Not the ‘baddest part of town’ by any means.

Man in serious condition after Springfield resident shoots intruder

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Springfield Police are investigating an overnight shooting in the 1100 block of North Missouri.

The Springfield Police Department tells us the shooting happened Saturday night as one person tried to break into the shooter’s home.

One of the residents fired a warning shot and the intruder continued, so a second resident shot him.

Police say after the shooting, both residents fled the home.

One of them returned home, saying they dropped the other off near Atlantic and Broadway. Police are still looking for that person.

The suspected intruder is in serious condition, and police have not released any names.

Pictured: Syrian-Born College Student, 20, Who Was Shot Dead as He Carried Out ‘Terrorist-Related’ Attack at Texas Naval Base and Had ‘Previously Voiced Support on Social Media for Hardline Islamic Clerics’

This undated handout photo provided by Del Mar College, Texas, shows Adam Alsahli's image for his student identification card. Alsahli, 20, is the suspect killed in an attack at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas

 

This undated handout photo provided by Del Mar College, Texas, shows Adam Alsahli’s image for his student identification card. Alsahli, 20, is the suspect killed in an attack at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas

The suspect who was shot dead as he carried out Thursday’s ‘terrorism-related’ attack on a Texas naval air base has been identified by the FBI as a 20-year-old Syrian-born college student.

According to investigators, Adam Salim Alsahli opened fire at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in an attack that wounded one sailor, a member of the base security force, but no one other than the assailant was killed.

A group that monitors online activity of jihadists has since claimed that Alsahli voiced support for hardline Islamic clerics on social media prior to the thwarted attack.

APPEARS TO BE SELF-DEFENSE, SAYS EPD, ABOUT THIS MORNING’S SHOOTING DEATH

Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On May 22nd 2020, at approximately 2:40 a.m., officers from the Eureka Police Department were dispatched to the 1300 block of West Avenue on a report of multiple subjects involved in an altercation.

During the altercation, an occupant of a nearby residence confronted the subjects from his porch and advised them to leave the area. The subjects then confronted the resident and became hostile toward him and entered onto his property.

The resident attempted to use pepper spray to deter the subjects, with no success, as he entered back into his home. At least one subject entered the residence and attempted to assault the resident.

During the altercation inside the home, the resident fired multiple shots from a handgun, which he had retrieved from inside the residence, striking the subject who was assaulting him. This subject was pronounced deceased at the scene.

A second subject, who was on the porch, was struck in the leg by gunfire. This subject was transported to St. Joseph Hospital for treatment. This injury is believed to be non-life-threatening. Officers were able to locate and detain everyone who was involved at the scene, including the shooter. The individuals involved in this incident were unknown to one another.

EPD Detectives responded to the scene, along with Evidence Technicians, and took over the investigation, which is still ongoing.

At this point in the investigation, Detectives have completed their interviews with everyone who was on scene and involved. After completing the interviews and upon initial review of the evidence at the scene, the shooting appears to have been done in self-defense. The Lead Detectives have conferred with the District Attorney’s Office and based on the investigation no arrest will be made at this time. The completed report will be forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for review.

First-Time Gun Buyers Explain How Coronavirus Changed Their Politics

Scott Kane went 38 years without ever touching a gun. That streak would have continued had it not been for the coronavirus. In March, fearful of the harassment his wife and child experienced over their Asian ancestry, Kane found himself in a California gun shop. His March 11 purchase of a 9mm would have been the end of the story, were it not for a political standoff over shutdown orders and background checks. Now Kane, a former supporter of gun-control measures and AR-15 bans, is frustrated by the arduous process that has denied his family a sense of security. The pandemic has made the soft-spoken software engineer an unlikely Second Amendment supporter.

“This has taken me, a law-abiding citizen with nary an unpaid parking ticket to my name, over a month,” he told the Washington Free Beacon. “Meanwhile Joe Bad Guy has probably purchased several fully automatic AK-47s out of the back of an El Camino in a shady part of town with zero background checks.”

Receipts reviewed by the Free Beacon show Kane first purchased a firearm on March 11 from Sportsman’s Warehouse in Milpitas, Calif. Santa Clara County shut down the shop before Kane’s 10-day waiting period was complete. No end date was given for the order, but a California law giving buyers just 30 days to pick up a gun remained in effect. Kane was stuck in a legal limbo that only grew worse.

Unable to do business, the store went belly-up in May. Kane had no way to pick up his gun. He started the process over again at another store in a neighboring county. He returned home with a Springfield XD 9mm and a biometric safe on April 29, 50 days after he first passed a background check and paid for a gun.

“I’m seriously thinking of running for office or something,” Kane said. “This state’s gun laws are insane.”

Kane is not alone. An influx of new gun owners has the potential to permanently alter the politics surrounding guns in the United States. If industry estimates are correct, millions of Americans across the country have become first-time gun buyers since March. If the experience changes their minds about the ongoing debate over gun control it could tip the balance of political power toward pro-gun activists and politicians.

It is not that the new buyers were unaware of the politics of gun control. Several new gun owners who spoke to the Free Beacon—some of whom requested anonymity citing safety concerns—generally leaned toward enhanced restrictions, their positions informed mostly by major news stories. But as they have become more personally invested in the debate, they find themselves more skeptical of gun control. Brian, a 40-year-old Floridian, used his savings to buy a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield in March after being laid off—the experience changed his entire approach to Second Amendment issues.

“In the past, I wasn’t against owning a gun. However, I did think that we had suffered enough as a country from school shootings, and something needed to be done. I was for stricter gun laws—no ARs, close the gun-show loophole, better mental health regulations, etc.,” he said. “I would now oppose stricter gun laws.”

