I like how they add “the courts 6-3 conservative majority” part in there to remind everyone that “Oh it’s the conservatives fault we can’t pass gun control”.

[Nevada Governor] Lombardo vetoes three Democrat-backed gun control bills

Ahead of a press conference from advocates aimed at pressuring Gov. Joe Lombardo to sign a trio of Democrat-proposed gun control measures, the Republican governor vetoed the three bills.

Lombardo’s action marks the first veto of the session and arrives after he pledged on his campaign website to “veto any legislation” that would take away the “right to build a firearm for personal use.” At that time, Lombardo also said he “supports the right of all law-abiding citizens to own a firearm if they so choose.” Republican lawmakers — who voted en masse against the three proposals — have been unwilling to support such policies.

“I will not support legislation that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nevadans,” Lombardo said in a press release Wednesday. “As I stated in my letters, much of the legislation I vetoed today is in direct conflict with legal precedent and established constitutional protections. Therefore, I cannot support them.”

The first, SB171, sponsored by Sen. Dallas Harris (D-Las Vegas), would have prevented a gun purchase from anyone convicted of a hate crime in the last 10 years.

Separately, AB354, sponsored by Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas), would have criminalized bringing a gun within 100 feet of an election site, while AB355, also sponsored by Jauregui, would have raised the legal age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles and shotguns to 21, as well as aimed to close a legal loophole in the state’s 2021 attempt to ban so-called “ghost guns.”

In a statement to The Nevada Independent, Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) said she “desperately” wishes the governor would put the safety of Nevadans over partisan politics.

“After his time consoling the families of the 1 October massacre, I expected the governor to have the basic empathy to realize his responsibility to prevent future mass shootings and gun violence tragedies,” Jauregui said in a text message. “I never want a Nevadan to experience the trauma that I and so many have endured.”

She vowed to continue to work on gun violence prevention measures during her time in office.

The three bills passed through the Legislature on party-line votes.

In a press conference held immediately after the governor’s office announced the vetoes, legislative Democrats and gun control advocates pilloried the move as “shameful.”

“We sent over three commonsense options, bills, by the way, that Republicans are supporting in other states across this country today,” Harris said. “If this is how he wants to run his office, if these are the first bills he wants to veto, then I say game on.”

Though she did not clarify what other states she meant in her remarks, Republican lawmakers in Texas moved to advance a bill raising the age limit to purchase certain assault-style weapons through an initial committee earlier this month, following a spate of shooting violence this spring.

However, in legal citations included in the three veto messages sent to lawmakers Wednesday, Lombardo leaned heavily on the potential for two of the measures — AB354 and AB355 — to falter under relatively new Supreme Court precedent established within the last two years.

In both instances, the governor’s office cited New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, a 2021 case in which the court’s 6-3 conservative majority ruled that state-level gun control legislation could only be deemed constitutional if there was a historic precedent for such laws.

“As such, were this bill to become law, it is unlikely it would pass constitutional muster,” Lombardo’s veto message on AB355 said.

Kirstie Alley Dies at 71

Emmy-winning actor Kirstie Alley, known for her role in the sitcom “Cheers,” the “Look Who’s Talking” films and other roles, has died of cancer, her family said in a statement Monday. She was 71.

The illness was only recently discovered, her family said.

“She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living and whatever adventures lie ahead,” the statement said. “As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother.”

Continue reading “”

May 18

1268 – The crusader forces holding the city of Antioch are defeated by the forces of the moslem Mamluk Sultan Rukn al-Din Baibars

1291 – The crusader forces holding the city of Acre are defeated by the forces of the moslem Mamluk Sultan Salāh ad-Dīn Khalil, ending the presence of crusaders in the Holy Land.

1565 – Ottoman moslem forces besiege the island of Malta, held by the Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, more commonly known as Knights Hospitaller.

1631 – John Winthrop takes the oath of office as the first Governor of Massachusetts in Dorchester.

1841 – The Bartleson–Bidwell Party, led by Captain John Bartleson and John Bidwell, became the first American emigrants to attempt a wagon crossing from Missouri to California using the Oregon Trail.

1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward.

1896 – In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court rules that the “separate but equal” racial doctrine is constitutional.

