Almost 1.3 Million Background Checks for Gun Sales in October

According to national background check data, Americans picked up over a million firearms last month, again.

October saw no less than 2,289,774 background checks logged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. That is on par with the 2,298,383 checks done in October 2024.

After the National Shooting Sports Foundation crunched the data to remove gun permit checks and rechecks, the adjusted figure for likely retail sales stood at 1,299,312, which remains on par with the October 2024 NSSF-adjusted NICS tally of 1,302,857.

It should be noted that last October was on the cusp of the 2024 general election cycle, putting Presidents Biden and Trump, along with a swath of congressional, state, and local candidates, on the ballot amid concerns over gun control and political violence.

Firearms industry experts told Guns.com that the data is telling.

“October’s figures of nearly 1.3 million background checks for the sale of a firearm at retail are an encouraging sign that America’s desire to exercise Second Amendment rights remains strong,” Mark Oliva, public affairs officer with the NSSF, told Guns.com via email. “Historically, firearms sales during the fall hunting seasons are robust, and October’s figures hold true to that trend. Firearm manufacturers continue to produce the high-quality tools that today’s gun buyers have come to expect, and these figures bear that out.”

Math teacher says he was called ‘ideologically violent’ for supporting standardized testing

Key Takeaways

  • The author recounts his college experiences facing backlash for supporting standardized testing and watching a professor get berated for her response to the George Floyd incident.
  • His book, which critiques the ideologically driven focus of higher education, recently won a Maxy Award.
  • Yellow Heights, a former software engineer turned teacher, emphasizes the need for objective assessment in education.

While studying at one of the “top” higher education institutions in the U.S., a new author recalls how he was described as “ideologically violent” for arguing in favor of standardized testing.

This incident and other concerns about diversity, equity, and inclusion in education inspired him to write a book.

His book “Unbalanced: Memoir of an Immigrant Math Teacher,” written under the pen name “Yellow Heights,” raises concerns about the ideologically-driven focus of higher education.

“Unbalanced” was released on Amazon and recently won a Maxy Award, an honor for indie and self-published books. The book also is partially available for free on the author’s substack.

Yellow Heights describes himself as a “former climate researcher, software engineer, investment manager, and high school math teacher.” He also is a first-generation immigrant from China and father of two. He writes under a penname and requested anonymity due to concerns about political and job discrimination due to his views.

“This book recounts his Kafkaesque experiences at education school, where he was labeled a white supremacist simply for asking questions,” according to the book’s Amazon page. “He shares firsthand accounts of teaching math at a public and a private school, offering a panoramic view of the issues surrounding wokeness, coddling, and the lack of accountability in education.”

The College Fix spoke on the phone recently with Yellow Heights about his book, his experiences going back to college to become a teacher, and his views of the current American education system.

After working as a software engineer and manager at Microsoft, he said he decided to go back to college in the late 2010s to become a math teacher. Although he did not name the school, he said it was one of the top 10 education institutions in the U.S.

Yellow Heights said he wanted to teach math because “I just take a great joy in seeing other people learning math and find math interesting. I want to basically make more people see the beauty of math and also the practical side of it.”

Around 2020, his experiences at college grew increasingly concerning.

Once, he said he and a fellow classmate asked some “learning related questions” only to end up “being labeled white supremacists by the instructor and the students.”

In another case, after the George Floyd protests, he said one “very kind, very well intentioned teacher” encouraged the students to continue class after giving them about 20 minutes to mourn — “and she was attacked. She was accused of lacking empathy at all and she was made to cry.”

Another incident occurred when Yellow Heights defended standardized testing. “I didn’t say it’s perfect. I just said we probably need some objective assessment of learning outcomes and we can improve it rather than just say it’s … evil itself.”

In response, the author said he was called “ideologically violent.”

Continue reading “”

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. – H. L. Mencken

Zohran Mamdani wins 2025 NYC mayoral election — wastes no time in declaring war on Trump in victory speech.

