Category: Goobermint

As if we didn’t already know

Joe Biden Just Told Us Who He Really Is

As expected, radical pro-abortion Democrats are beside themselves with rage and are already issuing disturbing threats in the aftermath of Friday’s anticipated Supreme Court ruling where a majority of Justices voted to overrule 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision that “legalized” abortion.

Contrary to fanatical leftists’ claims about today’s ruling, it did not make abortion “illegal” nationwide. What the ruling did do, however, was to put the issue back to the states. While some red states have already responded to the ruling by putting bans in place effective immediately except in specific instances where the health of the mother is involved, blue states are already banding together to radically expand access to abortion on demand for any reason.

In the midst of all the emotion from both sides surrounding the Supreme Court’s decision, one would hope that the President of the United States would work to turn try and turn down the temperature if for no other reason than to potentially head off another attempt on a SCOTUS Justice’s life at the pass. But as we previously reported, that’s not what Joe Biden did in his lie-filled speech responding to what was handed down by our nation’s highest court.

In his remarks, Biden said today was a “solemn moment” and a “sad day for the Court and for the country.” Later on in the speech, he declared the Supreme Court, in a nutshell, to be full of right-wing extremists who were primed and prepped throughout their legal careers to overturn Roe v. Wade once they were in a position to do so.

“It’s a realization of an extreme ideology and a tragic error by the Supreme Court, in my view,” he stated. “With this decision, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court shows how extreme it is, how far removed they are from the majority of this country.”

But though Biden urged protesters to be “peaceful, peaceful, peaceful” and proclaimed that “threats and intimidation are not speech,” what he still did not do is expressly condemn the actions of 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske, who was arrested in the early morning hours of June 8th after an admitted attempt at assassinating Justice Brett Kavanaugh ahead of today’s ruling. Nor did he expressly condemn the acts of intimidation and violence by pro-abortion radicals that have taken place in churches and at pro-life centers across the country over the last couple of months.

What the Biden administration has done, however, since the draft majority SCOTUS opinion leak in early May is to fan the flames of outrage by encouraging radical activists on the left to continue “protesting” outside the homes of the Justices. Never once did they condemn the doxxing of the Justices and the posting of their private information online, despite the fact that not only is it dangerous, but also because protesting outside of the homes of members of the court for purposes of influencing a decision in a court case is against U.S. Code.

Further, in the speech Biden gave earlier, he noted his administration was going to use every tool in their power to do an end-run around the SCOTUS ruling, something also confirmed by DOJ Attorney General Merrick Garland.

As all of this sinks in, keep in mind that Biden and other Democrats (and their allies in the mainstream press) have been lecturing Republicans for the last year and a half since the Capitol riot about the need to “respect the courts” and to not “undermine democratic norms” in our society. And yet what do they do in response to today’s 6-3 decision? Exactly what they’ve said their political opponents shouldn’t – this from the same people who once gloated after the Supreme Court voted to uphold Obamacare that it was “settled law” so “deal with it.”

All of this is just further proof of the old saying about how if the left didn’t have double standards they’d have no standards at all. And in the case of Joe Biden, it’s just one more instance of him showing Americans who he really is – a feckless leader who is entirely beholden to extreme special interest groups on the far left who would turn this country into something oppressive and unrecognizable if left to their own devices.

Biden encouraged people to vote accordingly in November in response to today’s Supreme Court’s decision in a desperate bid to put people in the Senate and the House who he believes could somehow “federalize” so-called abortion rights. Unfortunately for him, it’s too late to appeal to the masses to give him a helping hand in the fall midterms, because at this point the polls make clear in no uncertain terms that very few people in this country support him anymore, and that includes a sizable chunk of his own base.

NSSF STATEMENT ON THE BIPARTISAN SAFER COMMUNITIES ACT

NEWTOWN, Conn.— NSSF®, the firearm industry trade association, has carefully examined the proposed Bipartisan Safer Communities Act legislation. NSSF appreciates the good faith effort by U.S. Senate negotiators to arrive at a proposal that would meaningfully address criminal violence all too frequently occurring in our communities. NSSF is encouraged by portions of the proposal, but we have important concerns about other aspects of the bill that impact our industry and the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.

We are thankful the Senate proposal provides significant resources for mental health treatment and services. Most of the horrendous tragedies that have befallen our communities have involved unaddressed mental health issues. We are also heartened the proposal provides necessary resources to help enhance school security to help protect the most vulnerable.

NSSF supports the effort to strengthen federal criminal law to address straw purchasing and firearms trafficking. We have led the effort to stop the illegal straw purchasing firearms and trafficking. For over two decades, NSSF has partnered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in the Don’t Lie for the Other GuyTM campaign that helps educate retailers on how to detect and prevent such transactions and to educate the public that it is a serious crime.

Through our #FixNICS® initiative and support for the Cornyn-Murphy bipartisan FixNICS Act named after our program, NSSF has been the leading voice working to ensure our background check system provides timely and accurate information to retailers to ensure they do not sell firearms to prohibited persons. We strongly encourage all states to provide disqualifying juvenile records into the system so that it works as intended.

