How Are All Those Gun Laws Working Out for You?

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Quote of the Day

More than 100 rounds were fired in a shooting in West Seattle Sunday at approximately 9 p.m., spanning several blocks.

FRANK SUMRALL
March 31, 2025
More than 100 rounds fired in West Seattle shooting

Washington State has some of the most oppressive gun laws in the country. And Seattle keeps trying to make them more oppressive. This is even though the state has a firearms law preemption statute.

And yet, they have a terrible crime problem. In terms of crime, the state is number two in the nation. If the legislature was rational, they would realize they gun laws are not helping. If they were open to reason, they would remove gun laws and make it easier for people to defend themselves. That is, assuming they were attempting to make citizens safer with all the gun restrictions. One must now conclude one of these is incorrect:

  1. The safety of Washington State citizens is the objective of the oppressive gun laws.
  2. The legislature is rational.
  3. The legislature is open to reason.

I’m inclined to believe 1. is incorrect. The data is just so overwhelmingly against it.

The laws are so numerous and burdensome that I don’t even consider buying a new gun in Washington. I can legally purchase in either Idaho or Washington, so I’m just going to give any new gun money to dealers in Idaho.

What Did You Expect?

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Quote of the Day

Be careful friends, the racist homophobes with erectile dysfunction are out in force today.

David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙‍♂️🌈 🔜 #PaxEast @David_Leavitt
Posted on X, May 20, 2024

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

Leavitt started the thread with:

Ban assault rifles not books
Ban assault rifles not voting rights
Ban assault rifles not gay marriage
Ban assault rifles not abortion
Ban assault rifles not TikTok
Ban assault rifles not trans rights
Ban assault rifles not women’s rights
Ban assault rifles not the day after pill

Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you that no one wants to take your guns.

And in yet another example of Markley’s Law he had no choice but demonstrate the best they can do in defense of their beliefs is childish insults. What else could you expect?

A Reasonable Response

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Via UltraMegaMAGAMan 🐿🦝 @J0nWienke.

That seems reasonable.

I’m so glad we can have reasoned discourse with our political opponents.

Hypocrite Wants Your Guns

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Quote of the Day

Cory Booker has never met a gun control law he didn’t like. He has supported all kinds of gun grabbing proposals, the stricter the better. Yet, it is now revealed that Mr. Batts, described as a ‘special assistant’ to Booker, often accompanies him to events.

…

It’s time the senator should understand that what’s good for Cory ought to be good for the entire country. Armed personal protection is a right of the people, not a privilege of political office.

Alan Gottlieb
CCRKBA Chairman
April 1, 2025
ARREST OF ARMED STAFFER SHOWS SEN. CORY BOOKER AN ANTI-GUN HYPOCRITE | Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms

As many people have frequently said, “They don’t want to get rid of all guns. They just want to get rid of our guns.”

I hope he gets a chance to enjoy his trial.

Which Box?

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Quote of the Day

All this leftist blather about protecting “democracy” is self serving nonsense, they care nothing about freedom or the rights of the citizens. And Europistan has absolutely no fear of their citizens or what they might want. In America, they seemed to tread a bit more gently trying lawfare more.

I wonder what the difference could be?

Give me a 2nd….I’ll ponder on it.

Sheila Stokes
April 3, 2025
Killing Freedom To Save “Democracy” | The Zelman Partisans

The ballot box seems to have helped reverse the trend here as well. But I have to wonder if, behind the scenes, the threat of the cartridge box was shoring up the ballot box.

British Government Confirms Malign Intent

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Quote of the Day

The efforts to shut down social media are completely ridiculous and bound to fail, like people imagining in the 17th century during the pamphlet wars that they could somehow de-invent the printing press. It’s just not going to happen. But efforts to do so, government efforts to crack down on social media, just serve to confirm people’s belief that these are people who have the modus operandi of Big Brother, that there is a malign intent there.

David Betz
February 12, 2025
Column on the National Question

Via a comment by Hank Archer.

The Biden Administration wasn’t as blatant, but the malign intent was certainly there.

You Don’t Hate or Distrust Them Enough

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Miranda Devine: New FBI chat logs reveal extraordinary ‘gag order’ senior leadership used to shutdown any Hunter Biden laptop discussion

In another book, “Uncharted,” Ron Klain, a longtime Biden aide, is reported saying that Biden was “out of it” during debate prep and seemed to think he was president of NATO.

