I recently received this. It was paid for by my employer:
I already knew something about most of the material covered. But it was nice to get a refresh and some additional information.
I keep thinking I should be able to apply this skill set to our advantage in the gun rights domain. I’ve even discussed it with people who work full time in the gun rights community. No good application is apparent to us.
Perhaps I just haven’t been looking at the issue from the correct angle. Thoughts?
A historian 50 years from now, if historians are allowed to write in this country and if there are still free publishing houses and a free press, which I’m not certain of. But if that is true, a historian will say, what was at stake tonight and this week was the fact whether we will be a democracy in the future, whether our children will be arrested and conceivably killed. We’re on the edge of a brutal authoritarian system, and it could be a week away.
Michael Beschloss
Presidential historian
November 3, 2022
NBC historian warns of a future where ‘our children will be arrested and conceivably killed’ if GOP wins
[Interesting…
Is this the same GOP which (sometimes) wants to:
It would appear one or more of the following is true about Mr. Beschloss:
I considered adding “extreme hyperbola” to make a point, but multiplying realty by 10, 100, or 1,000 times only results in a larger vector pointing in the wrong direction from what he claims.
This is the kind of rhetoric used to justify mass killings and even genocide.
The election is only four days away. Prepare and respond appropriately.—Joe]
Sexual and psychological insecurities don’t account for ALL men against guns. Certainly there must be some whose motives are pure, who perhaps do care so much as to tirelessly look for policy solutions to teenage void and aggressiveness, and to parent and teacher negligence. But for a potentially large underlying contributor, psycho-sexual inadequacy has gone unexplored and unacknowledged. It’s one thing to not be comfortable with a firearm and therefore opt to not keep or bear one. But it’s another to impose the same handicap onto others.
People are suspicious of what they do not know-and not only does this man not know how to use a gun, he doesn’t know the men who do, or the number of people who have successfully used one to defend themselves from injury or death. But he is better left in the dark; his life is hard enough knowing there are men out there who don’t sit cross-legged. That they’re able to handle a firearm instead of being handled by it would be too much to bear.
Such a man is also best kept huddled in urban centers, where he feels safer than he might if thrown out on his own into a rural setting, in an isolated house on a quiet street where he would feel naked and helpless. Lacking the confidence that would permit him to be sequestered in sparseness, and lacking a gun, he finds comfort in the cloister of crowds.
Julia Gorin
March 8, 2002
The anti-gun male
[Via Don in a comment to Quote of the day—Glenn Harlan Reynolds.
It turns out I have quoted from this article before. Read the whole thing.—Joe]
The theft of “thousands of firearms, firearm parts, and ammunition” from the federal body tasked with enforcing firearms regulations on the private sector is just further evidence that the ATF has no good excuse for existing. Like so many other government agencies, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives should be abolished, and its employees sent into the world to seek honest jobs in the private sector, if anybody will have them.
J.D. Tuccille
October 31, 2022
ATF, Enforcer of Gun Laws, Lost ‘Thousands of Firearms, Firearm Parts’ to Thieves
[I’ve met some inspectors that seem capable of honest work and could probably find a job in the private sector. I say, give them a shot at productive work which benefits society.
Those obviously hostile to the exercise of the specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms? I hope they enjoy their trials.—Joe]
The practice of marketing weaponry designed to inflict mass casualties in combat toward our own people must end if the nation is ever going to end this cycle of repetitive mass murders. There is no legitimate basis for the civilian version of the MCX-SPEAR, marketing JR-15s “to Wee 1s,” or facilitating arms industry profiteering by obliterating the line between military weapons and those appropriate for the legitimate use by civilians.
Thomas Coffin
October 20, 2022
This new military-grade rifle should not be owned by civilians. So why is it being sold?
[Assuming the opinion piece is sincere… Mr. Coffin, SCOTUS disagrees with you. Thanks for the tip.
Reading between the lines a little bit… Starting with the author’s name, the article is a little odd. It’s as if this was actually a stealth marketing gimmick for the new rifle and The San Diego Union-Tribune fell for the fake opinion piece.—Joe]
The right to carry is here, and it’s here to stay, and everybody’s got to get used to that. This angry fist-shaking by various states like New York and New Jersey is going to blow up in their faces. They can pretend that Bruen doesn’t say what it says, but it’s only going to come back to bite them.
Scott Bach
October 25, 2022
New York court rulings against gun law may signal trouble for similar New Jersey bill
[I suspect the “bite” will be in the form of being held in contempt of court. But I fantasize about their criminal prosecution and compensation of their victims.—Joe]
We have the strictest gun laws in the country, and this is yet another clear example of the Democrats’ open hostility to the Second Amendment and the Constitution as a whole. Protecting public safety also includes protecting the individual right to self-defense, yet Democrats take every opportunity to prevent people from protecting themselves. … Criminals are the problem, not law-abiding citizens who have rights.