We support requiring those who are in the business of selling firearms for profit be licensed under federal law. However, the proposed legislation fails to provide clear and needed guidance to our industry – particularly those who would be newly licensed – as to what conduct constitutes a willful violation warranting a revocation of their license. This is especially important given the Department of Justice’s “zero tolerance” policy and the over 500 percent increase in license revocation proceedings that have occurred under this administration.

While NSSF understands the need for law enforcement to intervene in circumstances when someone is an imminent threat to themselves or others, we have steadfastly maintained that if that intervention involves removing a person’s firearms there must be strong Due Process protections in place. Current “extreme risk protective orders” that exist in 19 states do not come close to providing adequate due process protections when the government deprives someone of their fundamental Constitutional rights. We cannot support the use of taxpayer funds to implement more such unconstitutional laws without specific and iron clad assurances Due Process rights will be protected.

“There are several provisions of this legislative package that NSSF could support including providing more resources for mental health services and school security. However, the ambiguity over state records, the lack of clear definitions, and unaddressed due process concerns prevent us from supporting this legislative package as presented,” said Joseph Bartozzi, NSSF President and Chief Executive Officer.

NSSF encourages the Senate to continue its negotiations to arrive at a package that will provide real solutions to make our communities safer.

Well, the Senate passed it with 15 Republican stunnedtaters voting for it.

Senate easily passes bipartisan gun control bill, sending it to the House

The US Senate approved a historic bipartisan gun control bill Thursday night following two recent horrific mass shootings, marking the most comprehensive piece of gun reform legislation passed by federal lawmakers in nearly three decades.

The $13 billion measure was approved 65-33 and received enough Republican support to avoid a filibuster, a compromise that seemed far-fetched before a pair of 18-year-old gunmen used assault weapons to commit mass shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and a Buffalo grocery store last month.

The rampages spurred weeks of closed door negotiations between a group of Democrats and Republicans, and 15 GOP senators ultimately crossed party lines to support the bill.

The measure toughens background checks for gun buyers under 21 and provides financial incentives for states to create mental health programs and implement “red flag” laws that would keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.

It also cracks down on straw purchases of weapons, and closes the “boyfriend loophole” by banning people convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun. The current law does not apply to abusers who are no longer married or living with their partner.

The bill was the strongest piece of gun legislation since the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired ten years later. There were five active shooter situations in the US in 2004 compared to 61 last year, according to the FBI.

Democrats had sought much stricter restrictions, including an outright ban on assault rifles and requiring people to be 21 before they can buy semi-automatic weapons, however the once unthinkable bipartisan compromise was hailed by lawmakers in both parties as a clear message to the American people.

“This is not a cure-all for the all the ways gun violence affects our nation,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “But it is a long overdue step in the right direction. Passing this gun safety bill is truly significant, and it’s going to save lives,” the New York Democrat said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged the Second Amendment rights prioritized by much of his base while touting the bill.

The bill is the most comprehensive piece of gun reform legislation passed by federal lawmakers in nearly three decades.

“The American people want their constitutional rights protected and their kids to be safe in school,” the Kentucky Republican said. “They want both of those things at once, and that is just what the bill before the Senate will have accomplished.”

Texas Republican John Cornyn and Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy were among four lawmakers instrumental in hashing out the bill.

“I don’t believe in doing nothing in the face of what we saw in Uvalde,” Cornyn said.

Murphy referenced the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which failed to prompt meaningful legislation in Washington.

He said Thursday’s bill would save thousands of lives and “prove to a weary American public that democracy is not so broken that it is unable to rise to the moment.”

The legislation is likely to face stronger Republican opposition in the House, where Republican Whip Steve Scalise called the bill “an effort to slowly chip away at law-abiding citizens’ 2nd Amendment rights.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said her legislative body would move quickly to advance the measure.

“First thing tomorrow morning, the Rules Committee will meet to advance this life-saving legislation to the Floor,” she said.

If passed, the bill would be sent to the White House.

“Our kids in schools and our communities will be safer because of this legislation. I call on Congress to finish the job and get this bill to my desk,” President Joe Biden said.

The National Rifle Association, a powerful gun lobby, had said the bill “falls short on every level.”

“This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians,” it said in a statement Tuesday.

The measure passed in the Senate on the same day the Supreme Court struck down restrictions on the carrying of concealed firearms as unconstitutional.

Did Feinstein Just Sabotage The New Gun Bill?

I don’t know whether to condemn Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) or praise her. She has filed a bill as an amendment to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that would raise the age to purchase many semi-auto rifles, pistols, or shotguns to 21. The impact of this amendment could cause the carefully crafted “compromise” (sic) to fall apart.

From her press release:

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today filed the Age 21 Act as an amendment to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the gun violence prevention bill pending before the Senate. The amendment would raise the minimum age to purchase assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines from 18 to 21.

