Florida Students Hold Walkout to Support 2A, Constitution

by S.H. BLANNELBERRY

Chloe Deaton on the left.  Anna Delaney on the right.  The two students responsible for organizing the pro-Constitution walkout at Rockledge High School in Florida.  Why aren’t they all over CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, NPR?

Funny how certain stories slip through the cracks and don’t garner the constant, 24/7 media attention that other stories do, right?
Part of it, sure, is money. Certain stories are stickier than others and will generate more clicks and attract more eyeballs.  (Stormy Daniels is a cash cow that has CNN laughing straight to the bank.  Do you know over 22 million people watched that Anderson Cooper interview on “60 Minutes”?  Crazy.)  Of course, another part of it is agenda. Certain stories don’t fit the mainstream media’s progressive agenda.  They are flat out ignored or underreported.
Take, for instance, the 75 students at Rockledge High School in Brevard County who walked out of class last Friday in support of the Second Amendment and the Consitution. Why weren’t these intelligent young activists given the David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez treatment?
They may not have witnessed a school shooting but they are students, and what we do or don’t do as a country to address spree killers affects them as well.  Moreover, they represent the other side of the debate.  Isn’t it the media’s job to be fair and balanced, to tell both sides?
“It’s all over the news right now that all students hate guns. I wanted to show that not all students feel that way,” Zachary Schneider, a junior at Rockledge and one of the participants in the walkout, told Florida Today.

SEE ALSO: Armed Resource Officer Stops Maryland School Shooter

Sophmore Chloe Deaton and Junior Anna Delaney organized the 20-minute demonstration.  They made it clear that it wasn’t a partisan event, rather it was simply a pro-Constitution rally.
“We were built on certain rights and that was one of the original rights, that we should have the right to bear arms,” Deaton told the group via loudspeakers.
“The Constitution does not say that government shall decree the right to keep and bear arms. The Constitution says ‘… the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,’” Deaton added, repeating a quote President Reagan gave at an NRA banquet in 1983.
Deaton and Delaney expressed disappointment when the original school walkout on March 14 was framed as an anti-gun event.  It was supposed to be a showing of solidarity for Parkland students, not a referendum on gun control.
“In the beginning, it started as a memorial to the Parkland students. And that’s how it should have stayed,” Deaton said.
No doubt that the mainstream media helped to reinforce the narrative that students were “walking out” for gun control last month.  But these students at Rockledge prove that not every young person is on board with the notion that public safety is maximized through chipping away at the 2A to ultimately deny good people the right to defend themselves in the manner they see fit.  It’s a great story.  Too bad it won’t see the light of day.

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The government is banning bump stocks. There is no grandfather clause. This is as bad as confiscation, folks. (Photo: SlideFire).

When Wayne LaPierre said on CBS’s Face the Nationthat the ATF needed to “do its job” with respect to bump stocks, one wonders if he was asking the agency to turn thousands of law-abiding gun owners into outlaws. Because that, my friends, is exactly what is happening.
If you currently own a reciprocating stock you will soon be in possession of a machine gun. Unlawful possession of a machine gun is a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison, according to the DOJ.
This is not a joke. Attorney General Jeff Sessions published a Notice for Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) last week. (I’ve embedded it below.)  If made final, possessors of “bump-stock-type devices would be required to surrender, destroy, or otherwise render the devices permanently inoperable.”
To be abundantly clear there is no grandfather clause in the NPRM.  In other words, this is confiscation on a national scale, folks.
“Since the day he took office, President Trump has had no higher priority than the safety of each and every American,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a statement.
“That is why today the Department of Justice is publishing for public comment a proposed rulemaking that would define ‘machinegun’ to include bump stock-type devices under federal law—effectively banning them,” he added.
Even for those of you who said, over and over: Who cares about bump stocks! They break if not the letter of the law than certainly the spirit of the law. They should be banned! Even you should take offense to this NPRM.
At the very least there should be a grandfather clause for bump stock owners. You have to acknowledge that.  Because criminalizing the possession of lawfully purchased firearms and accessories is infringement. It is unconstitutional. Period.
Plus, how do you not bristle at the way this whole saga unfolded?!  NRA called for “additional regulations” back in October. Trump wasted no time and kicked the movement to ban these devices into high gear. There was no pause to consider the ramifications of the policy change. Even more frightening, Trump seemed enthusiastic about getting it done.

SEE ALSO: NRA Gets Its Wish: ATF Will (Once Again) Review Legality of Bump Stocks

“By the way, bump stocks, we’re writing that out. I’m writing that out myself,” said president Trump in February.  “I don’t care if Congress does it or not. I’m writing it out myself, OK.”
And we accused Obama of ruling by executive fiat.
What’s worse is that this NPRM became a reality despite two prior determinations from the ATF saying a bump stock was a “firearm part” and not a “machinegun”; an open letter from the agency’s association admitting that ATF didn’t have the authority to ban the device, only Congress had the power to; and overwhelming public opposition.  Remember, when ATF requested public comment on the ban, 85 percent of the more than 32,000 submissions were anti-regulation.
Yet none of that mattered.  You know, when many of us screamed that this isn’t just about bump stocks, this is what we meant.  It’s about much more: the NRA belying its core mission to protect 2A rights, Trump breaking his promise to gun owners (“I’ll never let you down”), a rule turning law-abiding citizens into criminals, a regulatory agency acting as a legislative body to satisfy a political agenda.  Fundamentally, it’s about betrayal.
Some of my friends in the gun community already believe the war is lost. That it’s only a matter of time before our 2A rights are a thing of the past. Looking what has happened under GOP leadership, with a so-called gun-friendly president — at the beckoning of the nation’s preeminent gun rights group, no less — I’m having a hard time disagreeing with that assessment.
Once the NPRM is officially published by the Federal Register, there will be a 90-day comment period.  Please take the time to speak up.   Let them know that this overreach is unacceptable.  Even if you support a ban on bump stock devices, this isn’t the way to get it done.  It should have to come from Congress.  Not Trump, not Wayne LaPierre, not from the pencil pushers at the ATF.

