Barr:

In an interview with The Associated Press, Barr said his concerns were prompted by the numerous irregularities at the New York jail where Epstein was being held. But he said after the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general continued to investigate, he realized there were a “series” of mistakes made that gave Epstein the chance to take his own life.

“I can understand people who immediately, whose minds went to sort of the worst-case scenario because it was a perfect storm of screw-ups,” Barr told the AP as he flew to Montana for an event.

So I guess Epstein did indeed kill himself, according to Barr.

And for those of you who really believed that anyone in the bureaucracy would actually take on the deep state … sucker.

News from Baltimore.

BALTIMORE (WBFF) – Baltimore City Solicitor Andre Davis said the city will consider suing gun manufacturers if lawsuits related to the Sandy Hook shooting are successful.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled Sandy Hook families can pursue legal action against Remington Arms.

Councilman Zeke Cohen brought up the matter at Tuesday’s city council hearing asking Davis what the city is doing to hold gun manufacturers accountable now.

Solicitor Davis told Cohen every city in America is monitoring what’s happening with the Sandy Hook lawsuits.

Davis said if they are able to succeed in their cases, Baltimore will then considering holding gun manufacturers responsible.

“America would be tremendously served if the courts could find a way to say to the gun manufacturers, ‘You do have some responsibility here,’ so we are very definitely monitoring it,” he said.

Former Baltimore City Police Commissioner Ed Norris says it’s civil remedy to a criminal problem that won’t solve anything.

“So you sue a gun company, and you win hypothetically, what has that done for the city of Baltimore? How have we improved? Are fewer people going to die? No. What is the point of this exercise? I just don’t get it,” he said.

Forget for a moment what a travesty of justice something like this is.  The point is that the Supreme Court refusal to shut down the Sandy Hook lawsuits may open the flood gate to lawsuits against every manufacturer in America, leading eventually to their bankruptcy.

Their goal, of course, is to do exactly that, with a few notables surviving for supply to law enforcement.  They shouldn’t be indemnified for their malfeasance, but this doctrine is so ensconced in the American “justice” system that the firearms manufacturers will be protected when cops shoot innocent people, just not when anyone else does it.

When the government kills someone, it’s called war.  If you do it, it’s called murder.  If a cop shoots an innocent person, it’s called the “thin blue line,” “serving and protecting,” and other claptrap.  If you do it you go to prison.

Do any readers have experience using the “Echo Trigger?”

Via reader Fred, this idiotic missive from a Duke University professor with whom we’ve crossed paths before.

The main problem with relying solely on text, history and tradition, however, is that it doesn’t provide useful guidance for modern-day regulations that respond to modern-day gun violence. The text alone can’t tell you whether a machine gun is an “arm” or whether convicted felons are among “the People” the Second Amendment protects. The 27 words of the amendment are silent on many questions, and history and tradition don’t speak with one voice—there were and are significant regional differences in approaches to gun regulation, as well as divisions between urban and rural areas.

Perhaps in some extreme cases (a total ban on public carry, for example), text, history and tradition would provide relatively clear rules. But for most standard forms of modern gun regulation—restrictive licensing schemes for public carry, for example, or prohibitions on high-capacity magazines or on gun possession by people convicted of domestic violence—all of the work would be done by analogical reasoning. Judges would have to decide for themselves whether certain modern guns or gun laws are relevantly similar to laws from 150 or 200 years ago.

Hey dumbass, the constitution isn’t a guidance document.  It’s a covenant, and you break it at your own peril.

David Codrea.

“The Ohio Supreme Court will hear arguments in February to decide whether a law prohibiting gun owners from carrying firearms while intoxicated should be applied inside a gun owner’s home,” the Associated Press reported Saturday. Seeing an opportunity for a new and intrusive way to catch more gun owners in the disarmament net, the gun-grabbers are arguing that upholding an arrest is necessary for “the safety of Ohio residents and responding police officers.”

That dovetails nicely (for them) with an overall strategy to disarm citizens convicted of driving under the influence. And it moves things from the public setting right into the home, which is where the long game goal has always been.

My former professor, Dr. C. Gregg Singer, used to point out that the temperance movement was a manifestation of the social gospel, which itself was social Darwinism, or further back, followed Hegel (German synthesis/antithesis and evolutionary philosophy).  Guns are the new alcohol.  Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for the sake of his infirmities.  But “wine is a mocker.”  It depends on the person.  Guns protect the lives of the innocent, but kill the innocent, depending upon their use.  It’s the person behind the trigger, just as it is the person holding the glass.

It’s the same thing with Pete’s abject failure at understanding anything to do with Christian theology when he connects the Christian faith to a “world without weapons.”  In Pete’s world, no one really needs God, they just need themselves with good leaders, good as defined by Pete and his ilk.  The world isn’t really fallen, we just all need the Bohemian, peacenik, flowerchild Jesus as our example and the world will be a better place.  And little children love puppies, fluffy blankets and unicorns flying over rainbows.

