5 questions about New York’s new social media requirements for gun applicants

New gun laws in New York for those seeking a concealed carry license, including a review of social media accounts by law enforcement, was cleared to go into effect by a federal judge last week, but questions about how the state will enforce it and future legal challenges remain.

The new rules, part of the state’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act, followed a Supreme Court ruling in June that prohibits states from requiring residents seeking a gun license to prove a special need to carry a handgun outside the home.

The case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, challenged a provision of New York’s 109-year-old concealed carry law that required applicants to have “proper cause” for the permit — a special need for self-defense. Five other states had similar laws.

New York responded with a number of changes, including requiring concealed carry applicants to share “a list of former and current social media accounts” from the past three years to assess the applicant’s “character and conduct.” The rule comes in the aftermath of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, where the gunmen reportedly posted warnings about their violence online.

The new state laws, which also require more classroom and in-person training for concealed carry licenses and the creation of “sensitive places” where guns are not permitted, have already been met with lawsuits. Judge Glenn Suddaby declined to put the law on hold a day before it took effect, saying the New York resident and three gun rights organizations who filed lawsuits didn’t have standing to bring the legal action. But he indicated he believed some parts of the laws were unconstitutional, and legal experts expect other challenges in the future.

While written testimonies are common for gun permits across the country, requiring social media records is an added layer that has not been implemented in other places for the purposes of gun permitting.

“I refuse to surrender my right as Governor to protect New Yorkers from gun violence or any other form of harm. In New York State, we will continue leading the way forward and implementing common sense gun safety legislation,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said of the conceal carry changes in a statement last week.

The social media requirement has raised questions about privacy and what states can request in the permitting process.

Max Markham, vice president of policy and community engagement at the Center for Policing Equity, said he believes the laws as a whole are a “strong legislative package” when it comes to curbing gun violence. But he said the social media requirement is unclear in its scope and implementation, and will need to be better defined in the near future. He added that he expects conservative groups, in particular, will fight the law on constitutional grounds.

Markham said the law includes a process to appeal if a person’s application for a concealed carry permit is rejected, which he believes can help increase accountability and provide space “for individuals who may feel like they’ve been judged incorrectly.”

“I think seeing how it is enforced and ensuring that there is some degree of equity will be really key,” he said.

What is the scope of the law?

The wording of the requirement suggests applicants only need to share their public content with officials, and that the purpose of the search is to corroborate written testimony from character witnesses, according to David Greene, civil liberties director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Greene believes the social media rules are intended to look for stated intent to commit crimes with a gun. But Greene said there’s a host of information unrelated to a search for criminality that can be gleaned from accessing someone’s social media history.

“[It] can say a lot about someone’s political affiliations, about the community organizations they belong to, about religious groups they’re active in … and their familial relationships,” he said.

Greene said that context – which is hard to gather from a quick social media scan – is relevant to what people share on the platforms, and it can be difficult to get that from a profile alone .

While New York’s new gun law includes welcome changes, such as requiring more firearm training, the social media requirements are a “poor” part and have “serious” privacy concerns, said Adam Scott Wandt, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“I question whether or not that part of the law will subject the state to lawsuits that will eventually find the law unconstitutional. And I also have serious privacy concerns with the state requiring somebody to submit social media accounts for review based upon unclear criteria as to what constitutes ‘good character’ and moral and what doesn’t. It’s messy,” Wandt said.

The New York City Bar Association Committee on Technology, Privacy and Cyber, which Wandt co-chairs, did not have time to offer input or feedback on the laws, either, he said..

Hochul’s office did not answer a question from the PBS NewsHour about outside expert review on the new set of laws.

Is social media monitoring for licenses used elsewhere in government?

Social media monitoring to get an official government license is a rare official policy but at least one other agency has adopted the practice.

Greene said visa applicants have been required to share their social media accounts since 2019. The requirements, originally created under the Trump administration, have been continued by Joe Biden. Users are required to provide social media accounts used in the last five years from a list of 20 platforms. Applicants do have the option to select “none” if they have not used any of the social media sites.

According to the State Department, the collection and review of social media information is intended to “enhance the screening and vetting of applications for visas and other immigraiton benefits, so as to increase the safety and security of the American people.”

