Articles by Herschel Smith

We’ve said it hundreds of times, but this guy is a good example of how (a) you never talk to the police, and (b) you never give them permission to do anything.  That’s what this crook was seeking.

The LEOs are good examples of highwaymen, simple crooks who steal from others, except in this case, under the color of law.  The prosecutor who did this is equally a crook.

Apparently, it’s commonplace across America to teach police officers that conducting an investigation means they can do whatever they want.

Note in this first case that, in order, (a) she stopped the wrong individual, (b) apologized to him, (c) told him pointedly that he had broken no laws, (d) demanded his identification, (e) then told him failure to provide identification was obstructing a police investigation.

Note the logical problem they create for themselves (and the individual they’re stopped).  A person has not violated any law, the officer demands ID, the individual is under no legal obligation to provide ID if there isn’t articulable suspicion of a crime, and then the whopper at the end, failure to provide ID is obstructing a police investigation.

Under that schema, there is never a time when an individual can refuse to provide ID because the cop can claim that they are “conducting an investigation” (a fabricated crime that even if it did occur, occurred after the erroneous stop because there was no articulable suspicion of a crime).  This is a “Morton’s Fork.”  The individual hasn’t committed a crime and thus no ID can be demanded, but an ID can be demanded because the demand itself cannot be refused or else the individual has obstructed an investigation.

This is the game idiots play, and it twists the ruling of the SCOTUS in “Terry Stops.”

Here is the lawsuit.  The girl is a wrong and gullible but perhaps teachable, at least until she has her conscience seared by her co-workers.  The supervising officer is just plain stupid, reactionary, volatile, bossy, and clearly not a thinking man.  He’s perfect to be a cop according to modern hiring practices for LEOs.

The next case is like unto it.  The cops demand to come within the property lines because, guess what, “they are conducting an investigation.”  There’s that phrase again.

Here’s a quick note to cops everywhere.  Conducting an investigation doesn’t give you the right to violate civil rights, regardless of what the wicked instructors have taught you in the police academy.  You should know better.

These guys are just as bad as the ones above and obviously couldn’t care less about the constitution or their oaths. They are also obviously bullies.

Outdoor Life.

The “Americans’ Attitudes Toward Legal, Regulated Fishing, Target/Sport Shooting, Hunting, and Trapping” survey, conducted by Responsive Management, was released last month by the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation, a think tank devoted to communicating trends in outdoor activities.

[ … ]

Public approval of legal hunting dropped 4 percentage points over the past two years, from about 81 percent of Americans in 2021 to 77 percent of Americans this year. Approval of recreational shooting dropped 3 percentage points, and approval of recreational fishing also dropped 3 points, to 90 percent favorability.

Go to Outdoor Life for the rest of the story.

This is not good news.  The mantra that has been followed for so many years among the gun owning community is to treat gun club like “fight club.”  The first rule of gun club is that you don’t talk about gun club.

If we want to reverse the attitude towards guns and hunting, this will have to change.  Not only rural folk and suburbanites, but the urban dwellers must be made to feel more comfortable with our ownership of weapons and use of them for sport.

This slipped past me and I didn’t post on it, but the ATF frame and receiver rule has been vacated by judge Reed O’Connor.  More specifically, this is the Vanderstok, et. al., v. Garland case.

This mostly affects folks like Blackhawk Manufacturing, Polymer80, and so forth, who manufactured the 80% lowers.  But it’s a win for the 2A.

Here is the decision.

I’m willing to bet that the ATF will not appeal the decision, but we’ll wait and see.

This is a sickening video.  For heaven’s sake – it’s a golden retriever.  It’s a golden!  How is that guy in any danger?  Have you ever been around goldens before?  That dog was desperate to make a new friend, that’s all.

That idiot cop deserved all of the opprobrium he got, and much more.

*WARNING* – a dog gets shot in this video

Ohio cop shoots harmless golden retriever with its tail waging then continues shooting the dog as it flees the violent officer and Dixie (the dog) ultimately dies.

The neighbors instantly react the way they do because it's so obvious… pic.twitter.com/TL9Iw8a2oZ

— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) July 7, 2023

I just don’t know what to say any more.  Perhaps people will start to wise up rather than the usual, silly, mistaken “back the blue” mantra we hear everywhere.  Heroes of the community.

I have tried so hard to explain to those who would listen that you simply cannot keep up the same things and have any community respect at all.  Universal hatred of you and what you do will be dangerous for you, making you even more paranoid and mentally unstable than you currently are.

I’ve given suggestions to the police before and then even again.  Work as a hired hand on a farm or ranch, or even better, be a volunteer to some farmer or rancher who needs the help.  Learn to bale hay; lean to be a Farrier; learn to doctor animals; learn to train dogs; learn to care for animals.

