The Brooklyn Subway Attack Just Unraveled the Gun Control Argument Presented in NYSRPA v. Bruen.

The attack that occurred in New York City subway yesterday is proof positive that gun control, as envisioned by the Gun Control Industry and like-minded politicians, simply does not work. Honest, hard-working people were going about their day in Brooklyn, headed to work. Thanks to the intransigence of their local and state governments, these people were completely disarmed, left to the mercy of someone who’d planned his attack to do the most damage possible.

“First responders” were too late to do anything about the shooting. They always are.

As a former police officer, I know the sad truth. We virtually always respond to events after the fact. We rarely prevent them from occurring. What stops bad people from doing terrible things is good people. Good people who are there, at the scene, and armed.

New York City’s Mayor, Eric Adams, a former NYPD officer, knows this, but like so many before him, he chooses to ignore it. Instead, he spews the same old media-friendly prescriptions of increasing the number of police in NYC’s Subways. It’s all just security theater that will continue to leave the city’s residents vulnerable to the rising crime and violence that have plagued the city.

 

Subway crime is hardly unusual. From February 21 to February 27 alone, 55 subway crimes were reported. That’s compared to 18 in 2021. NYC had a 205.6% jump in crime. New Yorkers can actually track the crime that’s afflicting their city on the NYPD’s own website.

Subway crimes stats increased 72.4% for the most recent 28-day period, and 72.8% year-to-date compared to the same time last year, the data shows. Hate crimes have jumped up 200% and the total crime index jumped up 47%.

This has become the new norm for the city’s straphangers.

 

The irony of this is thick. In her arguments last year before the Supreme Court against lifting New York’s “may issue” concealed carry permitting system — which, in practice, is a no-issue system, except for the rich and powerful — New York Solicitor General Barbara Underwood cited the city’s subway system as an example of why legal concealed carry by average citizens must continue to be banned.

Here’s how her exchange with Justice Samuel Alito went . . .

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So, bureaucraps just being standard operational bureaucraps.

New Evidence Shows ATF Lied To Congress Regarding Determination Letters

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has always claimed that it works on a first in/first out model for evaluating industry products for determination letters.

In multiple letters to Congress, the agency also claimed to have a 90-day turnaround time in issuing determination letters. Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Len Savage of Historic Arms LLC, we know that is not true.

Mr. Savage, through his attorney Stephen Stamboulieh, has uncovered evidence that the ATF not only does not meet the 90-day turnaround time for issuing determination letters, but that isn’t even its internal goal. The FOIA request uncovered multiple letters to members of Congress such as former Rep. Mia Love (R-UT), former Rep. Raul R. Labrador (R-ID), former Rep. Bill Dold (R-IL), Former Rep. Devin Nunnes (R-CA), and Congressman Bill Posey (R-FL) claiming the 90-day turnaround time for the issuance of determination letters. But in an uncovered PowerPoint presentation by the Firearms & Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) from 2021, the times are listed as six to nine months for industry evaluations.

The time frame given in the PowerPoint is a lot longer than what the Bureau has always told members of Congress. Looking at other FOIA requests for production releases, it seems that the six-to-nine-month time frame might even be an overly optimistic time frame for a lot of submitted industry samples. Also, there is a clear pattern that specific categories of items are intentionally processed slower by FATD.

The ATF claims that it works on a first in/first out model, but AmmoLand News has also obtained evidence from Mr. Stamboulieh that the first-in/first-out method isn’t the method that the Bureau uses when evaluating industry products. A definite pattern is formed by reviewing the FOIA requesting all submissions to FATD older than 15 months. Almost all outstanding determination letters are either for pistol stabilizing devices or unfinished pistol frames and receivers.

Since these items are a small minority of what FATD evaluates, one would expect to see relatively few of these products being held for more than 15 months for evaluation if the ATF genuinely evaluates items in a first-in/first-out system. It is more likely that the federal government is intentionally holding these items while evaluating other less controversial products first.

Jordan Vinroe, JSD Supply President, does not think the ATF uses a first-in/first-out method. JSD Supply is one of the largest sellers of unfinished frames and receivers in the country. The company has submitted multiple items simultaneously to FATD for evaluation to get a determination letter. The products that are more difficult to finish seem to get approved, while the things intended for the entry-level builder are stalled in the process. JSD Supply is just one of the companies in the home builder space that has items that have been with FATD for over 15 months

“It is a ban without making it a ban,” Vinroe told AmmoLand News, “Bureaucrats are injecting their personal opinions and views into the evaluation process. This is causing a strain on commerce. It is more proof that there is secret rule making.”

