Admit it, as a kid you probably said this to your parents more than a few times. You figured you were pretty damn clever too. You figured your parents would accept this statement as meaning ‘I won’t do that’, when what you really meant is ‘You won’t catch me when I do that’. Well, that’s pretty much the same thing going on with the 2022 Midterm Elections. You’ll never catch me doing that!
If the 2020 elections are known as *the most secure elections in history (the asterisk for all the laws broken, illegal votes, ballot box stuffing, election monitoring interference and results that took days to cheat/count), the 2022 elections will be ones that fine-tuned and perfected the process.
All the affidavits, lawsuits and videos – you know, all that conspiracy theory stuff that never happened – has become nothing more than training materials for this year’s elections. Instead of running vote tally centers like a Las Vegas casino floor or cash room with super high-definition cameras covering every activity from multiple angles, we can expect to see far fewer cameras of lesser quality with more obstructions. We can expect new physical barriers to block public views. Even without the COVID excuse for distance, monitors will be keep further away and not allowed to do their jobs. Tabulation machines will be on hidden networks and those middle of the night, unexplainable spikes in votes for only one candidate will be far more gradual and easily justified by pre-planned statements. In other words, you’re going to see far slicker, more sophisticated operations to get the desired result.
What is the desired result? A victory for “certain” candidates.
We’ve already been warned that Pennsylvania results will take days to be finalized. Why? Because it takes that long to massage results and craft the evidence to support it. Just about every other country in the world can count their votes and declare a winner the same day as the vote. Every village, town and city, no matter how big or small in this country used to be able to do that too. Has our population grown so much, and elections grown so complex that it takes days to do a simple count? No, of course not. But it does take that long to get the results you want.
It’s not much of a stretch to say a lot of people in our country have lost faith in our election process. Recent verified reports show multiple states’ election official training programs instructing their personnel directly in violation of state laws. “Mistakes” in sending out absentee ballots mean illegal ballots abound. Anarchist group members are already claiming to be voting multiple times.
Those in charge of elections are rejecting court rulings and implementing their own standards, guaranteeing the results will be back in the courts for days, weeks, months, and years, only to have the rulings ignored again the next time. Instead of embracing monitors and audits of the election process, administrators and city/county/state councils are stonewalling and refusing to grant access to their processes, systems, and documentation.
For you, the voter, how does this look? Does this give you confidence everything is being done by the book or does is raise questions about what is being done behind closed doors?
I’m also looking at incumbent candidates this year who are trying to obfuscate their track record. Let’s look at how our country has been doing over the past two years and see if these people deserve to continue doing the same thing.
Who shut down your state for two weeks to flatten the curve, that turned into two years to flatten the economy?
Who shut down your business because it wasn’t considered “essential”?
Who quarantined you in your home and arrested you if you went out for “non-essential” reasons?
Who caused you to stand in the cold outside a store for hours just to get what little was available to feed your family?
Who decided you could buy vegetables but not vegetable seeds?
Who put sick patients back into nursing homes filled with the most vulnerable residents?
Who didn’t allow you to morn your family members deaths or attend new family births?
Who sent heavily armed police squads to shut down your business and place of worship?
Who forced people to choose between an experimental vaccine and food or a job?
Who has increased the costs of all essential goods including food, gas and clothing not seen for four decades?
Who has opened our borders to drugs, disease, crime and anyone that wants to walk in unobstructed?
Who has released criminals into our communities, defunded the police, stopped enforcing laws, and allowed crime to skyrocket as public safety plummets?
Who has been sending our tax dollars overseas when we can’t afford to take care of our own people?
Who has been deliberately suppressing YOUR free speech in partnership with the largest technology and social media companies?
Who has been targeting, harassing and arresting parents and concerned citizens for minor or imaginary crimes with large, heavily armed law enforcement officers using tactics once reserved for the most violent of criminals?
Who has blamed YOU for everything that is wrong with this country, when it was their policies, programs and laws that created the problems in the first place?
We’ve been told over and over that we are violent, out of touch extremists who are a direct threat to democracy, when it was someone else all along. Go figure.
I have high hopes that this election cycle will be the correction of the lies and misinformation that has spread across our country, and there’s only one thing that can make that happen.
It’s time to vote.
Bob
Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #Inflation, #Politics, #CivicDuty, #GunControlFails, #GunVote, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #Telegram, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com
My Civic Duty – Apparently
In the run up to the midterm elections, propaganda and BS is running rampant. In support of this assessment, I submit to you a mailing I received from the “Center for Essential Information”. On the front it boldly claims: “For this election, please do your civic duty and vote the candidate, not the party.” Inside it explains that THEIR records show most Americans vote for candidates from both parties and gives my hometown a score of D+ for voting for candidates vs. the party. What a crock!
It’s been quite a while since I took Civics in high school. Yes, Civics not Social Studies, I’m that old. Still, I don’t recall anything about my duty to vote for individual candidates vs. the candidate’s party, so some InterWeb searches were needed to see what’s current.
