MD: Charges dropped for Cody Allen Hammond - Video shows no Firearm Possession

Cecil County Circuit Court Judge Brenda A. Sexton acquitted the defendant — Cody Allen Hammond, 21, of Elkton — of all charges at mid-trial on Friday in response to a defense motion made by Elkton-based lawyer C. Thomas Brown. The defense attorney made his motion for directed verdict after the state had rested its case. Prosecutors had presented witness testimony for about a day and a half, after both sides had spent one day on jury selection, before resting their case on Friday.

During his mid-trial motion, Brown argued that the state had failed to meet its burden of proof to convict his client. Specifically, he maintained that Hammond is unarmed every time he appears on security-camera video of the incident, which prosecutors had presented as part of their case against him.

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SC: Cheap Gun Opportunity in Spartanburg on May 13, 2023, 8 am to 1 pm.

Update: the event occurred on Saturday. It appears mostly long guns were collected.

There will be a gun "turn in event" on Saturday, May 13, 2023 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. These events are commonly labelled with the Orwellian term "buyback".  The guns were never owned by people attempting to obtain them, so they cannot be bought back. This is a propaganda event to make it appear as if guns are illicit items.

Guns have enormous utility and are sought after possessions. The people who turn in guns at these events  either do not know the value of their guns, want to make a political statement, or turn in guns which have a value less than the money offered by the gun turn in organizers. From WYFF:

The city of Spartanburg in South Carolina is offering gift cards in exchange for working guns.

The gun buyback will take place from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, May 13 at City Hall on West Broad Street.

Participants will receive $100 in gift cards for handguns, and $150 in gift cards for high-powered weapons.

The address for the Spartanburg City Hall parking lot is 145 W Broad Street. When Second Amendment supporters attend these events to purchase undervalued firearms from those who do not know their value, the propaganda effect of the event is diminished or destroyed. Instead of the message "Guns are bad, turn them in to the police", the message becomes "Guns are valuable, we pay cash."

This correspondent has been at a number of similar events. One in Phoenix, Arizona turned into a rolling gun show.

Gift cards tend to run out quickly. It is best to show up early. People who bring guns to the event
after the gift cards run out are usually willing to deal.  This correspondent obtained some nice, if inexpensive guns, at the Phoenix event.

Some Police are hostile to private buyers, others are indifferent or positive. It is a good idea to do some research before setting up a table and holding up a sign saying with "Cash for Guns" sign.

Private sales are legal in South Carolina.

Second Amendment supporters 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. If several private parties are available, they can support each other and help to prevent false accusations.

This action serves many useful purposes. It stretches the turn-in budget so that more guns can be taken off the street. It helps prevent 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.

Proponents of gun turn-in events know they are not really useful for preventing crime. Academics agree the events do not accomplish much, except as propaganda. The best academic study indicates they are likely counterproductive.  Very few gun turn-in events occur where private sales are legal. Most events now happen where private sales are banned, such as in California, New York, Massachusetts or New Jersey.

Those who plot for a disarmed public have learned to limit advertisement of their events to reduce participation by Second Amendment supporters. They give only a few days notice. Second Amendment supporters who attend should take pictures and be ready to video or audio record events. Some very interesting information has been obtained in this way.

It is particularly useful to see what guns are being turned in to be destroyed. Many valuable guns have been turned in at these events, some worth thousands of dollars.

The event at Spartanburg is to take place at City Hall. Event organizers will likely attempt to prevent photographs of what is going on. Police are likely to attempt to prevent Second Amendment supporter from offering cash for valuable guns.  On public right of way, this is almost certainly a violation of First Amendment rights.

If a reader decides to be a citizen reporter and attend this event, please contact Dean Weingarten via AmmoLand after you have attended, with an after action report. Pictures are always useful. Several events have been noted where private purchasers were present, but were ignored by the biased media.

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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NV: Armed Victim Shoots, Kills Carjacking Suspect

When he entered traffic on Paradise Road, he immediately began pointing a gun at passing cars, stopping a silver vehicle. He pointed his gun at the person who was driving the vehicle, a man in his 50s. That driver was armed and shot the suspect.  

The driver appears to be the victim of a possible carjacking, and at this time is not facing any charges, Johansson said.

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KY: Louiseville Mass Murderer: Killing was to Promote Gun Control Agenda

 While mass murderers are as likely to be mentally deranged environmentalists as they are to be Muslims (most do not show political affiliation), some have made clear they favored keeping guns from the general public. It is the ultimate in logic-defying irrationality of those who promote disarmament.

From the Daily Mail:

[the mass murderer] made three key points in the manifesto, which is in the hands of the police: he wanted to kill himself, he wanted to prove how easy it was to buy a gun in Kentucky and he wanted to highlight a mental health crisis in America.

The mass-murderer legally purchased an AR-15 assault rifle on April 4, six days before he entered the bank at 8:33am where he was met by a friendly woman colleague at the entrance. He told her 'you need to get out of here' before he tried to shoot her.

But the weapon was unloaded and the safety catch was on. He then loaded the rifle, flicked off the safety and blasted the fleeing woman in the back.

Two things stand out from the paragraph above.

First, The murderer could see the way to media fame was to promote gun control by murdering many people with an AR15 type rifle..

Second, if they bank employee had been armed, she could have stopped the mass murder before it happened, because of the incompetence of the murderer.

From the Crime Prevention Research Center, about Columbine:

 The Majority leader of the state House at the time, Doug Dean, told John Lott that Klebold had written his state legislators opposing the legislation.  The bill would have allowed people to carry permitted concealed handguns on school property.  The killers timed their attack for the very day that final passage of the law was planned for in the legislature.

It is not surprising that mass murderers favor keeping potential victims unarmed. Many of them made clear in their writings they go to considerable lengths to conduct the attacks where the potential victims are required by law to be disarmed. This brings the second point above into question. If the bank in Louisville had allowed people to have the means to defend themselves, he would likely have chosen a different target.  From the CPRC:

Updated March 28, 2023: At some point, you would think that the empirical evidence would be overwhelming. When the Aurora, Colorado Batman movie theater shooter attacked, there were seven movie theaters showing “The Dark Knight Rises” on July 20th within 20 minutes of the killer’s apartment at 1690 Paris St, Aurora, Colorado, but the killer picked the only theater that had signs posted that it was a gun-free zone. His first target had been an airport but he worried about their “substantial security.” Similar stories have occurred at malls such as in Omaha and Salt Lake City or the Lafayette, Louisiana movie theater. Despite teachers carrying guns in schools in 20 states, all the shooting attacks at schools have occurred in schools that ban teachers from having guns.