Wandt said that he is also concerned about social media reporting requirements being expanded to other professional licensing administered by the government, potentially forcing some people seeking these licenses to sacrifice privacy for their work, he said.

Wandt said there were also questions about how he social media information gleaned from firearm applications will be used or stored by law enforcement.

“Do these things go into a database when the NYPD pulls me over? Is there a database now that they’ll be able to look at and see my social media because I applied for a handgun? I think there are more questions than answers at this point,” he said.

Hochul’s office did not respond to a question from the NewsHour about what happens to the records of an applicant’s social media account after a permit is processed.

Which law enforcement agencies will conduct these searches?

Who will grant gun licenses in New York under the new law is dependent on the jurisdiction. In New York City, the NY Police Department issues gun licenses and will check social media accounts. Across the state, there may be some sheriff’s departments who conduct the checks, but in many cases, a county authority, such as a judge, issues the license. However, in those cases, responsibility for ensuring requirements for a gun license are met will still fall to the sheriffs.

“Troopers remain committed to this mission, and we are dedicated to stopping the criminals who traffic illegal guns and endanger our communities,” State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen said in a statement.

NY Sheriff’s Association Executive Director Peter Kehoe said there is worry by sheriffs that the task of searching through social media accounts would be too difficult. He said there is a risk that law enforcement will miss something in the social media account of someone issued with a gun license who then goes on to commit a crime, putting that responsibility and accountability on the sheriffs.

READ MORE: Gun applicants in NY will have to hand over social media accounts

“It falls on the sheriff because he missed something when he was given an impossible task,” he said.

Kehoe adds that the definition of “character and conduct” under the new statute is too vague.

“The statute says that they have to give us social media accounts and we have to use those to determine whether or not the individual has the right temperament and judgment to be entrusted with a weapon,” Kehoe said.

“What we think shows good judgment might not be the next guy’s estimate of good judgment and it’s all gonna be based on the eyes and ears of the person who’s reviewing it,” Kehoe said.

However, Kehoe denied that political biases would play a role in vetting.

“They’re going to be looking at these accounts. And if they see something concerning, they’re gonna put that in their background report to the judge then it’s gonna be up to the judge to decide, I guess, whether or not that particular concern is disqualifying for the person to have a license.”

In a statement to the NewsHour, Hochul’s office said the law doesn’t change the nature of licensing, it simply adds a new requirement for applicants.

“Local law enforcement and licensing officials have always been responsible for evaluating information provided by prospective applicants to determine whether a permit should be issued. The law doesn’t change that,” the statement said.

“It simply requires them to consider social media activity and other new information as part of their review process for concealed carry applications.”

Is there any training being provided for those doing this vetting?

The section of the law that requires applicants to disclose their social media accounts does not detail what training is required for those doing the vetting. Kehoe said law enforcement has not been given additional funding to do training for law enforcement, or to conduct checks of social media accounts. Kehoe expects “millions” of applicants under New York’s new gun licensing rules, many of whom will have more than one social media account.

“Just on a very practical level, we don’t think we can do this.”

Applicants will only be required to provide social media accounts used in the past three years, however, Kehoe said law enforcement may be required to look farther back into those accounts.

“The statute didn’t provide any resources for us to do this and it’s just not going to be possible to get it done without additional manpower,” Kehoe said.

Markham hopes the state will provide bias training for officials combing through social media, reflecting a wider push for law enforcement agencies to minimize possible unequal treatment of minority communities.

Hochul’s office did not respond to a question about whether additional training or resources would be provided to law enforcement in support of the new requirements.

Can monitoring social media work?

The social media search may catch some people who shouldn’t have access to firearms but many more, including those who might be most dangerous and inhabit the darkest parts of the internet, will slip through the cracks, Wandt said.

“Putting all the constitutional and moral issues aside, I stand by my experience and research that shows me that the truly dangerous, disturbed people have multiple social media accounts, usually not under their real name, and I highly doubt that they will be reported on a application for a carry permit,” Wandt said.

