The sweetheart plea bargain of multiple federal felony offenses for the infamous drug and sex addicted son of the President of the United States is due to be finalized tomorrow. Included are two tax charges and, my topic for today, being placed in a diversion program for lying about his drug use on an ATF Form 4473 when purchasing a firearm.
On the other side of the scale, the mother of the six-year-old who shot schoolteacher in Virginia was charged with the EXACT SAME offense, lying on a 4473 about her drug use, has reached a felony plea agreement to serve 18-24 months in prison. (More on this horrific incident another time.)
The Rule of Law is in the news a lot these days, as well as how “nobody is above the law” and there is no “two-tiered justice system”. Naturally, it’s all BS as these cases easily demonstrate. It only matters who you are and if you are connected to the correct ideology.
A little perspective on my opinions here. Early on in my law enforcement career I was given the opportunity to join my county’s court diversion board. This was an exceptional chance to view a part of the justice system most officers never get. The common misconception among officers is court diversion is the easy way out of a criminal charge. My experiences showed that not to be true.
For this program, only minor/misdemeanor charges were accepted and no charges involving violence. It was only available for first time offenses where there were no other charges pending. And while our program handled juvenile and adult referrals, I don’t recall ever seeing anyone over the age of 21 on cases I was involved with.
A number of things were required for successful completion of the diversion program. First, and foremost, an in-person acceptace of responsibility for their actions to the board. At that point, the board would impose a set of conditions to complete. Typically included were letters of apology, complete restitution if damages were involved, community service and counseling if warranted. Successful completion meant the charges would be dropped by the prosecutor’s office and no criminal conviction would appear on the person’s record. Note that fines for minor first offences at the time were typically under $200, far less than the effort and expense involved for successful completion of the diversion program.
Not completing the conditions within the time frame given meant the case went back for prosecution. Today’s metrics for this county diversion board indicate about 75% successfully complete the program. This is consistent with what I recall from my time.
Now, let’s examine who got the sweetheart deal the President’s son’s attorneys negotiated with the Department of Justice.
A 53-year-old Yale educated lawyer and “artist” with a penchant for prostitutes and his dead brother’s widow, shady business deals with foreign governments, and a long and self-documented history of drug addiction who lied about his history of drug use, history which includes getting kicked out of the Navy after ONE MONTH for cocaine use, on a 4473. This is a federal felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. This on top of the fact of his two tax related charges, out of what could have been dozens of felony charges for everyone else which are being condensed down to two misdemeanors.
The fact that someone like this is allowed to enter a diversion program for lying on a 4473 is a slap in the face to everyone who works in the firearm industry.
Federal Firearm Licensees (FFL’s) are responsible for ensuring the 4473 is filled out by the buyer completely and accurately, but they also expected to evaluate the intent of the buyer and deny the sale or transfer of a firearm to anyone who’s motives, condition, or responses indicate deception.
Around the country, FFL’s are constantly on the lookout for those who they suspect of participating in straw purchases or have lied on a 4473 in areas such as question 21.g., current or prior drug use. Information on people attempting to illegally purchase firearms is routinely turned over to local/state law enforcement as well as the ATF. Yet prosecution is not common.
In the 2019 fiscal year, when this offense occurred, federal prosecutors received 478 referrals for lying on Form 4473, filing just 298 cases. Keep this lower-priority prosecution in mind when you hear politicians saying they need to enact more gun control laws.
Meanwhile, FFL’s themselves are under intense, crippling scrutiny by the current administration, having their licenses revoked for minor, unintentional clerical errors as small as misspelling a single non-critical word on the 4473 or any of their ATF forms.
If not for the “two-tiered justice system”, there is no way in the world anyone with this kind of history and record would be accepted into a diversion program for a federal felony.
Kinda makes you wonder which tier of the justice system you would wind up, doesn’t it?
No information is currently available as to what the criminal penalty is for the misdemeanors or conditions for the diversion program are. Somehow, I doubt this is more than a DOJ paperwork shuffle so they can proudly declare the totality of the investigations into the President’s son’s activities is complete, justice has been served, and the case is now closed and sealed forever.
FOREVER!!!
Bob
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Tag: #gettr
Humor In Politics: The 28th Amendment
I know I’m way behind in writing about serious Second Amendment topics, but this was just too damn funny to pass up.
In another failed attempt to look relevant on a national scale, California’s Governor/Yet-To-Be-Announced Presidential Candidate released a statement suggesting a 28th Amendment to the Constitution. While ostensibly a proposal to create a new gun-control amendment to the Constitution, in reality it is an ill-fated publicity stunt which laughably shows how disconnected the Governor is from the real world.
From the Governor’s own press release:
“…Proposes Historic 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to End America’s Gun Violence Crisis”
“Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution.” “So today, I’m proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to do just that. The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support – while leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition.
