New Gun Laws, Vaccine Exemption Rights, and the Battle for Constitutional Freedoms

On August 16, 2024, Nephi Cole, Jim May, and Pam Long joined the show. Discussed new Colorado gun laws including merchant category codes for firearms purchases, concealed carry permit requirements, and warned about Proposition KK’s 6 Promoted Littleton’s 97th annual Western Welcome Week and Lavaca Meat Company’s participation, encouraged voting for brother Dan May for Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame, and shared cowboy poetry. Colorado’s New Gun Laws and the Merchant Category Code Threat Start listening at 32:32 – Hour 1 Nephi Cole, Director of Government Relations and State Affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, breaks down over 200 new laws that went into effect in Colorado, including several targeting firearms. Senate Bill 66 requires credit card companies to create specific codes for gun and ammunition sales, a measure Cole warns could enable financial institutions to deny services to lawful gun businesses. Colorado joins California as one of only a handful of states requiring these merchant category codes, while NSSF has successfully prohibited their use in over 20 states including Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Florida, and Texas. Cole explains the fundamental flaw in gun control logic: passing new laws only affects law-abiding citizens, not criminals who already ignore existing statutes. He warns that Proposition KK, which would impose a 6.5% excise tax on firearms and ammunition, represents the tyranny of the majority voting to tax a minority for exercising a constitutional right. The hunting community also faces threats from a ballot initiative seeking to ban mountain lion hunting under the guise of prohibiting trophy hunting. “If somebody’s displayed an aptitude for crime and they’re going to go out and commit a crime with a gun, passing a new law that says it’s double extra bad to commit a crime with a gun, that doesn’t make him less likely to commit a crime with a gun.” Nephi Cole, Director of Government Relations, National Shooting Sports Foundation Western Welcome Week and Cowboy Poetry Start listening at 66:01 – Hour 2 Jim May, cattleman and co-owner of Lavaca Meat Company, invites listeners to Littleton’s 97th annual Western Welcome Week street fair. The third-generation family business, located at the corner of Maine and Nevada in historic downtown Littleton, will be sampling their premium aged beef during the festivities. May also encourages listeners to vote daily for his brother Dan for the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame at cattlefeeders.org, recognizing Dan’s innovative contributions to the cattle industry. In a lighter moment, May shares his popular cowboy poem about a rancher’s misadventure buying undergarments for his wife, drawing laughs from listeners and providing a welcome break from the show’s weightier topics. “Western Welcome Week, and we are the steakhouse experience at home, and we’ll be the steakhouse experience on the street tomorrow.” Jim May, Cattleman and Lavaca Meat Company Schools and Employers Violating Vaccine Exemption Rights Start listening at 75:10 – Hour 2 Pam Long, Director of the Children’s Health Defense Military Chapter and West Point graduate, exposes the systematic erosion of vaccine exemption rights in Colorado schools and workplaces. Since 2020, Colorado’s exemption process changed from a simple letter to a state-approved certificate tracked in a database, creating barriers for medical, religious, and philosophical exemptions. Medical professionals refu...