House Votes to Override Regulations That Would Dump Individuals into ‘No Guns List’

On Thursday, the United States House of Representatives approved H.J.Res. 40. The legislation prohibits the imposition of regulations published in December that define a process for placing individuals, who the Social Security Administration unilaterally determines have sufficient mental health problems, into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database so the government may restrain them from purchasing and possessing guns. The regulations, which had been in the works for years, would breach the privacy of affected individuals, while also denying respect for their due process rights and their constitutionally protected right to bear arms.

To reach President Donald Trump for approval or a veto, the legislation must first pass in the US Senate as well.

The House action is welcomed by many advocates for respecting individual rights. But, it is a relatively small step. Remaining in place, even should H.J.Res. 40 become law, is the NICS Improvements Amendments Act (HR 2640) that provided the authority under which the regulations H.J.Res. 40 overrides were created. When HR 2640 was considered on the House floor in 2007, then-Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) warned of the rights violations it would spawn. In his floor speech, Paul stated that HR 2640 “pressures States and mandates Federal agencies to dump massive amounts of information about the private lives of all Americans into a central Federal Government database” and “seriously undermines the privacy rights of all Americans, gun owners and non-gun owners alike.”

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Five Minutes Five Issues: Saudi Friend, Targeting Americans, War Escalation, Regulations EO, Exclude Congressmen

A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Friday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.

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Five Minutes Five Issues: Iraq Oil, Wall Bill, Madonna’s Thoughtcrime. Ma’s Advice, Snowden’s Asylum

A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Saturday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.

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Read a transcript of the new episode, including links to further information regarding the topics discussed, here:

The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity welcomes you to Five Minutes Five Issues.

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Five Minutes Five Issues: Clemency, Surveillance Sharing, Loan Guarantees, Marijuana Delays, Faulty Convictions

A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Saturday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.

Listen to the new episode here:

Read a transcript of the new episode, including links to further information regarding the topics discussed, here:

The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity welcomes you to Five Minutes Five Issues.

Starting in five four three two one.

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Hope That Trump Will Be the Peace President That Obama Was Not

With Donald Trump set to become president tomorrow, many proponents of the US government refraining from intervening in other countries have their fingers crossed, hoping that a Trump administration will bring an improved US foreign policy. In particular, there is hope that Trump’s statements that he wants the US and Russia to have friendlier relations will mean the Trump administration will work to reverse the much increased tensions of the last few years between the nations — tensions characterized by harsh words, sanctions, and military deployments.

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Andrew Napolitano Meets Donald Trump for Second Time on Supreme Court Nomination

President-elect Donald Trump met Tuesday, for the second time since the November presidential election, with Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst and Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board Member Andrew Napolitano. As with their previous hour-long meeting in December, Napolitano says in an interview with host Stuart Varney at Fox Business that a focus of the new meeting was Trump choosing a nominee to fill the vacant Supreme Court position.

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Not Just Poland: US Marines Deployed to Norway

Poland is not the only European country into which United States military forces are being inserted in the final days of the Obama administration. On Monday, about 300 Marines arrived in Norway. Reuters reports that the Marines, who will be the first foreign troops stationed in Norway since World War II, will be stationed at Norway’s Vaernes military base about 900 miles from the Russian border.

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