May 10, 2019 Newsletter by Jeff Pittman
Politics
More about the UN Arms Trade Treaty
Democrats make Fast & Furious civil contempt case against Eric Holder go away. (The criminal contempt charge was never prosecuted by the US Attorney in D.C., who worked for Holder.) Also, apparently no perjury charge was ever brought, though Holder clearly lied to Congress under oath.
I recently received an email from US Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), responding to my request that she oppose the proposed Extreme Risk Protection Order and Violence Prevention Act, since it acts without due process. Her reply did not indicate her position on the bill, but instead deflected to other pro-gun legislation she has sponsored or supported. That seems to be a clear indication that she does support this particular gun control and anti-fifth-amendment bill.
ACTION ITEM
Amazon Charitable Donations Program Uses Unreliable Southern Poverty Law Center Censorship Lists
Please take 10 seconds and sign the petition.
MS police officer ambushed, assassinated
A man walked up behind uniformed Biloxi Police Officer Robert McKeithen, who was on duty and sitting in the main station’s parking lot in his car Sunday night, shot him multiple times and then ran off, police said. McKeithen, 57, who had planned to retire at the end of the year after nearly 24 years with the department, succumbed to his wounds. The captured suspect, 19, was suspended from Biloxi High School in 2018 for three days after he threatened to shoot up the school in the aftermath of the deadly Parkland shooting.
Next week is National Police Week.
In 2018, 55 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed and 51 were killed accidentally.
- The average age was 37.
- The average tenure in law enforcement was 10 years.
- Three were female and 52 were male.
SCOTUS
Clarence Thomas is clearly the best jurist on the high court today, and perhaps ever. A bit about his status.
Study of schools with armed faculty
“Over 19 years we have studied, those rates (people killed or wounded in shooting attacks during school hours) are ZERO for schools that allow teachers to carry…”
According to the study, there has yet to be a single case of someone being wounded or killed from a shooting, let alone a mass public shooting, between 6 AM and midnight at a school where teachers are allowed to carry guns.
In Colorado this week, less than 10 miles from Columbine High School, another school suffered a mass shooting perpetrated by two students — one reported as an 18-year-old purple-haired liberal anarchist male registered Democrat and the other as a 16-year-old transgender female in the process of transitioning from female to male, who may be charged as an adult. The pair reportedly had “a number of weapons,” including at least three handguns and one rifle. Colorado law prohibits people under age 21 from buying or possessing handguns and requires background checks for all gun buyers. Our report also indicates that an armed private security guard was present at the school and apprehended one of the killers. The guard also fired his gun, possibly at an innocent student and/or a responding deputy. According to the Denver Post, the school has private security, but there is no school resource officer, and is a “gun free zone.” Five months ago, a school district official urged the school’s administration to investigate allegations of violence, sexual assault and campus bullying that an anonymous parent feared could lead to “a repeat of Columbine,” which the school’s executive director disputed.
About those foreign gun laws
- Island Gun Laws: The History of Gun Control and Crime in Australia, New Zealand, and the UKÂ [Ammo.com]
Learned helplessness
- Learned Helplessness by John Farnam
The Best Tourniquets
And then there’s this:
Study of Wounds in Civilian Mass Shooting Fatalities: Few Who Die Could Have Been Saved
Lawyer ethics
In Ethics Seminar, Lawyers Say They’d Report a Client for Legally Owning A Gun
(FYI, lawyers’ codes of conduct or ethics rules dictate that generally their first obligation is to their client, NOT the public, the judge, justice, the law, or anyone else.)
I suggest it’s unethical to not publicly name the guilty.
Ayoob on traffic stops
Some of us disagree with the advice to give consent for a search.
MS Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks
Enemies
The Brady Bunch is among a small group of nonprofits selected to partner with the annual Bonnaroo (millenial) Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Cory A. Booker (NJ) has proposed a massive unconstitutional gun control scheme which includes:
- federal gun OWNER licenses with fingerprinting, “universal” background checks and a certified gun safety course
- one handgun purchase per month limit,
- increased government regulation and oversight of gun manufacturers, with anti-gun CPSC involvement,
- ending legal immunity that prevents shooting victims from suing innocent sellers and manufacturers of firearms,
- handgun microstamping,
- expansion of laws that prohibit gun possession by people ACCUSED of domestic violence, include dating partners,
- banning black rifles, standard capacity magazines and bump stocks,
- beefing up BATFE with increased funding and repeal of restriction on its authority to investigate crimes and crack down on gun dealers, and
- “investigating” the NRA, declaring it a “terrorist organization.”
