Editorial O’ The Day

Don’t make gun owners pay for crimes they don’t commit

The city of San Jose in California recently made history, but not for anything good. Gun-owning residents will soon be required to pay a premium price to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

Mayor Sam Liccardo, a gun control advocate, recently announced a new “innovative” ordinance in response to the tragic mass shooting that befell the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) rail yard in May.

The new law will mandate gun owners pay liability insurance and an annual fee for costs incurred by gun-related violence. And at what cost? The freedom to exercise their right to keep and bear arms legally without being burdened with arbitrary financial burdens.

California already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, with 107 restrictive provisions in the books. Last year, there were over 2,220 homicides in the state — a 31% increase from 2019.

Law-abiding gun owners shouldn’t be held criminally or civilly liable for crimes they don’t commit. Since these gun owners aren’t responsible for these acts of violence, how can they be responsible for the wrongdoing of others?

Much to the chagrin of gun control advocates, responsible gun owners already take appropriate precautions and practice gun safety. Across the Golden State, gun owners safely store their firearms and teach their peers to handle firearms with care. How does requiring gun owners to obtain personal insurance for ownership prevent crimes they aren’t responsible for?

What’s “innovative” about punishing innocent people for crimes perpetrated by others and pricing them out of firearms ownership?

If politicians were serious about tackling crimes and preventing future mass shootings, they wouldn’t direct law enforcement to target innocent residents. Law enforcement is already overextended and short-staffed tackling crime. Deploying police to enforce such an ordinance would waste taxpayer dollars and raise Fourth Amendment concerns.

The San Jose mayor erroneously claims purchasing insurance will incentivize safe gun ownership like car insurance does safe driving. He further insists insurance will cost “a couple dozen dollars”—though an exact figure has yet to be determined. Those who are unable to afford it, he said, will have the fee waived, which raises questions about how necessary it is in the first place.

An “innovative” approach to tackling crime won’t incur added costs and make legal gun ownership a privilege. Why? Firearms ownership isn’t conditional on paying the equivalent of a poll tax; it’s a sacred, inalienable right enshrined in the Bill of Rights in our Constitution.

Imposing arbitrary fees on this basic right is not only draconian, it’s discriminatory.

Ordinances like this won’t address illegal activity involving firearms—especially rising violent crime rates befalling the state’s largest cities. Instead, these proposals will price out low-income, minority residents from the market instead making gun ownership a luxury — not a right. That’s not innovative; that’s regressive.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), a trade association representing firearms manufacturers, estimates consumers spent an average of $600 on firearms last year. The additional fees that’ll be incurred by this lopsided ordinance will make gun ownership more expensive than it should be.

Mayor Liccardo concedes in an op-ed for CNN, “Skeptics will say that criminals won’t comply. They’re right.”

With increased demand for firearms and ammunition across the country, it’s ill-advised to discriminate against law-abiding residents, including California gun owners, who desire to protect themselves and their loved ones from the very criminals laws should be targeting.

At the end of the day, this sweeping initiative shouldn’t be exported statewide. Policies like it will grossly infringe on the rights of citizens and make firearms ownership a privilege for the wealthy, privileged few.

Tackling crime shouldn’t come at the expense of our civil liberties.

BLUF:
Anti-gun researches will continue to use flawed methodology and bad data as long as a fawning media and gun control establishment continue to fuel any “research” with the “right” conclusion

How Anti-Gun Research Works

The objective world mistrusts most gun policy research because it’s clear the objective is to produce an anti-gun outcome rather than honest analysis. Politicians and professional activists claim the mantle of evidence but will ignore any findings that threaten their anti-gun agenda.

Anti-gun politicians continue to advocate for policies that the very researchers they champion have contradicted, if not found to be ineffective. Researchers and activists cherry-pick data, but they also cherry-pick which findings to use – even from a single study. Can you imagine if the same low threshold for credibility was applied to pro-gun findings?

Let’s try an exercise. Vermont – one of the safest states in the nation, one that had Permitless Carry for centuries – enacted a magazine capacity restriction in 2018. Let’s look at the violent crime rate in Vermont and the U.S using data from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. The national violent crime rate decreased from 2018 to 2019 but the rate in Vermont increased – and even increased more than it had from 2017 to 2018.

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Med Schools Are Now Denying Biological Sex.

Today we bring you another installment of Katie Herzog’s ongoing series about the spread of woke ideology in the field of medicine. Her first story focused on the ideological purge at the top medical schools and teaching hospitals in the country. “Wokeness,” as one doctor put it, “feels like an existential threat.”

