David Kopel, research director at the Independence Institute and a longtime Second Amendment scholar, attorney, and advocate joins Cam to talk about the history of the gun control movement, and why anti-gun activists are so terrified of the number of Americans exercising their right to keep and bear arms for the very first time.
4 TIPS FOR GUN OWNERS TO BEAT BOREDOM WHILE AT HOME
While the Coronavirus pandemic has left many of us stuck indoors, that doesn’t mean that we can’t still dedicate some time to our favorite activity — guns. We at Guns.com have gathered together a handful of activities for you to pass the time.
1. CATCH UP ON READING
Brush up on some reading with gun themed books. (Photo: Kristin Alberts/Guns.com)
Practicing social distancing has given many of us time to catch up on reading we might perhaps ignore the rest of the year. If you’re 2020 goal is to be a bit better read, brush the dust off your favorite books or download some new ones to your preferred electronic device. Some of our favorites include The Dry Fire Primer by Annette Evans, Handgun Hunting by Kat Ainsworth and You’re Not Lost if You Can Still See the Truck by Bill Heavey.
2. INVEST IN DRY FIRE PRACTICE
Using a laser pistol like a SIRT, pictured in the hands of trainer Rob Pincus, is a great way to train at home. (Photo: Jacki Billings/Guns.com)
Just because you can’t head to the range doesn’t mean those skills have to deteriorate. Break out that laser trainer pistol or unload your current firearm and put in some dry fire reps. Simple drills can include malfunction drills, reloads, drawing from concealment and trigger press — but remember, carefully inspect your gun prior to any manipulation to ensure it is unloadedand free from ammunition. We also suggest removing all ammunition from the training area just to be sure no rounds accidentally make their way into the firearm.
3. CLEAN YOUR GUNS AND ORGANIZE YOUR STASH
Caring for guns is a great way to maintain firearms and pass the time. (Photo: Jacki Billings/Guns.com)
Take advantage of the time home to do a little spring cleaning and organize your stash. Now is the perfect time to break out the CLP and ready guns for your next hunt or range visit. With a little cleaner, some gun oil and some spare cloth you can clean up any gunk and make sure your guns are functioning properly. Once your done cleaning, invest some time organizing guns and gear.
Whether you choose to focus on prettying up the gun safe or you want to rearrange a favorite range bag, take stock of what you have and make sure to organize it in a way that fits your range or hunting flow. You can even take it a step further by making a list of items you want or need in the future like ammunition, targets, extra mags and even guns that are on your mind.
4. EDUCATE YOUR FAMILY
According to the NRA, the Eddie Eagle program started in 1988 and has taught over 30 million youth the basics of firearm accident prevention (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
If your family isn’t already on the up-and-up when it comes to gun safety practices, now is a great time to get them involved. For younger kids, the NRA’s Eddie Eagle or NSSF’s Project ChildSafe offers fun learning tools to educate little ones on the importance of gun safety. Making sure that everyone understands what to do if they see a gun in addition to covering safe handling practices keeps family members safe. While you’re at it, now is a good time to evaluate how you store guns and make sure that little ones don’t have access.
If you want to continue the education with fun books for the kiddos, check out some of our favorite gun oriented books for youth by some of our favorite authors.
The greater New York City area stands alone on a map of the US with coronavirus cases and deaths.
On a per-capita basis I’ve done some quick calculations. Numbers get updated but the flavor remains the same:
With apologies to the good people of the great (but suffering) states of Illinois, Michigan and Louisiana, the US is basically two countries. New York (by which we mean, the Greatest City in the World and the surrounding counties) and New Jersey are having a death toll comparable to the most afflicted countries in Europe. 90% of the country, however, is running as well as Germany, which is widely regarded as a “How did they do it” success story.
And California?!? They had early inflows from China and the same President, FDA, and CDC as the rest of the US. Testing? Limited. Yet there they are, half the German per capita toll. Hard to credit Trump for that. Or blame him.
Why the difference? NYC is a major hub for international travel, its mass transit usage dwarfs other cities, its population density is 50% higher than San Francisco at number two, and who knows what else. [Another guess: California and Washington were hit from Wuhan and may have gotten some help from the Jan 31 China travel ban; NYC got more infections from Europe than Asia.]
Politically, one size clearly does not fit all across the US. Trump is a New Yorker. Its likely he and the media are very New York-centric (I know I am.) But we will be re-opening the economy by regions, not all at once.
