The following represents my Donald Trump ‘nightmare scenario’ for gun owners. This will involve talking about my own observations and feelings rather than specific, scientifically-verifiable facts. Don’t take any of this to the bank. If the results from Super Tuesday conform to expectations, Trump will be well ahead of his opponents in the race for the GOP nomination. I can’t say for sure that he would win the general election since, according to recent polls, he’s trailing Hillary! in most head-to-head match-ups among registered voters. Then again, polls for the general mean very little this early out and this has been such a bizarre year that I’m tempted to say that anything is possible . . .

I suspect that the full-court press by the GOP establishment types in the media will be remembered, to borrow from more recent history, as their Battle of Xuan Loc. The last battle of a doomed effort where an otherwise ineffectual and corrupt Army finally woke up, realized that their butt was on the line, that no one was coming to rescue them, and for the first time got their act together and fought with all their heart and soul, doing the best anyone could have done in the circumstances, and actually made a good show of it.

Right up to the point where they lost, anyway. I’m sure they did their best, as Sean Connery once put it.

GOP propaganda about Rubio notwithstanding, it seems to me that if you’re a single-issue voter on the Second Amendment, Ted Cruz is the strongest advocate that we could probably hope to see in the White House. The problem is that while there are over a hundred million gun owners in the nation, few of them are truly single-issue voters.

Politically, financially, a lot of people have other political fish to fry, and Trump is making serious inroads across a variety of interest groups and demographics. For all kinds of reasons related to the economy, political failures of the establishment, and so forth.

I suggest that advocates of the right to keep and bear arms need to start thinking about what we do in the event that Donald Trump is elected President.

Obviously, if The Donald wins, Hillary Clinton will have been denied the presidency. This is, as Martha likes to say, a good thing. Trump has made some favorable statements in the past about the right to keep and bear arms. He says he’s going to defend the Second Amendment. This may mean that gun banning won’t have much of an audience. Maybe.

What has gone mostly overlooked in the furore over Trump’s in-your-face personality and his positions on immigration, the Iraq War, and free trade, is that Trump has created enough strategic ambiguity on his political positions that it’s pretty hard to predict what he would *actually* do about any given issue.

If you’ve read The Art of the Deal (and it is worth reading if you want to learn about how the Trumpster operates,) you’ll see that his magnum opus is virtually a poem in iambic pentameter devoted to the glories of keeping one’s options open, of manipulating the media for free publicity, and of asking for a mile in the hopes of getting a yard. In other words: exactly what we’ve been seeing from Trump throughout the campaign so far.

As Scott Adams put it:

If you have been watching the news lately you know that Donald Trump disavowed the endorsement of racist David Duke. Unless you are watching CNN, in which case, their version of the news is that he didn’t do enough disavowing that one time.

If you’re a racist, you have a reason to like Trump because of CNN’s intentional misreporting and the fact that Trump didn’t do enough disavowing that one time. If you’re not a racist, you can like Trump because he disavowed racists several times, in writing and on video.

That’s strategic ambiguity.

If you hate socialized healthcare, you might like Trump, because he hates socialized medicine too. Except that he also says he won’t let people with no money “die on the streets.” So if you like socialized medicine, you might like giving free healthcare to those people, like Trump.

That’s strategic ambiguity.

If you hate illegal immigrants, you might like Trump because he says he will deport every one of them. But if you feel compassion for illegal immigrants who are otherwise good residents of the country, you know Trump always makes a big first offer and will later negotiate to something humane and reasonable.

That’s strategic ambiguity….

I could go on like this for another hour or so, but I think you get the picture. And when you see the pattern, you realize none of it is by accident. Trump intentionally gives opposing sides reasons to like him, or at least not disqualify him. And as ridiculous as it seems for a strategy, it works like a charm because of confirmation bias. People see whatever they want to see.

Blogger Ann Althouse treads a similar path, talking about some damaging audio tapes of Trump that the New York Times allegedly has of him talking off-the-record with them earlier this year:

Trump speaks to us and Trump speaks to the NYT. I presume he’s sort of lying all the time. I presume that about all politicians.

The NYT got what it got out of him, under the conditions of off-the-recordness. We get what we get out of the NYT, under the conditions of its interest in maintaining the capacity to assure sources that it will keep its promises. And we presume the NYT is biased in various ways and that it’s selecting and skewing what it’s giving us. Right now, it’s under pressure to release more than it normally would, and the argument is that the impending nomination of Donald Trump presents a special case and the usual rules do not apply.

As for that “second sentence” — “So you obviously can’t explain how you’re going to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, because it’s going to be the first bid in some future monster negotiation session” — it reinforces what intelligent observers already assume and feel we’ve more or less heard in Trump’s public statements.

Right. That’s also how I’ve viewed The Donald’s outlandish promises about building a wall funded by Mexico, deporting illegal immigrants, banning foreign Muslims from entering the country, et cetera: the opening bids in an extended negotiation process that both sides want to complete.

That fits in not just with the way he repeatedly describes himself as a dealmaker who can get business done with anyone, but also comports with the behavior he’s demonstrated as a businessman since before I was born. In fact, by all appearances (and his own testimony in The Art of the Deal, he loves making deals. “Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score,” he writes. “The real excitement is playing the game.”

So where does that leave gun owners?

Well, he’s repeatedly said that he endorses the right to carry a firearm, particularly a concealed handgun, for self-defense purposes. I actually believe him here, for one simple reason: his statement here is likely motivated by basic self-interest. He doesn’t back down from a fight, and I could easily see the days when he was doing bare-knuckled real estate, collecting rent from deadbeat tenants teaching him some hard lessons. Throw in a little ego, and that makes sense to me.

You know where I don’t believe him, though? His statements about how he opposes bans on modern rifles, or magazine capacity limits, or universal background checks for all firearms purchases. Why? Because he has no skin in the game there, really. He’s not a hunter, he’s not a shooting sports enthusiast, and he grew up in New York City, which is (culturally and politically) ground zero for gun control.

So this is the Trump nightmare scenario for gun owners:

For some reason President Trump decides he wants to make a deal on guns. (Maybe there’s some mass shooting; maybe there’s a terrorist attack where the terrs got their firearms legally; maybe he just wakes up and decides he needs an issue to distract people from some other problem.)

He decides to make a deal, looking for a political win. But he knows he needs to make both sides happy — or at least feel like they got something real from the deal, so he focuses on a compromise along these lines:

1. Nation-wide firearms carry licensing, either through mandated reciprocity or a federal licensing scheme, or some combination of the two. (And let’s stipulate that any federal licensing would be fairly, affordably, and objectively carried out, not some Baltimore-style licensing scheme only for the rich and powerful.)

2. Silencers permanently off the NFA list, and available for sale next to the earplugs in the ear, nose, and throat aisle of every corner drugstore, just as any other item that protects auditory health and safety.

3. Repeal of the Gun Free School Zones Act.

4. Strengthening protection of FOPA to include the carriage of ammunition and magazines across state lines.

In exchange for that, here’s four things that the gun-banners would drool over:

1. Universal background checks for all firearms purchases, essentially ending private firearms transfers entirely.

2. Adjusting the tax on NFA items to reflect inflation since the 1930s. (Again, doesn’t apply to silencers, but would apply to SBRs, full auto, ‘other’ stuff.)

3. Some sort of magazine size limit. Let’s say 20 rounds – just enough to feel it, not enough to affect the day-to-day of anyone who owns a handgun with 18 round magazine.

4. Some sort of restriction on future sales of certain types of late-model rifles. Maybe a restoration of the previous so-called assault weapons ban. Maybe some variation of it. But some type of restriction.

If Trump managed to get himself elected, then turned around and pushed a ‘compromise’ like this do you think he could get it to pass? Political predictions are a sucker’s game–especially this year–but I wouldn’t bet against it. Not after everything I’ve seen happen this year.

Here’s a question: why did Manchin-Toomey fail back in 2013? It wasn’t just because we as gun owners were united in opposition to it. We were, and this was a big win for us, but there was more to it than that. We were helped immeasurably because the gun banners were coming at us dumb.

Not only was the bill badly worded, and was (rightly) seen as a compromise that didn’t give us nearly enough, but the gun banners had reached for too much. They actually thought they could eviscerate the Second Amendment, riding the wave of Barack Obama’s re-election and the national revulsion over Sandy Hook. They had become, in the words of my Contracts professor, a pig that became a hog — and got slaughtered.

They won’t be as dumb next time. And if we have a president who is a consummate pragmatist who gets his kicks from making deals, well…what result? I don’t know. But I am worried.

Although the gun banners have tried splitting the hunters against the concealed carry and modern shooting sports enthusiasts, no one has tried, for example, to appear to the burgeoning concealed handgun/self defense group. If someone really wanted to make a deal…well, they would try it, wouldn’t they? I’m not that smart, and I thought of it.

What if your primary interest in guns is concealed carry, and you own no rifles, and someone comes along and offers a compromise that will improve your day-to-day life carrying a firearm, while restricting some guns that you don’t own?

Well, all of a sudden you’re asking people to give up a real gain for the abstract good. Do people really do that? I’d like to think so, but the dispassionate realist in me thinks they might act differently.

I don’t have an answer as to how we would approach this kind of situation. I do know that we have to start thinking about it. Now. I also know that regardless of who wins the White House, if you think the usual political strategies that have been successful in the past will continue to work in the future, ask yourself: what happened to Jeb?

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185 COMMENTS

  1. No. Because the ratchet only tightens in the end. Our gains will be rolled back in some future ‘common sense’ effort while the things we accepted for those gains become set in stone.

    No more.

    • Fine.

      Trump is probably not a true clinical narcissist. But in common parlance? Yeah, kinda.

      Trump is driven by winning and success. Going broke didn’t bother him- but if he had to take a hundred million dollars a year to sit in the sun, he’d go nuts.