AmmoLand News reached out to the ATF for comment but has not received a response at the time of publishing.

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Hitler thought the west was weak and decadent
Tojo thought the U.S. people were weak and lazy.
Napoleon thought the British were a ‘nation of shopkeepers’

While that Russian priest was correct about a lot of the immorality seen in the west, he, and a lot of others, always seem to make the mistake of believing that the loudest is an actual majority.

The Russian conservative elites currently in power supported war because they see Western power as decadent and declining.

“In his sermon approximately two weeks into the war, on March 6, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church justified the invasion of Ukraine as necessary to defend Orthodox Christians against Western values and gay pride parades. On March 24, during a meeting with young artists, Russian President Vladimir Putin complained about… the West was now ‘trying to cancel a whole 1,000-year culture, our people … Russian writers and books are now canceled.’… Russian media filled with TV shows and ‘documentaries’ on ‘Gayropa’ and ‘Sodom.’

These shows conjured up a caricature of weak ‘gayish’ Western males and women who lost their femininity by competing with men in spheres where they could achieve nothing serious. Russian media frequently stressed the oddity that many Western democracies nominated women as defense ministers… … Russia depicted itself… as the country of strength, the bulwark of traditional families: with strong men, fertile women and children properly guarded against subversive homosexual propaganda… Fascinated by this flattering vision of Russia, elites, it seems, overestimated the nation’s strength and underestimated Ukraine’s.”

Write Kristina Stoeckl and Dmitry Uzlaner in “Russia believed the West was weak and decadent. So it invaded. Russia sees itself at the global forefront of the culture wars, leading the resistance to gay parades, ‘cancel culture,’ and liberal values more generally” (WaPo).

How Many Senile Democrats Does It Take To Ruin a Country?

We had a couple of “senior moment” stories yesterday involving people in the upper echelons of power in this country. It’s not pretty, but it can’t be ignored. Those of us here on the reality-based side of the aisle are duty-bound to acknowledge when things are amiss.

The first story involves Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, who it often seems has been in the Senate since Andrew Jackson was president. Actually, she has been in office since winning a special election in 1992.

It would appear that the senior — no pun intended — senator from the Golden State is not quite as sharp as she used to be, which Robert wrote about yesterday:

Hunter Biden is just the tip of the iceberg: it’s lucrative to be a politician today, even if your father isn’t playing the role of president of the United States. There are innumerable ways in which our elected representatives can grow rich while doing the bidding of some powerful group, all perfectly legal: astronomical advances for books that hardly anyone will read, similarly inflated speaking fees, and much more.

What was once known as the public service has become so remunerative that it’s no wonder that politicians are clutching to power as they never have before in American history. Washington is now top-heavy with the Geritol set, and it doesn’t look as if that’s going to change anytime soon. But the talk around the nation’s capital Thursday is that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Beijing) is in the throes of a cognitive decline so severe as to make Old Joe Biden look as sharp as a tack, and that’s no malarkey, Jack.

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote Thursday: “When a California Democrat in Congress recently engaged in an extended conversation with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, they prepared for a rigorous policy discussion like those they’d had with her many times over the last 15 years.

Instead, the lawmaker said, they had to reintroduce themselves to Feinstein multiple times during an interaction that lasted several hours.” Dagnabbit, Chron, “they” refers to a group, not to an individual, but nowadays when women can get other women pregnant, grammar is the least of our worries.

Robert then goes on to brilliantly provide a variety of reference points to give the reader a sense of just how old Sen. Feinstein is. It’s not mean, it’s factual. I have long advocated for the repeal of the 17th Amendment. The Founding Fathers never intended for senators to be able to linger in Washington with multiple six-year terms, acquiring power that rulers of lesser countries might only dream of.

More troublesome is the ongoing saga of decline that we are witnessing in the man who currently occupies the Oval Office. Matt covered the latest episode in this national torture tale:

Joe Biden has had his fair share of Joe Biden Moments. Slurred words, confusing people, not knowing where he is. Yet, his senility repertoire seems to be expanding as of late, and on Thursday, seeing people who aren’t there appeared to be his latest trick. After giving a speech in which he again tried to blame inflation on Vladimir Putin, Biden turned and appeared to shake hands with thin air, before wandering around confused.