Katie’s latest reporting illustrates some of the most urgent elements of that threat. It focuses on how biological sex is being denied by professors fearful of being smeared by their students as transphobic…..

During a recent endocrinology course at a top medical school in the University of California system, a professor stopped mid-lecture to apologize for something he’d said at the beginning of class.

“I don’t want you to think that I am in any way trying to imply anything, and if you can summon some generosity to forgive me, I would really appreciate it,” the physician says in a recording provided by a student in the class (whom I’ll call Lauren). “Again, I’m very sorry for that. It was certainly not my intention to offend anyone. The worst thing that I can do as a human being is be offensive.”

His offense: using the term “pregnant women.”

“I said ‘when a woman is pregnant,’ which implies that only women can get pregnant and I most sincerely apologize to all of you.”

It wasn’t the first time Lauren had heard an instructor apologize for using language that, to most Americans, would seem utterly inoffensive. Words like “male” and “female.”

Why would medical school professors apologize for referring to a patient’s biological sex? Because, Lauren explains, in the context of her medical school “acknowledging biological sex can be considered transphobic.”

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*gasp* Horrors

Many years ago, when Jim Taylor’s youngest daughter was home on Christmas break from college, she brought along several of her classmates. One was from Merry Olde England™, so when we all did some shooting at the J-T Ranch range, I brought along a No.4 MkII I had at the time so when he returned home, he could say he had shot one of the main battle rifles of his country. He had never fired a gun before, but had the time of his life.

Shock at gun licences given to children
A dozen children in Greater Manchester are authorised to use guns, figures show.

The Gun Control Network said allowing children to use powerful weapons, such as shotguns, is “absurd” and warned that weapon security cannot be guaranteed with youngsters.

But the British Association of Shooting and Conservation says teaching children how to enjoy the benefits of responsible shooting is to be encouraged.

At the end of March, 12 children aged under 18 in Greater Manchester held certificates granting them permission to use shotguns or firearms, according to Home Office data.

They were among 7,114 people in the area permitted to use the weapons.

There is no minimum age to hold a shotgun certificate in England and Wales, but a child must be over 14 to have a firearm certificate.

The figures show 11 shotgun and four firearm certificates, granted by Greater Manchester Police, are held by youngsters aged between 14 and 17 – some of whom could hold both types.

There is also one child under the age of 13 in the area who holds a shotgun licence.

The law restricts children to the use of firearms for animal slaughter, sport, competition, target shooting and the shooting of vermin.

They cannot purchase their own weapons or ammunition but are entitled to possess some firearms from the age of 14.

Peter Squires, from the UK Gun Control Network, said: “The fact that children can be licensees is a ridiculous anomaly, given that children could never be legally responsible in their own right for the safety and security of the weapon.

“GCN believe firmly that the privilege to own and use a firearm should be tied very closely to the responsibility for its use and security. This cannot be assured with children.”

For anyone to obtain a firearm or shotgun certificate, the chief officer of their local police force must be satisfied that they have good reason to have a weapon, that they are fit to be entrusted with it and that public safety or peace would not be endangered.

Martin Parker, of the BASC, said current legislation benefits those in training for Olympic and Commonwealth shooting disciplines and those being taught pest control techniques.

He added: “Encouraging younger people to enjoy the benefits of responsible shooting, while teaching the principles of safety and self-discipline, is to be encouraged.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the UK had some of the toughest gun laws in the world, with firearm possession subject to stringent controls

He added: “There are strict controls on young certificate holders who must be thoroughly vetted by the police.’’

The utter open hypocrisy of this Kabuki Theater is simply stunning.
For the entire length of the Trump presidency they were all adamant in their hate of all things Trump, calling his election illegitimate because it didn’t go their way. It again confirms that when they make an accusation, they’re projecting their own faults.

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For Sale At Auction:
(probably only need a million bucks, or two)

THE GUN THAT KILLED BILLY THE KID: PAT GARRETT’S COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER USED TO KILL BILLY THE KID.

Serial number 55093 for 1880, .44-40 caliber 7 1/2 inch barrel, one line Hartford address crescent ejector rod head. DFC stamped over serial number on frame. Walnut grip. Condition: Very good with traces of blue on barrel and cylinder flutes and other protected areas. Well worn grips.

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Army shooter is first US service member to win gold medal at Tokyo Olympics

a picture of a person posing for the camera

AMP ASAKA, Japan – An Army lieutenant became the first U.S. service member to clinch a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics with a first-place finish in women’s shotgun skeet on Monday.

