Gun Owners of America has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the ATF concerning the pistol brace rule.  The motion can be found in its entirety here.  The motion concludes as follows.

The fact that the Final Rule technically presents a (forced) choice does not absolve it of its unconstitutional sins. As the Fifth Circuit observed in BST Holdings v. OSHA, “the loss of constitutional freedoms ‘for even minimal periods of time … unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.’” 17 F.4th 604, 618 (5th Cir. 2021) (burden on liberty interests posed by vaccination mandate was irreparable harm) (quoting Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 373 (1976)). The vaccination mandate in BST Holdings “threaten[ed] to substantially burden the liberty interests of reluctant individual recipients put to a choice between their job(s) and their jab(s).” Id. Here, the Final Rule imposes a similar choice, forcing individuals to choose between destroying their property or prosecution.

When the government is a party, the balance-of-equities and public-interest factors merge. See Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 435 (2009); Texas v. United States, 809 F.3d 134, 187 (5th Cir. 2016) (same). A court therefore must weigh whether “the threatened injury outweighs any harm that may result from the injunction to the non-movant” and whether “the injunction will not undermine the public interest.” Valley v. Rapides Parish Sch. Bd., 118 F.3d 1047, 1051, 1056 (5th Cir. 1997). There is no harm to ATF from pausing enforcement of the Final Rule and maintaining the status quo. The Final Rule claims to “enhance[] public safety,” 88 Fed. Reg. at 6481, yet ATF is able to point to only two handgun braces (out of millions) that have been criminally misused, see 88 Fed. Reg. at 6495. Even then, there is no evidence that those crimes could not have been committed using a different firearm. Weighing against this are the very real and ongoing irreparable harms to Plaintiffs discussed above. Indeed, the public is served when the law is followed, and “there is generally no public interest in the perpetuation of unlawful agency action.” Wages & White Lion Invs., LLC, v. U.S. Food & Drug Admin., 16 F.4th 528, 560 (5th Cir. 2021) (citation omitted). The balance of equities and public interest weigh heavily in favor of an injunction.

GOA and GOF have members and supporters nationwide. Exhibit 13 at ¶ 6. The geographic scope of interests presented, as well as the complications inherent to a piecemeal implementation or injunction of the Final Rule, which impacts criminal prosecutions and fundamental rights, support this Court granting nationwide relief.

For the foregoing reasons, this Court should preliminarily enjoin Defendants from enforcing the Final Rule.

Our friend Stephen Stamboulieh is one of the attorneys in this case.

Here we discussed Dan Becker’s experience trying to do a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon in bad conditions (use of snow shoes) while climbing the North Rim.  I was fairly hard on his team mates – they let him down by not stopping him and doing the things they needed to do (hydrate him, get food energy into him, get him rest, and most of all, stopping the physical exertion).

I feel that I was justified to be so hard on his team mates.  Here is another video of the same trip told by Dan himself.  Pay close attention to the 10:57 and 11:46 marks.  He says, “I was having severe chest pains,” and when asked if he was okay, he said an unequivocal “no.”  The rest of the team should have been with him the whole way.  The first sign of a little bit of chest pain should have stopped the entire group.

That’s it for me.  You don’t split up on the trail.  You just don’t.  Medical conditions of team members remain unknown to the rest of the team, you have less protection against predators, and so many other reasons.  Don’t … split … up.  If you’re going slower than you wanted to, tough.  That’s all part of the being on a team.  Deal with it.

Rather than picking up Dan’s backpack, the team should have stopped right then and there to assist Dan and get him healthy again.  I’m willing to bet there would have been no need for rescue if they had done that.

I’ve met Representative Russel and heard him speak on other issues as well. The current Tennessee Constitutional Carry is not actual Constitution Carry. But, considering incrementalism TN is on its way. This bill would be very close to what many other states have. In TN open carry of long guns is restricted. This bill would remove that restriction, among others. The way things work in TN, the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee is a critical step in getting legislation to the full House floor.

The best part is when the witnesses all but admit they have no constitutional (TN) authority to oppose gun laws.

Via WoG, Video via TFA; both call for support action from Tennesseans.

Found on social. It looks like they tased him in a puddle of gasoline that they created when they attacked a man who had nothing to do with an initial call to the police about motorcyclists with guns. Reports indicate that he’s a 26-year-old FedEx employee. He’s not expected to live. There may be more details by now that readers can relate.

This is a captivating tale, and a true one, told by the apparent leader of the group.  There are a number of good lessons in it, most or all of which we’ve discussed before in painful detail.  But let’s cover them again for the sake of education.

When the party crossed into the climb of the North Rim, I knew that one or both of them were going to suffer from Rhabdomylosis.  I knew that without being told, without having to watch the rest of the video (I did watch the rest of it to confirm by thoughts), and without reading the video description.  I knew it with certainty.

