Articles by Herschel Smith

I could have done with some narration and without the music, but it’s still an interesting video.

Stupid news.

Tom Holland, president of SmartGunz, LLC, today announced pre-sales ordering availability of the company’s 9mm smart gun Sentry® pistol. An initial 10% discounted retail price is being offered for law enforcement and corrections agencies at $2,695.00 (single item purchase, additional quantity discounts provided) while the regular (civilian) retail price is $2,995.00 per unit. Product deliveries are anticipated to begin sometime during 4th quarter 2021. The 9mm Sentry® pistol is the company’s flagship smart gun technology firearm for use in prisoner transfer / transport as well as civilian home defense applications.

The 9 mm Sentry® features SmartGunz’s patent pending lock-out technology that is integrated with an RFID chip contained in a glove worn by the officer / owner. The officer must depress the grip safety on the firearm while wearing an RFID-enabled glove to permit firing. This helps to ensure that each SmartGunz Sentry firearm fires each and every time when it is supposed to AND ONLY when it is supposed to!

“Honey, tell the rapist and murderer to wait.  I need to get my glove on before I have a gun fight with him!  What?  Yea I know it stinks to high heaven – I haven’t washed the thing.  Oh wait!  I left it in the car.  Or not.  I don’t know where it is.”

Hahahahahaha!

Hahahahahaha!

These guys kill me.  For the same price you would spend on a boutique competition gun, you can be unable to respond in the middle of the night.

Hahahahahaha!

Prior: Smart Guns Tag

The case is before the Supreme Court now.  Also, the document linked below was written to the Second Circuit.  However, having stumbled upon this, it would be wise to convey what an interesting document it is.  It’s full of historical information you might not have otherwise seen.

“The Second Amendment places the right to bear arms on equal footing with the right to keep arms. As dictionaries from the founding era attest, to “bear arms” includes public carriage for lawful purposes. Americans were the first Englishmen to have a written guarantee of arms rights. From the earliest colonial days, they carried arms to church, court, public assemblies, travel, work in the field, and most everywhere else they pleased—starting in childhood. After the 1689 English Bill of Rights, peaceable carry was constitutionally protected in England and America. Still, Americans saw the English right as subject to abuse, so they deliberately constitutionalized a broader right. Nineteenth-century sources and case law, including those relied on by this Court for original understanding, support the right of ordinary citizens to carry for self-defense beyond the home.”

[ … ]

