Episode 255 – Everyone Can Be a Gun Trafficker!

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this episode is brought to you by travis
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bull johnson who is running for congress
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in minnesota’s seventh congressional
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district uh bull johnson is an
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incredible libertarian who is running
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for office there uh he is working to set
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america free by representing minnesota’s
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seventh district in congress and if
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you’d like to help him in his run go to
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bull johnson for congress dot u s
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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and now matt wright and
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spike cohen
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good morning good afternoon or good
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evening and welcome to the vanguard
0:58
for spike anna cohen skywalker cohen i
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am matt wright and together we are
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traversing the muddied waters of
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freedom
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you nailed it that time i did
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um
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on or listening on uh we thank you and
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to you we say
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hula venaka
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naka
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that’s the word unless
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if you have not hit the bell what’s the
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point of it if you’re not getting
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notified
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too it’s weird i um
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own the channel and i still don’t get
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notified it’s bizarre
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no clue what i do do you yeah i don’t
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did you hit the bell i did
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hit it again i’m getting i i don’t know
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yeah i’m not sure why you’re not gonna
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have to it’s weird for anybody who
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didn’t know
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the bipartisan safer communities act
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went into effect this week and it is a
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terrible terrible law
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yes and this when it was a bill
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sitting on capitol hill
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this was submitted by water drinking
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aficionado marco
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rubio just as awkward when you did it um
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yeah
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now
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instead of going into the uh just
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massive amounts of things wrong with
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this bill and the spending that it
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creates that’s unnecessary and blah blah
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blah blah
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it increases penalties for illegal
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possessions of firearms
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which is
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always a terrifying thing
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yep
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so the law raises the uh maximum
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sentence for people with felony records
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from 10 to 15 years
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on top of that
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it creates a new trafficking and
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firearms offense
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also punishable by up to 15 years in
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prison that is defined broadly enough to
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include receipt of a firearm by someone
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who is legally disqualified from owning
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one
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oh good so now they finally have the uh
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equivalent of possession with intent to
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distribute yes
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oh goody yep so patricia richman
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who is the national sentencing resource
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council at federal public and community
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defenders notes that the trafficking and
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firearms provision applies to anyone who
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obtains a gun when he
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opened this gendered
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gendered
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language when they when they
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know or have a patriarchal bigot
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when he knows or has reasonable cause to
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believe that such receipt would
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constitute a felony
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this is
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going to be so
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abused
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just that
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so like
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when they say we aren’t going after
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people that are possessing
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we’re going after dealers and that means
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like if it was in two bags or if it was
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more than what they believe was it
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basically arbitrarily decided by the
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officer that
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there was intent either arbitrarily by
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the officer or with some really minimal
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bar to to cross like in more than one
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bag or a certain like very small amount
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means that you meant to distribute it
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too
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that’s what they’re gonna do with
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firearms yeah
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he didn’t just have it illegally we know
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or
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have reasonable cause to believe
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that uh he was going to be selling it to
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someone who shouldn’t have it
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wow
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so
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the law
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covers prohibited persons as defined by
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states
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as well as federal law which is a
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significant
