The Paradox and Absurdities of Carbon-Fretting and Rewilding

Herschel Smith · 28 Jan 2024 · 4 Comments

The Bureau of Land Management is planning a truly boneheaded move, angering some conservationists over the affects to herd populations and migration routes.  From Field & Stream. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently released a draft plan outlining potential solar energy development in the West. The proposal is an update of the BLM’s 2012 Western Solar Plan. It adds five new states—Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming—to a list of 11 western states already earmarked…… [read more]

The Elk Grove Shotgun Qual

BY PGF
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Do people still train for defensive shotgun conditions? Well, they should.

Source:

Shotgun qualifications are often an afterthought for police departments. With the reliance on the patrol rifle, the tactical and patrol shotgun is often ignored and forgotten about. It’s a very versatile tool that’s sadly ignored and seemingly forgotten about. Well, it’s almost forgotten. The folks at the Elks Grove police department put on quite a bit of training in how to use the scattergun. Today we are breaking down their course of fire, as well as their training drills.

What You’ll Need

First, we need a shotgun! The Elk Grove PD uses the tried and true Remington 870. If you want to run the drills as well as the qual, you’ll need a pistol and holster. In terms of ammo, if you want to just shoot the qual, you need 12 rounds of buckshot. If you want to run the drills and the qual, you’ll need the following:

  1. 18 Rounds of Buckshot
  2. 3 Rounds of Federal Flitecontrol
  3. 12 Slugs
  4. 34 Birdshot
  5. 14 Pistol Rounds

You’ll also need something to carry spare shotgun ammunition as well as a sling for your shotgun. They don’t list a target, but I’d bring about 10 man-sized targets. Shotguns mess targets up really bad, real quick. This makes it easier to score. Don’t forget your eyes, ears, and a shot timer.

[…]

The shooting drills stress movement and loading, which is good, but there isn’t much more than that. I do like that the course of the fire starts at 25 yards and continually moves inward.

It’s a closing-on-the-target drill with reloads, both of which are good to practice, especially for a case where your access to loved ones is between you and the assailant. This one is a three drill, multi-stage qual. As always, the particulars are at the link. Read the rest.

30-30 Winchester 150gr Deer Season XP Ammo Review & Ballistics Gel Test

BY Herschel Smith
9 months, 4 weeks ago

Well, this is extremely disappointing.  I have several boxes of this sitting around.  Ammo manufacturers need to understand that exploding bullets don’t jive with hunting.

Here are some better performers: Hornady LeverEvolution and Remington CoreLokt.

Animals

BY Herschel Smith
9 months, 4 weeks ago

I’ve told Wisco he needs to keep better control over his pets.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this dance Swans do before.  It’s seems well choreographed.

I guess if you’re shy, you’re shy.  Being around other shy dogs doesn’t suddenly make you not shy.

Dogs will be dogs.

@kimberlyclark78 #dukehasapooladdiction #everydayshouldbesaturday #iwasnothappy ♬ original sound – Kimberly Clark

This lion took on the wrong guys at the wrong time.

The Fifth Circuit on ATF Frame & Receiver Rule

BY Herschel Smith
9 months, 4 weeks ago

Source.

At summary judgment, the district court found that the two challenged provisions in the Rule exceeded the statutory jurisdiction and authority of the ATF and vacated the entire Rule per the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(C). The district court rejected a stay pending appeal but granted a seven-day administrative stay to allow the ATF to bring an emergency appeal.

Because the ATF has not demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits, nor irreparable harm in the absence of a stay, we DENY the government’s request to stay the vacatur of the two challenged portions of the Rule. “[V]acatur . . . reestablish[es] the status quo ante,” Defense Distributed v. Platkin, 55 F.4th 486, 491 (5th Cir. 2022), which is the world before the Rule became effective. This effectively maintains, pending appeal, the status quo that existed for 54 years from 1968 to 2022.

