Category: Goobermint

That’s because the Chief was in violation of State Law.

Florida police chief learns hard lesson, un-bans guns and ammo
Okeechobee police chief receiving criticism from across the country.

by Lee Williams

Donald C. Hagan, the Chief of the Okeechobee, Florida Police Department, doesn’t appear to be enjoying his time on the national stage.

Hagan had to take some time off, his spokesman said Monday, because he is receiving personal attacks from across the country. As reported Monday, Hagan rocketed to infamy for signing an illegal city ordinance that banned firearm and ammunition sales as well as firearm possession just days before Hurricane Helene made landfall.

“The chief is not in,” a police receptionist said Tuesday morning. She directed calls to Okeechobee Police Major Bettye Taylor, who issued a statement Monday trying to clarify and explain her boss’ actions. Instead, it only muddied the waters.

“The Emergency Ordinance commenced immediately upon the declaration by the Police Chief and was thereafter terminated by the Police Chief on or about 9:51 pm on the same date it was issued.

The Emergency Ordinance was terminated for two primary reasons. One is that, fortunately, Hurricane Helene did not have a substantial impact on the City and its residents.

Secondly, a provision prohibiting the sale of firearms and ammunition was inadvertently included in the Emergency Ordinance. Upon discovering this, the City and Police Chief acted expeditiously to terminate the Emergency Ordinance,” Major Taylor wrote.

In other words, the part of the ordinance that banned the sale of guns and ammunition and prohibited firearm possession in public by anyone other than law enforcement or members of the military, was “inadvertently included” in the ordinance.

As you can imagine, neither Major Taylor nor her boss returned calls or emails Tuesday seeking to clarify how or why they banned guns and ammo sales inadvertently.

In her statement, Taylor also sought to reassure the town’s residents — as well as the legions of law-abiding gun owners who are following the story across the country — that the ban caused no harm.

“At no time did the City, or the Police Chief, contemplate, nor take any action, to prohibit, confiscate or otherwise regulate firearms or ammunition,” she wrote.

This, however, is not exactly true. The ordinance the chief signed clearly prohibited the “sale of, or offer to sell, with or without compensation, any ammunition or gun or other firearm of any size or description. The intentional display, by or in any store or shop, of any ammunition or gun or other firearm of any size or description. The intentional possession in a public place of a firearm by any person, except a duly authorized law enforcement official or any person in military service acing in the official performance of their duty.”

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House Oversight Committee Subpoenas White House, ATF Over Chicago’s Glock Lawsuit

House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-OH) has issued congressional subpoenas to White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Director Stefanie Feldman and ATF Director Steve Dettelbach seeking information about any role the office and agency had in Chicago’s lawsuit against gunmaker Glock.

Comer initially requested Dettelbach and Feldman provide the committee with any pertinent communication between the White House/ATF and Glock back in June, but according to the congressman the Biden administration hasn’t turned over a single document. In fact, in his letter informing Feldman of the subpoena, Comer says Deputy Counsel to the President Rachel F. Cotton responded to the Oversight Committee in early July with a letter that “did not even reference the Committee’s request for documents.” Instead, Comer says Cotton “impugned the motives of the Committee,” stating “[t]he House Majority . . . [is] doing the gun lobby’s bidding by launching a baseless political attack on the Biden Administration under the guise of an ‘investigation.’”

If that were the case, it would be easy enough for the White House and ATF to disprove the claims of collusion by whistleblowers. So why is the White House stonewalling the inquiry into communications between the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, ATF, and Glock officials? As Comer reminded Dettelbach in his subpoena request:

The Committee has learned that on December 20, 2023, the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention met privately with representatives from Glock, during which the Administration requested that Glock change their pistol designs so that it would be harder to illegally modify Glock pistols to shoot continuously with a single trigger pull.

