Americans have the will to resist because you have weapons. If you don’t have a gun, freedom of speech has no power.
– Yoshimi Ishikawa, Japanese journalist
Gun Control Misfire: Trudeau Pistol Ban Sees Stores Sell Out of Handguns
Gun stores in Canada have seen handguns fly off the shelves, with many selling out altogether after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced gun control legislation freezing all pistol purchases.
In what appears to be a seismic political misfire, Canadian gun stores have been reporting a massive surge in handgun sales after the country’s leftist prime minister, Justin Trudeau, announced that he would be implementing gun control laws totally freezing the import and sale of this class of firearm.
Many shops in the country have now reportedly sold out of pistols entirely, despite extremely restrictive laws already in place in the country which can make the purchase of a handgun onerously difficult.
According to a report by the AFP, every gun store owner who spoke to the agency openly derided Trudeau’s declaration that he would ban the sale of handguns, while also saying that they had all seen a massive surge in pistol sales since he made the announcement last week.
Jen Lavigne, co-owner of That Hunting Store, speaks with customers on June 3, 2022 in Ottawa, Canada. – Canadians rushed to buy handguns this week, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on May 30, 2022, a proposed freeze on sales in the wake of recent mass shootings in the US. “Sales have been brisk,” said Lavigne. “We sold 100 handguns or almost our entire stock in the last three days since the prime minister announced the freeze,” she said. (Photo by DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Observation O’ The Day
“Our ‘elites’ are now promoting the kind of history one would impose on a conquered nation, to break its people’s spirit.”
Common Sense? CBS Urges U.S. Adopt Japan’s Occupation-Era Gun Control
On Monday’s CBS Mornings, the network continued their series globetrotting for gun control laws. This time they left Europe and jetted over to Japan where senior foreign correspondent (and friend to the Iranian regime) Elizabeth Palmer touted their oppressive system where a citizen could wait a year or longer to get a gun license as authorities prod their lives and a gun shop owners need to get permission to buy ammo. All imposed on them during the post-WWII occupation.
So much for “common sense” gun laws.
“As the U.S. gun-control debate intensifies, some Americans are looking overseas for ideas on how to prevent mass shootings. Japan has one of the lowest rates of gun violence in the world,” co-host Nate Burleson announced at the top of the segment. “Seems like it’s about time we adopt some of those laws,” he pushed at the end.
Hanging out with Japanese YouTuber Raphael at a skeet shooting range, Palmer praised the “mandatory training” citizen had to go through, in addition to a “written exam, a physical and a mental health evaluation, and even then the police can go and ask your family and friends whether you’ve got any violent tendencies.”
“It took me a year,” Raphael told her. She also noted, “the police had even interviewed his wife.”
She also touted how Japanese citizens were only allowed to buy firearms from three categories and the ridiculous fact that gun store owners needed permission to restock ammunition:
He’s proud of the buck he shot in northern Japan with a rifle, one of only three types of guns a civilian can own. Air guns are also allowed, he said, as shotguns, but that’s it.
I’ve heard that there’s very strict control on ammunition, as well. I see you have some rounds here in the cabinet.
“Yes,” he tells me. “When a gun owner runs out he needs police authorization to buy more.”
“Does he think the law goes too far? Not a bit. Like most Japanese, he supports it as the price for almost zero gun violence,” she boasted.
Palmer was absolutely giddy to note that the reason Japan had such strict gun control laws was because of the United States. “And how’s this for ironic? Japan owes its strict gun laws to America,” she mocked. “When the U.S. occupied Japan after World War II it disarmed the country.”
She even threw in a soundbite from an old documentary where the narrator proclaimed: “To the scrap heap went the guns.” Palmer conveniently omitted the part where the U.S. also banned Japan from having a military.
“Americans shaped the legislation that took firearms out of the hands of civilians, and to this day, that means getting hurt or killed by a gun in Japan is an extremely long shot,” she jabbed as she wrapped up the report.
Palmer is essentially praising the American confiscation of firearms for there to be a smoother occupation and pacification of a citizenry, the exact opposite of what the founders intended. And given the fact that the Democratic Roosevelt administration put Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, perhaps looking to that era for guidance is ill-advised.
