Election

• Matt Gaetz Out, Pam Bondi In as Trump Nominee for Attorney General: Gun Rights Controversy Looms. That would be the same Pam Bondi that NRA sued over denial of civil rights for 18-20-year-olds.
• Gun Owners of America applauded the nomination of Kash Patel for Director of the FBI. Mr. Patel is fiercely pro-gun, a true constitutionalist and a staunch advocate for the Second Amendment.

Legislation and Regulation

• Licensed gun dealers would be able to run their employees through the government’s background check system under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Wednesday. Under current rules, dealers are only supposed to run checks on prospective purchasers. But the Justice Department says it wants dealers to be able to voluntarily check their own workers who handle firearms. Surprisingly, this is not a terrible idea. But I fail to see why FFLs can’t already voluntarily do this as a condition of employment for their workers. If a prohibited person was handling guns, that would be a felony.
• Grassroots updates.

America

• There are three crimes the feds are Constitutionally delegated power to combat, and unless criminals are committing treason, counterfeiting, or engaged in piracy, stopping them is a power ceded to the states by the Tenth Amendment.
• Leftists are not good people.

Litigation

• On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives told the US Supreme Court that siding with Mexico in its liability suit against American gun makers would violate the separation of powers. In an amicus brief, the House argued federal regulation of the gun industry is squarely within its purview. It said granting the relief sought by Mexico in its suit against Smith & Wesson, which aims to hold the American gun industry liable for Mexican cartel violence, would be tantamount to SCOTUS usurping new powers for the federal courts (which is nothing new). The House urged the Court to reverse the lower court holding and dismiss the case as incompatible with the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Not being a lawyer, I wonder why the House never weighs in on other SCOTUS gun cases.
• A coalition of 28 state attorneys general has also petitioned the US Supreme Court to intervene in the case and throw it out.
• A Philadelphia jury awarded $11 million last month to a man whose allegedly holstered Sig Sauer pistol allegedly went off all by itself while he was going down some stairs, causing a serious leg injury. Sig says the man had the pistol in his pocket and he admitted the trigger was pulled. This is the second major verdict this year against the embattled gun manufacturer over its model P320 pistol. An appeal is in the works. Earlier this year, a federal jury awarded $2.35 million to a Georgia man who was wounded when his holstered P320 went off. That verdict is also being appealed. Other Sig P320 cases are in the works.
• But Sig begs to differ.
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Memorial Hermann Hospital System, arguing the system has restricted off-duty peace officers from entering some facilities in and around Houston with firearms since 2022.
• Last month New York’s top court, the Court of Appeals, overturned the 2019 conviction of a Bronx man who shot and killed an assailant who had confronted him with a razor blade over a drug dispute, saying that the trial court should have allowed the defendant to argue he was acting in self defense during the 2016 encounter, because the assailant held a razor blade against his face, threatening to cut him from ear to ear.
• Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced his office will file a lawsuit against Jackson County over a gun ordinance recently passed by the county’s legislature, that prohibits the purchase of pistols or semiautomatic rifles by 18- to 21-year-old adults.
• The US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal in the case Argueta v. Jaradi, allowing a lower court ruling to stand, which threatens to erode Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable use of force by police for all citizens who exercise their Second Amendment rights or who are just mistakenly thought to be carrying a gun. In Argueta v. Jaradi, a police officer killed a young man by shooting him in the back, allegedly without warning, based on the officer’s suspicion that he had a gun (but apparently was not an immediate threat) merely because of the way he ran away from a questionable traffic stop. My understanding is that it is generally illegal to shoot someone who is not a threat at that time, or perhaps is a fleeing dangerous felon. Simply having a gun (if this guy even had one) is not a threat or justification.
• Judge Edmund A. Sargas, Jr., of the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, denied a request to dismiss a gun charge against an illegal immigrant in Ohio who had been in the US for more than 15 years, rejecting the man’s argument that he has a right to bear arms. The defendant was charged earlier this year and was subsequently indicted for possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the US.
• The NRA, Firearms Policy Coalition, and two individuals filed a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s prohibition on concealed carry by adults under 21. The case, named Young v. Ott, was filed in the federal District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
• Florida Carry, Inc., has filed a lawsuit against the Hillsboro County School District over its decision to suspend a high school student identified in their lawsuit only as “J.S.,” who officials claim brought three spent shell casings into one of their schools, an act that is completely legal.
• California Superior Court Judge Wendy Behan granted Smith & Wesson’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the gunmaker accusing it of liability for one of its products being used in a synagogue shooting, after determining that the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act does apply to the case. 
• Who are “the people?”
• Grassroots Judicial Updates: November 27, 2024 and December 4, 2024.

