Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Establishes ‘9/11 Heroes Day,’ Requiring Children to Learn About the Attack

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed another batch of bills on Tuesday, one of which designates September 11 as “9/11 Heroes Day,” requiring middle and high school students to learn about the attack.

DeSantis discussed a series of bills passed by the Florida legislature, slated to empower Florida’s teachers and “reign in out-of-control unions and school boards,” according to the governor’s office.

In addition to approving a $252 million increase in teacher salaries, DeSantis is signing Senate Bill 256, House Bill 477, House Bill 1537, House Bill 1035, and House Bill 379.

House Bill 477 addresses school board members, decreasing their terms from 12 years to eight years. Further, Joint Resolution 31 will make school board elections more transparent rather than “nonpartisan,” thereby allowing partisan elections. This will be in effect for the 2024 elections.

House Bill 1537, which largely focuses on preparation programs for teachers, also contains a provision establishing September 11 as “9/11 Heroes Day,” requiring 45 minutes of instruction for both middle and high school students on the tragic attack on U.S. soil:

The bill also includes something that we were asked to support over the last year, year and a half, by folks who were serving in uniform in New York City during September 11. And that is establishing a ‘9/11 Heroes Day’ in honor of those who gave their lives fighting for freedom on September 11.

“And so now kids in school are going to be learning about people who sacrificed at the Twin Towers and at the Pentagon on September 11,” he said.

DeSantis noted during Tuesday’s press conference that children in schools were born after the attack and therefore have no remembrance of it, as older generations do:

When you think about it, many of us remember that, and that was kind of a big deal for our country in terms of the last generation, but you look at these kids in high school here, they were not even born when September 11 happened. So we think it’s important that those folks are honored.

DeSantis also touted House Bill 1035, which establishes a Teachers’ Bill of Rights. House Bill 379, meanwhile, addresses social media, effectively removing TikTok from schools.

WATCH the full press conference below:

Trading Privacy for Convenience: Starbucks’ Biometric Experiment With Palm Payments in Washington Town

Starbucks has launched a trial of Amazon’s palm payment system Amazon One in a community north of Seattle, Washington. The coffee chain has already tried Amazon Go at concept stores built in partnership with Amazon in the city of New York.

The new trial will take place in a waterfront community north of Seattle called Edmonds. Starbucks appears to be testing if older people, who are more resistant to new technologies, will welcome the idea of biometrics payments, The Spoon reported.

Reception of the technology has been mixed, with attendants reporting that older people are more skeptical of the technology.

“They’re kind of freaked out by it,” an in-store attendant told Forbes. “It’s an older town, so some people aren’t interested.”

Starbucks is not yet forcing people to use Amazon One. Other payment options are still available.

Those interested in using the system are required to register their palm at an in-store kiosk. From there they can use the contactless payment system at stores with Amazon One.

We must Doooooo Something!™

Tennessee Governor Announces Special Session for ‘Red Flag’ Style Gun Law

The Tennessee General Assembly will officially reconvene this summer to consider legislation aimed at preventing future mass shootings.

On Monday, Governor Bill Lee (R.) formally announced a special legislative session starting August 21st. The goal of the session will be to “strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights,” according to Lee, and will likely involve debate over his take on legislation aimed at temporarily taking guns from those determined to be a threat to themselves or others.

“After speaking with members of the General Assembly, I am calling for a special session on August 21 to continue our important discussion about solutions to keep Tennessee communities safe and preserve the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens,” Lee said. “There is broad agreement that action is needed, and in the weeks ahead, we’ll continue to listen to Tennesseans and pursue thoughtful, practical measures that strengthen the safety of Tennesseans, preserve Second Amendment rights, prioritize due process protections, support law enforcement and address mental health.”

The announcement sets the stage for what is shaping up to be one of the most interesting debates in gun politics as a Republican-controlled state legislature debates a policy that has rarely seen adoption in red states. It comes weeks after a shooter murdered three students and three staff members at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. While he remained non-specific in his announcement, Lee’s “order of protection” proposal is expected to be a key feature of the special session.

