Articles by Herschel Smith

Fox News.

A U.S. District Judge in San Diego who has issued rulings in two separate lawsuits challenging California’s strict gun control measures will take up another weapons-related case on Monday, sparking criticism from gun-control groups who pro-gun advocates have been given an unfair advantage.

Judge Roger Benitez has twice ruled in favor of gun rights: in a case that challenged California’s ban of high-capacity magazines, and another case mandating background checks for buying ammunition, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

On Monday, he will oversee a case challenging several state laws regulating and defining assault weapons. He is overseeing another case challenging the state’s prohibition on owning batons, billy clubs, and blackjacks.

As a federal judge, Benitez’s rulings affect broad swaths of the west and could have broader implications for the rest of the country should the U.S. Supreme Court – now on the very of a solid 6-3 conservative majority – take up a major Second Amendment case.

Gun control groups have questioned how Benitez, a pro-Second Amendment judge, has been able to see so many cases involving gun rights. Their scrutiny has drawn attention to an obscure “related case” rule that allows one party in a lawsuit to file cases in certain districts if the issues at hand involve “the same or substantially identical questions of law” as those in another case.

All federal courts have this rule. But San Diego is unique in that an opposing side in a case cannot challenge or object to the transfer. Gun control groups maintain that this allows gun rights organizations to go judge shopping: knowing that they will have a more favorable ruling with Benitez than virtually any other federal judge in California. Gun rights groups have disputed this, pointing out that they have other Second Amendment cases in other jurisdictions.

So 2A groups followed the rules, actually get a constitutional judge, and the communists are livid that they don’t get to tinker with the process themselves.

How sad for them.  Poor babies.  They do it when it pleases them, and complain when lawyers seek the best remedy for their enemies by finding a judge who happens to respect God-given rights.

Color me unmoved.

David Codrea.

It also provides an opportunity to get to the bottom of who exactly at ATF has been behind the move before the suspension is withdrawn. That’s because my attorney, Stephen Stamboulieh, filed a Freedom of Information Act request on my behalf asking for documents that could reveal who authorized the determination that the  National Firearms Act had been violated and that Q, LLC, and thousands of gun owners could be considered in criminal violation.

The window of opportunity could close before the 20-business days ATF has to respond to the FOIA have passed if Joe Biden wins the election on November 3. That’s because certain facts, and the absence of certain information, have led to the speculation that the move was made by entrenched ATF employees seeking to demoralize gun owners by having “Trump’s ATF” enact another negative ruling against them.

This is a great idea and I wish I had thought of it.

Not, by the way, that I have any confidence that anything will really be done about it, even if rogue employees or directors are proven to have intentionally poisoned the well.

News.

GEORGETOWN, Texas, Oct. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Staccato 2011, LLC announced today a company milestone: over 250 law enforcement agencies across the country have approved Staccato 2011® pistols for duty use. Law enforcement is embracing Staccato not only for the company’s high-performing pistols, but also for its ongoing support that includes training. Major departments approving Staccato include LA County Sheriffs, Riverside County Sheriffs, and the Long Beach Police Department.

“We forged our first law enforcement relationships under two years ago. In this short amount of time, the positive response for Staccato has been humbling; we are proud to serve thousands of officers who carry our pistols both on and off-duty,” said Marine Corps veteran Nate Horvath, CEO, Staccato.

“Departments are approving Staccato 2011® pistols for their superior performance in qualification tests that include pistol reliability, accuracy, and ergonomics/efficiency,” said Buck Pierson (USMC GySgt ret.), Staccato’s Director of Law Enforcement and Military Business. “Departments are also choosing Staccato for our partnership mentality and ongoing support. We provide free 2011® transition courses for law enforcement, a 2011® armorers course, and other specialized on-site department instruction. Instruction is led by senior Staccato team members like Mike Pannone [former US Marine Reconnaissance, Army Special Forces (Green Beret), 1st SFOD-D (Delta) and the Asymmetric Warfare Group)], Matt Little (former Army Special Forces and Chicago PD SWAT), and Master Gunsmiths,” said Pierson.

Patrick Dougherty, Sgt. Long Beach Police Department, was a part of LBPD’s year-long evaluation of Staccato. Beyond pistol qualification, Dougherty explains that LBPD’s partnership with Staccato is valued deeply, especially in today’s climate. “LBPD appreciates everything Staccato has done for us, and the stance the company has taken alongside law enforcement when very few will publicly do that. Courage is the rarest of traits, and we thank Staccato for supporting us.”

