Articles by Herschel Smith

The ammo shelves are empty except for the low quality stuff (and some very expensive match grade stuff, going for more than $1 per round for 5.56/.223).  9mm PD rounds are also completely unavailable, although .45 PD ammunition can still be found.  But it’s not even a safe bet that you’ll get a gun if you try.

Sales of guns and ammunition are soaring across the US as fears of possible social unrest amid the coronavirus crisis are prompting some Americans to turn to firearms as a form of self-protection.

On the west coast, long lines of customers were queueing up outside gun stores to stock up on deadly materials. At the Martin B Retting gun shop in Culver City, California, the queues stretched round the block throughout the weekend.

One customer told the LA Times: “Politicians and anti-gun people have been telling us for the longest time that we don’t need guns. But right now, a lot of people are truly scared, and they can make that decision themselves.”

Larry Hyatt, owner of one of the country’s largest gun shops, Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, told the Guardian that the scenes of mass buying at his store were virtually unprecedented. “This is only the second time in my 61 years of business that we’ve seen anything like this,” he said, adding that the first occasion was the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2012.

“We are experiencing a massive rush to buy guns and ammunition as people feel the need to protect themselves and their families.”

Hyatt said that the type of guns being bought was reflective of the fear prevalent among customers. There was almost no interest in hunting rifles. Instead, people were opting for target guns and there was big demand for AR-15 semi-automatic assault-style rifles.

Asked why he thought the spike was happening, Hyatt replied: “Financial meltdown, pandemic, crime, politics … you throw it all into the pot, and you have one hell of a mess.”

Sales were especially pronounced in North Carolina and Georgia, which experienced a leap of 179% and 169% respectively. Other states with large increases included Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Illinois and New York.

I’ll have to give Larry a wink and a nod the next time I see him for always being the one interviewed on this sort of thing.

Just before Obama’s administration when the issue of gun control came up right after the November election, the Saturday before Christmas Larry’s shop sold over 1000 ARs in a single day to people lined up outside.  He armed the equivalent of a Marine Corps infantry battalion in a single day.

Two months ago you could have gotten them for a fairly reasonable price.  I’m sure those days are gone now.  They may return, but if you waited for whatever reason to buy guns and ammo to protect your family for the near future, you waited too late.  You didn’t listen to me and my readers on this.

What I know is that I know very little about this topic.  If I get into it very deeply, I’m going to have to get a mentor.

Reason.

I regret to inform you that we have always lived in a country in which political officials can order private businesses closed.

[ … ]

This general background of police powers underwrites myriad routine restrictions that state and local governments put on social life. It is what allows local governments to authorize health inspectors to examine the kitchens of restaurants and order them to close if they discover problems. It is what allows fire marshals to limit the number of people who can occupy a public venue. It is what allows police officers to arrest people for urinating in the street. It is what allows government officials to prevent you from just accumulating mounds of garbage in the backyard of your suburban home. It is what allows government officials to tell you that you cannot keep a Bengal tiger as a pet in your house.

This case is extremely unconvincing.  Public laws against urinating in the streets or letting trash build up IS NOT THE SAME THING as a public curfew.  Nor is it the same thing as shutting down businesses.

Via Tamara Keel.

Handwaving Freakoutery@Freakoutery

Yea, these have been my thoughts lately.  Actually, there is more.

So before we begin let’s get the obvious out of the way.  Regular readers know that I haven’t jumped on the conspiracy bandwagon by saying that this was all planned.  I do believe (based on what evidence is available to me) that this virus is weaponized.  I also believe that it was most likely an accidental release from the Chinese bio-weapons facility.

But that doesn’t mean the FedGov (and all other levels of government, from city to state) hasn’t glommed on to see just how far this can be pushed.  And you can rest assured that the JTTF Fusion Centers are watching very carefully.

Roger Kimball notes this.

It also, it is worth noting, plays right into the hands of power-hungry politicians who like nothing better than to forbid whatever it is they have neglected to make mandatory. These are the folks who stand to benefit by the ill wind of the Wuhan virus. Anyone who doubts this should ponder the case of Champaign, Illinois, whose city council just voted itself emergency powers to deal with the crisis, or “crisis.”

My friend David Horowitz likes to say “scratch a liberal and you’ll discover a totalitarian screaming to get out.” The evolution of the reaction and overreaction to the Wuhan flu is a textbook case illustrating the truth of that observation.

The Feds have shot their wad at the coming potential recession, and have no more ammunition.  The mayor of Champaign, Illinois has declared a town emergency over the Wuhan coronavirus that includes a potential ban on the sale of firearms and ammunition.  The mayor of Austin, Texas, has forbade gatherings of more than 100 people, placing in jeopardy the livelihoods of people who make their living doing just such things, like wedding planning, musicians, and so on.  New Jersey communities have imposed mandatory curfews (so did the British Army in colonial America, one of the complaints by the colonists, of course ending with American independence after a long and bloody war).

Of course, this is all unconstitutional.  The constitution doesn’t recognize “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” and right to freedom of association (recognized by the courts) .. except … uh oh, when the .gov declares it null and void because they are concerned about you or others you might happen to affect and can get a doctor to sign on to their plans.  It doesn’t work that way.

Unless it does and the American people let them get away with it.  I’m not suggesting of course that there aren’t benefits to remote work.  I have worked remotely for the last seven months and have done just fine with it, being even more productive than I would have been driving to work and sitting in a stale office.  I’m suggesting that no governor, no mayor, no president, and no legislator, has the authority to tell congregants that they are not to worship on Sunday or any other day.  No one has the authority to tell free men when they will be outside their homes.  And no mayor has the authority to tell gun owners that they can’t purchase more guns or ammunition.

