This is what can happen when a state decides to be the NICS point of contact for dealers. Of course, states actually do this to make an illegal registry of, if not guns, gun owners. And, you have to wonder just how real the “hack” is, as opposed to the state goobermint simply wanting to shut down dealers for however long they want.

Nevada Cyberattack Leaves Gun Buyers in Limbo

Many gun sales in the Silver State have been stuck on hold for the past few weeks after a cyberattack on multiple state agencies, and there’s no telling when the state’s background check system will be back online.

Hannah Miles, owner of Guns N Ammo in Gardnersville, Nevada, tells Bearing Arms that she currently has more than 20 background checks pending; all from customers who’ve paid for their firearms but can’t take possession because of the outage. Miles adds that she’s heard it could be a couple of months before the problem is rectified, and the state has offered no alternative for FFLs to conduct the checks while the system is offline.

The cyberattack took place on August 24, so it’s already been more than two weeks of frustration for gun buyers and sellers. Individuals who hold a valid Nevada concealed carry license are exempt from the background check requirement on gun sales, but the outage is impacting everyone else.

Gun store owners told News 4-Fox 11 the outage has affected gun sales, but they were more concerned with the cyberattack affecting Nevadans’ Second Amendment rights.

“The state’s priority should be the constitutional rights of the citizens,” said Michael Alaimo, owner of Rightful Liberty Arms in Reno. “When you go to the state website, it doesn’t say anything about the firearms. Everything says about payroll and DMV, and those are not rights. You know the right to bear arms is in our constitution.”

Alaimo said roughly half of his sales are to people that require a federal background check, while the other sales are to concealed carry permit holders.

Meanwhile, Marcus Hodges, Reno Guns & Range’s assistant general manager, said he has a table ‘piling up with firearms’ that cannot be given to customers.

“There are some people that are foregoing the sale at this point in time. Unfortunately, it’s affecting everybody in the state,” Hodges said.

Nevada is what’s known as a Point of Contact state, meaning Nevada FFLs contact the state’s Department of Public Safety’s Records Bureau instead of going to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System directly. According to the state, “the advantage to this is that the Point of Contact Firearms Program has access to Nevada criminal history records.”

The disadvantage, of course, is that an untold number of Nevadans are now unable to exercise their Second Amendment rights because of this cyberattack. That’s a real problem, from both a practical and constitutional standpoint.

A right delayed is a right denied, and at the moment the right to keep and bear arms is being denied to every first-time gun buyer in Nevada who doesn’t hold a valid carry license. There is no way for them to legally acquire a firearm unless they can find a seller who fits in the state’s narrow exceptions to its universal background check law, and that’s not going to be possible for many residents.

The effects on gun sellers are equally profound. Most people aren’t going to spend money on a gun if they can’t actually take possession of it until some unknown date in the future, and the inability to process background checks for weeks on end will certainly have an impact on the finances of many FFLs. It’s possible that some shops will have to cut staff or even close entirely if these delays last much longer.

I’m honestly not sure what it would take to allow FFLs to go directly to NICS itself, but unless there’s a provision in state law that allows for that in the case of a system failure it would most likely involve litigation, and the prospects of any legal relief are slim. I’m not aware of any lawsuit that’s been filed over the delays, but even if gun stores or gun buyers were to sue it would take some time to get before a judge, and even longer to obtain injunctive relief. By then the system may once again be operational, and my guess is that most FFLs don’t want to spend the money hiring an attorney and suing the state if there’s a chance their lawsuit will be mooted by the time they get their day in court.

At this point, though, it might be worth the effort. If nothing else, lawmakers need to revise or amend the state’s background check law to allow FFLs to go directly to NICS if and when the DPS Records Bureau is unable to conduct background checks in the future. That won’t fix the ongoing problems, but it would at least prevent them from re-occurring the next time the state gets hit with a cyberattack.

Florida’s new tax holiday expands to all guns and ammo

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. – Florida shoppers are getting another round of tax-free savings, this time on outdoor gear. Beginning Monday, the state’s new sales tax holiday applies to hunting, fishing, and camping supplies.

But the biggest change: for the first time, firearms and ammunition are included — and unlike most items, they are not subject to a price cap. That means everything from ammo to high-end rifles will be exempt from sales tax through the end of the year.

At Bill Jackson’s Gun Shop in Pinellas Park, manager Mike Sfakianos said customers are already preparing, with layaway deposits piling up ahead of the holiday. “Anytime you could save a buck on something, especially these days, it’s a good time,” Sfakianos said.

<div>Bill Jackson’s Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park</div>
Bill Jackson’s Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park
The backstory

Gov. Ron DeSantis coined it the “Second Amendment Summer Tax Holiday.” It’s part of a broader slate of Florida tax breaks that recently expanded to include hurricane supplies year-round.

