Louisville shooter Connor Sturgeon reportedly detailed reasons for rampage in manifesto

The 25-year-old commercial developer wrote a 13-page missive that detailed his motives for gunning down his colleagues during their morning conference at the Old National Bank last week, a massacre he captured on a deranged Instagram live stream, the DailyMail reported.

Sturgeon reportedly hoped to showcase how easy it was to buy a gun in Kentucky and wanted to highlight the mental health crisis in America.

He also planned to end the slaughter by suicide — a wish that was granted when he was shot to death by police officers he brandished his firearm.

Sturgeon’s manifesto is now reportedly in the hands of the Louisville Police Department.

The department would not confirm or deny any details of the alleged missive.

The mass shooter legally purchased his AR-15 assault rifle from a local gun dealership just six days before the rampage.

That gun is now slated to be auctioned off thanks to state law allowing guns seized by the police to go to auction, including those used in violent crimes.

Sturgeon’s family has also spoken about his “mental health challenges,” though did not specify what illnesses he was battling.

Specialists are testing the killer’s brain for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), or brain deterioration caused by repeated head trauma after it was revealed he suffered numerous sports-related concussions.

A neighbor of Sturgeon’s told The Post that the manifesto was found by Sturgeon’s roommate Dallas Whelan — the same friend who left a voicemail from the killer saying he felt “suicidal” and planned to “kill everyone at the bank.”

A still from surveillance video released by Louisville Police shows Connor Sturgeon in the vestibule of Old National Bank .
Connor Sturgeon reportedly left behind a manifesto outlining his goals for the mass shooting.
LMPD

“He seemed like he was tripping, like he couldn’t believe any of this,” Michael McCoy, 45, said of Whelan reporting the missive to the cops.

“He said something about my neighbor and a manifesto. They called and reported it to the cops.”

“I was over here up on the porch sweeping and there were detectives and him talking, and something about a manifesto and something about a letter he left … He specifically said a manifesto.”

A motive for the mass shooting has not yet been revealed, but Sturgeon had been told he was going to be fired from the bank shortly before the massacre.

Killed in the rampage were Tommy Elliott, 63, a senior vice president; Jim Tutt, 64, a market executive; Joshua Barrick, 40, another senior vice president; Juliana Farmer, 45, a commercial loan specialist; and Deana Eckert, 57, an executive administrative officer.

Rookie police officer Nickolas Wilt, 26, was listed in critical condition after undergoing surgery for a brain injury.

Fellow cop Cory Galloway was grazed in the shoulder in the fatal shootout.

April 21

753 BC – URBS CONDITA EST Descended from Aeneas, a hero of Troy, Romulus founds Rome. ROMA SUMMUS AMOR

1509 – Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father King Henry VII.

1789 – John Adams sworn in as 1st U.S. Vice President, 9 days before George Washington, who is still en route to New York City after being received and feted by the Ladies of Trenton.

1792 – Joaquim José da Silva Xavier Tiradentes, leader of the Inconfidência Mineira revolutionary movement for Brazil’s independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.

1836 – In less than 18 minutes of battle, Republic of Texas forces under General Sam Houston defeat Mexican troops under General Antonio López de Santa Anna at San Jacinto.

1898 – During the Spanish–American War,  the U.S. Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports.

1918 – German fighter ace, Manfred, Baron von Richthofen, called the Red Baron, is shot down, and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.

1945 – Soviet forces attack the German High Command headquarters at Zossen, 20 miles south of Berlin.

1946 – The U.S. Weather Bureau publish a paper which states the width of a tornado which struck the city of Timber Lake, South Dakota was 4 miles, making it the widest tornado ever documented in history.

1958 – United Airlines Flight 736, a Douglas DC-7, collides with a U.S. Air Force F-100 Super Saber fighter jet near Arden, Nevada killing all 47 passengers and crew aboard, along with the 2 Air Force pilots

1960 – The new capital of Brazil, Brasília is officially inaugurated.  At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.

1962 – The first World’s Fair in the United States since World War II opens in Seattle, Washington.

