U.S. Constitution News
The Daily Signal provides reporting and analysis on the U.S. Constitution, including court rulings, separation of powers, and the defense of individual rights.
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news
Senate Democrats Seek to Lift Ban on Taxpayer-Funded Gun Research
Senate Democrats are reviving efforts to lift a 20-year-old ban on using taxpayer dollars to research gun-related crime and violence in the United States. In a press conference last week, Democrats announced a new bid to give money to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specifically to pay for such research. “For gun violence, which… -
news
Lawsuit Challenges Obama’s Executive Actions to Restrict Gun Sales
A conservative lawyer and activist has filed the first federal court challenge to President Barack Obama’s executive actions to restrict firearm ownership, arguing that the president’s moves violate the Constitution. Larry Klayman, a former U.S. Justice Department lawyer who heads the conservative advocacy group Freedom Watch, filed the lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern… -
news
NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre Challenges Obama to One-on-One Debate About Guns
The head of the National Rifle Association wants to debate President Barack Obama one on one about guns. “I’ll meet you for a one-on-one, one-hour debate—with a mutually agreed upon moderator—on any network that will take it,” NRA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre challenged Obama in a video released online Wednesday…. -
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The Christian Educator Behind Teachers’ Fight for Free Speech at the Supreme Court
An “adversarial attitude” toward people of faith permeates the public education system and should be confronted by teachers and parents who disagree, the head of an organization for Christian educators said in an interview with The Daily Signal. Finn Laursen, executive director of the Christian Educators Association International, said that attitude toward religion first took… -
news
What Obama Got Wrong on Guns
President Barack Obama made some interesting claims over the past week about why America needs more gun control. We take a look at some of his statements to see how they stand up to the facts. >>> 10 Myths About Guns -
opinion
Bipartisan Support Grows for Reform of Rules on Gun Exports
While President Barack Obama tries to limit gun sales in the United States, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging his administration to make it easier for U.S. firearms manufacturers to export. When it comes to guns, the administration has tried to have it both ways. At home, it promotes gun control and abroad, it… -
news
Meet 2 Women Who Challenged Obama on Gun Control
Two women who own guns almost stole the show by challenging President Barack Obama’s views and actions when he took his gun control pitch to a live audience on national TV. Gun owners Taya Kyle, widow of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, and Kimberly Corban, a Colorado rape victim, took on Obama’s push for stricter gun laws during CNN’s… -
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Gov. Scott Walker Threatens Lawsuit Over Obama’s Gun Control Orders
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is preparing to go to court to challenge President Barack Obama’s “illegal” executive actions to restrict gun ownership. “President Obama is again disregarding the constitutional principles of separation of powers and exceeding his authority as chief executive,” Walker, a Republican, said Wednesday in a prepared statement: The Obama administration issued guidance… -
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Obama Mocks ‘Conspiracy’ That He Wants to Take Away Your Guns
Stiff-armed by a Republican-led Congress, President Barack Obama took to national television Thursday night in an effort to sell stricter gun control laws to the American public. During a town hall event televised live by CNN, the president dismissed the suggestion that he wants to take guns away in a “conspiracy.” He said his efforts are… -
opinion
10 Myths About Guns
This week, President Barack Obama announced executive actions related to guns. Here are 10 common myths about firearms. Myth No. 1: Firearm purchases at gun shows do not require a background check due to the “gun show loophole.” Facts: When the president and others refer to the “gun show loophole,” they imply that there are… -
news
Fatal Shooting of Congressman’s Grandfather Prompts Him to Urge Mental Health Reform, Not Gun Control
An Alabama congressman says his grandfather’s death at the hands of a mentally ill gunman shaped his views on the futility of stricter gun controls. “I take every incident of gun violence seriously,” Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., said Wednesday on C-SPAN. “What the president proposed yesterday will not affect this problem at all.” On Tuesday, President Barack Obama announced executive… -
opinion
The President’s Gun Plan Puts Radical Ideology Over National Security
The administration of President Barack Obama may well go down in history as one of the greatest failures of anyone who ever occupied the Oval Office. However, history will not claim him as a political novice. In a statement on the official White House website, the president acknowledged that he will do whatever it takes to advance… -
news
Background Checks for Guns ‘Don’t Solve the Problem,’ This House Republican Says
Fresh off recess, House Republicans spent little time back in Washington before denouncing President Obama’s latest executive actions to restrict gun ownership. “Anyone who watched the president yesterday had to be struck by the unbelievably partisan nature of his remarks,” Rep. Andy Harris said Wednesday. “It’s not like he wanted us to solve this problem as… -
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The Facts Behind 4 of Obama’s Claims About Guns
Flanked by families who lost loved ones to mass shootings, President Barack Obama fought back tears as he announced a unilateral push to curb crimes committed with guns and called for a renewed national “sense of urgency” on the issue. At his press conference Tuesday, Obama outlined immediate executive actions to expand existing background checks,… -
news
This GOP Congressman Is Working to Defund Obama’s Executive Gun Control Measures
President Barack Obama detailed his plan to work around lawmakers to implement tougher gun control measures, but the Republican-held Congress holds the keys for funding the administration’s changes. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, chairman of the appropriations subcommittee in charge of financing the Justice Department, threatened to defund the agency should the White House move forward with… -
opinion
Obama’s Executive Actions on Guns Are All Politics
The controversial measures President Barack Obama announced will likely face constitutional challenges in the courts, but it’s already clear they won’t be effective. The main executive action Obama announced that raises legal questions is about defining who must register as a licensed gun dealer and who does not have to register. The president has some, but… -
opinion
Conservatives React to Obama’s Speech on Guns
Throughout President Barack Obama’s speech today on his new executive orders on guns, conservatives tweeted their responses. Here are some of their top tweets: Obama lists Fort Hood and San Bernardino terror attacks as examples of gun violence. Disgusting #StopGunViolence — Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) January 5, 2016 "Every single year, more than 30,000 Americans have… -
opinion
Obama’s Executive Fiat on Gun Control
Frustrated by his inability to bend Congress to his will, President Barack Obama has once more picked up his trusty pen and phone and issued a series of “executive actions” on gun control. While there may be a budgetary impact, several (but not all) of the president’s proposals are not controversial from a legal standpoint,… -
news
GOP Lawmakers Take on Obama’s Executive Gun Control Push
Republican lawmakers hit back on President Barack Obama’s plans to unveil a series of executive actions this week aimed at tightening gun laws. Ahead of Obama’s meeting Monday with top law enforcement officials to finalize expanded gun control measures, House Speaker Paul Ryan called the president’s extent of executive overreach “dangerous.” “While we don’t yet… -
opinion
This Judge Tried to Limit a Former Pastor’s Free Speech
A district court judge in Mecosta County, Mich. has ordered a former pastor, Keith Eric Wood, to be arrested for felony obstruction of justice and misdemeanor jury tampering. His crime? Wood distributed a pamphlet (available here) on jury rights and jury nullification—when a jury believes the defendant is guilty but returns a “Not Guilty” verdict…