Senator Feinstein reintroduced the Age 21 Act on May 19, five days after the massacre at a Buffalo supermarket and five days before the school shooting in Uvalde, each of which involved an 18-year-old who legally purchased an assault rifle.

 “The Senate gun safety bill is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t address the major problem of teenagers owning weapons of war,” said Senator Feinstein. “It makes no sense that it’s illegal for someone under 21 to buy a handgun or even a beer, yet can legally buy an assault weapon.  My amendment is a commonsense fix with broad public support that should receive bipartisan backing and I hope that it’s allowed a vote.”

Reading through the amendment, something as innocuous as a semi-auto shotgun such as the Mossberg 940 Pro Waterfowl Snow Goose edition would be forbidden to anyone under 21. The reasoning, according to the amendment, is that it has a tubular magazine that holds more than 5 rounds. Likewise, a turkey shotgun that had a pistol grip would be forbidden. On pistols, if you wanted to have a threaded barrel for a suppressor to protect your hearing, sorry but young ears need to be damaged is the message this amendment sends.

I really think these sorts of amendments could cause the whole thing to fall apart and force the Republicans to walk away. It is one thing to say you want to do careful background checks taking into account juvenile records for those under 21 and a whole another thing to ban a whole category of firearms to them. I don’t think a Manchin or Sinema could get by with voting for such a bill that included that along with the other stuff.

I do notice that Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is not one of the co-sponsors of her original bill nor is Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Biden Brags ‘We’re the Only Country in the World’ Giving COVID Vaccines to Children.

Last week, the Biden administration approved the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 6 months to 5 years old. The FDA advisory committee claimed they found that the vaccines provided safe and effective protection against COVID for kids, even though fully vaccinated and boosted adults have still caught COVID.

The quest to vaccinate kids from COVID has been going on from the moment the vaccines were approved for emergency use, and the Biden administration and the media have colluded in a fear campaign to convince parents to vaccinate their kids. On Tuesday, Joe Biden spoke at a COVID vaccine center, during which he pointed out, “We’re the only country in the world doing this right now.”

He actually thought this was a good thing, that it was something to brag about. Did it ever occur to him that there might be a reason for that? Earlier this year, health officials in Sweden decided against recommending COVID vaccines for kids aged 5-12, arguing that the benefits don’t outweigh the risks.

We’ve known for some time now that school-aged children have a COVID recovery rate of 99.997% — which is better than their mortality risk from the seasonal flu and that unvaccinated children are safer from COVID than even vaccinated adults of any age. Meanwhile, studies have shown that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are more likely to cause myocarditis in young men than natural infection from COVID.

Even UNICEF admits that “The available evidence indicates the direct impact of COVID-19 on child, adolescent and youth mortality to be limited,” but the Biden administration is enthusiastically all-in on vaccinating kids from COVID despite the risks.

The data does not support the universal vaccination of kids from COVID. Period. So why does Biden think the USA pushing unnecessary COVID vaccines on kids when other countries are not is a good thing? It’s all about the money.

STOP! OR I’LL SAY STOP AGAIN!

Chicago cops barred from chasing people on foot who run away.

The Chicago Police Department has unveiled a new policy prohibiting its officers from chasing people on foot simply because they run away, or because they have committed minor offenses.

The policy, which was introduced Tuesday, also encourages cops to “consider alternatives” to pursuing someone who “is visibly armed with a firearm.”

Under the policy, officers may give chase if they believe a person is committing or is about to commit a felony, a Class A misdemeanor such as domestic battery, or a serious traffic offense that could risk injuring others, such as drunken driving or street racing.

Perhaps most significantly, the new policy makes clear that the days of officers giving chase just because someone tries to get away from them are over.

“People may avoid contact with a member for many reasons other than involvement in criminal activity,” the policy states.

The long-awaited foot chase ban is expected to go into effect by the end of the summer, after the city’s 11,900 uniformed cops receive training.

The policy prohibits officers from chasing people on foot simply because they run away.

The new policy comes more than a year after two foot pursuits ended with cops fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in separate March 2021 incidents.

Toledo and Alvarez, who were armed when they ran from police in separate March 2021 pursuits, were not mentioned in the news release announcing the policy or the policy itself.

Toledo was shot in the chest after dropping a gun and raising his hands, and Alvarez was shot in the back while brandishing a gun.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot demanded that the department create an interim policy after the March 2021 shootings and the county’s top prosecutor harshly criticized police over the Alvarez pursuit.

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Meet the 14 GOP Senators Who Voted to Advance ‘Gun Safety’ Bill.

On Tuesday night, the Senate voted to advance a “gun safety” bill in response to shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y. (the media has conveniently forgotten the shooting at a church in Laguna Woods, Calif., that took place between the other two shootings but didn’t fit The Narrative™ for the gun-control crowd).

The Hill framed the vote as the moment when the Senate “broke through nearly 30 years of stalemate on gun control legislation.”

