Ivermectin: The Elephant in the Room

There are a great many unknowns and controversies associated with the COVID pandemic.  Among the most urgent are those associated with appropriate therapeutic and prophylactic interventions.  Some of the most intense disputes involve repurposed therapies — i.e., drugs that have been approved for treatment of some other condition being used as therapy for COVID.  This is the case with the anti-parasitic agent ivermectin.

Much of the controversy regarding ivermectin involves “evidence” that the drug has a benefit in treatment of COVID.  Detractors will often use the hyperbolic claim that there is no evidence that ivermectin is useful in this setting.  The truth is that there is, in fact, some evidence.  Ivermectin has been known since at least 2012 to have antiviral activity.  It has been shown to have at least some antiviral activity against a number of viruses, including HIV-1, Zika, flaviviruses, and dengue.  It is known to have in vitro activity against SARS CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID.  It has been shown to have some efficacy in Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, a disease caused by a coronavirus with similarities to SARS CoV-2.  There are plausible mechanisms proposed for why ivermectin might be useful against viral infections: it inhibits a class of proteins that are necessary for the virus to replicate within human cells.

These observations are evidence.  They are not definitive evidence.  They are probably not sufficient, or even persuasive evidence, but these assessments should not be confused with “no evidence.”

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Impossible!

BLUF:
And again, we were reminded that the bad guys don’t pay attention to signs banning firearms or illegal weapons.  If they were the kind to abide by rules, they wouldn’t be bad guys.

A Pennsylvania mall that bans guns has mass shooting

Although the daily news always provides plenty of examples of people doing genuinely bad things (assault, robbery, rape, murder, etc.), the fact is that most people in America are law-abiding.  And while some will sit passively while a violent rape occurs directly in front of them, many of these good citizens will act when called upon to do so.  Nevertheless, America’s retail stores and entertainment venues insist on disarming the good guys under the delusional belief that it will stop the bad guys.

The latest example of this urge to disarm comes from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where a shooting occurred at the Park City Center shopping mall on Sunday afternoon:

Gunshots rang out at the Park City Center in Lancaster around 2:30 p.m., according to Lancaster Online.

Two people suffered gunshot wounds and two suspects were in custody, according to police and the website, which said the injuries were not life-threatening.

An argument broke out between four people outside an international food store, the owner of the store told the outlet. One man brandished a gun during a scuffle, and it was knocked away by a man who then opened fire, according to the report.

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As the Black Bear is at the top end of the food chain, hunting them can be a ‘reciprocal’ event

Missouri’s first black bear hunting season begins Monday

MISSOURI (KY3) – Four-hundred people will be allowed to participate in Missouri’s first black bear hunting season, which officially begins Monday.

The black bear hunting season runs from Monday, Oct. 18 to Wednesday, Oct. 27, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The approved regulations limit bear hunting to only Missouri residents and restrict it to designated areas of southern Missouri. Conservation agents will limit hunters to one bear, and hunters may not use dogs to assist.

The Missouri Conservation Commission gave final approval of MDC’s season framework, permit and harvest quotas, and other related regulations for hunting black bears in Missouri at its March 26 open meeting.

Officials say the bear population in Missouri has been growing. Conservation agents now estimate there are 600 to 1,000 black bears in the state.

“Being able to add this iconic species to the long list of hunting opportunities for Missourians is a testament to the decades of bear research and management by MDC staff,” said MDC Director Sara Parker Pauley. “A limited annual hunting season will help manage the growing number of black bears in the state.”

“A bear-hunting season in our state will provide opportunities for Missourians to participate in the sustainable harvest of this valuable wildlife species,” said MDC Bear Biologist Laura Conlee. “As our black bear population continues to grow, a highly regulated hunting season will be an essential part of population management into the future. The timing and length of the season, allowed hunting methods, and a limited permit allocation coupled with a limited harvest quota will ensure a sustainable harvest of our growing bear population.”

