Category: Safety

And the number one state with most NICS checks so far this year is…….

Dwarfing all other states, FBI data show Illinois had 4.6 million background checks for guns in first seven months

(The Center Square) – Illinois topped the list of all states for firearm background checks so far this year, and is already on pace to blow last year’s numbers out of the water. And reports persist of people waiting beyond the three-day waiting period to pick up the guns they’ve purchased.

There are also more than 143,000 Firearm Owner Identification, or FOID card, applicants still waiting for their cards to be processed by Illinois State Police.

A state Representative says this is tantamount to civil rights being infringed.

Monthly records from the FBI’s NICS Firearm Background Checks report show in the first seven months of the year, there have been nearly 4.6 million checks. That dwarfs every other state, with only Kentucky coming close with 2.2 million checks from January through July. Continue reading “”

BLUF:
NASA knows about only a fraction of near-Earth objects (NEOs) like this one. Many do not cross any telescope’s line of sight, and several potentially dangerous asteroids have snuck up on scientists in recent years.

If the wrong one slipped through the gaps in our NEO-surveillance systems, it could kill tens of thousands of people.

An Asteroid Just Made The Closest Earth Fly-by on Record, And We Didn’t See It Coming.

A car-size asteroid flew within about 1,830 miles (2,950 kilometers) of Earth on Sunday.

That’s a remarkably close shave – the closest ever recorded, in fact, according to asteroid trackers and a catalogue compiled by Sormano Astronomical Observatory in Italy.

Because of its size, the space rock most likely wouldn’t have posed any danger to people on the ground had it struck our planet. But the close call is worrisome nonetheless, since astronomers had no idea the asteroid existed until after it passed by.

“The asteroid approached undetected from the direction of the Sun,” Paul Chodas, the director of NASA’s Centre for Near Earth Object Studies, told Business Insider.

“We didn’t see it coming.” Continue reading “”

Students demand university offer ‘safe’ rides home at night after defunding police

Binghamton University announced in June that they are reallocating a portion of the campus police department’s budget to other campus services such as “mental health.” Just two months later, students are now petitioning the university to provide them with car rides home at night to make them “feel safe.”

Specifically, students at Binghamton are calling for the school to resume its “Safe Ride” program.

Safe Ride is a form of on-campus transportation provided by the university from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. during the school year. If students feel unsafe walking on the campus between these hours, they can call this service and be driven to their destination. Continue reading “”

Granted that Portland is a hotbed of these riots and lack of police protection, but their experience should be educational. Have you ‘sand tabled’ – as in worked out in advance – what you and yours will do if in the same situation, and then be in the process, or completed your preparations?

Over 60 Portland 911 calls go unheeded overnight as police respond to riot

More than 60 emergency calls to police went unheeded overnight in Portland as officers were preoccupied with hundreds of demonstrators downtown and were pelted by rocks.

On the 80th consecutive night of protests, the Portland Police Bureau declared a riot around midnight Sunday after a crowd of hundreds had blocked traffic for three hours by the Penumbra Kelly Building in the 4700 block of East Burnside Street, trespassed on the closed property and engaged in “violent, tumultuous conduct.” Continue reading “”

The most revealing poll of all: gun sales

For decades, the Democratic party has wanted to abrogate the Second Amendment, to ban the sale of guns of any and all calibers, sizes, shapes and potential uses.  They have long sought to limit the amount of ammo per gun and were just foiled again on that score.

The left has yet to realize the obvious, that criminals do not obey laws of any kind, least of all gun laws.  So deluded are the gun-banning Democrats, they do not believe that Americans have the right to defend themselves against said criminals.  These Democrats who want to run our lives all have armed security themselves, but we peons are, in their warped view, are to be forever denied the rights they bestow upon themselves.

Like the imbecilic Beto O’Rourke before her, Kamala Harris advocates gun confiscation; she wants the tyrannical government she and Joe are promoting to go into our homes and seize our legally-obtained weapons of self-defense.

Like Hitler, Stalin and Mao, seizing the firearms of the citizenry is the first step toward despotism.  But the left misjudges the spirit of Americans who have escaped being indoctrinated by the anti-American, anti-constitutionalism that the left in academia and the media have been pushing for decades.  Most of us take the Constitution and its accompanying Bill of Rights very seriously.  Both have served this nation well for two-hundred and forty-four years.  No self-righteous, virtue-signaling political lefty elitist is going to convince Americans who support the Constitution that the government has the right to confiscate their guns.

Well before Biden’s selection of Harris as his running mate, in the first half of 2020, gun sales have increased by 95%, (ten million guns), ammunition sales are up by 139%.