Most of the results for Civic Duty included such things as obeying the law, paying taxes, serving on a jury when summoned and registering with the Selective Service. Voting itself is generally considered a voluntary responsibility vs. a civic duty, which may explain why American elections have such a dismal participation rate. But nowhere is there ANY inkling of a civic duty to vote for the candidate vs. the party.
Do most American’s vote the candidate vs. the party? I’m going to say no, especially in the current hyper political environment. At least I can’t find any evidence that they do or ever have. That might not have always been the case and I know from my own voting history I’ve voted for candidates of both parties. But I believe the influence of the party has overtaken the influence of the candidate. Certainly, no viable candidate can be elected these days without the power (money) of one of the major parties behind them. Even those who claim to be ‘independent’ are still funded by their closest aligned party.
I found a quote from the New Yorker in 2012 that seems to describe the situation rather nicely.
“[T]he man being voted for, no matter what he says, dances with the party that brought him, dependent on its support, resources, and clientele. That is why one should always vote on the party, instead of the candidate. The party has some continuity of commitment, no matter how compromised. What you are really voting for is the party’s constituency. That will determine priorities when it comes to appointments, legislative pressure, and things like nominating Supreme Court justices.”
But does that R or D next to a candidate’s name tell the whole story? Not in the least. We have RINOs (Republican in name only) and DINOs (Democrat in name only) all over the place. We have lifelong democrats running as republicans and if history is any indication, they will either return to the democrat party soon after the elections or join the RINO herd.
Is vote the candidate vs the party a national message? HELL NO! I see the current President of the United States, former President #44 and just about every other shill out on the campaign trail saying, “Vote Democrat”. They’re not saying vote the candidate, in fact they are saying vote ONLY for their party and voting for anyone from the other party is a threat to democracy.
So I turn back to the Center for Essential Information. Their flyer provided no phone number, but there is a return address of 180 Bangor Mall Blvd, #1042, Bangor ME. 04401, otherwise known as the local Staples store. #1042 is just a forwarding box using Staple’s iPostal1 service. Their website was registered in June 2022 and lists just four states, Pennsylvania, Maine, Kansas and Michigan, all places where democrat candidates are struggling against the backlash of their party’s platform and performance of the past two years.
So for me as a conservative voter in a predominantly conservative area, I am being told it is my civic duty to vote for the candidate NOT the party. Heaven forbid I should allow my hometown to have a low letter score on the Center for Essential Information scorecard.
I suppose the biggest concern I have with a flyer like this is that somewhere, someone might give the propaganda it contains even a little bit of consideration. Like so much of the other lies, misinformation and redirection being spread around the country at the local, state and federal level, it is laughable and sad. Instead of answering real questions with verifiable facts, we get garbage like this.
It’s time to vote.
Bob
Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #Inflation, #Politics, #CivicDuty, #GunControlFails, #GunVote, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #Telegram, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com
Bob’s Inflation Pants
A little diversion here for what I’m calling my inflation pants. No, I’m not talking about G-Suits or MAST pants (kudos if you are old enough to know what those are), I’m talking about the good old fashioned pants Bob wears to work and to work around the house & property. I recently ordered a new pair of pants and the price had increased from $52 to $74.50 in just one year. That’s an increase in price of more than 43%.
As you can tell from the price, these are not fancy, dress up, fashionista type pants. Like I would even wear something like that. They are basic, tough work pants. If you’ve met me anytime in the past decade, I’ve probably been wearing a pair of these pants. Made in Vietnam for an American company, I’ve been wearing them for years. But I’m tough on all my clothes and even tough pants wear out so I occasionally need to replace them.
Honestly, I don’t blame the clothing company for the price increase. Their cost of business has increased and, like every other business including my own, they have no choice but to raise prices. It all trickles down to the little guy at the bottom who can’t work any more hours and simply can’t make ends meet.
I blame our country’s administration for the policies that have led to massive inflationary price hikes. Unless you live under a rock or work for the federal government, your life has been severely impacted by the runaway inflation.
No, it’s not Putin’s fault, COVID 19, systemic racism, global warming, or the former President, it’s the out-of-control and reckless government spending and fiscal policies of those who are running our government, and our country into the ground.
With the exception of the elite at the top of the economic pyramid, and our so-called representatives in government who write the laws that take care of themselves more than anyone else, the rest of the country is getting weaker and weaker financially. Everything costs more and salaries are not, and never will keep up.
Bob’s inflationary pants are just one of a million things that cost more, but really shouldn’t. They are a reminder that the people who are causing this are supposed to be working for US, representing US, working on OUR behalf, but are not.
Perhaps it’s time to get new representation before none of us can afford new pants.
Bob
#Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #Inflation, #InflationaryPants, #GunControlFails, #GunVote, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #Telegram, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com
Once Upon a Facebook
A fun fable for you. After my last post, Facebook sent me a notification that one my posts from 2015 had been removed because it violated their Community Standards. Now, keep in mind this post was from OVER seven years ago, on a page I no longer administer, did not violate any terms or conditions at the time and is still being done today. Yet suddenly, the sensors at Facebook decide it NOW violates policy and took action to delete it… Really Facebook?
