2A News: April 15, 2016 Newsletter by Jeff Pittman
MS legislation update
SB 2515 has passed the House and Senate — goes to governor
Exempts the records of the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks relating to applications for and holders of hunting licenses from the provisions of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983, AND records shall be released only upon proper court order or to law enforcement upon request.
HB 1300 has been signed by the governor — Takes effect July 1
Cleans up and adds some protections for sport shooting ranges, but also includes provision allowing the government to close private ranges due to “incompatibility with nearby population or land use.”
Litigation
Garcia v. Harris (California equal protection case)
11 individuals and 4 nonprofit civil rights organizations have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Central District of California against the State of California and Attorney General Kamala Harris, arguing that California’s numerous special statutory exemptions to gun laws for retired “peace officers” are a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment constitutional rights of other citizens. The exemptions in question protect retired “peace officers” from the criminal provisions of California’s “Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1995.”
But you see, retired “peace officers” are just regular law-abiding citizens and should be treated the same as other regular law-abiding citizens under the Equal Protection Clause. Across the nation there are a LOT of laws giving special treatment to retired cops and military, who are now simply citizens just like everyone else. Further, regarding the militia mentioned in the Second Amendment: “who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, EXCEPT [emphasis mine — JP] for a few public officers….the people have a right to keep and bear arms.” —Â George Mason
Update on Sandy Hook families’ suit against Remington
The judge in this case, Barbara Bellis, of the Fairfield District Superior Court in Connecticut, was reportedly appointed to the bench by Governor John Rowland, a twice-convicted felon/prohibited person who pushes for gun control. Go figure.
In the wake of the US District Court’s nullifying the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ (CNMI) ban on handguns and ammunition as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, the CNMI has passed another unconstitutional gun-control measure this week that imposes a $1,000 excise tax on handguns, because, according to AG Edward Manibusan, “having handguns in the commonwealth is not something to be happy about.”
There is no right to happiness.
About “smart gun” proposals
Author/commentator David Codrea reminds us that efforts to develop “smart guns” began in the 1990’s specifically to try to cure the problem of police officers being killed with their own service weapons grabbed by criminals. But pretty much every proposal about smart guns involves an attempt to require them as the only market choice for everyone else, while at the same time exempting police officers — the only ones identified as needing the technology — from the proposed weapon restriction.
Obama Frees Osama’s Arms Dealer
The Only Ones
- A US airman who apparently shot and killed his commanding officer and then himself at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, last week, was a former FBI agent.
- In Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, a judge in Karachi’s Anti-Terrorism Court asked a police constable if he knew how grenades worked. The constable, instead of orally answering the question, demonstrated by pulling the pin from the grenade in evidence in the case. The resulting explosion injured three people including the constable and a court clerk. Authorities say the constable, who apparently does know how grenades work, will be punished severely after he recovers from his injuries. (This entry double qualifies under The Only Ones and the Department of Idiocy.)
Liars
- The Washington Post gave Hillary three “Pinocchios” this week for her wild gun control claims.
- Shannon Watts, head twit for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, twitted this week that folks who uses the NRA Eddie Eagle program to teach children gun safety are “selling guns to kids.”
Enemies
New York City-based Trinity Wall Street Church owns about $2000 worth of Cabela’s stock and has been trying to force the company to stop selling guns with ammunition capacity exceeding 8 rounds.
But the Securities and Exchange Commission ruled that Cabela’s didn’t have to include the church’s request that the retailer stop selling the firearms as a “social policy proposal” in its investor statements and present it to the board for a potential vote.
Cabela’s took the position that Trinity’s proposal was vaguely worded (barring the sale of any firearm “capable” of firing more than eight rounds without reloading) and was interfering with “ordinary business matters” that may be excluded from some investor materials.
About gun control, from the other side:
Friends?
Country music star Toby Keith has been named as a headline entertainer for the NRA annual meeting in Louisville, KY next month. But Keith admitted voting for gun-banner Bill Clinton twice, including once after the 1994 “assault weapon” ban. Later he praised gun-banner Barack Obama, calling him “the best Democratic candidate we’ve had since Bill Clinton. And that’s coming from a Democrat.” Keith went on to honor Obama by performing at his 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo.
I remember a couple of NRA meetings featuring the likes of Charlie Daniels and Ted Nugent as entertainment. But now what is the NRA thinking?
Not learning….
A woman and her 2-year-old daughter were waiting in a Jackson, MS hospital to see a doctor when the woman visited a vending machine and dropped her purse. A gun inside the purse went off. The bullet ricocheted off the vending machine and grazed the child’s face, causing a minor injury.
