January 18, 2019 Newsletter by Jeff Pittman
Federal legislation
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is the new chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee. Our report indicates that Waters and her party are going to pressure financial institutions to severely curtail and even terminate their relationships with firearm manufacturers, licensed gun retailers, and law-abiding citizens exercising their right to purchase and own firearms. (Don’t check the box on your tax return to donate to the election fund — give directly to the party, the candidate or the PAC of your choice.)
So far we have two federal “universal” background check (i.e., no private transfers) bills, H.R.8 and S.42, introduced. Take action here.
SCOTUS agrees to take a gun case
Gun-grabbing AG nomination
President Trump has nominated anti-gun William Barr to replace Jeff Sessions as US Attorney General. Barr served as US Attorney General once before under President George H.W. Bush from 1991-1993, and during his hearings for that nomination Barr supported both the Brady Bill waiting period and the DeConcini [semi-auto ban] amendment, as well as a limitation on magazine capacity. In hearings this week, Barr said he also favored Extreme Risk Protection Orders or “Red Flag” laws to disarm most anyone who has a “complaint” lodged against them, perhaps without evidence or due process, depending on the particulars of any given proposal. But remember that only a small minority of mental conditions make a person irresponsible or unsafe with a gun, and that a large segment of the left views the mere desire to own a gun as a symptom of mental illness. Barr also may have perjured himself by denying he ever supported a semi-auto ban. When asked how his views from the early 1990s had changed after the Heller decision, Barr said: “I think I opposed an assault weapons ban [in the early 1990s].” We can do better than Barr.
Gun grabbing feds
The White House released the results of its School Safety Commission findings:
“The Commission endorses Extreme Risk Protection Order laws, which give authorities a temporary way to keep those who threaten society from possessing or purchasing firearms.” [without due process or probable cause — JP]
Mississippi AG race
Mississippi State Treasurer Lynn Fitch (R) has announced her candidacy for Mississippi Attorney General, saying “As a gun-owner and NRA life member, I will defend our Second Amendment rights.” She is opposed by at least one other candidate, also a Republican.
Fitch was once the head of the State Personnel Board, at which she did a poor job, in my opinion. (I was a state employee during her full tenure with the state up until last June when I retired.) In fact, the state employee handbook, which she held authority over, contains very anti-gun provisions.
New Mississippi legislation tracker, with commentary
I’m not sure we need them to tell us what to think.
An interesting gun bill in Washington state. It’ll never pass. They’re willfully ignorant and we probably want to keep them that way.
Legal tips
Lone Star Summit: A Seminar of Gun Law Expertise
NRA Carry Guard legal insurance no longer for sale in Washington state.
“The NRA is not just your best defense, they are your ONLY defense.”
An NRA Board member weighs in on how it works. A long read, but read it. Other NRA Board members or NRA staff are welcome to also weigh in.
Also linked below is a catfight between Jeff Knox, Marion Hammer and Don McDougal.
- Criticizing NRA Executives is NOT “Attacking the NRA”
- NRA Needs a Proven Leader, Now More Than Ever
- Setting the Record Straight, NRA Haters You’re a Problem
Criminal stats
The Department of Justice’s latest information indicates that among prisoners serving time for a crime during which they possessed a gun, about half got their weapons either on the underground market (43%) or through theft (6%). 10% bought guns from a retail source, including 0.8% who bought them at gun shows (presumably they were not flagged as prohibited persons). 11% of the time, someone else bought the gun for them, either as a gift or as a straw purchase. About 15% got guns from family and friends (buying, renting, trading, borrowing). 12% of the time, the guns were either brought to the crime by someone else or found at the scene. Now, which gun law imposed on us will fix that? In other words, the Left’s darling “universal” background checks proposal won’t and can’t do much good.
Department of Idiocy
A Louisiana high school drew the square root symbol as part of a math problem, and other students allegedly said the square root symbol looked like a gun, so the Allen Parish Sheriff’s department launched an investigation of a terrorist threat allegation at Oberlin High School. They found exactly nothing.