While all of the first-time buyers who spoke to the Free Beacon cited safety concerns stemming from the pandemic as their top reason for buying a gun, some said the politics of the moment played a significant role in their decision. But they held differing and even opposing viewpoints on which politicians concerned them the most—suggesting the group of new owners represents a fairly diverse political spectrum.

Aaron Eaton, a former Army MP and current sewer company technician in Alabama, said the increasingly hostile stance many in the Democratic Party have taken toward gun ownership helped push him to make his first purchase.

“I figured now’s the time to buy before, God help us, a Democrat becomes president again,” he said. “Then I would probably never get that chance again. The only view that has changed, and solely because I got into politics because of Donald Trump, is [what I think of] the stance Democrats have regarding guns. I do not find it funny how Democrats are trying to interpret the Second Amendment.”

Andrew, a federal contractor who, along with his wife, bought a Heckler & Koch VP9 on March 21 in Virginia, said the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature pursuing a package of gun-control laws this winter in the face of unprecedented opposition directly contributed to his purchase. He said he and his wife are currently considering buying a number of other firearms they worry state Democrats will try to ban—or even confiscate—in the next legislative session despite those bills being defeated in the last session.

“These are just the first two purchases—sidearms—and when things settle down, we’ll likely get into long guns too,” he said. “We know we want a shotgun and an AR (or similar) platform before the progressives in the Virginia legislature ultimately prevail (as I expect they ultimately will) in tightening up regulations on ownership.”

Kane, on the other hand, said his gun-buying ordeal hasn’t moved him closer to supporting the president but has moved him to consider the California Republican Party—perhaps even as a candidate.

Brian from Florida said he was concerned less about the gun debate and more about President Trump’s competence in handling the coronavirus outbreak. “I’m just concerned, as is my wife, about what the future holds,” he said.

For others, the coronavirus has not changed their views on gun control or either political party. Instead, it pushed them to make a purchase earlier than they otherwise would have or act on pro-gun views they’d already held. Jake Wilhelm, an environmental consultant in Virginia, said he had “always been a staunch 2A supporter.”

Mathew Rosky, a North Carolinian who bought a shotgun for himself and another for his wife last month, said he believes what he always has.

“I’m generally conservative and believe the Second Amendment is clear,” he said. “If you are a citizen that is not a criminal/prohibited by law or has not been adjudicated a danger to yourself or others you should be able to own a gun if you want to.”

Still, for those who have experienced a political change of heart, the effect has been dramatic. Kane fired the first shots with his Springfield XD 9mm on May 15.

“Now I’m 100 percent converted,” he said.

He’s already begun recruiting others.

“I got one of my Asian-American friends to take the NRA basic pistol class with me,” Kane said. “Signed my wife up too for a later session so we can tag-team it. Never thought I’d be that guy taking his clueless-about-guns buddy to the gun store.”

After firing his first shots, Kane bought two more guns—a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver and a California-legal model of the AR-15 he used to think should be banned. He’s hoping this time he won’t have to wait more than two months to actually shoot them.

 

Not that we didn’t already know that, but openly admitting it is what’s really interesting.

Canadian Gun-Grabber Admits Disarmament is the Ultimate Goal

U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “The government has finally moved to ban military-style assault rifles. Great. So now let’s go to the next step, a complete and comprehensive ban on the sale and ownership of all handguns,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation opinion writer Tony Keene demands.

It’s not just “military-style assault rifles.” Per The Daily Wire:

“[T]he list of banned guns includes 10- and 12-gauge shotguns — a necessity for hunting in many of Canada’s more remote locales — hunting rifles, a BB gun, and even the website AR15.com.”

“There is no conceivable reason why an ordinary person needs to own a handgun,” Keene asserts. “No reason whatsoever.”

People who have used guns to save their lives and to stop violent criminals would disagree with Tony. So would the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, which concludes:

“Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million, in the context of about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008.”

But don’t bother opinionated Tony with facts. He’s self-evidently the type of prohibitionist zealot described by libertarian novelist L. Neil Smith:

“What kind of moral cripple would rather see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose, than see her with a gun in her hand?”

The kind that demands a totalitarian monopoly of violence. Tony goes on to prove it and which side he’s on.

“Those of us trained in the use of handguns (and I mean properly trained, by the police or the military, not just a weekend course at the local gun club) know that the armed amateur is dangerous,” Tony instructs, making sure to include himself as a former military reservist in the exclusive cadre of armed elites.

It seems Tony “served for more than four decades as a military reservist and took part in, and wrote about, multiple missions in Canada and abroad.” Good for him, he’s a veteran.  So was one of our country’s greatest military heroes, and he’s remembered today as Tony deserves to be for the destruction of liberty he wants to force on his countrymen.

As for “those…properly trained,” they get three tries to qualify with “policing standards”? These are them? That’s it? But Tony obnoxiously dismisses gun owners who put themselves through more demanding exercises on any given weekend as “Citizen Rambos”?

“Likewise, the term ‘shooting yourself in the foot’ is not just a metaphor,” Tony bloviates, oblivious that he has just stepped in a real-world refutation of his ignorant arrogance.  Remember DEA agent Lee Paige, the guy who claimed to be “the only one … professional enough” to carry a gun, and then did just that?

Thanks to this bit of ironic karma, the term “Only Ones,” proven fitting every day by innumerable examples, was born.

We could go on fisking this fanatic, but the rantings of someone who thinks he’s clever for comparing gun owners protective of their rights to “poison gas enthusiasts” aren’t worth the time. We know bigotry is born of ignorance, and Tony proves it yet again with his “suggested scenario” demanding:

  • A total and absolute ban on handgun sales, and on handgun ownership by private citizens. (With long prison terms for violation.)
  • Restriction of long guns to bolt-action rifles and limited-magazine shotguns.
  • Firm enforcement of minimum sentences for possession of any restricted weapon, and even more stringent penalties for anyone committing a crime with a firearm.
  • Exemptions, under strict controls, where subsistence hunting is a way of life.

