Personal note

Due to a COVID-19 infection in my household, production of the 2A News may be erratic for a while. So far, so good.

Election

• Three Former Astronauts Back Non-Astronaut In AZ Senate Race

Turns out that gun banning Mark Kelly ain’t so hot. He also says he’ll vote against Judge Barrett’s SCOTUS confirmation. We also remember that Kelly feloniously attempted an illegal “strawman” purchase of a firearm in 2013, for which he was not prosecuted.

Mississippi Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, U.S. Rep. Michael Guest and Supreme Court Justice Kenny Griffis participated in a shooting competition this week as part of a speaking event hosted by the Madison County Republican Women, the Rankin County Republican Women and the Hinds County Republican Women. No word on scores. I have endorsed Justice Griffis for re-election. He was a classmate and childhood friend of mine.

Litigation

A federal court ordered the City of Los Angeles to pay nearly $150,000 to the NRA for legal fees after ruling that the city had violated the gun-rights group’s First Amendment rights. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson struck down a city ordinance aimed at punishing prospective contractors with ties to the NRA as an infringement on the right to free speech and association. LA City Ordinance 186000 specifically required that any prospective contractor with the city must disclose all contracts or sponsorships with the NRA.

• Parents Sue Louisiana School District Over BB Gun Suspension

Also, a judge has issued a Temporary Restraining Order enjoining the Jefferson Parish School System from performing a social work assessment on the child or any other acts of retaliation.

‘Bout durn time. Personally, I think the school administration culprits should also be prosecuted under felony criminal statutes. And convicted. And locked away forever. That would fix this evil silly-butt problem.

• U.S. Tenth Circuit Rehearing Bump Stock Ban

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Second Amendment case Monday as it kicked off its 2020 term.

NRA

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Internal Revenue Service is investigating National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre for possible criminal tax fraud in his personal tax returns.

Judge William Campbell, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has ruled that David Dell’Aquila’s class action suit against the NRA has standing to proceed.

Guns up; crime down

• FBI: Crime down in 2019.
• FBI Uniform Crime Report: Murders Down, Self-Defense Up in 2019.

We note that murderers used rifles 364 times and shotguns in just 200 wrongful deaths.

But cutting instruments accounted for 1,476 murders, blunt objects claimed 397, and hands & feet, etc., accounted for 600 murders.

CPRC: Gun permits up

• New Concealed Carry Report For 2020: 19.48 Million Permit Holders, 820,000 More Than Last Year Despite Many States Shutting Down Issuing Permits Because Of The Coronavirus

Around 20 million folks hold CCW permits in the U.S., and the number has grown seven-fold in the last 20 years. In 14 states, more than 10% of adults have permits. Those states are Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and West Virginia. We note that 16 states do not require permits and one could logically presume that the actual carry rate in those states exceeds, perhaps by a wide margin, the rate in jurisdictions where a permit is required.

Florida & Pennsylvania: Background checks way up

More than 1 million people in Florida have undergone firearm purchase background checks so far this year, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It’s the first time since 2016 that Florida has had that many, and only the second time since 2004.

In Pennsylvania, the State Police reported that between July 1 and Sept. 30 a record number of firearm background checks were conducted, “which is nearly double the volume completed during the same period last year.”

National: Checks and sales up again

There were 2,892,115 NICS checks done in September, and about 1.614 million firearm sales. That is the highest number of gun sales for any September of record and about 65% higher than last year.

Mississippi: Highest homicide rate in the nation

Meanwhile in Mississippi, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell recently gave legislative budget leaders statistics indicating that the state’s homicide rate had increased 41% during the past five years and was currently the highest rate in the nation. According to 2018 data from the National Center for Health Statistics, Mississippi led the nation in terms of the number of homicides per 100,000 residents at 13.4.

So what kinds of guns are being sold?

The Right to Armed Self-Defense in the Light of Law Enforcement Abdication

Liberty & Law Center Research Paper (41 pages)
by David E Bernstein
George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty

Enemies

• 7-Eleven

I’ll keep on saying it – an employer who prohibits your otherwise legal CCW does not want you to live and is your mortal enemy. I don’t care how “nice” he is.

Good Read

• A few minutes with Massad Ayoob

Use your criminal mindset

• Criminal Mindset – Make Yourself Harder to Kill

10 Best Ways to Defend Yourself Against Civil Unrest

“Based on interviews with perpetrators who are now sitting behind bars, the most common denominator of victim selection is found to be an ‘unsuspecting victim.'”

Read that again.

NEW STUDY

• Muzzle position can have major impact on your shooting decisions

“Officers who initially confronted the suspect in the low-ready position performed significantly better. Only 30% of those officers misjudged the threat and fired at the suspect…”

But if officers are trained to take or hold someone while pointing at the pelvic area (to keep visibility) or in the compressed ready position with the muzzle indexed on the potential threat (in case of a charge), well this study doesn’t study that.

Empty chamber carry. Don’t.

“I’ve stopped trying to convince people not to carry guns with an empty chamber… I’ve come to realize that if someone ‘doesn’t feel comfortable’ with a round in the chamber, maybe it’s safer for all of us if they carry chamber-empty. Let natural selection take its course.” – Trainer Greg Ellifritz

Should have been a DGU

• Man enters California home and assaults woman sleeping next to her husband, police say

The Only Ones

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy was in stable condition after she was accidentally shot by her unidentified partner deputy while sitting behind the steering wheel of their parked patrol vehicle last week.

The Missouri Peace Officer Stands and Training (POST) Commission voted to start looking into mandating law enforcement agencies to conduct background checks. That’s right, under current Missouri state law, law enforcement agencies do not have to conduct background checks for officers.

Military “intelligence”

We have a report that the coyote population in North Carolina (including Camp Lejeune), like many places has exploded in recent years. While jogging on base, particularly at night, several Marines have been attacked by coyotes, causing minor injuries, consisting mostly of bite-marks on lower legs of joggers. In response, Marines have now been told “not to jog at night.” Additional base restrictions are under consideration in an effort to reduce Marine/coyote interaction. Wait, aren’t Marines still issued those poodle-shooter rifles and pistols? What for? God help us if Marines are attacked by human enemies. I’ve yet to see a coyote on my property that wasn’t getting shot at. But I ain’t a Marine. I’m a redneck. Without any bite marks.

Industry news

Roundhill Group speaks on Remington purchase.

Hodgdon Powder Company has acquired the Ramshot and Accurate smokeless powder brands and the Blackhorn 209 muzzleloader brand from Western Powders.

Products

• Xinsurance brand concealed carry liability insurance
• 5 Best Riflescopes Under $200. Hey if you spend less on scopes you can buy more guns.
• New Atlas Arms Dagny Dagger 9mm round can penetrate armor without violating the federal armor-piercing ammunition ban.

Norma has apparently expanded its MHP defensive ammo line to include a .380 load listed with an 85-grain all-copper hollow point bullet at 1280 fps. (Typical .380/85 is around 1000 fps.) The new load is really hard to find on Norma’s website. If someone wants to send me some for “testing,” I’d be happy to.

• Federal’s new Fusion 10mm Auto load features a molecularly-bonded 200-grain soft point bullet at 1200 fps.
• Geissele’s new Super Stabby Bayonet Mount. Very cool, very expensive, very out of stock.
• Folding stock Win. Model 94. You have to make it. Measure carefully.

Quote

“Start carrying both a firearm and pepper spray every time you leave your house when it is legal to do so.” — Trainer Greg Ellifritz