Democrats Go After The ‘Gun Lobby’ Because Calling Gun Owners ‘Terrorists’ Won’t Win Elections
One of the most transparent acts of cowardice in American politics is promising to “stand up to the NRA” and “gun lobby.” The “gun lobby” played a prominent role in Joe Biden’s mendacious gun-control speech last week, wherein the president continued to mythologize the power of the NRA, while depicting tens of millions of gun owners as dupes.
Bloomberg says “NRA Keeps Its Hold on US Politics, Despite School Shootings and Internal Strife.” The BBC wonders: “US gun control: What is the NRA and why is it so powerful?” In a Hill piece — laughably headlined, “NRA contributions underscore grip in GOP” — we learn that the Second Amendment advocacy group contributed “roughly $149,000 to Senate recipients in the 2020 cycle, with nearly all the funds going to Republicans, according to OpenSecrets.”
Let’s for a moment set aside the fact that anti-gun rhetoric used in major media and cultural outlets amounts to tens of billions of in-kind contributions to Democrats every year. From the years 2017-2022, Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer received $3,754,646 from investment firms and another $3,038,489 from law firms. Where are the articles about the “iron grip” lawyers and hedge funds have over the majority leader and his party? The “gun lobby” hardly even makes a blip on Mitch McConnell’s fundraising portfolio. McConnell’s political support for gun rights is probably predicated on the fact that nearly 55 percent of adults in his state reside in a household with a firearm. (And because gun owners aren’t exactly sharers, you should assume that number is higher.)
Man Attacks Caretaker And Is Shot Dead In Stockton
STOCKTON [California] (CBS13) — Saturday evening, a fatal shooting occurred in a self-defense circumstance in Stockton, said the Stockton Police Department.
On Saturday, officers responded to a shooting around 6:30 p.m. near Allston Way.
When they arrived, they found a 38-year-old man who had been shot and was suffering from major injuries.
Medics transported the man to a local hospital, but unfortunately, the man succumbed to his injuries.
Due to the circumstances, detectives were called to investigate.
They found that the 38-year-old now-deceased man had tried to physically attack a caretaker in the backyard at a home.
The caretaker, a 43-year-old man, fearing for his life, shot the attacker.
After that, the caretaker dialed 911 for assistance. The shooting looked to be justified at the time, according to the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office.
It's 5:58 p.m. and there are still no posts yet today on any of Joe Biden's social media accounts or a statement from the White House about the 78th anniversary of D-Day.
This would now be the second year in a row that America's president snubbed the D-Day anniversary.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 6, 2022
First Lawsuit Filed Against Washington State Ammo Magazine Ban
Washington state gun owners will continue to enjoy a full selection of ammunition magazines if a pair of national gun-rights groups get their way in court.
The Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), along with the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), filed a lawsuit against Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D.) and several other officials in federal court on Friday. The suit alleges that the state’s recently passed ban on the manufacture and sale of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds is unconstitutional.
“The State of Washington has criminalized one of the most common and important means by which its citizens can exercise their fundamental right of self-defense,” the complaint states. “By banning manufacturing, importation, distribution, and sale of standard-capacity firearm magazines that can carry more than 10 rounds of ammunition (“standard capacity magazines”), the State has barred law-abiding residents from legally acquiring common ammunition magazines and deprived them of an effective means of self-defense.”
Attorney General Ferguson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit arrives just as the national conversation surrounding gun laws has reignited. A successful verdict for the plaintiffs would undo a policy long sought after by gun-control activists just as they’ve begun to make a new legislative push at the federal level and in several states across the country. Such a ruling could deal a blow to President Joe Biden’s (D.) policy aspirations. The President has long favored a national ban on ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds.
The suit marks just the latest challenge to restrictive state legislation by a national gun-rights group. Such groups have long intervened in states where political opposition to gun control is generally limited by the partisan breakdown of local legislatures.
“This is another important case in our FPC Law strategic litigation program that seeks to restore the right to keep and bear arms for all peaceable people,” Brandon Combs, President of FPC, said in a press release. “The State of Washington is not exempt from the Constitution.”