1917 – Congress passes the Selective Service Act of 1917, giving the President the power of conscription for military service.

1927 – 43 people, including 38 children, are killed by dynamite bombs planted under the Bath Consolidated School in Bath Township, Michigan, by disgruntled school board member Andrew Kehoe, so far the most deadly attack on a school.

1933 – President Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.

1953 – Piloting the only CL-13 Mark 3 version of the F-86 Sabre over Edwards Air Force Base, California, U.S. Air Force Reserve LTC Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier

1969 – Apollo 10, the dress rehearsal for the moon landing, with astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young and Eugene A. Cernan aboard is launched from the Kennedy Space Center.

1980 – Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, erupts, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.

2005 – The Hubble Space Telescope takes a photo that astronomers will use to confirm that Pluto has 2 additional moons, adding Nix and Hydra to Charon, Kerberos and Styx.

2015 – At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.

2018 – Using a shotgun and a revolver, a student at the high school in Santa Fe, Texas kills 10 people including 8 students and wounds 13 others before being wounded by police and surrendering.

Sources say he was a leader of the “Cowboys” gang.

Watch: Charleston County Sheriff’s Office releases video from deputy-involved shooting

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) on Friday released dashcam footage from a deadly May 7 deputy-involved shooting.

The incident happened in Ravenel shortly before 4:00 p.m. when Deputies Evan Cubbage and Alexander Hodge conducted a traffic stop on a black Crown Victoria.

Deputy Cubbage approaches passenger-side window and has a pleasant conversation with the driver and passenger for just under seven minutes before asking the passenger to step out of the car.

Deputy Cubbage appears to grab the passenger’s hands and tells him not to reach for anything as he is getting out to of the car.

Deputy Hodge approaches and Deputy Cubbage screams “he’s got a gun!”

The suspect jumps out and opens fire as the deputies run to the driver’s side of the car.

Deputy Cubbage returns fire over the car, then runs around to the passenger’s side and continues firing. Deputy Hodge runs off screen and fires as well. The suspect, identified as James Pierce (28) of Walterboro, was hit and died at the scene.

Deputy Cubbage was also shot three times. He can be heard screaming “I’m hit!” Deputy Hodge asks Deputy Cubbage where he is hit and Deputy Cubbage describes his injuries. He also says that he needs help with the suspect, who is dead.

The driver jumps out of the car and runs to the side of the road screaming. One of the deputies yells at her to get back from the scene and lay down on the ground.

State 28? Constitutional Carry on the Move in Louisiana

Legislation to end a permitting requirement for concealed carry is on the move in Louisiana and would make the state the 28th to adopt constitutional carry as the law of the land.

Constitutional carry passed the Louisiana legislature two years ago and Breitbart News reported that Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) vetoed it June 4, 2021.
It is on the move again and WWLTV noted it would “[allow] any law-abiding gun owner over 18, to carry a concealed handgun in the state.”

On May 25, 2023, Biz New Orleans observed the constitutional carry legislation, sponsored by Rep. Danny McCormick (R), had passed out of committee. McCormick noted:

Louisiana is already an open carry state which allows law-abiding citizens to carry their firearms openly without mandatory training… Allowing those same law-abiding men and women to wear a jacket in colder weather or place their firearms in a purse while wearing a dress also would not cause chaos.

The same argument was made when constitutional carry was being debated in New Hampshire, when permitless open carry was legal but covering the gun with a jacket or sweatshirt was not.

There are currently 27 constitutional carry states in the Union.

Those states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
(Florida’s constitutional carry law takes effect July 1, 2023 and Nebraska’s constitutional carry law takes effect September 10, 2023.)

Gun control advocates disappointed in Texas

In the wake of far more shootings than I care to name, it’s unsurprising that there are some in Texas who want gun control. While I’m unconvinced that it’s a majority or, if it is, it’s a strong enough majority to matter, the media is going to give those people a lot of attention.

Which, of course, they did here.

It seems some parents from North Texas spoke about gun control with lawmakers, but are displeased at the results.

It was an early morning leaving Plano. And a late night returning there.

A group of about 40 mothers and fathers from across Collin County made the 440-mile round trip to Austin on Monday.

