Category: Safety

11 days after Kamala Harris says that ‘Only the government should have assault weapons’, an Army trainee hijacks an elementary school bus full of children…….

The 23-year-old suspect was taken into custody.

A Fort Jackson trainee is in custody after allegedly hijacking a South Carolina elementary school bus with 18 children on board while carrying a rifle, authorities said.

The Forest Lake Elementary students and the bus driver are safe, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said at a news conference.

The 23-year-old trainee’s weapon did not have ammunition, Fort Jackson Commander Brig. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr. said at a news conference, adding that the children and driver could not have known that.

Lott called this “one of the scariest calls that we could get in law enforcement.”

The incident began around 7 a.m. Thursday when the suspect allegedly hopped a barbed wire fence and fled Fort Jackson, according to Lott and Beagle.

The children had boarded the bus when the armed suspect, Jovan Collazo, got on and allegedly “told the bus driver he didn’t want to hurt him, but he wanted him to drive him to the next town,” Lott said.

The sheriff’s office released surveillance video from inside the school bus showing the suspect pointing a rifle at the bus driver and telling him to drive.

The bus driver started driving and Collazo brought the children to the front of the bus, Lott said.

“The kids started asking lots of questions to the suspect if he was going to hurt them or the bus driver,” Lott said.

“The suspect got a little frustrated,” Lott said, and the driver pulled over.

After six minutes on board with Collazo, the children and the bus driver got off safely, Lott said.

The suspect then drove the bus for a few miles before abandoning it, leaving the rifle inside, Lott said.

Collazo was spotted by deputies and civilians and was arrested without incident, Lott said. He faces charges including kidnapping, Lott said.

Beagle described the trainee, believed to be in his third week at Fort Jackson, as a quiet 23-year-old from New Jersey. He said it appeared the trainee was trying to get home.

“There is nothing that leads us to believe in his counseling, in his screening records coming in, that this had anything to do with harming others, harming himself or anything that links to any type of nefarious activity,” Beagle said. “We do experience several soldiers that over the course of initial stages have that desire, that anxiety, and due to separation from their families, to get home. We think that was truly his intent and nothing beyond that.”

Richland County School Board Chairman James Manning said, “I’ve been on the board now for over 10 years and I have never received a call that scared me as much as the call that I received this morning — that a bus had been hijacked with our students and staff.”

The students were taken to school “where they received support from school employees and counselors and were reunited with their parents/guardians,” the school district said.

Superintendent Baron Davis said in a statement, “Once we were certain all students were accounted for and physically safe, we immediately began deploying social and emotional counseling resources to the school so that our students could begin the process of healing as they are dealing with a traumatic event. We will continue to provide counseling services for the students and their families, our bus driver and employees as long as necessary.”

Lott praised the bus driver who he said “kept his cool” and “kept the situation calm.”

“His main concern was the safety of those kids and he did his job,” Lott said.

RUGER-57™ SAFETY BULLETIN

Ruger has discovered that a small number of Ruger-57 pistols may have right safety levers that do not meet our specifications and may be prone to cracking. Although only a very small number of pistols appear to be affected, Ruger is committed to safety and is asking owners of Ruger-57 pistols to perform a routine function check of the safety lever to ensure its proper operation. If the function check confirms that the safety lever is operating properly, no further action is required. If you find that your pistol’s safety lever is not functioning properly, please sign up for this retrofit. View Safety Bulletin PDF

RUGER-57 PISTOLS WITH A SERIAL NUMBER OF 642-26275 AND ABOVE ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THIS SAFETY BULLETIN.

Products Subject to This Safety Bulletin

Potentially affected pistols include any Ruger-57 pistol with a serial number of 642-26274 or lower (including all Ruger-57 pistols with a “641” prefix). If your Ruger-57 pistol is within this range (641-00000 to 642-26274), you should follow the inspection procedure outlined below to determine whether your pistol requires a retrofit. Ruger-57 pistols with a serial number of 642-26275 and above are not affected by this Safety Bulletin.

Description of the Issue

In some rare instances, the internal “leg” of the right safety lever may crack or break, rendering the manual safety ineffective. If present, this condition may cause the manual safety to appear to be functioning properly when it is not. Although Ruger already instructs owners of Ruger-57 pistols to perform a function check before each use, we are requesting that all owners of potentially affected pistols perform this safety inspection immediately.