Jumping in our wayback machine to 2015, I was the general manager for a teeny tiny little firearms shop. As everyone did then, and many continue doing today, I posted pictures, descriptions and prices for firearms to generate interest and increase traffic at the store. And like every other FFL (Federal Firearms Licensee) then and now, anyone interested had to come into the registered retail location with all the required identification documents, complete a federal form 4473, plus all the other Kalifornistan only materials, pass a background check and wait the required “cooling off” period to get their firearm.
Also mentioned in my social media posts were shout-outs to the other retailers in complex, local community events, various educational and shooting opportunities, as well as training for Women on Target and youth in the area. I also baked cookies for the customers, but only on Wednesday. CLEARLY I am the rogue employee/crazed gun nut that needed to be censored!
To say FacistBook doesn’t like firearms is an understatement. They have gone to great lengths to remove, disrupt, demonetize and restrict the distribution on everything legal firearm related on all their social media platforms.
But have they? Well, yes and no. Knowing firearm retailers across the country, I’ve seen posts removed and accounts cancelled, but others doing the exact same thing left untouched. The very same post of mine that was deleted has been repeated almost verbatim all over the country and most of the time it’s fine. One friend of mine had a warning message on his firearm business page saying this account has been associated with unlawful person-to-person sales of firearms. This is a firearm retailer, so someone obviously was stretching things a bit.
There used to be a time when firearm retailers were okay as long as they didn’t mention the price, or display pictures of the firearm, or showed the firearms being used, or some odd combination of the three. But Facebook is so incredibly inconsistent, and their Terms of Use or Community Standards are so vague, nothing or everything could possibly be a violation, or not, depending on how they feel on that particular day. And appealing a take down or account revocation decision was nearly impossible unless you knew that ONE person on the inside that didn’t hate firearms.
So why are some firearm posts okay for some but not for all. I truly believe it has everything to do with whether a retailer has been adopted by a secret Karen. You know the type. The one who sits back and scours each and every post and comment looking for something that just might violate those nebulous Community Standards, or at the very least offend said Karen personally. From that point on, the retailer is marked and pretty much everything they do is going to be a violation of something, even if it’s not.
Just think about this. How deep would someone have had to look at me (Odd Stuffing > my personal profile > posts I’ve made > as administrator of a page I no longer have access to) to come up with “goes against our Community Standards” more than seven years ago? THAT is MOTIVATED!!!
For better or worse, Facebook is the predominant social media platform and until someone can successfully fight their way past the cartel of leading technology companies who control the market, they will continue to exert their own special morality upon everyone.
For the thousands and thousands of lawful and respectable firearm retailers out there, keep up the fight the best you can. The tide is slowly turning so continue to do your part.
As for me, it’s not Wednesday, but I think I’m going to go make some cookies.
Bob
#Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #GunControlFails, #SecretKaren, #RogueEmployee, #WednesdayCookies, #GunVote, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #Telegram, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com
Good Samaritan or Armed Vigilante?
Whenever a legally armed citizen stops a criminal from taking lives, or taking more lives, the anti-gun zealots do two things. First, the try to bury the story in the media and social media so the rest of the nation doesn’t hear about it. Second, when burying it doesn’t succeed, they minimize what happened, attack the legally armed citizen and attempt to show how stopping the threat was the worst, most dangerously irresponsible thing to do.
So is the case of the Greenville Park Mall shooting. A despicable excuse for a human being went to the mall with two rifles and one pistol. Emerging from the restroom, he began shooting at people in the food court. Within 15 seconds, a legally armed citizen who was shopping with his girlfriend, engaged the shooter from 40 yards away, hitting him with the first shot. He then closed in and neutralized him with eight of the ten total rounds fired, all while motioning for people to exit behind him. In the end, three people were killed, and two more injured not counting the deceased gunman. This legally armed citizen was carrying without a “permit” due to Indiana’s very recently enacted Constitutional Carry law. Even more remarkable was the fact he did not have a law enforcement or military background and had no formal firearms training. He learned to shoot from his grandfather.
Once the story was out, there was no burying it so anti-gun extremists put Plan B into effect. They attacked the good guy.
They disputed the fact that the armed citizen was legally carrying a firearm by noting the mall has a “Code of Conduct” which lists: No Weapons.
When the police and public began calling him a Good Samaritan, they began circulating the origin of the term and noting it was from a Bible passage describing how someone stopped and helped another person who was injured. Because of this it is unconscionable to describe someone who took a life as a Good Samaritan.
They called the legally armed citizen a “vigilante” because he shot and killed the gunman and didn’t let the police handle the situation.
They said the legally armed citizen put everyone in the mall in danger by having a gun battle with the shooter.
They claimed defensive gun use is extremely rare and that their data shows that “criminal carry” laws (what the anti-gun zealots call Constitutional Carry) “increase gun crime and gun homicides in the states where they’re passed.”
It’s times like this when a Luke Skywalker quote is appropriate. Every word of what you just said was wrong.