MDC proposed a limited and highly regulated black-bear hunting season following several years of public comment, including informational open houses in 2019 and a public-input process throughout 2020.

The selected hunters are allowed to participate any time from half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset during the 10-day hunting season.

For more information on the state’s first black bear hunt, CLICK HERE.

Can we now have an honest discussion about Islamist terrorism?

Police think the killing of David Amess may have had an Islamist motivation. We need to talk about this. [ya think?]

Another “Known Wolf”. Almost like it’s not a bug, but a feature.

Sir David Amess: MP murder suspect detained under Terrorism Act.

The man arrested by police following the killing of the MP Sir David Amess has been named as Ali Harbi Ali.

The 25-year-old is being held under the Terrorism Act and officers have until Friday to question him.

The BBC understands Mr Ali was referred to the counter-terrorist Prevent scheme some years ago, but was never a formal subject of interest to MI5.

Whitehall officials told the BBC that the man being held was Ali Harbi Ali, a British man of Somali heritage.

Police said a man, who was held on suspicion of the MP’s murder in Essex on Friday, was now being held at London police station after being rearrested under the Terrorism Act. They are not looking for anyone else.

Early investigations revealed a potential motivation linked to Islamic extremism, police said on Friday.

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Armed 95-year-old foils home invasion in Covington County

COVINGTON COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) – The Covington County Sheriff’s Office is crediting a senior citizen with forcing an alleged burglar into retreat, which ended with his capture.

Sheriff Blake Turman said Timothy Ray Jordan, 40, broke into a home on Fisherman’s Road near the Dozier community Friday evening. The 95-year-old homeowner was reportedly napping in his living room, but the back door’s shattering glass woke him up.

The sheriff said the homeowner armed himself and caught Jordan ransacking the kitchen. He said Jordan also hurled a chair through the dining room window at some point.

According to the sheriff, the armed senior citizen did not run away. Instead, he ordered Jordan to leave. The suspect did, and the homeowner called 911, Turman said.

Turman said deputies saw Jordan behind a home on Hub Road. They pursued the suspect, who ran inside the home. Further investigation revealed that Jordan had also burglarized that Hub Road home, according to the sheriff.

He was taken into custody at the Hub Road residence.

Investigators say Jordan initially started his “burglary spree” at an adjacent home’s gazebo before going to the Fisherman’s Road address.

Jordan was charged with second-degree and third-degree burglary, as well as second-degree and third-degree criminal mischief.

He is currently being held in the Covington County jail without bond for probation violation. The investigation is still ongoing.

“The victim protected himself and his property from a career criminal. The victim was at a disadvantage physically, but his weapon enabled him to protect himself. The investigation revealed that Jordan fled the residence because the homeowner had armed himself. Thank God this had a good ending, and the victim should be commended on his courage and quick thinking,” Turman said.

We need common-sense control — of criminals
The laws are there to protect us, but laws don’t stop criminals.

Last weekend’s shooting in St. Paul was a terrible tragedy, predicted by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher as he patrolled the area the night before. The knee-jerk reaction of Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Democrats in the Legislature could also have been predicted: Calls for universal background checks and red flags laws.

These reactions ignore the reality of the situation: Criminals don’t follow laws.

Democrats largely overlooked the death of another woman, in Minneapolis last week, who was hit by one of two cars involved in a rolling gun battle. Five Minneapolis children have been shot by stray bullets this year alone and they didn’t roll out the news releases.

But this event — a mass shooting — finally warrants comment.

Even more predictable and laughable is blaming Republicans for gun violence because we stand with law-abiding citizens and their right to own a gun for self-defense.

Our Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committeeheld hearings to review the current laws on the booksaddressing gun crimes in 2020. Several citizens wearing  “Moms Demand Action” T-shirts told me after the hearing that they had no idea we already had so many laws to address gun violence.

Those laws weren’t passed on a whim, hoping they would be followed. We didn’t debate the criminal code at length so it can be ignored. We pass laws to support the work of law enforcement across the state and provide justice for victims.