How to Inspect Your Pistol

BEFORE YOU BEGIN, BE SURE YOUR PISTOL IS UNLOADED AND THERE IS NO LIVE AMMUNITION IN YOUR WORKSPACE.

  • With the pistol pointed in a safe direction, remove the magazine and place the manual safety in the “fire” position.
  • Retract the slide and lock it to the rear using the slide stop.
  • Visually and physically inspect the chamber to ensure there is no ammunition present.
  • Retract the slide slightly and release to allow the slide to close on an empty chamber.
  • Engage the manual safety (see Figure 1) by pushing up on the safety lever. Ensure it moves up fully and “clicks” into place.
  • With the pistol pointed in a safe direction, pull the trigger firmly, but do not force it beyond the point where you meet resistance. The trigger should be blocked and the hammer should not fall (see Figure 2A).

NOTE: If your pistol PASSES the function check (trigger is blocked and hammer does not fall) NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUIRED.

If your pistol FAILS the function check (with the manual safety engaged, you are able to pull the trigger and the hammer falls – Figure 2B), PLEASE DO NOT USE YOUR PISTOL. SIGN UP FOR THE RETROFIT OR CALL US AT 336-949-5200.

Ruger reminds consumers that periodic inspection and function checks of any firearm is important to ensuring its safe operation. It is important to frequently perform regular function checks as described in your instruction manual, and to clean and inspect your firearm after each range session. Proper maintenance increases the longevity of your firearm and will allow early detection of worn or broken parts.

Ruger also reminds consumers to always treat every firearm as though it is loaded and always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Never rely upon any safety or mechanical device to justify unsafe or careless firearm handling.

How to Sign Up for the Retrofit

STEP 1: Perform the function check. If your pistol PASSES the function check, no further action is required.

STEP 2: If your pistol FAILS the function check (you are able to pull the trigger and release the hammer with the manual safety engaged), please do not use your pistol. Sign up for the retrofit below or by phone at 336-949-5200.

STEP 3: Our Customer Service team will issue you an RMA and send you a pre-paid shipping label to return your pistol for service.

STEP 4: We will perform all required safety updates and will make every effort to return your pistol within one week of when we receive it.

Sign Up For Retrofit

I figure shooting lots of holes as fast as possible in a bad guy qualifies.

Why Doing the Unexpected Aids in Self Defense

One of our patrolmen, on night shift, was checking the business houses in his district when he spotted a burglar inside an auto parts store at about the same time that the burglar spotted him. The immediate problem was to somehow cover the front door and the back door until backup could arrive. So our enterprising police officer simply turned on his red lights & siren and drove around and around the building just as fast as he could.

Later, when the burglar was asked why he didn’t make a run for it before reinforcements arrived, he said, “Are you kidding? That maniac might have run over me!”

In another incident, a ranch woman was fixing breakfast long before daylight when a home invader kicked in the kitchen door and made his entry. The woman just grabbed a big old coffee pot off the top of the stove and threw it in his face, hot coffee and all. The crook left so fast that he may have set the record for the all-time shortest home invasion.

The thing to remember is that crooks tend to visualize what is going to happen much like we have encouraged armed citizens to do. The only trouble is that the crook’s visualization tends to take the form of fantasy. They see themselves as super tough and they see you, the citizen, as standing there with your mouth open and your hands up.

We can often turn the tables on the criminal by doing the unexpected. Instead of freezing, we jump right in their face. We throw something at them. We shove furniture in their way. We run at them instead of away from them. In short we do anything that will throw them off balance and give us time to get our defensive firearm into action.

The real key is to not only do the unexpected, but to do it quickly. And don’t hesitate. It is a good idea to keep in mind that the crook has started the ball rolling, and it is OK for you to get as aggressive as you need to.  “Cloud up and rain on him” is an old saying that seems particularly fitting. Just like the bobcat that jumped on the porcupine…he needs to realize that he has taken on more of a task than he ever expected. Think outside the box and turn his day into the worst one he’s ever had.

Be aware of your surroundings and all of the defensive tools that may be at hand. True personal defense comes from between the ears, not from the gun on the hip. Do the unexpected and wreck his day!