We owe Tony thanks for making it clear that no, it’s not about “commonsense gun safety,” and yes, his counterparts on our side of the border really are talking about taking our guns. (Speaking of which, I also give him props for “heightened border vigilance,” but still wouldn’t mind seeing woke and triggered Canadian “progressives” attack him as a xenophobe and hater.)

“And no, it won’t take away our freedom or democracy,” Tony disingenuously concludes. “But it will make us safer.”

If by “us” he means his side, the one with the guns, then yeah.

Some will no doubt dismiss this because it’s in Canada and ask why we in the U.S. should care what they do over there. We need to be vigilant to threats as they approach because the goals of their grabbers are the same as ours. And the goals of the globalists who would rule us if we let them are to impose totalitarian disarmament edicts everywhere, in Everytown…

Hobie must have rocked the vote there.

VA Democrat City Councils Flip to GOP in Response to Northam Gun Control

The city councils in Staunton and Waynesboro, Virginia, flipped from Democrat to Republican on Tuesday, as voters rejected Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) gun control agenda.

Bearing Arms reported: “With little fanfare and almost no national attention, Virginians headed to the polls in local elections on Tuesday, and there was a stunning upset in one city that’s been dominated by Democrats in recent elections. Control of the Staunton City Council flipped from blue to red after a surge in turnout among Republican voters.”

CCRKBA, SAF HOSTING FREE ONLINE GRASSROOTS TRAINING SESSIONS

BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the Second Amendment Foundation will co-host a FREE online Grassroots Activism Summit on three consecutive evenings, each timed for a separate U.S. time zone, though users can choose which session they would like to join, on Zoom.

The programs will air Tuesday, May 26 (Eastern), Wednesday, May 27 (Central) and Thursday, May 28 (Pacific). Each session begins at 7 p.m. in the respective time zones. Each program will be live, with recurring material.

This FREE program will feature Glen Caroline, who recently joined CCRKBA and SAF as Director of External Affairs. He spent 29 years at NRA, primarily as NRA’s Managing Director of Grassroots Programs & Campaign Field Operations. Also appearing are SAF founder and CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, and Andrew Gottlieb, SAF Director of Outreach.

The program is titled “Grassroots Activism in the COVID Environment.” The session runs approximately one hour and will discuss steps local activists can take to enhance your defense of the Second Amendment in our current pandemic situation. The sessions are FREE.

Pre-registration is required.

To register for the Tuesday, May 26 evening program, Click Here.

To register for the Wednesday, May 27 evening program, Click Here.

To register for the Thursday, May 28 evening program, Click Here.

“We’re encouraging all Second Amendment activists to sign up, participate and learn new strategies to help us win in the months and years ahead, and make the Second Amendment great again,” Gottlieb said. “We look forward to greeting all of you.”

Homeowner fires shots at 3 suspects attempting to burglarize home in Aiken County, one suspect in custody

AIKEN COUNTY (WFXG) – Aiken County authorities say one man was arrested and two are still wanted after a morning burglary on Cobblestone Rd.

According to authorities, on Thursday, May 21, at 8:30 a.m. deputies responded to 407 Cobblestone Rd. after a homeowner reported he fired shots at three men attempting to break into his home.

Authorities say after they arrived at the scene, the homeowner said while walking his dog, he saw at least two men and two vehicles on his property. The owner said as he approached the suspects, he yelled and fired his weapon at them. The suspects then fled to their vehicles, one of which stalled on Cobblestone Road.

Authorities say the Aiken Bloodhound Tracking Team and additional deputies responded to the area to search for the suspects.

Around 9:52 a.m., the tracking team was able to locate James Franklin Fink Jr, in a swamp near Whispering Pines Rd. Fink was taken to a local hospital and treated for a gunshot wound to his left hand. Fink is currently being held at the Aiken County Detention Center where he will be charged with burglary in the 2nd degree and grand larceny.

Investigators have also identified 32-year-old Alister Keith Wingard and 23-year-old Brandon Lee Hall as additional suspects involved in the investigation.

Investigators have obtained warrants and are searching for Hall and Wingward

Bob, just what in the wide wide world of sports is going on out there?
People just not have it cross their minds to carry a gun while in the wild?
One of the first things I did when I was posted to Ft Lewis was head to the Sheriff’s office in downtown Tacoma and get a CCW so I could carry anytime I was off post.

Cougar Attacks Mountain Bikers Near Seattle, Killing One and Injuring Another

SEATTLE) — The two mountain bikers did what they were supposed to do when they noticed a mountain lion tailing them on a trail east of Seattle.

They got off their bikes. They faced the beast, shouted and tried to spook it. After it charged, one even smacked the cougar with his bike, and it ran off.

It wasn’t enough, authorities said.

As they stood trying to catch their breath, the cougar returned, biting one of them on the head and shaking him, Capt. Alan Myers of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police said Sunday.

The second cyclist ran, and the animal dropped the first victim and pounced on him, killing him and dragging him back to what appeared to be its den.

“They did everything they were supposed to do,” King County sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Abbott said. “But something was wrong with this cougar.”

The attack Saturday near North Bend, in the Cascade Mountain foothills 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Seattle, was the first fatal cougar attack in the state in 94 years. Myers said Sunday that the cougar was underweight — about 100 pounds (45 kilograms), when a typical 3-year-old male in the area would be 140 to 180 pounds (63 to 81 kilograms).

The 31-year-old Seattle man who was bitten first, Isaac Sederbaum, survived. Rescuers flew him to a hospital, where he was in satisfactory condition Sunday, Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.

Myers identified the deceased victim, a 32-year-old Seattle resident, as S.J. Brooks.

After the cougar attacked Brooks, a badly bloodied Sederbaum managed to get on his bike and ride off. He rode for 2 miles (3 kilometers) before he could get a cellphone signal to call 911.

