David Codrea:

Evidently, edicts to deprive people who obey laws of due process are high on the list, although what bearing that has on the Dycus case is left unstated. That and “universal background checks.”

No doubt the reptile who fired indiscriminately into a house full of unsupervised “juveniles” would have thought twice had those been in effect. No?

The point of new gun control laws in America is never to solve any problems.  It’s always to disarm peaceable men and women of their means of self defense and make them more subservient to state control.

NY Daily News:

The Texas gun store that sold the assault rifle used in the 2017 Sutherland Springs church massacre lost its bid Monday to have a lawsuit over the sale dismissed.

Well then.  By that same logic, I fully expect we’ll see victims of automobile accidents suing Ford and Dodge very soon, right?  Shouldn’t we expect to see that?

In Connecticut:

A Connecticut state representative is proposing a 50-percent tax increase on ammunition, breaking new ground in the gun control debate.

Freshman Democratic Rep. Jillian Gilchrest from Hartford introduced House Bill (HB) 5700, which would enshrine the tax into state law, in late January. A companion bill has been introduced in the state Senate by Democrat Will Haskell, who recently became the youngest Senator in state history at the age of 22.

[ … ]

“Currently ammunition is taxed at the same rate as other products,” Gilchrest says. “We want to increase it by 50 percent because we see it as a prevention measure.”

Gilchrest also said that her tax wouldn’t apply to law enforcement or members of the military, but claims it’s necessary for civilians. Gilchrest compares her ammunition tax to conventional “sin taxes” like those implemented on cigarettes and tobacco.

“We see this as a public health measure,” Gilchrest. “When we [increased taxes on cigarettes], we’ve seen a reduction in use. We want to continue Connecticut’s legacy of being the leader in preventing and addressing gun violence and we see this as another step forward in that direction.”

Like unto it, an ammunition registry bill has been introduced in Illinois:

House Bill 1467, sponsored by Representative Lamont Robinson (D-5), would require anyone who sells any amount of ammunition to maintain records including the personal information and Firearms Owner Identification Card (FOID) of the buyer, and the type, quantity, and manufacturer of the ammunition.  These records would have to be maintained for inspection by law enforcement and would also have to be forwarded to state police within seven days of each transaction.  In addition, state police would be directed to establish and maintain a searchable database of these records.

Just like with firearms, know how much there is, who has them, and where to go to confiscate them.  That’s what a registry is good for.

As for the concept of the “sin tax,” she is too young and stupid to believe something like that, and her naivety is on display because she stipulates that it doesn’t apply to cops.

So cops have a right to whatever they need for self defense, but little people don’t.  You know that, don’t you Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, that cops only have the rights that we do, i.e., to self defense?  We all have the same rights and needs, but not according to Gilchrest.  Same needs, different laws.  Because.  Cops.

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Via WiscoDave, Iotwreport.com:

Americans in border towns in New Mexico are leery of reporting crimes and suspicious activities by illegal immigrants because they fear they will be retaliated against by drug cartels, according to a  Washington Examiner report.

Seven residents who live within 30 to 50 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border told the paper that calling local or federal law enforcement for help after discovering they have been victims of illegal immigrant crime could lead to “nasty consequences.”

One cattle rancher from Hidalgo County told the Examiner he calls in every crime, but not without punishment from the cartels.

“I turned in 700 pounds [of marijuana] up here … I called it in [to Border Patrol]. They went and got it. That night, they [smugglers] came back. They … broke off all the floats off my troughs — chopped ’em up, drained all of it,” he said.

Brave rancher.  But most people won’t be that brave, nor do they have the wherewithal to engage in battle with the cartel(s).

Here is the step-by-step process for the destruction of a country and culture.

[1] Corrupt enough powerful people with money and power – money for powerful corporations like Monsanto, or Archer Daniels Midland, who want immigrant workers, or even for smaller entities like local roofing and siding companies, and power for the democrats who want voters.

[2] Convince enough idiot voters that the immigrants just “come for love” and appeal to compassion.

[3] Underfund border security, and in any event, make it nearly impossible for them to perform their mission.

[4] Get enough lawyers involved that no one could ever successfully craft rules for the use of force or rules of engagement (RUF/ROE) for the border that would make the international community happy.

[5] Never, ever, send the military to the border under arming orders.  Let them do things like paperwork (and maybe string some wire) for looks and theater.

[6] Corrupt the churches so they teach that Jesus was a Bohemian, pacifist, flowerchild beatnik, and you will be too if you want to be a Christian.  No real Christian can be a warrior, at least not unless recognized by the state.

[7] Weaken the armed forces so that if they ever do deploy to the border, they won’t be fit to serve in any meaningful capacity anyway.

