Happy New Year and Happy Shooting!
Litigation
A 9th U.S. Circus Court of Appeals panel suspended a Dec. 20 injunction issued by a federal district judge who concluded California’s law that bans the carrying of guns in most public places unconstitutionally violated the right of citizens to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment. The circuit’s three-judge panel issued an administrative stay that temporarily put the injunction on hold until a different 9th Circuit panel could consider pausing the lower-court judge’s order for even longer while the litigation plays out. So the law took effect January 1, 2024. And of course it doesn’t apply to violent criminals. Meanwhile, Sutter County Sheriff Brandon Barnes and Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer R. Dupré pushed back, saying in a joint social media post, “We have no interest in criminalizing constitutionally protected behavior. We took an oath to uphold our Constitution and will work to protect the rights of our citizens.”
Also in California, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Kimberly Mueller has ruled that the state’s ban on unlicensed open carry can stand. However, we see no allowance for required government permission slips in the Bill of Rights.
A Utah woman convicted of a felony for trying to cash a fake check in 2008 has taken her fight to own a gun to the U.S. Supreme Court. “Paper” crimes, including felonies, are in no way a justification for removing unrelated civil rights.
Another case of a non-criminal being denied a CCW permit.
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Colorado’s newly enacted ban on homemade firearms without serial numbers. We suspect that there were NO serialized guns at the time of Second Amendment ratification.
NRA on trial (details here and here).
The NRA just filed documents showing Wayne LaPierre reimbursed the NRA $251,000 for leased jet flights for his family where he was not on the trip, and $16,000 for flying in his wife’s favorite hairdresser and cosmetician. I think he’s grasping at straws to stay out of jail and I think it’s too little, too late.
List filed of NRA officials and board members with financial conflicts of interest. We hear that defendant Josh Powell might take a plea deal.
*************************
The ACLDN January newsletter is out.
“The Year in Review” is interesting.
*************************
Enemies
T-Mobile?
Apparently T-Mobile’s new terms of service policy will fine companies advertising guns over its network using A2P messaging (SMS, MMS, Short Code, Toll-Free, and 10DLC). However, the second report indicates what’s happening is a third-party company that provides bulk texting services–in other words, a spam provider–is being restricted in what it can specifically market. Basically, if it’s illegal in one state, they can’t spam text people with the ad.
ASPCA. Still.
FBI. Still. In case you forgot Waco and Ruby Ridge.
We Will Not Comply.
Only a tiny fraction of Illinois gun owners registered their AR-15s and similar firearms before the state’s ban officially took effect on Jan. 1. Fewer than 30,000 of the state’s Firearms Owner Identification card holders registered firearms recently classified as “assault weapons” by the December 31 registration deadline, according to updated data the Illinois State Police released on Tuesday. That means only 1.2% of the state’s 2.4 million documented gun owners complied with the gun registration scheme. Registration would have legally allowed continued ownership of the banned weapons. However, we all know the true purpose of registration and the true character of those pushing it.
Illinois: Your move.
Related: New data from U-Haul’s 2023 Growth Index report reveals that Illinois was one of the top three states for outbound movers last year. (New Census reports estimate the state has lost around 33,000 residents since July 2022.) Only California and Massachusetts (two other really good states to leave) finished below Illinois in the U-Haul report released this week. I once did a U-turn on the Mississippi River bridge at St. Louis to avoid entering Illinois. Top destination for U-Haulers? Texas.
DGUs
- Bears have killed nine times as many people when bear spray is sprayed than when handguns are fired in defense against bears.
- The Armed Citizen: American Rifleman
- Suspected teenage home invader shot, critically injured in Lake County
- Florida Man: A burglary suspect was wounded and arrested after a 76-year-old Florida homeowner heard his wife’s 3 a.m. screams and began shooting at the man who had broken in and attacked her.
- Soso, MS: Former Mayoral Candidate Shot Dead in Defensive Shooting.
- A Salt Lake City judge decided that it does not matter whether a woman knew it was her boyfriend who was breaking into her home, or whether the man had belongings in her home. He ruled that she was legally justified when she killed the man.
- In an eerily similar case in Pittsburgh, a man is facing eight criminal charges after he was shot while breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s home.