1975 – President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

1982 – Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first Major League relief pitcher to record 300 saves.

1985 – Members of the group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord in northern Arkansas, surrender to federal authorities after a 2 day siege of the compound.

2014 – During a budget crisis, the city of Flint, Michigan switches its water source from water supplied by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water to the Flint River. Residents almost immediately being filing complaints about the taste, smell, and appearance of the water.

So, using your magazines is the only thing that really wears them out

BLUF
Conclusions
Common wear and tear from everyday use is more likely to degrade the overall quality of a firearm magazine than the spring failing on its own from being loaded to full capacity and stored for long periods of time.
Since it’s not economical for a shooter to monitor their spring’s quality with force gauges, the only true way of knowing if your magazines are functioning reliably is from actual use during training.
So, unless you’re part of the group of individuals that actually shoots thousands of rounds down range on a weekly basis for training or completion reasons, the whole issue of worrying about the lifespan of your magazine springs is somewhat trivial.

Other, Larger Concerns
If you’re prepping for a SHTF situation, simply load your mags and set them aside. You can now use all the extra spare time figuring out if you want a Menu 18 beef patty or Menu 14 Spicy Penne Pasta MRE!

As for mags, there are many other factors to consider before worrying about magazine spring failure. First, address the overall quality and cleanliness of your firearm, magazine housing, guide rod, buffer tube spring, ammunition choice, the list goes on. Magazine springs are relatively cheap items that can ultimately fail, just like any other man-made item before it. Luckily, they are easy to replace once identified as the cause of a malfunction.

Turns Out, Using Your Mags is Really the Only Thing That Degrades Them

Magazine Spring Stress Tests

A massive gun magazine stress test to determine how long magazine springs will last and if we can determine outside variables that impact their longevity.

We set out to test magazines. How long do they last and what can you do as a shooter to help ensure they’ll function properly for as long as possible? In this project, we’re going to give the quick answers up front and then we’ll dive into some of the details about our testing protocol and what we learned.

Spring Test Summary

For about a year, we loaded, unloaded, and function tested thirteen different magazines.

Magazines Field Tested

  1. Magpul Gen 2 Pmag (30 round)
  2. Magpul Gen 3 Pmag (30 round)
  3. Magpul Gen 3 Pmag (40 round)
  4. Amend2 AR-15 Magazine (30 round)
  5. Lancer AR-15 Magazine (30 round)
  6. USGI AR-15 Magazine (30 round)
  7. Smith & Wesson Shield 9mm Magazine (8 round)
  8. ETS Glock 17 Magazine (17 round)
  9. Glock 17 Factory Magazine (17 round)
  10. Magpul Glock 17 Magazine (17 round)
  11. Glock 17 Factory Magazine (33 round)
  12. USGI 45 ACP 1911 Magazine (7 round)
  13. Wilson Combat 45 ACP 1911 Magazine (8 round)

Continue reading “”

Yes. This is the continuing gambit. That something isn’t ‘covered’ by the 2nd since it’s not an ‘arm’.

Federal judge declares “large capacity” magazines not protected by the Second Amendment

A U.S. District Judge in Washington, D.C. has declined to grant an injunction against the city’s ban on “large capacity” magazines, ruling that while magazines in general are “arms” protected by the Second Amendment, LCMs fall outside of the scope of the amendment because they’re a “poor fit” for self-defense purposes.

The challenge to the District’s magazine ban, known as Hanson v. D.C., involves four legal gun owners from D.C. who all say that they would possess and carry “large capacity” magazines in their firearms if they weren’t banned by law. The District’s prohibition comes complete with a potential three-year prison sentence, though it’s unclear how often that sentence is handed down in practice, especially with D.C. prosecutors routinely deciding to decline charges in many illegal gun possession cases.