The numbers eclipse all of 2019.  The highest increase is among black men and women, 58.2%.

Can you blame them?  The wanton violence that has plagued Democrat-run cities like Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago (homicides up 139%),  New York (13% increase in shooting incidents, 23% increase in homicides), Seattle, D.C., Los Angeles, Atlanta, etc. over the past several months with the blessings of the Democrat governors and mayors that run them has taught law-abiding blacks that the police are being driven from these cities, betrayed by the elected leaders charged with enforcing the law.  Violent crime has spiked in all those places.  Continue reading “”

Couldn’t be the riots, looting and such could it? nahhhhh.

Survey: Gun Control Support Down Double Digits from Last Year.

A Rasmussen Reports survey shows likely voter support for gun control has dropped double digits since this time last year.

According to the survey, 52 percent of likely voters support stricter gun control now versus the 64 percent who supported it a year ago, and the 56 percent who supported it in years prior to that.

Forty-seven percent of likely voters “say they or someone in their household now owns a gun,” and among those likely voters in gun-owning households 27 percent “say they or someone in their family has purchased one within the last six months.”

On July 1, Breitbart News reported that the first six months of 2020 witnessed 6 consecutive records for firearm background checks.

In other words, January 2020 set the record for the most background checks ever conducted in the month of January, February 2020 set the record for the most in February, March for the most in March, and so on all the way through June.

June 2020 not only set the record for background checks in the month of June, but the most background checks in a single month, period. FBI numbers showed 3,931,607 NICS checks conducted in June, which beat the previous single month record of 3,740,688 checks, set in March 2020.

Record-Setting Interest in Self-Defense

Two trend lines related to our issue have diverged in a remarkable way that indicates that firearms and the 2nd Amendment are fundamental American mainstays. We’ve covered the string of record-breaking NICS background check numbers since the onset of the pandemic, and July NICS data continues that trend. New data from Gallup shows that gun control has slid further down Americans’ list of most important issues, and a deeper dive into NICS data suggests that new gun owners and the need for self-defense are driving the 2020 surge. Continue reading “”

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM PANDEMIC PANIC?
ABOVE ALL ELSE, IT SCARED THE GUN CONTROL CROWD!

Want to frighten the gun prohibition lobby?

Declare a pandemic and watch legions of fence-sitting non-gun owners scramble to be first in line at the nearest gun store, then watch their facial expressions when they discover buying guns really isn’t as easy or haphazard as they’ve been led to believe.

Disappointment and worry are great motivations to change one’s philosophy, especially when it might involve personal preservation. Every new gun owner can translate to a new rights activist, which means one less gun-control extremist. Continue reading “”

Readers respond: Gun rights aren’t ‘so-called’

A recent letter writer believes Americans’ “so-called ‘gun rights’ ” should be included in the national conversation on violence. (“Include gun control in the conversation,” Aug. 3). The right of Americans to own and carry guns is far from “so-called.” They are enumerated in the U.S. Constitution and in Oregon’s Constitution and have been recognized and upheld by the Supreme Court with the Heller decision in 2008.

As of this writing, Portland has recorded its deadliest month in the past 30 years (“Portland police record highest number of death investigations in single month in more than three decades,” July 30). Stabbings, shootings, assaults and home invasions are a regular occurrence. There is a call for law enforcement to be defunded, and ineffectual leaders have hobbled the police bureau for their own political gain. Gun sales are at an all-time high, background checks take many days instead of several minutes, and ammunition is in short supply. This is a result of concerned Americans wishing to protect themselves from violent criminals when local governments refuse to.

One can be displeased by the fact that Americans enjoy a unique right to self-preservation, but to deny the Second Amendment and falsely claim the right to keep and bear arms as “so-called” is intellectually dishonest. Law-abiding gun owners have every right to arm themselves. Thankfully, the Founding Fathers added no provisions in the Bill of Rights protecting the timid from never encountering things that make them uncomfortable or that offend delicate sensibilities.

Norwood Paladin, Portland

When Government Encourages Victimhood, You Have an Alternative

According to a report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the number of officers in the Minneapolis Police Department has been reduced 10 percent since May and the department “could lose as much as a third of its workforce by the end of the year.” Some on the city council have sought to abolish the police department.

With this development, there has been a corresponding spike in violent crime. Minnesota Public Radio reported that as of August 4 Minneapolis had experienced more than twice as many homicides in 2020 as during the same period in 2019. Local CBS affiliate WCCO reported that through July 26 robberies in 2020 were up 36 percent over the same time period in 2019.