[8] Make sure that the police and judiciary are essentially one and the same, on the same side as it were, and make sure that the public is scared of ever taking any kind of action they deem illegal or vigilante.  Make the cost too high for them to bear to defend themselves or their property.

[9] Allow the criminal elements of the hordes to roam freely and perpetrate their desires at will.  This is advantageous for the controllers, as it keeps the fearful people in check and without recourse.  They cannot turn to each other, cannot turn to the state, and cannot turn to the criminals.  And they won’t act for themselves.

[10] Make the promise of provision of “free” health care for everyone who crosses the border, illegal or not.  This “free” health care hides the real cost of illegal immigration, but it’s advantageous to the corporations, so it must come to pass.

[11] Finally, invade the schools from elementary to college with socialists who do not believe in liberty, and this will ensure a vast supply of idiots as future voters, thus creating power in perpetuity.  These voters will never allow turning this death spiral around.

And thus you have a recipe for utter disaster for a nation.  It’s almost as if it were happening before our very eyes, yes?

WOWKTV.com:

MARTIN COUNTY, KY (WOWK) – A Kentucky Sheriff has had enough after he says budget cuts have ravaged his department, telling citizens “Folks, lock your doors, load your guns and get you a barking, biting dog. If the Sheriff’s Office can’t protect you, who will?”

Martin County Sheriff John Kirk wrote on Facebook addressing citizens of the county on Sunday.

According to the Sheriff, with the recent cuts to the department, he will have to move his only other deputy to dayshift, leaving no protection on nights.

The sheriff said quote “I’m sure the thieves and drug dealers will have a ball.”

He is inviting citizens to attend a court meeting on Monday around 1 p.m.

He’s just trying to scare people.  There are plenty of rural counties that don’t have coverage in remote parts of the county at all hours, day and night.  Nor should they have to – it isn’t their job to protect you, nor can they accomplish such a thing.  They know that, the Sheriff just wants to increase the size of his department.

But his advice is good regardless of why he gave it: “Folks, lock your doors, load your guns and get you a barking, biting dog.”

You should have done that a long time ago.

Greenville News:

When a man barged into Isiah Kinloch’s apartment and broke a bottle over his head, the North Charleston resident called 911. After cops arrived on that day in 2015, they searched the injured man’s home and found an ounce of marijuana.

So they took $1,800 in cash from his apartment and kept it.

______

When Eamon Cools-Lartigue was driving on Interstate 85 in Spartanburg County, deputies stopped him for speeding. The Atlanta businessman wasn’t criminally charged in the April 2016 incident. Deputies discovered $29,000 in his car, though, and decided to take it.

______

When Brandy Cooke dropped her friend off at a Myrtle Beach sports bar as a favor, drug enforcement agents swarmed her in the parking lot and found $4,670 in the car.

Her friend was wanted in a drug distribution case, but Cooke wasn’t involved. She had no drugs and was never charged in the 2014 bust. Agents seized her money anyway.

She worked as a waitress and carried cash because she didn’t have a checking account. She spent more than a year trying to get her money back.

[ … ]

Police are systematically seizing cash and property — many times from people who aren’t guilty of a crime — netting millions of dollars each year. South Carolina law enforcement profits from this policing tactic: the bulk of the money ends up in its possession …

Officers gather in places like Spartanburg County for contests with trophies to see who can make the largest or most seizures during highway blitzes. They earn hats, mementos and free dinners, and agencies that participate take home a cut of the forfeiture proceeds.

That money adds up. Over three years, law enforcement agencies seized more than $17 million, our investigation shows.

Did you know that?  They have parties where they get to brag about how much they took from citizens.  How does that strike you?

Civil asset forfeiture.  Or in common parlance by ordinary folk, theft.  Immoral, unbiblical theft.  The Scriptures nowhere gives the state the right to confiscate wealth like that, and I defy anyone to prove that it does.  But don’t look to the pastors of churches to point to LEOs who do this and call them out on it as thieves during services.  The pastors are morally bankrupt.

At Reddit/Firearms.  It’s well worth the couple of minutes it takes to watch the video.

After all, a magazine is just a box, and boxes can be made with a 3D printer.  Prohibition never works.  Never.

Houston Chronicle:

The day after four Houston police officers were shot while serving a search warrant in southeast Houston, Chief Art Acevedo once again called on lawmakers to find ways to reduce gun violence.

“I would express my personal frustration at lawmakers that know we have a public health epidemic in this country we call gun violence,” Acevedo said at a news conference Tuesday morning related to the shooting. “It doesn’t just impact law enforcement. It crushes communities, tears apart families, cuts lives short, every single day.”