Even though the D.C. Attorney General’s office is taking a mostly hands-off approach to illegal gun (and magazine) possession, the ban remains on the books and was defended in court by D.C. officials, who maintain that magazines aren’t “arms” at all, but accessories that aren’t protected by the Second Amendment. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, an Obama appointee, rejected that argument in his opinion, but agreed with the District on its fallback argument that LCM’s are most suitable for military purposes and are not used in self-defense because “because incidents where a civilian actually expends more than ten bullets in self-defense are “vanishingly rare.” From the opinion (citations omitted):

Heller specifically contemplated that “weapons that are most useful in military service” fall outside of Second Amendment protection.

Plaintiffs counter that “the Supreme Court’s precedents do not withhold protection from arms merely because they are useful in militia service.” Pls.’ Reply at 15. That may be true, but it is beside the point. Heller established that weapons that are “most useful in military service” are excluded from Second Amendment protection. “Most” is a superlative. A weapon may have some useful purposes in both civilian and military contexts, but if it is most useful in military service, it is not protected by the Second Amendment.

I’ve gotta say, that’s giving a lot of weight to Scalia’s phrase about “weapons that are most useful in military service”, especially since Contreras contradicted himself by pointing to the benefits of LCM’s for civilian law enforcement.

Continue reading “”

So Called ‘Assault Weapons’ ~ When Words Are Used Instead of Guns To Disarm Us

Let’s start off at the very beginning, following the “Yellow Brick Road,” with a few definitions and essential information for those new gun owners, non-gun owners, and anti-gun critters. Please note I’m sorry if I insult those already in the know!
Definition of the word ASSAULT

assault – verb: a violent physical or verbal attack.

Definition of the word WEAPON

weapon – noun: something (such as a club, knife, gun, etc.) used to injure, defeat, or destroy someone or something.

Definition of a RIFLE

rifle – noun: a shoulder fired firearm with a rifled bore (spiral grooves in the bore).

Definition of a PISTOL

pistol – noun: a specifically handheld firearm whose chamber is integral with the barrel.

Definition of a SEMIAUTOMATIC FIREARM

semiautomatic firearm – noun: a firearm able to fire repeatedly through an automatic reloading process but requiring the trigger to be pulled for each successive shot (a semiautomatic rifle or pistol).

Definition of a MACHINE GUN

machine gun – noun: a firearm for sustained rapid fire, or burst,  on a single pull of the trigger. (a.k.a. an automatic weapon).

Definition of the phrase ASSAULT RIFLE

assault rifle – noun: any of various intermediate-range, magazine-fed military rifles that can be set for automatic or semiautomatic fire (a.k.a. Select Fire).

So where does the infamous Assault Weapon fit into the linguistic picture? It doesn’t! It’s essentially MADE UP! Here’s a brief history:

Continue reading “”

Gun violence emergencies prompt concerns of government overreach

(The Center Square) – Across the country, there is a push to declare gun violence as a “public health crisis” and impose a “state of emergency” in response to shootings.

Proponents of the Second Amendment are concerned the emergency declarations lay the groundwork for expanded government powers, as witnessed during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

U.S. Congressmen Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., raised those fears in a recent House Judiciary Committee meeting.

“And our fellow Americans know the impact of folks up here in Washington declaring everything and anything a public health emergency,” Gaetz said during the meeting. “It means you’re more likely to be locked in your homes, deprived of your freedoms, less healthy, less safe, less secure and less able to live a truly American life.

“So know this: when the left talks about this as a public health emergency, get ready to see those enhanced authorities abused by the ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives],” Gaetz said.

In the same hearing, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-MO, called for gun violence to be recognized as a public health emergency.

“In St. Louis and nationwide, gun violence is a public health emergency and common sense regulations are a necessity,” Bush said during the hearing.

Cities across the U.S. such as Flint, Michigan, Portland, Oregon, and Blakely, Georgia, have declared gun violence emergencies.

In New York, the cities of Rochester and Albany all declared a gun violence state of emergency. The state of New York declared a gun violence state of emergency in 2021.

Rochester has been under a current gun violence state of emergency since November 2021. That declaration allows the police department to shut down any commercial business that has had a shooting and is determined to be a nuisance after a review process.

The city of Rochester’s press release stated: “The Proclamation gives the Mayor broad powers to protect life and property and to bring the emergency under control.”

