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Background Checks for Gun Owners? Better Yet, How About Politicians?

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Looking at the state of affairs in Washington, perhaps it is time to apply the same proposed standards for gun owners and apply them to prospective and sitting politicians. Perhaps go even further, by requiring our leaders to pass an FBI background check.

Governor Huckabee mentioned he was subjected to a security background check while Governor of Arkansas, in order to be allowed access to National Homeland Security information.

At the time, he was a sitting Governor, a politician… he had no problem complying with it. In fact he suggested all politicians be subjected to security background checks.

What’s wrong with verifying who our leaders are? Should they at least be able to pass the same background tests that applicants for an FBI job have to pass?

After all, their decisions have the power to affect our national security; shouldn’t we make sure they at least meet the same standards as the rest of us if we want a government job in the security sector? Or even a regular government job for that matter.

It would be good to know ahead of time, if the person running for senator has criminal ties? Graft or corruption allegations? A drug problem. Is there anything in the background that could subject him/her to blackmail?

How about running all of his/her credentials and getting those degrees verified? This is nothing less than what many prospective employees are put through for even a county job.

There is a growing chorus for medical/psychiatric standards for gun owners. From listening to some of the bizarre rants coming from leaders in Washington DC, I think some sitting members would not be able to pass the psychological standards.

Many say these screens are already set up by political opposition research to try to dig up dirt on opponents. But opposition research cannot be as thorough as an FBI background check.

Ask Bill and Hillary Clinton what one of the first things they did when they entered the White house in their first term? They got the confidential FBI files on all of their political opponents. What did they do with that information for the next 8 years?…And to this day for that matter?

Perhaps it is time for President Obama to appoint Joe Biden to head up another “blue ribbon” committee to see how this can best be facilitated…As soon as Joe passes his background check.
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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.

Mississippi Bill Would Nullify Federal Laws

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photo credit: StuSeeger

JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi defied the union during the Civil War and civil rights era, and at least two lawmakers think it is time to do so again.

Republican state Reps. Gary Chism and Jeff Smith, both of Columbus, filed a bill this month to form the Joint Legislative Committee on the Neutralization of Federal Laws.

Chism said Thursday that the tea party-backed measure is a response to President Barack Obama’s federal health care overhaul and proposals to curb gun violence.

“Certainly, the Obamacare started this,” Chism told The Associated Press, referring to the health care plan, “but then gun show loopholes that the president wanted after Newtown really put an exclamation on that — that we need to do something to stand up for the Tenth Amendment.”

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says powers not specifically reserved for the federal government are reserved for the states.

Read more from this story HERE.

Democrats Assault on Second Amendment Begins

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WASHINGTON — California Democrat Dianne Feinstein begins her fourth full term as a U.S. senator much as she started her Senate career: fighting for a ban on assault weapons.

Feinstein’s new bill introduced Thursday proposes to:

•Ban the sale, transfer, importation or manufacturing of about 150 named firearms, plus certain rifles, handguns and shotguns fitted for detachable magazines and having at least one military characteristic.
•Strengthen the 1994 ban by moving from a two- to a one-characteristic test to determine what constitutes an assault weapon.
•Ban firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons.”
•Ban the importation of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.
•Ban high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

The bill would grandfather in weapons legally owned on the day of enactment and exempts over 900 specific weapons “used for hunting or sporting purposes.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Missouri Lawmaker Introduces Bill Criminalizing Failure to Report Gun Ownership to Child’s School

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A Missouri lawmaker has proposed legislation that would require parents to notify their children’s school if they own a firearm.

The bill, introduced by Missouri Democratic State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, would make it a crime to fail to report gun ownership to a school and to store a firearm in a place where a child could possibly access it. The legislation also criminalizes failure to prevent illegal possession of a firearm by a child under the age of 18.

“This act requires a parent or guardian to notify a school district, or the governing body of a private or charter school, that he or she owns a firearm within 30 days of enrolling the child in school or becoming the owner of a firearm,” the bill reads in part. “The written notification only needs to include the names of the parent and any child attending the school and the fact that the parent owns a firearm.”

In an interview with Missouri’s KSDK Chappelle-Nadal emphasized that she believes in the Second Amendment, but that the issue is one of safety.

“I am not trying to take away the gun rights of any parents or any other citizens. I believe in the Second Amendment,” Chappelle-Nadal said.

