Recently the House of Representatives voted on a non-binding resolution to condemn Boycott Divest and Sanction (BDS, or BS for short) against Israel. The motion passed 398-17. So who were the 17?
Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon)
Andre Carson (D-Indiana)
Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan)
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Illinois)
Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona)
Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington)
Barbara Lee (D-California)
Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky)
Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota)
Gwen Moore (D-Wisconsin)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York)
Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota)
Chellie Pingree (D-Maine)
Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin)
Bobby Rush (D-Illinois)
Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan)
Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-New Jersey)
Sixteen of the 17 representatives who voted no were Demoncrats, one was Republican, Thomas Massie from Kentucky. WTH?? Four out of the five who voted present also were Democrats. The only non-Democrat who voted present was Rep. Justin Amash, an Independent.
“I stand before you the daughter of Palestinian immigrants,” said Tlaib on the House floor the morning of the tally. “Parents who experienced being stripped of their human rights, the right to freedom of travel, equal treatment. So I can’t stand by and watch this attack on our freedom of speech and the right to boycott the racist policies of the government and the state of Israel. I love our country’s freedom of speech, Madam Speaker. Dissent is how we nurture democracy.”
And
Earlier in the day, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) criticized the resolution, saying, “It sets a dangerous precedent because it attempts to delegitimize certain people’s political speech and to send a message that our government can and will take action against speech it doesn’t like”
During the 40-minute floor debate on the resolution, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said the BDS movement “promotes a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that seeks to marginalize Israel, that would deny the Jewish people the right of national self-determination.” He added, “Participating in an international commercial effort that undermines Israel’s legitimacy and scuttles the chances of a two-state solution isn’t the same as an individual exercising First Amendment rights.”
After the vote, Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) tweeted, “Displays of anti-Semitism have become too frequent in the past few months, even from members of this House of Representatives—and it is time that we stand united in support of Israel.”
Of course we know my opinion of the “two state solution”. That is already in place. It’s called Gaza, where rockets and fire balloons are launched into Israel.
She compared the BDS movement to the American boycott of Nazi Germany.
“The right to boycott is deeply rooted in the fabric of our country,” she said. “What was the Boston Tea Party but a boycott? Where would we be now without the boycott led by the civil rights activists in the 1950s and 60s like the Montgomery bus boycott and the United Farm Workers Grape boycott?”
She then pivoted to the history of Americans boycotting foreign government, saying, “Americans boycotted Nazi Germany in response to dehumanization, imprisonment, and genocide of Jewish people.”
She claimed in May that “Palestinian Arabs living in the British Mandate prior to the establishment of the State of Israel “provided” a safe haven to Jews after the Holocaust.” Look up Hevron massacre 1929 if you are unsure why I’m angry about that particular statement.
“There’s always kind of a calming feeling when I think of the tragedy of the Holocaust,” Tlaib said, “that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence, in many ways, has been wiped out … in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-Holocaust, post-tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time. And I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that in many ways.”
It seems that the two anti-Semites, Omar (whom I don’t think is married to her brother this week, though she isn’t saying) and Tlaib are planning on visiting Israel.
I really like Sha’i ben-Tekoa’s solution. Let them enter Israel through the Hamass terror tunnels, they’ll feel right at home. He also has a great itinerary for them. Ripping good show with some American History on Thomas Jefferson.
But there are people that disagree. While they are not calling out the pile of Tlaib by name, their actions say she’s liar liar pants on fire.
Who are these people? Arabs. Specifically Arabs in other countries. It seems the Falestinians are beginning to get on everyone’s last nerve.
This may not have made headline news last week.
This is Saudi blogger Mohammed Said,
This man is an ARAB, and he is being treated this way by the Falestinians. I find this curious as well as appalling. But in the Arab world, it’s an eye for an eye. Literally. In Torah it means the value of an eye for an eye.
So in Riyadh
Who else besides the Saudi Arabs have had a bellyful of the Tlai Falestinians? Syrians.
In an exclusive interview, Syrian analyst Wael Ashaq explained that many people in Saudi Arabia despise how the Palestinian Authority is assisting the Assad regime: “They only care about what is good for them. They don’t care about the millions killed every day by the Assad regime. If we look at the issue historically, the Palestinians went everywhere in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan and created many problems and troubles. We as Syrians helped the Palestinians but when we have a problem with our dictator, they stand with this terrorist regime and help them politically as well as militarily. This is true for both Fatah and Hamas. They are both the same on this.”
On top of that, he added that many people in the Arab world are looking in order to build a strong relationship with Israel: “We want a good relationship with Israel because we know that Israel respects our right to be a free people and a liberated country. Israel is the only democratic state in our area. We don’t see any other free and democratic governments in the area. We are looking for a free Syria that will be just like Israel. The region has changed in favor of a new alliance. Any government has to make good relations with Israel if they want their country to be free and democratic and for their people to live with dignity and to have a good life. Therefore, we condemn Palestinian terrorist practices against Israeli civilians and those who support Israel.”
But wait! There’s more!
Mendi Safadi, who heads the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Public Relations and Human Rights, added that many people in the Arab world are waking up and discovering not only how the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have abandoned the Syrian people but also have been taking hostile actions against Saudi Arabia. He noted that the Saudis are greatly disturbed with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad for building a relationship with Iran.
Safadi stressed that the Saudis view Iran to be their number one enemy for the Houthis, Iran’s proxy in Yemen, have fired rockets at Saudi Arabia. In addition, they view Iran’s nuclear program to be a major threat to the Saudi Kingdom and its regional sphere of influence. In light of this, many Saudis are greatly disturbed over the fact that many Palestinians don’t share their hostile perception of the Iranian regime and are actually working in order to have a good relationship with Iran.
According to Safadi, another factor that disturbs the Saudis is the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood among Palestinians. The Saudis consider the Muslim Brotherhood to be a terrorist organization. In light of this, they are not huge fans of Hamas, which is essentially the Palestinian Arab branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that people such as Palestinians have no other option than to “riot” because they are “marginalized” by Israel — drawing swift outrage from Jewish advocacy groups.
…
Radio host Ebro Darden prompted the discussion with Ocasio-Cortez by saying there are a number of “corrupt” governments — lumping together Israel, the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia — which he claimed are “working in concert.”
He went on to assert that young Jewish people are against the “Palestine occupation” and would like to see the ouster of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Darden also ranted about “white supremacist Jews” and said it’s “something most people can’t wrap their brains around.”
“And what’s going on with Israel and Palestine, while it’s very, very deep, it is very, very criminal, and it is very, very unjust,” he said.
Ocasio-Cortez agreed, saying, “Absolutely.”
“I think, too, where we’re at as a country when it comes to Israel-Palestine is very much a generational issue,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
One person is responsible, the one who pulled the trigger. Not the gun. But the very anti-Semitic goon “squad” is certainly doing their best to incite hatred with their lies. It seems many in the Arab world are realizing that the Falestinians are a lie and are tired of them, and their lies. How many Americans will still buy the lies and that pile of Tlaib that she and the rest of the goon squad are dishing out?
For those discomfited by my point of view, and for liberals that entails maniacal hatred, don’t get your Garanimals’ training undies in a twist. I’m in the extreme minority. I’m so “old-school” and normal, nothing more than shirt and trousers will ever emerge from my closet and I managed to reach middle-age sans tattoos, never involved in drugs, and without carnal knowledge of Madonna. Is that rare or what? I’ve never won a popularity contest either and am not about to start now. So why sweat me? Like-minded Americans could fit in one room without a shoe horn.
Unbeknownst to me how, I was added to the email blast alert list of Democrat Party Panjandrum Nancy Pelosi known affectionately in some circles as Bela Pelousy. My first impulse was to hit delete and unsubscribe followed by multiple showers and a round of antibiotics. Wait a sec. Imagine the immense loss in entertainment value not reading lunatic emails penned behind the Tofu Curtain by Bela’s neo-Bolshevik scribes out in California. I reconsidered. Pouring a beverage and popping popcorn, I began reading. Hysterical. What a hoot. I stopped laughing. Radical Trotskycrats couldn’t fund-raise through preposterous wild-eyed frothing at the mouth emails, spewing claims unmoored from reality, unless significant numbers of the Great Unwashed are gullible and ignorant enough to believe such rubbish. Or went to public schools. Or both. G-d help us all.
Based on radio and television discussions, online articles, and conversations with Millennials, in general they seem to oppose abolishing the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. But they also tend to support so-called “assault-rifle” bans and believe safer guns and more training are the remedies for “gun-violence.” If true, their knowledge of firearms and understanding of crime issues needs to be addressed. What is the best approach?
