I’m good with Judge Gorsuch

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David Hardy found a couple firearms cases with Judge Gorsuch contributions and doesn’t find much to directly indicate how he will rule on 2nd Amendment issues.

But from what I have been able to find out, such as here and here, he is an originalist and textualist. That is what I am looking for in a SCOTUS judge. And he is relatively young and should be around for many years. So, I’m good with Judge Gorsuch.

Now to see if the Republicans can get him past the obstructionist Democrats in the Senate.

Reloading report

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As I reported on the first of this month I enhanced my program which parses and reports on my reloading logs. Not too long after making those changes I made still more changes. In now outputs a section with the yearly and monthly totals for every caliber combined. Here is that section of the report including the 3300 rounds of .40 S&W (minor power factor Blue Bullets for steel matches) I reloaded this month:

Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1996: 11274 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10944 141 189
1997: 7585 300 0 40 1210 719 106 0 100 1088 804 1060 2158
1998: 11574 570 258 718 1657 1812 1710 542 20 0 1240 900 2147
1999: 4912 20 964 181 877 718 657 60 0 0 179 653 603
2000: 3690 845 120 142 0 57 1095 400 396 43 521 60 11
2001: 2724 25 300 497 532 15 20 1198 73 0 0 0 64
2002: 898 0 0 0 0 0 0 198 0 200 300 0 200
2003: 649 0 300 302 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 0
2004: 1345 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 300 600 445 0
2005: 1059 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 659 400 0 0
2006: 1000 0 0 0 0 400 0 0 0 0 200 400 0
2007: 1136 0 0 0 0 0 0 118 518 300 200 0 0
2008: 2398 0 300 0 0 0 0 900 399 0 200 0 599
2009: 1702 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 102 300 900 400
2010: 1400 0 0 0 0 100 200 700 0 200 0 200 0
2011: 2300 300 0 400 100 0 500 500 200 0 0 0 300
2012: 399 0 200 0 199 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2013: 600 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 500
2014: 530 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 530
2015: 10005 1699 2696 3064 0 0 0 547 200 400 100 200 1099
2016: 18265 2197 700 1462 837 1899 1999 1000 1500 1216 1957 1500 1998
2017: 3300 3300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grand Totals 88745 9256 5838 6806 5430 5720 6287 6163 3406 4508 17945 6588 10798

Quote of the day—Roger Kimball

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Now some of this is just adolescent play-acting, even if many of those involved, being professors, are far beyond the chronological limits of adolescence.  Academia has an infantilizing effect. I understand that. Many professors dress and act like adolescents right up to the time they are ready to hand in their tenure and live off their generous pensions. The Peter-Pan aspect of academia is not entirely the professors’ fault.  After all, the points at which the real world intrudes upon academia are so few and so tenuous that academics may be forgiven for some of their hyperbole and inadvertently comic displays of self-importance.  They exist, like kept women of yore, entirely at the pleasure of an affluent society they despise. So in a way it is not surprising that they endeavor to transform their entire campus into a sort of existential boudoir, which is French for “room for pouting in.”

Roger Kimball
January 15, 2017
A Modest Disposal
[Interesting observation.—Joe]

Quote of the day—The Original DB

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Does carrying a pistol make you safer? As a rule, men do not carry pistols for self-defense. Men carry guns around with them because they are the #1 non-pharmaceutical treatment for erectile dysfunction.

The Original DB
April 13, 2016
Comment to Does Carrying A Pistol Make You Safer?
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!

We have facts and SCOTUS decisions. They have grade-school insults.—Joe]

Son-in-law in Front Sight magazine

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Last October I posted that my son-in-law came in 13th at the USPSA Open nationals.

The Jan/Feb issue of the USPSA magazine, Front Sight, just arrived and before I had a change to open it daughter Xenia texted me to tell me her husband was in it.