Read more from this story HERE.

National ‘Assault Weapon’ Ban Coming Thursday

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office confirmed that she will be introducing in the Senate Thursday a new version of the so-called assault weapon ban. A spokesman said the full text will be released at a press conference on Thursday.

The California Democrat intends to expand on the ban that expired in 2004, by including handguns and shotguns, in addition to rifles. She would decrease from two to one the number of cosmetic features on a gun to have it be considered an “assault weapon.” This means that if a gun has just one item like a pistol grip or bayonet lug, then it is illegal. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law the same ban in New York last week.

Furthermore, instead of grandfathering in current firearms, she would create a national gun registry for the government to track lawful gun owners. Magazines would again be limited to 10 rounds.

The Clinton-era bill was not renewed by Congress after the Federal Bureau of Investigation and law enforcement agencies reported that it was ineffective in reducing crime.

President Obama said that a top priority is to get “an assault weapons ban that is meaningful” passed this year.

Read more from this story HERE.

Utah Sheriffs Warn Obama: ‘No Federal Official Will Be Allowed’ To Take Our Constituents’ Gun Rights

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A group of Utah sheriffs sent a letter to President Barack Obama last week stating that they will not enforce any new gun laws they believe to be unconstitutional.

28 of the 29 sheriffs in Utah signed off on the letter with only the Salt Lake County Sheriff, Jim Winder, opting out.

Summit County Sheriff David Edmunds says, “We are prepared to trade our lives in defense of the constitution of the United States.”

Edmunds says the letter is a preemptive strike against the possibility of the president banning assault rifles, or restricting the amount of ammo in magazines.

The letter to the President states (emphasis added): “We, like you swore a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and we are prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Top Psychiatrist: Meds Behind School Massacres

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NEW YORK – If lawmakers and authorities are truly concerned about stopping gun violence in schools, they need to take a close look at the prescription of psychotropic drugs for children and young people, says a leading psychiatrist.

In an exclusive in-person interview in New York City with WND, London-based Dr. David Healy criticized pharmaceutical companies that have made billions of dollars marketing Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, known as SSRIs.

Psychotropic drugs “prescribed for school children cause violent behavior,” Healy stated.

The drugs are widely used in the U.S. as antidepressants by doctors working in the mental health field and increasingly by primary care doctors, he noted.

Healey insisted the problem today is that doctors working with schools to control the behavior of children are inclined to prescribe SSRI drugs without serious consideration of adverse consequences.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Senators Ted Cruz and Chuck Schumer Debate Gun Control, Debt Ceiling, and More

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photo credit: gage skidmore

Newly elected Texas Senator Ted Cruz appeared on Meet The Press on Sunday with David Gregory and New York Senator Chuck Schumer to talk gun control, the debt ceiling, Chuck Hagel, and Colin Powell’s latest charges of Republican intolerance and bigotry.

Up against one of the most formidable Democrat interlocutors in the United States Senate, the freshman Tea Party Senator more than held his own, performing as a seasoned veteran.

If this interview is any indication of Cruz’ future performance in the Senate, it appears Conservatives will have an able spokesman on the national stage for the foreseeable future.

Flashback: Palin Predicts Obama Admin. Using Health Care to Curb Second Amendment Rights (+video)

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On August 1, 2009–just seven months into President Barack Obama’s first term–former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin predicted Obama would attempt to leverage health care to “take away” the Second Amendment rights of Americans.

In a speech to National Rifle Association members in Anchorage, Alaska, Palin said Americans should be “wary” of this “tie-in” because Obama would attempt to “take away our rights under the guise of some new health care plan”:

“And by the way, [with] health care being so big in D.C. right now, be wary when some kind of tie-in occurs. Because it will crop up: a tie-in with guns in an attempt to take away our rights under the guise of some new health care plan. You know that this is coming–that the two issues will somehow crop up and they’ll be tied together. So we have to be very wary of that.”

On Wednesday–more than three years after Palin’s warning–Obama did exactly what the former governor forecasted.

During a press conference wherein he issued 23 executive actions regarding guns and unveiled his gun control proposals, including a ban on so-called assault weapons, Obama said “doctors and other health care providers also need to be able to ask about firearms in their patients’ homes and safe storage of those firearms, especially if their patients show signs of certain mental illnesses or if they have a young child or mentally ill family member at home.”

See video below:

Read more from this story HERE.