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Update: He deleted the post and is trying to apologize. If you’ll read it you’ll see that while he calls what he wrote ‘rude’, he doesn’t specify what and he also doesn’t repudiate anything.
In other words, he hasn’t changed what he thinks of people.

“cleanse our gene pool”?
I did NAZI that coming.

He left his email. Maybe let him know how we hold him in contempt. I did. I told him that that – right there, if for nothing else – made me hope it blows back on him so bad he goes bankrupt.

This is by the owner of NAA – North American Arms

September 2021 Soapbox – I believe in Vaccinations; So Should You.

Just when you thought the end of this life-threatening COVID pandemic was in sight, it’s become painfully clear that it is not.  In fact, we’re heading in the wrong direction.  What makes this realization even more painful is that, not withstanding our missteps regarding wearing masks, social distancing, economic shutdowns and the like, the end could have been in sight.  If only more of us had embraced the simple protocol of getting vaccinated, we’d be well on our way to leaving this scourge in our wake.  Instead, we’re back, smack in the middle of it and “life as we knew it” is still a distant dream.

I continue to believe in vaccinations.  I believe they are far and away the most effective means of protecting oneself from contracting the COVID virus, AND is the key to eliminating the ongoing threat of the virus – and its increasingly more threatening variants – worldwide.  I also believe that, if a vaccinated person DOES contract the virus, he/she/(they) will suffer far fewer and less severe symptoms that those who are not vaccinated.  Is there any doubt?

Over the past few months, my thoughts about those who don’t believe in the value of vaccinations has transitioned from disinterest to sympathy to incredulity to contempt.  I believe that those who don’t take advantage of the opportunities to become vaccinated are ignorant, misguided &/or selfish, or any combination of the three.  Despite all the unarguable reasons in favor of getting vaccinated, there remains a surprisingly large number of people who stubbornly refuse to do so.  Why?  There seems to be a variety of excuses that are proffered, almost none of which hold any validity.  I offer some of the more popular ones, in no particular order.

“I don’t believe the vaccines are safe”.  How much data, gathered over what period of time, will it take to put this false narrative to bed?

“I don’t believe the vaccines are effective”.  While there have been some, few instances of people contracting COVID after having been vaccinated, the effects they suffer are, almost without exception, an order of magnitude less severe than they would have been otherwise.

“I have already contracted the disease and so I already have some level of immunity and see no benefit from vaccination”.  Right on the first count, wrong on the second; you can be certain that your immunity will only be bolstered with a vaccination.

“I am afraid of suffering side effects from the vaccination”.   While some have reported this to be the case, there are stunningly few and the effects are modest/weak and very short-lived.

“My circumstance puts me at a heightened risk from being vaccinated”.  I don’t know what circumstance that is; it most certainly does not apply to those attempting to become pregnant, for example.

“I have a history of adverse allergic reactions”.  Maybe.  That alone has a taint of legitimacy.

“I claim a religious exemption”.  For the life of me, I can’t understand the basis of such a thing.  What religion would advocate against something that will protect your life and that of others?  Certainly none that I’ve ever heard of.  Go ask the Pope.

“I can’t afford it”.  Bullshit; it’s free.

“I don’t know where to find it”.  Are you living under a rock?

“I’m a freedom-loving American and I simply don’t want to”.  Ahhh, here we go.  This is far and away the most frequent – and lamest – excuse.  Even Donald Trump, the poster-child for the selfish exercise of frequently nonsensical individual freedoms (“I’m not wearing a mask because I don’t want to”.) has been vaccinated and has encouraged other people to do so as well (NB he’s also previously contracted the disease, above).  As a member of a society, you have an obligation not to threaten the health and well-being of others, particularly when doing so comes at no risk or expense to you.

I’ll admit I enjoy no small measure of schadenfreude reading stories of those stubborn people who find themselves stricken and on death’s door, suffering from their earlier foolish decision not to get vaccinated.  I look at it almost as a Darwinian effect, helping cleanse our gene pool.  Excuse my lack of sympathy.  Too bad.  Completely avoidable.  Didn’t have to happen.

