Election in Virginia
In Virginia, scandal-laden Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has announced he will sign all gun control bills sent to him by the General Assembly, control of which was taken by the Democrats in this month’s election. All that remains to stop them are the court system, or anarchy.
FWIW, Virginia is also where Democrat Joe Morrissey, who has a long history of misbehavior and discipline, was previously indicted for child porn and jailed for sex with a minor teenage employee and continued to serve as a state legislator while in prison, then resigned his state House seat, then won it back, and has now been elected to the state Senate.
Presidential candidates
Shotgun Joe Biden, the current Democratic front-runner, said he believes in the 2nd Amendment right before he talked about restricting gun rights, which means he doesn’t actually believe in the 2nd Amendment. He also said that he wants to ban magazines that have “a hundred clips” in them, which means he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. All of this is related to his desire to protect geese, which means he’s still Crazy Joe.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (Marxist-VT), the second-place Democrat, said this week that mandatory gun buybacks are unconstitutional and could give the federal government broad power to impose their will on law-abiding citizens: “I don’t support — a mandatory buyback is essentially confiscation, which I think is unconstitutional,” he replied. “It means that I am going to walk into your house and take something whether you like it or not. I don’t think that stands up to constitutional scrutiny.”
Or maybe it was someone else who was wearing a Bernie Sanders mask…
Meanwhile, Michael Bloomberg is considering a run, but polls show he is well known but widely disliked by the Democratic electorate, with no contender viewed more negatively by Democrats than the billionaire former New York City mayor. Maybe that’s who we should vote for in the Democratic primary. If he’s nominated, maybe that will cause some Democrats to switch sides or stay home during the general election.
Litigation
The Montana Supreme Court voted unanimously Oct. 22 to reverse a district judge’s decision to uphold extreme gun-control measures in Missoula, MT.
The US Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal by Remington seeking to block a lawsuit over its advertising practices brought by parents of students killed in the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT. The justices released the decision without comment, rejecting the argument by Remington’s attorneys that the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act prevented these types of suits. The CT Supreme Court, in a controversial 4-3 decision, had ruled the lawsuit could proceed. This means that the lawsuit against Remington will go to trial in Connecticut Superior Court and that the plaintiffs can go on a fishing expedition through Remington’s records.
And it may be a big problem.
We have a report that some gun companies are reacting by tweaking their advertising to state that their guns are NOT military weapons. Which of course would mean that they’re not protected by the Second Amendment, which specifically applies to weapons possessed by citizens and useful for militia actions.
Background check action
The US Department of Justice says it’s going to beef up background check enforcement. You may recall that practically no one who attempts to buy a gun and fails the NICS check is prosecuted, mostly because the system is broken. This is supposed to fix that.
Meanwhile in the US Senate this week, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) objected to a unanimous consent motion to adopt a House background check bill passed in February. The bill passed the US House 240-190, largely on party lines. As a result of the parliamentary action, the bill remains alive and will now go through the regular committee process to be considered by the entire US Senate, as is appropriate. Smith is taking flak from the left for the action, especially from her announced 2020 liberal Democratic opponent, Mike Espy, who claimed it “puts our children’s lives in danger.” Espy, who once claimed to be a conservative, is a former US congressman and US Secretary of Agriculture, but resigned that position in October 1994 after questions from the White House over his use of government perks and acceptance of gifts. He was indicted in 1997 for receiving improper gifts, but acquitted of all 30 charges in 1998.
Artificial intelligence for gun detection
Situational awareness and positioning
CA school attack
Report: The shooting that killed two teenagers and wounded three others Thursday at Saugus High School in a Los Angeles suburb took just 16 seconds and left the attacker, a teenaged student, hospitalized in “grave” condition with a self-inflicted head wound. Students reported they knew what to do and immediately went into “lockdown mode.” Apparently no one shot back.
“Security” is provided by one unarmed sheriff’s deputy and nine “campus supervisors” who act as guards. A sheriff’s detective and two off-duty police officers from Los Angeles and Inglewood who had dropped off children at the school reportedly ran toward the shooting within moments and provided first aid, but were too late to stop the attack.
California already has some of the most restrictive firearms laws in the nation, including background checks on all firearms transfers, a 10-day waiting period, a “safe” gun storage law to keep guns from kids, background checks on ammo purchases, limits on magazine capacity, red flag laws, a “roster” of legal handguns that can be sold, and an “assault weapon” ban.
16 seconds. You decide.
AR-15 PC?
I don’t think we should call AR-15 and similar rifles, “modern sporting rifles,” because the Second Amendment is NOT about sport. Otherwise, it’s kind of like calling a Bible a “sporting” Bible, or your criminal defense attorney a “sporting” attorney. Maybe they should be called something like CCRs — “Constitutional Conforming Rifles.”
NRA debacle
Subcommittees of the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform sent letters to the IRS and DOJ referring public reports of alleged financial wrongdoing by the National Rifle Association NRA in connection with NRA Board members receiving significant payments from the organization for goods and services allegedly provided beyond their Board work. The concern is that the US Internal Revenue Code does not allow transactions that exceed fair market value between a social welfare organization, The NRA, and disqualified persons, like Board of Directors members. Internal NRA documents also allegedly show that at least two Board members — actor Tom Selleck and musician Ted Nugent — engaged in big-ticket financial transactions with the nonprofit that the NRA board didn’t approve until at least a year later. Apparently the deal should have been pre-approved according to “regulatory guidelines.” Selleck says he didn’t profit from the sale of collectible guns to the NRA. So if they didn’t make a profit and the items were sold for no more than fair market value, that may be a witch hunt.