When rescuers arrived, it took about half an hour to find Brooks, who was dead with the cougar on top of him in what appeared to be a den-like area. An officer shot at it, and it ran off. Several hours later, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife agents used dogs to track it to a nearby tree. They shot and killed it.

Authorities plan to match DNA taken from the animal with DNA from the victims to be certain they killed the right cougar. They sent the animal’s carcass to a veterinary lab at Washington State University for a necropsy to determine what might have been wrong with it.

There are an estimated 2,000 cougars in Washington. Until the 1960s, the state paid hunters a bounty for killing them. Now, it allows 250 to be hunted in 50 designated zones.

While they are sometimes known to kill livestock or pets, and though one even found its way into a park in Seattle in 2009, encounters with people in Washington state are rare.

Attacks have become more common as people increasingly encroach on the animals’ territory. In North America, there have been about 25 deadly attacks and 95 nonfatal attacks reported in the past century, but more attacks have been reported in the U.S. West and Canada over the past 20 years than in the previous 80, according to Fish and Wildlife.

Experts say that people encountering the big cats in the wild should stop and pick up small children immediately. Because running and rapid movements can trigger the animal’s prey drive, don’t run. Instead, face the cougar, speak firmly and slowly back away — appearing as large as possible, such as by standing on a rock or stump or opening a sweatshirt or jacket.

Keep your eyes on the animal and become more assertive if it doesn’t back off. And if it does attack, fight back.

“The idea is to convince the cougar that you are not prey, but a potential danger,” Fish and Wildlife advises on its website.

 

Well, that was quick.

Shooting at U.S. Navy base in Texas ‘terrorism related’: FBI

(Reuters) – A shooting at a U.S. Navy base in Corpus Christi, Texas, that wounded a sailor on Thursday was “terrorism related,” an FBI spokeswoman said, adding that the gunman was dead at the scene but investigators were searching for a potential second suspect.

The shooter, who was not identified by law enforcement, opened fire at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi around 6:15 a.m. CDT (1115 GMT), the Navy Office of Information said in a written statement.

“We have determined that the incident this morning at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is terrorism related,” FBI agent Leah Greaves said. “We are working diligently with our state, local and federal partners on this investigation, which is fluid and evolving.”

Greaves said the gunman had been slain at the scene of the shooting, which was still being processed by authorities. A lockdown of the base had been lifted.

“We may have a potential second related person of interest at large in the community, but would encourage the public to remain calm. If you see something, say something,” she said.

Lessons Learned From Col. Jeff Cooper

In Col. Jeff Cooper’s armory, sitting with the legend himself, I suffered a negligent discharge—with words, not bullets.

It was bad enough that I committed a grievous English error, because I had been reading Cooper’s books since the late 60s, riding my Schwinn Varsity a couple of miles from my house to the library in Clovis, Calif. When I bought my first pistol in 1987, it was a Colt 1911 in .45 ACP, just like the colonel carried.

In 1992, working as a TV reporter, I somehow convinced my station to do a story about Gunsite Academy. Bill Jeans, rangemaster at the time, ushered me into the inner sanctum.

Cooper was equally renowned for his precision with language, and he did not tolerate incompetence. In the armory, I asked him about his personal philosophy of self-defense.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. It took almost two agonizing seconds⁠—I timed it because I still have the video⁠—for him to speak.

“I am not sure of that sentence, ‘A personal philosophy…’ What’s an impersonal philosophy?”

At that moment, I felt as tall as a .22 Long Rifle cartridge. But like all hard lessons, it stuck. Words are like ammo. Don’t spray and pray.

I continued to learn from the colonel. I bought a used Tikka Scout, a .308 Win. with a Leupold 2.5X scope in front of the action. In his book, “To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth,” Cooper praises this setup: “This forward mount, properly used and understood, is the fastest sighting arrangement available to the rifleman.”

In 2017, on my friend’s ranch in central California, I went pig hunting with Col. Craig Boddington. I had been reading his articles for years, and I’d also watched him on TV. I didn’t want to screw up in front of him or my friend, Anthony Lombardo, even though Tony is used to it. So, of course, I missed shot after shot.

In the Jeep, I got pretty lonely in the back when the discussion focused on my rifle. There were two skeptics in the front seats who had me outgunned.

Other shooters disagree with the scout concept, or have abandoned the idea, including the veteran hunter who sold me his Tikka. But an unconventional scope mount wasn’t causing me to jerk the trigger. Surprise Break, I heard Cooper whisper. Surprise Break.

Then I saw three pigs. Not trophies, but we were hunting for meat anyway. I picked the largest of the trio. My handload—45.5 grains of Varget under a Nosler 150-grain E-Tip—staggered the big one. Boddington held off until I connected, then joined me with his .270 Winchester as we cleaned up.

“Great shooting, partner!” Boddington is so polite that I think he was just being kind, but I gratefully accepted the compliment.

I also have a forward-mounted scope on a 30-40 Krag that once belonged to my beloved Uncle Harry. Like the Tikka, this rifle isn’t a true Scout. But Col. Cooper shared my admiration for the Krag, and I hope he would approve. When we rescue vintage guns from the back of our safes, we honor the past. The true innovators, such as Jeff Cooper, live on.

My video of the colonel’s interview includes his famous mindset lecture. I shared it with some Gunsite grads. Wyoming’s Ed Cassidy said it best: “I miss him every day.”

The Fire Control Unit X03

Fire Control Unit first started its work with the XO1 PDW conversion for the SIG P320. Being a drop-in enhancement system for the pistol, much like the CAA Micro Conversion Kit. They’re now working on the X03 project by taking the fire control unit of the SIG and dropping it into an AR platform.

