Sighted in WalMart: 4.5 Cents per Round .22 Ammunition

A WalMart in North Dallas, Texas, just off the George W. Bush freeway and Marsh rd, consistently had 5 cent .22 ammunition when I visited my Daughter in October.  When I checked in late November, there wasn't any more on the shelves.  I was disappointed, and believed that the .22 bubble was re-inflating.  I was gone for a couple of days, but checked out the display again on 29 November.

In October, a WalMart employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told me that the same people came in when .22 bulk packs were available and bought them all up.  They did not buy the 50 round boxes, because they were not worth their time, with a 3 boxes per day limit.  The bulk packs were bought up regularly.

Maybe the ammo resellers were on Thanksgiving vacation on the 29th of November.  Maybe they noticed a slump in demand.   I cannot be sure why, but there on the shelves were five boxes of Winchester copper-plated .22 LR, 333 round boxes for $14.97.  This was late in the afternoon, about 4:30 p.m.  WalMart restocks .22 ammuntion in the morning, I have been told.

That price converts to a little less than 4.5 cents per cartridge.  I predicted the bubble would be considered burst when .22 ammo became commonly available at 4 cents a round.  The demand is still up, and supply has not increased enough to get to that point, yet.  But I am commonly hearing of people being able to obtain .22 cartridges in limited quantities for 5-7 cents a cartridge, and 8 cent ammunition is fairly common.


The production plus shipping and retail profit price of inexpensive .22 ammunition is likely below 3 cents a cartridge.  Most of the current profits are going to middlemen like the enterprising Wal-Mart shoppers, pawn shops, or local gun shops.  I have seen quite a bit of .22 ammunition at 10 cents a cartridge or higher.

Much depends on the political climate.  The more President Obama talks of the necessity of restrictions on gun ownership, the more the bubble will re-inflate.  The more the media cartel publicises public shootings and/or terrorist attacks, the more demand will remain high.  But, the desire to have a supply of .22 ammunition on hand at home is being satisfied.  When the demand drops below the level of supply, prices will come down and stay there.

It is hard to predict when, in the current political climate.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

Were Shotguns Seized in Italy for Terrorists or Citizens?

Recent headlines blared "Paris attacks: Almost 800 pump-action shotguns seized by Italian police on way to Belgium, Germany and Holland".   It is hard to see any connection between the shotguns (Winchester SXPs) that were seized and terrorists.  The shotguns were legally manufactured in Turkey.   It is important to note it is admitted that "customs rules were not broken":

Although customs rules were not broken, police said the driver did not have licences required to transport the weapons and the Turkish manufacturer was reportedly accused of breaching national security regulations.

What apparently happened is that the manufacturer and customers fell victim to increased security checks put in place after the Paris attacks.  Demand for shotguns has been sky-rocketing in Europe since the invasion of millions of Muslim migrants started months ago.  It is not hard to understand why hundreds of shotguns would be destined for Belgium, Germany and Holland.  Shotguns are one of the easiest firearms to legally obtain in most countries with strict gun control.    Pump action shotguns are legal in Germany, semi-automatic shotguns are not, except in rare circumstances.  It has been reported that demand for shotguns in Austria has emptied the shelves there.  It seems likely that similar demand would rise in Germany, Belgium, and Holland.  From the dailymail.co.uk:

And gun dealers report that it is women driving the sales rush. This year alone, police say 70,000 guns have been sold.

'Virtually all shotguns are currently sold out, because you need no permit for them', said Thomas Ortner, spokesman for an arms dealer in Upper Austria.

As terrorist attacks increase, demand for weapons rises as well.  And so do the current government attempts to keep weapons from their citizens.

It may not always be so.  At least one European politician is calling for France to re-arm.  From rightwingnews.com:

France’s Marine Le Pen Calls for Nation to Re-Arm Itself – ‘Eradicate Radical Islam’ (Video)

Will European governments back off of their strict gun control policies?  I doubt that the present governments will.  But if more attacks succeed - and it seems likely that they will - those governments may be replaced.  France is a likely candidate to be the first.

Update:

France is already credited with having millions of illegal guns in the country.  The number is estimated at 7.5 million legal guns and 10-20 million illegal guns, many of them firearms from WWII.  If France backs off of its current strict gun control scheme, it will likely attempt some form of "amnesty" to have the illegal firearms brought into government control.  Having had numerous firearms declared illegal in the past, and confiscated, it is likely that few old guns will be registered. 

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

Island Nation with Draconian Gun Laws and Murder Rates to Match: Jamaica

Jamaican Gun Court Prison

Jamaica is an island nation with draconian gun controls.  It has one of the highest murder rates on the planet.  It was not always so.  In 1962, before independence, Jamaica had a murder rate of 3.9 per 100,000 population, one of the lowest in the world.  It was lower than the U.S. murder rate of 4.6 per 100,000 in 1962.  The U.S. murder rate in 2012 was slightly lower than in 1962; 4.5 per 100,000.  Jamaica's murder rate in 2012 was 45.1, eleven times greater than it had been under British rule.  The firearms act was first passed in 1967.  Draconian enforcement of the act began in the middle 1970's.  David Kopel sums it up well:

In response to a sharply rising crime rate in Jamaica in the early 1970s, the government imposed complete gun prohibition. In fact, possession of a bullet meant a mandatory life sentence in prison. There was a special gun court where people would be tried in secret for gun possession offenses. And in conjunction with this tremendous crackdown on guns, they also did everything else that you can imagine Oliver North or Ross Perot doing to our Bill of Rights in your worst nightmares. They had gun sweeps, drug sweeps, militarized law enforcement, the government breaking into people's houses, with no probable cause at all, to look for illegal weapons and drugs. Every kind of oppressive measure you could want, censorship of violent television and movies, everything you could want in terms of "let's get really serious and crack down and get rid of all these silly constitutional liberties that are standing in the way of rough and tough law enforcement," they did. What happened was the crime rate and the homicide rate dropped substantially for the first six months. They then started to rise again, got back to their old levels, and within a few years were far ahead of their old levels, and a few years later were at double and triple the levels which had inspired this kind of crackdown in the first place.

That description was written in 1995.  Since then, the murder rates have risen even more, to peak about 2009.  Jamaica murder rates have dropped a bit since then, but have remained near the top in homicide rates around the world since the late 1990's.

In spite of its obvious failure, the Jamaican government has not backed off of its draconian gun control experiment.  Currently, the Jamaican government is in the middle of a 'Get the Guns' campaign.  It started in September of this year and has resulted in the confiscation of 130 illegal weapons and 1,500 rounds of ammunition as of a press release last Friday, the 27th of November, 2015.  That is the equivalent of a modest American gun collection.  From jamaica-gleaner.com:

The commissioner says he is pleased with the achievement as guns are used in over 80 per cent of murders committed locally.

According to Williams, in time, the recovery of the weapons will result in a reduction in major crimes.

How much time it will take is very uncertain.  The draconian laws have been in place for 40 years already.  From a story in the jamaicaobserver.com, it appears that a great many of the guns are coming from another country with extremely strict gun control, Haiti:

It involves collaboration with the Haitian law enforcement authorities due to the high inflow of illegal guns from the French-speaking island.

A commenter at the site indicates another source for the confiscated guns:

Mostly the home-made ones, and the rusty ones you stuff the nuzzle with gun powder! We need the WMDs Mr Commish!

An American who lived in Jamaica in 1961 reported that there was no problem in bringing a pistol to the island in 1960, or in possessing it at that time.