- An Ohio county prosecutor warned thieves they should “expect to be shot” when targeting retail stores, even while indicting a businessman on assault and weapons charges in connection to the fatal shooting of a teenager during an attempted robbery in the Cincinnati area earlier this year.
- Mexican prosecutors declined to charge a group of farmers who killed 10 members of a cartel with sickles and shotguns in a “football field massacre,” after it was determined that the crooks fired first.
Not DGUs
- Nigerian Christians killed for sport. Of course we have the answer to that.
The Only Ones
- A Las Vegas Metro police officer died by suicide using a gun hours after his arrest on stalking and home invasion charges last week.
- An unidentified private security guard employed by ACS Security was arrested in Los Angeles after allegedly shooting an 88-year-old client he’d mistaken for a burglar in her home.
Stats
In spite of mayors making up their own facts, six of Ohio’s eight largest cities saw less gun related crime after the state’s constitutional carry law took effect, according to a study published by the Center for Justice Research, a partnership between the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Bowling Green State University.
*************************
The Marine Corps has trained its final 8 scout snipers.
The USMC isn’t getting rid of snipers altogether: The service still will train snipers through the Reconnaissance Training Center and the Marine Raider Training Center.
*************************
Safety
We had two unrelated fatal shootings of hunters in Mississippi last Friday. No details yet. Y’all be safe. The rules and physics apply while hunting just like everywhere else.
Takes practice.
Glock
The Glock model numbering system. You know it’s real.
- Glock 17 – 9mm
- Glock 19 – 9mm
- Glock 20 – 10mm
- Glock 21 – .45 ACP
- Glock 22 – .40 S&W
- Glock 23 – .40 S&W
- Glock 24 – .40 S&W
- Glock 26 – 9mm
- Glock 27 – .40 S&W
- Glock 29 – 10mm
- Glock 30 – .45 ACP
- Glock 31 – .357 Sig
- Glock 32 – .357 Sig
- Glock 33 – .357 Sig
- Glock 34 – 9mm
- Glock 35 – .40 S&W
- Glock 36 – .45 ACP
- Glock 37 – .45 GAP
- Glock 38 – .45 GAP
- Glock 39 – .45 GAP
- Glock 40 – 10mm
- Glock 41 – .45 ACP
- Glock 42 – .380 ACP
- Glock 43 – 9mm
- Glock 44 – .22 LR
- Glock 45 – 9mm
- Glock 47 – 9mm
- Glock 48 – 9mm
So the Glock 22 is actually a .40, the G40 is actually a 10mm, the G44 is actually a .22, and the G45 is actually a 9mm. I swear they must be based in Washington, D.C.
Industry News
- Sig Sauer claims to now be the largest gun maker in the world. We do not know how “largeness” is measured.
- The 39th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference, co-hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, is scheduled for September 27-29, 2024, in San Diego, California, at the Marriott Mission Valley.
- Avian Flu Devastates Major Shooting Preserve in Pennsylvania
Tactics & Stuff
- Weak hand manipulations.
- Tactical Travel Tips.
- Clearing doorways.
- Carry gun modifications and court dates. Marty Hayes.
Products
- The SHOT Show is Jan. 23-26. More new products then.
- Streamlight Macrostream USB review. I have one of these and carry it daily, typically clipped in a pocket like a pen. It’s a great light.
- Another one. The Protac HL USB.
- The Ruger 10/22 is now 60 years old. I know, right? It originally sold for $54.50.
- The new Burris FastFire™ C is the lightest, smallest, and most efficient red dot from the company so far. Made of polymer and weighing less than an ounce, it features an “Always On, Always Ready” 6-MOA Red Dot with a 25,000+ hour battery life with the new Burris Intelligent Auto-Bright system. Designed specifically for sub-compact and micro-compact pistols, the housing allows for absolute or 1/3 co-witness with standard open sights, eliminating the need for elevated sights. $276.
- Mossberg is now chambering its Patriot bolt-action rifle in 400 Legend.
- KelTec’s Sub2000 Gen3 now has a handguard that rotates for storage when the gun is folded. 9mm. $500.
*************************
“In order to avoid the risk of ‘scaring the horses,’ you simply put blinders on them, so they naively go forward, oblivious of otherwise-perceptible danger, or so goes the theory!” – John Farnam. Think about it.
*************************