Articles by Herschel Smith

I told you that the fourth circuit was as worthless as the gunk between my toes. I meant it.  Now you see why.

I hate the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. I consider them to be about as worthless as the gunk between the toes of my feet.  But occasionally they get it right like a blind squirrel finds a nut from time to time.

Also from Mark, a state judge in Maryland granted a win for civil rights by striking the sensitive places law.

Of course, the communists in Maryland will continue to enforce the law until told to stop.

Source.

I guess it doesn’t help when the police are too afraid to chase men who point rifles at other people.

But you see, rather than tackle the root cause of the crime (fatherless homes, welfare, payment for having children out of wedlock, etc.) and quit doing the very things causing the problem in the first place, they’d rather send SWAT teams to wrong addresses in the suburbs and pester you about gun ownership.

This is your tax dollars at work.

Via David Codrea.

Report: ‘Mysterious’ Entities Giving Migrants GPS Coordinates to Unsecure Locations on Southern Border [More]

Virtually none of the things the FedGov currently does (medical subsidies, SNAP, welfare, control over firearms, social security, the department of education, the department of the interior, ownership of land, and on and on the circus could go) are called out in the constitution as being within the purview of the federal government.

The federal government is basically tasked with a single duty – control over the borders and security from invasion.

And it ignores the one thing for which it is tasked.  So then what good is it, and why should it exist?

Savage enters the 1911 market.  They have a .45 ACP gun and a 9mm gun.

I hate cheaply made firearms, and I hate the idea of paying $3000 or more for a 1911.  I like the price point of around $1500 for a 1911.  It doesn’t appeal to folks looking for a steal to get a good 1911 (there is no such thing as a 1911 for cheap, just cheaply made 1911s), and it doesn’t break the bank.

If they work right, I’d like one of each, but it’s very easy for manufacturers to make bad 1911s.  Has anyone had a chance to shoot either of these builds?

I didn’t even know there were devices like this one.  I would never put metal to metal on my BCG.  What’s wrong with solvent and a toothbrush?  It’s worked just fine for me all these years.

If you recall we covered this event in some detail concerning what they should have done with a member of their party suffering from Rhabdomyolysis.  This is a Malum Prohibitum crime with no victims.  This was a victimless crime.  Moreover, forcing the rest of the party to move very well could have placed their very lives at risk.

Is it possible for the NPS to look any stupider?  Then there’s this comment.

I am a retired law enforcement officer and in nearly all things, you have officer discretion. Unfortunately, many new or younger law enforcement officers don’t understand that concept and treat everyone regardless of the incident as if they were a mass murderer. They don’t comprehend the impact their actions have and understand basic humanity and compassion. The National Parks Service and the Rangers are why I avoid National Parks with a vengeance. I had a similar run-in in a National Park where I was the subject of a traffic stop for 18mph in a 15mph speed zone. Family and friends in the vehicle (while still an active law enforcement officer), young guy who starts yelling at me for going by him 3mph over the speed limit. Asks if there are any weapons in the vehicle and then draws his firearm when I say yes. I remained calm and explained my status and showed him my credentials. Then demanded to speak with their supervisor for the behavior and pointing a firearm at someone without justification. Supervisor basically blew it off and said, “If you don’t like it, don’t visit a National Park.” Public lands that are definitively not “for the people” and absolutely out of control behavior of those expected to set the example and uphold the law. The National Parks service, Rangers and Law Enforcement have a difficult job, but their behavior is making it far worse and turning them into an enemy of the people. Almost as if they are forcing people with their rules, permits, timed entry and such to stay out of the National Parks. You derive your authority from the consent of the governed. Many have lost sight of that fact.

Firearms in National Parks has been legal since 2010, and lives have been saved because of access to firearms.  The very first shooting of an attacking bear occurred in Denali National Park soon after the rule change.  In this instance, the LEO apparently muzzle flagged someone because of legal carry.

Idiot.  Dangerous idiot.

But in this case there were three parties to blame for this stupidity: the LEOs, the prosecutors and the judge.

Happy Thanksgiving!  I wish you and your family all the best of God’s good graces.

Here is an article on the ruling.

Reason.

A jury in Texas on Tuesday convicted a man of murdering a local police officer in a case that pitted no-knock raids against the right to self-defense.

Marvin Guy, who waited in jail for over nine years before his trial, was found guilty of murdering Detective Charles Dinwiddie, whom Guy said he mistook for an intruder after a SWAT team in 2014 smashed his bedroom window and tried to break into his home with a battering ram during a 5:45 a.m. drug raid. The panel declined, however, to convict him of capital murder and instead opted for murder, meaning they did not agree—at least not unanimously—that Guy knew he was shooting at law enforcement.

The raid was the product of a no-knock warrant, which police pursued in response to a tip that Guy had been dealing cocaine, and which allowed them to break into Guy’s apartment without first identifying themselves.

On May 9, 2014, before the sun rose, about two dozen officers arrived at Guy’s residence. The team struggled to fully penetrate the door with their battering ram; something was blocking it from behind. One officer accidentally detonated his stun grenade, inflaming what was already a raid rapidly going awry.

Guy, who lived in a high-crime area, said he was woken up and assumed the police were criminals trying to break into his home. He had allegedly been on edge about such a situation: One of his neighbors had reportedly been victimized similarly a week before when an intruder choked her after forcing entry by way of her first-floor window. Guy allegedly hit four officers, killing Dinwiddie and prompting police to fire over 40 rounds in return.

The prosecution, however, theorized that Guy had somehow come to know the police were coming and that he’d set a trap to “ambush” them.

I hear it again and again and again and again, and it’s just as silly every time I hear it.  Due process.  Let a judge issue a warrant.  I’d rather be judged by a jury of peers than carried by pall bearers.  Americans have the right of due process.  Gun confiscation laws are okay as long as the government has followed due process requirements.

This example is why I don’t believe you can trust due process or any aspect of the American judicial system.  It doesn’t matter whether he was dealing cocaine.  It doesn’t matter if they wanted to play soldier boy that early morning.  If they had wanted to grab evidence, they could have waited until daylight and monitored him for movement from the home and then gone in and grabbed whatever they wanted.

As it stands, a cop is dead and he will be in prison for much of the rest of his life.

And here’s the thing.  A prosecutor and jury did all of this by intent.  The prosecutor wanted him in prison because we can’t have men defending their homes, not even in Texas.  The jury followed all instructions given to them by a corrupt judge.

There’s your due process.  How do you like it?  If someone slams their way into your home, lay down and submit.  You cannot defend your family because you may go to prison.

Again, how do you like this?