Category Archives: Gun Rights

Gas Tax Loophole

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You may have heard Washington state has the highest gas prices in the nation. A huge contribution to this is the state gas tax.

As I frequently drive to and from Idaho this is rather painful. However, I have found a loophole. The difference in the price of gasoline in Idaho versus the Seattle area is so great than I can buy ethanol free gasoline in Idaho for approximately the same price as I can purchase the 10% ethanol blended unleaded in Bellevue.

Ethanol free gasoline gives my car a noticeable boost in gas mileage. On my last return trip from Idaho I was able to demonstrate that I can fill up in Moscow, just over the border from Washington, and, driving at or under the speed limit, I make it back to Bellevue on a half tank of fuel.

That means that if I bring back a five or six gallon can of ethanol free gas I can drive around town a little and still make it all the way back to Idaho without giving the commie Washington state government a single penny of gasoline tax.

Oh, and I can buy all the standard capacity magazines and guns I want in Idaho while I’m there too. All 100% legal*.

*I am legally required to leave any such newly purchased items in Idaho until the courts overturn the illegal gun laws in Washington. But that is what the armory in my underground bunker is for.

Don’t Bring a Pitchfork to a Sword Fight

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Via email from pkoning:

71-year-old homeowner’s gun jams when confronting alleged burglar armed with a pitchfork, so he draws his sword: ‘He just saw red’

A 71-year-old man and his 61-year-old wife returned to their home in Seattle’s North Beacon Hill neighborhood around 1:30 p.m. Sunday to find the place in disarray. The kitchen window was shattered. Various items were out of order. The homeowner ventured farther inside to find the culprit lurking in his living room, wielding a pitchfork.

…

The suspect followed the homeowner into the bedroom and wrestled him for control of the gun. Despite the alleged burglar’s best efforts, the homeowner managed to break free long enough to draw down on him. He aimed true and pulled the trigger, but the suspect was left still standing. The gun had jammed.

Since lead didn’t work, the homeowner opted for steel.

Police indicated that after his firearm failed him, the 71-year-old drew his samurai sword and skewered the suspect.

I would prefer backup guns to back up swords. That’s the good thing about the Second Amendment. It guarantees you can have either or both if you want.

They Have to Lie to Win

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Quote of the Day

The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether to review a lower court ruling that struck down a law prohibiting domestic abusers from possessing guns. Speaking as someone who has represented families of women and children killed by domestic abusers with guns, the potential danger of this decision is hard to overstate. But under recent Supreme Court Second Amendment precedent, that danger is treated as virtually irrelevant.

How did we get here? Doesn’t the right of a child to live outweigh the right to own a Glock or an AR-15? In most of the world, yes. But in today’s America, probably not.

Jonathan Lowy
June 28, 2023
Hey, SCOTUS — the right to life trumps the right to own a gun

Hey Jonathan – the 2nd Amendment IS the balance between private gun ownership and public safety. SCOTUS has repeatedly said this. This is the age of the Internet. People can find and start read SCOTUS decisions with only a few seconds of effort. Nearly every sentence in your screed is an easily disprovable lie or is deliberately misleading. So stop the lying. You are just demonstrating your evil intent.

But, of course, if they were to stop lying they would have no hope of winning. It is their only hope.

AR-15 in Lawful Hands Brings Down Mass Shooter

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Intense:

Via a Tweet from Chuck Petras @Chuck_Petras.

See also:

Ignoring the Obvious

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Aside from the willful misrepresentation of the scope of the problem, the creation of a new phrase “gun anxiety” they are ignoring the obvious:

Gun anxiety is making these parents reconsider school, family outings and more: ‘What we’ve seen is that it can happen and does happen anywhere’

Where would I hide or how would I get out?” These are the questions that Tess thinks about constantly, especially when she goes places with her two young daughters. She doesn’t like to take her kids into any big box stores because it feels too risky. There’s always the chance someone could walk in with a gun and start shooting, turning her mundane family errand into another tragic national headline with deadly consequences.

