Highlights of the week.

Finally, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the state’s ban on abortion, which dates to 1864 when it was a territory. Reversing Roe sent abortion back to the states, where it belongs. Kari Lake gasped, spun 180 degrees and called for reinstating abortion.

In doing so, she aborted her campaign. She is one of the many, many Republican hacks who for decades would just string pro-lifers along. Now she finds herself hated by both sides.

I get that losing the Arizona Senate race won’t help Republicans take back the Senate but until such time as Republican senators show they are something better than opportunists who prey on conservative hopes, I really cannot care. I should. I want to. But nyah. They didn’t build the wall. They saddled Trump with deep state backstabbers. They jailed J6 protesters. They are letting a grandmother go to prison for praying in the Capitol.

Lake can go jump in the, well, lake.

Democrat-Run St. Louis Enters ‘Doom Loop.’

“The office district is empty, with boarded up towers, copper thieves, and failing retail,” reports the Wall Street Journal of Democrat-run St. Louis, Missouri. “[E]ven the Panera outlet shut down. The city is desperately trying to reverse the ‘doom loop.’”

Let’s look at the mayoral history of the doom-looping St. Louis, shall we?

Oh, look, there hasn’t been a Republican mayor in St. Louis since — not a typo — 1949. For 75 years, the people of St. Louis have voted for More of the Same, so excuse me if I don’t whip out a violin over all this unavoidable doom looping.

“Cities such as San Francisco and Chicago are trying to save their downtown office districts from spiraling into a doom loop,” writes the Wall Street Journal. “St. Louis is already trapped in one.”

The Journal notes:

As offices sit empty, shops and restaurants close and abandoned buildings become voids that suck the life out of the streets around them. Locals often find boarded-up buildings depressing and empty sidewalks scary. So even fewer people commute downtown.

This self-reinforcing cycle accelerated in recent years as the pandemic emptied offices. St. Louis’s central business district had the steepest drop in foot traffic of 66 major North American cities between the start of the pandemic and last summer, according to the University of Toronto’s School of Cities. Traffic has improved some in the past 12 months, but at a slower rate than many Midwestern cities.

In the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld: Yeah, that’s a shame.

Back in 2006, downtown’s AT&T Tower building sold for $205 million. In 2022, it sold for $4 million.

Crime, naturally, is a problem. The Wall Street Journal describes a barbecue joint’s smoker pierced with a bullet hole, businesses already struggling forced to pay for private security, broken windows, graffiti, otherwise empty roads filled with reckless drivers, buildings destroyed by the homeless and copper thieves…

The city is trying to regroup with $50,000 cash payouts to small businesses that open up downtown. There’s a campaign that’s “adding landscaping, bike lanes, and traffic barriers.”

The idea is “to put more people on the street doing positive things,” Kurt Weigle of Greater St. Louis Inc. told the Wall Street Journal.

Democrats can either do something about reducing crime, taxes, and regulations or not. That’s what it comes down to. Bike lanes in a city where people drive like maniacs make about as much sense as screen doors on submarines.

I lived in a Midwest downtown for a couple of years in the mid-80s. There’s nothing better than a vibrant, safe downtown atmosphere with all the people and plenty to do, including the free amusement of the library, bookstores, and museums. This didn’t have to happen to St. Louis or San Francisco. Over the past century, Americans learned how to govern modern cities and reduce crime. The reversal of those policies was a deliberate decision made by Democrats. The fact that those Democrats remain in office is a deliberate decision made by voters. None of them deserve your sympathy.

Oregon Court of Appeals denies motion on gun control law

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Oregon Court of Appeals on Friday has declined a motion by the state to put a hold on a Harney County judge’s ruling, which found Measure 114, Oregon’s gun control law, unconstitutional.

The measure, which was narrowly passed by voters in 2022, requires people to undergo a background check and gun safety courses for a gun permit and bans magazines carrying over 10 rounds. The law has been unable to go into effect amid various federal and state legal challenges.

Bob Day permanently named Portland police chief by Mayor Wheeler
For one, in November, Harney County Judge Robert Raschio struck down the law after he found the permit-to-purchase scheme under Measure 114 is unconstitutional based on the law’s 30-day-minimum delay to buy a firearm, the measure’s use of language from concealed handgun statutes, and because the Federal Bureau of Investigation refuses to conduct criminal background checks.

The state then appealed the ruling in early February.

In a statement, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said, “Research indicates that mass shootings and gun violence have decreased in other states after adopting permit requirements and magazine restrictions. We are making a very reasonable request: Let Measure 114 take effect now so Oregonians’ lives can be saved—now!”

Lewis & Clark College faces class action lawsuit over 2023 data breach
Plaintiffs in the Harney County suit include Joseph Arnold, Cliff Asmussen, Gun Owners of America, Inc. and the Gun Owners Foundation, who argue the law violates the right to bear arms under the state constitution. They further argued the magazine limit prohibits self-defense.

This current ruling by the appeals court means the measure will not go into effect until the court makes a final decision.

Officials: “No increase in gun violence since ‘constitutional carry’ law

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office and the Spartanburg City Police said they have seen no uptick in gun violence since the controversial bill dubbed “Constitutional Carry” was signed into law on March 7.

The law directs millions of dollars into free gun safety programs, while making it legal for any adult to openly carry a handgun in public without a permit.

