My apologies for the extra missed newsletter last week. AT&T’s DSL internet in this area was down ALL WEEK. AT&T refused to say how widespread the outage was. Our AT&T internet goes down over 1000 times a year, every year. NOT recommended. Be sure to tell your friends.
The newsletter may be intermittent over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays as well.
Litigation
Mississippi municipal judge keeping his no-knock warrants out of the court files.
The recent federal case of USA v. Randy Price, which was recently dismissed because the district judge ruled that the federal law prohibiting the possession of a gun with a removed serial number was unconstitutional, now has been appealed to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ATF is being sued over its policy of revoking federal firearms licenses due to inconsequential clerical paperwork errors, which the plaintiff alleges is in violation of the 1968 federal gun control act.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is set to move into the chair position of the House Judiciary Committee when the new Congress is seated next January, called out ATF Director Steve Dettelbach over their illicit gun rules.
The NSSF has filed suits against the attorneys general of Delaware and New Jersey, challenging recently-enacted “public nuisance” laws in those states that are crafted to sneak around federal law and the U.S. Constitution. Both states enacted public nuisance laws allowing the state and private parties to sue innocent firearm manufacturers for the harm caused by the criminal misuse of lawfully sold firearms, in defiance of the 2005 federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which preempts the state laws under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
U.S. District Judge David Counts of the Western District of Texas has ruled the controversial federal law banning gun possession by a person who has been served with a restraining order for domestic violence – but who has not been convicted of any crime – is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
U.S. District Judge John Sinatra of the Western District of New York has issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of New York’s new ban on gun-carry on private property, specifically at businesses open to the public, unless the owner posts a sign allowing it, saying, “Property owners indeed have the right to exclude. But the state may not unilaterally exercise that right and, thereby, interfere with the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens who seek to carry for self-defense outside of their own homes.”
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has returned the case Mitchell v. Atkins to the District Court in Washington State, with terse instructions for the lower court to rule in accordance with the SCOTUS Bruen decision. The District Court had previously denied the case against Washington state officials’ enforcement of unconstitutional gun law provisions that prohibit the sale of semi-auto rifles to anyone under age 21, and prohibits sales of such rifles to residents of another state.
More post-Bruen fallout: The legal history of bans on firearms and Bowie knives before 1900
U.S. District Judge Derrick has ruled that a U.S. Navy officer stationed in Hawaii cannot be denied a firearms permit solely because he sought counseling for feeling depressed and homesick.
Several Second Amendment lawsuits (at least 4 federal and one state) have been filed challenging Oregon Measure 114’s unobtainable permit-to-purchase-a-gun and ban on magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds and requested a temporary restraining order to prevent the ban from being enforced while the case continues. The most recent lawsuit, the third filed since Nov. 8, follows two initial lawsuits filed by the Oregon Firearms Federation, Sherman County Sheriff’s Department, Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut ruled Tuesday that the new voter-passed ban on high-capacity gun magazines could go into effect Thursday of this week, but placed a 30-day hold on a permit-to-purchase requirement after local and state law enforcement agencies said they could not have a permitting system ready in time. In addition, a state court has issued a TRO that bars the state from implementing any portion of the law until a hearing is held on a request for a preliminary injunction next week. The state supreme court refused to overturn that order. The state of Oregon told one court that it agrees with the temporary suspension of the new law. There’s a lot to unpack there, and I’m only touching on the highlights.
Legislation
New gun/hunting safety rules on National Forests in Mississippi
The anti-gunners are again hijacking the annual military funding bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act (or NDAA) with gun control provisions. You can take action here.
Study
Docs: “Robust analysis does not identify an association between increased lawful firearm sales and rates of crime or homicide. Based on this, it is unclear if efforts to limit lawful firearm sales would have any effect on rates of crime, homicide, or injuries from violence committed with firearms.”
“Legal Firearm Sales at State Level and Rates of Violent Crime, Property Crime, and Homicides” will be published in the January 2023 edition of the Journal of Surgical Research. You probably won’t see this reported elsewhere.
Newsletters
The ACLDN and Rangemaster (pdf link) December newsletters are out.
ATF
The gift that keeps on giving: ATF’s felonious Fast & Furious and other gunrunning schemes which, at the highest levels of the Obama administration, were designed to foster a crime wave to shore up political support for gun control laws. Then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was found in contempt of Congress when he refused to give proper testimony about the “felony stupid” program. No federal employee was ever charged in the scheme as far as I know, though plenty are culpable. Now they want to destroy the evidence. I don’t think there is a statute of limitations for accessory to murder. They PLANNED this mess.
Enemies
President “Shotgun” Joe Biden is taking another shot at trying to get Congress to pass a federal gun ban during the lame duck session of Congress between now and January, saying it is “just sick” that the United States allows (sic) the sale of semiautomatic weapons. OoohhhKaaayyy. Then his Secret Service guards are not armed with them, right? You can take action here.
The Bloomberg bunch & Amalgamated Bank are still after you.
UPS & FedEx, collectively known as FedUp.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said the Senate should consider defunding police departments in states that don’t implement unconstitutional gun control laws.
Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. wore custom-designed gun control cleats in support of the Mike Bloomberg-affiliated Everytown for Gun Safety fake charity in Sunday’s game. Robinson’s footwear was part of the anti-gun NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” effort.
DGUs
Not a DGU
Just a few points on the gay bar shooting in Colorado Springs two weeks ago:
- No one shot back
- A year and a half before the massacre, the perpetrator allegedly threatened his mother with a homemade bomb, forcing neighbors in surrounding homes to evacuate while the bomb squad and crisis negotiators talked him into surrendering, but there were no felony kidnapping and menacing charges pursued and Colorado’s “red flag” law that would have allowed authorities to seize the weapons and ammo from the man was never utilized.