It is clear that the possession of guns is not the cause of the high murder rate in Jamaica.  It is the change of the government from one in which most of the population trusted the police and the application of the rule of law, into a government in which two sets of criminal gangs trade rule based on who can commit the most vote fraud in the latest elections.  Gun control is simply a ruse to distract the public from the real cause of the murders - a government that is allied with the criminal gangs, and a corrupt police force.

If draconian gun control laws have not reduced the homicide rate in an island nation over the last 40 years, and in fact, have likely contributed to the increase, there seems little reason to believe that they would decrease homicides in the United States, where the sources of guns are much greater, the potential for illegal manufacture much higher, and the Constitutional restraints on police enforcement of gun laws much stronger.

The current initiative to 'Get the Guns' is reminiscent of the gun 'buy back' events in the United States.  They are primarily for political theater, rather than any real effect on crime rates.  The number of guns needed for extremely high levels of murder are so small that they can easily be smuggled, illegally manufactured, or procured from corrupt police.

When the people trust the government and the police, murder rates drop to extremely low levels.

One significant way that a government can show that it trusts the people is to trust them with arms.   Trust is a two way street.

 ©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

CA: Man Arrested for Firing Gun in Air to Stop Theft

The man allegedly fired the weapon after finding the two boys at a gas station at Fremont and Stevenson boulevards. One of the juveniles ran off, but the other stopped. He was arrested on suspicion of grand theft.

More Here

Gun Control Works (video)

Junk Science on Stand Your Ground in Florida

Andrew Branca, the author of the “Law of Self Defense,” recently reviewed a study on racial bias and Florida’s Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws published in the Elsevier Social Science & Medicine. The study, “Race, law, and health: Examination of ‘Stand Your Ground’ (SYG) and defendant convictions in Florida” (Social Science & Medicine, Volume 142, October 2015, pages 194-201; pay-walled) makes troubling claims about racial bias and convictions.

The study’s authors conclude that a defendant was two times more likely to be convicted in a case that involved a white victim than a non-white victim; that the race of the victim was “a predictor of conviction of the defendant,” and that Florida’s SYG legislation “has a quantifiable racial bias.” The study’s abstract exhorts other states with SYG laws “to carry out similar analyses to see if their manifestations are the same as those in Florida, and all should remediate any injustices found.”

Are these “manifestations” of racial bias a matter of settled science? Does this study really provide evidence of unequal treatment under the law? Pulling back the curtain, Mr. Branca examined the underlying data used – a listing of cases compiled by the Tampa Bay Times, a Florida newspaper, “supplemented with available online court documents and/or news reports.” The study itself was based on a subset of 204 cases out of the newspaper’s entire dataset of 237. After a close analysis of every one of the 237 cases, Mr. Branca found that 181 (over 76 percent) did not qualify as SYG cases at all, based on the legal definition of the term. It follows that even if all of the 56 remaining cases were included in the study’s subset of 204, the vast majority of the subset (148 cases, over 70 percent) were not actually SYG cases. Accordingly, research conclusions drawn from the 204 cases as if they were all SYG cases arguably lack factual integrity and scientific reliability.


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FL: 'Muslim Free Zone' Gun Shop Owner Vindicated, CAIR Lawsuit Dismissed

Florida gun shop owner who was sued by the Council on American-Islamic Relations for declaring his store a “Muslim Free Zone” has been vindicated by a federal court.

Andrew Hallinan, owner of Florida Gun Supply in Inverness, was sued by CAIR’s Florida chapter after he made the declaration in a YouTube video in July.

On Tuesday U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom said Hallinan, who teamed up with George Zimmerman to raise funds for his legal defense, was within his First Amendment rights to make the statement, according to the American

“The general desire of [CAIR] in this case to have Muslims able to access [Florida Gun Supply’s] shooting range someday in the future is insufficient . . . There are simply no facts grounding the assertion that [CAIR] and/or one of its constituents will be harmed—[CAIR] has failed to allege when and in what manner the alleged injuries are going to occur,” the court ruled.

In the statement released Tuesday by AFLC it declared “Florida Gun Supply will not serve “[a]nyone who is either directly or indirectly associated with terrorism in any way.”

“As our motion and now the court’s ruling make clear, CAIR’s lawsuit was patently frivolous if not outright dangerous. No firearms dealer or gun range owner for that matter should be required to sell weapons to or train anyone that the dealer or owner has reason to believe is a terrorist threat. We all have a civic responsibility to prevent the next terrorist attack. CAIR’s lawsuit was an effort to prevent business owners from doing so,” AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel Robert Muise said in the statement.

More Here

Cheap Gun Opportunity: Clearwater Florida, 12 December, 2015

There will be a gun turn in event on Saturday, 12 December, 2015 in Clearwater, Florida.  Clearwater is in Pinellas County.  While these events are commonly labelled with the propaganda term "buyback" the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them.

The event will be held at the Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex parking lot, 2450 Drew St. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. From suncoastnews.com:

This will be the Clearwater Police Department’s first buyback event since June 2011, when it collected 189 guns. Hall said officers plan to buy about $10,000 worth of gift cards to hand out at the event.

Police will offer $50 or $100 Wal-Mart gift cards for the guns, depending on type of the firearm.    Private buyers have little to fear about buying stolen firearms at these events.   Florida even has a website where firearms purchasers can check to see if a firearm is listed as stolen in the State.

Some police departments are hostile to private buyers; others are friendly.  It is best to do local research before arriving to offer to buy firearms.  The choice of a public venue of the Joe DimMaggio Sports Complex means that the police will have wide discretion about where private buyers can set up, where parking is allowed, and what access there will be to the parking lot.  Some private buyers have been able to overcome these obstacles and achieve considerable success. 

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office offers free Concealed Carry courses to obtain the Florida concealed carry permit, so the entire county is not a hotbed of anti-self defense zealots.

Across the country, communities, police departments and churches are sponsoring gun turn-ins to get "guns off the street". At many of these events, private buyers are showing up, offering cash for the more valuable guns. These private additions to the public turn-in are effective, no doubt, in getting more guns off the street, because they add to the resources that are available to those who want to get rid of guns for something of value, be it a grocery card or a number of twenty dollar bills.

You can help make the turn-in in your area more effective by standing on the curb with your "Cash for Guns" sign, or at a folding table, willing to offer more than the gift card for firearms that are more valuable. It would be best if numerous private parties were available, as more good guns could then be transferred into responsible hands.

This action serves many useful purposes. It stretches the turn-in budget so that more guns can be taken off the street. It helps keep fearful widows from being defrauded of most of the market value of the gun they are turning in. It prevents valuable assets from being destroyed by bureaucratic inflexibility. It is a win-win-win situation.

It also dispels the pernicious message that guns are bad and should be destroyed.

Private sales are legal in Florida. Open carry of firearms is generally not legal, but it appears that brief displays of a firearm are accepted, if the display is not in a threatening manner.

Here is how private buyers handled challenges in Jacksonville, Florida.

Link to article with numerous examples of private sales at gun turn in events
 
Link to most recent article about private buyers at Milwaukee event

Link to Phoenix Article: pictures of private buyers



©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

Rob Morse: Lies the Media Cartel Told Me

A brilliant article by Rob Morse.

I think we scare the elites. Today, average folks like us can get our news from a thousand different sources. Unfiltered by the mainstream media, we witness the growing corruption between government and crony businessmen. We see the growing gap between what the mainstream news tells us and what we see with our own eyes. We continue to live our own lives despite that government collusion and media corruption. We can’t be bought. For the most part, we can’t be pushed around. Our independence frightens the dishonest political and business elites. They want us disarmed. They want us disarmed for their benefit, not for ours.