Many parents can relate to Tess’s anxiety over the increased levels of gun violence in the United States. There have already been more than 325 mass shootings this year according to The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit group that uses police reports, news coverage and other public sources to provide near-real time data about gun violence in the United States. Data from the Centers for Disease and Prevention also names firearms as the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens, while research has found that the risk of gun violence is significantly higher for Black and Hispanic children.

First the willful misrepresentation.

The National Institute of Justice has studied mass shootings. The database they use reports five mass shootings this year. NOT over 300 hundred.

The obvious and ignored solutions are:

  1. Use the best defense against a murderer with a gun. A trusted adult with their own gun.
  2. If you are suffering from “gun anxiety” to the point of thinking about mass shootings constantly and are afraid to take your children into large stores over something that happens less than ten times per year in the entire country then get some counseling.

It is Clearly About Control

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Quote of the Day

Like other wars that feckless American “elites” have waged against inanimate objects (such as drugs) or military tactics (like terrorism), the war on guns will completely miss the mark.

The goal is supposedly about public safety.

Yet, of the roughly 81 million registered gun owners in the United States, hardly any of them—around 12 percent—have used their firearms to commit crimes. The vast majority of gun crime in America is done with illicit firearms, usually perpetrated by criminals.

So why is the Biden Administration intent on trying to make lawful gun ownership so hard? It isn’t about public safety at all.

In fact, it is clearly about control.

Brandon Weichert
June 17, 2023
Joe Biden’s War on Guns Misses the Target

“Registered gun owners”? I believe he is assuming facts not in evidence. His citation does not support his claim.

But that is nitpicking. His conclusion is sound.

CFP/CHL/CWP/ECWL/CPL Renewal

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As I reported four years ago I have a license to carry concealed from Oregon. It was expiring 6/24/2023 so last Monday I drove the six and half hours to John Day Oregon, spent the night in a motel, and went on to the sheriff’s office in Canyon City to renew it. I then drove another six hours to Idaho.
I arrived 15 minutes early for my 9:00 AM appointment, but they allowed me in early and processed my renewal. They took my picture, they gave my new license, I signed the back of the permit, and I was out the door by 9:01.
Friday night, when I arrived back in Bellevue, my renewed Utah license was waiting for me. I spread my set of licenses on the counter and observed none on them call the license for the same privilege the same thing:

Utah: Concealed Firearm Permit
Oregon: Concealed Handgun License
Arizona: Concealed Weapons Permit
Idaho: Enhanced Concealed Weapons License
Washington: Concealed Pistol License
Okay, whatever. None of them are constitutional under Bruen. But It’s the price I pay to avoid getting in trouble until we have constitutional carry everywhere.
As I pondered the set, I wondered in which states I had coverage and did I still need all the licenses to get maximum coverage. It turns out that I could get the same coverage with Washington, Idaho (enhanced), and Oregon.
I’ll keep that in mind the next time the Utah or Arizona licenses come up for renewal. Things change, and it is a lot easier to renew than to apply for a new license if I need that license for coverage in some other state.
My collection and Constitutional Carry in many states gives me coverage in the following 37 states:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
In a few days Florida will allow concealed carry without a license. That would make 38 states available for my legal carry of a concealed firearm. (Does not apply to non-residents.) If I changed my residence to Idaho (I wish!). I would have coverage in Colorado with my Idaho license. Of course, I may need to leave my 18-round magazines behind and replace them with 10 round magazines if things go badly in Oregon. Delaware and Vermont also require I modify my standard carry capacity.

Politicians and Political Power

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Quote of the Day

President Trump once joked that he could shoot someone “in the middle of Fifth Avenue” and he wouldn’t lose any voters. Hunter Biden could actually do it, high on cocaine, bare-assed naked and surrounded by U.S. Attorneys and plenty of hookers and he wouldn’t spend a day in jail.

There is no justice at the Department of Justice anymore. There is one set of rules for the Bidens and their ilk, and another for us lowly non-Bidens.

Lee Williams
June 20, 2023
Hunter Biden gets a pass from his dad’s war on guns

Anymore? We also saw this with Hillary Clinton and her disregard for the handling of classified information. And the gun running with operation Fast and Furious.