The 28th Amendment will permanently enshrine four broadly supported gun safety principles into the U.S. Constitution:
– Raising the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21;
– Mandating universal background checks to prevent truly dangerous people from purchasing a gun that could be used in a crime;
– Instituting a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases; and
– Barring civilian purchase of assault weapons that serve no other purpose than to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time – weapons of war our nation’s founders never foresaw.
Additionally, the 28th Amendment will affirm Congress, states, and local governments can enact additional common-sense gun safety regulations that save lives.”
Oh Hair Gel, where to begin.
This new amendment will “end American’s gun violence crisis”? End?? This is the same language that has been used with nearly every gun-control law that has ever been enacted. This law will END the violence! Then surprise, surprise, it never does and never will. Here’s my standard response.
Remember, gun control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun control.
Criminals must be held accountable for their illegal actions and incarcerated, yes incarcerated when they break the law for crime and violence to stop. The Governor of California has done the absolute opposite and signed laws to release criminals and see that new offenders are never charged in the first place.
“…common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support…”
Don’t even get me started on “common sense”. One of the first articles I wrote was on the political use of the term “common sense’. Excerpt:
If you have to be convinced into believing something is a common sense solution, it probably isn’t either common sense or a solution. It’s more likely part of an agenda they want you to support because it benefits them, not you. Buy into their way of thinking on this topic and the rest just comes easy. If they were right on this one, they must be right about the next one too.
Gun safety? Hardly. The term gun safety has a long historical definition, and this isn’t it. This is gun-control. If you call it gun-safety, people who don’t understand the difference will think you’re trying to make the world safer instead of taking guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens which will make them less safe.
Do all these people “overwhelmingly support” these gun control measures? No, of course not. It’s just another lie to convince you this is what you should be supporting because you should want to be where the rest of the country is.
“… leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition”. Technically yes, this proposal would not alter the wording of the Second Amendment, it would just supersede it and abolish it without removing it from the Bill of Rights.
It’s like one of those ‘read all the instructions first’ tests where you have a long list of tasks to do in a short amount of time and the last one says ignore everything except #28. This is the same concept.
The four new rules are all tried and failed laws already in place in California and the other nanny gun-control states. Coincidently, none of them have done anything to reduce violence or increase public safety in any of said gun-control states.
For me, it’s the last little line that is the most insidious.
“Additionally, the 28th Amendment will affirm Congress, states, and local governments can enact additional common-sense gun safety regulations that save lives.”
This gives Constitutional cover to not only the federal government, but every individual state, county and local government to add whatever gun-control measure they want with complete impunity. Even though none of the gun-control measures have EVER been shown to “save lives” and the worst of the worst places for violence in this country are the ones with the MOST gun control.
And I’ll ask again… If all these gun-control laws are so effective, why haven’t they worked yet?
Sadly, this proposal is more of a reflection on the laughingly desperate nature of the California Governor’s fledgling presidential campaign than any attempt to increase public safety. The Governor has a long, storied history of being a hypocrite who feels perfectly safe walking around in public with his taxpayer provided, heavily armed law enforcement detail while he actively keeps the rest of the public from being able to protect themselves at home or in public.
It’s worth noting California population has gone down for the first time in history with an estimated 6.1 million people leaving the state. Enough people left for the state to lose a House of Representatives seat. Compare this to Texas which gained two seats and Florida who gained one seat.
The most common reasons California ex-pats give for leaving the state are the astronomical cost of living, crime and violence, the highly restrictive regulatory environment, and the progressive politics. And it’s not just the residents, businesses of all sizes are joining the exodus from the state as they are getting wiped out by the unchecked looting and violence against their employees and customers.
All of this happened under the Governor’s own watch, directly due to policies and laws HE signed. Yet instead of realizing it is his own fault, he doubles down on wanting to take this failed form of government nationwide. Meanwhile he tries to pick verbal fights with the governors of Texas and Florida, states where his former residents are fleeing to.
So, the next time you see Governor Hair Gel spitting out another pack of lies or ridiculous extreme left wing do-nothing suggestion for turning the rest of the country into the failing state of Kalifornistan, try your best to control your laughter.
Bob
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No Gun Control Without Dead Children
I think I’ve been crystal clear at what is at stake with school safety and gun control. The extreme leftist gun-control activists are willing to sacrifice your children to achieve their goal of disarming law-abiding citizens. But it’s not just willing to, it’s actively working towards getting school children slaughtered to sway public opinion to the only so-called “common sense” solution, more gun-control.
Remember, gun-control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun-control.
Apparently losing traction on the imaginary “school-to-prison pipeline” argument of getting law enforcement officers out of schools, the new approach is student mental health.
A recent social media post from the Moms Demand Action – ME shows the level of absolute disregard for children’s lives they are willing to go to keep parents, teachers and school boards from stopping school shootings.