Many mass murderers have mental problems. They also take considerable time and effort to plan their attacks and to chose targets. They are subject to deterrence. The Old National Bank specifically banned employees from being armed. From the Team Member Handbook:

•Possession of dangerous or unauthorized materials, such as explosives, firearms, or any type of weapons inside the workplace or on company premises. In some states, there are additional laws about this subject; when applicable, state law takes precedence over these guidelines.

Opinion:

Mass public murder can be reduced in at least two ways which would cost very little. Both are opposed by America's de-facto ruling class in the Media, bureaucracies, intelligence services, academia. They are:

Reduce the incentive for mass public murder by reducing the payoff of media fame. The mass media did this with celebrity suicides. They have chosen not to do it with mass public murder.

Increase the deterrence to mass public murder by allowing the public to defend itself with armed force.

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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TX: Jarrell Homeowner Shot, Killed Suspected Home Invader

JARRELL, Texas (KXAN) — A homeowner shot a suspected burglar Thursday morning in Jarrell after he forced his way into the home, according to a Williamson County Sheriff’s Office release.

The suspect, identified as 29-year-old Juan Sanchez Palafox, was found dead by WCSO deputies after they were called to the home on County Road 239, the release said.

 

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Two Progressive Activists in Gunfight. Legal gun Owner Shoots Illegal Gun possessor, Kills Same

From inquirer.com: 

Jane Roh, a spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner, said Friday that both their office and the Police Department were in agreement about what happened between two paid canvassers for the progressive group One PA.

“This is nonetheless a tragic loss of life,” Roh said. “We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the decedent.”

Meanwhile, family members of the victim, Eddie Brokenbough, were distraught to learn the father of 10 had been shot, and doubted police accounts of the shooting.

Reports spread that Brokenbough, who was shot once in the armpit and rushed from the 2000 block of Church Lane to a nearby hospital, had pulled a gun on the 22-year-old canvasser, causing the younger man to shoot in what he told police was self-defense.

One PA has said guns are not permitted in its offices or during canvassing, and it has temporarily suspended its canvassing efforts.

The group is an independent expenditure committee that can raise and spend money to boost candidates but is prohibited from directly coordinating with them. This year, the group knocked on doors to promote mayoral candidate Helen Gym and a slate of left-leaning City Council candidates.

Brokenbough was not legally permitted to carry a firearm because of charges in a 2012 shooting, court records show. He was a paid temporary canvasser for OnePA on and off since 2021, the group said. The 22-year-old shooter has been employed by the group since last year.

A spokesperson for OnePA said Tuesday that it complies with laws prohibiting background checks on employees and wouldn’t discuss Brokenbough’s background during the investigation.

One PA Executive Director Steve Paul said following the shooting that the organization was “heartbroken, and our condolences and sympathy are with their family.”

Both men knew each other, police said, and the shooting stemmed from an “argument,” possibly over an existing dispute.

 

 

 

New York Government Attempts to Moot Second Amendment Case. Again.

The State of New York Office of the Attorney General has issued a letter to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in an attempt to moot some of the challenges to the infringements on Second Amendment rights. Those challenges are now before the Second Circuit.

When the Supreme Court published the seminal Second Amendment case in Bruen, re-enforcing the Heller opinion from 2008, in 2022, some states rebelled and defied the Supreme Court. One of these was New York. In New York, Governor Hochel, convened a special emergency session to create new law to infringe on the rights protected by the Second Amendment. The new law made it nearly impossible for an ordinary person to carry a firearm for self defense in public.

The law was immediately challenged in several court cases. Judges issued injunctions against the enforcement of the new law, on the grounds that it causes immediate harm and was likely to be overturned by the courts. Those cases were consolidated before the Second Circuit, and the Second Circuit put a stay on the injunctions.  The stay allowed the law to be enforced while the case was being adjudicated.

On May 5, 2023, the State of New York Office of the Attorney General, lead by the infamous Letitia James, sent a letter to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming some of the claims before the court were now moot, because of last minute changes to the concealed carry law passed in emergency session in 2022. The changes were inserted into the state budget bill, which became law on May 3, and went into effect immediately. The case is known as Hardaway v. Nigrelli. From the Letter:

But, under the amended statute, Hardaway and Boyd—who, as their churches ’ leaders, both retain the authority to grant “permission to [themselves] to carry for purposes of keeping the peace in [their] church[es]” (J.A. 71-72)—are permitted to carry firearms at their church. Plaintiffs do not purport to raise Second Amendment claims on behalf of their congregants, and there is no authority for third-party standing in such circumstances. Thus, plaintiffs’ action challenging the place-of-worship provision is now moot.

Included in the changes were changes which allowed a person to carry on private property inside a public park, which applies  to another challenge of the law. The public park change was made in an amendment to the budget bill sometime after the S4005B version was proposed on March 14 of 2023. The budget bill was passed on May 1 2023, and signed into law on May 3, 2023. The prompt action by the State of New York Office of the Attorney General indicates this change was a priority.

In 2020, the State of New York applied nearly the same tactic to moot the New York Rifle & Pistol Association case then pending before the Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court accepted the tactic and mooted the case, only to deliver a delayed and improved decision in the Bruen case two years later.

The Supreme Court may not be as willing to accept this tactic as they were in 2020. The case is not before the Supreme Court. Hardaway v. Nigrelli is before the United State Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Second Circuit has been notoriously lax in enforcing rights protected by the Second Amendment.

Analysis:

This is more lawfare practiced by the State of New York to delay and obstruct the ability to exercise rights protected by the Second Amendment as long as possible. The letter gives cover to the Judges on the Second Circuit to moot challenges to the unconstitutional law passed in emergency session. By placing the amendments in the budget bill, the Governor, Attorney General, and their allies in the legislature ensured there would be little or no debate on the measures.