It still remains a rule that only an person 21 years of age or older can purchase a handgun.

Before the law was enacted, adults 21 and older were able to both purchase a handgun and carry it in public.

Last month, Spartanburg-based state Sen. Josh Kimbrell (R) said the law would not normalize gun violence.

“If you’re going to pull out a pistol in public and point it at someone because you are pissed off that they took your parking space, we’re not allowing that,” Kimbrell said.

Spartanburg-based gun store T&K Outdoors said they’ve seen an increase in customers.

“Firearms are a dangerous item. They’re not toys. You must be safe with them,” said Danny Ley, a T&K Salesperson.

A manager at the store said they emphasize gun safety and will never allow a customer to leave a store with a gun they purchased until they’ve educated the customer.

“When the customer leaves here they have a better understanding of how guns work [and] how they need to be safe with it,” said Kyle Marlow, a T&K outdoors manager. “And we are an open book, we don’t believe any question is too dumb.”

Citing Constitutional Concerns, Yost Urges DOJ to Scrap ‘Red Flag’ Gun-Confiscation Program

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and 18 other state attorneys general are opposing a new federal program that promotes aggressive enforcement of “red flag” gun-confiscation laws.

Yost and his counterparts argue in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland that the National Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Resource Center, launched in March by the Department of Justice, undermines the Second Amendment and other fundamental rights in a flawed attempt to reduce gun violence.

“The solution to gun violence is not more bureaucracy, and it is certainly not parting otherwise law-abiding men and women from their right to self-defense,” Yost said.

The state attorneys general raise several concerns with the ERPO Resource Center, most notably how the program advocates for laws that allow government officials to “suspend fundamental rights under the Second Amendment with no genuine due process.”

So-called “red flag” laws permit authorities to seek court orders authorizing the confiscation of firearms from people thought to pose a danger. Twenty-one states have enacted such laws; Ohio is not among them.

Another issue is whether the DOJ had authority to create the program in the first place. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, cited by the department as the impetus for the ERPO Resource Center, makes no mention of such a program. In fact, the letter says, that funding from the 2022 federal law was supposed to go to states and local governments.

The attorneys general also question the DOJ’s decision to partner on the project with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. The institution’s track record of advocating for strict gun-control measures raises concerns about its ability to remain objective, making it a poor fit for the program, the letter says.

Yost and his counterparts urge the DOJ to end the program, writing that “states don’t need ‘help’ of this sort from the federal government. We know exactly how to protect our citizens while appropriately respecting Second Amendment rights.”

Joining Yost in sending the letter are the attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

“Condon returned fire, emptied a 9mm pistol into Christine striking her multiple times in her abdomen, leg, arm and chest,” the document states. “Condon then went into the adjoining kitchen where he died from his wounds.”

Lesson here. The guy was shot twice with a .357 and still shot the woman and made it far enough to be in another room before finally dying.
When the times comes, don’t stop, keep shooting until the threat isn’t.

Also, since this happened back in March, the prosecutor is a lazy slug to have taken nearly a month to figure this out.

 

Idaho mom, 85, committed ‘justifiable homicide’ by shooting armed home intruder, prosecutor says

An 85-year-old Idaho mother who shot and killed a home intruder committed a “justifiable homicide” that is “one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have heard of,” Bingham County Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Jolley stated in an incident review.

The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Derek Condon, entered the home Christine Jenneiahn shares with her disabled son around 2 a.m. March 13. Condon was “dressed in a military jacket, black ski mask, and pointing a gun and flashlight” at Jenneiahn, according to the document.

Jolley says Condon placed Jenneiahn in handcuffs and took her into the living room of her home, where he took her at gunpoint and handcuffed her to a wooden chair.

After demanding to know where the valuables were kept in the home, Condon allegedly placed his pistol on the victim’s head when she told him she did not have much. Jenneiahn then told the home intruder about two safes downstairs, and the prosecutor says he left her handcuffed in the living room while he went to rummage through the home.

Idaho Derek Ephriam Condon

A previous mugshot of Derek Ephriam Condon, 39, from the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office. (Bingham County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)

Continue reading “”

Man arrested after being hurt in Georgetown County gunfire exchange

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SC (WMBF) – The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office says an arrest has been made in connection to a Friday gunfight.

Savion Grimmage was arrested after he was treated at a hospital for gunshot wounds.

Grimmage was shot just after 12:30 a.m. on Exodus Drive in the Plantersville community, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators said they found evidence of shots fired into a house and a car, and the homeowner returned fire with a shotgun, hitting Grimmage.

Grimmage was taken to the Georgetown County Detention Center after his arrest.

His charges are pending.

If it hasn’t become clear to you by now; This new ATF/DoJ rule isn’t to ‘tighten background check’ or somehow stop criminals from getting guns. They know those are futile dreams.

Neither the ATF nor the DOJ care one itty bit about getting more people to obtain FFLs. In fact they go out of their way to rescind FFLs for the piddliest of reasons.
This is merely another tactic to give them the power to prosecute whoever they have on their radar for “dealing without a license”.

Dystopian novels weren’t meant to be instruction manuals, but 1984 and Atlas Shrugged sure do seem to be.

Ayn Rand:
There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them.

One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed or enforced nor objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt.

O.J. Simpson Has Died.