Category: Weekly Post

Garland v. Cargill (Bump Stocks) & Why This Is Important

On June 14, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Garland v. Cargill, the bump stock case. In a 6-3 ruling, the Court ruled the ATF exceeded its authority in declaring bump stocks as machine guns. The ruling, which relied on the exact text of the National Firearms Act (NFA), said a bump stock did not qualify as a machine gun since they did not fire more than one round automatically per trigger pull. As such, the ATF could not regulate them through administrative action and only congressional legislation would empower them to do so. 

The ruling, concurring and dissent opinions are in the single link listed below. I encourage you to read them and decide for yourself what is based on fact or the filter of politics. 

Also note this is not about the June 28, 2024, ruling that abolished the Chevron Deference in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, however that ruling will undoubtably impact the ATF going forward. 

First off, many people, myself included, consider bump stocks a foolish range toy with limited practical use unless you’re shooting at the broad side of a barn. I’ve shot with them on a couple of occasions, and they are finnicky as hell. Sadly, they were used against a barn size target in Las Vegas in 2017 which prompted the ATF ban. Regardless, the point isn’t the type or practicality of the accessory, it’s the ATF’s administrative and systematic banning of more and more firearm and firearm related accessories that is the issue. A bit here, a bit there, and suddenly there’s very little left. 

It’s also important to note the ATF previously said bump stocks were NOT machine guns or subject to the NFA on at least 10 separate occasions through several administrations, consistently concluding that semi-automatic rifles equipped with bump stocks cannot “automatically” fire more than one shot “by a single function of the trigger”.  A bump stock equipped rifle cannot operate automatically since just the right amount of forward pressure must be applied with the support hand to the forward handguard. Because the shooter slides the rifle forward in the bump stock, each shot is fired by a single function of the trigger. 

The National Firearms Act defined ‘function of the trigger’ to include not only a single pull of the trigger but also any ‘analogous motions’. The ATF contends that one such analogous motion that qualifies as a single function of the trigger is sliding the rifle forward to bump the trigger.

Here is the important part. Had the ATF definition of bump stocks been upheld, then every semiautomatic rifle could be considered a machine gun since it is possible to achieve the same effect using something as simple as a rubber band or a belt loop to ‘bump’ the trigger. 

The ruling also took note of the Ithaca Model 37 shotgun, a firearm the ATF has ruled is not a machine gun even though it can fire more than one shot with a single function of the trigger. The Model 37 is famous for its ability to “slam fire” by holding down the trigger and operating the pump action. But since it does not do this “automatically”, requiring the operator to move the slide with the support hand, it is not a machine gun. 

The ATF declaring bump stocks as machine guns was a purely political decision made in the aftermath of the horrific 2017 Las Vegas shooting. As we’ve seen over and over again, the sickening mantra of “Never let a good crisis go to waste” was invoked in order to administratively slip in a targeted ban against an ‘evil’ gun accessory, while casting a net that would someday be used to ban every semiautomatic rifle. 

This text of the ruling clearly identified what is and is not a fully automatic firearm, as well as specifying the proper course of action to change the NFA must come from Congress. In response to this ruling, a bill entitled Banning Unlawful Machinegun Parts (BUMP) Act was introduced. 

Pay attention to the language it uses: 

“(A) any manual, power-driven, or electronic device primarily designed, or redesigned, so that when the device is attached to a semiautomatic firearm the device—
“(i) materially increases the rate of fire of the firearm; or
“(ii) approximates the action or rate of fire of a machinegun;

“(B) any device, part, or combination of parts, that is designed and functions to materially increase the rate of fire of the firearm, by eliminating the need for the operator of the firearm to make a separate movement for each individual function of the trigger; or
“(i) materially increases the rate of fire of the firearm; or

“(C) a semiautomatic firearm that has been modified in any way that—
“(ii) approximates the action or rate of fire of a machinegun.

Using this definition, any semiautomatic firearm potentially used with a belt loop, rubber band, hell even Jerry Miculek’s finger, could be declared a machine gun, subject to the NFA and banned.  And THAT is absolutely the intention. 

Fortunately, it was blocked from unanimous consent passage by a single Senator who said, “It’s not really about bump stocks, this bill is about banning as many firearm accessories as possible. It’s an unconstitutional attack on law-abiding gun owners.”

It is highly unlikely this will be the end of this topic. The outcome of the 2024 general elections, control of Congress and the White House could bring new interest in this and other gun control priorities. Any new laws would likely immediately be challenged and again appealed to the United States Supreme Court based on the Bruen ruling. 

Yes, your vote matters.

Bob

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-976_e29g.pdf

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POTUS v. SCOTUS (& the Second Amendment) 

In case you missed it, following the President of the United States decision not to seek reelection and pass his nomination to the Vice President, he released his plan for reforms to the Supreme Court of the United States. In what can best be described as a Democrat Party temper tantrum, the President laid out three points for his so-called “reform” of the Court. These include reversing the ruling of Presidential Immunity for crimes committed while in office, setting term limits of 18 years for Supreme Court Justices and establishing an enforceable code of conduct against Supreme Court Justices. 