Learn to Think like Someone who Chose to be Unarmed

People in the gun culture often express amazement about people who want them disarmed. They ascribe the desire to hostility and malice. It may be true for a minority of those who actively wish for a disarmed population.  A significant number, likely a majority, have made a voluntary decision to be unarmed.

It is important to know your opponent and to understand their motives.

Three years ago, this correspondent wrote an essay on how to understand people who want a disarmed population. It was popular, but did not appear on AmmoLand.

I have updated the essay for current conditions.

There is an easy way to understand people who wish you to be unarmed.

It takes a little discipline. You may have  a little mental discomfort. It is not particularly difficult.  For the ability to understand the other, assume you have deliberately chosen to be unarmed.

Choosing to be armed is more difficult. It requires action. It requires training. It requires an investment in money and time. You think about unpleasant realities and plan for unpleasant possibilities. You devote time and money to be armed. A higher level of responsibility is required.

Once you internalize the decision to be unarmed, arguments on the other side become understandable. The voluntarily unarmed people we are attempting to understand are those who have moved from the decision to be unarmed, to the policy statement “guns are bad”.

Armed people have a power advantage over unarmed people. People do not want others to have a power advantage over them. It makes them uncomfortable. To prevent this, the voluntarily unarmed often want everyone else to be unarmed.

It is why many who are voluntarily unarmed dislike concealed carry, but violently abhor open carry. Open carry presents them with a reality they cannot easily ignore. It destroys their comfortable fantasy.

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Gun Standoff Ensues During Protest Between BLM Activists And Restaurant Patrons Who Just Weren’t Having It

Black Lives Matter activists and patrons brandished guns at each other after a demonstration entered a restaurant’s dining area Saturday evening in Louisville, Kentucky, according to police.

Approximately 50 protesters stopped at La Chasse restaurant and began to harass restaurant patrons, according to a Twitter video. Video footage captured a man pointing his gun at the protestors from the outdoor dining area, the Courier Journal reported.

An unidentified woman was filmed as she physically moved protesters away and shooed them from the restaurant tables. Several protesters took videos on their phones as she repeatedly shouted “keep going” and gestured them to move away from an armed man.

The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) arrived at the restaurant at about 8:35 p.m., five minutes after the protesters arrived, the Courier Journal reported. La Chasse restaurant is about five miles northeast of Churchill Downs, according to TheBlaze.

LMPD said to Daily Caller that they received a call from a restaurant employee about a group of protesters. The employee also told police “that multiple armed protesters entered the … outdoor dining space. During the encounter both patrons and protesters brandished firearms.”

About 20 minutes prior to the confrontation at La Chasse, police officers arrested at least three protesters for refusing to leave the roadway, Courier Journal reported.

The Economist: Constitutional Carry a ‘Troubling Trend’

The Economist labelled the state-level movement toward eliminating concealed carry permit requirements as a “troubling trend.”

The result of this push is permitless carry, or constitutional carry, as it is more often called. States that go this way view the Second Amendment as a sufficient carry permit and do not require law-abiding citizens to get a permit from the state government before exercising their right to bear arms.

Twenty states have currently abolished their concealed permit requirement. Those 20 states are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. (NOTE: Utah’s constitutional carry law goes into effect May 5, 2021, and Tennessee’s takes effect July 1, 2021.)

Texas lawmakers are on the verge of passing constitutional carry legislation and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has made clear he will sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.

The Economist referred to this move toward constitutional carry as a “troubling trend,” claiming:

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For your contemplation.

The Need for Combative Skills as a Handgunner

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the same outrageous quip: “I would just shoot’em.” Or, equally troubling, “I carry a gun so I don’t need to fight.” This will ruffle some feathers, but if you carry a gun so that you don’t need to know how to fight, the gun is a talisman rather than a tool. The operative word in “gunfight” is fight, not gun. A firearm is only a force multiplier, a tool to more effectively accomplish a given task. In the world of violence and personal protection, relatively few tasks fall into the scope of where the firearm is justifiable in use. The gun should be a tool in the overall defensive toolbox, not the toolbox. Unfortunately, many gun carriers lose sight of this and focus too heavily on the particular tool.

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Root of Mass Shootings Pandemic Is Not Gun Access

Growing up in rural South Carolina on my family’s farm, I developed a love, appreciation, and, most importantly, a respect for firearms.

