FOAC news letter

Dear Brian,

The September FOAC Membership Meeting (Sept. 13th) will be online (only) for all members and interested Second Amendment advocates. The stay-at-home order and mandatory mask order of Gov. Wolf (which is still in effect), caused us to cancel the in-person meeting and will be totally online.

Meeting Connection Details (also available at the end of the newsletter) are as follows: Join the FOAC Meeting by Clicking this Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85750524586

**Please Note: To join this FOAC meeting you must RSVP by sending an e-mail info@foacpac.org and the Meeting Password will then be e-mailed to you by one of the officers. (Time: 10:00 a.m.)

You can view or download a copy of the Meeting Agenda at this Link: Meeting Agenda!

HB 1747 Pro-2A Action in PA Senate Judiciary Committee

The PA Senate Judiciary Committee successfully passed (on a party line vote) HB 1747 (Sponsor Rep. Dowling) this past Wednesday (9/9). This legislation was introduced at the request of FOAC nearly four years ago to correct serious flaws we exposed then in PA law, Title 18, Section 6107. HB 1747 removes the Governor’s power to suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, transportation and even possession of firearms during a declared emergency.

Currently, this law (Title 18, Section 6107) negatively (and in our view, unconstitutionally) disenfranchises ALL PA Citizens who do not have a Concealed Carry License (LTCF) in declared Emergencies.

It’s important understand what current law does and how much at risk individual citizens are. The limiting of a citizen’s right to self-defense and to exercise their 2nd Amendment/Article 1, Section 21 rights, under the US and PA Constitutions, cannot and should not be condoned and HB 1747 corrects these issues! The Governor’s issuance of his Opioid ‘emergency’ proclamation(s), as well as, a state of emergency regarding COVID-19; pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S § 6107, an individual is prohibited from carrying/possessing ANY firearm on “public streets or upon any public property” during the state of emergency, unless one has an LTCF.

Further, the public has been misled as to the consequences of a violation of 18 Pa.C.S § 6107 because pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S. § 6119, it is a misdemeanor of the first degree – our most serious graded misdemeanor with a possible sentence of up to FIVE years. As a result, if an individual would be convicted of a violation of Section 6107, it triggers the federal prohibition of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1); whereby, that individual will be prohibited for the remainder of his/her life from possessing (current firearms) and purchasing any firearms and ammunition.

On June 24th, the Pennsylvania House passed HB 1747 (Emergency Powers Legislation). This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee moved this critical Right to Bear Arms legislation one step closer to final passage on a 9 to 5 vote, another partisan vote with Democrats opposing citizens’ rights.

Leading up to this Senate Judiciary vote was the informational hearing on September 4th for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Often times we, as supporters of the Constitution, fail to grasp the mindset of elected officials on Constitutional issues let alone the facts they seem to consider on 2nd Amendment issues. I recommend that you take ten minutes and listen to ‘how’ this legislation is being debated so you can arm yourself for debates about this and other issues with legislators. To view the September 4th Judiciary Committee discussion, see https://www.pasenategop.com/blog/090920-4/ Timestamp: 5:28 to 14:33.

House Bill 1747 next moves to the Senate floor for a full vote. Please contact your State Senate Leadership (Senator Corman and Senator Scarnati) as well as your own State Senator and respectfully request that this bill be brought to the floor and that they vote in favor of HB 1747. Remember, IF you sign into the membership portal of the FOAC website you can send your e-mail right from the HB 1747 page and contact your Senator in that fashion as well.

A Time of Remembrance

Yesterday marked the 19th anniversary of one of the worst days in our nation’s history. On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 men and women were killed in devastating terrorist attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Yesterday also marked the loss of even more Americans in 2012 on this same date in Benghazi, Libya.

The lost friends and loved one’s were honored and remembered in observances across the country, including one at Pennsylvania’s own Flight 93 Memorial, near the site where one of the four planes hijacked that day crashed. Let us resolve to never forget the threats our nation and, especially, our Freedoms face!

Upcoming Elections!

There are roughly 52 days until Election day, November 3rd, the day that will decide the fate of our nation and the very fabric of our Freedom itself. This year's state and federal elections are going to be more critical for individual rights than any in our history.

Make no mistake, your essential human right of self-defense on the line.

