The Conservative does not despise government. He despises tyranny. This is precisely why the Conservative reveres the Constitution and insists on adherence to it.
– Mark Levin

Comment O’ The Day
A multi millionaire who’s too good to wait in line at the airport like the rest of us peasants and is instead flying around on private jets is “fighting oligarchy” and climate change?

Mark W. Smith/#2A Scholar

2A “SENSITIVE PLACES” EXPLANATION. I wrote this to a Four Boxes Diner fan so I thought I would post it here too! This explains when government can ban guns in a specific location consistent with 2A based on US’s historical tradition of gun regulations. Let me know if this makes sense. The below is superior to the other theories folks have advanced elsewhere!

Mark’s Explanation:
In short, if a government does not provide comprehensive security with limited points of entry, metal detectors and armed guards, then it cannot be a constitutionally-acceptable government-mandated gun free zone. The only time the government can take away your fundamental 2A right to keep and bear arms in a specific location is when the government itself assumes the full responsibility for protecting you with armed defense; short of this, you have a right to protect yourself.

If you look at our Founding history, the three “sensitive places” mentioned in Bruen (polling places, legislative chambers and courthouses) all had armed guards. Sheriffs, sergeant at arms, and bailiffs.

Today, with the rise of small, concealable handguns (less of a problem at the founding where everyone carried unconcealable rifles/shotguns/long guns), to have comprehensive security, the gov’t must provide metal detectors and limited entry points in addition to armed guards. At the founding, you did not need metal detectors b/c the main weapons were big and not concealable. Today, with handguns being ubiquitous, you need the metal detectors for comprehensive security, which is what we see at airports, courthouses and Congress.

Note, the government does NOT have to provide comprehensive security at a location. However, if they want to ban guns in a location, then they MUST provide comprehensive security. No government-provided armed security means the government cannot deprive you of your 2A rights.

Finally, the practical benefit to the comprehensive security approach to the “sensitive places” question is it is an objective test: has the government ACTED to make a place “sensitive” or have they just paid lip service to the question by labeling a place as “sensitive” without treating it as such.

If the government has not provided the same level of security as is provided by the government to protect the judges in a courthouse, then it is not comprehensive security and, by extension, a gun ban would not be constitutional in that specific location.

Summerville home invasion leaves suspected intruder dead

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) – Dorchester County deputies are investigating an apparent home invasion that ended with the suspect’s death.

The Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office responded early Wednesday, just after 1 a.m., to a call for an active home invasion in which one person was reported shot.

Upon their arrival to the 100 block of Hope Drive in Summerville, deputies found that the alleged intruder died at the scene.

It remains unclear who the shooter was or if they will face any charges, something that will be determined as the investigation continues.

The Dorchester County Coroner’s Office has not released the identity of the person who died.

Trump Administration Position on Machine Guns – Not 2A Protected
This Position Undermines Its Second Amendment Credibility

“Trump administration says machine guns aren’t protected by Second Amendment,” The Washington Times reports. “The Trump administration is taking heat from gun rights advocates after the Justice Department argued in court that machine guns fall outside the scope of firearms guaranteed by the Second Amendment.”

The story quotes Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Case, who, in arguing a brief in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling, asserted “Machine guns are not the kind of arms protected by the Second Amendment.”

District Judge Carlton Wayne Reeves of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi had properly ruled that the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, codifying that text, history and tradition at the time the Constitution was ratified, defined the standards to be used in determining Founding Era intent.

Besides, the Second Amendment says “arms.” It doesn’t say “kinds of arms.” Continental Congress Delegate Tench Coxe’s views were reflective of what the understanding was at the time, when he wrote, “Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American…. [T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.”

And for what purpose?
“As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms,” Coxe declared.

Where’d you pull “kinds of weapons” out of, AUSA Case? She’s relying on the “in common use at the time” artificial construct that restricts “legal” ownership to what has not been banned by infringements, and limits gun uses to “self-defense.”

Continue reading “”

Suspect who Greece Police say was shot during attempted robbery faces charges

GREECE, N.Y. — The 17-year-old who Greece police say was shot during an attempted robbery is facing charges.

The teen, a Rochester resident, is charged with the attempted robbery of Henry’s Convenience Store on Denise Road on Tuesday. He’s also charged with a robbery at the same store that happened on April 26.

Police say the store owner shot the suspect in self-defense after the suspect went into the store wearing a mask and pointing a gun. The teen underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to his leg and remains hospitalized under the watch of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Officers say they found the suspect injured on nearby Lake Avenue. A Greece police officer put a tourniquet on the suspect’s leg before he was taken to Strong Hospital.

Police got calls about the robbery and shooting around 7:30 a.m. The caller said the store owner and the suspect exchanged gunfire and the suspect ran away after being hit. Fifteen minutes later, officers got reports of a man shot.

Police say the suspect went into the store with a mask, and when asked to take it off, he pointed a gun at the store owner.