If the Second Circuit moots the challenges to the New York Law, the decision will almost certainly be appealed to the Supreme Court, thus taking more time and delaying the exercise of Second Amendment rights even more.  Two justices of the Supreme Court recognize this delaying tactic and exhorted the Second Circuit to act in a reasonable amount of time.

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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TX: Armed Victim Shoots Carjacking Suspects, 1 Killed, 1 Wounded

DALLAS — A man is dead after an attempted carjacking ended with a shooting Wednesday at an Oak Cliff gas station

The incident happened outside the Quick Trip on S. R. L. Thornton Freeway at Glen Oaks Crossing in Oak Cliff. Police say three suspects attempted to rob a man at gunpoint, who then shot two of them in self-defense. 

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MD: Domestic Defense, Armed Samaritan Shoots, Kills man who Allegedly Assaulted Girlfriend, threatened Him

A 30-year-old off-duty firefighter who was allegedly assaulting his girlfriend was shot and killed by an armed pedestrian walking his dog after the girlfriend was able to flee from their Maryland townhouse and ask the man for his help.

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 “According to witnesses, Braxton approached and threatened to harm the man,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the press release. “Braxton continued walking aggressively toward the man, at which time the man, who has a permit to carry a firearm, produced a gun and shot Braxton.”

 

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Rossi New: RB 22 Compact with Threaded Muzzle at NRA Annual Meeting

The Rossi booth at the NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, 2023, had a new product this correspondent had been hoping to see. It is the RB 22 Compact, a bolt action .22LR with a 10 shot magazine, 16 1/2  inch barrel, with muzzle threaded to 1/2x28, and a composite stock. It is sized to be child friendly, has the very good fiber optic Rossi open sights, and is grooved for mounting optics.

It weighs (unloaded) 3 lbs, 4 ounces. It comes, as seen, in a variety of colors, with one magazine. The overall length is 31 1/2 inches.  Take down to minimum length for transport is easily done with the removal of the two action machine screws. This brings the minimum length to less than 25 inches, which will fit in most full sized luggage, without the tell-tale "gun case" look.

The trigger on the floor model felt very usable to this correspondent. Add a suppressor to this rifle, and it makes a nearly ideal rifle to start young shooters with. It would be a wonderful camp rifle for summer camp rifle introductory courses.

In the picture above, notice the stock has been changed to allow easier access to the crossbolt safety.  The manufacturer's (MSRP) suggested retail price is $185.99. The MSRP for the RS 22, the popular Rossi semi-auto, is $159.99. This correspondent has purchased RS 22 rifles on sale for as low as $97. If the new RB 22 compact eventually follows the trend, expect street prices to be in the neighborhood of $150, or less on sale.

The RB 22 practically begs for a lightweight red dot sight and a silencer/suppressor. It will be a wonderful lightweight hunting platform, and a great camp/woods-running gun. With the smooth bolt action, there is nearly no action noise to accompany a shot with sub-sonic ammunition. It would make a wonderful "truck" gun as well. It is small, easy to use, tough and inexpensive.

The RB 22 action has it's own magazines, which are not made to activate the hold-open feature of the RS 22. However, the RB 22 will work fine with the RS 22 magazines. The only difference is: the bolt will not close with an empty RS 22 magazine fully inserted into the magazine well. Some would say this is a feature, not a bug, which signals the operator - the rifle is empty!

This correspondent likes the option to go either way, and has several spare magazines for the RS 22.

The RB 22 Compact is a bolt action, light weight, compact, threaded muzzle rifle at a very reasonable price. It was difficult to find anything to complain about with the new RB 22 compact.

This correspondent's experience with the RS 22, is the trigger pull can be improved with a little gun plumbing. There are several videos online to show the tinkerer how to do so. The directions are not difficult to follow, and good results may be had with a little effort. As noted, the floor display model examined had a good trigger already.  Your mileage may vary.

Perhaps the most important feature to this correspondent is the inclusion of the threaded, accessory ready muzzle, with included thread protector.  Add a suppressor, flash hider, forward sound director, or reverse paradox tube. With a 20 inch reverse paradox tube, an easy to handle garden gun with .22 shot shells. The bolt action handles them with ease, the rifle is still easy to handle, and you have increased the effective range to at least 10 yards, over the usual range out of a rifle of 10 feet. 

This correspondent would like to see a manufacturer offer aluminum reverse paradox tubes for the price of an spare magazine. 

It is difficult to surpass the versatility, economy, and durability of a .22 LR bolt action. With minimal care, it is expected the RB 22 should give decades, perhaps centuries of service. This correspondent predicts several hundred thousand rounds would go downrange before mechanical wear becomes a problem. 

 

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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NC: Gunfight, Pharmacist drives off Robbery Suspects, is Grazed by Bullet

LEXINGTON, N.C. (WGHP) — Police say suspects fired shots inside a Lexington pharmacy during an attempted robbery on Tuesday afternoon, and two people have been arrested.

FOX8 is told that around 2 p.m., a pharmacist was grazed by a bullet and then fired back with his own gun. 

Steve Koontz is the pharmacy manager at the Lexington Family Pharmacy. He said two masked men came to rob the pharmacy and shot at him. Koontz legally carries at the pharmacy and fired back.

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Book Review: On the Hunt: The History of Deer Hunting in Wisconsin

On the Hunt: The History of Deer Hunting in Wisconsin. 224 pages, 100 illustrations, by Robert C. Willging, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2008.

On the Hunt is a well written and comprehensive history of deer hunting in Wisconsin. It is that rare treat, a factual, scholarly history combined with numerous anecdotal accounts and local histories integrated to make an easily readable, smooth flowing and factually loaded book. It has about a hundred illustrations.  The illustrations and stories will appeal to a broad range of ages and interests. The book opens with a recounting of Robert C. Willging's, transformation from a Chicago city kid to a full fledged Wisconsin deer hunter.

This writer purchased On the Hunt  for his brother as an adjunct to the long term family tradition of deer hunting in northern Wisconsin.  The book is available from the Wisconsin Historical Society in oversized softcover for $25. Hardcover copies show up online from time to time.

