Gabby Giffords, the founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions.
Have you heard of the Law Enforcement Commission for Common Sense (LECCS)?
Probably not. I hadn’t either. It’s a coalition of active and retired law enforcement “leaders” (another word for “big city elites”) that was assembled by Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly to do the bidding of their anti-gun organization Americans for Responsible Solutions.
Last week, LECCS sent out a letter calling on Congress to oppose the Hearing Protection Act.
“As longtime law enforcement professionals, we have seen the horrific results of dangerous weapons falling into the wrong hands,” LECCS said in the letter.
“The deregulation of firearm silencers through the SHARE Act or the Hearing Protection Act would only make these results more common and often more fatal,” it continued.
“We urge you to reject any reckless attempt to remove silencers from the NFA, including the SHARE Act and the Hearing Protection Act, and help us to keep American communities safe,” concluded the letter.
Perhaps the group needs to change its name from the commission for common sense to the commission with head up butt. Criminals don’t use suppressors despite the fact that they are widely available (over 900,000 in circulation in the U.S. as of 2016) and easy to make. There is a reason for this and it has nothing to do with gun laws or the National Firearms Act.
Handguns are the preferred weapon of criminals. To give you an idea, a study by the DOJ concluded that 90 percent of all nonfatal firearm victimizations were committed with a handgun from 1993 to 2011. Over that same period of time, between 70 to 80 percent of firearm homicides were committed with handguns.
There is a reason for this. It is because pistols are concealable. Easy to hide from the po-po and easy to hide from Johnny gangster, that other drug peddler from that rival gang. Placing a seven-inch suppressor on the end of a carry piece not only makes it difficult to conceal strutting in the streets, it also makes it harder to deploy when one has to fend off Johnny gangster when he runs up on one’s corner. Dumping it when cops are hot on one’s tail is more difficult too.
Bottom line: suppressors aren’t conducive to criminal activity. Ergo, criminals don’t use em. That’s common sense (and maybe part of the reason why Europe has more permissive suppressor laws than we do). Because make no mistake, if criminals wanted gun mufflers the NFA isn’t going to stop them from obtaining em just as the hundreds of other laws on the books didn’t stop them from copping the carry piece that’s currently in their pocket or tucked into the small of their back.
The other point they raised, that de-regulating suppressors would lead to more gun crime, is completely laughable. Suppressors aren’t going to deepen the desire of violent criminals to be more violent nor is it going to impel them to break the law more often. What will? Creating soft targets. Disarming the good guys and weakening our right to keep and bear arms. You know, all the stuff that Americans for Responsible Solutions stands for.
Anyways, the LECCS arguments against silencers have no merit. We can only hope that Congress sees their logic for what it is, complete B.S.
So .. more ignorance.. grand
Tabled indefinitely aka don’t even think about it!
Whatever.
As a friend to several retired and active LEO’S, I asked and they ALL responded that they weren’t worried in the least about Suppressors.
Their biggest worry is the little punk with nothing to lose and a stolen gun.
AND the revolving door system that allows that punk back on the street to continue his ways, and who now realizes he would rather shoot them than go back to prison.
‘Symbolism over substance’ is the rallying cry of the Left Wing socialists.
More crime means more money to them, and more people will cry for more laws, furthering their agenda of ‘people control’.
As a retired LEO I can say Alan’s comments are spot on! Suppressors DON’T completely muffle the sound like one sees on tv or the movies. What it will do is help lower the decibels and allow those that have to shoot guns for a living or those who enjoy shooting recreationally to not have to worry about loosing their hearing. It won’t raise the crime rate as they want to make people to believe. Criminals are going to use what they want regardless of the law! Same holds true to Short Barrel Rifles (SBR).
If it involves Gabby Gifford’s or any of the rest of the ANTI 2A loonies its BS. The ANTI 2A group all went to different schools together. And to the hollywood elites that think they are on some power trip to tell everyone else whats good for them FU too.