I won’t rehash the bill here; instead, I’ll refer to my colleague Stephen Kruiser, who pointed out the worst features of the 80-page legislation:

There are two HUGE problems with this legislation, especially for conservatives: it legitimizes both federal intervention in state matters and “red flag” laws. The latter is particularly problematic because implementation is rife with gray areas, no matter how many stipulations are in place. As I have been fond of saying, once red-flag laws are on the books, we’re on the most slippery of slippery slopes. One day people are raising legitimate concerns, the next we have people reporting the neighbor who just rubs them the wrong way.

Those facts didn’t stop the measure from passing by a vote of 64-34. Every single one of the Democrats voted in favor of advancing the bill, which means that 14 Republicans went along with it. Here they are:

Some of those names are the usual suspects, the ones who are going to “go rogue” and vote with the Dems on other issues too.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the guy whose constituents booed him over his support for compromise legislation, ran point on the negotiations with Democrats at the behest of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

The Hill reports the negotiations in a way that makes them sound just as sinister as compromising with Democrats to violate the Second Amendment should: “McConnell tapped Cornyn to lead the negotiations for Republicans shortly after a bipartisan group of senators met in Murphy’s basement to begin talks in hopes of finding a way to respond to the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings.”

One of the most remarkable things about this list is that, while the usual squishes (Collins, Murkowski, Romney) appear on it, none of them have a low rating with the National Rifle Association. In fact, Collins rates a B with the NRA, while the rest have an A (Portman, Romney, Blunt, Cassidy, Graham, Tillis, Capito, Ernst, Murkowski) or an A+ (Cornyn, McConnell, Burr, Young) rating from the NRA.

Of the “GOP Gun Control 14,” as Off the Press calls them, only Murkowski and Young are facing re-election in 2022. Blunt, Burr, and Portman aren’t running for another term, so the vast majority of these senators have nothing to lose this election cycle.

Gun rights groups aren’t happy, needless to say.

“Once again, so-called ‘conservative’ Senators are making clear they believe that the rights of American citizens can be compromised away,” Erich Pratt of Gun Owners of America said in a statement. “Let me be clear, they have NO AUTHORITY to compromise with our rights, and we will not tolerate legislators who are willing to turn gun owners into second-class citizens.”

“We will oppose this gun control legislation because it falls short at every level,” read a statement from the NRA. “It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners. This bill leaves too much discretion in the hands of government officials and also contains undefined and overbroad provisions – inviting interference with our constitutional freedoms.”

Stephen Gutowski reports at The Reload:

“Since the shooting, my office has received tens of thousands of calls, letters, and emails with a singular message: Do something,” Senator John Cornyn (R., Texas), a negotiator from the Republican side, said in a floor speech. “Not do nothing. But do something. I think we’ve found some areas where there is some space for compromise”

“Today, we finalized bipartisan, commonsense legislation to protect America’s children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country,” Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.), a key coalition member from the Democratic side, said in a statement. “Our legislation will save lives and will not infringe on any law-abiding American’s Second Amendment rights.”

Gutowski also points out that the vote to advance the bill suggests that the votes are there to pass the bill before Congress goes on its Independence Day break.

a synopsis of the new federal gun control law

Section 12001

The bill amends all of the prohibited categories (18 USC 922(d)(1 through 9)) to include actions taken against such person while they were a juvenile (that is, you got convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year’s incarceration as a juvenile, you would be barred from gun ownership).

The bill modifies the above by saying the adjudication as mentally defective or involuntary treatment under section (d)(4) had to be when the person was 16 years old or older.

This would be “retroactive” that is if you were convicted of a juvenile offense in 1992, but you are now 45 years old, you would become ineligible to possess firearms when this bill is enacted, and would have to dispose of any firearms you have, or your possession would be illegal as of the effective date of this law. The bill does not limit it to only applying to juvenile offenses or adjudications that happen after this bill is enacted.

This section also says that firearm transfers to persons under 21 years of age by a dealer may not be made after three days of no response from NICS, the way that current law works. Instead, as to persons under 21 years of age, NICS can extend the “pending” or non responsive response time to ten business days.

In addition to consulting the three Federal databases that NICS currently checks for a firearm background check, if the buyer is under 21, the bill says NICS is to contact the state, or local, repository of juvenile records, to see if the person has any juvenile adjudications that would disqualify the person.  These requirements for NICS to ask the state or local repositories sunset as of 9/30/2032.

The section also asks every State and every Federal agency reporting information to NICS to submit a report on records removed from the database and the reason why the records were removed.

Section 12002

This section rewrites the definition of being engaged in the business of dealing in firearms. Federal law requires persons “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms have a license. The new definition says that a person is engaged in the business if their purpose is “to predominantly earn a profit.” Formerly, profit had to be the “principal objective” of the seller.

Section 12003

This section allows grants made for criminal justice purposes to states, to also be used for red flag law enforcement. The bill says that such red flag laws have to meet whatever due process requirements the courts have found to be necessary.
The bill says that such programs need not provide indigent persons with counsel at government expense.