But it seems that they hire the lowest IQ, least mentally stable, and most dangerous to mankind and beasts they can find.  As long as this is the case, they will only increase community hatred for themselves.

Again I say, you’re never in more danger than when the police are around.  Get away from them as quickly as possible – you, your family and your beasts.  There is never a situation so bad and so dire that it cannot be made worse by the presence of the police.

As for me, I know how to handle dogs, and I would have been buddies with that dog in less than a second.  I’m not a dog handler (although I could be), I’m just a normal American male.  Cops apparently are not.

Really.  This video is what it seems.  Someone is feeding a black bear a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I would surmise that the bear has a higher IQ than the folks at the event.

In related news, a black bear attacks hikers and dogs near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I didn’t know that seals surf!

I didn’t know that Armadillos could swim!

That’s quite a handoff!

One bird is not like the other!

She gave food to a hungry fox, and next time he brought his buddies.

I think the leopard chose the wrong snack.

I think the leopard chose the wrong snack again.  This seems to be a recurring problem for them.

The Buffaloes didn’t like the lions any more than the infant elephant.

Yes, moose really are that big!

Never realized how massive meese are 😳 pic.twitter.com/vDifUQ7qjm

— OddIy Terrifying (@OTerrifying) July 4, 2023

Via WoG, Idaho Dispatch.

The Independence Day parade is back in the city of Boise.

The parade was gone for a few years. This year, a new group has come together to host the event.

The information about the event can be found on the new website, Idaho 4th of July Parade from Boise (boise4th.com)

Participants have been preparing their floats and entries for the event, which is now just a few days away. Dated June 27, but sent out June 28, just 6 days ahead of the festivities, an email landed in their inboxes that caused some to pause.

The organizers of the parade have decided to add an addendum to the rules that were originally sent to entrants. The text of the addendum reads,

“Additionally, in consultation with local public safety officials, the parade organizers add the following parade entry requirement which all entries must follow:

No open carry of weapons or firearms will be permitted. The only exception to this is sworn law enforcement officers, uniformed military Honor Guard personnel or those participating in an authorized armed Color Guard.

This additional parade entry requirement ensures the focus on the parade’s intent to safely celebrate our Nation’s founding. The parade organizers greatly appreciate your adherence to this amended entry requirement.”

Greg Pruett of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance responded to the addendum email sent to parade participants by saying,

“Just as we anticipated, the Supreme Court’s decision to undermine the right to keep and bear arms on public property in Idaho has already begun. Of all the days for the organizers of the parade to put restrictions on the second amendment, it has to be on “Independence Day.” These restrictions by private organizations on public property is only going to get worse. How long before Mayor McLean decides that all Boise city parks will be ran by a nonprofit organization who will then ban firearms throughout the city. It’s coming, unless the legislature acts and fixes the problem.”

Pruett is referencing the Idaho Supreme Court decision that came out just days ago. Idaho Dispatch reported on that here: Breaking: ISAA Loses in Idaho Supreme Court, Calls For Special Session of the Idaho Legislature – Idaho Dispatch

Maybe the Idaho supreme court should read state law too.  Idaho is a preemption state.  Cities, town, townships, etc., cannot be more restrictive than state law.

Really folks.  This is Idaho.  Idaho.

Let me address the Louisville case second in reverse order from the appearance of the videos.  The second video is about a man being told what to do and how he can behave on his own property.  Vermont is a communist state, in case you were unaware.

Now to the Louisville case.  The ban was ruled unconstitutional under state law, but that’s not what I wanted to observe here.  He goes to great lengths to expose this individual as an idiot for shooting warning shot into the air, and then again a second time, explaining that no one should ever do that and certainly no one who watches his channel.

Well, whatever.  I wasn’t there so I don’t know.  I would discourage random shooting into the air too, but would point out that a bullet will reach terminal velocity with no more increase after that.  I wonder what his viewers think happens when an object is thrown into the air?

Anyway, look at it from his perspective.  If he had been required to take a shot at a person to defend his life, he would have gotten a visit from the police, been handcuffed, spent some time in prison, and had to spend perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars on a good defense attorney, and then still perhaps lost the case and spent the rest of his life in prison.  And no, being a member of USCCA doesn’t guarantee anything, even if you’re innocent.

As it is now, he is not in prison, no one was shot, no one is dead, and the court found in his favor over the charge of discharging a firearm within the city limits (preemption was the issue).

So who’s the idiot, again?

It would be nice if the justices saw Garland’s ploy for what it is, i.e., to amend the protocol in the NYSRPA v. Bruen case (analogue laws at the time of the founding as the only justification for a gun control law today).  Garland and the rest of the communists in NY, Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and elsewhere utterly hate the Bruen decision. You see, they know the Bruen test should force them to lose the case, but they are going for the sympathy vote, and if they get it, the SCOTUS will have violated its on standard, thus modifying the Bruen protocol.