The fact that the President has sat on proposing any reforms, even following the final report (link below) from his highly biased Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States until AFTER he stepped away from reelection and became a lame duck President, is indicative of the level of seriousness his so-called “reforms” should be taken as. 

One would think any of our former presidents would be deeply concerned with having the presidential immunity ruling reversed. Given the life and death decisions inherent to the job, including those made for the purposes of war, even the current President should be concerned given some of his own actions, including the disastrous and deadly Afghanistan withdrawal. However, he may be relying on the Department of Justice determination of him as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”, to provide him with a level of prosecutable immunity. Or perhaps those supporting it have faith the Department of Justice would never go after someone they consider an ‘insider’. 

The sycophant, extremist legal pundits behind this are now saying this can be accomplished without constitutional amendments by simply imposing the conditions upon the Supreme Court by Congress and the President.  In other words, two of the three separate branches of government imposing their partisan demands on the third branch. 

If you’re thinking a move like this from Congress and the President would be constitutional, let’s imagine a couple different scenarios. 

The President (Executive Branch) decides Congress should have term limits. Remember the President cannot independently create laws, so an Executive Order is created. Congress would justifiably say this is unconstitutional as the Executive Branch cannot impose a condition on the Legislative Branch. 

The Congress (Legislative Branch) decides the Vice President is now subject to the Twenty Second Amendment limiting them to two terms in the Executive Branch and passes a law to enforce that. The President and Vice President disagree. In the first place, the President would not sign the law, as it would still be unconstitutional for the Legislative Branch to impose a condition on the Executive Branch. 

I suppose the most ironic part of this would be if the President or Congress attempt to impose these changes by executive order or legislation, the opposition to it would be heard in the US federal court system and appealed up to … the United States Supreme Court. 

The separation of powers for the three independent branches of government is a critical component of our government and thinking that two branches can just impose a new set of politically biased conditions on the third is ridiculous. 

Amending the Constitution is difficult, on purpose, as it changes the very foundation of the country. Article Five of the Constitution describes the process: 

Amendments may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate; or by a convention to propose amendments called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures. To become part of the Constitution, an amendment must then be ratified by either, as determined by Congress, the legislatures of three-quarters of the states or by ratifying conventions conducted in three-quarters of the states. 

As with the Democrat party’s proposal to pack the court with five new liberal Justices to ‘eliminate the influence of politics’ in the Court, support from Congress, the state legislatures and the people simply aren’t there. The people are smart enough to know what is going on, an attempted political takeover of Supreme Court, and they won’t support it. 

The justification behind this is the 6-3 conservative majority on the Court. In reality, it’s a 5-3 conservative majority, with the Chief Justice, who votes last, now siding with whichever side is winning. This has become evident following his capitulation to the threat of forced reform presented in the Senate Democrat’s “Heal Thyself” memo issued during the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York case. 

The rational from the extremist left for packing the Court with five liberal Justices was “We’re not packing the Court. We’re unpacking it.”  A critical point to be considered here. If the only way to get what they call “historic, progressive laws” to pass constitutional scrutiny is to pack the Court with far-left liberal Justices who will rule in favor of them, then it’s a safe bet the laws were NEVER constitutional in the first place.

So, why is this important to us from a Second Amendment standpoint? Well, consider that Everytown for Gun Safety and Planned Parenthood have announced their joint support for the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization Act of 2023 (TERM Act), which would create 18-year term limits for current and future Supreme Court justices. 

Everytown states: “One of America’s greatest strengths is our dynamism, which we’ve seen clearly in the growing public support for gun safety — and which is being stymied by a Supreme Court where lifetime appointments promote stagnation and stonewalling.” They cited Garland v. Cargill (the bump stock ban reversal) as a key element in their decision. 

Here’s what it boils down to. The extremist left disagrees with the decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Instead of taking it as a hint that the administrative rules, laws and executive actions are unconstitutional and perhaps they should be focusing on other areas if they want to do some good, they are hell bent on changing the makeup of the Court so that they can get a rubber stamp to infringe on the people’s rights. 

THIS is why I care and why everyone who votes this year should care. Reforms to the United States Supreme Court for the purposes of passing and sustaining unconstitutional laws should scare the crap out of everyone. An independent United States Supreme Court is pretty much the only thing preventing the systematic elimination of the Second Amendment right now. 

Yes, your vote matters. 

Bob

http://oddstuffing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SCOTUS-Report-Final-12.8.21-1.pdf

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Presidential Election 2024 Ballot Prediction Results (Political Post)

The Democratic National Convention has concluded, and the candidate has officially been nominated. That means it time to pull the mayonnaise jar from where it has wintered since last November in the darkest depths below Funk & Wagnall’s back porch* and see how I did on my predictions.  You can see my original prediction post at: https://oddstuffing.com/archives/1128.

The results are mixed. While I was correct as to who WAS NOT going to be the candidate, I missed on who WAS going to be the candidate. 