Greene said asking whether it will work is the wrong question, since he believes such policies can be inherently harmful, especially if other government institutions, such as general law enforcement, adopt similar policies.

“I do think there’s something dangerous about institutionalizing and normalizing having people provide their social media accounts to the government,” he said.

Is Fascism Left- or Right-Wing?

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Is fascism a left or right-wing ideology?

“We know the name of the philosopher of capitalism: Adam Smith. We know the name of the philosopher of Marxism: Karl Marx. But who’s the philosopher of fascism?

“Yes—exactly. You don’t know.

“Don’t feel bad. Almost no one knows. This is not because he doesn’t exist, but because historians, most of whom are on the political left, had to erase him from history in order to avoid confronting fascism’s actual beliefs. So, let me introduce him to you. His name is Giovanni Gentile.

“Born in 1875, he was one of the world’s most influential philosophers in the first half of the twentieth century. Gentile believed that there were two “diametrically opposed” types of democracy. One is liberal democracy, such as that of the United States, which Gentile dismisses as individualistic—too centered on liberty and personal rights—and therefore selfish. The other, the one Gentile recommends, is “true democracy,” in which individuals willingly subordinate themselves to the state.

“Like his philosophical mentor, Karl Marx, Gentile wanted to create a community that resembles the family, a community where we are “all in this together.” It’s easy to see the attraction of this idea. Indeed, it remains a common rhetorical theme of the left.

“For example, at the 1984 convention of the Democratic Party, the governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, likened America to an extended family where, through the government, people all take care of each other.

“Nothing’s changed. Thirty years later, a slogan of the 2012 Democratic Party convention was, “The government is the only thing we all belong to.” They might as well have been quoting Gentile.

“Now, remember, Gentile was a man of the left. He was a committed socialist. For Gentile, fascism is a form of socialism—indeed, its most workable form. While the socialism of Marx mobilizes people on the basis of class, fascism mobilizes people by appealing to their national identity as well as their class. Fascists are socialists with a national identity. German Fascists in the 1930s were called Nazis—basically a contraction of the term “national socialist.”

“For Gentile, all private action should be oriented to serve society; there is no distinction between the private interest and the public interest. Correctly understood, the two are identical. And who is the administrative arm of the society? It’s none other than the state.

“Consequently, to submit to society is to submit to the state—not just in economic matters, but in all matters. Since everything is political, the state gets to tell everyone how to think and what to do.

“It was another Italian, Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943, who turned Gentile’s words into action. In his Dottrina del Fascismo, one of the doctrinal statements of early fascism, Mussolini wrote, “All is in the state and nothing human exists or has value outside the state.” He was merely paraphrasing Gentile.

“The Italian philosopher is now lost in obscurity, but his philosophy could not be more relevant because it closely parallels that of the modern left. Gentile’s work speaks directly to progressives who champion the centralized state.

“Here in America, the left has vastly expanded state control over the private sector, from healthcare to banking; from education to energy. This state-directed capitalism is precisely what German and Italian fascists implemented in the 1930s.

Leftists can’t acknowledge their man, Gentile, because that would undermine their attempt to bind conservatism to fascism.

“Conservatism wants small government so that individual liberty can flourish. The left, like Gentile, wants the opposite: to place the resources of the individual and industry in the service of a centralized state. To acknowledge Gentile is to acknowledge that fascism bears a deep kinship to the ideology of today’s left. So, they will keep Gentile where they’ve got him: dead, buried, and forgotten.

“But we should remember, or the ghost of fascism will continue to haunt us.”

Intruder Shot In Face While Climbing Through Woman’s SE OKC Bedroom Window

OKLAHOMA CITY – Two scenes, which are four miles apart, are involving two Oklahoma City metro police departments.
Oklahoma City police are investigating after a man was shot in the face Tuesday while climbing into a woman’s bedroom window.

Police said the alleged intruder managed to drive himself to a friend’s home in Del City. The man was taken to a local hospital with a serious gunshot injury to his face.

“It was early this morning when police responded to an apartment complex,” Oklahoma City Police Department Master Sergeant Gary Knight said.

The shots fired call came from the Cherry Hill Apartments near Southeast 44th and Sunnylane Road. A man and woman told officers they were asleep when they heard a noise around 2:55 a.m. coming from their bedroom window.