Section 12004

This section makes it unlawful to buy a firearm for another person knowing the other person is disqualified from buying a firearm under 18 USC 922(d), or that the other person is going to employ the firearm in connection to a felony crime, a drug trafficking crime or a terrorism crime, or that the other person is going to provide the firearm to a third person who will employ it as described.
The bill defines drug trafficking and terrorism.
The bill provides for a more enhanced penalty for drug trafficking and terrorism, up to 15 years incarceration if the person is buying for someone disqualified under 18 USC 922(d), and up to 25 years if buying for someone who the person knows will employ it for committing a felony, drug trafficking or terrorism.

This section also makes interstate sale of a firearm a crime if the seller knows the buyer intends to use the firearm for crime. It also makes receipt of such a firearm a crime. There is an enhanced penalty, up to 15 years, as compared to regular interstate sale of firearms by unlicensed persons, which is illegal under current law.

The section also has enhanced penalties for unlicensed or unpermitted import or export of firearms or ammunition to or from the U.S.

The section also says that the NICS system may be used for a FFL to conduct a background check on a current or prospective employee. Notice must be provided to the employee, and they have to consent to it.

The section requires the FBI to provide access to FFL holders to the database of stolen firearms maintained in the NCIC database, so they can see if a firearm in inventory is stolen. Checking would be voluntary. Not checking would not create civil liability.

Section 12005

This section creates a new firearm disability for persons convicted of a misdemeanor where the victim is someone the person was ‘dating’. It does not require any prior sexual, or even ‘cohabiting’ relations between the offender and the victim for the relationship to be a ‘dating relationship’.

The section says that in order for the disability to apply, the conviction must have occurred after this bill became law. It will not apply to convictions that happened before this bill became law.

The section says that if a person only has one such conviction as to a dating partner, and five years have elapsed with no other convictions for any crimes involving use or attempted use physical force or the threat of use of a deadly weapon (whether against a domestic partner or dating partner or not), then the dating partner conviction is no longer disqualifying for possession of firearms purposes.

However, convictions related to a domestic partner as a victim (as under existing law) are disqualifying forever, as under current law. And a dating partner conviction, and then a second misdemeanor crime where the victim is anyone, that involves physical force or a deadly weapon (as outlined above) is disqualifying forever.

The powers states have to expunge records and pardon offenders that remove firearm possession prohibitions are not affected

If Gun Control Saves Lives, Then Why are California and New York State so Dangerous?

A few disturbed young men want to become famous by killing innocent people. Each time they try, we are told that we need to take guns away from honest citizens. That proposal isn’t new. Gun-prohibitionists passed severe gun-control laws decades ago in a few Democrat controlled states. Let’s see if that made us safer. Based on recent evidence from New York State and California, it did not.

You don’t have to take my word for it when I say that California and New York have strict gun-control laws. Take the opinion of the Giffords gun-control group funded by anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Giffords gives California an A rating and New York an A-.

Laws like this are why-

  • There are many models of firearms that ordinary citizens can’t own in New York and California.
  • Ordinary citizens must pass background checks when they purchase a handgun at a gun store or at a gun show. In California, there is also a mandatory background check before we may buy ammunition. New York proposed similar ammunition restrictions.
  • California has a mandatory ten-day waiting period after we submit our background check and before we may take possession of our firearm. There is also an additional one-gun-a-month restriction. New York also requires a license before we are allowed to own a handgun.
  • Both states have a magazine capacity limit that reduces the number of cartridges that a firearm magazine may hold.
  • Both states have “Red Flag laws” that allow family members, romantic partners, schoolteachers, doctors, and the police to request that we be disarmed. We are not present when a “Red Flag” hearing is held to confiscate our guns.
  • Both California and New York require statement of “demonstrated need” before honest citizens like us are granted a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public. In many cities, those permits are only given to judges, politicians, and to campaign donors. The rate of concealed carry is far lower in New York State and in California compared to the rest of the US.
  • Schools are “gun-free” zones and even school staff are disarmed.

We were told that gun-control would keep us safe. Last year, California had the most active-shooter incidents of any state in the nation. This year, we saw mass-murders and attempted mass-murders in New York state and even in New York City.

How could these gun control laws fail so badly? Here are a few of the many reasons that gun-control fails time after time-

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Observation O’ The Day
SloJoe starts babbling about some  “International Flat Tax™” that he got 140 nations to sign onto (?) and his daughter and granddaughter shuffle him off stage ASAP.

They know all too well that Daddy has senile dementia

Where Is Our ‘Freedom’ To Be Found If Not In The Armed Citizenry?

“Within the last year — ever since President Joe Biden signed his four-year lease on the White House — the word ‘freedom’ has taken on an unsavory, sinister connotation.” See report in Newsmax.

Wherefore is our freedom now if not in the armed citizenry? The U.S. Supreme Court can provide a leg-up from the United States Supreme Court.

The current U.S. Supreme Court term ends on June 27, 2022, and reconvenes on October 3, 2022, the starting date of its next term. Two major opinions are due out momentarily: Dobbs and Bruen. Dobbs is a major abortion case. Bruen is a major Second Amendment case. A leaked version of Dobbs has unleashed a furor. And an opinion in Bruen, striking down the NYPD concealed handgun licensing procedures will cause its own furor, worsened by the recent elementary school shooting incident in Texas.

