Sadly, it is now past time to refresh the tree of liberty.

Action item: Say no to D.C. statehood.

Note that the U.S. Senate exists to represent STATES, not cities or people. If the true concern were representation in Congress, the constitutional approach would be for Congress to return the District’s residential areas to Maryland, following the precedent, set in 1846, of returning to Virginia the land that it had ceded for the formation of the capital.

SCOTUS bails

• SCOTUS Rejects Two Gun Cases, Holds On To Another [Bearing Arms]
• Supreme Court passes on Second Amendment cases challenging lifetime gun ownership ban [USA Today]

Litigation

The SAF has sued Pennsylvania due to that state’s “oppressive criminal statutes and a [CCW] licensing system that has been closed under a declared emergency since 2018.”

New York “Silencer” Case Tossed because Item was a Solvent Trap

We note that if you buy stuff like this from overseas, you are much more likely to attract the attention of Big Brother.

About the Chauvin trial

Thoughts from Ayoob: here and more here. I didn’t watch the trial, so I can’t say much.

How gun laws work

The former employee who shot and killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis legally purchased the two “assault rifles” used in the attack despite red flag laws allegedly passed to prevent that. A trace of the two rifles used by the perpetrator revealed that he legally bought them in July and September of last year, just months after he had been in involuntary psychiatric detention in March when a shotgun was seized from his home by Indianapolis police after his mother contacted law enforcement to report he might try to commit “suicide by cop.” The FBI questioned him at the time and apparently was unconcerned after they determined that there was no evidence of a crime and that they did not identify the suspect as “espousing a racially motivated ideology,” but police kept the shotgun. Indiana has had a “red flag law” allowing police or courts to seize guns from people who show warning signs of violence since 2005, but this perpetrator apparently never appeared before a judge for a hearing under Indiana’s law.

A witness who was outside the FedEx facility in Indianapolis when the perpetrator opened fire in the parking lot said one of the victims retrieved a gun from his vehicle and tried to stop him before being shot and killed. Another victim of FedEx’s gun control. Police said the massacre lasted less than four minutes and was over by the time they arrived on scene.

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The man accused of killing four people, including a 9-year-old boy, at a southern California business late last month should have been barred from owning and buying guns and ammunition due to a six-year-old conviction that would have blacklisted him from purchasing weapons.

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Local prosecutors in Colorado filed over 40 more felony charges this week against a man charged with killing 10 people at a Boulder supermarket last month, including for allegedly using a state-banned large capacity magazine.

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A 2016 survey of 287,400 inmates who possessed a firearm during crimes that resulted in their incarceration found that only about 7% of them purchased guns under their own names from licensed firearm dealers, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report. More than half of the prisoners stole their guns, 43% purchased them on the black market and 25% received them either from family members or as gifts. Only 0.8% bought them at gun shows (we don’t know how many of those were from licensed dealers).

About that prohibited persons list

• FBI’s NICS Indices Shows Increase In Prohibited People, But Huge Drop in Drug DQ’s [Ammoland]

Dude, why didn’t you just deport them when you got their name for your list? Two problems solved. Oh, I guess you needed the votes.

How ATF plans to ban otherwise legal homemade guns

• Leaked ATF Document Details Biden Plan to Ban ‘Ghost Guns’ [The Reload]
• Leaked: ATF Documents on 80% Parts [Recoil]

I am never able to find the particular regulation proposal on the Regulations.gov website.

The USPS is watching you

• The Postal Service is running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans’ social media posts [Yahoo! news]

NRA debacle updates

• They Can’t Claim Ignorance Any More [No Lawyers – Only Guns and Money]
• Another NRA Board Special Meeting [No Lawyers – Only Guns and Money]

Enemies

Just 12 hours or so after the Indianapolis massacre, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was dancing in the blood and calling for more of the same gun control laws that didn’t work there. A few hours later President Biden joined the blood-dancing chorus.

The Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police is actively opposing your Second Amendment rights and your right to remain alive.

Actual headline: “Editorial: Guns don’t kill people, the NRA kills people.” (Cap Times, Madison, WI)

“Most people don’t know it: you walk into a store to buy a gun, you have a background check, but if you go to a gun show you can buy whatever you want, no background check.” – Actual quote by Shotgun Joe Biden at a press conference earlier this month.

USPS is watching you

We have a report that Fakebook says that wishing everyone a contemplative Bill of Rights Day violated its “community standards.” I don’t want to live in their “community.”

After a Columbus, Ohio police officer fatally shot a perpetrator armed with a knife and charging a victim, Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James reacted to the news on Twitter, in a now-deleted tweet, by sharing an image of the officer involved in the fatal shooting, and wrote “YOU’RE NEXT” while hashtagging “ACCOUNTABILITY.” No word on charges for Mr. James.