On March 19, 2024, the City of Chicago filed suit in state court against Glock. Everytown Law, the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, is listed as counsel for the plaintiff. The day the suit was filed, John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety, posted on his X account “Today Everytown Law + the City of Chicago announced a historic lawsuit against Glock Inc. to hold them accountable for the unconscionable decision to continue selling its easily modified pistols even though it could fix the problem.”

Later in the post, Mr. Feinblatt said “[f]ederal Officials recently contacted Glock to discuss implementing new ways to modify Glock pistols to make it harder for Glock switches to be installed. Rather than help, Glock falsely insisted there is nothing they can do.”

Because the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention’s meeting with Glock was private, Mr. Feinblatt appears to have had insider information regarding your office’s meeting with Glock, which raises questions about whether your office colluded with Everytown for Gun Safety to initiate their lawsuit against Glock.

Chicago is seeking a court-ordered ban on the sale of Glock pistols to city residents “and Illinois gun stores that serve the Chicago market”, while Joe Biden recently used an executive order to set up an Emerging Firearms Threats Task Force that’s supposed to issue a report and an interagency plan to deal with machine gun conversion devices, which are already illegal under federal law.

Retired ATF Deputy Assistant Director Pete Forcelli previously told Bearing Arms that the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention had pushed Dettelbach to have the ATF reclassify Glocks as machine guns under the NFA, but Dettelbach has so far resisted the move. Chicago’s lawsuit, along with the task force established by Biden, seem designed to give the ATF another push towards reclassifying some of the most popular handguns on the market as machine guns after the November elections have taken place.

My guess is that the White House and ATF will stonewall Comer’s subpoena just as they ignored his initial request for information. But if Kamala Harris wins election next month, don’t be surprised if the candidate who says she’s not taking anyone’s guns away suddenly decides that its time to make the sale of Glocks (and perhaps all other striker-fired pistols as well) off-limits to the civilian market; essentially imposing a ban on the sale of commonly-owned semi-automatic handguns through ATF regulation.

NSSF Praises SCOTUS Decision to Review Mexico’s Baseless $10 Billion Lawsuit Against Firearm Manufacturers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to grant Smith & Wesson’s petition to hear Estados Unidos Mexicanos v. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., et al., Mexico’s frivolous $10 billion lawsuit against American firearm manufacturers seeking to blame them for the harm caused by lawless narco-terrorist drug cartels in Mexico. Mexico’s lawsuit also seeks to dictate how firearms are made and sold throughout the United States through a federal court injunction, in effect usurping the role of Congress and 50 state legislatures.

NSSF filed an amicus brief earlier this year in support of the Supreme Court granting the case, arguing that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit’s flawed decision, “blows a gaping hole in the PLCAA and rolls out the red carpet for a foreign government intent on vitiating the Second Amendment.” The U.S. Supreme Court will now set a briefing schedule and hold argument, likely early in the new year.

“Today’s announcement by the U.S. Supreme Court that they are granting Smith & Wesson’s petition to hear Mexico’s frivolous $10 billion lawsuit against lawful American firearm manufacturers is welcomed news to the entire firearm industry. Mexico’s lawsuit seeks to blame lawful American firearm businesses for violence in Mexico perpetrated by Mexican narco-terrorist drug cartels and impacting innocent Mexican lives.

It is not the fault of American firearm businesses that follow strict laws and regulations to lawfully manufacture and sell legal products,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “This case represents exactly why Congress passed, and President George W. Bush enacted, the bipartisan Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).

The case was rightly dismissed by a federal judge before the First Circuit Court of Appeals’ erroneous ruling earlier this year that reversed the district court order and reinstated the case. Lawful American firearm manufacturers follow American laws to make and sell lawful and Constitutionally-protected products. The Mexican government should instead focus on bringing Mexican criminals to justice in Mexican courtrooms.”

Mexico alleges U.S. firearm manufacturers are liable for the criminal violence perpetuated by narco-terrorist drug cartels by refusing to adopt gun control restrictions that exceed what the law requires for the strictly-regulated production and sale of firearms. A U.S. District court in Massachusetts dismissed the case, finding the claims were barred by the PLCAA. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, however, revived the case on Mexico’s appeal earlier this year.