I know that this is one of my more controversial and likely to be one of my least popular rants.  I take this personally.  There are individuals in my own family who are the subject of my (heretofore silent) disdain, as well as several other friends, as well as people on my team at NAA, people who I otherwise respect and whose company enjoy.  Not so much so now.

I acknowledge that it’s your decision to make but, I’ll admit, I don’t have much regard for those who lack any sense or moral obligation to the greater community – and to there own friends and loved one whose health and safety they so cavalierly threaten.

Please get vaccinated.  The life you save may well be your own – or mine. Please feel welcome to share your reactions with me at Sandy@NorthAmericanArms.com

Atlanta home invasion suspect shot while attacking disabled resident

ATLANTA – A homeowner turns the tables on man police say broke into his northwest Atlanta house.

Investigators tell FOX 5 just after 11 p.m. Wednesday the suspect busted into the Dahlia Avenue house. After entering through the window, police say the alleged home invader grabbed two kitchen knives. He then allegedly went into another room and tried to stab a resident who uses a wheelchair.

Another resident opened fire on the suspect, shooting him in the stomach and arm. The suspect was found nearby by officers. Paramedics rushed the injured home invasion suspect to Grady Memorial Hospital. He underwent surgery and was in stable condition as of late Thursday morning.

The homeowner told detectives he didn’t know the guy who broke in and has no idea why his house was targeted.

Police block street where home invasion shooting took place
Tyrell Johnson, 36, was later identified as the suspect. He will be charged with burglary and booked into the Fulton County Jail once he is released from the hospital.

Neither the homeowner nor the disabled resident suffered any injuries.

Georgia police say woman who tried to rob 2 men at gunpoint was shot to death by own firearm

Georgia police on Wednesday identified a dead female robbery suspect who allegedly tried to rob two men at gunpoint inside a vehicle but was shot and killed by her own gun during a struggle.

The Warner Robins Police Department said its officers were dispatched at 12:30 a.m. Sunday to the 100 block of Fred Drive and found 21-year-old Kyndal Reynolds with a gunshot wound. Reynolds was transported to Houston Medical Center, where she died.

Tywana Antonette Cody, 42, has been charged with being a party to a crime of aggravated assault, party to a crime of criminal attempt to commit armed robbery and felony murder. She is being held at the Houston County Detention Facility.

Reynolds and another woman, 42-year-old Tywana Antonette Cody, met two men earlier in the night. While all four were together inside a vehicle, Reynolds “attempted to rob the male companions,” police said. Investigators believe one of the men attempted to disarm her, and Reynolds was shot with her own weapon during a struggle.

“All parties stayed on scene and met with investigators,” police said.

Cody has been charged with being a party to a crime of aggravated assault, party to a crime of criminal attempt to commit armed robbery and felony murder. She is being held at the Houston County Detention Facility.

“Investigation reveals Ms. Cody was working in concert with Ms. Reynolds to rob the men,” police said.

Armed man killed during attempted home invasion in Gahanna

GAHANNA, Ohio (WSYX) — A suspected intruder was shot and killed during an attempted home invasion at an apartment complex in Gahanna Sunday night, police said.

Officers responded to the shooting at 876 Falcon Hunter Way at the Residences at Central Park around 8:30 p.m., police said.

A 911 caller stated he had heard a knock on the front door, and he shot an armed man who attempted to push his way into the apartment, police said. The caller also saw a second man running away.

Paramedics transported the injured man to Mount Carmel East Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Investigators were questioning the resident and another occupant.

 

Here’s the part that is seen so often
It’s like it’s not a bug, but a feature.
Kongsberg: Bow and arrow suspect known to Norway police

A man arrested over a deadly bow and arrow attack in Norway had converted to Islam and there were fears he had been radicalised, police say.

The 37-year-old Danish citizen is accused of killing four women and a man on Wednesday night in the southern town of Kongsberg.

