No one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words “no” and “not” employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights.
— EDMUND A. OPITZ

My cynical side makes me believe that Stunnedtater Sheehy’s bill is just another act of political Kabuki Theater grandstanding.

Why the Senate’s Newest Carry Reciprocity Bill Should Be Rejected

The Second Amendment is the only enumerated right that stops at the border of the state where you live. You don’t have to beg permission from Florida to exercise your First Amendment rights if you’re taking your family to Disney World. You don’t lose your Fourth Amendment protections when you go experience Mardi Gras in New Orleans. But if you want to keep and bear arms once you cross your state line, you need to have pre-approval from the state where you plan on carrying.

National right-to-carry reciprocity is the answer, and there are several bills in Congress that would address this problem, including HR 38, also known as the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. A new bill introduced in the Senate by Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy, on the other hand, is a step in the wrong direction.

A retired Army special operations veteran is urging Congress to give qualified former special operators nationwide concealed carry privileges enjoyed by retired U.S. law enforcement officers, arguing the elite troops are uniquely trained to protect themselves and Americans.

“It needs to happen,” Gavin Glasenapp, who served 20 years and 12 combat deployments in the Army, told Fox News Digital on Monday.

The Special Operations Forces Concealed Carry Act was put forward last week by Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., months after a companion bill by the same name in the House was introduced in April by Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C.

“These are proven men and women,” Glasenapp, the training operations manager at Delta Defense for the U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) said, adding “they’re specially selected, uniquely trained.”

“I can think of no better group of people to be equipped to defend themselves and others around them. In fact, that’s part of our core values here at Delta Defense.

“We believe every American has the inalienable right to self-defense, and I can think of no better group that to really emulate that and really show you what that looks like.”

I appreciate Glasenapp’s service and I’ll take him at his word when he says that he believes every American has the inalienable right to self-defense, but if that is the case then I don’t see how he can square that position with support for a bill that would allow only a chosen few to exercise their right to carry in all 50 states.

Glasenapp says he can’t think of a better group of people to be equipped to defend themselves and others around them than special forces. I can. It’s a group called “the people,” and they’re the ones whose right to bear arms is explicitly protected by the Constitution. The Second Amendment doesn’t exist for the “specially selected” or “uniquely trained.” It exists for the ordinary American citizen.

My objections to Sheehy’s bill are no different than the ones I raised when Rep. Harrigan introduced his version of the legislation back in April.

The right to keep and bear arms is a right of “the people,” and whether he realizes it or not, Harrigan’s bill (like the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act that’s already in place) turns that right into a privilege reserved for a chosen few. In the case of LEOSA, it’s current and former police officers. Harrigan’s bill would apply that same selective standard to special operators. In both cases, the framework elevates certain members of our society above we the people, and that’s not how our Constitution works. I’d argue that to say that police officers and/or special operators have “earned” the ability to carry a concealed firearm in all 50 states actually undercuts the basic premise of the Second Amendment.

Does it make sense to “trust retired police officers to carry concealed nationwide”? Sure, and it makes sense to allow current and retired special operators to do the same. It also makes sense to allow every lawful gun owner to carry concealed in all 50 states, because that’s what a right of the people looks like; it applies equally across the land, and not just to select individuals or groups.

I don’t have a problem with law enforcement or special ops warriors carrying nationwide. My problem is a system where only law enforcement and operators have the ability to do so.

The counter argument is that this bill, like LEOSA, still moves the ball forward. Once lawmakers see that national right-to-carry reciprocity for these groups hasn’t led to mayhem, the theory goes, they’ll be more likely to support national right-to-carry reciprocity for the rest of us.

The problem with that argument is that we heard the same thing when LEOSA was making its way through Congress 22 years ago, and it doesn’t appear to have made a lick of difference in the years since.

Like Harrigan, Sheehy is also a co-sponsor of the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. I would encourage the senator, just as I encouraged the congressman in April, to stick with the legislation that recognizes the Second Amendment rights of we the people and forget about the bill that (intentionally or not) treats this right as a privilege reserved for a chosen few.

So far, most Republicans in Congress are sticking with reciprocity for all. Harrigan’s bill has just six co-sponsors, compared to 189 for H.R. 38. Sheehy’s companion bill will hopefully receive the same cool reception on Capitol Hill, and we can continue pushing forward for a true national right-to-carry reciprocity law.

GOP Coalition Urges DOJ to Use Rulemaking to Adopt Jensen v. ATF Ruling Nationwide

A letter currently in the possession of Breitbart News shows Rep. Andrew Clyde (R) and a GOP coalition urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to apply the Jensen v. ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] ruling nationwide, broadening its application via rulemaking to include all law-abiding Americans.

On August 5, 2026, Breitbart News reported that plaintiffs in Jensen v. ATF secured a ruling freeing them from the National Firearms Act’s (NFA’s) registration requirements for suppressors and short barrel rifles and shotguns.

Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF is consolidated with Jensen v. ATF, which means numerous plaintiffs — including Silencer Shop customers and members of certain gun rights groups — are free from the burdensome registration requirements if the ruling stands.

The DOJ was given a 7-day window in which to appeal the decision, and the letter from Clyde and 46 other GOP Senators and House members urges the department not to do so.

The letter says:

The court’s opinion tracks precisely the position this Congress articulated when we passed Section 70436 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The court correctly recognized that the NFA’s registration, application, and reporting requirements for short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, silencers, and AOWs have rested only on the taxing power, and that a tax set to zero can no longer support the regulatory machinery built to collect it.

Instead of appealing, the signatories of the letter urge the DOJ to use rulemaking to adopt the various aspects of the ruling nationwide so the benefits it secured are not only applicable to customers of Silencer Shop, members of certain gun rights groups, etc.

The letter says:

The DOJ should apply the court’s constitutional holding as its nationwide operating position. The court held that the challenged NFA provisions — governing registration, application, and transfer of untaxed firearms — are unconstitutional because they no longer rest on any valid exercise of an enumerated power.

That holding does not turn on any fact particular to the named plaintiffs; it applies with equal force to every person subject to these same regulations. Therefore, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) should be directed to apply this ruling as its governing position to all transfers and makings involving untaxed firearms, regardless of whether the applicant is a party to this litigation, again effective immediately.

The signatories explained, “Immediate application of the ruling nationwide is necessary to avoid the untenable alternative in the interim: a split enforcement regime in which the DOJ applies these requirements to one gun owner while declining to apply them to his neighbor, solely because one person happens to be a customer of Silencer Shop or a member of Gun Owners of America.”

The letter continues:

The DOJ should initiate rulemaking to formally rescind or amend the challenged regulations as they apply to untaxed firearms. Rulemaking is necessary to make this outcome permanent.

We urge you to begin that rulemaking process without delay, so that the immediate, nationwide application of the court’s ruling is followed as promptly as the APA allows by a durable regulatory fix that does not depend on the discretion of any particular administration.

The letter concludes by focusing on the important role the Second Amendment has played, and continues to play, in protecting and preserving freedom:

The Second Amendment is the practical guardian of those God-given rights, ensuring that free citizens retain the ultimate means to defend their lives, their liberty, and their families.

When the DOJ defends unconstitutional gun regulations then the ATF becomes weaponized against law-abiding Americans and the government betrays its founding purpose. Restoring the Second Amendment is not merely a policy matter — it is a fulfillment of this nation’s oldest and most sacred promise to its people.

We stand ready to work with you and the Department of Justice to see these priorities enacted, and we are grateful for your continued commitment to our sacred Liberties and the Second Amendment that protects them.

The letter is addressed to Attorney General Todd Blanche and cc’d ATF Director Robert Cekada and will be released to both of them at some point today.

The GOP signatories in addition to Rep. Clyde are Sens. Steve Daines, Roger Marshall, Bill Cassidy, Cynthia Lummis, Mike Lee, John Cornyn, John Barrasso, and Mike Crapo, as well as House members Mary Miller, Keith Self, Diana Harshbarger, Eric Burlison, Eli Crane, John Brecheen, H. Morgan Griffith, Ben Cline, Clay Higgins, Michael Cloud, Ralph Norman, Scott Perry, Warren Davidson, Shari Biggs, Kat Cammack, Bruce Westerman, Derrick Van Orden, Tom McClintock, Mike Collins, Scott DesJarlais, Jimmy Patronis, Morgan Luttrell, Austin Scott, Richard Hudson, Randy Weber, Claudia Tenney, Pete Sessions, Andy Biggs, Riley Moore, Derek Schmidt, Wesley Hunt, Mark Harris, Tim Burchett, Brian Babin, Lauren Boebert, Victoria Spartz, Chip Roy, and Earl L. “Buddy” Carter.

War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. — John Stuart Mills

Man killed after entering Riverton gas station with shotgun identified

RIVERTON — One man who entered a Riverton Chevron Holiday gas station with a shotgun is dead after officials said an armed, unaffiliated person engaged with him.

Riverton public information officer Nate Slack said the man, Ofa’tangikivaha Angilau, 23, was shot and killed by the other individual who had a weapon.

He said no police were involved and no others at the gas station were injured.

In a statement on Monday with the name of the deceased man, Slack said initial reports that the man had fired the shotgun were incorrect.

“We want to reiterate that the investigation has determined initial reports of the man firing shots inside the Holiday Oil were incorrect,” Slack said.

The incident occurred on Friday at the gas station at 12600 S. 4185 West.

According to Slack, the man had entered the gas station to purchase alcohol, but did not have ID, so the clerk refused to sell him alcohol and he became “belligerent” and “argumentative.” At that point, another person tried to de-escalate the situation, and the man left and got into his car.

Slack said the man drove around, but soon came back with a shotgun, and an individual inside the gas station chose to fire and killed Angilau. After being shot, Angilau exited the store and collapsed outside, where he died from his injuries.