Yup. He sure is:

FrontSightJanFeb2017JohnV

Quote of the day—Winston S. Churchill

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British troops were still fighting hard in the centre of Athens, hemmed in and outnumbered. We were engaged in house-to-house combat with an enemy at least four-fifths of whom were in plain clothes. Unlike many of the Allied newspaper correspondents in Athens, our troops had no difficulty in understanding the issues involved.

Winston S. Churchill
1953
Triumph and Tragedy (The Second World War Volume VI)
Page 259
[I find it interesting the press is frequently so out of touch with reality. Ulysses S. Grant made similar observations several decades earlier.

This six volume series on WW II by Churchill is excellent. His perspective is, of course, a bit different from what I learned in history classes and I enjoyed seeing things from his view.—Joe]

Lead Ammo ban

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As a parting gift to the shooting community, the Community Organizer in Chief, BHO, had the US Fish and Wildlife issue a new regulation  banning lead ammo on most Federal lands. All federal lands administered by the F&W, parks and refuges. With less than a day left in the outgoing administration. Yeah, he’s just that kind and considerate. But at least it’s easily undone, and it’s (yet one more) thing that highlights the contemptuous attitude of the regulatory masters.

Drain the swamp.

Quote of the day—Ti

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“A chicken in every pot……..and a completed 80%’er behind every door” Let’s make America great again.

Ti
January 26, 2017
Comment to ATF Cracks Down on Retro Builders using 80% Receivers
[I wonder if they mean behind every door in the house (I approve) or just behind the outside doors (insufficient).—Joe]

CRA – not tired of winning

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This popped up on a couple of different sources at about the same time, not sure who was first. Likely the WSJ, as this ZeroHedge post cites it. Short version: when congress passes a law and the president signs it, it will often have an outline of what’s to be done, and it directs the appropriate agencies involved to write up the implementing regulations and guidelines. A three page law might have hundreds of pages of legalese added to the Federal Register. Heck, the entire edifice built on “title IX” is standing on a single sentence! Anyway, a law passed in 1996 called the Congressional Review Act requires that after the regulations are written they have to send a report to congress, where they must be voted up or down by simple majority vote within 60 days. Congress was trying to keep an out-of-control agency from getting too hog wild on the details that were delegated to them.

The clock stars ticking when the regulations are published, or when the report gets sent to congress, whichever is later.

Well, it seems that the last administration was a tad sloppy on their paperwork. They rarely sent a report to congress. Trump can direct any agency under his command (effectively all of them) to send a report to congress if they have not done so already. If it gets voted down, the law is on hold until they can put together regs that are acceptable to congress, and the next attempt at reg-writing cannot be to simply re-submit essentially the same thing again. So a whole bunch of junk passed in the last 8 years might be, ah, revisited.

Suddenly Trump’s statements about reducing regulation hugely doesn’t sound so absurd.

Nope, not tired of winning yet.

Gun Song – Battle of New Orleans

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“Battle of New Orleans” by Johnny Horton is a classic “Americana” song. Quoting Infogalactic: “The Battle of New Orleans” is a song written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the 1815 Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the song tells the tale of the battle with a light tone and provides a rather comical version of what actually happened at the battle. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated with this song is Johnny Horton. His version scored number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959 (see 1959 in music). Billboardranked it as the No. 1 song for 1959.[1]

Another small case won

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From SAF:

BELLEVUE, WA (1/27/17) – The Second Amendment Foundation has scored another court victory, this time in Montana where a federal district court judge has entered a preliminary injunction against the state’s citizenship requirement in order to obtain a concealed carry license.

U.S. District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy at the district court in Missoula has also stayed the case because the Legislature is currently considering legislation that would repeal the citizenship requirement. The case is Knutson v. Curry.

SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb noted that this is just the foundation’s latest effort to secure protections for permanent legal resident aliens. The plaintiff in this case, Lenka Knutson, resides with her husband and two children in Whitefish. She is a citizen of Slovakia and a SAF member.