The state of New York gun violence emergency order gives the governor the power to “temporarily suspend or modify any statute, local law, ordinance, order, rule or regulation, or parts thereof, during a State disaster emergency if compliance with such would prevent, hinder, or delay action necessary to cope with the disaster emergency.”

The Delaware state legislature passed a resolution in March declaring gun violence a public health crisis.

And what if President Joe Biden declared a national emergency over gun violence? The White House didn’t respond to an email asking if Biden had considered such an option.

When a president declares a national emergency, there are at least 135 statutory powers that could be made available, according to the Brennan Center.

“Debate over the Second Amendment is clouded with propaganda terms intended to diminish the right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms,” said Stephen Halbrook, an expert on the Second Amendment and a senior fellow with the Independent Institute.
“Instead of criminals committing acts of violence with guns, the term ‘gun violence’ implies that the guns commit the violence.
Calling criminality with guns a ‘public health crisis’ obscures that crime is volitional and may be repressed only by taking criminals off the streets. Guns create no national ‘state of emergency,’ and recidivist violators create a state of emergency against every victim they attack.”

Sorry folks. Ich Bin was worn out from running Pops around yesterday on several appointments. I literally crashed out for the whole day.

We now resume our regular programming

April 20

1775 – Following the battles at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts militias block land access to Boston, limiting British resupply and reinforcements to only come from the sea.

1789 – George Washington arrives at Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, while en route to Manhattan for his inauguration.

1836 – Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.

1861 – Colonel Robert E. Lee, commander of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment,  resigns his commission in the United States Army to avoid, as he saw it, the dishonor of disobeying official orders to engage his troops against Virginia.

1898 – President McKinley signs a joint resolution to Congress for a declaration of war against Spain.

1914 – 19 men, women, and children participating in a strike are killed in the Ludlow Massacre during the Colorado Coalfield War.

1945 – On his 56th birthday, Adolf Hitler makes his last trip to the surface from the Führerbunker  in Berlin, to award Iron Crosses to soldiers of the Hitler Youth.

1961 – The invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba by U.S. backed Cuban exiles fails.

1972 – The lunar module Orion, of Apollo 16, commanded by John Young and copiloted by Charles Duke, lands on the moon in the Descartes Highlands.

1998 – Air France Flight 422, a Boeing 727, crashes after taking off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board.

1999 – Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shoot and kill 13 people and wound 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.

2007 – William Phillips barricades himself in NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, shooting and killing a hostage before committing suicide.

2008 – Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.

2010 – The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that would last six months.

2021 – Derek Chauvin is found guilty of all charges in the murder of George Floyd by the Fourth Judicial District Court of Minnesota.

Nebraska Legislature Passes Permitless Gun-Carry

The Cornhusker State is now one signature away from becoming the 27th to adopt permitless gun carry.

The Nebraska legislature voted 33-14 to pass Legislative Bill 77 on final reading Wednesday morning. The bill would allow adults aged 21 and over who would otherwise be eligible for a concealed carry permit to carry a firearm in public without obtaining one. The bill now goes to Governor Jim Pillen’s (R.) desk, where he is expected to sign it into law.

“I am proud to support LB 77 and Nebraskans’ constitutional rights,” Pillen said shortly after the bill’s passage. “Thank you to the Nebraska Legislature for sending this bill to my desk.”

Once signed, the bill will add another feather in the cap of gun-rights advocates who have successfully pushed the policy in states across the country over the last two decades. The bill will make Nebraska the second state to adopt permitless carry this year, following Florida’s adoption earlier this month, and the 26th state to enact the policy in the last 20 years. Vermont has had the policy since its founding.

The bill’s passage led to a familiar call and response among activists on either side of the issue.

Gun-rights advocates immediately celebrated.

“With Gov. Pillen’s signature, Nebraska becomes the 27th state in America that protects the right of Americans to carry a firearm outside of their home without first asking the government for additional permission and paying additional fees,” Travis Couture-Lovelady, the Nebraska state director for the NRA, said in a press release. “Nebraska is the latest state to recognize law-abiding citizens are not the problem — criminals are.”