The elite media and Democrat politicians have been working on disarming us for a while. First, they distorted the news stories about gun owners. When that didn’t change public opinion, the elites lied to us. That is why the news about armed self-defense seems so contradictory to the real world we see around us every day.

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WI: Appeals Court Affirms: Knives are Arms Protected by the Second Amendment

 Excellent court decision at the Wisconsin Appellate court level.  Knives are arms protected by the Second Amendment.

Applying the Second Amendment to knives as arms and the groundbreaking Heller U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision that it was illegal for someone to possess a switchblade (automatic) knife in their home.

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NY: Woman Shot Ex who Broke in

PEMBROKE – A woman shot a man in the leg when he forced his way into her home Thursday afternoon, according to the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office.

The woman was at home at about 3 p.m. when the man, with whom she had had a previous relationship, forced his way into her home in Pembroke. She allegedly fired shots at the man, who fled the area in a vehicle.
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OH: 4 Arrested in Shooting; 41 - Year - Old found to have shot in Self Defense

During their investigation, police opted not to charge a 41-year-old Whitehall man who reportedly was involved in the exchange of gunfire Nov. 16, Grebb said.

“We found he was acting in self-defense,” he said.

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TX: Houston Zoo Puts up "Gun Free Zone" signs

Walker, who called the signs "provocative," was notified Tuesday of the reinstallation, and he said he plans to file a complaint with the Office of the Texas Attorney General. Walker said the zoo's argument is flimsy because there is no curriculum, accreditation, or the ability to obtain a degree at the zoo

"This is clearly an act of desperation. They are hanging their hat on being an educational institution," Walker said.

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SC: Armed Woman Shoots Armed Craigslist Robber

Investigators say the would-be robbers pulled out a gun and demanded money when they met the couple at an Aiken gas station where they planned to buy a car listed on the Internet site.

Deputies say while the gun was pointed at the man, his girlfriend pulled her own weapon and shot at the robbers.
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KS: "Road Rage" ends with Display of Handgun

The victim claimed he was “fearful about the other driver’s actions,” McKinley said, during the confrontation. The other driver then allegedly tried to open the victim’s car door, so the victim allegedly flashed a handgun at him.

The display of the gun was apparently enough to scare off the other driver, and he returned to his vehicle and left.
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John Stossel: Self-Defenseless

 What might have happened if a few of the 1,500 concert attendees in Paris’ Bataclan theater had guns? The terrorists had time to kill, reload and kill again. The police unit didn’t come for more than a half hour. If a few people in the theater were armed, might they have killed the killers?

We’ll never know.

France’s guns laws say you may not carry a gun unless police certify that you are “exposed to exceptional risks of harm” to your life. Few people even bother to apply.

Fortunately, in America, laws in every state now allow adults to carry guns. Some predicted this would lead to more crime, but the opposite happened. Crime is down.

Yet some towns, such as Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City, where I live, still make it nearly impossible for people to legally carry a gun.

I know because I tried to get a license.

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GA: Neighbor Shoots Dogs that Entered his Home, Threatened Children

The complainant met the officer on his front porch, handing over a Smith and Wesson .40 hand gun he said was used to shoot his neighbor’s dogs. The man said he was watching TV on his computer with one of his children and two others were in the downstairs living room playing when he heard the back door open. He said the dogs came into his house acting aggressive toward his children.

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TX: Homeowner Shoots at Car Burglar, is Wounded in Gunfight

The victim found a suspect trying to break into his truck, and opened fire. He shot multiple times but missed his target, said police.
But the truck suspect was armed too. Police said he shot the victim in the stomach before taking off on foot. The victim went back in his home and called police.

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Obama Signs NDAA; DCM to Sell Surplus .45s

On Wednesday, 25 November, 2015, President Barack Hussein Obama signed the National Defense Authorization act.  He had vetoed the first version of the bill to reach his desk on 22 October, 2015, about a month ago.  In the latest version, S. 1356, there is a section, 1087, which re-authorizes the Civilian Marksmanship Program to sell surplus 1911 and 1911A1 pistols and their parts and accessories to the public.  The sales are limited to 10,000 per year.  There are about 100,000 of these pistols available that are surplus, so they should be available for several years.
From the bill(pdf):

‘‘(h) AUTHORIZED TRANSFERS.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the
Secretary may transfer to the corporation, in accordance with the
procedure prescribed in this subchapter, surplus caliber .45 M1911/
M1911A1 pistols and spare parts and related accessories for those
pistols that, on the date of the enactment of this subsection, are
under the control of the Secretary and are surplus to the require-
ments of the Department of the Army, and such material as may
be recovered by the Secretary pursuant to section 40728A(a) of
this title. The Secretary shall determine a reasonable schedule
for the transfer of such surplus pistols.
‘‘(2) The Secretary may not transfer more than 10,000 surplus
caliber .45 M1911/M1911A1 pistols to the corporation during any
year and may only transfer such pistols as long as pistols described
in paragraph (1) remain available for transfer.’’.

I would have thought that the wording could simply have been changed to include surplus "pistols" not just 1911 and 1911A1s.  Then surplus .22 caliber trainers, 9mm pistols, and .38 caliber revolvers would also have been available.  Perhaps this is the best that the NRA felt they could get from this President.

The NRA-ILA reports that there are other important parts of the bill as well.  Section 215 removes ammunition and ammunition components from any possibility of regulation by the EPA, something that has been pushed by disarmists for years, without success.


Section 526 creates the possibility for base commanders to authorize individuals to carry firearms for self defense, but it is a pretty weak reed.   From the bill:

SEC. 526. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCESS BY WHICH MEMBERS OF THE
ARMED FORCES MAY CARRY AN APPROPRIATE FIREARM
ON A MILITARY INSTALLATION.
Not later than December 31, 2015, the Secretary of Defense,
taking into consideration the views of senior leadership of military
installations in the United States, shall establish and implement
a process by which the commanders of military installations in
the United States, or other military commanders designated by
the Secretary of Defense for military reserve centers, Armed Serv-
ices recruiting centers, and such other defense facilities as the
Secretary may prescribe, may authorize a member of the Armed
Forces who is assigned to duty at the installation, center or facility
to carry an appropriate firearm on the installation, center, or facility
if the commander determines that carrying such a firearm is nec-
essary as a personal- or force-protection measure.

 I would have preferred that the phrase "such a firearm is necessary" had been changed to "such a firearm is useful", which would have given the commanders much greater protection and flexibility.  But it is better than nothing, and can be built on for the future.

There is a small amount of good news included with the President's holding defense spending hostage to his desire for even more bloated non-defense spending.

I suspect that the military .45 pistols will sell quickly.

Definition of  disarmist

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

Homeless Man's Black Market Submachine Guns and Improvised Silencer

The LA times has an article about a homeless man who was found in possession of two submachine guns a couple of magazines, a couple of pistols and an improvised suppressor.  From the picture it appears that the two submachine guns are a reactivated/remanufactured Sten in 9mm and a reactivated/remanufactured vz.26, which is normally chambered in 7.62x25 caliber, the common East block pistol and submachine gun round that is nearly identical to the 7.65x25 Mauser cartridge. 

This ad shows the deactivated vz.26 as being available in the European Union for 95 Euros.  Parts kits have been available in the United States, but do not included an intact receiver, only stubs from the receiver tube, for $62.  Here is a link to a person who hoped to rebuild one of the parts kits into a legal semi-auto pistol.  He expected to spend about $600 on it in 2013.

