TPTB in Florida state that the state will not appeal, so as I have been told, on the 25th, the ruling will become permanent case law.

Florida Court Strikes Down Open Carry Ban

Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeals struck down the state’s 37-year-old open carry ban Wednesday, declaring the prohibition unconstitutional and delivering a significant victory for gun rights advocates.

The three-judge panel ruled unanimously that Florida’s 1987 law violates the Second Amendment, overturning decades of precedent that made the state one of only four nationwide to ban open carry.

“No historical tradition supports Florida’s open carry ban,” Judge Stephanie Ray wrote in the 20-page opinion. “To the contrary, history confirms that the right to bear arms in public necessarily includes the right to do so openly.”

The decision stems from Stanley Victor McDaniels’ July 4, 2022, arrest in downtown Pensacola, where the Republican activist openly carried a loaded handgun while waving a copy of the U.S. Constitution, according to the court document. Police arrested McDaniels despite his concealed carry permit, leading to his conviction. A violation of the 1987 law was previously a second-degree misdemeanor.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier praised the ruling.

“This is a big win for the Second Amendment rights of Floridians,” Uthmeier said in a post.

“As we’ve all witnessed over the last few days, our God-given right to self-defense is indispensable,” he continued.

Representative Byron Donalds, a Republican gubernatorial contender, echoed support on social media: “Shall not be infringed, means shall not be infringed!”

Former Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini criticized Republican lawmakers who previously blocked open carry legislation, calling them “fake Republicans” for failing to repeal the ban through legislative action.

The ruling overturns McDaniels’ conviction and establishes statewide precedent.

Nick Freitas

I am told that as a state representative this is the moment where I’m supposed to express my heartfelt condolences and then stand in solidarity with those on the other side of the aisle as we condemn political violence and stand unified as one people.

But we aren’t “one people” are we?

The truth is we haven’t been for some time now, and there is really no point in pretending anymore, if there ever was.

We are two very different peoples. We may occupy the same piece of geography, but that is where the similarities seem to abruptly end.

I convinced myself for a long time that whenever the left called me a racist, a bigot, a sexist, a fascist, a “threat to democracy” for even the most innocent of disagreements, that it was simply hyperbolic rhetoric done for effect.

And now the “effect” is a widow and two orphaned children, because the left couldn’t bear the thought of a peaceful man debating them and winning.

I don’t think they realize it yet, but murdering Charlie is going to be remembered as the day where we finally woke up to what this fight really is.

It’s not a civil dispute among fellow countrymen. It’s a war between diametrically opposed worldviews which cannot peacefully coexist with one another. One side will win, and one side will lose.

Charlie tried to win that fight through argumentation, through discussion, through peaceful resolution of differences.

And the other side murdered him.

Not because he was “extreme” or “inciting violence” or any other hyperbolic slur they hurled at him. They murdered him because he was effective. Because he was unafraid. Because he inspired others and made them feel like they had a voice, that they were not alone. And he did it at the very institutions which have fomented so much hatred toward conservatives.

I don’t want to “stand in solidarity” with the other side of the aisle. I want to defeat you. I want to defeat the godless ideology that kills babies in the womb, sterilizes confused children, turns our cities into cesspools of degeneracy and lawlessness…and that murdered Charlie Kirk.

Social media is aflame right now with leftist celebration of Charlie’s death.

I wonder if any among them understand what has just happened. If there is a Yamamoto somewhere in their midst warning, that all they have done is awoken a sleeping giant.

I doubt it. I think they gave up such introspection and self-awareness long ago.

I don’t know exactly what will happen next. I just know that it won’t be the same as what has happened in the past.

There will be thoughts and prayers…Charlie would have wanted prayers. Not for himself but for those left behind and for the country that he loved.

But then there will be a reckoning.

My Christian faith requires me to love my enemies and pray for those who curse me. It does not require me to stand idly by in the midst of savagery and barbarism…quite the opposite.

So every time I feel tired, every time I feel discouraged or overwhelmed, I am going to watch the video of a good man being murdered in Utah…I will force myself to watch it…and then I will return to the work of destroying the evil ideology responsible for that and so much more.