The list is probably endless both in time and space as far back as the existence of the first justice system within non-humans. This doesn’t mean that it should be ignored. It just means there will always be justification for reducing the number of politicians and political power.

In the present day and on the current topic it means more people will disrespect and disobey the law and feel totally justified. This increases the “friction” and “tension” in multiple ways including economic, political, and sense of justice.

See also CCRKBA: HUNTER BIDEN GUN CHARGE DEAL AN OUTRAGE, INSULT.

Avoid the Mess

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Quote of the Day

I’ve seen some pretty tough enemies before in my life, and I’m not scared of the gun lobby.

Wes Moore
Maryland Governor
June 18, 2023
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says he’s ‘not scared of the gun lobby’ after the NRA sued him over the state’s new gun-control law

This is the problem. They have nothing to lose from infringing upon the rights of millions of people. This is why 18 USC 241 and 242 exist. These laws put some bite into the denial of civil rights. But, of course, since the infringers are essentially the enforcers of the laws, they can safely ignore them.

I don’t think they are looking far enough into the future. At some point people will “vote from the rooftops” and things get very messy. It would be far better for the laws to be enforced and we could all avoid the mess.

Ever-Present Tool of Self-Defense

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Quote of the Day

Firearms “are an ever-present tool of terror.” We know that they’re used to intimidate. They’re used to coerce. They’re used to threaten people … and even when the gun isn’t being actively used or threatened, it is there and the victim knows it can be used or threatened, and so that leads to increased stress and increased terror over and above what is present in a relationship with domestic violence that doesn’t involve guns.

April Zeoli, Ph.D.
Associate professor and the policy core director for the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention at the University of Michigan
June 6, 2023
“Mass killers practice at home”: How domestic violence and mass shootings are linked

And completely overlooked in the article is that firearms are an ever-present tool of self-defense and that possession is a specific enumerated right.

Biden Spent Billions to Prosecute 31 People

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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.

The Most Basic Gun Safety Law

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Quote of the Day

I’d like them to define “basic gun safety laws”.

Meanwhile, let’s note (again) that their rankings for gun laws does _not_ correlate with lower homicide rates … not even lower gun homicide rates.

Gun Facts @gunfacts
Tweeted on June 11, 2023

EverytownGunLawRankings

Nice graphic and explanation. But they are legally irrelevant. There is no gun law more basic than the Second Amendment.

This is Not Bad Faith

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Quote of the Day

In fairness, some ghost guns are also produced by the criminal element. And it’s also true that these firearms have become increasingly popular amongst prohibited possessors. But in a country that has largely traded any real concern for order, public safety, or property rights for legalized shoplifting, mass encampments of homeless drug addicts, and civil rights patronage schemes, one must remember that our government is simply acting in bad faith when it comes to gun laws like 05F.

If it were important to the government to stop gun crime, they would focus their efforts on St. Louis or Baltimore. But it’s not important to the government to stop these crimes, it’s important to the federal government to stop you from being able to defend yourself from them.

Lee Enphield
June 9, 2023
Ghost Guns Come Back to Haunt the Biden ATF

It is far beyond bad faith. They enable crime and then insist the victims not be allowed to defend themselves from the criminals. This is evil.

There is a solution to evil. The G0: 0% PISTOL.

Dunning–Kruger Effect on Display

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Quote of the Day

I think the time and energy it would take to ratify a 28th Amendment could be put to better use.

Instead of taking decades to secure approval of two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states, I believe a gun summit at Camp David — with gun-rights advocates, law enforcement and survivors — could hammer out new, commonsense gun safety measures in a matter of days.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach
June 12, 2023
Letters to the Editor: We need an answer on gun violence now, not Newsom’s 28th Amendment

I find it amazing how ignorant some people are and yet think they know the situation better than the people directly involved.

Alberta to Vote on Joining the U.S.

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Quote of the Day

Many conservatives who live in Alberta, Canada, have had a gutful of what they say is their government’s heavy-handed policies and are backing an effort to secede.