Don’t be fooled when the gun confiscation brigades use woefully meaningless phrases such as “Assault Weapon” or “Military-style”. These are deliberately undefined, so they can and will apply to ANY gun. That means YOUR guns will be up for grab, no matter what they are. The socialist-left is bent on gun confiscation and that is on their national agenda if they win in November.

The only way to keep your guns is to keep them out of office.

We already know that Pennsylvania is a primary target for Michael Bloomberg and his pay-for-play cronies, CeaseFire PA, Everytown and Mom's Demand Action. Money is pouring in to try and swing the election in favor of pro-gun confiscation, anti-liberty politicians just like they did in Virginia, and we will NOT stand for it.

FOAC has compiled a voter guide for 2020, highlighting the politicians running who believe in the constitution, and believe that the 2nd Amendment is a fundamental right that cannot be restricted by those in government, but WE NEED YOU.

Find your County 'or' Personal Voter Guides

First, talk to your network. Friends, family, acquaintances, coworkers, barber, anyone and everyone you know and ask if they are registered to vote this fall. Encourage them to register if they are not. We need every single liberty minded voter to show up to the polls this November.

The election is on November 3, 2020. The deadline to register to vote is October 9, 2020. The deadline to apply for absentee ballots is October 27, 5pm.
You can find voter registration information here.
You can look up voter information, such as registration, address, etc here.
You can find early voting locations here.
Second, encourage them to ‘subscribe’ to FOAC Alerts. They can sign up by clicking this link and entering their data into the 'subscribe' box on the right hand side. These alerts are the fastest way to receive news about what is happening around the state, and are critical to staying informed so we can hold those in office accountable to their oath.

HELP FOAC ELECT PRO GUN LEGISLATORS

Success of FOAC's voter education project, "Remember in November: A Guide to Candidates' Views on Guns" depends on distributing hundreds of thousands of voter guides covering ‘hundreds’ of races and candidates at the ‘state’ and ‘federal’ levels.

TELL VOTERS WHERE CANDIDATES STAND ON GUN ISSUES: We want you to distribute voter guides to any club or civic organization you think likely to use them. Some examples: gun shops & dealers, VFW, American Legion, wildlife clubs, volunteer fire departments, shooting leagues, churches, etc. PLEASE DON'T WAIT FOR US TO CALL YOU! If you can help, please click the link below to help us ensure a PRO LIBERTY, CONSTITUTIONAL VICTORY this November.

Update: FOAC Candidate Endorsements are now available on the website.

As American Cities Burn, Millions of Americans Buy Guns

It’s increasingly clear to even the average American that if riots come to your neighborhood, you’re on your own. The message received is increasingly be this: if your plan is to wait until the police show up to provide "protection," be prepared to wait a long time. Consequently, as violence appears to surge in America's cities, millions of Americans have become first-time gun owners.

Government Officials Aren't Keeping Us "Safe"

There are two trends at work which are making Americans doubt that government law enforcement is reliable and effective.

On the one hand, the public is witnessing nightly displays of looting, rioting, and general civil unrest. At the same time, many police officers don't appear particularly able or willing to defend the public against looters and rioters. Homicide rates in New York, for example, have surged among accusations of a "police slowdown." A number of police departments (including those in Los Angeles and Atlanta) are rumored to be using strategies such as the "blue flu" in which police personnel pretend to be ill as a negotiating tactic for obtaining political favors from lawmakers. But even when police personnel are able, there are not enough of them in most cases to truly address the ongoing nightly violence in many cities. And in some cases, elected officials, like in Portland and Chicago, appear uninterested or incapable of confronting rioters with much enthusiasm at all.

It easy to see how ordinary Americans could look on current events with increasing alarm. On August 29, a man was allegedly murdered by at least one protestor among the many who have been protesting, rioting, and looting in Portland for more than three months. Several weeks ago, a truck driver sustained serious injuries, also in Portland, when he was attacked by a group of “protestors” while reportedly attempting to help a woman who was being robbed. Last week in Kenosha, protestors were seen attacking a teenager who had been attempting to protect businesses from looting and vandalism. The teen reportedly opened fire in self-defense. In Washington, DC, a mob threatened restaurant patrons, and in Minneapolis, dozens of businesses have been burned and looted.