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi says active shooter has been ‘neutralized’; all gates remain closed
A shooter at the base’s North Gate early Thursday caused a lockdown

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi officials confirmed to 3News that the base was placed on lockdown Thursday morning due to an active shooter situation at their North Gate.

The shots broke out at around 6:15 a.m., prompting the lockdown of both entrances to the base. By around 7:30 a.m. officials had reported that the shooter was neutralized.

Officials said one security forces member was injured in the shooting. The extent of their injuries is unclear at this time

Unpossible! Westgate Mall is a Gun Free Zone!

SNAPCHAT RAMPAGE Westgate shooting – Gunman, 20, ‘wielding AR-15’ shoots three in Arizona mall attack ‘suspect filmed on Snapchat’

A GUNMAN “wielding an AR-15” shot at least three people at an Arizona mall in an attack that the “suspect filmed on Snapchat” before his arrest.

The alleged shooter has been identified by his mother as 20-year-old Armando Hernandez from Peoria, according to 9News.

She told the outlet that Hernandez is a graduate of Raymon Kellis High School, in Glendale and was in tears when she read social media reports about the incident.

In a chilling Snapchat video, the alleged shooter said: “Hello, my name is Armando Junior Hernandez and I’m gonna be the shooter of Westgate 2020.”

The young man also holds a can of beer up to the camera.

Later in the video, Hernandez is stood in front of a car with a gun on the back seat and said: “Let’s get this done guys.”

The suspect was pictured calmly walking across the parking lot of the center with a weapon.

Video showed terrified shoppers fleeing in panic at the sound of gunfire.

Glendale Police Officer Tiffany Ngalula said shooting was over by the time officers arrived, adding police “challenged the suspect and were able to take that person into custody”.

One person has been hospitalized and is in critical condition, while at least two others are injured, she said.

Police, accompanied by a K-9 unit, locked down the area as they searched for any more victims or suspects.

US Marshals were later seen at the suspects house in Peoria, about four miles north of Glendale.

TWENTY-SEVEN WORDS PROTECT GUN RIGHTS, NOT HUNTING

U.S. Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) joined Everytown for Gun Safety’s vice presidential webinar forum where she trotted out her yarn about gun laws and Uncle Dick in the deer stand.

It’s time we get Uncle Dick down from there. First of all, deer season has been over for months; now, he’s just poaching. Second and most importantly, these gun control laws that politicians banter about have nothing to do with hunting. It’s time to make our elected officials read and understand the U.S. Constitution they swore to defend – including the Bill of Rights – and live up to the words that are written.

Hunting is certainly a beloved recreational activity by a large percentage of gun owners. For some, this might even be their reason for owning a gun. They are a means by which to harvest wild game and put food in the freezer and on the table. In 22 states, the right to hunt and fish is explicitly protected, but the idea that the Second Amendment has anything to do with hunting is a red herring and is completely false.

Not About Hunting

The hunting misnomer is a favorite of the gun control politicians. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked hunting as he unilaterally banned modern sporting rifles throughout all of Canada. “You don’t need an AR-15 to bring down a deer,” he said.

To be fair, Canada doesn’t have a constitutional protection for the right to keep and bear arms. The United States does, however. It’s simple. It’s short, just 27 words. The Supreme Court held that it applies as a right of individual Americans – not the government, and nowhere in that short sentence does it once say anything at all about hunting.

Not once. Not even a hint. No innuendo. Nothing tongue-in-cheek. It’s so clear, even a politician can understand it. Or should at least. Never underestimate a politician, though, and Sen. Klobuchar wasn’t the first.

New York’s Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo bellowed at all Americans, “It’s simple, no one hunts with an assault rifle. No one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer…” That was as he jammed through the New York SAFE Act, a sweeping set of gun control laws in a midnight vote. New York’s SAFE Act was passed with no hearings, no testimony, no time for opponents to exercise their First Amendment rights and make a case to their legislators.

Campaign Reload

Former Vice President Joe Biden conflated the meaning of the Second Amendment in an interview with Field and Stream’s Anthony Licata in 2013. Licata asked him directly what the Second Amendment means. Biden agreed it is an individual right, adding, “But it also has ruled that it is constitutional to own a gun individually for purposes of sporting, hunting, and/or self-defense.”

In that same interview, Biden said he believes the government has a right to limit the firearms an individual can own, specifically, modern sporting rifles. He claimed the rifle was not protected because it’s not usual. “If you have to go up into the Poconos and go bear hunting or deer hunting with that weapon, and you need a clip that has 30 rounds in it, then you shouldn’t be hunting,”  Biden said.

But there are nearly 18 million modern sporting rifles in circulation today.  They are used legally every day for home defense, recreational shooting and, yes, even hunting.

Biden’s misapplication of Supreme Court rulings and his hyperbolic rhetoric continued. He goaded gun owners on the campaign trail comparing rifles to fighter jets and rocket launchers. He did this even as he argued for DNA-enabled technology for firearms, nationwide gun registries and exposing the firearm industry to harassing litigation that would threaten the entire industry.

What’s Not Said

What Biden, Sen. Klobuchar and the rest of the candidates that dropped along the campaign trail never talked about was the criminal. They didn’t talk about actually attempting to reduce crime. They never spoke about soaring crime in areas where there is the strictest gun control. Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore are all examples of cities that press for more gun control, but whose politicians refuse to address crime or the criminals perpetrating those crimes. During the coronavirus crisis, prisoners were turned out of jails, including murderers. Police were ordered to stop arresting for certain criminal charges. The results were growing crime rates.

Here’s what else the politicians refuse to address: these gun control laws they foist on law-abiding Americans do nothing to address crime because criminals don’t follow the law. Department of Justice surveys of prison inmates show, time and again, criminals overwhelmingly obtain firearms through theft and the black market. Universal background check laws, waiting periods, registration schemes and a list of other gun control ideas are only observed by law-abiding citizens. Felons bent on criminally misusing firearms don’t fill out background check forms in dark alleys. They don’t submit their names to the FBI to have them say they can’t posses a gun.

