Never a Free Market or a Free Mind

Quote of the Day

“We are entering moments that we have never experienced before,” Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., told constituents at a town hall in Pittsburgh last week. “The country as we know it may never exist the way that it had. And the reality is that the way that the country had existed was never its best form anyway.”

“The moment is here to build what comes next. My argument is that we should be fighting harder than they are to be the author of what is next,” she said of progressives. “Because if we are not the ones who build it, then they are building it, but it’s getting built one way or another.”

Emilia Rowland, a progressive strategist, said Democrats need to better deal with the consequences of rapid tech advancement that is continuing to reshape society and further concentrate power as the government and other institutions struggle to keep up.

Progressive Strategists
April 26, 2025
Democrats want a great new society post-Trump. They just can’t agree on what it would look like.

I read the entire article twice, just to make sure. There is not even a glimmer of liberty in their thoughts. It is all about what government programs and institutions they can “be author of.” It is about the ways and means for them to ascend to power. They never consider a free market or a free mind.

And, of course, it included “combating gun violence.”

I view their activities being analogous to the Trump administration is attempting to extinguish a forest fire. The progressives are brainstorming about what to replace the forest fire with.

Prepare and respond appropriately.

Truth is Not Just Another Opinion

Via The Atlas Society @TheAtlasSociety:

Ignoring the Obvious

Quote of the Day

The fossil soil at Greenland’s summit, locked beneath nearly two miles of ice, speaks plainly: polar ice sheets can retreat far and fast when the climate tips, and the coastlines of the future will trace that story in real time.

Whether that warning is heeded remains a decision for policy makers and citizens alike.

Eric Ralls
April 22, 2025
Greenland discovery stuns scientists: “Don’t buy a beach house” – Earth.com

I find it very telling that Ralls is presented with, and pontificates on, the fact that all Greenland’s ice melted at least once long before man contributed to climate change. Yet, he uses this data to conclude people are able to, and should, stop it from happening again.

And he is not the only one. Here are others who appear to intentionally ignore the obvious:

The Grist link even has this absurd quote:

Once you melt that Greenland ice sheet, it’s irreversible.

This is like some type of religion with the church members insisting they know the truth via faith. Faith in this context being defined as complete confidence in something without evidence or even in despite evidence to the contrary.

Reality is tough, really tough, but I can only explain this disconnect by willful ignorance.

Need Has Nothing to do with it

Via Declaration of Memes @LibertyCappy:

While true, need has nothing to do with it:

Gun Rights Policy Conference

Registration for this year’s GRPC is open. Lean more about it and sign up.

I was a speaker two years in a row and attended one other year. I highly recommended it.

I won’t be going back until after my underground bunker is complete and paid for. That might be a few years…

Stupid, Ignorant, and/or Ill-Mannered

Quote of the Day

You are typical low-IQ Americuck who worships guns to compensate for the size of your dick

Lalo Salamanca (@Jorge_De_Guzman)
Posted on X, February 24, 2025

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday; it is another science denier (see also here)!

And, as you might expect is the case with someone this stupid, ignorant, and/or ill mannered, his account is suspended.

Father’s Day Present from JV Training Accessories

For Father’s Day two of my children chose stuff from my Amazon Wish List for my car and my underground bunker in Idaho. Xenia and husband John gave me .products from his business, JV Training Accessories.

Among other things, John makes and sells 1:9 scale USPSA targets as dry-fire targets for your refrigerator. I think putting them on your gun safe is a better idea. In case of a bad accident, you will probably do less damage hitting your gun safe than your refrigerator.

Cool stuff.

Here is my set of dry-fire targets on my gun safe where they belong:

The full size USPSA target is for scale and not a permanent fixture.

Moving the Overton Window

Quote of the Day

President Donald J. Trump has instructed his Administration to “protect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.” Executive Order No. 14,206, Protecting Second Amendment Rights, 90 Fed. Reg. 9503 (Feb. 7, 2025). Attorney General Pamela Bondi has likewise instructed the Department of Justice “to use its full might to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.” Memo. from the U.S. Att’y Gen., Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force (Apr. 8, 2025).

This case poses important questions about the scope of the Second Amendment’s protections. The United States has strong interests in ensuring that these important questions are correctly resolved; that the Second Amendment is not treated as a second-class right; and that law-abiding Americans in this Circuit are not deprived of the full opportunity to enjoy the exercise of their Second Amendment rights.

U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
June 13, 2025
BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES AS AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES AND SUPPORTING AFFIRMANCE

Pam Bondi doubters of her support of the 2nd Amendment should consider reevaluating their opinions.

