July 29

587 BC – The Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar the Great, sacks Jerusalem and destroys the First Temple.

904 –After a short siege, moslem saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire’s second largest city, and plunder it for a week.

1148 – The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.

1567 – The 4 year old James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.

1775 –  General George Washington appoints William Tudor as Judge Advocate of the Continental Army which is considered the founding of the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps

1858 – On board the USS Powhatan in Tokyo Bay, emissaries of the U.S. and Japan sign the Harris Treaty, regulating trade and legal rights of U.S. citizens in Japan.

1871 – The Connecticut Valley Railroad opens between Old Saybrook, Connecticut and Hartford, Connecticut in the United States.

1899 – The First Hague Convention, which a part of is the ban on the use of expanding and soft point bullets, is signed.

1907 – Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England which is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.

1914 – Professor Irwin Corey is born in Brooklyn.

1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the NAtionalsoZIalistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party)

1957 – The Tonight Show – Tonight Starring Jack Paar premieres on NBC with the host beginning the modern day talk show.

1958 – President Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

1959 – The first congressional elections are held in Hawaii as a state of the Union.

1965 – The first 4,000 troops of the  101st Airborne Division arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay, beginning the increase of forces ordered the day before by President Johnson.

1967 – Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134 crewmembers

1967 – During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving 500 people dead.

1976 – In New York City, David Berkowitz (a.k.a. the “Son of Sam”) kills 1 person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of shootings.

2005 – Astronomers at the Palomar Observatory, California announce their discovery of 2 dwarf planets in the solar system officially named Eris and Makemake

2021 – The International Space Station temporarily spins out of control, moving  45 degrees out of attitude, following an engine malfunction of Russian module Nauka.

Let’s require the Secret Service and FBI to switch to this technology exclusively for a 4-year test period. After that we can talk. Of course, they won’t.
– Tom Gresham

The First Smart Gun Is Finally Coming to Market. Will Anyone Buy It?
Gun makers have been working for decades on a weapon that can only be fired by an authorized user

Sasha Wiesen sleeps with a .40-caliber handgun in a safe by his bed. The commercial real-estate broker from Florida recently preordered a new type of firearm he hopes will make the safe unnecessary.
The new weapon is the Colorado startup Biofire’s 9mm Smart Gun, which can only be fired if it recognizes an authorized user with a fingerprint reader on the grip or a facial recognition camera on the back.
“I’m usually an early adapter,” said Wiesen, 46 years old. “It might be the gadget part of me that made me buy it, but it’s also the safety aspect.”
Guns that use technology to ensure that they can only be fired by their owners, called smart guns, have been developed and debated since the 1990s. The Biofire Smart Gun will be the first widely available for sale if it ships in December as planned.
Proponents tout smart guns as a way to reduce accidental shootings and firearm thefts. Gun-rights supporters have been wary, in part over concern that governments could outlaw sales of weapons that don’t have smart-gun technology.
Earlier efforts to bring smart guns to market have failed, largely because of pressure from gun-rights activists or because they didn’t work as promised.
As with other technologies such as electric cars that changed long-established products, the question for smart guns is whether they can work at least as well as the traditional versions they replace and find customers behind affluent early adopters.
The Biofire Smart Gun costs $1,499. Similar handguns without high-tech features typically cost between $400 and $800.

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Home invasion leaves one dead, another critical in east Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – An apparent home invasion gone wrong left one dead, and another in critical condition Thursday, police investigators said.

The incident occurred at approximately 9:36 p.m. at the Crystal Court Apartments near Desert Inn Road and Cambridge Street in east Las Vegas, according to officials from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

At the same time as dispatchers received the shooting report, officers at a nearby gas station were approached by a man in his 30s who told them he had been shot. The man was given medical aid and then taken to an area hospital where he was listed as in critical condition at last report.

Officers followed a trail of blood from the shooting victim across the street to the apartment complex. When officers got to the building, they located a second-floor apartment where investigators said it was obvious that the shooting had occurred. However, there was no one in that home.

Investigators followed another trail of blood to an elevator, where they found another shooting victim. He was taken to an area hospital and later pronounced dead.

While officers tended to that shooting victim, investigators found another man on the sidewalk near the complex who said that a shooting had occurred in his apartment and that he had jumped from his second-story home to the sidewalk below. Police said that man was medically treated and was cooperating with investigators.

