About Obama's New Baghdad Bob

The odious White House Press Secretary Jay Carney resigned yesterday and his replacement has been announced. It will be Josh Earnest who had been Special Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary and Chief of Staff in the White House Office of Communications.

Earnest goes back a long ways with Obama. He first started working for Obama in March 2007 as the Iowa Communications Director. As such, I'm guessing he is one of the true believers to have stayed around for so long.

Among all the yada-yada details I found about Earnest - from Kansas City, went to the private Barstow School on scholarship, degree from Rice University - was this tidbit.

The political bug bit, and Earnest worked on the campaign of former Houston mayor Lee Brown after graduating from Rice. Earnest went on to New York, where he served as an aide on former mayor Michael Bloomberg's first campaign, and became spokesman at the Democratic National Committee.

According to Mediaite, he was a "communications advisor" when he worked for Bloomberg. Supposedly, Bloomberg's first campaign was rather awkward. Bloomberg's campaign strategist David Garth described Bloomberg, accurately in my opinion, as "a prick".

This is just speculation on my part but I would not be surprised to see a greater coordination of message on gun control between the White House and Everytown Moms for Illegal Mayors. It just makes sense. Obama likes to use extra-legal means to achieve his goals and Bloomberg has the money to pay for the ads. Earnest makes the ideal conduit. We'll just have to wait and see.

Callling It Murder Or Calling It A Shooting - What's The Difference?

Does it matter if we call a violent act using a firearm that results in death a murder or a shooting?

It does according to this latest commentary from Dom Raso. Calling something a murder denotes the evil intent and focuses on the perpetrator of the crime. However, as the media is more likely to do, calling it a shooting focuses on the tool used and not the intent. The former is news while the latter is propaganda and allows the media to push its anti-gun agenda.

He Got Shot In The Buttock

A teen somewhere in Florida is going to be responsible for many liquid-damaged keyboards and coffee-irrigated sinuses after you read this story. On the plus side, he also provided the inspiration for a unique article published in Case Reports in Emergency Medicine entitled "Gunshot Wound Contamination with Squirrel Tissue:  Wound Care Considerations."

Our story starts with a young male out hunting for squirrels somewhere in Florida. He had been successful as he had several he had previously killed in his hunting vest and now was attempting to dislodge the latest one he shot. In what probably seemed like a good idea at the time to his teen mind, he used the butt of his shotgun to do this. Unfortunately what he didn't do was first was unload the shotgun.

I'll let the good doctors take up the story.

The patient was a teenage Caucasian male with no significant past medical history who arrived to the Emergency Department (ED) via ambulance with a complaint of gunshot wound to the right buttock approximately one hour prior to arrival. According to the patient he was using the butt of his 12 G shotgun to dislodge a dead squirrel from a branch over his head during a hunting trip and shot himself with a load of birdshot in the right buttock. He presented with stable vital signs and reported no pain other than at the wound.

On physical exam the patient appeared in no distress with mild tachycardia with a heart rate of 116. A  cm deep wound on the right buttocks was hemostatic (Figure 1). The edges of the wound were black and ragged, while there was circumferential surrounding erythema that extended 4 cm beyond the wound. Rectal exam revealed normal tone without gross blood and no palpable foreign bodies near the rectum. Debris was observed in the margin of the wound. The rural transporting EMS personnel promptly identified the material as “squirrel parts.”

I know Ambulance Driver is rightly proud of his Florida cohorts for educating those city doctors about the source of the wound contamination.

The fact that the wound was contaminated with squirrel tissue became a major component of the treatment process. The ER docs were concerned about "zoonotic pathogens" being transferred to the wound similar to what might have happened with a rat or squirrel bite. The medical literature notes that these type of bites are sometimes responsible for rat bite fever, rabies, tularemia, and typhus. Our teen hunter's treatment included aggressive debridement and prophylactic antibiotics which was successful in preventing those and other infections.

While we can joke about it now, this kid stayed in the hospital for 11 days, had two trips to the OR, and underwent more debridement of the wound to remove birdshot and "squirrel parts". It is a cautionary tale about hunting accidents, possible wound infections, and negligent discharges. One hopes this kid learned a valuable lesson. I'm guessing he'll be reminded of it every time he sits down for a long while to come.



H/T The Outdoor Pressroom

Useful Information (Of A Sort)

Most of us will never get the change to shoot a sawed-off shotgun or SBR like an Uzi. However, if we do get the chance, this short video from Hickok45 might just save our finger tips.

If You Live In Prince George's County, Maryland, May I Suggest...

If you live in Prince George's County, Maryland and vote in County Council District 6, may I suggest that you vote for my friend and fellow gunny Kenn Blanchard. He is an honorable and decent man, a believer in freedom and self-determination, and an all-around nice guy. He is running as a Republican in a heavily Democratic county.





Looking back at the 2010 General Election results for Prince George's County, out of nine districts only one had a contested election. Frankly, that is deplorable. The only contest is who will win the Democratic primary for the respective council districts. Nonetheless, if all you do is elect Democrats with the same mindset, how can you ever change the way things are? The answer is you can't.

The usual path to higher office starts at the local level with the county councils or commissioners, the boards of alderman, city councils, or even the school board. It is rare that you find someone running for higher office as their starting point. Maryland's gun laws suck and most members of the Maryland General Assembly got their political start somewhere other than the state legislature. If we as a community want to change these types of laws, we need to start electing good people like Kenn at the local level.

If you want to help Kenn out, you can make a contribution at his campaign website found here. He's got an uphill battle and he needs our help. I've donated and I would encourage you to do so as well. We as a gun culture and community need to support those like Kenn who have stuck their neck out.

You Want Craven, I'll Give You Craven

If you have listened to the news any in the last few days, you have seen an orgy of media reporting devoted to the murders in Santa Barbara. I say murders because while three of the killings by the narcissistic individual  involved a firearm, the other three involved a machete and a hammer. Nonetheless, one of the parents of the victims in his grief blamed the killings on "craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA".

This post isn't meant to go into all the legal niceties that the killer observed in obtaining his firearms or how stringent a process the California DOJ's DROS (Dealer's Record of Sale) imposes on firearm sales but rather the blood dancing coming from the Brady Campaign. I would go so far as to call it "craven".

Below is an email I received from the Brady Campaign at noon today. I don't know why I'm supposed to call Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) as I live in North Carolina and not Arizona. Nonetheless, I'm sure millions of these emails are going out today aimed at senators who voted against Manchin-Toomey last year.

Dear (redacted),

This Memorial Day weekend, while Americans across the nation were honoring our fallen soldiers, we were also overwhelmed by another tragedy – a murderous rampage by a gunman at the University of California-Santa Barbara that claimed six lives and left eight others wounded.

One of those killed was Chris Martinez, whose father Richard had this to say about his devastating loss:

“Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA. They talk about gun rights. What about Chris' right to live?”

The Brady Campaign stands firmly with Mr. Martinez. He got it exactly right. Politicians continually ignore the will and the well-being of the American public and, instead, take their marching orders and money from the corporate gun lobby.

Shamefully, these politicians do not care who is buying guns – convicted felons, domestic abusers, rapists – just as long as the corporate gun lobby is happily making the biggest possible profit.

Now more than ever, it is essential that we Americans rise up and call out the corporate gun lobby and the ‘craven’ politicians who do their bidding.

Call Senator Flake at 1-866-383-3901

Tell him that you haven't forgotten when he voted against the amendment to expand Brady background checks and chose to stand with the corporate gun lobby instead of representing the overwhelming majority of his constituents who support background checks.

The gun lobby has millions of dollars from big gun corporations. We have the truth and the voice of every decent American who wants and deserves a nation safe from gun violence.

