Miss Swearer hit a line drive out of the park again

11 Defensive Gun Uses Show How Lawful Gun Owners ‘Get It Right’

Often lost in conversations about gun violence is the reality of who is responsible for the bulk of that violence. Most gun crimes aren’t committed by lawful gun owners but by a small subset of repeat violent offenders who already are prohibited from legally possessing firearms.

At the same time, the vast majority of the nation’s millions of lawful gun owners will never use their firearms to harm themselves or others (excluding, of course, actions taken in lawful self-defense).

Nevertheless, sometimes people make questionable—or even downright abhorrent—decisions with their lawfully owned firearms. This was quite apparent in recent weeks as several gun owners made national headlines for all the wrong reasons, recklessly resorting to the use of lethal force when it likely wasn’t warranted.

Although these individuals rightly should have their actions scrutinized, the reality is that Americans with legally possessed guns are far more likely to “get it right” than they are to “get it wrong.”

Almost every major study has found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times annually, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has acknowledged. In 2021, the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the issue concluded that roughly 1.6 million defensive gun uses occur in the United States every year.

For this reason, The Daily Signal publishes a monthly article highlighting some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed—or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place. (Read other accounts here from past months and years. You also may follow @DailyDGU on Twitter for daily highlights of recent defensive gun uses.)

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Just me, but it appears the younger man likely knew of the older ones violent past and decided to make his own plans for personal safety.

No charges will be filed in Germantown canvasser shooting, District Attorney’s Office says

Philadelphia prosecutors said the fatal shooting between two canvassers for political group One PA self-defense.

Prosecutors will not charge a 22-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a 46-year-old in East Germantown on Monday afternoon while both were canvassing for a political group. Authorities say the shooting was in self-defense.

Jane Roh, a spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner, said Friday that both their office and the Police Department were in agreement about what happened between two paid canvassers for the progressive group One PA.

“This is nonetheless a tragic loss of life,” Roh said. “We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the decedent.”

Meanwhile, family members of the victim, Eddie Brokenbough, were distraught to learn the father of 10 had been shot, and doubted police accounts of the shooting.

Reports spread that Brokenbough, who was shot once in the armpit and rushed from the 2000 block of Church Lane to a nearby hospital, had pulled a gun on the 22-year-old canvasser, causing the younger man to shoot in what he told police was self-defense.

Both men knew each other, police said, and the shooting stemmed from an “argument,” possibly over an existing dispute.

One PA has said guns are not permitted in its offices or during canvassing, and it has temporarily suspended its canvassing efforts.

The group is an independent expenditure committee that can raise and spend money to boost candidates but is prohibited from directly coordinating with them. This year, the group knocked on doors to promote mayoral candidate Helen Gym and a slate of left-leaning City Council candidates.

Brokenbough was not legally permitted to carry a firearm because of charges in a 2012 shooting, court records show. He was a paid temporary canvasser for OnePA on and off since 2021, the group said. The 22-year-old shooter has been employed by the group since last year.

A spokesperson for OnePA said Tuesday that it complies with laws prohibiting background checks on employees and wouldn’t discuss Brokenbough’s background during the investigation.

One PA Executive Director Steve Paul said following the shooting that the organization was “heartbroken, and our condolences and sympathy are with their family.”

Doesn’t fit the stereotype, must not be real

Black, Millennial, Female and Conservative

Antonia Okafor Cover joined me on Feedback to discuss her transformation from Democrat to Republican and her dedication to the Second Amendment. Antonia is the Director of Women’s Outreach with Gun Owners of America and Founder and President of Empowered, a nonprofit group designed to educate, train and equip young women in the use of firearms for protection on college campuses. The group also helps women advocate for their Second Amendment rights.

Antonia has been working on Second Amendment issue advocacy and firearms education for women for several years and has appeared on and been quoted in major news outlets, and has testified on Capitol Hill. News media are finally starting to cover the steady and growing trend of new female gun owners, which includes a large number of new black female gun owners.

For Antonia, this is not surprising, and she can highlight some of the major reasons women are deciding to empower themselves and buy a gun. Number one on that list is personal protection and self defense.

Antonia shared that her political evolution began when she realized that Democrats’ lack of principles and values, as well as their intolerance of diversity of thought led her to become a Christian and then a conservative who embraced our constitution and more specifically, the Second Amendment.

Women should be empowered to defend themselves and their families and because Democrats offer no real solutions to empower women, this is, indeed, the natural progression in becoming a conservative.