“We’re certainly happy with the judge’s ruling,” Gottlieb said, “and we’re gratified that the Montana Legislature is working to fix this problem. We’ve fought similar battles in Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, North Carolina and New Mexico on behalf of legal resident aliens.”

“This lawsuit is about the recognition that lawful resident aliens share the same Second Amendment rights as citizens,” attorney David G. Sigale noted. “We are very gratified that the Court has vindicated Ms. Knutson’s right to self-defense, and we are also glad the State is taking steps to correct a clearly discriminatory law.”

Under terms of the order, Judge Molloy also cancelled a scheduled Feb. 13 trial.

Lenka had gone to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office in 2014 to apply for a concealed carry permit, even though she is not a U.S. citizen. The permit was denied because she is a permanent resident and not a citizen. The lawsuit followed, with representation by Sigale of Glen Ellyn, Illinois and Quentin M. Rhoades and Nicole L. Seifert of Missoula.

“The decision by Judge Molloy is one more example of SAF’s effort to win firearms freedom, one lawsuit at a time,” Gottlieb stated.

I think it is best to incrementally win nearly every small case rather than have a moderate or high risk of losing a big case. If enough precedent is established with the small cases the big cases will be easier to win.

The quilt story

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Last July Robert Avrech posted a picture of a comforter designed as a U.S. flag and expressed his desire to have one:

A few years ago, Karen and I came across this comforter designed by Timothy Oulton. “I want it,” I said. Karen looked at the price tag and said, “We’ll just have to settle for a photo.”

Sister-in-law Julie makes quilts (over 600 so far) so I asked her to make one for me. We agreed on the price and I offered to give it to Robert. He readily accepted. It took a few months for the flag quilt to get to the head of the queue but I was able to pick it up the last time I was in Idaho and ship it to Robert.

Why? Because he is a Hollywood screenwriter and producer who is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. I’m not sure I would have the courage to risk my livelihood by being so outspoken behind enemy lines, I wanted to let him know that his efforts are appreciated, and give him a small reward for his courage and support of our specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.

Today he posted pictures of and thanks for the quit (go to the bottom of the post).

Quote of the day—Awr Hawkins

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On January 24 Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) tweeted that Chicago’s gun violence is the result of “lax gun laws” at the federal level.

He did not explain how Congressional refusal to pass more gun control would increase Chicago violence while passing over so many other cities, leaving them safe and sound.

Awr Hawkins
January 25, 2017
Sen Chris Murphy Blames Chicago Gun Violence on Congress Rejection of Gun Control
[If one were to explore this topic with the Senator, I suspect the explanation would be something along the lines of, “Shut up!”

It’s what you get when someone with crap for brains gets into a position of power.—Joe]

Criminal politicians for gun control

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Not all criminal politicians have been advocates for gun control but it sure seems like there is a high correlation. David Codrea (H/T Say Uncle) reports on a former New York State Senator, who was very anti-gun, being sentenced to prison last week.

Yesterday another one reported to prison to begin his sentence:

A longtime Pennsylvania congressman convicted of racketeering has reported to a federal prison to begin his 10-year sentence.

Officials said former U.S. Rep. Chaka (SHAH’-kuh) Fattah was logged in just after 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Federal Correctional Institution-McKean in Lewis Run, in western Pennsylvania, near the New York border. He will be in the minimum-security camp adjacent to the medium-security prison.

The 60-year-old Philadelphia Democrat spent 20 years in Congress before his June conviction of taking an illegal $1 million campaign loan, then using government and nonprofit funds to repay it. Four co-defendants were also convicted.

Read this post to get the background on his perpetual war on gun owners.

I have to wonder if “someone” had the time and money to do the investigations how many anti-gun politicians could be sent to jail on corruption charges. I would rather they get charged under 18 USC 241 and/or 18 USC 242 because of their infringement upon our specific enumerate right to keep and bear arms. But I would settle for them being removed from positions of power.