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expansion since uh many states criterias
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for gun ownership are often stricter
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than federal criteria
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that is crazy
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you
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so now
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when you cross over into another state
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like that lady uh the single mother
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in like 2015 i think it was who crossed
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into
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uh uh new jersey from uh i think
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pennsylvania and she was driving through
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and they pulled her over and she told
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them she had a firearm but they didn’t
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have reciprocity in that state and she
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got put in jail and thankfully chris
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christie pardoned her after like a week
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or something
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now she would be charged with a federal
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crime too so not only would chris
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christie have to pardon her the freaking
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president would have to pardon her
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wow
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what an absolute garbage bill the
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republicans have given you yes
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yeah well
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it’s rubio so
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uh
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so that provision nra endorsed marco
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rubio yeah that’s valid i mean the nra
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isn’t yeah
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we’ve talked about the nra enough yes
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yes yes go with the gun owners of
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america the
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firearm
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policy coalition
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black guns matter and you are the power
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yep
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the well-known gun rights organization
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you are the power right
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so that provision uh as richmond noted
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pulls in all state felony prohibitions
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on firearm position
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possessions that’s wild so maryland
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for example prohibits handgun possession
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for people convicted of violent
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misdemeanors such as simple assault that
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are not disqualifying under federal law
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violating that rule
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is a felony that carries a mandatory
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minimum sentence of five years in prison
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this means somebody with a disqualifying
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misdemeanor record who obtains a handgun
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in maryland could also be guilty of
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trafficking in firearms under the
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bipartisan safer communities act wow
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even if he or she was not a prohibited
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person under federal law is this even
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constitutional
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yes unfortunately yes because the
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supreme court ruled uh
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i don’t have this in the notes but i
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read it uh the supreme court ruled back
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in i want to say 2013 i could be wrong
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and i don’t remember the case but acts
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like these do not qualify as like double
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jeopardy
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they don’t qualify as double jeopardy
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and
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because
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of the way the bill well i mean the way
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the bill is written might not be
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constitutional
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because this is not double jeopardy that
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i’m taught yeah that would be
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unconstitutional and this isn’t double
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jeopardy well okay so this wait till the
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next line and then you’ll understand why
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i said it
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okay okay but my thing is the unequal
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protection because they’re applying
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federal
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they’re federally not
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applying the standards the same to
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someone in one state as the other
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that feels like a 14th amendment
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violation that does feel like a 14th
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amendment violation
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well i’m certain that the good people at
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the not the nra are already trying to
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figure out a way to beat this um oh i’m
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sure i’m sure
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so in addition to maryland’s five-year
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mandatory minimum if
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uh someone with a disqualifying
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misdemeanor record who obtains a handgun
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in maryland
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is also found guilty of trafficking in
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firearms he could face 15 years
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in federal prison
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wow
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the trafficking and firearms provision
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includes a knowledge requirement that
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could be helpful though
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which
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is beneficial
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i mean it’s still a terrible law but
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last year
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the maryland court of appeals considered
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the case of
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misshore howling who was arrested in
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2019 because he had a pistol and had
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been convicted of simple assault in
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pennsylvania 17 years prior
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howling argued that he should not have
