Pistol Brace Rule Partially Blocked

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Quote of the Day

We are very excited and encouraged by the Fifth Circuit’s decision this morning. We intend to ask the court for additional information about who is covered under the injunction, but cannot stress enough just how important this decision is. The fight is far from over, but this is a huge victory in the battle against the ATF’s unconstitutional and unlawful brace rule!

Cody J. Wisniewski
Senior attorney for constitutional litigation at FPC Action Foundation.
May 24, 2023
Federal court deals blow to ATF pistol brace rule ahead of gun accessory registration deadline

The courts are slow moving but they are moving in the correct direction.

I’m rather exited about some of the polling numbers I’m seeing. For example:

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It’s a biased sample, but the numbers are good enough that it at least partially makes up for the bias.

Other numbers I look at that are encouraging are the comments to news articles about gun laws. The progun side just absolutely dominates the online discussions.

The Hazards of Conversion Kit Prosecutions

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Quote of the Day

Switches are illegal and highly dangerous devices that convert semiautomatic firearms into machine guns. These devices threaten public safety and make the gun violence problem even worse.

Kevin Ritz
U.S. attorney for the federal district in West Tennessee.
May 22, 2023
Federal agents, prosecutors going after machine-gun conversion devices in Tennessee

I would bet Ritz cannot answer Just One Question, yet he is prosecuting people doing things which will soon become legal via the Bruen decision.

Ritz should be charged, arrested, prosecuted, and given a fair trial.

In the mean time he should worry about some of those cheap and easy to make machine-gun conversion devices showing up in boxes on his door step, in his vehicles, and in his brief case, followed by anonymous tips.

Dark Garland™ Official @DarkGarland

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Quote of the Day

We don’t think you are going to give them up.

We are going to take them by force.

Confidential informant -> No Knock Warrant->Swat Team -> Trial > Prison.

Dark Garland™ Official @DarkGarland
Tweeted on March 6, 2023

Who is this “we”? And I see the process a little differently after a few raids.

Attack on innocent people –> SWAT communications jammed –> SWAT vehicles disabled with .30 and/or .50 caliber AP rounds –> SWAT team members go down –> survivors surrender –> Trial of survivors and those who sent them –> Prison and/or executions.

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

Universal symbols

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Quote of the day:

It’s the intentional symbol for, “I have no penis”.

JustHereToGloat @ToGloat
Tweeted on February 3, 2023

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

He was responding to this tweet:

I’m old enough to remember when members of Congress wore flag pins instead AR-15 pins on the House floor.

I presume he meant “international” instead of “intentional”. But attention to detail is not something you should expect anti-gun people to be good at.

Actually, (plagiarizing Greg Hamilton) it is the universal symbol for, “LEAVE ME ALONE!” Note, it is the precursor of the universal symbol for, “LIE DOWN!” People only need to be taught the latter symbol once and they remember it for the rest of their life.

Smart Federal Gun Control

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Quote of the Day

By “ Wealthy Nations “ you mean France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Poland, Italy, and such?

The same nations the United States and others had to fight to liberate from fascist dictators? The same nations that saw extermination camps to remove people that were seen as undesirable? A genocide far outstrips any gun massacre?

Let’s not mention that these nations today don’t for fill their promised contributions to the defense of their nation, instead depending on the United States for protection?

I’m sure they feel so superior sitting on the sidelines telling us how to live.

Grant Sulham
April 28, 2023
In answer to the question:

Will Americans have to come to terms with their rights to own and bear arms to stem gun massacres over time and join other wealthy nations with smart federal gun control laws and regulations?

I strongly suspect many of the questions on Quora are trolls or people creating questions for something they want to write about. Still, I like the answer.

A more succinct answer would be:

We have smartest federal gun control law in the world. It is called the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, “… the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

How’s that Gun Control Working in England?

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Where there is a market there will be a supplier:

Aman will appear in court after National Crime Agency officers uncovered what they believed to be a specialist factory in south London for converting blank-firing guns into lethal weapons using 3D printed parts.