Police were in contact with the man last year over their concerns.

The suspect has not been identified, and police are working to establish whether it was a terror attack.

Meanwhile, flags were flown at half-mast on Thursday while flowers and other memorials were placed in Kongsberg’s main square.

The victims were all aged between 50 and 70, regional police chief Ole Bredrup Saeverud told reporters.

Residents have told local media that the close-knit community has been deeply shaken by the violence.

Police confronted the man six minutes after the attack began at 18:12 (16:12 GMT) on Wednesday, but he shot several arrows at the officers and escaped. He was caught at 18:47 – 35 minutes after the attack started.

All five victims are believed to have been killed after the police first encountered the man. Officers fired warning shots before he was eventually arrested.

Man armed with bow and arrow kills five people in Norway attacks

OSLO, Oct 13 (Reuters) – A man armed with a bow and arrow killed five people and wounded two others in a series of attacks in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, local police said.

The suspect was in custody, police added.

“The man used a bow and arrow … for some of the attacks,” police chief Oeyvind Aas told reporters. The police were investigating whether other weapons had also been used, he said.

“The man has been apprehended … from the information we now have, this person carried out these actions alone,” Aas added.

One of the wounded people was an off-duty police officer.

Newspaper VG showed images of an arrow that appeared to be stuck in the wall of a wood-paneled building.

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Joe Rogan Interviews Sanjay Gupta and a Train Wreck Ensues

Joe Rogan has found himself at the center of a debate over the COVID-19 vaccines, despite never presenting himself as anti-vaccine. His great sin was daring to get treated for the virus after contracting it earlier this year. The fact that Rogan’s doctor included ivermectin in the medicinal regime sent heads exploding, as he was accused of taking “horse dewormer” amid other unfair, out-of-context claims.

Today, though, Rogan got a bit of redemption by running circles around CNN’s chief COVID hysteric, Sanjay Gupta. You may recall Gupta as the same guy who touted Chris Cuomo’s COVID X-ray, only to be embarrassing fact-checked by actual radiologists.

During the long-form discussion with Rogan, there were several key moments that showed just how out of his element Gupta was. Here’s one of them.

What Rogan is doing in the above clip is showing the absurdity by which COVID hysterics shift their viewpoints to meet what ultimately boils down to a political narrative. Because he wants to insist the vaccines are highly effective, Gupta presents himself as not worried about a breakthrough infection.

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Uh Oh, They Strapped a Sniper Rifle to a Robot Dog

Ghost Robotics

For years, we’ve been warning that it was only a matter of time — and now, the inevitable has happened.

Somebody strapped an honest-to-god sniper rifle to the back of a quadrupedal robot dog.

An image shared on Twitter by military robot maker Ghost Robotics shows the terrifying contraption in all its dystopian glory.

“Keeping our [special ops] teams armed with the latest lethality innovation,” the caption reads.

 

It’s a nightmare come to life, a death machine designed to kill with precision on the battlefield.

“This is sad,” one Twitter user commented. “In what world is this a good idea? I bet police is salivating at the chance to use these.”

There’s a lot we don’t know about the machine, but according to an Instagram post by Sword International, a gun manufacturer, the machine is called the SPUR or Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle.

“The [SPUR] was specifically designed to offer precision fire from unmanned platforms such as the Ghost Robotics Vision-60 quadruped,” reads Sword’s website. “Due to its highly capable sensors the SPUR can operate in a magnitude of conditions, both day and night.”

We don’t know what level of autonomy the robot has or if it was designed to be fully remotely operated. We also don’t know who the machine was developed for.

The four-legged robot is lugging a sniper capable of shooting 6.5 millimeter Creedmoor cartridges, a rifle ammunition, which was developed with long-range target shooting in mind.

It’s a troubling new development. Any new robot built with the intent to kill should have us worried.

Manhunt ends with homeowner shooting suspect accused of injuring Maricopa County deputy
Clinton Hurley, 30, was shot by someone after attempting to rob a residence in Tonopah, officials said.

