Did He/She Really Say or Do That?

Disclaimer: I am a strong advocate for the Constitution and especially for the Bill of Rights (first ten amendments). I am deeply concerned over the encroachments by the federal government that are being made upon a number of the Amendments to the Constitution and thereby threaten the liberty that we enjoy and which efforts to preserve such liberties many of us seem to take too lightly.

Joe Biden: Seriously, the things that this guy has said and done are legend and would fill a book so I will keep this short. Before that, I’d like to quote what another Patch poster wrote when I criticized Mr. Joe Biden on another blog: “I believe he is one of the most sincere and intelligent people serving in government.” I’m finding it hard to keep from laughing. Mr. Biden has acted neither sincerely nor intelligently of late and I’m not alone in that sentiment. You can look here to see the various other comments posted to the blog in question. Moving along, Mr. Biden has really muddied the water over the whole gun control brouhaha. Please understand that Joe Biden is a gun owner so he is not totally hostile to guns. Unfortunately he has been pinched to toe the line so has had to come up with some ideas to forward the party mantra but has ended up in outer space. The AR-15, for some reason, has become the gun that everyone opposed to legal gun ownership in the U.S. loves to hate. Therefore, Joe has been tasked with the job of trashing it. He’s done a really bad job; let me count the ways…Joe has suggested that an individual in fear for one’s life has only to fire a double barrel shotgun into the air to scare away any intruder. I’m not sure where, if anywhere, that is legal. He said that was what he would advise his wife to do but it is illegal to do such where Mr. Biden keeps his residence in Delaware (of course, the old saying holds, I’d rather be judged by twelve than carried by six so Joe’s advice to his wife had more to do with safety than law – Too bad Joe doesn’t get that we regular citizens also have the same concerns about the safety of our families).

Additionally, Joe tells us that a shotgun is easier to aim and fire than an AR-15…wrong again, Joe. This is absolutely not true and if you have ever fired a shotgun you know the kick that they have. Joe made another faux pas when he advised that a concerned homeowner worried about an intruder fire their shotgun through the front door. During an interview with “Field and Stream” magazine that took place after the ‘discharge into the air statement,’ Mr. Biden advised that a concerned homeowner “just fire the shotgun through the door.”  I won’t even comment on that. As if that wasn’t enough, Biden went on to double down on his “shotgun is better than an AR-15 for protection” comment and stated that people can “handle a shotgun a hell of a lot better than they can a semi-automatic weapon.” Again, I don’t think so.

Sarah Brady (wife of former press secretary to Ronald Reagan): A little background for those who don’t know the facts. In 1981, Ronald Reagan’s press secretary, James Brady, was seriously wounded in an attempt on the life of President Reagan. Mr. Reagan recovered fully but Mr. Brady received the lion’s share of the injuries and his life was permanently changed. James and Sarah Brady then became two of the nation’s leading gun control advocates. Given the nature and severity of Mr. Brady’s injuries, it can be understood that Sarah Brady was the driving force of this team. Sarah Brady worked relentlessly for years to pass stricter gun control laws in the U.S. In fact, the lobbying group, Handgun Control, Inc., was renamed the “Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.” While I might not agree with the Bradys, I do understand their perspective and do not necessarily blame them for what they attempted to do albeit misdirected. Here comes the part that doesn’t make sense. By her own admission in her autobiography, “A Good Fight,” Sarah Brady, a Delaware resident, admitted to purchasing a .30-06 caliber rifle for her son, Scott Brady. The method used to purchase the weapon by Sarah Brady, it being a gift, allowed Scott Brady to avoid the required criminal background check. Understand that the brunt of the Brady’s push for gun control in the U.S. centered on background checks. The Brady Bill, passed in 1993, requires a five-day waiting period and background checks on handgun purchases. It is curious then why Scott Brady did not subject himself, apparently with his mother’s full approval, to a background check. The Gun Owners of America, in a kind of tongue-and-cheek move, awarded Scott an honorary membership and further congratulated him for keeping his name “off paper.” By buying the high-powered sniper rifle in her maiden name, Sarah Brady enabled Scott to completely avoid the NICS check (National Instant Criminal Background Check System). Ultimately, the authorities have no paper trail that identifies Scott Brady as the owner of a sniper rifle and if there ever was an attempt by the government to perpetrate a gun grab, Scott has no worries. I wonder if I can get any of that action. You can see what Sarah, herself, had to say about the incident here.