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been convicted of a legal handgun
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possession because he did not realize he
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was a prohibited person in maryland
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the court of appeals unanimously ruled
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that maryland law imposes no such
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requirement the court said it was enough
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that howling knowingly possessed a
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handgun even if he did not know that a
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17 year old
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pennsylvania conviction made it illegal
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in maryland
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but
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so in maryland he’d be screwed
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right but in federal court a defendant
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like howling who was charged with
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trafficking in firearms could argue that
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he was not aware of the prohibited
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status
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right how would you know your status in
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every single state
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what if you were charged what’s theirs
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with a felony 20 years ago right what’s
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their saying
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ignorance is not an excuse or whatever
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they say when you’re caught
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doing something yeah ignorance ignorance
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of the law is no excuse but at the same
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time no one there’s actually not a
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single human being or computer program
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on earth who actually knows right all of
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the laws
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so by that
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dictum and by the logic of it we should
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all be in prison right now
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yeah what we commit three felonies a day
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on average
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yeah so california
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shockingly
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has a long list
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of disqualified disqualifications that
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goes
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well beyond federal law including some
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misdemeanors that do not include
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domestic violence
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prosecutors have discretion to charge
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gun owners who are disqualified because
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misdemeanor because of misdemeanors with
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felonies
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so
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because restrictions on gun ownership
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vary widely from state to state and
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often go further than federal law
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in any state where violating those
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restrictions is a felony a prohibited
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person who obtains a gun can now face
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prosecution for trafficking and firearms
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even though they never actually
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trafficked a firearm
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i wonder who this is going to
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disproportionately affect oh
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oh
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yeah i do i wonder if there’s a
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population of people
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who historically
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have things disproportionately enforced
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on them
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and also
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have had a recent surge in gun ownership
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and therefore have a lot of new gun
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owners who aren’t aware
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of all of the intricacies
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of
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gun laws especially interstate gun laws
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which let’s face it the vast majority of
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gun owners have no i don’t know like i i
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mean state to state doesn’t it doesn’t
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does not matter if you’re a minority or
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not but uh let’s say that no no no it
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doesn’t matter if you are or not no
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yes it will does
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disproportionately affect those wildly
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disproportionately yeah but let’s say
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this is going to hit everyone but it’s
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going to hit the usual suspects
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way
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harder yes if if you live in wow
13:28
if you’re one of them well okay that’s a
13:30
bad example uh okay so you live in
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florida and you’re like man i get in way
13:34
too much trouble because i’m turning
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into florida man down here and i’ve got
13:38
that assault charge
13:40
because i drunkenly beat up that frat
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dude who was down visiting from
13:46
new york uh for petting my gator
13:49
[Laughter]
13:51
i don’t know what he was doing in lake
13:53
what when i told him not to i don’t know
13:56
why he was in lakeland for spring break
13:58
we don’t even have a beach near us but
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all right um
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but yeah
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if you’re a floridian who’s in that
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situation like okay i just need to get
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out of here and you move to a state that
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has these laws and you own a weapon
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because you still legally can down here
14:16
and you go up there and you can’t
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they can get you in trafficking and
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firearms and you are looking at whatever
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their crime is
14:26
like whatever their punishment whatever
14:27
the state’s punishment is
14:30
plus a potential 15 years from the
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federal government
14:36
it is a and you’ll get labeled a gun
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trafficker yeah
14:41
so in the same way that like all these
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people who were literally like just
14:46
using drugs and got labeled drug dealer
14:50
and have to figure that out when when
14:52
they finally get out trying to get a job
14:54
now imagine trying to get a job
14:58
as a having a gun trafficking charge 15
15:02
years later so you gotta do two thirds
15:04
of federal times so
15:08