      And he likes his name on stuff. Branson has “Virgin”. Buffet has “Berkshire Hathaway”. There’s a little hair of distance between Richard Branson the man and Virgin the company.

      There’s nothing between Trump and his work. His name- on ties and buildings and books and TV shows and everything else. He’s lost his money, but his name has always been good.

      So D. TRUMP walks into the white house- and bends everyone over to screw them. Even just doesn’t make a real fight on immigration.

      The name is dead. “Trump” would mean traitor, and even the left doesn’t love a traitor. His children’s word will be called into question. His grandchildren’s word will be called into question. His billionaire pals may be pissed now; but they won’t look at him then, not even the SJWs.

      Everything- 50 years of work. A name that’s gold and quality from here to Beijing and back the long way. His family. His books.In the history books as “That stinking traitor that sold real estate beforehand.”

      Leave aside that I trust Trump as a man that I think is an honest one. The sort of man that Trump is could NOT act like that. If Trump wanted to run Democrat ideals, he’d have taken all his money and power and connections and anger to Bernie’s platform. And they’d worship him: imagine that wit turned on the GOP from the other side. Imagine that charisma driving the idea of free college, or healthcare. Imagine that instead of insulting Megan Kelly as a Republican, he’d done it in front of a big blue D.

      Trump’s billionaire status and fame and ego isn’t a drawback. It’s an insurance policy.

        • You do realize that no election in US history has spun out the way this one has. Old time parables about politicians do not apply to Trump.

        • pwrserge, I would offer that today’s political campaigns while crass, and kinda shameless, are really adorable for lack of a better term, compared to the ‘good old days’ of the 1800s.

          http://history1800s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/electionhub.htm

          They had no problem calling their opponents things that would make The Donald embarrassed. Murderers, mother’s a whore, wife’s a whore, you’re a pimp, bastard kids, you name it, they said it. The semi-civility of the later 20th century was only semi, and only a small part of the political fabric.

      • Our you trying to sell yourself that line of reasoning or us? I’m not completely certain but I believe with trump that he would sell his own mother to Isis if he could make a profit. If you vote for trump, or Clinton or Sanders your a fool. All we can go on is there record and Trumps record states that he is squishy on basically everything potg believe in. Does he believe in individual liberty? Your asking us to trust him and based on his record it’s like asking someone to trust Benedict Arnold.

        • Do you think the left or Neo Con right is any better?

          One is the enemy and one is a group of traitors.

        • So now Cruz is a neo con? I love how people use the terms of the left to describe conservatives. You’re falling for leftist clickbait.
          Please tell me one topic that Trump is better than Cruz on. Especially on guns.

        • I just finished a pair of biographies of Benedict Arnold, and call your statement a slur on Arnold. Arnold ended up a traitor because Congress bilked him of what today would be millions of dollars (he spent his own fortune keeping an army in the field for the Revolution because Congress dithered over pay, and he was never paid as a general), slandered him, promoted total ass-kissers who never won battles ahead of him, and more. Without Arnold and his incredible sacrifices for the American cause, the war would have been over before Valley Forge. He was a far better man than Trump, trustworthy to the end unless you pissed all over him for years.

      • Henry, I agree with your basic argument. Appearing to play false with his specific promises would devalue his assets by destroying his name.

        As for the “oh, let’s worry about Trump’s possible action on firearms,” I seen that play repeatedly on this site. I don’t get it. Trump has all but handed over his first born son as a hostage. We know his position. Compared to Hilly or Rubio, his views are very good. Compared to Cruz? Cruz is, (quietly and in the shadows) reliant on Manhattan banker money. I’m not talking about the loans. I’d prefer Cruz as AG.

        • Conspiracy much? Trump is more beholden to any special interest financial concern than anyone else. It’s how he made his billions. Why do you believe someone who had his “come to Jesus” moment three years ago?
          Cruz is far from perfect but is Trump better? I won’t vote for Hillary based on her record, and it is the same thing with Donny. His record condemns him. Can somebody name one position that he hasn’t flip flopped on?

        • The thing is, for every statement/promise he’s made in this campaign, there’s an alternate if not opposite one out there somewhere (sometimes an opposite one that he said five minutes ago). He could do literally anything in office and point to some evidence that he always intended to do it that way.

  2. No. Just no. First of all no way in hell should we ever compromise magazine limits. That IS the step in the door they need to bring that limit down to ONE over time. And honestly, I don’t believe the fear mongering over Trump. He’s not insane or retarded. He knows gun rights is very popular and motivating, EVEN in the face of mass shootings. Look at what he said after Paris and San Bernadino, when EVEN CRUZ would not until he did.

    • Agree he is not stupid, which is why he needs to take some Blue states to win. With the popularity of gun control in states like California, who’s to say that his bid for Democratic votes won’t be guncontrol?

      • It’s too polarizing an issue, and not enough Democrats care about it. Or care deeply about it, I should say. Sure, there is an extremely small group of people like the CSGV or the Moms Demand leaders, but those people aren’t influential enough to matter in the grand scheme of things in a general election. Trump has made enough centrist talking points that he could easily make inroads into Democratic strongholds.

      • He’s repeatedly said he’s in favor of Americans owning guns like the AR and full capacity magazines during this campaign. Not sure how he could suddenly pander to Kalifornia liberals with a gun control agenda.

        • Keep preaching it. I have no idea where the meme/virus/propaganda that Trump is anti-2A came from, and the only place I see it discussed is here.

        • It started from something he said 20 years ago, at a time when most of the people here probably would’ve agreed with him.

    • The only magazine limit that makes sense is “too heavy to hold steady”.

      For myself, with .300 rifle ammo as a gauge, that would be about three hundred rounds.

  4. First off, I don’t believe trump is electable. If he should somehow miraculously make it, and pull some stunt like that, he would definitely be a 1 term prez because he will have just pissed off the people that put him in office.

    • “First off, I don’t believe trump is electable. ”

      Vhyrus, as soon as Trump nails down the delegates for the nomination, expect Trump to be a chameleon and suddenly start acting like a lot more rational, electable guy.

      He’s shrewdly playing a game with the voters. The media fell right into his trap, giving him tons of free publicity, and he used it against them…

      • I know he’s going to calm down once he gets the nomination. He is still on record saying absolutely batshit crazy stuff. It is one thing to change your mind after 20 years but it is much hard to walk back a statement you made last month.

        • There’s another dynamic at play here.

          There is a *huge* difference in voter enthusiasm between the Dems and the Repubs, the Millennials are royally pissed off Bernie won’t be the nominee and will likely sit out the election. There is very little enthusiasm for Hillary as well.

          We’re mad, pissed off and motivated to vote.

          That’s where the payoff for us is…

        • I hope you’re right, Geoff.

          Trump may just motivate a lot of voters to show up to cast their ballot against him though. I know more than a few people on the ‘anyone but Trump’ podium.

        • You have a point, Sian.

          That’s why it’s critical for him to drop to drop the psycho act once he gets the nomination.

          All we can do is hope that happens, but I think it will.

        • The simple truth is that people don’t bother with spite votes en masse. They just stay home, instead.

          Trump has energized the GOP base but, more importantly, has made independents and even lifelong dems cross over. The GOP is drawing record primary votes because of him. Approximately 30k registered dems in Massachusetts switched parties, most of whom likely voted for Trump.

        • Where’s Mitt Rommney? Where losers sit, on the sidelines? He and John (I’m suspending my campaign) McCain can keep their lame thoughts to themselves.

        • Are you kidding? Mitt’s right there in RNC HQ joining in the “let’s sabotage Trump” campaign.

          Mitt sized up the mood of the nation wrong last Spring. Now he’s playing for the Establishment Team. He lost it for us last time, though he was the establishment’s great white hope. I’ll never forgive Mitt for that action this week. I supported him. I now despise him.

        • Interestingly, there’s a rule the GOP made a while back that allows the leadership to essentially toss in a name at the convention. That’s right, anybody.

          I’ve heard the rumblings about tossing out Mittens for the last couple of months and dismissed them as sheer nuttery. The rumblings keep getting louder, and I have some actual fear that is just may happen, depending on the Trump scenario.

        • As in yanking the nomination from Trump outright?

          Or making the delegates choose between Mitt or ‘Don Trump’?

          Enlighten me on this, please…

        • Geoff, I haven’t drilled down on the details. I do know that there’s a proviso that allows the introduction of someone who has not been run through any of the caucus machinery.

          More important, delegates are not bound to nominate who won at their caucuses. In other words, just because Trump won you state, you aren’t obligated to vote for him in the convention.

        • You’re on to something with that, 16V,

          Mitt is making an ‘Announcement’ of some sort shortly.

          The weird in this election is about go to ’11’…

        • IMO, Mitt sort of lost it. He wasn’t helped in the second debate when Candy Crowley said that Obama didn’t say what he was saying Obama had said, and then it turned out that she had been wrong and he had been right. But the damage was already done. Then he let that last debate slide unfortunately.

          But IMO, the GOP base forcing Mitt to hold to excessively social conservative positions, and then the storm happening that made him irrelevant, meanwhile got Obama a lot of nice publicity and Chris Christie coming out and praising Obama like he did, also played a huge role in him losing it.

      • I doubt it. If he “drops the act”, he’ll disappoint a lot of his supporters. And those are people whom he had just dragged out to vote – it’s very easy for them to go back to just waving the middle finger come election time. And without his base, there’s no hope for him even against Clinton.

        • If he starts acting ‘Presidential’, it may reinforce their gut feeling for him.

          Or not.

          Who the Hell really knows? People are strange.

  5. Also I must add, WE have been WINNING on gun rights these past 8 years, why in Gods name would we suddenly bend over backwards and compromise after defeating the greatest attempt at gun confiscation in US history? If I’m wrong, and Trump for some reason goes full liberal, why not fight him tooth and nail and bring him down like we did Obama. Obama was a “populist” and seemingly “unstoppable”, but look hard at where his approval went before and after his huge gun control push.