David Codrea.

“Why are ‘Conservatives’ Throwing Michelle Malkin Under the Bus?” a cautionary analysis by Jose Nino on Big League Politics asks. “Second Amendment Activists Would be Wise to Not Dismiss Michelle Malkin’s Immigration Discussions.”

Apparently, advocating America should place its interests ahead of any other country’s, including Israel’s, was enough for Gun Owners of America’s Director of Outreach to brag on Twitter about having Malkin excluded from speaking to a Republican group.

“Bethany Mandel, editor of the conservative website Ricochet, penned an article titled ‘The Fall of Michelle Malkin’, which questioned Malkin’s recent controversial statements on immigration and why U.S. taxpayers subsidize Israel to the tune of billions,” the article explains. Except, to paraphrase Bill Clinton, that depends upon what the meaning of the word “conservative” is.

Read the rest of it.

Let me tell you something about Michelle Malkin.  When I was first starting out as a blogger, Michelle knew my son was deployed in Iraq.  I don’t think she wanted us to be there any more than I did, but she was truly compassionate for my plight (the turmoil military parents go through).

She gave me copious links, as well as actually exchanged email with me.  I have no regard or respect for folks who won’t exchange email with you.

Michelle Malkin is a decent and good woman, and a smart analyst.

We covered the behavior of the cops in Olmos Park, Texas, and the open carry rally there.  There is development.  This video was shot soon after the rally.  Watch all of it.  The cops run like scared rabbits when the light of photography shined on them.  Cops don’t like photography.  It tells the truth, unlike them.

This account (from reader Fred) is told from the perspective of the police.  Here’s a better report.

Sandler said Lemp’s grief-stricken family is traumatized. Their statement says they intend to “hold each and every person responsible for his death.”

“We believe that the body camera footage and other forensic evidence from this event will support what Duncan’s family already knows, that he was murdered,” the statement says.

Lemp worked as a software developer and was trying to raise money for a startup company, according to friends and co-workers.

“He was a talented, smart guy. Super nice. Didn’t deserve to get shot,” said Samuel Reid, whose Canadian software company employed Lemp as an independent contractor.

Tsolmondorj Natsagdorj, 24, of Fairfax, Virginia, said he met Lemp in 2016 and bonded with him over their shared interest in cryptocurrency. They also talked about politics. He described Lemp as a libertarian who frequented the 4chan and Reddit message boards, sites popular with internet trolls.

“Duncan was a young guy with a bright future as an entrepreneur,” Natsagdorj said. “He was working on things to change the world.”

On social media accounts that friends said belonged to him, Lemp’s username was “YungQuant.” On an internet forum called “My Militia,” someone who identified himself as Duncan Lemp, of Potomac, and posted under the username “yungquant” said he was “an active III%’r and looking for local members & recruits.” That’s an apparent reference to the Three Percenters, a wing of the militia movement. The group’s logo, the Roman numeral “III,” has become popular with anti-government extremists, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

On his Instagram account, Lemp recently posted a photograph that depicts two people holding up rifles and included the term “boogaloo,” slang used by militia members and other extremists to describe a future civil war in the U.S.

Well there you have it.  Reddit is a place for trolls.  Some of the best and quickest news you’ll ever find is over reddit.

“Boogaloo” … “militia” … III’per … that’s why he was shot.  And until I see evidence that he shot at the police first, I’ll assume the police executed him.  In fact, I wouldn’t have had any problem with him shooting the police.  After all, they invaded his home.

I’ve seen speculation that he had an unregistered SBR, a bong in one of his pictures, or whatever.  Note: I don’t believe in the righteousness of the NFA, and I don’t believe in the war on drugs.  I don’t use drugs, as my faith has a lot to say about that.  But I don’t care if you do.

Recall the case of the NJ security guard arrested for carrying PD ammunition?  Well, there’s a development.

New Jersey prosecutors dropped a felony charge against a security guard who was pulled over for driving with tinted windows and then charged with violating gun laws, prosecutors informed Newsweek on Friday. Roosevelt Twyne’s case illustrates how the state’s intricate gun restrictions can ensnare residents, multiple experts said.

Roselle Park police officers stopped Twyne, 25, in early February as he was returning home from work in his personal vehicle because, they said, he was driving with tinted windows. Twyne, a black man who works for the Brinks armored car company, was also transporting a handgun he believed he was legally permitted to carry for his job under the state’s restrictive licensing laws.

However, officers charged him with two gun-related offenses: One violation of the state’s firearm transport ban and another pertaining to hollow point bullets. The latter charge was dropped after Union County prosecutors decided the ammunition Twyne was carrying was not illegal. Until Friday, prosecutors were seeking an additional charge on the transport ban.

“I was simply a block away from getting home after work,” Twyne told Newsweek. “I never thought I would be arrested, charged and have my life turned upside down over New Jersey’s convoluted gun laws, especially when I was a fully licensed, trained security officer.”

The prosecutor’s office said Friday it concluded that his alleged breach of the law was not intentional.

“This Office has elected to exercise its prosecutorial discretion and has administratively dismissed all charges pending against Mr. Twyne,” the office said in a statement to Newsweek. “It is not in the interests of justice to continue his prosecution.”

They should have said that there was no “breach of the law” and that their police officers are idiots and they should try to improve hiring practices to focus away from sociopaths.

Instead, they said they are electing to exercise “prosecutorial discretion.”

Like I said before, New Jersey is a hell hole.  I wouldn’t travel there (or even fly over the state) if it was the last place on earth.