They were hoping for productive conversations about gun laws in Texas, nine days after eight people were killed and another seven were injured when a 33-year-old man armed with multiple guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets mall…

“It’s depressing,” said Maury Marcus who lives in Plano. “I feel that there’s a partisan divide and the pro-gun faction has the upper hand.”

As she was leaving the Capitol rotunda, frustration was visible on Rekha Shenoy’s face.

“I don’t feel good, but I don’t want to give up. So that’s one thing I’m not doing – I’m not giving up,” Shenoy said.

The mass shooting in Allen was only the latest in Texas.

The Second Amendment shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but it has become one.

I get that these parents are concerned. They shouldn’t be, as I’ve noted previously, because, despite the media hysteria, actual mass shootings are pretty rare, all things concerned.

Yet that’s easy to say but harder for some to internalize. I understand it, but it doesn’t change reality.

So, they showed up and hoped their emotions would sway their audience. It didn’t.

The Democrats who already agreed with them still agreed with them. The Republicans who didn’t agree with them still didn’t.

That’s because if you were going to be swayed by emotions, you probably already were. Those who are going to decide safety is more important than freedom–and I don’t actually think those are contrary positions, but many do–already made that decision.

So people like this show up, let their emotions talk, then claim they weren’t listened to by pro-Second Amendment lawmakers. That’s because the only way to show a gun control advocate that you listened is by doing exactly what they want. You can’t listen and disagree. If you disagree, at least in their view, you didn’t listen.

Anyway, these parents left Austin disappointed. My hope is that they get used to it.

What happened in Allen was awful and I won’t sugarcoat it. However, if you think that wouldn’t have happened if he couldn’t get an AR-15, you’re deluding yourself. There was nothing done at that outlet mall that couldn’t have been done with some other firearm.

That’s why the focus has to be elsewhere. Gun control doesn’t provide us with answers. It simply covers the problem and lets people pretend they’re doing something.

CAUGHT! Biden using fake data to gaslight Americans on mass shootings
Biden proves once again he’ll do anything to win his war on our guns.

Joe Biden has always struggled with the truth. Whenever he wanders off script and speaks extemporaneously, he invents personal anecdotes — boldfaced lies, actually — in which he assigns himself the starring role.

Whether he’s getting arrested in South Africa for trying to bust into Nelson Mandela’s prison cell, or bravely confronting AR-toting hunters in a Delaware swamp or going toe-to-toe with the arch-criminal, CornPop, no one actually believes him or takes his tall tales seriously. It’s just Joe being Joe, right?

But when Biden’s lies are actually signed and set into type, it’s a bit more serious. He loses his normal litany of excuses: he was tired, he was confused, he misread the teleprompter, he was sundowning.

In an editorial published Sunday in USA Today and reprinted in scores of other newspapers, the Fabulist-in-Chief dropped a whopper — even for someone who has lowered the presidential-truthfulness bar so significantly.

The editorial was titled, “President Biden: I’m doing everything I can to reduce gun violence, but Congress must do more.”

Most of Joe’s opus we’ve heard many times before. AR-15s are bad, so is anyone who owns one. Red flag laws and universal background checks will save the world. Congress needs to do more by banning “assault weapons” and standard-capacity magazines, and of course his ubiquitous: “For God’s sake, do something.”

But then there’s this: “We need to do more. In the year after the Buffalo tragedy, our country has experienced more than 650 mass shootings and well over 40,000 deaths due to gun violence, according to one analysis.”

The hyperlink whisks readers to the Gun Violence Archive — a blatantly anti-gun nonprofit we debunked years ago for their fake news.

Founded in 2013, the GVA has become the legacy media’s source of choice for mass shooting data because they hype the numbers. The GVA came up with its own broad definition of a mass shooting. Anytime four or more people are killed or even slightly wounded with a firearm, the GVA labels it a mass shooting, and politicians, gun control advocates and the legacy media treat their reports as if they’re pure gold. For example, according to the GVA there were 417 mass shootings in 2019. The FBI says there were 30, because it uses a much narrower and more realistic definition.

USA Today’s vaunted fact-checkers never balked at Biden’s use of the fake GVA data. They use it too, as does CNN, MSNBC and FOX News, so they didn’t question the President’s numbers, even though they equate to nearly two mass shootings per day. They were just happy he chose their struggling newspaper to publish his biased screed.