Ed Durr
New Jersey State Senator
October 13, 2022
New Jersey poised to enact ‘nation’s strongest’ gun law after Supreme Court ruling
[Durr certainly knows this but doesn’t want to say it out loud. New Jersey Democrats recognize citizens have rights and are deliberately attempting to eliminate the exercise of those rights. They ultimately want to eliminate the memory of them. To them, Nineteen Eighty Four is a how-to book.—Joe]
New Jersey’s top lawmakers unveiled sweeping gun legislation Thursday that would significantly restrict when and where guns can be carried outside of the home, a bill they touted as “the nation’s strongest measure concerning concealed carry.”
The bill would, among other things, require people wanting to carry guns in public to purchase liability insurance — the first statewide mandate of its kind in the nation should the bill become law — and banning guns from being carried in 25 broad categories, including but not limited to government buildings, health care facilities, airports, casinos and private properties where the owners have not given express permission to have guns. Violations would be deemed a third-degree crime.
Daniel Han
October 13, 2022
New Jersey poised to enact ‘nation’s strongest’ gun law after Supreme Court ruling
[Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs (and perhaps others) will probably challenge the law:
“These attacks by New Jersey lawmakers on right to carry are a big middle finger to the U.S Supreme Court,” Scott Bach, the group’s executive director, said in a statement. “We look forward to overturning these measures in court and forcing the state to pay our legal fees.”
I expect the defiance will only change form until the politicians are slapped with contempt of court consequences which affect them personally and significantly or they are prosecuted. I look forward to their trials and convictions.—Joe]
Gun ads are just guns ads, guns are just guns, it’s the shooter who decides how to use them. Remington is not at fault for the actions of Adam Lanza. His own mother isn’t at fault for what her kid did. Lanza was freak, he could have gone to a gas station, buy gasoline, and set that school on fire. He could have learned to make bombs with common household products. He could have used a knife. No gun control in the world stops a mass shooter, only a good guy with a gun can do that, and at Sandy Hook, good guys were disarmed and vulnerable.
Bev Fitchet
October 17, 2022
Gun Control Groups: Gun Ads Kill People
[As pointed out in the article the murderer did not buy the gun used at Sandy Hook after being inspired by a gun ad. How do we know this for certain? Because he didn’t buy any guns. He murdered his own mother and stole her gun. So, even if we ignore the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, how is it the plaintiffs can get any traction with this line of attack on our rights?
I’m reminded of the Brady Act passage. Jim Brady (President Reagan and a SS agent) were all shot by John Hinckley. The anti-gun groups pushed the Brady Act (“instant” background checks) through based on this high profile crime. Never mind that Hinckley would have passed a background when he purchased his gun. They used deception to create a law which has zero benefit to society.
The facts do not matter to these people. Lies and deception have been an integral part of their culture since, at least, the mid 1980s. They are self-identifying as evil.
Prepare and respond appropriately.—Joe]
For the year 2020
Population of Philadelphia: 1.6 million
Population of Pennsylvania: 13 million
Homicides in Philadelphia: 499
Homicides in Pennsylvania: 1,009
When gun laws are the same throughout the state, and your city accounts for 12% of the state population but nearly half of all homicides in the state, the problem isn’t guns.
AndyN
October 1, 2022
Comment to Quote of the day—Jim Kenney
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Firearms with no serial number are just as “bearable” as the same firearm with a serial number, and there is no “common use” issue here as the presence or lack of a serial number makes no difference with respect to whether the type of weapon is commonly used. Finally, I can find no authority for the idea that a firearm without a serial number would meet the historical definition of a dangerous or unusual firearm.
Joseph R. Goodwin
United States District Judge
October 12, 2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. RANDY PRICE
[EXCELLENT!
We don’t require serial numbers on books so why should we have serial numbers on guns? Books and ideas are far more powerful than guns…
Just imagine all the things that could follow from this:
If this happens, even if only for a year or two, it will make mass confiscation far more difficult for decades even if the bad guys reclaim political power and crank gun control up to eleven..
I expected this would happen eventually but I did not think it would happen this quickly. It might be a little too much too fast for political acceptance. The political left may be able to get some traction in the upcoming elections off of this sort of thing. The danger would be packing the court or some such thing if things move too fast.
Is there room on Mount Rushmore for Clarence Thomas? If not, he should be given his own mountain.—Joe]
The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), which I head, hired McLaughlin & Associates to survey 1,000 general election voters from July 21-24, 2022. The survey began by asking people whether they supported red flag laws. It then informed respondents that there are no hearings before an individual’s guns are taken away, and that there are no mental health care experts involved in the process.
People initially answered by a two-to-one margin that they support red flag laws (58% to 29%), with the strongest support coming from Democrats, the wealthy, blacks and Hispanics, and people aged 18-29.