Greece Police say they recovered the suspect’s gun inside the store. Police say the store owner was a legal pistol permit holder and wasn’t injured.

“He used a legally registered handgun in what appears to be the defense of himself and the store,” Deputy Chief Naser Zenelovic said.

Monroe County Sheriffs and Rochester police assisted in setting up a perimeter. The number of shots fired during the exchange was not released.

Greece Police shared surveillance video of the first robbery at Henry’s Convenience Store. The video shows the suspect running away and police say the suspect had a gun and stole cash, along with other property.

The store has since reopened, but the owner declined to comment on camera before consulting with his attorney.

Greece resident Deborah Hofer expressed concern for her safety after the two incidents in 10 days. “I think that there should be more police in the area because this is kind of scary,” said Hofer.

May 8, 2025

80 years ago, today, the Germans surrendered to the Allies, ending World War 2 in Europe. As the veterans called the ‘Greatest Generation’ steadily succumb to the ravages of time, let’s not forget the sacrifice of those few still living and dead.

VE – Victory in Europe DAY. Under terms of the surrender by Germany, the order for “all German military, naval and air authorities and to all forces under German control to cease active operations” takes effect.

“The western world has been freed of the evil forces which for five years and longer have imprisoned the bodies and broken the lives of millions upon millions of freeborn men. They have violated their churches, destroyed their homes, corrupted their children and murdered their loved ones. Our armies of liberation have restored freedom to those suffering peoples, whose spirit and will the oppressor could never enslave.”
— President Harry S. Truman, V-E Day Proclamation, 8 May 1945

 

To say that a bad government must be established for fear of anarchy is really saying that we should kill ourselves for fear of dying.
– Richard Henry Lee

As I understand it, the Israelis have these strict gun laws because they’re afraid the number of their citizens, who are actual Arabs, would more easily be armed to aid and assist their terrorist minded brethren when an opportunity presented itself.

Israeli National Security Minister Wants US Gun Laws at Home

Israel is a country in a tough spot. They have people who don’t just want to defeat them militarily all around them, and some inside their own borders, but who want them eliminated from the planet. They’re openly calling for genocide, and that includes voices all across the world, including within our own country, for some idiotic reason.

Because of that, there are certain laws in place that try to make the nation a tough target for anyone to take on.

You might be able to beat Israel in a war, but they’re damned sure going to make you pay for it first. They kind of take that “Never Again” thing seriously, and for good reason.

But they still have a lot of gun control. That’s not exactly conducive to being as hard a target as possible. Now, an Israeli minister has taken a look at the American gun culture and figures that Israel should adopt similar laws to the United States.

Israel’s controversial National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir recently visited the U.S., where he met with Jewish groups, law enforcement officials and politicians, as well as facing several clashes with protesters.

The shouting critics, however, did not appear to bother Ben-Gvir, who was a right-wing activist in his youth….

Prior to his meeting with Mast, Ben-Gvir had the chance to visit his home state where he saw something that he wanted to take back with him to Israel: gun culture.

Ben-Gvir has long been an advocate for wider distribution of firearms in Israel, and while he was visiting the U.S., he took time to see how America handles guns. He had the opportunity to visit both a shooting range and a gun store, which he said was “fascinating.”

“I was surprised by the quantity and types of weapons available. Even I haven’t reached that level,” Ben-Gvir told Fox News Digital.

He spoke about how critics have accused him of arming militias, which he denies. When speaking with Fox News Digital, Ben-Gvir said that the weapons he distributed in Israel “saved many lives.”

“I believe we need to learn a from the Americans. One of the important lessons is their policy on weapons,” Ben-Gvir told Fox News Digital. “I’m not sure I would distribute arms to the same extent, but I definitely believe in expanding access because citizens have the right to defend themselves.”

Gun culture in Israel has changed since the Oct. 7 massacre. Before the attacks, Israel was strict about who was eligible to obtain a firearm. Pre-Oct. 7, firearm licenses were restricted to those who live and work in high-risk areas, licensed tour guides and those who served with Israeli police or IDF security forces, among a few other specified categories, according to an Israeli government website from 2019.

Frankly, they should “distribute arms to the same extent” as the US, in part because then October 7th might have gone very differently. As it was, some Hamas fighters were killed by armed civilians who made the terrorists pay for all the Israeli blood they wanted to spill.

Yet more guns in more hands might have actually changed everything, up to and including potentially preventing that particular atrocity.

Less than a month before that attack, Hamas lashed out at armed Israelis.

*cough* *cough

They knew what they had planned and hoped to have more Israelis disarmed as a result, thus potentially making their vicious attack all the worse.

While not every Israeli would own a gun, even if they could do so easily, imagine what it would be like for the neighbors of the gun nuts who had a lot of AR-15s or AK-47-style rifles. Hamas is coming, but the neighborhood gun nut has put a fighting rifle in the hand of every man, woman, and child on the block with enough ammunition to beat back an army.

Or even just a few rifles among close friends.

Anything is better than being a sitting duck when so many people want you purged from humanity.