All too-often Millennials propose gun control laws whose underlying premise is grossly naïve; people are incompetent with respect to self-defense so shouldn’t fight back against criminal attack. And “because,” they claim, an armed woman is more likely to shoot herself than the bad guy, she should submit to rape. Could these gutless arguments stem from an unwillingness by TSNAGs (Typical Sensitive New Age Guys) to shoulder a responsibility once embraced by men; protecting society’s most vulnerable? Is cowardice behind their claim disarming all but cops will create safer communities? Making matters worse, people proposing more gun laws sometimes know little or nothing about guns. They employ incorrect terms, trade in urban legends, and rely on internet disinformation. Maybe they ask where’s the safety on Ruger’s GP100, call AR15s “assault weapons,” refer to magazines as “clips,” claim anyone can walk in and out of a gun store in five minutes with a machine gun, say the Constitution “gives” us the right to keep and bear arms, or claim gun-registration will never lead to confiscation. Can gun-owners be faulted in believing when a liberal man marries a liberal woman, it’s a same-sex marriage? How does one address their ignorance and misinformation? Understandably those in the self-defense community often respond to the ill-informed with insults but, is this the best approach with Millennials? Is treating them as lunkheads for not knowing what the rest of us were taught the best way to win converts? No. Instead, with gentleness and patience, take them under your wing. Guide them to a saving knowledge of the truth about self-defense. Teach them the 2nd Amendment protects the right to save their lives and those of loved ones from bad guys who’d take them in a second without remorse. They’re smart. As they learn, questions will arise and your answers will lead to more questions and soon you’ve taught them what used to be common knowledge. Let’s start here.
Deceitfully calling them “assault-weapons,” and “assault-rifles,” liberals would ban America’s rifle, the AR15/AR10 and their derivatives. But these are semiautomatic not assault-rifles, (no firearm is classified an assault weapon). They comport with the type of firearm Alexander Hamilton had in mind observing in Federalist #46 that an armed citizenry is the chief bulwark against infringement and oppression by a federal government, and an army it might raise for that purpose.1 Those calling for “safer” guns and more training are apparently unfamiliar with firearms. Considering approximately 124 million people own about 270 million guns,2 (or more), and there were 505 deaths due to “accidental or negligent discharge of a firearm” in 2013,3 (not even half of a half of a half of a percent, you get the drift) safe gun handling is not a problem in America. Would guns complicated by additional safety devices and more training impair the thugs shooting up Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia,4 and Washington, D.C. among others?
In the past several decades, various firearm manufacturers began attaching unnecessary function-retarding devices (magazine disconnect safety) aimed at fending off slip-and-fall lawyers, buying goodwill among anti-gunners, and saving from themselves, people too stupid to unload their gun before cleaning it. Remarkably, even self-defense gurus piled on teaching CCW holders not to carry guns with personal hand-loaded ammunition because it made them appear more blood-thirsty. Editorialists for firearm magazines, gun forums, pro-gun attorneys, and those training citizens at various shooting schools and academies echoed these proscriptions as well. These admonitions took on the life of hoary old clichés everyone accepts but never questions. With all due respect to ThePersuaders, as a policeman, when I heard someone utter the cliché; there’s a fine line between love and hate, it was always after husbands or boyfriends beat, stabbed, or murdered their wives or girlfriends. There is a huge chasm between love and hate. I am no fan of hoary clichés. If you get worked up over what comes next, keep in mind, drugs, tattoos, Madonna, extreme minority…
I’m acquainted with the PARDs (Pistol Rescue Doctors) who perform operations transforming liberal guns into conservative guns. They surgically remove from pistols magazine disconnect “safeties,” an unnecessary handicapping mechanism. I realize liberals enjoy taking sharp objects to everything from fences to babies, but, in this case, patients emerge from operating rooms feeling much better. These surgeons have rescued pistols from both domestic and foreign marques. A minimally invasive procedure, each gun is able to return to a normal life the same day, without prescription Opioids. What is this safety? A magazine disconnect safety prevents a pistol from firing unless a magazine is firmly inserted and locked in place. It doesn’t matter if the magazine is loaded with rounds or not. Unless the magazine is in place, the pistol is inoperable.
In an ongoing campaign to limit the type of firearms which may be sold and possessed, down to, well, none, California created an ever evolving list of “safety” features and attributes firearms must have in order to be legal in the Rainbow state. To the ever shrinking list of legal guns was added in 2007, the requirement of a visual and tactile loaded chamber indicator and a magazine disconnect “safety.”5 It remains unclear how such mechanisms reduce crime by identifying, apprehending, and bringing violent criminals to trial. In order to continue marketing guns in California, and placate lefty anti-2nd Amendment politicians (the beard and ponytail crowd), Sturm Ruger and Smith & Wesson (metal pistols) added magazine disconnect “safeties” not typically found on pistols manufactured by Beretta, CZ, Glock, H&K, FN, SIG Sauer, Springfield, and 1911A1s, or Smith’s modern plastic pistols.
Self-anointed “gun-experts,” among the most insufferably arrogant people I’ve ever encountered, and Neosporin scraped knee spraying worry warts argue that, before cleaning a pistol, someone might forget to check to see if it’s loaded and suffer a negligent discharge [ND] with tragic consequences. Do they assume everyone, other than them, is too ignorant, stupid, and irresponsible to safely handle guns so as many function retarding devices as possible must be added to them? The rarity of gun-accidents puts a lie to this notion. For everyone I’ve trained with, at police and public ranges, the approach is much the same. Training is 100% focused on safety. A standardized step by step protocol is taught and pounded into the heads of new shooters. Range Masters are unforgiving. 1) all guns are considered loaded, 2) guns at all times must be pointed in a safe direction, 3) shooters must know their backstop meaning, what you’re shooting at and the dangers of shooting in that direction, 4) don’t touch or load guns until conditions are safe to do so, 5) When done firing, place the pistol on the bench, table, etc. with the slide locked back and the ejection port up so anyone can see if it’s loaded. Rounds, fired or not, are ejected from the cylinder of revolvers and the gun is placed on the shooting table with the cylinder propped open for inspection, 6) before disassembly for cleaning, the pistol’s magazine must be out, the slide locked back, and the chamber inspected to ensure no rounds remain in the gun, 7) never point even a disassembled gun at anyone, 8) when unloading an unfired gun, whether back from the range or a day of concealed carry, you must account for each round. By always following these or similar steps in the same order, they become part of what’s known as “muscle memory.” Simple. For those finding these steps too complex or mentally challenging, no amount of safeties will make their firearms safe. For them a safe gun is none at all. But don’t punish the 99.99% who handle firearms responsibly with useless feel-good beanbag lava lamp “safety” devices. An on-line Ruger Forum reveals there are Henny Pennys among gun-owners.
Magazine disconnect safety deactivation opponents argue, although removing them makes pistols no less safe, the why of it would not be understood by juries. Others contend that, even in cases where use of deadly force is justified, prosecutors will use removal to paint defendants in the worst possible light. Forum member ‘Sandlapper’ wrote; “It is a safety device you are removing and I’ve always thought safety and gun are too (sic) words that worked well together.” When another forum member asked if this had ever been an issue in a court case, removal opponent ‘Storm40’ delivered what he thought was the coup de grace citing People v. Superior Court (DU) Los Angeles County, (1992). In this case, an LAPD ballistics expert testified the snub-nosed Smith & Wesson revolver used in the shooting case had been crudely altered and it’s “trigger pull dramatically reduced.” Storm40 added that the revolver’s “safety mechanism” didn’t function.6 Having fired snub-nosed revolvers from Colt, Sturm-Ruger, Smith & Wesson, and Taurus over the years, I never encountered a “safety-mechanism,” left-wing novelist Stephen Kind notwithstanding.
Great Scott, has America descended so deeply into Henny Penny emasculation that the blood of America’s rugged, individualistic, and self-reliant forefathers has evaporated from everyone’s veins? Have Neosporin wielding moms patrolling playgrounds ever vigilant for scraped elbows turned Americans into the sky is falling ninnies?
Back in the day, a young man’s first car was typically a tired old jalopy. He soon went to work tossing out performance inhibiting parts replacing cams, intakes, carburetors, exhaust manifolds, and gears with those designed to wring from the car its true performance potential. At least outside of Palo Alto. When liberal environmentalists, who pee their pants at the mere mention of horsepower, employed the tyrannical power of government to foist all manner of unconstitutional performance crippling “pollution” devices on cars, sons and daughters of pioneers and settlers did what free people always do. They chucked them. None of their modifications rendered cars any less safe. Whether driving a 1974 Ford Pinto pumping out 80 horsepower or a 2018 Dodge Demon with 840 screaming horses on tap, what makes cars safe or unsafe is how they’re operated. For those driving sewing machines (electric cars), time among aficionados of real cars is highly recommended…and fun.
