Litigation

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled 2-1 this week that the US District Court for the District of Maryland (Northern Division) improperly ruled to uphold Maryland’s prohibition on what the appeals court called “the vast majority of semi-automatic rifles commonly kept by several million American citizens.”

The case, Kolbe v. Hogan (Maryland — formerly Kolbe v. O’Malley), challenges the legality of Maryland’s 2013 Firearm Safety Act ban on many semiautomatic rifles (erroneously called “assault weapons”) and magazines of over 10 round capacity.

Chief Judge William Traxler wrote in the ruling that, “In our view, Maryland law implicates the core protection of the Second Amendment — the right of law-abiding responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home,” and provisions that outlaw these firearms “substantially burden this fundamental right,” and “Contrary to the district court’s conclusion, the fact that handguns, bolt-action and other manually-loaded long guns, and, as noted earlier, a few semi-automatic rifles are still available for self-defense does not mitigate this burden.”

The court said that “strict scrutiny,” a stringent constitutional test that most government laws and regulations fail, should have been used by the district court in this case, while other courts have applied more forgiving standards to similar gun legislation and upheld it.

The ruling didn’t strike down the Maryland law, but instead vacated the district court’s ruling upholding the law and sent the case back to the lower court with instructions to subject the provision to the higher “strict scrutiny” legal standard when re-trying the case.

Maryland’s attorney general says the gun ban is common sense, but we see no exemptions in the Second Amendment for “common sense” laws which violate the Constitution. They argue common sense or some such when they can’t argue legality.

This one will likely eventually be appealed to the Supreme Court, which may choose to not hear it, or to rule against the Constitution. Same thing.

http://michellawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Kolbe-v.-Hogan_Opinion.pdf

(See also https://www.marylandshallissue.com/share/kolbevsomalleymsj.pdf)

We also see that in Maryland, you can apply for any of their several “gun” licenses ONLY if you use the Internet Explorer browser on your computer. Funny, I didn’t see that in the Second Amendment.

I don’t think so, Mr. President

The Washington Times reports that in President Obama’s first self-interjection into small-arms procurement for the armed forces, his Jan. 4 executive order on gun control directs the Pentagon to find ways not to make more lethal firearms, but safer ones. We have not (yet) found evidence that Mr. Obama also ordered the Army to use rainbow-colored Nerf guns.

The brass is literally laughing at him. Again. As am I. And the terrorists.

This week President Obama also visited a Baltimore Muslim mosque with terrorist ties to “celebrate the contributions Muslim Americans make to our nation and reaffirm the importance of religious freedom to our way of life.”

Some experts tell us that mosques are not just another version of what we think of as a church. Mohammad used mosques as a place for the community to gather and learn about Islam. It was a place to store food, water, weapons, and ammunition. It was a place where jihadis lived and trained. It was also the place where battles were planned and the place from which battles were launched. Many are apparently still used for those same purposes today — jihadist forward operating bases, if you will. (Maybe that’s what Mr. Obama meant when he said some folks “cling to guns and religion.”) We presume that many others are not used for nefarious purposes, but I can’t give you a list of which is which.

I don’t think so, Mr. Professor

Last week a uniformed police officer was escorted from a classroom where he was a student at Darton State College (University of GA, Albany), because his unidentified teacher was reportedly uncomfortable with having a gun in the classroom, and asked that the officer be escorted out. Official policy at the school prohibits firearms on campus, but makes an exception for law enforcement. Apparently official policy at the school also makes exceptions for stupid “educators.”

We find no exceptions in the Second Amendment distinguishing between police officers and other citizens.

Transportation Insecurity Agency

The Transportation Security Administration continues to operate in disarray, failing to record basic security details (like criminal history and immigration status) for thousands of employees and not tracking official IDs and badges that allow access to the most sensitive areas of an airport.

Enemies

• Hillary Clinton last month opposed a proposed law — the Youth Safety and Parental Rights Act — which would recognize the legality of teens and pre-teens learning gun safety and target shooting with “a handgun with their parents’ permission and supervision.” In other words, Hillary opposes supervised gun safety instruction. Maybe all those “gun safety” groups will quit supporting her now?