In Indiana, there is no criminal violation for carrying a firearm on private property in violation of a Code of Conduct. If discovered, the property owner can only ask the person to leave. Failure to leave on demand is trespassing.
But let’s expand on that a bit. Gun free zones, places which have signs saying no weapons allowed or a Code of Conduct forbidding the carrying of “weapons” are, and always have been the location of choice for mass murderers. Be it malls, schools or workplaces, 98% of all mass shootings in the United States since 1950 have occurred in a “Gun Free Zone”. The reason is painfully obvious. Law abiding citizens are expected to obey the rules not carry a firearm in them. But murderers have zero problems carrying a gun and killing in a Gun Free Zone. The fact that these Gun Free Zones do NOT screen 100% of the people coming into them and do NOT provide armed security or law enforcement within them makes it easy for murderers to kill unopposed.
Let’s not forget the words of the Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Mayor following the November 21st, 2020 shooting at the Mayfair Mall that left eight people injured. “Mayfair has a strict no-gun policy. If the shooter had complied with that policy, no one would have been hurt yesterday.”
Side note: Even the Greensville Park Mall commended this armed citizen: “… We are grateful for the strong response of the first responders, including the heroic actions of the Good Samaritan who stopped the suspect.”
Attacking the term Good Samaritan is just a straw man argument from the anti-gun zealots. Since the original Samarian only helped by rendering aid vs. taking a life to save many others, no modern day legally armed citizen who uses a firearm can be considered a Good Samaritan. Personally, I find it painful to think someone spent time coming up with that.
This legally armed citizen did not seek out someone to punish without legal authority, he responded to a threat to his life and the lives of innocent people all around him. It was self-defense, not a vigilante inspired gun battle that risked the lives of others. Had this legally armed citizen not intervened, how many would be dead waiting for the law enforcement response? Is this what they would have preferred? Sadly, the answer to that question is yes since a high body count helps them pass more gun control.
The anti-gun zealots are always trying to restrict an individual’s right to self-defense in this country. Even though the United States Supreme Court has ruled the Second Amendment DOES include this right, they’d prefer nobody except a tightly controlled, severely restricted and defunded law enforcement be able to use it.
Following the example of the United Kingdom, the Canadian Prime Minister recently declared: “No one in Canada has a right to defend themselves, their family, or their property with a firearm.” How long before they start saying that in the United States?
And finally, is defensive gun use rare? Not really. Firearms are used by everyday people around our country at a rate of 3:1 over felonious use, to the tune of approximately three million per year. In most of these incidents, the firearm isn’t even fired. Simply demonstrating the ability to be able to adequately defend yourself against a criminal is often enough to stop the crime in its tracks.
It’s also important to note the anti-gun zealots always claim Constitutional Carry laws will turn American cities into the wild, wild west and there will be blood running in the streets. Yet each and every time Constitutional Carry is signed into law, violent crime goes down and public safety goes up.
The FBI (yea, those guys) recently put out their metric of armed citizens stopping active shooter incidents at 4.4%. Except, they missed quite a few shootings and defensive uses. The real number is conservatively around 14.6%. Whether this was intentionally done to help drive a political narrative or simply incompetence, it’s best to take anything that comes out of the former premier law enforcement agency in our country with a massive grain of salt.
There’s one more thing I’d like you to take away from the Greenville Park Mall shooting and that’s the lack of focus on the gunman. Why? Because he was stopped quickly and effectively, we aren’t obsessing about every stupid detail about this psychopath. No stories about his pathetic life, how misunderstood his family says he was, or his horrific body count. Most people wouldn’t be able to recall his name, just as it should be.
Why? Because a hero named Elisjsha Dicken was there to stop him. The focus has been on the young man who had the skills and mental discipline to put a stop to the killing as soon as it started.
What do you think will deter the next mass shooter at a mall, school or workplace? A no weapons “Code of Conduct” policy with a little plastic window sign saying “Gun Free Zone” and a disarmed rule obeying population, or the realization that a legally armed citizen might be there to shoot you when you try to start killing people?
Bob
#Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #SelfDefense, #GunControlFails, #EndGunFreeZones, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #Telegram, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com
A Government of the People
A friend of mine, who sadly I have not seen for far too long, recently ran for a local precinct position during the primaries. Of the 14 seats available, only two names were listed, my friend’s name plus one more. The rest of the spaces on the ballot were blank for write-ins. THIS right here is why we have lost control of our government. Nobody is showing up to the table.
I’ve said it before. Every seat on every board in every community is important. If we are not showing up, we are ceding control of our communities, our states, and our nation to those who may not share our interests.
… and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Excerpt from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
Nobody realized how important their local school board was until they found out they were indoctrinating our children with racist content, hate and age inappropriate sexually explicit material. Nobody realized the control they have given up until school boards began having parents arrested for speaking out about non-educational content, boards covering up sexual assaults and teachers sexually grooming students.
