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.

THE 2A ACID TEST
HOW TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF A “GUN SAFETY ADVOCATE”

Earlier this year, there were two occasions when this correspondent wound up in broadcast discussions with gun prohibitionists trying to pass themselves off as “gun safety advocates.”

In one of those encounters, it seemed necessary to remind the listening audience there was one certified firearms instructor in the room and it wasn’t the other person who was representing a Seattle-based gun prohibition lobbying group.
Take this as a learning experience because the elections are on the horizon, you’re a voter with an opportunity to question candidates and you might wind up in a debate with some gun grabber who claims to be an authority on gun safety or a member of some so-called “gun safety” organization. This is when you can put them on the spot and they will unintentionally help you do it.

NRA Certified firearms instructors have a card identifying them as such. Mine has been protected with a laminated plastic cover. A friend who used to be a lobbyist was also an instructor and he habitually pulled out his instructor’s card to ask opponents, “Do you have one of these? If you don’t, you probably shouldn’t be here talking about gun safety.”

If you can’t say you’re a certified instructor, the next best thing is to challenge these anti-gunners to recite the four rules of gun safety as set down by the late Col. Jeff Cooper, the “Father of the Modern Technique.” The founder of the American Pistol Institute, now known as the Gunsite Academy, Cooper kept it simple and his rules have withstood the test of time:

• Treat all guns as if they are always loaded.
• Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
• Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to shoot.
• Be sure of your target and what lies beyond it.

There may be a moment of silence, possibly a blank stare as your opponent’s try to figure out who Cooper was and maybe offer a remark about “not being the point” before they scramble to change the subject. This is when you’ve got them. They can’t answer directly since they don’t know. Whatever else is said after this point, just keep reminding your opponent — and anyone else listening — your question wasn’t answered.

These self-appointed arbiters of firearms etiquette don’t really know anything about guns or safety, other than they don’t like them and don’t want anyone to have them. It’s up to you to set it in concrete so people remember it. You’re the expert, not them.

If or when one of these people claims to be a gun owner, it’s easy to make them stammer by asking, “Oh, how many guns do you own?” Or better still, “How many guns have you owned? If you sold one or two to someone else, did you require the buyer to go through a background check?”

It’s not unfair to ask when was the last time they went to the range to practice? Have you taken a gun safety course? The same questions apply to anyone running for local public office.

‘Oh, Where Do You Offer Classes?’

If you’re in a discussion with somebody who says he or she is a member of a “gun safety” group, stop them cold by asking, “Oh, where do you hold classes on gun safety?”

When they respond, “We don’t really hold classes,” (and they will) this is the moment to remind them they’ve got no business preaching gun safety if they’re not teaching gun safety.

This same strategy applies to meeting candidates because the next eight weeks should provide plenty of opportunities to attend at least one of these sessions. Any candidate who claims to support “gun safety” legislation should be challenged to recite Cooper’s Four Rules.

Here’s another way to make these people look foolish: Offer to take them shooting. If they’ve claimed to be gun owners, invite them to bring their own firearms.

In one of those encounters, it seemed necessary to remind the listening audience there was one certified firearms instructor in the room and it wasn’t the other person who was representing a Seattle-based gun prohibition lobbying group.
Take this as a learning experience because the elections are on the horizon, you’re a voter with an opportunity to question candidates and you might wind up in a debate with some gun grabber who claims to be an authority on gun safety or a member of some so-called “gun safety” organization. This is when you can put them on the spot and they will unintentionally help you do it.

NRA Certified firearms instructors have a card identifying them as such. Mine has been protected with a laminated plastic cover. A friend who used to be a lobbyist was also an instructor and he habitually pulled out his instructor’s card to ask opponents, “Do you have one of these? If you don’t, you probably shouldn’t be here talking about gun safety.”

If you can’t say you’re a certified instructor, the next best thing is to challenge these anti-gunners to recite the four rules of gun safety as set down by the late Col. Jeff Cooper, the “Father of the Modern Technique.” The founder of the American Pistol Institute, now known as the Gunsite Academy, Cooper kept it simple and his rules have withstood the test of time:

• Treat all guns as if they are always loaded.
• Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
• Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to shoot.
• Be sure of your target and what lies beyond it.

There may be a moment of silence, possibly a blank stare as your opponent’s try to figure out who Cooper was and maybe offer a remark about “not being the point” before they scramble to change the subject. This is when you’ve got them. They can’t answer directly since they don’t know. Whatever else is said after this point, just keep reminding your opponent — and anyone else listening — your question wasn’t answered.

These self-appointed arbiters of firearms etiquette don’t really know anything about guns or safety, other than they don’t like them and don’t want anyone to have them. It’s up to you to set it in concrete so people remember it. You’re the expert, not them.