No word on any arrest for treason or civil rights violations. Pro-RKBA columnists are asking if he’s dangerous or just confused or stupid? The answer is yes.
Meanwhile, “Shotgun Joe” Biden says that while there is a Second Amendment, we need to deal with it “rationally.” You mean like blindly firing through the door with your shotgun, Joe?
Quote from AOC, who thinks she knows what’s good for you, from her new apartment:
“I am told this is a garbage disposal. I’ve never seen a garbage disposal. I never had one in any place I’ve ever lived. It is terrifying.”
The Only Ones
Former Niceville (FL) Police officer Erich Reitz was fatally shot in a possible self-defense shooting after allegedly attacking his parents and stabbing them. The sheriff indicated that Reitz was fired last year from the Niceville Police Department 2018 for psychological instability.
New Army retro uniform
We also have word that now the US Army is issuing M17 pistols, in addition to M4 carbines, to many troops who previously only carried rifles. The army calls it “dual-arming policy,” and the M17s are integrated at the squad level.
Reminder about military rifle chamberings
Products
Maxpedition knives —Â I have a couple of Maxpedition knives which I use on a daily basis. They are excellent knives and well worth what I paid. I don’t see them on the Maxpedition website, but they are offered by various retailers. Check ’em out.
Streamlight’s new rechargeable Portable Scene Light EXT offers a maximum of 5300 lumens and lots of features. $1354.
A while back we mentioned a new line of defensive ammo for handguns from Norma, utilizing a monolithic copper bullet. It’s called the MHP (for monolithic hollow point). So far, there appears to be only one load offered, a 108-gr. 9mm, with a muzzle velocity of 560 fps.
Winchester Ammo’s new USA Ready line of centerfire target ammo has been ballistically tested, lot-by-lot, and the SAAMI-spec data (MV, MAP & 5-shot group size) is available online. Just go to https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/USA-Ready and pick your ammo type and lot number to get the info.
Choate’s Night Manager is a 2-shot shotgun magazine tube extension with an integral indexable Picatinny rail section for accessories. The steel magazine tube extension has an aluminum shroud that is drilled and tapped along the bottom and sides for mounting Picatinny rail sections. Its design allows the shroud to rotate to clock the attached rails where desired and then uses an AR-15 castle nut to lock it down in that orientation. It comes complete with a 3-slot section of Picatinny rail, fasteners, magazine tube follower and spring. Available for various Remington, H&R, and Mossberg shotguns. $93.
Pietta Firearms’ new 1873 Single Action series of historical firearms is designed for long-lasting reliability & accuracy and able to easily interchange with the “old-west” originals, and can be considered some the most true-to-original firearms on the market. This series is available in .45 Colt, .357 Mag., .44-40 WCF, .44 Mag., .22 WMRF, and .22 LR, with a lot of design options.
Quote
“Flashback to the 1950s and duck hunting or just shotgunning in general. Paper shells were the norm. When fired, they had a particular smell or aroma that was special and really brings back early memories. I was just a kid, but I can still remember the smell — kind of sweet toasted walnuts and burnt wax or candles mixed together. Nothing like plastic shells.” — Billy Carl @ yoursun.com
Still my all-time favorite smell. — JP
Regarding “Ayoob on traffic stops”, I see shadows of bias supporting the authoritarian side of the world. If you as as citizen have personally experienced this bias you cannot blindly accept the position that the officer is the alpha male. To do so will only feed the system and make it more so an “alpha” system. At some point, this becomes dangerous to the citizen. This can be seen in the “Terry stop” ruling of the alpha courts. Just as important as the officer’s safety in a stop (I think the actual Terry stop was a sidewalk stop), is the citizen’s safety in a stop. I would move towards equal respect from both sides as to the other side’s safety, and that means no one is disarmed. “Normal” speeding is not sufficient to qualify for a Terry stop. Because an officer feels unsafe around citizens with weapons does not mean that the citizen can be reasonably suspected of criminal activity; necessary for Terry stop. Citizens matter, and Officers matter. I am a Citizen.
The article addresses that:
“When you are in a roadside dialogue with a police officer who pulled you over, you are not the alpha, the officer is the one with the authority that makes them the alpha and you have to accept that. Understand that it is not you against him. This simply is the way our society is structured to work; compliance is expected of you as a member of society.”
SOCIETY is the alpha. Whether the individual officer in a particular instance is “in the right” or not is irrelevant until the case comes up in court, and the place to argue that is not on the side of the road between two people contesting who has the worst case of testosterone poisoning.