On the Hunt portrays pre-historical hunters as they populate the Great Lakes area with its retreating glaciers, thousands of years ago. The Paleo-Indians were armed with the atlatl, or spear thrower, a device which significantly increased the range of a hunter's reach. The atlatl stayed in use up to the discovery of the new world by early renaissance Europeans. It's use by Aztec warriors was noted in the first hand account of Bernal Diaz in his seminal work, the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico.

The atlatl is limited in effective range to about 30-40 yards. It requires a fairly open space to work. The next advance in hunting hardware was the bow and arrow, which became common in the Americas a few hundred years before the Europeans arrived in significant numbers. As an aside, the bow and arrow were not used, at least to any appreciable extent, in Australia, where the atlatl is known as the womera.  The bow became the principle device for hunting deer in the Americas until the introduction of firearms.

This correspondent grew up in the Wisconsin northwoods, and experienced a significant number of the events Willging writes about.  The book appears accurate in every significant detail. By necessity, the work concentrates on history from about 1850 onward, although the pre-history from the discovery of the area by humans until the 1600's is as well done as can be expected.

Th history from 1850 onward is the history of the enormous success of the European immigrants in taming the land, and increasing agricultural productivity.  As the European immigrants did this, they realized whitetail deer were a resource which was being lost, and required management. Starting in the late 1800's, management of the whitetail deer gradually changed from prohibitions on hunting during spring and early summer, to the sophisticated system of licenses, permits, quotas, and limited hunting methods modern hunters are familiar with.

The number of whitetail deer in Wisconsin is much greater than it ever was before the entrance of Europeans on the scene.  Today the whitetail herd in Wisconsin is over one and a half million animals. Hundreds of thousands must be harvested every year to stave off overuse of the range, and the inevitable winter starvation which follows. The management of the deer herd has been an incredible success of the wildlife conservation movement. The book is highly recommended for anyone who desires to understand the complex interaction of modern man and game animals.

Opinion: The reason Wisconsin can support such an enormous increase in whitetail deer is the Europeans immigrants and their technology made the land far, far more productive than it was previously. Virgin forest is not very productive. It produces a heavy biomass of wood, which few animals can use for food. Whitetail deer profited enormously from the cutting of the virgin forest in the north-woods of Wisconsin.

The largest population and concentration of whitetail deer today is in the southern part of the state. In the petroleum age, fertilizers have made the land many times as productive as it used to be. The whitetail deer living in woodlots and feeding on the edges of cornfields benefit tremendously from the existence of this largess.

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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TN: Homeowner Shoots 2 Home Invasions Suspects, 1 Killed, 1 Wounded

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- A suspect in a Murfreesboro home invasion is shot and killed by the homeowner.

The homeowner shot and killed one man in the home invasion on January Street Friday night, and shot a second suspect multiple times, according to Murfreesboro police. Kevin Ford, 52, is identified as the person who died at the scene.

Police found the second intruder, 42-year-old Clifford Wright, at the Salvation Army. He went to the hospital for treatment of his gunshot wounds, before heading to jail.

According to police, the homeowner was able to get his gun after the two masked men broke into his home, used a Taser on a his dog and held his teenage son at gunpoint.

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CA: Waiting Period Law Challenged Under Supreme Court Bruen Decision

 

On May 1, in the Federal District Court for the District of Southern California, a number of plaintiffs, including: San Diego County Gun Owners PAC; California Gun Rights Foundation; Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc.; and Second Amendment Foundation, filed a lawsuit challenging the California statute requiring a ten day waiting period before a person may purchase a firearm in California. The case is Richards v Bonta.  A previous lawsuit, Silvester v Harris had failed. The Supreme Court refused to grant a writ of certiorari in 2018, with Justice Thomas dissenting. From the dissent:

Because the right to keep and bear arms is enumerated in the Constitution, courts cannot subject laws that burden it to mere rational-basis review. District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. 570, 628, n. 27 (2008). But the decision below did just that. Purporting to apply intermediate scrutiny, the Court of Appeals upheld California’s 10-day waiting period for firearms based solely on its own “common sense.”

A complicated two step system, with its "ways/means" rational basis test, disguised as intermediate scrutiny, was instituted and and used by the Ninth Circuit and others to disfavor rights protected by the Second Amendment. This was done in Silvester v Harris and other cases. Justice Thomas repudiated that process in the Bruen decision on June 22, 2022. The Bruen decision makes another challenge to the California waiting period law ripe for review. In Richards v Bonta, the plaintiffs explain how this is so. From the plaintiffs' brief:

6. As explained in Bruen, the government bears the burden of “affirmatively prov[ing] that its firearm regulation is part of the historical tradition that delimits the outer bounds of the right to keep and bear arms.” 142 S.Ct. at 2127. Here, Defendants cannot possibly carry that burden. No waiting period or any analogous laws existed in the constitutionally relevant period of history. Rather, no form of a waiting period law was enacted for any jurisdiction until 1923, well beyond the relevant time period the Supreme Court permits to be considered—after all, the law held unconstitutional in Bruen was enacted in 1911.

7. Adding insult to injury, Defendants broadly discriminate against the
average person by allowing nearly two dozen categories of favored individuals to take possession of firearms and ammunition without being subject to those same delays and burdens. This case is thus also brought on the premise that Defendants’ enforcement of California law violates the Equal Protection Clause by discriminating among its citizens in their exercise of the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.

The case has been assigned to Judge Larry Allen Burns.

Analysis: The case is another of the dozens which are ongoing as the result of the clarification of the process, required by the Supreme Court, on how to handle cases which involve infringements on the rights protected by the Second Amendment. Justice Clarence Thomas, perceiving the way the lower courts were ignoring the plain words of the Second Amendment, made clear in the opinion published in Bruen, the Second Amendment is to be treated with the same respect as other enumerated rights in the Bill of Rights. With Bruen, the complicated scheme to disfavor Second Amendment rights, concocted in the Ninth Circuit and others, was discredited and dismantled.

Preventing people from obtaining the means to exercise their rights as protected by the Second Amendment is a clear infringement.  If the exercise of the rights can be delayed for 10 days, why not 20? Why not 100? Why not 1,000 days.  There is a legal maxim: Justice delayed is justice denied. The idea of waiting periods to obtain arms protected by the Second Amendment was created in California in 1923, explicitly for racist purposes. There does not appear to be any historical precedent for waiting periods to obtain  firearms, before 1923.   Clayton Cramer published a paper on the racist origins of the California gun law in 2015.

