Texas Senate Approves Bill Allowing Guns in Locked Cars on College Campuses

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Photo Credit: Andrew-HydeA bill that would allow Texas college students to keep handguns locked in their cars in college campus parking lots easily passed the state Senate on Tuesday.

The bill, OK’d in a bipartisan 27-4 vote, would override rules by several state colleges and universities that prohibit guns on campuses.

During the debate on the Senate floor, Democratic Sen. Jose Rodriguez of El Paso argued the bill would lead to allowing guns in college classrooms. He later told FoxNews.com, “I opposed the bill because, given today’s climate and the rise of crime on ours campuses, the last thing we need to do is pass a bill like this.”

Supporters say the measure isn’t a traditional concealed weapons bill because the legislation would restrict students to keeping their guns in a locked vehicle. But Rodriguez says that would do little to deter a determined shooter.

“You allow it in the glove compartment of your car in the college campus and if you have a disgruntled student who wants to take (his or her) anger out on the teacher or an administrator, what’s going to stop the student from walking to the car and getting it?” Rodriguez said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rubio: Immigration Bill Doomed; Homosexual Push Continues

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Photo Credit: Reuters Marco Rubio: Gang of Eight’s immigration bill can’t pass the House

By Seung Min Kim. Sen. Marco Rubio acknowledged Tuesday on a conservative radio talk show that the Gang of Eight’s comprehensive immigration reform bill won’t likely pass the Republican-led House.

The comments from Rubio, perhaps the most influential congressional Republican on immigration, illustrate the challenges facing the prospects for reform after months of private negotiations by a bipartisan coalition of senators produced a wide-ranging, 844-page bill.

“The bill that’s in place right now probably can’t pass the House,” Rubio told Mike Gallagher, a nationally syndicated talk show host. “It will have to be adjusted, because people are very suspicious about the willingness of the government to enforce the laws now.”

He continued: “That is a very legitimate suspicion, it’s one that I share, and if there’s anything we can do to make [the bill] even tighter … that’s exactly what we should be working on.”

In a separate radio appearance Tuesday, Rubio elaborated on the challenges facing the legislation in the House, saying the enforcement mechanisms in the Senate legislation would need to be much stronger in order to pass the lower chamber. Read more from this story HERE.

Push to Include Gay Couples in Immigration Bill

By Julia Preston. This has been a good year for gay rights advocates — with public opinion shifting in their favor and same-sex marriage advancing in the states — but not when it comes to immigration.

An 844-page bill introduced in the Senate in mid-April by a bipartisan group of eight lawmakers includes measures to make legal immigration easier for highly skilled immigrants, migrant farmworkers and those living here illegally. It has no provisions that would help foreigners who are same-sex partners of American citizens to become legal permanent residents.

Gay advocates were sharply disappointed to find that same-sex couples were excluded from the legislation, since the Democrats who wrote it included two of their most consistent champions, Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the second highest-ranking Senate Democrat. Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the Democrat who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, where the bill is under consideration, has offered, since as far back as 2003, a separate measure that would allow immigrants in long-term same-sex relationships to obtain residency with a green card.

But in the lengthy closed-door negotiations that produced the overhaul proposal, the four Republicans in the bipartisan group made it clear early on that they did not want to include such a hot-button issue in a bill that would be a challenge to sell to their party even without it, according to Senate staff members. The Republicans are Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona, and Marco Rubio of Florida. Read more from this story HERE.

Gay rights push threatens immigration deal

By Carrie Budoff Brown. The most serious threat to bipartisan immigration reform doesn’t involve border security or guest workers or even the path to citizenship. It’s about gay rights.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has told advocates that he will offer an amendment during the bill markup next week allowing gay Americans to sponsor their foreign-born partners for green cards, just as heterosexual couples can. The measure is likely to pass because Democrats face pressure from gay rights advocates to deal with it in committee, rather than on the Senate floor, where the odds of passage are far less favorable.

But by doing so, Republicans warn that Democrats will tank the whole bill.

“It will virtually guarantee that it won’t pass,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the Gang of Eight negotiating group, told POLITICO in a brief interview. “This issue is a difficult enough issue as it is. I respect everyone’s views on it. But ultimately, if that issue is injected into this bill, the bill will fail and the coalition that helped put it together will fall apart.”