According to a senior director of research at Everytown: “The cumulative impact of shooter drills, lockdowns, metal detectors, armed teachers and other school-hardening measures is an environment that feels inherently unsafe for American’s school children. The most effective way to keep kids safe in school is to implement proven school safety programs and programs that prevent gun violence, including secure firearm storage.”
Let me translate this for you. It’s better to remove any means to deter a psycho/murderer from targeting the school, or stop them once they do get there, or keep children from getting killed in event of a school shooting incident, because that creates an environment “that feels inherently unsafe”.
Yes, you read it correctly, secure firearm storage laws will prevent the killer who already has possession of a gun, right along with the violence shield created by a Gun Free Zone sign.
As states and cities are pushing to provide funding for armed school resource officers and staff on school campuses, Giffords Law Center, the free legal provider for gun-control states, cities, and towns around the country, produced another one of their biased “research” efforts showing incidents occurring when people bring guns to school grounds.
As you might expect, it conveniently leaves out many details. Some incidents were firearms found in restrooms, a sad but extremely preventable occurrence. Others were by parents/guests at the school, completely non-school related off-school property issues, or the horrific ‘saw a teacher’s gun’. Everything is stuffed in together to make the numbers appear larger than they really are.
How many of these incidents were by school staff screened and trained for carrying firearms? That is usefully ambiguous. Also unmentioned is how many school shootings there have been at schools where staff and teachers are armed. Hint: The number is zero, but Giffords won’t tell you that.
Even in my own state, there is the insanity of thinking Gun Free Zones actually protect lives. A simple wording change to clarify the current law banning the discharge of firearms on private property withing 500 feet of a school to explicitly exclude self-defense has been met by fierce resistance from the usual suspects/zealots of gun-control.
In one person’s testimony against the bill:
“Gun owners living close to school zones should consider moving for the safety of the children if they can’t abide by the law. The reason why it is prohibited to discharge a gun in a school zone is to protect the public, specifically children. Children who may be on the playground during recess, children walking to and from school, children being dropped off and picked up in school parking lots.”
From a criminal’s point of view, what a bonanza! Not only are you free to bring a gun and commit whatever crime and violence they wish (because they’re criminals, and criminals don’t obey the law) at a school without any fear of being stopped, injured, or killed, but also at homes and on the street within 500 feet of the school.
By the way, have you ever wondered why 500 feet? Like many of the ludicrous zoning laws around the country designed to keep firearms retailers out of their cities, the 500-foot rule is meaningless and has no basis in any safety metric. A modern pistol or rifle bullet can fly a mile or more, although with very little accuracy save a few highly skilled marksmen. Yet a 500-foot imaginary safety zone, where you can actually SEE what could potentially be hit by a bullet, somehow makes sense.
Even the gun-control activists occasionally say the quiet part out loud. Without enough news stories about dead children, they can’t get gun bans in place. So, they do everything they can to keep these horrific incidents occurring.
As we’ve seen time and time again, killers prefer unarmed victims and the best place to find them is in Gun Free Zones. 98% of all mass shootings in the United States since 1950 have occurred in Gun Free Zones. Statements and writings from the murderers themselves show they choose locations where there is no armed security, and their intended victims are not allowed to carry firearms for self-defense.
Sadly, this insanity is happening in cities and towns across the nation. The fallacy that burying your head in the sand under a little plastic Gun Free Zone sign is the best and only way to keep your children safe at school.
Bob
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San Francisco Price Drop!
While California in general and San Francisco specifically are known as the nation’s high price leaders, there’s at least one area where the prices are going down, down, down. I’m talking about the price of committing crime. Thanks to the policies of the politically woke left, San Francisco’s cost of crime is dropping to far more affordable levels for the city’s criminals.
Wait, you say you aren’t a criminal and this adversely affects you and/or your business? TOO BAD! You are NOT San Francisco’s priority.
Having worked in San Francisco years ago, I can attest it was a beautiful city. The key word is was. It’s now an open sewer where those who dare to walk the street must navigate the homeless encampments, aggressive and assaultive homeless and other armed street criminals, as well as human piss and poop.
Nearly every day there is a report of another retailer who is closing their San Francisco stores. And I’m not talking about the multitude of family run, mom & pop shops who have been the lifeblood of their local neighborhoods for decades and nobody in San Francisco politics care about, I’m talking about the big, national brands where the wealthy people shop. You’d think that would give the city something to think about, but no.
Stores like Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Whole Foods, Saks off 5th, Anthropologiem, Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M, Uniqlo, Arc’teryx, The RealReal, CB2, Banana Republic, Crate & Barrel, The Container Store, DSW, Marshall’s, Gap, T-Mobile, and multiple locations of both CVS and Walgreens have closed or are in the process of closing now.