The vz.26 has a large oil filter attached to the muzzle.  These are reported to make effective improvised suppressors.  The first round fired creates a hole for the rounds to follow.  It is questionable how effective it would be on the 7.62x25 round, which has a supersonic velocity of nearly 1500 feet per second. 

The LA Sheriff's Department, which took the picture, reported that the Sten and the vz.26 were fully functional.  You can see two loaded magazines for the vz.26 loaded with the 7.62x25 bottleneck rounds in the magazines.  I can only see three handguns, a Ruger MK1 that has an AR-15 flash suppressor attached to the barrel, an Rohm RG-10 .22 revolver or close facsimile, and Cobray model DD .410/.45 Colt Derringer.  The Cobray was offered in kit form about 20 years ago.

The department reported that there were two improvised suppressors; perhaps they included the AR-15 flash suppressor as an improvised sound suppressor.

I do not see a fourth mentioned handgun; it may well be outside the picture frame.

These reactivated/re-manufactured subguns should really count as homemade guns.  They almost certainly have no serial numbers.  Very likely the Cobray derringer has no serial number either.   Because the firearms were found in the possession of a convicted felon, a prohibited possessor, the firearms were likely created specifically for the black market.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

TX: WalMart Shelves Empty of 5 Cent .22 Ammo, Again

About two months ago, for two weeks in early October, the local WalMart near to my Daughter's place in North Dallas had .22 Federal Champion ammunition available for less than 5 cents per round.  It was in 50 round boxes, at $2.47 per box, with a limit of three boxes per customer.

I checked again, on November 24th.  The shelves were empty of inexpensive .22 rimfire once again.  There were a few boxes of CCI .22 LR shotshells at $7.87 per box.  That is about 39.2 cents per round.  You can easily find it for that price on the Internet.  Some places are carrying it as low as 28.5 cents per round, in the 20 round box.  The price for CCI .22 LR shotshells is the same in that WalMart as it was in early October.

A number of significant events have occurred since the middle of October, any one of which could cause a resurgence in demand for .22 LR ammunition.   The rampage shooting in Colorado, the increase in knife attacks in Israel, the Jihadi attack in Paris, the call for more gun control in the United States, as a reflexive response from the left;  President Obama's statement that he will push hard for more gun control in his last year.

All of those things make people who believe that they do not have a sufficient stock of .22 ammunition for potential bad times, increased federal legal restrictions, or who may face extra burdens placed on them by local governments, have reason to buy some more ammunition.  This keeps the demand high.

Component costs of ammunition have dropped tremendously.  Lead and other metal prices are down; oil and other feedstocks for making gunpowder are down.  The price of a 12 gauge shotgun shell, which uses more than 10 times the components of a .22 cartridge (ll times the lead, 20 times the gunpowder, a separate wad, and intricate primer that the .22 does not need)  is commonly available for 22 cents a round.  If demand were to drop, there is reason to believe that .22 ammunition would be available at about 3 cents a cartridge.  I purchased bulk .22 (Federal Champions) for just over 3 cents a round in 2012.  At that point, oil prices and metal prices were much higher than they are now.

It is clear that political fears are sustaining the .22 LR bubble.  .22 LR is available, but you have to hunt to find it for less than 8 cents a cartridge.  There was plenty of .22 available in Sprague's, a local gun store in Yuma.  But most of it was at 10 cents a round, or more.

All of the Democrat candidates have indicated that they wish to install new, stricter gun control measures.

We may have to wait until a Republican President is elected and in office before the demand for .22 LR drops enough to bust the .22 LR ammunition bubble.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

Three U.S. Islands with Strict Gun Control and their Murder Rates

Strict controls on the ownership and use of guns have been enacted in a number of polities in the United States.   One of the supposed purposes of such laws is to reduce the murder rate.  Murder rates in the FBI Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) consist of murder and non-negligent manslaughter.

When strict controls do not produce low murder rates, such as in Chicago or Washington D.C., the claim is made that the problem is the easy access to guns in areas outside of the polity with the strict controls.  In Washington, D.C., it is claimed that criminals can easily obtain guns in Virginia.  In Chicago, gun shops in Indiana are blamed as the source of guns.

Here is a look at three island polities that are under U.S. Jurisdiction that have implemented strict controls on gun purchases and ownership.  These islands must be reached by air travel, where the carry of firearms is highly regulated and restricted, or by ship.   If the problem with crime rates in Washington, D.C. and Chicago, or even New York City, is caused by the inflow of guns from areas with less restrictions on the purchase and ownership of guns, these polities should show a decrease in murder rates, as criminals cannot simply drive across state lines to obtain firearms.

Murder rates have been selected because they are the most carefully reported and investigated crimes, so they provide the best index of unjustified violence.

First island polity: The United States Virgin Islands.

The U.S. Virgin Islands has extremely restrictive gun control.  No guns are allowed to be legally owned without permission from the Police Commissioner.  His discretion is complete and final.  Even antique guns are subject to his approval.  Approval is hard to get, and involves a lengthy process.

476. Collections of antique firearms; certificates of uselessness. No provision hereof shall prevent that private collections of antique firearms, which may not be used as weapons. be preserved and maintained and that their owners possess them as ornaments or as matters of curiosity, nor the collections of firearms kept as relics, but for the preservation of any weapon of those included in this section the prior inspection thereof and approval therefor by the Commissioner shall be necessary and he shall render such firearms unless, so that the same may not be used as such. The Commissioner shall issue a certificate of uselessness of all the weapons possessed under the provisions of this section, and the possession of any firearm not included in said certificate shall be subject to all the provisions hereof. ****

The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917.  They have local self government and elect their own Governor.    But self government with extremely restrictive gun laws has not resulted in a low murder rate.  The murder rate in the U.S. Virgin Islands was 32.9 per 100,000 in 2013, down sharply from the previous year, but still over seven times as high as the average murder rate for the entire United States, which was 4.5 per 100,000 in 2013.


Second Island Polity: Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico has been under United States administration from 1898, when the United States took possession of the Island from Spain in the Spanish - American war.   Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917.  Puerto Rico has had extremely restrictive laws.  All guns are required to be licensed and registered.  The difficulty of obtaining a permit to purchase is time-consuming and expensive.  No ammunition can be purchased unless it is for a firearm specifically mentioned on the gun license.   The murder rate in Puerto Rico in 2013 was 24.4 per 100,000 population.  That is over 5 times the average rate for the entire United States.

In June of 2015, a Puerto Rico judge ruled most of Puerto Rico's gun laws unconstitutional.  It is too early to determine if the ruling will have an effect on the murder rate.  The ruling is likely to be appealed to the Puerto Rico Supreme Court.

Third Island Polity: Hawaii.

Hawaii was annexed as a United States territory in 1900, two years after the acquisition of Puerto Rico and 17 years before the acquisition of the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Hawaii became a state in 1959.  Hawaii, unlike the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico, has a state Constitution with a segment identical to the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment, protecting the right to keep and bear arms.

Hawaii has strict gun control, but not as strict as the U.S. Virgin Islands.  The restrictions are similar to the restrictions in Puerto Rico.  All guns have been required to be registered since 1994, but guns possessed before the 1994 legislation was passed are grandfathered in.  There are lawsuits pending that challenge the constitutionality of some of the Hawaiian gun laws, but the laws are still in effect as of 2015.

The murder rate in Hawaii is much lower than the average in the United States.   In 2013 the murder rate was 1.5 per 100,000 population, about one third of the United States average or 4.5 per 100,000.

Three United States island polities with quite similar, strict, gun control laws.  Two have murder rates more than 7 and 5 times  greater than the United States average; one has a murder rate one third as great as the United States average.