I’m not engaged in some gleeful pile-on here. This is rough stuff. I’m not the youngest guy on the block, I don’t want to end up like this. One of the ways I try to keep my mind sharp is by making sure that I’m not a Democrat.

It isn’t cruel to point out what we are all seeing whenever Biden’s handlers let him go in front of cameras — it’s a legitimate concern. He is, after all, still the most powerful man on Earth. While we’re all on edge worrying about a renewal of nuclear tensions with Russia, having a president who rarely knows where he is might be a cause for worry.

We’re blessed to live in a time when people can have much longer, and more productive, lives. Unfortunately, some people still hit the age wall and need to have the keys to the car taken away.

Or the nuclear launch codes.

UNREGULATED “GHOST GUNS”

I think it’s high time for manufacturers of unfinished frames to start suing the heck out of Everytown for Gun Safety.

But gun safety advocacy groups, like Everytown for Gun Safety, which pushed the federal government for years to take action on ghost guns, applauded Biden’s moves and insisted that both Dettelbach’s appointment and the finalized rule will help combat gun violence.

“Ghost guns look like a gun, they shoot like a gun, and they kill like a gun, but up until now they haven’t been regulated like a gun,” said John Feinblatt, Everytown’s president. (link)

Feinblatt isn’t stupid. He isn’t ignorant. He isn’t mistaken.

He is a liar.

Privately manufactured firearms are firearms, and are regulated as such. A prohibited person may not build one. A prohibited person may not possess one. They may not be manufactured with the intent to sell, only for personal use. All that before the Biden administration’s new rule.

Certainly the Department of Justice and ATF are aware of that.

Seven men charged with guns trafficking in Inland Empire, ‘ghost guns’ among 30 firearms seized
Seven men have been arrested and charged with multiple federal firearms- and drug-related offenses as part of a federal investigation that recovered seven automatic weapons among a haul of so-called ghost guns, officials said Tuesday.
[…]
Most of the guns were privately made firearms bearing no serial numbers or identifying marks, commonly referred to as “ghost guns.”
[…]
Damon Moore, aka “Damage,” 27, of Bellflower was charged with engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, being a prohibited person in possession of a gun, and distribution of methamphetamine.

If “ghost guns” are, as Everytown Liar-In-Chief claims, unregulated, exactly what US Code were these men charged under, eh? Looks like a truckload of 18 U.S. Code § 922 and 18 U.S. Code § 923 violations, but Feinblatt says it ain’t so; not too swift for an attorney. Maybe the Catholic University of America should demand his law degree back.

And a question for real attorneys: Is it a reportable ethics violation for an attorney to deliberately misrepresent laws?

I’m a bit curious about why the AP’s “Lead Justice Dept. & federal law enforcement reporter” let a demonstrably false statement like that go unchallenged. It raises the question of whether he’s an ignorant idiot, or just a fluffer for the victim-disarmament industry. (Rhetorical, of course; it’s AP.)

Through the stark and solemn Liturgy of the Friday we call “Good”, we stand at the Altar of the Cross where heaven is rejoined to earth and earth to heaven, along with the Mother of the Lord. We enter into the moment that forever changed – and still changes – all human History, the great self gift of the Son of God who did for us what we could never do for ourselves by in the words of the ancient exultet, “trampling on death by death”. We wait at the tomb and witness the Glory of the Resurrection and the beginning of the New Creation. – Deacon Keith Fournier

The enormity of Biden’s crap-for-brains withdrawal in Afghanistan

Felix Sater Profile picture

Thanks to the Government Accountability Office, we now have a clear picture of just how much U.S. military equipment has fallen into the hands of the Taliban, thanks to this Administration’s bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan. Let’s have a look…

Aircraft: The Taliban now ranks #26 in the world in total military aircraft, thanks to us leaving behind
208 planes and helicopters:
110 helicopters
60 transport/cargo planes
20 light attack planes
18 intelligence/surveillance planes

Vehicles: You’ve probably seen the footage of the Taliban riding around in our humvees.
We left a total of 75,898 vehicles:
42,604 tactical vehicles
22,174 humvees
8,998 medium tactical vehicles
1,005 recovery vehicles
928 mine-resistant vehicles
189 armored tanks

Weapons: Get ready for this…
599,690 of our weapons are now in the hands of the Taliban:
358,530 rifles
126,295 pistols
64,363 machine guns
25,327 grenade launchers
12,692 shotguns
9,877 RPGs
2,606 howitzers

And you can throw a couple thousand night-vision goggles, surveillance drones, and communication devices on that list as well.