Thanks to Americans like Richard Martinez, that voice of truth is starting to be heard. Let’s show Mr. Martinez that we are right there beside him. Call Senator Flake today and remind him that he works for the American public and not the corporate gun lobby.

Dan Gross
President
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

P.S. You can make a difference by joining Brady supporters from around the country at the 2014 Brady National Summit in D.C. from June 9 – 10.

Given that Dan Gross began his career in the advertising industry, I'm not surprised that he cherry-picks his "facts" and doesn't let the truth get in the way of his agenda.

Does the National Rifle Association get substantial donations from firearms manufacturers? Yes but the amount is dwarfed by the amount of money that memberships and individual donations bring in. The gun lobby is you and me and not some amorphous big corporation where big-wigs sit around lighting their cigars with $100 bills.

Would the universal background checks for private sales mandated by Manchin-Toomey have prevented the tragedy in Santa Barbara? No. The killer purchased his firearms legally, underwent the California DOJ's background checks, was limited to one handgun purchase within a 30 day period, had to wait 10 days (or more) before taking possession of his handgun as required by law, and only had California-compliant magazines in his possession. It should be pointed out that the DROS system is available on-line to any law enforcement officer to check on purchases and is linked to mental health reports including whether a person had been hospitalized or has been prescribed anti-anxiety medications.

And that link at the bottom of Gross' email?  If you want to attend their so-called summit, you have to pay and they take all major credit cards including Amex and Discover.

If you want to see craven behavior, just go to any of the gun prohibitionists' websites. Whether it is the Brady Campaign trying to raise money, the Violence Policy Center trying to push their "research", or Everytown Moms for Illegal Mayors trying to build their email list, you are going to see craven behavior - or what I'd call blood dancing - at its worst.

What Did We Do To Deserve Men Like This?

As a country we should be asking what did we do to deserve fine young men like Corporal Kyle Carpenter (USMC-Ret.). The White House announced last week that Carpenter will be awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallant actions during a Taliban attack in 2010.

From the announcement:

On June 19, 2014, President Barack Obama will award Corporal William "Kyle" Carpenter, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret), the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry. Corporal Carpenter will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions while serving as an Automatic Rifleman with Company F, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine Division (Forward), I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Corporal Carpenter will be the eighth living recipient to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. He and his family will join the President at the White House to commemorate his example of selfless service.

The White House announcement unfortunately does nothing to tell the story of Carpenter's selfless actions that day in Afghanistan which left him grievously wounded.

What Carpenter did was fall on a hand grenade that had been tossed up on the roof where he and LCpl Nick Eufrazio were posting security. The Marine Corps Times had a report on the incident that was published in 2012. At the time, the incident was under investigation to see exactly what happened during that attack. Carpenter doesn't remember and his fellow Marine LCpl Eufrazio suffered traumatic brain injury from a piece of shrapnel.

Lance Cpls. Kyle Carpenter and Nick Eufrazio were posting security together on a dusty rooftop in Afghanistan when an insurgent tossed a hand grenade at them. The world melted in a white-hot blast, and the two men were rocked by an explosion that could be heard nearly a mile away.

More than a year later, the Marine Corps continues to investigate what occurred, said Lt. Col. James Fullwood and Capt. Michael Manocchio, who served as two of the senior officers in their unit, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., during that deployment. Other personnel in the compound during the Nov. 21, 2010, attack insist there's no doubt Carpenter shielded Eufrazio from most of the blast, and deserves the Medal of Honor.

"Kyle covered that grenade," said Hospitalman 3rd Class Christopher Frend, the corpsman who first rendered medical care to Carpenter and Eufrazio. "Grenade blasts blow up; they don't blow down. If he hadn't done it, what we found would have looked completely different."

Carpenter describes his injuries in an interview with Marine Corps Times.



Carpenter was medically retired from the Marines in 2013 and is now a full time student at the University of South Carolina. Despite the 30 surgeries over 19 months to repair the injuries he suffered that day in 2010, Carpenter's spirit wasn't crushed. Indeed, as he says in the video below, he's just getting started.


As I said in the intro, we should be asking what did we do as a country to have such fine men who were willing to sacrifice everything in order to protect us. I'm not sure of the answer but I know we should be extremely grateful and I am. So on this Memorial Day 2014, I would like to thank Cpl. Carpenter for his selfless gallantry and I would especially like to remember those who gave everything so that we could be free.

While I'm On The Subject Of Open Carry

Rachel, my fellow co-host of The Polite Society Podcast and a gun rights activist in Texas, sent me this link about an agreement on a unified protocol and general policy regarding open carry events put out by a number of open carry groups. As Rachel notes, this is huge given the behind the scenes disagreements among the groups on the best way to push the Texas Legislature to approve open carry of handguns.

The joint release from Texas Carry, Gun Rights Across America, Ellis County Open Carry and Open Carry Texas announcing their unified policy:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Come and Take It Texas, Texas Carry, Gun Rights Across America and Open Carry Texas Joint Statement on OC of Long Arms – May 21, 2014

Over the past year, our members have done what no other organization has been able to do – put open carry at the forefront of the fight to restore gun rights for all Texans. As we have grown, we have had to adjust our efforts based on lessons learned through hundreds of open carry events, big and small.

Looking back, it has become clear that there is one area in which we have gotten the most resistance and suffered the largest setbacks: open carry of long arms into private businesses. This is not a new phenomenon. Early on, because of our efforts, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) sent a message to all TABC licensees warning them about allowing our members to open carry into their businesses. This resulted in places like Smashburger asking us to leave our guns at home. Since then, Starbucks, Wendy’s, Jack In The Box, Applebees and most recently, Chipotle have come out asking we not carry our firearms into their establishments.

Whereas, our mission is to get open carry of handguns passed in Texas, we must once again adjust in a way that shines a positive light on our efforts, our members, and our respective organizations. We are humbly and emphatically imploring our members to cease taking long arms into corporate businesses unless invited. Black Powder revolvers have proven to be very effective and align with our goal of legalizing open carry with a handgun. We do understand that not everyone will be able to afford one, but if you can, we are requesting you do so. Almost every leader has gone to Black powder for a reason. It works.

For all further open carry walks with long guns, we are adopting the following unified protocol and general policy to best ensure meeting our respective legislative mission to legalize open carry:

1) Always notify local law enforcement prior to the walk, especially the day of.
2) Carry Flags and signs during your walk to increase awareness.
3) Carry the long gun on a sling, not held.
4) Do not go into corporate businesses without prior permission, preferably not at all.
5) If asked to leave, do so quietly and do not make it a problem.
6) Do not post pics publicly if you do get permission and are able to OC in a cooperate business.
7) Do not go into businesses with TABC signs posted with a long gun (Ever).
8) If at all possible, keep to local small businesses that are 2A friendly.

We ask that members take a step back and make an objective assessment of what we are trying to accomplish and help us to get open carry passed for everyone. We must be willing and able to recognize what works and what doesn’t, but we need your help to make these efforts a success. It will be very difficult to spin holstered, black powder revolvers into a negative story. This is the goal we are currently striving for, open carry of handguns. We know everyone is working hard for this cause. It is simply time to focus on what has been proven to work. The conversation has shifted from open carry of handguns to rifles in businesses, negating our efforts and distracting us from our mission.

We are winning. Because we are winning, we have come under increased scrutiny by media and politicians. Let’s use that spotlight and make the most positive impact we can!

Carry on!

