1/29/1981 President Reagan at Press Conference at OEOB Room 450

President Joe Biden said it again. Given another term, he’ll do gun control. This time, he’s grotesquely dismissive of the high price of freedom that has been paid with the lives of those who fought and died to preserve American independence. Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Bill of Rights, famously wrote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

President Biden told the “Smartless” podcast, according to Breitbart, that he will “make sure that we do something about gun violence in this country” should he be elected for a second term, adding, “this — the [tree of] liberty is watered with the blood of patriots, I mean, that’s a bunch of crap.”

President Biden specifically took aim at re-enacting the failed 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, that even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admitted had no effect on crime reduction. He reiterated his disproven claims about “cannon control” and again placed himself as the pre-eminent Second Amendment authority, despite the U.S. Supreme Court clearly establishing the Second Amendment as a right of individual Americans.

It’s a mantra that would be easy to dismiss if it weren’t for all the gun control he’s already implemented by bypassing Congress and abusing his executive authority to attack the firearm industry.

Punishing Second Amendment Freedom

He targets “rogue” gun dealers, when even his own Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) officials published data showing they’re not the problem. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Volume Three of the National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment show just 0.1 percent of all federal firearms licensees were implicated in allegedly illegal firearm trafficking between 2017 and 2021.

President Biden’s Commerce Department published a punishing Interim Final Rule through the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and slapped on new firearm export restrictions that have the intent of hobbling U.S. firearm manufacturers and exporters. The administration grasped at straws to justify it for national security reasons but it also belies ATF data. The ATF’s National Firearm Commerce and Trafficking Assessment shows less than one percent of legally exported firearms are ever traced in connection with a crime taking place in a foreign country.

Recently, Everytown for Gun Safety’s President John Feinblatt boasted of his gun control organization’s collusion with the White House’s office of Gun Violence Prevention, staffed by his former employee Rob Wilcox, and the City of Chicago to bring a frivolous and harassing lawsuit against Glock. The handgun maker is renowned for their product’s reliability and Feinblatt and others are upset because Glock refuses to change their handgun designs because criminals illegally alter them by affixing auto-sears – what ATF calls “machinegun conversion devices (MCD) -that are illegal to import, make, possess and install on a firearm. A dozen Democrat state attorneys general are threatening to sue, as is Hawaii.

The goal is to overturn the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), the law that prohibits frivolous lawsuits against the firearm industry for the harm caused by remote third parties. To more easily understand that, “remote third parties” is legal-speak for criminals. Feinblatt, President Biden and the Congressional gun control cabal want to return to the days of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when unscrupulous trial lawyers in shiny suits in concert with gun control groups paraded a series of failing lawsuits to drain firearm manufacturers of funds with claims that were never successful.

That wasn’t the point, though. Disgraced former New York Gov. Anderw Cuomo served as the Housing and Urban Development Secretary under President Bill Clinton and infamously threatened the firearm industry with “death by a thousand cuts.” The objective was to bring the industry to its knees and force through court-ordered settlements gun control measures rejected by Congress or ratchet up the cost of litigation and shutter the industry through bankruptcy. Nothing changed.

Look to Another American President

It’s time to reject this mentality. There was a time in this nation when Americans shrugged off the collective blame that society shoulders responsibility for the ills that plague us and focused instead on holding criminals accountable. Instead of listening to the 46th President of the United States, America should recall the words of the 40th President.

“We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker,” President Ronald Reagan said. “It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”

President Reagan delivered those remarks to the Republican National Convention in Miami in 1968. Those words are as fitting today as they were over a half century ago.

President Biden, with the help of gun control cronies, wants to shift the blame for criminals misusing firearms to snatch that Constitutionally-protected right from every American. Together, they’re doing it through executive fiat, judicial abuse and regulatory overreach. They’ve gone so far as to create an office within The White House that is structured to do that, staffed by former gun control lobbyists.

The notion that others are to blame for an individual’s failings and crimes is as juvenile as the toddler’s “the devil made me do it” excuse. Laws are enacted to protect society. They give society the tools by which to hold individuals accountable when they don’t respect the rights of others or the consequences of their actions. When President Biden and his gun control factions talk of repealing PLCAA, enacting unconstitutional restrictions through the rulemaking process instead of working through Congress – the representatives of “We, the People,” they are abrogating their responsibility to protect the very people they’ve been entrusted to govern. They break the social contract with Americans to shift the blame for crime from the criminal to those who had no part or responsibility for that crime.

This isn’t how Americans want to be governed. Weaponizing government – including the courts to cast the blame for criminal misbehavior on an industry or the rest of society – is anything but accountability. It gives the criminal a free pass. It punishes the innocent and negates rights that belong to law-abiding Americans.

