Simple Man Politics

Today I am going to talk about conceal/carry rights here on Simple Man Politics. The reason for this is because there is a lot of talk about a possible law being passed that would require states to recognize conceal/carry permits from other states. This fear is both from states with strict laws regarding these permits and anti-2nd amendment activists.

This past Wednesday legislation sponsored by Senator John Thune (R, SD) was voted on. This legislation would have made it legal for conceal/carry permit holders to carry handguns across state lines. The legislation would only allow reciprocity in permitting, while still requiring the individual to obey the states laws that they are traveling within. This is exactly the same way that driver’s licenses work.

However gun control activists are about to have a stroke over this piece of legislation and are predicting the worst. Senator Frank Lautenburg (D, NJ) accuses the gun lobby of putting its agenda ahead of security and safety. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D, NY) calls the legislation a “harmful measure” that will put the public at risk. Senator Chuck Schumer (D, NY) says the bill would reduce the dramatic success of reducing crime.

These arguments are the very same ones that were used back when conceal/carry laws were originally passed. . At that time gun control advocates assured everyone that permit holders would get mad and there would be blood in the streets. Considering the fact that there had never been conceal/carry permits before I am sure that this was an obvious concern for law makers at that time.

Fortunately for gun rights advocates and unfortunately for gun control activists none of the expected horrors that were foretold ever came to pass. Instead approximately 5 million law abiding American citizens currently possess conceal/carry permits that allow them to carry across 48 states. There are also 39 of these states that have fairly liberal right to carry laws requiring background checks, a fee, and some training.

I personally have a conceal/carry permit issued in the state of Florida and will obtain one in Arizona eventually as well. I have carried a weapon concealed in virtually all of the states and no one has ever been the wiser, of course you shouldn’t advertise the fact that you are carrying in that fashion anyway. As a civilian carrying a concealed weapon I have never had to draw my weapon let alone fire it in self defense either thank God.

Data compiled from the beginning of conceal/carry rights until now indicates that violent crime where concealed weapons are legal has resulted in a drop in violent crime. The same is also true were gun ownership alone is legal as well. The reason violent crime drops in these environments is because the criminals have to worry about their victims being able to defend themselves so violent crime is less likely to occur in those areas.

I for one refuse to give up my 2nd amendment rights and my conceal/carry permit as well. I fervently hope that this is true of all of those who read Simple Man Politics too. If you want to see how gun control has worked you need only look at countries like the United Kingdom and Australia. Their law abiding citizens who are prevented from defending themselves have become nothing more than victims.

That’s all for now here at Simple Man Politics but I will be back again very soon my friends. I hope you all have a great evening and a terrific Tuesday too CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. The aforementioned piece of legislation did not pass, but the facts are still the same.

Hmmmm lets see what makes a good United States Supreme Court Justice? I’m sure there are lots of qualities that we can think of that would go into making an excellent Supreme Court Justice pick. We see a lot of these extraordinary qualities in many federal and state judges all around the country although Supreme Court Justices are generally chosen from the ranks of federal judges or those who have practiced before the Supreme Court.

I think the foremost quality I would look for in a Supreme Court Justice is someone with a razor sharp knowledge of the US Constitution; yep that’s a good start. Another excellent quality would be someone who is a constitutionalist who would strictly interpret the constitution and the laws that are governed by this invaluable document. I also think another excellent quality in a justice would be the ability to be an impartial observer as well as a fair justice who uses the US Constitution as his or hers only guideline for passing judgment.

Unfortunately these qualities are not always evident in justices to those who have an opinion that runs counter to that of a particular jurist. A large part of this problem exists on a purely ideological level considering some of the topics that the SCOTUS has to rule on with ever increasing frequency. Topics like Roe v Wade and the 2nd Amendment just to name a couple of those hot button issues off the top of my head.

Then of course there is the problem that is associated with political party partisanship. This problem inevitably occurs every time there is a Supreme Court Nomination to be made. If the President making the nomination is a Republican he attempts to seat a conservative justice and if he is a Democrat he attempts to seat a liberal justice. The reason for this of course is that he wants the justice he picks to have opinions similar to his own.

Of course with a Supreme Court Justice seat being a lifetime appointment these justices will influence the SCOTUS and its opinions for decades potentially. That is at the heart of what makes these nominations so vehemently contested especially by those whose party does not represent the sitting President. Of course the President and his party try to push their nominees through every bit as hard as those fighting against the nominee.