    • Uh, what country do you live in? As far as I can tell we are just one step away from losing it at all or going into civil war.

      • Laughable. The NRA is stronger than ever, the GOP is the strongest it’s been since reconstruction, we stopped all federal gun control legislation in its tracks, we nuetered Obama, and we stopped and repealed countless state attacks on the second amendment. Yes, there were a couple states that got worse, and we need to keep up the pressure. And yes, Scalia dying is a huge blow and control of SCOTUS is huge, but keep in mind, winning legislatively is FAR more important than winning in the court.

        • That’s the way things looked to those trying to save the Roman Republic right up until Caesar crossed the Rubicon. I don’t trust appearances, when so many politicians on both sides are statists at heart.

          We began this country with Celtic virtues triumphing over Roman ones; these days it’s hard to find a politician who doesn’t prefer the Roman heritage.

    • Because Obama and gun owners are on opposite sides of every single issue. Trump and gun owners are not. Many, even on this site, seem all manners of up in arms about those Scary Muslim Virgins(tm). To the point where some even seem willing to stoop low enough to get behind government “doing something” about them. So, if The Donald makes a “deal” with the Dems to “ban” virgins, or tacos for that matter; but has to throw in a ban on semi auto .50bmg rifles to get it, the united block of gun owners that fought Obama, may suddenly not be so united anymore.

      With Barry in the White House, on every so called “issue”; he was on one side, “we” on the other. That makes opposition reliable. With Trump, things aren’t so clear cut. Reinforcing vs cross cutting cleavages is, I believe, how the PoliSci crowd refer to it.

      • Who “fought” Obumer on what? Not the RINO establishment.

        Tell us what Trumps actually positions are on ANYTHING. He has been on every side of every issue (or more frequently blathered on saying nothing) in just the last 6 months. If you look at his history, Trump is just one more big city hive dwelling progtard. No evidence that his pronouncements of business success are anything more than total BS. The guy isn’t even in a REAL business – gambling casinos???

        • Let’s not forget the “success” of … Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump Airlines, Trump University, Trump Steaks (wtf?), Trump Magazine, Trump the Game, and that’s what I remember off the top of my head. He’s gotten (generally) lucky in the insanely rising sea of NY real estate. That is pretty much all.

        • Another +1.

          Those that think Trump is conservative at all are lying to themselves. His appeal has been purely emotional, and that alone should speak volumes.

        • Let’s be honest, guys: none of you have built anything nearly as successful as Trump has. I’m willing to bet you haven’t even tried, either, because if you had, you’d know that great success comes with some failure mixed in.

        • And what the heck does have anything whatsoever to do with what is being discussed?

          Nice Relevance Fallacy, though.

        • One, anyone’s success other than Trump’s is not relevant to this discussion.

          Two, when starting with a lead-off from third base, home is much easier to reach – even if you get thrown back a few times.

        • Gambling casinos were never his core business. Graduating from college into a New York real estate family, at the exact time the last anchor preventing the Fed from printing a completely unlimited amount of money, and handing it to New Yorkers, always was and still is his business. The other stuff is just playmoney, as he tries to “do something” on his own.

          There may very well be someone in New York who aren’t stupid. Heck, Trump himself may well not be for that matter. But we’ll never know by counting their money, since whatever any of them may have “made” on account of their own talent, hard work and other qualities, is so completely, 100 to 1 at least, overwhelmed by the flood of loot stolen from the rest of the country, which the Fed has been helicopter dropping on them over the past 4 decades.

        • Stuki, very correct. It is really embarrassing that people do not understand that money is literally just thrown at “Wall Street” and the “brilliant financiers” are getting rich by merely taking their vig of our tax dollars.

          Quantitative Easing is the most obscene showering of money ever. We’ve got people who were always (rightfully) viewed with suspicion and derision and somehow allowed them to turn the tables and become, semi-respectable. Then we gave them around $5B. As in Billions of made-up money. People who do nothing, create nothing, and merely skim off the top are vultures. Not heroes of capitalism.

  6. I think democrats, if they somehow lose the general election, will be too busy picking at every detail of trump as being the worst thing ever. They won’t do any soul searching or compromising. Which likely means he won’t either. Too much ego all around.
    I expect four years of gridlock and repeatedly being told that it’s not wrong when the democrats do it.
    I don’t see him being a big win for gun rights. Republican presidents are more talk than substance on 2nd amendment issues and he won’t be very productive.

    Of course if it ends up being president Hillary that’s just a disaster all around. She’s the left wing establishments darling and they expect big things. Anything to attack gun owners or manufacturers will likely top that list and the gop will trade ground just to protect itself on other issues, like religious freedom or economic policy.

    • If the Democrats lose the president election on Tuesday, on Wednesday they will just go back to their teaching jobs of indoctrinating our kids from kindergarten through graduate school the wonderful merits of socialism. Polls of college students have something like a 70% favorable view of socialism. We’re the stupid party. We’re losing the long game.

  7. Manchin-Toomey failed in the Senate for the same reason Republican promises die there — it takes 60 votes to pass.

    I won’t be voting for Trump because he is just Hillary with a penis but I will concede that he has one attribute that being a successful participant in our Constitutional Republic requires — he makes deals. Maybe once in 50 years a Party has true control of all three pieces of the legislative puzzle. The rest of the time it’s “let’s make a deal.” That is why Ted Cruz would be a very poor President. For him it’s my way or the highway. That is why he is the most disliked member of the Senate and is ineffectual to boot.

    Oh, and there is no difference between Cruz, Rubio or Lindsey Graham for that matter on the Sefind Amendment.

    • Making a deal is the worst thing any president could do. It’s not as if any “deal” in the history of any government, anywhere, ever, have made things better. If Cruz would just veto everything, then obstinately try dragging his feet in funding anything where his veto got overruled, that would be a good thing.

      Just look at the debt ceiling idiocy. If we had someone aspie enough (and I’m not saying even Cruz meets that standard) to never, ever, cut a deal, we would have been much better off. Ditto on bank bailouts (fat chance Cruz won’t get pillowtalked out of whatever principles he may have had on that…….), or any other of the most obscene examples of government overreach over the past decade or so.

      I’d trust Cruz over any of the others (Lindsay Graham… come on! Hillary is safer than that slime) when it comes to SCOTUS nominees. It’s his field, and he has much more invested in his “originalism” self image than comparative “moderates” like Rubio. Not to mention Trump.

    • That’s a fair point re: 60 votes…but remember that the weak beer Manchin-Toomey compromise got 54 votes, in a context of near-universal opposition from the RKBA activists, which was spurred because the anti gun extremists came at us in a stupid manner, trying to grab everything, which helped unite opposition.

      I’m concerned about a situation where the compromise takes away something we care about while giving us something we really want…with a Trumpublican President who WANTS the deal. Because, frankly, if he wins the nomination, unites the various factions and manages to win in November….well, you oughtn’t underestimate him, that’s all.

  8. How do you solve the problem? Don’t vote for a narcissistic candidate. Vote for Cruz.

    • Cooking bacon on a barrel is not conceal carry. Trump and family are CCW carriers. Why…they’re on the street without the protection of Congressional Sgt at Arms or the Feds backing their crew. They’re spending their dime not ours for lawful self protection.

      Trump has peel back the pay for play with both the D&R NC. Americans are tired of getting screwed from both ends. Press seek on your radio, half the stations are Spanish, roll on HD or Lowe’s during the week and note a platoon of illegals maneuvering for work and listen to your kid complain he can’t find a job. Illegals built my sub division, not a straight wall in the house. Every door knob (made in China) failed…plastic internals saved 80 bucks during the build and 5 years later now it’s my dime. I haven’t bought anything from Asia that lasted more than two years. And don’t get me started on how many shitter seats I’ve replaced.

      I’ve rolled a half century plus and we’re getting better by every measure except individual liberty. Government is spending billions to monitor our phone, emails, and bank accounts. We’re spending trillions to tear ass around the world bombing jackasses screwing sheep and living in mud huts, yet we do not allow Chicagoans to lawfully defend themselves. Your zip code is the sole determining factor in granting 2A. I pay 800 a year to have three letters after my company name, I get nothing in return.

      Back in the day, l never fell out of a March. humped 30 miles, full load plus a PRC. Now the question is how much more load can citizens carry the other 49 percent. Why does a party remain in power offering phones, food stamps, housing, then bitch that corporate doesn’t give enough.

      It’s not about the gun, its about getting the tentacles of government out of our lives.

      • Right so a super connected NYC real estate developer is the answer to American decline? Why do people seem to identify with a 2 bit hustling Nyc huckster who has been in bankruptcy multiple times, divorced twice and won’t even release his tax records? He hated guns until three years ago, he has given hundreds of thousands to leftist democratic politicians and his lack of international understanding will lead us to a third world war or worse. Trump is about the furthest person you could imagine from a constitutional conservative.

        • Cause we’ve been getting screwed by the GOP for e last 40 years. Read my lips no new taxes, sorry folks you got taxes. The 49% who don’t pay taxes, programs passed by Publicans. H1B’s screwing Disney workers and every circuit designer in the US, thank the GOP.
          Obamacare. Omnibus, Trade bend over and administer the collective pole. Half the schools in LA don’t dpeak English. Roll into the ER on the weekend you think they were waiting on tickets to Univision. Please tell me when the rule of law is applied across the board.

          How is this better than a real estate guy who just landed six states on Super T. Exposed the underbelly of the GOP. Who hasn’t broken a rule, who played the GOP for Jeb splitter vote strategy and beat them at their own game. Who when he shits in Robo yard next week, it’s a two man race. And I’ll finally say this. If the GOP cuts him out of the nomination the GOP is done, our rights won’t mean squat.

        • If you can name a “constitutional conservative” who isn’t bought and paid for by the establishment then I’ll gladly consider changing my vote to them. Otherwise it’s Trump 2016.