DO NOTE: Official coronavirus deaths in NY have to be under-reported. “Excess deaths” above a typical year are off the charts. Yes, including off the charts that go back to 9/11.
Man allegedly pulls gun but gets shot by intended victim
Detroit — A man who allegedly approached another man and pulled a gun on him late Sunday night on Detroit’s west side was arrested at a hospital after he recovered from gunshot wounds, police said.
At about 9:30 p.m., police say the 28-year-old suspect approached a 23-year-old man and pulled a gun on him. This took place in the 19200 block of West McNichols, west of the Southfield Freeway.
But the victim has a concealed weapons permit holder, police say, and he pulled a gun of his own and shot the suspect.
When the suspect turned up at a hospital, after being privately transported there, he was placed under arrest and listed in temporary serious condition.
Multiple shots fired in home invasion
WILKES-BARRE — A Nanticoke man who suffered a gunshot wound to his leg during a home invasion on Church Street Saturday night asked to buy a bottle of liquor before the shooting, according to court records.
City police said Jeremy Battle, 30, of South Market Street, was nearly shot two more times as he fled through the rear yard and climbed over a fence six feet high while being chased by the homeowner.
Battle was found by police at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital where he was being treated for the gunshot injury.
According to the criminal complaint obtained Monday:
Police responded to the Church Street home just before 10 p.m. for gunfire.
Those inside the home told police a man, identified as Battle, not known to them entered the rear kitchen door and asked to by a bottle of liquor. One person inside the home was cooking in the kitchen when Battle entered the residence.
When those inside the kitchen told Battle to get out, he pulled a pistol from his waistband and aimed it at a person in the kitchen.
Another person inside the house grabbed Battle’s arm to disarm him that initiated a struggle.
Police said a person inside the house fired a round from a .45-caliber pistol striking Battle in the leg.
Battle fled the home and ran through the rear yard and climbed over the fence. Two shots were fired at Battle as he fled the property.
Police said Battle was given a ride to General Hospital by Mariena Uravage.
Uravage told police she had only known Battle for two days and were having intimate relations for extended periods of time. She claimed Battle instructed her to drive to the area of Church Street where he exited her vehicle, the complaint says.
Uravage did not know why Battle needed a ride to Church Street but when he returned to her vehicle, Battle allegedly told her he had been shot and to drive him to a hospital.
Battle gave several versions of what happened, including he was “set up” by a woman who told him where he can buy a bottle of liquor, the complaint says.
Battle was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, criminal trespass and illegal possession of a firearm.
A failed carjacking in South San Francisco ended early Sunday with the suspect dead after an off-duty police officer was stabbed, then shot the suspect, who then stole a police car and led police on a chase before being shot again after ramming a police car and wielding a knife at officers, police said.
The suspect died in a medical center parking lot, according to Sgt. Ken Chetcuti of the South San Francisco Police Department. The off-duty San Francisco officer and the carjacking victim were hospitalized and are expected to recover. South San Francisco and Daly City police and the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the incident, including the officer-involved shootings.
The incident began at about 5:35 a.m. Sunday when police responded to calls reporting a fight outside a gas station at 110 Hickey Blvd. in South San Francisco, Chetcuti said. Officers found two men fighting after one had allegedly attempted to carjack his car and another.
The Lies the Gun Control Industry Tells
65 of 108 (the real number) are suicides, 1 are unintentional, 1 are undetermined, 2 are police shootings. 39 are actual homicides, 80% of which are gang related. I’m no mathematician but looks to me like we have a suicide and gang issue, not a gun issue. https://t.co/3pX8fdX4uH https://t.co/wln86OkM9q
— Colion Noir (@MrColionNoir) June 8, 2019
By Will
Gun control might not be an oft-discussed topic recently, but I think that it is an important one. Why? Because the gun control lobby is lying to us. Still. Like with other “pandemics,” such as the topic of the moment, Coronavirus, our friends on the left use fear and very misleading numbers as the basis of their arguments.
Rather than objectively looking at the evidence, they cherry-pick data and then misuse or misrepresent it. The most distorted among these are gang violence and suicides.
Gang Violence
“Gun violence,” as it’s currently known, is a problem in America. I completely agree with that and think that there are potential solutions to it. However, law-abiding gun owners are overwhelmingly responsible individuals. Aside from an insignificant minority, they don’t commit crimes.