Okay, one last post and I’ll drop this hijacking of a thread-
I have seen LEO’s on TV utter this statement many, many times, and it has always bothered me-
“The highest priority for me as a LEO is to get home every night safely”
Sounds completely reasonable, doesn’t it? I mean, nobody wants to go to a job where the highest priority is to get shot with someone exotic, and die gloriously. I mean, most of us want to live for a long, long,time.
Now listen to a similar sentiment- from an imaginary Ranger on the eve of deployment-
“The highest priority for me as a soldier and an officer is to get back every night safely”
For anyone who has ever heard bullets close overhead fired by a rampant agrarian reformer, while on the face it sounds reasonable, it is in fact ridiculous…sorry, but part of your job is to get shot at. If you’re good at your job, you won’t get hit-maybe. Sometimes, military commanders need fertilizer for the tree of liberty. Sometimes, it’s our job to dig the hole, then jump in and cover ourselves up and start decomposing (R Heinlein, 194X).
Now, law enforcement is different – or at least it used to be. Nowadays, it’s hard to tell police from soldiers on looks alone. But one thing that absolutely separates them now – the LEO attitude that they have a “right” to live..
Sorry, but you also picked a job where part of it is to get shot at. That’s why the state has given you almost absolute power over the average citizenry, including the power and ability to take life and defend it, along with just about every tool in the military toolkit except for nukes (at least, not yet). It’s the reason there are extra penalties for damaging or harassing officers- not because you are special, or because you are armed – it is because you are the embodyment of the state and it’s authority over it’s citizens-THAT”S what makes you special. It’s also the reason you might not make it home at night-
It’d be refreshing to hear something like this instead-
“My main priority is to make sure I keep my constituancy as safe as possible. Of course, to acheive my objective, I have to make sure to protect myself to the utmost ability unless called upon to make a sacrifice.”
I have never heard anything like this on TV – and I’ve watched 25 YEARS worth of COPS…
So, LEO’s maybe you could come up with a better soundbite that doesn’t sound like you’re only there for the pretty uniform and a paycheck? One that includes protecting the general public along with yourselves? Or maybe just stop using this soundbite at all? Your constituency (us) would really appreciate the idea that we should have just as much chance as you to “go home”…
“It ain’t easy being a patriot”
Well, after a little looking, found the “official” oath of office and code of ethics on the IACP website-not very impressive-pretty watered down-
http://www.theiacp.org/oathofhonor
http://www.theiacp.org/codeofethics
I also found a LEO website where they discussed the ceremony. Most could not remember what they swore to, or did not think it important. One respondent referred to the oath as “Suits, tie, raise the right hand, yada yada… much ado about nothing, IMO. ”
https://forum.officer.com/forum/public-forums/ask-a-cop/176708-getting-sworn-in-to-a-police-department-what-occurs
Since I took the oath at AAFES Los Angeles around 22:30 after a day starting at 3:00 AM (no chow, all day, either), I was a little fuzzy – but I still remember it AS THE MOST IMPORTANT INSTANT IN MY LIFE !!!!!! More important than my marraiges, more important than anything I’d ever done – don’t have kids, so this is what I have to offer, my allegiance and my life.
I still remember the room, and the other swearees in attendance, the smells and the complete, astounding silence as we contemplated those final, awful, beautiful words we were swearing to. It’s been 40 years…
“I swear, on my honor, to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. To protect and defend it from all enemies, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
The most important thing I have ever done…
There is no expiration date – you are hereby a defender of the Constitution until you die. That’s what we swear to-
SO – what have you sworn to? And does YOUR honor mean anything to you? Or have you ever uttered these words to a suspect – “What are you, some kind of constitutionalist?”
