April 5, 2019 Newsletter by Jeff Pittman
Personal note
Have you ever tried compiling legitimate news items on April 1st?
NRA
The NRA’s 148th annual meetings will be April 26-28 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. 80,000 members are expected. If you’ve never been to one of these, go. Trust me.
Litigation
New Castle County (DE) Superior Court Judge Vivian L. Medinilla ruled in favor of Cabela’s that a lawsuit brought by the Brady Campaign last year over the sale of a pistol that was later traded by a felon and used in a shooting that killed an area woman, and dismissed the case. The Brady Bunch argued that Cabela’s employees ignored “warning signs” and allowed a straw purchase. Medinilla said that Brady did not make their case and that Cabela’s had complied with the law and had received a “proceed” response from the NICS check.
The US District Court for the Southern District of California has ruled that California’s ban on standard capacity firearm magazines (>10 rounds) violates the Second Amendment and has permanently enjoined enforcement of the statute. But after word got out and the previously banned magazines flooded into the state over the last week, US District Judge Roger Benitez issued a stay of the injunction, meaning the ban stays in effect, beginning at 5 pm, Friday, April 5, 2019. Judge Benitez correctly concluded that standard magazines are “arms” under the US Constitution, and, thus, the California law “burdens the core of the Second Amendment by criminalizing the acquisition and possession of these magazines that are commonly held by law-abiding citizens for defense of self, home, and state.” The California Department of Justice has filed a motion to stay the District Court ruling. The case had previously been returned to the District Court by the hostile and much-overturned US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to further develop a ruling on the law, but now it will most likely return to the Ninth Circuit when the state appeals.*
Update on Illinois FOID case appealed to IL Supreme Court
We hear that only a small handful of bump stocks have been turned in or reported destroyed to police since Trump’s “ban” took effect. But since no one knows how many there were, we don’t know the compliance rate (~0.2%). Suffice it to estimate that the raw number is somewhere in the 0.5 million mark, and disregarding items never sold, the known number turned in or destroyed is somewhere around 834. Go ahead — ask your local PD how many they recovered.
- DC Circuit’s April Fools Joke On The Constitution [NO LAWYERS – ONLY GUNS AND MONEY]
Alan Korwin: “We MIGHT support background checks IF…”
“The non-partisan Pew center says only 10% of Muslims are radicalized. That’s about 130 million.”
Also see Alan’s article in May’s Blue Press (pdf – page 40).
How gun control works
Why You Need A Gun
- Why You Need a Gun [The Smallest Minority]
Purse carry
Even if you don’t carry a gun in a purse, or don’t even carry a purse, you know someone who does. And you might be the one getting shot.
Also, Jane Anne carries a bra knife. Don’t ask me how I know.
Tueller Drill update
Trainer Steve Tarani tells us (during the third hour of last Sunday’s “Gun Talk” radio program) that updated training indicates that the Tueller Drill (often misnamed as the “21-foot rule”) now dictates that when facing an average gunless male aged 18-32, the minimum safe distance is 30 feet.
Stay safe
“You are on your own. No matter if you are a soccer mom or a retired soul snatcher. No matter what they promise you, nobody is ever coming to help you in time.
Site security will fluctuate with the collective will, but your attention to your own security must not. If that means breaking the rules, then get good at breaking rules.
No matter what you think, you will not be able to maintain focus and attention everywhere and at all times. But you can generally plan for those times with general practices.” — Gabe Suarez
The Only Ones
Portland, Oregon police advise that out of more than 60 people who recently applied for cop jobs, only 3 passed background checks. Well, at least they’re checking.
Houston, TX, PD cluster. 2 innocents plus pet dead, 4 cops wounded. Bogus warrant.
Thomas E. Brandon, who has been acting director of the BATFE since 2015, will retire on April 30. Brandon was responsible for a lot of the cover-up and rewarding of agents’ involvement in the agency’s felonious Fast & Furious gun running scheme.
Waco biker shootout; cops kill bikers. All charges dropped.
UK
After its near-total gun ban, “knife crime” in the United Kingdom rose by 52%. So they worked on banning knives and installed convenient bins around the nation where its hapless subjects can dump their knives. Bins the criminals then broke into and re-armed themselves. Brilliant.
Enemies
Bloomberg.com (part of the Michael Bloomberg/Everytown gun ban group) is reporting that Dick’s Sporting Goods estimates its gun-ban advocacy implemented by CEO Ed Stack cost $150 million in lost sales in 2018, or almost 1.7% of the company’s annual revenue. Dick’s is a publicly traded company and its board and officers have a fiduciary duty to the company’s shareholders to act in the company’s best interests and maximize their return.
