June 30, 2017 Newsletter by Jeff Pittman
Housekeeping
Sorry about the late newsletter last time folks – my newsletter support staff had a baby.
Independence Day coming up
My favorite patriotic song and video.
Southern Hillbillies.
Don’t mess with ’em. Just don’t.
600 Million Firearms in Law-abiding Hands?
Litigation
California based Gladwin Guns and Ammo has filed three class action lawsuits on behalf of the owner and other FFLs against online payment processors PayPal, Stripe, and Square for singling out and refusing to deal with firearms businesses. The payment companies required Gladwin and the other owners to reveal the nature of their dealings and then refused to work with them.
Gladwin claims this type of discrimination is a violation of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act Sections 51, 52(a) and 52(c), a law that protects federally-licensed gun stores from such refusals of business transactions.
Cuban-born District Judge Roger Benitez of the US District Court for the Southern District of California issued a temporary injunction in the case of Duncan v. Becerra, blocking a California law set to take effect July 1 that would have banned possession of magazines of greater than 10 rounds capacity, saying gun owners’ constitutional rights “are not eliminated simply because they possess ‘unpopular’ magazines holding more than 10 rounds. The ban is part of Proposition 63, approved by voters in November, that required background checks for people buying ammunition and instituted other firearms restrictions.
But in Sacramento, another federal judge on Thursday rejected a similar challenge by several other gun owners’ rights organizations, setting the stage for an appeal of the conflicting rulings.
The US Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of Peruta v. California, a challenge to California state and local laws requiring that a person show “good cause” before receiving a CCW permit. The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled for the state, and now those restrictions will stay in place.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, who voted to hear the case, dissented, saying that the case raises “important questions” — and warned that Second Amendment disputes aren’t getting the attention they deserve from the Supreme Court, writing “The Court’s decision … reflects a distressing trend: the treatment of the Second Amendment as a disfavored right,” and “ordinary, ‘law-abiding, responsible citizens,’ District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. 570, 635 (2008), may not obtain a permit for concealed carry of a firearm in public spaces.”
(Peruta starts on page 30)
Four justices are required to agree to take a case. It is possible that a third justice also voted to hear Peruta, but chose not to dissent.
William Gore, the Sheriff of San Diego County, “explained” the reason for the “good cause” law’s existence:
“The ‘good cause’ requirement is at the heart of the Peruta case. The Sheriff’s Department has, since well before my time as sheriff, defined ‘good cause’ as a set of circumstances that distinguishes the applicant from other members of the general public and causes him or her to be placed in harm’s way…”
In other words, he’s literally saying that the sheriff gets to determine exactly which citizens are “distinguished” from the crowd and therefore get to exercise their Constitutional rights.
It’s time to “Trump” the Court. Literally. We have a rumor that Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy may soon announce his retirement, and the leftists are going nuts over that. And justices like Gorsuch are why we had to elect Trump.
SCOTUS also let stand a 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Pennsylvania (Sessions et al v. Binderup et al) which protects Second Amendment rights following non-serious misdemeanor convictions. The case challenged the scope of a federal law that bans felons and some individuals charged with misdemeanors from possessing firearms. The 3rd Circuit handed down an en banc ruling in Binderup’s favor, and it now stands.
Former Alaska Governor and Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin has filed a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times over a recent editorial which suggested that her rhetoric incited the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, AZ that killed six people and severely injured anti-gun US Rep. Gabby Giffords. The editorial ran after the June 2017 shooting attack on House Republicans at baseball practice in Alexandria, VA, and noted that a Palin-affiliated PAC had years ago circulated a map that showed electoral districts of Democrats, including Giffords’ district, with riflescope cross hair reticles superimposed so as to “target” the district for political takeover by the GOP. Palin is seeking unspecified damages, and injunctive relief prohibiting the future publication of the alleged defamatory statements in the editorial.
DHS Training
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate has released a computer-based video game style virtual training platform for active killer incidents.
It is free for all first responders. The scenario that’s available now is set in a 26-story hotel in Sacramento, CA and every part of the hotel is accessible to the trainee. A second training scenario based on a school shooting situation and including school staff as trainees is scheduled to be released this fall.
Here’s a video about the video.
Florida school faculty training
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is training faculty of Lakeland, Florida’s Southeastern University to carry concealed weapons for self-defense and is deputizing them to get around the state’s ban on campus carry, which allows law enforcement–including sheriff’s deputies–to carry on campus.