 

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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TX: Nacagdoches, 60-Year-old Home Invasion Suspect Shot, Killed

After a preliminary investigation, officials determined a woman and man were inside the house before Horton arrived at the residence.

Horton did not live at the residence and police say he knocked at the door but after no response he used a large metal object to break down the door. Police say Horton entered the residence and broke down a bedroom door where the man and woman were hiding.

According to officials, the man inside the bedroom had a firearm which he used on Horton.

 

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WI: New Generation Turkey Hunter Experiences Success

 

This tom turkey was taken during a stalk and talk hunt by a Wisconsin hunter and his six year old grandson. 

Turkeys were talking on the first two days of the hunt, responding to calls issued from a well camouflaged blind. None were coming in close enough to be within shotgun range or to be visible.

It was the last day for the six year old to hunt, Sunday morning on April 23, 2023. He was going back home, a hundred miles away, after church. There were a few hours from dawn to getting ready for church. Church started at 10:00 a.m.

The frost was thick on the roofs of the vehicles parked in the drive in front of the 50 year old house. This correspondent wished them a good hunt as they drove off to the blind, in the dark, three miles away. It was a good spot. A nice tom had been taken by the landowner, a cousin, a few days previously.  The turkeys were not answering calls on Sunday morning. Grandpa made an executive decision and decided to go to the birds.

The pair drove toward the old hunting shack in the woods. It was across the river and two miles into the woods. The unimproved road was still blocked by a heavy snow drift. They parked the old F150 pick-up and walked back, moving quietly and stopping every hundred yards or so to use a homemade turkey wing bone call.  The old logging road wound in and out among the trees and rolling terrain of the sand, gravel and boulder ridge of the esker left over from the last ice age.

They heard an answer. A few moments later a big tom was seen, strutting and turning with the showy fan tail fully displayed, in silhouette, over a hundred yards away, at the top of the ridge. Grandpa let out a cluck. The tom was interested. It slowly started moving toward the pair, while strutting and displaying. Grandpa and Grandson were well camouflaged. Grandson stayed quiet and did not move. The big tom was getting closer. Grandpa took his fingers and imitated a turkey using its foot to scratch some leaf litter on the ground. The tom started coming at a brisk walk, closer, closer, in sight, out of sight, in those constantly changing lanes of clear vision which exist in a hardwood forest.

The tom appeared, thirty five yards out, in the clear. The Benelli, loaded with turkey rounds of number 6 shot, bellowed. The tom went down. It was flopping as if shot in the head. Grandson watched as Grandpa sprinted to the bird and made sure it did not recover and run off.  It was the end of a successful turkey hunt.

When the tom was examined, a pellet was found half embedded in the lower part of a leg bone. It appeared to be a 7 1/2 shot. When the bird was dressed out, small patches of infection were found on both of the lower thighs. Seasoned hunters speculated the bird was shot at extreme range, previously, embedding the shot in the leg bone and causing the two spots of  infection in the thighs.

The tom may, or may not have survived the wound and infections, if it it had not been humanely harvested by Grandpa and the boy.

Turkeys did not exist in northern Wisconsin when this correspondent was six, 65 years ago. Expert opinion was wild turkeys could not withstand the winters in northern Wisconsin. Today, the turkey population in Wisconsin is burgeoning throughout the state.  It appears the experts were wrong.

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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DE: Armed Homeowner Shoots 2, Kills 1 of 3 Home Invaders

GLASGOW, Delaware (WPVI) -- Police in New Castle County, Delaware say two suspects were shot by a homeowner during an attempted home invasion.

One of the suspects was killed.

The shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home on Clipper Court in Glasgow.

Investigators say three suspects tried to break into the home.

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ND: North Dakota will no longer Discriminates Against Residents of other States

 

For years, North Dakota stood out as one of a couple of states which had Constitutional Carry, but which did not restore the right to carry without a permit to people who were not residents of the state. Wyoming restricted permitless carry to residents, but reformed their law in 2021. In the 2023 legislative session, the North Dakota legislature passed two bills restoring and protecting the right to keep and bear arms. Both bills were signed by Governor Doug Burgum (R) of North Dakota in mid-April. One of those bills, HB 1339 extended the Constitutional (permitless) Carry provisions to people who were not residents of North Dakota.

HB 1339 was enacted  unanimously in the House, 93-0 and nearly unanimously in the Senate, 44-3. The bill was signed by Governor Doug Burgum on April 11, 2023. The bill changes the exception for permitless carry from only North Dakota residents to residents of other states or territories who possess valid driver's licenses or nondriver identification cards issued by their state or territory. From HB 1339:

This prohibition does not apply to:

An individual with a handgun who is not otherwise precluded from possessing a class 2 firearm and dangerous weapon license under chapter 62.1-04 and who has possessed for at least thirty days possesses a valid driver's license or nondriver identification card issued by the department of transportation or by the individual's state or territory of residence.

The change is echoed in the portion of the bill dealing with the necessity of producing identification on request. People possessing concealed firearms are required to tell officers they are armed when in a situation where the officer initiated the contact. In other situations, people armed with concealed firearms are required to provide identification to an officer on request.  From the bill:

2. Every individual carrying a concealed firearm under the authority granted in subsection 2 of section 62.1-04-02 shall inform a law enforcement officer of the individual's possession of a concealed weapon upon the initiation of a traffic stop or any other in-person contact initiated by a law enforcement officer.

3. Every individual carrying a concealed firearm under the authority granted in subsection 2 of section 62.1-04-02 must shall have on one's person a valid driver's license or non-driver identification card issued by the department of transportation or by the individual's state or territory of residence, or a digital image of one's valid driver's license or non-driver identification card on a mobile device and shall provide the license or card to any law enforcement officer for inspection upon request by the officer.

