Michigan man who shot shovel-wielding man acted in self-defense, police say

A 60-year-old Michigan man who shot another man who attacked him with a shovel acted in self-defense, authorities said.

The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the 1200 block of Douglas Avenue in Kalamazoo.

Police say a 60-year-old man returned a ladder to a home in the 1100 block of Douglas when he was approached by a 49-year-old man holding a snow shovel and told to leave the area. The 49-year-old then shoved the 60-year-old and hit him with the shovel, causing a minor injury, police said.

During the alleged assault, the 60-year-old fired two rounds, hitting the 49-year-old twice, before calling police and waiting for officers to arrive.

The man who was shot was taken to an area hospital, where he is in stable condition, police said.

Police recovered the shovel used in the assault, two 9mm shell casings and a handgun.

The man who fired the shots is cooperating with police and used a handgun that is legally owned and registered. Investigators say video obtained by detectives supports the man’s account of the incident.

An investigation is ongoing and will be sent to the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office for review.

Mossberg Gets $11.5M+ Contract for Additional 590A1 Shotguns

O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc. has announced that it has been awarded a contract for approximately $11.6 million dollars to supply the U.S. Army with additional Mossberg® 590A1™ pump-action shotguns.

First adopted by multiple branches of the U.S. Military in 1987, the Mossberg 590® proved its reliability and durability by successfully completing the rigorous MIL-SPEC 3443E testing protocol, then company said in a press release. The Mossberg 590A1 also features a heavy-walled 18.5-inch barrel; metal trigger guard; metal safety selector switch; and parkerized finish. It is chambered for 3-inch magnums.

The 590A1 has an OAL of 39.5 inches, has a 13.87-inch length of pull, ghost ring sights and a 6+1 capacity.

Following its adoption, the U.S. Military requested a purpose-built variant capable of withstanding sustained, high-volume use in the most demanding environments. That requirement led directly to the development of the Mossberg 590A1 — a strengthened, mission-ready evolution of the original 590 platform.

“Mossberg is honored to receive an additional contract from the U.S. Department of Defense for the battle-proven 590A1 shotgun,” said John MacLellan, Mossberg’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “This award reflects our long commitment to supplying rugged, mission-capable firearms built to exacting standards — and reinforces our pledge to provide timely solutions that support the safety and effectiveness of U.S. service members.”

Mossberg 590A1 shotguns are based upon the time-tested Mossberg 500 pump-action platform, with non-binding twin action bars; positive steel-to-steel lock-up; and an anti-jam elevator for smooth, reliable operation; dual extractors; anodized aluminum receiver for added durability, and universally-recognized, ambidextrous top-tang mounted safety.

Gun Sales Background Checks Top 1.4 Million in November 2025

Looking at national background check data for November, Americans picked up well over a million firearms last month, yet again. While million-plus sales numbers have become the new normal in recent years, November’s figures reflect a nearly 7-percent decrease compared to the same time in 2024.

It’s worth keeping in mind that last November was part of a volatile election cycle with gun rights on the ballot. No doubt that drove many sales. For 2025, the NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System figure comes to a total of 1,408,230.

That’s a drop from November 2024, which saw NSSF-adjusted numbers set at 1,514,773 checks. The unadjusted numbers show an even stronger drop. Total unadjusted FBI NICS figures for November 2025 came to 2,005,667. You can compare that to the unadjusted FBI numbers for November 2024, which came to 2,509,368.

Overall, unadjusted checks reflect a 20.1-percent decrease year over year.

Still, November’s adjusted figures topped October’s numbers of 1,299,312, thanks in part to surging background checks during Black Friday week. That peak sales week saw some 530,156 checks for firearm sales, with Black Friday itself showing 165,183 checks.

Total gun sales were almost certainly higher than the NICS-marked background checks would suggest. Currently, 28 states have at least one pre-qualified permit that can serve as an alternative to background checks. Additionally, total NICS numbers cannot reflect all peer-to-peer sales, which do not require a background check in some states.

Regardless, if we hop into our time machine, it seems even this 2025 decline is still within the new normal of increased interest in gun ownership nationwide. Pre-COVID figures for November 2019, which were considered a big boom back then, came to just 1,105,335 checks.

That makes this November’s “slump” a whopping 27.4-percent increase over the old 2019 “boom.”

Federal judges crave the spotlight: In case after case, judges ruled to stymie the executive branch for one main reason.