On the other hand, gun-related gang violence is a massive problem in America. Those (illegal) gun owners frequently use firearms to commit crimes. Those gang-related shootings, homicides, and other forms of violence show up in the general gun violence data. In response, many on both the left and the right propose gun control as a response.
But gun control won’t work. It’s only relevant to the law-abiding gun owners. The ones who don’t use their weapons to commit crimes. Gang members, on the other hand, don’t care about the law. They’re criminals. So it doesn’t matter to them that certain types and classes of weapons are made illegal. They’re breaking the law anyway.
Gun violence — crimes involving the use of firearms — could be limited by focusing on reducing gang membership. Education and policing reforms could be very effective at cutting down the number of gangs, and gang members in America. Then we would certainly see a drop in gun violence.
As the tweet at the top shows, many homicides are gang-related killings. So are many so-called “mass shootings.” While those incidents are tragic, including gang-related gun crimes with more traditional mass shootings and homicides is misleading.
Because most homicides are gang-related, gun control will be ineffective at cutting the homicide rate, and the only ones who think otherwise are people who don’t understand that the gun control lobby is lying to them. Instead, these laws will only punish law-abiding gun owners. That shouldn’t happen; the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding gun owners should be respected.
Suicide
Suicide is a horrible tragedy. I firmly believe that societies should do every reasonable thing that it can to cut down the suicide rate around the world. But gun control is not a rational response to suicide.
Most people who commit suicide are people who technically should be allowed to own a firearm. Although they are often depressed, they have done nothing wrong. It would be a gross violation of civil liberties to prohibit the sale of firearms to anyone who seems depressed. Not only would that be ineffective, it, like all gun control attempts, would punish the innocent along with the guilty.
Furthermore, it is not the role of government to get involved in the lives of law-abiding citizens. That is a cure worse than the disease because of how much it would limit individual liberty and our right to privacy.
Controlling the availability of firearms to law-abiding citizens is morally wrong and would most likely have a limited effect on suicide rates.
So, what can be done? The mental health system should be reformed. Concerned friends and family members should be able to report people who they think are struggling so that those people can be checked out.
Having a professional work with those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts could be effective, but the patient and doctor have to be connected. Setting up a report line and allowing concerned friends and family to submit names could be a great way to connect patients and doctors.
Additionally, those involved with treating patients who have suicidal tendencies should rely on more personal care and fewer pills. Medicines have their place. But many psychoactive drugs have dangerous and unpredictable side effects on the mental health of those taking them.
These are powerful tools, but can also be quite dangerous. Doctors and psychiatrists should work with their patients in person to help them through their problems rather than relying on pills.
Suicide is a complex problem. I don’t have all the answers; I probably don’t have any good answers or solutions. But what I do know is that gun control won’t work and that when people say it will, they only think that because the gun control lobby is lying to them.
As with gangs, those who want a gun will always be able to get one. We should focus on patient care, not restricting individual rights for society as a whole.
Conclusion
Suicide and gang violence are complex topics. They are also responsible for the overwhelming majority of firearm-related homicides. Too many people die from such “gun violence.” That is an issue that needs to be addressed in a variety of ways.
But gun control will not fix either problem, and restricting law-abiding citizens’ access to firearms is both unconstitutional and immoral. Gang members will always be able to get weapons. Those who really want to commit suicide will find a way to do so.
However, if more gun control is put in place to try and fix those issues, then everyone will be punished. That makes it not only an ineffective policy, but also an immoral one that will lead to the deaths of innocents.
We need to be on the lookout for these attacks by an emotional, reactionary minority on our Second Amendment rights. Gun control laws have proven to be ineffective time and again. To pretend otherwise is both dishonest and dangerous.
The gun control lobby is lying to us. It wants us to believe not only that gun violence rampant in America (it’s not), but also that gun control is an effective solution to the violence we do have. Don’t listen to the braying gun control crowd. Their ideas don’t work. They will only restrain your freedom and your liberty.
Not all that long ago, I speculated that if the bug got loose in other nursing homes, we’d see results like this.
Coronavirus infections continue to rise at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home; 32 dead
The number of veterans living at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home who have tested positive for the coronavirus continues to increase while one additional resident has died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
A dozen additional veterans have now tested positive, meaning more than half the residents at the state-run home for the elderly and infirm have contracted the virus, officials for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services said.
Currently 32 veterans have died from COVID-19 and 88 have contracted the virus. Six other residents have died of other causes since the first veteran tested positive from COVID-19 on March 21. When the virus was first detected there were about 210 residents at the home.