• Facebook said last week that is is now prohibiting members from using its online social network and Instagram photo-sharing service to coordinate legal person-to-person private gun sales. I’m surprised this is a change, since Facebook has long been anti-gun and already prohibits commercial gun advertising. It appears that enforcement of the rule will be dependent on an army of citizen snitches, similar to Red China and Nazi Germany. I do not and will not do Facebook and can think of a better name for it.

• FORMER US Attorney General Eric Holder said last week that “the cowards in our Congress (who found Holder in contempt) would have been forced to do the right thing,” and passed legislation banning our civil rights if we (the people) had seen the carnage of the Sandy Hook massacre, which we didn’t commit.

• Private files belonging to America’s largest police union, the anti-gun Fraternal Order of Police, have been hacked and posted online. The file is said to contain names and addresses of officers, including various contracts with cities and private forum posts. This is the same group that wants your gun data “securely” filed away with them.

• It seems that anti-gun Greek billionaire George Soros made part of his fortune from guns and ammo investments. And he just gave $8 million of it to anti-gun Hillary’s presidential campaign. So Hillary is in part funded by the gun industry.

• The American Journal of Medicine says that justified self defense with a gun is “gun violence” and you are better off just waiting for the police. In other words, dead. They also talk about “America’s love affair with firearms.” I’m sorry, is that a medical diagnosis and what are your qualifications to render such a conclusion? What do the medical licensing boards say about medical professionals issuing such advice well beyond their areas of competence?

• We have a rumor that OSHA is harassing ammo makers because ammunition is a “chemical container,” telling manufacturers to comply with all the nuances of proper labeling of chemicals in their use at the place of business. We see no constitutional authority for OSHA to exist.

About those Islamic extremists:

Details — 86 Dead as Boko Haram Burns Children Alive in Nigeria

And apparently we need a law prohibiting support of terrorist groups:

Details — U.S. eyes ways to toughen fight against domestic extremists

Election

Trump on gun control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8lmSu1kVRo

And from Marx — er, Hillary — supporters. Also see the Hillary item above.

We saw a note this week that Democrats are on the fence about whether to choose between a hypocrite that’s under FBI investigation (Hillary) or a self-avowed socialist (Bernie). The race to the bottom continues…

Universities

“The university police departments need something small, compact and light that can be deployed from a backpack. The university police departments, in many respects, have huge budgets and the hot item seems to be short, 7-inch-barreled rifles with collapsible stocks. It has actually been a very active market for us, as some schools are equipping their officers to fight the deadly encounters we are seeing in universities.” — Andrew Barnes, of Barnes Precision Machine, a manufacturer of black rifles and other “tactical” stuff

Just Plain Wrong

The Washington, D.C. Council voted unanimously Tuesday to pay certain residents a stipend not to commit crimes. It’s based on a program in Richmond, CA, that advocates say reduced crime there.

Under the bill, city officials would identify up to 200 people a year who are considered at risk of either committing or becoming victims of violent crime. Those people would be directed to participate in behavioral therapy and other programs. If they fulfill those obligations and stay out of trouble, they would be paid.

Here’s an alternate idea: If someone does commit a crime, take something away from them and give it to the victim. You know, instead of taking money from the victims and paying the criminals.

Open Carry Fail

Newport News, VA police are investigating after a 37-year-old man reported he was pushed to the ground and had his handgun stolen last week. He was wearing his handgun in a holster, open carry, on his hip.

How to CCW

You Are On Your Own

“The citizens need to know they need to be able to protect themselves because if they call 911, we [LAPD] can’t guarantee we’re going to get there in time to help you.” — Police Protective League President Jamie McBride, last week.

The family of man who froze to death in his stranded vehicle, while waiting for promised help that never came, on a NY highway during a November snowstorm has just announced that they are filing a claim against the State of NY, the county involved, and the State DOT. The victim in this case made numerous phone calls from his stranded vehicle to 911, AAA, et al and was repeatedly ordered to stay put, and assured that help was “on the way.” But help was never on the way, and he died waiting for it.