Staying safe – good advice from John Farnam

In public:

1. Be pleasant, polite, courteous, boring, invisible. Have a “normal,” but low-profile, appearance.
2. Take care of business quickly. Keep conversations short. Get to the point promptly. Don’t dawdle, dither.
3. Stay in motion.
4. Remain alert. Keep looking around.
5. Go armed. Pistol(s), blades, OC discretely concealed. Heavy weapons, out of sight but always nearby.
6. Drive conservatively.
7. Stay away from unsafe places, people, circumstances. When you must go there, get in and out quickly.
8. Disengage and separate quickly from people who want to talk with you, but that you don’t know.
9. Be always ready to react decisively to danger.

In private:

1. Lock doors behind you!
2. Pull-down window shades.
3. Stay armed.
4. Keep personal details off social media.
5. Stay current with local, world events.
6. Shred/delete/erase discarded documents containing names, addresses, account numbers, other private information.
7. Part company with unstable, injudicious, volatile friends and acquaintances.
8. Keep phone conversations short.

Don’ts in public:

1. Become voluntarily involved in other peoples’ business.
2. Answer questions from people you don’t know. Politely dismiss them.
3. Be loud, argumentative, confrontational, disrespectful, accusatory, rude.
4. Use vulgar language. Racial epithets are to be particularly avoided.
5. Display confrontational body language.
6. Ride in cars displaying political or religious bumper stickers, decals, custom license plates.
7. Ride in junky cars with trashy interiors.
8. Use your car’s horn for any other reason other than to prevent collisions.
9. Appear personally disheveled, dirty, unkempt.
10. Appear disorganized, confused, lost, distracted, aimless.
11. Wear flashy/expensive jewelry, watches.

Don’ts in private:

1. Open the door to visitors you were not expecting.
2. Answer phone calls from numbers/people you don’t recognize.
3. Respond in any way to spam email, conventional junk mail, text messages, phone messages. Just delete/erase/shred and forget!

Jackson, MS

Last year, Jackson reported a record high 128 homicides. So far this year, the city is experiencing them at a rate about 50% higher than the same time last year. City Hall says it’s mainly due to CCW permits, legal open carry, and gun shows.

Bear spray failure

• Man with Bear Spray Killed by Grizzly Near Yellowstone Park [Ammoland]

Dept. of Idiocy

Don’t be one. 80 lbs. of Tannerite.

CMP Ammunition Safety Warning

The CMP issued the following this week:

WARNING!

Dear CMP Family,

The CMP advises to not use .30/06 ammunition in M1 Garands, 1903s, and 1903A3s that is loaded beyond 50,000 CUP and has a bullet weight more than 172-174gr. These rifles are at least 70 years old and were not designed for max loads and super heavy bullets. Always wear hearing and eye protection when firing an M1 Garand, 1903 and/or 1903A3 rifle.

This warning is an update/addition to the Ammunition section in the Read This First manual enclosed with each rifle shipment (M1 Garand manual-page 6 and M1903 manual-page 10).

Fun

This is awesome. The cover of my June GUNS magazine touted an article as “Blasting Beavers. Dabbs and Dynamite.” Enjoy.

Taters: how to make french fries

Record shot

A man with no arms or hands has made a 3-mile shot, shooting from the top of a Suburban. Really.

Industry news

Ryan at Handgun Hunter Supply is talking about reviving the late Handgun Hunters International club. Interesting, although I found “The Sixgunner” newsletters from the 1980s to be exceedingly boring.

The future of Colt

Army ammo

True Velocity polymer-cased ammo

Winchester has been selected by the U.S. Army as the second source provider for small-caliber rifle ammunition. This most recent contract is for 5.56mm, 7.62mm, and 50 caliber ammunition with an initial order of $37 million and is the third consecutive second source contract Olin Winchester has received.

Products

Galco’s updated UnderWraps™ Belly Band 2.0 allows concealed carry of multiple weapons and accessories around the midsection, in an infinite variety of configurations and enables the user to make instant additions and changes to the carry rig. Two leather holster pockets allow positioning of one or two firearms simultaneously, while two accessory pockets accommodate badge, cuffs, ammo, etc.

Grabagun.com has new Colt Anacondas for $4000!

Pilgrim Ammunition’s new Torch pistol ammo uses ultra-light monolithic copper HP bullets at ultra-high velocities. They claim it “penetrates barriers, but when it hits a soft target, the bullet explodes into a starburst pattern transferring 100% of its energy, creating devasting (sic) trauma and multiple wound channels and greatly reducing over-penetration.” We are waiting to see actual, independent test results. Around $2 per round.