Guns: Boiling the frog has begun

By V. Paul Reynolds

Those hunters I know, who supported the Biden Presidency, told me not to worry, that no matter how hard the progressive bloc pushed for anti-gun legislation, it would never happen. Americans, regardless of their political party affiliations, would never stand for gun confiscation, or any significant usurpation of their Second Amendment rights.

Don’t be so sure. Elections, as they say, do have consequences. When it comes to gun rights, the analogy applies: the frog is being slipped ever so slowly but surely into the boiling water. It may never know what is happening until it’s too late.

The anti-gun activists have learned not to launch direct assaults on the Second Amendment. They have been skillful at sugar-coating the language and conducting gauzy flank maneuvers that can be deceptive and misleading to those citizens not paying close attention.

Political pundits agree that Joe Biden, despite his reputation as a moderate, has indicated in his first days in office by his flurry of executive orders that he is being heavily influenced by the radical left wing of his party.

Here are some of the likely components of the Biden Administration’s gun safety platform:

* Repeal legal immunity that prevent gun manufacturer’s from being sued
* Ban of semi-automatic firearms
* National gun registry
* Ban on high-capacity magazines
* Buyback of “assault” guns
* Limit on gun purchases
* $300 Federal tax on each gun purchased

Without question, this represents the most sweeping and potentially unconstitutional anti-gun agenda in American history.

According to John Floyd, a gun writer for the Northwoods Sporting Journal, “The vast majority of his (Biden’s) positions are adopted from radical anti-gun groups such as March for Our Lives, The Giffords Law Center, The Trace and Everytown for Gun Safety – all innocuously named, but all pushing policies in direct contradiction to the rights of United States gun owners.”

The irony, of course, is that this country’s gun ownership per capita is higher than it has ever been, and during the past year, first-gun purchases have gone through the roof.

So, these Second Amendment issues may well be, in the days ahead, the central focus as a deeply divided country struggles for common ground.

BLUF:
It is sad and ironic that in a state known for its huge petroleum and natural gas resources, the lack of reliability of wind power has brought the state to its knees in a time of crisis, not unlike that which California experienced in 2020 during record heat where wind and solar power could not keep up with demand and was near collapse.

The folly of chasing renewable energy as a means of mitigating “climate change” is making itself abundantly clear today in Texas. When will politicians wake up and realize that renewable energy almost always equates to unreliable energy?

Texas frozen wind power – outages ensue, electricity now at unheard of $9000 per megawatt-hour.

There’s a saying in the lone star state “Don’t Mess with Texas” which actually started out as an anti-littering campaign but has become sort of a slogan for the rugged, no-nonsense way of life that people have there. Now with dead wind turbines littering the state, the focus on deploying unreliable renewable energy in the name of “saving the planet” has literally “messed with Texas” in a huge way.

Ice storms knocked out nearly half the wind-power generating capacity of Texas on Sunday as a massive deep freeze across the state locked up wind turbine generators, creating an electricity generation crisis.

Wind generation ranks as the second-largest source of energy in Texas, accounting for 23% of state power supplies last year, behind natural gas, which represented 45%, according to Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) figures.

ERCOT reports today the spot price for electricity in Texas is currently a stunning $9000 per MegaWatt-hour. Even in the high demand summer months, $100 per MW-hr would be high.

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Biden Gun Ban Not The Only Threat In Congress

With President Joe Biden calling on Congress to enact his gun ban along with universal background checks and the repeal of the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, the Second Amendment Foundation’s Alan Gottlieb says that Democrats’ are moving forward with an agenda that puts the right to keep and bear arms at risk. Gottlieb joins me on today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co. to discuss the president’s call to disarm and how the 2A community is responding.

Biden’s statement on the third anniversary of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was long on rhetoric and short on facts, billing the gun control battle as a generational fight pitting young Americans against their elders, while ignoring the constitutional and pragmatic objections to his anti-gun agenda.