The reason? Crime. Rampant, uncontrolled crime. Not only are the stores being looted daily thanks to the softer-than-soft on crime city policies, but the stores cannot provide a safe environment for customers or staff. Violent assaults are common as is property damage, drugs and harassment from the city’s homeless and criminal population.
A recent photo of Target showed rows of merchandise behind locked gates in an effort to stem the cost of the daily lootings. While I’ll give them credit for being willing to go to that extreme to stay in business at this location, what kind of a shopping experience does this provide? Every item requires a store employee to retrieve it. Even the most tolerant of the city’s remaining left-wing residents admit to going to other stores because of the severe inconvenience. How long before San Francisco stores need to go to the high-crime-mini-mart model where no customers are allowed in the store and all business is transacted through bullet proof glass?
Maybe you’re thinking, “Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children?” YES the children are involved too. No longer is mass theft, looting, assaults and property damage the exclusive activity of adults. Children, including pre-teens, are involved in these crimes. Apparently, the concept of parenting left San Francisco long before the businesses did.
San Francisco has boldly responded to the cries for help from some of the remaining malls and will be stationing two city police officers at each mall, every day. Keep in mind this is the same city that defunded the police department to the tune of $120 million dollars, is down hundreds of officers and responds to calls in hours, if at all. But pulling two officers for each for the malls off the streets won’t cause a problem for the rest of the city, right?
However, the recent killing of a tech executive illustrates the level of lawlessness in San Francisco quite nicely. Prosecutors have said the accused killer could face a sentence of up to 26 years to life if convicted of all charges.
I guess I’m old because I remember when a premeditated homicide, which is what this is being charged as, called for the death penalty, or at least a mandatory sentence of life. Not so much in the City by the Bay. Technically speaking, California does have the death penalty, but the governor/Presidential wannabee decided to do away with that for all the prisoners on death row. This despite the citizens of California TWICE voting in favor of the death penalty.
Of course, getting sentenced to 26 years and serving 26 years are two completely different things in California. Although, the victim was wealthy, high up and connected in the ever-deteriorating San Francisco tech community, so that might play into the sentencing. Still, with California’s policies of emptying out prisons, even for the most heinous of criminals, I’d be damn surprised if the murderer served 10 years. We’ll see if the victim’s two young daughters have reached adulthood by the time their father’s killer is set free.
San Francisco, like the rest of the country’s large, liberal run cities are seeing what happens when you shun the police and embrace criminals. Crime is rampant and unchecked, businesses, and their customers are leaving in droves because they know they are not safe and their city governments, defunded police departments and social justice soft-on-crime prosecutors will do nothing to hold the CRIMINALS responsible for their actions.
But hey, the good news is the cost of at least one thing in San Francisco, California is going down. The bad news is it’s crime.
Bob
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Nashville, Part 1
Like most of the nation, I struggle to come to terms with the shooting at an elementary school in Nashville. Not only for the horrific tragedy and loss of innocent life, but now for the absolutely bizarre aftermath of justifications and blame shifting. When the focus should be on the families of the victims and the survivors traumatized by the shooting, our woke society is telling us to be more tolerant of the shooter’s community. Sorry crazy people, I’m going to focus on keeping children safe.
Let’s start off with the most obvious fact. There is no justification, no understanding, no acceptance of anyone targeting a school and killing three defenseless staffers and three innocent nine-year-old children. Absolutely none.
While we grieve with the families of the victims, let’s take note of some facts.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) should be commended on not only their handling and prompt ending of the situation itself, but for the level of immediate and unprecedented disclosure of detailed information, surveillance, and body camera video from the incident. I don’t ever recall seeing as much information released, and as quickly, as done by the MNPD. Getting complete, detailed information out as quickly as possible minimizes the wild accusations, lies, rumors and spin that inevitably follow high profile incidents. Let’s hope this sets the standard for other law enforcement agencies around the country.
As for the individual officers who ran towards the gunfire and quickly eliminated the threat, there is no other word than heroic. They put their lives on the line and prevented the further loss of life quickly and effectively. This IS the standard every single law enforcement officer in the country should be held to.
But then the absurd started. The MNPD released the identity of the shooter as a 28-year-old female, based on the corpse of the person shot dead by police. But no, that wasn’t correct according to the transgender community. This was a trans person whose pronouns were he/him and it was insulting to refer to the killer as a female.
Just a thought here, but perhaps the trans community should implement a Medic Alert type system so officers, medics and rescue personnel can get the correct, up-to-the-moment gender and pronoun information on murderers before they make statements to the press. I’m sure this would avoid a lot of hurt feelings. In the meantime, let’s all just use the proper pronouns for someone who targets and kills children, psychopath/murderer.
A bit facetious? Absolutely. But it’s difficult to take anyone who comes to the defense of a psychopath/murderer of children any other way.