It is clear that the gun control laws are not a major factor in the rate of murder.  It is highly unlikely that effects of stricter gun laws, such as those pushed by former Mayor Bloomberg's organizations, will have any measurable effect on the homicide rate in Chicago, Washington D.C., or in New York City.  Many of the polities with far less restrictive gun laws on the purchase and possession of firearms, have far lower murder rates, such as Vermont, with 1.6 per 100,000; or Utah, with 1.7 per 100,000.

A major problem with trying to lower murder rates with gun laws aimed at restricting the entire population's access to firearms is that only a tiny number of guns are needed to supply those involved in violent crime.  From an economic perspective, it does not matter much if you attempt to fill a bucket from a small pond or an ocean; filling the bucket is easy in either case.

Murders are committed by a tiny percentage of the population.  David Kennedy's research indicates that even in urban areas with high crime rates, that percentage is less than one half of one percent of the population.   From chattanoogan.com:

The same is true about people. “We now know that homicide and gun violence are overwhelmingly concentrated among serious offenders operating in groups: gangs, drug crews, and the like representing under half of one percent of a city's population who commit half to three-quarters of all murders.”

There have been numerous studies on the effects of implementing strict controls on the purchase and ownership of firearms in the United States.  The controls appear to have no effect or to be associated with somewhat greater homicide rates.  The controls on gun purchase and ownership are slightly less strict in Hawaii than they are in the U.S. Virgin Islands, yet the murder rate in Hawaii is at least 20 times lower.  Utah or Vermont have only modest controls on purchase and possession of firearms, yet their murder rate is similar to Hawaii's.   It is the demographics of the population, and how they perceive the effectiveness of the justice system that controls the murder rate.  Legal access to weapons has little effect. 

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

TN: Gunfight with Intruders, no one hit

A man returned gunfire and scared off two men this morning after they allegedly forced their way into his Sevierville home.

According to the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office, a person called 911 at about 8:53 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 23, 2015 to report gunshots coming from their neighbor’s home on Hilltop Road in Sevierville and that they saw two subjects flee in a red truck. Another 911 call was received a few minutes later, this one from the residence at which the gunshots originated, reporting a home invasion with shots fired. Officers arrived on the scene at 9:08 a.m.

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LA: Shooting of Roomate was Self Defense

BATON ROUGE - Police said a man who shot his roommate during an argument in Baton Rouge did so in self-defense Monday night.

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TX: Amarillo Homeowner Shoots aggressive Burglar

The homeowner said he saw two burglars removing his property from a shed in the back of his house. The homeowner armed himself with a pistol and ran outside to confront the burglars. He ordered them to the ground. One of the burglars aggressively threw down the items he had stolen and violently lunged at the homeowner. The homeowner then shot the burglar. The homeowner continued to hold both burglars at gunpoint while police were on the way, but the burglars took off running from the scene.


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Followup PA: Sherri Lynn Scarantino Found Justified in Domestic Killing

WILLIAM SPORT — A Lycoming County woman acted in self-defense when she shot and killed her boyfriend nearly a year ago, the district attorney says.

District Attorney Eric R. Linhardt Tuesday said he will not authorize a homicide charge against Sherri Lynn Scarantino, 39, in the death of Ty D. Kimble, 40.

"I am satisfied that Ms. Scarantino acted in self-defense, that she reasonably feared for her life and that her use of deadly force was justified," he said

She will be issued a summons on a state police charge of firearms not to be carried without a license, he said.
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TX: Homeowner Shoots, Kills 1 of 2 Intruders

DALLAS — A Dallas homeowner shot and killed one of two intruders early Tuesday morning at his residence, said Dallas police in a statement released later in the morning.
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CA: Pistol Grip Promotes Pistol Use

 No jury would convict this man for believing they were armed, after they saw the pistol grip hanging out of the thief's pocket.


A Laton-area homeowner detained two burglary suspects at gunpoint after riddling their getaway vehicle with gunfire Friday, the Kings County Sheriff’s Office reported.

The incident happened about 3:40 p.m. in the 17000 block of Everett Avenue, where the victim called 911 and reported two men were breaking into his home and stealing from the garage. The homeowner, armed with a small-caliber handgun, confronted the pair as they carried tools from the garage.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/crime/article46031560.html#storylink=cpy

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Belgian Jews Beg to Stay Disarmed

Perhaps I should not be surprised.  Jewish leaders that insist that everyone remain defenseless.

Belgian Jewish leaders denounced calls for their governments to issue gun permits to members of their communities this weekend, saying that such efforts could lead to harrowing consequences.

Last week, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the Brussels-based head of the European Jewish Association (EJA) and the affiliated Rabbinical Center of Europe, sent a letter to senior officials in a number of EU states requesting that gun laws be loosened to allow “designated people” among Europe’s Jews “to own weapons for the essential protection of their communities.”

Both community heads and Jewish business owners should be trained in firearms and be permitted to carry them, he said in a statement.

“There is absolutely no intention to create a pro-active force.

Rather, we expect local authorities to identify, train and oversee all designated armed personnel,” Margolin said.

Belgian Jews were quick to distance themselves from Margolin’s comments, asserting that he does not represent their communities.

“I think that he has no authority to speak in the name of Belgian Jewry because he doesn’t represent Belgian Jewry,” Abraham Guigui, the country’s chief rabbi, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

Over the weekend, Guigui issued a statement blasting what he called marginal elements and stating that calls for the arming of Jews were “a real danger and unacceptable.”

Calling for Jewish gun ownership would be tantamount to an admission that the Jews are outside of mainstream European society and that their governments are unable to provide for their security, he explained.

Such a view is considered unacceptable to the vast majority of Belgian Jews, he said, calling on the government to defend every Belgian no matter his religious creed.

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Sorry Democrats, But There Is No ‘Loophole’ That Allows Terrorists To Legally Buy Guns

Having overwhelmingly lost the public debate about whether the Obama administration’s Syrian refugee screening policy should be enhanced, Democrats have retreated to more comfortable rhetorical ground: demanding more gun control.

Their new secret weapon? A bill that would ban anyone whose name appears on a terror watch list from buying or possessing a firearm. The idea sounds reasonable enough until you dig into the details and realize that the proposed Democratic legislation is a shocking assault on the constitutional right to due process. What makes the proposal even worse is that the Democrats’ assault on due process isn’t necessary to accomplish what they say is their only goal: preventing “dangerous terrorists” from legally purchasing or possessing a firearm. The idea sounds reasonable enough until you dig into the details and realize that the proposed Democratic legislation is a shocking assault on the constitutional right to due process. What makes the proposal even worse is that the Democrats’ assault on due process isn’t necessary to accomplish what they say is their only goal: preventing “dangerous terrorists” from legally purchasing or possessing a firearm.

The new bill, which Democrats have dubbed the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2015, gives the U.S. attorney general the authority to “deny the sale, delivery, or transfer of a firearm or the issuance of a firearms or explosives license or permit to dangerous terrorists.”

According to several Democratic sponsors of the bill, the proposed law would allow the attorney general to deny a criminal background check clearance to any individual whose name appears on the national terror watch list. The huge problem with this expansive new power is that there are precisely zero statutory criteria for inclusion on this massive list. In fact, when statutory authority for the centralized government database was first codified into law via the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, Congress gave all authority for determining criteria for inclusion in the watch list to unelected, unaccountable government bureaucrats. If some faceless Beltway bureaucrat decides you might be a terrorist, then you’re a terrorist. End of story.

It gets even worse, though. If your name erroneously appears on that watch list, which as of 2013 included nearly 900,000 names, the Democrats’ proposed legislation renders you virtually powerless to find out why your name is on there, let alone to have it removed. And having your name erroneously or fraudulently added to that list isn’t as far-fetched as you might think.