To this day, I remain a collector of firearms and a supporter of the American right to keep and bear arms as enshrined in the Second Amendment. I was taught that safety is paramount to gun ownership, so I have always encouraged responsible gun ownership and use for all Americans.

With that being said, I have noticed a disturbing trend in our country: an ever-increasing number of shootings and gun-related deaths.

And while the quick response from some, namely the left-wing mainstream media and liberal politicians, is to ban weapons and become more restrictive, it appears to me that we have serious mental health and poverty issues contributing to gun violence. I don’t believe that banning guns will result in any significant decline in shootings attributed to these two categories.

In the United States, since January 2021, we have had 195 mass shootings, with 245 people dying and approximately 731 wounded, according to the Mass Shooting Tracker.

While it’s important to acknowledge that there is not a universally accepted definition of what constitutes a “mass shooting,” these numbers are staggering. They are some of the highest numbers in the industrialized world.

Let’s contrast 2021 with when I was growing up, when mass shootings simply weren’t a problem. I believe that this is the direct result of the era and the family structure: Parents were involved in their children’s lives and children were taught discipline and respect.

By and large, members of my generation were raised in households with two parents, and we were taught how to deescalate and talk things out when problems arose. Today, that no longer seems to be the case.

We have a moral and social failing in our country that has caused an increase in mass shooters, predominantly young men. One has to pause to think about what’s different today from 30 or 40 years ago. It certainly isn’t guns, because it’s harder to get guns today than it was in the past, when you didn’t have to go through nationalized background checks. When I was growing up, you could purchase a firearm with no questions asked, yet we didn’t see so many mass shootings.

America’s young men are struggling with mental health issues or are broken and living in poverty with single mothers struggling to survive. Many of them are clearly crying out for help, and we owe it to them to listen.

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BLUF:
Compared to nearly the entire rest of the world, people in the United States have retained the ability to choose to be legally armed or unarmed. Most people in the USA want to keep the option. Nearly all the rest of the world does not have it.

The Case for More Guns, Learn to Think Like The Sheep Who Chose to Be Unarmed

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- People in the gun culture often express amazement about people who want them disarmed. They ascribe the desire to hostility and malice. It may be true for a minority of those who actively wish for a disarmed population.  A significant number, likely a majority, have made a voluntary decision to be unarmed.

It is important to know your opponent and to understand their motives.

Three years ago, this correspondent wrote an essay on how to understand people who want a disarmed population. It was popular but did not appear on AmmoLand News at that time.

I have updated the essay for current conditions.

There Is An Easy Way To Understand People Who Wish You To Be Unarmed.

It takes a little discipline. You may have a little mental discomfort, but it is not particularly difficult.  For the ability to understand the other side, assume you have deliberately chosen to be unarmed.

Choosing to be armed is more difficult. It requires action. It requires training. It requires an investment in money and time. You think about unpleasant realities and plan for unpleasant possibilities. You devote time and money to be armed. A higher level of responsibility is required.

Once you internalize the decision to be unarmed, arguments on the other side become understandable. The voluntarily unarmed people we are attempting to understand are those who have moved from the decision to be unarmed, to the policy statement “guns are bad”.

Guns are Bad
Guns are Bad

Armed people have a power advantage over unarmed people. People do not want others to have a power advantage over them. It makes them uncomfortable. To prevent this, the voluntarily unarmed often want everyone else to be unarmed.

Continue reading “”

WaPo/ABC poll: Enthusiasm drops for gun-control legislation — but why?

Context matters, and so does polling consistency. The Washington Post/ABC News poll taken in 2018 after the Parkland mass shooting demonstrated a peak of enthusiasm for gun-control laws, 57/34. Three years later, that has shifted sixteen points in the gap, 50/43. So what happened?……..

So why has there been such a loss of enthusiasm for gun control? We’d know better if the WaPo/ABC polling units committed to proper interval polling on public opinion, but it’s likely due to the Democratic embrace of ‘abolish/defund the police’ sloganeering and a sharp rise in crime, especially violent crime, over the past year. If we’re abolishing or rolling back police departments, then self-defense becomes even more crucial as crime rises. Democrats are trying to argue two entirely contradictory points at the same time — that only cops should have guns, and that we shouldn’t have cops……….