First Lt. Amber English, a logistics officer and member of the Army Marksmanship Unit, bested Diana Bacosi of Italy, the 2016 women’s skeet gold medalist.

“Amber English wins gold with an Olympic Record of 56 in the women’s skeet final after a nail-biting ending,” said a tweet on the games’ official Twitter account.

English, 31, a native of Colorado Springs, Colo., hit 56 of 60 targets at the event, just three off the world record held by Wei Meng of China, who took bronze Monday.

Just because you’re the only one with a gun doesn’t mean you’re going to automatically be the winner of the fight.

A man who is suspected of killing one and injuring three was allegedly stoned to death with garden rocks.

The brutal killing came after a fight broke out at a party in Fort Worth, Texas on Monday morning.

The suspect allegedly shot a total of three people, before he was killed by partygoers.

“Fort Worth police say the crowd defended themselves with gardening stones, killing the gunman,” a local reporter said……..
The injured victims are expected to survive.

Despite what SloJoe says, you actually might need a gun that holds 20 rounds, and several more full magazines, because you might need to defend yourself against a mob.

When the ‘Fact-Checker’ gets it right back at them

PolitiFact Claims Joe Biden ‘Doesn’t Want to Ban Handguns,’ But Here Are His Actual Words.

Joe Biden has been pretty clear about his desire to ban handguns.

During his CNN town hall last week, Biden was asked, “So, how will you address gun violence, from a federal point of view, to actually bring about change and make our local cities safer?”

In his response, Biden told the woman who asked the question: “The idea you need a weapon that can have the ability to fire 20, 30, 40, 50, 120 shots from that weapon — whether it’s a — whether it’s a 9-millimeter pistol or whether it’s a rifle — is ridiculous. I’m continuing to push to eliminate the sale of those things…”

In response to the tweet from House Republicans declaring that Biden “says he wants to ban handguns,” PolitiFact claims “the clip doesn’t back up the GOP tweet, and the full transcript goes further to sink this claim.”

PolitiFact claims that the numbers cited by Biden “apply to assault-style firearms and high-capacity magazines. As recently as June, when Biden rolled out his strategy to bring down murders, he said he wants to ban both.”

“Experts disagree over what is or isn’t an assault weapon. States set different thresholds for what qualifies as a high-capacity magazine,” PolitiFact continued, before adding, “But regardless of the definition, neither term includes all handguns.”

Did anyone say Biden wants to ban all handguns? Nope. Yet, PolitiFact unwittingly admitted in its analysis that some handguns would be affected by Biden’s gun control proposal. So, does Biden want to ban handguns? He’s publicly indicated that he wants to ban some. There’s no doubt about that.

Yet, PolitiFact rated the claim that Biden wants to ban handguns as “False.” In fairness, they could have gotten away with rating the claim “Half True” because one could argue that the House GOP’s wording wasn’t clear, but they didn’t take Biden’s words out of context. They even showed the video of Biden’s response to the question. Biden may not have said he wanted to ban all handguns, but he clearly said he wants to ban some. Yet, PolitiFact disingenuously rated the claim false, which seems to imply that Biden never said he wanted to ban any handguns at all.

Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost.

“A philosophical and spiritual defense of the premodern world, of the tragic view, of physical courage, and of masculinity and self-sacrifice in an age when those ancient virtues are too often caricatured and dismissed.”
―Victor Davis Hanson

Award-winning author Michael Walsh celebrates the masculine attributes of heroism that forged American civilization and Western culture by exploring historical battles in which soldiers chose death over dishonor in Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost.

In our contemporary era, men are increasingly denied their heritage as warriors. A survival instinct that’s part of the human condition, the drive to wage war is natural. Without war, the United States would not exist. The technology that has eased manual labor, extended lifespans, and become an integral part of our lives and culture has often evolved from wartime scientific advancements. War is necessary to defend the social and political principles that define the virtues and freedoms of America and other Western nations. We should not be ashamed of the heroes who sacrificed their lives to build a better world. We should be honoring them.

The son of a Korean War veteran of the Inchon landing and the battle of the Chosin Reservoir with the U.S. Marine Corps, Michael Walsh knows all about heroism, valor, and the call of duty that requires men to fight for something greater than themselves to protect their families, fellow countrymen, and most of all their fellow soldiers. In Last Stands, Walsh reveals the causes and outcomes of more than a dozen battles in which a small fighting force refused to surrender to a far larger force, often dying to the last man.