The Parkland students and so many other young people across the country who have experienced gun violence are carrying forward the history of the American journey. It is a history written by young people in each generation who challenged prevailing dogma to demand a simple truth: we can do better. And we will.

This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer. Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. We owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now.

As Gottlieb argues, taken in totality Biden’s gun control agenda amounts to a full-scale attack on the right to keep and bear arms; banning some of the most commonly-owned firearms and magazines in the United States, imposing a background check law that could criminalize ordinary transfers of firearms between family and friends, and giving the green light to junk lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry.

But Gottlieb notes that these aren’t the only bad ideas offered by anti-gun Democrats. There’s HB 127, which would impose insurance mandates on all gun owners, establish a publicly searchable database of gun owners, and require gun owners to undergo psychological testing before they could receive permission from the federal government to purchase a firearm.

Additionally, Gottlieb says he believes that the Biden administration will soon unveil executive orders dealing with gun control, including an attempt to force the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to re-define firearms to include unfinished frames and receivers. Not only would that turn existing law on its head, it could open up huge legal risks to any hobbyist who has built their own firearm from scratch.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is also speaking out about Biden’s call for Congress to start work on his anti-gun agenda. The firearms industry trade group says that Biden’s plan targets legal gun owners instead of dealing with the reality of violent crime.

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An Uneasy Echo Between ‘Post-Insurrection’ America and the Political ‘Rectifications’ of Communist China.

There are uncanny parallels between what has happened post-Jan. 6 in America and the CCP political campaigns of yesteryears.

In the eyes of establishment media, pundits, and politicians, there is only one acceptable way to view the breach of the United States Capitol building on Jan. 6—a “domestic extremist” insurrection incited by then-President Donald Trump and an assault on American democracy. This view is presented as fact and widely repeated, even though investigations into the incident are still ongoing and do not support such a black-and-white explanation.

The establishment view has not shifted one iota even with the emergence of evidence debunking the narrative. News reports note that the Capitol rioters broke through barricades 20 minutes before Trump finished his speech, where he explicitly called on his supporters to protest “peacefully.” Subsequent FBI work has since shown that the Capitol breach was pre-planned, not spontaneous. Conservative commentators have also condemned talking heads in establishment media for repeating ad nauseum horrifying details about the Capitol attack that new investigations have since overturned, particularly the “murder” of U.S. Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick by rioters with a fire extinguisher (medical autopsy found no evidence of blunt force trauma). Many observers have also wondered why there was a lack of outrage from the establishment over the Black Lives Matter/antifa riots in the summer of 2020 that resulted in at least $1 billion in paid insurance claims, or how an unruly mob at the Capitol counts as an insurrection—particularly when juxtaposed with an actual coup as occurred in Myanmar on Feb. 1……….

The CCP elite uses political campaigns to consolidate power and “normalize” communist rule over China. In most political campaigns, the Party designates a segment of the population as the enemy (“counter-revolutionaries,” “capitalist roader,” etc.), then relies on propaganda organs to set the new political reality and acceptable discourse. Through indoctrination or intimidation, the rest of the population is made to struggle against the demonized segment lest they are struggled against. . . .

There are uncanny parallels between what has happened post-Jan. 6 in America and the CCP political campaigns of yesteryears. The establishment is promoting one accepted way to view the Capitol riots in the face of evidence challenging that view, and is designating as enemies the segment of the American population that supports former President Donald Trump or expresses skepticism about the outcome of the 2020 election.

The current political climate has prompted people to report their family and friends to the authorities—the FBI received more than 100,000 such tips, according to the Washington Post. In China, virtually all the Party’s political campaigns feature the establishment of a political orthodoxy and encourage informants in a bid to turn the masses against each other.