Quote of the day—Maura Healey

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My actions have never been about taking away guns from people. I respect the Second Amendment, but we have a law on the books, and it’s an important law. It says that civilians can’t walk around with or be in possession of military-style assault weapons…

Maura Healey
Massachusetts Attorney General
January 25, 2017
Gun rights group challenging state’s assault weapon ban
[No matter how many times it happens it always surprises me when someone contradicts themselves in sequential sentences. To me that is clear and convincing proof of insanity. But in the political world it appears that is the sign of a good politician. It allows the reader/listener to take away whichever fragment they want and ignore the rest.

It think it means they are evil and/or have crap for brains and hence are unfit for anything other than closely supervised menial labor.—Joe]

Suppressor facts

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Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation gives us the important facts in regards to firearm suppressors:

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted that the loud report of a firearm is a “safety feature.” He seems to think that the sound of gunfire was engineered as a means to ensure everyone around them knew there was gunfire nearby.

…

A 10-year study found 153 crimes committed with suppressors and in only 15 of those crimes was a suppressor actually used. Here’s more perspective. That same study showed criminals used suppressors in less than 0.1 percent of homicides, 0.00006 percent of felonies and 0.1 percent of armed robberies.

As a practical matter, suppressors add length to a firearm, making it harder to conceal.

Senator Murphy is evil and/or has crap for brains.

Olympic Arms Announces Closing

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I received an email today which announced the closing of Olympic Arms.

After more than 40 years of business, it is with great sorrow that we announce that February 28th, 2017 will be the last day of operation for Olympic Arms, Inc.

The Schuetz family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to all their friends, associates, and partners that have been a part of the Olympic Arms experience. Most of all we would like to thank our loyal customers and patrons who have been with us all this time.

My Microsoft Gun Club Object Embedding Tool was made by Olympic Arms over 20 years ago.

I wonder what happened. Maybe AR-15’s becoming essentially a commodity and the resultant competition.

Quote of the day—Defens

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Once the Trump death squads start patrolling and the cattle cars full of liberals start rolling to the concentration camps, I’m sure the panic-buying will kick in on the other side, initiating Gun Culture 3.0.

Defens
January 24, 2017
Comment to Quote of the day—Lawrence Keane
[It is, of course, a joke.

Nevertheless, as always, I’ll be glad to teach liberals how to shoot.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Lawrence Keane

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We don’t expect a collapse, we expect organic growth that isn’t all fear-driven. We are likely to see the market normalize, which is better for the industry long term. It is hard to respond to constant spikes. Slow and steady wins the race.

Lawrence Keane
Senior vice president, government and public affairs
National Shooting Sports Foundation
January 20, 2017
Though champion of gun rights, President Trump could jam firearm sales
[I understand I’m not exactly normal but my purchases pretty much stopped after the election. I have lots of stockpiled ammunition and components that I’m going to “burn” through before I make many more purchases. Still, it’s good to hear a subject matter expert believes there won’t be an industry crash.—Joe]

That’s a feature, not a bug

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Some people say the name of the bill to remove suppressors from NFA is “brilliantly named”.

I’m not so sure. I can see people on our side of that political aisle thinking it is “brilliantly named”. But from the other side of the aisle we have this (via Sebastian):

There’s no evidence of a public health issue associated with hearing loss from gunfire,” says Kristin Brown of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “

…

The real flaw in the silencer lobby’s efforts, however, may be the patent obviousness of their fakery. Calling the Duncan-Carter bill the “Hearing Protection Act” is so absurdly transparent an effort to deceive that voters may be prompted to ask an obvious question: “What are they hiding?”

My take is a little different. The best that can be said about the anti-gun crowd in this regard is they don’t care if gun owners hearing is damaged. They publicly let us know they want us dead. It is my opinion that naming the bill the “Hearing Protection Act” made them realize they are even more opposed to the bill than before. That guns can permanently damage a person hearing is, to them, a feature. It is not a “bug”.