        • I think the one who is closer to leading us to war would be Obama, not Trump. Trump’s aggressiveness would frighten the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians and finally make them scale back their own aggressiveness. Same things were said about Reagan, that he’d get us into a war with the Soviets, and the opposite happened.

      • “I haven’t bought anything from Asia that lasted more than two years.”

        Bullshit.

        Here are a few, for starters:

        SKS, and Honda. My bought new Si lasted me over 300,000 miles. The SKS is the epitome of reliable.

        As 16V has noted, China is fully capable of building quality, provided you’re willing to pay for it.

        As for toilet seats, the Japanese make some wonderful ones. (Try a bidet, beats wiping and smearing hands-down…

        • Geoff PR, Oooh Japanese toilets. They have toilets and bidets all-in-one. Retractable robotic spritz nozzles, heated seats, soothing white noise, the mind boggles at what they can do with a ‘loo. Not to mention the more natural position for doing a number 2. The art of the toilet.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilets_in_Japan

          They’ve even elevated it to architecture… More than once.

          Fascinating culture. I’ve always found the rebellion to a very structured society interesting.

        • But back to your point, yeah the gold-standard of AKs is the PolyTech, built by Norinco. In China. Back in the day. Now they regularly command $2K+ at the bottom rung.

          As for Hondas, my family bought our first back in 1980 when we commuted 50K per year. The market has changed, but they’re still pretty damn good. But even a decade ago they were still light years ahead of domestic product.

          • I would like to add that the Rough Rider knives being made in China are fully the equal of the American made Case knives. Not all Chinese knives are of such quality but lets face facts the now almost deified defunct U.S. Schrade knives were only a half step above junk.

    • Cruz likes to say that 65% of republicans have voted against Trump this year which is funny because an even higher percentage of republicans have voted against Cruz and Rubio this year.

  9. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize: Defeating Hillary. Not letting her get SCOTUS nominations. Everything after that is a negotiation. Trump will still have the establishment GOP to deal with in Congress, not that they are a great lot, but at least they will be a foil for him if he gets too out of hand. Speculating what he will and will not do is just wild-ass guessing that this point.

    We KNOW what Hillary would do: Everything she can to take our guns. If the POTG sit this one out because they have doubts about Trump, they will regret it for decades to come.

    • This, X10.
      I don’t care who the republican nominee is. I will vote for Trump or Cruz. (I doubt it will be any other after today).
      If you don’t vote, it’s a half vote for either Bernie or Hillary. Period.
      Vote Republican Party.

    • I agree. Defeating Hillary is of paramount importance. If I have to hold my nose and vote for whomever the GOP nominates, fine.

      The fact that the Donald will be treated as an outsider by the GOP establishment and rank-and-file in Congress? So much the better. We saw what one party GOP rule was like between 2001-2007 and one party Democrat rule between 2009-2011. I can’t say either were very heartening experiences.

  10. If Trump encouraged Congress to entertain the deal that you laid out, I think items (3) and (4) would immediately be tossed out and then items (1) and (2), after a lot of debate, would be defeated as well.

    At this point I don’t think the masses are going to tolerate a magazine capacity limitation of 20 rounds nor any future sales bans of military style / semi-automatic rifles, period. They are just too popular. So that would immediately be off the table.

    And then nationwide concealed carry reciprocity isn’t a big enough carrot to implement universal background checks registration. Not only does no one want registration, the appeal of nationwide reciprocity is minuscule. Many of us already have reciprocity with 42 states … and we aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to visit the 8 hold-outs. (I see absolutely no reason to visit cesspools of New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, nor downstate New York. And while upstate New York, Oregon, Hawaii, and California have plenty of beauty to behold, it isn’t worth my life.) Plus, in reality, nothing stops anyone from carrying concealed into those states anyway.

    As for suppressors, sure, it would be nice to be able to purchase one at the corner store without having to pay $200 for a tax stamp. On the other hand, most of us are doing just fine without one. And most of us would not want to see the tax stamp jump to $4,000 on the rest of the NFA goodies. I would rather continue to pay $200 for a tax stamp for all NFA items … which have a lot of appeal.

  11. I still don’t get the attraction of a Trump candidacy…but, stipulating to the point that political predictions are indeed a suckers game, here’s what’s likely to happen in this election cycle….

    Possible Outcome I:

    The GOP, in an outright panic, is going to find a way to destroy the Trump campaign (but they will wait until the remaining GOP candidates destroy each other and drop out…), and they’ll need to scramble to put someone else in, last minute, who will only have a few months to establish a nationwide organization, raise money and campaign….(which is not enough time to be effective)

    Trump, out of disgust at the way he was ousted, will speak out and work to undermine the newly-drafted GOP candidate, eventually throwing his support behind the DNC candidate (who will be Hillary.)

    The public who supported Trump, will be super-pissed, and will take out their anger and disgust on their GOP legislators who are up for election this year. Some will defect back to the DNC.

    The result: A Hillary presidency, and loss of the Senate and possibly the house to the DNC.

    Possible Outcome II:

    Same lead-in as above, except Trump then runs as an independent, which will effectively split the GOP vote (and while it will also siphon a few from the DNC too, they’ll manage to muster more votes for their candidate than the GOP will be able to) – he focuses all his attacks on the drafted GOP candidate (but virtually ignores the DNC candidate)…Trumps supporters will still take out their anger on their GOP representatives for ousting him.

    The result: A Hillary presidency, and loss of the Senate and possibly the house to the DNC.

    Of course, there’s also the third scenario, where, due to Trump’s natural flakiness, come September, he decides he’s had enough, calls it quits (even if he’s in the lead) and becomes an agitator-in-chief to the GOP candidate.

    The result: A Hillary presidency, and loss of the Senate and possibly the house to the DNC.

    • How about the third option:

      Trump wins in November with a much larger than anticipated turnout despite limited “establishment” Republican support. The Republicans maintain control of both the House and Senate (McConnel & Ryan eat crow).

      • I think the GOP Senate majority could be reduced (if not eliminated). For instance, in Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey is vulnerable. In part because of what happened with Manchin-Toomey. In part because Club for Growth establishment types in states that aren’t solid GOP are more likely to be schlonged by the electorate this time round.

        I agree on the House, likely to stay GOP because the GOP dominance at the state/local levels has helped with redistricting, etc.

  12. Funny thing (not ha ha funny) is that the compromise you describe would be really good for me – pretty much all upside. I’m already limited to 10 round mags and subject to an AWB ban. SBRs and SBS are also essentially unobtainable, and MGs cost too much anyway. But this would allow me to carry a concealed handgun to and from work every day, and to keep a gun in the trunk without worrying about accidentally straying into NY.

    I’d still oppose it on moral and Constitutional grounds, and in the hope that one day CT’s laws will be repealed.

    • I didn’t think of it in those terms. Very true a compromise like the one outlined would be a real benefit to us in CT under out current laws.

  13. Trump will win because this election is very racist on both sides. Clinton is burning her bridges with many middle age and older white voters and they are the ones who actually show up to vote. Republican primary attendance has been up and Democrat primary attendance has been down. Clinton is getting more of the black vote than Obama did, but it is a larger slice of a shrinking pie. Trump is winning a larger Republican primary voting block. Sanders might get the white youth vote in some areas, but that does not mean they will show up for Clinton or show up at all.
    Trump is going to have to keep his white voting block somewhat happy and those are the people who do own guns.

  14. Mark my words. Hillary will win and by historic margins. Start preparing now. This may very well be the last democratic election the former united states holds.

  15. Now, if Trump and Fedzilla proffered a deal where they eliminate the Hughes Amendment and re-open the machine gun registry in exchange for universal background checks, I would probably go for that.

    While I absolutely HATE universal background checks, I hate the Hughes Amendment and closed machine gun registry even more.

    I don’t think we will have to worry about this though, the Dems and establishment Republicans would never agree to opening the machine gun registry no matter what they got in exchange for it.

  16. A bad republican candidate is better than anything on the left for the POTG. We need to stop waiting for perfect because it isn’t going to happen. Vote for anything running against Fankles….do it for the children.

    • ABC–Anyone But Clinton. The next president picks the Supreme Court and we must not allow it to be Clinton doing the picking no matter who the Republican nominee is.

  17. Your imaginary compromise is a gun owner’s pipe dream if Thedonald starts dealing.

    And he still doesn’t get my vote in November.

  18. Here are the facts. We gun owners are in big trouble for a variety of reasons. One, I agree with the post. I do not think Trump will defend high capacity magazines or semi-auto rifles. We have had plenty of Republicans stab gun owners in the back, The Busch dynasty and Reagan who banned all full auto guns.

    I do not think Cruz has a chance in hell and Trump has managed to alienate the Blacks, the Hispanics, the independent voters, the unions, the workers who support higher minimum wages which Trump has always been against. I think too in the end Trump will support free trade as well because he has just to many millions tied up in foreign countries and he would stand too much to lose by not supporting free trade especially if it was unfair free trade as he would make even more money with his foreign investments. Hillary of course would do the same in a heart beat. She is no friend of the working man, only of Corporate America and the crooks on Wall Street. Busch, Trump and Hillary both were hatched out of the same corrupt Wall Street egg.

    But Trump will not be elected by a long shot, there are just to many groups against him. So that leaves Hillary an avowed anti-gun nut of the worst degree. If Trump falls big time and he will, he may get a lot of other Republican Congressmen thrown out as well. If the Dems do win a majority then Hillary and Feinstein will have a field day banning just about every category of modern firearms imaginable. If the Republicans managed to hang on to a majority then Hillary will be somewhat limited to banning everything but she will try to do way more damage than Obama did.

    In short with an almost certain Liberal Court Justice to be nominated as well, that will tip the Supreme Court to the Liberals and every challenge to the gun ban laws will be laughed at by the Supreme Court who will twist every challenge to the gun ban laws in favor of the Second Amendments total destruction. The almost certain failure of the current gun rights case before the Supreme Court is only a harbinger of the coming gun rights holocaust.