A few weeks later, Klain lied to CNN: “The idea that somehow people weren’t transparent about the state of his health and the state of his acuity I think is belied by the fact that the president does events all the time.”

A lot of people lied about Biden — although never quite as much as Biden lied about himself.

Now the media pretend it didn’t really matter, that it’s just a quirk of history to be gossiped about.

Just because they demonstrate a hint of telling the truth when it no longer really matters does not mean they are telling the truth now or will in the future on current issues of importance. They can not be trusted.

Prepare and respond appropriately.

NICS Has Been Weaponized

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Quote of the Day

What you might not expect is an FBI agent receiving a ping that you – yes, you – just successfully bought a gun. And you might be surprised to learn that this agent has been receiving notifications of your purchases for months – or years.

Of course, such a surveillance scheme would be flatly unconstitutional – not to mention a violation of several safeguards already codified in federal law. Yet slowly but surely, the government has been building a record of the private collections of thousands of American citizens, even though federal law expressly prohibits that “any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions” be established.

Of course, even though they are being monitored, these victims remain law-abiding, meaning the government has no probable cause to justify seeking a warrant authorizing such a search in the first place.

Now, Gun Owners of America has discovered that the FBI has been using its Second Amendment surveillance program not only to enforce federal law, but also to help California target owners of newly banned “assault weapons.”

Gun Owners of America
April 1, 2025
FBI Weaponizes Background Checks To Enforce California Gun Ban | ZeroHedge

Ultimately, the NICS checks need to be done away with. They are unconstitutional, and, at best, of no value in enhancing public safety. And a strong case can be made that they are counterproductive to public safety (see also JPFO on GCA68).

Interesting Conclusion

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Quote of the Day

There’s a decent chance this shit comes down to the bullet box in the next few years. Liberals need to get over their aversion to guns and arm up.

T
March 31, 2025
Comment to Albuquerque GOP Headquarters Torched in Early Morning Fire, Feds and Local Authorities Investigate – ABQ RAW

So… The Republication Headquarters is destroyed by an arsonist, and someone in support of the criminal behavior concludes more opponents of Republicans need to “arm up”. That is a little weird. Apparently, they are not a fan of democracy. They are not getting their way via the ballet box and are ready to go to the cartridge box.

That sounds like we have ourselves a suspect in the arson case. And if that doesn’t work out there is the terrorist watch list.

Make Tyranny at Scale Costly

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Quote of the Day

Remember:

A well-armed people make tyranny at scale significantly more costly.

Firearms Policy Coalition @gunpolicy
Posted on X, February 22, 2025

Related (via 🇺🇸2A Renaissance🇺🇸 @2ARenaissance):

Train and Practice for Close Up Tyranny, Far Away Tyranny, and Lots of Tyranny at Boomershoot 2025. Sign up here.

Here is a sample:

From the Target’s Point of View

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Via email from Rolf:

Very cool!

This is from 711 yards away. This is almost exactly the range to the most distant targets at Boomershoot. Of course, at Boomershoot it is not just a PING. The BOOM makes the earth shake.

We don’t have any Boomershoot target point of view videos. That would be very cool to have.

The next Boomershoot is coming up soon on May 2nd -> 4th. Sign up here.

Overwhelmed by Facts and Logic

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Quote of the Day

I get it now. Sorry.

A whole bunch of tiny-dicked guys NEED to compensate by owning big boom sticks. But big boom sticks hurt your delicate little ears. Makes perfect sense now.

Allen Butler @ButlerStuff
Posted on X, May 9, 2024

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

This was in response to Senator Seeks to Remove Suppressors from NFA Regulation – The Truth About Guns. Initially Butler said, “No civilian has any need for a damn silencer!” Then, a few hours later after getting completely ratioed in the responses, he came up with today’s QOTD.

Childish insults. It is what you do when are overwhelmed by facts and logic.

The Three Pillars of Communism

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Quote of the Day

The three Pillars of Communism are lying, stealing, and murdering.

pkoning
March 22, 2025
Comment to Violence is Standard Practice

I have nothing to add.

I Know Her!