I’ll be honest. When the information about the shooter came out, I figured one of two things was going to happen. The shooting itself was going to get buried in the news since the shooter was not the right race and sex, or the news media/gun-control community/government would toss aside said transgender shooter the way they had with women after the #metoo movement and the black community after #blm. Boy was I wrong.
Instead, you’ve seen a full court press on both gun-control and transgender rights.
Anyone that argues against gun-control is contributing to the killing of children. Gun-control mouthpieces specifically blamed Republicans and the NRA for being directly responsible for these killings. Never mind that to date no Republicans or NRA members have ever committed any mass shooting OR that their policies are the only ones that have ever prevented or stopped mass shootings. But it’s still their fault.
Remember, gun control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun control.
Anyone that attempted to connect the shooting to the trans community was labeled transphobic. The justifications ranged from bizarre to disgusting. Some saying it was the anti-trans and/or religious community itself that instigated this, to the shooter having no other choice. Yes, there was no other choice but to kill innocent children.
A Trans Day of Vengeance rally scheduled just days after the shooting was cancelled and references to the event poster by others were removed by social media companies. Even though the group organizers tried to rationalize “Vengeance means fighting back with vehemence”, the association with violence was proving difficult to sell. This led to the new, kinder and gentler, Trans Day of Visibility.
What we’ve seen from the extreme left politicians to the White House since has been sympathy for the trans community and calls for understanding, but no condemnation of the killer for the senseless violence or deaths of the three school staff and three nine-year-old children. After all, it was the GUNS that were responsible for this, not the psychopath/murderer.
Among the numerous writings the killer left behind was a supposed manifesto. It is currently in the hands of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit who is resisting releasing it for ‘public safety reasons’ as it is so detailed to be a “blueprint on total destruction.” There are also reports that the FBI doesn’t want to release it as the contents as would be unflattering to the transgender community. The FBI is rationalizing keeping it under wraps from an “investigative standpoint” vs. the public is only looking to see it from a “curiosity standpoint”.
Manifestos written by psychopath/murderers are notoriously nonsensical, self-centered, psychotic ramblings which often stray so far from the actual truth as to be considered fantasy. They are written to justify their actions to the world and increase their own notoriety once they’ve been killed for their cause. All of them should be read with a hefty grain of salt but reading them is important.
Shouldn’t the ordinary people who provide security for their local schools, churches, business, private event gatherings or even providing protection for yourself and family at home or in public have access to information that might help them prepare for and prevent future occurrences? Even if the text is 95% psychotic propaganda, knowing what a psychopath/murderer wrote can help save lives. I call that far more of a vested interest than a “curiosity standpoint”.
MNPD and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee have both recently commented the documents left behind by the shooter would be released to the public very soon. At the same time, the FBI has already ruled (ruled??) it cannot be released in its entirety, so we’ll see if full disclosure or restricting access to only the least accountable law enforcement agency in the country wins out.
In the meantime, let’s not forget what happened here. Three school staff and three nine-year-old students lost their lives at the hands of a psychopath/murderer. While mourn for the families and the community, we need to commit to placing someone who will stop further bloodshed between the innocent and the potential killers.
Bob
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And Nebraska Makes 27!
Yesterday, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed LB77, a bill to allow the permitless carry of concealed firearms. The law takes effect September 10, 2023. This makes Nebraska the 27th state for Constitutional Carry. The new law allows Nebraska residents to conceal a firearm, knife or any otherwise legal weapon in their clothes and vehicles without a government issued permit or mandated training.
The law also repeals some local gun-control laws, notably in Omaha, who will see about a dozen ordinances go away on September 10th including their local police concealable gun registry, concealed carry permits and training requirements. This preemption is a critical factor to have a single, consistent statewide legal standard vs. a patchwork of conflicting jurisdictional regulations.
Opposition was from the usual suspects, the left-wing extreme gun-control groups who refer to Constitutional Carry as ‘Criminal Carry’ and the left leaning larger law enforcement agencies who did not want to lose local licensing control and fees.
It is important to note the ability to conceal carry without a permit is for people who could legally purchase a firearm. It does not authorize criminals, drug addicts and others who would be prevented from purchasing a firearm the ability to carry one.
In case you haven’t noticed, the trend across the country is clearly towards less firearms restrictions instead of more.
However, this isn’t the case in the nanny states such as New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California. Even in the post Bruen era which should have put an end to the subjective concealable carry rules, these states have rushed to pass so-called “Bruen Response” laws to thumb their nose at the United States Supreme Court and impose even more severe restrictions for those who wish for nothing more than to defend themselves in public.
While many of the new “Bruen Response” laws have been suspended pending further legal proceedings, the quantity and scope indicate the utter contempt the state and local elected officials have for the Supreme Court.
