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Gun control groups are big Shakespeare fans, apparently. They’re taking a page from the famed Elizabethan-era bard’s Henry VI as the next play on foisting gun control on the American public.

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” Shakespeare wrote in the play.

Two gun control groups are putting a 21st Century twist on the line and taking to university campuses to convince law students to pledge to never represent the firearm industry, or its interests, in court.

Call it the long game. Gun control isn’t satisfied with attacking Second Amendment rights, or even First Amendment rights. Now, they’re targeting Sixth Amendment rights too. That’s the amendment that guarantees the right to be represented by legal counsel.

Peter Ambler Giffords
Couresy C-SPAN

Giffords and March for Our Lives, gun control groups headed by former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords and antigun billionaire Michael Bloomberg, respectively, are canvassing campuses to convince law students to sign a pledge they won’t represent the firearm industry or firearm owners when it comes to protecting and preserving Second Amendment rights. The gun control groups’ pledge peddles verifiably false claims to convince the aspiring lawyers that the firearm industry is responsible for violent crime in America.

Not criminals. Not gang violence. Not the illicit drug trade. They’re blaming the industry for crimes committed by violent offenders and ignoring basic legal foundations to sway law students to deny legal services to companies and individuals that follow the law.

Do You Swear?

David Pucino, Giffords’ deputy chief counsel, makes some dubious claims to convince law students that after they earn their juris doctorate, they should sign the gun control group’s nonbinding pledge to never represent the legal interests of a Constitutionally-protected industry. First among these misleading claims is that firearms are the leading cause of death for American children.

David Pucino Giffords Law
David Pucino

This is a favorite false talking point among gun control groups and antigun politicians, including President Joe Biden. The problem is that it is demonstrably false. The University of Michigan manipulated data sets to include 18 and 19-year-old adults as “children” to boost the figure of childhood deaths to surpass those caused by motor vehicle accidents. When 18 and 19-year-olds are backed out because they’re not children, but in fact adults, that claim falls apart. NSSF demonstrated that here.

Giffords’ pledge website also claims the firearm industry actively opposes “any effort to pass gun safety laws.” Again, this is demonstrably false. NSSF backed the FIX NICS Act, named for the firearm industry’s FixNICS® initiative to get all states to submit disqualifying records into the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). NSSF changed the laws in 16 states and in Congress to get the background check system to work as intended. In fact, NSSF helped create the instant point-of-sale background check system that would instantly inform a firearm retailer if a customer is prohibited from purchasing a firearm.

Pucino urges law student to never work for firms that represent the firearm industry because, in his estimation, the firearm industry “represent some really reprehensible companies that have done some horrible things.”

Never mind that the firearm industry administers the Real Solutions. Safer Communities campaign that includes FixNICS and Project ChildSafe, which partners with over 15,000 law enforcement agencies in all 50 states and five U.S. territories to distribute over 40 million free firearm safety kits including locking devices.

Real Solutions also includes the partner programs with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to prevent illegal “straw” purchases of firearms through Don’t Lie for the Other Guy and Operation Secure Store to help firearm retailers voluntarily increase security to deter and prevent firearm burglaries and robberies. The firearm industry also partnered with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to provide firearm retailers and ranges kits to encourage a “brave conversation” to prevent suicide tragedies.

Persona Non Grata

Giffords and March for Our Lives think these programs are “reprehensible” enough to demand the ATF not work with the firearm industry on these campaigns that have been proven to save lives. Giffords was among 43 other gun control groups that demanded the ATF stop working with the industry it regulates.

“Stop funding, partnering, or co-branding programs with the National Sports Shooting Foundation via the Department of Justice and other Federal Agencies,” the letter said, according to The Reload. “No longer should the ATF hold private briefing and training sessions at NSSF’s annual SHOT SHOW without making their remarks available to the public online.”

ATF Director Steve Dettlebach and NSSF President Joe Bartozzi working together to stop straw purchases in St. Louis. (courtesy Shooting Industry)

NSSF pointed out how “unserious” gun control groups are with their demands then. They continue to prove that unseriousness now. These gun control groups put special-interest political agendas ahead of real answers to keep the public safe. Their answer isn’t to “do something” as they demand. It is to “do something” to ban guns. And now, apparently, it is also to ban legal representation.

Giffords and March for Our Lives rolled out their “pledge” drive at the University of California – Berkeley School of Law, Cardozo School of Law, City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, Vanderbilt Law School and Yale Law School. Pucino said the drive isn’t limited to those schools. Plans are to make it “broad and national.”

