Lou has absolutely been one of the main media stars championing 2nd Amendment rights this year!
Here's excepts from transcripts:
Monday March 9 show:
"Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his efforts to sue gun makers and make them responsible for what outlaws do. That story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: A major defeat for New York's Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and what have been about four years of efforts to sue the nation's gun makers. The U.S. Supreme Court rejecting the city's lawsuit against the fire arms industry. Bloomberg arguing the industry violated the law because some of the guns were used in crimes in New York City trying to make the gun makers liable. Among the manufactures sued by Bloomberg were Colt, Smith and Wesson, Beretta and Glock. The Supreme Court action today supports the gun makers obviously. A 2005 federal law provides gun makers with broad immunity from lawsuits. The mayor said the city is examining whether to pursue other legal options. They are out of luck. Elsewhere in the country, our right to bear arms under the second amendment is also under assault. The FBI providing instant background checks for all who purchase guns. Some states insist on doing their own checks and then they add restrictions on the gun owners and the process and a few fees. Bill Tucker has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: States don't have to charge for background checks on gun purchases. Background checks are required by federal law, the FBI provides the service for free. Currently 29 states use the service at no charge to the buyer or the state. Other states handle the checks differently. Eight states do their own background checks leaving background checks up to the feds. 13 states run their own checks on purchases of both handguns and rifles, running a check against the FBI data base and the state's data base charging fees for the checks. Wisconsin needs more money for state law enforcement programs, so it wants to raise the fees on handguns from $8 to $30. It's more than twice the actual cost of running the background check according to the Wisconsin Attorney General's Office. The actual cost to the state, $13.
The Brady Group, advocates of gun control and the name sake of the background checks, defends it state's right to charge the fee saying, "If a state wants to offer Brady background checks without a fee, they are free to do so." The state legislatures in those states have to make up the funding the state agency, which charges the fee would lose. It's the action that angers defenders to bear arms. It amounts to little more than gun control.
LARRY PRATT, GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA: I think it goes beyond balancing the budget of the gun owners. They are trying to discourage gun ownership. They argue it's discouraged by pricing and regulating the second amendment beyond the reach of many citizens. Gun rights groups say if the states want to save money, they should cut state spending and let the federal government handle the background checks. We're already paying for it with tax dollars.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: It's double jeopardy. It's an effort to control gun ownership. Thank you very much, Bill Tucker."
And from tonight's show, Tues, March 10:
"The battle over gun rights. It's escalating, possible threatening your rights of freedom of speak. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: New efforts tonight to restore second amendment rights on college campuses. Imagine that, somebody supporting the second amendment out there. Many states and colleges have simply disregarded the constitution. They have barred and by all prospects unconstitutionally their students from possessing firearms on campus. Now, some state legislatures are acting to revoke those bans. Bill Tucker has our story -- Bill?
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Lou, there's only one state where a person can carry a concealed weapon on the campus without fear of being arrested for violating the law and that state is Utah. The law not only says concealed carry is legal, but that colleges can opt out. Outside of Utah, there are only two campuses, Colorado State University and Blue Ridge Community College in Virginia, where you can carry concealed weapons, but that may be about to change. In ten states, there are bills which would allow for concealed carry of weapons on college campuses. There are three states looking at going in the other direction. They have bills pending specifically to prohibit the carry of concealed weapons. The group, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, thinks those states are sadly mistaken and are pushing for concealed carry on every campus in every state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL GUZMAN, CONCEALED CARRY ON CAMPUS: We give the criminal a government guarantee that their intended victims on a college campus, school or church, that they are unarmed and unable to defend themselves. It stacks the odds in favor of the criminal which is not what we should be doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER: Concealed carry off the campus is pretty much the general rule across the country. Currently, there are only two states which don't permit concealed carry, Wisconsin and Illinois. Curiously enough Lou, in those states, politicians are exempt from the concealed carry law.
DOBBS: The folks in Wisconsin, what's the other state?
TUCKER: Illinois.
DOBBS: Illinois. Imagine that.
TUCKER: Imagine that.
DOBBS: Those two states, folks ought to just get a, hope they have the right of public initiative referendum and could overturn that, but every time politicians give themselves the public doesn't enjoy, there's a good sign you've got a bunch of rats. That would be an editorial statement. Yes, that's what I mean. All right. Bill Tucker, thank you. It's nice to see you people advancing second amendment rights instead of contesting them. Thank you very much Bill Tucker.
The debate over second amendment rights on campus has led a number of schools to restrict first amendment rights believe it or not. Last October, a student gave a presentation that questioned whether or not the Virginia Tech massacre could have been prevented if students and teachers had been armed. That was presented upon the complaint of his professor. The school newspaper reported that his professor had complained because she was concerned that he and his classmate took that position in their presentation. The police questioned the student about the firearms he owns and decided that wasn't really a problem and that perhaps, one imagines, the professor was the problem. That's just my guess as to what the police thought.
Joining me now with more on this is Robert Shibley. He's the vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Education. Robert, great to have you with us here.
ROBERT SHIBLEY, FOUNDATION FOR IND. RIGHTS IN ED: Thanks very much for having me on.
DOBBS: This case is one of the doggedness things. First it was beyond belief. That was a class project in which she was responsible. I mean, doesn't make a lick of sense. SHIBLEY: I think there is a lot of concern on campus in the wake of Virginia Tech and shooting in northern Illinois, that campuses aren't as safe as they used to be. There are several ways of dealing with that and one of the ways that people have advanced is letting students carry concealed weapons on campus.
DOBBS: What's wrong with that?
SHIBLEY: Whether or not it's wrong, the problem here is that just because he advanced that proposition, he was reported to the police and then the police called him down to the police station, grilled him a little bit. The real problem is that you would have to be crazy now on that campus unless they make some changes to go and advance that proposition in class. That issue is basically off the table.
DOBBS: It may be off the table, but we're seeing more idiots in more campuses act like the professor in this case. She's got to be a complete eccentric to react that way particularly since it's a class activity she had been presiding over. When we get to this point that free speech is this encumbered on a university and college campus, we're reaching a level of toady political correctness that actually would reach to two of our most important rights, the second amendment and the first.
SHIBLEY: I think you've really grasped on to an important point here. I think there's a real trend developing, people with pro-gun speeches on campus, in Colorado, two students who merely mentioned a gun were convicted of violence, just for putting the specify cases of a gun in a flier. One community college in Texas bans the empty holster protest saying that it was not appropriate speech for a college campus.
DOBBS: What college was that? Do you remember?
SHIBLEY: That was, I believe that was Tarrant County College.
DOBBS: Because we should relay give them all the publicity we could because they're a bunch of ignorant fools. That's just ridiculous and I can't believe a Texan would put up with that. Suspending a student for advocating concealed carry. The student had to undergo mandatory psychological testing for taking a political position. I mean you would wipe out all of Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill would be a ghost town if we were to do that.
SHIBLEY: I think that was a particularly disturbing one because the suggestion was that he had a mental health problem because he suggested that students should be able to carry concealed weapons on campus. People are afraid, but we need to use logic and reason in order to determine a real threat on campus.
DOBBS: I wish it were just on college campuses, but that kind of ignorance is aboard in the land as it were. Thank you very much Robert Shibley for being with us. We appreciate it."
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