Quick review: Back in November 2023 I predicted the physical and mental health of our current President, Joe Biden, would have declined to the point where he could no longer be a valid candidate. It’s not that his condition in 2020 was that much better, it’s just that by now it is to the point where it can’t be covered up, denied, or explained away anymore. Everyone points to his disastrous performance in the first debate with former President Donald Trump as the reason he stepped aside. I’m sticking with the notion this was planned all along and the performance was not only anticipated, but necessary to make the move. 

As to the replacement candidate, I predicted either Gavin Newsom or Hillary Clinton. Yup, I missed on this part, and I can only think of a hundred million reasons why. The money. 

The current President’s campaign war chest at the time he stepped away from campaign was more than 100 million dollars and, since the Vice President was on the reelection ticket with him, she gets to use the money. Obviously, there are some MAJOR questions about that from a legal standpoint, but with the Federal Elections Commission, a notoriously pathetic slow to react agency in the first place being part of the Executive Branch of the current government, well guess what… it’s going be ruled as “legal” sometime in the next few years, just in time for the 2024 elections. 

The choice of Vice President Kamala Harris is an absolute surprise, not only for me but for the Democrat party. This is someone who when the President announced his reelection bid, even the party loyalists were openly calling for him to replace her on the ticket because she was dragging him down in the polls.

Vice President Harris has consistently ranked as the least popular Vice President in recent history, potentially all of time. Her patented word salad answers, to her maniacal nervous cackle when she doesn’t have an answer, to the fact she hasn’t accomplished anything she has been tasked with, all add up to someone who is in no way, shape or fashion ready to lead the country. 

Let’s also recall that in her first presidential run in 2020, she was forced to drop out BEFORE the first primary because her performance couldn’t rally enough support, despite having the funding and connections from the Clinton dynasty. When the current President announced his support for her candidacy, in an all too mysterious fashion, I was skeptical if it was the real thing. But then we started to see key campaign staff from the Clintons, Obamas and Bidens start to migrate to her staff. I had to conclude it was true. 

So how is the most unpopular, least productive Vice President going to compete as a candidate? Lots and lots of help. 

The Democratic National Committee (DNC): Through all the primaries, the Democrat party ran a candidate they knew was not going to be on the 2024 ballot, as well as viciously kept any potential primary opponent off the primary ballots. When the President stepped aside and endorsed the Vice President, all the President’s delegates magically transformed to Harris delegates. We now have a Presidential candidate who was not primaried in two election cycles as the Democrat Presidential candidate. 

If you’re thinking the Democrat party can’t simply select who they want regardless of the primaries, recall Bernie Sanders lawsuit against the DNC for unfairly biasing Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race. His case was ultimately dismissed when the Federal Court ruled the DNC could select their own candidate, period. Primaries mean absolutely NOTHING and your vote in a primary is nothing but a popularity contest so the major parties can evaluate the general election support for whomever they choose. 

The media: The media have been repeating the popular myth the Vice President has “grassroots” support across the nation. The LEAST popular Vice President, potentially of all times, whom nobody wanted to stay on the current President’s ticket, suddenly has nationwide grassroots support. Social media, the tech giants as well as traditional television and print media have been effectively erasing inconvenient facts and articles from the internet, as well as substituting complimentary articles. Searches have been altered to show only the side they want you to find. 

The polls: Polling from the day the Vice President announced show her leading the former President in all the battleground states. Yet we recall in the days, weeks, months and years leading up to this, the Vice President was polling at the bottom of the list of people who could potentially replace the current President. 

The courts: The lawfare against the Republican candidate and those who have supported him continues and we can expect ramped up efforts to muddy them up even further in the coming months.  

New voters: Over the past three and a half years, this country has seen a tsunami of unlawful residents flowing into our country, to the tune of an estimated 10 to 20 million, costing our country billions and billions of dollars to provide housing, food, clothing, transportation and medical care. How many of these so-called “asylum seekers” or “migrants” will end up on the voting rolls is unknown, but their being registered as voters is well documented.

The October surprise: We should all expect at least one, likely more, September, October and even first few days of November surprises. It may come in the form of an escalation or US brokered resolution in one of the multiple wars we are financing, a “terrorist” attacks on our own soil, political lawfare accusations, charges or sentences, a new pandemic, or even the current President resigning so the Vice President will be considered the incumbent candidate. 

Voting “season”: Our country used to have a single day when people went to the polls to vote, or had to have their absentee ballots in. Votes were tabulated then and there and the results, even if contested, were announced at the end of the night. Just about every other country in the world still does that, but not us. Our highest technology driven “safest and securest elections ever” require days to weeks or longer of extra behind closed doors counting to come up with the ‘right’ number, especially in the battleground states. 

The puppet masters: Just as I’m thoroughly convinced someone else was running our government for the past three and half years, I’m convinced a different someone else would be running the country under a President Harris administration. The same forces that originally planned to replace President Biden with Vice President Harris are doing it again. Follow the money to figure out who. 

As someone who has witnessed the current Vice President in action in her home state of Kalifornistan as well as her performance in the Senate and as Vice President, I can only shake my head in disbelief. I keep thinking we as a nation can come up with better candidates for office at the local, county, state and federal level, but it just doesn’t seem to happen. 

