Chattanooga military update. Lafayette theater followup. More.

Chattanooga, Military updates — John McCain comes home to roost

Meanwhile this week, personnel from the Manchester, TN, police department and other city employees delivered “approximately 300” sandbags to the city’s Army recruitment center that were used to line the bottom third of their front windows to stop potential incoming rounds. In lieu of being able to arm themselves for self-defense, the recruitment center is sheltering-in-place, sort of head-in-the-sandbags.

Oathkeepers statement.

And Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced that active and retired service members will immediately begin to get top priority when applying for FL CCW licenses. The announcement expands upon an executive order issued July 18 by Gov. Rick Scott, which included a requirement that preference be given to members of the Florida National Guard when applying for the licenses. (Note that FL also offers nonresident licenses, which are valid in about 30 states.) Include a copy of a military ID with your application.

Some politicians say that a “patchwork” of laws may get in the way of arming service members at recruiting stations because while federal law gives the secretaries of the various armed forces the power to arm military employees if there’s a threat to a particular military base, most recruitment centers are located in malls or in public places and not on federal land and it’s unclear if the federal law applies to recruiters or reservists. They say that in these commercially leased spaces, state and local laws need to be followed, and they may not allow for guns. (But I suspect that most state and local gun laws have exceptions for on-duty military personnel carrying guns as part of their military job, whether or not they’re on federal property.

Also, a new report released by the Congressional Research Service finds that Defense Secretary Ash Carter has the authority to issue firearms to troops stationed in the US. Well, DUH! Carter has now signed a memo clarifying that commanders can arm qualified troops at recruiting and other off-base sites, including allowing for the arming of qualified DOD personnel who aren’t regularly engaged in law enforcement duties, “based on the threat and the immediate need to protect DOD assets and lives.”

How the Chattanooga item from last week’s newsletter looks on the website (H/T Mike)

Lafayette, LA theater follow-up

The LA theater killer apparently was reportedly able to buy a firearm “legally” in spite of a Georgia judge’s order sending him to a psychiatric hospital in 2008, because he was never “involuntarily committed” for treatment, according to Georgia officials. Although some reports say that the sale was illegal since the man had been ordered to treatment, apparently he never reached the crucial stage of having a judge rule on his mental competence (adjudication), which is required before someone can be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility. We don’t know why the case never progressed to that stage.

Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Josh Horowitz argues that a “Gun Violence Restraining Order,” which is a piece of paper from a judge allowing confiscation of guns from the subject individual, would have stopped the perp from shooting up the theater.

(CSGV also advocates that people call 911 on anyone seen with a gun, anywhere, anytime, legal or not.)

AMC theaters (not the Louisiana theater chain) has reportedly introduced a pre-movie clip warning patrons to be on the lookout for “suspicious characters,” (whatever those are) but apparently doesn’t include a plan or instructions of what to do when you spot one.

We have reports that despite false yammering from the anti-gun lamestream media that more guns will only contribute to more violence, Louisianans and Tennesseans are responding to the Lafayette and Chattanooga shootings by purchasing more firearms for concealed carry, and that CCW permit applications in those areas are skyrocketing after the shootings.

Why we do not publish mass murderers’ irrelevant names

Because that’s what they want us to do.

FBI foils possible massacres