Category Archives: Enjoy Your Trial

Moving the Overton Window

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

We also need to FOIA or subpoena any and all documents related to the writing and passage of these laws. If there is intent to deprive people of their rights, file a 1983 claim. If that bears fruit, then demand the feds file 18 USC 242 charges. You might only get a few with that one, like governors, they are chief LEO’s, but it would be a start.

zmunitions @zmunitions1
Tweeted on September 27, 2023

18 USC 242 is one of the laws I reference when I talk about “Enjoy your trial.” I first became aware of 18 USC 241 and 242 in 2003. Off and on I would bring it up, but few people said much about it.

In 2019, at my private urging, Brian K. came up with the #EnjoyYourTrial idea to promote those two laws. I have been using that for over four and a half years now with no apparent traction. I do not recall any public mention of 18 USC 241 or 242 in conjunction with violation of the specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms… until the last 10 days:

Perhaps the Overton Window really has been moved.

Office of Gun Violence Prevention

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

I am appalled that Joe Biden is putting the gun prohibition lobby on the White House payroll. I know that many pro-gun rights members of Congress are working on legislation to prohibit funding for this obnoxious scheme.

I wonder how much of their time will be spent keeping guns out of Hunter Biden’s hands now that he has been indicted on gun charges?

Alan Gottlieb
September 20, 2023
CCRKBA CHAIR ‘APPALLED’ GUN GRABBERS WILL BE ON WHITE HOUSE PAYROLL

For more information about what President Biden is planning read these articles:

I wonder about something different than Gottlieb. I wonder if these people realize being on the government payroll with their jobs being the infringement of specific enumerated rights can be used as evidence at their trials. The same goes for those who vote for such an office.

USC 241 Could be Applied to Governor

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

The progressive activists who run the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division in Democratic administrations see civil-rights statutes as their license to overhaul the nation’s police departments and other institutions under the guise of “systemic racism.” There is no reason, however, why a Republican administration could not invoke them for their proper purpose — protecting the federal rights of all Americans.

Obviously, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D., N.M.) and her subordinates have conspired to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate Americans in New Mexico in the free exercise and enjoyment of their Second Amendment rights. Indeed, her acknowledgment that she expects to be challenged in court underscores both her criminal intent and the fact that the rights she has decided to “suspend” are well established in constitutional law.

Andrew C. McCarthy
Former Chief Asst. U.S. Attorney
September 11, 2023
Why Not Arrest Governor Lujan Grisham . . . Pursuant to the Civil Rights Law the Biden Justice Department Is Using to Prosecute Donald Trump?

The Overton Window is moving.

I hope she and her co-conspirators enjoy their trials.

Sending a Message

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

But here’s what I do think. It’s a pretty resounding message.

Michelle Lujan Grisham
New Mexico Governor
September 9, 2023

The above quote was obtained from the video embedded in this tweet:

See also New Mexico governor issues order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque.

It’s interesting to me that she openly admits the order will not be obeyed by the criminals, but it is about “doing something” and sending a message.

Hence, you can believe she knows it is ineffective in the stated goal of making ordinary people safer and she is doing it anyway to “send a message” that she could not have sent by sending a statement to the media. Or her real goal is to infringe upon the rights of hundreds of thousands of people and use the old tired excuse of, “for the children”.

Via Kyle Seraphin @KyleSeraphin:

image

Via the NRA:

image

And perhaps one of the most surprising takes on the topic is from David Hogg:

I support gun safety but there is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution.

Even the anti-gun people realize one of their own has gone too far, too fast.

I assess, that with high probability, Governor Grisham’s order will not last the 30 days she proclaimed it would, Furthermore, with all the people pointing out 18 USC 242 and other legal remedies, she may even be removed from office over this.

She sent a message. The people are sending their own message. Who has the most effecting messaging?

We live in interesting times.

So Many Lies in so Few Words

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for kids in the United States. Ending that should be bipartisan. … We should stand on the right side of history.

Anthony Portantino
California state Senator. (D-Burbank)
September 7, 2023
California Democrats approve new taxes on gun and ammunition dealers and manufacturers

I sometimes admire the ability of anti-gun people to pack so many lies into so few words. It takes me far more words to expose his lies than for him to express them:

  • The only way the claimed statistic is true is if they deceptively redefine 17 year-old’s as “kids”.
  • The 11% tax on all guns and ammunition cannot possibly reduce the gang violence which results in the death of the young thugs.
  • Bipartisan support cannot be expected when the legislation is clearly unconstitutional and cannot achieve the stated goals.
  • The trend now, and into the foreseeable future, is for laws like this to be struck down. The “right side of history” is more likely to be senator Portantino enjoying his trial than for laws like this to persist.