The situation has become so dire, that on July 28 Minneapolis issued a warning to city residents in the 3rd precinct. The missive read,

Robberies and Carjackings have increased in our Precinct. Cell phones, purses, and vehicles are being targeted. Some victims have been maced, dragged, assaulted, and some threatened with a gun…

100 Robberies and 20 Carjackings have been reported to the 3rd Precinct Police in July Alone. Downtown and Southwest Minneapolis have seen an increase as well.

As part of a set of “Robbery Prevention Tips” that accompanied the alert, the city encouraged the targets of violent crime to acquiesce to their attacker. The document advised “Do not argue or fight with the criminal. Do as they say.

Despite the proclamations of governments that have neglected their most fundamental responsibilities, Americans need not be victims. When presented with a reasonable threat of death or grievous bodily harm, free individuals have the right to defend themselves with deadly force. This right is inherent to all people, preexists any government, and is not dependent upon the Second Amendment – which codifies the right to armed self-defense in the U.S. Constitution.

In his book, Armed: New Perspectives on Gun Control, Florida State Professor of Criminology Gary Kleck addressed the efficacy of armed self-defense. Citing crime victimization data, Kleck determined “[v]ictims who used guns were less likely to be injured than crime victims who did not resist.”

The practical ability of average Americans to meet violent crime with armed self-defense has improved substantially since Professor Kleck first began his research. Continue reading “”

More Americans are realizing government and the police can’t, or won’t  protect you.

Although I have always been a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, I never advocated that everyone should get a gun. I did support and continue to support freedom of choice in owning and possessing firearms. But now, it is time for every law-abiding American citizen to be armed. Learn how to properly use a gun and how to safeguard it.

Our Country is at a crossroads. We stand to lose everything near and dear to us if we don’t pay to heed to the threats directed against us, bearing down relentlessly on all of us.

It is the responsibility of all citizens to safeguard their own life and safety and that of their families, and to preserve our Republic as the founders intended; to protect it from the insinuation of tyranny that the Radical Left would dare impose on Americans.

THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT PROTECT YOU! YOU MUST PROTECT YOURSELF!

As a NYPD veteran police officer, and Adjunct Professor/Lecturer of Police Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, National Rifle Association Certified Firearms Instructor (pistol, rifle, and shotgun), and Training Counselor, and active member of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, and lifetime resident of New York City, I have dedicated my life to the preservation and strengthening of our cherished Second Amendment. This is no easy task, especially today, as we see constant, concerted, vigorous attacks on the fundamental right of personal defense with firearms. Continue reading “”

Voting With Their Guns

There’s nothing like nationwide protests and a murder surge in major cities to cause a spurt of new gun sales. Gun controllers may want to rethink their 2020 strategy.
The FBI’s most recent gun-sale figures are stunning. They show that in July the bureau carried out 3.6 million background checks, the third highest month on record. Adjusting to reflect checks only for gun purchases, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) says this translates to 1.8 million gun sales for July 2020—a 122% increase over July 2019. The 12,141,032 gun sales through this July is just shy of the 13,199,172 sales for all of 2019.
These record sales are best understood as a referendum on the riots, and the growing lack of confidence many Americans have that police will protect them. This is more than National Rifle Association spin. Continue reading “”

Yesterday, Senator Ted Cruz held a hearing on the threat antifa  poses to this country.

This is not the first time this bit of information has been noted.

That is 40% of all officer injuries were laser eye injuries.

Laser eye injuries are permanent.  The laser burns the retina, causing partial to total vision loss.  A laser pointer of only a couple of hundred milliwatts can cause permanent eye damage in fractions of a second.

The general standard for the legal use of deadly force is to defend against “death or grave bodily harm.”

I would absolutely consider permanent injury by having your retinas burned with a laser to be grave bodily harm. 

Henry Issues Safety Warning and Recall Notice of Henry Single Shot Rifles and Shotguns

Henry H015

Henry announced that it is voluntarily recalling all H015-series Single Shot Rifles and Single Shot Shotguns manufactured prior to July 1, 2020.  Henry has recently discovered a potential safety issue wherein, under certain conditions, it is possible that some of these models may discharge without the trigger being pulled if the hammer is partially cocked and released. To prevent the possibility of death or serious personal injury, you should immediately stop using all H015-series Single Shot Rifles and Single Shot Shotguns and not load or fire them until they have been upgraded.