The ATF is likely correct, however, that the vacatur was overbroad. The district court analyzed the legality of only two of the numerous provisions of the Rule, which contains an explicit severability clause. See 87 Fed. Reg. at 24730. Where a court holds specific portions of a rule unlawful, severance is preferred when doing so “will not impair the function of the [rule] as a whole, and there is no indication that the regulation would not have been passed but for its inclusion.” K Mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc., 486 U.S. 281, 294 (1988); see also Sw. Elec. Power Co. v. EPA, 920 F.3d 999, 1033 (5th Cir. 2019) (vacating only challenged portions of a rule). Because the agency has shown a strong likelihood of success on its assertion that the vacatur of the several non-challenged parts of the Rule was overbroad, we STAY the vacatur, pending appeal, as to the non-challenged provisions.

We sua sponte EXPEDITE the appeal to the next available oral argument calendar. To allow time for additional proceedings as appropriate, this order is administratively STAYED for 10 days.

I’m not sure what all of this means, but according to the decision, throwing out the entirety of the new frame and receiver rule would have vacated several non-challenged provisions.

It’s good to see, however, that the Fifth Circuit doesn’t believe the ATF can win on the challenged provisions of the new rule.

The Filming of Police is Your Right

BY Herschel Smith
9 months, 4 weeks ago

Glenn Reynolds.

WELL, GOOD: Judge strikes down Arizona law limiting filming of police.

Note that the First Circuit has held that taking photos and video in public is a right that is sufficiently “clearly established” that those who violated it can’t claim qualified immunity.

Note that it’s not just free speech. There’s also a due process right to record the police.

If they don’t want you to film them, they have something to hide.

For cops to claim they shouldn’t be filmed would be like me, a professional engineer, saying that I have a right to perform calculations and designs and no one has a right to review them, nor should I be held accountable for them.

That sort of immature thinking is reserved for little children who get caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Gun Owners of American Petition Supreme Court Over Bump Stock Ban

BY Herschel Smith
9 months, 4 weeks ago

Good.  This was always going to happen, it should be sooner rather than later.

They’ll get a good dose of the facts now, including the pesky one on the FBI refusing to allow the ATF to examine the weapons allegedly used in the Las Vagas shooting.

If they do any research at all, they’ll find out that the Las Vegas shooting was a rolling gun battle all the way down main street, not a shooting from a hotel window.  That whole event is full of things the FedGov doesn’t want you to know.

And by the way, never forget that Donal Trump gave you the bump stock ban, and the corollary empowered ATF who now feels no compunction about making up law out of whole cloth – because Trump gave them permission to do it.  Donald Trump owns the bump stock ban and the current ATF.  It’s his.  It belongs to him.  It has his name on it.

I do wish that my name could be on this brief as a petitioner, but I never felt compelled to own a bump stock – until now so I could be on that brief.

Here is the brief.

Tennessee Red Flag Law

BY PGF
10 months ago

We’ve been tracking this at TCJ (Oldest to Newest): Herehere, herehere, and here.

Now this, from Gun Owners of America:

TN, It’s Time to Double Down.

Dear friend,

Reports indicate that Rep. William Lamberth is not happy that his constituents — the hard-working men and women who elected him — are expressing their strong resistance to gun confiscation orders.

This means the pressure on Lamberth is working, for now.

Gun owners like you know that the foundational principles of our country like the right to keep and bear arms, due process, and other constitutionally-protected freedoms are cherished by Tennesseans. Gun confiscation policies have no place in the Volunteer State!

However, we cannot back off. We must keep up the political pressure to ensure no gun confiscation bill ever sees the light of day in the quickly approaching Special Session.

Don’t forget, Gov. Bill “Lousy Lee” desperately wants to pass this ineffective and unconstitutional policy. The legislators must know that gun owners won’t stand for it!

So again, I’m personally asking you to take these four steps. These actions will go a long way to protect your rights:

  • First, email Lamberth with GOA’s pre-written and editable message.
  • Second, follow up your message with a call to Lamberth at (615) 741-1980.
  • Third, print off GOA’s Fact Sheet and mail it in to Lamberth’s office at 425 Rep. John Lewis Way North, Suite 602 Cordell Hull Bldg. Nashville, TN 37243. Better yet, if you are in Nashville, deliver it in person to his office. (Please be sure to sign the letter.)
  • Finally, donate to GOA. We are running ads around the state to mobilize gun owners. The more resources we have available, the more 2A supporters we can reach.

If you have already taken one or more of these actions, then I ask you to please get a pro-gun friend or family member to speak up as well.