TONOPAH, Ariz. — A suspect accused of critically injuring a Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy in Avondale was shot Saturday night.

Officials said that 30-year-old Clinton Hurley was shot by a homeowner around 6:30 p.m. when he attempted to enter a home near Buckeye and Wintersburg roads in Tonopah. He was airlifted to the hospital after the shooting where he is in critical condition.

Hurley and the homeowner had a “history” and gunfire was exchanged, according to Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone.

Hurley was wanted by law enforcement after a sheriff’s office deputy was found unconscious and bleeding allegedly after an altercation with him on Saturday morning.

The deputy has since been put on life support.

In a press conference, Penzone said that Hurley was released from prison in December 2020 after being found guilty of a crime committed on a child. Court records indicate that Hurley served 10 years for attempting to molest a child.

Hurley was being processed on felony warrants when he allegedly attacked the deputy before stealing his vehicle at the sheriff’s office substation near Dysart Road and Van Buren Street, officials said.

Penzone announced a $10,000 reward through Silent Witness for Hurley’s location following the incident.

Why Anyone Would Want to Control You

The need to control others may not make a lot of sense to you. If you’re a live-and-let-live person, you’d never want to control someone else. Even if you’re a perfectionist, you stay on your own case all day, not necessarily someone else’s.

But controllers are out there. They want to micromanage what you say, how you act, even what you think quietly in your own mind. It could be your boss, your spouse, or even your parent. You can’t be yourself around them. They insist on being your top priority and want undue influence over your life. They might push your buttons to get an emotional reaction out of you because they want to exploit it as weakness. They have no respect for you or your boundaries.

There are plenty of theories why someone would want to control you. One is that people who can’t control themselves turn to controlling others. This happens on an emotional level. A person full of insecurities has to exact a positive sense of self from other people because their self esteem is too low to do it for themselves.

Maybe people control because they are afraid of being abandoned. They don’t feel secure in their relationships and are often testing to see if they’re about to be betrayed. The paradox is that their behavior creates exactly what they fear the most.

Perhaps controlling people are narcissists looking to control their environment by any means necessary. This would mean other people are pawns. They’re useful tools in the narcissist’s world to be used as he or she pleases. It’s nothing personal — you’re just a good pawn. The problem with this perspective is that controlling bullies often make us wonder, “Why me?” If it’s really nothing personal, “Why do I feel like a target?”

The simplest reason is that you’re a good, admirable person. There’s nothing wrong with you. You don’t have a target on your back, and you don’t deserve to be disrespected. It may sound like a radical concept, but what the controller wants is what you’ve got:

  • You’re able to feel good about yourself consistently and without constant reminders from the outside world that you’re worthy.
  • You’re secure in your accomplishments, your status, and your overall place in life.
  • Your attention makes other people feel good.
  • You can feel good about other people’s success — you’re not intimidated by others good fortune.

Given all those things, you know you deserve respect, but a controlling person is too intimidated to give it to you. They feel they must cut you down to size. It’s the only way they can tolerate being around you.

While there’s definitely an explanation for why the controller is the way they are, it doesn’t matter. It’s time to reclaim your power and focus on your own needs. This means setting steadfast boundaries and keeping the controller from stepping foot on the other side. Decide what you’re no longer willing to sacrifice. Some examples include:

  • No longer be made to feel like your ideas and contributions don’t matter.
  • Not letting them belittle your accomplishments and talk down to you.
  • Not allowing anyone to push your buttons.
  • Not willing not subjugate your own needs for this person.

The controller has been the beneficiary of your good will for too long. Now it’s time to put that in your own corner. It’s about self-preservation, and you’ll know when you’re doing it right because you won’t feel like a target anymore. In fact, the controller probably won’t have much use for you.

Make it perfectly clear to yourself each day that you’re in the driver’s seat and you’re not looking for anyone else to fill that position.