Rest with God Charlie, your fight is over.

Ours is just beginning.

There has never been a time in history where the weak and the evil have been given such a loud voice. Turning the other cheek, being the bigger person, ignoring the lies—those days are over. I’ve been saying this is not complicated. It’s good vs evil—and evil will prevail until good stands up…
– Dakota Meyer, SGT USMCR, MH

How 9/11 Made Me Understand Importance of Gun Ownership

The idea of 24 years sounds like an awfully long time. This day, 24 years ago, seems almost like yesterday to me. Especially in the wake of what happened to Charlie Kirk yesterday.

I was home from work. I’d been having a series of migraines and took a week off to deal with that. I woke up and turned on the TV, only to see one of the towers of the World Trade Center burning.

My wife was out with my then-infant son. He was two months old that day and had a checkup, so she was unaware of anything happening. I wasn’t. I saw the second plane hit. I saw the reports of what happened at the Pentagon and of a plane crash in Pennsylvania.

My nation was under attack, and no one had a clue what was next.

All of these reports kept staggering in, adding to the horror we all felt, and I honestly didn’t know if or when it was going to stop. My nation was under attack, and I, not that long out of the Navy, was powerless to do anything. Would the attacks come to our front doors?

I was powerless.

At the time, I didn’t own a single firearm. I had nothing with which to defend my home.

I wasn’t anti-gun. I just hadn’t bothered to get one. Guns were expensive, and I had a young family and wasn’t exactly making the big bucks. There were always other things to buy.

It was clear, at that moment, that needed to change.

No, it turned out that there wasn’t another wave coming on that fateful day. Four planes were all there was, though that was more than enough.

In the coming days and weeks, America changed for a time. We were a nation more or less united. We had an enemy, someone to focus our ire on other than one another. We went to war, then stayed there. An entire generation grew up in the shadow of conflict. First in Afghanistan, then Iraq. Millions put on the uniform and served. Thousands never came home. Tens of thousands came home battered and broken in some way.

But many of us became aware that the bad guys could hit us at home, and that those brave men and women couldn’t be a complete and total shield for the United States.

We’d have to step up.

I carry a gun these days, not just for pedestrian crime from violent Americans or illegal immigrants, but because the Jihadists who hated us then hate us now. I refuse to feel that kind of powerless in the face of such evil ever again.

Since that day, we’ve seen other terrorist attacks on American soil. The nature of radical Islam hasn’t changed, nor has its desire to bring down the freest nation on Earth, the one they call “The Great Satan.” They just haven’t accomplished anything on that scale since that day.

Now, they attack on a more personal level, and should that happen, I refuse to just be a victim.

I might die, but I’ll die fighting, trying to protect others and the nation I love so dearly.

Without our gun rights, I’d be left with harsh language and skills with weapons generally too archaic to take seriously, even as terrorist networks arm their future martyrs across borders without regard for local laws.

Luckily, I do have them, so rather than challenge them to a fight with longswords or spears, I can just shoot them as God and Sam Colt intended.

6 shot, 2 fatally, following robbery attempt at Oakland pawn shop, police say

OAKLAND, Calif. — Two people were shot dead and four were injured during a robbery attempt at a pawn shop in East Oakland on Wednesday evening, according to police.

UPDATE: 2 suspects killed in ‘gun battle’ with Oakland pawn shop owner after attempted robbery

Just before 7:45 p.m., several people were shot in the 7100 block of International Boulevard at the Cash 4 Gold pawn shop, according to the police officers’ union.

According to the preliminary investigation, individuals armed with weapons entered the pawn shop and an exchange of gunfire took place between these individuals and the workers inside the establishment, the department said.

When officers arrived at the scene, they located multiple people who were struck by the gunfire. Medical personnel confirmed that one person was deceased. Five other people who were struck by gunfire, including the business owner, were taken to an area hospital, where a second person was confirmed dead, the Oakland Police Department said. The remaining three suspects were in stable condition as of 10:30 p.m., and the owner is expected to survive, according to Oakland Police Officers Association spokesperson Sam Singer.

Singer said a robber allegedly pulled a gun on the store owner, who then pulled a gun on the robber and four accomplices.