New Yorkers elected their first socialist mayor Tuesday, handing far-left Democrat Zohran Mamdani an historic victory — as he claimed a mandate for his potentially budget-busting progressive agenda and all but declared war on President Trump.

The Associated Press and NY1 called the race for the 34-year-old Mamdani about 40 minutes after polls closed at 9 p.m., inspiring cheers from his supporters at his campaign’s Brooklyn watch party.

“New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city that we can afford and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that,” he said, taking the stage after 11 p.m.

He then taunted Trump, prompting cheers from his fired-up crowd.

“So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching I have four words for you: turn the volume up,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, carried 50.4% of votes to independent candidate Andrew Cuomo’s 42% at 12 a.m., with nearly 98% of precincts reporting, the city Board of Elections said. GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa came in third with a rock-bottom 7.1%.

The Uganda-born Mamdani will be the Big Apple’s first Muslim, first South Asian and first socialist mayor, as well as one of the youngest.

Continue reading “”

Behold: The Dumbest Argument for an Assault Weapon Ban So Far

I can’t call anything the dumbest possible reason for trying to justify an assault weapon ban, but mostly because anti-Second Amendment folks seem bound and determined to take that as a challenge and roll out an even stupider one.

However, I can still point out where the bar is at a given point in time, and ladies and gentlemen, we have officially hit a whole new low.

I get that not everyone favors modern sporting rifles even existing, much less being protected by the Second Amendment, but the truth is that they do, and they are.

Yet if you’re going to try to convince me that a ban is justified, you have to do better than this.

Imagine a person making the decision to die by suicide via jumping off a bridge. Successful attempt or not, who is responsible in this scenario? The person? They simply fall. The bridge? It is just doing its job. The factor that is truly bringing that person’s life to a end? Gravity.

That person, even if they lack any knowledge of what gravity is or how it works, has an inherent knowledge that jumping equals falling. And that knowledge is true because of gravity. Not jumping. Not the impact. Not the water. The individual’s decision is executed by an additional factor.

It almost sounds like I am in agreement with the “Guns don’t kill…” statement. But wait. According to my previous paragraph, it’s not the person or the gun. So who is it? That is a matter of deeper study (and a much longer writing piece).

What I can state is studies show that even the least bit of resistance (in the form of a barrier) causes a decrease in the likelihood of someone following through with the decision to jump from a bridge. This could be a fence and/or a net. Even a failed attempt can result in the decision not to not try again — also backed by research.

So the correlation; if guns weren’t so easily accessible, the decision to harm others could still be made, but without the additional factor present. Even if they chose a knife-bat-etc., these are far less lethal and much easier for the everyday citizen — children included — to defend themselves from.

So his “correlation” is really him comparing apples to oranges, and then expecting you to swallow that they’re both bananas.

Continue reading “”

Baltimore store owner’s fatal shooting of burglar ruled self-defense

(WBFF) — The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office ruled that the fatal shooting of a suspected burglar by a jewelry store owner was an act of self-defense.

The decision, announced Monday by City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, follows a review by the office’s homicide unit.

The incident happened on Oct. 16, just after 2 a.m., when the store owner, who lives above the business on Fleet Street in Canton, opened fire on 39-year-old Richard Rolfe, killing him.

Christine Wilson, a neighbor, recalled the early morning gunfire. “I heard it right outside my window. And so, kind of nervous about, called 911,” she said.

Under Maryland law, self-defense or defense of habitation can be claimed by meeting several factors, including:

  • If a suspect attempts to enter a property
  • The owner believes the suspect intends to commit a crime leading to death or serious injury
  • The owner reasonably believes force is necessary.

The investigation revealed that the store owner believed Rolfe was armed, although it was later found that Rolfe did not have a gun. “Based on the facts of this case, we believe that this shooting meets the requirements of self-defense in the state of Maryland,” Bates said.

Wilson expressed relief at the decision, saying, “That is fantastic news. That is great news for all of us in this neighborhood.” She added, “It’s sad that a life had to be lost at all and there are people grieving for that person. So, it’s not really a celebration but it’s just like, ok, great, the system works.”