If or when one of these people claims to be a gun owner, it’s easy to make them stammer by asking, “Oh, how many guns do you own?” Or better still, “How many guns have you owned? If you sold one or two to someone else, did you require the buyer to go through a background check?”

It’s not unfair to ask when was the last time they went to the range to practice? Have you taken a gun safety course? The same questions apply to anyone running for local public office.

‘Oh, Where Do You Offer Classes?’

If you’re in a discussion with somebody who says he or she is a member of a “gun safety” group, stop them cold by asking, “Oh, where do you hold classes on gun safety?”

When they respond, “We don’t really hold classes,” (and they will) this is the moment to remind them they’ve got no business preaching gun safety if they’re not teaching gun safety.

This same strategy applies to meeting candidates because the next eight weeks should provide plenty of opportunities to attend at least one of these sessions. Any candidate who claims to support “gun safety” legislation should be challenged to recite Cooper’s Four Rules.

Here’s another way to make these people look foolish: Offer to take them shooting. If they’ve claimed to be gun owners, invite them to bring their own firearms.

‘Do You Take Money From …?’

A couple of years ago, as a private citizen and constituent, I attended a public forum with three local legislators. A woman in the audience demanded to know if the Republican state representative had taken money from the National Rifle Association.

It’s a fair question, but the savvy activist should immediately counter by asking whether the politician or candidate has accepted contributions from Everytown for Gun Safety or a regional or local gun control group. We discussed this last month………

Thugs come in all species.

Platte County looking for escaped dogs

SMITHVILLE, MO (KCTV) — When we heard Platte County authorities were searching for six “wolf hybrids” that escaped a property near Smithville, we had to send KCTV5’s Emily Rittman to find out more.

When the dogs first escaped, they were originally reported to the sheriff’s office as six wolf hybrids. Since then, the Missouri Department of Conservation tracked their lineage and found they are not wolf hybrids.

At last check, the two dogs are still roaming the area.

Many neighbors who live near State Route 92 and Hornback Road have pets and livestock, which they try to protect from predators.

One owner discovered one of the six escaped dogs on their property, though. “One of them ended up attacking some goats in the area and was killed by the property owner,” explained Major Erik Holland with the Platte County Sheriff’s Office.

After that, and out of an abundance of caution, the sheriff’s office shared photos of the dogs on social media asking the community to report sightings of them.

“We have had some reports of livestock that they’ve already killed, that is why we are treating this a little differently than your average dog that ran away from a house,” said Holland.

“Anytime you are dealing with an animal they may be friendly with their owners or people they know,” Holland said. “We don’t know how they will react to people they don’t know or if they are scared. We are just asking people to try not to catch them. Stay away from them and call us.”

Fayetteville man arrested after shooting

FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville police say a man was arrested after he exchanged gunshots with another man Thursday night.

Manuel Navarro, 25, was arrested in connection with aggravated residential burglary, aggravated assault and tampering with physical evidence, according to a news release.

A man at 1469 N. Timbercrest Ave. called police at 10:52 p.m. to report he shot a man who entered his home.

Officers were told Navarro went into the house because his girlfriend refused to come outside. Once inside, Navarro pulled a handgun from his waistband and he and the caller exchanged shots, according to the release.

Navarro was shot on the right side of his body and fled the area, according to the release. He arrived about 45 minutes later at Washington Regional Medical Center where he was arrested.

A spokesman with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Navarro would remain in the hospital until he could be transferred to the Washington County jail and a deputy was assigned to guard him.

The moslem murderer was Al Queda.

Surprise Surprise Surprise

FBI phone probe links al Qaeda to Saudi who killed three at Florida base

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The FBI cracked the iPhone encryption of the Royal Saudi Air Force trainee who killed three American sailors in a December attack at a U.S. naval base in Florida and found evidence linking him to al Qaeda, Attorney General William Barr said on Monday.

The shooter, Second Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, 21, was killed by law enforcement during the Dec. 6, 2019 attack.

He was on the base as part of a U.S. Navy training program designed to foster links with foreign allies.

The Justice Department succeeded in unlocking the encryption on the shooter’s iPhone after Apple Inc <AAPL.O> declined to do so, Barr told reporters on a conference call.

Police to New Jersey gym that opened in defiance of order: “Have a good day.”

BELLMAWR, N.J. – A gym in southern New Jersey has reopened for business in defiance of a state order that shut down nonessential businesses to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.

People began gathering outside the Atilis Gym in Bellmawr several hours before it reopened at 8 a.m. Monday.

“We are and only were here for everybody’s safety today. We planned for the worst and hoped for the best, and it seems like that’s what we have out here today,” the officer said to the owners and surrounding crowd.

“Formally, you are all in violation of the executive order. On that note, have a good day. Everybody be safe,” the officer said before walking away as the crowd erupted in cheers.

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A     Oklahoma!!!!     O. K. !