Removing magazine disconnect safeties does little to alter trigger pull weight on hammer or striker fired pistols and renders them no less safe. With Ruger’s SR9, removal actually smooths trigger press resulting in a more accurate gun. No one wants to shoot innocent bystanders. Won’t prosecutors use this modification to vilify defendants? Let’s be frank. If a prosecutor has charged you in a self-defense case, they want your scalp. Ethical or not, fair or not, they’ll throw anything they can at you to win conviction. District Attorneys are politicians. Even If you do everything right; approved factory ammo and a totally bone-stock gun, and you’re a pillar of the community completely justified in the use of deadly force, a D.A. who chooses to bring charges will so blacken your character and reputation, your own family won’t recognize you. Trial lawyer Gordon Cooper, an experienced attorney who represents gun-owners, observes the legal system is biased and stacked against gun-owners. And that’s whether you tuned your gun to be more efficient or not. In his experience, “many law-enforcement officers, district attorneys, and even jurors seem to think that if you own or carry a firearm, you are inherently guilty in some way.”7 It won’t matter whether or not you added clearer sights, replaced the grip panels for a better fit, had a trigger-job to improve a horrendous pull weight, Cerakoted the frame for rust prevention, or removed a magazine disconnect “safety.” Ultimately the issue to be decided is, was the use of deadly force justified? Prosecutors attempt to load juries with as many gun-ignorant Oprah watching malleable Neosporin nitwits as possible. It’s the defense attorney’s responsibility, through the voir dire and trial process to block this and provide expert counter-witnesses. As to Ruger Forum member Sandlapper’s cliché about guns and safety going together, Confiscationists use the words “gun” and “safety,” together all the time. Are you going to allow those who know nothing about and or hate guns, dictate what does or doesn’t belong on your gun because the word “safety” is attached to it? For liberals “safety” means national gun-owner registration, restrictions, bans, forced-buy backs, and confiscation. Is that what you want, Sandlapper? If you allow Confiscationist Henny Pennys to build a “safe” gun, chances are it won’t fire. Messages on T-shirts, bumpers stickers, and social media pose a much greater threat to a defendant in a self-defense case than a finely-tuned gun.
Ruger Forum member “Spring” noted disconnect “safety” removal does not lighten trigger pull and the same dire warnings were applied to gun-owners using hollow point rounds; they’re “designed to kill” and make gun owners appear “blood-thirsty.” You’ll get hammered by prosecutors if they discover you used hollow-points in your self-defense gun, people warned. Another Forum member observed that, with respect to the California snub-nosed revolver case, modification of the revolver’s trigger was not an issue and played no role in determination of guilt or innocence. Two women were engaged in a physical altercation (sounds like a high school cafeteria at lunchtime), one turned to leave, and the defendant shot her in the back of the head.8 Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows immediately what the defendant did wrong. If not, don’t touch a gun until you get some serious legal training.
As much as I respect Massad Ayoob, I take issue with his admonition against disconnect safety removal.9 As a policeman, I and other officers were issued Smith & Wesson Model 19 revolvers. By the 1980s, new specimens typically came with heavy gritty triggers and large wooden grips. It was routine for officers to replace wooden stocks with rubber grips, change the sights, and pop for a department legal trigger job. Like performance mods on a car, this didn’t make the gun any less safe, it simply ran better.
Prosecutor: “Isn’t it true officer Goldstein, getting an action job indicates you intended to shoot the deceased?”
Goldstein: “No, pulling the trigger does.”
Gaston Glock’s masterpiece has no magazine disconnect safety and is perhaps the most customizable pistol on the market. From slide hold-open levers, magazine release buttons, springs, barrels, slides, name it, the performance of off the shelf guns can be greatly enhanced. This can make for more confident and accurate users. Ultra-light triggers aside, in self-defense situations, employing a finely tuned and accurate gun means less chance of bullets striking unintended targets. Gun owners who experiment with various loads are more likely to know which bullets might over or under penetrate in given situations allowing them to choose wisely. This makes them and the gun safer.
It’s possible, sitting in a car, at a desk, or reaching for items on grocery store shelves, to bump the magazine release button just enough to unlock the magazine of some pistols. With the magazine still in the well, nothing appears amiss. Attacks by criminals are often sudden and violent, allowing victims but a second to pull their gun and fire in self-defense. Only, the gun won’t fire. The magazine is unlocked. What about the fact a round is already chambered. It won’t matter. The gun is inoperable due to the magazine disconnect safety. For naysayers who might argue this would probably be a rare occurrence, how rare will it be if it’s you? Gun Writers note most attacks and self-defense uses of pistols occur at handshaking distances. Suppose a scumbag makes a grab for and gets his hand on your gun and, in the ensuing struggle, the magazine release button is bumped sending the magazine flying. No sweat, you still have one in the pipe. Weren’t you paying attention? Without the magazine locked in place, the pistol is inoperable. While the Scrote is stabbing you with a knife or bludgeoning your skull with a crowbar, you’re on hands and knees, scrambling around on the sidewalk, trying to find the ejected magazine so it can be re-inserted into the pistol to make it work. Only, you won’t be able to do that. Because you’re dead.
Finding time and money to practice frequently at the range is a challenge for anyone. “Dry-firing” is a method for practicing trigger skills, hand and eye coordination, and building muscle memory. Third generation Smith & Wesson pistols, alloy and steel models, had hammers and a double action trigger pull weight designed to build great forearms. Like a revolver, one can practice “staging” the overly heavy trigger learning to control and fire it at the proper “break” enhancing accuracy and effectiveness. But this requires lots of practice, including long dry-fire sessions. To dry-fire these hammer fired Smiths, one has two options; thumb back the hammer and pull the trigger but, it won’t drop without the magazine in place (Smith 908, for example), or rack the slide. But the slide can’t be racked to the rear and returned to battery if an empty magazine is in place. The slide has to be retracted, allowed to return to battery, and then the magazine re-inserted. Unless you thumb the hammer with a magazine in place, if you dry fire 50 times, you’ll have to repeat this process 50 times. But that’s impossible with magazine disconnect safeties. It’s the same for striker-fired pistols. Dropping the magazine, working the slide, reinserting the magazine, pulling the trigger, and repeating is not conducive to training and, we have a magazine always in the gun. Wouldn’t it be safer during dry fire practice for a magazine not to be part of the equation?
For those clinging to the, what’s the harm with more safeties argument, how many will be enough? At what point does the firearm’s intended purpose become compromised? The way to improve driving skills is through practice, not making it harder for people to drive their cars. In both cases, firearms and automobiles, one learns a set of safety protocols from which not to deviate. I am aware of a man who was killed when the jack holding up the car he was under failed. Anyone who works on cars learns early on this is a hideously dangerous no-no. The same “everyone knows you don’t do this” type of maxim also applies to guns. Those who violate safety protocols, face tragic consequences. The good news is, most of us do follow them.
What would guns designed by Henny Pennys look like? Big and heavy, festooned with a padlock, proof all 29 warning labels were read, owner fingerprint keypad, microphone and voice recognition software, chip reader, DNA blood-sample collection needle, video-screen on which to take a required test, google search for any racist, sexist, bigoted, etc. comment ever made on social media, and an automatic call to the FBI for authorization to use the gun.
In America, when a respected greybeard in the 2nd Amendment and shooting community theorizes from his pedestal this or that handgun modification could be used by prosecutors to hang an innocent person, other sages nod in cross-pollinating agreement. Soon the theory circulates becoming accepted wisdom one dares not question. In the real world, rounds fired at violent attackers in self-defense, from .380s to .44 Magnums, don’t automatically drop knife or gun-wielding Scumbags like a sack of potatoes. You’re in a fight for your life. You must do whatever it takes to prevail. Failure means you die. But, snivels the Henny Penny, they’ll say when you fired your gun, you meant to kill the bad guy with the knife.10 When it comes to saving lives, we can’t let fear mongering and the massive egos of firearms “experts” cripple our ability to defend ourselves. We can’t allow Confiscationists to normalize hamstringing guns with function inhibiting devices in the name of “gun safety” and “sensible laws.” None of this will hamstring violent criminals but may cost you your life.
11 Clinton Rossiter, Editor, The Federalist Papers, #46 (New York, N.Y., A Mentor Book from New American Library, 1961), 294-300.
22John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns Less Crime, Third Edition, (Chicago, Illinois, University of Chicago Press, 2010), 1.