Catholic Pope Francis said last month that countries that sell arms “have no right to talk about peace. They are fomenting war in another country, and then they want peace in their own land.” Well Frankie, what about countries that buy arms, like, say the Vatican — for your personal army of Swiss Guards? Are you the only person on Earth deserving of protection? Nope. Your position is not biblical, and I’ve never found a pope in there either.
CMP resale ban
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has posted the following notice on its website:
“IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO OUR ATTENTION THAT SOME CUSTOMERS ARE RECEIVING THEIR 1911 AND POSTING ON GUN BROKER AND OTHER SUCH SITES FOR RESALE. THIS WAS NOT THE INTENTION OF THE PROGRAM. IF YOU ARE FOUND TO BE RESELLING THESE PISTOLS YOU WILL BE BANNED FROM PURCHASING FROM THE CMP FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD. WE ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND WE WILL HANDLE, PLEASE NO PHONE CALLS OR EMAILS CONCERNING THE SITUATION. THANK YOU!”
Apparently Crap My Panties (CMP) is in a tizzy only over resales of 1911 pistols.
6,102-yard shot (3.47 miles)
Home-built suppressor
- DIY Tubeless 300BLK Welded Suppressor – From Scratch [The Firearm Blog]
Products
Spring Creek Armory has a neat Cylinder Pin Ejector Tool, an ingenious and stupid-simple extra-short brass punch that uses the hammer of a single action revolver to drive out its own cylinder pin. $13.20 shipped.
Caldwell’s new HYDROSLED™ is a Lead Sled™ type shooting rest which has an onboard 2-gallon reservoir you can fill with water, sand or gravel, lead shot, or whatever. The HYDROSLED is adjustable to accommodate nearly all rifles and shotguns including lever action rifles and AR 15’s with detachable magazines. $273.
Ruger has announced its new AR-556 pistol. $900.
Ruger also has four new stainless steel Target models in the Ruger American Rimfire rifle line.
A Turkish Hi-Power clone. Interesting. $530.
Nosler has designs for their new 27 Nosler, 35 Nosler, and 36 Nosler cartridges in the wings. Based on the 30 Nosler case, the 27 Nosler will run 130-140 gr. bullets around 3400 fps, 150 gr. at 3300, and 160 gr. at 3100+.
Daniel Defense has a new precision chassis configurable bolt rifle, the Delta 5. $2200.
Federal Premium is offering the following Fusion bullets as components for reloading:
- Part No. / Description / MSRP
- FB264F2 / 264 cal. 140-grain, 100-count / $31.95
- FB277F2 / 277 cal. 130-grain, 100-count / $31.95
- FB277F4 / 277 cal. 150-grain, 100-count / $33.95
- FB284F1 / 284 cal. 140-grain, 100-count / $38.95
- FB284F3 / 284 cal. 160-grain, 100-count / $38.95
- FB284F4 / 284 cal. 175-grain, 100-count / $38.95
- FB308F1 / 308 cal. 150-grain, 50-count / $20.95
- FB308F4 / 308 cal. 180-grain, 50-count / $20.95
- FB338F1 / 338 cal. 200-grain, 50-count / $23.95
- FB338F2 / 338 cal. 225-grain, 50-count / $23.95
Quotes
“The necessary consequence of man’s right to life is his right to self-defense. In a civilized society, force may be used only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use. All the reasons which make the initiation of physical force an evil, make the retaliatory use of physical force a moral imperative. If some “pacifist” society renounced the retaliatory use of force, it would be left helplessly at the mercy of the first thug who decided to be immoral. Such a society would achieve the opposite of its intention: instead of abolishing evil, it would encourage and reward it.” — Ayn Rand
“If you’re being held hostage, what do you want to see on that SWAT team member that comes through the door? A little bit of gray hair.” — Ken Campbell, Gunsite COO
* “Nothing in the Second Amendment makes lethality a factor to consider because a gun’s lethality, or dangerousness, is assumed. The Second Amendment does not exist to protect the right to bear down pillows and foam baseball bats. It protects guns and every gun is dangerous.” — US District Judge Roger Benitez, in last week’s decision in the case Duncan v. Becerra (see item in “Litigation,” above)
“Judges have decided you don’t need to stand for the National Anthem. Next time you’re in a courtroom and the judge comes in, take a knee and see what happens.” — Alan Korwin