4. An individual who violates this section is guilty of a noncriminal offense punishable by a fee of twenty dollars.

The second bill was a strengthening of an already strong state preemption law. It was adopted by overwhelming majorities of 83-10 in the House and 41-6 in the Senate, on January 3, 2023. The bill was signed by Governor Dour Burgum on Apil 11, 2023. Words which show a line through them are removed from the law.  From HB  1140:

1. A political subdivision, including home rule cities or counties, may not enact a zoning ordinance or any other ordinance relating to the purchase, sale, ownership, possession,transfer of ownership, registration, or licensure of firearms and ammunition which is more restrictive than state law. All such existing ordinances are void.

The North Dakota legislature adjourned on April 30, 2023. The North Dakota Attorney General website shows the current state of law, before HB 1339 goes into effect. Here are the requirements which will be changed when the new law takes effect. From the North Dakota AG office:

• Must be at least 18 years of age.
  
  • Must be 21 to purchase a handgun, but may possess at 18 in North
    Dakota provided individual is legally able to possess a firearm under
    the law.
• Must be a resident of North Dakota for 30 days as evidenced by ND
  drivers license or ND ID card or have a concealed weapon license/permit
  issued by a state that has reciprocity with North Dakota.
• Not prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a firearm.

Both bills become effective on August 1, 2023. After August 1, the state residency requirement for permitless carry in North Dakota will be reformed, and all states permitless carry laws will apply to both residents and non-residents.

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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PA: Armed Robbery Suspect Shot, Wounded by Store Owner

At least 12 people were injured in shootings Saturday and Sunday across Philadelphia.

Investigators said a store owner shot a man who had allegedly just committed a gunpoint robbery Sunday in Juniata.

The gunfire occurred at around noon inside a convenience store on the 4900 block of L Street, according to authorities. A 20-year-old gunman held up the store before the owner fired at him, police said.

Officers found the robbery suspect in a car nearby at the corner of K Street and Hunting Park Avenue, and investigators recovered two guns. He was hospitalized in stable condition with a gunshot wound to his leg and is expected to face charges, authorities said.

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NRA Annual Meeting, 2023: Thousands Line up to hear President Trump, Knife Rights Helps Out

NRA Annual Meeting, 2023, thousands line up to hear President Trump at Leadership Conference. 

You may have heard: The NRA leadership is in the middle of significant legal problems. It appears to be true, with severely biased, politically motivated prosecutors, going after the NRA. An obvious reason is:  the NRA has been a very effective political organization.  It has also been a very effective fundraising organization. Many believe the funds have not been spent wisely.

The NRA leadership has not helped with what appear to be significant favoritism, cutting legal corners, lack of transparency, and a reluctance to allow any but a tiny few see the books on who gets what for what. The lack of transparency is like a red flag to motivated prosecutors, and those who believe unethical shenanigans have been ongoing.

The good news is the strength of the NRA has never been in its leadership. The leadership of the organization had to be dragged into the political fight, kicking and screaming.  It has always been ready to cut a deal. Cutting deals is sometimes required. Many believe the deals cut could have been much better for the NRA membership.  Neal Knox, one of the most effective leaders this correspondent has ever known, was driven from the organization because he criticized the deals which were made. Unfortunately, Neal died in 2005.

The strength of the NRA has always been:

• First: the upwards of a hundred million U.S. Citizens and residents who see the NRA as a champion fighting for their natural, Second Amendment guaranteed, rights.
• Second: the probably 5- 20 million members who identify as NRA members, and have had official status as a member, some time in the last 60 years.
• Third: the organizational roots and bureaucracy to develop and administer training programs on gun safety and gun use to tens of millions of students.
• Fourth: The NRA as a media instrument to aid the gun culture in keeping and spreading the traditions and methods of Gun Culture (versions I and II) in the USA and abroad.
• Fifth: the NRA, using the Institute for Legislative Action, as a lobbyist for rights protected by the  Second Amendment, the Constitution, the rule of law, and the Gun Culture.

These strengths were on display at the NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis in April of 2023. As this correspondent approached the Indianapolis Convention Center, an hour earlier than anything was supposed to be open, the lines were already long at the fifty yards of registration counter. Tens of thousands of attendees are expected.

Later, thousands of people were in line, waiting for hours to be processed through the limited jurisdiction of the Secret Service, to attend the Leadership Forum, scheduled for 2 PM. There was only space for 3,000 attendees. Processing of attendees took a long time because everyone was screened for potential weapons. Knowing the animus which exists for President Trump, it is an absolutely essential precaution.

Knowing that people often forget they are carrying a well used pocket knife, often with considerable monetary and/or sentimental value, Knife Rights started a program several years ago, partnering with the NRA, to have a Knife Check. At the Knife Check, people can check their items instead of wasting hours in line, only to face a Hobson's choice: give up your valuable property, or lose your place in line!

A credible source who demanded anonymity, told me at the last NRA meeting, nearly 2000 items were checked with an attendance of about 3000 at the Leadership Forum.

This year, it appeared the NRA ran the knife check, with assistance from Knife Rights.

Knives and guns can be openly carried at the Indianapolis NRA annual meeting. In this limited space of the Leadership Forum, for a limited period, Second Amendment rights were superseded by the need for physical security of a former president and presidential candidate. There is a long tradition of this sort of extremely time and space limited sort of sensitive area in United States history, particularly in courts, legislatures, and military controlled areas.  Private venues, of course, can insist on this sort of exclusion as well.

The NRA is a national institution. It is revered by tens of millions. Given the right leadership, it can regain the confidence of the gun culture, and become the powerful rights-protecting Second Amendment advocate demanded by the times.

In times of great stress, leaders sometimes rise to fill the need. It can happen.

 

 

 ©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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Sgt Perry and Austin Shooting, Murder Conviction and Potential Pardon

Detective  Illustrates position of Foster with AK47 semi-auto at Perry Trial (image from Fox coverage of trial)

On July 25, 2020, Sgt. Daniel Perry unexpectedly turned into a Black Lives Matter protest a little before 10 p.m. on Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. His right of way was blocked by protestors who surrounded the vehicle, beat on it and kicked it.

Garret Foster, one of the protestors, openly armed with an AK47 style semi-automatic rifle, approached Perry's driver's side window and motioned for him to roll down the window.