Nobody cared about planning commissions and zoning boards until they realized these were the people responsible for making sure no firearms or ammunition retailers could operate in their cities and towns. Nobody noticed they had rewritten the bureaucratic processes against the small business lifeblood of the community until they learned there is no way for them to fairly appeal a board decision. Nobody thought their local town or city council was important until they found out they were implementing their own nonsense gun control ordinances, while at the same time handcuffing and defunding local law enforcement.
While most people pay attention to the national political puppet show, they tend to ignore the state and local levels, not realizing the actions of these legislative bodies impact their day-to-day lives more than national level politics do.
An article I recently read tried to explain that because Republicans are more focused on families and religious activities, they tend to not get into political or civic offices as much as Democrats. The explanation seemed to backhandedly imply Democrats were godless, family haters as opposed Republicans. Not exactly what I’d call a logical political theory, but we definitely have a problem with conservative voices showing up.
I believe a more rational explanation is that more conservatives / Republicans share a Ron Swanson (Parks & Recreation) view of government. Government should be as small and as limited as possible. Period.
A Ron Swanson view of government: “My idea of a perfect government is one guy who sits in a small room at a desk, and the only thing he’s allowed to decide is who to nuke. The man is chosen based on some kind of IQ test, and maybe also a physical tournament, like a decathlon.”
The problem with this approach is without representation from all points of view, only the people who are actively trying to shred our Constitution and Bill of Rights and transform our country into their utopian socialist nation are in the government and making decisions for the rest of us.
To quote The West Wing; “Decisions are made by those who show up.”
The good news is conservative voices are now fighting their way back to the table. Responsible, concerned parents are reclaiming their school boards. Conservative members of the communities are recovering seats on local and county boards. But while there is success and momentum in the right direction, it is also a time to be cautious.
Lifelong Democrats are registering as Republicans for local, state and federal posts. Funded by the Democratic Party, they are put in as spoilers to siphon off votes for actual Republican candidates. If they do win, they vote as Democrats. In some areas, the Democrats are hand selecting their Republican opponents. The local liberal press then run stories about how they are “the only Republican who can beat X”. Of course, they are the candidates who have absolutely zero chance of beating anyone, but it keeps viable candidates out of the race. The lesson to learn here is to get to know who is running.
Who is the best candidate? It’s someone you already know. It’s your neighbor, your friend, your local business employee or owner, or maybe it’s that person you see in the mirror every single morning.
Not everyone has the time and inclination to serve, but I’d rather have someone who is willing to take on a position and serve their community for a short period of time than someone looking for the entrance ramp to the swamp.
Remember, the best way to stop unconstitutional laws is to prevent them from being enacted in the first place. It’s time to fill that ballot with people who will represent YOU.
Yes, it does matter who you vote for.
Bob
#Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #ReclaimRights, #EverySeat, #EveryBoard, #EveryTown, #GunVote, #EditorOnHoliday, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #Telegram, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com
Today Was A Good Day For The Second Amendment
Today is truly a good day for free, law-abiding people in our country. The United States Supreme Court has struck down New York’s “May Issue” concealed carry permit law which prevented ordinary citizens from bearing arms to defend themselves in public. While the case was specifically about the New York law, it applies to all other states which also demand applicants to provide “proper cause” to receive government permission carry a firearm for self-defense outside their homes. This historic ruling also updated standard courts must follow when deciding Second Amendment cases.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects “an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”
Today’s ruling (linked below) is 135 pages long and is still being read and digested. While most everyone is focusing on the positive, constitutional aspects, the gun control community is digging in their heels. Rather than accepting the ruling and working towards compliance with the new law-of-the-land, they are actively looking for loopholes or workarounds to circumvent it.
Here is a sampling of statements from some of the biggest proponents of unconstitutional gun control:
The Governor of the State of New York:
“It is outrageous that at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence, the Supreme Court has recklessly struck down a New York law that limits those who can carry concealed weapons.”
“I would like to point out to the Supreme Court justices that the only weapons at that time were muskets. I’m prepared to go back to muskets.”
The Mayor of the New York City:
“Nothing changes today… It ignores the presence (sp) and it endangers our future.”
The Governor of the State of California:
“A dark day in America. This is a dangerous decision from a court hell bent on pushing a radical ideological agenda and infringing on the rights of states to protect our citizens from being gunned down in our streets, schools, and churches. Shameful.”
The United States Department of Justice:
“We respectfully disagree with the Court’s conclusion that the Second Amendment forbids New York’s reasonable requirement that individuals seeking to carry a concealed handgun must show that they need to do so for self-defense. The Department of Justice remains committed to saving innocent lives by enforcing and defending federal firearms laws, partnering with state, local and tribal authorities and using all legally available tools to tackle the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our communities.”
And finally, from the President of the United States:
… “I urge states to continue to enact and enforce commonsense laws to make their citizens and communities safer from gun violence. As the late Justice Scalia recognized, the Second Amendment is not absolute. For centuries, states have regulated who may purchase or possess weapons, the types of weapons they may use, and the places they may carry those weapons. And the courts have upheld these regulations.”