It’s said that when politicians “feel the heat, they see the light.” It’s time gun owners turn up the political heat on William Lamberth!

In liberty,

Jordan Stein
Certified Firearms Instructor
Southeast Region Director
Gun Owners of America

Thanks for being involved.

It Must Be Good To Be King – Even The Birds Of The Air Belong To You

BY Herschel Smith
10 months ago

Via Ken, this ridiculous report comes as a result of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

DALY CITY, Calif. (KGO) — A Bay Area man is devastated to learn the prosthetic foot he was crafting for a one-legged eagle in Pennsylvania won’t be put to use. The golden eagle named Aura was put down at the order of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Nam Duong’s Daly City workshop makes a very specialized product for animals.

“Some call me the chicken feet maker!” He laughs.

After tinkering with 3D printing during the pandemic making masks toys, it was his love of animals and wanting to help others, that inspired Duong to turn his hobby into a prosthetics business called Pet1stProsthetics on Etsy to help more than just chickens.

“Ducks and I do help a lot of dogs, turkey, I did peacock I did goat, a finch…” he rattles on while showing off a boot made for a cat.

During the pandemic, Duong crafted hundreds of 3D-printed legs for animals in need across the country. He now also has clients around the globe in places like Japan and Europe.

Most recently, it was a request from 2,800 miles away in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania that held special significance.

“I saw it was an eagle and I was so anxious, I said this is my first one!” He beamed.

Aura the Golden Eagle, who is in the same family as our country’s national bird, the Bald Eagle had been found in a field in need of care. She was brought to the Pocono Wildlife Rehab and Education Center.

Being able to save the life of an Eagle and improve the time it had left would be a cool thing, yes?

Katherine Huler, the organization’s founder and current Director of Educational Programming says the bird was underweight.

“She would not have survived that much longer out in the wild, certainly not without being fed.”

It’s believed one of Aura’s talons got caught in a trap and was severed right below the ankle. After being seen by three doctors, her rehabbers at the nonprofit center say she was completely healed and thriving.

“Never once tried to bite, never one tired to talon. She was just incredibly soft and acceptive,” says co-executive director Susan Downing. Videos sent to ABC7 News of Aura show her calmly being bathed and interacting with humans.

Aura who was estimated to be 3 to 5 years old was on track to become an educational animal. Duong was hired to make a prosthetic as a finishing touch.

But there is no situation so bad, so dire, so ugly and desperate, that it cannot be made far worse with the presence of the FedGov.

“She’d walk without so much as a limp.” Says her rehab team.

All seemed on track until the nonprofit center received a letter from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, indicating Aura had to be euthanized because of her amputated leg.

“The order itself was received at around 1 p.m. last Thursday, and states to euthanatize immediately.

That could have resulted had we refused to cooperate with the federal order,” says Janine Tancredi, Co-Executive Director of the center.

That very night, Aura was put down much to the devastation of the rebab center… and Duong.

“I almost wanted to cry, honestly, it’s not right.” He said.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife sent ABC7 News a statement answering how the service determines if a bird should be euthanized or not.

The law states in part that euthanization must happen if a bird can’t feed itself, or move without inflicting additional injury… if it’s blind or have injuries requiring amputation.

We need federal laws for that, you see, because someone knows better than raptor center experts what needs to be done with birds of prey.

Also you see, this dovetails with the way King George sees the world.  We need to be licensed to drive on the king’s highways, we must be licensed and follow all of his rules when hunting the royal forests, we cannot enter prohibited lands (like parks or BLM) to hunt them because they are the exclusive royal forests, and finally, the royal birds belong to the king – only he can decide whether they live or die.

And upon the evolutionary perspective (which I don’t share), we’re just animals.  It’s a short hop and a skip to the FedGov deciding if its subject, like you and me, are any use to the king anymore and need to be euthanized.

DOJ Goes After Ammo Theft Victim

BY Herschel Smith
10 months ago

When light is darkness and darkness is light.  And when your only goal is to illegally harass gun and ammo stores because you’re a communist.

458 Socom vs 45-70

BY Herschel Smith
10 months ago

And the winner is clear if the firearm and cartridge are the only concerns.  The loser is clear if your shoulder is the issue.


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