Archive for the 'Gun Control' Category

News from Missouri.

The Justice Department on Wednesday asked a Missouri court to invalidate a new state law that prohibits state and local officials from enforcing federal firearms laws, arguing it violates the Constitution and has already done harm to public safety in the state.

Federal prosecutors filed a statement of interest in a challenge to the Missouri law brought by St. Louis and Jackson Counties, which seeks to block enforcement of the measure. The Justice Department told the Cole County Circuit Court it supports a finding that the law, known as HB85, is unconstitutional and an order halting its enforcement.

“HB85 has caused, and will continue to cause, significant harms to law enforcement within the state of Missouri,” the Biden administration wrote in its filing. “HB85 is also plainly unconstitutional.”

Funny.  I’m so old I can remember when they didn’t argue that that the states had to enforce border and illegal immigrant laws.

Prosecutors warned the law has already hindered law enforcement efforts to promote public safety in the state and is undermining law enforcement activities, as it interrupts federal, state and local partnerships.

Signed by Republican Governor Mike Parson in June, the measure at the center of the legal battle enacts a $50,000 fine on any law enforcement agency with officers who knowingly enforce federal firearms rules.

Under the law, called the Second Amendment Preservation Act in Missouri, federal gun laws that fall into five categories are considered a violation of the Second Amendment and therefore not recognized by the state.

I’m sure they’ll go judge shopping and find someone who will strike this down.  I wish not since I don’t approve of either the war on guns or the war on drugs.  I wish state law enforcement would arrest FedGov agents the second they set foot inside of Missouri.

But this break between the states and the almighty FedGov must occur at some point, or else there might as well not be any such thing as states.

News from North Carolina.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina Republicans completed a push Wednesday to eliminate the state’s long-held requirement that a handgun buyer obtain a permit from the local sheriff. But the repeal is likely to get vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who supports more gun-access restrictions.

The Senate voted 27-20 along party lines to approve a House bill that would end the pistol purchase permitting system. The current law directs a sheriff to perform a background check on applicants, evaluate their character and ensure the gun will be use for a lawful purpose.

Any Cooper veto would likely survive an override effort since there are enough Democrats in each chamber opposing the measure. The GOP-controlled House approved the measure in May on a near party-line vote.

The removal has the backing of the group representing the state’s sheriffs, which for years opposed a repeal. The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association reversed itself this year, saying the background check is redundant given the federal background checks that licensed gun dealers must conduct before a sale are more comprehensive and reveal possible problems, such as mental health commitments or substance abuse.

Oh I can assure you that Cooper the goober will veto it.  Unfortunately, Wake and Mecklenburg Counties control too much of the vote to give us a patriotic governor.  At least he has the House and Senate to hold him in check or things would be much worse.

News from South Carolina.

In hotels, though, gun owners will have additional rights, and will likely be allowed to carry their weapons into the hotel and up to their rooms, regardless of what hotel owners say.

As it should be.  If I stay on a hotel, it is my home for the night.  I have as much God-given right to self defense there as anywhere else.

But there’s something more interesting in this article.  The author cites 707 Gun Shop owner Robert Battista in the caption to a video saying “Robert Battista, 707 Gun Shop owner, is opposed to a law allowing anyone to buy and openly carry a weapon in South Carolina.”

So I figured that Robert is either an idiot (it has never been the case that anyone can purchase a firearm) and allowed himself to be used by the media, or friendly to tyrants.

Listen to the video.  It’s worse than that.  First of all, he isn’t in favor of constitutional carry, but prefers what he calls “national carry” where every state is the same and it’s all controlled by the FedGov.  So he isn’t just friendly with tyrants, he is a tyrant himself.

Second, he lies about S.C.  He says it is a tourist state.  That’s not correct at all.  Myrtle Beach may be a tourist destination (a poor one at that), but the upper part of the state has the largest inland port in the Southeast, and the scale of the industrial production between Greenville, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C., would stagger anyone.

Third, he says that it’s going to be a “law enforcement nightmare” if S.C. passes constitutional carry.  This, despite the fact that in the 22 other states that passed constitutional carry haven’t experienced a nightmare, and blood isn’t running in the streets.  He’s lying.  He isn’t just fabulating or exaggerating, he’s lying.

Fourth, he lies again and says that the people who want constitutional carry are the people who can’t pass the background check.  What a liar, and what an idiot.  You can’t purchase without filling out Form 4473 (unfortunately), and the people who are pushing constitutional carry are patriots like you and me.

He wants the schema where you just have to ask the government for the permit.  “All you have to do is ask,” he says.

His accent gives him away.  He’s not a native South Carolinian.  He’s from out of state.  Go home, tyrant.  And to any readers in his area, never visit his store.