They want to carve out a new border and become the 51st of the United States of America.

…

A vote on the referendum in Alberta is set for June 30.

John Thompson
June 10, 2023
Canadian Conservatives Have Had Enough: Alberta To Vote On Becoming 51st US State

The referendum is unlikely to pass. But if they reach the point where secession is viable I think the U.S. should give it serious consideration.

Defiance

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ATF Says a Quarter Million Guns Registered Under Pistol-Brace Ban

The ATF told The Reload on Friday it has received just over a quarter million applications to register pistol-brace-equipped firearms. Registering the affected guns was one path toward avoiding possible criminal punishment for possessing the guns under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) after the agency implemented a rule reclassifying the firearms as subject to NFA restrictions. The ATF waived the tax requirement for registration to encourage owners to comply before the deadline.

“The final rule provided possessors of such firearms the option to comply with the registration requirements of the National Firearms Act through a tax-free process using either the ATF eForms System or a paper application process with a deadline for such applications of 11:59 PM (ET) on May 31, 2023,” Erik Longnecker, Deputy Chief of the ATF’s Public Affairs Division, told The Reload. “As of June 1, 2023, ATF received 255,162 applications for tax-free registration.”

That number represents just a fraction of the braced guns believed to have been sold in the decade since the ATF first classified a version as outside the scope of the NFA. In the impact assessment for the rule, the ATF estimated that three to seven million devices exist. However, the Congressional Research Service puts the number much higher at somewhere between 10 and 40 million.

That puts the registration rate for pistol-brace-equipped guns at between 0.6 percent and eight percent.

I’m surprised it is this high. The compliance rate for “assault weapon” bans and registrations is in the two to five percent range. And the pistol brace issues is just as bogus and without a serial number on the brace it is much more difficult to track down those who don’t comply.

Had people been able to wait until the court case they could have avoided registration and/or loss of their brace by joining SAF and/or FPC (see here).

Declare Gun Owners Terrorists and Send Them to Gitmo

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Quote of the Day

Should the government declare gun owners as terrorists and send them to Gitmo so that way guns can be banned without violating the Second Amendment?

Braydon Page
Question added on May 5, 2023

Trolls can be entertaining. But sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between those entertaining themselves and people who are completely serious.

Orwellian Freedom

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Quote of the Day

I’m proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to help end our nation’s gun violence crisis.

The American people are sick of Congress’ inaction.

The 28th will enshrine 4 widely supported gun safety freedoms — while leaving the 2nd Amendment intact:

1) Raising the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21

2) Universal background checks

3) A reasonable waiting period for gun purchases

4) Banning the civilian purchase of assault weapons

Gavin Newson @GavinNewson
Tweeted on June 8, 2023

Emphasis added.

“Gun safety freedoms”? This is classic Democrat Orwellian speak. It ranks right up there when Democrats demanded freedom — to own slaves. And it deserves the same amount of respect.

See also what CCRKBA has to say about this.

I hope he enjoys his trial.

No Confusion

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Quote of the Day

For state legislators trying to respond to constituents’ concerns about rising rates of gun violence and mass shootings, this historical test — and the subjective manner in which judges deploy it — makes it difficult to determine which laws are constitutional and which ones are not.

Paul Blumenthal
June 7, 2023
The Supreme Court’s Gun Rights Decision Is Causing Confusion In State Legislatures

The only confusion is in their simple minds. And I have doubt about that. I think a strong case can be made that they know perfectly well what the Second Amendment and SCOTUS say.

It’s very simple. Shall. Not. Be. Infringed.

Only in Hindsight

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Quote of the Day

There used to be a meme in the prepper community to the effect of “How will we know when the SHTF?” How will we know when we are truly in the soup? The best answer I ever heard was from a man I met at Auschwitz in Poland, a man who had survived the hellish nightmare of the Balkan genocide. Couldn’t you tell, I asked him?

“Hindsight,” he said. “You can only tell in hindsight.”

Michael Bane
June 6, 2023
The End of the World as We Know It…and We’re Not Fine

I have nothing to add.