Steagall Wins Passage of Nation’s First Anti-Red Flag Bill

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, on Friday won passage of the nation’s first anti-red flag bill in the Oklahoma House of Representatives with a vote of 77-14.

Senate Bill 1081, The Anti-Red Flag Act, authored in the state Senate by Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, formerly won passage in that chamber with a vote of 34-9. It now moves to the governor for his consideration to be signed into law.

“This bill would stop any action from the federal government or even from local or state authorities that would infringe on the Second Amendment rights of our citizens,” Steagall said.

Steagall said the measure is necessary as a growing number of states have adopted such laws and federal legislative proposals have offered grants to compel states, counties or municipalities to enact policies that would allow a court or other entity to confiscate firearms or restrict gun access to otherwise law-abiding citizens deemed to be an imminent danger.

“People already endure background checks, age regulations and other measures that serve as a check on whether they are deemed eligible to own or operate a firearm,” Steagall said. “Giving the government even more power over this decision is a flagrant violation of several rights guaranteed us under the United States Constitution. I find it impossible for any red-flag law to respect due process or the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. I have taken the oath to protect our Constitution seven times throughout my 22 years of service and nine deployments in the military, an oath that I take very seriously. I will not stand idly by and let this freedom be stripped from us.”

So far, no spike in coronavirus in places reopening, U.S. health secretary says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. authorities are not yet seeing spikes in coronavirus cases in places that are reopening but it was still too early to determine such trends, health secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday.

“We are seeing that in places that are opening, we’re not seeing this spike in cases,” Azar said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “We still see spikes in some areas that are, in fact, closed.”

However, Azar said identifying and reporting new cases takes time. A critical part of reopening will be surveillance of flu-like symptoms in the population and other hospital admissions data, as well as testing of asymptomatic individuals, he said.

“It’s still early days,” Azar cautioned in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He said data will take some time to come in from states that reopened early such as Georgia and Florida.

Nearly all 50 U.S. states have begun to allow some businesses to reopen and residents to move more freely, but only 14 states have met the federal government’s guidelines for lifting measures aimed at fighting the pandemic, according to a Reuters analysis.

 

Yeah, like maybe all that proggie political propaganda indoctrination might wear off.

Pediatrician: Keeping Children Out of School Could Have Long Term Consequences

Dr. Dimitri Christakis knows a thing or two about children as the director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, including the consequences of keeping children out of a school setting for an extended period of time because of the threat of coronavirus.

His latest addition to the more than 170 original research articles published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics has a stern warning about decisions made in the wake of the virus: ‘They will hold us accountable,” Christakis wrote.

It seems inflation strikes everywhere

The Seven Horsemen of the Apocalypse

In dramatic lore (and great sportswriting), the Four Horsemen are Famine, Pestilence, Destruction, and Death. In St. John’s original construct, “War” stands in for Destruction. We prefer Destruction, because it captures the many types of war not imagined in Biblical times.

This morning we reread the first paragraph of Barbara Tuchman’s classic work on the worst century in Western history, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, reproduced below. Tuchman proposed seven horsemen:

Plague, war, taxes, brigandage, bad government, insurrection, and schism. Broadly defined, we’ve got six of them running around the United States right now. “Brigandage,” which involves unemployed soldiers gallivanting around the countryside looting the undefended and disarmed locals, is common in the world but has not been a feature of American life since the years following our Civil War, no matter how you might characterize gun rights demonstrations of recent moment or the violent crime of the ’60s to the ’90s.

Plague? Check. Not literally “plague,” of course, which is a specific disease with a precise cause and an effective remedy, but plague in the sense that people who do not consort with medievalists or infectious disease experts use the word.

War? Nineteen years and running. We even confess to having supported those wars once upon a time, which is more than most people will admit. My guess is that nobody will care so much about terrorism now, so maybe we should generally withdraw and let all those people resume killing each other. But what about “Destruction”? We have made a policy decision (which we admit we supported, for a while) to destroy our material well-being to save lives from plague, and there are those who argue that we need a good deal more destruction still. Maybe that policy choice is yet the most cost effective — we won’t know for several years which choices were best — but all Americans, including especially the WFH overclass, ought to have the courage to call it by its name: Destruction.

Taxes? They are coming hard. Beautiful taxes like you’ve never seen before, in every American jurisdiction.

Bad government? No matter who you are, you have your favorite examples. As we have pointed out, everybody agrees that there have been massive failures of government in the United States. One’s opinion as to the cause of those failures is a Rorschach test for one’s pre-pandemic predilections.

Insurrection? We are closer than we have been for some time. Google “defies.” We have hair salon owners defying judges, mayors defying governors, and governors defying the president, all of which seems weirdly reasonable under the circumstances. Nobody is shooting yet, but we are one out-of-proportion bad judgment enforcement action away from another Ruby Ridge or Waco. Brace yourself for the “national conversation” about that.