Upon further investigation, police investigators believe the incident was an attempted home invasion by three men. The man who had jumped to the sidewalk was the resident of the apartment and had fired at the individuals attempting the home invasion, investigators said. The individuals found shot were the perpetrators of the home invasion, police said.

Police believe one individual may be outstanding in the case, and investigators believe all people involved were familiar with each other and that the incident was not random.

The 38th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC 2023) will be held September 22nd – September 24th, 2023 in Phoenix, AZ.
This year’s theme is Road To Liberty!

The conference will be held at:
Marriott Phoenix Airport
1101 North 44th St
Phoenix, AZ 85008

You can book your hotel room with our exclusive low group-rate by following this link.

We will also be on multiple virtual platforms including YouTube and Facebook. 

 

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Man confronts truck thieves, killing one in self-defense shootout

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (WOAI) — A man tracked down two truck thieves Thursday and killed one during a shootout, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

Police said the call came in just before 1 p.m. at the South Park Village shopping center.

The man told police his Ford truck was stolen and decided to take justice into his own hands. The owner was able to find his truck in the South Park Village parking lot and saw a man and a woman sitting inside the vehicle.

He continued to approach the couple at gunpoint and demand they get out of the car, according to a report. The owner then called authorities while the male suspect sat next to the tire. That’s when that suspect brandished his weapon and shot the owner.

The owner returned fire killing the male suspect and critically injuring the woman, officers said. When police arrived, the owner and the woman were taken to the hospital.

The owner of the car is in stable condition and police said they believe this was all a result of self-defense regarding his property.

Police Chief William McManus shared that the owner had every right to search for his truck, but does advise him to call authorities before taking matters into his own hands.

“He was trying to recover his property,” Chief McManus said. “I guess it depends on who you ask if he did the right thing or not.”

 

Signs Show Staff is Armed Go Up In Texas School

In Groesbeck, Texas (about a third of the way between Dallas and Houston), the Independent School District (ISD) has had a school guardian program in place for nearly a year. On July 17, 2023, the Groesbeck ISD issued a press release showing they had placed signs announcing the program. The Guardian program is a popular Texas program to enable local schools to have various members of their staff trained and armed, in order to respond to deadly threats in the school before police can arrive on the scene. The program is much more efficient than having School Resource Officers (certified police officers) assigned to the school. One SRO costs about $100,000 per year. A Guardian costs about $1,000 a year. A school district can afford 100 Guardians for the cost of one SRO. The Groesbeck School Superintendent, Anthony Figueroa, has embraced the program. From the Groesbeck Independent School District press release:

Two months ago, I sent my monthly superintendent newsletter informing parents of our Guardian Program and new signage (see picture below). Being installed this week, signs will be posted on our campuses which state, “ATTENTION: GISD STAFF ARE ARMED AND TRAINED TO PROTECT OUR STUDENTS.”12”X12” signs will be attached to all building entrances, and larger 3’X3’ signs will be displayed at all parking/drive way entrances.

Last year the Groesbeck ISD school board watched the devastation of schools across the country, being forced to prepare for the unthinkable –the potential of a school shooting, and considered appropriate policies. The Board updated local policy, authorizing a School Safety “Guardian” Program (TX Govt. Code 411.1901). Its purpose is to provide students and faculties an armed self-defense option prior to the arrival of Law Enforcement in the event of an active shooter or “active killer” on campus.

The Guardians are ISD staff members who have passed strict requirements and training. In order to protect them from becoming targets of an intruder, their names are confidential and are not to be released. I ask that names not be guessed at nor rumors passed in an attempt to protect these individuals.

Although the program has been in place for almost a year, the Board of Trustees approved for the district to make the program more visible. By providing the community this information and by placing signs up across the campuses, we are taking additional steps so that people know we are NOT an “easy target”.

Superintendent of Schools Anthony Figueroa noted the last three school districts in which he was involved were all participants in the Guardian program. This says something about Texas and, perhaps, about Anthony Figueroa.

From the Groesbeckjournal.com:

“I am proud to have been part of a Guardian program in my last three districts and I am proud that GISD had this program when I arrived,” said Figueroa. “My responsibility is to ensure we properly train our Guardians and that we properly communicate this program to our community.”

As of October 2022, about 450 out of 1022 school districts in Texas were involved in the Guardian program. As of this writing, no school district involved in the Guardian program has been the subject of a mass killing in school.