1010 People who rob, rape, and murder, are intentional predators. Unlike animals whose predation is based on feeding, these predators are motivated by evil hence monsters and no longer part of the family of man and should be treated as such.
You know, it seems more and more often I hear the left justify their criminal behavior as “fighting hate”, “fighting evil” “fighting fascism” or another one I hear from time to time, “Trump is so evil”. No, I don’t believe President Trump is evil, misguided and screws up? Yep. But I notice those that claim he is “evil” usually do so because he is denying them something they want such as illegal immigrants voting, or on welfare, or how about just coming here illegally, un-vetted and we have no idea who they are, what diseases they have or what their character is.
Recently a conservative journalist was attacked in the city of Portland Oregon. A shame and disgrace, Portland used to be a very beautiful city. I very much enjoyed my trips there when I was younger. But Portland has become a liberal haven, like Berkeley. And like Berkeley, antifa flourishes. What is antifa like?
I’m reading a book right now called Women Heroes of WWII.
He instituted the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth), a state-run program for all children ages 10–18. The Hitler Youth program was geared to make Germany’s children proud, militant Nazis. They engaged in warlike games, killed small animals (to become insensitive to suffering and death), sang songs about German streets running with Jewish blood, and were encouraged toward fanatical, personal devotion to Hitler, a devotion that was to take precedence over their relationships with their parents. (Children were encouraged to turn in their own parents to the Gestapo if they heard them say anything against the Führer.)
The members of antifa certainly fit that description! My Mom and I were talking the other night and she was telling me a statistic she thought she had heard about the percentage of people that want socialism vs the people that don’t, and want capitalism. And in their public educatioindoctrination centers skools they learn what is “social justice” and “victimhood” 300 level classes in this are available at most universities, along with BDS and anti-Zionism against the one Jewish state in the world, which is in no way of course, antisemitic. In addition to physically attacking their victims, they strive for fear, intimidation and humiliation. Again, familiar.
But adults can have differences of opinions, they can discuss ideas. Very spirited discussions can result between two adults that argues their points, theories and ideas.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
Brainstorming is a beautiful thing. Antifa doesn’t brainstorm. I’m not sure they really think, they seem more like violently programed robots. They are absolutely indoctrinated to hate. How else can you scream “Love trumps hate” as you try to beat another living being?
Some of this just seems so familiar, it’s like a memory ringing in the back of my mind.
I’m seeing a pattern. Conservatives, especially in this time of Trump have been de-humanized to the point that the liberal tolerant left feels perfectly justified in physically attacking them. Women alone, old men, doesn’t matter. They function as a feral pack, they seem to single out one person and go after them. Because of they have different ideas than that of the left and that is no longer permitted. Stores are boycotted, careers are ruined, jobs are lost. All because someone expressed an opinion that the left doesn’t allow them to express or believe. Which goes with the pattern, it’s why Russia and Germany had to lock up and isolate leaders of the opposition, be they teacher, doctors, sailors, soldiers or the neighborhood grocer.
Antifa sympathisers are ‘whitewashing’ violence: Andy Ngo
You notice this report came from outside the U.S.
Also like the days of old, those in authority are telling the police to “stand down” and not protect the Trump supporters. Whether it was Berkeley, the lady in San Jose when the police blocked the door and wouldn’t let her in as antifa surrounded her or the attack on Andy Ngo which occurred right in front of a police station. The authorities are not doing the “serve and protect” thing. Well, not if you’re a conservative anyway.
Have you noticed another similarity between the cities where antifa seems to be flourishing? Yeah, I thought you probably had. They all have strict gun control. While that will affect conservatives who tend to be law abiding, it does not affect antifa who show up armed with crowbars and bats. And while the liberal talking heads aka #FakeNews tend to belittle the milkshake thing, the “milkshakes” often have quick drying concrete which makes them capable of blunt force trauma as well as chemical acid burns.
The point of the all this intimidation is something gun owners have seen for a long time. The media tells us some massive percentage of the people support further restricting our Second Amendment rights. And while we know it’s crap, many others, the Fudds out there will believe it. Especially if there is a collaborating story from the VNRA. With the stifling of free speech, and the ability to safely assemble at a political rally the tolerant, progressive anti-fascist fascists are ensuring only one opinion, theirs, is safe to express or will be heard.
And while some say “Love Trumps Hate”, I say love may well trump hate, but these days love and a AR-15 are a way better way to go.
I hate it when FactCheck.org shows up in my news searches. Because this is fairly typical of the lying SOBs.
A False Claim About H.R. 8 and a ‘Firearms Registry’
A viral meme falsely accuses five House Republicans of voting with Democrats to create a “firearms registry.” The bill in question specifically prohibits “the establishment, directly or indirectly, of a national firearms registry.”
The headline is certainly right: Angelo Fichera is making a false claim. A classic strawman argument. I’m not aware of anyone claiming that HR 8 would create a firearms registry. We correctly note that it would enable the creation of such.
For Angelo and his fellow short-bus riders, I’ll explain.
HR 8 would expand preemptively-prove-your-innocence (PPYI) checks to virtually all firearms transactions. It does that by requiring private parties go to a federally licensed dealer (FFL) so that the dealer can process the transaction in exactly the same way that his own transactions are done: boundbook entry, 4473, NICS, fees.
The 4473 is the potential problem, because it’s forever. Even when and if an FFL goes out of business, the stack of 4473s goes to the ATF to be filed.
Fichera knows that, but blows it off, because everyone knows the ATF is forbidden to enter those into a searchable database. Of course, that law got passed specifically because the ATF was caught doing exactly that. And they still do mass photocopying of 4473s during license inspections.
Let’s pretend that HR 8 passes the Senate, too, and Trump signs it. As a result, Trump properly loses the 2020 election to a Democrat who will stab us in the chest, not the back. So at least we can see “them” coming and dodge.
Then they pass another bill repealing the databasing restriction. The ATF issues a Request for Purchase for several thousand document scanners with character recognition, along with thousand of temp hires to hit every FFL in the country for copies of those conveniently collected 4473.
Database.
We had a Dem presidential candidatedesignated gun control stalking horse, whose main campaign promise was to confiscate every semi-auto firearm in civiilan hands. To do that, the government needs to know who has what and where. If they didn’t know that before, they’ve surely learned from New Zealand’s embarrassing ban attempt.
Universal PPYI, with 4473s is the perfect setup. And the government is well aware of it. Since NICS began, pro-rights people have advocated different systems that would allow background checks, while preventing the creation of a permanent record subject to ATF collection. BIDS: Blind Identification Database System is one of the better suggestions (assuming our rights are going to be violated at all). BIDS still has weaknesses, but those can be fixed.
Legislators and bureaucrats have actively resisted all attempts at switching to a recordless system. Go ahead; tell me I’m paranoid for thinking they want those permanent records.
I wonder how Fichera would like his favored right — the First Amendment — regulated in the same way.
Imagine some congresscritter doesn’t like being ridiculed, and files a bill “prevent verbal violence” by requiring everyone who purchases a computer or smart phone to pass a background check. The transaction would be logged on an FCC form 7734, and will include things like purchaser’s race, and the device’s serial number and MAC. Bill makes it into law, because only someone who wants to verbally abuse children could object.
Then someone else insults Rep. Wilson‘s intelligence (properly, the lack thereof). So she files a bill to collate those 7734s into a searchable database; all the better to track down that mean person.
No doubt Mr. Fichera will be just fine with preemptively proving his own innocence before exercising his First Amendment rights online, and being forced to pay for it. Of course, if he smokes marijuana, or has a felony conviction, or even some misdemeanors, he won’t be allowed to buy that phone. And if he has one, someone may “red flag” him because maybe he’ll slander someone or write a article based on his own… li… oh. Wait.
No First Amendment for Fichera.
Of course, once the Dems are on a roll, they could ban high capacity batteries because no one needs to talk for more than half an hour. And there would be an 8 day cooling off period before you could take possession of your phone or computer, lest some hack writer draft an ill-conceived strawman column on the spur of the moment. Writer licensing (that’s been proposed before).
How about safe storage laws for computers and phones so little children can’t get their hands on them and hook up with an Internet predator? And that’s all the more reason to register devices and owners, right? S0 you can use the MAC to track pedophiles… or annoying journalists who insist on covering embarrassing government screwups.
Heck, maybe they’d even ban those fully automated smart phones suitable only for military communications. Or swapping kiddie porn. Do that for the children.
That, FactCheck and Fichera, is why we object to “universal background checks.” It would enable all that.
[Permission to republish this article is granted so long as it is not edited and the author and The Zelman Partisans are credited.]