Politicians also ignore that gun ownership is increasing even as crime has steadily declined. Nearly 19 million Americans have concealed carry permits in the United States today. It increased by 1.4 million people in 2019. That doesn’t account for the 18 states where citizens have a constitutional right to carry a firearm for personal protection.

Gun control politicians hover and nod approvingly around Biden when he berates voters who question his gun control platform shouting at them, “You’re full of sh*t!” They believe the Second Amendment is a problem to be fixed. At campaign fundraisers, they speak of it only as a loophole or a privilege that should be reserved for a select few. They don’t see it as a right to be respected and defended. It’s a cancer. If they can excise it, cut it out, isolate it, it will wither and die.

The first step for these folks is to get America to believe that the Second Amendment has nothing to do with a God-given right. Instead, say it’s about hunting. After all, that requires a license.

When the question answers itself.
What does it mean when they have to twist facts to promote their agenda?

Everytown Ignores Its Own Data to Get Attention

Everytown for Gun Safety produced an “analysis” that sought to tie an “‘alarming’ spike” in fatal firearms-related accidents involving children to the recent surge in firearms purchases across the country. Their point is predicated on the deliberate exclusion and misuse of their own data – they used the tragic deaths of children to push their anti-gun agenda. Their own historical data disproves their claim.

Shannon Watts spoke to CBS News about this analysis and said: “‘We know that there are risks to having guns in the home, and with the surge in gun sales in the last two months, it could create more opportunity for kids to gain access to guns and unintentionally hurt themselves or someone else,’ said Shannon Watts, founder of Everytown’s anti-gun violence volunteer network Moms Demand Action. ‘The numbers show there’s been an increase in these horrible shooting tragedies during the time the pandemic was at its peak.’”

Watts and Bloomberg must be desperate to spin the recent increase in gun sales into a negative. The Everytown research division put together this analysis by comparing the number of fatal accidents involving children and teens (up to age 17) as either the victim or the accidental perpetrator in March and April 2020 to the average number of children and teens involved in fatal firearms-related accidents in the same months for 2017 through 2019. They say that there were 21 such deaths in March and April 2020, and that the average number of such deaths in the same months for 2017 through 2019 is 15.

Watts wants you to think that those additional deaths should be attributed to the increase in gun sales because the 2020 total is higher than the average for the previous three years.

Every accidental death of a child is a tragedy, no matter the means, but Everytown is using these tragedies (and some misinformation) to further their political agenda.

The truth is within the data that Everytown scraped (on which their analysis is based). There were, according to Everytown’s data, 21 deaths resulting from a firearms-related accident involving children or teens. The average for March-April over the last three years is, in fact, 15.  Why use an average, and why use three years of data when five is available? Let’s look at the annual totals for March-April, according to Everytown’s data:

Sadly, the 21 fatalities in 2020 is not the peak for the March-April period according to Everytown’s data. It is tied for second with the year 2016. Everytown focuses on averages to avoid the year-to-year comparison that shows that the 21 fatal accidents in 2020 is similar to – and even lower than – other years in their own data. The time period used for their average was deliberately chosen because it gives the smallest average possible. The victims of these tragic accidents from 2015 through 2020 range in age from 1 to 28 years old, with the age of one victim unknown to Everytown.

Everytown’s deliberate misrepresentation of their own data is disgusting. These are people – including young children – who lost their lives in tragic ways. Everytown is treating them as a means to an end.

No one wants children to be hurt or killed. The NRA developed the Eddie Eagle program to teach kids to stop, don’t touch, run away, and tell a grown-up if they come across a firearm. More than 30 million children have participated in this program since 1988. The firearms industry trade group NSSF developed Project Child Safe in 1999 and has distributed more than 38 million cable locks and safety kits to gun owners.

Everything with Shannon Watts and Everytown comes back to their desire to strip away the gun rights of law-abiding Americans. Why else make a baseless and inaccurate claim that is obviously designed to score political points by pulling emotional levers?

These children and teens deserve better than to be weaponized by Shannon Watts and Everytown.

In veiled warning to Iran, U.S. tells Gulf mariners to stay clear of its warships

Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) vessels conducted unsafe and unprofessional actions against the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60) in April---U.S. NAVY

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In an alert that appeared aimed squarely at Iran, the U.S. Navy issued a warning on Tuesday to mariners in the Gulf to stay 100 meters (yards) away from U.S. warships or risk being “interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures.”
The notice to mariners, which was first reported by Reuters, follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat last month to fire on any Iranian ships that harass Navy vessels.

“Armed vessels approaching within 100 meters of a U.S. naval vessel may be interpreted as a threat,” according to the text of the notice:

HYDROPAC 1478/20(62,63).
ARABIAN SEA.
GULF OF OMAN.
PERSIAN GULF.
DNC 03, DNC 10.
U.S. NAVAL FORCES ARE CONDUCTING ROUTINE
OPERATIONS IN THE REGION WITH A COMMITMENT TO
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION AND THE FREE FLOW OF
MARITIME COMMERCE. DUE TO RECENT EVENTS, IN
ORDER TO ENHANCE SAFETY, MINIMIZE AMBIGUITY, AND
REDUCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MISCALCULATION, ALL
VESSELS ARE ADVISED TO MAINTAIN A SAFE DISTANCE
OF AT LEAST 100 METERS FROM U.S. NAVAL VESSELS
IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS/STRAITS. ARMED VESSELS
APPROACHING WITHIN 100 METERS OF A U.S. NAVAL
VESSEL MAY BE INTERPRETED AS A THREAT AND
SUBJECT TO LAWFUL DEFENSIVE MEASURES. MARINERS
ARE REMINDED TO OPERATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH
INTERNATIONAL LAW AND WITH DUE REGARD FOR THE
SAFE NAVIGATION OF OTHER VESSELS. ALL VESSELS
OPERATING IN THE VICINITY OF U.S. NAVAL VESSELS
ARE ADVISED TO CLEARLY COMMUNICATE INTENTIONS,
RESPOND TO QUERIES CONCERNING COURSE AND SPEED,
EXERCISE PRINCIPLES OF PRUDENT SEAMANSHIP AS
REQUIRED UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND REMAIN AT
THE MAXIMUM AVAILABLE DISTANCE FROM U.S. NAVAL
FORCES.//

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new notice to mariners was not a change in the U.S. military’s rules of engagement.

