2A News: September 23, 2016 Newsletter by Jeff Pittman
Election
“If Trump urging Hillary to disarm
Suggests assassination,
Does Hillary making US disarm
Suggest genocide?”
— WarOnGuns Correspondent Carlos Perdue
“You know, I’d like to punch the guy [GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump] in the face.” — Democrat VP candidate Tim Kaine
DGU in Minn.
The terrorist who stabbed or cut 10 people at a mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota has been identified (reports vary) as a 20-ish-year-old Somali, recently a college student, who immigrated to the US at a young age. He had recently worked part-time as A SECURITY OFFICER for Securitas and was IN UNIFORM at the time of the attacks. He was stopped by a shopper with a concealed gun — potential victim number 10 — who fatally shot the attacker. The knife-wielding perp lunged at the defender, who shot him. The suspect fell, then GOT BACK UP THREE TIMES before the fatal shot. Three times. Maybe he wasn’t shooting fast enough…
Several area mayors and police chiefs — depending on which report you believe — were quoted saying of the shooter, “He clearly prevented additional injuries and potential loss of life. [He] was there at the right time and the right place.”
It turns out that the shooter is a former chief of police in Albany, MN and a firearms instructor who now owns a firearms training business called Tactical Advantage, LLC. He is a USPSA and 3-gun competitor, and is still a part-time cop, who was off-duty and possibly out of his jurisdiction at the time.
ISIS news service Amaq reported the next day that “The executor of the stabbing attacks in Minnesota yesterday was a soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of countries belonging to the crusader coalition.” We don’t know if this ISIS claim is true. It seems that the FBI, etc. don’t want to say there’s a link between ISIS and some of these “lone wolf” attackers when the agency can’t show any direct connection or communication. And there may be no direct connection or communication. BUT, the way this seems to work is that ISIS gives orders via some mass communication and these lone actors do what they’re told, without any direct communication or contact.
Three points:
- This mall is a “gun free zone.” Signs are posted. No exceptions are given. But we understand that in Minnesota, the sign has no legal weight. Minnesota law prevents malls from banning guns from the common areas, but malls are not prevented from asking that visitors not carry guns. The sign reads “please while shopping” — a request, not a command. (https://www.crossroadscenter.com/en/code-of-conduct.html)
- You CAN effectively defend against terrorists with your pistol.
- As always, mass attacks are ended by a good guy with a gun. Not having good guys with guns everywhere is like not having brakes on a speeding car.
Guns in schools
Courtesy of the Medina Independent School District in the San Antonio suburb.
How criminals get close
… beware of distracting questions
Terrorism study:
- Terrorists who engage in a significantly shorter planning and preparation cycle have the greatest probability of success.
- The greater the number of preparatory acts required for commission of a terrorist incident, the greater the probability of failure.
- The fewer the number of persons involved in the preparation process, the lower the rate of success.
Enemies
Operators of the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC, refused to allow armed federal law enforcement officers into the venue with their guns without their being escorted by a city police officer. This facility is owned by the city of Charlotte and operated by the National Basketball Association’s Charlotte Hornets. The NBA is virulently anti-gun.
“[Hillary] Clinton, who would never want to give up her bodyguards, obviously understands that guns make her safer. Wealthy gun control advocates such as Michael Bloomberg also want guns for their own protection. Bloomberg even provides armed bodyguards for the executives at Everytown for Guns Safety and Mom’s Demand Action, two of his organizations.
Even Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the strongest gun control advocates on the Supreme Court, relies on guns for protection. In 2012, after being robbed in Washington, DC for the second time in three months, he demanded that armed police protection be provided for him at taxpayer expense. Yet, he has argued that there is not an individual right to self-defense, let alone a right to use a gun for defense.” — John Lott
Enemies AND Idiots
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said this week that “We’re also very lucky that the attackers [the NYC/NJ bombers] tried to use explosives rather than guns.”
Gun Rights Policy Conference LIVESTREAM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8qn8kZJSME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcp-2Fh5t6M
Also listen for Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk Radio from GRPC this Sunday.