There are of course many, many more rants from politicians, activists, actors and your average, everyday alt-left lunatic fringe. All reveal that they have absolutely zero intention to comply with the Supreme Court’s rulings and will do everything in their power to circumvent the decision by implementing more unconstitutional, draconian gun control laws that have NEVER done anything to prevent violence or death.
Today was a good day for the Second Amendment, but it is only the beginning. May Issue laws in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia must be challenged under the new standard and repealed, along with a host of other gun control laws implemented under flawed standards by activist judges in prejudicial courts.
Anyone in New York or any other “May Issue” state thinking they will be able to run down to their local police or sheriff station tomorrow and get their brand spank’n new conceal carry permit is mistaken. In contrast to the lightning speed they implement new restrictions on firearms from other court rulings, this new ruling from the highest court in the nation is going to be slow walked to death before they are forced to give up that gun, and people control.
Remember, it shouldn’t take 100 years to reclaim your Second Amendment protected rights. Only you can prevent unconstitutional gun laws from being enacted in the first place.
Yes, it does matter who you vote for.
Bob
Full text of ruling: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf
#Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #SCOTUS, #Bruen, #ReclaimRights, #ReclaimNotExpand, #GunVote, #EditorOnHoliday, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com
Reclaiming NOT Expanding Second Amendment Rights
Perhaps as soon as this week, the United States Supreme Court will issue a decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen. The issue before the court is whether the state of New York’s denial of petitioners’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment. However, it is the underlying facts that may ultimately decide whether Second Amendment protected rights are applicable outside the home. This case has the potential to be as significant as Heller and McDonald.
As with all Supreme Court cases, it could be a narrow decision applicable only to New York’s highly restrictive and discriminatory conceal carry permit laws, or wider to include other states with similar conceal carrying permits that require applicants to show “proper cause” or a “special need for self-protection”, namely California, Maryland, Rhode Island, Delaware, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Hawaii. There is also the chance this ruling may even include setting the standard by which all Second Amendment cases are to be decided.
What it is NOT is an expansion of Second Amendment rights. This is a lie created by the gun control groups to scare people into thinking they will be less safe. None of it is true.
Despite many people trying to pick apart, redefine, reinterpret or creatively reimagine it, the 27 words of the Second Amendment remain extraordinarily clear.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
One of the most widespread misconceptions about the Second Amendment is that it grants the right to bear arms. The truth is, it does nothing of the kind. It merely protects that right. The right to bear arms is considered a natural right, one that is not dependent on the laws or customs of any culture or government. Rights of this kind are also called inalienable or even God given rights, inherent to all persons.
Despite this, the nation, states and individual cities and communities have been writing laws to infringe upon the right to keep and bear arms since it was adopted on December 15, 1791. In fact, those defending New York’s highly restrictive gun control law in Bruen note that the law is over 100 years old, thus they claim any reversal of it would be an expansion of Second Amendment rights.
But what the anti-gun zealots call an expansion, is in fact a reclaiming of rights that preexisted BEFORE the unconstitutional gun control law was put in place.
Sadly, Bruen shows how long it can take to reverse unconstitutional laws. If in fact the law in question is over 100 years old, then it took over 100 years for it to be successfully challenged and appealed to the United States Supreme Court to be (hopefully) ruled unconstitutional and reversed.
It’s a fool’s errand to believe that once a law has been enacted, it can successfully be drawn back. Of the thousands of gun control laws passed around the country, precious few are successfully appealed and reversed. The only ones who benefit from the fight are the lawyers. The best way, the ONLY way to stop them is to prevent them from being enacted in the first place.
As is the norm now for cases being decided by the Supreme Court, states and cities around the country who disagree with projected decisions are preparing their response. Not how to fully comply with the decision mind you, that would mean they accept the decision of the highest court in the land. Since they know better than the Supreme Court, they are crafting ways to circumvent the new law-of-the-land and accomplish the very same thing just ruled unconstitutional in a new and creative way.
This is nothing new, especially in the gun control community. Each time a ruling comes out against a gun control law, the anti-gun zealots come up with new ones to take its place. States with highly restrictive concealed carry laws have been particularly good at coming up with new requirements like physical and mental health exams, training and qualifications, multiple interviews, waiting periods, numerous trips to the police station for appointments, all only available during the day during the work week, and ever-increasing fees, fees and even more FEES to help limit who they have to give a permit to.
Remember that each and every time a state has proposed eliminating permits for concealed carry, gun control zealots, led by the activist Giffords organization, has flooded the airwaves and internet with “research” and “studies” showing this would directly lead to people settling all their disputes in restaurants, bars, stores and the streets with guns. It would be the wild, wild west and there would be blood running in the streets of American cities.
Yet each and every time, the exact opposite has happened. Violent crime has gone down and public safety increases.
As we wait for the Bruen decision, let’s keep in mind what has been happening with regards to conceal carry across the country. 25 states now do not require a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public, otherwise known as constitutional carry. That’s half the country that says you don’t need government permission to lawfully carry a firearm outside your home. The national trend is clearly in the opposite direction from New York’s highly restrictive permitting scheme, and there are at least 25 states where we are all safer because of it.