Well, you know the old lines about ducks and buffalo country, right?

Do Gun-Control Democrats Want Us Dead?

Modern politicians don’t ask to kill their opponents right away. There is a ladder of dehumanization to climb as they justify increasing levels of violence. We’ve heard Democrat politicians say that Republicans don’t care about killing children because the Republican legislators won’t pass more gun-control. Not only is that extremist rhetoric, it is murderously dangerous. Look at the facts and it seems gun-control Democrats really want more of us to die.

To quote Democrat Congressman Mike Thompson, “How many more kids need to get murdered before House Republican Leadership steps up and puts gun violence prevention legislation on the House calendar?”

The Democrat party news site DemCastUSA said, “Republicans ..block gun safety reforms while stoking hate. The GOP has blood on their hands while offering ‘Thoughts and Prayers’…”

Let’s look at what Democrat Politicians are asking for. This is what happens after honest citizens are disarmed.

Violent criminals commit about 1.2 million violent crimes a year (2019). Most criminals, about five-out-of-six, don’t use a gun in their violent crimes. In contrast, honest citizens use a firearm about 2.8 million times a year to stop death or great bodily injury. We don’t know how many of those defensive incidents would result in the victim’s death if they were disarmed. We can estimate the answer by assuming that criminals who attack disarmed victims are the same sort who attack armed victims. We are assuming that the criminals stay the same and only the actions of the victims change. That is overly simplistic, but it is a start. In fact, violent criminals become more violent when their victims become more vulnerable.

Here is an example to show you what I mean. If half of violent crimes were aggravated assaults, then we’ll assume that half of the attacks on the newly disarmed victims will remain as aggravated assaults. That may be wishful thinking since we don’t know how many aggravated assaults today were really attempted murders where a victim was able to reduce the severity of the attack because he was armed.

Violent criminals committed about 16.4-thousand murders in 2019. That is about 1.4-percent of the violent crimes. We now have 1.4 percent of what used to be armed defenses, about 38-thousand, now become new murders when the victims are disarmed by Democrat gun-control.

Gun-control Democrats more than tripled the number of murdered victims by disarming the good guys.

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When Even Artificial Intelligence Doesn’t Want to Address the ‘Gun Violence’ Elephant in the Room

It’s like the other current in “gun control” stories we often move past quickly. I asked ChatGPT a question about that issue we are required to ignore and ChatGPT even danced around it. Here’s the exchange:

Erickson: Break down the 2021 gun crime statistic totals by race of shooter and race of victim

ChatGPT: I’m sorry, but as an AI language model, I don’t have access to real-time data and statistics beyond my knowledge cutoff date of September 2021. Additionally, it’s important to note that collecting and analyzing data on gun violence can be a complex and sensitive issue, and the available data may not always provide a complete or accurate picture of the situation.

However, I can provide some general information on gun violence statistics in the United States based on available data. According to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks incidents of gun violence in the US, there were over 43,000 incidents of gun violence in the US in 2020, resulting in over 23,000 deaths and over 19,000 injuries. The data on the race of shooters and victims is not always available or complete, but based on available information, it appears that gun violence disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic communities.

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on firearm homicides from 2015-2019, the firearm homicide rate among Black non-Hispanic individuals was 28.5 per 100,000 population, while the rate among Hispanic individuals was 7.8 per 100,000 population. In contrast, the rate among White non-Hispanic individuals was 3.3 per 100,000 population. These numbers suggest that Black and Hispanic individuals are more likely to be victims of firearm homicides than White individuals.

Regarding the race of shooters, data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) suggests that in incidents where the race of the offender was known, Black individuals were disproportionately represented as offenders of violent crime, including firearm-related offenses. However, it’s important to note that this data does not provide a complete picture of gun violence, as it only includes incidents that were reported to law enforcement and where the race of the offender was known.

Overall, it’s clear that gun violence is a serious issue in the US, and efforts to address the problem should take into account the disproportionate impact on Black and Hispanic communities. It’s also important to continue collecting and analyzing data to better understand the nature of gun violence and the factors that contribute to it.

The woke AI can dance around it if it wants, but the reality is that the black and Hispanic communities are disproportionally affected by gun violence, and they are disproportionately affected by gang violence.

Instead of politicians lecturing Americans on AR-15s, which do not account for most gun deaths in the country, maybe they should be talking to the black and Hispanic young men of America who are killing each other and other members of their communities with guns.