Staff at the Soldiers’ Home has recently partnered with Holyoke Medical Center and Baystate Health to improve testing and is now getting results within 24 hours, officials said.
Tests of all employees show 78 have contracted the disease while 222 employees have tested negative, officials said.
Intruder shot and killed by homeowner in Fredericksburg
GILLESPIE COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A 19-year-old man was shot and killed after he broke in to a Fredericksburg house early Saturday morning, according to the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office.
The homeowner, a 73-year-old man, told police he woke up to a “loud banging noise” outside of his home near the back patio around 12:45 a.m. Saturday.
When he went to check, the man saw Cleto Neri Solorzano, 19, of Fredericksburg on the back porch. Solorzano began attacking the man, pushing him into the home and hitting him with a blunt object. Police report Solorzano put the man into a chokehold causing him to lose consciousness.
The man’s fiancee’ told police she woke up during the fight and asked Solorzano to stop attacking, but he ignored her. According to GCSO, she got a handgun from the bedroom and fired a warning shot out the patio door, but Solorzano continued to attack the man.
Fearing for her safety and seeing her fiance’ unconscious, she fired another shot, hitting Solorzano in the head. The man called 9-1-1 after he regained consciousness, police say.
Solorzano was taken to Hill Country Memorial Hospital, and later to University Hospital in San Antonio. He died from his injury, according to police.
GCSO is investigating and believe that drug use was involved.
Antis Talk ‘Gun Safety’ During Pandemic, NRA Teaches It Online
Even before the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic panic, when people began rushing to gun stores—many for the first time—gun prohibition lobbying groups have been preaching against allowing such businesses to operate, and against buying firearms, while the National Rifle Association has taken a different, and decidedly proactive approach.
This NRA email says it all: “In response to the growing number of first-time gun buyers during the coronavirus outbreak, the National Rifle Association’s Education & Training Division is pleased to announce the launch of four new online gun safety courses.”
According to the NRA message, the courses include:
- Gun Safety Seminar
- NRA Basic Pistol Shooting Course – Distance Learning
- NRA Basic Rifle Shooting Course – Distance Learning
- NRA Basic Personal Protection In The Home Course – Distance Learning
Each course, lasting from one to eight hours, is available at NRAInstructors.org.
In a recent statement, Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, welcomed all the new gun owners to the shooting fraternity.
“We encourage all new gun owners to seek competent training,” Gottlieb said. “Learn to handle your new firearms safely, and remember it’s up to all of you to protect your rights. It’s sad and at the same time uplifting that so many Americans will no longer be fence-sitters. They’re joining the ranks of gun owners and will soon understand, if they don’t already, why so many of their friends, neighbors and even family members have remained so zealous in their efforts to protect the rights you now hope to exercise and enjoy.”
Likewise, Joe DeBergalis, executive director of NRA General Operations, says in the NRA email, “The NRA recommends that all new gun owners seek professional training at the range, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a head start on learning the basics of firearm safety at home. New gun owners, old gun owners, it doesn’t really matter. Taking one of these classes moderated by a certified NRA instructor can only make you safer, and that’s our primary goal.”
“These courses will provide an option for first-time gun owners who don’t have the ability to take an NRA certified instructor-led class at their local shooting range at this time,” DeBergalis, continued. “While there is no replacement for in-person, instructor-led training, our new online classes do provide the basics of firearm safety training for those self-isolating at home.”
By contrast, the Michael Bloomberg-supported Everytown for Gun Safety lobbying group has been urging people to pressure the Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security to reverse course and declare gun stores “non-essential.” This, even after admitting in an email blast, “It has been reported that gun sales have been going way up…A flood of guns at this precarious moment compounds the risks of death and serious injury during this incredibly stressful time.”
But the NRA is doing something about that, and CCRKBA has counseled all of these new gun owners to take advantage of available safety training.
Second Amendment activists have frequently argued “If you’re not teaching gun safety, you’ve got no business preaching about gun safety.” Translation: Firearms instructors provide genuine gun safety training, while so-called “gun safety” organizations are gun prohibition lobbying groups in disguise.
There is a considerable difference between just telling people to lock up their firearms and support a ban on so-called “assault weapons,” and actually providing competent instruction on the safe handling of firearms, whether they are handguns, shotguns or semi-auto modern sporting rifles.
It is important for new gun owners to be able to tell the difference between the two.