Report from Kabul.

Taliban fighters on Monday reportedly began collecting weapons from civilians in Kabul as the insurgent group cements its swift takeover of Afghanistan.

“We understand people kept weapons for personal safety. They can now feel safe. We are not here to harm innocent civilians,” a Taliban official told Reuters.

ISIS did it too.

“ISIS was telling everyone, ‘We’re all brothers,’ ” Abu Malik said. “They let people smoke and drink. At the checkpoints, they distributed presents to the kids. They ate with people, drank tea with people. They were very nice—they didn’t bother anyone. Then, a week or so after they arrived, they started confiscating weapons. They told us it didn’t matter if we’d been with the Awakening or the Army or the police—if we gave up our weapons, we’d be forgiven. Ten days later, they started taking people. Everything changed. They took my cousin. My brothers dug holes in the fields and hid. I was at my house when they came for me. It was afternoon. I saw two Hyundai Santa Fes pull up outside, and I ran out the back and jumped over the wall. That was the last time I saw my family.”

Guns were confiscated prior to the Armenian genocide in Turkey, prior to the Nazi reign in Germany, prior to Idi Amin’s reign of terror in Uganda, and on the list could go.

And to repeat, gun control is never about confiscation of all guns, the usual rejoinder to these instances by the left.  In fact, claiming so undermines the main point.

Gun control is always about leaving them in the hands of state-sanctioned actors and outlawing gun ownership by those not approved by the state.

Shooting Illustrated.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has selected FN America’s FN509 MRD-LE as its new duty pistol. The trials included a variety of performance evaluations, including accuracy, ergonomics and a 20,000-round-count endurance qualification in which the FN 509 MRD-LE surpassed with zero malfunctions.

“Exceeding all of the requirements LAPD sought in their new duty pistol was a high-performance standard to meet,” said Chris Cole, vice president of Sales and Marketing at FN America. “With over a million rounds fired in development, the FN 509’s reputation for durability is proven here again, giving LAPD officers a superior handgun they can depend on in the most demanding policing environments.”

The double-action, 9 mm-chambered pistol features FN’s patented Low-Profile Optics-Mounting System. Adapted from the original development for the U.S. Army’s handgun trials, it provides officers added precision and sighting versatility.

“LAPD needed the ability to quickly and securely mount a variety of duty-rated micro red dots to their service pistols to improve the accuracy potential of their handguns and their officers,” said Charles “Bucky” Mills Sr., director of Law Enforcement Sales for FN America. “FN pioneered the MRD mounting technology the LAPD required, enabling precision shot placement and immediate target engagement no matter the environment.”

The pistol features a precision, hammer-forged, 4-inch barrel with recessed target crown, high-performance, conical striker and flat-faced, duty-rated trigger. The FN Low-Profile Optics-Mounting System with co-witness tritium 3-dot iron sights, delivers rapid sight acquisition and consistent shot placement. Magazine capacity is 17 cartridges.

“The Los Angeles Police Department is one of the largest and most elite law enforcement agencies in the country, with roughly 10,000 uniformed officers, and we are proud that they have chosen the FN 509 MRD-LE as their next duty pistol,” said Mark Cherpes, president and CEO of FN America.

Nice.

Except it isn’t legal for residents of California to own it.

See, that’s what I’ve been talking about.  Manufacturers are going to have to do better than that.  The first question Mr. Cherpes should have asked when the LAPD approached them is this: “Can California residents legally own this gun?”  If the answer was no, which it would have been, he should have told the LAPD to stuff it.

News and views from Iowa.

As Iowa lawmakers debated a gun rights bill this past legislative session, critics issued some dire warnings. Without requiring Iowans to get government permission to buy and carry firearms, they said, the state would devolve into lawlessness.

Under consideration was a proposal to modernize Iowa’s gun permit system, making permits to carry or acquire guns optional.

“This bill bans or kills background checks in this state, there’s no doubt about it,” state Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, said on the Iowa House floor this spring.

The Legislature passed the bill — known as “constitutional carry” or “permitless carry” — along party lines and it took effect July 1. Iowans now may purchase and carry weapons without a permission slip from the state.

“The sky is falling!  The sky is falling!”

” … the state would devolve into lawlessness.”

In other words, if there is no law by which the controllers could govern something, then the people are free to engage in something out from under the control of the controllers.

That, my friend, is what’s called a tautology.

Via David Codrea, at TTAG.

Last year, then-New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal subpoenaed Smith & Wesson, trying to force the manufacturer to hand over internal information regarding its marketing practices. The Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex’s is conducting a coordinated effort to try to skirt the PLCAA’s protections by claiming gun makers are engaging in allegedly false and deceptive advertising.