DGUs

How CCW works in Texas.

Also from Texas: Hostage-taker in stand-off with police. 1 shot, 1 kill. Graphic language and video.

Click image to enlarge — source

The Only Ones

• Pinellas County, FL, Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Verdin has been charged with attempted manslaughter after he shot a handcuffed man on Dec. 30. Deputy Verdin claims self defense against the man whose hands were behind his back, whose pants had fallen down, and whose body was wedged against the backseat of Deputy Verdin’s cruiser at the time. Another deputy at the scene and the physical evidence apparently didn’t agree.

• An unidentified rookie Freeport, TX, police officer has been suspended after he accidentally shot and injured his next door neighbor from inside his apartment at 4 a.m. Saturday. The bullet apparently went through the wall of the officer’s apartment and hit his neighbor in the back.

• We have a report of more FBI guns and credentials being stolen from a vehicle in the San Francisco area.

• Another report indicates that 4 shotguns fell out of the bed of a Syracuse (NY) University Public Safety truck after a training exercise and have not been recovered.

• Philadelphia Police put a high school on lockdown Tuesday morning after an unidentified school officer discovered that his loaded weapon was missing from his car, possibly stolen. Or possibly lost.

• Willie Carter, 34, a former Columbia, MS police officer, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and fined $2500 for his part in a break-in and theft of 52 weapons from a gun dealer on the MS gulf coast last summer.

• A new report suggests that 80% of Chicago police officers are hiding or intentionally destroying dashcam mics so the audio isn’t available.

Another NICS record

The FBI conducted more NICS checks in January 2016 than in any other January since the system was created. With 2,545,802 checks (not NSSF-adjusted) processed through the National Instant Background Check System, January 2016 beat the previous record, set in January 2013, by 50,326 checks. It was the ninth consecutive monthly record. I hope they all vote.

Click image to enlarge — source

Navy SEALs are badass

Navy SEAL Sr. Chief Mike Day was shot 27 times by 4 bad guys with AKs while clearing a house in the sandbox. Day pulled his pistol and killed all 4, went on to finish clearing the house with his team, then walked to the medivac chopper under his own power, to spend 2 years recuperating.

“I was there, and I can’t believe it.” — Chief Mike Day

Hunting

Mississippi #1 for deer

Field & Stream magazine and the Quality Deer Management Association have both ranked Mississippi #1 in the nation for harvesting mature whitetail deer.

Missouri to Ban Feral Hog Hunting to Reduce Hog Problems

This is better than the voice-activated fish. 9 year-old genius.

Herbivores can be dangerous too….

Obit

Navajo Code Talker USMC Corporal Alfred James Peaches died Jan. 23 at a Flagstaff hospital at age 90.

Tribal President Russell Begaye commended Peaches for defending the US in World War II, using a code based on the Navajo language that stumped the Japanese.

Born in Shonto, AZ, Peaches was among hundreds of Navajos who served as Code Talkers. He was part of the 6th Marine Division from 1943 to 1946.

I suggest this is another case where you can address an enlisted man as “sir.”

Semper Fi.

Leupold (loo-pold) scopes

[Shot Show 2016] Leupold’s Hall of Fame/Shame

Chrome lining

Apparently chrome lined AR barrels last about twice as long as untreated barrels, but the useful life of nitrocarburized (Tennifer/Melonite) barrels is twice that of hard chrome lined barrels.

Taurus pistol recall update

In the case of Carter v. Forjas Taurus, S.A., et al., the Court has continued the hearing on final approval of the settlement until July 18, 2016. The claims period will not begin until after that time has passed. Additional details will be posted to https://www.tauruscartersettlement.com/

Products

• The CMP is now accepting orders for a limited number of M1 Carbines for mail order. Two grades will be available, Service and Field. They include the following manufacturers; Inland, Winchester, IBM, Quality Hardware, Saginaw, Standard Product and Underwood. The manufacturer you receive will be luck of the draw, no requests. Each customer is limited to one Carbine this year.

