The FBI reveals that background checks for firearms reached a new high in March with some 4.7 million checks done this month, surpassing an earlier record of 4.3 million clocked in January. The numbers provided by the FBI entails background checks for firearms, permits, and other purposes pertaining to guns.
Figures were adjusted from the National Shooting Sports Foundation which reveals that gun checks alone in March stood at 2 million and constituting the highest following 2.3 million done on the corresponding period of last year.
Mark Olivio of the Foundation stated:
“The COVID-19 pandemic conditions and the push for gun ownership restrictions are propelling Americans to buy more guns. As long as you continue to see these misguided calls for gun control to chip away the rights of law-abiding citizens and not look at legislation that’s going to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals, firearms on the hands of those who are adjudicated mentally defective, you’re going to continue to see Americans go out and exercise their right before that right is seized from them by their government.”
An alternate view was offered by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “The latest data released by the FBI shows that Americans continue to react to uncertainty by seeking self-protection with a firearm. This reaction follows decades of public posturing by the gun industry and the National Rifle Association (NRA) who have fueled a year of panic purchasing by promulgating fear and paranoia,” according to Kris Brown, president of the group.
“These new statistics similarly do not reflect the many firearms sold without a background check in private transfers, potentially dangerous sales that are currently legal. Those sales are not regulated and therefore not accounted for in the NICS data. We need comprehensive gun safety laws, such as universal background checks, to ensure that firearm sales are conducted safely and that individuals prohibited from buying a firearm do not obtain one,” Brown added.
Together with swelling sales of guns, NRA memberships witnessed a massive increase in recent months.
Set against mass shootings last month, President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats, are clamoring for both new gun control laws and executive action designed to curb gun ownership. There have been few mass shootings in 2020 since most American citizens spend the most time at home following the imposition of strict restrictions set against the pandemic.
However, crime saw a surge in selected cities coupled with a significant rise in murders coupled with movement to slash police funding.
Piss Off a Liberal: “Grab Your One Gun Two Gun Red Gun Blue Gun” Gear Below
On Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Friday signed an executive order to deter the use of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus “vaccine passports” and became the first US Governor implementing actions against what is described by civil liberties group as a potential privacy nightmare.
The Republican Governor’s order follows unconfirmed reports that the Biden administration could be working on what is called the implementation of a vaccine passport system model in the country.
Today I issued an executive order prohibiting the use of so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports. The Legislature is working on making permanent these protections for Floridians and I look forward to signing them into law soon. Read my EO here – https://t.co/6QwLsLWEWm
Earlier on Monday, Desantis said on record that he would prevent local governments and businesses in Florida from creating or requiring what is called “vaccine passports” – documents proving someone obtained the jab for the CCP virus.
The order stated, “No COVID-19 vaccine is required by law” while adding that the vaccination records are private health information” which shouldn’t be revealed by the recipient. The mandate, according to the Government, would thwart freedom and harm a patient’s privacy.
“A requirement to show a passport to take part in everyday life such as a sporting event, going to a restaurant or going to a movie theater would ‘create two classes of citizens,’” DeSantis stated.
Increasingly, airlines and cruise companies seem to favor vaccine passports to encourage travel. The State of New York has proposed its “Excelsior Pass” that can be leveraged for large-scale events such as Madison Square Garden or sporting events, and countries such as Israel has set up a vaccine passport system in February designed to offer access to gyms and hotels.
Iceland, on its part, leverages a vaccine passport to ensure foreign travel.
Saudi Arabia has launched an app-based passport for everyone who got the jab.
Glad Floridians won’t go through any of that bullshit.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a gun protection law this week as part of efforts to protect residents from tyrannical federal gun laws.
It comes after the White House making a move to restrict Second Amendment rights in all 50 states.
“The state of Arizona and its political subdivisions are prohibited from utilizing any financial resources or state personnel to administer, cooperate with or enforce any law, act, order, rule, treaty or regulation of the federal government that is inconsistent with any law of this state regarding the regulation of firearms,” according to the text of the legislation.