Also see the quote from Sheriff Judd at the bottom of this newsletter.
When is a courtroom not a courtroom?
Dept. of Idiocy
The city of Oakland, CA is trying to hire ex-convicts as members of the city’s new nine-person commission to oversee the Oakland Police Department. Ex-cops need not apply.
I am not making this up. The inmates are running the asylum. literally. The city’s Selection Panel “strongly encourages formerly incarcerated individuals to apply.”
But disqualified from serving on the commission are current sworn police officers; current city employees; former Department sworn employees; and current or former employees, officials, or representatives of an employee association representing sworn police officers.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/pressrelease/oak064133.pdf
“I support the second amendment right to bear arms, but I do not believe everybody should be packing. I’m not sure that bringing guns to a gun fight leads to peace or leads to safety.” — Florida State Senator Darryl Rouson
Enemies
“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to oppose policies and legislation, including but not limited to H.R. 38 the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 and S. 446 the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, that would otherwise circumvent policies that cities have established to protect their residents.” (i.e., to deny residents their Constitutional rights — JP)
Anti-gun Google has donated another $2 million to gun control groups for a racist gun ban campaign.
Liars
The Centers for Disease Control and the University of Texas published a nationwide study of gun violence in the journal Pediatrics, in which they falsely claimed that a 2015 study, by University of New Hampshire sociology professor David Finkelhor and two colleagues, found “that 4.2% of children aged 0 to 17 in the US have witnessed a shooting in the past year.” You guessed it — they made it up and the lamestream media picked it up. Dallas Morning News Editor Mike Wilson issued a retraction for running the false Washington Post story.
Milwaukee, WI, Police Chief Ed Flynn told some whoppers at a recent town hall meeting where he blamed Wisconsin’s CCW law for contributing to Milwaukee’s rampant gun violence, because, he said, legal CCW holders were carrying guns for their felon friends. Then when called out on that nonsense, Flynn falsely claimed that a Wisconsin law barred him from making information public about CCW license holders breaking gun laws.
California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said recently that “Large-capacity magazines serve only one purpose: efficient and effective mass murder.”
DGUs
A 62-year-old USMC veteran in Mobile County, AL, returned fire at three punks who shot him through his house door as they prepared to invade. All three were wounded. I guess he just needs a bigger gun.
Two home invaders forced a Brentwood, CA, man to open his safe for them. He did, and then shot them both. It is unclear whether he got his gun from the safe. I still recommend keeping your defensive piece on you.
Run with a gun
Jackson County, MS authorities say a man has been charged after his pit bulls attacked a runner. Wade Sistrunk faces three misdemeanor leash-law violations after his dogs left his property and attacked a runner Monday, sending him to the hospital.
UK cops
We have a report that England and Wales are considering arming (apparently on a volunteer basis) more of their street cops with guns due to the weekly terrorist attacks there. But in a recent survey of Met officers, the Metropolitan Police Federation found only about half said they would carry a gun routinely if asked to do so. (The report said “asked,” not “ordered.”) 10% said they would quit rather than carry a firearm. Of the approximately 113,000 front-line cops, only about 5% are currently armed with guns. Only about 20% are on duty at any given time. So around 1100 armed cops are on-duty at any given time over the whole two countries.
The US has about 20% more officers per capita than England and Wales, and virtually all of them are armed with guns.
The Only Ones
An off-duty St. Louis Metro police officer was shot in the arm last week by a colleague while both officers were attempting to aid first responders after a high-speed car chase ended in a crash and shootout. Apparently the unidentified shooter didn’t recognize his victim as a police officer, but also apparently wasn’t actually threatened by him. An attorney for a union that represents black St. Louis police officers says the black off-duty officer who was shot by a white on-duty officer is willing to wait for the findings of an investigation into whether race played a role, something that is apparently a foregone conclusion in the lamestream media.
Champaign, IL, Police Officer James Hobson “accidentally” shot an unarmed suspect he was chasing when his foot, and presumably trigger finger, slipped.
Larry Jones, a police officer from Arkansas filed a personal injury lawsuit against Glock, saying his Glock 19C pistol was defective because the design lacked adequate safety measures like a manual safety and a de-cocking device. It seems Officer Jones shot himself in the foot while trying to mount a flashlight on his loaded gun at a range. He says he didn’t pull the trigger. The federal court dismissed the suit after an out-of-court settlement.