A “major gun battle” ensued, said Singer.

The store owner allegedly shot and killed the two people and wounded the other three.

Detectives are conducting a follow-up investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting, the department said. The Oakland Police Department will be holding a press conference on Thursday.

Robber shot by bystander, 2nd suspect killed in Dania Beach: BSO

A robbery attempt in Dania Beach left one suspect injured and another one dead on Saturday night, deputies said.

According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, at around 6:52 p.m., deputies received reports of a shooting near the 600 block of Stirling Road.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they learned that the suspect had been shot after they robbed a bystander and a business in the area of the 800 block of Stirling Road.

Deputies said the suspect was found in the parking lot of the business, and he was taken to the hospital for treatment.

His condition and identity have not been released.

As deputies continued to investigate the incident, they learned that a second subject tried to run over the bystander during the shooting, which prompted the bystander to fire shots at the vehicle.

Video shows the window of the driver’s side door and shattered glass scattered on the ground alongside bloody clothes

The vehicle was later found near the 100 block of Phippen Waiters Road, and the driver suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

The driver was taken to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

His identity has not been released.

Deputies have not said if the bystander who fired those shots will be charged.

An investigation into the incident remains active.

2012 – The U.S. diplomatic compound and special mission annex in Benghazi, Libya are attacked, resulting in four deaths; Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, US Foreign Service officer Sean Smith; CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty.
Two operational members of 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta;  Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tate Jolly and Army Master Sergeant David Halbruner, on a separate mission, volunteer to accompany the relief forces, resulting in them receiving their respective service’s Navy Cross and Distinguished Service Cross for their actions in combat.

Lest we forget.

How United Flight 93 Passengers Fought Back on 9/11

The coordinated terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 unfolded at nightmarish speed. At 8:46 a.m., the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Sixteen minutes later, a second jet hit the South Tower. At 9:37, an airliner hit the Pentagon. Within hours, thousands had died, including hundreds of first responders who’d rushed to the scenes to help.

But after the events quieted and the scope of the damage came into relief, it became clear that there was at least one element of the al-Qaeda terrorist plot where the damage had been mitigated—with the fatal crash of United Airlines Flight 93.

Like the three other planes hijacked on September 11, Flight 93 was overtaken by al-Qaeda operatives intent on crashing it into a center of American power—in Flight 93’s case, likely the White House or the U.S. Capitol. But instead of hitting its intended target, the United jet went down in a field in rural Pennsylvania. While all 44 people aboard the plane were killed, countless people who might have perished in Washington were spared because of a passenger revolt—a heroic struggle undertaken with whatever low-tech weapons they and the cabin crew members could muster.

Brendan Koerner, author of The Skies Belong to Us, a book about domestic airline hijackings in the 1960s and 1970s, says that in the hundreds of cases he studied for his book, he never came across anything like Flight 93’s passenger revolt.

“The attitude of passengers tended to be that airlines would give the hijackers what they wanted, and so there was relatively little threat to the passengers,” Koerner says. “There aren’t really that many instances of passengers getting involved.”

7:39–7:48 a.m.: The terrorists board, likely one man short

On the morning of September 11, four terrorists boarded United Airlines Flight 93 at Newark International Airport: Ziad Jarrah, a trained pilot; and three others, who were trained in unarmed combat and would help storm the cockpit and control the crowd. All four sat in first class.

There was one fewer hijacker on Flight 93 than the five-man crews that commandeered the other three planes, leading the 9/11 Commission Report to speculate that the United Airlines hijacking operated with an incomplete team. That commission speculated that an intended fifth hijacker—Mohammed al-Qahtani—had been refused entry to the country in early August at Orlando International by a suspicious immigration official, who thought al-Qahtani wanted to overstay his visa and live in the United States.

8:42 a.m.: The flight departs late

UA 93 left its gate at Newark International at 8:01 am, only one minute later than scheduled. But heavy traffic on the runway delayed takeoff for approximately 42 minutes.

As a result, one of the flights (Flight 11) was hijacked nearly half an hour before UA 93 had even left the runway, and both of the World Trade Center towers would be hit before the hijackers on Flight 93 had taken over their plane.

