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Senator Cruz on Obama's Real 'Gun Control' Record

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

From yesterday’s Rush Limbaugh Show:

CRUZ: In 2010, roughly 48,000 felons and fugitives attempted to illegally purchase firearms. Out of those 48,000, the Obama Justice Department prosecuted only 44.

RUSH: Right.

CRUZ: Let me repeat those numbers because those numbers, in my opinion, are quite staggering. Out of 48,000 felons and fugitives who in a single year tried to illegally purchase firearms, the Justice Department prosecuted just 44 of them. In our judgment, that’s unacceptable.

RUSH: What Cruz is doing here is called push-back. He’s a freshman, won election. He’s Tea Party. He’s got a great future. People very much appreciate what Cruz is willing to stand up and say. But did you know the specifics here, the nut of what he said here? It proves the point. Forty-four prosecutions out of 48,000 felons and fugitives who tried to illegally purchase firearms. We’ve already got plenty of law. We only prosecuted 44 of ’em in 2010. Why? Because we don’t want to create the impression we have enough gun laws. In fact, let’s turn it around 180 degrees. The Democrats want the impression created we don’t have enough law.

So you have all of these fugitives, all of these felons committing these horrendous crimes, and we’re not pursuing and we’re not prosecuting ’em, and the reason, “We need more law, Mr. Limbaugh. We don’t have enough law to go after these people. The gun control laws are woefully inept, we need more.” That’s what they want everybody to conclude. Just like we don’t have the laws necessary to deal with immigration. Yes, we do. All we would have to do is enforce current law, and we could reform the immigration problem without anything new.

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Scarborough says GOP ‘Moving Toward Extinction’ after Blocking Gun Legislation

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough says the senators who voted against expanded background checks for gun buyers on Wednesday are providing “the opportunity for terrorists, for gang members, for criminals, for violent rapists” to purchase firearms.

The former Republican congressman also predicted that new gun control measures would eventually be passed.

“Most of the time, I know, when you lose, you lose,” Scarborough said Thursday. “I agree with Howard Dean on this one — we have only begun to fight. This is just the beginning. With every violent act that occurs in the future, and with guns being shipped from one gang to another. With terrorists going on the Internet advertising how easy it is to kill Americans because of our weak background check system, Mike [Barnicle], this has just begun. This will not end until we have a background check system that keeps our families and Americans’ families safer.”

Scarborough also criticized Senate Democrats for not pursuing filibuster reform at the beginning of the Congress and warned New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte that her vote against background checks would come back to haunt her.

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Why GOP Must Have a Senate Majority in 2014: Harry Reid Promises to Bring Back Gun Control Bill

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday announced that the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate would shelve its gun control legislation — for now.

“Yesterday, President Obama said it was a shameful day for the Senate, and it probably was, I agree,” Sen. Reid said. “But we should make no mistake: This debate is not over, in fact this fight is just beginning.”

The Nevada Senator said that the legislative body would “take a pause and freeze the background check bill where it is” and “return to it at an undetermined date,” according to the Washington Post.

“We’re going to come back to this bill,” Reid said…

“The underlying bill hasn’t been defeated and is still technically on the legislative calendar. As majority leader, Reid can bring up the bill again at a moment’s notice,” the report explains.

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Reid Warns of ‘Unreasonable Extremists’ in Gun Debate

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Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, kicked off Monday’s session by saying the victims of December’s Connecticut shooting rampage deserve a vote on gun legislation and warning of “unreasonable extremists” who may try to derail or delay the process.

Mr. Reid said protecting citizens’ Second Amendment rights and working to prevent gun violence are “both worthy goals, and they should not be mutually exclusive goals.”

The Senate on Monday begins debate on a gun-control bill, the expected centerpiece of which is a amendment that would expand gun-purchase background checks to gun sales online and to all vendors at gun shows…

Presently, only licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct background checks.

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Anti-Gun John Kerry in Japan: Foreign Students 'Scared' to Study Abroad in U.S. Because of Gun Violence

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Photo Credit: Getty

Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN Monday that foreign students are increasingly “scared” of studying abroad in the United States because of gun violence.

America’s top diplomat has been in Asia to confront North Korea’s increasing aggression but, speaking from Tokyo, he pivoted to American politics.

In “quiet conversations” with officials, Kerry said he has discussed “how safe it is over here in this country [Japan], where people are not running around with guns.”

Watch video here:

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Not so fast Washington: Americans want Bills on Guns and Immigration Read Before You Vote on Them

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Photo Credit: IrishCentral

Last time there was a headlong rush to pass legislation in Washington, Obamacare was birthed. 2,500 pages of excruciating small print, plopped on legislators desks just days before they were expected to vote on it. 2,500 pages purchased with “sweeteners,” “arm twisting” and coercion. Almost all of it done behind closed doors.

Speaker of the House at that time, Nancy Pelosi, brazenly told Congress and the American people, that we could get to know what was in Obamacare after they passed Obamacare,….egregiously misnamed “The Affordable Healthcare Act.”

Pelosi was right, Obamacare has proven to be full of surprises as the 2,500 pages of “Frankenstinian” details and regulations get exposed to the reality of actually trying to implement the law. Hidden taxes and fees, miles of red tape and special dispensation to Obama supporters are just some of the “surprises.”

The new immigration bill is reportedly 1,500 pages long already and it too has been negotiated in secret behind closed doors, by the gang of 8 bi partisan Senators.