Schism? The Papal Schism of the 14th century was so scary because each pope excommunicated the followers of the other. When one believes that this life is the misery one must endure for immortal paradise, excommunication is the equivalent of killing one of Tolkien’s Elves. The loss of immortality is a tragedy greater than mere mortal death, because the sacrifice is so great. Our schism today, which involves profound contempt verging on unqualified hatred for people who have a different vision of the meaning of the United States, destroys the purpose of our country, unique in the world, that moved our extraordinary ancestors to overcome challenges vastly more difficult than Covid-19. That is, or would have been to many Americans of old, a tragedy greater than mere mortal death.

The most profound sentence in Tuchman’s first paragraph may, unfortunately, be the last: “All but plague itself arose from conditions that existed prior to the Black Death and continued after the period of plague was over.”

Let us hope that history does not repeat itself.

John Brennan and the Plot to Subvert an American Election.

Let’s talk about John Brennan a bit. You remember John Brennan. He was Barack Obama’s director of the CIA. Once upon a time, he was an enthusiast for Gus Hall, the Communist candidate for president, for whom he voted in 1976. I can’t think of any better background for the head of the country’s premier intelligence service under Obama. In 2014, having put childish things behind him as St. Paul advised, Brennan spied on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He denied it indignantly. “Nothing could be further from the truth. We wouldn’t do that. That’s just beyond the scope of reason in terms of what we’d do.”

But that was before irrefutable evidence of the CIA’s spying transpired. Then Brennan apologized, sort of. Senators were outraged. They shook their little fists. “What did he know? When did he know it? What did he order?” asked one of the Lilliputians.

Guess what happened to John Brennan for spying on the Senate Intelligence Committee?

If you said “Nothing,” go to the head of the class and collect your gold star.

Nothing happened to Brennan for spying on U.S. senators.

If he could get away with that, what else could he get away with?

How about starting the bogus investigation into fictional “collusion” or “coordination” between the Russians and the campaign, and then the administration, of Donald Trump? How about that?

Actually the prosecutor probably determined that further prosecution persecution would be detrimental to his political future.

Charges dropped against Florida pastor who held church services despite coronavirus restrictions

Prosecutors in Florida have dropped misdemeanor charges against a Florida pastor who defied the state’s stay-at-home order to continue church services.

Evangelical megachurch leader Rodney Howard-Browne of the River at Tampa Bay Church had the charges of unlawful assembly and violating quarantine orders during a public health emergency dropped Friday. Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said the arrest was appropriate that it only came “after repeated efforts to gain cooperation in other ways were not successful.”

“In deciding whether to criminally prosecute violations of stay-at-home orders, compliance is our North Star,” Warren said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Each case is unique, and each one will be assessed based on the facts and the law. But, in general, if the person who was arrested poses no ongoing threat to public health, then our tendency will be not to prosecute the case beyond the arrest.”

Warren said that since the pastor was arrested, he has “maintained responsible social distancing” and has engaged with community leaders about how to move forward during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our office has determined that further prosecution or punishment would not provide increased protections for our community and is not needed to achieve any additional change in Pastor Howard-Browne’s behavior,” he said.

Howard-Browne was arrested in late March after he repeatedly flouted Florida’s social distancing restrictions and continued to hold crowded church services……….

 

Besides getting rid of people in his administration he has good reason to distrust (Obama appointees, and to point out Obama and Clinton did exactly the same thing, but simply on their first day in office) I said it quite awhile ago; Trump is trolling the demoncraps with these dismissals of people who serve at his pleasure.
He’s got them figured out and knows just how, and when, to push their buttons to make them pull their hair and scream. And they can’t help but respond in hysterics, which is exactly what he wants them to do. It’s not something new for him for from what I can tell, he developed this into a fine art during his years in the construction business.

Heads Exploding in Washington as Trump Fires State Department IG

Donald Trump sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi informing her that he was firing state department inspector general Steve Linick.

The president told Pelosi he “no longer” had the “fullest confidence” in Linick and promised to send a nominee to the Hill shortly. Later, the state department announced that Amb. Stephen Akard, a career foreign service officer, would run the inspector general’s office. Akard was chief of staff for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation under then-governor Pence.

Linick was appointed in 2013 by President Obama and angered Trump by having a role in the impeachment drama. He was also said to be investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for alleged misuse of a political appointee to perform personal tasks for him and Mrs. Pompeo.

Naturally, Democrats’ heads were exploding all over the Hill.

Politico:

“The president’s late-night, weekend firing of the State Department inspector general has accelerated his dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the American people,” Pelosi said in an statement. “Inspector General Linick was punished for honorably performing his duty to protect the Constitution and our national security, as required by the law and by his oath.”

Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called Linick’s dismissal an “outrageous act of a president trying to protect one of his most loyal supporters, the secretary of State, from accountability.”

