Category: Hope

Trump Order on Second Amendment Raises Hopes and Questions

Ammoland Inc. Posted on  by 
"President Trump Signs EO to Protect 2A Rights Orders DOJ to review '21-'25 actions that may infringe on 2A rights. Directs a plan to safeguard lawful gun ownership. Investigates agency overreach, firearm rules & enforcement policies. SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED." (The White House/Facebook)
“President Trump Signs EO to Protect 2A Rights Orders DOJ to review ’21-’25 actions that may infringe on 2A rights. Directs a plan to safeguard lawful gun ownership. Investigates agency overreach, firearm laws & enforcement policies. SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.” (The White House/Facebook)

“The Second Amendment is an indispensable safeguard of security and liberty.  It has preserved the right of the American people to protect ourselves, our families, and our freedoms since the founding of our great Nation,” President Donald Trump declared Friday in a highly anticipated executive order. “Because it is foundational to maintaining all other rights held by Americans, the right to keep and bear arms must not be infringed.”

Such a presidential action stirs the hopes of gun owners who have been wondering when Donald Trump would acknowledge the unequivocal promises he’s made to them on the campaign trail.

“Every single Biden attack on gun owners and manufacturers will be terminated on my very first week back in office, perhaps my very first day,” he pledged to an on-its-feet, approval-roaring crowd attending NRA’s Feb. 2024 Presidential Forum at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg’s Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex. Yet it’s taken almost three weeks since his inauguration to even mention the Second Amendment, leading some of us, including Gun Owners of America, to ask “Why?” when he’s found time to address many priorities that, while important, could hardly be deemed “foundational to maintaining all other rights.”

Gun owners’ confidence was further tested with Trump’s selection of Pam Bondi as attorney general. Her tenure as Florida’s top law enforcer was marked by support for many of the same citizen disarmament edicts being pushed by the gun prohibition lobby, including due process-denying “red flag laws,” a gun ban for 18-20-year olds, a bump stock ban, and Florida’s unconstitutional ban on open carry. And disappointment was high when Senate Republicans didn’t even broach the Second Amendment during her confirmation hearing, leaving that line of questioning to gun-grabbing Democrats. Bondi  didn’t help by following up her assertion that “I am pro-Second Amendment. I have always been pro-Second Amendment,” with “I will follow the laws of my state of Florida and our country, of course.”

On Wednesday, Bondi issued a memorandum to Justice Department employees that, among other things, ordered:

To free up resources to address more pressing priorities, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) shall shift resources from its Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement Programs to focus on matters relating to the other priorities set forth herein. No resources shall be diverted from ATF’s regulatory responsibilities, such as federal firearms licenses and background checks.

That doesn’t sound like much relief for gun owners is planned, but it does make fair the question “What else does ‘such as’ include?”

President Trump’s executive order appears to address that, ordering Bondi, among other things, to examine all executive infringements, especially including those enacted during the Joe Biden administration, and come up with and  “work with the Domestic Policy Advisor to finalize a plan of action and establish a process for implementation.”

“This historic move sets the stage for a broader restoration of Second Amendment rights,” Gun Owners of America cheered.  “GOA is thrilled to see President Trump delivering on the promises he made to gun owners across America, starting with this executive order initiating a whole-of-government approach to restoring gun rights.”

It is a hopeful development. But – and there’s that word – it’s important to keep a realistic check on expectations, and I would be remiss not to identify some potential concerns raised in Section 4 of Trump’s order, in particular. It won’t affect executive authority and “is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States…”

That’s something to keep an eye on, because it will be shaped by Bondi’s and Trump’s inclinations, which we’ve seen from past actions and statements aren’t always the same as those of Second Amendment advocates. That can also be said for the Domestic Policy Advisor, Vince Haley, a former Newt Gingrich aide and Trump speechwriter whom the president elect named as Director of the Domestic Policy Council last November.

There’s not much relevant “gun” information on Haley except to note VoteSmart has a 2015 entry saying  he “was rated 86% by the National Rifle Association.” That does not scream “Gun Guy!” or suggest he’d be informed or invested enough to question anything Bondi brings to him, and that’s something to watch for.

What would help head off disappointments would be  for Trump to replace the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, headed by Kamala Harris and populated with leading anti-gunners, with the Office of Second Amendment Protection, chaired by Vice President JD Vance and advised by the Gun Owners for Trump coalition introduced in the presidential campaign to attract gun owner votes. Let them have the president’s ear — and us have theirs — and gun owners could help the administration avoid some of the letdowns of  the past and start making real progress.