The goal is to encourage the aspiring lawyers to flex their legal muscle, putting pressure on law firms that they’ll miss out on talent because these law school graduates will refuse to assist in any cases defending the firearm industry or Second Amendment rights. It’s a tall order.

“There’s certainly the case that the legal system allows for and encourages for everyone to have representation, of course,” Pucino reluctantly conceded in an interview with The American Independent.

These gun control groups might want to read Shakespeare’s Hamlet and flip forward to the line that reads, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

 

Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

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52 COMMENTS

    • Well that old saying that, “everybody deserves a defense”, really isn’t true is it?

      But Hey that’s free will. And the freedom to not associate with someone you don’t want to.

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    • the info war is part of the broader conflict…and the attacks never cease…even though the truth is often a casualty….

  1. ALL LAWYERS ARE HONEST PEOPLE RIGHT?…Money is the only language a lawyer understands…

    • No, not entirely, but we do like to get paid for services rendered, which doesn’t always happen. I have a six figure accounts receivable balance I do not expect I will ever collect. Plus lawyers and law firms “spend” millions of dollars in unbillable hours annually representing “pro bono” clients.

      • Put it this way… if a gun rights charity, gun rights organization or large gun company puts out the big bucks.. that plays will be quickly forgotten…

      • Mark N if you are not getting paid that is your fault. There are various legal procedures to recover your outstanding accounts. I had one client who had well over 500,000 in outstanding bills, but that was her fault as she never pursued these people. On the other hand I have a client who gives the debtor the option of either contacting him to make arrangements, or he takes them to court and then enforces the judgement.
        I have no problem with attorney’s who have pro bono clients. I laud them for it. but there is a point where to do the pro bono, you have to collect what is owed you.

        • N64456, Unlike you Leftist anti-gun control freaks, I have something called integrity. You might do well to look the word up? Nuff said?

      • A lot of attorneys who have spun their wheels representing deadbeat clients would be only too happy to represent gun manufacturers distributors and sellers who will actually pay them for their work! The legal field is overcrowded and even a lot of lawyers who don’t like guns will be more than willing to represent the gun industry. And of course there are plenty of pro-gun lawyers will not only represent the gun industry but are anxious to do so!

  2. I never understood pledges.
    What consequence is there for breaking any pledge?

    I’ll pledge right here and now to forsake firearm ownership and to tithe 10% to the anti-gun orgs in perpetuity and this evening I’ll keep my money and put a few rounds down range.

    So what? Addicts make pledges everyday. Lot of good it does them.
    Politicians ignore their pledges all the time.
    Pledges are not real.

    I’d be more concerned with what they plan on doing with a copy of my signature.

    • “Politicians ignore their pledges all the time.
      Pledges are not real.”

      The point of “pledging” to deprive pro-2A supporters of legal representation is to establish the threat of shaming and ostracization; names will be named in the prestige law journals and bar associations (even to the point of be-barring attorneys who forsake their pledge).

      • That’s right outhouse lawyers…Swear an oath to an agenda History Confirms is Rooted in Racism and Genocide.

        Appears the Gun Control Good, Second Amendment Bad campaign is very much alive and gaining ground. And if you are a Gun owning, Gun talking slacker who sees the words Gun Control and fails to Define Gun Control by its History of Rot you blindly lend aide and comfort to what is a clearly deranged enemy. If you are part of the silent problem and cannot shape up and fight fire with fire don’t cry to me just drop to your knees and kiss in your face outhouse lawyer butt.

    • Incorrect. “Effect” is normally a noun but also has a secondary meaning as a verb which means “to elicit.” So, “effect change” is the correct phrasing.

  3. Im wondering, is signing a pledge like this grounds for not being accepted to the Bar? You are, in essence, signing a pledge that you will not follow at least one article of the Constitution.

  4. This would be a problem only if every prospective lawyer signed the pledge and followed through. As it stands, only “woke” candidates would limit themselves to such virtue-signaling.

    There will always be enough corporate law firms willing to accept large fees to fulfill the needs of the gun industry or any other industry.

    • “This would be a problem only if every prospective lawyer signed the pledge and followed through.”

      The implied threat is, if they don’t sign, ‘woke’ law firms won’t hire them. They will likely use that against them if they seek admission to certain social organizations.