The plaintiffs argue that the new Washington law erroneously dubs certain magazines “high-capacity” when they in fact often come standard with many common rifles and handguns on the civilian market. They also claim a ban will not produce any noticeable public safety benefit.
“As we note in the lawsuit, there is no reliable proof that restrictions on new manufacturing or sales of such magazines will reduce violent crime,” Alan M. Gottlieb, SAF founder, said in a statement. “This law unfairly and arbitrarily penalizes honest citizens for crimes they didn’t commit, in the hopes of preventing crimes they wouldn’t dream of committing.”
SB 5078, the law being challenged by the suit, proved controversial even before litigation began. It was passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee (D.) earlier this year, over vocal opposition from gun-rights supporters, after similar efforts by gun-control activists in the state failed in six previous legislative sessions.
Despite the victory for gun-control activists, the gun-rights community mobilized after the bill was signed into law. Due to the fact that the law does not prohibit possession of previously owned magazines, and because it does not take effect until July 1, major firearm-accessory manufacturers and distributors have publicly led an effort to prioritize magazine sales to the state ahead of the deadline.
Challenges to magazine capacity restrictions have enjoyed mixed success in recent years. Both a federal district court and a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have struck down a similar ban in California. An en banc panel for the Ninth Circuit later reversed those decisions and upheld the ban last November.
That decision is awaiting review by the Supreme Court.
Since all the previous laws didn’t work, let’s try it harder!
New York governor signs gun control package into law
The Supreme Court has yet to officially opine on the constitutionality of New York’s “may issue” permitting laws for concealed carry licenses, and now a host of other newer restrictions will likely be getting court attention in the days ahead. On Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed several sweeping new restrictions into law, including a ban on sales of so-called assault weapons to adults under the age of 21, new registration requirements for all owners of modern sporting rifles, and an expansion of the state’s “red flag” law that could have some unintended consequences for those in need of mental health services or counseling.
The laws were rammed through the Democrat-controlled legislature last week as a response to the mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store in which ten people were murdered by an 18-year old suspect, and during today’s signing ceremony Hochul and other Democrats made it clear that even more restrictions are on the way.
The Second Amendment is under such heavy attack because the basis for its existence is manifesting
— Mike Yoder (@Yoder_Esq) May 29, 2022
Food security is national security and a crisis is coming.
I first drove the semi on my family’s farm when I was around 12 years old. My dad and I were leaving the field with a full load of corn, when he told me to take the wheel, giving his only advice before climbing down: “Make your corners wide.”
From my family’s farm to the State Committee for the USDA Farm Service Agency to the House Agriculture Committee, I have worked in agriculture in some capacity since I could walk. Now as South Dakota’s governor, I serve alongside a third-generation cattle rancher, Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden. We are the only farmer-rancher pair to lead a state’s executive branch, and we are both deeply concerned: America’s food supply system is at risk.
To keep our food supply consistent and affordable for all families, it is essential that no one else controls it. When another nation controls your food, it controls you. Our leaders recognized this threat and put in place risk management tools and programs to ensure Americans would never go hungry because of a foreign entity’s influence.
But for years now, foreign countries have been investing in our food supply chain, buying up the chemical and fertilizer companies that make American agriculture possible. Purchasing processing facilities, they have introduced vulnerability into the food supply chains Americans rely on to eat. Today, China is buying up millions of acres of land across the United States, following the same blueprint they have used in other countries for years.
While Americans have awakened to China’s military expansion and its grab for critical minerals worldwide, we have not yet realized our strategic vulnerability when it comes to our nation’s food supply.
Poor Baybee. Maybe if he stampy foots, it’ll get better
Awww: Joe Biden Is Angry That He’s Now More Unpopular Than Donald Trump.
Joe Biden has been underwater in the polls for nearly a year now. His polls were driven down sharply by his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and only worsened due to his incompetence in dealing with the nation’s most significant issues, including the border crisis, COVID-19, the supply chain crisis, gas prices, and inflation.
But as bad as Joe Biden’s poll numbers became, they were still better than Trump’s, who came into office with low approval numbers. So whether or not you trusted Trump’s poll numbers, they were never good.
And now Joe Biden’s are worse… and he’s not happy about that.