Placing the signs prominently on the doors and entrances to the campuses is a proactive step to stop mass killers from targeting schools. One of the chief drivers of these killers is the desire for fame, achieved by a high body count. Unknown armed protectors make planning to achieve a high body count difficult. Most of the killing in these events occurs in the first few minutes. Seconds of response time means lives. Having armed responders inside the situation as it occurs is the fastest way to stop the killers and save lives.

Aliens? Sen. John Kennedy Has Something to Say About Them

Well, on Wednesday, an intriguing hearing took place before the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs. The issue of the hearing was on “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP),” which most people have long referred to as UFOs, and their potential impact on national security, public safety, and government transparency.

Three whistleblowers, including a former military intelligence officer and a former Navy pilot, testified about a massive cover-up of UAPs, and their potential threat to national security.

“David Grusch, who served for 14 years as an intelligence officer in the Air Force and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, appeared before the House Oversight Committee’s national security subcommittee alongside two former fighter pilots who had firsthand experience with UAP,” CBS News reported. “Grusch served as a representative on two Pentagon task forces investigating UAP until earlier this year. He told lawmakers that he was informed of ‘a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program’ during the course of his work examining classified programs. He said he was denied access to those programs when he requested it, and accused the military of misappropriating funds to shield these operations from congressional oversight. He later said he had interviewed officials who had direct knowledge of aircraft with ‘nonhuman’ origins, and that so-called ‘biologics’ were recovered from some craft.”

Retired U.S. Navy commander David Fravor testified that the infamous “tic-tac” shaped UAP he encountered in 2004, exhibited technology “far superior than anything that we had, have today, or are looking to develop in the next 10+ years.”

There appears to be bipartisan interest in getting more transparency from the executive branch about UAPs, though there was some skepticism as well. Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) questioned how aliens with technology advanced enough to make it to Earth from billions of miles away could be “incompetent” enough to crash here. It’s a fair point.

And, true to form, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana responded to the hearings in a way only he could, in a campaign video.

“In Washington, D.C., common sense is illegal. I swear to God and all the angels that’s true. You know, I remember when the kitchen table issues mattered more than pronouns, when boys weren’t allowed to compete in girls’ sports, when truth mattered a lot more than political correctness,” he said, “Maybe that’s why the aliens won’t talk to us.”

Watch the entire video below, and pay close attention to the end.

To Win Our Nation’s Wars”?
Lions Led by Donkeys.

The 248-year-old institution that this country depends upon to fight and win our wars has lost its focus, which is, “to win our nation’s wars.”  Preparing to do that is one of the most complex tasks on earth.  There is no profession more complex, more dangerous, or more crucial to the country’s survival than the United States Army. But its focus on “woke” social solutions has diluted the necessary focus on that duty.

The Army has thousands of magnificent and highly skilled officers and enlisted men and women who perform continuously at the highest levels.  Yet, as German General Erwin Rommel said of the British after he captured Tobruk, they are “lions commanded by donkeys.”  Today’s donkeys are officers and civilians in the highest levels of the current administration, up to and including the Commander in Chief, Joseph R. Biden and a Secretary of the Army who wants to reduce recruiting from families with a tradition of service because she fears a “warrior caste.”  Donkeys indeed. And they set the tone for all their subordinates in the Army.

The latest display of the donkeys’ madness is an article on the Army’s official website, lauding another man who claims to be a woman.

U.S. Army photo by Sarah Patterson 

The first sentence of the article accompanying the photo pronounces that “Coming out as a transgender female saved Maj. Rachel Jones’ life.” It goes on to describe how an in-the-closet Jones “lived every day deeply depressed and suicidal.”  After President Joe Biden lifted the prior ban on transgenders in the military, “Jones was finally able to come out publicly as transgender.”  The Army’s article does not state that Jones had any type of so-called “gender affirming surgery,” so presumably “coming out” merely means that he announced that he now prefers to be known as “she.”  This allows “her” to “live her truth” and be “so much more comfortable with myself.”

The article claims that any thoughts of suicide are now a thing of the past.  It does not explain how an obviously unstable Jones managed to remain in the Army and get promoted to major.  Nor does it mention the suicide rate among transgenders who have “come out” or had the life-altering surgery, such as the 30+ year study that concluded that “Ten to 15 years after surgical reassignment, the suicide rate of those who had undergone sex-reassignment surgery rose to 20 times that of comparable peers.”