The store owner, who declined an on-camera interview, did say he was relieved and satisfied with the ruling.

Guardsman learns to fly autonomous Black Hawk in less than an hour.

A U.S. Army National Guardsman with no previous aviation background learned to successfully maneuver Sikorsky’s optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter in less than an hour, according to a company release.

In a training first, the Guardsman, using a handheld touchscreen tablet, controlled the Optionally Piloted Vehicle Black Hawk and planned its tasks during Exercise Northern Strike 25-2, a large, biannual multinational exercise sponsored by the National Guard Bureau that took place in Michigan this August. The exercise sees units practice a wide variety of offensive and defensive operations jointly in battle scenarios.

The Guardsman, whose name has not been released, used the OPV Black Hawk to transport a 2,900-pound water buffalo slingload entirely by remote control, according to the Thursday release.

Additional first-time demonstrations that took place during the exercise included delivering airborne troops to drop zones at different altitudes and a simulated medical evacuation, the release noted. The airborne drop exercise saw the helicopter perform a back-to-back action while controlled by the Guardsman operating the OPV from a Coast Guard vessel over 70 nautical miles away on Lake Huron. After ordering the helicopter to unload cargo, the soldier then used it to drop airborne troops.

The OPV Black Hawk also completed a first-ever performance of six hookups and dropoffs of HIMARS launch tubes, according to Sikorsky’s parent company Lockheed Martin.

“In contested logistics situations, a Black Hawk operating as a large drone offers commanders greater resilience and flexibility to get resources to the point of need,” said Rich Benton, vice president and general manager of Sikorsky, in a release.

Although it retains the ability to be operated by a pilot, the OPV Black Hawk can be programmed to perform tasks remotely and optionally controlled as it carries out its assigned duties.

Matrix technology, a system developed in a joint program by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Sikorsky, allows the aircraft to transition from piloted to uncrewed, according to DARPA.

Sikorsky also utilizes Matrix technology in its completely autonomous take on the UH-60L Black Hawk, nicknamed the “U-HAWK,” which it unveiled during the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual convention this year in Washington.

Henry’s Lever Action Supreme Named Rifle of the Year.

Henry’s Lever Action Supreme Named Rifle of the Year

Henry Repeating Arms is no stranger to innovation, but their latest achievement has set a new industry benchmark. The company’s Lever Action Supreme Rifle (LASR) has been named 2025 Rifle of the Year by Guns & Ammo magazine, one of the most respected publications in the firearms world.

The award was announced as part of Guns & Ammo’s rigorous annual evaluation process, which includes field testing, performance analysis, in-store availability, and value assessments. Out of every rifle released in 2025, Henry’s LASR came out on top.

Continue reading “”

No, she didn’t ‘forget’. She’s always served Somalia.

The Congresswoman Who Forgot Which Flag She Serves.

Representative Ilhan Omar didn’t misspeak when she recently took the stage in Minneapolis and called Somalia “our home” and its president “our president.” Omar again revealed what many Americans have long suspected: Her allegiance lies elsewhere.

Her unguarded confession was no mere slip of the tongue. What else would make President Donald Trump waste no time in his Truth Social response: “She should go back!”

As if on cue, the same pundits who’ve spent years gaslighting the public over open borders and identity politics clutched their pearls because of the vapors they caught.

The larger point is that Trump’s typical bluntness hit a nerve because it wasn’t just political; it was moral.

He said out loud what millions had been thinking.

A Pattern, Not a Moment

Long before she took the oath of office, Omar had been caught in a pattern of behavior that showed this wasn’t an isolated episode. She described 9/11 as “some people did something,” and labeled U.S. troops as occupiers rather than liberators. The disdain she’s had for the country giving her refuge and power has been out in front for the entirety of her career.

All we hear in her voice is resentment, not gratitude or loyalty. When her lips move, we don’t hear from an immigrant who’s proud to have escaped a failed state, but from a blackguard who resents the nation that saved her.