Smith & Wesson refused to cough up the documents and sued the Garden State to block them. That suit was tossed out and the state filed their own suit to enforce the subpoena. This week, the New Jersey Supreme Court denied Smith & Wesson’s request to stay a lower court’s order to produce the documents, in effect ruling the manufacturer has to produce the documents.

Said the NJ AG, “Getting access to Smith & Wesson’s internal documents was a way “to hold manufacturers liable.”

The problem here is that this is still just about money to the manufacturers, rather than an existential war for survival.  They still want it both ways.  They want to sell firearms in communist states like New Jersey, and they still want to outfit the police state with weaponry, but they don’t like what follows.

When you dance with the devil …

The solution is to refuse to do business in any state like that, whether New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or wherever.  Not even selling weapons to the police.

Manufacturers are going to have to stay out of such states, and the longer they wait, the better the chance that they end up like Remington.

They have been warned.

TTAG.

New gun owners are filling up gun ranges and classrooms to learn to use their firearms. It’s a rebuke of David Chipman’s portrayal of them. Chipman, of course, is President Joe Biden’s nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and he reduced new gun buyers to rubes who are clueless about the responsibilities of gun ownership.

David Chipman mocked first-time gun buyers in 2020, likening them to Joe Exotic, the “Tiger King,” and saying they more closely resemble zombie apocalypse preppers.

During his U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Chipman was drilled about his statements bemoaning new gun owners who, “went out to the gun store and bought a gun with no training whatsoever.” He said they were likely to “hide their guns behind the cans of tuna and beef jerky that you’ve stored in the cabinet, and only bring that out if the zombies start to appear.” When pushed by senators, he sheepishly walked it back.

That’s because he’s a coward who’s afraid to say what he really thinks – and we all know what he really thinks.

But let’s dismiss the stupidity for a moment.  No gun will fit inside a can of tuna or a bag of beef jerky.  It’s a good thing to get training, and to be capable of use of the tool you’ve purchased.  As regular readers know, I’ve recommended range, training, pulling the machine apart to see how it works and to perform maintenance on it, and on and on.

But here’s the problem with all of that.  I don’t really care about stereotypes or especially what Chipman thinks.  So let’s say that some elderly couple did purchase a firearm and stuff it in a bag of jerky.

So what?  It’s their God-given right.  They spent their money on it, it’s there machine to do with as they see fit, and Chipman cannot tell them what to do.

The gun community doesn’t owe Chipman or anyone else an explanation of how we spend our time or whether we’re getting enough range time.

Because.  And that’s the end of that.

From several of you, it isn’t good enough that they have to send us their poor – whom they cannot care for because of corruption – and their gangs.  Mexico is saber rattling over guns.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government sued United States gun manufacturers and distributors Wednesday in U.S. federal court, arguing that their negligent and illegal commercial practices have unleashed tremendous bloodshed in Mexico.

The unusual lawsuit was filed in U.S. federal court in Boston. Among those being sued are some of the biggest names in guns, including: Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc.; Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc.; Beretta U.S.A. Corp.; Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC, and Glock Inc. Another defendant is Interstate Arms, a Boston-area wholesaler that sells guns from all but one of the named manufacturers to dealers around the U.S …

The Mexican government argues that the companies know that their practices contribute to the trafficking of guns to Mexico and facilitate it. Mexico wants compensation for the havoc the guns have wrought in its country.

The Mexican government “brings this action to put an end to the massive damage that the Defendants cause by actively facilitating the unlawful trafficking of their guns to drug cartels and other criminals in Mexico,” the lawsuit said.

It’s not that the police are owned by the cartels.  It’s guns.  Sure thing.

But it may be more than saber rattling if the current administration or some pagan, collectivist judge gets her way.

This sort of thing is bound to increase as time goes by.

News from S.C.

Openly carrying a firearm will be legal in South Carolina starting Aug. 15, and the State Law Enforcement Division is trying to make sure gun owners and law enforcement officers understand this upcoming change.

[ … ]

“Anything as far as protecting our Second Amendment rights, I’m all for any time it comes up,” said state Rep. Cal Forrest, R-Saluda, one of the bill’s early sponsors. “I think what is lost on most people is that it makes South Carolina a Second Amendment sanctuary state.”

Deescalation techniques?  Why would they need to learn about deescalation techniques?  Do they intend to harass open carriers?  In spite of the fact that S.C. isn’t a stop and identify state, and the fact that the open carry bill contains no proviso for being stopped by LEOs while openly carrying, do they intend to making unlawful demands of open carriers?

If so, then there will be problems, and they’ll end up in court.