A Scary Fact Found in a Gun Survey on the Upcoming Election

Deep in a survey of likely voters, paid for by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for firearms manufacturers, is the startling fact that most people don’t realize Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for president, is a gun-control extremist.

While 95% of likely voters said they are “very likely” to vote in the upcoming election, only 17% of gun owners in the survey said “gun-related issues” were one of their three top policy areas going into this election (15% did say “crime” and 18% said “civil rights”).

The truth that Biden is no moderate on guns clearly isn’t getting out enough. The thing is, it isn’t speculation that Biden wants our guns. This fact isn’t even just informed opinion based on Biden’s previous policy positions. The glaring truth is, Biden has actually published a long list of his desired gun bans and restrictions on his 2020 campaign website. Continue reading “”

1 US Marine dead, 8 missing off coast of California in training exercise

One U.S. Marine has died and eight more remain unaccounted for after an accident involving an Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) off the coast of California Thursday.

“1 Marine has died, 8 service members remain missing and 2 were injured after an AAV mishap July 30 off the coast of Southern California. All are assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (15th MEU). Search and rescue efforts are still underway with support from the Navy and Coast Guard,” the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) confirmed the incident in a Tweet Friday.

Graves man arrested after home invasion

A Graves County Kentucky man was shot early Thursday morning after reportedly kicking in a door and breaking into a home.

Graves Sheriff Jon Hayden reported that at about 3 a.m., a homeowner called 911 to report that a man wearing a mask forced his way into his home while armed with a shotgun. The home is on Ky. 1710 just south of Ky 58 East. The homeowner met the suspect, later identified as James Page II, 19, who reportedly fled the area after getting into a small vehicle. Continue reading “”

Homeowner shoots home invasion suspects near Ithaca

Enfield, N.Y. — A Tompkins County homeowner stopped an attempted home invasion by shooting two men who tried to break into his home, according to the New York State Police.

Troopers responded to the home on Rumsey Hill Road in Enfield at 7:21 a.m. Saturday, police said in a news release Wednesday.

Two people broke into the house, police said. The homeowner told them to leave but shot them when they refused, police said. Continue reading “”

SPLC’s New Attack on Gun Owners

The nonsense from the Southern Poverty Law Center continues. The SPLC, which doesn’t actually do poverty law because it’s too busy labeling everyone with insufficient melanin in their skin as racist, would like to turn back the clock on Stand Your Ground laws. In a new report, they claim with no real evidence or analysis, that the laws promote killings of blacks by whites. This is nonsense, and they know it. But it comes at the perfect time: with police running from constant assault and the rest of the country being told that only black lives matter. You almost have to admire their moxie.

To understand the situation with Stand Your Ground laws, it’s important to understand how these laws came about. As part of the backlash against the “anything goes” wild west, legislatures adopted laws regarding self-defense that had the admirable goal of reducing violence. They imposed on everyone a duty to retreat rather than engage in violence. At its core, it had good motives, but it amounted to a “shoot first” directive to criminals. Some states, like the state of Massachusetts with its antediluvian policies, still has not modernized its law with respect to self-defense. Continue reading “”

Americans Turn To 2nd Amendment For Protection From Radical Left

Letter to the editor | Don’t be fooled by changes in language

Language can be a powerful but cunning tool. Change words slightly and presto, the context changes beneath one’s feet.

For example, have you noticed how the language regarding guns has evolved recently? It’s no longer “gun control”; instead it’s “gun safety.” What a clever shift. No one can object to gun safety, right? It’s just plain reasonable. If you criticize it, you must be one of those crazy gun nuts.

The latest language shift is the characterization of “open carry” of firearms as a “loophole.” Obviously, if the Founding Fathers had any idea that citizens might run around carrying firearms openly, they would have forbidden it. It’s perfectly clear to “reasonable” people that “open carry” is a loophole they forgot to close. But never fear, we can make this minor fix to the Second Amendment for the “safety” of all.