The Pentagon has stated that Trump’s threat was meant to underscore the Navy’s right to self-defense…….

It follows an incident last month in which 11 Iranian vessels came close to U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Gulf, in what the U.S. military called “dangerous and provocative” behavior.

At one point, the Iranian vessels came within 10 yards (9 meters) of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Maui, the U.S. military said.

Trump’s threat followed that incident, which Tehran, in turn, said was the fault of the United States………..

 

Homeowner shoots man during attempted home invasion in Fort Worth

A homeowner shot one of three men police say were trying to break into a house in north Fort Worth on Sunday morning.

At 6:22 a.m., a homeowner called police and said men dressed in black kicked in the front door and tried to come into the house in the 2700 block of Northwest 34th Street, police officer Jimmy Pollozani said.

The homeowner shot two rounds and hit one of the men before they ran away. Officers found two of the three suspects and took them into custody; neither was injured.

Shortly after the home invasion call, a woman called police and said her father had been shot. The father was the third suspect and had been shot by the homeowner, Pollozani said.

World-Renowned Christian Advocate Ravi Zacharias Dies

World-renowned Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, 74, passed away at his home in Atlanta on May 19 from a rare form of cancer in his spine.

Zacharias announced earlier this year that he was suffering from severe pain in his spine and would undergo surgery. A malignant tumor of the sacrum called sarcoma was discovered in March.

He battled the disease with the help of top doctors, but his daughter announced less than two weeks ago that no further medical treatments were available.

The apologist was born Frederick Antony Ravi Kumar Zacharias in Chennai, India in 1946. He became a Christian at the age of 17 while recovering in a Delphi hospital after attempting to take his own life.

It was after this incident that Zacharias began to grasp the true meaning of life.

In a previous interview with CBN News he explained, “I was on a bed of suicide in Delhi, searching for meaning, searching for the answers to life’s basic questions. They boil down to this – origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. How did I come into being? What brings life meaning? How do I know right from wrong? Where am I headed after I die

 

Why Gun Rights Are Essential In a World of Uncertainty and Scarcity
Firearms are the most practical and effective way for the average American to secure his or her life, liberty, and property.

A common joke in the American gun community goes something like this:

Q: Why do you carry a gun?

A: Because carrying a cop is too heavy.

This humorous quip should not detract from the fact that many individuals in the United States (including me) own and carry a firearm for purely pragmatic reasons. The simplest case for the right to keep and bear arms can be summarized in one sentence: You are ultimately responsible for your own safety and security.

This sobering pill can be difficult for many people to swallow but that’s reality. Evil exists in this world. Under the right circumstances, people can and will do unspeakable things to each other as any student of history or psychology will know. Those fortunate to live in gated communities and can afford armed security are often oblivious that most other people do not enjoy the same luxuries.

Many violent crimes take place and are over in a matter of seconds (and stopped in seconds that prevent the worst). As another popular saying goes, “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.” In the United States, depending where you live, police response time ranges from nine minutes to over an hour. Right now, one in five New York police officers are currently out sick due to COVID-19. Police in multiple states have announced they will no longer respond to theft, burglary, and break-ins. Given the current climate, it’s not unreasonable to assume police will take much longer to arrive, if they do at all, should someone dial 911.

Furthermore, Americans need to understand there is no legal obligation for the police to protect you, which is affirmed by the Supreme Court and multiple lower courts. (See Castle Rock v. Gonzales, Warren v. District of Columbia, and Lozito v. New York City). Should the police fail to arrive or protect you when needed, you can’t even sue for neglect.

Thus, given the legal and logistical realities, taking the initiative to protect yourself should be as sensible as any other proactive measure such as having a fire extinguisher in the home or jumper cables ready in the back of the car. Should disaster strike, preparedness will make all the difference in the world. Protecting your one and only life deserves no less preparation and investment, especially in our increasingly complex and uncertain world.

Americans are fortunate to live in a country with mostly stable institutions. But there are vivid examples when segments of society break down, many in not-too-distant memory. In widespread civil disturbances such as the 1992 LA riots or the aftermaths of Hurricane Katrina, Florence, and Harvey, the authorities were overwhelmed and unscrupulous individuals took advantage of the chaos to prey on others.

Going by sheer numbers, almost all of us will encounter at least one black swan in our lifetime. The current COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath are already the most trying times on the lives and livelihoods of Americans since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

Should an even deadlier natural or man-made catastrophe take place, if the authorities haven’t been incapacitated, displaced, or destroyed completely, whatever personnel and resources are left will be prioritized to protect high-ranking government officials, their inner-circle, and critical government facilities and infrastructure.

The economist Thomas Sowell reminds us, “The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it.” Security also happens to be a scarce resource. There’s simply not enough boots on the ground that can guarantee all 300 million Americans will be protected at all times from all threats. In every emergency, tough decisions will have to be made. From what we know about past and present “continuity of government” plans, ruling elites will be evacuated to a secure bunker in some undisclosed location while John Q. Public will be left to fend for himself.