Enemies

• Mark Anthony Frassetto, Deputy Director of Second Amendment History and Scholarship at the Everytown Law gun ban group, applauded Hunter Biden’s pardon on federal felony gun crime charges. You know – those same felony offenses that Everytown wants every gun owner convicted of.
• Gulfport, Mississippi city council.
• Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Sheriff Garry McFadden.
• University of Wyoming.
• Alabama docs.
• Farcebook. Still. After its Facebook account was suspended, the popular American gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson thanked Elon Musk and X for supporting free speech amid what it called ongoing attacks against the First and Second Amendments. Andy Stone, a representative for Facebook’s parent company, Meta, said that the account had been suspended in error and that it has since been restored. In a Friday post on X, however, Smith & Wesson emphasized the importance of Musk’s stance on free speech, criticizing Meta for suspending their account after the platform flagged several of its posts for promoting the sale of weapons. [Dude, its SMITH & WESSON. Of course they are promoting the sale of their products. – JP]
• Michael Hopkins, a communications director for US Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-NY), is facing charges for unlawful possession of ammunition after US Capitol Police officers found four ammunition magazines and eleven rounds of ammunition in his bag at the Cannon House Office Building. He was immediately fired by Morelle’s office. Rep. Morelle is an extreme proponent and sponsor of gun ban legislation.

Suppressors & Switchblades

• CDC research has shown that “The only potentially effective noise control method to reduce [shooters’] noise exposure from gunfire is through the use of noise suppressors that can be attached to the end of the gun barrel.” The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery endorses the use of firearm suppressors as an effective method of reducing the risk of hearing loss, especially when used in conjunction with conventional hearing protective measures.

NRA

• The NRA Is Dead to Me!
• Revelations Regarding Secret Settlement of Ackerman McQueen Suit and LaPierre’s Mansion

About those polls…

• Gallup Poll on Guns Reflects Manipulation, Ignorance, and Denial
• Is This Really What Americans Want?
• It’s great to have information and learn things. But only if it’s factual and accurate.
• FWIW, your civil rights aren’t subject to a popular vote.

About those statistics…

• In case you’re having trouble sleeping.

DGUs

“We respectfully request that guests not bring firearms to Target, even in communities where it’s permitted.”

• Follow the Silence!
• Worker shoots, kills armed robbery suspect after having gun pointed at him, police say
• Alabama Man Defends Himself After Pipe Attack, Fatally Shoots Attacker in Groin
• Food vendor with CCL fatally shoots attacker on Chicago’s West Side
• New Haven police charge woman who was shot with violating protective order

• America’s 1st Freedom – November 22, 2024
• American Rifleman – November 22, 2024
• American Rifleman – November 25, 2024
• American Rifleman – November 29, 2024
• American Rifleman – December 2, 2024

The Only Ones

• Lyin’ Biden. Early this week and just ahead of the upcoming sentencing this month, outgoing President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, for federal felony gun and tax offense convictions, sparing Junior possible decades of prison time. Hunter Biden was convicted in June of three federal firearms felonies when a jury took less than three hours to conclude he illegally purchased and possessed a firearm while using illegal drugs and lying about it on a federal Form 4473 – laws that Joe Biden supports, except when applied to them. The US Sentencing Commission reports that 96.9% of Americans not named Biden charged with the same offense as Hunter get jail time. The president’s sweeping full and unconditional pardon covers not just the gun and tax offense convictions in Delaware and California, but also any other “offenses against the United States which Hunter has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,” pardoning offenses that have not apparently even been charged. That covers Hunter’s much larger Ukranian bribery problems with which Joe was likely complicit. (US District Judge Maryellen Noreika terminated further court proceedings in his Delaware gun case on Tuesday, but stopped short of dismissing the case outright, as requested by Hunter’s legal team.) President Biden has repeatedly, explicitly and unequivocally promised – as recently as November 8, 2024 – not to use the extraordinary pardon or commutation powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family. Maybe he forgot. Or he lied. You decide. No word on Hunter getting his law license or baggie of coke back. Of course, now we’re just waiting for Donald Trump to take office and pardon himself. I wonder if pardons can be issued before the fact?
• Even one of the federal judges said Joe is a liar.
• A new report says no safety protocols were violated in an incident we previously reported where a Scottsdale [AZ] police detective died following an accidental shooting at a city facility earlier this year. On June 13, Scottsdale Detective Ryan So and fellow officers with the department’s Special Assignment Unit were returning to a police facility after serving a warrant. A report from the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) states the group was moving their equipment back into the garage when Det. So picked up a backpack from the back of a vehicle. The safety inspection says a rifle that was in a folded position fell out of the bag and discharged when the butt hit the pavement. Det. So was struck in the neck and rushed to the hospital, where he later died.