To be clear, if anyone actually believes Biden wrote this editorial himself, I’ve got an ocean-front property in Rehoboth Beach to sell them, complete with a $500,000 taxpayer-funded wall. Lately, Biden has difficulty even reading much less writing. He spars daily with the teleprompter, and the teleprompter usually wins. Of course, he didn’t write the editorial, but that doesn’t matter. It bears his byline: “Joe Biden is the 46th president of the United States,” so he gets the credit and/or the blame. That’s the way the presidency is supposed to work.

That Team Biden would have to juke the stats to buttress their latest anti-gun hit piece is no surprise. They’re getting desperate. No one is listening. Guns are still flying off the shelves, especially ARs, and Black females are now the largest gun-buying demographic, because they realize Biden’s rants are hollow and won’t protect them or their families.

Biden’s editorial should be seen as a warning: He will do anything it takes to win his war against our guns, including gaslighting the American people with fake news. That, too, is no surprise.

Supreme Court Decides Against Early Intervention in Illinois AR-15 Ban Case

The Supreme Court has declined to issue an emergency injunction request against an Illinois city’s “assault weapons” ban on Wednesday.

The request was made by the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR), which has challenged a ban on AR-15s and similar firearms enacted by Naperville, Illinois. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who oversees the circuit the case is filed in, requested a brief from the city in defense of its law after the gun-rights group asked the Court to intervene because a lower court upheld the ban.

“The application for a writ of injunction pending appeal presented to Justice Barrett and by her referred to the Court is denied,” the order in NAGR v. Naperville reads.

Barrett’s request for a brief in the case opened the possibility that the Court might be willing to jump the line and block the city’s ban on an emergency basis. That would have been a rare move, which the Court also declined to do in two recent Second Amendment cases challenging New York’s latest gun restrictions. The Court taking the less aggressive path of allowing the case to play out on the merits in the lower courts before deciding whether or not to get involved represents a setback for gun-rights advocates who had hoped they could achieve a quick win on the issue of assault weapons bans.

Naperville said it is “pleased” with the decision and vowed to continue defending its ban.

“The City’s ordinance is intended to protect the health and safety of our community,” Linda L. LaCloche, director of communications for the city manager’s office, told The Reload. “We will continue to defend the ordinance against legal challenges and expect future court decisions as the legal process runs its course.”

The case against Naperville’s ban is separate from the newer statewide ban. Naperville enacted its ban in August 2022. State lawmakers passed their ban in January 2023. Both have faced significant backlash from gun-rights supporters but the statewide ban has come under even more intense scrutiny since its passage.

The statewide ban has since been ruled unconstitutional in state and federal court, though those rulings have since been stayed by higher courts. Oral arguments in the case against the statewide ban were heard at the Illinois Supreme Court yesterday. It has also faced backlash from a majority of Illinois sheriffs who say they won’t enforce the ban because they consider it unconstitutional.

The Naperville ordinance has fared better by comparison. A federal district judge denied a preliminary injunction against the Naperville ordinance in February, and the Seventh Circuit rejected NAGR’s request to block enforcement of the law while its appeal is being processed. Now, the Supreme Court has done the same.

The Court’s denial of NAGR’s request in the Naperville case was done without any comment or noted dissents. That sets it apart from one of the emergency injunction denials in the New York Second Amendment cases. In Antonyuk v. Nigrelli, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, noted the Court’s decision not to intervene on an emergency basis reflected its deference to lower court proceedings rather than an endorsement of New York’s new gun restrictions.

“I understand the Court’s denial today to reflect respect for the Second Circuit’s procedures in managing its own docket, rather than expressing any view on the merits of the case,” Alito wrote.

The pair said the New York law in question presents “novel and serious questions under both the First and the Second Amendments” and went on to praise the district court’s ruling against much of the law as “a thorough opinion.” It noted the Second Circuit Court of Appeals had issued “unreasoned summary stay orders” against the injunctions in Anyonyuk and several other cases involving the New York law before encouraging the plaintiffs to refile for emergency relief if the lower court drags its feet.