This isn’t what the Founding Fathers envisioned. Americans must not tolerate a chief executive who crassly dismisses the hard-fought liberties that have been secured by patriots with their lives. Americans must not surrender their liberties to carry the collective blame when individuals break the law. Stripping Americans of their Second Amendment rights doesn’t make the country safer. It emboldens criminals and makes citizens wards of an Orwellian government.

—Mark Olivia, courtesy NSSF

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56 COMMENTS

  1. Yes I know the Mulford Act. And the “gun community” supports it.

    Getting support for open carry is like pulling teeth.

    • Can’t be right all the time but holding violent criminals accountable for their actions was a net positive for all the issues people claim it caused.

  2. Reagan repealed open carry while governor of California. Reagan signed the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986, that banned new automatic firearms. While not as bad as Joe Biden, Reagan is hardly a gun control hero.

    • he was a lot better than tyrant Joe unconstitutionally bypassing congress to in effect create defacto law through the ATF, via ‘executive orders’ to rule by fiat.

      • Two wrongs don’t make a right. Reagan still pushed gun control. Your logic is the following:

        “Well yeah, I stabbed. But the guy who did it had a courtesy to stab me in my chest, my in my back.”

        He restricted the rights of millions of law-abiding Americans. Heck, he backed the Clinton AWB.

    • Reagan was offended by armed brown folk’s. Yeah I don’t get the worship. “Better than” the Dims is a poor endorsement. As pictures of W circulate show Big Mike & W hugging it out🙄☹️

      • The left loves W now.
        20 years of pointless war? Not a problem anymore.
        Patriot Act? Not a problem anymore.
        9/11? Nothing suspicious there.

        He went from anti-civil rights nazi and war mongering profiteer who may or may not had “allowed” 9/11 to happen to good ‘ol uncle George. A voice of reason and responsibility.

        When he dies they’ll say he became a Democrat in his final days and be sainted by Unitarians or Methodists or something.

        • Well he was always uniparty just via neocon so had to play the he is evil noise to make conservatives think he was on their side.

        • I can tell you that nobody on the left loves George W. Bush, he was really stupid, maybe the stupidest president ever.

          That was until Donald Trump was elected in 2016, now W. looks positively harmless by comparison.

          I am so glad to see the conservatives still have reverence for Ronald Reagan, he was quite a groundbreaking figure.

          Personally, I am quite a fan of the large scale drag shows he organized on American military bases, he looks kind of good in a dress… the show must go on!

          https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HautJ80SoU0

          • Still trying to keep Trump front and center in the voters minds, miner?

            You’re a priceless asset to our side.

            • “Stupid people do not become billionaires“

              Happens all the time… For rich kids:

              “But The Times’s investigation, based on a vast trove of confidential tax returns and financial records, reveals that Mr. Trump received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire, starting when he was a toddler and continuing to this day.

              Much of this money came to Mr. Trump because he helped his parents dodge taxes. He and his siblings set up a sham corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents, records and interviews show. Records indicate that Mr. Trump helped his father take improper tax deductions worth millions more. He also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue his parents’ real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns, sharply reducing the tax bill when those properties were transferred to him and his siblings.

              These maneuvers met with little resistance from the Internal Revenue Service, The Times found. The president’s parents, Fred and Mary Trump, transferred well over $1 billion in wealth to their children, which could have produced a tax bill of at least $550 million under the 55 percent tax rate then imposed on gifts and inheritances.

              The Trumps paid a total of $52.2 million, or about 5 percent, tax records show.“

              • “improper tax deductions”

                So it wasn’t illegal, or they would have said so.

                “which could have produced a tax bill of at least $550 million ”

                …which would have been used to fund global conflict, instigate foreign regime change revolutions, secure foreign borders, or some other type of foreign “aid” that would help to enrich insiders. Democrat voters are such fools and hypocrites for cheering all of their wasteful spending when every dime of that should have been used for American citizen healthcare and secure borders.

    • Actually Reagan repealed the open carry of loaded firearms.

      You could still open carry an unloaded gun in the state of california. And many people did. They did so in my neighborhood. In Sacramento when there was a serial rapist who was also murdering people. In the 1970s.

      Today people call that “Israeli carry”, I believe.

      It was “governor moonbeam” jerry brown junior. Democrat. And he owns a Ruger 1022.
      He signed the law completely banning the open carrying of guns loaded or unloaded in california.

      A law that was co written by the anti-civil rights ho.mo.sexu.al lawmaker Tom Ammiano. And he was always reelected.