Do Journalists Deserve Some Blame for America’s Mass Shootings?
Yep.
Dogs
A pack of dogs killed a Grenada County, MS woman at her home last week. At least seven dogs were captured.
A canine attacks one in 72 Americans annually, which works out to 4.5 million bites. Here’s a link to a dog attack defense article.
Deadly home invasion in rural NE MS
Murder at Jackson, MS church
A sixty-something-year-old pastor was fatally shot in front of a Jackson church last Sunday morning while he was opening the church. Robbery was the motive. Two suspects are in custody, charged with capital murder.
In response, Democrat Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba (I’m not making that up), backed by City Councilman Kenny Stokes, said that the fault lies with Mississippi’s “open carry” law and that open carry should be banned. He made no mention of the fact that the Mississippi Constitution forbids the legislature (and local governments) tampering with law-abiding people’s carry rights, except for concealed carry. Nor did he claim there was any evidence that the killers were legally carrying guns. In fact, at least one of the arrested suspects has a criminal record and was already violating his parole, probably making him a prohibited person. Lumumba also said that he was concerned about “young people with a car early in their lives” also having a gun. But if you check the law you will find that typically only adults are allowed to carry, period. But don’t let the facts get in your way, Chokwe & Kenny.
Nairobi, Kenya attack
“Eight hours after the attack started, gunfire could still be heard emanating from the scene.”
God Bless the Warrior
Amen.
Friends
Our local Bass Pro Shops now has a gun sign posted at the entry turnstiles which indicates that legal concealed carry is welcome there. For open carry, see an associate (probably the same issue as carrying any product they sell into the store). That’s not a change, but the sign is new. FYI the BPS gun clerks will not remove a trigger lock so you can try the trigger on a new gun.
Alabama event
BamaCarry will have a statewide conference for the second year in a row in Jasper, with incoming Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth and a number of gun rights advocates speaking. Freedom Conference 2019 will be held at the Jasper Alabama Civic Center on Saturday, Feb. 9.
Litigation
The Second Amendment Foundation and a Missouri couple who are licensed foster parents have filed a lawsuit in US District Court for the Western District of Missouri, seeking relief from the prohibition by the Missouri Department of Social Services from legally possessing loaded, functional firearms in their home while they are foster parents.
On Thursday, the Travis County District Court ruled that the City of Austin, Texas, violated the law by barring handguns in City Hall and assessed a NINE MILLION DOLLAR penalty against the city for the violation. Apparently Travis County knows how to do law.
Enemies
Immigration group files suit to force Southern Poverty Law Center revoke “hate” label. Couldn’t happen to a more hateful group than the SPLC. They hate you too.
Banking/credit update
We got an update on disgraced Emory University professor and historian Michael Bellesiles, who literally faked his research “supporting” his book, “Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture,” which falsely claimed that during the early period of US history, guns were uncommon during peacetime and that a culture of gun ownership did not arise until the mid-nineteenth century. The book was awarded the prestigious Bancroft Prize (because the prizegivers didn’t do their research either, I suppose), but it later became the first work for which the prize was rescinded following a decision of Columbia University’s Board of Trustees that Bellesiles had “violated basic norms of scholarship and the high standards expected of Bancroft Prize winners.” Our update indicates that Bellesiles is no longer employed in academia and now works as a bartender. Ah, justice.
HP Inc. says it won’t allow users of its 3-D printers to produce guns unless those users are firearms manufacturers and the weapons that are created can be detected by airport security. “HP is against ‘ghost guns’ being produced on our 3-D printers,” HP Chief Executive Dion Weisler wrote in a letter in November. No word on just how HP plans to enforce their opinion on how private property should be used.
The Only Ones
A Lafayette, IN, police officer exiting a home after an unsuccessful fugitive search was shot in the back and critically wounded by her partner, Officer Aaron Wright, who was following behind her with his gun drawn when a dog attacked Wright, “causing him to fire his gun.” Lafayette Police Chief Patrick Flannelly said, “Our conclusion in this incident was this was not a result of an act of negligence, carelessness or otherwise reckless behavior. It was accidental.” Might wanna go check the rules on where you’re not supposed to point your gun there chief. And why was his gun even waving around in his hand when exiting the home?
