FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday issued a warning that “hundreds of terrorists will fan out to infiltrate western Europe and the U.S. to carry out attacks on a wider scale” than we have so far witnessed, and the timing could not be more important to the political situation now unfolding in this country.
With the presidential and federal elections on the horizon, one political party has a platform to protect and enhance Second Amendment rights, while the other devotes a single paragraph in its platform aimed at further restricting gun rights. This comes at a time that the FBI director just hinted Americans might increasingly require the tools to fight back.
Tonight, Democrats will hear from the candidate they want to follow into the November elections, a candidate who has made gun control a cornerstone of her campaign.
The New York Times quoted Comey’s remarks:
“At some point there is going to be a terrorist diaspora out of Syria like we’ve never seen before,” Mr. Comey said at a cybersecurity conference at Fordham University. “Not all of the Islamic State killers are going to die on the battlefield.”
Bloomberg News goes into greater detail about Comey’s comments. One thing Bloomberg noted that is especially alarming is that, “the FBI chief’s comments reflect a consensus among U.S. intelligence officials that the group inevitably will strike out abroad as it continues to lose ground militarily under attack from a U.S.-led coalition.”
By no small coincidence, the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) reported this week that there are now more than 14.5 million Americans who are licensed to carry across the United States. That represents an increase of 1.73 million active carry licenses since last year’s report was published. The new report may be read here.
Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas each now have more than a million residents who have active permits, the report noted.
In Washington State, where Liberty Park Press is headquartered, the number of active concealed pistol licenses has spiked upwards steadily over the past few years. This year alone, 28,733 new CPLs were added to the rolls between Jan. 1 and June 30. At last count, there were 546,398 active Washington CPLs, and a new figure will be published here next Monday.
More people have been buying more guns in the wake of the terror attacks here and abroad. How that plays out in the November election would be speculation now, but Americans appear to be voting right now with their pocketbooks and their concerns.