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The 2nd cycler is a cop. Play stupid games in Brazil, win stupid prizes.

Vídeo: GCM de moto impede roubo e mata dois ladrões na Grande SP

internet translation:

The crew disembarked from the motorcycle, to rip the cell phone out of the victim’s hand. In the video, it is not possible to see if the duo was armed. After having his cell phone stolen, the man pushed the criminal who robbed him. The thieves and the victim fell to the asphalt together. At that moment, the GCM [Guardas Civis Municipais – Municipal Civil Guard] arrived on his motorcycle, already shooting. He was going to work, according to the corporation. Records also show the two criminals running after being injured by the shots. Both fell a few meters ahead. The duo died before medical help arrived. GCM was identified only as Klayton and has been with the organization for five years.

May 10th.

1497 – Amerigo Vespucci leaves Cádiz, Spain for his first voyage to the New World.

1503 – Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.

1773 – The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company from bankruptcy, by reducing taxes on its tea and granting it the sole right to sell tea directly to North America. 7 months later, a group of colonists in Boston put on a Tea Party in the harbor in objection.

1775 – While the Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia,  Ethan Allen, his Green Mountain Boys, and other militia forces under the command of Benedict Arnold (yes, that Benedict Arnold) take Fort Ticonderoga, New York away from the British in early morning action.

1801 – After President Jefferson refuses to pay the tribute demanded by them, the Barbary pirates of the Ottoman province of Tripolitania declare war on the U.S.

1837 – New York City banks suspend the payment of specie (precious metal coin money), triggering a national banking crisis and an economic depression not surpassed until the Great Depression of the 1930s.

1849 –  A riot breaks out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing 22 people and injuring over 120 more.

1865 – In Spencer County, Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate partisan raider Captain William Quantrill, age 27, who lingers until dying on June 6, in Louisville.

1869 – The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah.

1876 – The Centennial Exposition is opened in Philadelphia.

1908 – Mother’s Day is observed for the first time in the U.S., in Grafton, West Virginia.

1920 – John Dean “Jeff” Cooper is born in Los Angeles, California

1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed first Director of the Bureau of Investigation, remaining in office until his death in 1972.

1933 – In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.

1940 – On the day that Germany invades France, Belgium and Luxembourg, Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after  Neville Chamberlain resigns.

1946 – Using the technical assistance of captured German scientists, the U.S. Army makes its first successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.

1967 – Piloted by Bruce Peterson, the Northrop M2-F2 Lifting Body aircraft crashes on landing, becoming the inspiration for the Martin Caidin novel Cyborg and TV series, The Six Million Dollar Man.

1969 –The Battle of Dong Ap Bia during the Vietnam War begins with an assault on Hill 937 by troops of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill, becoming the inspiration for the movie of the same name.

1975 – Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder.

2002 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to 15 consecutive terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Russia over a period of 22 years.

2005 – A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutyunian lands about 60 feet from President Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate.

2013 – One World Trade Center, the replacement for the destroyed World Trade Center complex in New York, is completed with its spire installed, to become the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

Massaging The Shooter Narrative

I was actually looking for some different information last night when I came across this article, but after scanning it quickly for what I WAS looking for, I had to save it for a chance to Fisk it later on.

The link goes to a New Orleans TV station WDSU, but the piece is identified in several places as straight out of the Associated Press feed, so I’m not going to crack on the station for this. They are merely the presentation vehicle.

The article is titled “Recent high-profile mass shootings in the United States” and what stopped me in my tracks wasn’t so much the litany of horror. That tears your heart out no matter when or where it happens or to whom or how.

No, what made me pause in the midst of that carnage was the verbiage. There’s a deliberate pattern in the recitation of evil that you can’t avoid, and it makes the underlying intent of the “reporting” all the more suspect for the very obviousness of what’s said and what isn’t.

Multiple innocent lives are gone – all taken by another human being (or beings) in every single case in this supposedly dispassionate register of tragedies. It’s what’s missing that gives one reason to carefully reread and see if you’ve missed something.