Via:

Mark W. Smith:

AAGHarmeetDhillon @AAGDhillon:

Chad Mizelle @ChadMizelle47:

And others.

This is a big deal. I see it as moving the Overton Window in the direction of prosecutions under 18-USC-241 and 242.

Rules of Engagement

Quote of the Day

If you throw a brick, a firebomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at. Because we will KLL you, graveyard DAD. We’re NOT gonna play.

If you spit on us, you’re going to the hospital, then jail.

If you hit one of us, you’re going to the hospital, and jail – and most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs we have here.

If you try to mob rule a car in Brevard County – gather around it, refusing to let the driver leave? In our county, you’re most likely gonna get RUN OVER, and dragged across the street.

Wayne Ivey
Brevard County Sheriff
June 12, 2025

Those rules of engagement sound reasonable.

The Wheels of Justice are Slow

Quote of the Day

Considering the current political climate and how vigorously the Trump administration has championed the right to keep and bear arms, the Second Amendment community has reason to be optimistic we will ultimately prevail on the AR-15 issue before the end of President Donald Trump’s second term.

I think the Supreme Court will ultimately rule that “semi-automatic rifles,” including the AR-15, are protected under the Second Amendment—and it wouldn’t surprise me if Kavanaugh authors that opinion.

Mark Smith
June 11, 2025
Kavanaugh Hints Supreme Court on Track to Strike Down AR-15 Bans

The Heller decision was just short of 17 years ago. I knew it would not settle things. A year or two after the Heller decision, Alan Gura said we would be fighting these battles twenty years later.

The wheels of justice move incredibly slow. But they are moving, and they are moving in the right direction.

Idaho Underground Bunker Time

This may not end well:

Israel strike live updates: Israel launches dozens of strikes in Iran, IDF says

Early Friday morning, local time, Israel launched dozens of strikes against Iran and declared a state of emergency, according to Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“Following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” Katz said in a statement.

See also: US says it was not involved in Israel’s military strikes in Iran and Iran doubles down as US signals Israel could strike during nuclear talks.

President Trump says U.S. forces were not in involved in the strike and Iran has no reason to attack U.S. bases in the area. I have my doubts that Iran will give the U.S. a pass when they retaliate.

My biggest concern is that perhaps Iran has multiple nukes complete, or close enough to completion, and Israel was unable to destroy them on Iranian soil. Then there is the possibility of Russia providing some nuclear aid.

The next few days and weeks are going to be “interesting.”

I wish my underground bunker in Idaho were complete and Barb and I were in it.

You Often Have to be Standing in Left Field

Quote of the Day

There’s always something to be learned, different approaches and solutions to consider, sometimes an idea can come completely out of left field. But you often have to be standing in left field to see it. You can’t see shit from the dugout.

PG
December 29, 2024
Via email.

Apply whenever, wherever, and however it is appropriate.

The Only Problem is it Never Happened

Quote of the Day

The Dallas Township Police Department is aware of recent public statements made by former Dallas High School student Calvin Polachek during a February 2025, rally in Frankfort, Kentucky. The event, organized by the Kentucky chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, supported the introduction of Kentucky House Bill 214 by (Kentucky) State Representative Adam Moore, which promotes gun safety education.

At the rally, Mr. Polachek claimed that in 2017 he survived a school shooting at Dallas High School in Dallas, Pennsylvania, an incident in which he said he lost is best friend, his brother and nine others. These claims are entirely false. Nonetheless, they were reported by multiple Kentucky media outlets, including Fox 56 in Lexington and the Kentucky Lantern, and have since spread nationally across platforms such as MSN, Yahoo News, various online publications and social media.

The widespread sharing of a fabricated tragedy is not only reckless, it is harmful. It fuels unnecessary fear, disrespects the experiences of real victims of school violence and misleads the public with a narrative that has no basis in truth.

Let us be absolutely clear: This event never occurred.

There has never been a school shooting at Dallas High School. Not in 2017, and not at any point in our community’s history.

Doug Higgens
Dallas Pennsylvania Chief of Police
May 18, 2025
Dallas High School graduate claims he survived mass shooting that never happened

They have to lie to have any chance of winning. So, lying is what they do. It is an essential part of their culture. I have documented proof they have been deliberately lying for nearly 40 years. It probably has been even longer.

A Lesson in How to Waste Vast Amounts of Money

Quote of the Day

In all, the energy from the plant costs too much money. It produced around 70% of what it was projected to produce annually. The sea of mirrors that the plant relied on to produce the energy led to the plant catching on fire in 2016, after mirrors were wrongly positioned in relation to the sun. The plant struggled with energy production due to weather, clouds, and jet streams, and was also pretty bad for the environment, what with the whole burning-birds-to-death thing. The plant also used natural gas to keep itself running, around six times the limit allowed by the California Energy Commission.