These laws have impacted every aspect of legal concealed carry. At the application stage they have included massive increases in application fees, psychological exam fees, increases in training requirements and costs, along with shorter and more restrictive timelines, increased reference and family interviews and checks on social media accounts.
Should you be able to afford the increased fees and negotiate the multiple interviews to actually obtain a coveted concealed carry permit, the number of so-called “sensitive places” where permitted, concealed carry would not be allowed have increased to include nearly all private businesses, public parks, public transportation, public streets and your own vehicle. The restrictions go to a level where it would be practically impossible to leave your house and go anywhere without violating the law. And that really is the point. To make it so you can have a concealed carry permit, but it is essentially useless.
Of course, the impact is greatest for those who may need to defend themselves the most, those who take public transportation, work late shifts, go through, or live in areas wealthier people can just go around. Not everyone can afford the costs of multiple fees, training, and time off from work to get a concealed carry permit. This all contributes to restricting the ability to defend yourself and your family to those who can afford the ‘privilege’.
Crime and violence continue to skyrocket around the country thanks to extreme-left law makers and prosecutors who prioritize defunding police departments, rewriting laws to lower penalties for crime, release those previously convicted of crimes and fail to hold those committing new property and violent crimes responsible for their actions. The result is more and more people are taking responsibility for their own safety and the safety of their families. In many cases, this involves buying, owning and carrying firearms for self-defense.
Congratulations Nebraska!
Bob
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Nashville, Part 2*
Among the things we’ve learned from the horrific attack on a private elementary school in Tennessee is the shooter selected this site over another undisclosed location because the other site had too much security for the assault to be successful. Yet this painful truth, played out time and time again in our country, is glossed over by the gun-control zealots who ONLY want to impose more and more and more gun-control, for “safety”.
Remember, gun control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun control.
Let’s keep in mind even though 98% of all mass shootings in the United States since 1950 have occurred in Gun Free Zones, yet this is the ONLY form of protection offered our children by the gun-control crowd.
It’s not like all those who support gun-control don’t also support hardened buildings and armed officers and security, they just don’t support it for your children. Politicians from the local, state and federal level all love having their offices and homes secured by publicly funded law enforcement officers, all carrying guns to protect THEM. Following the so-called insurrection, our Congress authorized millions of tax dollars’ worth of security upgrades to further harden it and secure the politicians. The Capitol Police were expanded nationwide with the sole purpose of protecting the politicians. Yet zero dollars are allocated to protecting the most vulnerable, most at risk segment of the population, children.
What is being done to keep children safe?
At the federal level, a bill has been introduced to provide funding to public and private schools across the country. It would fund training and hiring of veteran and former law enforcement officers, or off-duty law enforcement officers, and for the hardening of schools.
Note this is not the first time a bill like this has been introduced in the U.S. Congress, and with a split House and Senate, and a President who wants only gun-control legislation, it has zero chance of becoming law. Had it been introduced back when the Republicans held both chambers of congress and the White House, well… then we wouldn’t have something to blame the other party for. But that’s a different story.
At the state level, Tennessee has introduced a bill to require schools develop and maintain state approved plans for physical security, including drills and reviews on an annual basis. It does not offer funding from the state for the training and hiring of armed officers or security within the schools.
Unfortunately, what the good intentions boil down to is money. A disgraced and fired former FBI Russian interference hoaxer/adulterer decided to come up with a number for security at every school in the nation at $10.4 billion. But like most of his facts, this too is incorrect. Many schools are already staffed with armed officers and/or security. But this shockingly high figure is being floated around our nation’s capital to show the futility of the protecting children argument in order to advance the gun-control only agenda.
When looking at school security from the national level, you’re talking about a billion-dollar problem. State level drops it down to into the millions and local funding, thousands. While state and federal lawmakers love to get involved following a crisis (it makes them look like they are doing something), school security is a local matter. YOUR school board is the one responsible for providing security to protect children. If your school relies on federal or state grants to fund school security, what’s going to happen when those grants dry up, just like they always do. Priorities shift and grant money gets sent somewhere else, leaving schools unprotected down the road.
In fact, if your school wants to temporarily solve this problem until the local funds are raised to hire full time armed security, all the schools need to do is put out a call for veterans and ex-officers to volunteer at the school. I can’t speak for every community in the country, but I know in the ones I’ve lived in throughout my life, if you put that call out today, you’d have a line out the door in the morning. You would have men and women who would be willing to take any required training and certification, at no cost, to secure their local schools and safeguard the children.
Is this a long-term model? No, we need to invest in hard security and on-going armed resources, including training and arming teachers, as part of every school’s budget. But it would provide what our schools need RIGHT NOW using resources that already exist in the community.