While gun-control advocates denounced the bill as an affront to public safety.

“Nebraska lawmakers have chosen to put politics over protecting our families,” Jen Hodge, a member of the Nebraska chapter of Moms Demand Action, said. “Over the past few weeks, tens of thousands of young people across the country, and here in Nebraska, walked out of school to demand action on gun safety by their representatives, but instead, Nebraska lawmakers are actively stripping away safety measures.”

But the bill also represents a significant victory for state Senator Tom Brewer (R.), the bill’s prime sponsor, who has tried for years to get permitless carry across the finish line in Nebraska. His 2022 permitless carry bill narrowly failed in the state’s unicameral legislature after falling just two votes short of overcoming a Democratic filibuster. However, state Republicans made gains in the chamber last November and now have a filibuster-proof majority. That cleared the way for Wednesday’s successful final vote.

“A person in Nebraska should not have to pay money to the government in order to exercise a constitutional right,” Brewer said.

While the bill would do away with permitting requirements for gun carry, it would not alter who is eligible to carry or obtain a firearm. Those, such as convicted felons, who can’t legally purchase or possess a firearm under state and federal law would not be allowed to carry under the permitless law. It also would not change where people are allowed to carry.

In addition to doing away with permitting requirements for gun carry, the bill would strengthen Nebraska’s preemption statute by removing the authority of local governments to enact gun regulations that are stricter than state law. That measure was aimed at the city of Omaha, which previously required residents to register any handguns they owned unless they possessed a valid concealed handgun permit.

If signed, the bill will take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session.

ICYMI CDC Study Findings Show Americans with Guns Very Effective at Stopping Crime

Washington, DC – Remember that time a report from 2013 commissioned by President Barack Obama, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that the use of firearms for self-defense was and is a significant crime deterrent?

The report, titled “Priorities For Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence,” * notes that most firearm incidents do not result in a fatality and that violent crimes, including homicides, have declined in the past five years. It also highlights that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year.

The 2013 report expressed uncertainty about gun control measures, stating that there is no evidence that passage of right-to-carry laws decrease or increase violent crimes and that proposed “gun turn-in programs are ineffective.” Instead, the CDC report proposes gun safety technologies such as “external locking devices and biometric systems” to reduce firearm-related deaths.

Commenting at the time, John Frazer, from the National Rifle Association, had this to say;

“I thought it was very telling that this report focused so heavily on . . . futuristic technology that’s not been brought to the market in any kind of reliable form that consumers have any interest in,” said John Frazer, director of research and information at the National Rifle Association (NRA).”

“These “smart gun” technologies are “designed to prevent misuse, to prevent either accidents or crimes committed with stolen guns,” Frazer noted. “Obviously it wouldn’t have any effect on crimes committed with a gun purchased by the criminal. It obviously wouldn’t have any effect on suicides by people who bought the guns themselves.” However, “it could have a huge burden on self-defense rights of law-abiding people if they’re forced to use an unproven technology.”

The CDC’s findings that guns are an effective and often used crime deterrent and that most firearm incidents are not fatal could affect the future of gun violence research.

However, there has been criticism of the study from some quarters, with concerns expressed that the research may be used to promote gun control.

“The anti-gun researchers out there who want to study and promote gun control are perfectly free to get funded to do that by [New York] Mayor Bloomberg or by any number of other organizations or foundations,” said Frazer. “It depends on who’s doing the research. I would be very concerned that a lot of the follow-up research that might come from this agenda would be more of what we’ve seen from the anti-gun public health establishment in the past.”

The report establishes guidelines meant only for future “taxpayer-funded research,” Frazer said. At the time, the Annie E. Casey Foundation issued a statement reaffirming its support for the study, which “is in keeping with our work to collaborate with public agencies, nonprofit organizations, policymakers, and community leaders to make a positive impact on the lives of kids, families, and communities.” Other supporters of the CDC study include The California Endowment, The Joyce Foundation, on whose Board of Directors Obama served for eight years prior to his Senate run, and Kaiser Permanente, which contributed over half a million dollars to his presidential campaigns.