The FBI Cannot be Trusted

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

Whether deliberately through bias or just incompetence, the FBI database of active shooters cannot be trusted,

Gary Mauser
Emeritus professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada
August 2023
Massive errors in FBI’s Active Shooting Reports from 2014-2022 regarding cases where civilians stop attacks: Instead of 4.6%, the correct number is at least 35.7%. In 2022, it is at least 41.3%. Excluding gun-free zones, it averaged over 63.5%.

From reading the article it is abundantly clear the quote above it true. But it really does not go far enough. From Ruby Ridge, to Waco, to the Hillary emails, to the Russian collusion hoax, and almost for certain hundreds of other items of major significance the FBI has proven they cannot be trusted.

From just the evidence in the article, there are numerous people in the FBI that should be prosecuted for conspiring to infringe upon our specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.

A Good Start

Posted on by

This is a good start:

D.C. will pay $5.1 million as part of a class-action settlement with gun owners who were arrested under laws that have since been found to violate the Second Amendment, according to the settlement agreement.

…

In this case, the six plaintiffs — including four non-D.C. residents — were arrested between 2012 and 2014 on gun-related charges. They filed a lawsuit in 2015.

It took eight years after the lawsuit was filed and they still don’t have their money:

The settlement agreement must still have a “fairness hearing” in December before final approval is given. Court records show D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) signed off on the $5.1 million settlement amount in June.

And, of course, the villains will not be paying the settlement with their own money. They will use taxpayer money. These people need to be prosecuted.

I hope this will be a warning for other politicians. I would like to think that if others ignore the law the following lawsuits will be easier and easier. The, eventually, an ambitious Federal Prosecutor will start prosecuting them under 18 USC 242. Then, with a few convictions, they will finally stop their unlawful persecution of gun owners.

No, the ATF Cannot Legally Regulate “Ghost Guns”

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

Political observers expect the Washington Post and the New York Times to carry water for Joe Biden’s Department of Justice gun control agenda. It’s surprising when the conservative National Review seemingly bends over backwards to defend the weaponized agency in a poorly researched and written piece.

On August 9, National Review published an item with the confident title “Yes, the ATF Can Legally Regulate Ghost Guns.” The ill-informed piece was written by a summer intern. If it was an unpaid internship, the publication got every penny’s worth.

NRA-ILA
August 21, 2023
National Review Wrong on ATF Frame or Receiver Rule

Words matter. And when those words are legislative law they matter even more. The ATF, and this summer intern, are ignoring and/or deliberately misreading the word of law.

Ignoring the word of law and/or deliberately misreading by politicians and judges should be a punishable offense. And in some cases it is. But of course, that law is there just to make us think we have some protection against those who use the power of government to deny us our rights. That’s not reality. The reality is, that ultimately, you have to defend your own rights. That is why we have the 2nd Amendment.

Infringement of First and Second Amendment

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed a law banning firearms advertising that officials determine produces a public safety threat or appeals to children, militants or others who might later use the weapons illegally — opening the door for lawsuits against firearms manufacturers or distributors.

Pritzker on Saturday signed the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, making Illinois the eighth state to approve legislation that rolls back legal protections for firearms manufacturers or distributors.

Associated Press
August 14, 2023
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signs law banning firearm advertisements that appeal to children

This law goes much further than the news articles publish. It punishes any

…person, firm, corporation, company, partnership, society, joint stock company, or any other entity or association engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution, importation, marketing, wholesale, or retail sale of firearm-related products, including sales by mail, telephone, or Internet or in-person sales.

who

offers brand name merchandise for minors, including, but not limited to, clothing, toys, games, or stuffed animals, that promotes a firearm industry member or firearm-related product

So… a graphic artist working for Smith & Wesson could go to jail for offering a t-shirt with a Smith & Wesson logo to the 17-year old next door neighbor.

These criminals are trying to step around the PLCCA by infringing upon the First Amendment to infringe upon the Second Amendment.

I hope they enjoy their trials.

Advocates for Flagrantly Violating the Constitution

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

We suggest an unlikely source of continuing power, after Bruen, for states to disarm individuals they deem dangerous: qualified immunity. Qualified immunity shields state officers from monetary liability for many constitutional violations. In short, unless a previous case “clearly established,” with high factual particularity, that the officer’s conduct was unconstitutional, the officer does not pay. Thus, a state law enforcement officer may, after Bruen, confiscate an individual’s firearm if the officer deems that person too dangerous to possess it. The officer’s justifications may conflict with the federal courts’ understanding of Bruen or the Second Amendment—perhaps flagrantly. But unless a previous, authoritative legal decision examining near-identical facts says so, the officer risks no liability. And because each individual act of disarmament will be unique, such prior decisions will be vanishingly rare. The result is a surprisingly free hand for states to determine who should and should not be armed, even in contravention of the Supreme Court’s dictates.