Of course, the gun-control side says armed officers, security, or teachers “sends the wrong message”. I’m not really sure how having resources to stop psychopaths/murderers from slaughtering children in schools is the wrong message. Is providing armed, taxpayer funded security to politicians and NOT children the right message? Maybe our politicians would feel safer with little plastic “Gun Free Zone” signs.
I can’t think of any way to say this other than bluntly. The reason why you will never see the gun-control zealots support hardening schools or providing armed security or law enforcement in schools is because without dead children, gun control will never pass. Your children’s lives are expendable in the quest for stricter and stricter, do nothing for safety gun-control.
It’s up to you.
Bob
*Yes, you are reading Part 2 before Part 1. I am struggling with my own tone in the first part of this story. I’ve written, read, rewritten, reread and rewritten again but I’m still not happy with the way it comes across. As any moral person should be, I am outraged at not only the shooting in Nashville, but our government’s response and gaslighting. Being semi-objective about this is proving to be a bit of a challenge. So, Part 2 it is.
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And Florida Makes 26!
Today Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 543 into law. The new law strengthens the Second Amendment protected rights by allowing Floridians to carry a concealed firearm without a government issued permit, background check or mandatory training. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2023. Florida is now the 26th state to return to constitutional carry.
Florida’s move is significant as now more than half of the United States allows permitless concealed carry. Several more states also have constitutional carry bills working their way through their legislatures this year.
As expected, the usual suspects were hard at work trying to stop this. The gun-control zealots, led by the Democratic party, Moms Demand Action and a collection of other billionaire-funded organizations, all condemned the law as being reckless and claim it will lead to an increase in so-called “gun violence”. The usual comparisons to having to get tested and licensed to drive a motor vehicle (a privilege not a Constitutionally protected right) were argued, along with self-funded “research” PROVING the majority of Florida residents opposed it.
What the gun-control crowd doesn’t tell you is every time constitutional carry has been implemented in a state, violent crime has gone down. It has never been the “wild, wild west” or “blood flowing in the streets”, it’s been increased safety and security for the residents of the state. As for their polls, let’s just say research that starts with a conclusion then finds numbers to support it isn’t really research.
As was the case in Texas, ex-law enforcement/current firearm training company owners also opposed the law fearing the lack of mandatory training would negatively impact their business. What actually happened in Texas? More people sought out firearms training than ever before now that they were unburdened from the government permitting system. Go figure.
So, what is the big deal about not requiring a permit to carry a concealed firearm? It’s a barrier which keeps some people from being able to legally defend themselves outside the home. Even in more permissive states, permit requirements often involve application fees – sometimes substantial ones – interviews, fingerprints, and mandatory training. All of this takes time off from work and money which many people cannot afford. Requiring multiple trips for different stages to satisfy the requirements help keep those who can defend themselves a more exclusive club. How many other constitutionally protected rights are treated this way?
Crime and violence continue to skyrocket around the country thanks to extreme-left law makers and prosecutors who prioritize defunding police departments, rewrite laws to lower penalties for crime, release those previously convicted of crimes and fail to hold those committing new property and violent crimes responsible for their actions. The result is more and more people are taking responsibility for their own safety and the safety of their families. In many cases, this involves buying, owning and carrying firearms for self-defense.
Eliminating the need for government permission to be able to defend yourself in public is in the finest tradition of the Second Amendment.
Congratulations Florida!
Bob
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If They Said It, It Must Be True
In the world of gun-control, having the President of the United States make statements on gun control is the ultimate credibility test. If our President says it, it must be true and the correct thing to do, right? Sadly, no. In fact, some of the things our commander in chief says are bold face lies. Even when the most prejudiced internet search shows the statements are a lie, the President said it so YOU must be wrong.
Where are the fact checkers now?
Following a horrific school shooting, we have the 44th President of the United States saying: “We are failing our children. Guns are now the leading cause of death for children in the U.S.” This is a carefully crafted lie.
The so-called “research” the former President is quoting is from the gun-control community’s own funded study that carefully manipulates statistics to get the results they wanted.
For instance, the study only included data from 2020-2021 and;
The children are aged 1 to 19.
Excluded from numbers were 0-1 aged children whose unique morbidity rates would throw off the numbers and included 18- and 19-year old’s whose number greatly inflated the rates, even though 18- and 19-year-olds are legally considered adults.
Removing the bias numbers puts the leading cause of death for children as accidents.
The study also claims, “The U.S. has by far the highest child and teen firearm mortality rate among peer countries”. Again, a carefully curated lie.
Starting with the dubious definition of “children”, it compounds the bias error by comparing to “peer countries”. This is a cherry-picked list of countries with low firearm ownership rates – including near total bans – and other legal difference all combining to ensure the US rate looks shocking in comparison. This other country list is frequently called other “rich countries”, “developed countries”, “industrialized countries”, “wealthy countries” and “advanced democracies”. Conveniently, there is no published definition of what gets a country on this list, but the result ALWAYS shows the US is horribly violent.