He said the person who shot the man has been very cooperative with officers.

“I think this is why a lot of people do conceal carry just to protect themselves in situations like this. Obviously a very unfortunate situation, but they do occur; they are rare, however, especially here in Riverton,” Slack said.

Well, the CT scans show that the ‘lesion’ or whatever it is, in my right lung hasn’t changed in the past 6 months. The thoracic/vascular surgeon says that as far as been his experience, if it was cancer, some sort of change would have been seen by now. So, I get  1 more CT scan in 6 months and if there’s no change………see ya. 

“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the former cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”
– Col. Jeff Cooper

Larry Correia
@monsterhunter45
Looks like it is time to once again post my A to Z Guide to Anti-Gun Vulture Talking Points!

A. Gun owners are never trained enough so are dangerous and shouldn’t be armed at all.

B. Gun owners who do train are crazy psychos living out their wannabe fantasies itching to shoot someone.

C. Even though it takes orders of magnitude more effort to become marginally effective with martial arts than a gun, you are better off using martial arts and not having a gun.

D. *Real Men* use their hands. This is why your mom and grandma shouldn’t have guns either.

E. Twitter randos who have never been punched in the face are experts on real life violence, and whatever you have personally experienced doesn’t count.

F. No matter how trained you are, it is never enough for the hypothetical attacker they make up. Sure, your concealed handgun might be enough to stop a regular robber or rapist, but what about if you get attacked by 20 Chechen terrorists with AKs, huh? Huh? (we call this the Dracula Riding Godzilla rule)

G. If the anti-gun vulture was ever in the military, this makes them a Military Trained Expert. Even though most of the time this means they got to put 20 rounds through an M-16 once in 1992.

H. No matter how many certified MMA bad asses or combat vets go “lol wut, dork? I’d rather have a gun.” the anti-gun Twitter vulture will remain undeterred.

I. Goldilocks Rules apply. No matter how much you know about guns, you’re either too ignorant and dangerous, or you know too much and that makes you dangerous. Whatever amount the anti-gun zealot knows is Just Right.

K. Whatever stats they pull out are sacrosanct. If you cite any numbers they reflexively scream “SOURCE?!” and then have some reason they won’t accept that source when provided. “The actual FBI Crime Statistics? LAME!”

L. At some point they’ll need to talk about how big our penises are, because guns are for compensation. Obviously the female gun owners are compensating for their tiny uteruses.

M. “I believe in the Second Amendment BUUUUUUUUT-” (insert statist BS here)

N. If you insist on using terms correctly and words having actual definitions, clearly this demonstrates you are a fanatic. Words mean whatever they need to mean in that moment, especially legal ones.

O. “Castle Doctrine” is a secret right wing code word that means that you can just shoot whoever you want.

P. Get ready for a history lesson about “what the founders really intended” from some dummy who was stoned through every history class in high school.

Q. Everybody knows big blue cities are way safer than the scary red state flyover country.

R. Gun control isn’t racist! Sure, historical gun control was all about keeping guns out of the hands of the “undesirables” like freed slaves, Indians, and the Irish, but that’s totally different now!

S. AR-15s are the most dangerous gun that’s ever existed. It can fire ten thousand ultra deadly murder bullets a second and each one can explode a moose from a thousand yards away. There is nothing this miracle death machine can’t do.

T. lol your AR-15s are utterly useless against a tyrannical government.

U. The NRA is an all-powerful, super evil entity which has tricked innocent Americans into wanting ultra deadly assault rifles, to satisfy their incessant blood lust. They do this through their ultra powerful marketing, like giving out free hats.

V. Anti-gun organizations are all totally innocent grass roots movements made up of moms, orphans, and kittens, funded entirely by bake sales, who just want the best for all Americans.

W. “I grew up around guns” makes you an unassailable subject matter expert on the topic.

X. The gun industry is made up of giant soulless mega corporations who make trillions of dollars off of selling Glocks to preschoolers. This message was brought to you by benevolent small businesses like the six companies that own most of the world’s media.

Y. Even though everything the anti-gunner proposes is ass backwards and would just make the problems they are crying about worse, and everywhere they get their way good people are disarmed while evil doers are empowered…they CARE HARDER than we do. So we’re the real bad guys.

Z. “You sound angry.”

Any single man must judge for himself whether circumstances warrant obedience or resistance to the commands of the civil magistrate; we are all qualified, entitled, and morally obliged to evaluate the conduct of our rulers.
This political judgement, moreover, is not simply or primarily a right, but like self preservation a duty to God. As such it is a judgment that men cannot part with according to God and Nature. – John Locke

Comment O’ The Day:
I have to remind people about this far too often:
“I can chamber a round faster than you can draw your gun.”
Yeah, try doing it with one of your hands or arms disabled.

Paul provides a link to a more in-depth look at the In-N-Out shooting that provides just such experience. The actual video of the shooting starts at 19 minutes.