Liberty wasn’t Omar’s goal when fleeing tyranny. When she fled dysfunction, she felt she earned the right to lecture Americans about their allegic sins and shortcomings.

Continue reading “”

Trump Cuts Off Tax Money Pipeline to Gun Control Groups

There’s little that is as upsetting as seeing your tax dollars spent on something you are morally opposed to with every fiber of your being. It’s especially upsetting when that something is an attack on one of our basic civil liberties that’s expressly protected by the United States Constitution.

However, as we found out earlier this year, our tax money was ending up in the bank accounts of various gun control groups, thus we were being forced to fund the effort to strip us of our God-given right to keep and bear arms.

Much of that funding was cut off already, but not all of it.

As the NRA-ILA notes, though, President Trump has cut off even more.

The loss of funding resulted in a lawsuit against the Trump administration brought by five non-profit entities, lead by the progressive Vera Institute of Justice, alleging the cuts were unconstitutional, illegal, and arbitrary and capricious. In July, an Obama-appointed judge of the federal district court for the District of Columbia denied injunctive relief and granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, ruling that the plaintiffs failed to show the court had jurisdiction over their arbitrary and capricious claim and failed “to demonstrate a violation of any constitutional right or protection.”

The other shoe on these grants has just dropped.

The Trump administration has reportedly retooled the eligibility criteria and focus for these grants going forward. Eligibility to apply for an estimated $34 million in grant money has changed to exclude community-based organizations and non-profit applicants.

The focus is more explicitly on “supporting law enforcement efforts to reduce violent crime and improv[ing] police-community relations” through law enforcement officer and related personnel hiring, equipment purchases that specifically support violence prevention and intervention, youth violence intervention programs, and generally by “increasing the capacity of local government, law enforcement, and the criminal justice system to coordinate comprehensive crime reduction strategies.”…

A look through the archived list of past federal grant recipients (FY 2022 and FY 2023) shows that many of the previous CVIPI grantees have also been funded by Everytown Support Fund’s Community Safety Fund. A very cursory examination of the archived list also reveals a few grant recipients with clear anti-Second Amendment, pro-gun control elements.

Let’s understand that no matter what a program accomplishes with regard to reducing violent crime, if they don’t support gun control, Everytown isn’t backing them. I don’t care what they might claim in that regard; that’s just the simple truth. They’re an anti-Second Amendment organization, and they only support their fellow travelers.

But by changing the criteria like they did, the DOJ has cut off funding that might not explicitly go toward gun control, but would free up other revenue for those purposes. Something else I don’t care about is the claim that the money wasn’t for anti-gun activities, because money is fungible and a dollar in is a dollar in. They only promise not to use X amount for anti-gun efforts.

While gun control organizations are trying to frame this as killing efforts to prevent so-called gun violence, the reality is that there’s little evidence these efforts did a damn thing. Plus, if Everytown and its buddies are that bothered, they’re free to issue their own grants. I’m sure Michael Bloomberg has a spare $34 million lying around.

Why should we, the American people, be on the hook for something that doesn’t seem to do much?

One person shot and killed in Tulsa after apparent Friday break-in attempt

On October 31st, 2025, around 11:50 p.m., Officers responded to a shooting at the Crossing at Silver Oaks Apartments near 71st and Yale.

The caller reported they heard around 20 gunshots, then saw a man down on the ground with a gun next to him police said.

Officers arrived and found 20-year-old Jamond Silas dead in front of the apartment doors.

On the scene, a man came forward and said he shot Silas. According to authorities the man said he was inside an apartment when Silas kicked in the door and entered the apartment, and the man said he shot Silas in self-defense.

The man was questioned by police and released pending further investigation.

Previous Story:

Tulsa Police say a person is dead after being shot during what police believe to be a break-in attempt Friday night.

Officers say someone inside the home shot and killed the intruder.

This happened at a residence near 71st and Yale.

Police say the person responsible for the shooting stayed at the scene, was questioned by officers, and was released pending further investigation.