That’s pretty much all I know except my usual observations:
- This particular hospital is a “gun-free” zone by policy, but it’s legal to carry there. It’s doubtful there will be any criminal charges, assuming she’s not a prohibited person and the gun wasn’t stolen, etc.
- Don’t carry guns in purses.
- Don’t carry guns that aren’t drop-safe.
- Use a proper holster, including inside purses or pockets.
- A hospital is probably a relatively good place to be when you get shot.
Not a clue…
Another idiot. Presented without my usual acerbic commentary, which would be superfluous in this case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DohgvL4ht5o&feature=youtu.be
“Bullets are stupid. They do the same amount of damage whether you intended to launch one or not.” — Tim @ gunnuts.net
DGU
A disabled Kansas City grandmother called police to her home after 11 pm this week when she heard someone repeatedly banging and knocking loudly at her front door. Fearing for her safety, the woman grabbed a gun. Then the man outside starting kicking in the door. Once he successfully and feloniously gained entry, the woman shot him, then called police again to report the shooting.
When police arrived “a short time later,” they found the man lying on the front porch with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
You are on your own.
School attack thwarted
Two juveniles were arrested this week on charges of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with plans they made to carry out a Columbine-style attack on La Grande High School in Oregon, targeting students, faculty/staff, and law enforcement. Police got a tip.
Calling police DOES work if you can call early enough.
Factoid
According to Scouting magazine, the Rifle Shooting merit badge was number two of the elective badges earned by all Boy Scouts across the country last year with 43,196 Rifle Shooting merit badges earned. (Number one was Fingerprinting, with 43,743 earned.)
MS Youth Participation Initiative applications
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks’ Youth Participation Initiative (YPI) is accepting 2016 applications until May 1. The YPI was established to provide funding for the purpose of educating youth in the areas of hunting, fishing, outdoor recreation, and natural resource conservation.
State agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for this funding. Applicants should consider projects that focus on recruitment, retention, and/or education of youth in the fields of hunting, fishing, or conservation. Projects that consider increasing opportunity in the areas of hunting, fishing, conservation or educating youth in any area of safety relating to hunting, fishing, or conservation are also encouraged.
Anniversary
Monday was the 30th anniversary of the infamous FBI “Miami Shootout” which left two heavily-armed bank robbery suspects and two FBI agents dead, and five other agents wounded, three grievously.
The event triggered a still-ongoing search for the “magic” pistol bullet that would instantly stop a perpetrator — a search facilitated by the FBI’s generation of the “FBI Protocol” (which requires 12-18″ of penetration in ballistic gel in all scenarios) for handgun bullet testing. The massacre also resulted in the FBI’s abandonment of the 9mm service pistol in favor of the 10mm, then moving to the “10mm Lite,” then to its equivalent .40 S&W, and now back to the 9mm. Go figure.
The quest worked — bullets today are a LOT better than those available in 1986, and the FBI protocol, like it or not, gives a very good standard for industry and users to measure bullet performance.
The FBI 9mm Winchester Silvertip JHP bullet which was commonly and unfairly blamed for the whole debacle had penetrated the principal adversary’s right arm, exited, and then entered his chest cavity, damaged a lung and stopped just short of the heart, causing a “non-survivable wound,” that nonetheless allowed the felon to remain active and mobile long enough to kill the two agents and wound at least one more before he died.
I recall the incident. The main lessons I got from it are:
(1) Tactics and training (not hardware) are important.
(2) Never give up.
(3) Handgun bullets are like pills. Sometimes they take a while to work.
(4) There is no such thing as having too much ammo or too many guns.
(5) Most of us don’t have an adequate appreciation for how evil, malevolent and violent some wolves are.
CELEBRATE PATRIOTS DAY, APRIL 19th
By E. James Adkins
We don’t celebrate the 19th of April anymore. It was never celebrated in a big monumental way, but we once celebrated that day.
“Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.”
–so wrote Longfellow in his poem that begins:
“Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,”
Revere and others went forth on the night of April 18, 1775 with the alarm, “The redcoats are coming!” They rode all through the night.
“It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.”
“It was two by the village clock
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.”
Why was it so immediately important, on the night of April 18, 1775, for all of the people to know that the “redcoats are coming?”