Of course, the open carrying of firearms is not a loophole in the Constitution. At the time, virtually all firearms were carried openly. It wasn’t possible to carry them any other way. It wasn’t until firearms became compact enough to conceal that concealed carry became an issue. Consequently, laws were drafted to require permits to ensure that the scary person next to you couldn’t be carrying a hidden firearm unless properly screened and trained. (We can debate the constitutionality of such regulations another time.)

My point is, we need to read between the lines to avoid the snares set by clever shifts in language.

Mark Sherbine- Portage

Help Us Safeguard the Second Amendment
You’re not paranoid: Democrats do want to take your guns away.

There are many great reasons to contribute to the National Review webathon, but I believe that none is more important than the publication’s steadfast defense of the Second Amendment.

After the outbreak of the coronavirus, millions of Americans, feeling helpless and besieged by forces outside their control, began purchasing firearms to protect their families, property, and community. Once the lawlessness and fanaticism of the Antifa protests began spreading across the country, the number of gun owners continued to climb. When Democrats began embracing the notion of “defunding the police,” even more citizens saw gun ownership as a necessity of contemporary life. Continue reading “”

Jeffrey Wayne Quinn
Friday, January 16th, 1959 – Monday, July 27th, 2020

Jeffrey Quinn

Mr. Jeffrey Wayne Quinn, age 61 of Dover, TN passed away, Monday, July 27, 2020 at St. Thomas Hospital West. He was born January 16, 1959 in Erin, TN, son of James P. and Lorene Kent Quinn. Jeff was the editor of Gun Blast website.

Jeff is preceded in death by his father James P. Quinn. He is survived by his beloved wife, Souette Lee Jerles Quinn, his daughter, Rebecca Quinn-Giles, Clarksville, TN, mother, Lorene Quinn, Dover, TN, grandchildren, Abby and Ethan Giles, son-in-law, Sebastian Giles, brothers, James Lee Quinn, Erin, TN, Anthony Quinn, Four Oaks, NC, and Greg Quinn, Nashville, TN.

A graveside service will be held at 8:30 am on Saturday, August 1, 2020 at Stewart County Memorial Gardens and a celebration of life will follow at the Carlisle Missionary Baptist Church.

Arrangements are entrusted to Anglin Funeral Home, Dover, TN.

From the book:
“As the bird shuddered down, the wall of faces lining the perimeter were hidden behind SLRs, lighting, and shoulder-mounted video cameras – journalists here to generate the sugar high of fear that was now as much a part of the American diet as hot dogs, apple pie, and gluten-free muffins.”

To generate the sugar high of fear.
That’s what we see today, isn’t it? Whether they’re pontificating about the bug or about guns?

Under Pressure: A Lucas Page Novel

A series of deadly explosions rock the city of New York and with too many victims and no known motive, the F.B.I. turns once again to Dr. Lucas Page in Robert Pobi’s Under Pressure.

On a beautiful October evening, New York City’s iconic Guggenheim Museum is closed for a tech company’s private gala. Until an explosion rocks the night, instantly killing 702 people, including every single attendee—yet the damage to the building itself was minimal.

An explosion of that precision was no accident and, in response, the FBI mobilizes its entire team — but the sheer number of victims strains their resources. Were all 702 victims in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was there only one target and 701 unlucky bystanders? That many victim files is a staggering amount of data to sort through and Brett Kehoe, Special Agent in Charge of Manhattan, decides that he can’t do this without more computational power.

Dr. Lucas Page, astrophysicist, university professor, and former FBI agent, is uniquely gifted for the task at hand—he can visualize a crime scene as if he was a bystander and can break down any set of data at a glance. Even though Page wants nothing to do with the FBI, with his city under attack and his family at risk, he steps in to find a killer in a haystack before they strike again.

Dems Fear Release of Durham’s Findings Before the Election

Attorney General William Barr reiterated this week that he wouldn’t wait until after the election to release the report of U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is investigating the origins of the Russia collusion story. This has Democrats nervous and preemptively saying that anything Durham finds will be the result of a political witch hunt.

Democrats have a lot invested in the Russian collusion narrative and to have it officially debunked would be very damaging to their election prospects.