Enemies
Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, FL, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, along with other Catholic leaders, continue to call for more gun control laws, and for financially squeezing the firearms industry out of business.
The University of Virginia President James Ryan announced the school has canceled the 21-gun salute portion of its Veterans Day ceremony, an annual tradition that dates back at least a decade. The decision was reportedly made by the provost’s (M. Elizabeth “Liz” Magill) office along with UVA’s ROTC program. Because, weenies.
CarMax is making donations to Bloomberg’s anti-gun groups, LGBTQIA+ (whatever that is) causes, and others.
US Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), the extremely anti-gun former California attorney general, shot down her own argument in the same breath this week, telling CNN “stop with the nonsense” and pass gun control. “I say we need to stop the nonsense and quit pretending that gun control laws offer some sort of magical protection against these types of active assailant attacks. Nobody wants to see these types of attacks happen, but if they’re happening in states like California, with all of its gun control laws on the books, then maybe the answer doesn’t lie in trying to ban our way to safety.”
Dept. of Idiocy
Hartford Courant columnist Ron Berler penned a piece recently claiming that they don’t need to ban guns because it’s easier and/or more effective to ban ammunition.
I’m sorry, but it’s just about impossible to find anyone stupider than that.
Oh, wait, actually you can:
This is by someone who describes himself as “Populist Left” and espouses the usual liberal nonsense:
Perhaps not coincidentally, UC Berkeley instructor Jackson Kernion tweeted his critical thoughts of those who choose to live outside the nation’s big cities, saying they are “bad people who have made bad life decisions.”
These folks are the ones who think they know better than you do how to live your life, and want to force you to do it their way. Fortunately, they don’t have enough brains or other necessary parts to force toothpaste out of a tube.
The Only Ones
Pic from the Alabama-LSU football game.
Mannford, OK, Police Officer Michael Patrick Nealey has been charged with the murder of Mannford Police Chief Lucky Miller this week in Florida, where they were attending the 2019 Southeast Public Safety Conference.
Brian Fanion, 55, who served with the Westfield, MA, Police Department for 33 years and retired as a detective, has been indicted on a murder charge. Prosecutors say Fanion murdered his wife and staged it as a suicide last year because he was having an affair and didn’t want to share his pension with her. Must not have been much of a detective.
A Miami area security guard was inspecting his employer-issued gun, for which he had no holster, “to familiarize himself with the weapon” when he accidentally fired one round into a woman’s back while she was sitting at a casino-style slot machine, killing her.
The Indiana Supreme Court has suspended three judges without pay after their involvement in a May altercation and shooting in downtown Indianapolis. Judges Andrew Adams, Bradley Jacobs and Sabrina Bell were involved in a fight with another group, leading to a shooting that injured Adams and Jacobs. Adams pleaded guilty to battery resulting in bodily injury and had his sentence suspended. Jacobs and Bell apparently were not criminally charged. I’m just curious about what charges would have been pressed if they had not been judges — you know, just ordinary folks.
Deer
Survey Says…. Firearms deer hunting associated with less violence and other crimes.
State Farm deer collision study
Fanged “mouse deer.” I’m gonna need a new gun.
S&W split
American Outdoor Brands Corporation has announced a plan to separate its firearm business – Smith & Wesson – from its non-firearm outdoor products and accessories business in late 2020. S&W will become a free-standing, publicly-traded company, but the two companies will remain connected by business relationships that include joint distribution facilities and licensing agreements between S&W and accessories that will be under the new company’s. AOBC’s chairman cited changes in the political climate as part of the motivation for the weenie move.
Products
Having fun with the .41 (If you don’t own a .41 Magnum, you’re missing out. I’ve noticed that I don’t know anyone who owns only one. They’re like Lays potato chips.)
Kimber’s 2020 new handgun lineup. I’m liking the revolvers, but wish they would add .41 Mag. and .44 Spl.
I may have to get one of these. Note the requirement that the dirt must be cleaned off to please the US Department of Agriculture.
Note the Skinner Sights Concealed Carry Bible Cover about halfway down the page.
SB Tactical is now shipping the TAC13-SBA3 and TAC13-SBA4 Stabilizing Brace Kits for the Remington V3 TAC-13 platform. $270.
Bushnell’s new military VIP discount program
SureFire’s new 1000-lumen Stiletto Pro is reportedly now shipping. I didn’t find it on their website.
Cedar Mills’ guitar case
Review of the Zeta-6 J-Strip and J-Clip revolver reloading devices
Quote
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who would pervert the Constitution.” — Abraham Lincoln, 1859
Under Litigation:
“…guns are NOT military weapons. Which of course would mean that they’re not protected by the Second Amendment, which specifically applies to weapons possessed by citizens and useful for militia actions.”.
Well, the Second Amendment says that militias are necessary, but does not limit the arms protected to any specific type. To conclude that only military weapons are recognized in the Second Amendment would be putting words in to the mouths of the creators. A well regulated militia could be one that uses standard issued arms with approved training, or it could be squirrel hunters behind trees with a common goal.
HLB