• McNairy County [TN] Sheriff’s Deputy Connor Brackin, 24, has been charged with seven counts of aggravated animal cruelty and eight counts of reckless endangerment after he shot and killed seven dogs at a home while the owners were away, shooting some of them in campers without checking for occupancy first. I kinda wish Buford was still around.

Tactics & Stuff

• Kids & Guns. Dabbs. Important.
• Shop Safely This Holiday Season.
• How to Spot Thieves, Thugs and Terrorists.
• Related:  Venezuelan Gangs, Tren de Aragua Has Already Set Up Shop in 16 States.
• Staying Alert and Aware. Ayoob.
• Drop It.
• Thoughts on off-body carry. (Mine is “don’t.”)
• Situational awareness tips. Ayoob.
• .380 ACP terminal ballistics tests: here and here.

MREs

• Just because everyone should know.

Industry News

• “We are the only company in the industry that offers solutions for all ammunition components, including ammunition factories, primer factories, and propellant factories.”
• Chinese scientists say they have developed a new recoilless 7.62-caliber cartridge, intended to arm drones.
• China has banned exports to the United States of items related to the minerals gallium, germanium and antimony that have potential military applications, it said on Tuesday, a day after Washington’s latest crackdown on China’s chip sector. I presume the antimony ban might cause ammo prices to rise.

Products

• Otto Bock’s 9.3x62mm Cartridge Historical Review. I have long wanted one of these, perhaps in a classic CZ rifle. The magnum crowd will poo-poo it, but they don’t kill a lot of elephants with their 6.5 weatherwhizbangs.
• FN is giving away die-cast FN Christmas tree ornaments when you spend $99 or more at the FN eStore, through December 31, 2024.

• Kimber’s new 2K11 pistol is a high capacity double stack optics-ready 1911 with an excellent 3.5 lb. trigger. Available in 9mm (17+1 and 20+1) and .45 ACP (13+1). $2000+
• Lipsey’s has an exclusive bronze-colored aluminum-framed Ruger LCR in .32 H&R Magnum. It’s a bit cheaper and lighter than the steel-framed .327 Federal Magnum version.
• Ruger has announced a new version of its PC Carbine in 9mm, which retains the core features of the PC Carbine while incorporating the reversible folding stock with adjustable length of pull found on the popular LC Carbine. $1000.
• FightLite Industries, a division of ARES Defense Systems Inc. offers the new Raptor Belt-Fed Upper that fits all Mil-Spec AR15 & M16 lowers with an introductory price of $3,999.99. This exclusive price is only available through December 31, 2024. Then it will be $1,000 more.
• Streamlight’s ProTac HL6. The HL-6 is the newest and brightest addition to their ProTac series of tactical lights. It offers 5,300 lumens and impressive beam reach, as well as a using rechargeable batteries. However, it appears you must remove the batteries to charge them, instead of just charging up the light.  Run time ranges from 12 hours and 30 minutes on low to two hours on high.  Limited lifetime warranty. About $150.
• CCW shirts. I’m a size medium and Christmas is coming up…
• I have a bunch of Milwaukee tools. But I don’t have this one. Yet.

“Just because somebody wears a uniform, sports a laminated ID card or carries a gun does not make them any more morally laudable than the rest of us.” – Dr. Will Dabbs

 

Nobody ever wished for a smaller gun or less ammo in a gunfight.

 

“It’s easier to convince the court that you didn’t shoot your opponent too much than that you didn’t hit him too hard.” – Bill Jordan