Only the High Court, the Third Branch of Government, retains, at present, a modicum of independence. The Globalist puppet masters have firm control over both the First & Second Branches, but not yet, over the Third. That we know…

The Country is in a precarious state: militarily, geopolitically, economically, and societally. This is no accident. It is by design.

The seditious Press tries to explain this away partly by denial. But, knowing this to have a doubtful impact, the Press resorts to something more sinister. It tells the public it must accept the fall of the United States from its stature of preeminence. It tells the public that Nations rise and fall, and so must the United States. That is not true. The rise and fall of civilizations and nations isn’t a law of nature. It isn’t written in stone. It may appear so out of empirical necessity, but it is not one of logical necessity.

Strong nations weather any storm. Weaker nations do not.

Weak nations are doomed to eventual ruin from any force whether that force manifests inside or outside it.

Strong nations cannot be destroyed by outside forces, but only from within. Thus, was the fate of the Roman Empire.

The stooge, Biden, controlled by powerful forces, malevolent and malignant, lurking in the shadows, sputters their dictates. He is the embodiment of corruption, feebleness, and decay: what better emblem to proclaim the dying of the Nation. And he sputters about the problems with the Nation, the problems the public must bear, the dying of the Nation, isn’t his fault.

Biden implements strategies to disrupt and destroy the Nation, and yet denounces the American people for the very thing this Government fabricates, asserting that “terrorism from white supremacy” is the most serious threat to the Nation. It is not. There is no such threat, there is no such thing; but in the saying of it, Biden, the ever-compliant tool of the puppet masters, the real Tyrant, uses the lie, uses the Government, the proxy, the obedient stand-in for the Tyrant, to direct action against the American people.

But the threat is a phantom. That is all it is. That is all it ever was. But it serves a purpose.

The lie is the pretext to cull the Federal Government of those Americans it deems to be a threat against it, against the tyranny that Government imposes on the American people.

The lie becomes the pretext to harass civilians. The Tyrant suppresses all dissent. It aims to quell all perceived threats to it. And threat rests in all that disagree with the Tyrant.

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Stupid is as stupid does

New York Democrats already looking to revise just-passed ban on body armor

New York Democrats have a history of acting before they think, especially when it comes to guns and gun control measures. In 2013 lawmakers rammed the SAFE Act through the legislature, only to find that many of the elements of the gun control legislation were completely unworkable in practice. The ban on magazines that can hold more than seven rounds, for instance, ultimately had to be changed to allow for gun owners to use ten-round magazines, though they’re only allowed to load seven rounds of ammunition (a law that’s impossible to proactively enforce). The SAFE Act was also supposed to require background checks on all ammunition sales, though nearly a decade after its passage that element of the law has yet to go into effect.

New York lawmakers similarly rushed through a package of nearly a dozen new measures after the recent targeted attack on a Buffalo grocery store, including a new ban on the purchase of some types of body armor. Supposedly the new law is meant to prevent mass killers from protecting themselves against returning fire from police, but as some critics have pointed out, the type of body armor worn by the suspect in the Buffalo shooting isn’t actually covered by the new law.

A law hastily enacted by state lawmakers after the attack restricts sales of vests defined as “bullet-resistant soft body armor.”

Soft vests, which are light and can be concealed beneath clothing, can be effective against pistol fire. Vests carrying steel, ceramic or polyethylene plates, which can potentially stop rifle rounds, aren’t explicitly covered by the legislation.

That has left some retailers confused about what they can and can’t sell — and lawmakers talking about a possible fix.

“I know you said soft vests, but what about hard armor plates, plate carriers, or armors that aren’t vests, but clothing that provide protection. Is that also prohibited? It is so vague,” said Brad Pedell, who runs 221B Tactical, a tactical gear and body armor store in New York City. He said his store tends to sell more hard-plated armor than the soft type being banned.

… Pedell says many customers at his New York City store buy the armor for their own protection.

“It’s disappointing because residents are just scared, and they come to us because they are scared, and we offer help that makes them feel more confident, that they won’t get stabbed or injured or potentially killed,” Pedell said. “The fact (lawmakers) are taking that away, for whatever purpose they have in their minds, I find that really sad and unnecessary and morally wrong.”

Yeah, well, this is what happens when lawmakers are so intent on “doing something” in response to a shooting that they don’t think about the unintended consequences of their own actions. The suspected killer in Buffalo was wearing body armor? Well then, better ban it. Never mind the fact that ban will impact law-abiding citizens who want to protect themselves far more than it will thwart criminals from wearing body armor; there is virtue to be signaled here. And rather than recognizing the errors of their ways, supporters of the new ban say they’re ready to “fix” it if necessary.

Assemblymember Jonathon Jacobson, a lead sponsor of the legislation, told The Associated Press he would “be glad to amend the law to make it even stronger.”