Price tag: In total, it adds up to nearly $84 BILLION DOLLARS in tax-payer-funded U.S. military equipment.

Bill seeks to preserve gun rights for modern nomads

I’ve known a few people who sold most of their stuff, bought an RV, and spend their time traveling the country. They established a P.O. box somewhere so they could get regular mail and hit the open road, circling back occasionally to pick up anything that might be there.

However, for these people, one thing they’ve been forced to give up is their gun rights to some degree. They can keep their guns, of course, unless there’s some other reason they couldn’t, but if they want to buy a new one? Then they have a problem.

After all, the ATF requires a home address, not a P.O. box.

A new bill, however, seeks to change that.

WASHINGTON– U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced the Traveler’s Gun Rights Act. This bill would update federal law to account for various residency-related issues facing full-time Recreational Vehicle (RV) travelers, individuals with multiple physical residences, active-duty military personnel, and military spouses. Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.).

“The Traveler’s Gun Rights Act removes an unfair prohibition facing Americans with unique living situations,” said Rounds. “This legislation will make certain that law-abiding citizens do not face a burdensome roadblock when trying to exercise their Second Amendment rights.”

“An address is an address – individuals who rely on a P.O. Box as their primary mailing address shouldn’t have their right to possess a firearm compromised,” said Johnson. “Our bill fixes that problem.”

So far, 17 senators have signed on to their version of the bill and 28 representatives have co-sponsored the House version.

Frankly, I like what I see. Not just because a part of me would love to live such a nomadic existence–at least, I would if I didn’t have kids–but because, frankly, it’s stupid.

Once upon a time, people who were nomadic usually didn’t have the best of circumstances. Or they were retired. There were relatively few of them looking to buy guns while living such a lifestyle.

However, in this digital age, people can live anywhere and work anywhere that has an internet connection. They’re not tethered to a house like they used to be. They can work freelance or from Fortune 500 companies. It’s a new age, folks.

As such, there are going to be those who decide to buy a firearm while they’re traveling the highways and byways of this great land. Yet under current law, they can’t legally do so.

There’s simply no reason for that.

At the end of the day, people have a right to travel and live how they want to live and travel. They’re not required to have a house with a white picket fence, all so they can exercise their right to free speech or freedom of religion, so why would we require something like that so they can exercise their right to keep and bear arms?

The answer is that we shouldn’t.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this bill has a prayer of passing at this point. After the midterms, depending on how strong a majority the GOP ends up with–they’ll need a supermajority–maybe. Otherwise? Well, it’s a nice idea that should pass, but won’t.

Kemp’s pro-gun retort to challenger Perdue is glorious

Gov. Brian Kemp has signed constitutional carry into law. It’s now in effect here in the state of Georgia, which means your’s truly doesn’t need a permit anymore unless I leave the state and want reciprocity.

And since the two states I generally travel to are also constitutional carry states…

Anyway, I appreciate what Kemp did, but the truth is that we’d have liked to have seen it happen much sooner. I think everyone feels that way.

Yet, political realities are what they are.

Despite that, it’s a point of contention in the GOP primary where the governor’s challenger, former U.S. Senator David Perdue has taken issue with it not being done earlier

“I think that’s great,” said David Perdue. “It’s too bad it took four years to get it done and it’s too bad it took me getting in the race for them to get any energy to get that done, but I’m glad it’s getting done.”

Now, understand that it would have passed last year were it not for House Speaker David Ralston deciding the bill shouldn’t advance because of the mass shooting in Atlanta. I don’t really see how you can put that on Kemp.

However, Kemp had a response to Perdue’s criticism.

“Well, you had to get the votes in the legislature,” Gov. Kemp explained.  “But look, he was in the United States Senate for six years.  I don’t ever remember him pushing this bill up there.  It’d be great if they did that at the federal level.  We wouldn’t have to do it with all the states.”

OK, I don’t care who you are, that’s amazing.

Look, even though I live in Georgia, I don’t have a dog in this particular fight. I’m skeptical of Perdue’s claims that he’s the only one who can beat Stacey Abrams when he couldn’t even beat career candidate Jon Ossoff while Kemp actually did beat Abrams.

Yet either is preferable over an anti-gun Abrams.