I’ll assure you now – you haven’t.

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Looks like he got him both ‘coming and going’.

Homeowner shoots 60-year-old man attempting to break into home

Police Investigators say the 60-year-old intruder was trying to smash through a back window on North Marston Street.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Philadelphia police say a homeowner shot a man attempting to break into a residence in the city’s Brewerytown section.

The Action Cam was at the scene on the 1300 block of North Marston Street on Monday morning.

Investigators say the 60-year-old intruder was trying to smash through a back window around 4 a.m.

The homeowner shot him in the chest and backside.

The 60-year-old was taken to the hospital in stable condition.

He is expected to soon face charges.

Increased Risk of Serious Eye Problem After COVID-19 Vaccination: Study.

People who received a COVID-19 vaccine have an increased risk of a serious eye problem, according to a new study.

The risk of retinal vascular occlusion “increased significantly” after a first or second dose of the messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines, researchers reported in a study published by Nature.

Retinal vascular occlusion refers to the blockage of veins or vessels that carry blood to or from the retina. It can cause sudden vision loss.

Out of 207,626 Pfizer vaccine doses administered in the population that was studied, 226 cases of the eye problem were detected after two years. Among 97,918 Moderna vaccine doses administered, 220 cases were detected over the same time.

While some cases were detected among AstraZeneca recipients, the risk wasn’t statistically significant.

The risk of retinal vascular occlusion was 3.5 times for vaccinated people compared to an unvaccinated group after 12 weeks and 2.19 times higher after two years. An increased risk was found shortly after vaccination.

“We demonstrated a higher risk and incidence rate of retinal vascular occlusion following COVID-19 vaccination, after adjusting for potential confounding factors,” Chun-Ju Lin, an eye doctor, and other Taiwanese researchers reported in the study.

Patients on medications that could alter blood osmolarity should be especially aware of the risks identified in the study, although further research is needed to figure out whether COVID-19 vaccines actually cause the eye problem, the researchers said.

They drew data from TriNetX, a global network, and adjusted the results with a model that included excluding people with a history of retinal vascular occlusion.

Limitations include not confirming the accuracy of diagnoses listed in the system.

Lin, Pfizer, and Moderna didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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Sure would be nice compared to some of the law school grads with crap-for-brains when it comes to civil rights, I’ve run across recently.

Shaping a better judiciary through firearms instruction in law schools

The dust from the Illinois “Assault Weapon” and “Large Capacity” magazine ban remains unsettled. As Cam wrote recently, the Seventh Circuit took actions to keep the bans in place while legal challenges continue. Frank Easterbrook, the judge whose decision kept the bans in place, was also in the anti-Rights majority in some other big Second Amendment cases from recent history, namely, McDonald v. Chicago and Friedman v. Highland Park.

There are many anti-Second Amendment judges out there, both liberal and nominally conservative, whose judicial musings are an academic version of, “I support the Second Amendment, BUT…,” while there aren’t many judges who would insist on protecting the Bill of Rights in the face of persistent political and media pressure. Two pro-Rights judges whose names come to mind are U.S. District Court Judge Stephen P. McGlynn (S.D. IL), and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Lawrence VanDyke.

What sets these judges apart from your average anti-Second Amendment judges? Look no further than a transcript and an opinion from cases they have heard:

Judge McGlynn in Barnett v. Raoul:

THE COURT: […] So here’s a pistol with a protruding grip. Now suppose you have — many people who are called upon to defend themselves are elderly. They’re people who [have] disabilities. And suppose if they hold a pistol with one hand, because of early stages of Parkinson’s or something, they’re shaky. But with that, they’re able to stabilize it more and it makes it safer for them to use and more accurate for them to use. Would that not be a fair assessment, at least for someone that might be suffering with that disability?

MR. WELLS: So, Your Honor, I — with respect to — again, the particular features, we’re not here today because there are –

THE COURT: I’m here today because of that. I’m really looking at — it looks like all kinds of safety features are made illegal by this statute in an effort to make every possible gun that’s out there, most guns out there, get you tripped up on it. The thumb hole — I mean, the thumb stock, that doesn’t make the bullets any more lethal. It doesn’t make the gunfire any faster, but it makes it easier for the user to aim it and control the weapon, does it not?