Boy Scouts
The Boy Scouts of America has partnered with the Scholastic Action Shooting Program to help promote competitive pistol shooting within the BSA’s Venturing development program for young men and women 14 through 20 years of age.
Correction
We reported recently on a couple of occasions (here and here, for example) of large numbers of federal inmates being granted clemency/commutations from their sentences by President Obama. We now have a report that 126 of the inmates receiving sentence commutations last month were left with some time still to serve before being released. The report indicates that Mr. Obama’s strategy is to in effect re-sentence certain offenders to terms that would be imposed under present sentencing guidelines had they been sentenced today, rather than the longer sentences they received under harsher guidelines in place in the 80’s and 90’s.
The Only Ones
- A recent internal Dept. of Homeland Security audit revealed that the US government has erroneously granted citizenship to AT LEAST 858 immigrants from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud WHO HAD PENDING DEPORTATION ORDERS. At least 3 of the new citizens were able to acquire aviation or transportation worker credentials which gave them access to secure areas in airports or maritime facilities and vessels, and a fourth person was reported to now be a law enforcement officer somewhere in the US.
- And in Illinois, police are investigating how a Chicago felon was issued a concealed carry permit. This only came to light after the convicted felon and documented gang member used his illegally-possessed but erroneously-permitted-to-carry gun in self defense.
- Three Massachusetts state troopers assigned to the armorer’s unit were suspended after an investigation of allegations that they sold several hundred used State Police guns to Greenfield firearms dealer Jurek Brothers on behalf of the department, then received more than a dozen of those weapons back from the dealer, free of charge, for their personal use, according to two people familiar with the probe. Apparently the sales to the dealer were legitimate and involved no money changing hands, but instead a credit back to the department for future department purchases at Jurek Brothers. The department refused to identify the troopers involved, but information leaked out indicating that they are Troopers Michael Wilmot and Robert Outwater and Lieutenant Paul Wosny, who has since retired. Jurek Brothers has been investigated before in a similar fraud case involving “gifts” from the dealer to a corrections officer who pleaded guilty to the charges.
- Regarding the fatal shooting of motorist Terence Crutcher by Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby, we don’t yet know enough to provide useful commentary.
Glockenspiel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPNbD6sfYLg
NATO vs. SAAMI
Recall
Thompson/Center announced a total recall of the Compass line of bolt action rifles, because they apparently aren’t drop-safe.
Products
- Xtech Tactical has adjustable-angle pistol grips for AR and FN SCAR rifles. Grip angle (7°, 25°, or 33°) is set during grip installation. Changing grip angle requires the use of an included wrench.
- Browning has expanded its Citori 725 Sporting and Field over/under line-up to include 28 gauge and .410 bore models.
- Sturm, Ruger & Co. announced that it has “temporarily” discontinued production of its 77/17, 77/22, 77/357 and 77/44 bolt rifles.
- We have a rumor about a new Ruger American semi-auto recoil operated shotgun.
- The new Ruger Mark IV .22 LR pistol will be available in 3 different configurations: Mark IV Target Stainless, Mark IV Target Blued and Mark IV Hunter (S/S). Differences from the Mark III include an ambidextrous manual safety with a bigger thumb pad, one-piece CNC machined frame, and a simple, one-button takedown by use of a recessed button in the back of the frame under the rear of the bolt which allows the upper receiver to tilt up and off of the grip frame without the use of tools. The bolt simply slides out of the receiver. A redesigned bolt stop and internal changes to the hammer, sear, bolt and firing pin facilitate smoother, more reliable feeding. $529-$689.
- Rock Island Armory has 1911 style pistols chambered in .22 WMRF, the XT series. $598.
- In addition to their black and orange models, Tuff products now has its Quickstrip revolver reloading strips in pink (5 rounds) for .38/.357.
Quote of the Week
“You seem … to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions; a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy… The Constitution has erected no such single tribunal.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1820