This is OUR fault folks. We allow the political parties to pick our representatives for us and we wind up with people who do nothing but give the public lip service while they do the bidding of those who put them in place. 

This election is going to be difficult for a lot of people as the lies and smears are going to try to convince you to make an emotional decision. All I can say is vote for the future you want for your country and godspeed. 

Bob

*Okay, it’s really Odd Stuffing’s back deck, but it’s still a valid ceremonial place to let these kinds of things properly age. 

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A Model of Bipartisan Efficiency (Side Rant)

For those who don’t believe our elected officials are working hard in the best interests of our nation, I present to you S.4610 – A bill to amend Title 36, United States Code, to designate the bald eagle as the national bird. Yes, you read that correctly. The Senate of the 118th Congress has brought forth and in a stunning show of bipartisanship, unanimously passed S.4610. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives where it is expected to quickly pass and be sent to the President of the United States for his signature. 

S.4610 – A Senate bill officially designating the bald eagle as America’s national bird after more than 200 years of symbolizing the country.

According to one of the co-sponsors, “Today’s bipartisan passage brings us one step closer to solidifying the eagle’s place as an enduring symbol of our freedom, and I look forward to seeing this legislation pass the House and signed into law soon.”

I for one am grateful that during these trying times when runaway inflation is raising the costs of goods and services, forcing many hard working Americans to simply go without, crime in many of our cities is out of control and the streets are no longer safe to walk or drive day or night, our uncontrolled border is pouring millions of “asylum seekers” and “immigrants” (a.k.a. illegals) into our country, to have all of their needs including housing, food, clothing and healthcare paid for with our tax dollars, law abiding citizens are being stripped of their constitutionally protected rights, radical ideologies rule the day and anyone disagreeing with them faces the full weight of our nation’s law enforcement and legal system, all while our country is sponsoring two foreign proxy  wars and we are propping up economies of countless nations hostile to our own interests, our Congress is laser focused on the hard issues. 

Despite all the trivial distractions, our Congressional representatives, who we pay a minimum of $175,000 per year and enjoy extraordinarily lavish benefits, perks and the advantages of insider information not available to the common US citizen, are able to come together to pass this critical piece of timely legislation. 

BRAVO PATRIOTS!

I invite you to go to https://www.congress.gov to see what your Representatives and Senators have been doing on your behalf. Are they working on things that matter to you and your family? Are they addressing what is important to our nation? 

Maybe it’s time for some different representation. 

Bob

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California’s 1 in 30 Ban Update 

In a rare pro Second Amendment ruling last Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a stay issued against an injunction against California’s “1 in 30” ban. The ban prohibits Californian’s from purchasing more than one firearm in a 30-day period. The ruling by a three-judge panel in the case of Nguyen v. Bonta is short and to the point. “The order (Dkt. 9) granting Defendants’ motion for a stay pending appeal (Dkt. 3) is REVERSED.” There was no stay included in the reversal of the stay, so the order was effective immediately. 

The original lawsuit against the ban was filed in federal court on December 18, 2020, when the 1 in 30 ban only covered handgun purchases. The ban was expanded on July 1, 2021, to include semiautomatic, centerfire rifles as well. The law was expanded again on January 1, 2024, to include any firearm, completed frames or receivers, or so-called “firearm precursor parts”.

The 1 in 30 ban was struck down on March 11, 2024, by District Court for the Southern District of California by Judge William Q. Hayes. The judgement was stayed in the original order for 30 days to facilitate the State’s appeal. A stay pending the outcome of the appeals was granted on April 24, 2024, by a separate three-judge panel. 

The justification for the 1 in 30 ban was explained by the State in the motion for a stay as: 

“California law does not limit the total number of firearms that any person may possess, the OGM (one-gun-a-month) law addresses the particular dangers associated with bulk purchases that occur within a relatively brief period of time, such as straw purchases and illegal firearms trafficking. The law makes it more difficult for criminals to acquire firearms by reducing the flow of guns into the black market and thus curtailing the illegal gun market. The law also makes it more difficult for individuals to stockpile firearms for criminal activity.”

During the defense of the stay, the California DOJ attorney claimed that the reason for the gun rationing law was to “disrupt” gun trafficking and straw purchasing. When pressed for evidence the 1 in 30 ban actually does this, the DOJ attorney cited unnamed “some studies” and that other states had adopted one-gun-a-month statutes. 

The state also claimed anyone who needed an additional firearm in that 30 days could “borrow” a firearm until they were allowed to purchase another. This of course is against the law in California as it is illegal to loan or otherwise transfer a firearm to another private party, except between immediate family members, without conducting a Private Party Transfer at a federal firearms dealer and waiting the required 10 days. It is also illegal to transfer ammunition to another private party without going through an “ammunition vendor” and paying for a background check, along with any wait imposed by the State for the completion of the background check. 