It shouldn’t take 100 years to reclaim your Second Amendment protected rights. Only you can prevent unconstitutional gun laws from being enacted in the first place.
Yes, it does matter who you vote for.
Bob
#Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #SCOTUS, #Bruen, #ReclaimRights, #ReclaimNotExpand, #GunVote, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com
USS SCOTUS Succumbs To The Swamp
For the first time in the 232-year history of the United States Supreme Court, the full text of a draft opinion was released to the public in advance of the actual ruling. While there have been other minor leaks of information about pending decisions, there had never been anything like the leak of the draft in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a case which may reverse or severely limit the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision.
For me, the case itself is immaterial. The fact that the confidentiality of the Court’s deliberations has been breached is of more concern. With this leak, the final branch of the United States government has succumbed to the depths of the swamp. I am sad to report the USS SCOTUS has sunk.
One of the great distinguishing characteristics of the United States Supreme Court had always been its lack of leaks. Of the three branches of government, SCOTUS has always been unique in that it has never been a source of major political leaks, whereas the other two branches leak like a sieve. Why the Administration and Congress even have press offices is a mystery when more partisan information, and disinformation, flows out the back door than through the official channels.
It’s not that SCOTUS isn’t political, the fact that there are conservative and liberal wings of the Court instead of simply having Justices that rule on Constitutional and rule of law issues without an ideologic filter proves that.
Chief Justice John Roberts has ordered an investigation into the source of the leak calling it an “egregious breach of trust”. The latest news of the investigation indicates some of the Court’s law clerks are seeking legal representation after being asked for phone records. A bit on the ironic side.
There are some interesting points about the leak itself. That the draft opinion is dated February 10th and the story didn’t publish until May 2nd is part of the intrigue. Did the highly partisan left “news” outlet hold onto the story until a specified time for maximum political impact, or did it take that long for the leaker to get it to them?
The biggest question is of course who leaked the document. Numerous articles from those with experience in the Court indicate access to this type of information is strictly limited to the nine Justices, each of their four law clerks and a few administrative personnel. As such, the speculation has been wild, including:
One of the liberal Justices
One of the liberal Justices’ law clerks
One of the conservative Justices
One of the conservative Justices’ law clerks
Chief Justice Roberts himself
The President of the United States (although someone would have had to leak it to him)
Most everyone agrees the reason was to pressure one of the conservative Justices to change their minds on a subsequent, final vote. The alternative view is it was done to distract the people from the many issues the country is facing including the out-of-control inflation and price increases, a looming recession, shortages of consumer goods, supply chain issues, skyrocketing crime, an unsecured border, and our disastrous foreign policy (Afghanistan, Middle East, Ukraine, Russia, China, Taiwan, etc.), to name but a few. Either, or both is plausible.
The Administration has been quick to add fuel to the fire by not only encouraging protests at the homes of the conservative Justices, illegal under federal law, but by refusing to investigate or prosecute these crimes. Congress also refused to pass legislation to increase security for the Justices and their families following the arrest of a man who admitted he was going kill one of the conservative Justices: The Speaker of the House commented: “There will be a bill. But nobody is in danger over the weekend because of our not having a bill.” Confident words of encouragement from someone who lives in a security bubble.
There has been the usual “Reform the Court” talk that typically follows the news of a potential Supreme Court decision that does not comply with the wishes of the extreme left. The same “pack the court” and “term limits for justices” arguments were dusted off and paraded out to the press.
It’s not like there isn’t precedent for successful pressuring of the Supreme Court. Recall the Senate Democrats “Heal Thyself” letter threatening to pack the Court if it didn’t moot the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York. This letter is widely credited with not only Chief Justice Roberts decision to moot the case but to more firmly side with the left wing of the Court. As a result, the Court was saved from being packed, at least temporarily. But this capitulation showed the Court can be politically influenced and is in danger of no longer being an independent branch of government.
Will the leaker and anyone involved in the leak ever be identified and brought to justice? I’m going to guess no. I believe the person or persons responsible may already be known but will never be publicly outed. Why can best be explained by quoting Obi-Wan Kenobi. “If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine.”
Publicly identifying, terminating, and criminally charging the leaker would create a martyr, someone who would become powerful political figurehead for the extreme alt-left. As such, the world may just live with rumors and suspicions, and another asterisk next to Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts.
What this means to us in the Second Amendment community remains to be seen but I’ll repeat what I’ve said before. Yes, it does matter who you vote for.
Bob
#Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #SCOTUS, #SCOTUSLeak, #SCOTUSSinks, #GunVote, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com
Sacrificing Our Children
I am shocked, angry, and disgusted.
As we await the final details of what happened in Uvalde, Texas, I am shocked at the horrific loss of young, innocent life. I cannot even imagine what would possess someone to commit such an atrocity. I am angry that the now commonplace, proven best practices were not followed and for the response that may have cost lives. I am disgusted by the politicians who jumped in front of the nearest camera to push their political agenda while children were still bleeding. Disgusted, but at the same time not at all surprised.