Washington Post:

“There’s a real danger, in fact an urgent threat, that anything the Department of Justice does will be timed to aid the president,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D- Conn.) said in an interview, adding, “Barr has proven ready, willing and able to distort, distract and deceive.”

At a hearing Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, Barr was quizzed briefly by both sides on the matter but offered little to satisfy his questioners.

An “urgent threat”? Well, there’s certainly a threat to the narrative that damaged the Trump presidency, but beyond that, Blumenthal is emitting gas.

Continue reading “”

If the main steam media isn’t doing it already (and they aren’t) , it’s because they don’t want it known. That Althouse hasn’t figured this out either means she really is that stupid, or she’s being mendacious and trying to provide cover for her own shortfall.

I’m still looking for some high-quality investigative journalism about who is responsible for the violence and disorder accompanying the protests.

On June 22, I wrote,”Why isn’t there more reporting in the NYT about who’s responsible for the violence and disorder accompanying the protests?” And then 2 days ago, I wrote, “I want to know who is doing the violence! Is it Antifa? Where is the investigative journalism? Are there peaceful protesters who deserve recognition for their dedication to nonviolence, whose cause is undermined by a separate set of people?”………..

 

“The left is going bonkers over this. They’re too dumb to realize this is a play off the left’s ‘we can’t start school until we have a vaccine’ and ‘we can’t go back to work until Covid runs its course’ positions. The left now has to choose one course or the other.”

Donald Trump suggests delay to 2020 US presidential election.

The bug claims a great man.

We’re heartbroken, and the world is poorer: Herman Cain has gone to be with the Lord

You’re never ready for the kind of news we are grappling with this morning. But we have no choice but to seek and find God’s strength and comfort to deal with it.

Herman Cain – our boss, our friend, like a father to so many of us – has passed away. He’s entering the presence of the Savior he’s served as an associate minister at Antioch Baptist Church in Atlanta, and preparing for his reward.

Romans 2:6-7 says: “God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” By that measure, we expect the boss is in for some kind of welcome, because all of us who knew him are well aware of how much good he did. Continue reading “”

Fun With Data: More ‘Research’ Blames Mass Shootings On Those Who Didn’t Do It

It’s time to play “spot the lousy gun research” again! There’s yet a new “study” out that purports to link high rates of firearm ownership to higher rates of mass shootings. It’s economically entitled Comparing the Impact of Household Gun Ownership and Concealed Carry Legislation on the Frequency of Mass Shootings and Firearms Homicide, by Emma E. Fridel.

I had to read this paper because the pseudo-news reports included a remarkable factoid.

In order to address these challenges, a unique dataset of all mass murders in the United States from 1991 to 2016 was created. …

To date, this represents the most comprehensive and accurate database available on mass shooting incidents in the United States, with a total sample size of 592 mass shootings during the study period.

Five hundred, ninety-two mass shootings? Gun Facts only found 94 from 1982 to 2019. The Violence Project lists 174 from 1966 to 2020. The Rockefeller Institute of Government identified 318 from 1966 to 2017.

Where did Fridel find hundreds more than any other researcher over a shorter time frame? The devil is in the definitions.

Rockefeller’s Capellan and Jiao defined “mass public shooting” as “the killing of four or more individuals in one or more closely related locations within a 24-hour period.” That’s representative of the definition usually used. It excludes targeted killings like gangbangers fighting over turf, or domestic disputes gone massively wrong.

It excludes serial shootings that don’t occur in a single incident. Fridel went with something a little different.

Defined as the killing of four or more individuals (excluding the offender) with a firearm within 24 hours… …

As WISQARS does not provide linkage information, firearms homicide was measured as a count of victims rather than incidents.

Four or more within 24 hours.

No gang or family exclusions. It doesn’t even necessarily specify that the four victims be shot for related reasons or even by the same shooter.

I’m sure she dinked around with that highly questionable definition until she got one that generated clusters in all the wrong states. Since she’s using WISQARS in part, I’m not even sure the “mass shooting” victims had to be in the same city or state, just the same 24 hour period.