In the great injunction sweepstakes that have followed Donald Trump’s second administration like a shadow, we have seen district court judges with a hankering for executive power attempt to play president in more than a hundred cases from immigration and tariffs to funding various executive branch agencies, so-called trans-rights, DEI and climate change.

Some of these injunctions and temporary restraining orders are still pending. Many, perhaps most, have been resolved by the Supreme Court in ways that favor the Trump administration, not always categorically but usually by affirming the broad scope of executive power envisioned by Article II of the Constitution. “The executive Power,” quoth that magisterial document, “shall be vested in a president of the United States of America.” “A president,” mind you, a single one. Not a president and hundreds of district court judges.

The rousing start to Article II of the Constitution is neatly put, isn’t it? But those judges took it as a challenge. Trump is an affront to what every right-thinking, i.e., left-leaning, person believes. He wants to make America more prosperous, freer and more secure than it has become in the hands of Democrats and other disciples of hegemonic bureaucracy.

He moved quickly to secure the border.  Can you believe it? He is deporting scads of people who are here illegally. Outrageous. He outlawed the racist practice of DEI throughout the federal government and made federal funds contingent upon ending the scam. Horrible. He thinks that the military should be an institution specializing in fighting wars, not promoting “social justice.” Clearly he must be stopped.

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The essence of constitutionalism in a democracy is not merely to shape and condition the nature of majorities, but also to stipulate that certain things are impermissible, no matter how large and fervent a majority might want them.
— George Will

2 men killed after shooter claims he acted in self-defense while being followed, HCSO says

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Two men were shot and killed after another man said they followed him to a neighborhood in the Spring area, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said the shooter told them he acted in self-defense in the shooting Friday night in the 22100 block of Greengate Drive.

First responders said they found two men with gunshot wounds, one of whom died at the scene, and the other was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said the shooter reported that the men had followed his car for a while and tried to block him when he reached the neighborhood.

Deputies reported that everyone got out of their vehicles, and the shooter said the men started kicking him and his car.

According to HCSO, the shooter stayed at the scene and is cooperating with investigators.

HCSO identified the men who died as 57-year-old Timothy Underwood and 59-year-old Keith McDonald.

HCSO said no charges have been filed, and the shooter is not in custody. The case is still under investigation and will be reviewed by the District Attorney’s office.

Just my opinion but this was intentional for more than one reason.
1 Political power through election fraud.
2 Graft via kickbacks from purposefully incompetent oversight of funding.

The Somali Fraud Story Busts Liberal Myths
Mass immigration, antiracism, and the welfare state lead inexorably to fraud.

There is a moment when every news story either achieves lift-off or tumbles back to the earth. Having covered a few that drove national headlines, I’ve discovered there is no universal formula for which ones hit the stratosphere, and which do not.

Our recent story detailing Minnesota’s Somali fraud rings has been one of the lucky ones, achieving liftoff in record time. City Journal reporter Ryan Thorpe and I summarized a decade of Somali fraud schemes that stole billions of taxpayer dollars, some of which ended up with Al-Shabaab terrorists back in Somalia. These were sophisticated criminal enterprises that exploited Minnesota’s generous welfare state, deployed accusations of racism to deter scrutiny, and looted the public treasury until local prosecutors did the hard work to bring them down.

The meta-story—how a news item weaves its way through public discourse—is also worth considering. When we published the story, it quickly dominated the conversation on conservative social media. It filtered upward to primetime Fox News, where, on Laura Ingraham’s program, I summarized the piece and called on President Trump to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for all Somalis in Minnesota.

Within hours, the president, who had been following the story, announced that he would revoke TPS for all Somali recipients. Then, over the Thanksgiving holiday, Trump raised the stakes with a blistering social media tirade that ripped into Somali fraudsters, accused Minnesota governor Tim Walz of mental deficiencies, and promised to stop all asylum cases and immigration from the Third World. This sequence of events turned the Minnesota fraud into the debate of the moment.

The next step in the process is for the liberal media to respond. Right on cue, CBS News published a story misrepresenting our report and “debunking” that misrepresentation—a claim that it eventually retracted under pressure. The New York Times did somewhat better, publishing a long feature on the Somali fraud, confirming key details, and opening the floodgates for discourse on the center-left. The spotlight thus turned to Governor Walz, who was at the helm when Somali thieves robbed Minnesota of billions.

On the surface, the Times story was an acknowledgment that this was a real scandal that the liberal press had missed. But the paper did not address the underlying narrative about why the fraud happened. Yes, the story is about a criminal enterprise, but it runs deeper than that. The story has touched a nerve because it busts liberal myths about immigration, anti-racism, and the welfare state.