However, Perdue’s attacks on Kemp for not doing something earlier seem more than a little bizarre considering Kemp actually got it done.

The governor is also right about how great it would be to have a law like this at the federal level. It would be absolutely amazing. Then even California and New Jersey residents could enjoy the benefits of constitutional carry.

Look, I’m not doubting both of these two men support the Second Amendment. I also know that it’s a primary and they’re going to fight it out.

However, I can’t help but feel like Perdue is counting on Georgia gun rights advocates to buy into this idea that Kemp could have just snapped his fingers at any time and made constitutional carry happen. It’s like he’s counting on the ignorance of a segment of the base he’s desperately courting, and I don’t like that at all.

Yet the governor flipped the script on him in a way that works for me.

Frankly, I can’t find Perdue  sponsoring any pro-gun legislation during his time in the Senate. As such, he probably needs to sit the gun arguments out

How alleged Brooklyn subway shooter got his gun

Now that the alleged New York subway shooter has been arrested, we won’t be using his name anymore. However, we will be talking about him. After all, how can we not?

What he did was horrible and it seems, as almost has to be the case with someone like this, that he was a very disturbed individual. We mentioned some of it in coverage of this on Wednesday, yet others have gone even deeper and found that he was even more damaged than we thought.

So how did a person like this get a gun? Well, now we know.

[Name redacted], the lone suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting that wounded 10 people, purchased the gun used in the attack at a pawn shop in Ohio, Fox News has learned.

[The accused], 62, purchased the 9 mm Glock handgun at a pawn shop in Columbus, Ohio, in 2011, a law enforcement source told Fox News on Wednesday.

Now, some will look at this and think this is evidence we need more gun control. However, let’s remember something here. He bought it from a pawn shop. For a pawn shop to buy and sell guns as they do, they have to be Federal Firearms License holders. That means they conduct NICS checks on each and every firearm sold.

The alleged subway shooter passed.

“But he was clearly mentally ill!”

Clearly. However, there’s mental illness and then there’s mental illness. Someone with mild depression or some anxiety disorders suffers mightily from their condition, but they don’t necessarily represent a threat to themselves or others. There’s no reason to even remotely pretend they do.

Is that what the accused subway shooter was suffering from? I don’t have any idea. After all, his mental health records aren’t open and available to the public. Nor, frankly, should they be. There’s enough of a mental health stigma as it is.

Yet if the accused stands trial, it’s likely all that information will come out and we’ll all know then.

However, with regard to being able to buy a gun, we already have a process for preventing someone from purchasing a firearm. If they’re “adjudicated as mentally defective,” as the law phrases it, then they can’t buy a gun. Not in Ohio, not in New York, not in Missouri, not anywhere.

The accused wasn’t, though. That suggests whatever was wrong wasn’t to that level. So why would he be denied a firearm?

What many are missing, though, is that he then took that gun to New York. Under New York City law, even if you already own a firearm, you must obtain a permit from the city before bringing that gun with you. Failure to do so is a crime.

In theory, that should prevent people like the accused subway shooter from doing just that, but clearly, that didn’t work.

At the end of the day, what we know is that there’s a lot going on with the suspect the police have in custody and I don’t know that a trial will accomplish a whole hell of a lot to clear much of this fiasco up. Still, it’s an opportunity to get answers and we should all hope we actually get some for once.

One man’s experience with the Moderna vaccine

Louie Traub Profile picture

Today is my one year “regretiversary” of the vaccine that ruined my life. So to celebrate the fact it hasn’t killed me (yet), here’s a thread attempting to summarize the rollercoaster ride this last year has been…

On April 13, 2021 I received Moderna #2 after believing the BS we were told by the gov and media, all my friends/family were fine after their shots, docs recommended it, if I wanted to work/travel I’d have to get it. I thought it was the ticket to get back to normal. I was wrong.

The side effects came on hard and heavy the same day, so for the causation doesn’t equal correlation crowd that tries to discredit adverse reactions, enough. And no, it wasn’t covid. I never had the virus. Previous years were healthy and I backtested negative. It was the vax 100%Image
I experienced a host of side effects that can’t even fit in a single post because so many symptoms popped up almost instantly and have evolved for the worse over the last year.

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The DC Project, Women for Gun Rights, a nationwide grassroots organization of women dedicated to safeguarding the Second Amendment, today released a new video titled, We’re on Offense Now.