• Inland Manufacturing and Ithaca have teamed up to reproduce the Ithaca 37 Trench Shotgun from WWII. $1200. (Click image to enlarge image on right — source)

• Kingston Armory has replica M1A and M1 Garand rifles chambered in .22 LR made with Ruger 10/22 actions. The stock, sights, and many other parts are either mil-spec or mil-spec size.

• Safety Harbor Firearms’ SHTF 50 Upper Conversion system is designed to fit any mil. spec AR15/M16 type lower and is a bolt-action .50 BMG upper, available in a side-magazine-fed repeater or a single shot and offered with 3 different barrel lengths: 18″, 22″, and 29″. $1850 for the repeater.

• For 2016 Ruger is bringing back the .44 Mag. Vaquero which will eventually be available in multiple configurations, with the first one being a distributor special edition with a 3.75″ barrel, polished stainless steel finish and a birdshead grip.

• Henry Repeating Arms new Big Boy Silver is offered in three calibers: .44 Mag./Spl. Model H006S, .45 Colt Model H006CS and .357 Mag./.38 Spl. Model H006MS. $990.

• Henry’s new Big Boy Steel in .41 Mag. is Model H012M41. $850. The Big Boy Steels are a bit lighter – about 7 lbs. — than the brass-framed Big Boys.

• Henry also has the new All-Weather Lever Action with hard chrome plating on all metal surfaces (except springs and sights), and a durable industrial-grade coating on the stained hardwood furniture. Calibers are .30-30 Model H0009AW, $850 and .45-70 Model H010AW, $950.

• The Heizer Defense PKO-45 is single-stack stainless steel .45 auto that is only .80″ wide, and comes with a 5 round, and an extended 7 round magazine. But it weighs 28 oz. empty (about the same as a Colt Lightweight Commander 1911), so good luck with that in your pocket.

• Aguila is introducing three new 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum loads; a 40 gr. JHP at 2300 fps, a 45 gr. HP at 1400 fps and an FMJ with no velocity given, and a .17 Aguila rimfire load of unknown specs. I’m predicting a limited run.

• Eley has a new .22 LR hunting round called the High Velocity Hollow with a 40 grain hollow point bullet at 1250 fps. Eley uses a patented oxidation process on the case that turns it black. The oxidation affects the force needed to eject the case, which in turn improves consistency of supersonic rimfire rounds in autoloaders.

• Fiocchi has a new 28 gauge Golden Pheasant load with 1 oz. of No. 5, 6 or 7.5 nickel-plated lead shot and a high velocity upland load with No. 5, 6, 7.5 or 8 lead shot. Both loads are loaded to 1300 fps.

• Also from Fiocchi are a new match grade .22 LR load called the 22LRTTSP, to be made in small batches with the primer compound pressed into the rim, instead of spun like a typical rimfire, and with a velocity of 1100 fps, and a .44 Special 200 grain SJHP at 750 fps.

• Winchester has a new 28 gauge reduced recoil Super-X load with 3/4 oz. of No. 5 or 6 shot at 1295 fps. We are not sure why one would need a reduced recoil 28 ga. load.

• Cajun BBQ Duckshot seasoned shells

• Kruger Optical’s KC8 is a 1-8x scope with an illuminated reticle and a carbon fiber body. Price unknown.

• Trulock’s new 12 ga. Boar Blaster™ Choke Tube is 4″ long with .030″ constriction specifically designed to produce the best and tightest possible 00 and 000 buckshot patterns, by use of 5 parallel steps that constrict the diameter of the tube before the shot enters the parallel section of the tube. The result is tighter patterns than conical tubes at 40 yards with every brand of 00/000 buckshot they tested — 25% tighter at 40 yards. Lifetime warranty, 60 day satisfaction warranty. $56.

• The Dead Foot Arms Modified Cycle System is a functional folding stock adapter and bolt carrier kit for AR rifles which uses any butt stock that will attach to a standard AR-15 and allows firing (full or semi, depending on your rifle) while the rifle is folded. Lifetime warranty, 10% veterans discount. $445. Sounds like an excellent alternative to an SBR.

• Patriotic jigsaw puzzles

• Ruger has a bunch of branded items

• Cowboy screwdrivers

Shut up and take my money.