But even before the current rash of arson, looting, and violence, the police response to serious crime was never terribly impressive. For violent crimes, studies have shown police may take up to an hour to respond more than one-third of the time. (This summer, response times for the NYPD are up compared to last year.) And if one survives an attack from violent criminals, one shouldn’t assume justice will be done. Fewer than half of violent crimes are ever “solved” in the United States.

Gun Purchases Are Growing

Meanwhile, gun purchases have surged.

According to new estimates from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), using the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System (NICS), “there were over 12 million guns bought in the first seven months of 2020—up more than 70 percent over the same time span in 2019. This number is likely to include nearly 5 million first-time gun owners so far this year.”

Moreover, as noted in an unsigned editorial at the Wall Street Journal,

The FBI’s most recent gun-sale figures are stunning. They show that in July the bureau carried out 3.6 million background checks, the third highest month on record. [T]his translates to 1.8 million gun sales for July 2020—a 122% increase over July 2019. The 12,141,032 gun sales through this July is just shy of the 13,199,172 sales for all of 2019.

Gun retailers saw a 95 percent increase in firearm sales and a 139 percent increase in ammunition sales in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2019.

Statistically, it remains unclear that life for the average American is much more dangerous this year than it has been over the past five years. After all, in 2014, the homicide rate in America hit a 51-year low. But the American public has never been one to sit back and conclude everything is fine just because homicides are relatively low.

After all, gun purchases were already surging even before the apparent killing of George Floyd touched off a wave of protests followed by riots and looting. Gun purchases that had been fueled by general uncertainty and anxiety over the covid-19 panic soon became gun purchases fueled by far more immediate fears of violent crime.

Also notable is that many new gun owners are outside of groups known as the usual suspects when it comes to gun purchases. The NSSF reported that 58 percent of the new firearms purchases were by black men and women, while “women comprised 40% of first-time gun buyers.”

Millions Aren't Buying the Usual Gun Control Claims

Needless to say, these trends are going very much against the grain of the usual narrative employed by gun control advocates, a narrative that generally employs several main tenets we’ve seen many times. They include:

Government police agencies provide better protection than a private firearm ever could.
If you’re in danger, it’s best to call 911 and then wait.
If you buy a gun, the gun is more likely to kill someone you love than to stop a criminal.
America would be safer if fewer people had guns.
People who buy guns are mostly just right-wing hayseeds. Hillary Clinton calls these people "deplorables."
And while opponents of private gun ownership rarely say this explicitly, the sum total of their narrative is this: only police and military personnel should own guns. The basic idea here is that private gun owners cannot be trusted, and that government officials will keep us safe. But as so often occurs when there are riots—as happened in Ferguson (in 2014) and as is happening in Kenosha police officers and other government "public safety" personnel mostly just protect government property. The private sector must just fend for itself.

Many Americans appear to have gotten the message.

FOAC Firearm Safety Series

by Klint Macro, FOAC 2nd Vice-President

Muzzle Awareness

Part 1 in a multiple part series on the Safe and Proper use of your defensive tool

The cornerstone of all firearms training, no matter the context is safety. All Americans who exercise their 2A Rights must also exercise them responsibly; this begins with safe gun handling.

Many training organizations have various *Safety Rules* that if followed will prevent someone hurting themselves or someone else. A firearm is like a hammer or a chainsaw, it, on it*s own, is incapable of inflicting harm. However, just like a hammer or a chainsaw, in the hands of a person who is ignorant, physically incapable, undisciplined, or criminally inclined, then that PERSON has the potential to pose danger to themselves or those around them.

Although it is good to know the parts and nomenclature and basic operations of your firearm, you don*t have to be a junior gunsmith to be able to handle a gun safely. The 2 most important *gun parts* to know is the muzzle and the trigger. This article I will discuss the Muzzle and Muzzle Awareness.

Keep in mind, that no matter the type, make, model, shape or size all guns are going to have a muzzle. The muzzle is the hole at the end of the barrel of the gun where the projectile(s) exit at a high velocity. All of the national training organizations have a safety rule to address this:

NRA: ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction (This is NRA*s golden rule)
USCCA: Do not point the gun at something that you are not willing to destroy
I.C.E. Training: Keep the gun pointed in a generally safe direction whenever possible
We must have an *awareness* of our muzzle and be disciplined to control that muzzle when we are handling the gun. Handling means anytime our grubby paws interface with the gun; shooting it, admiring it, passing it to a friend, putting it into a holster, taking it out of a holster, cleaning it, taking a selfie with it, etc..*. ANYTIME and EVERYTIME*. Even if we are defending our self against an attacker, we must be aware of our muzzle and what it is pointing at. It should be pointed in that generally safe direction whenever possible.