There were 48,830 gun deaths in America in 2021. 54% were suicides. 43% were murders. Of those 20,958 murders, 103 were mass shooting victims according to the FBI, and only 3% involved rifles like an AR-15.

Disproportionately and overwhelmingly, the murders caused by guns are through violence in non-white communities, often by gangs. The media focuses on the few mass shooters and the white shooters of non-white victims and chooses to ignore the gangs and the violence in non-white communities. The media demands we ban the AR-15 and rarely comment on handguns.

In other words, the media and the politicians focus on the least used gun for murders and focus on the least common gun deaths all to advance an agenda where, if they really wanted to reduce gun deaths, they’d focus on crime, gangs, and the need for more robust law enforcement. That would actually be politically viable and would actually reduce gun deaths.

But that would not focus on white supremacy, Republicans, and gun owners. It’d cover the problem, not the political opposition.

— Erick-Woods Erickson in The Data and the Silence

Herd of Cows aid North Carolina police pursuit, leading them ‘directly’ to suspect

Police said the cows appeared to be opposed to suspected criminals loitering in their pasture

North Carolina police officers made an arrest with the help of a herd of cows who were happy to narc on the suspect hiding in their pasture.

The Town of Boone Police Department said the suspect, later identified as Joshua Minton, 34, fled from officers during a traffic stop on Tuesday and led the officers and Watauga County Sheriff’s Office deputies on a pursuit. He abandoned his vehicle in the Deep Gap area and ran into an undeveloped area.

Because of the suspect’s “fast and reckless driving,” officers were not immediately close enough to see where he ran to, according to police.

Officers began searching the area for the man and received some unexpected assistance from cows willing to reveal the suspect’s whereabouts.

“Apparently cows do not want suspected criminals loitering in their pasture and quickly assisted our officers by leading them directly to where the suspect was hiding,” police said in a press release. “The cows communicated with the officers as best they could and finally just had the officers follow them to the suspect’s location.”

Minton was apprehended and charged with one count of felony fleeing and eluding arrest with a motor vehicle, driving with a license revoked, and disorderly conduct. He received a $20,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court on June 28, in Watauga County.

The police department thanked the cows for their assistance in finding Minton.

“In addition to thanking our officers and deputies for putting themselves in harm’s way; obviously, we want to express our gratitude to the cows for their assistance,” police said. “This opens up all kinds of questions as to the bovines’ role in crime fighting. Honestly, it is something that we have not considered before now.”

Bob McManus: Alvin Bragg didn’t trust a grand jury to do his bidding in Daniel Penny subway chokehold case.

Daniel Penny, the Marine Corps veteran who fatally subdued a deranged, threatening vagrant on the subway last week, was arraigned Friday on manslaughter charges in Criminal Court.

Anyone who expected differently in DA Alvin Bragg’s Manhattan hasn’t been paying attention.

Penny had put Jordan Neely, a career criminal who was terrorizing the F Train May 1, into a chokehold; Neely subsequently died — and thus the charges.

In less bizarre times — that is, before America lost its bearings on matters of crime, criminals, and simple justice itself — the case wouldn’t be complicated: A vagrant was menacing subway passengers, a straphanger reacted, the vagrant died — and a grand jury could be trusted to do the right thing.

But those days are history.

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Some people have been saying this for years.

Robert F. Kennedy: It Looks Like Almost Every Mass Shooter Is On SSRI Drugs.

The whole show

“The sense that we are losing control of our own country, by the design of politicians, is creating a fury”.

I wrote that in July 2015 about how Trump alone among candidates at the time understood the power of the illegal immigration issue: “Illegal immigration and open borders have made voters increasingly angry because they reflect the growing lawlessness of society and the willingness of Republicans to capitulate to leftist identity politics.”

https://twitter.com/GriffJenkins/status/1654485971709181959

I wrote this at National Review on July 13, 2015, about how Trump alone among Republican candidates at the time recognized the growing fury at illegal immigration. At that point Trump was polling in the teens, and no one gave him a chance, but he saw what no other Republican in that cycle saw, Trump’s Lesson: Voters Are Furious about Illegal Immigration.

Donald Trump has rocketed to the top, or near the top, of the Republican-primary field by focusing on illegal immigration and border security…. Trump is in the driver’s seat, and his vehicle is the lawlessness reflected in our failure to control illegal immigration in general, and violent illegal-immigrant criminals and gangs in particular….