In 2014, for example, Weekly Standard writer and Fox News contributor Stephen F. Hayes was informed that somebody added his name to the Department of Homeland Security’s terrorist watch list. There is zero credible evidence that he has any ties whatsoever to terrorism or to any terrorist organizations. Yet, under the Democrats’ new bill, he and everyone else who is erroneously listed would be banned from ever purchasing or possessing a firearm. Hayes’ apparent crime was traveling overseas for a cruise. Hayes is not alone. Each year, thousands of names end up on the terror watch list for no good reason whatsoever.

Under the Democrats’ proposal, the government doesn’t have to tell you why your name is on the list. The proposed law allows the government to keep that information secret. And if you decide to take the government to court over it, the Democrats’ bill creates a brand new legal standard that tilts the scales of justice against you.

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Fully 3D Printed Pepperbox

Mechanical engineering student James Patrick recently uploaded a video to his YouTube channel showing off the fully functional PM522 Washbear .22LR revolver that he designed and 3D printed. With the exception of the firing pin, a few elastic bands that act as springs and the legally required amount of detectable metal, the entire gun including the body and cylinder is completely 3D printed. This is, to my knowledge, the very first functional repeating firearm ever made entirely (This doesn’t count, it has metal barrel inserts) on a desktop 3D printer.

The optional 8 barrel revolver needs metal tubing inserts for each individual chamber.

The frame of the PM522 Washbear was designed to hold either a six or eight shot pepperbox revolver, however the six shot is printed in a more durable nylon material while the eight shot is printed in ABS with steel chamber liners for extra strength. Both barrels will fit in the same gun frame, so they are interchangeable. All of the stl files have been optimally orientated by Patrick in order to maximize the strength of the material and prevent failure. For instance, the gun frame is printed flat on its side while the revolver is printed standing up. By putting them together the frame is strong enough to contain the the pressure of firing and keep the cylinder layers from splitting.
In contrast, the 3D printed Liberator handgun designed by Cody Wilson holds and fires only a single bullet, and doesn’t always survive for a second shot. If what Patrick says about the PM522 Washbear is accurate, this is a significant upgrade from the Liberator, although he does warn that the gun isn’t intended for repeated usage. Patrick also suggests that subsonic ammunition is the best choice of ammo because it won’t break the sound barrier when it fires, resulting in no shock wave as the slug leaves the chamber.

 


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New Book 'These Are My Guns' Examines USA's Second Amendment Rights and the Statistics that Refute Anti-Gun Movement

About the Book

"A definitive and in-depth examination of the Anti-Gun Movement's claims and tactics, and the facts and statistics that completely refute them; written not by a Politician, Political Operative, or Media Expert with a bully pulpit, but by a regular American Citizen who is tired of seeing our rights and Constitution under attack by those who mean to control every aspect of our lives."

PublishNext says that, "'These Are My Guns' is a well-written, data-driven treatise on the right of United States citizens to own guns. It looks at the country's founding documents and major Supreme Court cases, examines common arguments against gun ownership, and presents statistical data supporting ownership. The manuscript is well-documented, containing many citations."

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NJ: 78-Year-Old Claims Self Defense in Killing 3 Bears at his Home

A growing legal battle has mounted in New Jersey, with the state claiming that a homeowner was hunting when he shot three bears – but the man claiming it was self-defense.

As CBS2’s Valerie Castro reported, Robert Ehling well remembers the day last October when he shot and killed three bears on his property in Sparta, New Jersey.

“I put another shot in him right behind his shoulder,” Ehling said.

It was an early morning when he heard his wife scream from their kitchen. A 300-pound bear on their back deck was trying to get inside the home to reach a bag of birdseed.

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MO: State Representative Teaches Concealed Carry Class

Representative Mike Kelley holds a conceal and carry weapons class. He started teaching the courses as a way to fund his reelection campaign while doing something he saw as productive to society.

Today, 18 people show up for the 8 hour long class that includes lecture and time at the shooting range. Those with conceal and carry permits have a different set of laws to follow, something the class reviews extensively.

Kelley believes that when it comes to events like the recent Paris attacks, those carrying concealed weapons could be a big help.

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NM: Couple, aged 70, 66 use Pistol and Shotgun to hold Burglar for Police

George Kennedy says he went out to his garage Thursday morning and saw Lujan loading the couple’s stuff into a Jeep. He said he confronted Lujan, who apparently didn’t care and kept doing what he was doing.

So George Kennedy got serious.

“The victim went inside his house, armed himself with a shotgun, grabbed his wife, she armed herself with a handgun, out they came and held the guy at gunpoint,” Tixier said.

Police would show up moments later and noticed a Metropolitan Detention Center band on Lujan’s left wrist.
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Followup WY: AR-15 used in Defense

Morrison reportedly went back into the house, where he collapsed.

Cheyenne Police's investigation revealed that Mathis was following Morrison toward the front door of the house with the pistol in his hand before Painter fatally shot him.

Although the investigation remains open while detectives await finalized reports, Long said it appears that Painter acted in self-defense.

Long said Painter has not been arrested or charged with any crime.

Initial information released by Long said that Morrison, who was reportedly shot first, was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center after the shooting and died there.
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TX: Act like a Car Burglar, Get Shot like a Car Burglar, AR-15 used to Stop Undercover Drug Force Officer

Undercover officers assigned to a task force had come to a house on Wilbur Street in Southwest Dallas to put a tracker on a vehicle when the shooting started, leaving an undercover Arlington Police officer wounded. It appears that the officer may have been mistaken for a car burglar.

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WY: AR-15 used in Self Defense

CHEYENNE (WTE) - The Cheyenne Police Department has released the name of another man they say was involved in a shooting Sunday night that resulted in the deaths of Justin Morrison and Darius Mathis.

Police say Brandon Painter, 20, was acting in self-defense when he shot Mathis with an AR-15 rifle after a fight that quickly escalated
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Followup CO: No Charges in Edward Tanner Shooting

Servando Flores, 33, was initially arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder in the Nov. 1 fatal shooting of 23-year-old Edward Tanner Jr.

Chief Trial Deputy Trevor Moritzky said Flores was acting legally — either in self defense or to stop a burglar — when he killed Tanner at the Madison Park Apartments in the 3300 block of East 120th Avenue.



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OH: Gas Station Owner Shoots Robber Suspect

CINCINNATI -- A gas station owner shot a suspect Friday night in East Price Hill, Cincinnati police said.

Officers got a report of a robbery at the Marathon station at Warsaw Avenue and Del Monte Place at 7:45 p.m., Lt. Craig Gregoire said.

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TX: Woman Shoots at Robber

Andre Dawson, 27, was in the line of fire after a woman shot at him when he allegedly tried to steal the purse of a different woman.

Witnesses recorded the incident from across the street.

In the video, you can see the woman pointing a pistol at Dawson who was struggling with a man. When he got away, the woman shot at the suspect.

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FL: Jewelry Store Owner and Robber Wounded in Gunfight

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

A Northwest Jacksonville jewelry store owner shot Thursday night in a struggle with two robbers managed to shoot one of the masked men attempting to rob him, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.

The wounded robbery suspect showed up at a hospital just after 10 p.m. Thursday and died from his injuries Friday, police said. He was identified by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office as Kurt Dean, 24.
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Followup Fl: Off Duty Officer who shot Burglarizing Teen will not face Charges

Who do you believe, the officer, who was there, and who the investigators say the physical evidence supports, or the Teens Father, who was not there?