The same could be said — you know, even the arm brace, you know, if you have an elderly person that wants to use the handgun, but again, maybe they have diabetic neuropathy […] the arm brace doesn’t make the gunfire any faster or the bullets impact at a higher velocity. […]

Judge VanDyke in Duncan v. Bonta:

Until only a few years ago, if you wanted a “micro-compact” firearm for self-defense (of the type that serves little or no military usage), you were generally limited to a six to eight-round magazine capacity. For example, the KelTec P3AT came with a six-round magazine, as did the Ruger LCP, Glock 43, Kimber Solo, and Walther PPK (of James Bond fame). […] Not too long ago, it was basically impossible to find a lightweight, micro-compact firearm even capable of holding 10 rounds in its magazine.

Then, in 2019, Sig Sauer released the P365, which took the self-defense market by storm because suddenly law- abiding citizens could have the same size micro-compact firearm, but now carrying 12 or 15 rounds in its magazine.

As evident from the above, these judges know and understand guns. They can see through the fallacies of these laws. This is a seeming rarity in the judiciary. I am willing to bet that if most judges opened their mouths to talk about guns in front of a camera, they would sound exactly like anti-Second Amendment legislators who, wallowing in their ignorance, blabber about “.30-caliber magazine clips” (archived), heat-seeking meat-cooking bullets (archived), one-time use magazines (archived), or “the shoulder thing that goes up.” (archived)

Law schools are pipelines into the judiciary. The less ignorance on firearms there is in the judiciary, the lower the chance of abusive laws surviving judicial review. The strategy of the firearms community, especially instructors, should include serious outreach to law school students. Advertise your (ideally free) services in law schools. Organize a group outing to the gun range for students. There are Federalist Society chapters in law schools around the country. Ask them for help with your outreach. (Shameless Plug: there’s more in my book.)

Rooting out gun ignorance is a long-term investment. Law school students are typically in their early 20s, and it may take them another 2–3 decades to get appointed to the judiciary. But the results will be there down the line.

Freedom takes hard work. If we all sit back and don’t put in the effort to nurture it, our children and grandchildren won’t have it. If you’re a firearms instructor reading this, please start outreach to law schools near you. If you’re not a firearms instructor, consider becoming one. Every student’s mind you fortify from ignorance is another safeguard for our liberty.

The Data and the Silence

A media pretty incurious as to the motives and manifesto of the Nashville shooter have rushed past the Atlanta shooter, who did not use an AR-15 and was black, so that the media can focus on the Hispanic shooter in Texas who loved Nazis. We’re back to white supremacy as the angle with an AR-15.

They never did go back to the motives and story of the 32 people shot at the birthday party in Alabama. We’re going to spend days on the Texas shooter, though. Though Hispanic, we learned there are white and black Hispanics after George Zimmerman. The intersectional dynamics are going to be thoroughly exhausted and explored.

Meanwhile, back in Atlanta, the shooter’s mother said the shooter struggled with mental health, and the VA system forced the shooter off medicine that worked for him and onto another one that did not because the one that worked was addictive. People died. We had to rush to the gun control conversation and moved on so quickly that we could not pause and question the VA.

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:

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The Founders Knew About and Had No Problem with ‘Stabilizing Braces’

U.S.A. —  “Borchardt Lowe. #1062, cased w/ accessories,” the placard for the historical arm on display at April’s NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis read. “Borchardts were customarily sold as a cased ensemble that included a shoulder stock with attached holster, a cheekpiece, four matching magazines…”

“Designed by Hugo Borchardt and manufactured by Ludwig Lowe of Berlin between 1893 and 1899, the Borchardt was the first successful automatic pistol design,” a description from Rock Island Auction Company explains. “The distinctive Borchardt design features a toggle action, centrally located trigger, grip and eight-round magazine and detachable wooden stock that attaches to a lug on the rear of the pistol receiver.”