“If the federal government does anything that tries to infringe on our second amendment in the state of Arizona, we’re not going to comply. I was voted into office to protect our constitution the Biden Administration was clear that they want to ban AR-15s, high-capacity magazines, and we don’t think that’s right. Our Arizona gun laws are strong and we believe that law-abiding gun owners have the right to bear arms,” Biasiucci said.
This comes after President Joe Biden announced a slew of executive actions and legislative proposals on gun control while asserting that gun violence is “a public health crisis” while the administration’s actions do not stand in contravention to the Second Amendment Rights.
Biden: No Amendment to the Constitution is Absolute
Pursuing further the President stated: But no amendment to the Constitution is absolute … From the very beginning, you couldn’t own any weapon you wanted to own. From the very beginning the Second Amendment existed, certain people weren’t allowed to have weapons. So the idea is just bizarre to suggest that some of the things we’re recommending stand against the Constitution.”
An official from the Biden administration enumerated detailed actions to reporters on Wednesday and one told that the President will ask the Department (DOJ) to propose a month’s span a rule to stop “ghost guns.” The latter entails, “Kits that people can buy through legal means and designed to assemble a functioning arm that doesn’t carry a serial number.
Here’s a Breakdown of These New Orders… and Why They Won’t Work
The Biden administration today announced 6 new executive orders they are taking on firearms.
Which… is really suprising.
Here’s a video where Biden was secretly recording condemning using executive orders.
Oh, and he specifically says that the 2nd Amendment CANNOT be used against the 2nd Amendment.
WATCH (1 minute): Joe Biden Caught Slamming Executive Orders Against the 2nd Amendment
Gun Violence is NOT an Epidemic – Not Even Close
The new executive order begins by saying, “Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing six initial actions to address the gun violence public health epidemic.”
Let’s do the math.
Experts agree – on average in America, there are 40,000 fatalities each year with firearms.
60% are suicides – which means we need to REMOVE these numbers from the 40,000 number – because suicides are NOT gun violence.
So, 60% of 40,000 is 24,000. So let’s remove the 24,000 suicides from the 40,000 number.
We get a whopping total of 16,000 ACTUAL instances of firearm accidents and murders.
Another Google search shows that 16,000 is the comparative number of people in the USA who die every year from the overuse of ANTIBIOTICS.
Here are REAL epidemics in the USA:
OBESITY: 300,000 deaths a year.
CANCER: 606,000 deaths a year.
OVERDOSE: 81,000
Gun violence doesn’t even come close.
Brainless Executive Action #1: The Justice Department, within 30 days, will issue a proposed rule to help stop the proliferation of “ghost guns.”
Here’s a copy and paste of the exact wording:
We are experiencing a growing problem: criminals are buying kits containing nearly all of the components and directions for finishing a firearm within as little as 30 minutes and using these firearms to commit crimes. When these firearms turn up at crime scenes, they often cannot be traced by law enforcement due to the lack of a serial number. The Justice Department will issue a proposed rule to help stop the proliferation of these firearms.
This is blatantly untrue.
Let’s break it down.
First, this is talking about “3D Printed” guns, or “ghost guns.”
Individuals in this country have been making their own guns for centuries.
The practice is deeply rooted in our constitutional history and tradition.
Legal scholars have recognized that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms would be meaningless in practice unless we have the ability to exercise that right—which includes making our own guns.
Is Joe Biden actually suggesting that criminals are buying up their own 3D printing machines and science-ing the crap out of guns?
NOPE.
Want to know where they get them?
A 2019 survey conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) found that some 43 percent of criminals had bought their firearms on the black market, 6 percent acquired them via theft, and 10 percent made a retail purchase – 0.8 percent purchased a weapon from a gun show.
In 11 percent of cases, the criminal had someone else buy a gun for them – known as a straw purchase – while an additional 15 percent got guns from a friend or relative. Some 12 percent of weapons found on a crime scene had been brought there by someone else.
The only people building these “ghost” guns are hobbyist law-abiding citizens who have a knack for engineering.
Not street thugs or mass murderers.
Brainless Executive Action #2: The Justice Department, within 60 days, will issue a proposed rule to make clear when a device marketed as a stabilizing brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act.