Roman Authorities Investigating Jesus For Violating Stay-In-Tomb Order
JERUSALEM—Roman authorities are investigating controversial religious leader Jesus of Nazareth for violating the Empire’s clear “stay in tomb” order. After crucifying him and laying him in the tomb, Roman guards put Him under strict orders to stay there and not come back, rising victorious over sin and death.
But Jesus, answering to a higher authority, refused to stay dead and busted out of the tomb, establishing a kingdom that would never end — again, in clear violation of the government’s orders.
“Jesus is a dangerous rebel, refusing to bend the knee to Caesar and not abiding by the law of sin and death,” said one Roman official. “He clearly broke the law by leaving the tomb, and we’re going to be issuing a citation and placing him under mandatory quarantine for these crimes.”
After coming into contact with many large groups over the course of approximately 40 days, Jesus ascended into heaven and is currently thought to be reigning on high.
Authorities are also investigating Him for planning to gather with a large multitude of every tribe, tongue, and nation. He says he currently has no plans to obey any earthly king on the matter, pressing ahead with the gathering of those who believe He died and rose again and trust Him alone for their salvation.
Today, April 11:
1783, General George Washington for the Americans, and General Guy Carleton for the British issue orders for ‘all acts of hostility’ to cease between their forces, effectively ending the American Revolutionary War
1970, Apollo 13 blasts off from Cape Kennedy.
Buckeye homeowner shoots intruder breaking into his house
BUCKEYE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) says a man shot an intruder he caught breaking into his house. This happened Thursday afternoon at a home near Palo Verde and Buckeye roads.
MCSO says the homeowner shot and injured another man who was allegedly breaking into the home. The suspect was transported to the hospital. His current condition is not known.
Detectives are continuing to investigate what happened.
This has got to be feeling just like a big fat burr under the saddle
Bloomberg to Gun Culture: “Help Me!”
Thank you, Michael Bloomberg, for finally admitting that gun owners are correct.
Oh, I’m certain that he didn’t mean to do it; after all, the non-opinion piece titled You Just Panic-Bought a Gun. Here’s How to Handle It Safely was written by Alain Stephens, not Bloomberg himself, but as it was published in Bloomberg’s anti-gun organ The Trace on March 20th, and as Bloomberg is its owner and publisher, that means he owns, in every sense of the word, what it says.
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| https://www.thetrace.org/2020/03/you-just-panic-bought-a-gun-coronavirus-safety/ |
I imagine that galls Bloomberg terribly, since he has told us for nearly two decades that no one needs a gun. Now, despite his best efforts, his anti-gun magazine is acknowledging the awkward truth that people want guns to protect themselves and their families in a crisis where the police may be late to arrive (if in fact they arrive at all, given how many city police departs are stretched to the breaking point with many officers out sick) and so in acknowledgement of that fact, The Trace is reluctantly giving these new gun owners advice on how to safely handle their new firearm.
The irony of this situation is that neither The Trace, nor any other anti-gun organization, nor even Michael Bloomberg himself has experience in this regard. His position has always been abstinence-only when it comes to firearm education, and like an abstinence-only parent who discovers that his child is having premarital sex, his choices have become “Ignore the situation and hope it goes away” and “Accept reality and seek advice from a professional.” As ignoring the situation almost always leads to unfortunate consequences like unplanned teenage pregnancies or negligent discharges which result in injury or death, Bloomberg, has decided – most likely unintentionally, and almost assuredly to his great gall – to take the mature course of action and seek the advice of experts.
Unfortunately for Bloomberg, those experts whose advice he has sought are precisely those people whom he and his various anti-gun organizations (Everytown, Moms Demand Action, March for our Lives, et al.) have vilified. After the article’s obligatory references to “numerous studies” about the inherent dangers of gun ownership, the first given piece of firearms safety advice are the Four Rules of Gun Safety:
- Treat all guns as if they are loaded.
- Never let the muzzle of the firearm point at anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Don’t place your finger near the trigger until you are ready to fire.
- Always identify your target – and what lies in front of and behind it.
Accompanying these rules are a link to the blog of Springfield Armory, a manufacturer of semi-automatic weapons including the much-maligned AR-15 rifle, a firearm which Bloomberg would dearly love to make illegal.