The report highlights that the majority of firearm deaths are from suicide, not homicide.

African American males are most affected by firearm-related violence, with “32 per 100,000” deaths. Risk factors and predictors of violence include income inequality, “diminished economic opportunities . . . high levels of family disruption” and “low levels of community participation.”

This review of the CDC study underscores the importance of firearms for self-defense and as a crime deterrent. It recommends gun safety technologies as a means of reducing firearm-related deaths, rather than gun control measures. Despite the findings in his report, we can most certainly count on the biased MSM to only promote gun control as a solution to the out-of-control crime in 2023.

*Source “Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence”

Missouri: House Passes Public Transit Self-Defense & Church Carry Bill

Last night, the House voted 102-45 to pass House Bill 282, to ensure law-abiding citizens may carry firearms for self-defense on public transit, with an amendment by Representative Ben Baker, to allow places of worship to make their own security decisions. It now goes to the Senate for further consideration. Please contact your state senator and ask them to SUPPORT HB 282.

House Bill 282 repeals arbitrary “gun-free zones” that do nothing to hinder criminals, while leaving law-abiding citizens defenseless. It removes the prohibition on law-abiding citizens carrying firearms for self-defense on public transit property and in vehicles. This ensures that citizens with varying commutes throughout their day, and of various economic means, are able to exercise their Second Amendment rights and defend themselves.

The bill also repeals the prohibition in state law against carrying firearms for self-defense in places of worship. This empowers private property owners to make such decisions regarding security on their own, rather than the government mandating a one-size-fits-all solution.

Illinois assault weapons ban still in effect after appeals court denies injunction

A federal appeals court Tuesday ruled to keep an Illinois state-wide “assault weapons” ban in effect, denying a request from a business owner who claims the ban is unconstitutional.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to uphold a lower ruling by U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall, who found the ban to be “constitutionally sound,” despite the request for an injunction, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Robert Bevis, a firearms store owner in Naperville, is appealing the gun ban signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Jan. 10. He contends it fails to meet a legal standard on what guns can and cannot be banned previously set by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bevis requested the appeals court to block the ban for himself and other business owners affected by the law so that they can resume the sale of the impacted firearms.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation banning the sale of guns classified as assault weapons, rifle magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds and pistol magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds in the state on Jan. 10, 2023.

The legislation was introduced in January, six months after a shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade left seven victims dead and wound more than 48 others injured.

The ban includes penalties for anyone who “Carries or possesses… Manufactures, sells, delivers, imports, or purchases any assault weapon or .50 caliber rifle.” Anyone who legally possessed such a weapon was required to register it with state police.

It also includes penalties for anyone who “sells, manufactures, delivers, imports, possesses, or purchases any assault weapon attachment or .50 caliber cartridge.” It also bans any kit or tools used to increase the rate of fire of a semiautomatic firearm.

The legislation also capped the purchase of certain magazines for several weapons.

Gov. Pritzker, a billionaire Democrat, signed the controversial bill shortly after.

The attorneys who are representing Bevis, who owns and operates Law Weapons & Supply in Naperville, Illinois, argue their client has suffered because of the ban and that he may have to close his business.

In the lower court ruling, Judge Kendall ruled that “because assault weapons are particularly dangerous weapons … their regulation accords with history and tradition,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Bevis’s lawyers dispute this interpretation and instead argue earlier Supreme Court rulings clarify weapons must be found to be “dangerous and unusual” to be banned, per the report.

Because certain rifles are “commonly possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes,” they do meet the legal definition of “not unusual,” and thus cannot be banned, they argued, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Several legal challenges remain underway against the state’s ban.

‘Our Schools Will No Longer Be Soft Targets’: Tiny Rural Ohio Town Lets Staff Arm Themselves

An Ohio school district centered in a tiny town of 560 people has responded to recent school shootings by permitting its teachers to be armed.

