trusted status with Facebook to block information damning to the Biden campaign from seeing the light of day?
These fact-checkers include American news media sources such as the Associated Press and websites like factcheck.org. While most of the fact-checkers partnered with Facebook to prevent false information from being disseminated are US based, that doesn’t mean all of them are American companies or groups. These non-American media organizations are allowed to “fact check” posts about the election and the candidates running for office.
One of the non-American fact-checkers that is part of the Facebook program is the Agence France-Presse (AFP). The AFP is the world’s oldest news service, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have an anti-gun agenda. The AFP tends to fact-check articles about guns and gun laws, and have quickly gained a reputation of marking post about Second Amendment as false even though they are decidedly accurate. It could be that the foreign press agency doesn’t understand firearms, or that they have ulterior motives.
Recently writers such as Rachel Malone and Cam Edwards had articles marked as “fake news” by the AFP on the Facebook platform even though the reports were accurate and provided undeniable evidence.
The articles in question dealt with Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris’s history of opposing the individual’s right to bear arms. The AFP marked the articles as “fake” any time anyone shared either article to their timeline. The Facebook block would then redirect readers to Agence France-Presse (AFP)'s own article, stating that Harris believes in the Second Amendment and an individual’s right to bear arms. Stealing legitimate viewer traffic from American news organizations.
The issue with this statement is that it is easily verifiable as false. With only a few minutes spent on Google, anyone can turn up an amicus brief that Harris filed with The US Supreme Court in support of DC’s handgun ban during the landmark District of Columbia v. Heller case.
At the time, Harris was the Attorney General of California. She and several other AGs from around the country wrote a brief arguing that the Second Amendment did not apply to the average citizen, but only to “the militia.”
Harris has never changed her views on the Second Amendment, as evident in the proposed Biden/Harris take-your-guns plan.
The AFP has been silent about the misinformation.
The AFP is also using search engine optimization techniques to push their false story about Harris supporting the individual’s right to firearms to the top search result when searching for “Kamala Harris heller.” This discovery leads one to wonder if they are aware that their fact check site is pushing out false information.
Politician’s Quote to Remember:
Anti-Gun Democrat Connecticut Sen. Murphy Shocks with Concession on Individual RKBA
In the course of promoting his upcoming book about “America’s bloody obsession with firearms” -- as explained by New York Times writer David Marchese—virulent anti-gun rights Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), perhaps unintentionally, provides an alarming look at the liberal living-in-denial mindset about guns that American gun owners must to take seriously.
Lamenting about how “gun-rights enthusiasts” have concluded anti-gunners ultimately want to adopt prohibitive gun control laws, Murphy magnanimously comments:
“That’s why in my book I propose that we concede that there is a private right to firearm ownership embedded in the Constitution. That is not a view shared by most progressives. Most progressives would say that is about the maintenance of militias. But I think it’s both historically accurate and politically smart to make clear that gun-control enthusiasts are bound by a Constitution that protects the right of individuals to own firearms for protection or to shoot for sport. It’s important for us to explain the limits of our proposals.”
That would be quite a “concession,” since the U.S. Supreme Court has already affirmed twice in recent history that the individual right to keep and bear arms does exist.
Murphy’s book, “The Violence Inside Us,” has been released Sept. 1. Amazon’s promotional description of the book states;
“Murphy tells the story of his profound personal transformation in the wake of the mass murder at Newtown, and his subsequent immersion in the complicated web of influences that drive American violence.”
“Profound personal transformation” might be overly melodramatic, since in his interview with Marchese, Sen. Murphy acknowledges he has never owned a firearm.
“I’ve never owned any guns, and I haven’t ever shot a weapon,” Murphy admits. “That’s not out of principle. That act of pulling the trigger is so connected to what happens on the other side that I have never wanted to feel that sensation. I think it would be instructive to fire a semiautomatic rifle so that I can maybe talk more intelligently about what that gun does. But again, it would connect me to a set of emotions that I don’t know that I need to access.”
Observations like that underscore the critical nature of the task Gun Owners have before us.
Founding Father’s Statement on Freedom:
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No 1, 1776
Closing Thoughts:
52 Days to Save Liberty, Are You All In?
We all know the array of threats we are facing. The frontal assault by NY Attorney General James to have a court order the dissolution of NRA. Democrats are no longer gun-shy. The platform of the Democratic Party is Sarah Brady’s dream come true. They are emboldened by perceived movement in public opinion in support of the concepts they propose. Democrats have successfully exiled any conservatives of their party to the ash heap of history with victories in their primaries. They saw the success they had last year in some special elections and flipping the red state of Virginia blue. They believe the lessons of 1994 are no longer applicable. In 1993, President Bill Clinton’s pollster predicted that no Democrat in Congress would lose because of their support of the semi-auto ban. It passed by 1 vote.
Campaigns have just three resources time, money, and volunteers. Time is finite, if you do not seize the day it is a lost opportunity. Remember voters are casting ballots earlier than ever and mail-in ballots are up. Way up! In the Kansas Senate primary, they were up 600% from 2 years ago. With early voting, the later the activity risks effort made will be with people who have already voted. The Time To Act is NOW!
Money: I know we do not have our own Michael Bloomberg. We must decide what we are willing to donate and then where to put our resources. Pick one or more of those Senate races. All major candidates have websites and donating is as easy as PayPal. Campaigns have plans and media buys must be made days or weeks in advance, so again Now is the Time.
Time: right now, campaigns have much on their plates. Find a race where you can help a pro-gun rights candidate. Volunteer work like stuffing envelopes and making phone calls can be done remotely; you may not have to leave your recliner. If you have friends or family in those states with hot Senate races, learn a little about those races first then call them and help them make the right choice. If you do go to the candidate’s headquarters or event wear your FOAC, or whatever hat so they know who you represent.
GOTV, Get Out the Vote
Finally, this is where most close races are won or lost. Making sure your supporters vote is the most critical part of the campaign. This is where your time volunteering will have the greatest impact. The campaigns if they have done their job already know who supports them. They should have canvassed properly identifying likely supporters, helping people get to the polls on Election Day and other GOTV activities could be the floodwall stopping the Blue Tsunami we see on the horizon.
We wish you a great weekend and stay safe!
Yours in Freedom!
Kim Stolfer, President
**As a reminder, all FOAC members and, indeed, every gun owner can participate in the September 13, 2020 FOAC Monthly meeting from any PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android phone by clicking on the link below:
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android by Clicking the Link Below:
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**OUR MEETING PARTICIPATION RULES ARE BELOW:
To join this membership meeting you must RSVP by sending an e-mail info@foacpac.org and confirm your attendance and the Meeting Password will then be e-mailed to you by one of the officers.
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