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Ahh, the double standard of the left. What they think should be shown on every TV set 24 hours a day. For example, a women telling lies about a man whom the left disagrees with would get wall to wall coverage. When she changes her story or admits the truth, not so much. When it involves actual physical attacks on someone they disagree with, that, they cover up.
The hypocrisy has just been strong of late.
In the world of (un)social media and big tech:
It seems Ilana Mercer has been locked out of Twitter of late. Was it her latest column about Logic being disallowed? It used to be the old joke about Fathers needing shotguns to defend their daughter’s honor from randy young lads. Now it seems dog owners need them to defend their dog’s honor from illegal immigrants. But, blocked out she is. As she points out, part of the price you may have to pay to get back in, or at least what they lead you to think, is that if you surrender your cell phone number to them. Then they may let you back in. Of course, once they have it, well. The US government of course wants to know everything about everyone at all times, and this was long before this administration. Anyone remember the tale of Lavabit? Lavabit was founded as an alternative google and the privacy concerns that were arising. The government can’t stand for you to have a private conversation on your own phones or email. U.S. May Outlaw Messaging Encryption Used By WhatsApp, iMessage And Others, Report. But then, google is already spying on you. Review: Google Chrome has become surveillance software. It’s time to switch.
But back to Ilana for a moment, locked out of Twitter. What does Twitter find acceptable? Apparently antifa. Antifa has a un-throttled, unblocked account. I’m guessing they aren’t losing followers due to a Twitter algorithm. Antifa has been a busy little pack of cowardly cupcakes the last few days. In case you aren’t familiar with Andy Ngo, he is a journalist in the Portland OR area. He recently put up a story about a woman being randomly attacked along with this comment, this is from 2 or 3 days ago.
Exclusive video. This happened this week in Portland, Ore. with absolutely no media coverage. Steps away from the iconic Voodoo Doughnut in downtown, Daniel Tuski Bertrand suddenly attacks a woman. Her eye socket was ”crushed,” says a source. The man was only charged with a misdemeanor & released without having to pay bail.
Also apparently the Portland mayor is not too distressed about the crime. Apparently Andy with Quillette, is known in the Portland area. He was attacked by a Twitter approved antifa mob. I guess throwing milkshakes with quick drying concrete in them on people (conservative only) and shooting them with silly string, beating them up (only allowed if they are wearing something conservative looking like a patriotic shirt) is fine by Twitter. And it seems several very obnoxious leftists have been openly calling for violence against conservatives on Twitter and that doesn’t seem to cause a problem for @TwitterSupport either. For the people experiencing it, it is. Twitter approved antifa also stole his camera, before they sent him to the hospital. Note the two tolerant leftists who seem to think it is perfectly acceptable to throw milkshakes at people they don’t like and chase them. Chew on that one. The left thinks there is a class of people it is ok to attack in public and chase down and assault. That will just be the start. This isn’t the right side of the political spectrum, it’s the left. The virtue signaling left.
Apparently there were no police around to intervene. As in many liberal cities, it seems the police just aren’t around. Or as in the case of the Berkeley riots, were told not to intervene when conservatives were attacked. But what makes this odd, is Andy is gay, and Asian. So a pack of bandana clad (to show how tough cowardly you are, you hide your face) mostly white boys physically attack a gay Asian man, chase him like a pack of wild animals and the response from his brethren and sisters in the mainstream media_______crickets. Victims of course are mandated not to have a gun to defend themselves, by the left of course. Strict gun control in Portland, because if it saves “just one life”, unless of course it’s Andy Ngo by defending himself with one. Maybe we need #MilkshakeControl? Was that a large extra-capacity #AssaultMilkshake?
Twitter of course will ban the associated accounts, just kidding.
But that brings us to google. Will it show up in google searches? For how long and how far down the list? Of course, google may have supplied antifa with the concrete and milkshakes. Turns out google not only runs gmail, youtube, a pretend search engine, they also have gprotest, gantifa if you will. You know, g out of gmail, and antifa? G-antifa. Seems James O’Keefe has been busy, again.
They are also becoming the electronic media arm of the #Demoncratic party. It seems the muckty mucks at google have decided President Trump was a horrible mistake. And they are determined to prevent that from happening ever again. Because they know better than you. Seems google is to the left of even Fauxcahontas politically. Believe it or not. Google exec caught on hidden camera saying that they will stop Trump’s re-election
In the video, Gennai said that she opposes Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to divide up Google. Gennai said, “I love her but she’s very misguided, like that will not make it better it will make it worse, because all these smaller companies who don’t have the same resources that we do will be charged with preventing the next Trump situation, it’s like a small company cannot do that.”
And while they whine about Russian collusion, they are actively planning to corrupt elections. At least a couple states are now giving driver’s licenses and voting cards to illegal immigrants.
The media has such a lockstep view of perceptions of they will push, allow the edited story in the public arena.
For example recently the NY Slimes #FakeNews, ran a story about a restaurant in South Africa and made the purpose of the article about racism. They think a restaurant allowing anyone to eat there is the most upsetting thing facing the white South African farmers? I suspect it’s them, their families and their livestock being butchered and cut up alive, and their land confiscated is a bigger concern, but, it is the Slimes. All the news that’s fit to print, unless of course it’s about Six Million Jews being murdered in Europe. And the good friend of the Jews, Roosevelt-Demoncrat, sending Jews escaping back to Europe to be murdered. And just like the Slimes didn’t want to see it was the peace loving Germans committing the atrocities back then, and so they didn’t tell the world, they really haven’t changed much. With the Slimes politics and political correctness comes before news. Dangers from peace loving illegal immigrants to citizens, especially Jewish ones is not something the Slimes is really leading the way on.
The BESA Center reported in 2018, “Sweden has taken in the highest number of migrants in western Europe as a percentage of population. Most immigrants come from Muslim countries where societies are permeated by extreme anti-Semitic prejudices. The authorities there promote Jew-hatred as national policy. Sweden can thus be characterized as a major importer of anti-Semites out of humanitarian motives.”
Well, humanitarian except for it’s Jewish citizens.
And another big importer of Antisemitism? What from Germany?
A year ago, 951 cases of anti-Semitic incidents had been reported in the German capital. The episode in the Steglitz park comes a few days after another boy was attacked in the Prenzlauer Berg district in Berlin for wearing a kippah.
And that’s in just the capitol. I don’t think the Slimes has changed much in the level of honesty in their reporting the danger to Jews in Europe. Or America either for that matter. Plus the Slimes persist in calling nazis right wing. They aren’t. For not the last time, I’m sure, nazis are socialists, like AOC. They are left wing, big government control, not individual rights. Not as far left as communists like Bernie, but but left wing, not right.
And so while the left bills itself as tolerant, accepting, and caring about people, they actually are the party that believes in using government control, physical violence, surveillance, propaganda, and media lies and misdirection to control a disarmed populace. What information they do not want you to know, especially about making informed voting choices, they will hide. They will stifle the voices with which they do not agree, because they are not worthy of being heard. Your private information? They will suck up, gather and store like a vacuum cleaner bag. They will spy on you like the NSA.
“There was a female, 10 years old, who was found with 20 different types of semen inside her body. She was dispatched to a family member. The girl who was with her who was supposedly a family member was not really a family member, just someone who bought her from her family in Guatemala. These are real problems that exist here on the border. There are some people who are trying to leave jugs of water out here for them. A lot of these people come to this country needing help,” the professional stated.
Migrants are obtaining “Rent-A-Kids,” and since Border Patrol cannot perform DNA tests to determine if children are related to adults most of the human traffickers get into our country.
Ahhh the “compassionate, caring” AOC preventing policies that could help some of the kids.
I thought I’d share a video of her when she recently heard about hula hoops. As per usual, perhaps she should seek more information before declaring herself an “expert”.
“Can we discuss the loss of rights of people going to a concert because of the lack of assault rifle regulations?”1
Singer Sheryl Crow
“It sickens me the ease in which a TERRORIST can be sold a GUN. Is the ease really worth all these lives?! This needs to stop”2 [capitalization and punctuation in the original] tweeting about Las Vegas.
Gigi Hadid, top fashion model
“It would be wise to ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and silencers. None of which is excessive.”3
Elizabeth Banks, Hollywood actress
“Gun control now. Enough already. Grow the f__k up. The average person doesn’t need a f__cking maching (sic) gun. Enough already.”4 [Misspelling in the original]
Billy Eichner, Comedian, actor, writer, television personality.
