False Hope or a Neutered SCOTUS?

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

A group of state legislators, local politicians and nonprofits on Tuesday launched a national coalition that hopes to circumvent the congressional stalemate on gun reform by pressing for violence prevention efforts at the local level.

The coalition, Legislators for Safer Communities, aims to capitalize on the shifting politics of gun reform by focusing more attention on state legislatures, where violence prevention advocates have scored their biggest wins in recent years.

Roque Planas
September 17, 2024
State Lawmakers Have Gun Reform Strategy | HuffPost Latest News

I have to wonder about something which is not mentioned, the courts. The really active gun owner rights groups are getting more done with fewer people and fewer dollars in the Federal courts than they can in the state legislatures. They don’t have to fight the same fights every year in every state.

Are the anti-gun people just trying to keep the money coming in by giving their supporters false hope? Or do they believe the Democrats are soon going to neuter SCOTUS and reverse our wins?

Libertarianism is a Poison

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

Libertarianism is a poison that’s crept into our society on the backs of rightwing billionaires like the late Libertarian David Koch, who ran for Vice President in 1980 on a platform of shutting down every government agency except the military, courts, and police.

Thom Hartmann
September 29, 2024
The ideology that made Mark Zuckerberg rich is now his politics — and it’s terrifying | Opinion (msn.com)

I find it interesting he does not suggest a system he believes to be better. Or in the famous works of Thomas Sowell:

  • Compared to what?
  • At what cost?
  • What hard evidence do you have?

Communism and socialism are well known crimes against humanity (thank you MTHead). And it seems he overlooked the founding documents of the U.S. are a pretty good match for Libertarianism, and we did okay with that for several decades.

It appears to me that Hartmann sees libertarianism as a threat, and he has to lie and distort the facts about it to poison the discussion. This must be so his preferred political structure does not have to compete with the ideas of libertarians.

Changes to, Perhaps, Prevent a Stolen Election

Posted on by

Via email from a friend and reader who shall remain nameless:

I’ve volunteered to be a poll worker out here in Georgia. I did the primaries, and just finished training for the general election coming up.

For the Primaries, it was all about how to follow the process, how the machines worked and how to troubleshoot them, and what the laws were around voting and how my county interpreted those laws.

This year, the training included visits from two law enforcement agencies with training on active shooter response and other unpleasantness. There is more discussion this year about mob violence (which includes mass ‘victim’ protests), and even the occasional entitled soccer mom ‘Karen’, who thinks election laws can be broken for her convenience and will scream “Disenfranchisement!” if we don’t break the law for her.  We’re not allowed to be armed, but my county will station an under-cover officer who is armed at each poling place.

Even money has Stacy Abrams creating a scene in which her supporters create a huge disturbance at a polling location in order to get a poll worker to yell at them or tell them to leave. Then we’ll see a video clip of a nice ‘family of color’ going to vote, spliced to the angry poll worker yelling at them to leave. Personally, I think it’s more than even money this will happen. The state elections board made a big deal about this in their training.

Also interesting is that a new law was passed in Georgia requiring the ballots to be hand-counted before leaving the polling place! When I heard about this, I was thrilled! I’d love to get a hand count of the human-readable names on a ballot and compare that with the tally garnered from the barcode printed on those ballots. But alas, that is not how it’s going to work. The way the law is being interpreted is that the ‘number of ballots cast’ will be counted and compared against the scanned count of ‘ballots cast’ to make sure they match.

Ugh. We did that on our own initiative after the primaries just as a due diligence check to make sure that the number of registered voters checking in matched ballots printed matched ballots recorded. We had a solid paper trail and multiple witness signatures for any discrepancy (printer ruined one ballot that needed to be re-printed. We kept the ruined ballot, voided it, and documented the occurrence. Anyone with a discrepancy with a voter registration was given a provisional ballot, and the county will deep-dive into that voter’s legal registration status before counting or tossing the vote. This part we do very well indeed.

It’s the bloody barcodes, and the fact that I don’t know what they tell the counter! I’d be happy to count all the ballots for A and for B manually, and then check that against the report from the counting machine. We post the results from the counting machine at each voting location on the door of the poling location after the polls close. Immediately transparent. But without an audit of the counting machines, I don’t trust them. They’ve been wrong before.

2024 USPSA Handgun Nations, 1st Place

Posted on by

From the notes to the video:

Took home the Single Stack National Champion title at the 2024 USPSA Handgun Nationals.

Less than 2% separating Dave Sevigny and myself for the title in the end. Was one hell of a race the whole weekend.

Pistol used was a Rafferty custom guns single stack 1911 in 40 Smith & Wesson.

John is my son-in-law. Daughter Xenia told me about it two and a half weeks ago. But I just now got around to looking for the video.