The media fell all over itself to denounce Trump, as did many Republican candidates and pundits. Trump was called incendiary, insensitive, a clown, not serious, damaging to the Republican “brand,” not what “we” are about, and so on….

Some claim that the rate of murder and crime by illegal immigrants is no higher than for those here legally, but that’s an obfuscation. Any murder or crime by an illegal immigrant is one too many, because that person should not be in our country in the first place….

Sure, Trump mentions other issues such as trade, but it is illegal immigration that motivated at least several thousand people to turn out for what was supposed to be a modest campaign stop in Phoenix. One section in Trump’s Phoenix speech jumped out at me as capturing especially well what is happening on the ground:

When I started . . . I didn’t think the immigration thing would take on a life like it has. I made some very tough statements about people flowing through, because that’s one of the things, to make our country great again, we have to create borders, otherwise we don’t have a country [italics added].

Any Republican who doesn’t understand what Trump was getting at is hopelessly out of touch with the most motivated portion of the electorate, Republican and otherwise.

Illegal immigration and open borders have made voters increasingly angry because they reflect the growing lawlessness of society and the willingness of Republicans to capitulate to leftist identity politics. The sense that we are losing control of our own country, by the design of politicians, is creating a fury — and an opening for a politician willing to recognize that the problem poses an existential threat to our own freedoms.

If Republicans consider Trump a danger to the Republican party in the 2016 general election, then they should start by feeling the people’s pain over illegal immigration, standing with the victims, and looking in the mirror — not at Donald Trump.

My point still rings true, perhaps more true now that Joe Biden has opened the border and encouraged mass illegal migration. Trump still understands, and so does Ron DeSantis who has been very aggressive in Florida against illegal immigration. I don’t think the Republican establishment gets it yet.

No need to guess

13-year-old ‘hardened criminal’ on probation shoots cop during gun battle

A 13-year-old boy described by authorities as a “hardened criminal” with “no regard for life” shot a police officer during a foot chase in Florida — and was wounded in the exchange of fire.

The gun battle unfolded after 5 p.m. Wednesday in the city of Lakeland as police officer Jamie Smith, formerly of the NYPD, was responding to a 911 call reporting a drive-by shooting a couple of blocks from Simpson Park.

Smith spotted the white Dodge Avenger mentioned on the call and pursued it in his patrol vehicle until the car stopped and three teens jumped out and took off running.

One of the suspects was seen brandishing a gun, Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said during a press conference.

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May 13

1501 – Amerigo Vespucci, this time under the Portuguese flag, sets sail on his second voyage to the west.

1780 – The Cumberland Compact, a foundation document of the Tennessee State Constitution, is signed by 256 of the settlers of the Cumberland River area, at Fort Nashborough, later Nashville, providing for democratic government and a formal system of justice.

1805 – Forces under Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli, attack U.S. Marines that had been holding the city of Derne for the past year, but are driven off, suffering heavy casualties.

1830 – Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia.

1846 – Congress declares war on the Federal Republic of Mexico following the request from President Polk on the 11th.

1861 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a “proclamation of neutrality” which recognizes the Confederacy as having belligerent rights.

1888 – The Empire of Brazil abolishes slavery, passing the Lei Áurea, the ‘Golden Law’.

1940 –  Germany troops cross the Meuse river, beginning the conquest of France during World War II.

1948 – The day prior to the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the Kfar Etzion kibbutz in the ‘West Bank’ of Israel, is attacked and overran by forces of the Arab Legion who kill over 120 Haganah fighters and kibbutz residents.

1958 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon’s car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.

1980 – An F3 force tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan, killing 5 people, injuring 79 more and causing $50,000,000 in damage.

1985 – Police bomb the MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia, killing 6 adults, 5 children, and destroying the homes of 250 city residents in the resulting fire.

1995 – Alison Hargreaves, 33, becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of Sherpas.

2013 – Physician Kermit Gosnell is found guilty by a jury in Pennsylvania of murdering 3 infants born alive during attempted abortions, involuntary manslaughter of a woman during an abortion procedure, and 200 other counts including infanticide and racketeering. Waiving his right to appeal in exchange for an agreement by prosecutors not to seek the death penalty, he is sentenced instead to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

 

When their party’s political agenda starts biting them in the rear end
NIMBY!!!
I laugh.