The exact text reads:
The alleged shooter in the Boulder tragedy last month appears to have used a pistol with an arm brace, which can make a firearm more stable and accurate while still being concealable.
Here’s an AR pistol with an arm brace:
Are we saying that this arm brace makes the gun more lethal?
More deadly?
First it was bump stocks they are after.
Now it’s arm braces.
JOE BIDEN: “We can’t ban AR15s… they we are just going to take them away piece by piece.”
(That’s not a real quote… I made it up.)
Again, this will do NOTHING to stop any mass shooting or violent crime.
Brainless Executive Action #3: The Justice Department, within 60 days, will publish model “red flag” legislation for states.
Here are the exact quotes:
Red flag laws allow family members or law enforcement to petition for a court order temporarily barring people in crisis from accessing firearms if they present a danger to themselves or others. The President urges Congress to pass an appropriate national “red flag” law, as well as legislation incentivizing states to pass “red flag” laws of their own. In the interim, the Justice Department’s published model legislation will make it easier for states that want to adopt red flag laws to do so.
When you actually read this…
…it’s less scary than you think.
There’s actually nothing happening.
The Justice Department will publish a “model” of red flag laws.
…it doesn’t say they are going to implement anything.
Nothing is actually changing on this one.
…So why the hell did they bother writing it?
Brainless.
Brainless Executive Action #4: The Administration is investing in evidence-based community violence interventions.
Here’s the exact text:
Community violence interventions are proven strategies for reducing gun violence in urban communities through tools other than incarceration. Because cities across the country are experiencing a historic spike in homicides, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking a number of steps to prioritize investment in community violence interventions.
The American Jobs Plan proposes a $5 billion investment over eight years to support community violence intervention programs. A key part of community violence intervention strategies is to help connect individuals to job training and job opportunities.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is organizing a webinar and toolkit to educate states on how they can use Medicaid to reimburse certain community violence intervention programs, like Hospital-Based Violence Interventions.
Five federal agencies are making changes to 26 different programs to direct vital support to community violence intervention programs as quickly as possible. These changes mean we can start increasing investments in community violence interventions as we wait on Congress to appropriate additional funds. Read more about these agency actions here.
Look at these words…
“…strategies for reducing gun violence in urban communities.”
It’s as if they finally see it!
Chicago. New York. Baltimore.
These are the cities with the highest crime rates…
…and the strictest gun laws.
There’s no coincidence there.
Brainless Executive Action #5: The Justice Department will issue an annual report on firearms trafficking.
Here are the exact words:
In 2000, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) issued a report summarizing information regarding its investigations into firearms trafficking, which is one way firearms are diverted into the illegal market where they can easily end up in the hands of dangerous individuals. Since the report’s publication, states, local, and federal policymakers have relied on its data to better thwart the common channels of firearms trafficking. But there is good reason to believe that firearms trafficking channels have changed since 2000, for example due to the emergence of online sales and proliferation of “ghost guns.” The Justice Department will issue a new, comprehensive report on firearms trafficking and annual updates necessary to give policymakers the information they need to help address firearms trafficking today.
So…
…this executive action is just a report.
No big deal.
Moving on.
Brainless Executive Action #6: The President will nominate David Chipman to serve as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
Exact words:
ATF is the key agency enforcing our gun laws, and it needs a confirmed director in order to do the job to the best of its ability. But ATF has not had a confirmed director since 2015. Chipman served at ATF for 25 years and now works to advance commonsense gun safety laws.
This is ALL BAD.
This guy is an absolute GUN GRABBING NUT.
He used to be an ATF agent, and used the botched WACO incident to push for more gun control.
He’ll be leaving the gun-control group Giffords to head up the ATF.
He once claimed in a post on the social media site Reddit that Branch Davidian members shot down two government helicopters using .50-caliber Barrett rifles.
This is the worst part of the entire order.
Grab Your, “I Am 1776% Sure No One Will Be Taking My Guns” T-Shirt
Comment Your Thoughts on Marijuana Legalization Below
The controversial marijuana legislation may see some movement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announcing that the Democrats are ready to push forward.