It would be nice if the SCOTUS didn’t just ignore the fact that Rahimi is a fairy bad actor and celebrate it as an example of constitutional protections for everyone, not just those whom the communists feel have good moral character.  That standard is malleable and will go to serve no one’s interests except for the communists.

But I doubt that all of the justices who voted in the affirmative for Bruen will find the same way in Rahimi.  I doubt that Roberts, Barrett and Cavanaugh will be on our side.

Mark Smith breaks the case down.

American Hunter.

Anything that .22 LR can do, .22 WMR can do better, in a bolt gun, at least. While the magnum rimfire shines in manually operated actions, getting it to run reliably in a semi-auto is a rather large ask. The problem lies in the cartridge’s power factor, as it is too high for an unmodified blowback action yet not strong enough to operate a conventional gas-operated feeding system. Of the two, delaying a blowback system seems to yield the best results, but getting it there through simple means can be challenging. Challenges become motivation to a team of German engineers, and motivation becomes a product. Clear evidence of this concept can be found in the WMP, or Walther Magnum Pistol, a semi-automatic handgun chambered to fire classic .22 Magnum.

That seems to be the issue requiring the engineering, yes?  Cartridges that are too powerful (with powder that burns too long like a rimfire cartridge) for the slide to be opened prematurely lest the shooter get injured and/or the bullet lose velocity, versus the opposite concern of running a full size gas operated gun.  Walther solved that problem.

So the big question, what makes it run? Surprisingly, not much. While most German products are overengineered to a fault, the WMP simply utilizes the hammer mechanism to provide the delay needed to hold the pistol together while firing. All it took was getting the weight of the hammer and spring tensions just right. This leaves us with fewer failure points that ultimately add production costs to the firearm, resulting in a win for everybody.

Like most rimfires, this pistol has ammo that it’s going to like and ammo that it isn’t going to like. Much respect goes to Walther for not shying away from this fact but instead embracing it by listing a large cross-sample of what works and doesn’t work right on the website. While I am not too proud to take advice from a manufacturer, I couldn’t stick strictly to the list. However, I was confident that my choices would function well enough for paper punching. After rounding up three different ammunition weights, I slapped a Primary Arms SLx RS-10 mini reflex sight to the gun and headed out to the range.

It’s set up with an RMR footprint, which amusingly makes the optic cost as much as the gun.

We decided that the best distance to test this rimfire was 25 yards, as most squirrel and rabbit engagements happen right around this distance. However, for fun, I set up 8-inch AR-500 gongs at 50 and even 100 yards just to see how far I could push things. Starting with the Federal Game-Shok load, I snugged up a sandbag rest and sent my first round downrange. Expecting some sort of muzzle flip, I was delighted with how flat the gun shot. Typically when a bore axis sits that far above the hand, things get jumpy, but this just wasn’t the case. After firing my second shot, I had an accuracy concern, as I couldn’t spot an additional hit on paper. After clearing the pistol and walking downrange, I realized that the reason I couldn’t find it was because it was in the same hole as the first! Returning to my shooting point, I fired three more shots and turned in a group that measured just 1.10 inches. Things only got tighter from that point, with groups measuring as small as .81 inch, rivaling the accuracy of handguns that cost several times more. The other two types of ammunition also shot rather well, and all three made it through the test without a hiccup.

Stepping away from the bench, I decided to push out to the 50-yard target, which this gun had no trouble covering with a good two-handed shooting position. Even plopping rounds onto the 100-yard gong was relatively effortless, leaving more on the shooter than the firearm itself. Through it all, the muzzle stayed just about parallel to the ground, allowing me an unobstructed view of my impacts. That’s important in the field, as we need to be able to see if we struck that unassuming tree rat and he fell or if we whizzed one past his head and he ran up the back of the tree. As I digested magazine after magazine of ammo, I experimented with the Quad Release mag-catch system. I found the paddles to be a terrific option for gloved hands, while the button-style frame release provided a familiar feel. The best part is that no matter what you are used to already, there is zero learning curve in this department.

After exhausting more than 200 rounds of ammunition, my day on the range came to a close. I found the WMP to be accurate beyond words and reliable enough for the type of high-volume shooting that accompanies a good small-game hunt. It also makes an excellent pistol for bigger critters like opossums and raccoons, as it has the energy to dispatch them humanely with a single shot.

He also shot 30 grain bullets which runs counter to Walther advice, but he did it with no problems (except that I saw his groups opened up a bit with the lighter bullets, but of course his MV was higher too).  Otherwise, his accuracy was outstanding.