Now, this author’s quarrel is not with MAJ Jones, who obviously is a person in need of help.  No responsible person wishes him or any other human being to suffer depression to the point of potential suicide.  No, the proper quarrel is with the donkeys leading the Army who create the command climate that tells subordinates that, in the words of West Point’s Battalion Orders in 1820, Jones is a soldier to be “venerated and emulated.”

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Michael Bloomberg’s ‘Trace’ outed as just another gun-control group
Everytown and the Trace have stunning similarities.

The Trace, the propaganda arm of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control empire, wants the public to believe it’s an actual newsroom comprised of actual journalists. It’s a fiction they’ll go to great lengths to maintain.

The Trace calls itself “The only newsroom dedicated to covering gun violence.” Its staff refer to themselves as journalists, rather than anti-gun activists who are paid by Bloomberg to write propaganda.

Since the Trace was founded eight years ago, scores of newspapers, websites and other legacy media outlets have fallen victim to this ruse. Gannett’s flagship newspaper, USA Today, has collaborated with the Trace multiple times, and has even allowed Trace activists to produce and edit content, which appeared in the newspaper under a joint byline.

“We have partnered with more than 170 national and local media organizations,” the Trace says on its website. “We’re always looking to start new partnerships.”

One Trace activist, Jennifer Mascia, who describes herself as a “Senior news writer @TeamTrace,” bristled recently when her employer was compared to Everytown, another anti-gun group funded by Bloomberg.

“You know The Trace is not a gun control org. We don’t lobby. We don’t tell readers to support laws. We don’t publish our opinions. We are all journalists. None of us have ever worked in advocacy. Our backgrounds are easily searchable. Why do you persist with this myth?” Mascia tweeted Tuesday.

“Follow the bios. We all went to journalism school. The facts don’t support your claims,” Mascia tweeted when pressed.

Enter Rob Romano, an intelligence associate at the Firearms Policy Coalition.

Romano examined the IRS Form 990s for the Trace and Everytown and found a stunning similarity. Both nonprofits share the same president, John Feinblatt.

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July 28

1794 – The French Revolution backfires on two of the main revolutionary leaders themselves, as Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just are executed by guillotine in Paris, France.

1854 – The USS Constellation, the last all sail warship built by the U.S. Navy, is commissioned into service.

1864 – At the Battle of Ezra Church, Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful attempt to drive Union forces from Atlanta, Georgia.

1868 – The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, establishing citizenship for all people ‘born or naturalized’ in the U.S., guaranteeing due process and equal protection of law and restricting states from abridging citizens rights,  is certified as being ratified.

1896 – The city of Miami, Florida is incorporated.

1914 – In the culmination of the July Crisis after the assassination of Arch Duke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, which is considered the start of World War I.

1932 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover orders the Army to forcibly evict the “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C.

1935 – First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

1938 – Pan American Airlines Hawaii Clipper disappears between Guam and Manila. The first loss of an airliner in trans-Pacific China Clipper service.

1945 – A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing the 3 crew aboard, 11 people in the building and injuring 26.

1965 – President Johnson orders an increase of the number of troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

1984 – The summer Games of the XXIII Olympiad open in Los Angeles.

2002 – 9 coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground.

They’re keeping it under wraps because if it got out it would hurt their agenda. They know it. We know it.

 

Lawyer believes decision on release of Covenant shooter’s writings could take up to 3 years.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — The debate over whether the Covenant shooter’s writings should be released continues four months after the tragic mass shooting that claimed six innocent lives at a private, elementary school in Nashville.

The court battle has been back and forth for two months now, but one of the lawyers tells FOX 17 News this case may not be resolved for three years.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake says the shooter had a detailed map, drawings of The Covenant School, known entry points, and journals. Almost four months later, the writings have yet to be released, despite public records requests from several organizations which are now suing the Metro government.

“What was going on with The Covenant School shooter? What were the motivating factors? Were there psychological issues? Were there organic issues?” says John Harris, the attorney representing the Tennessee Firearms Association.

TFA is one of several organizations suing for the writings.

Metro Police originally denied the open records citing an open criminal investigation, but Harris believes since the shooter is dead and they haven’t identified another person of interest, that exception doesn’t apply. Plus, Harris feels Metro Police need to comply with The Tennessee Public Records Act.

“Did you think that this whole process would last this long?” asks FOX 17 News’ Amanda Chin.