Former US Drug Enforcement Agency agent Joseph Gill, 42, was sentenced last week to five years probation with the first six months of the term spent in home detention after pleading guilty last October to two counts of illegally dealing firearms while he was still a sworn DEA agent in 2016. Though investigators determined he may have bought and sold “scores” of guns without an FFL in private transactions over the past several years, it was the sale of two AR-15s to members of a drug trafficking organization in 2016 that resulted in his guilty plea.
In New Mexico, a bunch of sheriffs came to the Capitol to meet with lawmakers and listen to the governor’s speech, but because they were armed, they were told they couldn’t come into the House gallery. Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace said “That has never happened to us before and that’s a direct violation to the constitution of New Mexico. Not only that, the constitution of the United States, and that’s just, as law enforcement officers, as peace officers, we carry weapons. That’s just what we do.” Well, that’s what we citizens (you know, those people called “people” in the Second Amendment) do too, Sheriff. Welcome to the party. One wonders though, who enforced the gun ban against a gang of sheriffs.
Miculek vs. bump stock
Products
Comprehensive gun goop test
The SHOT show is next week. Watch for lots of new stuff.
Barnett announces new technology with its HyperFlight™ world-class small diameter arrows
Springfield Armory’s 911 Alpha in .380 ACP offers a value-priced variant that focuses on the essentials of the platform, while maintaining the quality and handling characteristics the gun is known for. $429.00.
*I still do not recommend single-action pistols for pocket carry.
Kel-Tec’s KS7 is a lighter, more compact version in the 12ga KSG bullpup shotgun line, with a single 7-shot tube (extendable to 10, and also available with a longer barrel). The 18″ barrelled version is a pound lighter than the KSG empty; about two pounds lighter loaded.
Barrett’s new high-end REC10 AR-10 style rifle is out. It’s chambered in 7.62x51mm, uses an intermediate length direct impingement system, has a 16″ barrel and an OAL of 37.75″. It has ambidextrous controls, an MLOK handguard and weighs 8 lbs. It comes in black and flat dark earth Cerakote and will ship with a single 20 round mag and MBUSTM sights from MAGPUL. Somewhere in the $6000+ range.
Speaking of Magpul, their new PMAG D-50 is a drum magazine which holds 50 rounds of 7.62×51 NATO/.308 Win. ammunition (up to 2.830″ OAL) for SR25/M110 pattern rifles. 1.7 lbs., $150.
Remington has a new 870 Express Tactical shotgun with a side folding stock, as well as just the stocks. 12 and 20 gauge. Here’s the 2019 Remington catalog (pdf).
Leupold’s new VX-Freedom RDS red dot sight comes with a mount and is offered in two versions; one featuring 1/4-MOA click adjustments and another with a BDC elevation adjustment turret useful to 500 yards for 55 grain .223 ammo. The MOA RDS is $300 and the BDC model is $400.
Federal Premium’s new Syntech Defense ammo.
The Standard Manufacturing S333 Volleyfire .22WMRF revolver features two barrels that both fire simultaneously with a single pull of the unique double-finger-hooked trigger with articulated safety blade. It has an eight-round cylinder, machined in such a way that allows two chambers to align with each of the side-by-side barrels. Aluminum frame, 1.25″ barrels, 18 oz., $369. (We understand that there is a legal exception to the machine gun definition for “volley guns” which allows the manufacture and sale of firearms that fire more than one round with each pull of the trigger, provided that those rounds are fired from separate barrels.)
New, legal pistol AP ammo.
- New Legal Armor Piercing Handgun Round Announced ~ VIDEO
- Dagny Dagger Ammo Allows Legal Access to Armor-Penetrating Bullet
Crimson Trace giveaway. Did you know CT makes more than 350 different laser sight models?
Quote
“Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work, and then they get elected and prove it.” — P.J. O’Rourke