Do you recall journalist Sebastian Junger’s hard work at Restrepo?  The soldiers would come back smelling of ammonia.  It was in their sweat, and it was indicative of hydration and kidney problems.  More to the point, hydration is only one part of the story.

In Rhabdomylosis, the body no longer has energy stores to power the physical exertion and must burn muscle to propel itself.  The kidneys then have to remove that protein from the system.  This will cause kidney failure if not addressed quickly.

One method to address it is hydration.  The most important method is to stop the exertion.  The leader of the group wasn’t very wise.  He continued the climb forward for several reasons, one legitimate, and one not.  The only legitimate reason to have continued the climb was that rescue would have been nearly impossible if they didn’t reach the rim.  The irony is that the only reason this is a legitimate concern is because they didn’t stop when they should have, and this brings up the illegitimate reason to have continued: panic.  He even says so in the video.  They panicked.

We’ve discussed this before.  Panic is a killer in the bush.  It’s deadly.  The best option would have been to suspect what was about to happen, and find a place to make camp, get Mr. Becker warm, hydrate him, and get him food energy and rest.  As it was, they pushed until he vomited, only dehydrating him more.

Sure enough, according to the medical professionals, Mr. Becker was suffering from Rhabdomylosis.  He said in the video that this was a “rare” occurrence.  That’s not true.  It’s not rare among people who undergo extreme physical exertion.  It also may happen to people whose body has undergone extreme exertion for reasons other than climbing from rim to rim in the Grand Canyon.  I’m imagining a “fictitious” conversion between a certain NP and a patient: “How long have you been on this meth bender?”  “Oh, three days.”  “Well congratulations, you’re now in Rhabdo and I need to push fluids to try to save your kidneys.”

I also don’t believe that this necessarily happens to the weaker among a group.  It may happen just because it happens, for whatever reason: genetics, what a person ate several days ago, whether a person hydrated enough before the exertion, or for no particular reason that can be pinpointed.

The point is that a leader needs to be wise enough to recognize that this is a possibility and stop before it happens.  Waiting until it happens is too late.

Make the decision early enough to prevent injury and death.  Find a decent place to camp for the night.  Find firewood, and if there is no firewood, get people inside tents or a tarp and start isobutane stoves.  If there is no tent or tarp, know how to fabricate a shelter in the bush, or some sort of debris hut.  Find a source of hydration, and if you didn’t carry enough water with you, make sure you brought filtration.  Get food energy into your body.  Rest.  But most of all, just stop the physical exertion.  That’s imperative if you want to survive.  One warning sign is that your piss will be colored brown, but if it’s gone that far, you’re probably too late.  Stop before that happens.

If you don’t, it may be deadly.

Via WiscoDave, this raid is simply horrendous, both in its justification and execution.  First, for all we know there was never a warrant.  Following the constitution isn’t an option – it wasn’t a justification for the SWAT team member to point into the sky and tell the home owners that a warrant existed somewhere with somebody else.  Without presenting a warrant, they had no right to be there at all.  You can tell that the team knows this and sort of stood around looking all confused in the middle of rolling up, right after they unnecessarily busted down doors to the property.

Next up, observe their equipment.  One has NODs and a battering ram.  The next one has a grenade launcher (presumably for gas) + NODs, combined with an EOTech sitting on top of his weapon (and if I’m not mistaken, no Peq15).  Finally, the third one has NODs, but I can’t tell if he has a Peq15 on that gun.

This is in the middle of the day.  They have NODs.  In the middle of the day.  And if the raid was so dangerous that they needed a SWAT team to pull it off, why do they have the time to stand around jawing with the victims of this absurdity?

Police everywhere have proven over and over again that they can’t be trusted.  They should be disarmed for the safety of the American people.  Only the responsible ones should have weapons, and they should go back to the .38 Spl wheel guns.  Police everywhere ought to be required to wear a uniform, tie and head cover at all times, and carry warrants with them if they presume to enter private property.

Finally, he’s muzzle flagging the victims of the raid.  They have poor muzzle discipline.  I’ve said many times before that you’re never in more danger than when the police are around.  Get away from them absolutely as soon as possible.

For those who don’t notice, this raid was perpetrated under the authority of the Sheriff of Mercer County, Illinois.  One might suppose that they didn’t feel comfortable with knocking on doors and chatting with the homeowners, so they requested the state police to drive up and bust down gates and batter through doors with equipment they don’t know how to use, all given to them by unnecessary FedGov spending after too many foreign misadventures that went on for far too long.  With such fear, how does one function every day in life?  If you follow the links to their web site, you get a WordPress platform ready to be built.  I don’t know how anybody even reaches this office when needed.  This has to be one of the goofiest, most unprofessional operations I’ve ever seen, the Sheriff + the Illinois State Police both considered.  They appear to be a bunch of goobers.