Unfortunately the criminals will be far more likely to acquire the firearms than their intended victims. This is for two reasons:

  1. They are less inhibited by the law than the average person.
  2. They know the general population will be unarmed, and hence the armed criminal will gain a huge advantage over their victims.

Federal AutoMatch Target Grade 22 LR Ammo from Wideners

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About a month ago I received an email from Widener’s Reloading & Shooting Supply. In part it said:

We recently updated the front end of the Widener’s website, if you have a moment, you can check it out here. The basic idea is to make the site easier to navigate so customers can find products more quickly. We’re still working out some of the bugs, so if you see anything that could be improved, feel free to let me know.

I’m reaching out to see if you’d be interested in shopping our updated website and reviewing your experience along with some ammo on blog.joehuffman.org. As you know, product reviews are an opportunity to increase website traffic and build a stronger relationship with your audience. Sharing your online shopping experiences with your audience can also be a great way to build trust.

If you’re interested in receiving some free ammo for an unbiased product review. I’d be happy to set up a gift card for you to send a caliber or two your way.

If there’s anything else I can help you with, don’t hesitate to ask!

I accepted the offer and received a code for a $200 discount on anything on their website. I shoot more rounds of .22LR than another other round and I can’t reload that so I figured the best value would be to get some more .22LR. I use CCI Mini-Mags in competition because of the superb reliability even with my somewhat finicky competition gun. I am well stocked on Mini-Mags so I decided to get a cheaper alternative for practice. I chose the cheapest .22LR ammo on their website.

It arrived in the factory carton undamaged:

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I tried the ammo in two different handguns, a Ruger 22/45 Mark III Lite, and my competition gun. There are two ten-round groups on the 12-inch steel plate in the picture below. Both were while standing, with iron sights, at about 11 yards. On the upper right is the Ruger:

image

Both groups are about 1.5”. I believe this is my limit rather than a limitation of the ammo and/or gun.

I fired about 130 rounds. It was 100% reliable in the Ruger. In the competition gun I had one magazine which had repeated failures to feed. I added a suppressor and had no further problems.

It think I found my new practice ammo. At the very least it is an alternate ammo in times of ammo shortages.

The Wideners web site is quite nice when searching and selecting ammo.

I placed the order on Saturday April 15th. It arrived at my gun range in Idaho on Friday April 21st:

Tracking Number: 397064210616
Carrier: FedEx
Status: Delivered
Delivered on: Apr 21, 2023 5:42 PM
Signed by: Signature not required
Service Type: FedEx Home
Delivery


Location Date Local Time Description
Lenore, ID, US Apr
21, 2023		 5:42
PM		 Delivered
LEWISTON, ID, US Apr
21, 2023		 2:08
PM		 On FedEx vehicle for delivery
LEWISTON, ID, US Apr
21, 2023		 2:05
PM		 At local FedEx facility
TROUTDALE, OR, US Apr
21, 2023		 4:37
AM		 Departed FedEx location
TROUTDALE, OR, US Apr
20, 2023		 9:18
PM		 Arrived at FedEx location
GLENNS FERRY, ID, US Apr
20, 2023		 4:43
AM		 In transit
CARPENTER, WY, US Apr
19, 2023		 3:48
PM		 In transit
SEDALIA, MO, US Apr
19, 2023		 2:55
AM		 In transit
MURFREESBORO, TN, US Apr
18, 2023		 2:00
PM		 Departed FedEx location
MURFREESBORO, TN, US Apr
18, 2023		 1:13
AM		 Shipment arriving On-Time
MURFREESBORO, TN, US Apr
18, 2023		 1:11
AM		 Arrived at FedEx location
KODAK, TN, US Apr
17, 2023		 10:05
PM		 Picked up
US Apr
15, 2023		 8:20
PM		 Shipment information sent to
FedEx

Because of Boomershoot and other things I didn’t get to try it until last Tuesday after I came back to Idaho to escape the plague (Barb tested positive for COVID on Mother’s Day).

The Misinformation is Deliberate

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Via email from Rolf we have this:

60,000 Lbs. Explosive Ammonium Nitrate Missing from Train in California

Sixty thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate, used as a fertilizer but also in explosives, are missing from a rail shipment that was due to arrive in California from Wyoming.