“Absolutely not. These cases were filed, and we expected that the show cause hearings would’ve taken place as initially scheduled back in May, and here we are almost two months later and the case is nowhere near resolution,” says Harris.

This comes after the judge allowed The Covenant School, church, and parents to intervene and discuss why they feel the writings shouldn’t be released. The petitioners appealed that decision, which is why the judge paused the case for now.

“Do the petitioners take any responsibility for this case lasting so long?” asks Chin.

“I don’t think so. Two of the petitioners are news media outlets and they were extremely concerned with the intervention issues because it proposes to create new exceptions to the public records act that had never existed,” says Harris.

On the other side, most of the Covenant families do not want the writings released, with many penning emotional letters to the judge.

The mother of William Kinney, one of the nine-year-old children who lost his life, believes those who are calling for the release of these records “clearly care nothing about the wellbeing of their fellow humans” and “seek to rob the six murder victims of dignity in their deaths by demanding the release of sensitive details.”

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Code Kept Secret for Years Reveals Its Flaw—a Backdoor
A secret encryption cipher baked into radio systems used by critical infrastructure workers, police, and others around the world is finally seeing sunlight. Researchers say it isn’t pretty.

FOR MORE THAN 25 years, a technology used for critical data and voice radio communications around the world has been shrouded in secrecy to prevent anyone from closely scrutinizing its security properties for vulnerabilities. But now it’s finally getting a public airing thanks to a small group of researchers in the Netherlands who got their hands on its viscera and found serious flaws, including a deliberate backdoor.

The backdoor, known for years by vendors that sold the technology but not necessarily by customers, exists in an encryption algorithm baked into radios sold for commercial use in critical infrastructure. It’s used to transmit encrypted data and commands in pipelines, railways, the electric grid, mass transit, and freight trains. It would allow someone to snoop on communications to learn how a system works, then potentially send commands to the radios that could trigger blackouts, halt gas pipeline flows, or reroute trains.

Researchers found a second vulnerability in a different part of the same radio technology that is used in more specialized systems sold exclusively to police forces, prison personnel, military, intelligence agencies, and emergency services, such as the C2000 communication system used by Dutch police, fire brigades, ambulance services, and Ministry of Defense for mission-critical voice and data communications. The flaw would let someone decrypt encrypted voice and data communications and send fraudulent messages to spread misinformation or redirect personnel and forces during critical times.

Three Dutch security analysts discovered the vulnerabilities—five in total—in a European radio standard called TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio), which is used in radios made by Motorola, Damm, Hytera, and others. The standard has been used in radios since the ’90s, but the flaws remained unknown because encryption algorithms used in TETRA were kept secret until now.

The technology is not widely used in the US, where other radio standards are more commonly deployed. But Caleb Mathis, a consultant with Ampere Industrial Security, conducted open source research for WIRED and uncovered contracts, press releases, and other documentation showing TETRA-based radios are used in at least two dozen critical infrastructures in the US. Because TETRA is embedded in radios supplied through resellers and system integrators like PowerTrunk, it’s difficult to identify who might be using them and for what. But Mathis helped WIRED identify several electric utilities, a state border control agency, an oil refinery, chemical plants, a major mass transit system on the East Coast, three international airports that use them for communications among security and ground crew personnel, and a US Army training base.

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July 27

1189 – En route to the Holy Land during the Third Crusade, Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa I, leading his army, arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja for resupply.

1299 – Historians date the day as the founding of the Ottoman state when  Osman I invades the territory of Nicomedia in modern northwest Turkey, for the first time.

1663 – The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports.

1775 – The Second Continental Congress passes legislation establishing “an hospital for an army consisting of 20,000 men.”, founding the U.S. Army Medical Department.

1778 – During the Revolutionary War, the British and American ally French fleets fight to a standoff west of the isle of Ushant, at the mouth of the English Channel.

1789 – President Washington signs the legislation establishing The  Department of Foreign Affairs, later to be renamed The Department of State.

1816 – During the Seminole Wars, US Navy Gunboat No. 154 ends the siege of Negro Fort when its cannon fire explodes the fort’s powder magazine

1866 – The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, laid from Valentia Island, Ireland, to Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.

1880 – During the Second Anglo-Afghan War, Afghan forces led by Mohammad Ayub Khan defeat the British Army in battle near Maiwand, Afghanistan.

1890 – Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies 2 days later.