There is nothing new under the sun.  Mankind tried this at the tower of Babel.  God knocked it down.  End of story.  Man cannot work his way to perfection, he has to believe in his heart and confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and that he can’t do nothing to save himself.  That’s the scandal of the gospel, and the reason so many men oppose it.

Opposition to the gospel is never an epistemological and philosophical problem.  It always has ethical roots.  Pete’s chosen lifestyle is evidence of his high-handed sin against the Almighty.

Gun control is just another tower of Babel, but I do find it ironic that this latest manifestation includes alcohol.  How appropriate.

News from South Carolina.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – State lawmakers are considering a new open carry bill that, if approved, would allow guns to be carried inside grocery stores, on the beaches and at public events.

You would also see them in businesses across the state.

Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds and the group ‘Arm in Arm’ are working to stop what they call a “dangerous bill.”

“Open carry of handguns where we live, worship and shop is irresponsible and a threat to the safety of our children and families,” said Peter Zalaka with Arm in Arm SC.

The open carry bill is not expected to be up for discussion until lawmakers return in January 2020.

The only danger here is a cop who has no respect for his oath to the constitution.  Peter Zalaka – Arm in Arm with controllers.

Hey Peter, give me a single instance of a state that is in more danger now because they adopted constitutional carry?  Just one.  I can put you in touch with LEOs from Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma if you want.

Hey Peter, one more thing.  I know why you’re really opposed to the bill.  All of those businessmen in Charleston don’t want those awful poor people carrying sidearms openly, do they?  It might affect their hospitality industry income stream.  That would make your reasons disingenuous, and you a liar.

News from Kentucky.

LA GRANGE, Ky. (WAVE/WYMT) – A bullet fired into a Western Kentucky apartment came from state troopers living upstairs, police said.

Oldham County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an apartment in the 1000 block of Fredrick Lane in the Oldham Oaks complex Saturday evening.

According to the police report, the 911 caller reported the shot was fired into the ceiling of his apartment just feet from where his daughter was sitting. No one was injured.

“I was like covering up my head because I didn’t know what was happening, and then I looked up and I saw smoke coming from that (the bullet hole),” said 11-year-old Kay’leah Todd.

Kay’leah’s two younger siblings, 8-year-old sister Sa’rinity and 2-year-old brother Ke’liam, and their grandmother, Beverly Todd, were also nearby when it happened.

When deputies arrived, they spoke with the victim’s upstairs neighbors: Trooper Landon Terry and Trooper Dustin Gross. Both stated they were in the field-training phase of their training with KSP.

According to the report, Terry told the deputies the shot was not intentional. Terry said he and Gross thought the rifle was empty, someone pulled the trigger, and the rifle went off because there was still a round in the chamber.

He also stated they were just moving into the apartment.

“The most frustrating part about all of this is that they did not come check on us,” said mother KeeKee Todd. “They knew what happened and they did not come.”

The report goes on to say Terry and Gross told deputies they had not contacted their supervisor. When the deputy told them they should get out in front of it and let their supervisor know what happened, their response was “we are getting ready to go out.”

The deputy wrote in the report that neither of them acted like they were going to contact their supervisor.

What swell guys.  But for heaven’s sake, no one would want to get in the way of their “going out.”  Maybe a night at the bar or something.  All of that hard work to become a goon in Kentucky creates a huge thirst.

Just the kind of people you want to know are traipsing around the countryside with “authority” and attitude.  Here’s a suggestion for the Kentucky State Police.  Start every class by teaching the rules of gun safety.  If they don’t score 100% every time, bash them in the groin with one of your batons.

This is certainly of value to the folks at Springfield armory.  I’m not a fan of striker fired pistols, but if I was in the market for a striker fired concealed carry pistol, I would consider this gun.

From a reader, news from the viper’s pit.

A new gun control bill calls for banks and credit card companies to track and provide transaction data to the feds on some firearm purchases as a way of tracking people who the government suspects might be planning mass shootings.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton’s (D–Va.) “Gun Violence Prevention Through Financial Intelligence Act” would require the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to “request information from financial institutions for the purpose of developing an advisory about the identification and reporting of suspicious activity.” The bill’s aim is to identify a consistent purchasing pattern among people who buy firearms and firearm accessories in order to conduct “lone wolf acts of terror” and expose how the firearms market in the United States is exploited by would-be mass shooters.

“Banks, credit card companies, and retailers have unique insight into the behavior and purchasing patterns that can help identify and prevent mass shootings,” Wexton explained in a statement. “The red flags are there—someone just needs to be paying attention.”

George Orwell’s future is here.  Make a perfectly legal, sensible purchase, get a visit by the FedGov.  This is exactly what they intend.  Folding peaceable men into the dragnet doesn’t worry them, and isn’t a bug.  It’s a feature of the system.

Of course, you can always save cash, or withdraw cash from your checking account.  But you do feel the net getting tighter, yes?

Make your plans for purchases now.  Trump may be hungry enough for the soccer mom vote that he’ll sign anything, including this Orwellian abomination.