The 1 in 30 ban serves as a prime example of California’s draconian approach to gun control. The basis for the law was conjecture based not on factual evidence, but a desire to systemically reduce the number of firearms a person could lawfully obtain. “Some studies”, while not even cited in this case, are usually result of biased, State funded “research” where they start with the outcome and work to create “facts” and numbers to support the outcome. This law also demonstrates the scope creep commonly found in gun control. What started out as a one-handgun-a-month ban, expanded to include semi-automatic, centerfire rifles, then expanded to ALL firearms, frames, receivers and even so-called “firearm precursor parts”. 

The State was very cautious to include in their testimony that they do not limit the number of firearms a person can own, only how quickly they can obtain them. However, if you examine the State’s history of continuously tightening the regulations on lawfully purchasing and the possession of firearms, it is painfully obvious it will only be a matter of time before a hard limit of how many firearms the State will ‘allow’ you to own is imposed. 

The State has the option of appealing the reversal to an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Considering one three-judge panel issued the stay and a different three-judge panel reversed it, an appeal by the State is almost guaranteed. The State has also fared far better with their hand selected en banc panels. We should expect nothing different in this case. 

The latest news indicates the State is still updating the DROS (Dealer Record of Sale), the registration and background check system, to comply with the reversal of the stay, although there is nothing to say this process won’t be dragged out indefinitely pending their obtaining another stay and reversal of the original court decision. 

I’m going to keep saying this, fighting gun control laws after they are passed is a fool’s errand. It is a long shot to even get the right appeal and we the citizens of the United States are not only funding the appeal but the defense of unconstitutional laws. In this game, only the lawyers win and we the people lose our rights in the process. 

What does work? Electing representatives at the local, county, state and federal level who will NOT sell our constitutionally protected rights to the gun control zealots. EVERY seat on EVERY board matters.  Yes, even in Kalifornistan.  

Bob

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Vote Early, Vote Often… A Santa Cruz Story

It’s been five years since I escaped the People’s Republic of Kalifornistan, so imagine my joy at receiving yet another notice from the Santa Cruz County Elections Board to validate my address for my absentee ballot in the upcoming general elections. The notice had my residence address listed as my old Scotts Valley address, with the mailing address of my previous address in New Mexico. The new owners of the property were kind enough to forward it on to Maine for me. 

Now keep in mind, in the past five years, I moved to New Mexico, where I obtained a driver’s license, registered to vote and voted while I was there, then moved to Maine, where I obtained a driver’s license, registered to vote and voted since I’ve been here. According to this notice I received, either of these should have triggered them removing me from the voting rolls in California. But apparently not. 

An unscrupulous person might say, screw it… if they want to send me a ballot, I’ll vote there too. It wouldn’t be a vote they’ll like, but I could send it anyway. But that’s not only dishonest, but illegal. So, one more time, I returned the notice saying I was no longer at either address.

For a while I thought about sending back a notice saying I had died thinking that might give them the hint to clear me off their list, but then I really didn’t want to join the Democrat party. 

Not to be outdone, every year the City of Scotts Valley sends me a reminder that my business license has expired, and I need to renew it promptly to avoid a late renewal penalty. Being the persnickety person I am, I cancelled everything before I escaped the iron grip of Kalifornistan, but again, it doesn’t seem to have taken. Although at this point, I admit to getting a little nostalgic when I read these notices. It’s kind of like getting a Christmas card from an ex. You can appreciate the thought but really wish they’d stop.

Voting integrity is serious problem in this country, as witnessed by the last few general elections. The explosion of mail in ballots (thanks covid), lax to zero validation, purposely signing up unlawful residents or the dearly expired, and unaccountable counting has caused many, myself included, to lose faith in our electoral system. 

How can we consider ourselves a first world nation, a leader in technology, economics, trade, law, medical care, morality and living standards, but we can’t manage to accurately tally the votes for a general election on the same day as the election. Just about every other country on the plant can do it, from the biggest and most advanced countries down to the most rural, remote and destitute third world countries. 

You have to wonder, is it our highly advanced, saftest and securest voting systems ever that cause us to take days, weeks and months to count votes (but only in the battleground states) and can’t be fully audited or is it the people running them? 

While the left leaning of our nation pushes universal mail in voting, the same left leaning companies who support them demand in-person voting for things such as union organizing. Why? Because they don’t have faith the elections will be free from fraud otherwise. Go figure. 

Elections are arguably the biggest civic obligation we as United States citizens have, yet we have a dismal voting participation rate of 66% in the last elections – up from 59% in the previous general elections – placing us as 73rd out of 198 nations. 

As for the imaginary barriers to voting that discriminate against otherwise eligible voters, well, those just don’t exist. They make great campaign fodder and news stories, but they simply do not exist in real life. Anyone who wants it is fully capable of obtaining proper identification documents needed to legally cast a ballot anywhere in the country, but saying some can’t and will be disenfranchised is a great way to keep the voting rolls as open and malleable as possible. 

So, on Tuesday, November 5th, 2024, I encourage you to get out and vote early, but vote only once. 