Then I hit this.

Household gun ownership was measured using a common proxy, the proportion of suicides committed with a firearm.

“Gun ownership” is estimated from suicides by firearm. Never mind that a goodly percentage of suicides are committed with firearms not owned by the subject. Never mind that better proxies, such as firearm hunting licenses, concealed carry licenses or in states like Illinois and Massachusetts, firearm owner licenses, exist.

Fridel gets to generate bogus data and reinforce the gun-ownership-equals-suicide canard, a twofer.

I should have quit there, but I was gripped by morbid curiosity.

She controlled her data for various socioeconomic and demographic factors. She included firearm homicide rates. But she specifically excluded non-firearm homicides, and violent crimes and property crimes.

It turns out she had per capita hunting license data, but decided not to use it; she just threw it out.

What this really is, then, is a study in how to manipulate and misuse data to further an agenda. Fridel could probably teach Garen Wintemute a few new tricks. Her data is so bad she probably wears an isolation suit to massage it.

Deputies investigate after homeowner shoots, kills uninvited visitor in Lancaster County

INDIAN LAND, S.C. (WBTV) – Deputies are investigating a shooting death after a homeowner fatally shot an uninvited visitor in Lancaster County over the weekend.

Deputies responded to a burglary call around 3:30 a.m. Sunday at a home on Fox Ridge Lane in Indian Land.

Officers said a 37-year-old man drove to the residence uninvited where his ex-girlfriend was visiting.

Deputies said the 37-year-old man, identified as Anastasio Kroustalis, from Matthews, NC, upset that the woman was there. The homeowner, a 40-year-old man, allowed Kroustalis to come inside to the downstairs kitchen.

The homeowner went upstairs to talk with the woman, who was in a walk-in closet in the master bedroom suite. Soon after, Kroustalis made his way upstairs and confronted the homeowner and the woman at the closet door.

Officers said a disturbance ensued and the homeowner fired a handgun at Kroustalis, who was shot and died at the scene. The woman was taken to a medical facility to be treated for injuries and later released.

A search warrant for the home and the Kroustalis’s automobile was obtained, and evidence was collected.

There have not been any arrests.

U.S. to pull 12,000 troops from Germany after Trump calls country ‘delinquent’

The Pentagon on Wednesday laid out a plan to shift nearly 12,000 service members out of Germany after President Donald Trump repeatedly said the country was “delinquent” on defense spending.

Top defense leaders said the plan, which would bring 6,400 service members home and reposition nearly 5,600 to other countries in Europe, is part of the Pentagon’s broader effort to redistribute U.S. forces across the world to better compete with new threats from Russia and China. The move will leave 24,000 troops in Germany, where the United States has stationed a significant number of forces since the end of the Cold War.

Continue reading “”

When they come out with armored spacesuits, I’ll really get interested.

US Marines to get ‘Alpha’ exoskeleton for super strength.

The Marines are about to get their hands on an impressive bit of hardware: A wearable robotic exoskeleton that gives users super strength. The company delivering the unit, a defense-focused subsidiary of Sarcos Robotics developed the exoskeleton for industrial uses, including in energy and construction.

Still, in many ways, this is a return to roots for Sarcos. In 2000, the company was part of a storied class of DARPA grant recipients working on powered exoskeletons for defense purposes. In many ways, the XO, which conserves energy by remaining passive when not actuated, is the fulfillment of that research.

Another exoskeleton maker, Ekso Bionics, came out of the same DARPA grant.

According to Sarcos, the U.S. Marine Corps will test applications for its Guardian XO Alpha, which was first unveiled earlier this year at CES 2020, where it was named “Top Emerging Technology” by Digital Trends, “Best Robot” by PCMag.com, “The Best Ideas and Products of CES” by VentureBeat, and was recognized by WIRED Magazine as being one of the smartest technologies on the show floor. Although the suit may bring to mind nightmares of battlefield cyborgs, the more immediate applications will be in the realm of logistics, where heavy lifting is often necessary. Continue reading “”