If ever asked, I will answer proudly “Hell Yes!” (except I’ll probably use language that won’t make it on this site)…
And then I’ll probably be off to the pokey-
“It ain’t easy being a patriot”
Amen to that. I agree with you on the LEO sentiment and wrote a similar piece a few years ago after that Marine was shot 61 times by a swat raid and the kid had just returned from Iraq, in his home and in bed. His wife hollers at hime that people with guns are running around outside, so he grabs his AR, SWAT bust in and shoots him 61 times in his own home as IF he didnt have a right to defend his home.
I LOVE and respect LEO’s. However, as you stated, they signed up for the job and that job includes taking deadly RISK. As much as we all want to live and get home, being an LEO give’s them no more right to life than that innocent Marine in his own home. A person has the right to defend their home and a 2 second knock as you open the door and kill me, DOES NOT constitute me knoming you are a COP.
I called for the ending of the use of SWAT warrant raids.on people not considered or ever convicted or even suspected of a deadly crime. This kids cousin was suspected of possible drug sells, NOT him.
This is approx 3or4 yrs later and most warrant raids have changed now, Thank God. But everyone is safer now I believe. Even the LEO.
God Bless us ALL
While contemplating life, I noticed one thing. I have never seen a police department that finishes that statement-
“To protect and serve”
Protect and serve what? Law enforcement has already been let off the hook by the Supreme Court, and BY LAW are not responsible for the protection of individuals.
“To protect and serve”
What they are sworn to protect is the state, and the status quo. Not that that’s a bad thing, I like the status quo for the most part. But don’t for a minute believe that they are sworn to protect and serve you, because they aren’t.
Don’t believe they’ll deny the state if the state decides to abandon the Constitution – the state is their master, their boss, their protector and their patron. Individual officers may honor a higher calling (the Constitution), but their organizations will cease to exist without funding from the state. The organization has no standing other than that provided by the state.
Does anyone know the current swearing in ceremony for peace officers? Do they swear allegiance to the Constitution like we do in the military? This is of vital importance – in the military, we don’t swear allegiance to a person, a position (like the president), nor a group (Congress? The Supremes?), nor any current or past government- we swear allegiance to an ideal, to the idea that free men can and should govern themselves as they see fit, and throw off the chains of oppression whenever they start to bind. We swear allegiance to the Constitution, and BTW – this allegiance does not expire at the end of enlistment – not for any brother serviceman I’ve ever known.
Whenever I see that statement “Protect and Serve” now, I cringe a little. Some Dept’s have even moved away from that small guarantee of protection, and moved to something like “Service with Concern”, which is what I want from a waitress, not a public servant.
So to all the LEO’s out there – what do you think about this? What do you believe in? What have you sworn YOUR allegiance to? And since many LEO’s are ex military, which master will you serve? The Constitution? Or the one that sends you a check every month?
They are LEOs, so they will argue for any point that will increase the police state. I firmly believe that police unions have turned our LEOs into nothing more than a nation wide gang, thugs that cover for each other. Remember how the Teamsters were? Well the police are getting there. Do away with police unions and let the police work individually via contract for the city.
When a cop screws up, who gets sued, the union or the city?? There you go.
“Police in the United States managed to escape prosecution when facing allegations they violated civil rights an incredible 96 percent of the time. This is almost the exact opposite of the conviction rate for everyone else, as normal citizens are are prosecuted at a rate of 93 percent.
It’s time for all Americans to demand their public servants be held to the same standard as the people” they claim to ‘serve’ & ‘protect’”
Lee- What makes you think the members of the Law Enforcement Commission for Common Sense (LECCS) are LEOs or that they have any connection whatever to police unions? I’d hazard a guess that those commission members- the article here describes them as “leaders”- are administrators who happen to administer police agencies. Claiming they are police is like claiming that hospital administrators and clerks at medical insurance firms are “health care professionals.” They may work in the industry but would anyone go to them to receive medical treatment?
By the way, I just googled that commission and guess what? In the top 40 or so hits received (out of 1,280,000 hits generated) just ONE referred specifically to the LECCS and that one didn’t link to a LECCS website but to a bearingarms.com article about the letter! Google AMA or FOP and what pops up in first place? Websites for the American Medical Association and the Fraternal Order of Police.