…

Ammonium nitrate was the explosive in the massive bomb used in the Oklahoma City terror attack of 1995. It was also the substance that caused a deadly explosion in a warehouse in the port of Beirut, Lebanon, in 2020.

If you dig a little deeper, using a link provided in the original article, you find (emphasis added):

Dyno Nobel says it believes the material — transported in pellet form in a covered hopper car similar to those used to ship coal — fell from the car on the way to a rail siding (a short track connecting with the main track) called Saltdale about 30 miles from the town of Mojave in eastern Kern County.

“The railcar was sealed when it left the Cheyenne facility, and the seals were still intact when it arrived in Saltdale. The initial assessment is that a leak through the bottom gate on the railcar may have developed in transit,” the company said through a spokesperson.

A Federal Railroad Administration representative, though, says the investigation points to one of the hopper car gates not being properly closed.

Click bait, revenue enhancement, blah, blah, blah.

I say, being most generous, yellow journalism, and, more accurately, deliberate deception.

MORE GUNS, Not Less.

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Quote of the Day

A disarmed population is a population of sitting ducks just waiting for criminals to go duck hunting. And out of all the legislators and soccer moms and pastors and businesses that want to demonize and take the guns away, none of them are going to protect you and your family. It’s up to you. But if the criminal has a gun and you don’t, it’s up to them. And I don’t think they are going to do what is in your best interest.

Trevo Craw
May 18, 2023
Gun Control: MORE GUNS, Not Less.

The 2nd Amendment is the Balance

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Quote of the Day

The First Amendment contains the freedom-of-speech guarantee that the people ratified, which included exceptions for obscenity, libel, and disclosure of state secrets, but not for the expression of extremely unpopular and wrong-headed views. The Second Amendment is no different. Like the First, it is the very product of an interest-balancing by the people—which JUSTICE BREYER would now conduct for them anew. And whatever else it leaves to future evaluation, it surely elevates above all other interests the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.

Justice Antonin Scalia
U.S. Supreme Court
June 26, 2008
District of Columbia v. Heller

Emphasis added.

The essence of this quote was repeated in the Bruen decision. This is very important.

The gun grabbers get attention by claiming the sky is falling because “gun violence” is increasing and yet the states must “let” people get concealed carry licenses and carry guns in public. Never mind that the people with licenses to carry are not committing the violent crimes and the gun grabbers include the legal shootings of violence criminals in their statistics. They claim justification in banning the most common rifle in the country because, well, some sort of “reason”.

They claim there must be a balancing between the literal words of the Second Amendment and public safety hence they can impose whatever restriction eases the torment in their twisted and/or evil minds. But, as stated in Heller, and repeated in Bruen, the balancing was done at the time of the writing of the Second Amendment. The highest court in the land has now repeatedly stated, in essence, “There will be no more means-end balancing act to make an end run around the literal words of the Second Amendment.”

Our opponents apparently cannot comprehend this and/or think if they keep repeating themselves and whining the court will change its mind. Surely, they claim, another school shooting (in a “gun free zone”) will be sufficient justification to ban more guns and from more locations.

No, the court has spoken, there is no crime which can justify an infringement. Scary black rifles will not be legally removed from public access to ease your troubled mind. All that balancing was over long before you were born.

What part of “shall not be infringed” don’t you understand?

Deer are Dangerous

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This evening I was first on the scene of this accident:


The driver was a 16 year old boy who had his drivers license for only a few days. He turned to avoid hitting a deer that jumped into the road ahead of him. He avoided the deer but lost control and rolled the car.
He sat in my car while talking to the 911 dispatcher. He claimed he had just skinned his knee, but the dispatcher sent an ambulance anyway. I’m not surprised. He was not talking clearly. He was obvious very shaken up.
His grandmother (I knew her when I was going to grade school even though she is about seven years younger than me) showed up a few minutes later and is shown in the picture above. She comforted him for a while. Then his mother and sister showed up. A bunch of hugging occurred and grandma explained the deputy would ask some questions and that it didn’t matter about the car as long as he was okay.
The deputy showed up. Grandma said, “It’s Jeremey, good.” Jeremey talked to the family for while and after the ambulance and fire truck arrived he took some pictures.
The medics evaluated the boy, put him in a neck brace, put him on a stretcher and hauled him away. I don’t know his diagnosis but I expect he will be fine. But I’m not surprised they wanted him to get some in depth attention.
There is a lesson to be learned here. Avoiding the deer certainly caused more physical injury than if he had hit it. And, almost certainly, it caused more damage to the car. Hit the brakes and reduce the impact velocity, but if you worry about avoiding the impact, you almost certainly put yourself and vehicle at greater risk. I hit a deer at 65 MPH and car and driver were in much better shape then this kid and his car going probably 35 MPH or less and avoiding the deer.
Deer are dangerous.