1919 – The Chicago Race Riot erupts after a racial incident occurred on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries over 5 days.

1921 – At the University of Toronto, biochemist Frederick Banting proves that the hormone insulin regulates blood sugar.

1929 – The Geneva Convention of 1929, dealing with treatment of prisoners of war, is signed by 53 nations.

1940 – The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.

1949 – The de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner, flies for the first time.

1953 – A cessation of hostilities is achieved in the Korean War when the United States, China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement.

1964 – 5,000 American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces there to 21,000.

1974 – The House Judiciary Committee votes 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment against President Richard Nixon.

1995 – The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C..

1996 – In Atlanta, a pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics.

2002 –  A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine killing 77 people and injuring more than 500 others, to date the deadliest air show disaster in history.

2005 – After an incident during STS-114, launching Shuttle Discovery on the first flight since the Shuttle Columbia disaster,  NASA grounds the Space Shuttle fleet, pending an investigation of the continuing problem with the shedding of foam insulation from the external fuel tank.

Florida judge tosses gun possession cases now that permitless carry is in effect

On July 1st, it became legal in Florida for lawful gun owners to carry a concealed firearm without the need for a government permission slip. While the start of permitless carry hasn’t led to the state devolving into the Wild West or an anarchic dystopia, it has left courts around the state wrestling with what to do about those individuals who were arrested and charged with carrying without a license before the new law took effect.

On Tuesday, an Orange County courtroom was the setting for both a judge and prosecutors to throw out more than a half-dozen cases, though not every defendant is in the clear.

In a rapid-fire hearing Tuesday, an Orange County judge dismissed five cases of people charged with illegally carrying a concealed firearm that began before Florida’s new permit-less carry law took effect, while prosecutors opted to drop charges against two others.

The seven total decisions were made in a nine-minute span, with prosecutors and defense attorneys mostly referring to written arguments and saying little out loud.

Judge Mark Blechman did not give a reasoning when announcing his decision, but the few questions he asked suggested he was following the guidelines set out by the new law.…

So far, attorneys said Orange County’s court system has acted similarly to a roulette wheel, with attorneys getting different outcomes in each court room they argue in.

“I have about five pending right now with motions in various divisions,” Kathleen Gillard, whose client was among Blechman’s dismissals, said. “One judge still has it under advisement. I had watched a hearing last week where another judge granted somebody’s motion.”

Many attorneys have not yet asked their judges to dismiss their cases. Attorney Roger Weeden speculated it was because they were waiting to see how the early rulings would go. It’s estimated that there are hundreds of charges pending in various stages of the court system in Orange and Osceola counties alone.

Weeden said he himself had a half dozen cases he was working to offload, and hoped Tuesday would begin a domino chain.

“The judges are all going to be mindful of what the other judges are doing,” he explained.

Though prosecutors dropped the charge of carrying without a permit in two cases, both defendants are still facing charges for more serious crimes, according to State Attorney Monique Worrell.

The action by Judge Blechman seems like the most appropriate course to take. If the actions of those defendants were against the law when they were arrested, but the law now allows them to legally carry, what benefit is served by bringing them to trial or even offering them a plea deal in exchange for admitting guilt? The criminal justice system in this country is plagued with inefficiency and an over-reliance on plea bargains as it is, and clogging up courtrooms with non-violent, possessory carry cases that are no longer a crime is a terrible use of taxpayer dollars and the finite resources of prosecutors, public defenders, and the judiciary, not to mention a nightmare when it comes to protecting civil rights.

It’s unclear how many of the “hundreds” of outstanding cases around the state are purely possessory in nature, but there’s no reason why judges and/or prosecutors can’t dismiss the charges of carrying without a license while keeping any underlying charges in place. Florida’s criminal justice system, like its legislature, should be focused on delivering consequences for crimes of violence, not fueling infringements on our fundamental right to bear arms that have since been wiped off the books.

St. Louis and D.C. Show Gun Control Isn’t About Public Safety

With many prominent government officials exhibiting a flagrant indifference to violent crime, it’s getting harder for anti-gun politicians to pretend that their gun control schemes are anything other than a means to harass law-abiding gun owners. Recent incidents from anti-gun jurisdictions St. Louis and the District of Columbia further illustrate this point.

According to the station, Jones texted her father, “Chicago has strict gun laws as well but that doesn’t deter gun violence.” Jones put more faith in social programs, texting, “It’s about investing in the people.”