He said in an interview, “He [Biden] said he’s studying the issue, so [I] obviously want to give him a little time to study it. I want to make my arguments to him, as many other advocates will. But at some point, we’re going to move forward, period.”
It is hinted that during the Presidential campaign, Biden didn’t support the legalization of marijuana, and soon after holding office, he apparently disqualified staffers because of drug consumption.
Unbelievable, right? LOL
However, many seem to oppose Schumer’s statements arguing that the drug’s legalizations have led to several problems such as a spurt in crime rates and worsening in medical conditions of their parents.
Emergency room doctors in Colorado discussed the negative impact of marijuana on their patients. The medical experts told about an increase in all drug use, encompassing marijuana with Methamphetamine use rising by 143 percent, opiates, and cannabis up by 10 percent and 57 percent respectively. Data from the ER drug screens over the past seven years supported this argument.
Dr. Karen Randall told: “If you pump a community full of drugs, you’re going to have to expect everything that’s associated with them. You’re going to have to expect the crime, addiction.”
He further said: “We’re the canary in the coal mine. Our kids are failing. Our kids are using drugs more. I can’t find health care for them. I can’t find rehab. I can’t find places to put the kids in foster care.”
THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is considered the main psychoactive ingredient in today’s marijuana products and is now being extracted to achieve a potency of more than 80 percent. In the 1990s, the average potency of a joint was around 4 percent THC.
Grab Your “Teach Your Kids to Shoot and They Won’t Have Money for Drugs” T-Shirt
Three bills pertaining to gun ownership and usage of deadly force expected to fortify the Second Amendment protection for gun owners in the state of South Dakota were signed into law by Republican Kristi Noem earlier this week.
The laws contain restrictions for gun seizure and fee reductions for concealed-carry permits, together with clarification for the usage of deadly force used in self-defense.
The House Bill 1212 can be read as:
“A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if the person reasonably believes that using or threatening to use deadly force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself, herself, or another, or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.”
Conversely, the legislation states: “A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this section does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is (1) Not engaged in a criminal activity, and (2) In a place where the person has a right to be.”
It is the result of the GOP’s attempt to fortify the Second Amendment soon after a recent shooting taking place across Atlanta, Georgia, and Boulder, Colorado – defying calls on the part of anti-gunners demanding more restrictions against law-abiding citizens.
The Democrats who are in control of both the House and Senate moved aggressively to tighten gun control bills by passing two bills in the House to exercise firearms background checks. In the Senate, the bills are expected to move beyond the 60-vote filibuster hurdle. The background check expansion laws would place additional restrictions on the sale or transfer of guns – only to law-abiding citizens.
NOT A WIN: HR8
The H.R. 8 – called the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 – passed 227–203, with eight Republicans voting for it, and one Democrat voting against it.
There are added restrictions such as sales, gifts, and loans of firearms to be processed by a licensed gun dealer.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said to reporters, “I come from a gun culture and I’m a law-abiding gun owner.” At the same time, he states he is in support of background checks on sales of guns to people the seller doesn’t know.
The Republican traitors who voted for HR8:
Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.)
Fred Upton (R-Mich.)
Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.)
Maria Salazar (R-Fla.)
Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.)
Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.)
Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)
Grab Your One Gun Two Gun Red Gun Blue Gun T-Shirt Now:
In a ruling, the federal court observed that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) cannot classify bump stocks as machine guns.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit further states that the federal ban on bump stocks considered as devices increasing the rate of fire for semi-automatic weapons is seen as unlawful.
Therefore, any ban should be placed on hold.
The prohibition came in the form of a regulation from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which treated bump stocks as if they are illegal machine guns. But the court, in a 2-1 decision, said changes in criminal law are up to Congress.
However, the federal appeals court ruled that such changes in law requires Congress to act – not the executive branch.
“It is not the role of the executive—particularly the unelected administrative state—to dictate to the public what is right and what is wrong.” Judges Alice Batchelder and Eric Murphy of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal wrote the 2-1 majority opinion and emphasized, “Granting the executive the right both to determine a criminal statute’s meaning and to enforce that same criminal statute poses a severe risk to individual liberty.”