“They heard the window air conditioning unit being removed,” Knight said. “Looked up and saw a man climbing into the residence.”

Police said the man inside the apartment grabbed a gun and shot the intruder in the chin. The injured suspect ran to a white truck and drove away while the armed man with the shot at the truck three times.

Several minutes later, Del City police were called to a home near Delmar Road and Bryant Avenue.

“A person at that home called police and said, ‘Hey, I just had someone show up at my house, a friend of mine, and he’s been shot in the face,’” Knight said.

Meanwhile, Del City and Oklahoma City police were tying the pieces of the shooting together. The suspect was allegedly breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment where he lived at one time.

The woman’s new boyfriend shot at him, not realizing who he was.

“There have been no arrests at this point,” Knight said.

Oklahoma City police will turn their investigation over to the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors will determine if anyone will be charged.

 

Gun control fans won’t like lessons of New Zealand

When the Christchurch massacre took place, New Zealand acted. They responded to what happened the same way American anti-gunners would have us react. They banned AR-15s and went on a rampage of stomping on the gun rights of folks there.

Of course, New Zealand doesn’t have a Second Amendment. There’s no protection of gun rights. In fact, gun rights aren’t even acknowledged as rights there, which is a bit of an issue as well.

However, right now, the biggest issue is how the country tripped over itself passing gun control, yet absolutely none of it worked.

Gun control laws disarm victims, not criminals. That’s common sense to everyone but the politicians who promise peace, rainbows and dancing unicorns if only you’ll give up your firearms.

New Zealand’s gun control advocates — including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern– remain slow on the uptake of that fundamental principle of life. In multiple gun confiscation drives, the Kiwi government grabbed most of the good guys’ guns. And now, a year after the final confiscation push, gun-related violence has reached new, record levels.

Try to suppress your shock and surprise.

Is it really that bad? Are the good folks over at The Truth About Guns spinning things a bit to make a point?

Actually, no, they’re not.

Rates of injury and death caused by firearms are tracking higher than ever before.

Data released by police under the Official Information Act shows 10 murder or manslaughter deaths in 2022, up until 31 July. There were 11 in total in 2021.

Injuries are also running at a record rate, on track to exceed 300 firearm-related injuries for the first time. In 2021, there were 298 gun-related injuries recorded by police, the highest ever.

Now, the numbers aren’t overly impressive, but we have to remember that New Zealand has a total population of just over 5 million people. If you put all of them together in one city, it would only be the second-largest city in the US by population.

Yet those 5 million are spread out over 103,000 square miles, which is enough to drive down the violent crime rates all by itself.

That said, comparing their numbers to ours is silly. Other countries aren’t the United States and vice versa. When looking at the impact of gun control, one thing you have to look at are the trends from before and after its passage.

Prior to Christchurch, New Zealand’s homicide rate was pretty low. In fact, the 49 people killed in that massacre were enough to produce a nearly 254 percent increase in the homicide rate that year, which is kind of telling all on its own.

Yet since then, we’re clearly seeing homicides increase as well as violent crime as a whole. That’s likely because criminals no longer have much reason to fear ordinary citizens. They can kill as they want with impunity because no one is there to stop them.

Oh, sure, the police may come looking for them, but few criminals believe they’ll be caught. They tend to think that if no one is there to prevent a crime, no one will know who did it. That’s not quite true, as we know, but that’s how they tend to think.

New Zealand gave those criminals a gift.

What’s more, American gun grabbers want to give our own criminals the same gift. However, the carnage here would be orders of magnitude worse by virtue of this country simply being more violent. Take away good guys’ guns and watch how the bodies pile up.

If it’s happening in New Zealand, there’s not a shred of doubt that it would happen here.

And this is what gun control got them.

Even if you dismiss gun control as causing this issue, you cannot ignore that it did nothing to prevent it, which is par for the course and why it’s so infuriating that people still push it.

Your installment of Hypocrisy O’ The Day

Jennifer Lawrence Pushes Gun Control After Making Tens of Millions from Films with On-Screen Firearms

Actress Jennifer Lawrence, who has used guns ranging from pump shotguns to .45 caliber pistols on-screen in four different films, is pushing gun control for the American people in a new interview with Vogue.