Guha Krishnamurthi
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
Peter Salib
University of Houston Law Center
Qualified Immunity as Gun Control
July 5, 2023

This looks to me like a conspiracy to violate rights and perhaps other crimes by Krishnamurthi and Salib. Can’t they be satisfied with the current violations of the constitution?

If violating the constitution, and openly admitting they know it is unconstitutional, becomes pervasive I could see the response become correspondingly unlawful.

No Correlation

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

Illinois, with its restrictive gun laws and comparatively low gun ownership of 22 percent, had 414 mass shootings and a per capita rate of 3.6 mass shootings per million people.

Washington, D.C., despite not being a state, was included in the study and the researchers were shocked to find that the district had the highest rate of mass shootings per capita at 10.4 shootings for every one million people. This is despite the fact that the country’s capital has some of the strongest gun control laws in the nation.

For states, Louisiana had the highest rate of mass shootings per capita at 4.3 shootings per million people – less than half the per capita rate in Washington, D.C. despite the lax gun laws and 52 percent gun ownership.

Hawaii and North Dakota had zero mass shootings from 2014 to 2022. They are followed by New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming, which all had one each, Idaho with two and Maine with three.

Arsenio Toledo
July 28, 2023
Study proves there is NO CORRELATION between gun control laws and mass shootings

I’ve been saying, essentially, the same thing for almost 20 years. That the politicians don’t care about the facts should be used as evidence at their trials.

Another Way to Enjoy Your Trial

Posted on by

Alan Korwin proposed a new law:

The U.S. Constitution, for all its strengths, revered and imitated worldwide, has a fatal flaw. A weakness of Greek-tragedy proportions. The Constitution lacks punishment for those who would violate its terms. Yes, there are avenues of recourse, but these have been neutered and rendered feckless in so many ways.

…

What America needs, what our Republic and Constitution need, is strict adherence to a policy of, “No infringement shall be tolerated.” Small encroachments—like licenses to carry arms or speech codes—must subject people proposing such violations to penalties. Gross infringements like, “We’re going to take away your favorite rifle—and of course we’ll keep ours,” require prison terms. Stiff penalties.

I’m not sure why 18 USC 242 doesn’t cover what his has in mind. Regardless, if there were a means of reliable prosecution I believe the concept is sound.

Biden Spent Billions to Prosecute 31 People

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

It’s already saving lives. There are fewer deaths occurring,

Joe Biden
President Unite States of America
June 16, 2023
The US passed a landmark gun deal one year ago. Is it working?

Really? How does he know? The FBI crime numbers cannot be trusted.

And from the same article:

The event comes as available data suggests the U.S. is seeing a year-over-year decline in murders nationwide. At the same time, mass shootings appear to be accelerating.

And the numbers they do claim are very telling:

At least 31 people have been charged in 17 cases under new federal straw purchasing and trafficking criminal offenses, data from federal prosecutors through April shows.

31?!!! And strawman purchases were already illegal. Out of probably 15 to 20 million sales they charged 31 people under, what they claim, is a new law. And they think this is success?

Denials stemming from enhanced background checks for people under 21 blocked more than 130 firearm purchases between November and April, Peter Carr, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, previously told USA TODAY.

How many of those 130 blocked purchases resulted in an increase in public safety? And how many of those block purchases resulted in a decrease in public safety?

And at what cost?

It created a $750 million funding pot to incentivize states to create “red flag laws,” closed the “boyfriend loophole” by adding convicted domestic violence abusers in dating relationships to the national criminal background check system, clarified the definition of a “federally licensed firearm dealer,” made it a federal crime to traffic in firearms, stiffened penalties for “straw purchases” made on behalf of people who aren’t allowed to own guns and enhanced background checks for buyers under 21.

The law also appropriated billions in funding for schools and mental health services. That includes $150 million for a national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, $250 million for states and territories to enhance community mental health services, $500 million to increase the number of school-based mental health providers and $500 million to train school counselors, social workers and psychologists. It also set aside $250 million in funding for community-based violence prevention initiatives.

Billions were spent to prosecute 31 people and block sales to 130 people who, almost for certain, were not a threat to anyone.

And this is even with them playing their game by their rules instead of based on whether what they are doing is a violation of the Second Amendment, which it is.

They lie, they deceive, and they ignore the specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.

I hope they enjoy their trials.

