Category: Gun Control
Mossberg Terminates Relationship with Dick’s Sporting Goods
NORTH HAVEN, CT – O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., a leading American firearms manufacturer, announced today its decision to discontinue selling products to Dick’s Sporting Goods, and its subsidiary, Field & Stream, in response to their hiring of gun control lobbyists in April 2018.
Effective immediately, O.F. Mossberg & Sons will not accept any future orders from Dick’s Sporting Goods or Field & Stream, and is in the process of evaluating current contractual agreements.
“It has come to our attention that Dick’s Sporting Goods recently hired lobbyists on Capitol Hill to promote additional gun control.” said Iver Mossberg, Chief Executive Officer of O.F. Mossberg & Sons. “Make no mistake, Mossberg is a staunch supporter of the U.S. Constitution and our Second Amendment rights, and we fully disagree with Dick’s Sporting Goods’ recent anti-Second Amendment actions.” Read more
NSSF Expels Dick’s Sporting Goods
The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industries, Board of Governors today unanimously voted to expel Dick’s Sporting Goods from membership for conduct detrimental to the best interests of the Foundation.
Dick’s Sporting Goods recently hired a Washington D.C.-based government affairs firm, for “[l]obbying related to gun control.” Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Edward W. Stack announced earlier this year the retail chain would end sales of modern sporting rifles, voluntarily raise the age to 21 to purchase firearms in their stores and called for more restrictive legislation. Dick’s later announced they would destroy the remaining modern sporting rifle inventory. NSSF responded that business decisions should be individually made, but was nonetheless disappointed and the decision does not reflect the reality of the vast majority of law-abiding gun owners.
Springfield Armory Cuts Dick’s, Field & Stream
GENESEO, IL, (05/03/18) – Springfield Armory is severing ties with Dick’s Sporting Goods and its subsidiary, Field & Stream, in response to their hiring a group for anti-Second Amendment lobbying.
This latest action follows Dick’s Sporting Goods’ decision to remove and destroy all modern sporting rifles (MSR) from their inventory. In addition, they have denied Second Amendment rights to Americans under the age of 21. We at Springfield Armory believe that all law abiding American citizens of adult age are guaranteed this sacred right under our Constitution.
It is clear where Dick’s Sporting Goods and its subsidiary, Field & Stream, stand on the Second Amendment, and we want to be clear about our message in response. Their position runs counter to what we stand for as a company. At Springfield Armory, we believe in the rights and principles fought for and secured by American patriots and our founding forefathers, without question. We will not accept Dick’s Sporting Goods’ continued attempts to deny Second Amendment freedoms to our fellow Americans.
Rights, Needs, and the Second Amendment Pondered
By Glen Wunderlich
To safeguard individual liberty, the State of Virginia became the last to approve the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791, thus limiting government’s power over its citizens. Today’s protesters have called on government to “do something” about guns and point to retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ recent cry to abolish the Second Amendment. Well countrymen and women, there’s an “app” to do just that. What’s missing in any discussions, however, seems to be some basic understanding of the process to repeal an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as the reasons why so many Americans find the notion utterly revolting when their liberties are under attack.
The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States). In today’s divide – evidenced at every turn in government – it’s difficult to comprehend any such agreement on anything, let alone something as drastic as limiting foundational, unalienable rights of self-protection. Yet, our Forefathers have provided a roadmap that cannot be superseded by any amount of bellyaching alone.
Rationale for gun owners to own a particular type of firearm or sheer numbers of them is often heard in sentences beginning with the words, “Why do you need…?” It’s a bogus question, it’s irrational, and a non-starter for any sensible discussion about guns. Here’s why.
The psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a theory suggesting humans are motivated to satisfy five basic needs, the first of which relates to issues of survival. While many folks today may focus more on pay and benefits to satisfy their most basic needs, others see survival in a more literal sense. On June 27, 2005 the Supreme Court ruled, once again, that police have no constitutional duty to protect a person from harm. That duty and its inherent stark reality, therefore, rest on the shoulders of individuals. That’s where the “need” for guns begins for so many of us. What type and how many become no more than personal preference for various situations. Yet, the desire to own even more guns goes deeper than that.
Many people will invest in firearms and knives as alternatives to antique vehicles, gold, or other forms of capital; others keep them for myriad hunting purposes. Firearms in a general sense were not always the best of investments, however, increasing in value at a lesser rate than inflation in years gone by. But we’ve witnessed the fact that as protesters protest and politicians push for infringements on Second Amendment protections, demand for firearms increases proportionately.
Consider the Obama administration years as a prime example of this economic reality and incessant talk about banning certain types of guns. The total economic impact of the firearms and ammunition industry in the United States increased from $19.1 billion in 2008 to $51.4 billion in 2017, a 169 percent increase, while the total number of full-time equivalent jobs rose from approximately 166,000 to almost 310,000, an 87 percent increase in that period, according to a recent report released by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry’s trade association. There has been no better gun salesman than President Obama and his minions in the history of this country and it occurred in an otherwise downward economy!
So, for those that desire change, you have it. Tens of millions more firearms are in the hands of law-abiding American citizens since the failed enactment of the “assault weapons” ban of 1994. If “no more guns” means confiscation, just how will it be implemented? How will they be gotten from criminals? And, how will anyone prevent basement manufacture or black market trade?
So, if anyone wants to begin an honest discussion about guns, let’s begin with some honest reality and not mere hyperbole so prevalent today.
AFT Severs Relationship with Wells Fargo over Guns
WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten announced today that the union would cut ties with Wells Fargo, after CEO Tim Sloan failed to follow up on meeting with the union to discuss the bank’s relationship with the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers. Read more
Teachers’ Union Calls for “Investor Action” on Guns
“We have a gun violence epidemic in our country, and our children and their teachers are caught in the crosshairs of this public health emergency,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “Educators, parents and students need safe and welcoming schools, and educators have a right to assume their deferred wages are not being invested in the companies that make the military-style assault weapons used to injure and kill them and their students in countless school shootings.”
Weingarten added, “When companies produce a dangerous product that creates a national public health and safety crisis, that company becomes a high-risk investment and people have the right to know. This report is about exposing that risk and providing pension trustees and investment managers with the tools they need to demand meaningful action.” Read more
SAF Sues Illinois Agency Over Day Care Operators’ Gun Rights
BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on behalf of two Prairie State residents, alleging deprivation of civil rights under color of law.
Michigan Supreme Court Hears School Preemption Cases
This past Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court heard oral arguments in MGO v. Ann Arbor and MOC v. Clio. At issue in the cases is whether schools, as local units of government, are subject preemption by the State of Michigan preventing them from creating and enforcing their own firearms restrictions. While MCL 28.425o prevents concealed carry in schools, MCL 750.237a provides an exemption for concealed pistol license holders, allowing a CPL holder to openly carry. MCL 123.1102 prevents local units of government in Michigan from enacting their own firearms regulations, a law that has been supported by Michigan courts in past cases, most notably MCRGO v. Ferndale in 2003.