Most outdoor items are capped: tents under $200 and fishing rods under $75, for example. But firearms and accessories come without. 2025 Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Sales Tax Holiday

The other side

Not everyone is on board. Critics argue that exempting expensive firearms while capping children’s clothing during the back-to-school tax holiday sends the wrong message. They also question whether shoppers are truly using the purchases for hunting.

<div>Bill Jackson’s Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park</div>
Bill Jackson’s Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park
What’s next

The holiday will run through the end of 2025, giving Floridians months to take advantage of the tax-free status on firearms, ammunition, and outdoor equipment.

The Source

This reporting is based on FOX 13 coverage, including interviews with local gun shop owners and details released by Florida state officials.

Not so strangely, because the Israeli government is scared that their Arab citizens would arm themselves and go off on their own murder sprees, there is no RKBA, and possession of guns by the general population has always been severely restricted, the Israeli government apparently having decided that a few dead Jewish citizens are better than possibly more dead from an internal Arab uprising.

Israel Bus Attack: Armed Civilians Helped ‘Neutralize’ Terrorist Killers

By Dave Workman

An unknown number of “armed civilians” is being credited with helping “neutralize” two terrorists who opened fire at a Jerusalem bus stop Monday morning, perhaps underscoring the benefit of armed citizens who can fight back.

Various news agencies are reporting the tragedy, which so far has claimed six lives and left at least a dozen wounded. The Times of Israel is reporting that the Palestinian terrorists were residents of the Wet Bank. They opened fire on people waiting at a bus stop. An off-duty soldier immediately returned fire, and so did “a number of civilians.”

Fox News’ report only indicated one armed citizen was involved, but the Associated Press is also indicating more than one armed civilian was involved.

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms says the incident “underscores the importance of an armed citizenry.” Continue reading “”

So Red Flag Laws Didn’t Fail in Minneapolis, People Did?

Minnesota passed a red flag law in 2023. It went into effect in 2024.

Despite that, no red flag order was sought for the 23-year-old who decided to seek out a gun-free zone and shoot through the windows, killing two children and injuring so many more.

It’s pretty clear that the red flag law that was sold as a way to stop attacks like this from happening failed.

But it seems that rather than acknowledge this, the media is more interested in spinning this as a failure of people to notice the problem.

Police say that an emergency risk protection order was not sought for the suspect, nor did this person have a criminal record. Shortly before the attack, the shooter posted on social media a diary and a manifesto that indicated hate and the potential for violence.

The chorus of concern after the shooting serves as a reminder not only that Americans aren’t powerless in the face of pervasive gun violence, but also that red flag laws are only effective when people speak up. For many here, there is a sense that there may have been missed clues that could have been used to disarm the person under the new law. The investigation is ongoing.

“A crisis was enough to push them over the edge,” says Chris Carita, a former police officer and a senior trainer at 97Percent, a nonprofit that helps law enforcement use what are commonly referred to as red flag laws. “They didn’t get the help they needed or the intervention that they needed.”

The philosophical core of the laws is that they exhibit not only concern for public safety but also empathy for people in distress who may be leaving clues of potential deadly intent.

“It’s an individual tool that people and families can use, but the bigger and more challenging task is making sure that folks understand it and know how to use it,” says Minnesota state Rep. Emma Greenman.

It’s funny how the red flag law is supposed to be the savior, but when it fails, no one who supported it ever steps back and thinks, “Oh, wait, maybe this law wasn’t quite what I thought it was.”

Oh no, the problem is that the people in the killer’s life completely failed to recognize the problem and take this particular action, which isn’t actually needed since existing laws could do far more.

Of course, despite what the Christian Science Monitor might claim, 97Percent isn’t a nonprofit that helps law enforcement. I mean, they might do some of that, but what they actually are is a gun control group that pushes an anti-gun agenda and pretends they’re really just a centrist organization looking for some common ground on guns. We’ve talked about them before. We’ve talked about them a lot.

That’s important because this is someone who works for an organization with a vested interest in defending this particular law rather than acknowledging that the laws don’t work as advertised.

“But the problem is still the people!” someone might exclaim, which I find funny, because we say the same thing about guns and they reject that out of hand.

The difference is that me having a gun doesn’t impact anyone else except for me and my family.

Their red flag law can impact everyone.

And the fact that they don’t even work just makes it that much worse.

The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.
– Joseph Story, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice

Cynical Publius

Looking for black people in this video. Not finding them.

See, in DC the worst crime is in predominantly black neighborhoods. 41% of the DC population is black.

So where are all the black people in this “protest”?

I’ll tell you why there are so few: DC’s black population is the primary beneficiary of Trump’s incredibly effective crackdown on DC crime.

These “protesters” are all white Democrat self-appointed “elites” who live in crime-free Northwest DC (or the DC suburbs) in their $2mm+ homes.

White Democrats feel a congenital need to virtue signal, even if it means killing black people. Then they go home in their lululemon yoga pants, Allbirds loafers and Subaru Forester, where they open a $200 bottle of wine and celebrate themselves over all the “good” they did today.

Sickening.