New Op-Eds & Hope to Catch You in Orlando
Here's the latest dispatch.
Good evening!
Welcome to Outsider on the Inside. I hope this dispatch from in and around the nation’s capital on underreported topics finds you well.
If you’re just discovering my musings, here’s a backgrounder.
Here’s what I have for you:
A New Batch of Op-Eds Out Today
I have two op-eds related to firearms and conservation out today for readers to check out.
Townhall.com: Radical Environmental Groups Petition Government Agencies to Undermine Legal Hunting
Radical environmentalist groups that actively back Democrats have hunting in their crosshairs. And unsurprisingly, they’re exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to target this pastime.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council, two organizations who’ve made suing the government a cottage industry, are directly petitioning the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to undermine wildlife management practices, including hunting, here in the U.S.
If accepted by the government, they’ll undermine the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation that’s allowed our nation to successfully recover imperiled species and restore critical habitat.
Here’s why these petitions must be stopped in their tracks.
Washington Examiner (via Young Voices Contributor Program): Repealing Section 230 could undermine the Second Amendment
Debate surrounding Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 most often involves social media. But what about gun sales?
The question is worth asking because if Senate Democrats get their way, they’ll weaponize S230 reform to target online gun marketplaces. Conservatives urging repeal of Section 230 are playing right into their hands.
Section 230 enumerates in its "civil liability" clause that providers or users of an "interactive computer service" aren’t liable for third-party content posted there. Just as Facebook and Twitter aren't liable for their users' slander or misinformation, sites such as Armslist.com (the gun owner's Craigslist) aren't liable for illegal gun sales.
That doesn’t sit well with Sen. Dianne Feinstein. She recently introduced The Accountability for Online Firearms Marketplaces Act. If passed, her bill would "clarify" Section 230 to strip online firearms marketplaces, specifically Armslist.com, of immunity protections. "It’s time to start holding accountable those who turn a blind eye to illegal gun sales on their platforms," Feinstein said .
If sites such as Armslist.com really were helping criminals to get guns, Feinstein would have a point. But that argument is weak.
See You at SPN in Orlando!?
I’ll be heading down to Orlando, FL for the 29th State Policy Network Annual Meeting as part of this year’s 2021 Generation Liberty Fellowship program. Will you be attending the conference too? I hope to see you there!
I couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s the last year I could qualify, since I’m 30 now. (Oh my!) And I’m eager to learn from and exchange ideas with other young professionals in the liberty movement and, yes, catch up with some friends too.
Here’s more about SPN:
State Policy Network’s vision is an America where all people can flourish because collaborative, entrepreneurial leaders have secured lasting social change, personal freedom, and economic opportunity at the state and local level.
Podcasts You May Have Missed
Catch up on the latest District of Conservation episodes below.
EP 205: Outdoor Storytelling with Videographer Madison Hughes
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—Gabriella