CJ Grisham, Open Carry Texas 

Terry Holcomb, Sr, Texas Carry 

Murdoch Pizgotti, CATI-TX 

Eric Reed, GRAA

Eric Reed of Gun Rights Across America points out some very valid points that are being ignored by the mainstream media and groups like Everytown would have you not know.

Now under Texas state law, a holder of a concealed handgun license is only required to abide by certain signs that have very specific legal verbiage. Up to this point, none of the above aforementioned businesses have posted these legal signs. So it remains legal for a concealed handgun licensee to concealed carry into these establishments with a valid Texas CHL.

The anti-gun groups have won nothing but a public statement by these businesses to make them just go away. As stated in the press release, gun rights is winning. The fight is in Austin, not at Jack in the Box or Chipotle.

Hey Shannon, This Is Old News

Shannon Watts would have you believe that Smashburger is going to be the next place they lobby to ban "open carry" thanks to open carry activists. That is, if you believe the tweets she sent out this afternoon.

.@texasabc @Smashburger also serves alcohol: http://t.co/sAJjGcYQq4 … @JoeGomezKRLD #MomsDemand #gunsense pic.twitter.com/9KJ8ypSIB3
— Shannon (@shannonrwatts) May 22, 2014

.@texasabc @Smashburger also serves alcohol: http://t.co/sAJjGcYQq4 … @JoeGomezKRLD #MomsDemand #gunsense pic.twitter.com/Ntztxm6LPG
— Shannon (@shannonrwatts) May 22, 2014

The only problem is that this is old news. Smashburger has had a policy in compliance with Texas ABC Board regulations that open carry of any sort is banned. They did this in 2013. Prior to the clarification in ABC Board regulations, Smashburger was welcoming to open carriers.


The picture below is from GlockTalk in March of this year.

Take a good look at that second picture she tweeted. It is the same one from this July 2, 2013 blog post in Open Carry Texas. 

Next time Shannon tweets about a picture featuring open carry activists, take a good look. It probably is an old picture she is using to drum up business for Everytown Moms for Illegal Mayors.

Peruta Case Isn't Done Yet

On May 1st, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Sheriff William Gore to respond within 14 days to two questions. First, did the sheriff have a position on whether California AG Kamala Harris should be allowed to intervene in the case? Second, did he consider this case moot as he had starting issuing carry permits on a shall-issue basis?

Gore responded on Wednesday, May 14th in a letter signed by the Senior Deputy County Counsel James Chapin that was sent to the Clerk of Court. The letter said:

The Court has requested the position of Appellee William Gore on the pending motions to intervene and a response to the suggestion that this case is moot. Appellee responds as follows:

Motions to Intervene.

Appellee believes that the Attorney General is the appropriate intervenor in this case because the panel opinion finds California’s legislative scheme regarding the carrying of handguns unconstitutional. Appellee requests that the Court grant the Attorney General’s Motion to Intervene. Appellee takes no position on other intervenors.

Mootness.

This case is not moot. Appellee has not changed his policy or procedures for the issuance of concealed carry licenses. All current applications that do not meet the existing policy are being held without action, pending final direction from the Court or the Legislature.

Intervenor status was also sought by the Brady Campaign. An en banc review of the Peruta decision is being sought by Harris, the Brady Campaign, the California Peace Officers Association, and the California Police Chiefs Association.

As attorney Chuck Michel made clear back in March, both Gore and the plaintiffs had asked Harris to participate in the case she declined. It was only after Peruta was decided in favor of the plaintiffs did she try to intervene. I guess she never thought the 9th Circuit would decide in favor of the plaintiffs and in such a forceful decision.

CalGuns And Cal-FFL Have To Take AG Kamala Harris To Court - Again

In a release sent out on Tuesday, the CalGuns Foundation and Cal-FFL have announced that they are or will be suing California Attorney General Kamala Harris over a new policy she has implemented for the California Department of Justice. The new policy limits those who have a California issued certificate of eligibility and a federal firearms license to the purchase of one handgun per month. They assert that Harris' reinterpretation of an existing statute is contrary to the meaning of the law itself.

From their joint release announcing the lawsuit:

California Attorney General Kamala Harris Sued Over New Handgun Purchase Ban

Gun rights groups back lawsuit to restore the right to buy handguns in the Golden State.

(Sacramento, CA - May 20, 2014) – California Attorney General Kamala Harris continues to substitute anti-gun policies for black letter law, say California gun rights groups The Calguns Foundation (CGF) and California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees (CAL-FFL).

In a new lawsuit filed today against the state’s highest law enforcement officer and Department of Justice firearms bureau chief Stephen Lindley, plaintiffs Alvin Doe--who is using a fictitious name to protect their privacy due to a fear of criminal prosecution and retaliation--and Paul Gladden say that “the DOJ’s new [handgun] enforcement policy is contrary to the plain language” of the law.

The case challenges a recently enacted DOJ policy that denies people who have both a DOJ-issued “Certificate of Eligibility” to purchase firearms and a federal firearms license the ability to purchase more than one handgun in a thirty-day period. Holders of these licenses and certificates, such as the plaintiffs, have successfully completed rigorous fingerprint-based background checks that include full investigations of all state and federal criminal and mental health databases. The policy, say the plaintiffs, is simply not consistent with the law and does nothing to enhance public safety.

“The Attorney General's new policy blocks individuals from exercising rights that the Legislature granted them,” said the plaintiffs' attorney, Bradley Benbrook of Sacramento-based law firm Benbrook Law Group. The firm, which recently filed a brief to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of 33 members of Congress in support of the Second Amendment right to carry handguns for self-defense, is asking the court for an injunction against the DOJ policy.

“Ms. Harris’ attempt to restrict lawful handgun sales by reinterpreting a 15 year old statute is entirely inconsistent with the democratic process and separation of powers,” said CAL-FFL President Brandon Combs.

Continued Combs, “Her latest ban is nothing short of an attempt to choke off handgun purchases and shutter California gun dealers. We cannot stand by and let her hostility towards the gun rights culture go unchallenged.”

“The Attorney General is there to be the chief law enforcement officer, not to make up laws to fit her policy preferences,” explained Gene Hoffman, chairman of The Calguns Foundation. “We look forward to the courts rejecting her extralegal interpretation.”

The plaintiffs expect to file their motion for preliminary injunction on Friday and are cautiously optimistic that the case will be heard within the next month.

A Plea For Attention

The Brady Campaign and the other older gun prohibitionist groups such as the Violence Policy Center and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) have been marginalized by Michael Bloomberg and his money. His Illegal Mayors, his merger with Shannon Watts and the Demanding Mommies, and his willingness to parachute legions of lobbyists into purple states like Colorado to get new laws imposed have created a far more dangerous foe to gun rights than the Brady Campaign.

It is within this context that we should examine the lawsuit brought yesterday in New Jersey by the Brady Campaign to force certification of the so-called "smart gun". While it may be seen as a plea for attention, such pleas by a marginalized foe can be dangerous.

The lawsuit filed yesterday seeks to force NJ Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman to comply with the reporting requirements of the Personalized Handgun Law. By doing so, it could trigger the 3-year clock after which only "personalized handguns" may be sold in New Jersey. Unlike the California microstamping law which allows existing handguns on the California Handgun Roster to still be sold, there is no grandfathering in of existing handguns.

New Jersey is an anomaly in that its Attorney General is appointed and not elected. The Attorney General is appointed by the Governor and then confirmed by the NJ State Senate much like the US Attorney General. Mr. Hoffman, the Acting Attorney General, was appointed to the position when his predecessor was appointed to fill the US Senate seat held by the late Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). Politically, he is registered as an Independent. His law career has been primarily in the public sector with the bulk of it being as a trial attorney in the US Department of Justice Civil Division and as an Assistant US Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Hoffman, while he was politically astute enough to get appointed Acting AG, seems to be more a bureaucrat than a politician.