“In crisis after crisis, the White House has found itself either limited or helpless in its efforts to combat the forces pummeling them. Morale inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is plummeting amid growing fears that the parallels to Jimmy Carter, another first-term Democrat plagued by soaring prices and a foreign policy morass, will stick,” reports Politico. “The president has expressed exasperation that his poll numbers have sunk below those of Donald Trump, whom Biden routinely refers to in private as ‘the worst president’ in history and an existential threat to the nation’s democracy.”
Politico did its best to provide some cover for Biden, arguing that the White House is powerless to address the nation’s problems as if Biden is a mere observer with no influence over the country whatsoever. But, sure enough, Biden has spent his entire presidency blaming anyone and everyone else but himself for the nation’s problems.
However, the American people aren’t buying the finger-pointing, and Biden’s approval ratings have hit new lows despite various efforts by the White House to “reset” Biden’s presidency.
And he’s angry about it. Really, really, angry.
Far more prone to salty language behind the scenes than popularly known, Biden also recently erupted over being kept out of the loop about the direness of the baby formula shortage that has gripped parts of the country, according to a White House staffer and a Democrat with knowledge of the conversation. He voiced his frustration in a series of phone calls to allies, his complaints triggered by heart-wrenching cable news coverage of young mothers crying in fear that they could not feed their children.
From where I stand, it seems Joe Biden should care less about how these crises make him look and more about fixing them. Biden claimed to be the adult in the room who knew how to solve problems. Yet, he’s only shown himself to be the petulant child who doesn’t know what he’s doing and takes responsibility for nothing.
Like actors have any claim to authority.
How does; No, work for you Matthew?
McConaughey calls for background checks, waiting periods, & more.. but don’t call it “gun control”
No, the actor and native of Uvalde, Texas wants you to think of his laundry list of proposed new laws as “gun responsibility” instead.
To his credit, Matthew McConaughey doesn’t call for an outright ban on any firearm in his USA Today op-ed, but there’s still plenty of talk of “reasonable compromises” and “commonsense solutions” in demands for a host of new gun laws that he claims will “immediately reduce the gun violence tragedies that have become too common in our country.”
McConaughey lays out four new measures he wants to see in place: universal background checks, a ban on sales of modern sporting rifles to adults under the age of 21, the establishment of “red flag” laws in all 50 states, and an undefined waiting period on all sales of semi-automatic rifles.
Integrating gun safety training, safe storage proposals, and bolstering school safety are also beneficial, but are not government-only solutions. Companies, private organizations, and responsible gun owners have a big role to play.
I want to be clear. I am not under the illusion that these policies will solve all of our problems, but if responsible solutions can stop some of these tragedies from striking another community without destroying the Second Amendment, they’re worth it.
This is not a choice between guns or no guns. It’s the responsible choice. It’s the reasonable choice. It’s a quintessentially American choice: Where I have the right to be me, you have the freedom to be you, and we have the responsibility to be US.
To find common ground on this issue, both sides are going to have to answer the call and reach for the higher ground of our collective responsibility.
Business as usual isn’t working. “That’s just how it is” cannot be an excuse. The heinous bloodshed of innocent people cannot become bearable. If we continue to just stand by, we’re living a lie. With every right there comes a duty.
For ourselves, our children, and our fellow Americans—we have a duty to be responsible gun owners. Please do yours and protect the Second Amendment through gun responsibility. It’s time for real leaders to step up and do what’s right, so we can each and all just keep livin’.
The simplest argument against McConaughey’s recommendations are that each and every one of his proposals are already law in the state of California, which, according to the FBI, had the highest number of active shooter incidents in the country last year. If he truly believes that his “reasonable” and “responsible” measures will have an immediate impact, he should at least be able to explain why they’ve failed to do so in the Golden State.
Then there’s the fact that many people don’t actually view this measures as “reasonable” at all, especially once they start to look at the fine print. Universal background checks typically poll well, as McConaughey himself noted, but when voters actually have a chance to approve them, the results aren’t anywhere close to the 80-90% support shown in public opinion polls. Maine’s voter referendum in 2016 failed to get 50% of the vote, for instance, while Nevada’s referendum that same year squeaked by with 51% of the vote. Since then Maine’s violent crime and homicide rates have continued be among the lowest in the nation, while shooting and homicides have continued to increase in Nevada, particularly around Las Vegas.