BLUF:
I want to clear up a possible misunderstanding. I’m convinced that gun control leaves us at risk. I know you might feel differently and I beg you to hear me out. I think gun control laws put our children in danger, but that isn’t because I’m different than you are; it is because I’ve seen things you might not have seen. I’ve looked into the eyes of the police officer who ran toward the sound of gunfire to save kids. That officer arrived too late. I’ve listened to a victim who was shot by a mass murderer and survived. They both begged us to keep the kids safe until the police arrived. That is exactly what the investigators said after the attack in Parkland, Florida.

It is time we listened.. before it is too late.

‘I looked at the video, and we could have stopped him if someone inside the school had a gun.’

The Lessons We Didn’t Learn from Mass Murder

February 14th is the third anniversary of the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkwood, Florida. If you’re like me, it is uncomfortable to stir that painful memory. I’ve studied that attack because it would be worse to see it repeated simply because we didn’t learn a difficult lesson. You might not remember, but the attack at Columbine High School was almost 22 years ago. The attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School more than 8 years ago. That is plenty of time for us to act so our children are protected. I have an uncomfortable prediction about the next mass murder. The next attack will be at a place that politicians told us was safe because law-abiding people like us were disarmed. It is time we looked harder.

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Bill Gates: How the world can avoid a climate disaster.
—CBS News, February 15th.

Bill Gates Joins Private-Equity Firms in $4.7 Billion Deal for Private-Jet Company. —The Wall Street Journal, February 5th.

I’ll start considering that ‘climate change’ might possibly be a real problem when the people who tell me it’s a problem start living their own lives like it’s a real problem.

Twofer in Miami.

Shooting at SW Miami-Dade ATM Leaves Suspected Robber Dead

Police are investigating a Saturday night shooting at a Southwest Miami-Dade bank that left one suspected robber dead and another fleeing the scene.

Miami-Dade Police say the shooting took place at the BB&T Bank branch located on Southwest 137th Avenue near Kendall Drive around 8:30 p.m.

Investigators say the victim was at a drive-thru ATM at the bank when a suspected robber approached the victim’s white pick-up truck and the two got into a confrontation. Shots were fired, according to police, and the robber was struck and died at the scene.

The victim was also struck by gunfire and taken to an area hospital, where he is listed in stable condition.

A second suspected robber fled the scene on foot and officers are still searching for that person. Officials have not released any information on anyone involved at this time.

23-year-old woman fights back, reportedly shoots suspect during attempted robbery

The mother of a 23-year-old woman who shot at an attempted robber at a Valero gas station told Local 10 News that her daughter had a legal license to carry the firearm. Miami-Dade police said the victim shot the suspect multiple times during the attempted robbery.

Miami-Dade Police said the shooting took place at 7 a.m. at the gas station near Northwest 79th Street and 13th Court.

Neighbors told Local 10 News they heard gunshots.

Resident Carlos Frometa lives next to the gas station and told Local 10 News’ Annaliese Garcia he heard what sounded like three gun shots.

Other witnesses said they heard the apparent gunfire around 7:15 a.m.

The subject was transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he is in critical condition.

Gun Control is a scam aimed at people control. It has been aimed at specific groups of people who were deemed a problem by the powers that be in historic and modern times. In the past its goals were not hidden. In our times it falsely hides behind the guise of safety and security.

I have been watching it closely for over 40 years, since they started with Handgun Control Inc. They have a play book that they keep going to over and over again, with minor variations. The end game is the elimination of all civilian gun ownership, which is the only thing that stops them from wholesale implementation of EU style “progressive” government and policies.

The whole anti-tyranny, 2nd Amendment thing is the only thing that stops them from making the US part of their “world community”, and it drives them nuts. So they will create false crises and scream, “the children”, “epidemic and scourge”, “reasonable compromise”, and “gun safety”, when the facts don’t support it, their laws don’t make sense, and they have no intention of compromising.