One last thing- that bearingarms.com article listed all twenty (20 not 2000 or even 200) signatories to that letter and here they are:
Commissioner John Barbieri, Springfield Police Department, Springfield, MA
Commissioner Charles Ramsey (Ret.), Philadelphia Police Department, Philadelphia PA
Director B. Todd Jones (Ret.), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Sheriff Mike Reese, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Multnomah County, OR
Sheriff Lupe Valdez, Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, Dallas, TX
Chief Andrew Bidou, Vallejo Police Department, Vallejo, CA
Chief Jim Bueermann (Ret.), President, Police Foundation, Washington, DC
Chief Robert Champagne (Ret.), Peabody Police Department, Peabody, MA
Chief Louis Dekmar, LaGrange Police Department, LaGrange, GA
Chief Ivan Fossen (Ret.), Glenwood Police Department, Glenwood, MN
Chief Michael Gahagan, Caribou Police Department, Caribou, ME
Chief Jeffrey Hadley, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, Kalamazoo, MI
Chief Scott Knight, Chaska Police Department, Chaska, MN
Chief Ron Louie (Ret.), Hillsboro Police Department, Hillsboro, OR
Chief Chris Magnus, Tucson Police Department, Tucson, AZ
Chief James Moore, Rocky Mount Police Department, Rocky Mount, NC
Chief Kathleen O’Toole, Seattle Police Department, Seattle, WA
Chief Michael Sauschuck, Portland Police Department, Portland, ME
Chief Paul Schnell, Maplewood Police Department, Maplewood, MN
Chief Henry Stawinski, Prince George’s County Police Department, Prince George’s County, MD
Do you see any real police in that list? I sure don’t. I see politicians who were either appointed to their position or won a local election.
“As longtime law enforcement professionals, we have seen the horrific results of dangerous weapons falling into the wrong hands,” LECCS said in the letter.
Dangerous weapons? These are supposed to be LEO’s and they don’t even understand the difference between a noise suppressor and a “dangerous weapon”? Bought and paid for buy the left! And do they suppose that suppressors will just be sold over the counter at Wallyworld to anyone? Give me a damn break. I wonder if any of these people actually ever saw or used a suppressor. I wonder how many violent crimes they investigated where one was used. In 61 years, I don’t remember a single news report EVER stating that a suppressor was used in a crime. The left still thinks they completely “silence” a shot rather than just reduce the noise to a non-damaging level.
LEOs are becoming more and more anti gun, anti 2nd Amendment, and anti citizen. However they are also becoming a more overt danger to the general public. The BLM vs cop issue fault lies with both groups. Cops are OFTEN mean-assed, big-mouthed bullies. They cheat, lie, steal, do and sell drugs, rape and murder as well as roam the streets whore mongering. To bad a cop has to murder someone in cuffs while sitting on top of them. And also too bad a cop can’t sit in his car and eat a sandwich without being assassinated. The drug dealer in St. Louis was a drug dealer. They are criminals. That is their job/trade. He should have been arrested, tried and sentenced to the max. But NOT shot 5 to 7 times and murdered. The gun in the dealers car was proved to have been planted by the sorry ass cop. DNA proof. I thought that would be a felony. If I planted evidence to cover a murder I would be sentenced to hell and back. Nothing will ever get any better as long as the leaders, enforcers, politicians get the same punishment as you, me and all others. Hell, Paul Ryan is a traitor to the U. S. Constitution and America. John, the traitor, McCain too and hundreds of others. They are more dangerous than a damn drug dealer. And Obama should be arrested, tried, sentenced and put in front of a firing squad for his treason and murder of our military and the lie at Benghazi. Oh, forgot Hillary bitch.