After spotting the teen, Latimer borrowed a neighbor's gun to inspect and told Lake County deputies the minor charged at him outside the home. He said he had no choice but to shoot him, deputies said. The teen's father told the Orlando Sentinel a different story during an interview, claiming his son had been shot while trying to run away.
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IL: Homeowner in Madison County Shoots Intruder

The burglar was warned, but kept trying to break in.

MARINE, IL (KTVI) – A Madison County man picked the wrong home to burglarize Thursday night after being sent to the hospital for a gunshot wound to the chest.

The incident happened several miles east of Marine, a village of less than a thousand residents. The homeowner, who lives on Mayer Road, woke up to find a man trying to enter his home.

Madison County Sheriff John Lakin said the homeowner had every right to protect his property – and he did.
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This State Just Signed Landmark Gun Legislation

There is SOME good news for gun owners. Conservative Kansas Governor Sam Brownback just signed new legislation bolstering the right to bear arms. When asked why he passed such a broad bill, Brownback offered great rationale:

"Kansans soon can carry concealed weapons without permits or training under a bill signed by Gov. Sam Brownback on Thursday.

The new law, which kicks in July 1, makes Kansas the sixth state to allow “constitutional carry.” It will allow Kansans 21 and older to carry concealed firearms regardless of whether they have obtained a permit.

Training still will be required for anyone who wants to carry a concealed gun in the 36 states that accept Kansas permits.

Brownback touted the importance of training, explaining that his youngest son took a hunter safety course this past week.

“It was an excellent course. He got a lot out of it. I got a lot out of it. And I want to urge people to take advantage of that,” said Brownback, who was flanked by Republican lawmakers and representatives from the National Rifle Association and Kansas State Rifle Association.

Asked why he did not think training should be required if it is valuable, Brownback said carrying a gun is a constitutional right.

“We’re saying that if you want to do that in this state, then you don’t have to get the permission slip from the government,” Brownback said. “It is a constitutional right, and we’re removing a barrier to that right.”"

Governor Brownback's commitment to protecting the 2nd Amendment rights of Kansans is admirable.We hope that other governors recognize his wisdom.

http://americanactionnews.com/articles/this-state-just-signed-landmark-gun-legislation

AZ: "School Shooting" May have been Self Defense

If you look closely at the photograph, it is clear that Steven Jones likely suffered some blows to the head.  His lower lip is swollen, and you can see abrasions on it and one to the his right below the lip.  There is also a abrasion just to his left and above his left eyebrow.  It appears that Jones had legal possession of the handgun.  It would have been legal for him to have carried it in his car in Arizona.

From azcentral.com:

Jones, 18, claimed he and two friends were first attacked and beaten outside an apartment complex in the Oct. 9 incident and then chased to his car by another group of students who shouted obscenities and threatened to kill them

But the surviving victims and other witnesses told varying stories that corroborated some of Jones' statements and contradicted others.

Jones, who wept during police interviews, claimed he got his Glock pistol from the car and told the pursuers, who were then surrounding his friends, that he had a gun. He said he shot two of the attackers, again saying they would kill him, when they charged him.

Blows to the head can easily be lethal, as can attacks by multiple assailants.  If Jones version of events is correct, or if he can show a jury that it was reasonable for him to believe that his version was correct, he could easily be justified in his use of deadly force to defend himself and others.

 Jones cooperated fully with police; he even sought their protection when they came to the shooting scene.  He does not fit the profile of a rampage shooter.  He is not a loner, nor did he attempt to shoot people randomly.  There is testimony that his version of events is correct.  Without his glasses, he may have been visually impaired.

The testimony that disagrees with his, is largely form the people that he shot, who he claims were attacking him.   It is not clear how much police investigation has been done.  From the article:

In Piring's version of events, he was not standing with Brough but saw him fall and then was shot as he walked toward him. Piring said he didn't see any fighting. Piring said he saw Brough fall as he was running toward him and did not realize at first he had been shot as well.

With all the surveillance video available today, with numerous cell phones, I hope the police have been diligent in searching for evidence.  Even placement of the cases ejected at the scene would be important;   Jones said that he fired again, in an upward direction, as several men knocked him down and attempted to disarm him. It should be easy to determine if Jones were attacked before he fired, about how far he was from the people that he shot at, and how many people were involved in the initial attack, how many were involved in the chase that supposedly followed, and how many attempted to disarm him.  Blood should have been drawn from Jones and the others involved to determine blood alcohol levels or the presence of other drugs.

Update:

Jones has plead not guilty.  At a court appearance on 24 November, 2015, his lawyer made clear that he was attacked and then chased.  From abc15.com:

Jones told police that he shot them after he was hit in the face. He said the shooting was in self-defense.

"I don't think there is any doubt at this point that he was attacked outside that parking lot and then chased into that parking lot," said Jones' attorney, Burges McCowan.

Jones was a pledge with the Sigma Chi fraternity.  All of the men shot were from Delta Chi Fraternity.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

There is no Ban on "Gun Violence" Research; The Hill Pushes the Lie

A recent headline at The Hill read "Dems push to end ban on gun violence research".  The only problem is that there is no ban on "gun violence" research.  There is a ban on spending federal dollars, by the Department of Health and Human Services, on research that advocates for more gun control.  It is called the Dickey Amendment, and was put in place after the leaders of the CDC proclaimed what they expected from research results (advocating for more gun control) before the research was conducted.  The CDC had already funded severely flawed, advocacy  "research" to advance gun control.  The Congress responded by cutting off their funding.   They did not cut off funding to other agencies that might be expected to research the effects of gun ownership; for example, the Department of Justice.  But The Hill headline gives the opposite impression.  The article gives the correct purpose of the ban, but with caveats, and only after quoting Democrats to "explain" what the ban "really" does.  From The Hill:

Led by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), the Democrats said the so-called Dickey Amendment — a long-standing provision that has effectively blocked federal research on gun violence — leaves lawmakers in the dark when it comes to crafting policies aimed at tackling the problem.
"We dedicate $240 million a year on traffic safety research, more than $233 million a year on food safety, and $331 million a year on the effects of tobacco, but almost nothing on firearms that kill 33,000 Americans annually," the lawmakers wrote.

 Notice that Rep Jackie Speir deliberatively uses bad grammar to obfuscate the issue.  Guns do not kill people.  They have no volition.  They can be used to kill people; and people can be killed with guns; but guns by themselves; do not kill people.  Later, The Hill author, Mike Lillis, gives this explanation of the legislation:

First passed in 1996, the Dickey Amendment does not ban gun-violence research outright, but stipulates that “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”

He frames the debate with Speir as a victim of "gun violence" when she was shot by rabid leftists in South America, investigating the Jonestown cult.   Even though Guyana has strict restrictions on owning guns, Speir wants to import those sort of restrictions to the United States.  The Guyana murder rate is 17 per 100,000, about four times as high as the rate in the United States.  Here is the letter from the Democrats:

Disarmists turned to the attempt to "medicalize" crimes committed with guns when research funded by the Justice Department did not show any support for more restrictive gun control policies.  It is why you see most  research funded by Michael Bloomberg in medical journals, not in criminological journals or in economic journals.  Medical "researchers" seem to feel no need to cite studies done in other fields.  They routinely ignore studies by Gary Kleck, or John Lott, for example. 

The disarmists want the CDC to be able to produce more propaganda.  The scandal is that the CDC ever produced any to begin with.  There are plenty of studies about guns and crime, guns and suicides, and others.  They are simply not funded by the CDC, and rightly so.