What is most shocking is the scope and scale of this project compared to the icky nuclear energy California has tried to rid itself of over the same time period. In 2020, Ivanpah produced 856 gigawatt-hours of energy. This represented a “substantial increase in efficiency and output,” and 91% of the plant’s production goals. The plant takes up 3,500 acres of land.

Meanwhile, the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant is the last nuclear plant in California. It takes up around 750 acres and produces over 17,700 gigawatt-hours of energy. That is around 20 times more than Ivanpah and accounted for over 8% of California’s in-state energy production in 2023. 

Also, Diablo Canyon doesn’t have massive mirrors that work as bird death rays. Not bad for the only form of clean energy that environmentalists despise.

You would think California would be eager to recreate those numbers if a zero-carbon future were truly the state’s goal, but you would be wrong. Instead, the state bets its future on grand projects such as Ivanpah, which are more inefficient in energy production and land use. Sure, massive solar plants may not keep the lights on without natural gas, oil, and nuclear propping up the state’s grid, but at least it makes environmentalists feel good about themselves (so long as we don’t talk about the dead birds).

To say something positive about Ivanpah as it prepares for the end, at least it was actually constructed. Take that, California High-Speed Rail Authority.

Zachary Faria
June 6, 2025
The sun sets on California’s massive solar plant

The solar energy plant is being shut down. Some portion, the exact amount is unknown, of the 1.6 billion dollars loan from the U.S. Department of Energy will be refunded. I asked Copilot to find the numbers for me. Nope. That number is not available:

I did a more targeted search, and it turns out that the refund amount for the $1.6 billion in DOE loans remains officially undisclosed. Multiple sources—such as the Washington Examiner article reporting on the Ivanpah solar project—reiterate that taxpayers are to receive a refund for these loans, but none reveal a specific figure beyond noting the total loan value. Even the Department of Energy’s official pages on its Loan Programs Office do not provide further details on the refund amount.

Draw your own conclusions.

My conclusion is if you want to waste billions of dollars and enable corruption on a massive scale you should have a collection of politicians and government bureaucrats design and implement whatever project feels good to people unable to think rationally.

For Sale

There is an empty lot and also a house for sale a little over a mile from Boomershoot. They are both just over 20 acres and have absolutely incredible views.

It would be nice to have Boomershoot friendly people living there.

It is Probably Projection

Quote of the Day

How many children have we lost in schools because we allow teenagers with small dicks to buy a weapon of war? But we continue to do it because we’re so brilliant and the far right believes that school children are expendable for it. #Assholes.

RobHeartNY @RobHeart44
Posted on X, December 26, 2024

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday; it is another science denier (see also here)!

Just to clarify, is he suggesting there should be a penis size requirement before 18- and 19-year-old men can purchase some types of guns? What about women?

The more informative thing about his post is that he believes he can read the minds of “the far right.” I cannot think of anyone on the “far right” who believe this. And, according to history, this is by far more common with people on the political left. Joseph Stalin, Pot Pol, Mao Zedong, and others murdered millions of children in attempts to create a utopia.

It is probably projection on his part. I wonder if it is projection with the small penis thing as well.

Another Brick in the Wall

Quote of the Day

As noted above, Mexico here focuses on the manufacturers’ production of “military style” assault weapons, among which it includes AR–15 rifles, AK–47 rifles, and .50 caliber sniper rifles. See supra, at 6; App. to Pet. for Cert. 121a. But those products are both widely legal and bought by many ordinary consumers. (The AR–15 is the most popular rifle in the country. See T. Gross, How the AR–15 Became the Bestselling Rifle in the U. S., NPR (Apr. 20, 2023.) The manufacturers cannot be charged with assisting in criminal acts just because Mexican cartel members like those guns too. The same is true of firearms with Spanish-language names or graphics alluding to Mexican history. See supra, at 6. Those guns may be “coveted by the cartels,” as Mexico alleges; but they also may appeal, as the manufacturers rejoin, to “millions of law-abiding Hispanic Americans.”

Elena Kagan
SCOTUS Justice
June 5, 2025
23-1141 Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos (06/05/2025)

What Justice Kagan is saying here should strike terror in the hearts of anti-gun people. She says AR-15’s, AK-47’s, and .50 caliber rifles are in common use for legal purposes. That is exactly what the Heller decision says are protected arms.