      Hom.osex.ual ath.eist fas.cis.m.

    • The Mulford Act still allowed open unloaded carry, which of course no one did because, what’s the point? Nonetheless, in 2012 and 2013, activists started carrying unloaded pistols in public, but the Karens of California quickly put a stop to that, so now it is illegal to openly carry any firearm except in areas designated for doing so, as out in the forest, shooting ranges and the like. the State also doubled down on its efforts to severely limit the issuance of CCW permits, efforts that continue to this day. thanks Ronnie, you did us a solid. NOT.

  3. Nope. Just nope. Listen to Reagan’s thoughts on gun control. Plenty of it on YouTube. His speeches sound just like JB’s. They go something like this, “I believe in the Second Amendment, but no one needs an AK47 to defend their home”. In other words, 2A is just for Fudd guns. He backed that up with the so-called FOPA. In it, the Hughes Amendment.
    A lot of republicans are fine with gun control, as long as it’s their guy doing it. Reagan, Bush 1 , Trump…signing bills into law or by EO, all did a little gun control.
    Ok, though. They’re Republicans.

    • I don’t know any Republicans that say or think that way…although they certainly exist.
      Also, there is no question Reagan, Bush (I & II) Trump have all be disappointments to some extent on guns.

      So you’ve stated the problem, what is your solution?

    • Nixon hated handguns and would have banned them completely had he the power to do so. Is this some form of elitism of the leadership?

    • That’s incredibly cheap, most Colts are in the $35,000 range.

      Also Reagan was one of the first RINOs. Never understood the hero worship he receives from Conservatives.

  5. There’s a big oof.

    The Boomer remembered legacy of Reagan little resembles the reality of Reagan.

    They do that a lot though. They think today’s Dems have anything on common with JFK era Dems. They think today’s Republicans have anything in common with Bush/Clinton era Republicans.

    Two or three generations alive right now that got locked into some 1965-1995 worldview and never moved on. Worse than that it is a muddied amalgamation of those years where Democrats can simultaneously stand up for free speech and drag artists in front of Congress to answer for their obscenities and can fight against integration then win seats on fighting racism.

    Reagan was not answering is not a 2a champion.

    Most people are too stupid to vote and it is abundantly cruel to subject those who are not to their whims.

  6. Reagan was well meaning, unfortunately he was surrounded by RINO and democRat and fire and brimstone advisors. I believe if he had a crystall ball to forsee the future things would be different…Insult to injury the perp who shot him was released. Mark Levin is a good source for Reagan History.

    • The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Reagan didn’t care about the Second Amendment when he was Governor nor when he was President and after he left office. For him, it was a privilege to be doled out for campaign rallies and speeches. Nothing more and nothing less.

      • luis…you use Reagan’s shortcomings just like a democRat…I noted what and who surrounded Reagan…what and who surrounds you? At this point Reagan et al looks like Rambo compared to every democRat who held the office…don’t you think?

      • You are wasting your time trying to explain it to her. She worships Trump in the same manner. Neither of them care about guns and both given the chance would at a minimum outlaw all semi automatics.

        It’s amazing watching the reality disconnect with many here on TTAG.

        Also are you the gun rights guy in Florida?

        • Unlike Ronald Reagan and the American troops he put in dresses for the drag show, I have never worn women’s clothing.

          Did you miss all the conservative protests over drag shows?

          • The ones targeting minors and frequently headlined by sex offenders or the ones involving adults?

  7. Ronald Reagan on the Second Amendment:

    “I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth, or for home defense. But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for defense of a home.” – Ronald Reagan

    “This is a matter of vital importance to the public safety … While we recognize that assault-weapon legislation will not stop all assault-weapon crime, statistics prove that we can dry up the supply of these guns, making them less accessible to criminals.” – Ronald Reagan

    “Certain forms of ammunition have no legitimate sporting, recreational, or self-defense use and thus should be prohibited.” – Ronald Reagan

    “I think maybe there could be some restrictions that there had to be a certain amount of training taken.” – Ronald Reagan

    • luis…If you haven’t noticed Gun Control can infect minds from the strongest to the weakest. So what have you done to Define Gun Control by its History for America’s Gun Control History illiterates who march around begging legislators for Gun Control? You roasting Reagan like you’re a democRat doesn’t cut it…Mark Levin has an 800 number…use it.

      • Probably did a lot that actually produces results instead of your go nowhere hypocritical nonsense.

    • That’s the one, Louis. What was that…40 years ago? Funny. That long ago, this so-called Republican (You know, principles of a Republic. Bill of Rights and all that.) had the same view of 2A as democrats and progressives do today. He also had “All hail the New World Order” Bush as VP. Yeah, Bush actually said that.