The Brady Campaign sent Hoffman letters in February and in April noting that the Attorney General's Office had failed to do its semi-annual reports on the availability of personalized handguns since 2003. The February letter mentioned the Armatrix iP1 pistol and asked that he file the requisite report with the Governor and Legislature affirming that it was available for sale. The April letter was a reminder and hinted of further action.

I have to believe that the Brady Campaign had the complaint written and ready to go when the time was right. It is no coincidence that the lawsuit was filed in Mercer County Superior Court the day after Ernst Mauch, designer of the Armatrix iP1 pistol, had an op-ed published in the Washington Post. Whether or not Herr Mauch colluded with the Brady Campaign on the timing is up for speculation but it certainly looks suspicious. The timeline of information requests presented in the complaint makes clear that the Brady Campaign and its affiliate NJ Million Moms (sic) had been planning this since 2013.

The complaint itself is rather straight forward with the exception of the recitation of accidental shootings by children with handguns. It basically says the Attorney General of NJ was supposed to be putting out semi-annual reports on personalized handguns (NJS 2C:58-2.3(c), the one report from 2003 could not be found, and that Deputy AG Bruce Solomon had affirmed that no report had been issued from 2004-2012. The complaint goes on to say that a dealer in California had offered a personalized handgun for sale and that a Maryland dealer had received one from the manufacturer. This is important to the case because of how the statute determines personalized handguns are available (NJS 2C:58-2.3(b)).

For the purposes of this section, personalized handguns shall be deemed to be available for retail sales purposes if at least one manufacturer has delivered at least one production model of a personalized handgun to a registered or licensed wholesale or retail dealer in New Jersey or any other state. As used in this subsection, the term "production model" shall mean a handgun which is the product of a regular manufacturing process that produces multiple copies of the same handgun model, and shall not include a prototype or other unique specimen that is offered for sale.

The fact that the NJ Attorney General's Office has screwed up by not issuing the semi-annual reports is a given. The question remains as to whether the so-called smart guns available in California or delivered to dealer in Maryland were actual production models or prototypes. The Attorney General's Office, if it was smart and/or pressured to do so by Gov. Chris Christie, could issue the required report immediately, affirm that no "production models" were available for sale, that only specimens or prototypes had been delivered, and ask for the case to be dismissed as moot. Whether they are smart enough or politically agile enough to pull that off remains to be seen.

As I noted earlier, even a marginalized foe can be dangerous. This lawsuit shows that Brady Campaign, while losing in the court of public opinion, still is astute enough to have been planning this assault on gun rights for well over a year. It calls for an energetic response from our side.

Coyote Hunting Banned In Five North Carolina Counties

US District Court Judge Terence Boyle has granted a preliminary injunction that will ban coyote hunting in five eastern North Carolina counties. The Red Wolf Coalition brought suit to stop coyote hunting in the five-county red wolf restoration area. The counties involved are Dare, Tyrrell, Hyde, Washington, and Beaufort counties. The US Fish and Wildlife Service began the reintroduction of the red wolf in 1987 in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The red wolf was declared endangered in 1973. The USFWS estimates that there are now about 100 red wolves in this area of eastern North Carolina.

The red wolf is smaller than the gray or timber wolf and larger than a coyote. Its coloration isn't the red of a red fox but rather it has a brown or buff colored coat with some reddish fur around its ears, legs, and head. And therein lies the problem. It can be mistaken for a coyote. Moreover, there has been some interbreeding between coyotes and the red wolf though the USFWS is trying to stop this by sterilizing coyotes. Pictures of both critters are below:

Coyote - picture from NCSportsman.com

Red wolf - picture from AWI

In his ruling, Judge Boyle granted the NC Wildlife Resources Commission's request to dismiss the suit against them as it violated the state's sovereign immunity. However, he let it continue against the director of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission as he was not protected by legislative immunity. The decision to expand coyote hunting a few years ago was considered an administrative and executive action.

From the ruling:

Hunting coyotes pursuant to 15A NCAC 10B.0219 in the five-county red wolf recovery area is hereby preliminarily ENJOINED. Entry of this preliminary injunction on coyote hunting will support the exclusion of coyotes in the five-county red wolf recovery area by promoting breeding pairs of red wolves which, in conjunction with sterile placeholder coyotes, appear to effect a better deterrent to the increase in coyote population than an increase in coyote hunting deaths would. A further intended benefit of this preliminary injunction is both the preservation and enhancement of the red wolf and deer populations in this area.

The Court is not inclined, however, to provide greater protection to the coyote than that which is applicable to the red wolf. Therefore, during the pendency of the preliminary injunction, the following exceptions apply to the prohibition on coyote hunting in the five-county red wolf recovery area: a coyote may be shot in defense of a person's safety or the safety of others, or if livestock or pets are threatened. Each exception shall apply subject to reporting of such shooting to defendants within twenty-four hours, and defendants shall maintain a record of reports of coyote shootings for review by the Court. This injunction is not applicable to the activities of scientists and researchers associated with USFWS and the Commission, nor does it have any effect on the trapping of coyotes.

Further, this preliminary injunction shall not remain in effect without review for the entirety of the duration of this lawsuit. As the evidence and data are further developed in this matter, the Court shall revisit the efficacy and necessity of this preliminary injunction one hundred and eighty (180) days following the date of entry of this order.

The Wildlife Resources Commission and its board members are considering their options. In the meantime, the WRC has issued the following release outlining what is and isn't permitted in terms of coyote hunting in the state of North Carolina as well as in the impacted counties.

From the WRC release:

RALEIGH, N.C. (May 16, 2014) — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is notifying the public that a U.S. District Judge has issued a court order prohibiting hunting of coyotes in Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Tyrrell and Washington counties, day or night, except under extremely limited circumstances. This notification is due to a lawsuit in which the Wildlife Resources Commission is alleged to have violated the federal Endangered Species Act by allowing coyote hunting in those counties where a non-essential experimental reintroduction of the red wolf is occurring.

In North Carolina’s other 95 counties, coyote hunting regulations allow coyote hunting on private land at any time, day or night, with no bag limit, and on public land at night with a permit.

The Wildlife Commission and the N. C. General Assembly through its House Select Committee on Nuisance Coyote Removal implemented tools to provide North Carolinians the ability to manage coyote predation on livestock, pets and native wildlife through hunting and trapping. These lethal removal methods provide the best means of removing offending animals while instilling fear of humans in other coyotes in the immediate vicinity. Hunting at night is often more effective than during the daytime because coyotes are often more active during nighttime hours.

Coyote distribution in North Carolina has sharply increased since the mid-1980s when coyote occurrences were documented in fewer than a dozen counties. Coyotes are now well established throughout North Carolina, occurring in all 100 counties. Estimates of coyotes harvested by hunters and trappers also indicate dramatic increases in abundance. For example, statewide estimated coyote harvest by hunting exceeded 27,000 coyotes in the 2012-13 season and estimated coyote harvest by trapping has increased 26-fold in the last decade.

The court order affecting the five counties allows that coyotes may be shot in defense of a person’s safety or the safety of others, or if livestock or pets are threatened. In accordance with the order, any coyotes shot under these circumstances must be reported to the Wildlife Commission within 24 hours. To report a coyote kill persons may call 1-800-662-7137. Landowners needing assistance with other coyote problems in the five counties affected by the court order may contact the Wildlife Commission at the same number.

In issuing the order, the U.S. District Judge stated that he would revisit his ruling in six months pending the outcome of a lawsuit that seeks to end coyote hunting permanently in the five counties.