Congratulations John! That is awesome!

The rain on day two must have been really miserable. I have shot a high-level match in terrible rain conditions, but I was well prepared and, it being a steel challenge match, I didn’t need to move from target to target. My heavy waterproof boots were not an issue. John appears to have shot the second day of the match in soaking wet feet.

The First Amendment is Blocking Consensus

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

The dislike of and anguish over social media is just growing and growing. It is part of our problem, particularly in democracies, in terms of building consensus around any issue.

It’s really hard to govern today. The referees we used to have to determine what is a fact and what isn’t a fact have kind of been eviscerated, to a certain degree. And people go and self-select where they go for their news, for their information. And then you get into a vicious cycle.

So it’s really, really, hard, much harder to build consensus today than any time in the 45, 50 years I’ve been involved in this. You know there’s a lot of discussion now about how you curb those entities in order to guarantee that you’re going to have some accountability on facts, etc.

But look, if people only go to one source, and the source they go to is sick, and, you know, has an agenda, and they’re putting out disinformation, our First Amendment stands as a major block to be able to just, you know, hammer it out of existence.

So what we need is to win the ground, win the right to govern, by hopefully winning enough votes that you’re free to be able to implement change.

John Kerry
September 2024
John Kerry Says the First Amendment is Getting in the Way of Online Censorship (msn.com) and
Posted on X and
John Kerry: A Democrat win would allow us to ‘change’ the First Amendment to stop ‘disinformation’ (bizpacreview.com) and
John Kerry calls the First Amendment a ‘major block’ to stopping ‘disinformation’ | Fox News and
John Kerry Tells WEF: Our First Amendment Stands As A Major Block Against Hammering Disinformation Out Of Existence | Video | RealClearPolitics

“Hammer it out of existence.” It should be no surprise that if your opposition is silenced, you can get “consensus”.

Spoken like a true totalitarian.

Prepare appropriately.

Your Question is Dangerous

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

I completely disagree with the premise of the question.

The question that you’re are asking; it is also incredibly dangerous in the way that you are asking it, because American people are watching.

Karine Jean-Pierre
White House Press Secretary
September 18, 2024
Jean-Pierre scorched for ‘utterly heinous response’ defending Biden-Harris rhetoric calling Trump a ‘threat’ | Fox News

The question, you ask?

It’s been, only two days since someone, allegedly, tried to kill Donald Trump again. And you are here at the podium in the White House Briefing Room, calling him a threat. How many more assignation attempts on Donald Trump until the president, and the vice president, and you pick a different word, to describe Trump, other than threat?

If you question their violence inspiring rhetoric, they declare your speech is dangerous. Then, if you listen to the rest of her response, she doubles down on Trump being a threat.

This is what they think of you.

Doesn’t that tell you everything you need to know about their attitude toward the First Amendment?

Prepare appropriately.

All Your Rights Violated, All the Time

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

We’re going to require responsible behaviors among everybody in the community, and just because you legally possess a gun in the sanctity of your locked home doesn’t mean that we’re not going to walk into that home and check to see if you’re being responsible and safe in the way you conduct your affairs.

Kamala Harris
2007
Commentary: On the Second Amendment, Harris shoots herself in the foot — again (msn.com)

Using the 2nd Amendment as sort of a canary in the coalmine seems to work well. If they won’t respect the 2nd Amendment, why should you expect they will respect any other rights? And, of course, once they have sufficiently infringed upon the right to keep and bear arms you don’t have the means to effectively push back when they infringe all your rights all the time.

We Are Glad We Don’t Live in a Hurricane Zone

Posted on by

Barb and I saw some of the terrifying videos of the destruction caused by hurricane Helene:

We are so pleased we don’t live in a hurricane zone.

Instead, we live in a place with earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes.

There Are Many Answers

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

There is but one answer to be made to the dynamite bomb and that can best be made by the Winchester rifle.

Theodore Roosevelt
1887
Did Teddy Roosevelt Say the ‘One Answer to Terrorism’ Is a Winchester Rifle?

Via an email, which had “terrorism” instead of “the dynamite bomb” in the quote, from pkoning.

While it captures the appropriate sentiment succinctly, it is not all that accurate these days. It appears to me that Israel is doing rather well in their fight against the terrorists/dynamite-bombers in their neighborhoods while using few, and perhaps zero, Winchester rifles. As was reported in a briefing at work last week:

They compromised the supply chain and delivered pagers with explosives to Hezbollah leadership. They blew them up almost simultaneously. Hezbollah then went to walkie-talkies and those were blown up. When Hezbollah then assembled in a single building for face-to-face communication, they blew up the building.

This will be studied and admired for years to come as one of the most creative, complex, and well executed operations in the history of warfare.