They lie to take every inch that gun owners give to make it as difficult as possible to be a law abiding gun owner, and use it as a stepping stone for their next push. They don’t care that the laws don’t effect criminals, or reduce mass shootings or crime, ’cause that’s not their goal.

The slippery slope is not a myth. It is a real anti gun/anti freedom strategy. It is here. —–CAD007

U.S. Troops Go One Year Without A Combat Death in Afghanistan.

A year has passed since the last US service member was killed in combat in Afghanistan — the first such stretch since the war started almost 20 years ago, a report said Tuesday.

The last two Americans who died in battle in the country — Army Sgts. 1st Class Javier Gutierrez and Antonio Rodriguez — were slain on Feb. 8, 2020, Stars and Stripes reported.

But the period of calm, which coincides with the US-Taliban peace deal, could be threatened if the US decides to keep troops in Afghanistan past a May 2021 deadline, the military newspaper reported.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the outlet that if the US rejects the deal, signed last February, insurgents “will definitely return to war.”

Under the deal, the US promised the removal of troops in exchange for, among other things, the Taliban preventing terrorist groups from using Afghan soil to attack foreign forces.

The future of the deal remains uncertain, with the Biden administration vowing to review it, along with other Trump-era foreign policies.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration would review “whether the Taliban was living up to its commitments to cut ties with terrorist groups, to reduce violence in Afghanistan, and to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government and other stakeholders,” according to a press release obtained by Fox News.

Sullivan spoke with Afghan national security adviser Hamdullah Mohib on Jan. 22 about the review, the report said.

In Must-Watch Clip, Trump Attorney “Michael van der Veen, Citizen” Destroys Media

Saturday night, President Trump’s attorney, Michael van der Veen, appeared on CBS News and was asked about Sen. Mitch McConnell’s comments after Trump’s acquittal. As Bonchie covered earlier, McConnell said that “President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” and that Trump is “still liable for everything he did during his period in office.” When he was specifically asked whether he was surprised to hear such a serious rebuke from the leader of the Republican party in the Senate, van der Veen’s expression, tone, and words said it all.

I’m not surprised to hear a politician say anything at all. No.

Crickets. The CBS News anchor, Lana Zak, wasn’t quite sure what to make of the reply. She decided to move forward and attempt to “gotcha” van der Veen, and it doesn’t go well for her at all. This, like Friday’s supercut of Democrats inciting violence, is a must-watch clip for two reasons: one, it’s rare that someone so articulately calls out the media, and two, it’s rare that the media have a guest they’re afraid to just cut off as they speak “their truth.”

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Let’s just be blunt about this.
This ‘teacher’ realizes that many black students – for whatever reasons, poor primary schooling/cultural rejection of ‘whitey education’/what have you – aren’t able to keep up with high school level math/algebra/geometry and instead of working on fixing the reasons that cause this, wants to provide an excuse. This lets the education system ‘off the hook’ for its failure and reinforces the notion that black ‘culture’ need not be educated but can rely on welfare to live on.

Oregon promotes teacher program that seeks to undo ‘racism in mathematics’
A toolkit includes a list of ways ‘white supremacy culture’ allegedly ‘infiltrates math classrooms’

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) recently encouraged teachers to register for training that encourages “ethnomathematics” and argues, among other things, that White supremacy manifests itself in the focus on finding the right answer.

An ODE newsletter sent last week advertises a Feb. 21 “Pathway to Math Equity Micro-Course,” which is designed for middle school teachers to make use of a toolkit for “dismantling racism in mathematics.” The event website identifies the event as a partnership between California’s San Mateo County Office of Education, The Education Trust-West and others.

Part of the toolkit includes a list of ways “white supremacy culture” allegedly “infiltrates math classrooms.” Those include “the focus is on getting the ‘right’ answer,” students being “required to ‘show their work,'” and other alleged manifestations.

“The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, and teaching it is even much less so,” the document for the “Equitable Math” toolkit reads. “Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict.”