River Valley Local School District in Caledonia, which has roughly 2,000 students from around the area, citing a law signed by Governor Mike DeWine in June 2022, said it will allow staff members in its high school, middle school, Heritage, and Liberty elementary schools to arm themselves.

“Our schools will no longer be soft targets and unprotected,” Superintendent Adam Wickham told The Marion Star. “Most active-shooter events occur in areas of ‘gun-free zones’ or with minimal safety measures in place. We want to ensure our schools will not be soft targets.”

“As a rural community, response times can often be minutes away in the event of an active shooter,” he continued. “The use of armed staff in our buildings can potentially save lives by providing a more immediate response to the threat. Recent school shootings such as in Nashville, Uvalde (Texas), and Parkland (Florida) clearly show that the quicker the response time, the more likely you are to potentially save lives.”

Wickham noted that the River Valley Local Schools policy has more stringent training than state requirements.

The bill DeWine signed, House Bill 99, states that it “allows the previous practice of permitting school boards to choose to arm specific staff members and mandates reasonable training requirements for those individuals.”

“Some have expressed questions about the training and selection process,” Wickham acknowledged. “The vast majority of parents have expressed appreciation for the proactive approach in protecting their children. That is really a main reason for adopting the use of armed staff. While we understand not everyone will support this program, every safety measure we take at River Valley, including the use of armed staff, is put in place to try and ensure our staff and students can go home safely to their families and loved ones, each and every day.”

“The River Valley Board had previously approved the use of armed staff for the 2020-21 school year,” Wickham said. “At that time the use of armed staff for the 2020-21 school year was confidential as protected by Ohio law, as part of the district’s safety plan. School districts had to suspend the use of armed staff with the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling in the summer of 2021. Once HB 99 was passed, training details were released by the state in December of 2022, I recommended to the board resuming this program and the board approved the use of armed staff at the Jan. 12, 2023, meeting.”

Today Should Be a National Holiday: An Annual Tradition.

If there were any justice today would be a national holiday at least as big as Independence Day.  I’m not kidding.

Back in the 1770’s an unrest that had started more than a century before–with Colonial reaction to the English Civil War, the Catholic reign of James II, and the Glorious Revolution that followed–was growing in the American colonies, at least those along the Atlantic Seaboard from New Hampshire down through Georgia.  Protests over taxes imposed without the taxed having any voice in the matter, complaints about a distant monarch and legislative body making rules and laws over people to whom they are not beholden.

There had been clashes which fed that unrest, including the famous “Boston Massacre” where British troops fired into a rioting mob resulting in several deaths.  Think of it as the Kent State of the 18th century.

In an effort to quell the unrest, or at least have it be less of a threat to British officials, General Thomas Gage, Military governor of Massachusetts, under orders to take decisive action against the colonists, decided to confiscate firearms and ammunition from certain groups in the colony.  His forces marched on the night of April 18, 1775.

The colonists, forewarned of the action (the Longfellow poem, which children learn in school–or they did when I was in school “Listen my children and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere”–is historically inaccurate, but it sure is stirring, isn’t it?), first met the British troops at Lexington Massachusetts where John Parker, in command of the local Colonial Militia said, according to the recollection of one of the participants,
“Stand your ground.  Don’t fire unless fired upon.  But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”

Whether Parker actually said those words, the first shot was fired.  No one knew who fired it, whether British or Colonial.  In the ensuing, brief battle the British regulars put the Colonial militia to flight.

The British then turned toward Concord.

A small unit of militia, hearing reports of firing at Lexington marched out but on spotting a British unit of about 700 while themselves only numbering about 250 they returned to Concord.  The Colonial militia departed the town across the North Bridge to a hill about a mile north of town where additional militia reinforcements continued to gather.

The British reached the town and began searching for the weapons they came to confiscate.  They found several cannon, too large to be moved quickly, and disabled them.  Other weapons and supplies had been either removed or hidden.