By the way, if you look at the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) homicide rate, a number which excludes suicide, self-defense, law enforcement interventions and non-intentional homicide (accidents), you’ll find the United States down around # 60.
Definitions matter and manipulating the results to arrive at a predetermined conclusion is a lie. This is why I always treat “research” by the gun-control lobby with suspicion.
Then there is our current President’s recent quote. “You’re not allowed to go out and own an automatic weapon. You’re not allowed to own a machine gun. You’re not allowed to own a flamethrower.”
While you might be tempted to dismiss this statement as another one of our often-confused President’s ramblings, let’s call it what it really is, a lie.
Automatic weapons & machine guns (we’re assuming he means the same thing here, but who knows) are in fact legal to own. NFA (National Firearms Act) firearms may be purchased or transferred by any legal resident of the United States, over 18 (21 for some items), not prohibited from firearm ownership, and not living in a non-NFA permitted state. There is a $200 tax and a background check that can take up to a year, or more to compete. NFA firearms are extremely expensive and come with a number of restrictions, but they are legal.
Flame throwers are legal in all 50 states, with only two currently imposing additional licensing or equipment restrictions. The reason is simple too. Flame throwers are not firearms and not subject to NFA or FFL background check restrictions. Although I’m going to bet now that the President has declared them persona non grata, the nanny states are going to jump all over this and start restricting them.
Having our President stand before a national audience spouting off lies about firearms, the Second Amendment or the law is nothing new. The firearms community is used to it, and we all do a collective face palm when we hear these blatant lies. The problem is this information influences people who do not know any better, or simply don’t care to know fact from fiction.
Following the principle of “You never let a serious crisis go to waste.”, the gun-control zealots flood the airwaves, news and social media with emotional messages to “do something” following the horrific deaths of innocent victims. Facts don’t matter at a time like this, only that they have the ONE and ONLY solution that will stop so-called gun violence once and for all – gun control.
Remember, gun control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun control.
In the real world, firearms are used to defend and save lives in this country every single day. A 2013 CDC (Centers for Disease Control) study found civilian defensive use of firearms outnumbered felonious use by a rate of 3 to 1, to the tune of 2.5 to 3 million uses per year. YOUR right to purchase, own, possess and carry a firearm in defense of your life and the lives of your family is what is at stake.
Know the facts, share the facts. Just because they said it doesn’t make it true.
Bob
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I Believe In Gun Control, Even Though…
All these years I’ve been so horribly wrong. I’ve been fighting against gun control when I should have been fighting for it. It’s time for me to correct my ways by stating the obvious.
I believe in gun control, even though it has never actually worked to prevent crime and violence, anywhere.
I believe Gun Free Zones repel shooters, even though 98% of all mass shootings in the United States since 1950 have occurred in Gun Free Zones.
I believe common sense gun laws save lives, even though the areas of the country with the strictest gun control laws have the highest crime, murder and “gun violence” rates.
I believe universal background checks will stop criminals from getting guns, even though most criminals steal their guns or get them through straw purchases (which include background checks) and the only purpose for universal background checks is to create a national gun registry.
I believe 10 round magazines are “standard capacity”, even though most firearms are designed for and intended to use magazines larger than that.
I believe in restricting concealed carry in “sensitive places”, even though this restriction only applies to law abiding citizens not criminals who don’t obey the law anyway and now have only unarmed people to victimize.
I believe the Second Amendment only applies to the state militia (the National Guard) even though the Bill of Rights clearly defines our rights in relation to the government and guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual.
I believe there is no such thing as “a good guy with a gun”, even though civilian defensive use of firearms outnumbered felonious use by a rate of 3 to 1, to the tune of 2.5 to 3 million uses per year.
I believe red flag laws are fully constitutional, even though they deprive a person of a constitutional right without due process, through a secret civil hearing, at a lower legal standard than for an arrest, are not afforded legal counsel, and must prove their innocence vs. being proven guilty.
I believe red flag laws are effective, even though they are only used to strip firearms away from someone and do NOTHING to help someone in a mental health crisis or protect from the person who is supposedly dangerous.
I believe the previous assault weapon ban saved lives, even though the government’s own data says any impact was far too small to measure.
I believe Constitutional Carry is criminal carry, even though Constitutional Carry laws explicitly forbid those who are not allowed to legally possess or carry firearms.
I believe California, rated #1 for gun control, is a shining example of the success gun control can achieve, even though their cities and streets have become safe havens for crime and violence, including four mass shootings in one week.
I believe gun control areas only have more crime because of non-gun-controlled areas, even though the non-gun-controlled areas have less crime and violence.
On second thought, believing what I believe on April 1st might be a little bit foolish, even though you already know what I really believe.
Bob
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