Lock and Load

Here we bring you all things Second Amendment because without the Second Amendment nothing else will matter.

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Delaware Seeks to Redefine Firearm

Tom Knighton – Bearing Arms

One thing you’ll notice as you read proposed legislation is that most include something defining the terms. This is where you get the definition of, say, and “assault weapon” or “high-capacity magazine” from.

Different levels of government may have different definitions for various things.

For example, the federal definition of a machine gun–a firearm capable of firing more than one round with a single pull of the trigger–doesn’t actually apply to the first machine gun every produced: The Gatling Gun.

That’s because the Gatling doesn’t have a trigger, but a crank.

In Delaware, though, they define the term “firearm” rather broadly. Like, incredibly so. Now, there’s an effort underway to tighten that term a bit.

Delaware’s overly broad firearm laws encompass a range of non-lethal weapons from…Read more here.

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GOP Called Out Over Lackluster Pro-Gun Efforts in ‘Gunshine State’

Tom Knighton / BEARING ARMS

The first time someone referred to Florida as the “Gunshine State,” I about fell out laughing. Now, the state is fairly pro-gun in a lot of ways and has been. It was the first to formally pass a Stand Your Ground law, for example.

But they also have a waiting period for gun purchases and a 19-year-old can’t lawfully purchase any firearm at all, among other issues.

So I can’t say that I was surprised to see that a gun rights group is challenging GOP lawmakers in the state for not doing enough.

Gun Owners Of America (GOA) Florida Director Luis Valdes says state GOP lawmakers aren’t doing enough to push forward second amendment rights in the state.

“Florida Republicans constantly campaign that they’re pro-gun and being the only thing stopping Democrats from passing gun control. But the nagging question every gun owner is asking is this. Why is it that pro-gun bills are dying under Republican leadership,” Valdes said. Read more here.

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NY Judge: The Second Amendment Doesn’t Exist Here

Tom Knighton – Bearing Arms

There’s been a case in New York that I should have been following more closely. Dexter Taylor was a hobby gunsmith. He liked the nature of putting together guns from lawfully purchased parts.

However, the state of New York disapproved of this pastime. They arrested Taylor and, on Monday, he was convicted.

My friend Jeff Charles over at our sister site RedState has been covering this case pretty much from the jump, and in his story from Monday about the sentencing, there was something we had to talk about.

You see, the judge in the case has decided that a certain right of interest to Bearing Arms readers doesn’t actually exist in her state.

From the beginning of Taylor’s trial, it was evident that the court would be biased against the defendant, according to [Taylor’s attorney, Vinoo] Varghese, who explained that two judges presided over his case before the current official, Judge Abena Darkeh, took over. Read more here.

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Op-Ed Compares ARs to Pitbulls…and Not How You Might Think

Tom Knighton / BEARING ARMS

There are a lot of people who want to outlaw dog breeds like pitbulls. Why? Because they’re supposedly dangerous. In fact, a piece at The Economist recently tried to make the case for doing so. It seems that these dogs are particularly dangerous and ordinary people can’t be trusted with them.

Sound familiar?

Yes, it’s exactly like the debate around things like the AR-15 and similar modern sporting rifles. 

In Colorado, the debate continues to rage on about these weapons, and surprisingly, an op-ed tries to compare the rifles to the dogs. While I could see many trying to make that comparison to justify banning one or the other, this author doesn’t.

The Americans who responsibly own, maintain, target shoot, and hunt with the majority of those 20 million AR-style rifles as well as the shotguns and pistols described in HB 1292 disagree. The idea…Read more here.

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