Some of the biggest battles in seating these nominees are trying to find one who does not believe that the SCOTUS should legislate from the bench because they are the Judicial Branch and not the Legislative Branch of our government. Another big battle and the one that is currently brewing in the nomination process is the battle against racism on the bench.

At this time in our history our current President has had a chance to nominate a replacement for sitting Justice David Souter with another whose judicial views are similar to or maybe even more liberal than Souter’s and this nominees name is Sonia Sotomayor a Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit and the first Hispanic female to ever be nominated although not the first Hispanic nominated.

The current battle against her nomination stems from her statement supporting policy making from the SCOTUS by saying that policy is made all of the time on the appeals level. Another battle being waged against her nomination is because of an apparent racist statement that she made in which she said that a Latina female justice would make better judicial decisions than a white male justice because they would be unable to relate to the regular people who are the ones that the SCOTUS is supposed to protect. As always the battle against judicial activism will be fought on this nomination.

Now I will be honest with you and tell you that I would not support her for the simple reason that I fervently disagree with her notion that government policy is made on any federal judicial bench whether it be in federal circuit court, federal appeals court, or the SCOTUS. No justices are sworn in as legislators they are sworn in as judges or justices. As for the Latina female versus white male statement it may be racism in reverse and is certainly ignorant at the least.

As always I will tell you that it is up to you to do your own research and decide what you believe about this nominee. And as always all I can do is tell you the facts as I know them and my very educated opinion on the topics I write about. I hope all of you do take the time to read the things I write and decide if you like the direction our country is moving in and if it is where you want to go.

I hope you all have a fantastic day and I will see you all again tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Gun rights are a touchy subject for people in this country. The reason for this is because it involves two very different points of view by gun rights supporters and gun control activists. Politically it widens the divide between both major political parties in our country on ideological grounds making this topic severely partisan in nature.

For the most part the Republicans are all for gun rights with the proper legislation in place to guarantee that those who are convicted felons, mentally unstable, not legal residents of the US or citizens, or involved in violence related litigation such as domestic violence never have legal access to firearms. They believe that the 2nd amendment guarantees our citizens the legal right to keep and bear arms. Most also believe in a citizens right to carry firearms concealed. They fervently believe that private gun ownership helps to deter gun crime.

On the side of the coin the Democrats with very few exceptions believe in no gun rights at all for US citizens. They believe that laws similar to those enacted in the UK some years back and in Australia a little over a year ago banning private gun ownership is the way to go. Failing that they want the toughest gun control laws possible to help restrict private gun ownership in the US. Their reason being that no guns no gun crime or very little gun crime.

Using the UK and Australia as a window to our future with their type of gun laws, and as test cases for this argument I have taken the time to do a little research. What I have found out about the success of their governments gun laws and the effects that they have on gun related crimes does not surprise me. I am sure that it would surprise those on one side of this argument for sure though.

In the UK there has not been a total ban on all firearms yet. However their gun laws are so restrictive as to type, caliber, and barrel length as to make it all but impossible to purchase a firearm in that country. The result of these laws being that while the law abiding citizens have followed the rule of law there and have surrendered all banned weapons required the criminal element has not.

This has created an environment where the criminals act with virtual impunity against their victims because the are almost certainly assured that their victims are unarmed and incapable of defending themselves with the same force being used against them by the criminals. It was noted by shadow Home Secretary David Davis that gun related killings and injuries reported by police had risen more than fourfold since 1998. In 1998/1999 crimes involving guns went from 13,874 to 24,070 and have stayed steady at this rate until the present.

In Australia the figures do not bode well for their citizens either. Nation wide for them homicides are up 6.2 percent, Assaults are up 9.6 percent, and armed robberies are up a staggering 44 percent. The data preceding the ban for the twenty five previous years showed a steady decreased in gun crimes each year. Yet since the ban went into effect down under there has even been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults on the elderly while the resident is at home. These numbers exist because the criminal elements that employ firearms are definitely assured that their victims are unarmed.

Taking all of this information into account and looking at the current administration and their cohorts on the hill, it concerns me greatly that there may be a concerted effort in the near future within our own borders to attempt the same sort of legislation that has been adopted either in the UK or Australia. I just thank god for the 5-4 majority of the US Supreme Court who ruled the DC gun ban as unconstitutional. However we need to hope that our President does not appoint more than one new justice while in office or we may wind up looking like those countries I have researched.

That is all I have for you guys today. I hope you take the time to consider what was said here today and take an informed stand on the 2nd amendment and preserve our nation’s and citizen’s historic right to keep and bear arms. Have a fabulous day my friends, CIAO4NOW!!!!!