After Sgt Perry  rolled down the window, He says Foster raised the rifle towards him, and he fired in self defense. Another protestor fired at Perry's vehicle as protestors scattered and he drove out of the danger zone.  Perry immediately called 911 and told police what had happened.  At this link, defense attorneys give Perry's version of events.

The initial investigation by Austin police found the case was one of self-defense.  Foster appears to have been masked when he approached the car.

No one was arrested or prosecuted. Sgt Perry fully cooperated with the police.

On November 3, 3030, José Garza was elected the Travis County District Attorney.  Austin is in Travis County.

In 2021, Garza convened a grand jury and obtained controversial indictments against Perry, in which a Police Detective David Fugitt  complained of Garza's bias against Perry.

The Grand Jury returned three indictments in July of 2021. They were reported as for Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Misdemeanor Deadly conduct.

A trial was held during March and April of 2023. The trial took nearly a week.  Detective Fugitt testified at the trial.

The prosecution attempted to paint Perry's drive into the protest as aggressive. That apparently failed as the Jury refused to convict on Aggravated Assault.

Sgt Perry has been convicted of murder. The jury deliberated for 17 hours.

Texas Governor Abbot has asked the Texas board of pardons to examine the case and give him a recommendation, indicating he is willing to give a pardon. Governor Abbot, by Texas law, may only issue a pardon if it is recommended by the board.

Analysis: The prosecution worked very hard to convict Sgt. Perry. They data mined all his social media posts to find any evidence of his political affiliations and mindset. They found expressions of hostility toward BLM protestors, and a willingness to defend himself against them. These were portrayed as a desire to murder protestors.

It is clear to this observer;  BLM protestors are trained and encouraged to provoke vehicle drivers by blocking vehicles, then beating on the vehicles. In addition, a number of drivers at protests have been dragged from their vehicles and beaten, or if they refused to stop, were shot at. Protestors uniformly characterize these events, where protestor block vehicles and beat on the vehicles, as "aggression" by the people in the vehicles. Video of protestors running to get in front of oncoming vehicles to block them, has been recorded. From the second day of the trial:

“He said, ‘Hey, stay in the car, get back in the car,’ and sort of gestured at his gun like, you don’t really want to start anything right now,” Lett said.

The defense’s argument from the beginning is that Perry—swarmed by protesters—had to defend himself. Several witnesses did admit they kicked, hit and even banged on Perry’s car. But all said this was after he sped into the crowd.

Lett, too, admits he kicked Perry’s car.

Notice: Perry's car was stopped when the protestors kicked, hit, and banged on it. At that moment, it was not a threat.

The prosecutor stated, in court, that Foster had every right to be in the street with his AK47 style rifle, as collaborators blocked Perry and beat on his vehicle, raising alarm and fear. The protestors were portrayed as the victims. In Texas, this can be argued, because protestors are not breaking the law by blocking streets, unless authorities have told them to disperse.

Activists among protestors are taught to lie in these cases, so as to present themselves as the victims. They are indoctrinated into self-identifying as victims. There is conflicting testimony as to whether Foster raised the rifle toward Perry. Activist protestors, and Foster's fiancee, have ample reason to "remember" events in a fashion which portray Perry in a bad light.

Prosecutors reported Foster's rifle was recovered without a round in the chamber and with the safety on.  That might indicate something about Foster's mindset, but it has little to do with Perry's understanding of the threat he was facing.

Major differences and similarities exist in this case and the case of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

In both cases, the prosecution seems politically biased against the defendant.

A major difference is the lack of clear video evidence in the Sgt Perry case in Austin. This allowed the prosecution to dispute Sgt Perry's version of events. In the Rittenhouse case, the video made clear, Mr. Grosskruetz pointed his pistol at Kyle Rittenhouse.

Rittenhouse shot people who had police records. Perry shot a sympathetic Air Force veteran.

Rittenhouse did not have any social media records showing hostility toward protestors.

Public opinion in Texas seems strongly in favor of Sgt Perry. A previous Texas Governor pardoned John Wesley Hardin, who claimed self-defense, but the pardon happened after years spent in prison.  Hardin was pardoned in 1894 by Governor Jim Hogg. Hardin was a famous gunfighter who had spent 15 years in prison for the death of Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb.

Opinion: In politically deep blue Austin, Texas, Sgt. Perry's online comments about self defense against protestors were a major factor in the conviction by the jury.  Readers would do well to understand, in the digital age, everything you put online, can easily be used against you in a court of law.

In context, it is likely Sgt. Daniel Perry's comments are defensible. In a county which elects far left public officials, even people who block streets, beat on vehicles they block and stop, and implicitly threaten the driver with an AK47 style rifle, may be portrayed as the victims.

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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PA: Haverford Resident Faces Gun Charges in Self Defense Case

Travis Cummings, a 20-year-old Haverford resident, is charged with illegal firearm possession, unlicensed carry, evidence tampering, and drug offenses, the DA's Office wrote. 

Authorities say Cummings arrived at a woman's apartment on the 300 block of Monroe Street around 11:45 p.m. on May 1. Minutes later, an intruder forced his way through the door and confronted Cummings, "striking" and "grabbing him," according to the release.

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Montana Governor signs Four Reforms of Law, to Protect Second Amendment Rights

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte

On April 26, 2023, Governor Gianforte (R) Montana, signed bills HB 356, SB 359, SB 400, and HB674 into law.  HB356, known as the FIND Act, prevents state agencies from doing business with  financial institutions which discriminate against the firearms industry.  SB 359 prevents financial institutions from requiring the use of firearms codes by retailers. SB 400 increases the term of a concealed carry permit from four to five years. SB 674 is a moderately complicated bill which sets up an enhanced Montana carry permit. It is designed to have meet the requirements for five states reciprocity requirements, but there is no guarantee those states will accept an enhanced Montana permit as adequate.

All of the bills were popular with the Montana legislature.  SB356 passed with 70% of the vote. SB 359 passed with nearly 3/4 of the vote.  SB400 pass with 7/8 of the vote.  SB 674 passed with about 90% of the vote.

SB 356 and SB 359  may have long term effects by creating incentives for banks not to include financial restrictions in private contracts where no such restrictions have passed the legislature. The plot to use private companies to restrict private actors is, essentially, a form of fascism, where governments work with large private institutions to do things the governments are normally forbidden from doing themselves.