In the Vogue interview, which is set to hit newsstands on September 12, 2022, Lawrence complained that “people are still voting for politicians who receive money from the NRA.”

She added, “It blows my mind. I mean if Sandy Hook didn’t change anything? We as a nation just went, Okay! We are allowing our children to lay down their lives for our right to a second amendment that was written over 200 years ago.”

The Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDB) notes that Lawrence has used five different firearms in the course of four films:

  • She used a 12-gauge, double-barrel shotgun in Winter’s Bone (2010)
  • She also used a Remington 541 bolt-action rifle in Winter’s Bone
  • She used a Glock 17 9mm in House at the End of the Street (2012)
  • She used an M1911A .45 ACP in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
  • She used a Remington 870 Shotgun in Joy (2015)

The actress earned $6 million for the X-Men sequel and $15 million for her starring role in Joy.

Vogue noted that Lawrence made clear her belief that the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 23, 2022, ruling, striking New York’s proper cause requirement for concealed carry, was actually a means of “expanding gun rights.”

Breitbart News reported that Associate Justice Clarence Thomas pointed summarized the gist of the ruling by noting the Second Amendment protects an “individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”

Vogue described Lawrence as “incensed” by the ruling.

THE COLUMN: From Hell’s Heart

After Joe Biden’s disgraceful speech last week —the worst and most deliberately provocative bully pulpit address in American history—many people have finally woken up to the very real threat threat of Leftist fascism (historically, there is no other kind) and its burning desire for civil war, and have begun asking themselves: what if this idiot is serious?

That Biden is, in fact, an idiot, is beyond dispute. For more than half a century this thoroughly nasty piece of work has been bullying, blustering, bragging, plagiarizing, insulting, sliming, and attacking his political enemies—which now apparently include anyone who opposes him and his criminal Anti-American Party—without any fear of reprisals whatsoever. Since he spent most of that time in Congress, profiting handsomely at the public teat, attacking Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, he was immune from consequences thanks to the Speech and Debate clause in the Constitution: the same Constitution he now openly despises and seeks to supplant.

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

Bidding fair to claim the title of Second-Worst Irish-American politician in American History, and closing fast on the current titleholder, Ted Kennedy [the noxious “Robert Bork’s America” speech begin at 25:38 and is well worth a watch], Biden vilified his predecessor, his supporters, and by extension every American who voted for the Republican candidate during the contentious and hotly contested 2020 election. You can see the hatred and the anger on his face as he “calls for unity”:

The fact is, Biden is Fredo Corleone without the wit, charm, or brains: “I can handle things. I’m smart. It’s not like everybody says, I’m dumb. I’m smart and I want respect.” He is Ubu Rex without the self-restraint, a Roman emperor who judging from the two Marines outrageously stationed behind him actually trusts his Praetorian Guard. Like another National Socialist who instantly comes to mind, he’s forever mad at the world for not recognizing his talent and his genius and will show us who’s boss or die trying.

Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic. Now, I want to be very clear — (applause) — very clear up front: Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans.  Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans.

But there is no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country. These are hard things. But I’m an American President — not the President of red America or blue America, but of all America. And I believe it is my duty — my duty to level with you, to tell the truth no matter how difficult, no matter how painful. And here, in my view, is what is true:

MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution.  They do not believe in the rule of law.  They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election.  And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself. MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards — backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.

Caligula and the Praetorians in 41 AD: oops.

All of these “rights,” of course, are not rights but policy prescriptions of the Left. There is no enumerated, nor implied, “right” in the Constitution to “choose” to murder your unborn children, to contraception, to “marry who[m] you love.” “Privacy,” unenumerated, is something we would all like to have, but given the initial privacy violation of the 16th amendment, which has made the lives and ledgers of every citizen open to the inquiries of the state, and to which the presumption of innocence does not apply, it’s a little late for a “progressive” Democrat to be bitching about loss of privacy. More of what in decent Irish neighborhoods used to be called fighting words:

They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.