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| https://blog.springfield-armory.com/four-cardinal-rules-for-handgun-owners-what-you-need-to-know |
What’s more, in that same blog post Springfield Armory is quoting Colonel Jeff Cooper, the man who not only created the Four Rules but was also a member of the Board of Directors for the National Rifle Association. Yes, you read that correctly: an article in Bloomberg’s anti-gun The Trace just went to the NRA for help. Isn’t it curious that, after years of calling the NRA and its members awful people who value guns over safety, the very first piece of firearm safety instruction comes from the NRA? Thank you, Michael Bloomberg, for admitting that the NRA actually teaches firearm safety.
Oh, but the hits don’t stop there. Not only is there a link to an instructional YouTube video titled How to Use an AR-15 by Lucky Gunner (the ammunition drop-shipping company which was sued by the Brady Campaign after the Aurora, CO shooting), there are also links to other YouTube videos made by the Tactical Rifleman and Legally Armed America channels. Thank you, Michael Bloomberg, for endorsing the instructional content of YouTube gun channels.
This whole article has been a parade of amazement, but the part of it which left me most amazed was that its paragraph on safe storage did not take the opportunity to state that firearms and their ammunition must be stored separately. I don’t know how this tacit admission that it’s a terrible idea to keep your self-defense firearm locked up separately from the ammunition needed to operate it ever made it past the editors, but it did, and I find myself worrying about the future career prospects of The Trace’s editor-in-chief.
Unfortunately this article, and therefore Michael Bloomberg, never actually took that final step of admitting that in a self-defense situation the time needed to retrieve ammunition kept separately from a firearm can result in the death of innocents, but given all of the other admissions in this article I’ll gladly forgive this oversight. I will also take this opportunity to state for the record that if your self-defense weapon is a pistol kept properly holstered on your body, not only can you keep it loaded and ready to deploy to defend yourself or loved ones, but you are also keeping it safe and out of the hands of your children, thereby negating the need to lock it up during the day.
Thank you, Michael Bloomberg, for admitting that guns keep us safe, that citizens can responsibly own the AR-15, that firearm education is necessary, and that gun owners were right all along. Now it is up to you to decide if you wish to keep to this new philosophy or revert back to your abstinence-only worldview once this crisis has passed. As you do so, please keep in mind that many new gun owners will be doing the same, and now that they have skin in this particular political game they may no longer be as receptive to your old views as they once were. Bear that in mind, lest you alienate a now-growing segment of your readership.
Too bad. So sad…..not
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York closing centers, laying off staff
NEW YORK — Planned Parenthood of Greater New York has begun laying off and furloughing employees and will temporarily close a dozen of its health centers, citing a strain on resources posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The organization — which formed in January through the merger of five Planned Parenthood affiliates, including the Mohawk Hudson affiliate in the Capital Region — began terminating and furloughing staff on Monday, according to emails obtained by the Times Union. Staff will be reduced by about 28 percent across all departments, either through permanent termination, or through furloughs and reduced hours through June 30.
The temporary closure of health centers will leave some communities, such as Rome and Oneida in Central New York, with no nearby options for sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing or abortion services, according to staff at those centers.
One of President Donald Trump’s top medical advisers slashed projections for U.S. coronavirus deaths on Thursday, saying that only about 60,000 people may die — almost half as many as the White House estimated a week ago.
The falling projection, the result of aggressive social distancing behaviors Americans adopted to curb the spread of the virus, may accelerate Trump’s effort to develop a plan to urge Americans to leave their homes and return to work next month.
“The real data are telling us it is highly likely we are having a definite positive effect by the mitigation things that we’re doing, this physical separation,” Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC in an interview.
“I believe we are going to see a downturn in that, and it looks more like the 60,000, than the 100,000 to 200,000” projected fatalities, he said. “But having said that, we better be careful that we don’t say: ‘OK, we’re doing so well we could pull back.’”
Birx Projections
Deborah Birx, the State Department immunologist advising the White House’s coronavirus task force, projected March 31 that as many as 240,000 Americans could die as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, even with another 30 days of stringent public health restrictions.
That analysis caused Trump to retreat from ambitions to urge Americans back to work by Easter. But as the outbreak has appeared to plateau in New York, the U.S. epicenter, Trump’s aides have begun initial planning to urge a re-opening in May.
Well, if a homeowner called the police to report shooting s burglar, I’d expect the police to find a man with a gunshot wound.
Homeowner shoots, wounds suspected intruder in Phoenix
PHOENIX — A homeowner in Phoenix shot and wounded a suspected intruder early Wednesday, police said.