or yeah we’re 20 so 15 years minimum
15:11
and
15:12
with uh federal time you got to do at
15:14
least two thirds i believe so you’re
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doing at least 10 years in prison
15:18
and
15:19
minimum 10 years
15:21
because it could be like the offense at
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the state level is you have to uh give
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up your firearm and 90 days in jail and
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15 years in federal prison
15:33
and you got a record as a gun trafficker
15:37
because you owned your own firearm
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legally and then moved to a state or
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traveled through a state
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where it wasn’t legal yeah
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for you now even that gun was legal but
15:51
you weren’t allowed to have it traveling
15:55
through the state so for like the four
15:57
of our viewers
15:59
out there who are you know still
16:02
republican
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um
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thank you for watching and we hope that
16:06
you yes
16:08
stick around stick around
16:10
uh but for the four of you uh
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when when you say i vote for the
16:16
republicans because they’re the ones
16:18
that fight for you know
16:20
they fight for guns no they don’t
16:23
no they don’t no they don’t in fact over
16:25
the last 20 years
16:28
republicans have done more to hinder gun
16:31
ownership
16:32
than democrats
16:34
yep yeah they’re eight they stop it
16:36
every single time that the democrats
16:38
have control
16:40
stop it every time
16:42
yeah
16:42
but when they’re in charge you get laws
16:46
like this one
16:48
well here’s the thing right now the
16:49
democrats are in charge and you’ve got
16:52
the republic so now we’re we’ve crossed
16:54
that rubicon where now even when the
16:57
because it used to were right up until
16:59
now it used to be
17:00
when democrats were in charge
17:02
republicans became warriors on guns and
17:04
then when they get into office they
17:06
would be slightly
17:08
less worse than democrats but still
17:10
actually in some cases worse than
17:12
democrats in terms of their actual
17:13
effectiveness of getting gun control
17:15
passed right
17:16
now because they don’t even wait to be
17:18
in charge again
17:21
so uh i don’t i should i should have put
17:23
this in the notes i don’t remember when
17:25
this bill was passed i just know it went
17:26
into effect
17:28
this week
17:31
but it was it was passed
17:33
a while ago
17:34
it’s this is insane this is you are
17:37
going to have people
17:39
who
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drive through a state
17:43
and get
17:45
hit
17:46
with a 15-year federal charge
17:50
because they were prohibited from owning
17:52
a they’re driving up the beltway from
17:55
freaking kentucky to
17:59
you know i don’t know somewhere in
18:01
pennsylvania
18:02
yeah illinois or pa or whatever and they
18:05
go up the beltway and get pulled over in
18:08
dc and because you’re not allowed to own
18:10
a firearm if you uh you know blink when
18:14
you sneeze or whatever like whatever
18:16
their absurd restrictions are
18:19
you now get hit with a whatever it is
18:22
like you get you driving through some
18:23
stages
18:25
yeah it’s a little known fact you can’t
18:27
own a firearm nothing you you know
18:29
you blink when you see
18:31
you just
18:32
you have to they they put something in
18:34
your nose and make you sneeze and they
18:36
want and you have to and you don’t
18:38
realize that you have to keep your eyes
18:39
open they don’t tell you that
18:41
anything and
18:44
but so when that happens
18:47
not only is your nose bothered right
18:50
because but you got a 15-year charge for
18:52
driving through a place with a gun
18:55
which is only it’s just this again
18:59
going back to the abortion boat
19:01
like this is just going to lead to
19:04
people lying to police about whether or
19:06
not they have a firearm it’s going to
19:08
lead to uh
19:10
more people hopefully asserting their
19:12
right to uh you know to not be a search
19:15
without um
19:17
a warrant
19:18
um
19:19
like this is like
19:21
this isn’t going to make anyone safer
19:24
it’s going to put
19:25
law-abiding people in prison for firearm
19:29
trafficking
19:30
while the actual firearms traffickers at
19:33
the atf and cia and state department and
19:36
pentagon continue giving billions of
19:39
dollars worth of guns and military
19:42
equipment to cartels and terrorist group
19:45
and
19:46
nazi uh
19:47
contingents of militaries around the
19:50
world
19:52
yeah and if you think about like yes i
19:53
was talking about ukraine
19:57
uh if you think about this is going to
19:59
cause
20:00
just
20:03
widespread violence because you’re gonna
20:04
have cops being like hey you have a gun
20:06
in the car and people going no we want
20:08
to search the car come back with a
20:10
warrant cop gets mad pulls a gun
20:13
dude pulls a gun uh
20:16
and you are going to end up with
20:18
with civilians dying you’re going to end
20:20
up with cops dying you’re going to end
20:21
up with bystanders dying
20:23
this is a terrible terrible law
20:27
that was brought to you
20:30
i don’t know if he wrote it so i don’t
20:31
want to say that but it was submitted by
20:33
a republican
20:35
who ran for president in 2016.
20:40
yup and who got elected to the senate in
20:43
2010 in the tea party wave
20:50
was he 2010
20:52
yeah
20:54
well he was earlier than that no
20:55
wait he was early hold on i think wait
20:57
no i think so marco rubio
21:00
yeah yeah i knew that yeah 2010 2010 in
21:03
the tea party wave he was the you know
21:06
he was one of the tea party candidates
21:08
for senate
21:09
the republican party will fail you
21:13
on guns on economics seven trillion
21:16
dollars of debt just with the trump
21:18
administration in one term
21:21
the lockdowns
21:23
they will always fail you on everything
21:26
they will sometimes talk a good game
21:28
sometimes they talk a terrible game but
21:30
sometimes they talk a good game and then
21:33
they will screw you if you’re having a
21:34
hard time getting formula thank donald
21:36
trump and the republicans and democrats
21:38
who helped pass the usmca if you don’t
21:41
like the cost of everything going wildly
21:43
out of control you can thank donald
21:45
trump and republicans and democrats for
21:47
spending ridiculous amounts of money
21:49
while simultaneously paying people to
21:51
stay home and thereby reducing the
21:53
amount of production whilst inflating
21:55
demand and the price of that demand
21:59
if you like your guns well screw you
22:00
you’re going to be put in prison for 15
22:02
years thanks to republicans republicans
22:05
will always fail you
22:07
always democrats offer you
22:10
more control over your life and then
22:13
give it to you republicans kind of
22:15
pretend that they’re going to give you
22:16
some control back and then they take
22:18
more of it just like democrats do yep
22:21
i had to think about how you ordered
22:22
that i was like wait what yeah i was i
22:25
wasn’t worded the best way but
22:27
democrats promise you tyranny and give
22:30
it to you republicans promise you
22:32
freedom and then give you tyranny that
22:34
was a better way to say that
22:37
that’s the clippable so the good news
22:39
folks
22:41
is that there is another episode of the
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muddy waters afridi coming out on
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saturday but there’s a catch
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and i know what you’re thinking
22:50
saturday episode
22:52
what kind of sorcery witchcraft jewelry
22:55
is this well the it is jewelry because
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you got to pay for it so uh on uh every
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23:52
you use the feed that is emailed to you
23:55
when you sign up you will have an ad
23:57
free experience
23:59
there it is so once that happens then
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you’ll have an ad free experience all of
24:03
that and yes for only ten dollars a
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month not 20 not 80 and not even 15. 10
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a month uh so we would love to have you
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become a part of it uh but
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if you are not a subscriber that’s okay
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we still love you not as much but we
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still love you and we will see you next
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week
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and where we’re going we don’t need
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roads
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[Music]
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you