Vedder Holsters Daily Digest: Racist Roots, Protecting the Thugs and Turnabout is Fair Play

Anyone else surprised thehill.com ran this op-ed? . . . The racist origin of gun control laws

Kansas Senator Samuel Pomeroy extolled the three “indispensable” “safeguards of liberty under our form of government,” the sanctity of the home, the right to vote, and “the right to bear arms.” So “if the cabin door of the freedman is broken open and the intruder enter…then should a well-loaded musket be in the hand of the occupant to send the polluted wretch to another world.”

Because of the 14th Amendment, gun control laws now had to be racially neutral. But states quickly learned to draft neutrally-worded laws for discriminatory application. Tennessee and Arkansas prohibited handguns that freedmen could afford, while allowing expensive “Army & Navy” handguns, which ex-Confederate officers already owned.

The South Carolina law against concealed carry put blacks in chain gangs, but whites only paid a small fine, if anything. In the early 20th century, such laws began to spread beyond the ex-Confederacy. An Ohio Supreme Court Justice acknowledged that such statutes reflected “a decisive purpose to entirely disarm the Negro.”

How are masked club-wielding antifa thugs supposed to deal with armed opposition? . . . Why States Should Ban Guns From Political Rallies

There is no constitutional conflict. Citizens have a constitutional right to attend a political rally, but the right to bring guns to that rally exists only if the state wants it that way. There was no conflict between the First and Second Amendments in the Charlottesville riot: the conflict was between common sense and the legislative will of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

It’s worth mentioning that after granting the neo-Nazis the right to rally at the base of the statue, the Charlottesville city council withdrew the permit and moved the rally to a larger venue one mile away. The ACLU, representing the neo-Nazis, went to court and urged that the anti-Semitic racists had the right to protest at the base of the Lee statue. They succeeded, and the Charlottesville riot ensued. The ACLU has asserted that it was not responsible for the violence — and it is not responsible for the murder of Heather Heyer — and that it just protected the free-speech rights of the hate groups.

This raises questions about why the organization did not consider that the presence of assault rifles by one group might inhibit the free-speech rights of the other group — or that it could requiring its clients to not bring weapons? But in the end, it has since adopted a no-guns policy. Now it’s up to the Commonwealth and states like it to do the same.

Remington says court should approve rifle settlement even if gun owners may be suspicious

Attorneys for America’s oldest gun maker say gun owners’ suspicions about the government may explain why only a relative handful have expressed interest in getting their Remington rifles repaired under a nationwide class action settlement. Nonetheless, they say claims have jumped roughly 25 percent since February, and that is reason enough for a federal appeals court to let the settlement proceed.

Timing is critical, with this year’s hunting season just a few months away. …

If the owners of all 7.5 million guns were to submit claims, the repairs would cost Remington upwards of half a billion dollars, according to multiple court filings. As of last week, according to Remington and plaintiffs’ attorneys, the number of claims had risen to 29,214. While that still represents less than half of one percent of the guns in question, Remington argues in its latest filing that the figure is significant.

Except it probably won’t . . . The NRA’s Plan to Make People Fear Liberal Activists Could Backfire

The gun group and the president have both sought to use fear to their political advantage. For the NRA, at least, this approach could backfire in a big way, political scientist Alexandra Filindra says. Filindra has run a slew of experiments on how people’s feelings about race, crime, and violence influence their positions on gun laws. In a study she published last year, she found that racial resentment strongly influenced white people to oppose gun control.

But, according to her latest research, escalating racial tensions don’t lead to retrenchment of hard-line attitudes against gun laws. Fear of social violence, Filindra says, can drown out worries about racial identity. In an as-yet unpublished experiment, she found that if white people are prompted with descriptions of violent protests or street brawls, they are more likely to support gun control.

“Threat operates differently than identity,” she explains.

Last Hurrah With Josh Kline

Josh Kline is no stranger to hard work and the need to overcome adversity. Looking back at the last five years of his NFL career it’s filled with highs and lows.

After signing with the New England Patriots in 2013 for his rookie year, he rode that roller coaster of ups and downs. By 2016, and starting only 18 games for New England, Josh was released by the Patriots in Week 1 to be claimed soon after by the Tennessee Titans. His approach to the game allowed him to adjust to a new offensive scheme and have an immediate positive impact in Tennessee.

As a child, Josh was sure of two things: he wanted to play in the NFL, and he loved the outdoors. Like many of us, he had no idea how these two passions would play hand-in-hand in his future.

Your feel-good story of the day . . . Woman beats robbery suspect with his own gun

Three thrift store employees overpowered a robber who was wielding a shotgun in Long Island — including a woman who grabbed the weapon and beat the robber about the head with it, cops and witnesses said Sunday.

Ronald J. Kelly walked into Island Thrift store carrying the firearm around 8:25 p.m. Saturday, and demanded the store manager empty the til, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

The woman grabbed the gun, and with the help of two other employees managed to wrestle him to the ground.