The shooting occurred near 17th Avenue and Union Hills Drive around 3:45 a.m.
Phoenix police officers responded to a call of a burglary and found a man with a gunshot wound.
The suspect was taken to a local hospital in serious condition.
His wounds are not life-threatening, according to police.
Why Owning A Gun Is A Completely Rational Insurance Policy Against Danger
Owning a gun is like keeping a spare tire in your trunk, a first aid kit at home, or an emergency savings account. We hope never to use them, but we’re glad we have them.
The social and economic uncertainty surrounding the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic has Americans understandably concerned about their personal safety. In March 2020, the FBI reported the highest monthly number of firearms background checks ever recorded: 3,740,688. Compared to March of the previous year, Americans bought 1.1 million more guns in a single month. Ammunition is also flying off the shelves, with sales in some states increasing more than 4,000 percent.
Many recent first gun-buyers are people who were previously either ambivalent or even opposed to gun ownership. Several such people have reached out to me with questions about which gun they should buy. Many fellow firearms instructors report the same experience.
It’s easy to see why Americans are worried. While we live in a generally high-trust society, catastrophes can easily disrupt the delicate social order on which that trust depends. As it is sometimes said, we are all only nine meals away from anarchy.
Desperate people do desperate things. Economic goods are human goods, and while the current lockdowns are necessary to contain the pandemic, they carry real human costs. Many of these costs — joblessness, homelessness, mental health issues, and drug abuse — lend themselves easily to criminal behavior.
Always Be Prepared
Am I saying society is on the brink of collapse? No, we are far from an apocalypse. The point is simply that the world is and has always been a risky place, so it makes perfect sense to be proactive and prepared. When things are peaceful and prosperous, we often don’t pay attention to danger because things are going so well. But in times of great social and economic stress, we are more attuned to things that might go wrong.
Having a disaster plan isn’t as foreign as some might think. We routinely make decisions aimed at mitigating risks. We purchase insurance, maintain emergency savings, and get flu shots. We keep spare tires, jumper cables, flashlights, and fire extinguishers handy, and buy extra supplies just in case we might need them.
Unless you happen to be naively optimistic, you’re already a “prepper.” Even if you’re relatively “lucky,” you can bet something catastrophic will eventually befall you sometime in your life. Better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.
Prepping for improbable events isn’t necessarily irrational; it is often wise. Consider this: In 2017, more than 2.7 million people were injured in 6.4 million car crashes. With 327 million people in the United States, this means the baseline probability of you getting injured in a car accident each year is slightly over 0.8 percent.
Now, a 0.8 percent chance might be perceived as pretty good odds. After all, that’s a 99.2 percent chance you won’t be injured. But .8 percent of 327 million still comes out to 2.7 million people each year, which is no small number. Are you willing to bet you’ll never be one of those unlucky few? Probably not.
Although your chances of getting into an accident are small, consider what you stand to lose if you do get injured. Making preparations, such as buying insurance or carrying road flares, isn’t irrational, despite statistical improbability.
The Odds of Violent Crime Are Higher than You Think
With that point in mind, let’s look at the odds of violent criminal victimization. In 2018, 3.3 million people ages 12 and older were victimized in 6 million violent crimes. There were 23.2 violent victimizations per 1,000 U.S. residents ages 12 and older, meaning 2.3 percent of Americans 12 and older were victims of violent crime in 2018. This is much greater than the baseline odds of injury from motor vehicle accidents, for which preparation is rational.
If you have a 1-in-50 baseline chance of being violently victimized each year, wouldn’t it be rational to take prudent measures to protect yourself? I think so.
That is exactly why millions of ordinary Americans own guns. Firearms are extremely effective in preventing injury and do not require a great deal of effort to use and keep around. Guns are a perfectly reasonable, cost-effective, safe, and convenient form of risk mitigation.
Owning a gun is like keeping a spare tire in your trunk, a first aid kit at home, or an emergency savings account. We hope never to use them, but we’re glad we have them. None of this indicates paranoia. Carrying a gun is similar to carrying insurance, except it’s better: You actually get to collect the benefits without having to incur serious harm.
Insurance against national catastrophe makes pretty good sense when you consider the past few hundred years of failed states, civil wars, and less-than-ideal regimes. Among other things, the track record of state-sanctioned citizen slaughter, vigilante violence, and racial conflict shows that when societies do go bad, they tend to go extremely bad. Think of the hundreds of sovereign nations that no longer exist due to war and internal strife.