    Your expensive collections of modern semi-auto pistols and rifles may soon not be worth the scrap weight of steel at the junk yard. And with so many guns out there the Feds will not be paying you 1 penny in compensation when they collect them to be melted down. The horrific pictures of the piles of confiscated weapons in Australia will be like a drop of water compared to what will be confiscated in the U.S. You will have 30 days to turn them in “or else”. And everyone knows what “or else will mean”. A few raids on the news showing armored vehicles burning down a house like they did at Waco will all that will be needed to let everyone know “what or else” means. People will get the message very quickly and like sheep they will be so frightened they will not be able to throw their guns out into the street fast enough while storm troopers with dark sun glasses on with sneering smiles will supervise the scooping up of all the weapons to be loaded by the tons on huge dump trucks to be melted down within hours.

    Golf anyone?

    • Less “facts” than your op on big boo-lits. Yeah we’re screwed. But millions won’t turn anything in. See: NY,Conn. or Colorado compliance. And more millions like ME and like-minded old guys won’t give a rat’s azz. AND a very large % of cops,feds and military dudes won’t participate in a gun-grab(WE know where they live). I’m a Cruz guy but I voted McGovern in 1972(I hated Nixon). I can handle Trump for 4 years. Hildebeast-not so much…mayhap president Trump would appoint Ted to the Supremes.

    • “Here are the facts”, (proceeds to spill a huge line of Bullshit and a liberals wet dream). You REALLY don’t pay attention.

    • I agree. Gun owners are in big trouble. I am already contemplating whether I should get rid of my AR while it still has value. It is a nightmare scenario to be put in a position to turn them in. It is a crap shoot of what will we be allowed to keep? Most of us will not go down fighting because we really are law abiding at heart. We may hate what comes, but when Ruby Ridge and Waco comes to your house and your family is in the crosshairs, most of us will grit our teeth and vow to fight another day. To be sure, we will be praying for fire and brimstone to cascade from heaven onto the heads of Freedom’s enemies. There will be a thriving black market, but again, the law abiding will be too fearful of retribution to be in that market. Underground guns will be traced by what we bought at Cabela’s and Brownells. Few of us will be able to stand against the monstrous syndicate arrayed against ordinary Joe. All of us better stand up. Don’t say it can’t happen because there are examples from history. We are already caricatured as monsters because we practice our 2nd Amendment rights and every shooting in the news becomes our fault. Dark clouds ahead. Vote like your life depends on it.

      • ” It is a crap shoot of what will we be allowed to keep? “

        Here’s a thought. How about you stop letting the government tell you what you are “allowed” to keep?

        Good grief. That’s not the government’s J-O-B at all. Giving that power is exactly why we are in the position we are in now.

        • I’m not giving anything. But in my neck of the woods, Leftists run everything. Star Tribune articles and reader comments want total confiscation. You are mentally ill if you own a firearm. You are a danger to yourself, your family, your neighbors and everyone you come in contact with because of your possession of firearms and unwarranted desire to protect yourself against an imaginary enemy. These people are currently in power in the upper Midwest and have momentum to expand laws that diminish current rights. Legislation has been proposed in Wisconsin to confiscate because liberal politicians think you don’t need an AR. Murderers use AR’ s, why do you want one? Justice Scalia dying is a disaster for gun owners. France has had horrific terrorist attacks and are doubling down on gun control. Our Federal and some state governments marvel at the European model. The People cannot be trusted. The government will protect you. Every crazy that comes out killing in Hesston or Kalamazoo or Charleston is another nail in gun owners coffin. Where are the holdouts in Oregon? In the Federal pen facing serious charges. It’s an uphill battle but we all have to figure out where to hedge our bets. Just sayin.

        • “It’s an uphill battle but we all have to figure out where to hedge our bets. Just sayin.”

          What you essentially said, though, is that you are going to sell your guns and give up…and the REASON you gave is because the resale price is going to drop.

          With all the doom and gloom you just mentioned, yeah, I guess the best solution is to sell all the guns and just sit in the corner sucking one’s thumb. It’s about as useful.

          While you outline a lot of problems, you are also neglecting to mention a lot of the gains that have been made and momentum our side really has. If anything, the ‘battle’ is in equilibrium right now. Gain here, lose there.

          That will never end. But, things are FAR, FAR better now than they were 25-30 years ago or so. So what if a few nutjobs claim we should not own guns for whatever pet reasons they have? PUBLIC SUPPORT of that notion is in the crapper compared to what it was in the 80’s and 90’s.

          Do what you have to. But, if you sell your guns now because you think you are losing money on them by waiting, you were never on “our side” to begin with. You were just chasing a fad that looked cool and fun.

    • Egads jlp, even when I sort of agree with you, you just can’t pull together a sentence fit for a 3rd grader.

      “Busch” family dynasty? Hell yeah! Augie IV has a punchbowl full of coke in his living room (level varies by day) and sometimes fires high-powered rifles in the house. (Scared off more than a few staffers.) Not to mention the death of a GF he completely skated on (save for a few $), and the hookers, and the rolling shootout with FBI back in the 80s, and….

      I get it, American English ain;t your strongest subject. But do try to proofread.

    • ” Trump has managed to alienate the Blacks, the Hispanics, the independent voters, the unions”

      This is actually provably false.

  19. With Trump we’ll just have to do what we’ve been doing. Grit our teeth and hope he doesn’t sink us, inadvertently or not. That is, if wins the general which is by no means a lock. The media is going to come out in full strength against him. It will be a political war like we’ve never seen, I promise that. The only candidate that could overtake him is Cruz and that will only happen if in the next 12-24 hours all the other candidates drop out and back him. As much as If like to see that happen, I wouldn’t put a nickel on it.

  20. Okay, I get it. Trump is the boogeyman, and you’re so scared. Because, after all, Obama would never, ever come for our guns and certainly neither will Hillary. Or something equally preposterous.

    I like Cruz, too, but we’re not going to get him. Get over it.

    I’m gonna break it to you. The boogeyman is not under the bed. She’s right there in front of you. So wake up. Because all this rending of garments and gnashing of teeth is why we’ve had two terms of Obama.

    You did that. Not illegal immigrants. Not the media. Not any of the other boogeymen. You, and all the other suckers that fell into the Democrat trap.

    • If that’s directed at me — for the record, while I am not endorsing Donald, I am also fully willing to vote for him over HRC.

      You’re right. Cruz is probably not going to get nominated in the first place.

  21. Steady, continued, third world immigration will destroy gun rights in the United States. People with looooong histories of collectivism and despotism don’t just change when they land on our magic dirt. Not a significant number, anyway. No amount of Republican pandering, quasi-Cuban candidates, or Spanish-language pocket Constitution distribution will change this.

    Trump (even if he’ll bargain down) is the only candidate that can realistically stem the tide. It’s his first major claim and he’ll be held go it by a hostile media. Cruz has a similar stance but won’t become the frontrunner. Rubio was a member of the infamous Gang of Eight.

    • Eh, virtually all of US immigration since forever has been poor people from despotic nations. Or don’t eurpoean monarchies count for some reason?

      Also, basically all of the 1st World is more socialist and gun grabby than us today. I have no preference of a brown skin socialist over a lily white one.

      So you’re wrong.

  22. Obviously, there can be no compromise and I doubt there would be from this community. The other thing to keep in mind is to take advantage of certain situations while it is legal to do so. I need not say more I’m sure.

  23. If Trump is elected as a Repub and we have a repub house and senate why would he have to make a deal on anything?

  24. Jeebus.. are we already picking the lubricant for the rigid sigmoidoscope?

    Reading this makes me feel like we’re telling ourselves that it won’t be so bad…….

  25. “Well, he’s repeatedly said that he endorses the right to carry a firearm, particularly a concealed handgun, for self-defense purposes”

    Words are great, show me what he has actually done? Where was he when the SAFE ACT BS was going on?

    He has a gun because of his money and influence and he does not give a crap about anyone else.

    Trump will win the nomination because of the “confirmation bias” as described. Trump will win because the media pretty much have given him free air time 24/7. For as much as gun owners like to say that liberals only act on emotions, those voting for Trump are doing just that, voting with emotions and thus all thinking has been thrown out the window.

    There are not enough OFWG to elect any conservatives. We are out numbered and those who could vote will not because they will claim to be to principled.

    Essentially, Hillary wins. The sad fact, the squishy middle would have been the only way to win because it would have brought in independents or moderates.

    Gun owners and guns are screwed. Good thing we will have websites like this to complain when the SHTF

  26. I think it’s useful to think a moment about the terms “compromise” and “bi-partisanship”. We’re in the position we’re in as a country precisely because of 240 years of compromise. Whether you term one side Democrats, leftists or statists, makes no difference. Our side, the free country side, always loses something, the other side always gains something. It truly fits the description of a one-way mechanism – a ratchet.

    What is Trump’s most notable attribute other than abrasiveness? He’s a deal-maker. If he wins, you can expect to hear that ratchet clicking repeatedly. If Rubio wins, the clicking will probably be faster. Maybe considerably so considering his past associations. Either one will nominate SCOTUS picks based on compromise.

    Now think about Ted Cruz.

    Pat

  27. Here is a rather brilliant analyses of Trump’s strategy;

    https://youtu.be/n6PcQ1Be5ak

    This guy is spot on. The media is trying to scorch the earth in advance of Trump’s inevitable “redemption moment.” That’s what the David Duke thing was about, but to their horror the race card is wearing really thin. It won’t work, they are coming in too late and they will end up the villain. Just like “survivor” or “big brother.”

    Barring a heart attack, I am convinced he’s inevitable. The question for me is how close to the fire can we hold his feet?

  28. I live and work in the bay area. My job is driving all over the bay area. I go to Berkely at least once a day. I have yet to see one Hillary 2016 bumper sticker. Not one. I see Bernie stickers all the time. But no Hillary.