Minnesota has long prided itself on its generous welfare programs and reputation for good governance. But after the mass arrival of the new Somali population—many of whom brought with them different attitudes toward government and civil society—these programs became a weak point. George Floyd’s 2020 death in Minneapolis demonstrated that scrutiny could be deflected by making baseless accusations of “racism” against anyone who raised questions about the missing funds.

The uncomfortable truth for Times readers is that all cultures are not equal. Therefore, not all cultures are compatible with all political systems. In this case, the Somali criminal enterprise is incompatible with a generous welfare state, particularly in the context of a racial politics that intimidates whistleblowers and other honest brokers.

Though this story was particular to Minnesota, disruptive mass immigration is a national phenomenon. During the four years of the Biden administration, America imported millions of foreigners, many illegally. Some of these have brought, or are trying to bring, negative aspects of their home culture to the United States.

Indeed, cultural incompatibility was a campaign theme during the 2024 election.  Venezuelan gangs took over apartment buildings in Colorado. Haitian migrants overwhelmed deindustrialized towns in the Rust Belt. The Somali fraud story is another point in this plotline.

The Trump administration claims to be on pace to “shatter” records of forced deportations and so-called self-deportations, but more must be done. The administration should put financial restrictions on illegal immigrants, like requiring proof of legal status for maintaining a bank account; and implement massive remittance taxes to reduce the profitability of illegal immigration and fraud. And it must line up the manpower to turbocharge the prosecution of immigrant fraud, in Minnesota and elsewhere.

The New York Times won’t spell it out in block print, but even devoted liberals are starting to ask questions about the welfare state’s combability with mass migration. The shocking scope and scale of the Somali fraud in Minnesota made this a story that could no longer be ignored.

Black Friday 2025: Over 165,000 Background Checks for Gun Sales

More than 165,000 National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background checks were conducted on Black Friday 2025.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) reported there were precisely 165,183 NICS checks conducted on Black Friday 2025 and a total of 530,156 conducted during the “the week leading up to, and including” Black Friday.

NICS checks are those conducted at retail for the sale of a firearm. The checks began in 1993 and are conducted by the FBI, which uses the information a would-be gun buyer provides on gun transfer Form 4473.

Once a would-be gun buyer passes the NICS check, he is able to buy a firearm.

It is important to remember that more than one gun can be transferred after a successful check is conducted on an individual, as the check is done on the person not the firearm(s). This means 165,183 checks could actually translate into 200,000+ or 300,000+ guns sold, or even more.

Survey Says: Majority Think Government Corrupt, Disagree Who Can Fix It

A new Rasmussen survey released Tuesday reveals that four out of five likely voters believe corruption is a problem in Washington,. D.C. but they disagree on who can fix the problem.

Of the 80 percent who say government is corrupt, 44 percent think it is “very corrupt.”

And Republicans need to be careful, because Rasmussen says 43 percent of survey respondents think Democrats can handle the issues of government better, while 41 percent think the Republicans can do a better job. Sixteen percent aren’t sure one way or the other.

The survey of 1,155 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on Nov. 13 and 16-17 by Rasmussen Reports with a margin of sampling error at +/- 3 percentage points and a 95% level of confidence.

“Not surprisingly,” said Rasmussen, “78 percent of Democrats trust their own party more to handle issues of government corruption and government reform, and 77 percent of Republican voters trust the GOP more. Unaffiliated voters are about evenly divided, with 37 percent trusting Republicans more and 36 percent trusting Democrats more to handle corruption and reform issues, while 27 percent are not sure.”

The survey results probably should not surprise anyone, considering all that has been said about certain members of Congress getting wealthy from insider trading and not being held accountable. On the other hand, some people on Capitol Hill have been criminally prosecuted over the years, with individuals such as New Jersey’s Bob Menendez and New York’s Anthony Weiner going to prison.

According to Rasmussen, “76 percent of voters agree that federal agencies such as the FBI and CIA need major reform, including 45 percent who Strongly Agree. Only 17 percent disagree.”

Breaking things down along party lines, Rasmussen said “Eighty percent (80%) of Republicans at least somewhat agree that federal agencies such as the FBI and CIA need major reform, as do 71% of Democrats and 75% of voters not affiliated with either major party.

“Forty-nine percent (49%) of Democrats, 39% of Republicans and 45% of unaffiliated voters believe the federal government is Very Corrupt,” Rasmussen added.