On seeing the smoke of the burning carriages from the cannon, the Militia began to move.  It is not my purpose here to go into detailed description of their movements but in the end the British regulars found themselves both outnumbered and outmaneuvered.  They fled, a rout that surprised the Colonial Militia as much as the British regulars.  Again, I simplify but in the end they marched back to Boston continuing to suffer casualties from what amounted to 18th century sniper fire from the surrounding brush.  The frustration of the British soldiers led them to atrocities, killing everyone they found in buildings whether they were involved in the fighting or not.

Eventually the British forces fought their way back to Boston where they were besieged by Militia forces numbering over 1500 men.

And the Revolutionary War had begun.

And so, on this day in 1775, the nascent United States took the course that would lead eventually to Independence.

And that’s why April 19 deserves to be a National Holiday on a par at least with Independence Day.  The latter was recognition of what became fact on the former.

April 19

1529 – Accepted by many as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, a group of rulers and independent cities protests the reinstatement of the Edict of Worms after the Second Diet of Speyer bans Lutheranism.

1775 – At Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts militia confront British troops marching to confiscate arms and military supplies.

1782 – John Adams secures Dutch recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house which he had purchased in The Hague becomes the first American embassy.

1818 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel signs his preliminary “Note on the Theory of Diffraction” . The document ends with a set of mathematical equations now called the Fresnel Integrals which leads to the development of the Fresnel lens, a flat, thin, compact, more powerful and less expensive refractive lens.

1861 –In Baltimore, Maryland, a group of pro-Secession protesters attacks U.S. Army troops marching through the city.

1943 – In Warsaw, Poland, the Ghetto Uprising begins, after German troops enter the Warsaw Ghetto to round up the remaining Jews and holding off the Nazi force for nearly a month using only a handful of weapons.

1956 – Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco.

1971 – Charles Manson is sentenced to death, which is later commuted to life imprisonment, for conspiracy in the Tate–LaBianca murders.

1985 – 200 ATF and FBI agents lay siege to the compound of the survivalist group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord near Three Brothers, Arkansas

1989 – Aboard the USS Iowa, an explosion of the center 16 inch gun in Gun Turret 2, kills all 47 sailors in the turret.

1993 – The 51 day siege by the FBI of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, ends when a fire breaks out. 76 Davidians, including 18 children under the age of 10, die in the fire.

1995 –  In retaliation for the siege of the Branch Davidian compound, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, is bombed, killing 168 people, including 19 children under the age of 6.

2013 – In the city suburb of Watertown, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev is killed in a shootout with police. His brother Dzhokhar is later captured hiding in a boat inside a backyard.

2021 – The Ingenuity helicopter flies off NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover becomes the first aircraft to achieve powered independent flight on another planet.

Observation O’ The Day
Neighbors say this really is a quiet neighborhood…they say crime is practically unheard of, and they are stunned there was a deadly shooting.

Smyrna homeowner shoots and kills man breaking into his home

SMYRNA, Ga. – Smyrna police say a homeowner shot and killed a man who was breaking into his house Sunday evening.

First responders raced to the home near the corner of Lochlomand Lane and Highland Drive. Detectives immediately went to work. Police tape was visible along a dirt path which leads to the backyard of the house.

Police have not released the name of the homeowner or the man who was shot and killed.

Neighbors are stunned.

“That’s very terrifying to hear in this type of neighborhood,” said Paige Nowacki, who lives nearby.

Neighbors say this really is a quiet neighborhood. Just a couple of miles from Truist Park, they say this is the kind of place where everybody waves to each other. They say crime is practically unheard of, and they are stunned there was a deadly shooting.

“People protecting their houses. It happens more times than not. I’m glad the homeowners are okay and protected themselves. Still, it’s terrifying,” said Nowacki.

“There’s going to be a million arguments on why it’s a good or bad thing or surprising or not,” said another neighbor, Dakota Jarrad.

Jarrad moved into the neighborhood last year. He says he works with firearms and is trained to know how to use them to protect himself.

“You get it for a sense of protection, but you don’t want to use it,” said Jarrad.

Police say the investigation is still underway. At this time, no charges have been filed against the homeowner.