However, after being told that there are no court proceedings before an individual’s guns are taken away, and that there are no mental health care experts involved in the process, support changed to opposition (29% to 47%). Strong support plummeted from 34% to 14% and strong opposition rose from 18% to 29%.
John R. Lott Jr.
October 5, 2022
Media Spin on Gun Control Doesn’t Match Voters’ Opinions
[Lies and deception are the only way they can win. And they know that. It is part of their culture. Don’t let them get away with it. Use it as evidence at their trials.—Joe]
The mainstream media is taking notice (the Wall Street Journal):
Judges Across U.S. Expand Gun Rights, Taking Cues From Supreme Court — Courts are placing more emphasis on historical traditions, presenting new challenges for defending gun regulations
The Supreme Court’s decision this year to strengthen Second Amendment protections for carrying concealed weapons is starting to ripple through lower courts, with several judges citing the ruling to strike down other gun regulations.
This is just the first step to cementing our gains. The gun culture needs to expand into the new territory. Fortunately, the political left has cleared a lot of obstacles for us. The whole “defund the police” movement helped the BLM and Antifa riots open a lot of eyes. This made gun ownership seem like “a good idea” to many and a near requirement to others. We need to welcome them and enable them to safely and responsibly exercise their specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms. If we can do this with 60% or 70% of the population, we will have a good chance of being able to breathe easy for a generation or two.
There’s a very strong sentiment in this county that the governor has just thumbed her nose at the Supreme Court, in what’s being touted as an unconstitutional conniption fit, She’s absolutely overstepped.
Robert Milby
Sheriff of Wayne County New York
October 9, 2022
Another Challenge to New York’s Gun Law: Sheriffs Who Won’t Enforce It
[The courts are telling New York City politicians (I consider the governor as being in this category) the law is unconstitutional and many in law enforcement openly say they will not enforce the law. That’s really going to put the hurt on the anti-gun movement.
If they keep it up we may yet get to enjoy their trials.—Joe]
She didn’t say she wanted to ban and take away your tiny flaccid penis, you know. Damn.
Ketchup dripping down the wall + Pink Lemonade @PinkLemonadePie
Tweeted on July 6, 2022
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!
I wish I knew a research psychologist I could get to study the minds of anti-gun people. I wonder if they could figure out why there is just a high correlation between their obsession with penis size and the advocating of restrictions on civil rights.—Joe]
This past summer, the Supreme Court radically refashioned the Second Amendment. Blue states like New York scrambled to enact new gun safety laws to deal with the decision. Those measures are already falling like dominoes.
Jake Charles
October 7, 2022
The Supreme Court’s Big Second Amendment Decision Is Wreaking Havoc on Gun Safety Laws
[He says that like it is a bad thing. He can’t seem to understand that his naïve preferences for government power to violate the inalienable rights of the people don’t override the U.S. Constitution protections of those rights. Prejudice is such an ugly thing.
He lost all credibility when he refers to gun control laws as “gun safety laws”. It goes down from there.
I’ll sleep better tonight knowing he and his ilk are losing.—Joe]
If gun-control advocates were honest, they’d look at these facts—and all the data behind what actually makes Americans safer—and demand that armed criminals be prosecuted. They would, in sum, get on the law-and-order bandwagon in what must be a law-and-order election.
But they can’t, as control is what they’re really after.
Frank Miniter
September 21, 2022
This Is Not A Culture War
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
New York’s most recent infringement upon gun owner rights just got kneecapped:
A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked parts of the state’s revised concealed-carry gun law on Thursday, finding that it is too strict and should not have barred weapons from being carried in areas such as public playgrounds and health care facilities.
…
A group of gun owners filed suit in federal court in Syracuse, charging the new law violated their Second Amendment rights. In his ruling Thursday, Suddaby agreed some of its restrictions are unconstitutional.
“Simply stated, instead of moving toward becoming a shall-issue jurisdiction, New York State has further entrenched itself as a shall-not-issue jurisdiction. And, by doing so, it has further reduced a first-class constitutional right to bear arms in public for self defense … into a mere request,” Suddaby wrote.
I look forward to the day judges get fed up with the defiance and start levying fines of $100K/day to be paid to the plaintiffs for contempt of court while the politicians are being prosecuted.
We all deserve to live in safe communities, but denying ownership of the most commonly owned firearms in the country is not the way to achieve it.
Holly Sullivan
President of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League
September 30, 2022
Gun owners, rights groups challenge Connecticut firearms ban
[This is just one of several challenges to the bans of “assault weapons”.
I wish them well.—Joe]
Come and take it.
Texas GOP @TexasGOP
Tweeted on September 24, 2022
[This was in response to this:
It’s time we ban assault weapons in this country.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 24, 2022
Considering Texas history this is particularly appropriate.
We’ll probably never get to find out if Texas will stand by those words because I don’t think President Biden has the political power to ban any guns that common.—Joe]