AI Will Wipe Out All of Humanity

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Quote of the Day

So, in summary, AI will lead to 300 million in job losses according to Goldman… and then it will wipe out all of humanity.

Tyler Durden
May 12, 2023
There’s A Greater-Than-50% Chance AI Wipes Out All Of Humanity By 2050, One Advisory Fin (also available here)

I’m not convinced. I don’t think anyone could convince me AI definitely will not do something like this either. I think things are far too complex to make an accurate prediction.

It is definitely worthy of serious thought and being careful with the giving AI access to certain types of power. But that leads to questions like, “What is power?” And, “It could leverage what we believe to be innocuous power into deadly power. For example, “What if it makes deliberately makes  a vaccine that does what is expected short term but long term is deadly?” It could unleash a virus that destroys all plant life as well as animal life. We do not test products intended for use on most plants to the same level as we do for humans. We just might not notice until it was too late.

AI and robotics could also create a virtual utopia for human life. There could be a surplus of all essentials available for free (except for the labor of the robots).

We live in interesting times. Prepare appropriately.

Habitual Dishonesty Reduces Applied Intelligence

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Quote of the Day

In modern intellectual life, honesty is punished and dishonesty is rewarded; honest brain pathways decay, dishonest brain pathways enlarge.

After years and years of conditioning in dishonesty, the typical modern intellectual (whether journalist, scientist, lawyer, teacher, doctor or whatever) becomes physically unable to think straight.

Bruce Charlton
July 19, 2013
Dishonesty reduces applied intelligence: re-wires the brain

Emphasis in the original.

If true, this would explain the stupidity of so many politicians. For quite some time I’ve known liars will frequently lie without any possible motive and, in fact, it is against their best interests. How strange, I thought. They seem to be unable to help themselves. This could explain why that happens.

Via email from Rolf.

A Revolt Over Gun Control

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Quote of the Day

If the Supreme Court eventually says that states or the Congress can’t pass universal background checks or can’t take these assault weapons off the streets, I think there’s going to be a popular revolt over that policy.

Chris Murphy
U.S. Senator (D-Connecticut)
May 14, 2023
Possibility of ‘popular revolt’ about gun control, Sen. Chris Murphy says

Perhaps it would not be quite a popular as the Senator claims to believe:

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Compromise

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Quote of the Day

Yes. We can have both.

We can have sensible gun laws & a law enforcement that’s not corrupted with racist cops.

It takes COMPROMISE & legitimate debate … not one side screaming & crying because the good ol boy racist days are ending & their tiny little penises can’t take it.

Mike_32 @JojoPapa32
Tweeted on January 20, 2023

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

Via Reticulating_Splines @ReticulatingSp1.

We only need one sensible gun law, and we already have it. It is known as the 2nd Amendment.

Get Rid of your Fire Extinguishers

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Quote of the Day

If you have a fire extinguisher in your home get rid of it. You’re nothing but a firefighter larper. Go join the local fire brigade if you want to fight fires!

Lucas Botkin (@LucasBotkin)
Tweeted on May 12, 2023

In case you didn’t already guess, this is sarcasm in response to anti-gun assertions individuals should not own firearms.