“Applicants should not be deterred by today’s order from again seeking relief if the Second Circuit does not, within a reasonable time, provide an explanation for its stay order or expedite consideration of the appeal,” Alito wrote.

In NAGR v. Naperville, none of the justices said anything about the district court’s decision to uphold the city’s ban on the sale of AR-15s and other popular firearms. That provides less insight into how the justices may feel about the case itself beyond agreeing not to get involved at this point.

NAGR did not respond to a request for comment on the Court’s denial.

Now, personally I never did like Chocolate Milk from childhood, but this is past ridiculous

Biden Admin: Chocolate Milk Too Dangerous for Kids but Puberty Blockers Are Fine

As if President Joe Biden and his administration haven’t already done enough to make life more difficult and usher in more hardship for the American people, his band of merry muck-ups are now setting their sights on school lunches and toying around with a ban on chocolate milk — as well as strawberry milk and other flavor alternatives — over concerns about added sugars.

Yes, the same administration that called it “outrageous” and “immoral” to prevent children from taking life-altering hormones to prevent puberty for the purpose of “transitioning” is worried that milk provided at school might have ill effects on their health.

This potentially devastating news for America’s students came courtesy of a scoop in The Wall Street Journal this week on what the United States Department of Agriculture is weighing as it works on revamping federal standards for school-provided meals.

Via WSJ:

The issue has divided parents, child-nutrition specialists, school-meal officials and others. Supporters of restricting flavored milk say it has added sugars that contribute to childhood obesity and establish preferences for overly sweet drinks. But opponents, including the dairy industry and many school districts, say removing it will lead to children drinking less milk.

“We want to take a product that most kids like and that has nine essential nutrients in it and say, ‘You can’t drink this, you have to drink plain’?” asked Katie Wilson, executive director of the Urban School Food Alliance, which represents 18 of the largest school districts in the country. “What are we trying to prove?”[…]

The USDA proposed guidelines for school meals earlier this year, but held off making a recommendation on flavored milk, most of which is chocolate.

The agency said it is considering excluding flavored milk from elementary and possibly middle schools, or continuing to serve it to all grade levels. Under either scenario, flavored milk would have to comply with a new limit on the amount of added sugars.

“Flavored milk is a challenging issue to figure out exactly the best path forward,” Cindy Long, administrator of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, said, explaining why the agency is weighing two options. “We really do want to encourage children to consume milk and we also recognize the need to reduce added-sugar consumption.”

Oh, so the USDA chickened out on making a decision on chocolate milk already, and now they’re still hemming and hawing trying to decide whether students should have the choice of chocolate milk with their lunch. And even if they do have chocolate milk available, they’re going to restrict how much sugar is in it?

The federal government is clumsy and ineffective at handling pretty much every aspect of Americans’ lives into which it intrudes, and once again Biden is ready to put the USDA in a position of dietary lunch monitor. Where was this concern from the Biden USDA — or any federal agency over the past three years — for the health of America’s children who were more or less locked inside their homes due to COVID? Playgrounds were dismantled, Jen Psaki bragged about how her kids weren’t allowed to play with their friends, and the federal government did lasting damage to the rising generation’s mental health without any similar level of concern nor any apology.

What about the Biden administration’s embrace of radical transgender ideology that states it’s a human right for young people — with or without their parents’ consent — to begin taking often irreversible hormone treatments or moving toward mutilative surgeries? If your kid wants to begin taking hormones that will prevent them from going through puberty, the Biden administration isn’t worried about long term effects. But if your kid wants to decide to have chocolate milk at lunch, well that’s a huge problem with lasting negative health consequences that must be stopped. It’s beyond absurd.

And when it comes to schools, the Biden administration should have reopened them rather than letting Randi Weingarten and her AFT union bosses keep schools locked down. The years of learning loss created by big government “help” will likely prove more damaging to a young student’s longterm health and success in life than that same child having eight ounces of chocolate milk a few times a week.

Comments O’ The Day

Again, just like in NY SCOTUS has chosen their procedure preferences over the rights of millions of Americans

Justices will not get involved with lower courts giving the anti-gun states whatever they want. We get screwed until a case on the merits reaches cert petition.