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Via U.S. Army Soldier Arrested in AT&T, Verizon Extortions – Krebs on Security:

Allison Nixon, chief research officer at the New York-based cybersecurity firm Unit 221B, helped track down Kiberphant0m’s real life identity. Nixon was among several security researchers who faced harassment and specific threats of violence from Judische and his associates.

“Anonymously extorting the President and VP as a member of the military is a bad idea, but it’s an even worse idea to harass people who specialize in de-anonymizing cybercriminals,” Nixon told KrebsOnSecurity. She said the investigation into Kiberphant0m shows that law enforcement is getting better and faster at going after cybercriminals — especially those who are actually living in the United States.

“Between when we, and an anonymous colleague, found his opsec mistake on November 10th to his last Telegram activity on December 6, law enforcement set the speed record for the fastest turnaround time for an American federal cyber case that I have witnessed in my career,” she said.

Nixon asked to share a message for all the other Kiberphant0ms out there who think they can’t be found and arrested.

“I know that young people involved in cybercrime will read these articles,” Nixon said. “You need to stop doing stupid shit and get a lawyer. Law enforcement wants to put all of you in prison for a long time.”

Nixon used to work for a different company. My employer contracted with her employer. She visited our Seattle area office at least once if not multiple times. I remember sitting across the conference table from her once. I think I may have even made reference here on my blog to some of the things she told us.

I remember being concerned about how open she was with her involvement in putting multiple cyber criminals in jail. Some of them were “selling violence as a service”. I asked her about it. She claimed she was taking appropriate precautions.

I hope she stays safe. She is very bright, a hard worker, and gets results. She has contributed far more than her share of giving bad guys very bad days.

Footnote: You do recognize the reference in her new employer’s name, right?

I Wonder…

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Quote of the Day

March For Our Lives is slashing its employees and appointing a new leader.

The gun-control group announced it would cut ties with 13 of its 16 full-time staffers last week.

Stephen Gutowski
March 27, 2025
National Gun-Control Group Lays Off Most Staff | The Reload

I wonder, do they have a building which would be suitable for an indoor shooting range or at least a gun shop? I think it would be poetic justice.

Real justice would be their prosecution.

Stopping Active Shooters Better than the Police

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Quote of the Day

You’d never know it from watching television, but civilians stop more active shooters than police and do so with fewer mistakes, according to new research from the Crime Prevention Research Center, where I serve as president. In non-gun-free zones, where civilians are legally able to carry guns, concealed carry permit holders stopped 51.5 percent of active shootings, compared to 44.6 percent stopped by police, CPRC found in a deep dive into active shooter scenarios between 2014 and 2023.

Not only do permit holders succeed in stopping active shooters at a higher rate, but law enforcement officers face significantly greater risks when intervening. Our research found police were nearly six times more likely to be killed and 17 percent more likely to be wounded than armed civilians.

…

If we truly care about public safety, we should acknowledge the proven role that responsible gun owners play in stopping violent attacks — rather than avoiding the truth for the sake of an anti-gun agenda.

John R. Lott, Jr.
March 11, 2025
Study: Concealed Carriers Stop Active Shooters Better Than Police

Of course. What else did you expect?

I Hope They Enjoy their Trials

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From Chad Mizelle @ChadMizelle47, Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice:

Today, the Department of Justice announced its first investigation (of many, if need be) into whether States and localities—today, Los Angeles County, California—are engaging in a pattern or practice of depriving ordinary, law-abiding Americans of their Second Amendment rights.

As Justice Thomas has explained, “the Second Amendment warrants the same respect as any other constitutional right.”

Or as the Supreme Court

But many States and localities keep insisting on treating the Second Amendment as a second-class right.

California has been a particularly egregious offender.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has bragged about having the strictest gun control laws in the country.

California Governor Gavin Newsom even called for a “28th Amendment” to restrict Second Amendment rights after recent pro-Second Amendment decisions from the Supreme Court.

To make things worse, many California localities appear to be imposing additional burdens beyond those required by state law, including by imposing expensive fees and lengthy wait times for concealed handgun licenses.

THIS MUST END. Today, the Civil Rights Division announced an investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to determine whether it is engaging in a pattern or practice of infringing Second Amendment rights.

There is more, but you get the drift. Newsom’s own tweets were quoted, and I presume will be used at his trial.