“We love the traditions, the history, the technology of firearms, and we grew up with the sense of deep responsibility owning guns brings. We gun owners have a deeply held belief in gun safety, instilled by our parents and our grandparents. Owning a gun means living by a set of sternly ingrained rules. Those rules belong to us. We live by them. And when someone breaks those rules, we feel betrayed, appalled, and angry.”5
Todd Woodward
Leftist singer Cheryl Crow, from Kennett, Missouri is worth approximately $41 million dollars. No doubt she and the celebrities cited above earn enough to preclude rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi. They probably have bodyguards as well. Armed bodyguards. If Crow knows anything about firearms and gun-laws, she keeps this secret well hidden. If model Hadid knew the Las Vegas mass murderer was a terrorist (no one else did) then why didn’t she speak up or call the FBI before the massacre? Comedian Eichner demonstrates a psychosis peculiar to those on the left to wit; they believe anger, shouting, and profanity lend credence and strength to their argument. The more self-righteous sanctimony they can work up, like a sweaty lather, the more correct they are. Grow up? For real Billy? I heard that. Someone in the room said, “Who cares. I don’t go to the movies and never heard of these people anyway.” Do you know how many followers they have on social media? Remember this is the USSA (United States of Shallow Americans) wherein if people like an actor, singer, model, or entertainer, then whatever they say must be true. Affection determines truth. Mental exertion need not apply. Let’s play a game. Let’s pretend we’re in a large room and seated at our feet are pop-culture icons all eager to learn. They begin with questions like; aren’t people running amuck in streets blasting each other left and right like in the movies and video games we make? Shouldn’t the government ban guns before they hurt more people? Why is anyone allowed to buy military assault weapons? And they’re all ears and no mouth. I know, I know, but play along anyway.
With respect to actress Elizabeth Banks, there are no firearms classified “assault weapons.” Anything that can be used to hurt another; a rolled up magazine, pencil, ashtray, rock, fishing hook, hayfork, Hillary’s laugh (like a cross between a strangled goose and Bob Dylan singing), or a refrigerator hardened biscuit can be an “assault weapon.” Okay, I get it, you meant “assault rifle” like AR15s, AK47s, Ruger Minis, and any rifle with a collapsible stock and fore-end grip. Right? Wrong. For a rifle to be classified as an “assault rifle,” it must possess specific characteristics including: (1) shoulder fired, (2) capable of full automatic fire, and (3) chambered in a cartridge “intermediate between pistol and revolver, and rifle ammunition; i.e., carbine ammunition.”6 Some are capable of selective fire meaning they have a switch to set them on safe, semiautomatic, fully automatic, and back again. By definition this excludes semiautomatic rifles because there is no switch or capability for full automatic fire. Instead their triggers must be pressed, one at a time, for each round fired, a system more than a century old. Other than caliber, similarities between military and civilian rifles are cosmetic. The latter are incapable of selective or full-automatic fire. Liberals invented the term “assault-weapon” to confuse and scare non- gun owners into believing commercial AR15s are the same as military fully automatic assault rifles.7
Okay, maybe you’re right, a songstress replies, but can’t semiautomatics be modified to fire full-auto? In some cases, yes but it takes skill and proper tools to make alterations which typically are irreversible. This false claim, semiautomatics can easily, and apparently legally, be converted to fully automatic, came up at my school in the form of an ambush.
When I was a high school teacher, a colleague in the foreign language department told her students anyone could purchase the part(s) at gun shows to convert semiautomatic rifles to full-auto. Why this came up in a Spanish class, I have no idea. English, Science, Math, SocialIST Studies, and other departments were compartmentalized into their own hallways and, only in my 3rd year, I’d met few teachers outside my own. Therefore, I was caught off guard when a teacher I’d never met (I had to ask a colleague her name) unleashed an attack on me in the teacher’s break room at lunch. Angry and emotional, she yelled at me in accusatory tones claiming anyone could buy the parts to convert semi into fully automatic firearms at gun shows. Collecting myself, I asked what the part was and how many gun shows had she attended? Her response was tempestuous insistence she spoke the truth and if I said otherwise, I was a liar. Why had she targeted me? An introvert in a department of belligerent very vocal leftists, I’d kept my views to myself from day one so her outburst was mystifying. I failed to grasp, until apprised later by the principal, what an intolerable scandal it was for an overwhelmingly liberal faculty to discover a conservative in their midst. And I was unaware to the degree which liberal teachers, who didn’t even know me, talked about me behind my back. MOTOWN’s The O’JAYS sang of my plight. The pattern was typical. Upon discovering a conservative colleague, liberals begin with mild teasing, then goading, next mockery and stepped up insults, and finally angry verbal attacks. When assigned to work with new teachers during faculty in-services, ultra-liberal union goon Mao ZeTodd was invariably lurking nearby. He’d rush over announcing in hysterical tones resembling an Atlanta CDC warning, I was the “school conservative” thus poisoning any chance to build a relationship before rumor, gossip, and lies reached their ears.
I’d attended many gun shows and never seen parts for sale to convert semi to a fully automatic rifles. Being no authority and wanting to get the facts straight, I contacted the local BATF. They said the Spanish teacher was wrong. Possession of any part permitting conversion of a firearm from semi to full-automatic is illegal and a felony. This is true even if one doesn’t possess a firearm. Members of local police departments and the BATF often visit gun shows ensuring everything is on the up and up. It is illegal to make, alter, or offer for sale, any part modifying the semiautomatic function of any firearm, pistol, shotgun, or rifle, to fully automatic. Kiss loved ones goodbye because you’re looking at up to 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 dollar fine, and permanent revocation of the right to possess firearms and vote as well. Suppose you make the modification and take it to someone’s farm to try it out. A neighbor reports to authorities hearing automatic fire coming from this property. Based on probable cause the BATF secures and executes a search warrant finding the weapon(s). It gets very bad at that point. Altering firearms this way is something you should never have anything to do with. Don’t do it. Run from anyone doing this.8 Did I confront the Spanish teacher with the truth, the fact that she lied? No, it’s the whole introvert thing. Okay ask our glitterati, AR15s are not the same as M16s, but why does anyone need them anyway?
The right to keep and bear arms is recognized through the Declaration of Independence and Constitution as a G-d-given not man-created right from which individuals can’t be alienated [separated] by government. It has nothing to do with hunting or membership in the Military or “National” (sic) Guard and more importantly, is not dependent on notions of a “need.” Were this not so, those who rule, regardless of style of government from authoritarian to democratic, could define and redefine the “need” standard until it becomes an un-scalable wall. In response to mass shootings in the latter half of the 20th century, Britain eliminated self-defense as a reason to “need” firearms essentially banning pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns. Because registration had been implemented years before, the government knew who had what when confiscation began.9 An inalienable right cannot be altered, infringed upon, or abolished by a majority vote of one’s neighbors or by government. Okay, says a pop-star, instead of banning guns, couldn’t we save lives by limiting magazine capacity? Who really needs “high capacity” magazines holding 15 to 30 rounds?
High compared to what? The correct term is “full capacity.” I have a question for you; how many rounds does it take to stop an attacker? A 2008 Rand Corporation study found the NYPD averaged an 18% hit rate in shootouts with armed criminals and a 30% rate when the bad guys didn’t return fire10 translating into an approximate hit ratio of 1 to 3 rounds per 10 round magazine. Roughly the same percentage, sometimes worse, holds true for departments across America. Would you limit magazine capacity for the police? Okay maybe not cops but it’s different with civilians. It’s the cops that face armed bad guys a movie star shouts. Based on my experience, more than a few civilians are better trained and know their way around firearms than the average cop. Considering victims, by virtue of their status as the intended target, are first on the scene, why should they be hamstrung by limited capacity magazines when police, on the way if 911 is called, are not? Now toss into the mix an attacker full of murderous rage, under the influence of alcohol and or drugs, and running full speed at you with knife or gun in hand. Forget all this talk about bringing a knife to a gun fight, one-shot stops, and knock-down power, we’re dealing with the real world, not Hollywood. Lethal hits or not, how many rounds will it take to stop the attacker from taking your life before he expires? No one knows. Further, criminals may attack in pairs or groups, one asking for the time or bus fare, distracting the intended victim. Will felons, already barred from possessing the firearms they acquire, obey magazine capacity limits? They tend to keep shooting until their victims are dead.