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CBS Declares: You’ll Need a COVID ‘Vaccination Passport’ To Travel by Summer 2021

Without a mention of privacy rights the mainstream media appears to be all in for making you ‘show your papers’.

As the United States prepares to open back up after the unnecessarily long COVID lockdowns, the mainstream media is shaping the narrative that “vaccination passports” will not only be required for travel, but that they will arrive as a necessity by this summer.

CBS News travel editor, Peter Greenberg, almost appeared gleeful when he predicted two things: that travel – both domestic and international – would most likely return this summer, and that there would be a prerequisite to being able to travel.

Greenberg stated bluntly that in order to travel you will most likely need proof that you’ve been vaccinated for COVID. Vaccination passports, he said, will be the new standard in travel.

“It will be required,” Greenberg said. “The real question is what technology will be available to create a universally acceptable and universally readable document that can’t be forged.”

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Rub this in the noses of people who want to ban children’s access to guns

12-year-old shoots, kills home intruder after 73-year-old woman shot during NC robbery

GOLDSBORO, N.C. (WTVD) — A 12-year-old shot and killed a 19-year-old who shot a woman after forcing his way into her apartment, Goldsboro police say.

When officers responded to a shooting at an apartment around 1 a.m., they found the 73-year-old resident with a gunshot wound.

After finding the woman who had been shot, officers then found a man with a gunshot wound at the intersection of William Street and Elm Street. The man was later identified as Khalil Herring, 19, of Goldsboro.

Both were taken to Wayne UNC Health Care. Herring died from his injuries.

The investigation revealed that Herring and another masked person broke into the 73-year-old woman’s residence and demanded money before the shooting.

As the robbery was happening, a 12-year-old shot the intruders, and they fled the residence.

Evidence reportedly suggests that Herring was one of the two masked intruders who was shot during the robbery.

Goldsboro police say they do not anticipate charging the 12-year-old.

24-year-old fatally shoots man trying to rob him at Cleveland gas station

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A 19-year-old man was shot and killed by the person he was trying to rob, said Cleveland police.

Cleveland police said this happened in the parking lot of the HP Gas Station in the 7300 block of Lorain Avenue around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday.

According to police, a 24-year-old man called 911 and told dispatchers he had shot a man during a robbery attempt and a second suspect had followed him home and was standing outside his house.

When police got to the gas station, they found Rufus Harris, 19, laying on the parking lot, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Harris was pronounced dead at MetroHealth Hospital.

The second suspect was arrested outside the 24-year-old man’s house.

Cleveland police said the incident remains under investigation.

The Emergent Urban Anti-progressivism

President Biden’s appeal for unity in his inaugural address was a welcome invitation to end “this uncivil war that pits red versus blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.” The challenge for Biden, of course, is to show that his administration can lead by example in pursuit of this goal.

Nowhere will this challenge play out more than in America’s cities. His campaign’s urban policies — from affordable housing to education to worker pay — together with his recent flurry of “racial equity” executive orders on January 26, were all drafted according to the familiar Democratic playbook. But urban voters seem to be reading off a different script.

In fact, one of the most interesting and underreported outcomes of the 2020 presidential election was an emergent urban anti-progressivism — or at least, that’s the best way to interpret what happened. After a season of protests and urban unrest against the backdrop of a pandemic, a sizeable percentage of city dwellers, ranging from small-business owners to working-class public-school parents, seemed to have had enough of the urban status quo.

Democrats have puzzled over why Biden did not perform as well in cities as expected, and conversely, why Trump seemed to overperform in them. Overall, Biden won major metro areas, but his slippage compared with Trump’s gains was notable.

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“Because you might have to” works for me

Why You Should Practice Drawing From Concealment.

The vast majority of those who legally carry a handgun use concealed carry. However, we rarely see them at the shooting range practicing making their pistol presentation from under a concealing garment. The fact is that drawing from under the concealing garment takes more time than an open draw. It can take even more time if it is a move that is not regularly practiced. Fumbling the draw stroke from under a concealing garment in an actual gunfight can be more than just time consuming; it can also be quite costly.