Trump’s Second Amendment order is a good first step. It’s up to us to keep him on the path and walking in the right direction.

‘Don’t be Fooled’ by Iran’s ‘Bogus Election of a Puppet President’ Holding out misleading hope to the West’s gullible leaders.

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SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/dont-be-fooled-by-irans-bogus-election-of-a-puppet-president/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

[Order David Horowitz’s new book, America Betrayed, HERE.]

As Robert Spencer stated earlier on Jihad Watch: “No one can run for the presidency of Iran without Khamenei’s approval.”  Iran’s constitutional body, the Guardian Council, has confirmed the victory of so-called “reformist” Masoud Pezeshkian, who will now succeed the late hardline President Ebrahim Raisi, but expect little change.

Elections in Iran are hardly democratic. The Supreme Leader, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Guardian Council disqualify any contender for the presidency who may be deemed a threat to the regime.

The outcome of the presidential election reveals Iran’s strategic direction. Pezeshkian serves to potentially pacify domestic and international threats via his diplomatic demeanor. The Iranian regime faces international disapproval of its brazen hardline approach as it moves toward developing a nuclear bomb; Western scrutiny over its ongoing war against the state of Israel by means of its proxies; and the ongoing threat of a potential uprising by fierce anti-regime dissidents, even as the Iranian government dismisses such a threat.

The Associated Press describes Pezeshkian as a “reformist politician within Iran’s Shiite theocracy — always pushing for change but never radically challenging the system overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.” That’s because Pezeshkian is a pawn of the regime and has its approval.

Iran International — which the regime once demanded be designated a “terrorist” group due its truth-telling — post this on X about Pezeshkian’s win:

Pezeshkian has secured “strong backing from his mentor,” former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is also described as a “moderate.” Zarif is a staunch advocate of a nuclear deal with the West; he negotiated the first nuclear deal. Zarif didn’t hesitate to unleash himself against Israel within days of October 7, saying: “Israel’s fake image of resistance is now ruined." Israel’s barbaric actions are the reason for their continued defeat.” He also calls Muslims “the primary victims of the ‘cult of hatred’—empowered by colonial regimes and exported by their own clients”; and has made the outrageous claim that “Tehran has never called for the destruction of Israel.” So while Zarif and Pezeshkian may appear to be “moderates” or “reformists,” they only differ from their hardline counterparts in approach, not in substance.

Pezeshkian is the man of the hour — favored to do the bidding of the Supreme Leader as the one who has the greatest likelihood of winning the trust of Western globalists. He has the right tone, unlike his defeated hardline rival Saeed Jalili, and is firmly committed to exploiting any opportunity to advance toward the goal that Iran has long been eyeing: a new nuclear deal that would allow the regime to flourish. The soft-spoken cardiac surgeon has already called for “constructive negotiations” toward a revived 2015 nuclear deal, and China is doing the same.

Iran didn’t even try to hide its intentions before, with an open admission that the 2015 Iran deal was based on lies. Then came the announcement by the International Atomic Agency watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, that Iran was enriching uranium at levels that were ordinarily seen only in countries making bombs.

No one could possibly trust the Iranian regime, except for globalist leaders such as Joe Biden et al, their media lapdogs, and America’s enemies, gleefully awaiting America’s downfall. Many backroom deals under the Obama administration saw tens of billions flow into Iran’s coffers. Now with Joe Biden at the helm, and Iran’s new president, prepare for more deals to benefit the Islamic Republic, under the charade of achieving regional and ultimately world peace.

Biden is delusional and declining; he apparently wants to go down in history as the American president who brokered peace in the region, no matter at what cost. Yet the only negotiations the Islamic Republic will engage in are those that benefit its own long-term supremacist interests.

Pezeshkian’s win represents a new level of threat to the West, as Iran holds out misleading hope to the West’s gullible leaders, offering a smoothly paved route to appeasement and aid to the Iranian regime. No one is concerned that the doomsday vision of Shia Iran is the belief that “the Hidden Imam will appear in the midst of a violent apocalyptic scenario played out on a battleground stained with infidels’ blood.”

Israel must prepare for a long, tough road ahead as it is increasingly framed as a stumbling block to peace, while globalists and Islamic supremacists continue to gaslight the willfully blind elements of what’s remaining of Western society.