I live about forty miles west of St. Louis and I am glad the heroin dealer was killed. I wish they would kill all heroin dealers and maybe that would save some lives. When you say the cop put the gun in Anthony’s Smith’s car you are spreading a false narrative. Did you even watch the video? So what if the cop’s DNA is on the gun? That does not take away the fact that Smith had the gun in his possession. I could give a couple examples of why the gun did not have Anthony Smith’s DNA on it but I am not going to waste my time. As far as the BLM movement goes they don’t give two shits about black lives. If they did they would grow a backbone and go into North St. Louis and confront the people that keep killing black lives, which is other black people. And comparing the cops to the BLM being the same is ignorant. How many times have you seen the cops burn down a city in the name of a no good thug? I could give about another fifty examples of how the BLM movement are terrorists compared to the cops but it would also be a waste of my time.
Well the begining of the article says it all and these stupid, libtards still cant see or hear it. If these fall into the wrong hands can you imagine what would happen. Well most free living good people, that wish to not only protect themselves and their ears etc. are not the wrong hands. Regardless of what anyone thinks of it is on the market and falls into the wrong hands most likely it could be used for something illegal or dangerous, does that mean we should make just about everything illegal. Example gasoline, matches, cans, Puerto Ricans, as in New York, long before most today were born, a young man got upset at a dance club, left went and bought a gas can and some gas, and then went back an proceeded to burn the building down. I forget the number that died that day, but it was quite high. So in the wrong hands is not a strong arguement. I bet the numbers of those that would use these without harming anyone else or in the act of a crime are probably about the same as those that own guns, and do the same.
Far too many “ignorant” comments. That said, we all know the LEO suits are jerks and the shoeshine boys for the Democrat fat cats and big city politicians. Congress knows that too. Buying a suppressor in the same manner as a firearm is a fantastic development. I hope it passes.
Comments on Gabby Giffords appearance are the work of ignorant vulgarians who perhaps are plants or gun grabbers trying to make every gun owner look like trash. If she stuck her hand in a lawn mower she might be the type who would be trying to outlaw lawn mowers. Regardless, she suffered terribly and all I can offer is that she paid the price required of some so the many can live in a free society. JMHO
Pass the bill, reduce the noise and related injuries from it.
Great point! Hearing damage is an INJURY, and one that will never heal. The left ignores that point because they see too many violent Hollyweird movies where suppressors (or “Silencers” as they call them) are commonly used in crimes, so it must be true in real life too.
Well this old school street cop says every free man should own at least one.
The article says that the silencer can be bought without Any background check! WRONG! The bill stipulates that selling a silencer, the lefts term, requires that a 4473 be filled out and submitted to the ATF. It will be the same requirement as buying a firearms. More lies from the left.
I’d like to see a list of the members of this organization’s supposed “long time law enforcement professionals” Probably “suits” who have not worked the streets.
Hand guns are used because they are easily concealed. A hand gun with a silencer is not easily concealed. I doubt criminals even care about the gun report.
Well the good news, is we have the internet, so at least it is easy to root out these phony groups that Bloomberg and company are creating to carry the ball for them.
Back in the old days, any idiot with a fax machine could claim to be an industry group, committee, research organization, etc. and the media would jump on their “proof” and make it front page news if it agreed with their liberal template/agenda. At least now, it take a couple of minutes to see that the emperor has no clothes.
In a way, this shows their desperation, as they know we have a chance to chip away and maybe even eliminate the entire NFA. One “Civil Rights” Act could remove all local gun control and truly make all American’s equal before the law and restore their denied constitutional rights.
What happens to their agenda and their credibility when the people of New York City have their rights restored and can carry firearms openly or concealed without a permit as the Constitution demands??? We know from all the other states, starting with Florida, that the streets will not run red with blood.
Even shooting up the Republican Congressional baseball game with another false flag operation didn’t more the political ball for them. They must be going crazy (ier)
They are afraid, GOOD.