The judges observed: “Entrusting the interpretation of criminal laws to the judiciary, and not the executive mitigates that risk and protects against any potential abuses of government power” while writing that a bump stock cannot change a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic, select-fire machine gun.
“A bump stock may change how the pull of the trigger is accomplished, but it does not change the fact that the semiautomatic firearm shoots only one shot for each pull of the trigger,” the judgment reads, “With or without a bump stock, a semiautomatic firearm is capable of firing only a single shot for each pull of the trigger.”
Senior vice president Erich Pratt at Gun Owners of America lauded the court ruling as great news.
He told in a statement on the group’s website: “We are glad the court applied the statute accurately and struck down the ATF’s illegal overreach and infringement of gun owners’ rights.
It was about time for a win!
Grab Your One Gun Two Gun Red Gun Blue Gun T-Shirt:
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Agents of the Baltimore Field Office are raiding the premises belonging to buyers of Polymer80 frames and kits in larger numbers than normal.
Five special agents, led by Detective EE Schwartz of Anne Arundel County Police Department, appeared at the front doors of a co-owner of 2A Builds, a company specializing in the trading of unfinished 80% kits at gun shows in the mid-Atlantic region.
The company had recently acquired 65 frames from the U.S. Patriot Armory.
Agents and police wanted to search the owner’s house – who actually LET them
Despite not finding anything illegal, the agents wanted to seize the legally owned firearms.
The owner refused to bulge and refused to give his firearms acquired through legal means – but the police agents insisted on confiscating a P80&, a single kit, and two MCK stabilizers.
Yet, again, the owner refused the request and asked the agents to leave.
Cops Refused to Leave
The cops told him they would stay on his property until they could get a seizure warrant – prompting the owner to call his attorney.
The ATF backed off seeking a warrant and left, warning they would be coming back later with a warrant.
Detective EE Schwartz’s left his business card (badge: 1665) to the house owner and before leaving.
The AmmoLand News reported that according to sources, two additional visits were made by ATF to the dealers’ home selling unfinished frames.
In both cases, dealers told officials to leave their property without a warrant. Cops had no choice but to leave without being able to do a search of the properties.
Both dealers purchased items from U.S. Patriot Armory.
U.S. Patriot Armory did not hand any customer information to ATF or law enforcement agencies as per AmmoLand sources.
It is somewhat of a mystery how ATF received information about their customers.
My Suggestion: Stay Away from 80% Lower Receivers
I’ve never sold, purchased, or built 80% lower receivers in the history of my career in the gun world.
Any time a customer has asked about purchasing 80% lower receivers, I have always told them that I believe the ATF tracks those way more than they track normal guns.
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden urged for a ban on “assault weapons” and “high-capacity” magazines. His comments came in the wake of shooting at the Colorado supermarket killing 10 and a separate one at Atlanta-area spa where 8 lives were claimed last week. The Gun rights groups have been issuing warnings on the Democratic lawmakers’ bills in the offing which could turn millions of law-abiding gun owners into criminals in the eyes of the law.
Here’s the Crazy Part: Boulder Colorado HAD an “Assault Weapons” and Magazine Ban at the Time of the Boulder Shooting!
Boulder’s City Council unanimously passed a ban on assault weapons in 2018. Boulder’s ordinance prohibited the sale and possession of “assault weapons”, as defined by the city. It also outlawed magazines with high-capacity and bump stocks.
And guess what?
This ban did NOTHING to prevent the Boulder shooting.
Why?
Simple. Because criminals don’t follow the law. That’s why they’re criminals.
Biden Too Stupid to Understand – We Cannot Legislate Away Evil
The President told at the White House: “We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. I got that done when I was a senator. It passed, it was the law for the longest time and it brought down these mass killings. We should do it again.”
But… he didn’t give any indication on what would the definition be of “assault weapon.”
Following the shooting in their home state, Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) pressured Congress to pass the legislation.
“For the second time in a week, our nation is being confronted by the epidemic of gun violence.” -Nancy Pelosi
“It’s long past time for Congress to take meaningful action to keep deadly weapons out of the wrong hands,” Bennet was quoted in a statement. On its part, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told on Tuesday that there is a dire need for Congress must pass legislation following the shootings.