… New Yorkers are still allowed to own body vests and purchase them in other states, though Jacobson, a Democrat, said he would work to eliminate that option during the next Legislative session in January.

“We wanted to get things done as quickly as possible, and not let the perfect get in the way of the good,” said Jacobson. “Like all laws in New York State, we always try to make them better in the future. Of course we’ll try to make this law better.”

The only way to do that would be to scrap this law entirely, which isn’t going to happen as long as Democrats have a majority in the statehouse in Albany.

Will Your “Smart” Devices and AI Apps Have a Legal Duty to Report on You?

I just ran across an interesting article, “Should AI Psychotherapy App Marketers Have a Tarasoff Duty?,” which answers the question in its title “yes”: Just as human psychotherapists in most states have a legal obligation to warn potential victims of a patient if the patient says something that suggests a plan to harm the victim (that’s the Tarasoff duty, so named after a 1976 California Supreme Court case), so AI programs being used by the patient must do the same.

It’s a legally plausible argument—given that the duty has been recognized as a matter of state common law, a court could plausibly interpret it as applying to AI psychotherapists as well as to other psychotherapists—but it seems to me to highlight a broader question:

To what extent will various “smart” products, whether apps or cars or Alexas or various Internet-of-Things devices, be mandated to monitor and report potentially dangerous behavior by their users (or even by their ostensible “owners”)?

To be sure, the Tarasoff duty is somewhat unusual in being a duty that is triggered even in the absence of the defendant’s affirmative contribution to the harm. Normally, a psychotherapist wouldn’t have a duty to prevent harm caused by his patient, just as you don’t have a duty to prevent harm caused by your friends or adult family members; Tarasoff was a considerable step beyond the traditional tort law rules, though one that many states have indeed taken. Indeed, I’m skeptical about Tarasoff, though most judges that have considered the matter don’t share my skepticism.

But it is well-established in tort law that people have a legal duty to take reasonable care when they do something that might affirmatively help someone do something harmful (that’s the basis for legal claims, for instance, for negligent entrustment, negligent hiring, and the like). Thus, for instance, a car manufacturer’s provision of a car to a driver does affirmatively contribute to the harm caused when the driver drives recklessly.

Does that mean that modern (non-self-driving) cars must—just as a matter of the common law of torts—report to the police, for instance, when the driver appears to be driving erratically in ways that are indicative of likely drunkenness? Should Alexa or Google report on information requests that seem like they might be aimed at figuring out ways to harm someone?

To be sure, perhaps there shouldn’t be such a duty, for reasons of privacy or, more specifically, the right not to have products that one has bought or is using surveil and report on you. But if so, then there might need to be work done, by legislatures or by courts, to prevent existing tort law principles from pressuring manufacturers to engage in such surveillance and reporting.

I’ve been thinking about this ever since my Tort Law vs. Privacy article, but it seems to me that the recent surge of smart devices will make these issues come up even more.

Know the lying demoncraps infesting the White House, this can almost be seen as confirmation

White House denies claims from guns group that ammo ban is under consideration

The White House is denying a recent claim from a gun foundation that a limited ammunition ban is under consideration, which would drive the price of legal ammunition higher.

The Biden administration supposedly informed Winchester Ammunition that “the government is considering restricting the manufacturing and commercial sale of legal ammunition produced at the Lake City, Mo., facility,” a spokesman from the National Shooting Sports Foundation told the Washington Examiner on Friday.

A White House official denied the claim.

Currently, Winchester is allowed to sell surplus ammunition after meeting the military’s needs on the civilian market, but Mark Oliva, the NSSF spokesman, warned that banning the practice would “significantly reduce the availability of ammunition in the marketplace and put the nation’s warfighting readiness at risk. Both NSSF and Winchester strongly oppose this action.”

This practice now represents roughly 30% of the 5.56 mm/.223 caliber ammunition sales.

Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of senators announced they had agreed in principle to the framework of new legislation to instill additional restrictions on guns that may have a chance to be passed in the Senate. Twenty senators, 10 from each party, signed on to the legislation, demonstrating the support it would need to pass the 60-vote threshold.

A White House official told the Washington Examiner that the reports on a possible ban “are way off,” while Oliva warned that the implementation of such a policy “jeopardizes the fragile negotiations of the framework deal that was agreed to by the bipartisan group of senators.”

After mass shootings, such as the ones in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, it is typical that gun owners flock to firearm stores in order to buy weapons over fears of new gun control legislation. That fear also prompts ammunition purchases, which have led to a shortage. Both gun and ammunition manufacturers saw their stocks go up after the Uvalde shooting.

“The typical hypothesis is that this is an exogenous shock, unanticipated, and as a result of a mass shooting, the reaction is there is an expectation that legislative steps will be undertaken to potentially restrict ammunition, access to guns,” Brian Marks, the executive director of the University of New Haven’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, previously told the Washington Examiner.