Fun side note: I wanted to check the date for the general elections this year, so I typed “what date are the general elections in 2024” into a popular search engine. Along with a list or articles and the date, over on the right side of the results page was the picture and article on the candidacy for the current Vice President, and ONLY the current Vice President. Subtle…

Bob

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Lost Rights (Maine Edition) 72 Hour Waiting Period Begins 

Useless gun control begins in Maine as the 72 hour waiting period to purchase a firearm goes into effect August 9th. This law is a knee jerk reaction by the gun control community who capitalized on the horrific tragedy in Lewiston. The legacy of those who lost their lives because of the absolute failure of the government agencies who swore to protect them and had all the legal means to do so is now a law which may itself cost more innocent lives. Well played Maine gun grabbers. 

A post purchase wait, a so-called ‘cooling off’ period, before taking delivery of a firearm is primarily designed as a suicide prevention measure, even though the waiting periods have never been proven to reduce suicide. Some studies have shown it ‘potentially’ reduces suicide by firearms, but none of the studies have ever looked at suicide as a whole. If denied the use of one means, a firearm, did the person simply commit suicide by another means, such as drugs, sharp objects, gravity from falling off a building or any of the myriad ways people have ended their own lives? The blanket claim of having a waiting period for firearm purchases prevent suicide is absolutely false, as is one of the left-wing sponsor’s statement of “It’s going to save lives”.

Advocates of this new gun control restriction admit that this particular bill has been around for years and was never able to get enough traction to be implemented. However, the tragic shooting in Lewiston allowed them to move it forward. While it would have done absolutely NOTHING to stop what happened, the gun control zealots were more than willing to celebrate the passage because of the outrage and sympathy the corpses of dead Mainers brought. 

This new law is an example of the sickening mantra of “Never let a good crisis go to waste”. 

Just as they have done in other previously free states, they needed to wait for a triggering event to get the gun control ball rolling. According to one sponsor, “There was a greater awareness of the prevalence of gun violence and a greater interest, perhaps, in addressing gun safety.”

Let’s not forget the legislative gamesmanship of the like rarely seen before in the State of Maine practiced to get this law passed. These included such tactics as having vulnerable Democrat members conveniently absent during key votes and an obscure “vote paring” scheme to create the illusion of opposition while passively allowing the measures to pass. The Governor herself allowed this bill to become law without her signature to create the optical illusion of not supporting gun control in a very pro Second Amendment state. 

The law summary: “This bill requires a 72-hour waiting period between an agreement for the purchase and sale of a firearm and the delivery of that firearm to the purchaser. Certain exemptions, such as the sale to a federally licensed firearm dealer or a law enforcement officer, are specified.”

The law is horribly written and leaves many questions unanswered. Up until just days before it went into effect, there was zero guidance from the State about how this law would be implemented or enforced. The little direction there is has come in the form of a three page unsigned, undated, FAQ style document titled “Advisory on 72 Hour Waiting Period” with the seals of the Maine Department of Public Safety and Maine Office of the Attorney General at the top. See the attached document below. 

What exactly constitutes an “agreement” is still open to interpretation, in other words an ideal law for discriminatory prosecutions. It could be a conversation, a phone call, a text or an actual exchange of money. The State will get to decide what is and isn’t an agreement on a case-by-case basis by making those they target prove they complied with the law, instead of the State proving they didn’t. 

The idea that a cooling off period increases public safety is a sick joke.  Suicide, while itself heartbreaking, is not so-called “gun violence”. A waiting period is however a hinderance to those who would need to purchase a firearm in an emergency for the protection of their lives or the lives of their family. While the new law gives exemptions for law enforcement, corrections and certain security officers, none is provided for victims or potential victims of violent acts. The State seems to feel they are better left unarmed and dependent on them for protection. 

While other gun controlled states around the country with much longer waiting periods, such as California’s 10-day and New Mexico’s recently enacted seven day waiting period might consider Maine’s 3-day wait a dream, all recognize this is only the start and now that Maine has allowed the first gun control laws to come in, the floodgates will open.

What will follow is more small incremental, but absolutely necessary “common sense” steps to close the loopholes written into this law and increase the illusion of public safety. Given the gaping holes built into this starter gun control law, we should expect bills for state and local licensing and inspections retailers/Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL’s) to be introduced in the next legislative session. 

Remember, gun control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun control.

Lawsuits against the new law have been in the works by various Second Amendment supporting organizations since it was passed and will undoubtably be filed on or shortly after August 9th. Like similar efforts in other states, they will begin a long and expensive trip through the state and federal court systems. The gun control lobby and their paid contract legal resources will be doing everything in their power to draw this out until the makeup of the United States Supreme Court is changed and they are assured it will be adjudicated in their favor. 

I’ll say it again, fighting gun control laws after they are passed is a fool’s errand. It is long shot to even get the right appeal and we the citizens of the United States are not only funding the appeal but the defense of an unconstitutional law. In this game, only the lawyers win and we the people lose our rights. 

What does work? Electing representatives at the local, county, state and federal level who will NOT sell our constitutionally protected rights to the gun control zealots. EVERY seat on EVERY board matters. 