They look at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6th — brutally attacking law enforcement — not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger to the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as patriots.

And they see their MAGA failure to stop a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election as preparation for the 2022 and 2024 elections. They tried everything last time to nullify the votes of 81 million people.  This time, they’re determined to succeed in thwarting the will of the people.

Make no mistake: despite Biden’s walk-back the next day—for members of Congress, words have no lasting meaning— this was an evil speech and tantamount to a declaration of war on both conservatives and a Republican Party that, however poorly, represents them. It should have been immediately been greeted with articles of impeachment by the hapless, cowardly, and contemptible GOP, but of course it wasn’t. Biden and Left have backed the Chicken Party into a corner, from which they cannot fight back without giving MSM credence to the charges he just laid against them. Grandpa Joe (more like your Wicked Uncle Ernie from Tommy), a veteran of nearly haft a century of “reaching across the aisle” in order to pick the country’s pockets, may be dumb but he’s not stupid. He knows his enemies and their foolish desire to be loved by the press, and knows that they won’t dare stop him as he fiddles about.

Despite his manifest unworthiness for the highest office in the land, Joe Biden is in a way the perfect president for our times. Since Reagan, and with the partial exception of Donald Trump, we have had a parade of base, weak, conniving, corrupt, and otherwise unsuitable presidents, so why should he be any different? In latter-day America, only scions and plutocrats need apply: starting with the CIA’s very own commander-in-chief, George H.W. Bush, we’ve had William Jefferson Blythe Clinton III, George W. Bush (aka Junior), Barack Hussein Obama II, Donald J. Trump, and now Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. And if the president’s staff of Drs. Feelgood can keep him ambulatory and relatively sentient and publicly continent until January 2025, there’s a very good chance he’ll be POTUS again, especially if he runs against his fellow obsessive geriatric, Trump.

Die, MAGA, die!

Like Captain Ahab in Melville’s masterpiece, Moby-Dick, JB, Jr., has finally harpooned his nemesis, the American government, determined at last to make the magnificent monster pay for laughing at him all these years.

 

 

But the Whale is bigger than Biden, and swims in a school far beyond his understanding or ken. On Thursday night, Robinette’s concluding words were:

And I have no doubt — none –– that this is who we will be and that we’ll come together as a nation.  That we’ll secure our democracy.  That for the next 200 years, we’ll have what we had the past 200 years: the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. We just need to remember who we are.  We are the United States of America.  The United States of America.  (Applause.) And may God protect our nation.  And may God protect all those who stand watch over our democracy.  God bless you all.  (Applause.)  Democracy.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

What they should have been were: “From Hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.” Ahab’s last words, just before the White Whale drags him down to Davy Jones’ Locker. Talk about a call for unity: the (applause) on both sides of the aisle, from both satanic Left and patriotic Right, would have been thunderous.

The Army’s Personnel Crisis.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve attempted to identify the multiple sources of the Army’s personnel crisis, dive into the anticipated impacts of what will happen if nothing changes, and understand the short and long-term effects on the organization. This will be the last column, for now, on the Army’s personnel crisis, and it will focus on some ways to change narratives, structures, incentives/rewards, and develop new ways to appeal to the youth of America so they look at service in the Army as a good option for their future.

One aspect that always gets overlooked is most people who join the Army only stay for their initial enlistment. Because of this fact, there has to be an acceptance from the start that there are very few people who look at service within the Army as a career, rather, it’s an opportunity for personal betterment. Many people join the Army because it’s a way out of their hometown, it allows them to travel, or there is a wanderlust/adventure itch that needs to be scratched. So when it comes to narratives, and the marketing that supports those narratives, there has been a grandiose failure of imagination over the last 20 years from the Army and the advertising/marketing companies who have been awarded immense sums of money to attract people to the Army. The citizenry of the nation has had to suffer from such duds as “The Army of One” marketing campaign, with its narrative of individuality within a team focus. This was attacked immediately and pulled off the shelves after a short period of time. Recently, there have been a series of ads that try and appeal to the youth via their upbringing and non-traditional childhoods. It’s novel, it’s even daring, but it’s a flop. I’m not going to link to those videos, they are easily found on YouTube. The last video I saw, just a few weeks ago, may have been the worst. It showed a bunch of soldiers, junior enlisted personnel, standing around a pool table, talking a very lame version of smack between one another. The message seemed to be, “The Army is just like home when you are with your friends shooting the breeze and hanging out, just don’t look too closely at our uniforms.” And that’s a real problem because making the Army seem more like home is exactly what the Army does not need now, or at any time.