Meet the gun safety instructor holding ‘office hours’ on Zoom
Gun rights advocates are promoting safety training in response to record-breaking numbers of arms sales amid Covid-19

On a recent afternoon in San Jose, California, Chuck Rossi held up his AR-15 in front of his computer camera, talking through how to hold the weapon safely, and how to load it with ammunition.

“AR-15s are modular. They’re like Legos for men,” Rossi said. The man on the other side of the Zoom call chuckled.

Rossi is an activist turned safety instructor, one of the many gun owners across the country who are using Zoom or social media to teach new gun owners how to use their weapons.

The coronavirus pandemic has driven record-breaking numbers of gun sales in the United States, as gun sellers have succeeded in being categorized as “essential businesses”. At least anecdotally, many of the millions of guns sold during the pandemic have gone to first-time gun buyers, sparking concerns about potential increases in domestic violence, gun accidents and child gun deaths. Gun control advocates say the panic-buying during a time of anxiety, uncertainty and economic distress has also made gun suicide a particular concern.

In response, gun rights advocates have focused on safety training, with some offering free sessions to make sure new gun owners understand how to operate their weapons – and feel welcomed to the gun community.

Rossi was an early Facebook employee who left the company in 2018, and still lives in San Jose. He co-founded Open Source Defense, a Silicon Valley gun rights group. The group’s founders live across the country, but many of them are current or former tech workers. Between 20% and 30% of Americans say they personally own a gun, a number that has fallen for decades, and the group aims to grow the base of American gun owners by being friendly, digitally savvy and “zero percent” focused on culture wars. Zoom “office hours” for new owners is one of their initiatives.

When he signed up for a Zoom gun safety session, one new gun owner, a 40-year-old tech company worker from San Jose, said he expected he would be chatting with “some hillbilly NRA guy”.

“Is he even going to be nice to me?” the tech worker, who is black, wondered. Instead he got Rossi, who works in the same industry and lives in the same town. Just a few years ago, the new gun owner, who asked that his name not be used, said he was someone who had believed that AR-15s should be banned.

In early March, as concerns about coronavirus grew, his company told employees not to worry, that “the government has it under control, there’s going to be a vaccine.” Then he went to grocery store, “and there was nothing” so he had to go to his parent’s house to get toilet paper.

He starting thinking about stories of civil unrest during the Los Angeles riots or Hurricane Katrina and said he worried about desperate people, hungry people, who might see homes in his nice San Jose neighborhood as soft targets.

“People take from those who have,” he said. How likely was it that he would ever be a target? “One in a million,” he said. “I consider it an extreme impossibility. But why not be prepared?” In mid-March he went to buy self-defense weapons: a handgun and, because shotguns were sold out, an AR-15, which retails for about $1,000.

The new gun owner’s parents were appalled, and worried about the safety of his young children, ages three and one. His mother tried to get his brother to intervene. Instead, his brother bought himself three guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The new gun buyer said the Zoom session was part of his attempt to be responsible. Rossi, hefting his own high-end AR-15, recapped the principles of gun safety: always keep the weapon’s muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire. Be aware of what might be behind the target you’re shooting at. Treat every gun as if it’s loaded.

They did some troubleshooting: what should he do if an ammunition round got jammed inside his gun? How long would his military-surplus ammo be usable? Ammo didn’t go bad, Rossi said. He was still “shooting rounds” from the second world war and “surplus from the Korean war”.

While “white Americans tend to be more vocal about their gun ownership”, the new owner said, being a black gun owner didn’t feel special. But it came with different concerns. He was more afraid a police officer might shoot him than that someone else might attack him on the street; he would “never” carry a gun in public.

If he ever had to call the police to his home, he said, he would emphasize: “The black guy with the gun is the homeowner.” Owning guns had already shifted some of his political opinions. He said he still supported limits on larger-capacity ammunition magazines. But when he bought his guns, he said, he had to wait 10 days to get them. “That was an eternity to me,” he said. “Are these really common sense gun laws?”

Rossi was encouraged to hear this, and said he’d try to persuade the new gun owner about why he actually needed larger-capacity magazines next. The two men made a plan to go shooting in person as soon as possible.

The Truth About 3-D Printed Guns and Criminal Gun Usage

Gun control activists have found a new target to go after: 3-D printed guns.

Why? It’s an easy scapegoat to lay blame on, just like every proposed gun control policy mulled before Congress and state legislatures.

This effort is attributed to two things: the reintroduction of Senator Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) “Untraceable Firearms Act,” and a recent ‘60 Minutes’ CBS report claiming criminals overwhelmingly prefer them when committing crimes. The former, if passed, would ban the manufacture and sale of “ghost guns.”

Giffords, a gun control organization operated by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), just launched a campaign against these firearms. Unsurprisingly, the organization and its senior policy advisor, David Chipman, are spreading misinformation about them.