The best way to “combat” the uniformed and/or the misguided snowflakes out there is to continue to vote for elected officials who are of the same mindset as you are (and remember – Bloomberg, et al, only has one vote – let him spend his millions as he pleases because research shows his efforts aren’t changing the other side’s inclination to vote for true American candidates). That requires a bit of research on our part to make sure we are not voting in RINOs like Paul Ryan. Additionally, if you have a bit of “disposable” income, donate to the NRA, or the GOA, or Judicial Watch, or your local or state pro-gun organizations. They have a tremendous impact on critical local and state elections. And finally – be polite and informative and talk to your friends, neighbors, relatives, or co-workers who may not be as pro-gun as you are. Let them hear our side of the issue and maybe that will turn some voters. And by the way – I retired after 25 years in the criminal justice system and found that most line staff don’t agree with the talking heads in their agencies who spew nonsensical propaganda about suppressors. Those guys are just looking for another form of “pay check” and never had any real concern for the uniforms.
Ryan hunts deer with an AR-10. He is on our side where guns are concerned.
Too funny “commission with head up butt”
By the way, nobody focuses on deaths of the people that day at Gabbys rally. Media only covers her and her libtard astronaut husband. They people would have been able to take out the active shooter..
I remember when douche bag Mark Kelly went into a gun store to show how “easy” it was to buy a gun. From now on, any store owner if you have any knowledge of a liberal trying to purchase a gun, refuse service. Tell em to stick it up there butt.
Look, the totalitarian anti-2/A gang knows all of the above better than most so-called Pro Gun Patriots. Unlike the Neuropathic NRA , The gun grabber Nazi agenda requires, however, that there be no compromise, no equivocation, and no ‘deals’ on their efforts of total disarmament of the populate. Because they know that for every gain we make against gun control, there could be a slippery slope for freedom in the opposite direction. Like the next act we get passed might chip away at another part of the unconstitutional NFA or 68 GCA like making SBRs and full autos legal again. Or maybe, GAWD Forbid, even repeal the entire unconstitutional National Firearms Act itself!
The other angle of their opposition scam is to create ‘leverage’ in the vote to affect a typical NRA lobby compromise on the bill. They also know that to preserve the NRA’s lucrative lobbying and fund raising scam, they’ll compromise their own mothers to get ‘something’ passed that looks like a win, when it really isn’t.
So they’ll concede and compromise by agreeing to having so called background checks on purchasers of silencers, a simple tube hardly much different than a flash hider that requires no registration, which by now everybody should know are nothing less than de facto future confiscation registrations, as long as John Q. Sheeple can forgo the Federal Tax Stamp. Wow, what a great fucking deal?
And the anti-gun coalition gets the real victory. They know that people who flock to buy silencers then must also have plenty of guns. They’ll now have lists of those who always purchased privately and never used a 4473. HAhahahHAH! GOTCHA AGAIN DUMBASSES.
Guess what department is now in control of gun permits? Yep, department of Home Land Security. My past gun permit information was pass to the big Fed. So they already have their list of normal people that follow the laws that possess firearms and are in many cases are aware of the fact the internal security of the U.S. has been compromised by the global elites and dictators. What good do boarders do if the threat is inside and in control?
Typical scum cops. Aim for the head.
Disgusts me to see LEO’s willing to be bought by these agenda driven elite scumbags and political sorts! You cant find a more guilty criminal than the Globalist elites and leftist/socialists. I know I’m not telling anyone here a bit of new info but just have to vent sometimes, the leftists have really turned into a nasty anti America group of corrupt thugs lately thats darn near reached 1776 territory
You Leo is already bought and has been. And the democrat leftist have always been a nasty anti American thugs. Remember the kkk?
Giffords had a pea-brain before she was shot by a fellow libtard….nothing changed except her elevated libtard status after being shot.
She asked a General in a hearing once if the Army prepared plans before a battle to protect the environment where the battle was taking place. Truth is often funnier than fiction.
Hmm, she’s getting fat and is kind of looking like Hilary in that pic. Sexy!
Well, ya didn’t expect her to support it did ya?