These once-private comments are a stark contrast to Jones’ public statements and actions. Jones is a co-chair of billionaire Michael Bloomberg front-group Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). MAIG, along with Moms Demand Action, are part of the Bloomberg gun control conglomerate Everytown for Gun Safety.

The mayor also supported a “federal Red Flag law.” As enacted, red flag laws empower the government to confiscate a law-abiding person’s firearms without due process.

As NRA-ILA has repeatedly pointed out, despite having some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, the District of Columbia has exhibited little interest in prosecuting those who misuse firearms.

A December 2021 study from the federal enclave’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) found that “In Washington, DC, most gun violence is tightly concentrated.” The report went on to explain,

This small number of very high risk individuals are identifiable, their violence is predictable, and therefore it is preventable. Based on the assessment of data and the series of interviews conducted, [National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform] estimates that within a year, there are at least 500 identifiable people who rise to this level of very high risk, and likely no more than 200 at any one given time. These individuals comprise approximately 60-70% of all gun violence in the District.

According to the report, “Approximately 86 percent of homicide victims and suspects were known to the criminal justice system prior to the incident. Among all victims and suspects, about 46 percent had been previously incarcerated.” Further, “most victims and suspects with prior criminal offenses had been arrested about 11 times for about 13 different offenses by the time of the homicide.”

Data in a 2023 D.C. Sentencing Commission report revealed that out of a total of 5,558 MPD arrests for carrying a pistol without a license (CPWL) made between 2018 and 2022, 56.6% (3,146 cases) were “no papered” (“the prosecuting authority… elected not to immediately file charges in Superior Court related to the arrest”) or were closed without a conviction. Only 97 cases (1.74%) ultimately resulted in a prison sentence. The figures on arrests and dispositions for “unlawful possession of a firearm” (UPF) offenses show the odds in favor of lawbreakers were pretty good, too. Out of 2,149 total arrests made for UPF crimes in the same time period, the majority (62.6%, or 1,346 cases) were “no papered” or closed without a conviction. Of the remaining cases that resulted in a conviction and sentencing for UPF, only 14.5% (312 cases) concluded with the offender behind bars.

Sometimes an individual case can illustrate an issue better than a mountain of statistics.

On July 5, a high school social studies teacher visiting the federal enclave from Kentucky was shot to death on Catholic University’s campus during a robbery. At least some of the incident was captured by surveillance cameras. Police announced on July 11 that they had arrested a suspect in the case. Further, police say that they have matched the suspect’s DNA to a ski mask found at the scene of the crime.

Reporting on the suspect’s criminal record, Washington, D.C.’s NBC affiliate noted, “Public records show [the suspect] has a lengthy criminal history. He was arrested five times since 2019 and was convicted of carrying a pistol without a license, burglary and threats.”

The Washington Post elaborated, reporting,

D.C. police arrested [the suspect] during a traffic stop in 2019 and charged him with having an illegal firearm after finding a .40-caliber Glock loaded with 15 hollow-point bullets tucked under a sweater.

Court records show he pleaded guilty to carrying an unlicensed gun and was sentenced to probation, with a one-year prison term suspended. Those records show he violated the terms of his release and in 2020 was resentenced to six months in jail.

Authorities said that after his release, he continued to violate his release conditions, alleging that he failed to report to the probation office, among other issues. A hearing on those violations is scheduled for July 18.

Washington, D.C.’s FOX affiliate shared more details on a pair of 2022 incidents involving the suspect, reporting,

In May 2022 [the suspect] was charged after getting into a shootout with a neighbor and in August 2022, he was arrested with making threats of bodily harm to a 7-Eleven employee. He was convicted in March 2022 and released.

In the shootout case, investigators say an unregistered Ghost Gun was used. However, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. essentially dropped charges against [the suspect] after his attorney argued [the suspect] fired at his neighbor in self-defense. Charges were dropped in June, but a trial date had been set for July 10 — five days after Emerson was killed.

Targeting so-called “ghost guns” was purportedly so important to Mayor Muriel Bowser that in 2020 the District of Columbia enacted “Emergency Ghost Gun Legislation.”

The recent episodes in St. Louis and Washington, D.C. make clear that decisions to push gun control have little to do with public safety. Gun control offers unscrupulous politicians and their supporters a way to deflect from the repercussions of their own woeful mismanagement while often targeting the constituents of their political rivals.