Police, of course, serve a valuable public function. But most police responses come after crimes have already been committed. Less than half of all personal crimes are even reported to police. Moreover, in times of crisis, police are stretched thin. At the time of writing this, 17 percent of the New York Police Department is out sick, and many police departments are not performing arrests or even responding to “minor” crimes.
All this highlights the need to be self-reliant. Ultimately, we are our own last line of defense. We may delegate some of our protection to civil authorities, but the natural right to protect ourselves is inseparable from our humanity.
Gun Owners Aren’t Paranoid, They’re Smart
Some people believe you’re more likely to harm yourself or someone else with a gun than to use it in self-defense, but that isn’t the case. The findings of more than 19 surveys specifically designed to measure the number of defensive gun uses all confirm that defensive uses are vastly more common than criminal uses. A small sampling of these can be viewed on the Active Self-Protection YouTube channel, which has collected several hundred video clips of successful civilian self-defense encounters.
The often-heard charge that gun owners are paranoid and fearful is just naive psychoanalysis unsupported by credible research. Indeed, a recent study has found that gun owners report lower levels of fear and victimization than those who don’t own guns. If anything, there is a lot of irrational fear directed toward firearms as inanimate objects, something famed firearms instructor Jeff Cooper calls “hoplophobia.”
To all the new gun owners out there: Welcome to the Second Amendment community. We’re glad you’ve decided to take the protection of yourself and your loved ones seriously. Get training, be responsible, and be prepared.
So, gun-grabbers lie. Like it’s not in their DNA or something?
Idris Abdus-Salaam.
Not to be light about it, but anyone not make a guess on motive?
3 victims, suspect identified in stabbing at Pilot
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating a stabbing and an officer involved shooting incident after Knoxville gas station employees and a suspect were killed Tuesday morning.
TBI identified the three deceased victims as 57-year-old Joyce Whaley, 51-year-old Patricia Denise Nibbe and 41-year-old Nettie R. Spencer. The deceased suspect was identified as 33-year-old Idris Abdus-Salaam, a North Carolina truck driver,
Three Pilot employees are dead and one customer injured after a stabbing and an officer-involved shooting at an East Knox County Pilot truck stop.
According to the TBI, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office received a report of the incident at the Strawberry Plains Pike location around 7 am on Tuesday. Upon arrival officers observed at least one person with stab wounds and a man identified by witnesses as the suspect armed with a knife in the Pilot parking lot.
According to officials, officers confronted the suspect and when he refused to drop the weapon, one of the officers fired shots, striking the man. …
Four female victims were stabbed, the three employees were pronounced dead at the scene and the fourth who was a customer was transported to a local hospital. The status of her condition is unknown.
Pilot CEO Jimmy Haslam released a statement regarding the incident.
Today is a difficult day for the Pilot Company family. We are devastated to confirm the loss of three team members and the injury of a guest after an act of violence at our Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, location this morning. It is with heavy hearts that we extend our deepest sympathy to the families and loved ones of the victims. We are providing support and counseling to the families and our team. We are working closely with local authorities. Please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers.”
Just because this new bug has lots of attention being paid to it, doesn’t mean that everything else simply stopped in place.
AFRICOM kills senior terrorist leader in Somalia as airstrikes intensify
STUTTGART, Germany — A senior al-Shabab leader who played a key role in plotting deadly attacks throughout East Africa has been killed in an airstrike in Somalia, U.S. Africa Command said Tuesday.
Yusuf Jiis was one of three al-Shabab members killed in the April 2 airstrike, AFRICOM said. The strike was one of a flurry of attacks in Somalia in recent days.
Jiis was “violent, ruthless, and responsible for the loss of many innocent lives,” AFRICOM commander Gen. Stephen Townsend said in a statement. “His removal makes Somalia and neighboring countries safer.”
AFRICOM has launched six airstrikes in Somalia since April 2, including one on Monday in which five terrorists were killed, it said.
AFRICOM said no civilians were killed in Monday’s strike on Jilib, around 230 miles south of the capital, Mogadishu, but it is investigating reports that allege there were civilian casualties.
“As with any allegation of civilian casualties U.S. Africa Command receives and reviews any information it has about the incident, including any relevant information provided by third parties,” it said.
AFRICOM announced last week that it will begin issuing quarterly reports on the outcomes of its investigations into civilian casualty claims as a way to boost transparency.