Homeowner shoots man in attempted burglary

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Police Department’s Violent Crimes division is investigating an attempted home burglary that took place early Tuesday morning.

Officers responded to a shooting call around 7:50 a.m. in the 3000 block of Andrew Jackson Way.

Police report that a father woke up to the sound of glass breaking in the bedroom of his young son and near the front door of their apartment. The father got his firearm and opened his bedroom door.

‘Call my dad, tell him to come home:’ Family seeks justice for 33-year-old man killed in shooting
He saw an unknown man standing in the hallway of the apartment. The father shot at the man nine times, striking him once in the jaw and neck area and possibly three times in the chest. Several bullets that missed also traveled into the apartment across the hallway.

The still-unidentified break-in suspect was transported to Vanderbilt Hospital and is suffering from life-threatening injuries. He is currently unconscious, intubated, in surgery and in critical condition.

Police say it could take weeks for the man to wake up, if he does at all.

The father told the police that he has no connection to the suspect. Metro police said that the father fired at the suspect in fear and out of self defense.

People living nearby heard the gunfire. Peter Olson lives in the building adjacent to where this happened. He said it’s scary because he has kids of his own. He was worried they could’ve been hit.

“I thank god because you hear about it all the time, a stray bullet hitting someone,” said Olson. “That’s my world, my children. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something like that would’ve happened.”

Police said they were interviewing the father. However, they haven’t been able to talk with the suspect because of his injuries.

Investigators believe the shooting was an act of self defense. In such a case, the suspect would face burglary charges.

Kentucky lawmakers override governor’s veto of bill banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports

The Republican-controlled legislature in Kentucky voted Wednesday to override Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of legislation that would prohibit transgender athletes from competing in sex-segregated sporting events from sixth grade through college.

The expected move came after Beshear refused to sign Senate Bill 83 last week and claimed it was most likely unconstitutional. He said the legislation “discriminates against transgender people” and therefore would not hold up in court.

The measure is now law in the state after the Republicans overrode the veto of the legislation, which originally passed through the state House with a 70 to 23 vote and the state Senate with a 26 to 9 vote.

Under the new law, a student’s gender will be determined by the “biological sex” indicated on the student’s certified birth certificate “as originally issued at the time of birth or adoption.” This means individuals who transitioned to female later in life could not participate on sports teams designated female in the state.

Republican Sen. Robby Mills, the bill’s lead sponsor, has said the measure would ensure girls and women compete against other “biological females.”

Mills has said the bill reflects concerns from parents across the Bluegrass State. He said it “thinks ahead” to prevent situations where girls or women are unfairly competing against biological males.

“It would be crushing for a young lady to train her whole career to have it end up competing against a biological male in the state tournament or state finals,” Mills said during a previous debate on the bill.

In vetoing the measure, Beshear said its backers had failed to present a “single instance” in Kentucky of someone gaining a competitive advantage as a result of a “sex reassignment.”

“Transgender children deserve public officials’ efforts to demonstrate that they are valued members of our communities through compassion, kindness and empathy, even if not understanding,” the governor wrote.

The measure also faced criticism from others in the state.

“This bill is a solution in search of a non-existent problem,” said Samuel Crankshaw, a spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. “It is rooted in hate and unconstitutional.”

American Occupation.

I lived for very many years in rural Vermont. I’d bought a long-abandoned, post-and-beam farmhouse on a third-class dirt road. The realtor was a German immigrant who’d come to Vermont with his wife and infant children just after the war. He suggested that I call a local builder, Bob, to inspect the house, which was superficially in dreadful shape, but the farm and basement were sound. Bob said he’d be glad to put it right, and he and his brother-in-law restored it to its 1805 perfection.

Bob’s family had lived through the war in Germany, and through the famine afterward, and through relocation in America, ignorant of the language. Bob taught himself carpentry and all the building trades, and became a much-respected member of the small town, where all of his contemporary men had fought against the Axis in World War II. His brother-in-law, Eric, had been in the Hitler Youth, and Bob was a glider commando in the Luftwaffe—the equivalent, today, of Delta Force, or the Navy Seals.

My family became friends with Bob, and his wife, Ilse, became a surrogate grandmother—or better, great-aunt—to my kids. His family was my first encounter with the German national character—hard working, honest, and uncomplaining.