Southern Nevada’s largest law enforcement agency, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, handled 185 of last year’s killings, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Homicide Lt. Ray Spencer, in a recent interview, attributed the busiest year since he began heading the unit in 2018 to easy access to guns. He cited loaded firearms found in nightstands and cars.
“The access juveniles and criminals are able to get to firearms is concerning,” he said. “That’s probably the biggest reason on what’s driving our homicide numbers is that guns are so easily stolen and accessible.”
Criminals will find a way to illegally get ahold of guns even in states with “universal background checks” on the books, and because there’s no way to proactively enforce the law requiring private person-to-person sales to go through a federally licensed firearms dealer, these laws have little-to-no deterrent effect on preventing or reducing violent crime.
In his op-ed, McConaughey acknowledged that “the need for mental health care, school safety, the prevalence of sensationalized media coverage, and the decaying state of American values are all long-term societal factors that must be addressed,” but claimed that we “don’t have the luxury of time” to deal with those underlying issues. Why not, if they’re actually going to be more effective at preventing these types of attacks than the gun control solutions he’s offering? I’d argue it’s much more reasonable to address our mental health crisis and school security than passing gun control laws that are all too often ineffective, unconstitutional, or both.
I don’t fault McConaughey for reaching for what he believes are “reasonable” responses to the horrific murders in Uvalde, but a gun control solution to this issue only takes us further away from but both realistic and reasonable strategies to stop these kinds of killings; better enforcement of the laws on the books (including violent crimes), improving access to mental health treatment (both in-patient and out-patient options), and ensuring that our most vulnerable are protected from attack on school grounds while recognizing the right of the people to bear arms in self-defense.
This crap-for-brains is what passes for ‘journalism’ today
And again, it is nice they provide means for positive ID
5 “Crazy” Gun Reform Ideas That Just Might Work
In the wake of the Robb Elementary shooting, the question of gun control has come up again. Unsurprisingly, Republicans uniformly resist any possible new regulations on guns. Governor Greg Abbott has even barred any talk of gun control from special committees in school shootings. All efforts at reform are portrayed as precursors to universal bans on firearms.
Because they know they’d lose
Murphy rules out assault weapons ban, new background checks in Senate plan
Among the proposals on the table are investments in mental health care and school safety and “modest but impactful” changes in gun laws, said Sen. Chris Murphy.
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy, who is helping lead Senate talks on gun control, said lawmakers don’t plan to bring any bill to the floor that would ban assault weapons or include comprehensive background checks but are actively working on legislation that would include a range of other measures.
“We’re not going to put a piece of legislation on the table that’s going to ban assault weapons, or we’re not going to pass comprehensive background checks,” Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But right now, people in this country want us to make progress. They just don’t want the status quo to continue for another 30 years.”
He’s right about the ‘status quo’ Gun control laws must be repealed.
Among the items currently on the table are investments in mental health care and school safety, red flag laws and changes to strengthen the background check system, said Murphy.
Juror Perspective from the Kyle Rittenhouse Self Defense Trial ~ VIDEO
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)-— The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse was covered extensively on AmmoLand News by this correspondent. During the coverage, Kevin Mathewson of the Kenosha County Eye provided wonderful insight. Six months after the trial, Kevin Mathewson interviewed one of the jurors who was on the Rittenhouse Jury.
As many may remember, the jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts, because he was acting in justified self-defense.
On one count, Judge Schroeder ruled the weapons charge was not valid for Jury consideration. The result was expected by those who had followed the case. Many attorneys believed the prosecution should never have brought the weapons charges at all. The numerous videos of the action where Kyle defended himself, were unambiguous.
Kevin Mathewson has graciously allowed this correspondent to use his article at AmmoLand News. The insight shows the basic structure of the jury system works as it should when populated by people who believe in doing the correct thing with honor. Quotes from the Kenosha County Eye are in italics. From the Eye:
Gun-Control’s Latest Contradiction with Charles C.W. Cooke