What constitutes a safe direction?

A safe direction is where there aren*t any people and if the gun were fired the projectile would remain in the *area*. This is relatively easy at the range. So long as there aren*t any people in front of the firing line, downrange towards the backstop is most often a safe direction and if a round was fired it would land safely in the backstop. However, outside of controlled shooting environments, safe directions can change with every step. In the woods of Pennsylvania, for example, down at the ground is most often times a safe direction; unless our foot is between the muzzle and the ground* then it is no longer a safe direction. Get the point? If you are amongst a group of people Up MAY be a safe option, however, if a round were to go off where would the bullet ultimately land? An errant round into the sky can potentially hit a bystander miles away. An incident just like this struck an unsuspecting citizen multiple miles away and almost closed down a local sportsmen club some years ago. We must have a solid backstop to capture any round we fire. There is an old adage that every bullet that leaves your gun has a lawyer attached to it. There may be wisdom in that statement.

Another rule, *Know your target and what is beyond/around it* is a very important rule that can be considered with muzzle discipline and the safe direction concept. As hunter shooting related incidents in the woods are becoming more rare, when they do happen it is often time when folks are mistaken for game or when someone was in the line of fire. Remember that even in a dynamic critical incident if you are defending yourself against an attacker, if you engage the bad guy and there are good folks behind them you must do your best to change your angle so that if you miss or the round over penetrates then you don*t unintentionally harm an innocent bystanders or a loved one. Unfortunately this is a lot to consider when seconds count during an attack that we didn*t start and could not get away from, but it is part of our duty as responsible gun owners to consider it. This should further emphasize the importance of training. Remember, the 2nd Amendment has 2 components: Armed and Well Regulated. Seek out training, learn to run your gun efficiently and intuitively.

Lastly, as I wrap up this installment, consider one more rule, *The Big Picture Rule*. Every time you pick up your gun, consider this:

Recognize that YOU are in control of a firearm, if YOU use this firearm carelessly, ignorantly, or with malice, YOU have the potential to harm or kill yourself or someone else.

Act accordingly. Don*t just be an armed American, be a responsibly armed American!

Stay armed, alert, safe, and be well regulated!

Are Democrats Embracing Forcibly Disarming Citizens

*Democrats [are showing an] unprecedented embrace of gun control,* The Atlantic noted Thursday. *The party is betting that support for restrictions is more likely to attract moderate voters than turn them off.*

If nothing else, this shows the goalposts are continuously being moved to the left. If the *centrists* of the party are all in for eviscerating a keystone right and ignoring the crystal clear mandate of *shall not be infringed,* you know what those pulling sentiment in that direction intend to end up with. That also allows those previously considered *moderate* to now be smeared as *extremists,* with accusations of being haters not far behind.

It wasn*t always this way, of course * at one point within the lifetimes of many of us, even Democrat *liberals* were on record expressing belief in the Second Amendment and demonstrating that they understood founding intent in a way that today would have them condemned as insurrectionist traitors.

Two cases in point:

*By calling attention to *a well-regulated militia,' the *security' of the nation, and the right of each citizen *to keep and bear arms,' our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy,* John F. Kennedy responded to GUNS Magazine*s inquiries in the April 1960 issue*s *Know Your Lawmakers* feature. *Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.*

*Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms,* then-senator, soon-to-be vice president, future presidential candidate and *liberal* icon Hubert Humphrey had asserted in the February issue. *This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used, and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.*

So much for the lie that the individual rights *theory* didn*t start to gain ground until the NRA started getting more political circa 1977:

News letter continues: would take at least another 2 posts. Please join, as FOAC is the driving force for gun rights in Pennsylvania.

How was the meeting? Somehow I flipped AM and PM in my head, so missed the call.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sblzrd65

How was the meeting? Somehow I flipped AM and PM in my head, so missed the call.

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On my first family vacation in 4 years. My wife would murder me.