    • Exactly right.

      There is no enthusiasm for the HildaBeast, while there is lots for Trump.

      The Lib kids are pissed off that they can’t have ‘The Bern’ and they flat despise the HildaBeast.

      Looking at the primary turnouts, Repub gross numbers are *way* up, and the Dem numbers are way down.

      Currently, we’re in better shape than than they are.

      Look at what The HildaBeast has been spouting off in her speeches, effectively doubling-down on Obama’s third term. The economy still hasn’t rebounded from the crash of ’08, people are going to be receptive to a change.

      Since 70 percent-plus say the country is on the wrong track, they will be open to new direction.

      Don’t sweat it. (much)…

    • I have seen very few Hillary stickers in either Pa. or Detroit, where I’ve been spending some time lately.

      I did see a car that had a “Other Hillary Voter for Obama” sticker on it for the past 8 years. For some reason, the owner scraped the sticker off within the past few months.

  30. Trump is a consummate player. He can schmooze the pretty girls, the real estate deals, and the people. Is he electable? Definitely. He sounds like a man with a plan to your average voter. How he plans to execute those ideas, he hasn’t spoke about much. The others sound like people going out for a job interview at an insurance company. Except for Bernie. He’s basically a leftist Trump. Big ideas but no intricacies on how to pull them off.

    Which explains why both have people going to them in droves. People are tired of the same old BS.

    With regards to guns, I can see Trump doing that if it means he has to secure votes for another election. He’ll compromise on something if he has to. I could see him proposing a 20-round limit and a mollified version of an AWB in exchange for national reciprocity and maybe cans off the NFA, like the author suggest. The mag limits, while doing nothing, would even possibly have the magazine manufacturers falling into place since most of them already produce 20-round magazines, and in the case of pistol manufacturers, 99 percent of their magazine output is under 20. And yes, a lot of gun owners, who don’t own rifles, would deal with it.

    Therein lies the issue actually. A lot of BS laws are passed because “it doesn’t affect us”. The AWB went down because it didn’t affect a lot of gun owners as they mostly owned pistols and hunting-style weapons.

    However, the AWB was only to be a rest-stop on the gun control highway. The next steps in the gun control playbook were on restricting the sales pipeline itself along with even restrictions on advertising. After that, I’m sure there’s some flowchart where “confiscation” is an item.

    So if we have to hold our nose and vote Trump, we need to be ready for what he may do if push comes to shove.

    • “He sounds like a man with a plan to your average voter. How he plans to execute those ideas, he hasn’t spoke about much.”

      Yup. Just like Obama did when he ran. Nearly *zero* experience, and he won. 🙂

      I’m leery what Trump might do.

      I’m terrified what The HildaBeast *will* do…

      • That’s the corner the two-party system has pushed us into. One thing the Brits got right is with their last round of national elections, they had their debates done US-style and there were 7 people from different parties up on the stage. The British subjects sadly have more options in that regard.

  31. If trump is the gop candidate I’ll vote for him. And as a CA resident if he will compromise me into a federal ccw good in all 50 states I’ll raise a glass to him.

    • +1. I’d trade universal background checks on all sales, for federal CCW permit that over-rides all states. Plus remove NFA on silencers, remove AWB, remove mag limits, remove SBR rules.

      You could toss in mandatory minimum sentences for felons using fire-arms illegally, like three strikes laws that put bad guys away for years- the main reason for big drop in crime over the last three decades. That, of course, would increase the numbers of incarcerated black yout’s who dindunutthin’, but hey, have to start somewhere. Even Bloomberg said so.

  33. Wow, all this doom and gloom you’d think the end of the World is only nine months away. Are firearms rights in play? Hell yes, but to put Donald Trump in the same category of Hillary Clinton is stupid. If the scenario is so precarious then where have you been, what have you done other than posting on blogs? And for you guys that are not sure if you should sell your “AR before it’s worth nothing”, the answer is yes. Sell it and take up scrapbooking.

    • “And for you guys that are not sure if you should sell your “AR before it’s worth nothing”, the answer is yes. Sell it and take up scrapbooking.”

      Agreed.

      If one owns guns because of what they are “worth” to someone else, one is not really a “Person of the Gun.” Guns (and everything else) to such people are nothing more than fads/fashion statements.

      I’m struggling with the concept of anyone that says they believe in the philosophy represented by 2A talking about selling their guns now on the basis of what might happen at some future date in regard to legislative bans.

      Putting non-compliance on the back burner of the discussion, such histrionics hinges on (a) a totally Statist personal philosophy and (b) the incorrect belief that such bans/legislation are permanent.

      It’s just mind boggling how defeatist some people are. But then again, that seems 100% consistent with one programmed to Statist thinking anyway…

  34. We’re screwed no matter who wins. We being firearm owners and Americans in general.

    This is a shitty year for nominations, and we’re due for another shitty 4 years until the next go-round.

    • This year with the Presidential Election and the next Midterm in 2018 give us the perfect opportunity to “dispatch” ALL the wafflers. Johnny “Tan-Man” Boehner saw the handwriting on the wall, strapped on his parachute, and jumped, Paul Ryan is as done as a Christmas goose, he’s “underwater” for reelection (a TEA Party guy is beating him already). The fact is anyone who files to run, endorses “The Donald” and challenges an incumbent can ride Trump’s coattails to victory while at the same time removing the sellouts in the GOP and Democrats (in the senate & certain congressional districts in addition to state senate/assembly seats) from office. We’ve done ok so far, it could’ve been better but if we destroy the GOPe (“e” for elites) like McConnell (too bad we missed knocking him out last time around) and others in BOTH partys we can have OUR chosen representatives set the agenda. It’s about time these assholes in D.C. started listening to US and representing OUR interests.

      • You’re mistaken if you think Trump will beat Clinton and anyone who goes the trump route against a Democrat will win. His position alienates the moderate voters.

        And he’s just an idiot in general.

  35. The “author” a likely biased Cruz stooge no doubt neglects one thing and it IS a big thing, Trump will have to get his proposals through BOTH houses of Congress. After he, Trump, whips BOTH the “party” and Democrat nominee I doubt very much ANY Republican will stand against those who support the 2nd Amendment in fact they’ll be so scared of US fearing they’ll be “Primaried” and “Cantored” that we’ll soon be able to buy RPGs’ at the local gun store.

    • Shows what you know. The “author” here is actually a highly-advanced AI constructed in Nick’s garage to troll Mike Bloomberg.

    • No you are NOT Mike…remember when another billionaire gave the election to a clinton? One of the benefits of old age-hell I remember Kennedy stealing the election…well on our way to another (un)civil war…

      • GHWB gave the election to Clinton with the Hughes Amendment. Perot got the blame for it.

        • And slick willy did not win a majority victory. Ipso facto-no bill-NO hildebeast. And I’m no fan of Bush #1…Little Ross was the culprit.

    • No you’re not, I voted my conscience TWICE and cast my ballots BOTH times for Ross Perot in ’92 & ’96. Hell I wouldn’t care if Trump showed up to tomorrow’s campaign rally with a Charles Manson-like swastika tattooed on his forehead I’d still vote for him.

      Rubio is a used tampon and Cruz sold out the TEA Party’s Chris McDaniels in Mississippi last year helping Thad Cochran get reelected neither can be trusted so here in NW N.J. me, my family, my extremely devout (religiously), ultra-conservative neighbors (one who hasn’t cast a ballot since Nixon and another who at age 72 (a lifelong American citizen whose family has been here for two centuries) is voting for the first time are all cast our ballots in favor of Trump.

      BTW: It’s the same story in NE Pennsy and the suburbs of NYC, ALL my friends, family, business contacts are on the Trump Train

      • What does Trump cool-aid taste like? You list the bad on Cruz and Rubio and ignore Trumps track record. The man gave a hundred grand to the Clintons over the years. I love how Trump supporters ignore the facts on the ground about Donnie. They just have a “feeling” he is the guy. Have you ever heard of the old P.T. Barnum saying? “A fool and is money are easily parted.”
        Trump is the carny and you’re being played.

        • What Trump “track record”? Donald J. Trump has NEVER cast a vote on ANY bill, NEVER sponsored or introduced legislation so exactly what are YOU referring to?

          The fact is Trump has contributed to BOTH Democrats AND Republicans, Liberal AND Conservative. And since it appears you live in a bubble let me remind you NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING gets built in ANY urban locale especially NY/NJ Metro Area and Las Vegas WITHOUT greasing the palms or making legal campaign contributions to the elected officials representing that region. Watch the movie “Casino”, Harry Reid is portrayed as the head of the Casino Commission, it’ll be enlightening.

        • I have seen casino. Out here in the rest of America we don’t believe in greasing palms. NYC is not a place I would ever choose as a place of high ethical behavior. If Trump is a master of it count me out as a supporter.

  38. Nothing you can do at this stage except wait. There are just too many stupid and uneducated voters who want a lot of free shit, who think this is all fun & games, and who believe “it can’t happen here.”

    The tipping point has passed and the trajectory of the country is now irreversible. It may take another 20 years or so, but hyperinflation, government bankruptcy, confiscatory taxes and austerity are coming. Your golden years will be spent working for minimum wage and eating government cheese to survive, as your life savings will have been snatched by taxes and inflation. Your final moments on this planet will be spent contemplating the horror of your looming death, for having been denied routine life saving treatment by the government so they can save a few bucks and spend them on someone younger.

    Don’t even think about 2A, either. Nobody’s going to do anything but line up Australia-style and turn them in.

  39. Trump is a bully. We’ve done that, and we still are, with 7(+) more months to go. No, we don’t need any complex reasons to reject Trump. Trust him with the 2nd? He can’t even be trusted with the 1st….or the 5th. The U.S. constitution is not a business contract dispute that needs to be renegotiated.