9:24 a.m.: Airline dispatcher warns United 93 about cockpit intrusion

With multiple hijackings unfolding across the country, United Airlines dispatcher Ed Ballinger sent a text message warning to pilot Jason Dahl: “Beware any cockpit intrusion—two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center.”

Dahl, seemingly confused, wrote back, “Ed, confirm latest mssg plz—Jason.”

9:28 a.m.: United 93 is hijacked

While flying 35,000 feet above eastern Ohio, United 93 suddenly lost 7,000 feet as the terrorists rushed the cockpit. In the cockpit, the captain or first officer could be heard shouting “Mayday!” and “Get out of here!” into a radio transmission.

Sometime before 9:30 a.m.: Hijackers kill a passenger in first class

Tom Burnett, a first-class passenger on the flight, called his wife from the back of the plane at 9:30 to report the hijacking. On the call, Burnett told his wife, Deena, that a passenger had been knifed in front of the other passengers. On a subsequent call a few minutes later, he told her the passenger had died.

9:32 a.m.: Hijacker Ziad Jarrah threatens the passengers via the intercom

“Ladies and Gentlemen: Here the captain, please sit down keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So, sit.”

9:35 a.m.: Jarrah redirects the jet’s autopilot toward Washington, D.C.

At approximately the same time, recordings from the cockpit capture the sound of a flight attendant pleading for her life, then falling silent.

9:35–9:55 a.m.: Passengers and crew call their loved ones

For approximately 20 minutes, passengers and crew relayed information about their hijacking…and received word of the grim news on the ground. Planes had, by this point, struck both of the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. The passengers knew they were staring down a similar fate.

Passenger Jeremy Glick told his wife Lyz that passengers were voting on whether or not to storm the cockpit in an attempt to take back the plane.

“I have my butter knife from breakfast,” he reportedly joked.

Burnett told his wife that the passengers were going to wait until they were above a rural area before attempting their action.

Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw boiled water, to throw on the hijackers.

Those on the flight who couldn’t get through to their loved ones left heart-wrenching voicemails instead. Flight attendant CeeCee Lyles called her husband, told him she loved him, and asked that he take care of her children.

“Are you guys ready?” one of the passengers, Todd Beamer, could be heard saying to the others while on a call with a telephone operator. “Let’s roll.”

9:57 a.m.: The passenger revolt begins.

The cockpit voice recorder captured the sound of passengers attempting to break through the door: yelling, thumping and crashing of dishes and glass. In response, Jarrah tried to cut off the oxygen and began pitching the plane left and right, to knock the passengers off balance.

9:58 a.m.: Jarrah instructed another hijacker to block the door.

9:59 a.m.: Jarrah began pitching the plane up and down, again hoping to neutralize the passenger assault.

10:00 a.m.: The hijackers discuss crashing early

Still approximately 20 minutes away from their target, the hijackers recognized that they would soon lose control of the aircraft.

“Shall we finish it off?” Jarrah asked one of the other hijackers in the cockpit.

“Not yet,” was the reply. “When they all come, we finish it off.”

In the background, a passenger screamed to another, “In the cockpit. If we don’t, we’ll die!”

10:01 a.m.: The hijackers decide to crash the plane

Jarrah again asked the other hijacker if he should crash the vehicle. This time, he was told, “Yes, put it in it, and pull it down.”

Jarrah pulled the control wheel hard to the left, causing the plane to fly upside down, and then to crash into the ground at a speed of 580 miles per hour.

It was 10:03 a.m.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, just 15 minutes after hearing the alarm, the FDNY’s elite Rescue Company 2—Lieutenant Peter Martin and firefighters William Lake, Daniel Libretti, John Napolitano, Lincoln Quappe, Kevin O’Rourke, and Edward Rall—arrived at the unfolding World Trade Center tragedy. All seven were killed when the building collapsed. In all, 2,977 lives were lost that day and hundreds have died from illnesses related to the attack’s aftermath.