“The Commission is deeply concerned about potential impacts to private landowners, hunters and native wildlife resulting from this order,” said Jim Cogdell, chairman of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

The board of the Wildlife Resources Commission will meet next week to consider other legal and procedural steps regarding the judge’s order. Interested parties may visit www.ncwildlife.org for information and updates.

The same group of plaintiffs had filed a suit in 2012 to stop coyote hunting in the five county area. They were able to get an injunction in Wake County Superior Court to temporarily halt hunting while a temporary rule from the WRC was in effect. Once the permanent rule was adopted, the injunction was lifted.

From Knife Rights On Their NYC Case Appeal

Knife Rights has appealed their case challenging New York City's knife laws for their vagueness to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. US District Court Judge Katherine Forrest had ruled against them saying that they hadn't specified the knives in question and thus didn't have standing to sue. Given that the whole point of the lawsuit was the very vagueness of what was or wasn't a "gravity knife", this ruling was more than a bit absurd.

From Knife Rights including a link to their appeal:

Last week, Knife Rights filed an appeal of a U.S. District Court's absurd ruling in its ongoing Federal Civil Rights lawsuit against New York City and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. The 62-page legal brief can be viewed at: www.KnifeRights.org/Knife_Rights_Appeal_Brief.pdf

The lawsuit challenges the City's practice of treating common folding knives as prohibited "gravity knives," then arresting and prosecuting law-abiding knife owners and intimidating retailers into paying large cash "sanctions" to avoid prosecution. Under the City's vague and subjective approach, it is impossible to know whether any particular knife will be treated as legal or prohibited.

Last Fall, U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest ruled that the case could not proceed because Knife Rights and three other plaintiffs (who were falsely arrested or threatened with arrest for possessing common folding knives) did not identify specific knives being wrongly classified in their complaint, and therefore lacked standing to sue. Requiring identification of specific prohibited knives, in a case about the inability to know what is prohibited or permitted, turns the very idea of this lawsuit on its head.

Judge Forrest then added insult to injury by refusing a request to let Knife Rights amend the complaint to attempt to comply with her requirement that specific knives be identified. Briefing on the appeal will continue for several months.

UPDATE: Second Amendment scholar and attorney David Kopel has a good write-up on the case in the Volokh Conspiracy. You can read it here.

Amazon Affiliates, Donations, And Other Such Stuff

Amazon changed its policy regarding collecting sales tax for the state of North Carolina at the beginning of February. As a result, North Carolinians are now able to participate in the Amazon Affiliates program and I decided that it was about time I joined. If you look on the right side of the blog, you will see the Amazon widget with a list of recommended books. They are all related to either gun rights or self-defense.

I am changing my policy on what to do with the commissions earned on these affiliate sites. When I first put up the LuckyGunner banner, I decided to donate all the commissions to the Second Amendment Foundation. I continued that policy when I added the Balloon Goes Up store widget.

I am going to expand the list of organizations getting these commissions. While SAF will still get some of the money, I'd like include other 501(c)(3) organizations that work for gun rights in the mix. Some organizations that I'm thinking of including are the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund, the Crime Prevention Research Center, and some of the state level groups working for gun rights.

If you know of a state or local level gun rights group that I should include in the mix, please feel free to suggest it in the comments section. The only requirement is that it have 501(c)(3) status.

Why Carry When Hiking?

You are out in the woods communing with nature. It is peaceful and quiet. The only man-made sounds you hear are your own footsteps on the trail. So why in the world would you need to carry a firearm?

This.

Francis "Pat" Gregory, 69, of West Tisbury, and a 76-year-old man from Manton, California, were hiking a trail north of Red Bluff on Friday when they were confronted by a gunman, said Tehama County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Greer.

The robber shot the men after taking their money and belongings, and left the victims for dead on a remote part of the trail until another hiker came upon them about three hours later.

Gregory died at the scene; the surviving victim was hospitalized with critical injuries. A doctor told investigators he was expected to pull through, Greer said.

The men were found about 100 yards from the start of a Bureau of Land Management trail that leads through grasslands, oak trees and lava rocks to an overlook above a bend in the Sacramento River.

You can find some more examples plus some good advice on keeping safe on the trail in Michael Bane's Trail Safe. You can find it here.

How CCI Makes .22 LR Cartridges

Given that few of us can find .22LR ammo in the market due to (hoarding, greater demand, an expanded market, or all of the above), I thought it might be interesting to at least see how the ammo is constructed.  Jim Scoutten of Shooting USA visited the CCI ammunition plant in Lewiston, Idaho.

Turns out that it is a fairly complicated process from making the brass to filling the shells with priming compound to seating the bullets.  While the plant makes 4 million rounds a day, that isn't a lot when you think about it. Doing the math, that is 40,000 100-round boxes or 2,000 cases per day.  Another way of looking at it is that this is approximately one case per Walmart in the United States daily.

Old News I Just Stumbled Across

Awhile back when I reported that Mark Glaze was leaving MAIG/Demanding Mommies/Everytown Moms Against Illegal Mayor, I speculated that Michael Bloomberg wanted to install his own man as head of the organization. That man would be his former Mayor's Office chief advisor for policy and strategic planning John Feinblatt.

I missed the announcement by Erika Soto Lamb, Everytown's communications director, that Feinblatt would indeed be the person in charge.

From Guns.com:

“All good things must come to an end and we are grateful for Mark’s leadership during a time of incredible growth in the movement to prevent gun violence,” said Erika Soto Lamb, a spokeswoman for the group in an email.

“During his three years with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, we celebrated important advances in our fight for reasonable reforms in D.C. and in state capitals across the country,” she added.

“Everytown will continue to be led by our president John Feinblatt. He was previously chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Guns and continues to serve as Mayor Bloomberg’s chief policy advisor on gun issues,” Lamb said.

Obviously, not a surprise. When you have a billionaire control freak who is donating big money to an effort, it should be assumed that they want their guy running it.

Shades Of Oliver Twist

If you were exposed to Dickens novels in school or are of an age to remember the movie Oliver, then you know the story of how an older corrupt man used young boys to do his nefarious deeds. In a case of life imitating art, Brad Shipley of Trenton, Florida was arrested for using neighborhood kids to break-in to homes and steal outdoor gear such as guns, knives, and fishing tackle.

Photo from the Levy County Sheriff's Dept

Shipley's scheme fell apart when one of the kids told his mom what he was being forced to do.

Shipley’s plan unraveled when one of the kids told his mother what he had been made to do. The mother contacted LCSO and investigators seized the moment. Investigators were able recover property from six residential burglaries in Levy County, one burglary in Gilchrist County and a storage shed burglary in Alachua County.

According to the Levy County Clerk of Court's office, Shipley is facing 17 counts ranging from dealing in stolen property to burglary to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is being held under a $810,000 bond.

I'm a little surprised at the size of the bond but then again if you are stealing a man's (or woman's) fishing rod and/or his mounted deer head, you deserve to rot in jail.

It's OK, It Was An "Only One"

Parts of Interstate 94 in downtown Minneapolis were shut down yesterday. It seems that there was a driver brandishing a firearm at another driver and the police had to make a "high-risk" traffic stop.

The incident began about 6:40 a.m. on eastbound I-694 in Brooklyn Park, when a motorist called police to report that another driver was displaying a gun.

Police caught up to the driver on I-94 at Olson Highway and blocked two southbound lanes long enough that traffic backed up to W. Broadway. The State Patrol took the man into custody but released him after officers learned he was an ATF agent who was carrying proper credentials.

“It’s under investigation,” said Lt. Eric Roeske of the Minnesota State Patrol. “We’re trying to determine the facts of what occurred.”