Chicago Residents Erupt Over Plan to Release Illegal Aliens in Their Community

Residents in South Shore, Chicago are not happy about plans to import countless illegal immigrants into their community. Their protest comes as President Joe Biden’s continues to promote open border policies, rampant asylum fraud and plans to release thousands of illegal immigrants in cities across the country.

During a city council meeting earlier this week, residents blasted the release proposal and demanded local officials work to stop the impending influx.

Further, residents are blasting illegal immigration advocates for promoting voting for non-citizens.

“This is an effort to destroy our neighborhoods and silence our voices,” one man warned.

 

9-Year-Old Boy’s Life Hangs in the Balance: Denied Transplant Over Vaccination Status

Despite the fact that COVID-19 is no longer a major threat to anyone, the COVID cult is still in effect, and it could cost a nine-year-old boy his life. The COVID regime has already caused immense damage and ruined far too many lives. But, unfortunately, it appears the cult is not through with us just yet.

Tanner Donaldson, a 9-year-old boy with stage 4 chronic kidney disease, was born with a rare birth defect causing irreversible kidney damage. Tanner’s father, Dane Donaldson, is a suitable live kidney donor, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital has refused to conduct the transplant surgery because Dane is not vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The hospital has a policy that requires all organ donors to be fully vaccinated to minimize complications during and after surgery. Dane questioned the hospital’s hypocrisy, pointing out that deceased organ donors are not required to be vaccinated. He even offered to sign a waiver freeing the hospital from liability.

But the hospital still rejected him.

In April, the Epoch Times reached out to the hospital for an explanation. “Individuals who are actively infected with COVID-19 have a much higher rate of complications during and after surgery, even if the infection is asymptomatic,” the hospital responded.

Dane opposes the vaccine for religious reasons. But he has also been hesitant “because he has seen a rising number of clients get critically ill after receiving it,” according to the news outlet.

The hospital acknowledged that live donors are the best for kidney transplants but said they are “not without risks.”

“We continually strive to minimize risk to our living donors, and vaccination is an important component to ensure the safest approach and optimal outcomes for donors,” the hospital asserted.

Dane Donaldson indicated that he and his wife are trying to find another hospital to perform the operation.

This is one of several stories in which people have been unable to donate their organs because of faulty COVID policies. There is no telling how many people have perished because hospitals are more concerned with making sure people are vaccinated than actually saving lives.

Denying life-saving medical treatments to individuals based on their vaccination status is ethically wrong for several reasons. Firstly, it goes against the fundamental principle of medical ethics, which is to prioritize the well-being and best interests of the patient. In these cases, the patients in need of organ transplants are being denied potentially life-saving procedures solely because their potential donors are unvaccinated.

Even worse, there seems to be no real evidence that an unvaccinated donor would place people like Donaldson in more peril than the ailment they are suffering from. This decision disregards the urgent medical needs of the patients and places a higher priority on vaccination status rather than the health and lives of individuals.

Secondly, it creates a dangerous precedent of discrimination based on personal medical choices. Medical decisions, including the choice to receive a vaccine or not, should be made by individuals based on their own assessment of risks and benefits, taking into account their unique medical conditions and personal beliefs.

By denying medical treatments to individuals who have made a different choice regarding vaccination, healthcare institutions are effectively punishing and stigmatizing those who have made a different decision, undermining personal autonomy and the right to make informed medical choices. Unfortunately, their religious adherence to the COVID cult could result in more loss of life because of unnecessary policies.

3 Arrested, 1 Fatally Stabbed in Suspected Home Invasion Gone Awry in Covington

A suspected home invasion in Covington did not go as planned for four suspects when the victim fought back, resulting in one suspect’s death and the other three being arrested, Newton County officials said Thursday.

Randell Whitley, 39, of Newborn, was stabbed during the May 5 incident, the Newton sheriff’s office said. He was taken to the hospital but later died from his wounds.

The sheriff’s office identified the other three suspects as Margie Love, 35; Anthony McDonald, 18; and Garrett Blackwell, 21.

Just before 8:30 p.m. the night of the incident, the group went to the home of Love’s ex-partner on Ga. 162, the sheriff’s office said. They confronted the victim and forced their way into the house before a fight began, officials said. During the fight, Whitley was fatally stabbed.

Love and McDonald were arrested and charged with first-degree home invasion, murder and aggravated assault, the sheriff’s office said. Blackwell later turned himself in at the Newton County Jail and is facing the same charges.

The U.S. Constitution

Article I
Section 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section 8
The Congress shall have Power To…

…provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;