Six States Boast More than 1 Million Carry Licenses Each

Six Second Amendment friendly states now boast more than one million active concealed carry licenses/permits each, including Florida with more than 2.5 million licenses in circulation, one of several revelations in the updated annual report on Concealed Carry in the United States from the Crime Prevention Research Center.

The other states are Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Texas.

It is the kind of news that sets off alarms in the gun prohibition lobby. Anti-gunners and their allies on Capitol Hill are determined to reduce the number of armed citizens. But the new CPRC report says the exact opposite has happened over the past few years, especially over the last 12 months. Since October 2020, the nation has seen two million additional permits/licenses approved, bringing the number of legally-packing adult Americans to 21.52 million, and that’s not all. Read the report’s abstract here.

Twenty-one states now have so-called “constitutional carry” where no permit is required to carry a firearm. According to the CPRC report, “While permits are soaring in the non-Constitutional Carry states, they fell in the Constitutional Carry ones even though more people are clearly carrying in those states.”

Texas is the newest permitless carry state, yet more than a million Lone Star gun owners still have permits, allowing them to be recognized under reciprocity laws in other states.

In all, the report from CPRC’s founder and President John Lott—the researcher and author—and researcher Rujun Wang lists 15 states in which more than 10 percent of the adult population is licensed to carry. In addition to the states mentioned earlier, the roundup includes are Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

Tennessee, incidentally, is where Smith & Wesson is moving a large part of its current Massachusetts operation, taking hundreds of jobs out of the Bay State and the accompanying revenue to friendlier surroundings.

The 69-page CPRC report offers several other revelations, among them being that “8.3% of American adults have permits. Outside of the restrictive states of California and New York, about 10.0% of adults have a permit.”

The Supreme Court on Nov. 3 will hear oral arguments in a case challenging New York’s “proper cause” requirement to get a carry permit, which officials routinely use to deny permit applications. Only the privileged seem able to show “proper cause” while average citizens cannot. The case is known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

Another CPRC revelation: “In 2021, women made up 28.3% of permit holders in the 14 states that provide data by gender, an increase from the 26.4% last year. Seven states had data from 2012 to 2020/2021, and permit numbers grew 108.7% faster for women than for men.”

Increasing numbers of women are arming up, a pattern that has been building in recent years. With reductions in police manpower as a result of the “defund the police” movement that started in 2020 following the death of George Floyd while being restrained by Minneapolis police.

The CPRC report also notes that in three states where race and gender data is collected, there were “remarkably larger increases in permits for minorities compared to whites.” The report also reveals that four states keeping track of race between 2015-2021, “the number of Asian people with permits increased 93.2% faster than the number of whites with permits. Blacks appear to be the group that has experienced the largest increase in permitted concealed carry, growing 135.7% faster than whites.”

 

Woman fires shots after suspect tries to sexually assault her

A woman in Rock Hill [South Carolina] fired shots at an attacker who tried to sexually assault her Monday night, police said. The attack happened before 10 p.m. in the 600 block of AutoMall Parkway just south of Celanese Road near Interstate 77, said Lt. Michael Chavis of the Rock Hill Police Department.

The victim told officers a man wearing a blue hoodie and skinny jeans grabbed her and tried to pull her pants down, Chavis said. The victim told officers she fought back against the suspect as the suspect attempted to pull the woman into nearby woods, Chavis said.

The victim was armed, Chavis said. The victim was able to pull her gun and fire shots that caused the suspect to flee on foot toward Celanese Road, Chavis said. It is unclear if the suspect was hit in the gunfire, Chavis said.

The victim then called police. Patrol officers, detectives, forensic units, and K-9 teams tried to track the suspect but were unable to find him, Chavis said.

Rock Hill police are investigating if Monday’s attack is related to an incident in the same neighborhood where a woman was assaulted by a suspect who exposed himself before fleeing, Chavis said. In that incident on Sept. 8 a different female victim was walking when a young man approached the woman and asked if she wanted to make $50, according to a statement from the police department. The suspect touched the woman’s buttocks and grabbed her as she walked away, police said.