      • I’ve always been highly critical of Reagan and the subsequent worship of him as the ideal. However, it’s my understanding that he chose Bush as a VP because Bush wasn’t like him, not because he was like him. I thought he did it to unite the party. VPs are typically chosen based on how many votes they can help bring to the table. Therefore, VPs are usually very different from the presidential candidate. (I’m not a Bush family fan either.)

  8. And the walls came tumbling down.
    America had a diplomat with Ronald Reagan. Now, well theBiden has pretty much made America a joke, countries leaders as well as their populace laugh at him, and through him at us.
    Proud to be an American? Me not so much anymore, not if my pride for my Country is looked at by other countries as a supporter
    of theBiden.
    What we have now is our ambassadors running behind theBiden trying to smooth things out over what he said to prevent a war because Joe thinks? he is the Wizard of Oz.
    “Nobody fcks with a Biden.” Joe Biden.
    Thankfully it is all wrapped up in gunm control for the moment otherwise it would be all wrapped up in Freedom of Speech control. Which I believe, after He’ is slotted in for a second term, will become a thing.
    theBiden is crumbling down a different wall, the wall of the United States of America and its Constitution.
    Anyway that’s what I think. and
    Vote Louder

    • Biden is a mouthpiece. A sock puppet. It makes you wonder who has their hand up his behind to control what comes out of his mouth.

      • Lions don’t concern themselves with the concerns of sheep.

        How’s that Russian oil thing working out for Germany by the way?

        Sometimes people laugh at a fool. Sometimes people laugh because they’re foolish. Time sorts out which.

      • Miner49, your still playing that two party game.
        Someone says something negative about Joe Biden and you fire back with a Donald Trump bash.
        Its exactly what “the system” [ie] theBiden wants.
        One person defending a Rattlesnake and another person defending a Cottonmouth.
        In the end we all get bit.
        A legitimate 3rd party is what’s needed.
        It’s a game Miner49 and your being played.
        Dempublicans or Republicrats doesn’t matter, the rich get rich and the poor get poorer. Throw in a war every so often to keep the batter stirred.

        • They have to keep us divided. Otherwise, it would be the world against the elitists, and they know they would lose. They’re confident their army of useful idiots will be there for them to look down on the common man and worship their rulers.

          And no, a third party won’t work here any time soon by design. That means you have to pick one of the existing parties and reform it.

  9. Reagan deserves all the flack, and more, that he gets for being an anti-gun politician.

    What I want to know is why is an upper-level executive with the NSSF holding Reagan up as a champion of gun rights; stupid, simple, slow, ignorant, verbal masturbation, click-bait, or something I don’t know about the NSSF (I’ll admit I don’t know a lot about them)?

  10. How about we just deal with reality, and recognize that few, if ANY, poiiticians, give a wet fart about the 2A rights of “we, the People”? As a practical matter, it is simple defense of their status and privilege. Just like in 1772, the ultimate check on government excess is a free, armed, independent population. And Republicans are not quite as bad as the Dimocrats . . . but they aren’t “all that”, either.

    Anyone who relies on politicians to preserve our inherent rights? I’ve got some oceanfront property in Utah I’d like to sell, call me. But elections are about choices, and even out of two bad choices, one is usually less bad. If an election is going to happen (and it is), SOMEONE is going to get elected, no matter what any individual voter does. In our current election, it is either going to be DJT or Senile Joe. I don’t like either one of them, but . . . a loudmouth, obnoxious, midwit devoid of actual principles is objectively superior to a mushmouth, even-more-obnoxious, SENILE quarter-wit (who was a quarter-wit BEFORE he became senile), who is ALSO devoid of principles.

    I will vote accordingly, despite the fact that I don’t anticipate any “favors” in the 2A arena from either one of them. Senile Joe is SUCH a dumpster fire that only an idiot, or MajorLiar (ah, but I repeat myself) could continue to support him. Unfortunately, we seem to have a huge number of idiots in our body politic.

    • There you go with that rational objectivity again. It something ist or another so expect your cancellation notice soon. Kidding aside it is mildly depressing that so few elected officials begin to give a damn about America to begin with let alone it’s citizens but at least they are pretty easy to identify with how much the news tends to hate them…… until they wise up and start the reverse psychology plays to muddy the waters.

  11. Is a Free independent population.
    Americans haven’t been free or independent for a long time.
    .giv has us by the balls.

  13. Reagan?

    The guy who banned machineguns and implemented racist gun control policies?

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