Rep. Jeremy Faison expresses frustration with a “special kind of stupid” as one of Beth Harwell’s House committees continues to play games with his legislation on medical marijuana.
Tennessee Firearms Association wants to recognize with appreciation the frustration that has caused Rep. Jeremy Faison to finally share with the public the hard facts of trying to pass controversial legislation even when the law or facts might be otherwise clear.
His comments related to his efforts to enact “medical marijuana” legislation, a topic not normally addressed by TFA other than its impact under federal law on the 2nd Amendment rights of those who might be helped by such a law. However, his comments evidencing his frustrations with Beth Harwell’s committee leaders and system are strikingly similar to the problems that 2nd Amendment advocates have experienced repeatedly and consistently under a Republican “super majority” when led by the wrong kinds of leaders.
On March 21, Rep. Faison presented his medical marijuana legislation to the House Criminal Justice committee. The bill debate started but did not finish. Speaking to reporters after his bill was pushed off, Rep. Faison’s frustrations with the situation were evident in his comments as recorded by a local news station:
“You gotta be a special kind of stupid to not realize this helps Parkinson’s,” Faison said. “This whole notion that this is a schedule one drug, you are a special kind of ignorant human being if you think this is still a schedule one drug. That means there’s no value to human life. Holy smokes. Why don’t you tell that to all of the people who are illegally alive today that this plant has no value to them.”
Over the last 8 years, the super majority of Republicans in the Tennessee legislature have been under the total control of certain individuals who identify as Republicans. During this time bills to eliminate infringements on the 2nd Amendment and the Tennessee constitution have repeatedly been shut down in the committee system or in the Senate under the thumb of the Lt. Governor and Judiciary chairman Brian Kelsey.
Sadly, those conspiring in the shenanigans and stunts often rely heavily on representatives from law enforcement, Haslam’s administration, the TBI, and the Department of Safety rather than to rely on the single sentence comprising the 2nd Amendment.
What bill topics have they killed?
– constitutional carry
– permitless open carry
– permitless concealed carry
– eliminate gun free zones
– decriminalize the posting statute relative to private property
– holding businesses and government agencies that post “no guns” liable to individuals injured as a result of those policies
– prohibit 2nd Amendment based discrimination by local governments
– allow citizens to have private rights of action against government officials over 2nd Amendment violations
– exempt permit holders from the TICS/NICS system
– eliminate the TICS system (at a cost of over $5,000,000 per year to gun owners) and proceed under the NICS system
– failures to treat all “citizens” equally relative to the rights of self-defense, carrying of arms, and reciprocity
– true restoration of rights on entry of a court order of restoration or pardon
– allow school employees who want to carry to do so
– campus carry for college students
– campus carry for parents and adults
– eliminate inclusion of antique weapons as a “firearm” so that state and federal definitions are consistent; and
– enforce the 10th Amendment against federal infringements of the 2nd Amendment
… just to name a few.
Now, not all gun owners may be 100% on all of these issues.  That’s ok – that is how a constitutional republic works.
However, it is critical to understand that through stunts and shenanigans by leadership and the committee chairs over the last 8 years these issues are not even getting to the floors of the respective houses for consideration and debate by all legislators.  That is outright disenfranchisement of the voters because probably 80%-90% of the elected legislators in the last 8 years have never had the opportunity or the duty to debate or to vote and be held accountable on these topics.  Sadly, that same 80-90% have never acted in unison to demand that these issues be put before them on the floors of the House or Senate.
What can you say about 8 years of votes, stonewalling, stunts, shenanigans and dereliction in a system set up and controlled by the Legislative leadership to make sure that these bills are never openly heard and debated on the House or Senate floors by all elected representatives and senators?
Do they not understand that these issues implicate constitutionally protected rights?  Do they not understand that these issues directly impact the capacity for individuals to defend themselves, their spouses, their families and friends? Do they not understand that keeping, bearing and wearing arms are not just about hunting or recreational activities?
Borrowing from Rep. Faison’s frustrations on medical marijuana should we now be asking if these legislators who are at fault for these shenanigans and abuses are a “special kind of stupid” or a “special kind of ignorant”?  Is it something even worse than failing to comprehend the constitutional significance?  Is it something worse than ignoring campaign promises?  Is it a willingness to disenfranchise the citizens of 80-90% of the state whose elected legislators are never called upon to consider and vote on these issues?
Again, TFA applauds the enthusiasm that Rep. Faison has shown on a topic that is clearly important to him and on which he is trying get a vote. TFA applauds Rep. Faison for looking past the stonewalling and raising the important question for voters and citizens of whether such failures are special stupidity, special ignorance or something else.
If you are tired of the stonewalling, the shenanigans, the disenfranchisement that has been the standard operating procedures under Beth Harwell’s leadership – then you need to be doing something about it.  Call your legislators and demand that all 2nd Amendment bills be brought to the floor this year – this election year.  Go ahead – demand it because our bet is that they will simply listen but not do it.  Then, after they have been given a chance we encourage you to go to the polls in August and vote to replace those who have conspired to disenfranchise you, those who have ignored the constitution and those who have stood by as mere spectators while their peers have so clearly chosen to keep these important issues from public hearings, debate and consideration by all elected legislators.
Let your voice be heard and contact your legislators.  You can identify your legislators on this website tool.