I see your hand up in the front. Didn’t you sing at a Super Bowl halftime a few years back? Never saw a skirt so short before. What about gun registration to prevent violent crimes, she says, ignoring my observation. Wouldn’t it keep them out of the hands of criminals? Does it now, I reply. Registration is record keeping on who legally purchased and owns what. Since criminals, who typically obtain firearms through theft and burglary are disinclined to register them, what difference would registration make? Consider automobile registration and driver’s licensing requirements. License plates on stolen cars reveal who owns not who stole it. Same with guns. Like firearms, many laws regulate the purchase and operation of automobiles but here the analogy breaks down. Fines, restrictions on and revocation of driving privileges, and even prison to compel compliance with traffic laws has failed. People still text, speed, run stop signs and red lights, steer wheels with knees because a cigarette is in one hand and a triple-decker two-pound bacon burger is in the other, and drive under the influence. Each year they murder thousands of people and hurt, maim, and cripple millions more yet no one calls for the elimination of automobiles even “if it will save one life.” There is no analogue with firearm ownership. Considering approximately 124 million people own about 270 million guns,11 and there were 505 deaths due to “accidental or negligent discharge of a firearm” in 2013,12 and of “2,596,993 deaths in the U.S. for the same year, 1% were related to firearms (most suicides),”13 gun owners have a remarkable record for non-criminal safe handling of firearms. This is not the result of registration or gun control laws but rather, the nature of firearm owners going back to America’s founding. Gun registration schemes typically lead to confiscation as in the U.K., Australia, and California. Speaking of California, one of its denizens, not sure if male or female, raises, his, er, her hand, and asks; why not “reasonable” gun laws, can’t you compromise?
Lewis Dovland notes regardless of rhetoric, gun-controller’s “ultimate goal” remains “confiscation of all guns in America.” Each law passed moves closer to this goal. Take same-sex marriage for example and imagine a line forming a continuum running from ‘A’ to ‘Z.’
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Normal marriage is ‘A’ with ‘Z’ being same-sex marriage. Proponents of same-sex marriage knew demanding ‘Z’ was too much to ask for, so they demanded ‘N’ instead. This sparked debate and resistance. Attorneys challenged state laws against same-sex marriage in court while supporters fanned out across the land branding opponents bigots, haters, extremists, and “homophobes.” Schools were pressured to adopt same-sex friendly curriculum under the rubrics; “tolerance” and “diversity.” Hollywood films and television shows seeded positive depictions of same-sex marriage. Stories planted in the liberal media echoed these portrayals. Opponents were depicted as rabid backwoods Christian fundamentalists chomping at the bit to launch new waves of Salem witch trials. Although the demand for ‘N’ appeared a failure, (citizens in states that remember the 10th Amendment still voted on the issue) in actuality proponents of same-sex “marriage” (sic) achieved ‘C,’ greater acceptance of and crumbling resistance to their agenda. The effort began anew only now, ‘C,’ is the new ‘A’ and there is no way to go back to the original ‘A.’ ‘N’ is again demanded and ‘C’ is again settled for but ‘C’ is now really ‘F.’ By constantly refining ‘A’ toward ‘Z,’ they ultimately got to ‘Z.’ In like manner, Confiscationists through so-called reasonable gun laws, hope to eliminate private possession of firearms in America.14
Gun control laws are predicated on the notion mere existence of firearms increases if not causes violent crime. The solution? Remove firearms from the equation and the problem is solved. This is why Confiscationists focus entirely on the means, i.e. guns, magazines, ammunition, and never on the criminal. But this notion has proven to be terribly flawed to the point of being false by criminologists and researchers from Gary Keck, David Kopel, Joyce Lee Malcom, to John R. Lott, Jr. If it was valid, in states and cities where obtaining firearms is almost impossible for the law-abiding, it would be even more so for criminals causing them to abandon their lives of crime becoming carpenters, waitresses, farmers, teachers, plumbers, nurses, and doctors. But this is not the case. Evil in the heart of malefactors causes evil deeds. Tools to implement evil will be found one way or another. As a policeman I transported criminals to court, jail, and prison. Recognizing some as return customers, I asked, why not turn away from their life of crime? Answer; it’s what they knew and what they liked. None sweated getting their hands on guns either. Fences (who trade in stolen property) and other criminals sell them or they could be acquired on the job during thefts and burglaries. Gun laws play no role in their calculations. “Reasonable” gun laws do nothing to transform wolves but instead, disarm the lambs. One cannot escape the fact that no greater deterrent to criminal assault and mass shootings exists than a public at large possessed of and trained in arms.
88 Students told me what the Spanish teacher said. Some kids bragged in my class knowing someone’s dad or dad’s friend who was altering semiautomatic rifles to fire full-automatic. I told the class in no uncertain terms this was illegal, a felony, and the consequences when they were caught.
99 David B. Kopel, The Samurai, The Mountie, And The Cowboy (Buffalo, New York, Prometheus Books, 1992), 70-95
1010 Nate Rawlings, “Ready, Fire, Aim: The Science Behind Police Shooting Bystanders, Time, at http://nation.time.com/2013/09/16/ready-fire-aim-the-science-behind-police-shooting-bystanders/ A New York Times study put the NYPD officer’s hit rate as high as 34%. See Al Baker, “11 Years of Police Gunfire, in Painstaking Detail,” New York Times, at http://www.newyorktimes.com. While I was at the Santa Clara PD range for annual qualification, our [not Santa Clara] new Chief walked in. The Range master said although I’d been waiting an hour, to let him go first. Later he told me the Chief showed up with revolver rounds in his shirt pocket, two different calibers, none matching his gun. I asked if the Chief had passed qualification. He made a funny face, rolled his eyes, and refused to answer on the basis that it might…
1111 John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns Less Crime, Third Edition, (Chicago, Illinois, University of Chicago Press, 2010), 1.
If this lawyer lost any gun cases, his clients may have grounds for appeal due to ineffective counsel. I just hope he didn’t convince a client to cop a plea to unlawful possession of paper weights.
It started with this news report.
Indiana teen built ‘ghost gun’ from online parts
In February a 17-year-old boy in Evansville, Indiana, went onto the website of Columbia-based firearms manufacturer MidwayUSA and spent $235.37 on parts making up 80 percent of a Glock 17 pistol.
It’s the usual Ooooh! Scary ghost guns BS. Pretty clearly the reporter doesn’t know the difference between an unfinished 80% receiver and a finished-but-unequipped one.It didn’t help that he went to Columbia, MO attorney Stephen Wyse for info.
Under federal law, long-gun unfinished receivers are classified as firearms, said Columbia attorney Steve Wyse. Handgun unfinished receivers are not classified as firearms under federal law, Wyse said.
That’s bad enough, but when I took to Twitter to point out the error things only got worse. Wyse replied.
I actually said that unfinished receivers to machine guns are considered firearms under federal law. The feds consider an AR-15 to be a machine gun
AR-15s are semiautomatic, not machineguns, unless unlawfully modified. And whether intended for a machinegun or not, an unfinished (80% or less) receiver is not considered a firearm; it’s a receiver-shaped paperweight. Compare the two:
An 80% lower.
A paper weight until it’s further milled. It could be milled to be an AR lower, or — assuming you’re properly licensed and doing it for mil/police, and not for civilian use (thanks, VNRA — it could be milled to take an M-16 trigger group. For now, it’s an inert chunk of metal.
A finished AR lower.
This, being by ruling of the ATF is a firearm. Note the lawfully required markings, including serial number.
But Wyse had to double down on the AR-15 = machinegun line.
The federal govt. defines a AR-15 receiver as a “machine gun”. Not my definition and not within my power to change
He’s l… being less than truthful, or he doesn’t understand the difference between an AR-15 (semiautomatic firearm) and the the M-16/M-4 family of assault rifles (select-fire). According to his bio, he’s a Democrat, so it could go either way. Ditto for his possible… confusion over 80% and finished lowers.
It’s a shame reporter Philip Joens didn’t go to an “expert” who actually knows what he’s talking about and/or is honest.
I hope Wyse hasn’t convinced a client to cop a plea for possession of an AR-15 semiauto “machinegun” or 80% lower. As I started, such a client would certainly seem to have grounds for appeal, and should get an opinion from a knowledgeable attorney.
Update, 5/29/2019, 5PM: Mr. Wyse has anticipated the “semi-auto problem” about which The Zelman Partisans have been warning since October 5, 2017. Wyse argues that bump-fire stocks make semiautomatic rifles “easily convertible” to machineguns under the recent BSTD rule.
While the bump-stock-type device rule was finalized (and is being challenged in federal courts), there has been no ruling actually establishing the “semi-auto = machinegun” equivalency. I don’t see any Advance Notice of Proposed Rule-making or NPRM for such a rule.
Yet.
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The STEM School shooting in Colorado gave the media the usual chance to muddle information. The original reporting I found said that the casualties were comparatively low because law enforcement arrived on-scene in two minutes and subdued the assholes. By yesterday, we began hearing a story that differed somewhat: student Kendrick Castillo “rushed” one of the chumbuckets.