The agent’s name was not released per Minnesota Statute 13.82, which allows the identity of an undercover law enforcement officer to be kept private.

So the driver in question was not just any old "only one" but an undercover Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. I wonder if the BATFE will put the Special Agent in question on double-secret probation to go along with his (supposed) undercover status.

Some Good Knife Care Tips

L.T. Wright of L.T. Handcrafted Knives has put up a good video on taking care of your knives. He discusses how to keep them from rusting and how to store them. L.T. also tells how he keeps his leather in good shape. As a gunny, the product he used surprised me - Ballistol.

If you don't recognize the name L.T. Wright, he used to be one half of Blind Horse Knives which split last year into Battle Horse Knives and L.T. Wright Handcrafted Knives. From what I understand, Blind Horse Knives always had two shops in two locations so the split was understandable.

They Need Them Because Raw Milk And Heirloom Seeds Are Dangerous

Given that it seems that every Federal agency has an Office of Inspector General with armed law enforcement officers and a SWAT team, I guess this solicitation by the USDA OIG isn't too surprising.

Solicitation Number:                                              

USDAOIGWEA-5-7-14

Synopsis:

Added: May 07, 2014 2:03 pm

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, located in Washington, DC, pursuant to the authority of FAR Part 13, has a requirement for the commerical acquisition of submachine guns, .40 Cal. S&W, ambidextrous safety, semi-automatic or 2 shot burts trigger group, Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope (top rear), stock-collapsilbe or folding, magazine - 30 rd. capacity, sling, light weight, and oversized trigger guard for gloved operation.  NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENT EXISTS.  All responsible and/or interested sources may submit their company name, point of contact, and telephone.  If received timely, shall be considered by the agency for contact to determine weapon suitability.

Beyond the question of why they even need them which is highly debatable, the solicitation has got me to wondering about semi-automatic submachine guns. Aren't they an oxymoron? Perhaps the contracting office didn't want to use the term "assault rifle" or "assault weapon" and just decided that "submachine gun" was a kinder, gentler way of saying they wanted a bad-ass looking firearm to put the fear of God and the USDA into those damn farmers. Given the vagaries of Federal acquisitions, who knows for sure.

Fencing Foils Dangerous Weapons? Yah, Sure, You Betcha Says NDSU Police

College administrators and college police departments never cease to amaze me in their obtuseness and steadfast adherence to ridiculous interpretations of school policies. The latest example comes from North Dakota State University where the officially recognized and sanctioned NDSU Fencing Club has to practice off-campus at a local Lutheran elementary school.

NDSU campus police have interpreted Sec. 706 (4) to preclude having fencing foils, sabers, and epees on campus. The policy states:

Unauthorized possession or use of weapons on University owned or controlled property is prohibited, unless permission for possession and/or use has been granted by an appropriate University official. Weapons include but are not limited to firearms, ammunition, bombs, explosives, clubs, dirks, martial arts weapons, sling shots, bows and arrows, sabers, swords, knives used primarily for hunting relating purposes, war souvenirs, incendiary devices, fireworks pellet guns, bb guns, paintball guns, stun guns, dangerous chemicals or fuels, or other dangerous objects or substances. Items not traditionally used as weapons may be considered weapons when those items are used to inflict bodily injury or to threaten the infliction of bodily injury on others. Examples include, but are not limited to baseball bats and kitchen utensils.

Contact the Director, University Police & Safety Office, for authorization. The Director will coordinate approval with the appropriate Vice President(s). This policy shall not prohibit persons from possessing, storing, or using weapons at approved locations for the purpose of meeting the requirements of a recognized educational program and/or student group sponsored by the University.

The comments on the controversy from NDSU University Police and Safety Office Director Ray Boyer illustrate, in my opinion, the obtuseness and ridiculous interpretations of school policies that I mentioned in the opening paragraph.

From comments Boyer made to Josh Francis of NDSU Spectrum and Inforum:

University Police and Safety Office Director Ray Boyer said the issue isn’t fencing’s safety. The concern is sabers and swords are prohibited, and allowing them on campus could cause others to think they should be able to have prohibited items. He also said it is reasonable to expect that if someone saw individuals displaying swords in a hostile manner in public, “they would call police with an expectation that police respond with equal or greater force.”

Boyer added “sometimes the safest way is simply to have no weapons, real or perceived, on campus.”

He doesn’t plan to change the university’s stance, unless the club had a facility dedicated to fencing.

As the Fencing Club's advisor Enrique Alvarez Vazquez illustrates in the video from Valley News Live about the controversy, the equipment used by the club is no more dangerous than a car antenna. Alvarez Vazquez is a NDSU computer systems engineer and master fencing coach.





It should be noted that the University of North Dakota and the nearby Minnesota State University - Moorhead both have fencing teams and both allow them to practice on campus.

Frankly, it is time for NDSU President Dean L. Bresciani to exercise some adult leadership in this situation. He comes from a background in student affairs and says in his biography that "a focus of his work is enhancing the accessibility and quality of campus programs while improving the sense of welcome, support and achievement for all members of the university and surrounding communities." Now is the time for him to live up to that supposed focus by welcoming the NDSU Fencing Club to practice on campus.


 H/T SayAnythingBlog

SAF Wins In Arkansas

The Second Amendment Foundation has won another lawsuit challenging restrictions on the Second Amendment rights of permanent legal residents. This time it was a challenge against the state of Arkansas' restriction of concealed carry permits to US citizens only.

Admittedly, these type of cases are low hanging fruit insomuch as alienage is a suspect class and strict scrutiny must be applied when a fundamental right involving a suspect class is involved. That said, they need to challenged and the Second Amendment Foundation is well-placed to do it.

The release from SAF is below. As I've said before, I wish the Second Amendment Foundation would stick to the courts and that the NRA-ILA would stick to legislatures. Those are the arenas in which they each do their best. By doing so, it would best for gun rights and would avoid what I consider foolish gestures like this one on background checks.

SAF WINS PERMANENT INJUNCTION IN CHALLENGE TO ARKANSAS CCW LAW

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has won a significant victory on behalf of legal resident aliens in Arkansas, with a federal district court there declaring the state’s citizen-only concealed carry licensing law unconstitutional, and granting a permanent injunction against its enforcement on behalf of a man named Martin Pot (pronounced Pote), a citizen of the Netherlands.

U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks, for the Western District of Arkansas, handed down the ruling. He ordered the state to pay SAF $10,000 in attorney’s fees and court costs of $726.41. SAF and Mr. Pot were represented by attorney David Sigale of Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

The lawsuit, filed last November, challenged the Arkansas statute because it “completely prohibits resident legal aliens from the concealed carry of guns, in public, for the purpose of self-defense. Colonel Stan Witt, director of the Arkansas State Police, was named as the defendant in his official capacity.

“This is yet another victory in our effort to expand Second Amendment protections in the United States,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Mr. Pot is a law-abiding resident of Eureka Springs, and has been so since 1986. He is self-employed and is a productive member of the community, with an American-born wife and family. He came here almost 30 years ago, met and married his wife, and has many solid connections in his community.”

While Arkansas statute allowed Pot to possess a firearm only in his home, on his property or – under certain circumstances – while on a “journey,” he was prohibited from obtaining a concealed carry permit because he is not a citizen.

“This case is not unique,” Gottlieb noted. “SAF has successfully challenged other state laws, in New Mexico, Washington, Nebraska and Massachusetts. Legal resident aliens should not be penalized at the expense of their self-defense rights. This was a good outcome to a case that should help lots of people.

“This is another case where SAF is winning firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time,” he concluded.