Mark Kelly (husband of former Congressional Representative Gabby Giffords): Hopefully we all know who former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is as well as the trials and pain that have come her way. I will abstain from repeating the story but you can find it here if you need a refresher. What is interesting is that her husband, Mark Kelly, a retired American astronaut, recently purchased an AR-15 rifle in Tucson, AZ. Mr. Kelly stated that he only did it to show how easy it was to purchase the firearm. At the time, Mr. Kelly was in the process of buying a handgun from the local gun store. His background check had cleared and as he was leaving with his new .45-cal handgun he noticed a used AR-15 and decided to purchase it, as well. His concern is that it took only a matter of minutes to perform the background check. Mr. Kelly is a former shuttle commander and I’m wondering now if he understands digital electronics. I’m curious as to how long he thinks a background check should take?

Okay, I get the point that Mr. Kelly claims he was trying to make but he could have accomplished the same thing without doing what he doesn’t want others to be able to do. Allow me to point out that it is legal for Mr. Kelly to purchase such a weapon. He is, in fact, a legal gun owner. Is he really part of the problem? Are AR-15s really the problem? Allow me to posit another reason as to what Mark Kelly was doing at the Diamondback Police Supply where he purchased a .45-cal semi-automatic pistol, an AR-15, and several so-called high capacity magazines just one day after testifying for gun-control before the Colorado legislature…he was exercising his 2^nd Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” because if there was ever anyone who felt the need for the protection of one's loved ones, it was Mark Kelly, and the AR-15 is just the right firearm to make one feel secure in one’s own home.

Let me point out one other important fact; AR-15s are currently at a premium. Essentially, at this point in time, you can’t buy one nor can you even get on a list any longer because gun sellers stopped accepting orders when the wait time for such a firearm started to reach one year. That being the case, I would think that any owner of an AR-15 could easily sell his or her weapon, if you could find someone so foolish, at twice the price they paid for it. In fact, Mr. Kelly stated he was anxious to get to a gun show to buy a gun (presumably to show how easy it is) but also revealed he might possibly desire to sell a gun. Hmmmmm…

Wait, this story continues to morph as I write and we haven’t heard the end.  The latest development informs us that if Mr. Kelly wanted to uncover what he thought were inadequacies in the background check by disclosing the ease with which he could purchase an “assault rifle,” he should have purchased new, according to the owner of the Diamondback Police Supply store. This would have allowed Kelly to take immediate possession of the gun on the same day the background check occurred. As it was, the local ordinances governing the purchase of used (traded-in) rifles require a “20-day waiting period” and thus extend the background check process for weeks so Mr. Kelly is still waiting for that used AR-15 and his background check to clear. Even though Mr. Kelly stated his intention was to show the ease with which he could purchase an “assault style” rifle his actions prove something different. Furthermore, Kelly stated that his plan from the beginning was to buy such a weapon as an example and then hand it over to the police for destruction. Under current legislation, however, the police would most likely have to return the weapon to the street rather than be permitted to destroy it. Again, what was Mr. Kelly’s prime motive? As stated above, a used and, therefore, discounted AR-15 is a rare bird and would make a great investment for anybody.

BTW, it should be noted that before Gabby Giffords was a gun control advocate she was in possession of a “concealed carry permit”. Unfortunately, on the fateful day of her accident, Gabby Giffords chose not to exercise her 2^nd Amendment rights and was thus left defenseless.