Staccato provides law enforcement, military, and first responders a discount on pistols and magazines. As a veteran-led, Texas-based company that only uses American materials and parts, Staccato is proud to serve those who protect our freedoms daily.

Did you know that?  Law enforcement serves to protect your freedoms.  Who knew?

And notice that the company gives a “discount” to law enforcement, but they won’t give one to you.  You’re not special like law enforcement is.

We’ve discussed this boutique firearms market before.  The gun is a 1911 design rebuilt for 9mm with a bull barrel and double stack magazine and flared mag well.

By the way, this model sells for $4299 (optics not included).  It’s nice to know your tax dollars are hard at work buying the best for the best.

You’re not the best – otherwise you could have one of these.  This is for when a Glock, or S&W M&P, or Springfield XDm, or FNX just isn’t good enough.

News from WV.

West Virginia’s wild boar firearms season, which is open to state residents only, will be open Oct. 24-31., announced the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

The season will also include a second segment from Feb. 5-7, 2021. Boar hunting is currently not permitted for nonresident hunters and is restricted to Boone, Logan, Raleigh and Wyoming counties, according to the WVDNR.

“Wild boars depend on available hard mast, and while hickory and beech production are down for 2020 in the four wild boar counties, acorn production is up,” said Nick Huffman, DNR wildlife biologist. “Boars will utilize this food source and will be scattered due to abundant acorn crops, which means hunters will need to cover more terrain to find feeding areas.”

The DNR announced that in order to hunt wild boar, hunters must possess either a Class X, XJ, XS, AB-L or A-L license or be exempt from purchasing a license. They may also hunt boar with a Class A, AH or AHJ license if they purchase a conservation stamp and resident big game stamp.

The environmental destruction caused by this invasive species (or combined with an escaped farm population) is extreme.  There is no more destructive wild animal in America than feral pigs.

It isn’t just the deer hunters wanting to keep pressure off of the herd.  You know why the government of West Virginia doesn’t want to decimate the feral pig population?

Because they make money off of it.

This will be fine until some little child gets gored by tusks, or crops get decimated instead of the wild pig population.  Then they’ll write stories about the out-of-control pig population in local newspapers and lament how there’s nothing that can be done to control it.

Then hunting guide companies will spring up out of nowhere to guide out-of-state hunters who want to kill feral pigs.  Just like in Texas, where they have chosen not to eradicate the population.

Imagine being this person. pic.twitter.com/s7xJnvMMid

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 18, 2020

The crowd seems to have enjoyed it. But I wish she could pronounce the letter “R”.

The only true Christian holiday in America, a uniquely American day.

That is unfortunately a risk, when you have people coming from out of town, gathering together in an indoor setting. It is unfortunate, because that’s such a sacred part of American tradition — the family gathering around Thanksgiving. But that is a risk.

Given the fluid and dynamic nature of what’s going on right now in the spread and the uptick of infections, I think people should be very careful and prudent about social gatherings, particularly when members of the family might be at a risk because of their age or their underlying condition… You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering, unless you’re pretty certain that the people that you’re dealing with are not infected.

Here’s the word on that, Mr. Ferengi Fauci.

No.

I knew it would be a great series.  I wasn’t mistaken.  He uses the Henry X-Model for all tests.

Dean Weingarten.

One source confirmed the AmmoLand article by John Crump on 8 October was “on the money”.  It was claimed Associate Deputy Director Marvin Richardson was quite upset with John Crump’s AmmoLand article.

In the article, sources inside the ATF state Acting Director Regina Lombardo is “not loyal to the president”.  They state Associate Director Marvin Richardson believes pistol braces “violate the NFA”.

An Acting Director of the ATF is not required to be personally loyal to a President, but they should be expected to follow DOJ directives.

Lombardo was next in line after Acting Director Thomas B. Brandon retired at the end of April of 2019. The simplest thing to do was to make her Acting Director while waiting for approval of a direct appointment by President Trump.

GOA actively worked to prevent the appointment of Chuck Canterbury.  That meant Lombardo continued on as Acting Director, at least through the election.  The Giffords organization, which seeks numerous restrictions on gun ownership and use, approved of Lombardo’s appointment as acting director.