  40. Polls are no indicators at all so far in this race. 2016 is the Year of the Wildcard, and the accuracy of both pundits and pollsters have been all over the map – usually out in the “Here there be Dragons” sectors.

    CNN polls are something that I especially wouldn’t count on for much: they’re doing the old marketing bit of publishing leading polls in an attempt to drive public opinion the way they want it, I’d be willing to bet.

    (I have a low opinion of polls anyway, especially “representative sampling”. I’ve studied too much marketing and statistics to believe in them – I know too much about how the sausage is made.)

    Trump stands a good chance of picking up New York in the general. I suspect that if he’s the nominee, the electoral map in November is going to look like 2004, with a few extra red states added. People on the right have been making predictions about Trump since August of 2015, many of them increasingly desperate sounding. To date, all of then have been wrong. (And that’s a hell of a record, even for the GOP.)

    As far as the nightmare scenario regarding the Donald is concerned, Trump is no more of a problem to be solved for gun owners than George H.W. Bush was in 1992. Even if he turns out to be a squish, given his vocal stances on guns, carry, and self defense, the worst he’s likely to do is the equivalent of GHWB screwing gun owners ala the Hughes Amendment.

    And we survived that, and ended up making up a lot of ground in the years since, even if the People of the Gun’s reaction to Bush’s betrayal did give us eight years of Clinton and the Clinton AWB.

    I suspect that any backtrackng on guns that Trump does will be minor, simply because of one major factor that everyone talks about, but that they never really take into full account: Trump’s ego. Trump doesn’t like to lose, and backing down on or being forced into a bad deal on something that he made a cornerstone of his platform is a loss to him. Looking bad to people who supported him is a loss to him.

    I suspect that he’ll fight a lot harder on things that he says he’s for now than most people credit him for – just because his ego won’t let him willingly lose face by backing down. (And if he does bargain, he’s going to make sure that he gets the best of any deal, and the other guy gets the worst while thinking they came out ahead.)

    *shrug* Crystal balls are notoriously inaccurate. We’ll see when we see it.

    I do know one thing: Hillary or Bernie will be worse for gun owners. Two things: Cruz would be better for us, but Cruz isn’t likely to get the nomination, nor to win against either Hill or The Bern.

    You go to war with the weapon you’ve got. Trump will probably be the weapon that the GOP ends up with after the smoke clears.

    And we are at war here. The enemy is on the Left.

  41. Not pertaining to the article, but can we please, for the love of god, do something about the auto play videos on this site!? They start at random intervals & there’s not a damn thing that can be done to stop them from playing. God forbid I have multiple tabs open & have to search through them to find which one, by its intrusive disruption, is hocking a product I will never buy again. This has gotten to the point that frankly, I don’t think I’m going to visit this site anymore. This isn’t the first time this has been an issue on this site, but it’s the last time I’ll have to deal with it. It’s a damn shame because this was a site I truly enjoyed.

  43. Though I liked Cruz before what he did to Chris McDaniels (he was my 1st choice for president prior to June) and was impressed with his work in the Heller Case we MUST remember there was “self interest” involved, to win a historic and it was a “historic” victory before the Supreme Court also provides one with financial rewards and notoriety/publicity.

    Do you think Cruz did all that work for free or out of “principle”, I did but not anymore. Cruz knew he was going to run for office, governor, senate, maybe even president one day, he had already worked for the State of Texas and there’s no better credentials for a potential Republican candidate than to have a victory in favor of firearm ownership before the Supreme Court and one that’s considered by ALL sides as a “landmark” ruling.

    It’s come to the point I don’t trust ANY politician not that I trusted many or even a few in the first place, they’re a bunch of dishonest money-grubbing whores with ulterior motives willing to violate their oaths of office and sell out their own constituents and the Constitution in order to advance their careers and enrich themselves, ALWAYS at OUR expense.

    My view is everyone in the race BOTH in the Republican and Democrat Partys save for Trump has something to gain whereas “The Donald” will actually lose money being president. The reality is there’s nothing for him to gain by this, his campaign, just look at how many of his “business interests” jave taken a “hit” and how many people he has alienated which has cost him millions of dollars, a “politician” wouldn’t act that way, they’re only out for themselves.

    I believe Trump when he says he wants to “restore our nation to greatness” sadly it should be someone who’s already been in “politics” doing this but in this instance I’ll choose the “businessman” over the “bureaucrat”.

  46. What I hate to see on this thread is people already conceding defeat, saying a Hillary win is a foregone conclusion. That’s BS. She has only a slight lead over Trump in the polls, with enough undecideds to swing things either way. Also, the polls typically don’t differentiate likely voters from those who might stay home.

    Yes, Trump has alienated some groups. But so has Hillary, namely…GUN OWNERS!!! And we are supposedly 1/3 to 1/2 of the population. We are way bigger than any liberal special interest group. If conservative POTG, which I think is most of us, ALL get to the polls and make the better choice on election day, the numbers say we can win. That’s what we have to do. It will all about us showing up.

    • Ain’t happening. Trump has pissed off Mexicans, Blacks, Women, Catholics and the religious. He is squishy on God, abortion and guns. My bet is that in a general election he maxes at 45%, handing the election to Billary. This guy is single handedly going to give the election to the worst person imaginable.

      • I don’t which Hispanics and Blacks you’re talking to because the working class (blue-collar) ones here in N.J. the Black butcher at the supermarket, the Hispanic cable TV technicians (both veterans and their family), the immigrants, Turks (Muslim) at two gas stations, the ones from India (Hindu) at the three delis they own, are all supporting and voting for Trump. It’s the same way for Black women in NYC at my orthopaedic surgeon’s office.

        BTW; The Indians and Turks are big on preserving and expanding the 2nd Amendment.

  47. To avoid Hillary, the GOP needs to make a deal now like Cruz-Carson 2016 with Rubio and Kasich to cabinet positions.

    The Donald has been winning by a few percent in most contests with the remaining 4 together getting between 60% and 68% of the vote.

    By consolidating now, the GOP can beat bothTrump and Hillary.

    • Not going to happen. The Republican Party is already imploding and Ryan has already said he’ll support the nominee. They care more about saving the party than who gets elected. I don’t think they are creative enough to pull off what you suggest.

    • You’re neglecting the unaffiliated/independent voters, they hate the corruption in BOTH parties and the ones I’ve talked to in my town (I know who they are because I was a pollworker for a dozen years until 2012) are supporting Trump. Remember these people don’t vote in Primary Elections though many plan on “declaring” and casting their ballots for Trump that is if he doesn’t secure the nomination before our primary on June 7th.

  48. Any “deal making” that Donald would do would be at least 4 years out. He is not going to risk being a one term president on a subject matter that he doesn’t have “skin in the game” for. Look at Obama, he hates guns with a passion and was elected in with control of the house and senate and still didn’t get anything done. Do you think it was because he didn’t hate them then? He knew if he alienated the gun guys who were not single issue voters (example of this is Union guys who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a republican and kept telling me ” if he was going to take the guns he already would have)

    The benefit to Donald that no one is talking about it the energizing of the base. Republicans are coming out in droves to vote in the primary. Compared to the democrats who are trickling in. You get that many like minded people together and guess what they vote for house members, senate members, state reps, state senate, governors.

    I would rather have a senate and house packed with people like Ted Cruz and a single flip flopper at the top then people sitting at home saying they aren’t voting for him because he might talk to a democrat in DC. Surround him with enough pro gun guys and the deal you presented drastically changes.

  49. I don’t like it. I’m not that limited in my shooting interests and my understanding of my constitutional rights to see how granting permission to do something I have a right to do already is a fair compromise in exchange for further restrictions on aspects of my gun rights that currently don’t have them. That being said, it offers something, which is more than any compromises that have been proposed before. I still would not support it.

  50. Okay, Trump is not going to make a deal about guns specifically. He’ll use it as a bargaining chip for something he really wants like a tax break or something. But then the point of Donald Trump is not advancing our position because there is no advancement from where we are right now. The left will never allow us any further than we are right now because that means getting rid of the machine gun ban, and Ted Cruz is just as gutless as the NRA on the issue. In fact if you explained the situation to every single one of the candidates running every last one of them would tell you that it’s either a GOOD thing, or that there just isn’t any political will, and that the media would crucify them if they tried. So Trump is not being sent to advance our position on guns.

    Trump is being sent to Washington, DC as an alternative to sending bullets. No one can break the stalemate we’re stuck in, but damn if he doesn’t make lefties cry themselves to sleep at night. So as long as we can beat them over the head with the Trump-Club then at least we get something out of this election cycle. He might even actually do something to curb the number of third world brown people from war-torn hellholes coming here and voting democrat while producing anchor babies that will eventually be used to vote away our gun rights anyway.

    So Trump is an alternative to bullets, but this can can only get kicked for so long because otherwise we’re going to lose from simple demographics.

  51. An associate of mine in Northeastern Pennsylvania hunts, shoots and sells 12 gauge reloads to Trump’s sons. Had a long chat with him at this year’s SHOT Show. He confirmed both sons are extremely pro-2A and have educated their father about the need for guns, and Trump is now firmly on our side (didn’t used to be).

    My acquaintance says Trump is, quote “the real deal” and if elected, will definitely change the status quo in Washington and prosecute the criminal politician traitor’s who have sold off our freedoms and industries to the highest bidders. Say’s will put some of them in jail to send a message to the rest. Which is why the mainstream media (including FOX) and elites from both political parties (and foreign countries) are doing everything in their power to destroy his candidacy.

    Trump’s the only guy with voter support from all walks of life capable of beating the corrupt democrat machine … the gun-grabbers, freedom-haters, and political hacks know it.

  52. I know I will get torn up for this, but as far as gun rights go, I think we might be safer if Hillary gets elected as opposed to Trump. It will be easier to mobilize gun owners against her than against trump, because I believe many trump supporting gun owners will be okay with “making a deal ” that gives away their gun rights.