The dislocation a soldier feels when they go through Basic Training is deliberate and purposeful. Trying to craft a narrative that being a soldier is just like being a civilian is not helpful to the individual or the service. There are lots of reasons why Basic Training is designed to transform a civilian into a soldier, and yet the latest ad campaign is completely contradictory to that end.

When it comes to crafting appealing narratives about the nature of Army service and life in late 2022, there needs to be some really innovative and novel thought put into the cauldron. In an early column, I highlighted the fact that the GEN Z/Millennial generational cohorts are not motivated by money, can get college benefits elsewhere for less personal dislocation and discomfort, and want to stay close to family and friends. That’s a good starting point to start looking at changing the entire recruiting enterprise.

Continue reading “”

Remember, Biden’s own press secretary says that if you disagree with the majority, you’re an extremist!

A new survey by Trafalgar Group of 1,084 voters finds 62.4 % of Independents and 56.8 % overall view the Biden Philadelphia speech as
“a dangerous escalation of rhetoric that is designed to incite conflict among Americans.”

Incremental?

How Should The National Firearms Act Be Reformed?

United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- How Second Amendment supporters address the potential threat posed by the National Firearms Act to our Second Amendment rights is something that has to be planned starting today, BEFORE the attacks in the wake of a successful court ruling come. Failing to plan is planning to fail, and failure should not be an option.

The first thing to understand is that outright repeal of the National Firearms Act is not happening any time soon. What can be done is to reform the process by which firearms (and certain accessories) covered under this act are transferred, as part of an incremental approach to securing our rights. Yes, this is the “incrementalism” approach – one that has been highly successful over the last three decades on concealed carry.

The fact of the matter is that when we are taking on highly onerous legislation, taking it all out in one fell swoop only happens with a massive stroke of luck, or it provokes a massive backlash. Trusting luck is foolish enough – provoking a massive backlash is stupid, given the nature of our enemies. But as the recent signing of constitutional carry in Texas shows, incrementalism works.

So, what incremental steps can be taken when it comes to the National Firearms Act?

Much will depend on just what the legislative and political landscape will look like. As a given, the current anti-Second Amendment extremist regimes in the House, Senate, and White House be defeated at the ballot box before any reform can be taken. But once we have a pro-Second Amendment Congress and White House, what do we pursue?

First, Second Amendment supporters can modernize the NFA process. This is one example where the “lemon” of the National Instant Background Check System (NICS) can be turned into lemonade. Changing the process from one that depends on local law enforcement certification to an FBI background check would probably go over well with the American people. The tax stamps could then be paid as a surcharge to NICS. Such a bill would not create a perfect situation by any means, but it would represent a good “first step.”

If the situation permits, then Second Amendment supporters might be able to push for repeal of both the 1986 Hughes Amendment and the 1968 restrictions on imports. At the same time, nothing would prevent adding the Hearing Protection Act and the Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act to the NFA reform measure. But the important point is to defang the NFA as a potential tool for harassing and obstructing efforts to exercise Second Amendment rights.

To do that, Second Amendment supporters need to work to oust the current anti-Second Amendment regimes in the House, Senate, and White House, and they need to support NRA-ILA and NRA-PVF.

Homeowner shoots, kills ‘home invader’ early Sunday morning,

KEIZER, Ore. — A homeowner in Keizer, Oregon shot and killed someone after waking up early Sunday morning to find a “home invader” in his residence, police said.

Keizer Police officers responded at about 2:20 a.m. to reports of someone with a gunshot wound at a home on Mayfield Place North.

The homeowner told police he woke to someone inside his house. He then fired a shot at the person, who was pronounced dead.

Police said they are continuing the investigation, and that the Marion County District Attorney’s Office is also handling the case.