Precision guided bombs, M-4s, M-16s, tanks, and hand grenades have been delivering some very authoritative answers as well.

Whatever you think of their religion, ethics, and/or political behavior, they have certainly demonstrated if you don’t respect them, you risk coming to fear them.

I hope gun owners don’t have to teach similar lessons to those who fail to respect us and our rights.

Bug or Feature?

Posted on by

Not far from Boomershoot, I have a piece of property with a pistol range, a small camping trailer, utilities, and other useful improvements.

The nearest neighbor is over 0.5 miles away. The nearest stop sign is over two miles away. The nearest stop light is nearly 40 miles away. And the nearest interstate freeway is over 130 miles away.

It turns out what I regard as a feature some claim this isolation is, in software development terms, a “bug.”

It all depends on your design goals. I’m designing for quiet, safety, stability, and resilience. I think it is an appropriate location for uncertain times.

Your design goals may vary.

Don’t Let Them Drag You Down to Their Level

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

Sorry about your small dick Cletus.

MAGA Mocker @MAGAmocker
Tweeted on August 11, 2023

Via a tweet from In Chains @InChainsInJail·

The idiots always try to drag the more intelligent people down to their level in an attempt to win with childhood insults.

Whatever. We have SCOTUS decisions. They have crude insults.

Prosser Hot Air Balloon Rally

Posted on by

Yesterday, Barb and I visited Prosser Washington to see the Prosser Balloon Rally.

At 6:00 AM it was a little cool and Barb was prepared:

I had often wondered how they got hot air in the balloon without burning them. Once they are inflated, sure, not really a problem.

They inflated them on the ground with a fan. Then, they poke the burner (they probably have a different name for them) in and put hot air in until the balloon lifts off the ground.

Continue reading →

Specific Types of Government

Posted on by

Via Chuck Petras @Chuck_Petras and Fight With Memes @fightwithmemes

Totally true.

A Specific Enumerated Right–VOID by Passing Hurricane

Posted on by

Via a posts on X by Chuck Petras @Chuck_Petras and Bryan LaFonte
@bryanlafonte:·

There are few other situations where you would need defensive weapons more than when the social structure has been ripped apart. Either this is either mind boggling stupid or deliberate enabling of criminals.

I hope he enjoys his trial.

Vacationing on Dworshak Lake

Posted on by

Last month my daughters arranged a family reunion/”camping” trip at the Freeman Creek Campground at Dworshak State Park. Xenia had a cabin, Barb and I stayed in a cabin, Kim, Jacob, and their son stayed in a tent. We went on a boat ride, a hike, and spent a lot of time sitting around talking.

Today I downloaded the pictures Xenia took.

This is a map of the area. As per Xenia’s request, I’m pointing to the place where I shot the rattlesnake when backpacking with her and her siblings back in the mid 1990’s. I mentioned this years ago on this blog.

These are the leaves of a plant my Grandmother Huffman called Mountain Tea. I found some along the trail and showed it to Barb, Kim, and Xenia. I suspect it belongs to the mint family. It is very aromatic and does make a pleasant tea. It can be brewed either green or dried with a completely different taste in the two forms.

Continue reading →

Prepare for the Worst

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

The U.S. in late 2024, IMO, is one lit fuse away from societal collapse–and there are multiple fuses, all lit. You can take your pick.

So, yes. Know your friends, neighbors, community. As the meme says, “Local, local, local.”

And prep like your life depends upon it.

TakeAHardLook
September 20, 2024
Comment to More Evidence of Astroturf – Area Ocho

I cannot find fault with this.

And have you seen the price of gold (buying power of the dollar)? It is up (down) over 45% (nearly 40%) compared to a year ago.

I want to be in an underground bunker in Idaho before the November election.

Travel Warning

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

JPFO is issuing a travel warning to Jews and other 2A supporters and urging an economic boycott for Middlesex County, Massachusetts after Newton Police arrested Scott Hayes for defending himself from a violent, antisemitic attack.

Scott Hayes was peacefully exercising his rights protected under the First Amendment with a small group of people in the town of Newton, MA. A person in the group was carrying an Israeli flag when a man began yelling antisemitic remarks at the group from across the street, calling them “sick” for supporting Israel.

After a few words were exchanged, the man charged across the street, tackling Scott Hayes to the ground and attempting to wrap his arms around his neck in order to cause even more harm than he had already done. At that point, Mr. Hayes exercised his natural right to defend himself, pulled out a gun and shot the assailant in the abdomen. After freeing himself from the man’s clutches, Scott retreated and attempted to get his assailant medical attention. The assailant is expected to survive.