Well, it can backfire on them

BLUF
The Left clearly intends to gain full control, and will not settle for less. If it cannot achieve its ends via ballot boxes (no matter how stuffed or harvested they might be), then agencies will connive with print, electronic and social media – in clear violation of First Amendment prohibitions against government abridging freedom of speech. Failing that, it will resort to cartridge boxes and Molotov cocktails.

Unless, that is, We the People stop this assault on Americas’ democracy and personal freedoms.

Leftist Intimidation – and Assassination?

One year ago, ProPublica published illegally leaked IRS data on America’s wealthiest taxpayers. The “newsroom” said it obtained the information from “an anonymous source,” thanks to the ease with which people with access to information can secretly copy and transmit it with a few mouse clicks.

ProPublica piously claimed its actions were meant to advance “tax fairness” and help Congress and the Biden administration pay for all the trillions of dollars lavished on Covid and Build Back Better, by making it harder for the über-rich “to avoid tax burdens borne by ordinary citizens.”

But as I’ve noted previously, their approach is hideously complicated. Assets that increase in value from some retroactive mythical or arbitrary acquisition price would get taxed whopping amounts. If assets later depreciate, the wealthy will require credits or refunds for billion-dollar unrealized losses. Worse, the initial 700-1,000 ultra-rich would likely balloon to millions of taxpayers, as happened with the Alternative Minimum Tax, under this accountant, appraiser, auditor and lawyer appreciation legislation.

The IRS and Justice Department say they are deeply concerned, devoted to protecting taxpayer information, and committed to getting to the bottom of the data theft scandal. But the perpetrators have yet to be identified, prosecuted or punished – and ProPublica certainly hasn’t been canceled by or banished from Facebook or Twitter.

Indeed, ProPublica published more stolen confidential data this year. Again, no accountability for the perps – any more than there was for Lois Lerner, who used the IRS to target conservative groups and obstruct their tax-exempt certifications, so that they could not engage in activities that might have affected the outcomes of multiple elections.

Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) says the ProPublica saga is just “one more example of the government being weaponized” against the American people. However, only the chairs of relevant committees can demand that the IRS Inspector General brief Congress, the IRS told Jordan, and those Democrat chairs have little interest in doing so.

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Biden Is Blaming You, America, for His Rotten Economy.

“The World According to Joe Biden” is an interesting place. It’s full of unicorns and rainbows, cotton candy clouds, and magical gnomes who cause all kinds of mischief.

According to Biden, the gnomes have been busy. How else do you explain the worst inflation in 40 years or the baby formula crisis, or supply chain woes, or the other economic disasters that the president has visited upon us?

You explain it by blaming the American people. “People are really, really down,” Biden told the Associated Press in an interview on Thursday.

“Their need for mental health in America has skyrocketed because people have seen everything upset,” Biden said. “Everything they’ve counted on upset. But most of it’s the consequence of what happened, what happened as a consequence of the, the COVID crisis.”

Biden says America needs a mental health intervention. And he is dutifully following the first rule of politics: deny reality. Biden spoke of the warnings by some economists that a recession was on the way.

“First of all, it’s not inevitable,” he said. “Secondly, we’re in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome this inflation.”

As for the causes of inflation, Biden flashed some defensiveness on that count. “If it’s my fault, why is it the case in every other major industrial country in the world that inflation is higher? You ask yourself that? I’m not being a wise guy,” he said.

The president’s statement appeared to be about inflation rising worldwide, not necessarily whether countries had higher rates than the U.S. Annual inflation in Japan, for example, has risen in recent months though it’s still at a yearly rate of 2.4%, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Biden said he was still optimistic about the economy, given the 3.6 percent unemployment rate. But with interest rates rising — the largest increase since 1994 — unemployment will once again become an issue, along with inflation, and tightening credit.

About the only thing that’s missing from the 1970s is “malaise.” Oh, wait.

Yet Biden’s remedy is not that different from the diagnosis made by former President Jimmy Carter in 1979, when the U.S. economy was crippled by stagflation. Carter said then the U.S. was suffering from a “crisis of confidence” and “the erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.”

The president said he wants to endow the U.S. with more verve, fortitude and courage.

“Be confident,” Biden said. “Because I am confident. We’re better positioned than any country in the world to own the second quarter of the 21st century.”

Brave words. Empty words, but brave. Sometime in the next decade, China will surpass America as the number one economy in the world. And the Chinese government has a lot more confidence in their Communist system than Biden and his woke advisors have about American capitalism. If you’re looking for a reason for America’s decline, that’s a good place to start.

The similarities between Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter are eerie. Both men had no faith in the genius of America — its capitalists, its workers, or its ability to compete. The people aren’t inspired by leaders who whine about how unfair the criticism is, or how circumstances beyond the president’s control are the real cause of our problems.

For Carter, it was the Arab oil embargo that was the proximate cause of our economic woes. He, too, blamed the American people for not being inspired by his very existence. In a way, Biden and Carter are pathetic historical figures, lashed by forces they don’t understand. And like Carter, Biden will exit history in disgrace, leaving behind a prostrate nation needing to be inspired.