Veteran narcotics officers broke down the door of a suspected drug den, armed with a warrant and hoping to arrest heroin dealers operating out of the Pecan Park home. They were met by a hail of gunfire, instead, as one of the suspects inside unleashed a barrage of bullets that wounded four officers, two critically.

Free Thought Project has the scoop.  So let’s stipulate for a moment that there was nefarious activity going on in the home (the evidence doesn’t seem to point that way, it’s more likely a bad tip).  Why wouldn’t any sensible person assume that a home invasion was being conducted for the purposes of handing them flowers and wine?  Why wouldn’t any sensible person shoot the invaders?

Isn’t that something?  Art Acevedo conducts a wrong-home raid, get’s his people shot, and then goes in front of the cameras to pimp gun control.

What a putz.

It’s everywhere, including Maine:

AUGUSTA, Maine — Former Portland police Chief Michael Sauschuck’s nomination for Maine public safety commissioner advanced past a legislative panel along party lines on Friday despite support for gun control policies that became the main focus of an hourslong hearing.

The nomination of Sauschuck, 48, of Windham, a Marine veteran who served for more than 20 years for Portland’s department before taking a city administrative job last year, has never been in danger, but he quickly emerged as by far Gov. Janet Mills’ most controversial Cabinet pick.

That became clear during an almost-six hour confirmation hearing before the Legislature’s public safety committee, when people from all over Maine testified that Sauschuck posed a threat to Second Amendment rights. More than 100 people signed up to testify on the nomination, including more than 60 opponents who hit solely on guns.

While in charge of police in Maine’s largest and most liberal city, Sauschuck was a prominent progressive voice in the state’s traditionally restrained law enforcement community, publicly campaigning for gun control policies and establishing a diversion program for drug users.

Prior to the hearing, an estimated 200 gun-rights supporters turned out for a State House rally. Gun-rights groups including the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of Maine and the Free Maine Campaign implored their supporters to oppose Sauschuck.

Sauschuck advocated for an unsuccessful 2016 referendum that would have expanded background checks to private gun sales that lost because of wide opposition in rural Maine. He opposed a 2015 change that nixed Maine’s concealed handgun permit requirement and has backed gun magazine limits.

In his testimony, Sauschuck highlighted his work in Portland in establishing procedures to provide peer support to officers and dealing with people who have mental illnesses.

He was firm when lawmakers asked about his stances on guns, giving gun-rights Republicans few reasons to vote for him while saying both that he was serving constituents and his department by speaking out on gun issues.

“That’s not to say that in a position that deals with statewide issues and statewide agencies that you don’t have the ability and the opportunity to work with other people and to learn their perspective and to deal with those kind of things,” he said.

A key argument made in support of Sauschuck was that his department will largely enforce Maine laws, which only legislators can change. Darrell Crandall, a former Aroostook County sheriff who is now a commander for the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency in northern Maine and opposed the 2016 referendum, said he trusted Sauschuck “to follow the laws as they exist.”

But Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols, who was one of three Republican sheriffs to oppose Sauschuck and also was a vocal referendum opponent, said “any leader” listens to their lieutenants and “their opinions matter when it comes to making policy.”

“She could have chosen a lot of people out there that were very well-qualified that don’t have the baggage,” he said of Mills.

Mills’ record in Augusta is mixed on guns. As a legislator in the first decade of the 2000s, she received A ratings from the National Rifle Association — which led to attacks on her from the left during her 2018 primary. She backed many gun control measures, including expanded background checks. As attorney general, Mills helped craft a proposed “red flag” law in 2018 that would have allowed guns to be seized from people deemed dangerous by a court.

She nominated a controller for the position because she’s a controller.  He believes in permitting a constitutional right, standard capacity magazine limits, and universal background checks, and he’s unrepentant about it.  That’s fine with me, as I don’t want candidates to get in front of people and lie.  I also don’t mind his drug user diversion program.

But I do mind his gun control, and I think he should be ashamed to have worn the USMC uniform.  They say there are no ex-Marines, only former Marines.

Folks, Michael Sauschuck is an ex-Marine, a blight on the other good people who were in the military with him, and a traitor to his oath.

David Codrea:

While not exactly buried, it does take a bit of digging on the AARP website to locate the association’s Policy Book, and then to narrow it down further to find its position on guns:

“Congress should eliminate gaps in and strengthen enforcement of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and other federal gun laws. States should enact legislation to eliminate gaps in and strengthen enforcement of federal and state gun laws, particularly with regard to possession by juveniles, convicted domestic abusers, and those under domestic violence restraining orders.”

I had long known that the AARP was a communist organization, but I didn’t know about the alternative, if that’s your thing.  Visit David’s article to learn about his research into another organization.