Mr. Hayes was arrested by the Newton Police who sought and obtained a criminal complaint against him for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The District Attorney is pursuing charges against Mr. Hayes for having defended himself against a violent antisemitic attack. While many state officials in Massachusetts have, for years, been enemies of the Second Amendment, this latest event is a record-breaking atrocity even for them. State actors actively defending violent antisemites while leveling criminal charges against those who defend themselves against them, sends up a warning for all Jews to steer clear of Massachusetts, if at all possible, especially Middlesex County. Antisemitism is on the rise and now we have state officials in Massachusetts formally and proudly defending it.

Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
September 19, 2024
Middlesex County, Ma. Defends Violent Antisemitism (jpfo.org)

I think it would be easier to just stay out of all of Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York City until Federal prosecutors start charging and convicting the rights hating police and local prosecutors. Without prosecutions it is going to take a new generation to change the mindset of the criminals running these locations.

Special People

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

Looking at Earth was obviously very, very special. But when you look off to the side, you look out into the darkness of space, and you see your spaceship there, and how gritty it looks, it gave you this sense of, like ‘this isn’t going to be easy.’

Jared Isaacman
September 17, 2024
Jared Isaacman, first billionaire to walk in space, says it wasn’t peaceful (qz.com)

Do you remember what William Shatner said after going into space?

October 13, 2021 William Shatner’s flight on Blue Origin | CNN Business

You look down, there’s the blue down there and the black up there … there is Mother Earth and comfort, and there is, is there death? I don’t know, but is that death? Is that the way death is? … It was so moving; this experience, it was something unbelievable.

Establishing colonies on the moon, other planets, and perhaps ultimately in other star systems is going to take some very special people. The immigration to North America two to three hundred years ago and even the migration from the eastern states to the western territories in the early and mid 1800s was a harsh filter and resulted in a different type of people from their original stock.

It is difficult to imagine the type of person which will result from those willing to engage in space travel and the deprivation of a world so hostile there is not even any atmosphere to breath, a livable temperature range, water to drink, or food to eat. Every essential of human life will need to be brought with them or scratched out of the rocky, dust, surface of the giant rocks they intend to call home.

I would go into space (I attended Parent-Child Space Camp three times and once applied for a Mission Specialist position in the Shuttle program) but that would be knowing I was probably going to be back on earth in a most a few days or weeks. Going to some hostile rock will little chance of ever coming back is a much bigger decision.

No Respect

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

She pointed to some state laws that protect individual privacy as obstacles preventing law enforcement officials from adequately responding to background checks, and said her office was currently working with state legislators to push for changes that would lift such restrictions.

Haley Bull
September 22, 2024
President Biden plans to sign new executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence (msn.com)

Of course! Since they are infringing upon one specific enumerated right, they may as well infringe on two at the same time. Shoot, why not infringe on a bunch more at the same time. Why not throw people in jail if it is rumored they are thinking of buying a gun. Presume they are guilty and give them “due process” by an opportunity in court to prove they were not going to buy a gun to use to murder babies in hospital nurseries.

Also note this item from the same article:

In 2024, the gun background check system helped block more than 4,600 gun sales to people convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, according to the report. To date, the Department of Justice has charged more than 500 defendants with violating provisions under the law, and the expanded background check provision has kept guns out of the hands of nearly 900 young people who shouldn’t have them, federal officials said.

Notice the metric they use for the usefulness of the law. It is not a reduction in the crime rate. It is the number of people prevented from purchasing a gun from a FFL.

Their object is not making the general population safer. It is preventing the general population from purchasing firearms.

These people have zero respect for individual rights of the people.

Prepare appropriately.

On the Brink of Destruction

Posted on by

Quote of the Day

More than 1,000 zombie knives and machetes have been surrendered to one police force as new legislation banning them becomes law.

Avon and Somerset Police said the weapons had been handed in to 15 surrender sites across the region and urged people who still had them to turn them in.

Sarah Turnnidge
September 24, 2024
More than 1,000 zombie knives surrendered (msn.com)

We have “ghost guns” and in England they have “zombie knives”.

As brought to my attention by Hannah Hill @hannahhill_sc this is incredibly on point:

The right of self defence is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any colour or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction. In England, the people have been disarmed, generally, under the specious pretext of preserving the game: a never failing lure to bring over the landed aristocracy to support any measure, under that mask, though calculated for very different purposes. True it is, their bill of rights seems at first view to counteract this policy: but the right of bearing arms is confined to protestants, and the words suitable to their condition and degree, have been interpreted to authorise the prohibition of keeping a gun or other engine for the destruction of game, to any farmer, or inferior tradesman, or other person not qualified to kill game. So that not one man in five hundred can keep a gun in his house without being subject to a penalty.

St. George Tucker
Blackstone’s Commentaries 1:App. 300
1803

England and the US have certainly lost much of our liberty, and we are in danger of losing more. It is time to take it back.