Of course I was seldom unaware that the regime he had fought for was dedicated to the destruction of my people and my race (if Jews are a race … in any case, to my like). I asked Eric about the Hitler Youth, and he said that he’d missed one meeting, and was told by his group leader that, should he miss another, he’d be shot. And, Bob, and every other man of fighting age and ability, was conscripted, and what were they to do?

Just as Eric explained, and perhaps apologized for, his membership in the Hitler Youth, Bob would tell me that his father had risked his life saving a Jew of his acquaintance.

To both cases: perhaps, and perhaps not. I never met a German who had lived through that wartime period who did not share with me the history of his family helping the Jews. Putting aside the question of the stories’ truth, I was struck by their seeming necessity for the teller. The current self-protective rationale of the Nazi era invokes an occupation by the forces of evil, which they were mostly too powerless to fight. Most of the people who lived through it are gone, and their descendants are entitled to imagine a history with which they can live—neither absolutely false nor true, but one in which someone tried to act.

Over the last two years in America, I’ve witnessed our own forces of evil with incredulity, despair, and rage. Corruption, blasphemy, and absurdity have been accepted by one-half of the electorate as the cost of doing business; as has the fear this acceptance generates. Does anyone actually believe that men change into women and women into men who can give birth, that the Earth is burning, the seas are rising, and we’ll all perish unless we cover our faces with strips of cotton?

No one does. These proclamations are an act of faith, in a new, as yet unnamed religion, and the vehemence with which one proclaims allegiance to these untruths is an exercise no different from any other ecstatic religious oath. They become the Apostles’ Creed of the left, their proclamation committing the adherent physically to their strictures, exactly as the oath taken on induction to the armed services. The inductee is told to “take one step forward,” and once they do he or she can no longer claim, “I misunderstood the instruction.”

Those currently in power insist on masking, but don’t wear masks. They claim the seas are rising and build mansions on the shore. They abhor the expenditure of fossil fuels and fly exclusively in private jets. And all the while half of the country will not name the disease. Why?

Because the cost of challenging this oppressive orthodoxy has, for them, become too high. Upon a possible awakening, they—or more likely their children—might say that the country was occupied. And they would be right.

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Jesus gave us a model for the work of the church at the Last Supper. While his disciples kept proposing more organization – Hey, let’s elect officers, establish hierarchy, set standards of professionalism – Jesus quietly picked up a towel and basin of water and began to wash their feet.
–Philip Yancey

Jody Lyneé Madeira
Professor of Law and Louis F. Niezer Faculty Fellow, Co-Director, Center for Law, Society & Culture, University of Indiana, Bloomington.

It is – again – so thoughtful of them to provide such definite means of positive identification.

“The ways in which we talk about the Second Amendment are also changing, becoming more uncompromising. Many advocates hang their arguments upon the feeble nail of “shall not be infringed,” and maintain that that phrase literally means what it says – that the right to bear arms is absolute, that it cannot be compromised, that it encompasses all or means nothing.

‘[F]eeble nail‘? ‘means what it says‘? If she thinks so little of one enumerated right, what might she think about other rights?

A New Call to Arms: Rewriting Second Amendment Threats

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), codified at 15 U.S.C. § 7901 et seq., has nearly banished the specter of civil liability for covered gun industry entities. PLCAA was predicated on the claim that gun industry actors, including firearm manufacturers and sellers, were under siege from baseless lawsuits founded on novel legal theories. Prior to its passage, several state courts had held that these entities could be held responsible for knowingly or recklessly distributing their products through sketchy sellers, essentially turning a blind eye to business practices that contributed to gun violence.

In addition to its legal consequences, however, PLCAA had other social and cultural effects. It has helped to establish and reinforce a new narrative supporting contemporary gun rights state legislation. The claim that the firearms industry is under siege has now morphed into the assertion that the Second Amendment itself is under assault, that firearms are disfavored, and that those who own, carry, or use firearms are targets of discrimination.

The breadth and assumptions of PLCAA have also influenced recent state gun rights legislative advocacy, incentivizing measures like permitless carry. To personalize the narrative of gun rights “under siege,” gun rights advocates mobilize citizens to testify in legislatures across the country about how state law schemes infringe on their Second Amendment rights. Many of these laws have been on the books for years but were not questioned until recently. Nearly all are based on traditional doctrinal premises such as home rule and the “longstanding regulations” and “sensitive places” distinctions substantiated in Heller. For example, several state legislatures have assumed the mantle of regulating firearms and ammunition, lifting it from the shoulders of municipalities and cities.

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