Don’t take at least part of the blame off Trump.  He didn’t have to nominate controller Canterbury.  He also didn’t have to do the “easy” thing and nominate this traitor Lombardo to head the ATF, even in the interim.

Trump could stop listening to his awful aids, Wayne LaPierre, and everyone else who is either (a) ignorant on how a nominee will affect the gun community, or (b) wants ill affects on the gun community and a reduction of liberty.

But give a controller and inch, and she’ll take a mile.  Part of the blame goes to Lombardo, as well as the fact that life bureaucrats cannot be fired.  This is the administrative state at its worst.

The comments are interesting, from people who blame Trump (in which they are at least partially correct) to others who are willing to make concessions (Fudds, we would call them).

Ok, so I have read all the responses and most are ban the ATF and other alphabet organizations. How about this. Lets just make it law that all hand held firearms are legal so long as they are not automatic. If you want auto, get the stamp, pay the fees and make your AR AK auto, no more of this bullshit law about how it has to have been made before a certain date. That was just another ploy to keep them out of the hands of commoners like me. I can’t afford 15,000 for a fully auto and there are so few that they go for more than that and the rich people are the only ones that can afford them.

This is a mind-numbingly daft comment.  So the infringements are what caused the elevated prices he complains about, causing him the complete inability to obtain fully automatic weapons (1986 GCA).

That follows the first part, where he is willing at a moment’s notice to give up (” … all hand held firearms are legal so long as they are not automatic”).  In other words, as long as I have gotten used to the infringements on my liberty, we’ll keep those going forward as long as you spare me a few crumbs of freedom.

How about this.

No.

Eradicate the alphabet agencies, which have no basis or legitimacy in the constitution.

We covered the idea that the recent ATF movements to regulate AR pistol braces as NFA items would have some blowback of Trump support.  There has been further development.

Washington Examiner.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has temporarily backed off criminalizing a type of gun used by 3-4 million people in the United States until after the presidential election, likely stoking the issue of gun control.

The New Hampshire maker of a popular styled AR-15 “pistol” today said that the ATF suspended its surprise decision made last week to outlaw the gun, called the “Honey Badger” pistol.

Q, LLC told customers, “Our attorneys received a letter from ATF Chief Counsel Joel Roessner ‘temporarily suspending the Cease and Desist letter’ associated with the Honey Badger Pistol by Q. The letter states that the suspension, will remain in effect for a period of sixty (60) days … unless withdrawn or extended by ATF.’ The stated purpose of the suspension is to allow the Department of Justice an opportunity, ‘to further review the applicability of the National Firearms Act to the manufacture and transfer of the model Honey Badger Pistol firearm.’”

It said the move will delay, though not reverse, the earlier cease and desist until after the election, a tactic the company decried.

“We believe this 60-day suspension is an effort to put manufacturers, distributors, and consumers at ease, and to postpone the issue past the presidential election in hopes that a new administration will take a different view,” said the company, adding, “using licensees as political pawns is unbecoming of a regulatory agency and ignoring the underlying evaluation in this letter is simply irresponsible. Q will not succumb to this level or irresponsibility. Therefore, without further clarification from ATF on their evaluation, we will not continue manufacturing the Honey Badger Pistol.”

[ … ]

Trump officials had been concerned that it would look like the president’s team was targeting the weapon in a move that could turn the 3-4 million owners into felons unless they dismantled or changed their weapons.

However, it is expected that if Joe Biden wins election, the ATF will move forward, likely targeting all of the makers of AR pistols, and even ban the AR-15, dubbed by liberals as an assault weapon.

Well this is fascinating.  The article clearly says that “Trump officials had been concerned …”

So apparently they took notice, and noted that this would involve millions of gun owners should this interpretation become finalized.

The article also hints at the fact that the ATF believes that pistol braces violate the NFA, and want to push this in a potential upcoming administration.

They’re banking on a specific election outcome, and clearly signaling their intentions.

Trump officials should have divorced themselves from Wayne LaPierre and taken notice much earlier concerning their bump stock ban.  That involves half a million bump stock owners who became felons overnight.

They’re slow to react and have poor character judgment, not to mention poor proclivities regarding the 2A.

But of course, a Biden administration would be worse, and the ATF knows it.  They have the cover they need should the election outcome go their way.

Via reader Matt.