In a recent blog post titled Ghost Guns Are Specifically Designed for Criminals, the retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) special agent claimed, “These days, we’re seeing an alarming new trend among criminals and firearm traffickers: ghost guns. Not enough people are talking about this growing threat, and that’s got to change.”

He added,“Why do criminals love ghost guns? That’s a no-brainer. It makes their jobs easier.”

Congressional Democrats, Giffords, and ‘60 Minutes’ are intentionally deceiving the public about 3-D guns. Let’s explore the facts about them and their alleged primary use in gun crimes.

No Evidence 3-D Guns Predominantly Used in Crime

While “ghost guns” were recently trafficked and used in last year’s Saugus school shooting, there’s no evidence suggesting they’re a criminal’s to-go gun.

For example, a January 2019 survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) found criminals didn’t readily use “ghost guns” in perpetrated crimes. The survey, Source And Use Of Firearms Involved In Crimes: Survey Of Prison Inmates, 2016, concluded of the 287,400 prisoners surveyed who possessed guns during their offense 56 percent had stolen them, 6 percent had found the firearms at the scene of the crime, 43 percent obtained it from the black market or illegal means while 25 percent were gifted the guns by family members or friends. A mere 7 percent of respondents surveyed had purchased guns from federal firearms license dealers (FFL).

According to a 2016 Chicago Inmate Survey of Gun Access and Use (CIS) from University of Chicago Crime Lab, Windy City criminals primarily obtained firearms from strangers (34.4%), theft (31.7%), friends/family (26.7%), gangs (22.6%), straw purchases (20.8%), and on the street (19.7%).

Even the ATF officer featured in the ‘60 Minutes’ special, Thomas Chittum, couldn’t say the number of “ghost guns” used in crimes. In fact, he admitted they constitute a minority of guns involved:

Bill Whitaker:  How many of these guns are on the streets, you have no idea?

Thomas Chittum: Uh, no, I have no idea.

Bill Whitaker: And how many crimes are being committed by these guns, you have no idea?

Thomas Chittum: Well, not with precision. They still represent a minority of the firearms that are being used in crimes. But we do see that they’re increasing significantly and rapidly.

3D Printed Guns are Already Highly-Regulated

‘60 Minutes’ also claimed, “…federal gun law only regulates a part, called a frame or a lower receiver.”

That’s simply incorrect.

In order to manufacture and sell these custom built firearms, one must obtain a special license from the ATF. Their website states, “Any person “engaged in the business” as a manufacturer must obtain a license from ATF.”

Washington Free Beacon’s Stephen Gutowski tweeted this in response to the CBS report, “To be clear, it is currently not legal for prohibited persons (like convicted felons) to build their own firearms. Nor is it legal to sell guns you’ve manufactured yourself unless you have a license. It is legal for the law-abiding people to build their own guns for personal use.”

Law-Abiding Americans Have Been Building Guns Since USA’s Inception

The concept of custom-building firearms, most recently with popular semi-automatic Armalite Rifles (AR-15s), isn’t new. In fact, people have been designing and modifying firearms for personal use essentially since our nation’s inception.

Per ATF rules, “An individual may generally make a firearm for personal use.”

Criminals using “ghost guns” in crimes are generally prohibited possessors who shouldn’t be in possession of them in the first place. How does regulating these firearms in question, which already have strident restrictions placed on them, any further deter criminals? It won’t.

3-D Printed Technology is Expensive and Not Easy to Acquire

It’s very hard for individuals—let alone criminals—to obtain 3-D printed guns. They don’t come cheap nor are they easy to procure and possess.

In an op-ed for 3DPrint.com, a self-described leading authority on 3-D printed technology, Scott J. Gruenald wrote, “…making a 3D printed gun is not easy, it is not quick, it is not cheap and it does not result in especially dangerous or deadly weapons. Not only is it cheaper to just buy a real gun in the United States, but it is also probably a lot faster to go buy one, even with any state-mandated waiting periods.”

Conclusion

Criminals will use whatever tool is at their disposal—be it a 3-D printed AR-15, handgun, or knife—to inflict pain onto their victims. Unfortunately for gun controllers, none of their beloved laws or bills have deterred criminals from committing ghastly acts. In fact, they have invited more crime.

It’s time for our opponents finally to get serious about tackling criminal misuse of firearms, not scapegoat 3D printed firearms.

BLOOMBERG LOOKS TO BUY MORE SEATS

Gun control politicians just can’t seem to wean themselves off their addiction to Bloomberg money.

Everytown for Gun Safety, which is funded by antigun billionaire Michael Bloomberg, announced it will spend $13 million to flip federal and state level election seats currently held by pro-Second Amendment policymakers in Texas and Arizona. Brady Campaign’s Brady PAC announced it will sink funds into the effort, at a half a million dollars.