Three Chicago police officers have been indicted on charges that they conspired to cover up and lie about what happened when a white police officer shot a black teenager 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014. The indictment alleges that the officers (only one is still with the department), David March, Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney, lied about the shooting when Officer Jason Van Dyke killed Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke was charged more than a year after the shooting with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita pleaded not guilty to three counts of making false statements and two counts of obstruction of justice in federal court in Portland, OR. Astarita was indicted on accusations that he lied about firing at a rancher in 2016 when officers arrested leaders of an armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon. Federal law forbids “knowingly and willfully” making any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation or concealing information. Four other unidentified members of his FBI team were under investigation for covering up the gunshots. Astarita fired twice, hitting no one.
Republican Delaware state Senator Brian Pettyjohn is facing felony charges after accidentally bringing a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag at the Salisbury Regional Airport in Maryland. Pettyjohn reportedly has a license for a concealed weapon in Delaware, but not in Maryland. He was released without being arrested after authorities interviewed him. The felony charges against Pettyjohn can carry a 10-year prison sentence.
The US House approved a plan to add $25,000 to the 2017 office budgets of all 435 of its members, to increase office security or personal security when they’re away from the US Capitol building. In addition, the US Capitol Police is requesting a bigger budget “to help deal with the rising number of threats against members of Congress.” Meanwhile, no additional security provisions for you or me.
NRA on Facebook
The NRA has a new Farcebook page, which is pretty ironic since Farcebook is anti-gun and commonly shuts down gun-related pages for being gun-related.
Outdoor Channel “sportsman” convicted, suspended from network
The Outdoor Channel has “indefinitely suspended” co-host Bill Busbice, Jr. and “Wildgame Nation” following Busbice’s guilty plea and conviction of two game violations last October on his Wyoming ranch. The violations were intentionally allowing an antlerless elk to go to waste and taking an elk without the proper license. Busbice repeatedly shot at and missed a bull elk, but struck and killed an antlerless cow/calf, which he hid.
Busbice could have served time in jail, but instead was given a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail, and was fined the maximum for both offenses and their restitution charges ($23,000) and had all game and fish license privileges revoked for a period of two years. Since Wyoming is a participant in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, Busbice’s license privileges are concurrently revoked in 44 additional states, including Busbice’s home state of Louisiana. The illegal acts were recorded on video, later edited out.
In addition, earlier in 2016, Busbice was apparently cited for purchasing a resident elk license and more than the authorized number of deer licenses and paid $1,430 in fines for those violations.
SERPA holsters
“The Department has determined that the Blackhawk SERPA holster, and ALL auto-locking, trigger finger manipulated holsters are immediately disapproved for usage by all Department personnel. These holsters violate sound weapon manipulation practices and may increase the likelihood of a negligent discharge.” — LAPD departmental memo
Products
- The MSU Deer Lab. Free podcasts.
- Suppressors, 2017
- And the Silencer Shop is offering a money-back satisfaction guarantee: “If you are not 100% satisfied with your suppressor after your Form 4 is approved, you may return it to Silencer Shop for a full refund (including tax stamp) within 90 days of your Form 4 approval date. All eligible items have a [LOGO] mark printed in box 3a. of the Form 4 submission.”
- Ruger is reintroducing its 77/ series rifles in .17 WSM, .17 Hornet, .22 Hornet, .357 Mag., and .44 Mag. versions. About $1000.
- The Remington Custom Shop now offers the Ultimate Sheep Rifle, built on a Model 700 titanium short action. 5.6 lbs., $5895.
- RMA Armament has non-metallic Level IV body armor plates for $115 each. These Model 1155 plates are NIJ 0101.06 certified to resist multiple hits from .30-06 M2AP rounds. They have other offerings as well.
- Birchwood Casey’s Nest Rest is pretty cool
Quote of the Week
“If you’re not afraid of a gun, get one. Become proficient. Get a concealed firearms license and carry it. And if you need to shoot somebody, shoot them a lot. The armed assailant doesn’t plan on you fighting back. He plans on having a gun, doing all the shooting, and you’re just the sitting duck. Well, the ducks need to shoot back.” — Polk County, FL, Sheriff Grady Judd