“1. John Adams John Adams, as a 9-or-10-year-old schoolboy, carried a gun daily so that he could go hunting after class. 3 DIARY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN ADAMS 257-59 (1961). 2. Patrick Henry Patrick Henry would “walk to court, his musket slung over his shoulder to pick off small game.” Harlow Giles Unger, LION OF LIBERTY: PATRICK HENRY AND THE CALL TO A NEW NATION 30 (2010). 3. Daniel Boone “When Daniel was almost thirteen he was given his first firearm, a ‘short rifle gun, with which he roamed the nearby Flying Hills, the Oley Hills, and the Neversink Mountains.’ ” Robert Morgan, BOONE 14 (2007). 4. Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis’s neighbor Thomas Jefferson observed that young Lewis “when only eight years of age . . . habitually went out, in the dead of night, alone with his dogs, into the forest to hunt the raccoon & opossum.” 8 WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, at 482.  5. Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson himself carried as a lad. “When he was ten he was given a gun by his father and sent into the forest alone in order to develop self-reliance.” 1 Dumas Malone, JEFFERSON AND HIS TIME: JEFFERSON THE VIRGINIAN 46 (1948). As an adult, Jefferson wrote about a holster he made for one of his Turkish pistols, “having used it daily while I had a horse who would stand fire,” and he noted another holster he made “to hang them [the Turkish pistols] at the side of my carriage for road use.” 10 THE PAPERS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, RETIREMENT SERIES 320-21 (2004). Jefferson advised his fifteen-yearold nephew to “[l]et your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks.” 8 THE PAPERS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 407 (2004). 6. James Monroe Every day, “[w]ell before dawn, James left for school, carrying his books under one arm with his powder horn under the other and his musket slung across his back.” Tim McGrath, JAMES MONROE: A LIFE 9 (2020). 7. Ira and Ethan Allen Ira and Ethan Allen regularly carried multiple arms at once. For example, in 1772 Ira, Ethan, and a cousin went to purchase land near New York’s border “armed with holsters and pistols, a good case [pair] of pistols each in our pockets, with each a good hanger [sword].” 1 James Wilbur, IRA ALLEN: FOUNDER OF VERMONT, 1751-1814, at 39 (1928). The next year, during land disputes between the Allen trio and the Royal Governor of New York, Ira wrote that the three men “never walked out without at least a case of pistols.” Id. at 44. 8. Joseph Warren Joseph Warren was targeted by the British as tensions rose in April 1775. After spotting the British watch, one of Warren’s friends “advised Warren not to visit his patients that evening. But Warren, putting his pistols in his pocket, replied, ‘I have a visit to make to Mrs. ___, in Cornhill, this evening, and I will go at once.’ ” Richard Frothingham, LIFE AND TIMES OF JOSEPH WARREN 452 (1865). 9. William Drayton When traveling throughout South Carolina in 1775 to promote the Patriot cause, “Drayton always had about his person, a dirk and a pair of pocket pistols; for the defence of his life.” 3 AMERICAN ARCHIVES, 4th ser., at 258 (Peter Force ed., 1840). 10. General Population Recalling the Boston Massacre, British Captain Thomas Preston—commander of the Redcoats stationed in Boston—noted the admonition of a trial judge prior to the incident: “that the inhabitants carried weapons concealed under their clothes, and would destroy them [Redcoats] in a moment, if they pleased.” THE ANNUAL REGISTER, OR A VIEW OF THE HISTORY, POLITICS, AND LITERATURE, FOR THE YEAR 1766, at 215 (4th ed. 1785). On the annual commemoration of the Massacre in 1772, Bostonians attended Dr. Joseph Warren’s stirring oration. Expecting the speech to upset the Redcoats in attendance, “almost every man [in the audience] had a short stick, or bludgeon, in his hand; and . . . many of them were privately armed.” Frederick MacKenzie, A BRITISH FUSILIER IN REVOLUTIONARY BOSTON 37 (Allen French ed., 1926). Writings from early American history mention people carrying firearms as part of everyday life. See, e.g., 1 Isaac Weld, TRAVELS THROUGH THE STATES OF NORTH AMERICA 233-34 (2d ed. 1799) (1796, on the roads from Kentucky/Tennessee to and from Philadelphia/ Baltimore, “the people all travel on horseback, with pistols and swords.”); 8 THE WORKS OF WASHINGTON IRVING 83 (1866) (In 1808 St. Louis, “[n]ow and then a stark Kentucky hunter . . . with rifle on shoulder and knife in belt, strode along.”). “

Via David Codrea, this ridiculous case.

The fact determination at issue in this case is one that necessarily must be determined by the Court based on its real world experience and common sense applied to the evidence. Officer Hiser cannot say whether the windows of his or Gray’s vehicles were rolled down and Gray points out persuasively.

The Court agrees with Gray that it is incredible that Officer Hiser—who self-admittedly does not have a heightened olfactory system—could smell the scent of two resealable sandwich sized plastic baggies of unburnt marijuana coming from a moving vehicle when patrolling in his cruiser. This occurrence is not only contrary to any common experiences, but is “implausible” and seemingly “contrary to the laws of nature.” … While the Seventh Circuit has held that “the scent of burning marijuana alone, if detected,” can justify a Terry stop, …, decades of appellate cases discussing an officer smelling raw marijuana entailed physical characteristics—like proximity to, and amount of, marijuana. …

I was going to remark that law enforcement apparently seeks the lowest common denominator as new hires.  The lower the IQ, the better the candidate.

However, sadly, the author points out the following.  “What Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt may not have realized, being a federal judge and hence breathing the rarified air of clean courthouses rather than being forced to smell the unpleasant odor of sweaty bodies and filthy floors, is that claims such as the one she found totally full of malarkey are routine in state courts, where most pot cases go and most suppression motions are denied.”

So the problem runs deep into the judiciary as well.  Does anyone with two brain cells left trust the American system of justice?  As for that matter, does anyone really trust a “jury of their peers” to come to the right conclusion?

He’s sitting on the front porch the whole time.

From two reddit/Firearms threads, I thought this was worth recapitulating.

Armed civilians defending their territory from rioters in South Africa after former president Jacob Zuma was imprisoned for corruption from Firearms

Chatsworth, armed homeowners on balcony while rioters try to get in

Verulam, KZN, armed civilians driving off rioters

Residents guarding mall from looters

Residents guarding shops in Woodlands

Civilians on Simbithi road, mob approaching

Civilians on Simbithi road, turns violent

Had the disarmament folks currently ruling SA had their way, these folks would have had nothing to help them defend family, home, hearth or possessions.  The police are running scared.

In this video West Virginia attorney John Bryan details the decision of the Fourth Circuit concerning his client.  It’s a long video, but if you want to read the decision it can be found here.