Not being a collector of older firearms, curios, or relics, or even passingly informed on them, this was new to me. And for those who might balk at the word “automatic,” friend and firearms designer Len Savage of Historic Arms, LLC helped clear that up in a report on AR-15 sales actually predating the M16 being issued to military units.

“In 1968 firearms industry terminology ‘automatic rifle’ means the same as ‘auto-loading rifle,’ i.e., a rifle that loads itself for the next shot,” Savage recalled. “Even in 1979-1980 when I took my hunters’ safety course the State of Michigan used the two terms interchangeably throughout the course.”

Back to the Borchardt, seeing a semiauto and a pistol with an attachable stock from the Nineteenth Century being accepted at the time without hysteria makes it fair to wonder what all the outrage is about today, and the answer, of course, is that it’s all being drummed up for effect. Still, I wondered, with the current ridiculous overreach by ATF to issue a rule banning stabilizing braces because they can act like an extension that when shouldered somehow magically transitions a handgun into a short-barrel rifle, what could we learn from history that might be useful in fighting back such unconstitutional power grabs?

In light of the Bruen decision, where “text, history, and tradition” of the Second Amendment at the time it was written is what informs us as to what the Founders understood the right to protect, I couldn’t turn to the Borchardt – that would play right into the hands of the gun prohibitionists, who, unable to identify Founding-Era infringements have tried turning to later laws, including post-Civil War edicts intended to keep freed blacks disarmed.

The question to be answered: Was there a counterpart at the time the Bill of Rights was ratified?

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We shall never prevent the abuse of power if we are not prepared to limit power in a way which occasionally may prevent its use for desirable purposes.
– Friedrich Hayek

Home invasion suspect in Murfreesboro killed by homeowner, another shot

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A suspect in a Murfreesboro home invasion is shot and killed by the homeowner.

The homeowner shot and killed one man in the home invasion on January Street Friday night, and shot a second suspect multiple times, according to Murfreesboro police. Kevin Ford, 52, is identified as the person who died at the scene.

Police found the second intruder, 42-year-old Clifford Wright, at the Salvation Army. He went to the hospital for treatment of his gunshot wounds, before heading to jail.

According to police, the homeowner was able to get his gun after the two masked men broke into his home, used a Taser on a his dog and held his teenage son at gunpoint.

The homeowner is not facing any charges.

Wright is in jail on $700,000 bond. He is facing charges of aggravated burglary, attempted aggravated robbery, convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent felony.

Tyrants is as Tyrants does

The Next Step: Brazil’s New Left Wing Government Threatens to Seize Guns Civilians Didn’t Register.

We cannot let our guard down. Unfortunately, the situation is not easy.

With Lula in power, we left a dream of freedom to move to a unique and exclusive defense of jobs, of people who invested in the arms sector. We are now talking about bailing out jobs

Jonathan Schmidt just made the deadline, arriving at Federal Police headquarters in the center of Rio de Janeiro with a travel bag carrying a golden pistol and seven rifles, one peeking out of the zipper.

“I’m in love with guns,” said Schmidt. “I’d have over 2,000 if the government allowed.”

He had already registered his firearms with the army, as required by law for sport shooters like him, but experts have cast doubt on the reliability of its database, and said lax oversight has allowed such guns to fall into criminal hands. Schmidt was adding his guns to the police registry Wednesday on the final day to comply with a decree by Brazil’s new left-wing president — or face confiscation.

Over four years in office, former President Jair Bolsonaro tried to convert a country with few weapons into one where firearm ownership and lack of regulation meant personal freedom.

Now, his successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been moving to undo Bolsonaro’s pro-gun policies, and that started with requiring gun owners to register their weapons with police. After initial resistance, he started seeing success.

But more than 6,000 restricted-use guns previously registered with the army, and which include “assault rifles,” were not presented to police by the May 3 deadline, Justice Minister Flávio Dino told reporters Thursday. Those are likely to have been diverted to criminals, and are now targets for investigation and potential seizure, he said.

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