6 out of 11 states that have gone from No/May Issue to Shall Issue/Permit-Less Carry since 1999 have seen their murder rates DECREASE in the years they allowed concealed carry

Source spreadsheet

The point being that there being no correlation between concealed carry and gun violence, which is significant in that it undercuts most of the rationale behind those people who want gun control.

Oklahoma bill signed into law to protect drivers who strike protesters

On Wednesday, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law that will provide more protection for drivers who unintentionally injure or kill protesters while fleeing from a riot.

On April 21, Stitt signed House Bill 1674 into law, effective November 1, 2021.

The new law states that:

A motor vehicle operator who unintentionally causes injury or death to an individual shall not be criminally or civilly liable for the injury or death, if:

1. The injury or death of the individual occurred while the motor vehicle operator was fleeing from a riot, as defined in Section 1311 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes, under a reasonable belief that fleeing was necessary to protect the motor vehicle operator from serious injury or death; and
2. The motor vehicle operator exercised due care at the time of the death or injury.

House Bill 1674 also makes unlawfully obstructing a roadway a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5000.

Rep. Kevin West, who authored House Bill 1674, explained why he created the legislation.

“Last summer, during the height of violent riots that were sweeping the nation, resulting in loss of life and millions of dollars in property damage, a motorist in Oklahoma traveling with his wife and two school-aged children was surrounded by aggressive protestors in the roadway,” West said. “The protestors beat at his truck and threw things at it, scaring both him and his family. The driver was severely chastised for trying to hurt the protesters and he even faced the possibility of criminal charges for his actions in attempting to evade the protestors. This measure would clarify a motorist’s rights in a similar situation going forward. It also would clarify punishments for rioters acting illegally to impede traffic or seeking harm of other individuals during the course of a riot.”………..

 

3/4 of States Are Now Stand Your Ground; only 12 Are Duty to Retreat

I wrote about this several months ago, but several states have gone stand-your-ground since then—Ohio, Arkansas, and now North Dakota—so I thought I’d repeat it.

[A.] The “duty to retreat” is something of a misnomer (though a very common one); it’s not actually a legally binding duty (the way a parent has a duty to support a minor child, or a driver has a duty to exercise reasonable care while driving). Rather, it’s a provision that, under certain circumstances, failing to retreat from a confrontation will effectively strip you of your right to use deadly force for self-defense.

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‘I never expected I would touch my gun’: Dad pulls CCW gun to protect family in Westroads shooting

OMAHA, Neb. — A metro area dad said the choice was easy to grab his concealed carry weapon and protect his family as gunfire erupted at Westroads Mall Saturday.

“My daughter is getting baptized next weekend so I wanted to get a nice special outfit for her baptism,” Scott Tafoya said. As Tafoya was trying on a suit in Von Maur Saturday, his wife and two daughters went upstairs to shop.

He noticed commotion and saw people running. One man made eye contact with him. “I looked in his eyes and he yelled, ‘Shooter,’” Tafoya said. He took off upstairs to find his family. As he did, he grabbed his gun. His wife told him she heard gunfire.

“Every indication said our lives were in danger and I was going to do everything in my power to make sure we got out of there OK,” Tafoya said.

He’s a legal conceal carry permit holder, even though Westroads Mall is a weapon-free zone.

“I knew that if I ever pulled that out it would truly be a life and death situation and I would deal with the consequences later,” he said.

As Von Maur employees shuttled shoppers into a bathroom, he stood guard.

“I said I have a permit, I’m legal,” he said. He said he stood near the escalators to draw any threat away from where his family was.

“Everyone else on the third floor just got added into that because the best way to keep my family safe was to make sure nobody with ill intentions came up that escalator.” In that moment, he said he didn’t feel fear, but something else. “I was sad. Because I wasn’t expecting to, if it was real I didn’t think I was going to come home,” he said.

Tafoya said he took the bullets out of his gun and walked toward police with his hands up as soon as they arrived.

“I unloaded my weapon, I put it back in the holster where it was very visible that the slide was locked open. I put my permit in my hands and my hands above my head,” he said. He said police allowed him to leave without facing any charges.

“I don’t condone anyone breaking the law. I made the decision that was right for my family, and I stand behind it. I may still get in trouble for it, if I do, it was worth it,” he said.