Maryland governor signs gun-control bills tightening requirements, NRA sues

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed gun-control measures into law on Tuesday, and the National Rifle Association quickly filed a federal lawsuit against them.

The governor signed legislation approved by state lawmakers this year in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

The high court’s ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen last year ended a requirement similar to a Maryland law for people to demonstrate a particular need to get a license to carry a concealed gun in public.

One of the measures Moore signed Tuesday removes the “good and substantial reason” language from Maryland law that the court found unconstitutional in the Bruen case. But the Maryland General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, also tightened gun laws to prevent someone from carrying a concealed handgun in certain areas.

“Gun violence is tearing apart the fabric of our communities, not just through mass shootings but through shootings that are happening in each of our communities far too often,” Moore, a Democrat, said at a bill-signing ceremony.

Moore said the measures he signed into law demonstrate that the state won’t back down from the challenges of addressing gun violence plaguing the nation.

“In Maryland, we refuse to say these problems are too big or too tough,” Moore said. “We will act, and that’s exactly what today represents.”

One of the bills signed by the governor generally prohibits a person from wearing, carrying or transporting a gun in an “area for children or vulnerable adults,” like a school or health care facility. The new law, which takes effect Oct. 1, also prohibits a person from carrying a firearm in a “government or public infrastructure area,” or a “special purpose area,” which is defined as a place licensed to sell alcohol, cannabis, a stadium, museum, racetrack or casino.

The law also prohibits a person carrying a firearm from entering someone’s home or property, unless the owner has given permission. There are exemptions for law enforcement, security guards and members of the military.

The NRA contends in its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland that the state passed the legislation “in defiance of” court rulings that its gun-carry permitting law was unconstitutional.

Continue reading “”

Guns in 42 Percent of Homes With More Female Owners than Ever.

More than 106 million American adults have at least one firearm in their home, according to a survey conducted in January and February by Responsive Management at the request of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The figure indicates 42 percent of citizens 18 years of age or older have a firearm in their residence. More than 32 percent of the respondents personally own at least one gun.

Roughly a quarter of participants in the study, conducted by phone and on-line, spent at least one day target shooting during 2022—almost 60 percent of those with a firearm in their home. Another 6 percent of non-gun owners surveyed joined an acquaintance or family member for firing line sessions last year.

The survey notes, “In 2022, 17 percent of all shooters were new shooters. New shooters are those who started within the past 5 years. The rate of new shooters in 2022 is markedly higher than that of 2020 (when it was 12 percent) but is comparable to earlier surveys.”

In addition, the results defy mainstream media’s addition to the tired gun-owner stereotype. “New shooters are more likely to be Black, Democrats, Hispanic or Latino, younger, female, and from a large city or suburb,” the study found. “Compared to 2020, the percentage of new shooters who are Democrats nearly doubled, and there are large increases in the percentages of new shooters who are young, female and from a large city or suburban area….About a third of sport shooters in 2022 were female, the highest portion yet. This is up from 2009, when females made up just 25.8 percent of all sport shooters.”

The pursuit’s future is also a bright one. The survey’s authors also noted that, “In 2022, younger shooters made up the largest portion of shooters, whereas the largest share in every other survey year was the 35- to 54-year-old age group.”

Results of the study were weighted to reflect current U.S. Census data by state and region. Final sampling error came in at plus or minus 1.76 percent with a 95-percent confidence level in results.

May 17

1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore Florida with 600 men on what turns out to be a disastrous voyage of discovery – by 1536 only 4 men, which don’t include Narváez survive to reach Sinaloa, Mexico

1395 –  The warlords of ancient Wallachia defeat invading Turks at Rovine, near the Argeș River in Romania.

1642 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve founds the Ville Marie de Montréal, current day Montreal, Quebec.

1673 – Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River for the French.

1756 – The Seven Years’ War, more commonly known in the U.S. as the French and Indian War, formally begins when Great Britain declares war on France.

1792 – Under terms of the Buttonwood Agreement of 24 stockbrokers and merchants on Wall Street in New York City, the New York Stock Exchange is formed.

1875 –  Jockey Oliver Lewis riding aboard Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby in 2 minutes, 37.75 seconds.

1900 – The novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, is published in the U.S.

1939 – The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the U.S. first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.