I believe I have been pushing for this longer than anyone. I first read the law back in the early 2000s and talked to other gun owners about it. No one could imagine it happening. And nothing did happen.

There was a time when blacks in the deep south believed there would never be prosecutions for the KKK terrorism. They also believed there would be no justice for the lynchings.

Times change. And the time for gun owners to believe in justice has arrived. We have long known that prosecutions are needed to stop the relentless oppression. New laws are created faster than the courts can respond. There must be consequences for their criminal acts.

And now there is a serious threat of consequences.

If prosecutions actually take place, I will search through all the comments. I will look for those who insisted the trials would never happen. Then I’m going to put them all in one blog post. And I will give one last lecture on moving the Overton Window. And how things happen in a manner similar to an earthquake. The pressure builds and then there is a sudden shift as things slip into a new alignment. There is a new reality. A reality that most people were unable to see just a short time before.

Then we can all enjoy the trials together.

How Did This Happen?

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Quote of the Day

People need to learn to protect themselves instead of giving up their liberties to the government in exchange for a “sense of security.” Everyone dreams of a world without killing or murder, but there are those out there that wish harm on their fellow human beings. Disarming everyone on a college campus, or anywhere for that matter, only turns people into targets for a murderer like Cho.

Robert G. Ridgell
September 11, 2007
Letter: Gun control may not be the answer | Opinions | collegiatetimes.com

I don’t have anything to say about the content of today’s QOTD.

What I find most interesting is the date. This letter to the editor did not show up in my Google alerts until March 25, 2025.

How did this happen?

When I’m wearing my tin-foil hat, I can believe Google deliberately blocked pro-gun content from their indices. Then, recently, as the political winds changed direction, they decided to remove the restrictions, and the pro-gun content was indexed. The alert then fired.

When I take off the hat and look for other instances of old pro-gun articles showing up, I can’t readily find any.

No Surprise Here

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What could they possible expect? Surely, they did not believe companies would just pay the taxes, right?

Seattle payroll tax revenues fall short by $47M

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell released his payroll expense tax (PET) report for 2024 Tuesday, and its projections came up nearly $50 million short.

“Today’s announcement that PET revenues collected in 2024 were $47 million lower than projected requires action to ensure our budget remains balanced,” Harrell explained in a statement.

Harrell said that his 2025 budget proposal was based on the projections from the independent Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts. But since they got it wrong, the mayor said for the 2026 budget, “my office will consider all options, including additional revenue sources and appropriate expense reductions, to ensure we are making the priority investments and funding the essential services that matter to our residents.”

Did the payroll expense tax push jobs out of Seattle?

The payroll tax is levied on large corporations in the city, like Amazon and Expedia. Such a steep revenue forecast error suggests high-paying companies or their jobs are leaving the city.

It’s precisely why KTTH host Jason Rantz called the news “catastrophic” in a thread on X.

“What people haven’t realized yet—but soon will—is that the sharp drop in payroll expense tax revenue means jobs are leaving Seattle,” Rantz explained. “The whole point of the PET was to squeeze ‘free’ money out of businesses because the city arrogantly assumed it held all the cards. But what did PET actually do? It pushed Amazon jobs to Bellevue, kept employees working from home (and out of Seattle), and helped fuel layoffs at companies hit hardest by the tax—like Expedia.”

Jobs are leaving Seattle

Even Harrell acknowledged, “This decrease in revenue is aligned with recent reports of major employers moving thousands of high-paying jobs out of Seattle to other cities in our region.”

And, of course, next they will try to push jobs completely out of the state:

He noted that the Seattle payroll tax idea may go statewide with the budget proposal from Washington Democrats.

What’s next?

Republican State Rep. Chris Corry of Yakima took notice of the payroll woes in Seattle. He posted, “Paging literally everyone in Olympia.”

I just can’t believe they would deliberately kill their geese laying the golden eggs. Hence, I have to believe they really are that stupid. And since they are incapable of learning they are going to double down on their mistake.

Was Carville Right?

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Last month James Carville made a bold claim. The basic message was:

Democratic strategist James Carville believes that Donald Trump faces a “massive collapse” in just 30 days, adding “it’s over.”

So… Was Carville correct? Or is it what I suspected, just wistful thinking on his part? Or perhaps it was an effort to encourage the general public to trend in that direction.