Bob

Advisory On Waiting Period Law.pdf

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Ammunition Vending, The Latest Gun Control Outrage

The latest outrage from the gun control extremists comes to you in the form of a vending machine, a vending machine that dispenses ammunition. Ammo vending machines are starting to appear at grocery stores and other locations across several states. How can they do this!?! Making deadly bullets available like it was candy or snacks! The outrage!

I wasn’t even aware of this until I saw a news report from my own wicked northeastern state. Granted it was from a station down in the radically liberal SOUTHERN part of the state next to Tax-achusetts, but sadly still from my own state. It took just three sentences before it associated the vending machines with the rise of so-called “gun violence” in the United States.  <deep sigh> Really? 

Ammo vending machines aren’t a new idea. Vending machines have been dispensing ammo for years. There’s even been the occasional gumball machine filled with .22 available with the turn of the knob. What these previous iterations had in common was they were installed in controlled environments such as gun clubs, ranges or firearm retailers. This meant access to them was restricted to those who already lawful access to firearms and met the minimum age requirements.

The reaction from the gun control zealots has been swift and as nonsensical as you would expect.  Giffords, the California based gun control authors and legal resource provider for the gun control community said “Only in America is ammo as easy to buy as candy.”

Marla Bautista declared the “idea of vending machines dispensing ammunition in the same stores where we buy diapers and bananas seems unreal, like something out of a dystopian novel.”  We can only assume Marla has never shopped at a rural grocery store or someplace like Walmart. 

This new version ammo vending machine is from Dallas, TX based company American Rounds. The approach is high tech and arguably more secure than a face-to-face retail or internet transaction. While the legal age to buy rifle or shotgun ammo is 18, with pistol ammo available if you are 21, American Rounds sets their baseline age at 21 for all purchases. To purchase ammo through one of their machines, you must present a state ID which American Rounds checks to make sure it is valid. It also does a 360 degree facial scan to compare the person purchasing to the ID that was presented. 

What the gun control zealots would prefer is a nationwide implementation of the ammo control laws and systems like those based in Kalifornistan. There, every purchase of ammunition must be made in person, by California residents only, with proper, current and correct state issued identification, from a state certified “ammunition vendor”, with an ‘instant’ background check performed. No bringing in ammo purchased out of state, no ordering ammo online and having it delivered to your house, no purchasing, bartering, trading or giving ammo to a friend at the range. 

Keep in mind what the California system was designed to do. Right now, it’s only tracking purchases and doing background checks for buyers. Built into the system is the ability to deny purchases based on home much ammo has been bought, a quota system. Example: If you’ve already bought 100 rounds this month, you can’t buy more until next month. It also has the ability to deny purchases for calibers which do not match a firearm registered to the purchaser. Example: If you don’t have a 9 mm caliber firearm registered with the State, you can’t purchase 9 mm ammo. It can also deny purchases of ammo with lead, hollow point bullets, +P or any caliber the State decides is no longer acceptable for the citizenry to own. It can also shut down all ammunition purchases in a town/city/county or region during a riot or other ‘emergency’. 

Never mind that the system, the same one California uses for its firearm background check and registration system, has a significantly high rejection rate of 16% of lawful purchases while it only identified 0.03% of prohibited purchasers. Add to this the significant delays brought on by issues with the system and it’s no wonder U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez declared the law unconstitutional and struck it down. Undeterred, California got a three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the ruling while the appeal played out. 

What the gun control extremists don’t tell you is their desire to control access to ammunition is a testament to the failure of gun control. Think about it. They tell you that gun control laws are effective. Yet each year they must add more gun control laws to be effective. Now they must have ammunition control because the people who aren’t supposed to have firearms keep getting them, but THIS will stop them from using the firearms they aren’t supposed to have because of the effective gun control laws. 

Remember, gun control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun control.

For me, I like the idea of ammunition vending machines. Will it ever replace traditional firearm shops or other retailers? Absolutely not. Vending machines will provide access outside normal store business hours or when other options are a prohibitively distant. However, they will only be able to carry a limited number of calibers and options as compared to a brick and mortar or online store. You can also expect this convenience at a premium price point. 

My only concerns are from the security point of view. Not so much for the machines themselves, but from the data they contain. Knowing they utilize and validate state issued identification and associate it with a purchase, makes these machines a prime target for malicious hacking as well as warrant searches by local, state and federal authorities. Given the federal government’s willingness to create and maintain a searchable database of firearms and owners in the country, against federal law, this seems like a great place for them to start tracking ammo sales too. 

Of course, I’m going to try one the first chance I get. Because, ‘Merica!

Bob

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Our Nation Can Do Better

If you haven’t been convinced our once great country has degenerated into a third world nation, Saturday’s attempted assassination of the former President and current presidential candidate should seal the deal. It’s bad enough our own government has been using coordinated public/private lawfare of the most dubious legalities to pursue political enemies and harass, bankrupt and imprison them. And now we have this. Congratulations, we are now officially a banana republic.   

Let’s be absolutely crystal clear about one thing. There is ZERO place in this country for political violence towards any candidate or office holder from any party. 