The First Circuit held that Mexico’s claims alleging that the defendants know their regular business practices contribute to illegal firearm trafficking fit within a narrow exception to the PLCAA. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., et al, the petitioners, argue the First Circuit erred when it reversed the lower court’s decision to dismiss the case.

The petitioners also noted the First Circuit’s decision to allow for an exception to PLCAA fails because there is no evidence U.S. firearm manufacturers violated federal laws against aiding and abetting firearm trafficking. The petitioners explained to the Supreme Court that Mexico’s complaint “fails to identify any product, policy, or action by the American firearms industry that is deliberately designed to facilitate the unlawful activities of Mexican drug cartels.”

NSSF’s amicus brief concluded by urging Supreme Court action and pointing out that the First Circuit’s decision to reinstate the case was incorrect because it is “… emblematic of a recent trend of anti-gun governments (and courts) mendaciously skirting the PLCAA and using the resulting threat of bankruptcy-inducing tort liability to destroy a lawful industry that is vital to the exercise of a fundamental constitutional right. This Court’s intervention is imperative.”

BLUF
Over the last 4 years, the Biden-Harris admin has steadily transformed FEMA — the agency responsible for responding to natural disasters like Hurricane Helene — into an illegal alien resettlement agency that emphasizes DEI over public safety.

Biden-Kamala Regime Burns $1 BILLION in FEMA Funds to Resettle Illegal Immigrants — FEMA Now Lacks Resources for Disaster Response!

As Hurricane Helene tears through the eastern seaboard, leaving devastation in its wake, the mismanagement of FEMA under the Biden-Harris regime is hitting home with deadly consequences.

The storm’s ferocious winds and torrential rains have claimed at least 190 lives, left millions without power, and trapped countless families in floodwaters across North Carolina and beyond. Entire communities have been cut off from vital resources, with citizens scrambling for help.

Yet, in the face of this national disaster, the Biden-Harris administration’s FEMA appears woefully unprepared.

Why? Because over the past two years, they have funneled more than $1 billion in taxpayer dollars away from American disaster relief efforts — and into the pockets of illegal immigrants.

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Hawkins: The Government Has No Rights, but the People Do
Although Democrat and other leftist politicians will, from time to time, speak of the government’s ‘rights,’ we must never forget the government has no rights. Only the people have rights and the government, on the other hand, has powers.

Moreover, the government’s powers are delegatory rather than original. In other words, the powers possessed by the government are those which the people delegated to it via the framework of the U.S. Constitution, and those powers are neither ambiguous nor infinite.

This is most easily understood if you think about the U.S. Constitution as establishing a compact between the people and the government, a compact best explained by Thomas Jefferson in the 1798 Kentucky Resolutions.

Jefferson wrote:

Resolved, That the several States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their General Government; but that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a general Government for special purposes,—delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government…

Jefferson was strongly impacted by John Locke, who had written, “The liberty of man, in society, is to be under no other legislative power, but that established, by consent, in the commonwealth.”

Jefferson and Locke are saying the same thing, just in a slightly different way. The lesson to be drawn is that the people enter into a “compact” (Jefferson) wherein they “consent” (Locke) to certain a degree of legislative power over their persons as they move about in society.

However, the people retain authority because they possess rights.  Thus Madison, in Federalist 46, observed that “ultimate authority…resides in the people alone.”

It is under this authority the people loan or delegate certain powers to the government via the U.S. Constitution and, with that same authority, the people added the Bill of Rights to hedge in certain, inalienable rights as being outside the government’s purview. Among these inalienable rights is the right to keep and bear arms.

As I highlighted last week, the right to keep and bear arms is not something we as Americans possess because of government benevolence, but something with which our Creator endowed us. It is one of the rights specifically enumerated by our Founding Fathers and hedged in by the Second Amendment. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is the government given powers to regulate the ability of the American people to be armed.