Tafoya said gun-free zones put people at risk. “I do not want to be carrying a weapon ever. It’s not comfortable, I don’t like it, I wish there was not a need for it,” he said.

Tafoya said he’s been a permit holder for around four years.

“I never, never ever expected to ever touch my gun. But, I’m exceptionally thankful that I had it,” he said.

He adds this won’t discourage him from going to the mall. Westroads Mall said it will have a weapon sniffing dog on premises for the time being.

Asian Americans Create Gun Group as Ownership, Hate Crimes Rise.

A new gun group hoping to educate Asian Americans about gun rights and gun safety in response to rising hate crimes launched on Monday.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Gun Owners (AAPIGO) aims to provide training and representation to a demographic often overlooked in the conversation on guns. They have scheduled their first meet-and-greet range day for May 2 in Livermore, Calif. And they have already signed up 25 people for an informational course on how to apply for a California gun-carry permit followed by a group application drive designed to bring awareness to the rising threat of hate crimes against Asian Americans.

Racist attacks on Asians surged in 2020, with one report putting the figure at nearly 3,800 incidents and the Los Angeles Police Department reporting the rate of hate crimes against Asians more than doubling. Simultaneously, alongside other Americans, Asians began buying more guns. A gun dealer survey conducted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found the number of Asian customers jumping 46 percent in the first half of 2020.

Now, AAPIGO wants to train those new Asian gun owners and equip them to protect themselves against racist attacks.

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Riots are not “protests”
Then again, when they’re ‘social justice protests‘…………..

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs ‘anti-riot’ bill that grants civil immunity to drivers who hit protesters and protects police budgets from being cut

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an anti-riot bill into law on Monday morning that’s aimed at protecting law-enforcement agencies and cracking down on protests that turn violent.

“I think it’s really remarkable if you look at the breadth of this particular piece of legislation,” DeSantis said during a news conference before signing the bill. “It is the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law-enforcement piece of legislation in the country. There’s just nothing even close.”

Florida’s Senate passed the bill last week 23-17, with only one Republican voting in opposition alongside Democrats.

The law, which was designated HB 1, includes a number of measures that crack down on protests in Florida.

It defines a “riot” as a public disturbance involving three or more people “acting with the common intent to assist each other in violent and disorderly conduct” that results in injury to another person, damage to property, or danger of injury or damage.

The law grants civil immunity to people who drive into protesters who are blocking a road, prevents people accused of rioting from bailing out of jail until after their first court appearance, and increases penalties for assaulting law-enforcement officers while engaging in a “riot.”

It also penalizes local governments that interfere with efforts to stop a riot and allows law-enforcement agencies that face funding reductions to file objections.

In a statement to NBC News last week, DeSantis said the legislation “strikes the appropriate balance of safeguarding every Floridian’s constitutional right to peacefully assemble, while ensuring that those who hide behind peaceful protest to cause violence in our communities will be punished.”

But critics say the legislation, and similar bills in several other states, are part of crackdown efforts after a summer of social-justice protests nationwide, according to Pensacola News Journal.

Heavy or Light Bullet Grains for Self-Defense? Considerations and Recommendations

It is very important to evaluate and use the correct bullet weight or grain for your particular handgun purpose and application. Several factors and the inter-relationships among bullet grain, muzzle velocity, muzzle energy, penetration, expansion, recoil, and terminal ballistics for any specific load and handgun affect a shooter’s results and accuracy.

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Oklahoma Senate passes bill protecting drivers who hit protesters blocking roadways

A bill meant to protect drivers who hit protesters during the course of fleeing a riot passed the Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday.

House Bill 1674, which passed through the Senate by a vote of 38-10, would increase penalties for blocking roadways while also providing immunity to drivers who kill or injure motorists while fleeing the scene of a riot in fear for their lives, according to the Associated Press.

The bill comes in response to an incident in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last year in which a driver in a pickup truck drove through a group of George Floyd protesters blocking an interstate and injured several protesters. The driver, whose family was in the car, was not charged.

“The kids cowered in the back seat because they feared for their lives,” one of the Republican sponsors of the bill, Rob Standridge, said. “That’s what this bill is about.”

According to the bill, it would become a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine for protesters who block a public street.

Democrats took issue with the bill, specifically with how the legislation’s language defined the word “riot,” wondering aloud if “peaceful protesters” could be targeted.