Apparently, the Sheriff does have an email address: dustin.terrill@leo.gov.

This perfectly encapsulates why the entire system needs to be abolished. There's no reforming a literal military invasion force made specifically for our homes. If it is this bad while we are armed how much worse will it get if they get their way? 1/Xhttps://t.co/5RTcNFgdyB

— Oldmin the Elder ️‍⚧️️‍ (@Defn8lyOldmin) March 3, 2023

There have been a lot of developments of late concerning the various lawsuits which have been brought against the FedGov.  This first one concerns cases in Illinois, where Mark analyzes the strength of the state’s case to ban semi-automatic firearms.  Here’s a hint.  It’s a very weak case, so weak in fact that they will not prevail on the merits.

In this case, Mark analyzes a revised decision out of the 5th circuit concerning the RKBA when a court order has been issued against you.  Listen to the whole video.  The ramifications of this case go far beyond what you think.

Finally, this case concerns so-called “Ghost Guns.”  A injunction has been issued against Garland, effective immediately

We’re winning in court everywhere.  Whether this redounds to increased recognition of liberty is anyone’s guess.

Mark Keel is famously the biggest law enforcement name in S.C. who opposed open carry in S.C. before the house and senate finally ignored his big mouth.  He was one of the many LEOs in S.C. who fumed about gun battles and blood running in the streets, and LEOs who couldn’t tell the difference between good guys and criminals because … well, you know the story, only LEOs are the good guys.

I can’t stand the man.  I’ve never liked him.  Now I have justification for my hunches and suspicions.  He’s nothing more than a common criminal.

Let’s see where this goes: lying to a judge, judge shopping, refusing to follow the law and turn over evidence, and apparent willingness to destroy another man’s property along with a demand for impunity.  Watch the video until the last where the judge says what she thinks of him.  Sometimes, I guess, judges are decent people.

What a jerk.  S.C. would do well to get rid of him.  He needs to retire to a state penitentiary.

Source.

More than 58% of firearm owners stored at least one gun unlocked and hidden, while nearly 18% of firearms owners stored at least one firearm unlocked and unhidden, the study found.

The study found that gun safes were the locking device most commonly used among firearm owners, rather than other locking mechanisms researchers examined, like cable locks and trigger locks.

Nearly 50% of respondents who didn’t lock their firearms said locks are unnecessary, while more than 44% of respondents said that locks would prevent quick access in an emergency.

They act like this is some sort of great revelation, something worthy of an article or a “study.”  I could have told them that, almost down to the numbers.  In fact, I suspect these numbers are a bit low.

It’s a revelation to them that if you put a lock on a firearm or store it away in a safe, it’s not accessible to you in exigent circumstances.  You know, exigent circumstances – the time when you are most likely to need that firearm.

What good is a firearm if it’s locked?

Sure, it might be a great idea to lock them away with small children in the home, and there are biometric safes for that, but we oppose efforts to legally mandate such things.  The FedGov isn’t God, regardless of how much they want to be.

In sad news concerning the U.S. Marine Corps, those in charge have decided to rid themselves of one of their greatest assets.

The Marine Corps is getting rid of one of its most elite and storied jobs — the scout sniper.

Official message traffic leaked to social media last week described a switch from scout sniper platoons to what will only be known only as “scout platoons.”

[ … ]

The Marine Corps’ commandant, Gen. David Berger, has been vocal about wanting infantry Marines to become well-versed in multiple weapons systems — less specialized and more “commando-like.”

That’s a joke.  I’ve told them before what it would take to bring them up to par with SOCOM, or thereabouts, so they don’t get hand-me-down weapons and last place in the money pecking order.  It’s basically everything they’re not doing.

In unfortunately related news, the greatest close air support aircraft ever invented is finally being phased out because AF pilots want to fly sexy fighter jets, I guess.

• After years of debate, Congress has approved a US Air Force plan to begin retiring A-10 Thunderbolts.
• The A-10 is the only US military aircraft purpose-built to provide close air support to ground forces.
• But training documents raise questions about the Air Force’s focus on that mission going forward.

After repeatedly blocking the US Air Force’s attempts to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II, Congress late last year approved a plan to decommission 21 of the venerable ground-attack aircraft, which is the only US military aircraft purpose-built for close air support.

Those retirements would shrink the Air Force’s A-10 fleet to 260 aircraft, and Air Force leaders plan to continue decommissioning A-10s in the years ahead.

Air Force officials have said they want to replace the A-10, affectionately known as the Warthog, with the F-35 as the service’s primary close-air-support aircraft.

That last statement is as much of a joke as the MC statement I called out above.

The gutting of the U.S. military is almost complete.  The perfumed princes have been in charge for too long now to recover it.  Is it any wonder they aren’t meeting recruitment goals and won’t in the future?