Regulation of this natural right is not part of the compact; rather, the complete opposite is true: The government is told in plain English that the rights protected by the Second Amendment “shall not be infringed.”

In summation: The people have rights and the government merely possesses powers. The people’s rights are theirs at birth while the government’s powers belong to it only as long, and in such a fashion, as the people decide they should.

Perfect Biden-HARRIS Metaphor: Only Navy Oiler in ME Runs Aground, Springs Leaks.

If there ever was a need for a poster child for the neglect and indifference that characterizes the Biden-HARRIS administration’s attitude towards governance, someone now could easily slap up a picture of the USNS Big Horn.

The ship’s sad story has all the elements that are now bedeviling the Americans it serves thanks to the malevolent, arrogant, indifferent clowns who currently rule over us.

Almost a year ago, I wrote something I headlined, “US Maritime Woes: God Forbid We Go to War.” I was trying to shine a light on the utterly shameful, almost downright criminal neglect with which the Biden-HARRIS administration had treated our US Merchant Marine Fleet. It operates under the auspices of the US Maritime Administration (MARAD), which belongs to the Department of Transportation (aka Mayor Pete) – perhaps you’re already beginning to sense part of the problem if you don’t remember or haven’t read the column.

The administration has an “admiral” named as head of MARAD, one RADM Ann Phillips, who has performed exactly as damn near any other Biden cabinet secretary, particularly Mayor Pete – they haven’t seen her.

…Maritime matters were a priority during the GHW Bush years, but really got revved up during Trump’s term.

…During President Trump’s administration, Maritime Administrator Commandant Mark Buzby instigated a tidal wave of change. He allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for training ships, activated the entire ready reserve fleet in significant naval Turbo Activations, personally handled media inquiries, engaged with sailors nationwide, and attended major events as a headline speaker.

Biden’s current administrator, in contrast, has been so little engaged, she’s earned her own call-sign, and it’s not a compliment – “…who some call the Ghost Admiral.”

She’s still in the post.

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You’d think they’d wait until after the election.
Two way to take this
1 They’re so confident Harris is going to win that they’re arrogant
2 Biden is -again- stabbing Harris in the back for getting dumped.

President Biden plans to sign new executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence
The White House will announce the new measures in the coming weeks, as officials mark the first anniversary of the creation of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention

The White House will soon announce new executive actions aimed at further reducing gun violence in America, Scripps News has learned, just as the one-year mark since the formation of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention approaches.

Senior administration officials have pointed to the creation of the first-of-its-kind office, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, as a landmark moment for President Joe Biden, for whom the issue of gun violence has been a decades-long focus.

“We know that people are still dying every day in this country due to gun violence,” Stefanie Feldman, director of OGVP, told Scripps News in an interview Friday. “Sometimes it makes national headlines. Sometimes it doesn’t. President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to continuing their long legacy of leadership on this work.”

Feldman said the new executive actions will be announced “in the weeks ahead” but declined to elaborate on specifics, noting only that some pertain to the continued implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act while others are “wholly new.”

“[Biden and Harris] really asked us to address all angles of this issue, to address not only mass shootings but suicide by firearm, accidental shootings [and] community violence,” Feldman noted.

This week the White House also released a new report showcasing the work of the OGVP in its first year, organized by the four key responsibilities of the office, including implementing the Safer Communities Act, coordinating support for gun violence survivors, identifying possible executive actions to be taken and expanding partner coalitions with states and localities throughout the country.

Passed in 2022 on a bipartisan basis, the Safer Communities Act was the first gun control law approved by Congress in nearly three decades and included additional funding for mental health and red flag programs, expanded background checks for gun sales and cracked down on illegal trafficking efforts.