There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered here and I fear it will be quite some time before all the facts are brought to light. Some are likely to be very disturbing. Like most decent people, I will wait until the investigation is complete.
What I will comment on now is the disgusting display of anti-gun politicians, activists and talking heads who immediately upon hearing the news of this horrific event, grabbed their prewritten and staged gun control plans, and raced to the nearest willing “news” outlet to spew their lies about how THEIR new gun control laws must be enacted now! All of this while the bodies of those killed are still warm and the injured are still bleeding, fighting for their lives.
Who have these gun control zealot politicians, activists and so-called journalists blamed for this shooting? The Texas Governor (for making it easier to carry concealed firearms to protect yourself in public); Republican politicians at the local, state and federal level (for supporting the Second Amendment); The firearm manufacturer, distributor and retailer (who all followed the absolute letter of the law); The NRA (who held their annual convention the weekend following the shooting and have yet to have a member responsible for a mass shooting); And every responsible firearm owner who’s ever owned a AR-15 pattern rifle (since AR-15’s only exist to kill innocent people en masse).
Notably absent from the to blame list for this tragedy, and every other shooting that doesn’t fit a certain left-wing narrative, is the actual person who committed it, the killer. It’s almost as if a deraigned psychopath who commits murder isn’t important in the greater push for more gun control.
So why haven’t schools been hardened and secured, with armed police/security on duty at every school? Here’s my theory, and it’s not very nice:
The anti-gun zealots are willing to sacrifice our children to get more restrictive gun control passed. What better way to get votes than to have sensational news and social media coverage about dead children killed by GUNS. They categorically refuse to consider any other option to prevent the loss of innocent lives. It is ONLY about the GUNS, and little coffins make that happen.
Don’t believe it? California had already banned properly trained and licensed teachers and administrators from carrying firearms on school grounds. This reversed a previous law allowing local superintendents to decide if and who could be armed. Now California is considering a bill, passed in the Senate two days AFTER the shooting in Uvalde, which would allow schools to not report threats or attacks against employees or officials to law enforcement.
There has been a nationwide left-wing push to remove police officers from schools because of alleged police “explicit and implicit racism” and an imagined “school-to-prison” pipeline. Thus, the very people who should be working inside schools to protect students and staff from those who mean them harm are intentionally kept away. Meanwhile, schools are protected by signs declaring them as a “Gun Free Zone”.
Keep in mind 98% of all mass shootings in the United States since 1950 have occurred in a “Gun Free Zone”.
The final word comes from the President of the United States who refuses to consider hardening schools since only guns are the problem. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says proposals that deal with “hardening schools…is not something that” President Biden “believes in” b/c “the problem is with guns” in America.
What would help? Schools hardened against threats, single entrances, locks, alarms, surveillance systems and armed law enforcement on site and trained/armed teachers and school staff. None of this is new. Following the Columbine massacre more than 20 years ago, everything about school security and law enforcement response to active shooters changed. There are programs all across the country to evaluate school security and create a plan to bring them up to date. Elected officials only need to ask for the help.
It’s not like politicians don’t like hardened buildings and armed police on site. Look at the offices and buildings our United States Representatives and Senators work in. Look at every state capitol around the country after the fictional threat of a nationwide attack circulated. Look at local school board meetings where law enforcement officers are in the aisles to protect the school board and arrest parents who dare to question them. Look at the FBI who, despite denials, are investigating concerned parents as domestic terrorists.
Would it cost a lot? Yup, it sure would. But while our federal government is sending billions of dollars overseas, it defers school security decisions, and costs, to the state and local levels. Meanwhile, our same federal government is more than willing to impose new draconian gun control laws across the country to every state and local jurisdiction.
Several states, including California and New York, as well as the federal government, are rushing to ram through massive gun-control packages while emotions are still raw. This repulsive effort is directly out of the playbook of former Presidential Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, which states: “Never let a good crisis go to waste”. The tragic loss of life is simply an opportunity to progress an agenda that couldn’t get traction before.
Naturally, none of the proposed new laws would have done anything to prevent this tragedy or any other criminal act. They only impact the law-abiding, making them less safe.
Remember, gun control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun control.
Our nation doesn’t need new laws, it simply needs to enforce the ones we already have. We need to hold those who commit crime accountable for their actions. Social justice district attorneys across the country are refusing to do their jobs and prosecute people who break the law. This has directly led to massive increase in violence and crime. On the rare occasion criminals are actually caught by a defunded police force, they are seldom held more than a few hours and rarely go to prison anymore. That’s not much of a disincentive to committing any type of crime and the results of these social justice experiments can be seen across the country.
And what about fixing our mental health care system? That’s a whole nother story.
Something does need to be done, and it’s getting rid of politicians willing to sacrifice our children in order to push their dangerous and irresponsible gun control only agenda.
Yes, it does matter who you vote for.
Bob
#Oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #GunFreeZone, #SchoolSafety, #SelfDefense, #GunControlFails, #GunVote, #medium, #mewe, #parler, #gab, #gettr, #truthsocial, #oddstuffing.com