NJ Senate Votes On Mag Limitation And Gun Ban Tomorrow (updated)

The NRA-ILA sent out an alert advising that the New Jersey State Senate will vote on SB 993 tomorrow (Monday, May 12th) at noon. They are asking the people in NJ call or email their state senator and request that they vote against this bill.

From the NRA-ILA:

On Monday, May 12, the New Jersey Senate is scheduled to consider Senate Bill 993 at noon.  As previously reported, S.993 seeks to restrict the maximum capacity of ammunition magazines from 15 to 10 rounds and ban certain popular firearms.  Under the guise of public safety, anti-gun politicians continue their efforts in Trenton to erode the Second Amendment rights of New Jersey residents.  New Jersey is one of only a few states which already has a magazine restriction, and another arbitrary limit will have no impact on crime or criminals.  Instead, this legislation demonstrably favors criminals who prefer to prey on unarmed victims.

Senate Bill 993 is scheduled to be considered by the full Senate at noon on Monday, May 12.  It is more important than ever to call and e-mail your state Senator and respectfully, yet insistently, urge him or her to vote AGAINST S.993.  Contact information for state Senators can be found here.

If you would like to tune into the Senate debate on S.993, you can do so by clicking here.

The bill would exempt tube feed .22LR rifles from the 10 round maximum. It would also allow both current law enforcement officers to carry 15-round magazines while off-duty and it would extend this same "courtesy" to retired law enforcement officers.

The kicker part of the bill is this:

14. (New section) Any person who legally owns a semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine capacity exceeding 10 rounds or a large capacity ammunition magazine as defined under subsection y. of N.J.S.2C:39-1 which is capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition on the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) may retain possession of that rifle or magazine for a period not to exceed 180 days from the effective date of this act. During this time period, the owner of the semi-automatic rifle or magazine shall:
a. Transfer the semi-automatic rifle or magazine to any person or firm lawfully entitled to own or possess that firearm or magazine;
b. Render the semi-automatic rifle or magazine inoperable; or
c. Voluntarily surrender the semi-automatic rifle or magazine pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.2C:39-12.1

UPDATED: Sebastian is reporting that the bill passed the NJ Senate on a 22-17 vote. It now goes to Gov. Chris Christie who has never been a friend of gun owners. However, he does have Presidential aspirations and this could help our cause. Now is the time to start pressuring him. His online contact address is here.

Comment Of The Day

This comment of the day should be more accurately be called the rant of the day - and I do so love a good rant.

The rant comes from Michael Bane in response to Hillary Clinton's comments about how she didn't believe in gun rights or, at least, gun rights as most of us in the gun culture understand them.

So, let's recap, kids...this pathetic old harridan, who was willing to stay with a sexual predator indefinitely because she so loved power, who allowed an American ambassador be killed on her watch and American heroes be left behind to die, who looked the family of a man she claimed as friend in the eyes and lied to their faces, who has the cold-blooded gall to tell Congress, "What difference does it make," who traveled a million miles as Secretary of State and accomplished nothing, who coined the phrase "nuts and sluts" to describe the women her husband sexually abused, who blamed illegalities in her former law firm on her junior associate who didn't have the power to requisition paper clips, a woman who quite literally has accomplished nothing of consequence in her entire life spent grubbing for power over other people, and she calls us unbalanced?

That is what I call an epic rant!

Why, Oh Why?

Sometimes you see a firearm that has been modified and all you can say is, why, oh why, did someone do this.

An example of one such firearm is below. I found it today on Pinterest.

As you can see, this lever-action pistol meets all the requirements for being tactical. It has the requisite polymer stocks, it has a Picatinny rail, it has a combo laser-flashlight, it has an enlarged loop for the lever, and it appears to have a fiber-optic front sight. The only thing missing from this tactical wonder is practicality.

But, hey - someone somewhere would pay good money for this.

Tweet Of The Day

The tweet of the day comes from California gun rights attorney Don Kilmer. I think we know the answer to his question.

Ask the fathers of the Nigerian slave-girls if they wish they had an American father's access to guns. @HollyRFisher @jpr9954
— Don Kilmer (@donkilmer) May 8, 2014

Interesting Mix Of Old And New

I came across this video today on a subforum devoted to AKs. It is put out by the Matra Group of Bosnia and Herzegovina. What I liked about it is how they are using both CNC and more traditional machine tools and stamping machines to make AK-47 magazines.

If these magazines were made in the United States they would probably sell for $50 given all the handwork done in their assembly. A US-based company would have found a way to cut most of the skilled workers and have automated much of the process.

Cert Denied In Drake v. Jerejian

The Supreme Court denied certiorari to the New Jersey case challenging that state's justifiable need requirement to obtain a carry permit. The list of orders gives no explanation for the denial.

Lyle Denniston of the SCOTUS Blog had this to say in his live blog of the announcement:

The denial of Drake was without explanation or noted dissents. That does not mean that no one voted for cert; probably that those who wanted to grant, if there were any, were unsure about prevailing on the merits. The list of denial of 2d Amendment outside-the-home cases is lengthening. It is unclear what kind of case on that subject will attract the Court's attention.

While we have a split in the circuits, it doesn't mean that they have to take a case. Countertop has a very good overview of what may have transpired regarding this case in the comments over at Shall Not Be Questioned. 

All I can say is damn. After they punted on Kachalsky and Woollard (especially Woollard!), I thought this might be the one. The only way around this for people living in occupied territories is to convince their friend and neighbors that this must change legislatively.

An Offer We Can't Refuse? Not Quite.

New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) thinks she has an offer that gun owners can't refuse. I think she has been watching too many re-runs of The Sopranos.

In an exclusive interview with MSNBC (which should tell you something right there), Weinberg said she will introduce legislation to repeal New Jersey's so-called "smart gun" law if the National Rifle Association will agree to not stand in the way of the technology.

Weinberg said that if opposition to the New Jersey law is stopping smart guns from being sold, she will seek to have it changed – if the NRA agrees to stop standing in the way of smart gun technology.

“If, in fact, the NRA will make a public commitment to not stand in the way of the manufacture, distribution or sale of any gun that is limited by technology to the use of only its owner,” Weinberg said, “then I will ask the New Jersey legislature to amend the law.”

Weinberg said she was taking the position in an attempt to meet smart gun opponents “right on their own ground,” since “whatever goalposts they set for you, they move them.”

“I have never been involved in an issue that results in the kind of vitriolic pushback that I get both personally and professionally when I’m involved in something as simple as gun safety,” she added.

Weinberg makes the same mistake that many in the gun prohibitionist community makes. She assumes that the NRA is a monolithic organization that merely needs to snap its fingers for gun right supporters to fall into line. That may be the case with the astroturf organizations that support gun control but it doesn't work in a movement where you have genuine grassroots. The NRA is led as much by the grassroots as the grassroots is led by the NRA. In other words, they both exert influence.

As to Weinberg's comments about the pushback she gets on "something as simple as gun safety", it is because it isn't about gun safety. It is about control and interfering with an enumerated Constitutional right. If it was really about safety, then the first group to have so-called smart guns would be cops as so many of them have been shot with their own firearms. That said, the New Jersey law specifically exempts law enforcement and the military. Their new handguns are not required to be "personalized handguns" as they are called in the bill.

So Loretta, thanks for the offer but no thanks. It is an offer that we can refuse.

Florida Carry, SAF Sue Broward County And City Of Tallahassee

Florida Carry is joined in a pair of lawsuits against Broward County and the City of Tallahassee by the Second Amendment Foundation. The suits are to force the municipalities to bring their local ordinances into compliance with Florida state law regarding firearms. Florida has statewide preemption but a number of municipalities over the years have tried to evade it.

From Florida Carry:

Florida Carry today filed two lawsuits for blatant violations of Florida's law that preempts local gun control.

Joined by the Second Amendment Foundation, the first case filed is against the City of Tallahassee.

In the second case, Florida Carry filed against Broward County.

"Since 2011, Florida Carry has prompted the repeal of anti-gun ordinances and regulations in over 200 Florida jurisdictions, including municipalities, counties, colleges and state agencies," noted Florida Carry Executive Director Sean Caranna. "Usually the jurisdiction is responsive to our notification that there is a problem and no lawsuit is necessary. It is a rare and unfortunate circumstance when local government leaders decide to willfully break state law, despite the personal penalties. When local officials are willing to knowingly violate the law in order to suppress the rights of law-abiding gun owners, they can expect that we're going to make them pay for it."

Broward County has ignored repeated attempts by Florida Carry to gain its compliance with state law and left us with no choice but to file this case. When local officials refuse to stop breaking the law in order to deny the rights of Floridians, Florida Carry will act to demand that people's rights be protected. Broward County Administrator Bertha Henry is also named as a defendant in the case. Florida Carry is represented by Miami attorneys Michael T. Davis and Benedict P. Kuehne of The Law Offices of Benedict P. Kuehne, P.A. and Florida Carry General Counsel Eric J. Friday with Fletcher & Phillips of Jacksonville.

Florida Carry, Inc. and the Second Amendment Foundation joined forces in the lawsuit against the City of Tallahassee for refusing to repeal ordinances restricting the use of firearms in defiance of Florida's firearms preemption law.

"We're happy to partner with Florida Carry on this legal action," said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. "This is not the first time we have had to take a city to court for violating a state preemption law. Why municipal governments still don't understand the concept of preemption is a mystery to us"

"Clearly," Gottlieb observed, "Tallahassee has way over-stepped its authority under state preemption. The Florida Legislature has exclusive domain over firearms regulation. When the law was passed, it nullified all existing, and future, city and county firearm ordinances and regulations.

"Mayor Marks and his colleagues on the city commission knew all of this," he added, "but they rejected an opportunity to bring the city into compliance in February. Their stubbornness really left us no choice but to join Florida Carry in this action."

Named as defendants in the Tallahassee case are Mayor John Marks, and City Commissioners Nancy Miller, Andrew Gillum, and Gil Ziffer. SAF and Florida Carry are represented by Jacksonville attorneys Lesley McKinney with McKinney, Wilkes & Mee, and Florida Carry General Counsel Eric J. Friday with Fletcher & Phillips.

Florida Carry is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental civil right of all Floridians to keep and bear arms for self-defense as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Florida Constitution's Declaration of Rights.

Florida Carry, Inc. was organized in order to better coordinate activities, effectively lobby the state legislature, and to provide a legal entity capable of filing suit to demand compliance with state and federal law. Florida Carry stands to represent our members, the approximately 8 million gun owners, and countless knife and defensive weapon carriers of Florida.

As an editorial comment, this is the stuff that the Second Amendment Foundation should be doing and not trying to get involved with background check legislation. I've made the comment before and I'll make it again: the NRA-ILA should do legislative stuff which it does so well and the Second Amendment Foundation should do legal stuff which it does so well and neither should get involved in areas in which they are less than excellent.

Comment Of The Day

For a Brit, Charles C. W. Cooke of the National Review gets it on gun control and gun rights. Maybe because his native land has so eviscerated any semblance of gun rights, Cooke is more aware of what is at stake than many Americans. In an article published yesterday in the National Review, he takes on what he calls the "terminal vagueness" of Everytown Moms for Illegal Mayors. When he asks both a Demanding Mommies volunteer and Everytown Communications Director Erika Soto Lamb a direct question regarding whether they support a new AWB or mag restrictions, he gets evasiveness. While one would assume that they would have no problem supporting both of those restrictions, they don't want to go on record.

Cooke concludes that the gun prohibitionists have a problem with being too specific about their intentions and it carries over to their "branding".

While the National Rifle Association has maintained its name and branding since it was founded in 1871, the gun-control movement has gone through names and outfits faster than Prince. Before market research informed its leadership that words matter, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was named first the “National Council to Control Handguns” and then “Handgun Control Inc.” — both of which titles are nice and descriptive but, alas, leave little room for ambiguity. This, evidently, will not do. In a fight in which deception has become paramount — who honestly believes that Everytown would not support an assault-weapons ban? — vocabulary has become king and euphemism indispensable. Gun “control” has thus become gun “safety”; restrictions on ownership have become “gun-violence prevention”; and hard policy has been subordinated to woolly platitude. Michael Bloomberg may have rebranded his effort, but he has not yet managed to stop the truth getting out, nor to prevent his more moderate supporters from recognizing the ruse and bolting. And “a hog in a silk waistcoat,” as Charles Spurgeon famously quipped, is ultimately “still a hog.”

Purdue University Homeland Security Institute: Guns In Schools Save Lives

Dr. J. Eric Dietz, director of the Purdue University's Homeland Security Institute, presented research at the recent NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis regarding active shooters in schools. Their threat assessment modeling program examined the active shooter scenario and looked at factors that would be most effective in reducing casualties. These factors included locked doors, school resource officers, and staff carrying concealed.

The control scenario was just a school with locked doors and no resource officers or staff with concealed carry permits. The researchers found that the control scenario had the most casualties and the longest response time. Their model showed that the response time would be 10-12 minutes and an average of 20 casualties. Their model used historical active shooter data to arrive at this.

When a school resource officer is introduced to the scenario, response times dropped to a quarter of the original times and casualties were reduced by two-thirds.

The scenario involving concealed carry in the school had rather conservative parameters. Only 5-10% of the staff and administration carried concealed and those holders sheltered in place with their students. They only engaged the threat when the shooter came into the room in which they were sheltered. In other words, they were not roaming the school actively searching out the shooter. The Homeland Security Institute found that adding concealed carry holders to the mix reduced both response times and casualties the most of any scenario tested. As Dr. Dietz charactered it, more friendly guns in a firefight is a good thing.

The research has not yet been published but will be soon.

You can see Cam Edward's full interview with Dr. Dietz below:

Mark Glaze Out; Question Mark In

Mark Glaze was is the Executive Director of Everytown Moms for Illegal Mayors has announced he is leaving his position with the group in June according to a report out from Thompson/Reuters.

"It is time for me to hand off the fight to somebody else," Glaze, 43, said in an interview. "The issue is unbelievably important to me. But it's a tough issue and a tough grind. And there's a point where you feel you've done all you can do."

Glaze said he planned to do some consulting.

Sebastian offers his analysis of the move here.

In my opinion, Mark Glaze was an outsider and Bloomberg wants to put one of his inner circle into the position. Glaze is a principal in the Raben Group which is a DC political consulting firm. Now that Bloomberg is putting up some serious cash, he wants someone whom he can control in the position of Executive Director.

My guess for the next Executive Director would be John Feinblatt. He served in Bloomberg's NYC administration as the chief advisor for policy and strategic planning and as the criminal justice coordinator. He was Bloomberg's point man for MAIG within the Office of the Mayor. Now that Bloomberg is out of office I think he wants to continue using Feinblatt in that role. Like Glaze, he is both a lawyer and gay. However, at age 62, he is considerably older and presumably more experienced in the halls of power than the younger Glaze. I only bring up that Feinblatt is gay to point out that Glaze isn't being pushed out over his sexual orientation.

As to the stay-at-home mother of five being the next Executive Director, not a chance in hell.