1943 – No. 617 Squadron RAF, still in service and currently based at RAF Marham in Norfolk,  bomb the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany during World War II.

1954 – In the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision outlawing racial segregation in public schools.

1974 – Police in Los Angeles raid the Symbionese Liberation Army’s headquarters, killing 6 members of the terrorist group.

1977 – Nolan Bushnell opens the first ShowBiz Pizza Place, later renamed Chuck E. Cheese, in San Jose, California.

1983 – In response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Appalachian Observer newspaper, the U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents confirming 4.2 million pounds of mercury pollution in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

1987 – During the Iran–Iraq War, an Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 sailors and injuring 21.

1989 – Class 2-89 of Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment U.S. Army, graduates Basic Combat Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

1995 –  Shawn Nelson steals an M60 tank from a National Guard armory in San Diego, California and goes on a rampage, destroying numerous vehicles and other property before being shot by the police who forcibly enter the tank.

2006 – The aircraft carrier CVA-34 USS Oriskany is purposefully sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, off Panama City, Florida to become ‘The Great Carrier Reef’.

 

Teenage gunman, three elderly victims ID’d in New Mexico mass shooting

Three elderly women — including a 97-year-old mother and her daughter — were identified by police Tuesday as the victims killed at the hands of New Mexico teenage gunman Beau Wilson.

The 18-year-old — armed with three guns — fired indiscriminately as he walked through a quarter-mile stretch of the city of Farmington Monday morning, killing Gwendolyn Schofield, her 73-year-old daughter, Melody Ivie, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita, cops said.

Six others, including two police officers, were injured in the shooting before cops killed Wilson.

Police believe the violence was “purely random” and that Wilson did not know any of his victims.

“The amount of violence and brutality that these people faced is unconscionable to me,” Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy said at a press conference.

“I don’t care what age you are, I don’t care what else is going on in your life, to kill three innocent elderly women that were just absolutely in no position to defend themselves is always going to be a tragedy.”

Officers are still working to determine a motive for Wilson’s mass murder in his own neighborhood near the Four Corners — where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado meet.

Dowdy said the rampage started at 10:56 a.m. and the threat was neutralized just 10 minutes later.

The Farmington High School student sprayed at least 150 bullets, though officers expect the number of casings discovered to rise dramatically as the investigation continues.

Video footage showed Wilson, dressed in black, pacing around the church driveway holding what appeared to be a handgun with an extended, high-capacity magazine before he was killed.

Shirley Voita, Gwendolyn Schofield and Melody Ivie were killed in the

Wilson used three guns during the rampage — one “assault-style rifle” that he legally purchased in November shortly after his 18th birthday and two other guns that belonged to family members.

Though multiple homes were struck by bullets, Wilson was targeting vehicles — all the victims, other than the two injured officers, were struck while driving through the area. Farmington officer Rachel Discenza delivered the fatal shot to Wilson, who exchanged a bullet simultaneously.

Police are still working to uncover a motive, but said Wilson did not know any of his victims.Jon Austria/Albuquerque Journal via Shutterstock

The teenager had a history of minor infractions, Dowdy said, but nothing that “would rise on our radar.” Officers also believe Wilson was suffering from some type of mental health issues.

The shooting is still under investigation, and police expect to continue releasing information and body camera footage in the following days.

Gun rights advocates win major challenge to N.J.’s tough concealed carry law.

A new law limiting concealed carry of guns in New Jersey suffered another defeat in federal court Tuesday as a judge ordered state officials not to enforce its tight restrictions pending a flurry of legal challenges from gun rights advocates.

The ruling means New Jerseyans with proper permits are free to concealed-carry handguns at beaches, public parks, bars and restaurants — places from where Gov. Phil Murphy and his Democratic allies in the state Legislature sought to ban firearms in an effort to curb gun violence.

Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that found restrictive concealed carry laws on the books in states like New York and New Jersey violated the Second Amendment, Democratic leaders in the state fast-tracked a new measure that made it easier for citizens to obtain carry permits, but tightly limited where guns were allowed.

But in a 235-page ruling made public Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Renee Marie Bumb officially put its enforcement on hold.
Gun rights advocates declared victory, praising the decision as a “smackdown” of “draconian laws.”

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