Every American schoolchild is taught that everyone is equal before the law. Given this fundamental axiom, it’s not unfair to demand that the average American citizen have access to the same means of security and protection that government officials—who are our servants, not overlords—insist on having for themselves (while using taxpayer money). Under the American political system, the right of self-defense cannot be limited to only a privileged few. No one, regardless of their socioeconomic status, can deny fundamental rights to others.

The right to life is closely intertwined with the right of self-preservation. John Locke, a major influence on the philosophical foundations of the US Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, described the right of self-preservation as a “fundamental law of nature” in his Second Treatise of Civil Government:

The state of war is a state of enmity and destruction: and therefore declaring by word or action, not a passionate and hasty, but a sedate settled design upon another man’s life, puts him in a state of war with him against whom he has declared such an intention, and so has exposed his life to the other’s power to be taken away by him, or any one that joins with him in his defence, and espouses his quarrel; it being reasonable and just, I should have a right to destroy that which threatens me with destruction: for, by the fundamental law of nature, man being to be preserved as much as possible, when all cannot be preserved, the safety of the innocent is to be preferred: and one may destroy a man who makes war upon him, or has discovered an enmity to his being, for the same reason that he may kill a wolf or a lion; because such men are not under the ties of the common-law of reason, have no other rule, but that of force and violence, and so may be treated as beasts of prey, those dangerous and noxious creatures, that will be sure to destroy him whenever he falls into their power.

The political philosophy of John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers contributed a unique element to American political theory: Fundamental rights do not come from the government. Human beings possess them already simply by virtue of being free and that includes a pre-existing, natural right of self-defense and self-preservation. As the Declaration of Independence memorably emphasizes, these natural rights are “unalienable” which means they cannot be taken or given away. They are permanent and apply in all times and all places to all human beings, with or without the Second Amendment or any other statutory pronouncement.

“Self-evident truths” and similar conclusions are found in other schools of thought. The ethical intuitionist philosopher Michael Huemer also highlights an interlocking relationship between the right of self-defense and the right to own a gun:

It is possible for a right to be both fundamental and derivative. Derivative rights are usually related to fundamental rights as means to the protection or enforcement of the latter, though this need not be the only way in which a right may be derivative. I claim that the right to own a gun is both fundamental and derivative; however, it is in its derivative aspect—as derived from the right of self-defense—that it is most important.

Even without the existence of absolute rights (which Huemer declines to acknowledge for guns or any other right), he nevertheless persuasively argues:

  1. There is a strong prima facie right to own a gun
  2. Prohibiting private gun ownership constitutes both a major interference in gun owners’ plans for their own lives as well as a significant violation of their right of self-defense

Using a memorable thought experiment, Huemer shows how gun control laws that prevent a person from accessing or exercising the means of self-defense is akin to a criminal accomplice who holds a victim down while the actual murderer carries out the foul deed. By preventing the victim from escaping or exercising his right to self-defense, the accomplice’s action is still “if not equivalent to murder, something close to murder in degree of wrongness, even though he neither kills nor injures the victim.” In a follow-up thought experiment, Huemer adds:

…except that the victim has a gun by the bed, which he would, if able, use to defend himself from the killer. As the killer enters the bedroom, the victim reaches for the gun. The accomplice grabs the gun and runs away, with the result that the killer then stabs his victim to death.

Most reasonable individuals will intuitively recognize what the accomplice did was morally wrong. In both scenarios, the accomplice’s actions purposely prevented the victim from defending himself. If gun control laws have the same effect, it logically follows that they are “about equally serious as a violation of the right of self-defense.”

Fortunately for Americans, most of us still have access to a wide range of choices when it comes to self-defense. While it is understandable to be reluctant to pick up a gun, it is worth mentioning alternatives such as martial arts, tasers, and pepper spray are often severely limited by range, efficiency, or effectiveness.

Even if she is proficient in martial arts (which requires years of training), a 5-foot, 100-pound woman will be overwhelmed if she faces multiple attackers who weigh twice as much. On the other hand, she can ably defend herself with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, which is a popular weapon for many Americans, including women, because of its light weight, low recoil, accuracy, reliability, ergonomics, and ease of customization to fit any shooter regardless of size and stature.

Compared to other options, firearms are the most practical and effective way for the average American to secure his or her life, liberty, and property. As I emphasized in a previous essay:

From the colonists winning independence from Great Britain to African-Americans vindicating their civil rights, the role of the gun is inseparable from American identity. The gun is the ultimate multipurpose tool that empowers its user with the means to put food on the table, as well as preserve one’s life, whether against common street criminals or government tyranny.

In these uncertain times, both the pragmatic and philosophical case for gun rights are as strong as ever.

Many Americans, especially minorities, have realized the need for self-protection in times of social upheaval and breakdown. It is unfortunate that it took a tragedy as extreme as the COVID-19 pandemic to remind people that we should never take peace, prosperity, and freedom for granted. But millions have now taken the first steps to defend themselves and their loved ones. They should know they are in good company.

From what I’ve witnessed firsthand and experienced to date, the American gun community is strongly supportive and always welcoming towards first-time gun owners and anyone remotely curious about firearms regardless of their background. (See our plethora of welcome and orientation videos for newcomers brought in by the recent gun-buying surge). Our country’s gun culture and people’s civic virtue reinforce each other. In the spirit of Tocqueville, civil society has stepped up in the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrated exemplary acts of charity. It’s only natural that the gun community is also actively participating by sharing knowledge with their fellow Americans and ensuring new gun owners are comfortably onboarded.

I am confident these new gun owners will learn how to handle their weapons responsibly, discover the joys of shooting, and become future staunch defenders of the Second Amendment (and hopefully the rest of the Bill of Rights as well). Our past is full of inspiring examples of Americans emerging stronger and freer after overcoming crises that tear the fabric of society and test our ideals. In these “times that try men’s souls,” let us not forget the precious legacy bequeathed to us.