Better than New

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I loaned a rifle and case to a Boomershoot Staff member who doesn’t own any guns. His were all stolen out of a moving trailer shortly after he got out of the Navy and he hasn’t replaced them yet. This was his first Boomershoot, and I figured he had to do some shooting. Loaned him a suppressed AR with a suppressor. After the first High Intensity event, I cautioned him to wait until the suppressor had cooled off before putting it back in the case.
After the second High Intensity event, he didn’t wait a sufficiently long time, and it melted a hole through the lining of the soft case. He felt terrible about it and wanted to buy me a new case. I decided I would talk to Barb and maybe we could repair it rather than replace it. It wasn’t catastrophic damage:

Barb thought a patch probably would work. But she didn’t have any. I went looking on Amazon for patches. Then I thought, I really should look for something that can tolerate high temperatures.
TA-DA!!! Meet FLASLD Aluminized Heat Shield Thermal Barrier Adhesive Backed Heat Sleeve Up To 2000 Degrees Fahrenheit:

For $20, I got enough adhesive backed shielding to line multiple cases.
Here is the finished product:

It is better than new.

“Infringe” Defined by a Federal Court

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Quote of the Day

The Second Amendment accords protection of “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,” by providing that the right “shall not be infringed.” U.S. Const. Amend. II (emphasis added). The Second Amendment is unique in its use of “infringed” for the word does not appear anywhere else in the Constitution. Despite its uniqueness, the term “infringed” has received little attention by scholars or courts. However, Heller took the view that “infringed” “implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right.” 554 U.S. at 592 . As articulated in Heller, the Second Amendment does not serve to grant a right but rather preserves a right that the people already possessed. Therefore, to “keep and bear” serves to identify the right protected, not to define the right in the first instance.

The definition of “infringe” further supports the conclusion that the pre-existing right includes a right to purchase. “Infringe” is defined in modern dictionaries as “to encroach upon in a way that violates law or the rights of another.” “Infringe,” Merriam-Webster.com. “Encroach,” in turn, has two definitions: “to enter by gradual steps or by stealth into the possessions or rights of another” and “to advance beyond the usual or proper limits.” “Encroach,” Merriam-Webster.com. Those words have possessed the same meaning since the sixteenth century and the Founders would have understood them in the same way. Not simply protecting the heartland of the preserved right, the Second Amendment protects the environs surrounding it to prevent any encroachment on the core protections. Thus, by virtue of the word “infringed,” the Second Amendment ‘s protective textual embrace includes the conduct necessary to exercise the right (“to keep and bear”) and that, as explained above, includes the right to purchase arms so that one can keep and bear them.

Robert E. Payne
Senior United States District Judge
Richmond, Virginia
May 10, 2023
JOHN COREY FRASER, et al., on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated as a Class, Plaintiff, v. BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES, et al., Defendants.

This is from the summary judgement saying that prohibiting 18 to 20 year old people from purchasing firearms is unconstitutional.

I am not a lawyer but the court finally defining “infringe” in such an inclusive manner seems like a big deal to me. I am all in for inclusive rights.

Machine gun sporting events in high schools by 2032 (a decade after Bruen)!

The Wrong Approach

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Quote of the Day

Going after the guns and the lawful owners is the wrong approach; it emboldens criminals, leading to an increase in violent crime. Repeal the gun laws, empower the lawful citizens, and go after criminals, and the problem goes back to reasonable levels. It will never get to zero no matter how many laws they pass or repeal, but if the goal is to reduce crime, empowering criminals and hamstringing peaceable citizens will NOT do it.

Archer
May 10, 2023
Comment to Lies and Deliberate Deception

But it is clear the goal is not to reduce crime. At least not crime as most people define it.

America’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Moment has Arrived

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Quote of the Day

As cities and blue states become more confiscatory and hostile to property rights, they drive out wealthier people and wealth creators. And as prosperous people leave, the politics become more confiscatory and hostile to property rights. And the cycle continues.

Jon Miltimore
May 8, 2023
America’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Moment Arrived, New IRS Data Show

Interesting observation. It is possible that all positive feedback loops in the social order are bad news for the participants. The only thing I know for certain is this feedback loop is not an exception.

I would like to have a good model for the state of things a decade or so after “Atlas Shrugged”. Somehow, I don’t think it will bear much resemblance to Gault’s Gulch in Colorado as envisioned by AI: