NRA
Don’t forget to vote for the four – and ONLY the four – Board candidates recommended:
- Jeff Knox
- Phil Journey
- Rocky Marshall
- Dennis Fusaro
Also vote “yes” on the bylaw amendment.
Joseph Greenlee, former Senior Attorney and Director of Constitutional Studies at the Firearms Policy Coalition, has been appointed Director of the Office of Litigation Counsel for the NRA-ILA.
Update: Judge Joel M. Cohen, the trial judge in NRA’s civil corruption case, said last week that imposing external oversight over the group would be “intrusive” and that he’d approach any supervision with caution, and that “the focus should be on compliance, rather than punishment.” The second phase of the trial – to determine penalties & remedies – is scheduled July 1 for briefs, July 15 for trial; trial time two weeks.
More deposition notes.
And then there’s this.
A nonprofit files a 990 tax return form with the IRS. Comparing NRA’s forms for 2018 and 2022 (the latest year available), revenues fell from $367 million to $230M, a 38% drop over four years. Since 2022 memberships have also fallen precipitously to under 3 million (June 2023), down from an all-time high several years ago of 5+ million.
The 153rd NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits will take place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 17-19, 2024 in Dallas, Texas.
Litigation
Nunsense update.
US First Circuit Court of Appeals: Large capacity (10+ rounds) magazine bans are constitutional. The Second Amendment has no restrictions on ammo capacity.
A new Washington state law requires the gun industry to exercise reasonable controls in making, selling and marketing weapons, including steps to keep guns from being sold to people known to be dangerous or to straw buyers, and allows the attorney general or private parties, such as the family members of shooting victims, to sue for violations or damages under the state’s Consumer Protection Act. The National Shooting Sports Foundation challenged the law in federal court on First and Second Amendment grounds. US District Judge Mary K. Dimke rejected the lawsuit last week, saying the organization had not established legal standing to challenge the measure.
The Firearms Policy Coalition has filed a Bruen-consistent motion for summary judgment in Christian v. Chiumento, a lawsuit that challenges New York’s ban on concealed carry in several public spaces. The Second Amendment has no exception for public spaces.
The US District Court for the Southern District of California has struck down the state’s ban on purchasing more than one handgun or semiautomatic centerfire rifle in a 30-day period. District Judge William Q. Hayes wrote, “Defendants have not met their burden of producing a ‘well-established and representative historical analogue’ to the ‘one gun a month’ law.” The decision has been stayed for 30 days for the defendants to facilitate an appeal. The case is Nguyen v. Bonta. The Second Amendment has no restriction of purchase frequency.
A deeper dive on “black gun” bans, after Heller. Interesting. The Second Amendment has no requirement that protected arms be “in common use,” and no exceptions for “dangerous or unusual” weapons.
NICS checks for ammo.
Ohio Supreme Court: Warning shots can count as self defense. Well, duh.
Illinois AG Opinion on LEOSA carry in schools.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against five state businesses open to the public that don’t allow off-duty Only Ones to carry a firearm on their premises as stipulated by state law.
A Missouri man has been charged with manslaughter and armed criminal action after he mistook his mother for an intruder and fatally shot her. Rule 4.
Politics
US Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, is the first to announce his campaign to replace Mitch McConnell, R-KY, as the Senate’s Republican leader. The race for leadership will expose a weakness of Cornyn – his lack of support for Americans’ Constitutional rights. “Every time gun control gains steam in Congress, Senator John Cornyn is right there working with Democrats on a ‘compromise.'”
Enemies
ATF antics. They have to be worn out from all that lawbreaking.
- Two Year Battle for Documents on ATF Chief Ends in 318 Redacted Pages
- ATF’s Continued Tiahrt Violations Enabling Leftist Media DOXXING of Innocent Gun Stores
- ATF eForms System Shut Down Claims Budgeting Concerns
- ATF Inspector, With No Police Authority, Stops Gun Purchase Claiming Buyer Smelled of Marijuana
US House Report: Federal law enforcement “commandeered financial institutions to spy on Americans” and used Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) “to search through transactions to detect potential criminals or ‘extremists.'”
President “Shotgun” Joe Biden says that Congress should pass an assault weapons (sic) ban, and that it DOESN’T violate the Second Amendment. We know that Biden was a poor student who received a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968, ranking 76th in a class of 85 students after failing a course because he plagiarized a law review article for a paper he wrote at law school. He went on from this illustrious start to teach a seminar on constitutional law at Widener University School of Law. Just for what it’s worth.
Jason Beck, a transgender employee with a classified government security clearance who works in Total Force Requirements & Sourcing Policy in the office of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, recently said on camera, “I think we should repeal the Second Amendment and take the guns all away.” He also said that the US should be “mobilizing the national guard” to confiscate people’s guns and that there should be a “monopoly on state violence,” which was described as, “we [the government] are the only ones with guns.”
Once again, the Academy Awards socialites are protected by men and women with guns, while they propose disarmament for the rest of us who are – according to them – unworthy of living.
Stats
- Accidents.
You won’t hear this from the Left, but the current rate of accidental shooting deaths involving children is reported to be the lowest it’s been since records started being kept in 1903. It’s interesting that they didn’t provide a figure.
- Firearm numbers. Interesting.
The Only Ones
20-year veteran Miami-Dade Police Officer Victor Manuel Montalvo, 43, was drunk on duty when he crashed his unmarked county SUV into a parked police cruiser and drew his gun last week, according to authorities. The parked vehicle that was rear-ended had the police emergency lights activated to warn drivers of a slow-moving roadway traffic marking crew on the right lane. Montalvo then reportedly got out of the SUV “unsteadily” in plain clothes and at some point reached to the front of his waistband, draw a semi-automatic firearm, and assumed what appeared to be a low-ready, prone, tactical-type position with a dazed or confused look on his face. Montalvo was arrested, refused a field sobriety test (refusal carries a 1-year license suspension), peed on himself, and was suspended with pay. He was charged with DUI and causing property damage. Police said he could also be charged with using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol pending an evaluation of the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
DGUs
- The Armed Citizen:
- An off-duty Atlanta police officer fired at a man who tried to break into the officer’s apartment last week. The suspect was not hit, but police say he suffered non-life threatening injuries after he fell three floors to the ground.
- Prosecutor Refuses Charges Against Woman in Road Rage Shooting, Citing Self-Defense
- Defense against dog considerations.
Not a DGU
Armed bandits on motorcycles kidnapped over 300 school children in Nigeria last Thursday. Some of the students were rescued but 287 of them remain with the kidnappers, who demanded a ransom of 1 billion naira ($621,848 US) and threatened to kill all of the students if their demands are not met within three weeks or 20 days. A member of the community who confronted the abductors during the attack was killed. I’m more than a little curious about how you haul off 300 kids when you’re riding motorcycles.
Lessons from Haiti and other blue states
- In Haiti, a police officer-turned-gangster is trying to seize control of the country
- A lesson from Haiti – Ayoob
YOYO
Tactics & Stuff
“You are not in any more danger should you venture out of the house without a gun. Not having a gun doesn’t change the nature of danger in your everyday activities, it just limits one of your possible responses to that danger.” – Greg Ellifritz
- Scanners – Software Defined Radio.
- Tactical shotgun basics.
- Don’t do these things with your 1911 pistol. Ayoob.
- Pistol red dot sight discussion – part 1 and part 2.
- Fashion reports. Ayoob.
- Guns for People with Physical Challenges.
Fun
Industry News
FN Herstal SA and FN America LLC filed a trademark lawsuit against Sturm, Ruger and Company this week in US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, alleging that Ruger’s SFAR™ (Small Frame Automatic Rifle) violates their trademark for the FN SCAR® (Special Operations Forces Combat/Capable Assault Rifle) family of rifles and associated products, because, FN says, consumers will confuse the Ruger SFAR with their SCAR.
Products
- Gun Dog Supply is a Mississippi business.
- Recoilstore.com has some interesting reloading tools, like dies for making primer cups, gas checks, and rimfire resizing.
- CZ Firearms 457 Jaguar .22 Rifle with 28.625″ Barrel. Be careful about firing low-velocity ammo in such a long rimfire barrel.
- Sig Sauer 1911-X Series
- Defenceport’s DRM-12 30-Round Drum Magazine fits most 1919-style (AR-style) 12 ga. shotguns and has an easy loading feature. It will take shells up to 3″ long. 12 colors available. Around $70. (But, but, but…. you don’t need 30 rounds to hunt ducks!!! Well, yeah, some of us do.)
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“The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.” – Dennis Praeger
“When peace comes, we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” – Golda Meir
“How many guns do I need? Just one more.” – Tom Gresham
“I can no more ignore cool gear than an eight-year-old can ignore a stray puppy.” – Jim Shepherd