As the legislation moves through the Judiciary Committee and on to the Senate floor, many people will make pronouncements about things that must be kept in or kept out of the bill — but few issues worry the Gang of Eight as much as same-sex partner rights. Read more from this story HERE.

Obama to be Democratic Nominee in 2016?

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Photo Credit: WNDA new poll of Democrats on their preferred candidates for the 2016 presidential race has produced the Obama name, which pollster Fritz Wenzel described as “bizarre.”

The results come from a poll by Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies, who found that Hillary Clinton is winning 55 percent of the support from respondents who said they plan to vote in the Democrat Party primary.

But in the No. 2 position was Michelle Obama, with support from 19 percent of the respondents.

“In a limited field of just four candidates – Clinton, Joe Biden, Michelle Obama, and John Kerry, Michelle Obama finished a very distant second place at 19 percent support. The second-place finish of Obama is every bit as bizarre as Clinton’s first-place finish is predictable,” he said.

“Joe Biden’s support by just 8 percent of likely Democratic voters is simply pathetic, and if John Kerry ever harbored a thought that his current role as Secretary of State might support a presidential comeback, this survey shows he should discard such a thought,” Wenzel said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Nullification: Alabama Lawmakers Vote to Ignore New Federal Gun Control Laws

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Photo Credit: APThe Alabama Legislature is telling the federal government and others to back off on gun control.

The Senate passed legislation Tuesday declaring that “All federal acts, laws, orders, rules or regulations regarding firearms are a violation of the Second Amendment.” It also says federal laws in violation of the Second Amendment shall be considered null and void in Alabama. The vote was 24-6.

The sponsor, Republican Sen. Paul Sanford of Huntsville, said the bill resulted from hundreds of emails and calls he received from his north Alabama constituents concerned that Congress might enact new gun regulations or restore the previous ban on assault weapons. He said the assault weapon ban is an example of federal regulation that he considers a violation of the Second Amendment.

Democratic Sen. Bobby Singleton of Greensboro, who voted against the measure, said state law can’t trump federal law. “This bill is null and void on its face,” Singleton said.

In the House Tuesday, members voted 76-22 for a proposed constitutional amendment that would require Alabama’s courts to use “strict scrutiny” when reviewing any new gun control laws. That would require proponents of the laws to show a compelling interest for the regulations and that they be narrowly tailored.

Read more from this story HERE.

Democrats Claim that Climate Change Will Push Women into Prostitution

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Photo Credit: Public Domain PhotosSeveral House Democrats are calling on Congress to recognize that climate change is hurting women more than men, and could even drive poor women to “transactional sex” for survival.

The resolution, from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and a dozen other Democrats, says the results of climate change include drought and reduced agricultural output. It says these changes can be particularly harmful for women.

“[F]ood insecure women with limited socioeconomic resources may be vulnerable to situations such as sex work, transactional sex, and early marriage that put them at risk for HIV, STIs, unplanned pregnancy, and poor reproductive health,” it says.

Climate change could also add “workload and stresses” on female farmers, which the resolution says produce 60 to 80 percent of the food in developing countries.

The chances for regional conflict also increase with climate change, the resolution says, because changing weather patterns could lead to migration and refugee crises. It said these sorts of potential conflicts over land will have a disproportionate impact on “the most vulnerable populations including women.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Arizona Lawmakers Pass Bill Making Silver, Gold Legal Tender

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Photo Credit: Reuters The Arizona Senate on Tuesday approved a measure to make gold and silver legal currency in the state, in a response to what backers said was a lack of confidence in the international monetary system.

The legislation cleared the Republican-controlled Senate by an 18-10 vote after being approved by the state House earlier this month. It now goes to Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who has not indicated if she will sign it into law or veto it.

The bill calls for Arizona to make gold and silver coins and bullion legal tender beginning in mid-2014, joining existing U.S. currency issued by the federal government.

If signed into law, Arizona would become the second state in the nation to establish these precious metals as legal tender. Utah approved such legislation in 2011.

More than a dozen states have considered similar legislation in recent years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Read more from this story HERE.