Yet someone, we’ve deteriorated to a place and time where it’s okay to make wild, baseless accusations against individuals, organizations and ideologies, as long as it targets the right one. 
It’s okay to make comparisons to genocidal maniacs, as long as it targets the right one. 
It’s okay to say that there will be no more elections, no more civil rights, no more equality, no more democracy and no more freedom in our country if one person wins, as long as it targets the right one. 
It’s okay to burn, loot and destroy property in the name of your own beliefs, as long as it targets the right one. 
It’s okay to persecute and prosecute individuals and groups based on their religious or political beliefs, as long as it targets the right one. 
It’s okay to make physical threats and encourage others to harass, intimidate and assault a candidate, as long as it targets the right one.

Interestingly, the same folks preaching inclusivity and acceptance are the once who are promoting the most violent rhetoric. That’s okay as long as it targets the right one. 

There is also a significant number of this same crowd who are jumping on the absolutely sickening bandwagon of the hashtag howcouldyoumiss. But again, that’s okay as long as it targets the right one.

There are an enormous number of questions about how this occurred and more importantly, how it was not prevented, even as more evidence comes to light that there were warnings and interactions with the individual responsible leading up to the shooting. It will be interesting to see where this goes, if it goes at all. 

The investigation itself is being led by the country’s former premier law enforcement agency. Given their current reputation, history of open hostility towards anything connected with conservatives or the former president/current republican candidate, as well as their recent history of instigation, disinformation and obfuscation, I can’t say I’m feeling confident the public will ever hear a full accounting of what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania.

I suppose the good news is there seems to be a resurgence in independent press as of late, and despite the best efforts of the media, tech companies and government agencies, they are getting more and more information out. A free press is protected by the First Amendment, and we’re seeing why more and more every day. 

There but for the grace of god, a slight head turn resulted in a grazing wound to the ear instead of a fatal shot. But let’s not forget one individual in the crowd of attendees did suffer a fatal wound and two others were critically injured. These innocent people and their families deserve our love and support. 

Does this incident damper my support for the Second Amendment or my opposition to the restriction of ‘whatever the hell they come up with this time’? Absolutely not. Our individual rights and the freedom of our nation will NOT be dictated by the actions of lunatics, psychopaths, fanatics, criminals, terrorists and thugs. 

How can you protect your rights and help our nation do better? Vote. 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. 

Bob

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Human Authored Since 2015

As the world embraces more and more artificial intelligence (AI) over the work of humans, it’s important to recognize some things are better left to the old fashioned human mind. 

A recent “State of the Internet” report showed that 42% of all internet traffic is now attributed to AI bots and 65% of those bots are malicious. Scraper bots are commonly used for competitive intelligence and espionage, inventory hoarding, imposter site creation, and other nefarious schemes. 

Are there drawbacks to human works? Of course! Humans are subject to influencing factors such as age, illness, injury, sleep disruptions, family emergencies, shifting priorities, schedule conflicts, torrential rains, heat, humidity, blizzards and wicked cold, as well as good old fashioned writer’s block. 

AI doesn’t have those problems. It might have a little susceptibility to power outages, but that only comes into play if someone’s data center backup power fails. You just plug in your parameters, and it spits out the results based on its programming and the information it’s been fed to ‘learn’. 

While many businesses are embracing AI for the operational efficiencies it creates, allowing them to reduce their reliance on human employees, the benefits to the creative industries such as art, music and writing are less impressive. AI gaffs on American history and images of people, objects and places have been nothing short of epic. 

The problem is the human factor in encoding and teaching the various AI programs. While the introduction of a little bias is probably expected, programmatically introducing woke ideology, one extreme wing of the political spectrum, and fabricated works of cultural fiction are inevitably going to produce radically one sided results presented as “fact”. 

Does this mean all writers should go back to using a manual typewriter to avoid any technology bias? Oh hell no! Word processors, spell check and grammar checking tools are definitely the writer’s best friends. Tools like this are merely applying simple structure rules against the writer’s creative thoughts. Of course, I don’t always take that advice anyway since many times the ‘proper’ way doesn’t always sound like something I’d say or write. 

Why do I bring this AI BS up? Because I could produce many more articles in a timelier fashion if I embraced AI. If I fed all my previous articles in, along with my research from c:\OddStuffing folder, I could simply request a two page article on say ‘The Importance of the Second Amendment Today’ and be done with this week’s post. 

But that wouldn’t be me. That wouldn’t be what I’m thinking, the emotions I’m feeling on the topic at that moment in time, recent interactions I’ve had with others or my passion (a.k.a. expressed as rambling) for the topic, all things that shape not only what I write but how I write it. 

There is a side of me that would like to try using AI for a pro Second Amendment article if for no other reason than to see how badly it would turn out, but that’s not where my interests are. 

So if I don’t post something for a while, it doesn’t mean my enthusiasm for the Second Amendment has faded, I’ve given up writing about the threats we are facing or I simply don’t care anymore. It only means that one or more of the aforementioned human influencing factors has occurred and my attention was temporarily required else ware.  

We all need to pay attention to what is going on and do our part to make the situation better. We also need to understand that outsourcing the things that are most important to someone or something else may not produce the desired results. 

Bob (?)

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