It is What Communists Do

Posted on by

The political left will not and cannot tolerate dissent. Read The Gulag Archipelago for just one of millions of horror stories demonstrating this. The Second Amendment Foundation Second Amendment Foundation and its founder have been a victim of this and are fighting back:

According to the complaint, “Over the last two years, the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office (“CPD”) has carried out an expansive, highly intrusive probe into the private affairs of SAF, CCRKBA, CDFE, SBA, LPP, MMM, Mr. Gottlieb, and his family. It has served Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”) on each of the plaintiffs, including two on Mr. Gottlieb, citing the same consumer protection laws Mr. Ferguson was recently found to have abused.” The complaint refers to a recent Washington Supreme Court ruling which “held unanimously that Mr. Ferguson’s office improperly used Washington Consumer Protection and Charitable Solicitations Acts to suppress constitutionally protected speech with which he disagreed.”

This is the complaint filed in court.

I hope Mr. Ferguson enjoys his trial and those to come.

First and Second Amendment Violation

Posted on by

They are getting more and more blatant and need to be slapped down:

Jurors found an Orange Park business owner guilty on all counts in a federal trial about marketing thousands of illegal machine-gun conversion devices through a web-based company advertising on YouTube.

A Wisconsin gun dealer whose gun-centered YouTube channel has 180,000 subscribers was convicted of conspiracy with Auto Key Card owner Kristopher “Justin” Ervin as well as four counts of transferring the unregistered devices.

…

Ervin sold card-shaped strips of stainless steel etched with patterns for equipment colloquially called a “lightning link” that can convert a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle into a fully automatic machine gun that fires round upon round from a single trigger-pull.

Although a buyer would have to follow the etched lines with a cutting tool, prosecutors argued the cards qualified as conversion devices, which the federal government treats like machine guns that have to be registered and regulated under the National Firearms Act of 1934.

The YouTube guy was convicted of accepting advertising from the maker of the credit card shaped piece of metal with an outline of the shapes for “lightening links”. They looked like these:

image

Why isn’t this a violation of both the First and Second Amendments? Why isn’t the prosecuting team being disbarred and prosecuted for violation of civil rights?

Open Season

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

By removing the deterrent factor, and making it impossible for people to fight back if attacked in a public place, the City of New York and lawmakers in Albany have essentially given the green light to thugs for this kind of behavior. When you make it impossible for people to defend themselves, and then publicize it, you may as well declare an open season, especially against those most vulnerable to attack.

Alan Gottlieb
CCRKBA Chairman
April 17, 2023
CCRKBA CONDEMNS VIOLENT TIMES SQUARE ATTACK ON GAY COUPLE

This is not new information. This is well known. It applies to attacks on individuals. It applies to mass murders. It applies to everything in between.

It is long past time to prosecute those who create these environments..

Washington State Criminals Ban Firearms in Common Use

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

One or more lawsuits challenging this legislation will almost certainly be filed within days, if not hours, of Gov. Jay Inslee’s signing. Ultimately, we expect this law to be nullified by the courts as a violation of the Second Amendment and Washington State’s constitution. In the meantime, of course, Evergreen State gun owners will continue to be treated like second-class citizens by the self-righteous zealots behind the ban, while the criminal element will remain undeterred and unencumbered.

Alan Gottlieb
CCRKBA Chairman
April 9, 2023
CCRKBA: ‘WASHINGTON LEGISLATURE PUTS POLITICS OVER CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS’

These criminals view the State and Federal constitutional guarantees of certain rights and SCOTUS decisions as bugs, not features.

Prepare and respond appropriately.

Domestic Terrorists

Posted on by

From Washington Attorney General, Bob Ferguson’s 2022 Domestic Terrorism Study:

A note on terminology: “domestic terrorism” (DT) is an undefined term in the Revised Code of Washington, but is defined in the U.S. Code as “activities that (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.”

It appears that the emphasized portions of the text above are satisfied by politicians and/or law enforcement who create and/or enforce gun control laws in violation of the 2nd Amendment.

Domestic terrorists. Yeah. That sounds right to me.

I look forward to their trials.

The Way to Think About It

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

This is a security system set up in such a way as not to inconvenience gun buyers and sellers. There is no other security system that I’m aware of that is set up in this way.  Think of it: the TSA was set up to prevent another 9/11. But the nature of that job requires putting people at some inconvenience.

David Chipman
March 5, 2023
FBI gun seizure orders from people who fail background checks hit historic rates

How about we think of it this way, if someone is too dangerous to be allowed possession of a gun or to board a plane, why are they allowed to be unescorted while in public spaces?

Or another way, why hasn’t Chipman been prosecuted yet?