The safety issue leading to this voluntary recall was discovered internally while testing the existing fire control system for a trigger pull upgrade.  This is the first product safety recall in the company’s nearly 25-year history.  Although not every Henry H015-series firearm may be affected, Henry Repeating Arms is requesting that all Single Shot Rifles and Single Shot Shotguns be returned to be upgraded free of charge pursuant to this recall to prevent the possibility of the firearm discharging without the trigger being pulled.  All H015 owners should visit the Henry H015 Recall website at HenryUSA.com/recall, email recall@henryusa.com, or call 1-866-200-2354 (M-F, 9AM ET-5PM ET) to obtain additional information and begin the upgrade process.

Henry Repeating Arms will upgrade all returned Single Shot Rifles and Single Shot Shotguns in the order in which they are received.  Henry Repeating Arms is ready to begin performing the upgrade as the firearms are received.  Information on the current turnaround time for firearms returned to be upgraded will be provided at HenryUSA.com/recall.  Henry Repeating Arms will make every effort to minimize the amount of time required to upgrade and return your firearm.  As a sign of appreciation to its customers, Henry Repeating Arms will also perform an unrelated performance upgrade to improve the trigger pull on all firearms returned pursuant to this recall free of charge.

SPLC’s New Attack on Gun Owners

The nonsense from the Southern Poverty Law Center continues. The SPLC, which doesn’t actually do poverty law because it’s too busy labeling everyone with insufficient melanin in their skin as racist, would like to turn back the clock on Stand Your Ground laws. In a new report, they claim with no real evidence or analysis, that the laws promote killings of blacks by whites. This is nonsense, and they know it. But it comes at the perfect time: with police running from constant assault and the rest of the country being told that only black lives matter. You almost have to admire their moxie.

To understand the situation with Stand Your Ground laws, it’s important to understand how these laws came about. As part of the backlash against the “anything goes” wild west, legislatures adopted laws regarding self-defense that had the admirable goal of reducing violence. They imposed on everyone a duty to retreat rather than engage in violence. At its core, it had good motives, but it amounted to a “shoot first” directive to criminals. Some states, like the state of Massachusetts with its antediluvian policies, still has not modernized its law with respect to self-defense. Continue reading “”

Help Us Safeguard the Second Amendment
You’re not paranoid: Democrats do want to take your guns away.

There are many great reasons to contribute to the National Review webathon, but I believe that none is more important than the publication’s steadfast defense of the Second Amendment.

After the outbreak of the coronavirus, millions of Americans, feeling helpless and besieged by forces outside their control, began purchasing firearms to protect their families, property, and community. Once the lawlessness and fanaticism of the Antifa protests began spreading across the country, the number of gun owners continued to climb. When Democrats began embracing the notion of “defunding the police,” even more citizens saw gun ownership as a necessity of contemporary life. Continue reading “”

The Back-Up Gun: 3 Reasons To Carry One

While perusing various online sources of gun-related news and information, I’ve noticed an old term cropping up that I haven’t seen in a long time: The New York Reload.

This term was brought into circulation by Massad Ayoob many years ago after learning that officers of the NYPD Stakeout Unit of the time, who were armed primarily with double-action revolvers, often moved to a second (or third) wheelgun when the ammunition was exhausted in their primary firearm.

Here are just a few of the arguments in favor of back-up guns for home defense and concealed carry:

1. The first gun goes click instead of bang.
 Despite our best efforts to purchase firearms from reputable manufacturers, load them with quality ammunition, and keep them in proper working order, firearms can still fail to operate properly at the most inconvenient times.

2. A primary defensive gun is not accessible.
This is especially true in concealed-carry situations. By the time a defensive situation calls for a handgun to be drawn, the dominant shooting hand might be injured or occupied holding an attacker at bay. It’s also possible for a primary gun to be dropped, knocked away, or you may be in a wrestling match with an assailant to maintain control of your gun.

3. Additional guns can be used to arm other responsible adults.
I can’t help but roll my eyes when watching some silly movie in which a man pulls out a handgun as he goes to investigate a noise in the night leaving his poor, helpless wife all alone with nothing but a good set of vocal chords to defend herself. Those Hollywood writers obviously haven’t met the women I know.

Culpeper County sheriff recruiting volunteers in support of pro-gun agenda

Culpeper Sheriff Scott Jenkins is advancing his vow from last year to swear in scores of auxiliary deputies to protect their gun rights in the face of potential new gun restrictions pending at the state level.

The county’s elected lawman is accepting applications through Sept. 30 for “volunteer background investigators” to screen any future reserve deputies, according to a post Monday at the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page.

The volunteer investigators must be current sworn, retired or former law enforcement officers able to perform background investigations and vet any forthcoming applicants, the post stated. Continue reading “”