How much devil is hidden in these details? No one in the media has seen it to report on the good, bad or ugly that lies within.

Reportedly it will be sprung on the Senate Tuesday and leader of the Senate, Harry Reid, has uncharacteristically promised a swift vote.

Why? What’s the rush Harry? Shouldn’t the public and the Senate have plenty of time to read through and debate these 1,500 pages of proposed legislation? This legislation can profoundly affect the very make up of our country.

Under Reid’s leadership the Senate has turned into a very “deliberative body,” remember it took 4 years to produce one budget.

The same can be said for gun control legislation. The knee jerk response from the politicians is to attack America’s 2nd Amendment rights, in order to look like they are doing something. When in reality, they are really just putting a band aid on an arterial wound.

The root cause of violence is too difficult for them to tackle because it will affect their base of support in big cities and Hollywood. So instead, they go after the guns and not the mental health issues, the street violence and violence in films.

Ask the Obama Justice Dept why it isn’t enforcing the laws already on the books? Out of 15,700 fugitives and felons who tried to illegally purchase a firearm, the Obama Justice Department prosecuted only 44. Perhaps if they just enforced the existing laws, there would be far less violence.

The American people don’t want anymore surprises sprung on them hidden within benign sounding legislation.

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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

Senators Uncertain how Vote on Gun Bill Will Swing; Co-Sponsors Look for GOP Support

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Photo Credit: AP

Lawmakers on both sides of a proposal to expand gun-purchase background checks to sales online and at gun shows said Sunday that they don’t know whether it will pass — a hurdle that, if not cleared, likely would kill the prospects of significant gun control legislation on Capitol Hill.

The circumspect posturing underscores the sensitivity of negotiations on the issue and flies in the face of a long tradition of predetermined outcomes on Capitol Hill, even on high-profile legislation.

“I think it’s an open question as to whether or not we have the votes,” Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, Pennsylvania Republican and co-sponsor of the amendment, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think it’s going to be close.”

Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, said his party hasn’t started formally counting votes on the measure, which was crafted by Mr. Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat.

“We haven’t whipped it,” Mr. Durbin said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I can tell you this: When it gets down to it, we’ve got to ask the basic question, ‘Should we try to keep guns out of the hands of felons and people so mentally unstable they shouldn’t own a firearm?’ If the answer is ‘yes,’ Manchin-Toomey is a step in that direction.”

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Turncoat: Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Endorses Compromise Gun Control Bill

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

In anticipation of Senate votes this week on a proposed expansion of criminal background checks for firearms sales, one gun rights organization broke with the powerful National Rifle Association on Sunday to urge support for a compromise drafted by Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.).

The endorsement by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms — which calls itself the second-largest gun rights organization in the country, behind the NRA, claiming 650,000 members and supporters — is one of several moves over the past few days that have provided a boost to the hopes of proponents of background checks.

While leading gun-control advocates — including President Obama and New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) — back the bipartisan proposal, the announcement of support Sunday from the Citizens Committee reveals that substantial parts of the bill are viewed as “wins” for the gun lobby, including provisions that would prohibit a government registry of gun ownership and make it easier to transport and market weapons across state lines.

Though news of a split in the usually unified gun lobby cheered gun-control advocates, the gun lobby can count other probable wins in the current debate, such as the likely defeat of legislation to limit military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. Now, an expansion of background-check requirements for gun sales is considered the most likely major achievement.

Initially, gun-control advocates hoped for a requirement for background checks of individuals purchasing a gun under most any circumstance. Currently, background checks are conducted only for purchases made from licensed gun dealers. The compromise measure, drafted by Toomey and Manchin, would require background checks for currently exempt online and gun-show sales but not for most other private transactions.

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'DC Intervention': Tea Party Group to Pressure Rubio on Immigration, Toomey on Guns

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The Tea Party Patriots organization is planning protests on Tuesday at the home state offices of several Senators that the group argues are in need of an “intervention” for being sucked up into inside-the-Beltway politics, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).

The group is targeting Rubio on immigration reform and Toomey on gun control.

“Two Senators in particular are facing Tea Party pressure, as they should–Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Pat Toomey (R-PA),” Tea Party Patriots said in a release. “Both of these men were elected thanks to Tea Party support, yet Senator Rubio is the star spokesman for a secretive, small group working on a bill that purports to address illegal immigration and the entire US immigration system as a whole. This bill is already 1,500 pages and no one outside the small working group has read it, meaning legislation that will affect our security, spending, taxes, culture, education, welfare, jobs, etc. is being crafted without input from most of our Senators or the American people. Not only might the legislation be bad policy, it has already gone outside of the normal process.”

“Meanwhile, Senator Toomey is the man who gave opponents of the 2nd Amendment the best chance they’ve had in decades to violate the Constitution,” Tea Party Patriots added.

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Sen. Mike Lee: Gun Bill Contains ‘Tomorrow’s Loopholes’

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photo credit: gage skidmore

Republican Sen. Mike Lee, of Utah, said Sunday he will not support the gun-control legislation being authored in the Senate because it contains loopholes and imposes limits on law-abiding gun owners.

Lee, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said despite the national tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December of 2012, politicians’ efforts to do the right thing have resulted in a flawed approach.

“Following the tragedy at Sandy Hook, Americans have been rightfully focused on how to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future,” he said. “But unfortunately, the proposals we’ve seen would serve primarily to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens while doing little, if anything, to actually prevent tragedies like this from occurring in the future.”

Lee said he “can’t support” the bill named after Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.

Read more from this story HERE.