Justice Kagan is saying that. Should she try to say otherwise when an “assault weapon” comes before the court will likely result in a stern reminder by Justice Thomas and others of this opinion.

And the anti-gunners think there was something worse in this decision. Just wait.

And if you are somewhat persuaded by the argument made in the previous link, you need to read Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion in the Mexico case:

This exception allows otherwise-prohibited suits against gun manufacturers to go forward if, among other requirements, the manufacturer has “knowingly violated a State or Federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of the product.”” 15 U. S. C. §§7902(a), 7903(5)(A)(iii). I write separately to note that the Court’s opinion does not resolve what a plaintiff must show to establish that the defendant committed a “violation.” §7903(5)(A)(iii). It concludes only that Mexico has not adequately pleaded its theory of the case—that, as a factual matter, the defendant gun manufacturers committed criminal aiding and abetting. See ante, at 10–14.”

In future cases, courts should more fully examine the meaning of “violation” under the PLCAA. It seems to me that the PLCAA at least arguably requires not only a plausible allegation that a defendant has committed a predicate violation, but also an earlier finding of guilt or liability in an adjudication regarding the “violation.” Allowing plaintiffs to proffer mere allegations of a predicate violation would force many defendants in PLCAA litigation to litigate their criminal guilt in a civil proceeding, without the full panoply of protections that we otherwise afford to criminal defendants. And, these defendants might even include ones who were cleared in an earlier proceeding, such as through a noncharging decision or a not-guilty or not-liable verdict. Such collateral adjudication would be at best highly unusual, and would likely raise serious constitutional questions that would counsel in favor of a narrower interpretation.

While technically this is not a 2nd Amendment case, it is a through slap down of the anti-gun movement. It is another brick in the wall to keep them in the dustbin of history.

This post was inspired the following video by constitutional attorney and member of the United States Supreme Court Bar, Mark Smith:

Brave New World

Quote of the Day

Our users don’t just do Nucleus for themselves — they do it for themselves and their loved ones. Now, I’m proud to say that care can start before a child is even born.

Nucleus launched a year ago with 12 analyses. Our earliest users were those who already knew the promise that genetics holds for the future of health. We kept building to bring the vision we shared with them to fruition.

Soon after launch, we’d doubled the number of analyses. Then we 10x’d them. By the spring, we’d added over 900 diseases — including the one my cousin died from. Months later, we launched genetic matching to help parents understand hidden risks they could pass down to their children.

With the launch of genetic matching, parents started asking us a new question: What else can I know about my future child?

We launched Nucleus Embryo for parents who want to know more — so Nucleus is built for longevity at every stage of life. Nucleus Embryo enables parents undergoing IVF to analyze and compare up to 20 embryos across over 900 hereditary conditions and 40 additional analyses beyond basic viability, spanning cancers, chronic conditions, appearance, cognitive ability, mental health, and more.

Kian Sadeghi
Founder & CEO, Nucleus Genomics
Press | Nucleus Embryo

If you have not read Brave New World and do not plan to, then at least read the synopsis. What Nucleus Embryo is doing is the prerequisite to Brave New World.

I’m not saying there will be no good come from this. I’m saying, like most tools, it can be used for evil as well as good. And Aldous Huxley wrote one of the How-To manuals for the evil use scenarios.

Start Saving Liberal Tears

Quote of the Day

In a surprising decision that’s now under appeal, a federal district judge ruled that the ban on civilian-owned machine guns may actually violate the Second Amendment. The case, United States v. Morgan, comes out of Kansas and challenges the 1986 Hughes Amendment – a law that bans civilians from owning newly manufactured machine guns. Attorney and YouTuber Tom Grieve broke down the case in a recent video, calling it “potentially the most important gun case in decades.”

According to Grieve, this is the first time in a long while that a federal trial court has directly stated that machine guns – yes, actual automatic weapons – are protected “arms” under the Second Amendment. If that ruling stands, it could unravel a huge part of federal gun control as we know it.

Lisa Greene
June 5, 2025
How Decades of Gun Control Created a Legal Trap – And One Judge Called It Out with Nationwide Implications – Survival World

I posted about this case once before.

I have fairly high confidence the appeals court will find a way to claim machine guns are not protected. Then, I expect SCOTUS to refuse to take the case.

I will be disappointed, but all the briefs and other work that goes into this case can be recycled for other cases. Then, eventually, we will use liberal tears to cool the machines guns at the sporting events in local high schools.

SCOTUS 9-0 Slap Down of Anti-Gunners

As it should be, this is a 9-0 win. I expected the win. I am a little surprised it is 9-0. I am hugely surprised that it is written by Kagan with a concurring opinion by Jackson!