Legal Group Launches Domestic Drone Information Center

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Photo Credit: APOn Tuesday, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) announced the launch of its Domestic Drone Information Center to act as a hub for its effort to aggregate public data on unmanned aircraft systems.

The impending deadline of the Federal Aviation Administration’s integration of domestic unmanned aircraft systems — more popularly known as drones — into U.S. national airspace continues to hold the public imagination and raise questions about the technology’s privacy implications.

“Domestic drones have many potential positive applications – e.g., traffic mapping, monitoring agriculture, weather forecasting — but it is vital that their use be regulated,” reads the statement from NACDL.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hornady: Ammo Shortage Fueled by Civilian Demand Due to Political Pressures

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Photo Credit: Daily CallerHornady, a major U.S. ammunition manufacturer, is doing everything it can to meet the high demand for bullets that it says has been “all fueled by rumors and conjecture” and has put pressure on gun stores across the country.

“The current political climate has caused extremely high demand on all shooting industry products, including ours,” according to Hornady. “Empty retail shelves, long backorders, and exaggerated price increases on online auction sites – all fueled by rumors and conjecture – have amplified concerns about the availability of ammunition and firearms-related items.”

Ammunition manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the run on ammunition that began in the wake of President Barack Obama’s re-election and the deadly shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut that left 20 children and six adults dead.

“Every time there’s a comment about some sort of gun control… that triggers a negative response among firearms owners, because they see it as a limiting factor,” Paul Erhardt, an editor for the Shooting Wire, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

“The demand breeds demand in a lot of ways,” Erhardt said, adding that the uncertainty over supply caused by the media and political conditions has firearms owners rushing to purchase what ammo is available.

Read more from this story HERE.

Manchin: Gun Control Bill to be Reintroduced

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Photo Credit: Ryan StantonBy Associated Press. One of the architects of failed gun control legislation says he’s bringing it back.

Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday said he would re-introduce a measure that would require criminal and mental health background checks for gun buyers at shows and online. The West Virginia Democrat says that if lawmakers read the bill, they will support it.

Manchin sponsored a previous version of the measure with Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. It failed. Read more from this story HERE.

Taking Dead Aim at Joe Manchin’s Pathetic Voting Record

By Daniel Horowitz. Do you want to know the definition of pathetic? It’s someone who aggressively brandishes his pro-gun credentials in a campaign commercial, and then proceeds to invest his time into expanding gun control laws. In other words, Joe Manchin is pathetic.

Just how unpopular is Obama with the voters of West Virginia? He lost all 55 counties last year in the general election, and 41% of Democrat primary voters to a man sitting in jail. That’s why Joe Manchin lacks the moxie to air a commercial saying, “I’m Joe Manchin, and I approve this message because West Virginia needs a senator who will stand with Barack.”

Instead of manning up and letting his constituents know he is a gun-grabbing, Obamacare-supporting leftist, Joe Manchin ran a TV ad depicting himself shooting a rifle – taking “dead aim” – at a cap and trade bill. Now he is working indefatigably to pass gun control, even after his bill was defeated. During the gun debate, he also voted against an amendment that would have required a judicial ruling to determine if a veteran is dangerous before he is banned from buying guns. I’m sure the many veterans in West Virginia would appreciate that. Read more from this story HERE.

The Left's 'Crusade to Destroy the Christian Church'

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Photo Credit: BreitbartThe Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has just been re-introduced in the Senate and specifically bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. The bill has been around for the last couple of decades and its new supporters (two Republicans and three Democrats) probably believe that polls showing movement in favor of same-sex marriage mean that the iron is hot for striking.

From what I can gather, ENDA will offer the LGBT workers the same federal protections against employer discrimination as there are now in the categories of age, race, gender, religion, and disability. As the bill is written now, it would exempt employers with fewer than 15 employees, religious institutions, and religious-affiliated employers, such as Presbyterian hospitals, Catholic adoption agencies, etc.

Let’s leave the debate over the overall bill for another time. The development I want to focus on is brand new. There is now a push underway to remove the exemption for religious-affiliated employers by no less than the ACLU and a number of LGBT legal organizations…

This harkens back to something I have been trying to sound the alarm over all year — that the goal here has nothing to do with gay rights and everything to do with the left’s ongoing crusade to destroy the Christian Church.

Read more from this story HERE.