- Weeks before the attack, the FBI had warned law enforcement nationwide about increased threats to queerdo groups.
- President Joe Biden wasted no time in dancing in the blood and calling again for an “assault weapons” (sic) ban.
Case Study
Points:
- When you no longer are in jeopardy, you no longer have justification for deadly force.
- If you threaten your attacker with your gun and he runs away and you don’t shoot at him, that is a successful DGU. It is also a lot cheaper and carries less prison time.
- Don’t be the initial aggressor.
The Only Ones
An unidentified off-duty Rutland County, Vermont, sheriff’s deputy was shot ten times by Saratoga Springs, New York police officers responding to a gunfight outside a bar in which the deputy was involved when the deputy allegedly pointed his gun at the responding officers.
Vermillion County (IN) Sheriff’s Deputy Tim DisPennett was going over drills while teaching a law enforcement course at South Vermillion County High School when he unintentionally reached for his gun instead of a training weapon to demonstrate how police handle a purported “bad guy” and fired it, hitting a high school senior. Rules 1,2,3&4. Interestingly, school Superintendent Dave Chapman stated that “It needs to be clear that this was an accidental shooting and that at no time were the students and staff at the high school in any danger or threat.” I disagree. The shot student probably disagrees as well.
A Brevard County (FL) Sheriff’s deputy was killed last weekend in Palm Bay by his best friend and roommate Deputy Andrew Lawson. The two were taking a break from playing online games with friends and were standing and talking together when Lawson, who believed he had unloaded his gun, “jokingly” pointed the weapon at his friend and pulled the trigger, instantly killing him. Lawson was taken into custody on a no-bond warrant on a manslaughter charge.
LAPD Detective Luke Walden was arrested on a felony charge after authorities say he attempted to purchase a gun silencer direct from China. California is one of a handful of states that prohibit the possession of silencers.
In Pennsylvania, Marysville resident Christopher J. Still, 48, was the chief of the Halifax Borough Police Department between 2019 and 2022, while also working as a full-time officer for Marysville, when prosecutors said he submitted fraudulent timecards and stole $98,754.50. He also took three guns from an evidence locker and sold them, according to court records filed to support seven theft-related felonies against Still.
Austin Lee Edwards, a former trooper with the Virginia State Police who was working for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, allegedly killed the mother and grandparents of a teenage girl he had catfished online, and then drove off with the girl after the killings in the Southern California city of Riverside. Edwards was killed in a shootout with deputies.
Teen robs ATF agent at gunpoint during undercover firearms deal
Baldwin
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has released more than 500 pages of documents that were part of its investigation into the 2021 fatal shooting by “actor” Alec Baldwin on the set of the movie “Rust.” Now we wait for prosecutions. But tell me, if a regular person had fatally shot a coworker, how many pages would be in the police report and how long would it take?
Carry doubles
Study finds handgun owners carrying daily in US doubles in 4 years as self protection concerns soar. The number of Americans who said they carried handguns within the last month nearly doubled from 9 million in 2015 to 16 million in 2019, the study states.
Well I do my part by carrying twice as many guns and ammo…
Tactics
- 10 Commandments of Concealed Carry by Massad Ayoob
- Follow-home robberies, by John Farnam
- Psychopathic walkers. A reminder.
MIM 3
- All About MIM – Part Three
Gun schools
I continue to get occasional reports of gun school instructors (mostly local) who falsely teach students about gun laws. Either they are wrong about the text of the law, or the law simply doesn’t exist. Caveat emptor. Be sure to ask for a copy or at least a citation of any purported law that a gun instructor talks about. In other words, “Where exactly is that written down?” Read it for yourself and keep it in a file.
Industry news
Czechoslovak Group (CSG) has acquired a 70 percent interest in Fiocchi Munizioni, parent company of Fiocchi of America. CSG is a private company, wholly-owned by Michal Strnad. It owns and operates companies across diverse business areas and has partnered with other major industrials such as General Dynamics, Siemens, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing. The Fiocchi family will keep 30 percent of the company (along with Charme Capital Partners who acquired Fiocchi in 2017) which will keep their 146-year family history going.
The controversial and embattled Front Sight Firearms Training Institute in Nevada has been acquired by PrairieFire in a bankruptcy proceeding.
Products
Speer and CCI Ammunition announce the implementation and production of Catalyst lead-free priming technology in target pistol products produced in their Lewiston, Idaho facility. Developed by Federal Ammunition, the Catalyst primer is claimed to be extremely clean-burning with a more uniform and complete propellant combustion, yielding minimal velocity variation and consistent bullet launch for improved accuracy. It is also non-hydrophilic, so it does not attract water molecules like DDNP-based mixes found in most lead-free primers, resulting in better reliability.
The 8.6 Blackout. I only recently heard of this one.
Federal Ammunition now has some 12 gauge Top Gun lead and steel loads with a paper wad and shot cup. They say it works well.
IWB holster uncomfortable? Try the Clinger Cushion.
Quotes
“If you aren’t reading every bit of content Mas (Ayoob) produces, you are doing it wrong.” – Trainer Greg Ellifritz
“I vote against bad politicians and don’t do business with people I can’t trust. But I won’t focus on either. They’ve earned my scorn, but they won’t steal my happiness.” – Jim Shepherd
What I’m Reading
This one has nothing to do with guns, but is pretty entertaining.