      It’s fucking evil, but that’s a Leftist for you… 🙁

  5. Do what we’ve done in the Des Moines area before we were even made aware of such bizarre efforts:
    Take the law students shooting. Our Dallas County Republican party central committee, along with NRA State Affiliate, Iowa Firearms Coalition, took Drake U Law School students to the range, where they had a great time. We supplied the guns, ammo, range fees and training.

    Nothing does more to change attitudes than to let people try for themselves. That’s pretty much what the pedophile and trans proponents are doing, and it seems they’ve made some head way. (Pun intended, and not.)

    If it costs a couple boxes of cheap ammo and range fees to bring some people around, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than trying to fund some lukewarm candidate running for political office. Get out of the basement and start meeting people. Sure, many will have a tough time learning to act friendly, but it’ll beat the alternatives.

  6. May I suggest the “pledge” of never working for the political party that:
    ●Supported slavery
    ●Rebellion
    ●Founded the Ku Lux Klan
    ●Jim Crow laws
    ●Segregation
    ●Voter suppression

  7. Anybody who tries to get a group of aspiring lawyers to sign an agreement to abide by anything is asking to get sued into oblivion later by those same lawyers when they no longer want anything to do with what they signed.

  8. These lawyers-to-be will work for pedophiles, terrorists, and murderers “because everyone is entitled to representation”, but turn their noses up to firearms-related clients. The hypocrisy is staggering.

  9. The Sixth Amendment only applies to criminal cases, not the usual civil cases seeking to destroy manufacturers.

  10. THAT’S WHY PROTECT OUR CONSITUTION , ALL OF IT .

    AS SOME PEOPLE IN CONGRESS TREAD ALL OVER IT .

    AS O’ HANK MIGHT SAY ” THAY’S NOT AAMERICAN , UUUH Y’ALL .. YEEHAW

  11. Who are these people who think they can trample the rights of law abiding citizens? They are out of touch with reality and they are displaying bad behavior in our polite society.

  12. So, the idiots are going to sign a pledge to ignore the Constitution and a couple of the Amendments? Did they not get at least a semester on Constitutional Law?
    What the disarmament folks can’t admit is the gun industry have been proposing actual solutions with a chance of actually doing some good. While the Woke left Marxists are proposing feel good crap that promotes more violence and crime.
    Reason and logic be damned, feelz and emotion are the current program.

  13. What’s the difference between a Lawyer and a Catfish?
    One’s a Scum Sucking Bottom Feeder and the other one is a Fish.

    The Economy is so bad right now, that Lawyers have their hands in their own pockets.

    Admittedly, there are some Good, Honest Lawyers out there. I’ll let you know when I find one

    • I got a letter from my lawyer today. It said, “I was downtown Tuesday and spotted you across the street. I wanted to talk to you but when I crossed over; I saw it wasn’t you. So, I went back.”

      1/4 hour — $75.00

  14. As a current lawyer I pledge to do everything in my power to support the Second Amendment; including hiring based young lawyers.

  15. If your a law school student that means you’ve had to have had a High School graduation diploma and if you’ve been educated in a high school you hate gunms already. Just more sticks to keep stirring the shit grifters.
    Joe Biden “Now which flag was it I pledged allegiance too? Starts with an A ends with an N, ohhh fck, damn it. Was it Afghanistan? Shit I just gave them a bunch of gunms, I’m against gunms, I think, aren’t I against gunms? Can someone help me?,,,,, (why did my secret service agent just hand me a pistol?) There is no way that is going to work as an ice cream scoop.”

  16. There is a central premise that USED to be taught in law schools – “every client is entitled to a vigorous defense”. Equally, you are required to represent every client to the best of your ability, whether you agree with them, or not. You can’t lie to the court, or continue representing your client if you KNOW your client is lying, but short of that, you owe them your best. And both the ABA, and every state bar I know of, have some kind of comparable provisions in their code of ethics (yeah, we actually have those – getting lawyers to actually follow them is the rub).

    On the other hand . . . would you even WANT a lawyer willing to sign such an unethical piece of s*** to represent you? And if they were willing to, how “vigorous” do you think your defense would be? Frankly, it may be a benefit – the idiots self-identify. As the old saying goes, “It’s 95% of lawyers that give the other 5% a bad reputation”.

    Shameful, and unethical (but what else is new, for lawyers?), but given the current state of modern law schools, hardly surprising. They turn out activists, not lawyers.

    • Anyone who signs this doesn’t have critical thinking skills and therfore not someone I want representing me. Mark and the muppet are sort of doing us a favor…

  17. Hopefully, it backfires and a ton of conservative leaning law students pledge the exact opposite.

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