September 11, 2021:

In a series of coordinated attacks, moslem Al Qaeda terrorists hijack  4 passenger jet aircraft and use them to crash into towers 1 & 2 of the World Trade Center in New York City, and the Pentagon, killing 2,977 people. The passengers of the 4th jet, United Airlines Flight 93, attempt to retake it from the hijackers, and succeed in keeping the hijackers from completing their mission to crash it into the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., instead crashing it in Pennsylvania.

Never forgive. Never Forget.

7:59 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with registration number N334AA, carrying 76 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 11 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport in Boston, bound for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Hijacker and ringleader Mohamed Atta would pilot the plane into the North Tower (Tower 1)  of the World Trade Center.

8:14: United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767, with registration number N612UA carrying 56 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 9 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport in Boston, bound for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot Marwan al-Shehhi would pilot the plane into the South Tower (Tower 2) of the World Trade Center.

8:14: Flight 11 is hijacked over central Massachusetts, turning first northwest, then south heading straight to New York.

8:20: American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with registration number N644AA with 58 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 6 crew members, departs 10 minutes late from Washington Dulles International Airport, for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot Hani Hanjour will pilot the plane into the West side of The Pentagon.

8:42: United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with registration number N591UA with 37 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 7 crew members, departs 42 minutes late from Newark International Airport (later Newark Liberty International Airport), bound for San Francisco International Airport. Four hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot is Ziad Jarrah. At this time, Flight 175 is being hijacked and Flight 11 is about to descend to New York and is 4 minutes away from crashing.

8:42–8:46 (approx.): Flight 175 is hijacked above northwest New Jersey, about 60 miles (100 km) northwest of New York City, continuing southwest briefly before turning back to the northeast. At this time estimate, Flight 11 is about to descend over New York and is just minutes away from crashing.

8:46:40: Flight 11 crashes into the north face of the North Tower (1 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 93 and 99. All passengers aboard are instantly killed with an unknown number inside the building. The aircraft enters the tower on impact.

8:50–8:54 (approx.): Flight 77 is hijacked above southern Ohio, turning to the southeast. The transponder is turned off by hijacker-pilot Hani Hanjour.

9:03:00: Flight 175 crashes into the south face of the South Tower (2 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85. All passengers and crew are killed together with an unknown number inside the building. Parts of the plane, including the starboard engine, leave the building from its east and north sides, falling to the ground six blocks away.

9:28: Flight 93 is hijacked above northern Ohio, turning to the southeast.

9:37:46: Flight 77 crashes into the western side of The Pentagon. All 58 passengers and crew were killed aboard the aircraft, as well as an additional 125 (including emergency workers) on the ground. The crash starts a violent fire.

9:45: United States airspace is shut down by the Federal Aviation Administration; all operating aircraft are ordered to land at the nearest airport, and international flights are not permitted into the airspace.

9:57: The passengers aboard Flight 93 begin a revolt, planned by Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick, and others, moving against the hijackers in an attempt to take back the plane.

9:59:00: The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 56 minutes after the impact of Flight 175. Impact speed of the plane is considered one of the likely factors of the shorter amount of time between impact and collapse than that of the North Tower.

10:03:11: Flight 93 is crashed by its hijackers as a result of fighting in the cockpit 80 miles (130 km) southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Later reports indicate that passengers had learned about the World Trade Center and Pentagon crashes and were resisting the hijackers. The 9/11 Commission believed that Flight 93’s target was either the United States Capitol building or the White House in Washington, D.C. but Khalid Sheikh Mohammed claims that the United States Capitol was the main target.

10:15: All five stories of the Pentagon on the West side where American 77 crashed collapse due to the fire started by the crash.

10:28:25: The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 1 hour and 42 minutes after the impact of Flight 11. The Marriott Hotel, located at the base of the two towers, is also destroyed.

5:20:33 p.m.: 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story building, collapses after fires started inside the build

As put more succinctly:

For most people on the left, political violence is a knob, and they can turn the heat up and down, with things like protests, and riots, all the way up to destruction of property, and sometimes murder.
But for the vast majority of folks on the right, it’s an off and on switch.
And the settings are Vote or Shoot Everybody.
And believe me, you really don’t want that switch to get flipped, because Civil War 2.0 would make Bosnia look like a trip to Disneyworld.
– Larry Correa