    The fact that we have managed to expand gun rights under Obama makes me believe that our unity is more important than having a particular candidate in office, and nothing will unite us more than Hillary in the White House.

    As for other issues, I’m sure she would be a disaster.

  53. I saw his sons at the semi-private NRA-ILA banquet at the NRA convention Nashville in 2015, and I believe one of them gave a speech during the convention. I doubt they would support the NRA-ILA and then suddenly start backing up on gun rights. That said, I’d happily take a 20 round mag limit and higher taxes on NFA items in exchanged for de-listing silencers and making concealed carry licenses valid across all state lines (like my marriage licence, driver’s license, etc.).

  55. Democrats HOPE the GOP establishment figures out a way to get Cruz as the GOP nominee. His record is far easier to battle, i.e., anti-women, anti-poor, anti-gay, anti-minority, anti-muslim, pro-confederate flag (aka racist) or Democrats favorite issue, shutting down the federal government. Sure others candidates have these positions in one form or another but Cruz is famous for it. He is also famous for protesting losing battles and pissing everyone off without accomplishment. If you have watched the debates and then listened to Cruz summarize things you can see he consistently spins what was said or down right lies about it. In the general election the Liberal media will point this out a lot more than they are doing now. Cruz is the Democrats FIRST choice for the GOP nominee.

    Trump is polling at 51% nationally with a 33 point lead ahead of 2nd, he is OWNING the polls on average and has just crushed super Tuesday. The turnout for republicans is up in the primaries and caucuses while the turnout for dems is down. The turnout in Virgina was 7.5 times what it was in 2012. Trump got more caucus votes in Nevada (35k+) than people who voted in the 2012 Nevada Caucus. It has been widely reported on all tv networks that the majority of these new republicans are coming out for Trump. I’m not sure I would trust any “polls” that has come out recently suggesting that Trump loses to Hillary but Rubio and Cruz mysteriously beat her, #suspect.

    From what I can tell Donald Trump has a very gun friendly view. Here is his position on the 2nd amendment: http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2016/03/johannes-paulsen/how-do-gun-owners-solve-a-problem-like-the-donald/

    A recent report on Breitbart shows a video of Marco Rubio banning firearms, specifically, the video is suppose to show how the Florida senator voted on a gun-control proposal in 1999. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/29/video-emerges-proving-marco-rubio-voted-for-gun-ban/

    The establishment has a full court press on Trump and they have not realized that people supporting Trump are pissed off that politicians, who they believe ALWAYS lie, won’t get anything done. The last person to listen to about how viable Trump will be in the general is anyone supporting Cruz or Rubio right now, imo.

    It makes sense if you are against Trump on principle. However, if you are interested in who can win based on polls, turnout and primary results, I think the celebrity businessman is currently ahead on all fronts and is doing so without being a career politician.

  56. This election is a nightmare for anyone who cares about what remains of the Bill of Rights. Every election cycle gets worse….by chance? No way.

  57. Trump will absolutely treat our 2A rights as a bargaining chip. He doesn’t think in terms of inalienable rights or constitutional limits on government actions; to him anything and everything is negotiable. In his mind, that makes him wise and virtuous, and people who would draw a firm line against further 2A encroachment are inflexible, foolish, and probably a little crazy (again, in Trump’s mind).

    Trump wil bargain away your civil rights and believe he is a sophisticated rationalist acting virtuously.

    If you support Trump, you are anti-gun, simple as that. I’d rather see Hillary as president, frankly, because she would be much easier to fight.

  58. now that you’re president will the “make america great again” hats still be made in china?
    fbuckley had it right: vote for the most conservative candidate that stands a chance of winning.

  59. “So if you like socialized medicine, you might like giving free healthcare to those people, like Trump.”

    Well, since you mentioned it I’d like to point out that “giving free healthcare to those people, is nothing new: it’s called the emergency room. Sure you may be have to wait to see a doctor (that’s called rationing in socialized medicine speak) but eventually you’ll receive adequate health-care. True, the emergency room at most hospitals tends to be a bit bargain-basement gritty but, then, so is the kind of medicine envisioned by progressives (the only difference is that they want everybody to have emergency-room style medical care). Progressives tend to think adequacy versus equity differences are unfair and so we get Obamacare or something worse. An obvious, cost effective solution to “people dying on the streets’ is simply to provide better funding to a much expanded emergency-room system. The cost would be much less than Obamacare and the rest of us could pay for better quality care if we so choose.

  61. This whole discussion reminds me of a Lysander Spooner quote from No Treason:

    “In truth, in the case of individuals, their actual voting is not to be taken as proof of consent, even for the time being. On the contrary, it is to be considered that, without his consent having even been asked a man finds himself environed by a government that he cannot resist; a government that forces him to pay money, render service, and forego the exercise of many of his natural rights, under peril of weighty punishments. He sees, too, that other men practice this tyranny over him by the use of the ballot. He sees further, that, if he will but use the ballot himself, he has some chance of relieving himself from this tyranny of others, by subjecting them to his own. In short, he finds himself, without his consent, so situated that, if he use the ballot, he may become a master; if he does not use it, he must become a slave. And he has no other alternative than these two. In self-defence, he attempts the former. His case is analogous to that of a man who has been forced into battle, where he must either kill others, or be killed himself. Because, to save his own life in battle, a man takes the lives of his opponents, it is not to be inferred that the battle is one of his own choosing. Neither in contests with the ballot – which is a mere substitute for a bullet – because, as his only chance of self-preservation, a man uses a ballot, is it to be inferred that the contest is one into which he voluntarily entered; that he voluntarily set up all his own natural rights, as a stake against those of others, to be lost or won by the mere power of numbers. On the contrary, it is to be considered that, in an exigency into which he had been forced by others, and in which no other means of self-defence offered, he, as a matter of necessity, used the only one that was left to him.

    • Damn you, Wiregrass. Lysander Spooner – you’re taking me back to my heady days as a student, when I got invited to Cato Institute functions….

  62. As a Christian, I know for a fact that all are beholden to their sin nature. Politicians are no exception.
    But I take major offense at candidates claiming to be Christians by word and absolutely opposing that by deed.
    Trump is a demagogue. He panders to emotions, changing like a chameleon his views and opinions.
    He is pro-abortion and lies about it.
    He is pro-gun-control and lies about it
    He is a liberal and lies about it
    He is a great showman, that I’ll give to him, but I’m not electing the head of Ringling Bros circus and frankly, no thinking person should.
    You cannot treat a country like a business. And if you treated it like he treated his, the UST (United States of Trump) will bankrupt again just like his companies have, giving up the Petro-Dollar and bowing down to our new slavemasters in the East. He has some great ideas, but is sorely ignorant in realities. BHO may go down as the biggest liar ever elected, until Trump. This is like a really bad sitcom playing out in real time, only the joke is on us, the Constitutional Conservatives.

  63. Well, all of you Trump supporters who like to forgive him for backing anti-2nd Amendment liberals/Marxists and Trump himself supporting “assault weapon” and hi-cap magazine bans EXPLAIN this one away : http://www.teaparty.org/donald-trump-chris-christie-make-great-attorney-general-146930/ !
    Looks like savior Trump will be placing STILL anti-2nd Amendment Chris Christie in the position of head LE dude for the USA. Trump supporters keep saying that he isn’t a RINO or part of the establishment. You can’t get much more establishment or RINO than Christie! What’s the excuse now for Trump??? Are Trump supporters going to make one up or wait for the deal maker himself to come up with the BS???

    • I live in N.J. and voted for Christie for governor, he isn’t as strong as I would like on gun rights but you must remember Democrats control BOTH our state houses and ALL the committees, nothing even remotely pro-2nd Amendment makes it to the floor for a vote. Christie WILL follow Trumps orders and THAT’S good enough enough for especially with Trumps pro-gun son’s advising him, I believe his “conversion” is real, I don’t think he thought about guns much until recently. Remember he lives for his “business” and admitted that’s what caused his first two marriages to fail, I don’t think he was “informed” now I believe he is on the right track.

      • Understand your NJ issues. However, let’s not forget the anti-2nd Amendment Republican presidents who pushed for gun control and bans like Reagan and both Bush presidents. Reagan banned machine guns from civilian ownership if manufactured after 5/19/86, Bush 1 banned imported “assault weapons” in 1989 (which is still in effect), and Bush 2 stated that if Congress sent him a PERMANENT renewal of the 1994 “assault weapon” & hi-cap magazine ban (promoted by Reagan as well) in or after it sunset in 2004 that he WOULD sign it. See this article http://offgridsurvival.com/anti2ndamendmentrepublicans/ . Don’t think that Christie will “follow” orders and we don’t know what Trump will compromise with his dealmaking.

      • Out here in the West quite simply we don’t want your New Jersey laws even in the slightest. Stop defending a guy who quite simply would make a good Bond bad guy.

        • Do you think we pro-2nd Amendment residents of N.J. want these laws? I can assure you we don’t. The fact is there are only TWO (2), yes TWO state assemblyman in the entire legislature who are vehemently “pro-gun”, we don’t have a single state senator that can hold a candle to either Assemblymen Parker Space or Micheal Patrick Carroll (both Republicans).

          Sadly “Garden State” politicians a majority of whom are Democrats have drafted and passed legislation that not only violates our Constitutionally guaranteed Rights but also gave police chiefs/police departments total control of the “permitting” process. There are a few lawsuits working their way through the courts but as we all know it takes time, money, aggravation, and a willing plaintiff to challenge “the system”, the reality is it’s cheaper to move out of state relocating somewhere more “firearm friendly” than to overturn unconstitutional laws.

      • I believe we must credit Eric Trump and his brother Donald Jr. for their father’s conversion on both guns and so-called “assault weapons”, they are the “firearms enthusiasts” in the family, their father only “carries” for “self defense”. Donald J. Trump Sr. has made numerous references on the campaign trail to his boys and their love, experience, and activism (I think they’ve given some speeches) for/with firearms.

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