This morning…
No thought for their own safety: Hero students disarm gunman
The three students who disarmed a gunman in a Colorado school shooting leapt up from their desks without a word and with no thought for their own safety when they spotted the gun, recounted one of the young men.
[…]
Authorities said the actions of Castillo, Bialy and Joshua Jones minimized the bloodshed from Tuesday’s attack at the school south of Denver that wounded eight students along with killing the 18-year-old Castillo.
Kendrick Castillo
Brendan Bialy
Joshua Jones
These young men rushed an active shooter, and disarmed him, at the cost of one of their own dead and one wounded. Not police.
Thank you, gentlemen.
As for the media… So far, the younger attacker has been reported as male, female, male identifying as (sometimes “transitioning to”) female, and female identifying as (or transitioning to) male. I’m not sure which is more confused: chum or reporters.
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The last two days of Pesach are observed as the first two, in that they are holidays. This means I’m not on the computer, and I’m not listening to the radio. On Shabbat I don’t anyway. On Shabbat I’m where I’m suppose to be, in Beit Knesset, Shul, my place of meeting and prayer. I’m learning, I learn from my Rabbi and from the other people there that I have grown to care about very much. I have a huge sense of gratitude every single time I walk in, whether it is for Shabbat or a class I’m taking. I learn about
G-d, his love for me, for us, and his direction manual for us to grow in our relationship with him, how he wants us to live our lives, and how to live in peace with each other. And every time I go, I realize how much more I have to learn.
So it was late Saturday evening when I logged onto my computer and saw my first notification of the shooting at another Chabad in Poway Kalifornia. Before I could read the details my mind had already flipped back to the attack at the Chabad house in Mumbai India in November 2008. Mercifully, this was not that. The song that Y.B. had me post, Vehi She Amda is part of the Pesach seder, it’s a song I love, and most days I sing it because I love it that much. I love what it says.
This attacker was a 19 year old “Bucket O’Chum” who was in nursing school. And if that doesn’t scare you, it should. He self identifies as a 19 year old Kalifornia native and a nursing student. ‘I’m just a normal dude who wanted to have a family, help and heal people, and play piano.’ He also self identifies as a human being. I would disagree with that. Around 1130 on Shabbat during the service “Chum” walked in and began shooting any and all he could. There was a family there that have moved from Israel a few years before after the rockets fired from the “Two-state solution” known as Gaza had hit their home more than once. They had lived in Sderot. Another family member visiting from Sderot managed to save his nieces and a neighbor girl despite being wounded in the leg. Little Noya was wounded by shrapnel, and her hero uncle was hit in the leg. Both will survive. He also intended to kill Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, and although the Rabbi required surgery on both hands, and I believe lost a finger he is alive. He is alive because of his longtime friend and Chabad attendee Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60. Lori flung herself between the killer and the Rabbi. A doctor began to perform CPR on her, when he realized it was his wife, he fainted. I can not even begin to imagine. As the Rabbi was wheeled into surgery he kept saying to let everyone know Lori saved his life.
Chum entered Chabad with a rifle, does what kind really matter? He was wearing a green vest and a helmet. He planned to stay awhile. Which might give rise to the question why is only one person dead. And in asking that, I do not mean to imply one is not significant. It is, it is one too many. From all I’ve read Lori was amazing, and it is a very significant loss not only to her family but the community as well. But you would have expected a higher death toll with the amount of preparations he seemed to have made. I have a couple of answers.
During the shooting, a brave off-duty border patrol agent, who was working as private security for the synagogue, fired at the shooter and chased him. Other members of the synagogue, who carried licensed concealed weapons, also went after him. Miraculously the killers’ gun jammed and he ran off. The heroes and G-d hand prevented the killer from claiming more lives.
The fact that there were armed congregants there and they went after him is not something I’ve seen brought out much.
And because to the left, one dead Jew isn’t enough, there is a list of the predictable responses of the usual victim disarmament crowd including Duke Nukem and Kamala Harris, who by the way, has her own gun and carry permit. Because you see that’s how elitism works. My life and family are valuable, yours aren’t. Like obamacare, we will legislate laws affecting your and your family’s life, but we will exempt ourselves from those laws. A small list is included in the “Anti-Gunner Call for Gun Control” link above. The killer ran off partly because armed members and the off duty Border Patrol agent came after him. The agent firing four shots at his car. So we can’t have armed citizens stopping a slaughter, correct progressives?
The left and its comrades in the mainstream media have taken the Jewish vote for granted for years. Jews are one of the most reliable constituencies of the Democratic Party. A CNN poll last fall found that nearly 80 percent of Jews voted Democratic in the midterm elections. Only 17 percent voted Republican. Yet anti-Semitism on the left in the U.S. has increased recently, including in the media.
And speaking of the media, and all the news that’s fit to lie about, The New York Slimes #FakeNews is becoming more brazen in their antisemitism having recently published a cartoon of President Trump, blind and wearing a kippah being led by a dog with a Magan David collar and Benjamin Netanyahu’s face. They finally removed it after a large outcry. Know what I find somewhat interesting? I’ve yet to see the name of the “cartoonist”. If it was a conservative that had done such a thing, their name, picture and family history back to the Mayflower would be all over the net by now. Say, where’s Omar Barghouti about now? Did the Slimes hire him?
Like Tarrant in his own writings, the manifesto author states that his end goal is to prompt the U.S. government to begin confiscating guns, predicting that a civil war will ensue. The author said he had been planning the attack for four weeks.
Obviously a Duke Nukem supporter.
As long as we don’t look at this honestly, as long as people continue to embrace the big government control of citizens offered by people like #LipstickLenin-Cortez, this will continue. Because excuses are being made for the left, to more easily blame the right.
I admit, I’m having a very hard time with this. I’m trying to understand and make some sense of it. I know I need to work towards something a Rabbi I very much admire wrote,
The solution therefore is to a. Love!
b. a practical mechanism which has helped many is the implementing of the sage advice of the Jewish masters, such as:
1. When you wake up in the morning (as the first thought influences the rest of the day) Express Gratitude (and as research shows, gratitude culminates in hope and happiness)
2. Forgive nightly (yes, before you go to bed – the first part of our bedtime prayers is: we forgive everyone.)
When those that hate and come to kill are met with that kind of a response (without the naughty words) from a hard target things will change. I believe and understand there is a purpose to everything in G-d’s world, but I want to see beautiful souls like Lori Gilbert-Kaye around for a long time, to mentor other women, and continue making the world more beautiful. I want to see people like Almog Peretz who saved the children have a beautiful visit and only happy memories of his Pesach in America. We are not cowards, look at Lori and Almog’s responses. What courage! Which is good, because it’s going to take courage, clarity, wisdom and honesty to admit what the left is offering is not our friend.
For now, all I know to do is pray for healing. And that more places of worship will begin to consider armed security among their attendees.
Chicago Tribune’s Dahleen Glanton has a plan to offset Illinois’ oh-so-expensive violation of Second Amendment rights: Do it even more.
The Second Amendment doesn’t say that gun ownership has to be free of charge
But the freedom to own a firearm doesn’t mean it has to be free of charge. It doesn’t mean that owners can’t be a tiny bit inconvenienced. And someone’s right to own a gun certainly does not trump the safety rights of the rest of us.
How ’bout charging Chicago South Side would-be voters $250 for voter registration, and making them pay another $100 for a background check?
To paraphrase: But who says that the people who choose to vote shouldn’t have to go into their pocketbooks every now and then? Voters have no problem approving taxes on other people for the latest welfare benefit. But if you ask them to get free voter registration cards they go ballistic. They are perfectly satisfied allowing taxpayers who would never get EBT to supplement the administrative costs for their munchies.
Perhaps $250 for a reporter’s license, and a hundred buck background check for each ill-considered column?
License to practice religion? (Huh; churches are specifically exempted from taxes.)
Hey! You could pay $250 to be free of warrantless searches.
Glanton, peruse the Bill of Rights, and tell us which — other than the Second Amendment — routinely require permission slips and preemptively-prove-your-innocence checks.
Speedy and fair trial license?
Here’s a wild idea. Instead of treating an enumerated right as a privilege to be taxed, stamped, regulated, restricted, folded, spindled, and mutilated — at some cost to government and victim alike — let’s save money — for government and victim alike — by treating the Second Amendment as the right that it is.
The money you save could be better spent on tracking down actual criminals who bypass your permission slips anyway. Of course SA Kim Foxx will probably just let them go, since dealing with real criminals is tough and scary. Honest citizens are easier marks.
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Jews. Guns. No compromise. No surrender.
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