It’s Bloomberg’s continued effort to campaign to bring the New York-style gun control agenda he adores to every state. He did it in Virginia and he’s looking to repeat. If gun control isn’t passed, he’ll just buy the legislatures.

Bloomberg is only living up to his word. He admitted as much during a presidential townhall, that he bought congressional seats in 2018. The failed 2020 Democratic presidential candidate has demonstrated his hypocrisy on Second Amendment rights and who deserves them. Voters demonstrably rejected him, but he’s not going away.

Bloomberg and his pet project gun control groups Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action pledged to spend millions to help ensure former Vice President Joe Biden leads the most antigun presidential ticket in history, hoping to flip state legislatures along the way.

Shiny Lone Star
Voters in the Lone Star state heard an earful of the Bloomberg groups’ antigun narrative before and roundly rejected it. Texans approve of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and another popular statewide elected, Attorney General Ken Paxton, when they came through for thousands of Texas small businesses and employees. Gov. Abbott deemed firearm retailers “essential” during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing them to stay open for business. AG Paxton prevented counties and cities from enacting their own restrictions on gun stores.

Don’t forget former Texas U.S. Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke’s (D-Texas) disastrous failures running for the U.S. Senate in 2018 on a gun confiscation platform against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). He crashed and burned only to turn his efforts to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. His gun-grabbing pronouncements fell flat nationally, but impressed presumed Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Flipping the Lone Star state will be a tall order for Bloomberg and his buddies.

Arizona Closer, And President Trump Helps Gun Owners
Also on Everytown’s radar is Arizona, where the group has earmarked $5 million. The Republican-controlled state legislatures are both closer in margins than Texas, with pro-Second Amendment legislators holding a two-seat advantage in the state House of Representatives and a four-seat advantage in the state Senate.

Signs point to a tough reelection ahead for Republican U.S. Sen Martha McSally against Democratic challenger Mark Kelly, husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), co-Founder of Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence, another gun control group. Voters will undoubtedly be fired up and President Donald J. Trump carried the Grand Canyon state by four points in 2016. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey isn’t on the ballot, remaining in office past November in case a veto check is needed ahead.

Trying to Pull a 2019 Virginia
The gun control groups are trying to replicate the playbook from Virginia last year, where the off-year elections swung the Commonwealth’s legislature to Democrat majorities for the first time in two decades. Bloomberg dumped $2.5 million in that effort. The result was a wave of gun control policies signed by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam. But positive signs showed for pro-Second Amendment voters for elections ahead as tens of thousands of lawful gun owners peacefully protested the legislature’s overreach at the capitol in Richmond. Courts ruled Gov. Northam overstepped his authority by closing some firearm businesses.

No one knows how 2020 will shake out with former Vice President Joe Biden likely leading the most antigun ticket in history. But Virginia’s 2019 elections did not see President Trump on the ballot and he’s been a staunch Second Amendment supporter and stood by firearm retailers and workers throughout the coronavirus pandemic. He will be a loud supportive voice ahead.

One thing’s certain, voters are tuning in and hundreds of thousands are now first-time firearm owners. NSSF launched the #GUNVOTE online resource so voters know exactly where candidates stand on firearm issues and what they’ve said in the past. It’s a valuable resource for Americans to make sure they don’t risk their rights at the ballot box.

Just because the bug has affected the moslems as bad or worse than the rest of the world doesn’t mean they’re stopping their plans of jihad and terrorism. And just what is it lately about Pakistanis?

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Pakistan Doctor for Attempting to Provide Support to ISIS

Muhammad Masood of Minnesota was indicted by a federal grand jury in Minneapolis on Monday of attempting to provide material support to the terrorist faction ISIS, according to a statement Friday from the Department of Justice.

Masood, who is licensed to practice medicine in Pakistan, had been working as a research coordinator at a medical clinic in Rochester, Minnesota under a temporary visa.

In the complaint against Masood, he was accused of wanting to carry out “lone wolf” terrorist actions against the U.S. and travel to Syria to join ISIS. He also allegedly claimed his allegiance to the terrorist organization.

Pakistani-American Woman Sentenced to 13 Years by US Court for Funding ISIS

NEW YORK: A Pakistani-American woman — Zoobia Shahnaz — has been sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment by a United States’ Federal Court for providing material support to terror fronts of Islamic States in Pakistan, China and Turkey.

The verdict was pronounced by District Judge Joanna Seybert on Wednesday. Zoobia Shahnaz had pleaded guilty in November 2018 for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, specifically more than USD 150,000 to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), and attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS.

“As set forth in court filings and facts presented at the sentencing hearing, between March 2017 and July 2017, Shahnaz defrauded numerous financial institutions to obtain money for the ISIS, including a loan for approximately USD 22,500,” reads a statement by US Department of Justice.