From the Spartans’ defiance at Thermopylae and Roland’s epic defense of Charlemagne’s rear guard at Ronceveaux Pass, through Santa Anna’s siege of the Alamo defended by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie to the skirmish at Little Big Horn between Crazy Horse’s Sioux nation and George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Calvary, to the Soviets’ titanic struggle against the German Wehrmacht at Stalingrad, and more, Walsh reminds us all of the debt we owe to heroes willing to risk their lives against overwhelming odds―and how these sacrifices and battles are not only a part of military history but our common civilizational heritage.

Are some trying to provoke one?

Are Americans Preparing For a Second Civil War?

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous writes . . .

Are Americans preparing for a civil war? I hear this question raised by people who have heard of the unprecedented number of private purchases of weapons and ammunition currently underway in the United States. This is compounded by a belief that some individuals are accumulating so much of this stuff that the weapons/ammunition supply chain can’t keep up with the demand. To me, this hoarding (especially of ammunition) is partially confirmed by comments I read here on TTAG.

My short answer to the question is: Some may be preparing for a civil war, but I cannot and will not. Indeed, the very thought of civil war gives me a cold chill and impels me to plead for peace. Here’s why . . .

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Gun Owners of America (GOA):

Here is why the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism’s new “militia” database likely includes you–a gun owner who believes gun control is unconstitutional:

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Woman claims self-defense in South Nashville shooting death

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A woman is claiming self-defense in a deadly shooting in South Nashville.

Angela James, 51, tells Metro Nashville police that 49-year-old Phillip Hawkins, Jr., held her at gunpoint while she drove around the city for two hours looking for his truck that was reportedly being driven by an acquaintance. She said he became increasingly agitated during this time.

When James and Hawkins arrived at his residence on Scotwood Drive a struggle over the gun occurred. Police say during the altercation at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, the gun went off and hit him in the chest. They found him dead in the front seat of a white sedan.

The investigation is ongoing.

University of Kentucky Rifle Star, Will Shaner, Grabs Olympic Gold

Will Shaner, a 20-year-old three-time University of Kentucky All-American rifle team member, picked up a historic gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.

As detailed by Team USA, Shaner posted an Olympic record score of 251.6 at the Asaka Shooting Range in Tokyo, edging out China’s Sheng Lihao, to become the first American to clinch the men’s 10-meter air rifle competition. Shaner’s score was just 1.2 points less than the world record of 252.8 set in 2019. The first-time Olympian fired 82 shots Sunday, with all of them being on target and the lowest scoring a 10.1.

An Open Letter to Joseph Robinette Biden, President of the United States of America

President Biden:

It gives me no pleasure to write to you today and publish this in a public forum, but circumstances dictate this will be the necessary vehicle for what I know will be the redress of grievances for many Americans like me.

I must inform you that you, sir, your Vice President, and your entire administration are unfit to govern this country.

The reasons why are legion, and I offer but a summary below, but each is clearly evident from your words and actions to date.

Your lies are brazen, and while Americans have come to expect both lying and brazenness from politicians, seldom have we seen a President who lies with the specific goal of producing harm.

You, sir, are that president.

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16-year-old boy shot, arrested during confrontation in Douglas

A 16-year-old boy was shot and arrested during a confrontation with a man Sunday in Douglas.

Just after midnight, a 41-year-old man was standing near his vehicle in the 2900 block of South State Street when he was approached by a teenage boy with a handgun, Chicago police said.

The man, who had a concealed carry license, shot the 16-year-old in the arm, police said.

The teen left the scene and officers later found him and took him into custody, police said. He was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good condition.

Area Three detectives are investigating.

Man crashes after being fatally shot in shoot-out in East Side neighborhood

A 26-year-old man crashed his vehicle and died after being shot multiple times Sunday in a shoot-out in the East Side neighborhood, according to Chicago police.

About 5:45 p.m., he was driving a vehicle southbound on Avenue L, along with three other male passengers, when they began shooting at a group of males sitting on the porch of a home in the 9700 block of South Avenue L, police said. The group of males returned fire, striking the 26-year-old multiple times.

He continued to drive the vehicle, but later crashed into a parked car, police said. The 26-year-old was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He has not yet been identified.

A 16-year-old boy was taken to Trinity Hospital for treatment for a laceration, Chicago fire officials said. It is not known if he was on the porch or inside the vehicle.

Area Two detectives are currently questioning a person of interest.