The smart thing to do is to make drawing from under the concealing clothing a regular part of defensive practice.  If the local range doesn’t allow that sort of thing, then it should be a part of a person’s dry practice at home.

When the decision is made to draw the handgun, the clearing move should not be a hesitant, or tentative one. The garment should be forcefully brushed aside as an integral part of the pistol presentation.

However, in reality, we often wear different kinds of covering garments, often on consecutive days. Some will have buttons. Others will have zippers. And some are of the pull-over variety that have to be lifted up in order to clear the handgun. In that moment when things get real, one might forget just exactly what is need to clear that particular piece of clothing. There may be a better way.

The armed citizen rarely has to deal with an actual threat (Condition Red) but he is often presented with a potential threat (Condition Orange). Once we recognize that we are in the presence of a potential threat, it’s a really good idea to make sure that our shooting hand is free. And it is also an excellent time to get the covering garment unfastened in preparation for the draw stroke, should that become necessary.

We can do these things without looking like we are in full gunfighter mode and even still have a smile on a face during the process. But clearing the garment becomes part of the getting ready process and we will have more time to remember to deal with buttons, zippers, or whatever. Once the potential threat dissolves into nothing, as they generally do, we can fasten back up with no one the wiser.

Give some thought as to how to clear that covering garment. And then be sure to practice it. It saves time and very well could save your life.

 

ACQUITTED

“A conviction would have also set the stage for a vote to bar him from serving in public office again.” The outcome leaves the populist forces in the field and the old GOP party in the dust.

Up next: the battle to define conservative politics as Biden faces a new world. . . .

Republicans senators Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania all voted guilty.

The ancien regime needed a Blue Tsunami to effect a restoration. But they achieved a mild and perhaps doubtful electoral surf despite a maximum effort. The impeachment was a second chance at pursuit. Its failure means the populists will be back.

Trump and the Democratic leader’s age means a new cast of characters will be coming on for Season 2. The Blue failure to smash the populists means people are now refiguring the odds. Expect new political startups.

The reason why threats to go after Trump in court are pointless is because the Biden administration, like every incumbent, will soon be on the political defensive. New challenges are going to put Biden between the hard rock of the left and even more obdurate reality.

Armed passengers? New push underway in Missouri to allow concealed carry on public transportation

JEFFERSON CITY — Concealed-carry permit holders would be able to legally board MetroLink trains and buses with their firearms if a proposal Missouri lawmakers are weighing becomes law.

The Senate General Laws Committee heard legislation Tuesday by Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis, that would allow guns on trains and buses amid continued security concerns regarding the region’s mass transit systems. The measure wouldn’t apply to Amtrak.

The hearing this week followed the fatal shooting of security guard James Cook on Jan. 31 at the Delmar MetroLink station. Eight days later, the Bi-State Development Agency, which oversees MetroLink, voted 7-2 against rearming security guards.

Opponents of rearming guards said the matter required more discussion; members disputed whether it was legal for guards to carry guns. Officials took steps to improve security last year, including increasing police presence on the trains.
GOP lawmakers have made similar efforts to allow the public to carry concealed weapons on public transit for years, to no avail.

Democrats have mostly opposed the measures, but state Sen. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, said Friday he would consider supporting the bill as written — if GOP proponents maintain limiting who could carry guns to concealed-carry permit holders…………..

Utah: Governor Cox Signs Permitless Carry Legislation!

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The fledgling governor had previously said he supported the legislation, a departure from his predecessor. Former Gov. Gary Herbert had blocked legislation to do away with the concealed carry permit for years with a veto and, later, a promise of veto.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Walt Brooks, R-St. George, and Sen. David Hinkins, R-Orangeville, takes effect May 5………….