Schumer, Blumenthal & More Attack Rifle Designed For Smaller Hands

P. Gardner Goldsmith | January 27, 2023
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On Thursday Sen. Chuck Schumer added to his shady reputation for ignorance, hypocrisy, and mendacious bullying. Schumer appeared with other collectivist Senators on a Capitol Hill stage secured by multiple rings of tax-paid armed guards, so the politicians could shoot off against a rifle that’s designed for people with small hands.

Reuters reports that Senate Majority Leader Schumer, Dick Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Richard “Dick” Durbin (D-IL), Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and other leftist cohorts took advantage of their guarded platform to attack the idea that a gun maker, owners of gun shops, and willing consumers should dare engage in free decisions and in the sale/purchase of what is known as the JR-15 .22 Long Rifle.

And, given their antipathy for freedom of speech, they also found issue with what THEY claim is the marketing of the gun towards “children.”

Setting up posters on either side of his tax-funded microphone, Schumer stood on the tax-funded riser and its tax-funded carpeting, beneath the tax-bought lights, and laid out his poison-pill to frame the debate:

"The law says you shouldn't be marketing guns to kids. But there's a company in Chicago that's doing just that."

He also referred to what we know is the Constitution-defying illegality of semi-auto buys for people younger than 18 – which might remind Chuck, his pals, or any of the reporters in the room, that the .22 they despise is NOT marketed towards kids, but towards adults who might want to train their kids on the range or at a safe locale on their own property (as long as the predators of government don’t tell them that doing so is VERBOTEN).

“It’s a serious question, with federal consequences, and that’s why we’ve asked the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to investigate…”

But clear-minded people can recall that the US Constitution not only forbids all levels of government from infringing on the right to keep and bear arms (no age limit is included as a carve out to this – and morally, that is up to parents to decide for their kids).

We also can remember that the FTC represents a wild misreading and inappropriate expansion of the Constitution’s Interstate Commerce Clause, a clause that, as James Madison said, was supposed to act as a remedial check against State-on-State trade barriers.

Here, and in so many other ways, the FTC acts as a marauder against private sellers being able to tell people about their products – something that the FIRST AMENDMENT is supposed to insure the feds do not suppress.

But Chuck and his fellow gaggle of gun-grabbers on the stage continued to dig their own constitutional, logical, and moral hole.

As if issuing an indictment, Chuck read a portion of manufacturer Wee1 Tactical’s description of the JR-15:

“…Its small size, light weight, and rugged polymer construction and ergonomics are geared towards smaller enthusiasts.”

Oh, no!

Not to be outdone in the "Foolish Tyranny" department, Chuck’s Connecticut neighbor, Richard “Dick” Blumenthal – the man who falsely claimed he engaged in armed military action in Vietnam – took to the mic and declared that the advertisements were false and deceptive.

Since he is so intimately familiar with false statements, perhaps Americans can ask Blumenthal: Which is it? Are the gun, its ads, and their maker evil? Is it because the manufacturer/seller openly states that the weapon is designed for smaller-sized people, or is the gun actually NOT designed for smaller people, thus inviting this still-irrelevant claim that the FTC has a place to get involved and smother free speech?

If someone defrauds someone else by lying about a product, that’s a matter for people in court, not a matter for the feds to preemptively claim they can adjudicate all commercial speech before anyone claims they were harmed by fraud.

Of course, fraud – or “deceptive advertising practice,” as the speech tyrants like Blumenthal label it, even when no one has claimed injury for being deceived – yes, fraud is something the shysters on that stage engage in every moment they occupy their offices, and they repeatedly make matters worse, by engaging in stunts like this and spouting such utter drivel.

Related: Illinois Gov't Appeals Ruling Blocking Pritzker's Gun-Grab | MRCTV

Metro.UK notes:

“In the past, the company has touted the rifle’s safety features including a ‘tamper-resistant safety switch’ that can only be controlled by adults.

A representative told Motherboard the weapon is being marketed as ‘a training rifle designed with the safety and functionality to assist adults wishing to supervise the introduction of hunting and shooting sports to the next generation of responsible gun owners.’”

Schumer wants the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF, that giant federal insult to the Second Amendment) to investigate Wee1 Tactical – meaning that you will be forced to pay for that, and if you don’t want to pay, eventually, armed government agents will search for you. 

But, perhaps, the most outlandish of the ant-gun lot was Duckworth, who, despite actually having military experience, implied that the JR-15 is one of the most destructive "assault weapons" ever made and that rifles like it should only be in the hands of the tax-fed military.

“They are intended to knock down the enemy, rip apart bodies, so that they cannot get back up and shoot back at you on the field of combat. These rifles are intended to kill enemy combatants who are wearing body armor, yet they’re remarkably similar to the kind that this company is trying to seduce our kids into coveting.”

Of course, most of that is fantastically hyperbolic, to put it mildly.

The long-rifle-shot .22 round not only is tiny compared to most other popular gun-projectiles, its already limited punch sees it compared to an air rifle when looking at distances over 100 yards. As GunCarrier.com notes:

“The .22LR ammunition loads have a power estimate of 1,280 fps at the muzzle. This has been tested on 22 rifles semi-auto with .22 ammunition.

If the bullet reaches 100 yards, the velocity drops to 1,015 fps. That’s basically half of what a deadly gun can do, which is why it has comparisons to an air gun by many.”

And gun enthusiasts consider those factors alongside others when deciding what kind of rifle to buy. One of them is the fact that .22 rounds are lighter than others, thus making it easier to carry a larger stock of them.

“The idea of carrying over 1,000 rounds of ammunition is music to the ears of every survivalist. The .308 is really heavy, but the .22LR is so light you can bring massive amounts of this bullet.

Since the bullet lacks velocity, you may not be considering this bullet for hunting, right? The interesting part is the .22LR caliber rifle is better than other hunting cartridges exactly because of its low velocity.

The meat does not mess up upon penetration – thanks to the absence of hydrostatic shock. Sure, it lacks firepower but sometimes, less is more.”

And as far as “body armor” is concerned, gun enthusiasts also have observed that the rifle-shot .22 doesn’t even pierce Kevlar “bullet proof vests” at ten-feet range, let alone penetrate or pierce tougher “body armor.”

But none of that matters to people like Duckworth, Schumer, and their government-gun-protected ilk.

Related: Intellectual Ammunition Pt 2: The Constitution and Founders | MRCTV

If they can perform their magic acts, deceive people, even hint that this firearm is like a “gateway drug” – would that be a “gateway GUN?” – they can attract willing accomplices in the pop media and continue their assault against the right to keep and bear arms.

All their actions do is remind us to tell others that it is not just the ATF that we need to oppose on principled and constitutional grounds, it is the FTC.

Heck, it’s even some members of the US Senate, run by dangerous grifters such as these.

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