This case should have been easy and quick.  In U.S. Versus Black, the Fourth Circuit had this to say.

Being a felon in possession of a firearm is not the default status. More importantly, where a state permits individuals to openly carry firearms, the exercise of this right, without more, cannot justify an investigatory detention. Permitting such a justification would eviscerate Fourth Amendment protections for lawfully armed individuals in those states. United States v. King, 990 F.2d 1552, 1559 (10th Cir. 1993).

In this West Virginia case, Walker wasn’t a felon, and West Virginia permits open carry of firearms.  But you see, Black was carrying a handgun, and Walker was carrying one of those evil ARs, so the Fourth Circuit had to do something.

Contrary to Walker’s interpretation, the Black decision does not dictate that, in a state like West Virginia where it is legal to openly carry a firearm, the act of openly carrying a firearm can never engender reasonable suspicion.

Keep your eye on the card – now you see it, now you don’t.  Because we say so.

They go on to differentiate between handguns carried in a hip holster and the awful, wicked AR-15, which is certainly the weapon of choice by mass shooters – so says the media.  That eighty people per weekend get shot in Chicago with handguns isn’t really germane.

Nor is it germane that gangs result from the evisceration of the inner city due to fatherless families and financial encouragement to have children out of wedlock, or that Coyote hunting in West Virginia and elsewhere is commonplace and a man walking in the middle of nowhere preparing to hunt Coyotes should be fairly routine stuff to the tyrants in the police force of Putnam County.

[Note: One reason guys hunt Coyotes is because they sit in wait for deer to deliver fawns, and then eat the young, disturbing the deer herd size.  Coyotes are predators.  In groups they will also threaten people.]

What matters is that the Fourth Circuit is out of Richmond and probably reads every major rag published daily by the legacy media.  Having said all of that, the real root of the problem lies somewhere else.

It lies with the folks in Putnam County, and especially with Sheriff Bobby Eggleton.  A group of people will always take on the personality of its leader.  The offending officer in this case was vulgar, obscene, rude and tyrannical, and couldn’t go three words without cursing at Mr. Walker.  I suspect that’s what the Sheriff is like too.

So the Sheriff is to blame, but probably also the County Commissioners, who should be run out of town on a rail for allowing this sort of thing to happen.

Sheriff Bobby Eggleton: beggleton@putnamwv.org

County Commissioner Brian Ellis: bellis@putnamwv.org

County Commissioner Ron Foster: rfoster@putnamwv.org

County Commissioner Andy Skidmore: askidmore@putnamwv.org

Prosecuting Attorney Mark Sorsaia: prosecutingattorney@putnamwv.org

Dallas Morning News.

Plano Police Chief Ed Drain told KDFW-TV (Channel 4) he does not believe Texas’ new open carry law will increase public safety.

“I don’t believe that this law makes law enforcement any safer and in fact, I don’t think it makes the public safer,” Drain said during an interview on KDFW-TV.

Fortunately, this isn’t about what’s safe for anyone, and this isn’t about what you think.  And this especially isn’t about what you think is safe for anyone.

News from Montana.

Early Tuesday morning (July 6), a bear attacked and killed a woman while she was camping in western Montana. Local authorities are still searching for the animal.

The attack took place near Ovando, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) northwest of the state capital Helena, according to KGVO News. A statement from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) noted that, prior to the attack, a video camera at a local business caught footage of the animal, which appeared to be a grizzly bear. Grizzlies are common to Ovando and the surrounding Blackfoot Valley, according to the statement.

[ … ]

The bear initially passed by their campsite about a half-hour earlier, waking the campers and prompting them to secure their food before going back to bed.

“The bear basically came back into the campsite. It wandered into a campsite a couple different times,” Powell County Sheriff Gavin Roselles told The Associated Press.

[ … ]

It’s not clear why the bear sought out the campsite or attacked Lokan, but Tuesday’s attack does not represent “normal bear behavior,” Lemon said. “Usually, human and bear conflicts stem from bears protecting food, female bears protecting cubs or surprise encounters that result in the bear feeling threatened and attacking the person. … Going into a campground and attacking a person is not a natural instinct.”

I think he needs to update his psychological profile of bear behavior.  This video was a juvenile bear attack in California.

Claremont Review of Books.

Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal recently wrote an article in the Atlantic to announce that he had taken a portrait of Lee that his wife had saved up to buy him when they were first married, and thrown it in the trash.

What an ass.  That’s the sort of respect he has for gifts his wife gives him.

Besides, when it comes to the morality of the men, Stanley McChrystal still hasn’t done what I demanded he do.