“Shahnaz also fraudulently obtained more than a dozen credit cards and used them to purchase approximately USD 62,000 in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies online. Shahnaz then made multiple wire transfers totaling more than USD 150,000 to individuals and entities in Pakistan, China and Turkey that were fronts for ISIS,” added the statement.

On July 31, 2017, Shahnaz was arrested at John F Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, while attempting to board a flight with a layover in Istanbul, Turkey — a common point of entry for individuals travelling from western countries to join ISIS in Syria.

What they Chinese Commies believe they can do, besides caterwaul, is puzzling.

China Threatens ‘Severe Consequences’ for Tom Cotton, Dan Crenshaw, Missouri AG

The Chinese Communist Party has threatened that American politicians seeking to hold China accountable for the coronavirus pandemic will face “severe consequences,” including targeted economic sanctions. An article in the Communist Party’s propaganda outlet, the Global Times, names many Republicans by name, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), along with Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas). It also names the attorneys general of Missouri and Mississippi, the two states that filed lawsuits against China.

“Republicans who have been groundlessly accusing China and inflaming the ‘holding China accountable’ political farce will face severe consequences, sources said, noting that the aftermath will also impact the upcoming November elections, while business and trade between Missouri and China will be further soured,” the Global Times reported.

“China is extremely dissatisfied with the abuse of litigation by the US against China over the COVID-19 epidemic, and is considering punitive countermeasures against US individuals, entities and state officials, such as Missouri’s attorney general Eric Schmitt, who filed a lawsuit against China, seeking compensation for the coronavirus pandemic, sources close to the matter told the Global Times exclusively,” the paper added. “At least four US Congress members, including Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton, and two entities will be put on China’s sanctions list, analysts said.”

Banks, perhaps a lesser-known name on the Chinese Communist Party’s target list, led twenty-one of his fellow Republicans in sending a letter to Attorney General William Barr, demanding the U.S. bring a case against China in the International Court of Justice. He was the first lawmaker to suggest China should pay reparations for the fallout from the coronavirus crisis and he introduced a resolution making it clear that the Chinese government is responsible for the spread of the pandemic.

He said he considers China’s threat against him a “badge of honor.”

“The Chinese government is lashing out at those in the U.S. who are appropriately trying to hold them accountable for intentionally misleading us about the nature of the novel coronavirus, where it was spreading and how quickly things were getting out of control. I consider their threats a badge of honor,” Banks said in a statement on Thursday.

 

Vineyard man shot, killed intruder in self-defense

VINEYARD Utah— Police have identified a man shot and killed in an apparent act of self-defense during a home invasion robbery.

Robert Jalil Williams, 20, of Salt Lake City, was fatally wounded Tuesday after Utah County sheriff’s deputies say he and a group of at least six others attempted to rob a Vineyard resident.

Police were originally called to the Concord at Geneva apartments, 125 N. Mill Road, about 6:20 p.m. A group of several people listed as homeless in a police affidavit had traveled from Salt Lake City to Vineyard “to rob and assault the intended resident,” whom they believe had previously assaulted one of their friends, the affidavit states.

The man living in the apartment shot and killed Williams.

“This appears to be an act of self-defense,” Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon said Friday.

Six people were arrested, including two teenagers. Baboucarr Trawally, 27; Diego Fuentez, 18; Gabriel Little Hawk Trane, 21; and Sarh Sone Jabbah, 18, were each arrested for investigation of robbery

Man shoots and kills alleged home intruder in Scottsdale

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Police have identified an 18-year-old man who was shot and killed Wednesday night by a homeowner in Scottsdale after he was found naked inside the victim’s residence.

Scottsdale police say the incident happened around 10:45 p.m. near Pima and Happy Valley roads.

The homeowner was reportedly doing work on the property when the family dog alerted him to some type of disturbance. When the father of the family entered a room to investigate, he found that one of his children had been confronted by a naked man, identified Friday as Cameron Yoe.

Police say Yoe was holding a large piece of wood in a threatening manner and charged at the resident. The resident then pulled out a gun and shot Yoe twice, killing him.

The 41-year-old resident was home with his wife and three children at the time. No one else was injured at the time of the shooting.

Police say that earlier in the evening around 9 p.m., officers were also called to a separate home in the area for a report of an attempted home burglary, but a suspect was not found. Police say the description of the male intruder in the first attempted break-in matched the description of the man shot and killed in the second incident.

No arrests have been made in the case as police continue to investigate.

From my experience, and from some others I worked with who use guns for the most extreme circumstances, if you go with dot sights on your self defense handguns, you go totally dot sight on them.
Between irons and dots, there’s enough difference on how the gun has to be presented to acquire your sight picture, that switching back and forth will cause you to take extra time to get on target.
And since time is of the essence if you need to use a gun to defend yourself, you can’t afford to waste any chasing the dot down.
So, it’s one or the other. Don’t mix them for your self defense inventory.

Results of a 4 Year Handgun Red Dot Study by Sage Dynamics