Definition of  disarmist


©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

Is There a Gun Violence Epidemic? The Numbers Say No

The recent mass shooting in Oregon has brought the seemingly endless debate on gun control back into the national spotlight.

Are we, as some insist, in the midst of a gun violence crisis? Gun control advocates would certainly have you think so.

Rolling Stone magazine has an entire section on its website dedicated to gun violence entitled “America’s gun violence epidemic.”

Hillary Clinton recently stated that “this epidemic of gun violence knows no boundaries.” Even the American Public Health Organization states in its section on gun violence that “a comprehensive public health approach to addressing this growing crisis is necessary.”

A quick look into the facts reveals an entirely different picture. According to the FBI, in the past two decades, violent crime has been falling almost continuously. In 2013, the number of violent crimes perpetrated was 37 percent lower than it was just two decades earlier.

In 1994, there were 23,326 murders in the United States; by 2013, that number had fallen to 14,196, an incredible 39-percent decline. More specifically, according to the Department of Justice, the number of firearm-related homicides declined from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011.

The Department of Justice further concludes that even non-fatal gun-related crimes are declining, dropping 69 percent between 1993 and 2011. While the exact causes for this dramatic decrease can be debated, the decrease itself raises the question: Where does this idea of an “epidemic” of rising gun violence come from?

The most significant factor may be the large-scale media coverage of and public interest in mass shootings. Americans are captivated by stories of mass shootings and have followed them closely.

According to the Pew Research Center, in 2012, 57 percent of the American public said that they followed the Newtown, Conn., school shooting “very closely.” The attention given was second only to that year’s presidential election. The Pew Research center further reports that 48 percent of Americans also paid close attention to the movie theater shootings in Aurora, Colo.

The simple fact is that horrific headlines, such as the number of children gunned down in a school, have a greater shock value than nearly any other kind of story. The media understand this. Seeking, as always, the highest ratings, media companies tend to disproportionately report on mass shootings even though mass shootings account for only a fraction of the total number of homicides committed each year.

http://dailysignal.com/2015/11/12/is-there-a-gun-violence-epidemic-the-numbers-say-no/

IL: Resident uses Gun to Drive off Car Burglar

LOGAN SQUARE — A longtime Logan Square resident had a burglar scrambling Sunday afternoon when he confronted the man with a handgun.
The confrontation, which was captured on surveillance tape, shows the burglar rummaging through the victim's vehicle for 25 seconds before bolting for cover.

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TX: Rare Gunfight at Gunshop

Two men were shot Thursday morning during what police are calling an aggravated robbery at a Wichita Falls gun store, and police are searching for one possible suspect who left the scene in a vehicle.

The shooting occurred at 10:48 a.m. at a gun shop along the 4700 block of Southwest Parkway.
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MI: Criminal uses Concealed Sword to rob Dairy Queen

The story says "machete" but the picture looks like a sword.

Police responded to the Dairy Queen in the 1200 block of Military Street shortly before 6:40 p.m. Tuesday after it was reported a man with a machete threatened the employee inside and took cash.

Carter Smith, 19, said Wednesday the man entered the store and ordered a Blizzard.

As he rung up the order, Smith thought the man was going for his wallet, but he instead took out a machete.

The man then demanded Smith go to the back of the store, took cash from the register and fled.
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Using The Terrorist Watchlist Against Gun Owners

If you want to keep your right to keep and bear arms, you need to contact your congressman and U.S. senators now.

Amid the horror and outrage over last week’s Paris terrorist attacks, on the pretext of stopping terrorism, New York Democrat Congressman Pete King is pushing a scheme to deny your Second Amendment rights—and deny your right to due process in the bargain—by banning firearm sales to anyone on the FBI’s so-called Terrorist Watch List.

There are several key points to be made here:

• Just because someone who’s on the terrorist watch list does get a gun, that doesn’t mean they’re terrorists or criminals or anything else. Because you can be put on the watch list for any reason, or no reason at all. There doesn’t need to be any proof of wrongdoing. All you need to go on the list is some anonymous bureaucrat’s say-so. 
• The government won’t tell you who’s on the lists. Or who put them on the lists. Or why. You can try to appeal after they deny you your rights. But since they won’t tell you what you’re accused of, or who’s accusing you, there’s not much way to fight back. 
• In other words, under this scheme, you can lose your most fundamental constitutional freedom—your Second Amendment right to defend yourself, your family, your country and your freedom—simply because some anonymous somebody somewhere said you shouldn’t have it. And you can’t get it back until some anonymous somebody says you can. Consider, for example, that even three federal legislators, including Sen. Ted Kennedy, found themselves on the list. As Charles C.W. Cooke pointed out on nationalreview.com, some 280,000 people on the list have “no affiliation with known terrorist groups” but simply fall under “reasonable suspicion.” 
• Given this kind of power, President Barack Obama or any other government official could be able to add anyone to the list for any reason—perhaps returning veteran status, party affiliation, or even membership in an organization like the National Rifle Association—and wouldn’t be answerable to anyone for it.

That’s the deadly cancer on freedom that lies at the heart of the so-called “Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act” (H.R. 1076).


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TX: Resident injured in Gunfight

Police say two people jumped over the fence of an apartment complex on Greens Parkway at Fall Lake Drive after 10:30pm and attempted to kick in the man's front door.

The resident grabbed his gun and started shooting at the suspects as they tried to make entry into his apartment.

The suspects fired back, striking the victim in the leg. He was taken to Ben Taub hospital for treatment.
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TX: Armed 80-Year-Old Rancher and Son Shoot Tires, Assist in Capturing Burglars

It is legal to shoot at burglars to prevent theft of property in Texas.

LAMAR COUNTY, Texas (KXII) - A Lamar County man came home to two burglars inside his home Tuesday.

80-year-old Eldon Foster is a rancher. He's also a veteran and an avid hunter. So when he got a call from a neighbor that some strangers had broken into his Ragtown home off FM 197 Tuesday morning, he knew just what to do.

"I just try to take care of business until the sheriff gets here," said Foster.

He and his son locked and loaded, and chased Jesse Keene, 24, and Samantha Varner, 25, out of his home.

"I had a shotgun, and my son had a pistol," said Foster. "We tried to stop them and they wouldn't, so we popped their back tires."

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OH: Armed Woman Shoots at Robber

Officers responded to Gas and Go at 9 p.m. Nov. 10 for a report of an armed robbery. The suspect had already fled the scene after the clerk, a 23-year-old Brookpark woman, shot at his vehicle. He got away with an undisclosed amount of money. The incident is under investigation.

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541 Guns Confiscated from California man are all Legal

"It's a blatant attempt by a Sacramento politician to aggrandize herself with the anti-gun group in San Francisco and Los Angeles and garner votes among that group," said Coleman.  

Some of the guns in Sheakalee's possesion are banned in California, but Coleman has the 2006 paperwork to show the guns are legal, and says he has a strong legal defense.

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PA: Permits level in Luzerne County

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County has not seen a dramatic spike in applications for gun permits, but officials in the sheriff’s office reported Thursday their office has definitely been busier in the last few days.

About 25 people were outside the sheriff’s office Thursday morning waiting to either apply for a gun permit or to renew one.

Anthony and Cathleen Ortolani traveled from the Poconos to renew licenses they’ve had since 2007.

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Followup PA: Victims give Details of Home Invasion Gunfight

Without hesitation, Eric reached for his own weapon from a nightstand and exchanged shots.

"He took off, ran down the steps. I followed and someone at the bottom pointed his gun towards me, so I fired again and I hit him. I hit 'em both and he dropped the gun and bolted out the door," Eric recalled.


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