It was the practice in our colonial period for each village to have a “common” or “village green” that was used for public gatherings. The most significant use of the “common” was as a mustering point and drill field for the village militia, “every able bodied man between the ages of 16 and 60 years.” The militia was trained (as they termed it, “disciplined” and “well regulated”) in the use of arms, here at the village green. The militia provided protection for individuals and property of the village against all threats. A man would spend some time in the “gaol” if he missed a militia call. The militia, each man, was required to keep and bear his own arms. It was common for the militia to maintain a community armory for the storage of shot, powder, flint, additional small arms and any heavy arms that it might afford. Individuals could draw from these supplies as needed, as well as acquiring their own private supplies.
On the night of April 18, 1775, Governor Gage (British Governor of fortress Boston) ordered British “redcoats” to march to the many surrounding villages, to seize and destroy all stores of munitions and to arrest the country leaders, the “arch-conspirators.”
British Major Pitcairn led the march into the countryside. The prime objective was to still the voice of the people, disarm them and make them more servile. Rebellion must stop, they said.
So, Revere took to horse to give the alarm: “To arms, to arms, the redcoats are coming!”
Early on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, Major Pitcairn’s “redcoats” arrived at Lexington and met Captain John Parker’s company of colonial militia drawn-up on the meeting house green.
“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Hence once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.”
–so wrote Emerson in 1837.
Some colonials were wounded and some were killed. Resistance to the larger British force proved futile. Pitcairn’s return march to Boston became a humiliating rout as our colonial militiamen, Minutemen and individual countrymen harassed the British column from behind stone walls, rocks and trees, every step of the way.
The shot heard round the world, the first shot in our fight for independence from King George’s slavery, was fired to protect and defend the natural right of men to protect themselves, to keep and bear arms for the purpose of preserving liberty. This right to keep and bear arms was codified on the 15th of December 1791 when it became the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
We don’t celebrate the 19th of April anymore. Perhaps we should.
“That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free.”
–Emerson, 1837
The redcoats are coming!
Gunsite all over
The original Gunsite Academy was founded as the American Pistol Institute 40 years ago by the late Col. Jeff Cooper (USMC Ret.) in Paulden, AZ. Recently it opened Gunsite East in Richmond, VA, and is now opening a third facility in Wichita, KS, at Thunderbird Firearms Academy. And their classes are selling out. Tell Jane Anne I sent you.
Brownells retail store opens
Brownells, Inc. has opened its first ever retail store location at 3006 Brownells Parkway in Grinnell, Iowa. The 7,000 sq. ft. store is attached to Brownells’ new 245,000 sq. ft. distribution center. So I guess if they have to order something from the warehouse, it won’t take long.
(Note that apparently the error of the missing apostrophe in the name is intentional on the company’s part.)
Sports Authority bankruptcy
Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy on March 2, saying it will close 140 of its 450 stores nationwide, but did not disclose any of the locations which it will be closing over the next few months.
Products
- New patent-pending chamber system —Â Jamie Dodson of Wolf Precision (WolfPrecision.net), teamed with BAT Machine, has created a new patent-pending chamber and barrel system as an alternative to the traditional method of barreling an action in a bolt rifle. The system is comprised of two separate parts: the chamber, which is screwed into the BAT action, and the Krieger barrel, which screws into the chamber piece.
- Italian shotshell manufacturing company Baschieri & Pellagri (B&P) is now selling its broad range of hunting and competition ammunition in the the USA.
Centurion has 12 ga. mini-buckshot. 2″ shells with 6, 00 pellets at 1250 fps.
- Browning’s new BXD shotshells use nickel plated lead shot at high velocities. So far, loads include:
- 12 ga. 3″ 1-5/8 oz #5 at 1350 fps
- 12 ga. 2-3/4″ 1-3/8 oz #5 or #6 at 1485 fps
- 20 ga. 3″ 1-1/4 oz #5 or #6 at 1250 fps
- 20 ga. 2-3/4″ 1 oz #5 at 1300 fps
- Try a 2-3/4″ #5 load. Trust me.
- For the ladies — a hot AK47 LBD. (OK, OK, it’s for your guys too.)
- If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can get Plano ammo cans for under $5, shipped. Note — if you search for these, they may be hidden as “adult” items.
Word of the week
Woobie (noun)
(US, childish) Any object, typically a blanket, garment or stuffed animal that is used simply for its comforting characteristics.
(pejorative) A firearm not used for hunting or home defense, but which gives the owner a feeling of security.
Quote of the Week
“An army lacking courageous, audacious leaders, top to bottom, is little more than an aimless horde of tourists! As dark clouds gather on the world stage, we discover anew that you can’t ‘manage’ men into battle. You have to lead them!” — Anon