In 2024, the gun background check system helped block more than 4,600 gun sales to people convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, according to the report. To date, the Department of Justice has charged more than 500 defendants with violating provisions under the law, and the expanded background check provision has kept guns out of the hands of nearly 900 young people who shouldn’t have them, federal officials said.

On the implementation front, Feldman argued that, though the entirety of the legislation is already in effect, “there’s a big difference between implementing something and really squeezing out all the possible benefits that you can.”

She pointed to some state laws that protect individual privacy as obstacles preventing law enforcement officials from adequately responding to background checks, and said her office was currently working with state legislators to push for changes that would lift such restrictions.

The office has also worked to coordinate with state and local partners, including suggesting legislative changes at the state level. At least 17 states have passed new gun-related legislation over the past year and three — Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Mexico — formed their own offices, the report noted.

As for supporting survivors of gun violence and coordinating with partner coalitions, the organizer of one such group praised the work of OGVP in an interview with Scripps News.

Tony Montalto, whose daughter Gina was killed in the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida – the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in U.S. history – now serves as president of “Stand with Parkland,” a group advocating for gun and public safety reform. Montalto said his group met with the OGVP “two or three times” since the office was stood up a year ago.

RELATED STORY | Gun violence in the US: How will the candidates handle a top issue for voters?

“We’re very pleased at the pragmatic approach that they’re taking in terms of increasing the ability to prevent gun violence in our country,” Montalto said. “These officials came down and walked through the halls of the scene of the Parkland shooting with our families. The Vice President was there with officials from the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and they sat down and they spoke with all the families that were available that day, listening to what we can do, talking about policies, procedures and additional laws that will help make everyone in this country safer from the threat of gun violence.”

Data from the Gun Violence Archive indicates that the number of mass shootings this year has decreased by 20 percent compared to the same period last year, the White House report noted, and is on track to be at the lowest level since 2019. Violent crime overall was down significantly as well, something the White House has touted as historic.

“After the prior administration saw a historic increase in homicides, this administration has seen a historic decrease in homicides, and that has only accelerated this year,” Feldman said.

In an election year, the Harris campaign has frequently highlighted the issue of gun violence on the campaign trail, contrasting her administration’s approach with how former President Donald Trump has handled the issue.

“I’m in favor of the second amendment. And I’m in favor of assault weapons bans. Universal background checks, red flag laws. And these are just common sense,” Harris said during a campaign event on Thursday, echoing a sentiment she shared when announcing the creation of the OGVP a year ago.

RELATED STORY | Surgeon general declares gun violence a public health crisis in America

But, with about four months left in office, Biden administration officials are working to take advantage of the remaining time while preparing for the next administration.

“What any president does with the structure of the White House or the Office is up to them, but what we’re focused on is what we can do in the next four months,” Feldman said. “President Biden, Vice President Harris, have the next four months to do all they can to save lives, and that’s exactly what they’ve asked the office to carry out.”

Montalto said he hoped that the work of OGVP would continue regardless of who wins in November.

“We do hope that this office survives any change in the White House, and that whoever gets elected as our next president realizes the value of having a pragmatic and practical group working towards the prevention of gun violence for all U.S. citizens,” he said

Jill Biden’s Cosplaying As President Just Got Much Weirder

The saga of Jill Biden cosplaying as president of the United States just got a lot weirder, and this time the press is involved.

On Friday, questions arose after she was spotted sitting at the head of the table and leading a cabinet meeting at the White House. That it was the first in over a year only made the situation more perplexing. Joe Biden doesn’t meet with his cabinet for that long and when he finally does, his unelected wife takes the lead? Then, later on the same day, it was revealed that her name was being embossed on honorary legislation folders as if she were equal to the president.

She wasn’t done, though. In what appears to be a very coordinated campaign at this point, MSNBC put out a slobbering segment in which Jill Biden gives “journalist” Peter Alexander an Oval Office tour. The two are also seen discussing the “transfer of power” as if her opinion on such matters is relevant.

