Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Obama Releases Armed Drug Traffickers

Friday, October 7, 2016

Obama Releases Armed Drug Traffickers

Earlier this year, we reported on how President Obama’s much-ballyhooed executive clemency program was releasing felons who had been convicted of using firearms in drug trafficking crimes. We noted then the jarring inconsistency of this program with Obama’s executive gun control measures, which targeted hobbyists and collectors making occasional gun sales, licensed dealers, and even Social Security recipients. 

But Obama is nothing if not hypocritical. Not only has he increased the scope of his pardons and commutations, but – according to an article in USA Today – he has shifted his strategy to reach more serious and violent offenders. “Before last month, 13% of inmates receiving clemency had used a firearm in the offense,” the article states. “For those granted presidential mercy last month, it was 22%.”

In other words, nearly one in four prisoners who will gain early release by presidential decree used a firearm to commit the offense for which the person was imprisoned.

Critics of Obama’s executive clemency program charge that he is not merely seeking to correct extraordinary injustices or reward exemplary rehabilitation on a case-by-case basis. Rather, they say, he is “instead substituting his own judgment for that of Congress and the courts” by applying the more lenient sentencing guidelines of modern times for the stricter one in effect during the 1980s and ‘90s, at the height of the crack epidemic. 

The USA Today article quotes a former pardon attorney who served under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton as stating, “There are a number of cases where it’s a genuine re-sentencing. It’s unprecedented.” 

Obama is even granting early release to inmates considered “career offenders” and sentenced to life terms. 

As Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, put it: “He has effectively set himself up as a judge, reviewing thousands of cases where they’ve been prosecuted, convicted, sentenced and appealed beyond the district court level. And he's undercut all that work by commuting their sentences." 

Opinions can reasonably differ on the need for sentencing and criminal justice reform. What galls gun owners, however, is that retroactive leniency is being given to convicts who deliberately used guns to commit street crime, at the very same time members of the president’s party – particularly Hillary Clinton – are calling for retroactive condemnation of gun owners who have done nothing wrong. 

If Hillary Clinton and others had their way, mere possession of lawfully-acquired firearms and magazines sitting in the safes of millions of law-abiding Americans would transform those people into felons subject to years in prison.

Those gun owning Americans are among the people that Hillary Clinton referred to as “deplorable” and “irredeemable.” 

But in the case of crack dealers who ravaged America’s cities in the late 20th Century? Obama has appointed himself their redeemer. “Simply put,” he said, “their punishments didn’t fit the crime.”

 

TRENDING NOW
Declassified Document: Biden-Harris Administration Targeted Gun Owners and Second Amendment Rights Under “Domestic Terrorism” Pretext

News  

Monday, April 21, 2025

Declassified Document: Biden-Harris Administration Targeted Gun Owners and Second Amendment Rights Under “Domestic Terrorism” Pretext

On April 16, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard made good on a promise to expose the ways in which the Biden administration had weaponized the federal government against its political adversaries by releasing the Biden-era “Strategic Implementation Plan ...

Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

News  

Friday, March 21, 2025

Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

On March 20, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published an interim final rule entitled, Withdrawing the Attorney General’s Delegation of Authority. That bland title belies the historic nature of the measure, which is aimed at reviving ...

Federal Court in Massachusetts Enforces Range Access Statute in Pathbreaking Case

News  

Monday, April 21, 2025

Federal Court in Massachusetts Enforces Range Access Statute in Pathbreaking Case

It has happened before in Massachusetts: A small, hardy band of armed Americans faces off against elements of the most powerful military in the world and commits a revolutionary act that paves the way for ...

Germany Strips “Extremist” AfD Members, Supporters of Gun Licenses, Guns

News  

Monday, April 14, 2025

Germany Strips “Extremist” AfD Members, Supporters of Gun Licenses, Guns

It’s been only a few years since the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution calling the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization.” 

Trump DOJ Creates Second Amendment Task Force to Undo Damage of Biden Era

News  

Monday, April 14, 2025

Trump DOJ Creates Second Amendment Task Force to Undo Damage of Biden Era

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) formally announced the creation of a Second Amendment Task Force with Attorney General Pam Bondi declaring, “It is the policy of the Department of Justice to use its full ...

Washington: Permit to Purchase Bill Passes Senate

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Washington: Permit to Purchase Bill Passes Senate

On Monday, April 14th, the Senate passed House Bill 1163, the permit-to-purchase scheme, along party lines. It will now return to the House for concurrence with amendments made in the Senate. NRA members must urge ...

DOJ Drops Controversial NFA Charge Against Pardoned Jan. 6 Protestor

News  

Monday, April 21, 2025

DOJ Drops Controversial NFA Charge Against Pardoned Jan. 6 Protestor

Last February, NRA-ILA’s reporting exposed the case of Taylor Taranto, a pardoned January 6 protestor separately arrested on firearm charges in Washington, D.C. 

Tennessee: Pro-Gun Bills Advance to Governor's Desk

Monday, April 21, 2025

Tennessee: Pro-Gun Bills Advance to Governor's Desk

Last week, the Tennessee legislature passed two pro-gun bills, advancing them to Governor Bill Lee's desk for his consideration.

Florida: Legislation to Remove 2A Restrictions During Emergencies Sent to Governor’s Desk

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Florida: Legislation to Remove 2A Restrictions During Emergencies Sent to Governor’s Desk

Today, companion bills Senate Bill 952 and House Bill 6025, protecting our Second Amendment Rights during a state of emergency, received final passage from the legislature and will now head to Governor DeSantis's desk for his consideration.  

Tennessee: Legislative Session Adjourns with Wins for Gun Owners & the Firearm Industry

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Tennessee: Legislative Session Adjourns with Wins for Gun Owners & the Firearm Industry

Yesterday, April 22nd, the Tennessee General Assembly adjourned its 2025 legislative session. Two pro-gun bills received final passage and have been transmitted to Governor Lee’s desk for consideration:      

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.