“For the second time in a week, our nation is being confronted by the epidemic of gun violence,” she said in a statement. “Too many families in too many places are being forced to endure this unfathomable pain and anguish. Action is needed now to prevent this scourge from continuing to ravage our communities.”
So, assuming the CDC numbers are accurate, that means 24,000 of the 40,000 deaths were suicide.
That leads us with 16,000 actual cases of gun violence each year – with the vast majority occurring in anti-gun cities like Chicago and New York City.
According to the FBI homicide statistics, of the 16,000 homicides each year, roughly 400 a year are from rifles.
That means 97% of all firearm homicides are committed with a pistol – NOT an AR15.
BONUS FACT: 700 people a year are beaten to death with nothing other than hands and fists. That means that you’re 75% more likely to be beaten to death by someone without ANY gun than to be killed by “assault weapons.”
Let’s ban “assault fists!”
Cruz Goes Off on Gun Control
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), pointed out that Democrats are engaging in “ridiculous theater” by pushing for gun control measures following the shootings.
“Every time there’s a shooting, we play this ridiculous theater where this committee gets together and proposes a bunch of laws that would do nothing to stop these murders,” Cruz argued.
On Monday, the National Rifle Association (NRA) tweeted the text of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment: “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
One has to go back to February on the letter penned by the U.S. Concealed Carry Association to Biden issuing a warning bell on his proposal for gun control where the farmer argued that it could possibly turn 100 million law-abiding gun owners into criminals.
“While we can agree that there are several ‘common sense and long overdue changes needed for our nation’s gun laws, we firmly believe that the path forward should be focused on supporting and protecting responsible, law-abiding Americans—not criminalizing and punishing them,” the group was quoted in the letter while noting that many Americans deemed to be huge in numbers acquired guns for the first time in 2020, attributed to left-wing riots and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier in the month, the House led by Democrats passed the H.R. 8 designed in such a manner that would expand background checks on commercial gun sales. Democrats also passed the H.R. 1446 bill which entails extending the waiting time for background checks from a maximum of 3 days to 10–30 days.
Grab Your Shirt: I’m 1776% Sure No One Will Be Taking My Gun
In a controversial dissent stemming from a libel case, a Federal Judge has admitted that the Democrat Party is controlling the press in what he described as a “shocking bias against Republicans.”
“The increased power of the press is so dangerous today because we are very close to one-party control of these institutions,” the judge declared. “Although the bias against the Republican Party—not just controversial individuals—is rather shocking today, this is not new; it is a long-term, secular trend going back at least to the ’70s….One-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.”
The judge – who is a Reagan appointee – has observed that the ruling is a “threat to American Democracy” and called for it to be overturned.
He made the following comments:
“The increased power of the press is dangerously entrenched in today’s times since we are very close to one-party control of these institutions. A time was there when our court was about the institutional consolidation of the press leading to a ‘bland and homogenous’ marketplace of ideas. However, it has turned out that the ideological consolidation of the press (helped along by economic consolidation) is the far greater threat,” he continued.
Silberman slammed the New York Times and the Washington Post as “virtually Democratic Party broadsheets.” He added: “Nearly all television — network and cable — is a Democratic Party trumpet. Even the government-supported National Public Radio follows along.”
Silberman also specifically decried Twitter’s decision prior to last fall’s election to ban links to a New York Post story relaying allegations about the contents of a computer that once belonged to Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden. The judge cited that as an example of how Silicon Valley “filters news delivery in ways favorable to the Democratic Party.”
The judge also took sides in the ongoing public debate about the duties of social media companies, arguing that they are morally obligated to allow free expression and a diversity of views. Arguments that the platforms are private businesses and not legally obliged to follow First Amendment standards may be right, the judge said, but don’t absolve social media outlets from engaging in what he termed “censorship.”
“Repression of political speech by large institutions with market power…is—I say this advisedly—fundamentally un-American,” Silberman wrote. “As one who lived through the McCarthy era, it is hard to fathom how honorable men and women can support such actions.”