To call all of this odd is an understatement. Jill Biden taking a leading role in multiple aspects of the administration all on the same day is too obvious to count as a coincidence. There’s a message being sent here. What exactly that is is up for consideration, but I suspect Joe Biden’s relinquishing of the presidential nomination to Kamala Harris has something to do with it.

The ride is almost over for his wife. Those Air Force One rides and taxpayer-funded vacations end in January. Perhaps she just wants to make a few memories, inappropriate and head-scratching as they may be. Of course, the other possibility is far worse. Namely, that Joe Biden is so completely unable to fulfill the duties of his office that Jill Biden is having to step in “unofficially” in a much more public fashion.

I’m not sure what’s worse, that Americans are having to deal with all this amid an array of serious issues facing the country or that members of the press are absolutely giddy about it. Check out this picture of Alexander in the Oval Office.

Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race while insisting he’s completely mentally fit to serve and that he’s the most “consequential” president in modern history, and hacks like Alexander are taking pictures at the Resolute Desk smiling like a five-year-old. Interviewing Jill Biden would have been a great opportunity to drill down on her husband’s escalating senility and how he can remain in office despite being unable to run for reelection. Instead, like a good little lackey, Alexander tossed some softballs and got his novelty photograph as if he went to an amusement park.

It’s pathetic. This is not what journalism is supposed to be. This is also not what a First Lady is supposed to be doing. Are there no serious reporters left in the mainstream press who will bother to ask what in the heck is going on?

Haitians & Cubans paroled into the USA for more than 1 year are “qualified aliens” to receive Federal Welfare, including Medicaid, Social Security, SSI, SNAP, TANF, & Student Aid.

Haitians & Cubans are specially exempted from the normal 5-year waiting period to get alien welfare that other “qualified aliens” have to satisfy prior to qualifying for these Federal Welfare programs.

President Trump needs Tier One military protection
Delta, DEVGRU (Seal Team -6) operators far superior to Secret Service.

President Donald J. Trump and the entire country have been lucky — twice — but the problem with relying upon luck as an executive protection strategy is that luck can eventually run out.

The United States Secret Service had their chance to protect our 45th and possibly 47th President. They failed miserably, two times, and a good man was murdered and three people — including the former president — were wounded because of their ineptitude.

Rather than ordering immediate firings, all the Secret Service offered an angry public was excuses. President Trump’s protective detail was “redlined” they claimed, suffering from too much overtime. As a result, a handful of unfit and inexperienced DHS agents were seconded to the President’s protective detail, but only after watching a two-hour webinar. One of the DHS agents couldn’t even holster her Glock.

While senior FBI and Secret Service officials dither, dodge and dick around over who is to blame, President Trump remains protected mostly by sheer luck and a lot of prayers.

This. Must. Change.

Trump’s sleepy Secret Service detail should be fired and quickly replaced by blue and green guys from JSOC’s Special Mission Units.

Delta and DEVGRU Tier One operators are infinitely superior to the poorly trained clock-watchers in the Secret Service. They’re faster, fitter and far more professional. They shoot with surgical precision and operate regularly on a zero-fail mission basis — a standard to which the Secret Service can only claim to aspire.

Key to our operators’ success is their training, which includes executive protection and just about everything else, and they don’t deploy alone. Both Delta and DEVGRU have their own highly specialized support elements, which include air assets, drone operators, cyber warriors and intelligence analysts, who are all experts in their fields and far superior to anything the Secret Service could ever dream of bringing to the fight.

It is clear the left will never stop weaponizing unstable individuals with their heated anti-Trump rhetoric. History has shown they’ll watch their mouths for a week or two, but then resume their “threat to democracy” hogwash en masse, as if on cue.

The Congressional investigations into the first assassination attempt will take months and likely blame only low-level supervisors who have already been allowed to retire and keep their federal pensions. Meanwhile, President Trump remains at risk.

By the Grace of God, he survived two assassination attempts. Delta and DEVGRU operators could guarantee there will never be a third.