SB 400 increases the term of the concealed carry permit from four to five years, which has become the de-facto national standard. This has occurred because the ATF will only allow permits to be used as a substitute for National Instant background Check System checks (NICS) if they are less than five years old. From the ATF:

Note: Notwithstanding the dates set forth below, permits qualify as alternatives to the background check requirements of the Brady law for no more than 5 years from the date of issuance. The permit must be valid under state law in order to qualify as a Brady alternative.

SB 674 has been touted by the NRA as creating a Montana permit which is eligible for reciprocity with five additional states. From the NRA-ILA:

The enhanced permit will be eligible for reciprocity with Delaware, Minnesota, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Washington,

While the permit may be eligible, it is up to those five states to recognize the Montana permit. Those states have often been reluctant to extend reciprocity. Minnesota has a reputation of the executive branch doing what it can to deny reciprocity, no matter what the Minnesota legislature does.

The Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSF) has been a very effective activist group in Montana. Gary Marbut founded the group and has been a moving force in Second Amendment activism in Montana for decades. He and MSSF have accomplished wonderful things in Montana. If you are a Montana citizen or resident, the MSSA is the place to keep in the know about what is happening in Montana. If you want to see effective activism in action, MSSF is a great example of a group of dedicated people can accomplish. Montana may be small in population, but it is a big state in Second Amendment activism. Montana enacted a shall issue concealed carry bill in 1991. Montana always had a strong open carry presence. Montana joined the Constitutional or permitless carry club in 2021. --

 

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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Votes on HB674 in Montana Legislature

Text of HB674 

Must be a resident of Montana for at least six months. 

qualify in a shooting course within the past 12 months.

Only very explicit prohibitions on carry allowed, excellent.

"45-8-356. Where concealed weapon may be carried --exceptions. A person with a current and valid permit issued pursuant to 45-8-321 or [section 1] or recognized pursuant to 45-8-32 may not be prohibited or restricted from exercising that permit anywhere in the state, except:

(1) in a correctional, detention, or treatment facility operated by or contracted with the department of corrections or a secure treatment facility operated by the department of public health and human services;

(2) in a detention facility or secure area of a law enforcement facility owned and operated by a city or county;

(3) at or beyond a security screening checkpoint regulated by the transportation security administration in a publicly owned, commercial airport;

(4) in a building owned and occupied by the United States;

(5) on a military reservation owned and managed by the United States;

(6) on private property where the owner of the property or the person who possesses or is in control of the property, including a tenant or lessee of the property, expressly prohibits firearms;

(7) within a courtroom or an area of a courthouse in use by court personnel pursuant to an order of a justice of the peace or judge; or

(8)in a school building as determined by a school board pursuant to45-8-361."

IN: Domestic Defense, Woman Shoots man In Semi-Truck

INDIANAPOLIS — Authorities in Tippecanoe County are investigating after a woman, who was allegedly hit and thrown by her boyfriend while she was driving a semi on the interstate, shot him after he reportedly charged at her early Wednesday morning. 

Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a possible domestic disturbance on Interstate 65, near the 167 mile-marker, around 1:15 a.m. on May 3.

 

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Maryland Shall Issue v Hogan, Appealed to Fourth Circuit

A three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has heard oral arguments in the appeal of Maryland Shall Issue v Hogan.

The case of Maryland Shall Issue v Hogan (Governor of Maryland), has been in the courts since 2013, when the case was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.  In 2013, Maryland passed the Firearm Safety Act of 2013, which contained a Handgun Qualification License (HQL) provision, which forbids the sale, transfer, rental, purchase, or receipt of a handgun by any person who does not have a valid HQL license. Shall Issue Maryland and several other plaintiffs challenged the law on Second Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, and other grounds.

The District court held the plaintiffs lacked standing. Shall Issue Maryland appealed the case to the Fourth Circuit. A three judge panel on the Fourth Circuit reversed the District ruling and remanded the case back to the District Court.

The District Court, on remand, decided the case under intermediate scrutiny, and granted the State of Maryland summary judgment. Shall Issue Maryland appealed the case to the Fourth Circuit for the second time.

On June 22, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States published the opinion in the case known as Bruen, giving clarification of the Heller decision and clear instructions for lower courts to use in determining if statutes violated rights protected by the Second Amendment. Bruen ruled means-ends tests were inappropriate, and there should not be different levels of scrutiny in Second Amendment cases.

Every court which has examined the Maryland Shall Issue v Hogan case has found the HQL provisions burden conduct protected by the Second Amendment.  The District Court found it did; the first three judge panel did, and the District Court on remand did so.  In Bruen, the Supreme Court of the United States found, if the statute burdened conduct protected by the Second Amendment, it is the burden of the State to show such burdens were common and accepted at the time the Second Amendment was ratified. To a lesser extent, what happened at the time of the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment is applicable. Anything after 1900 is clearly too late to be considered as historical context.

Maryland had no burdens on handgun purchase or ownership until 1941.  In 1996, Maryland passed the "Gun Violence act of 1996", which required all handgun transfers to be registered with the state, private or commercial. Additional requirements were passed in 2013. The HQL requirements passed in 2013 include fees, training, and background checks before a person is allowed to purchase a handgun.

The oral arguments in the appeal of Maryland Shall Issue v Hogan were heard on March 10, 2023.   According to Jurist.org, two of the three judges appeared to agree there was no historical tradition of requiring fees, training, or background checks before someone is allowed to purchase a handgun. During questioning by the judges, Maryland Assistant Attorney General Ryan Dietrich had to admit there was no historical precedent for a requirement for pre-clearance to purchase a firearm.

Dietrich eventually conceded, “We were unable to find any that required advance permission,” to the republican-majority three judge panel.

At courthousenews.com, it was reported one of the two judges, Circuit Judge Julius N. Richardson, took issue with Maryland's use of statistics. Maryland contends gun related murders decreased after the law went into effect. Richardson asked, why did they exclude data from Baltimore City/County, which has most of the murders in the state? Assistant AG Dietrich replied it was because of the increase in murders in Baltimore City/County.

Dietrich said the reason for leaving Baltimore out of the statistic was the uptick in crime associated with the 2015 police killing of Freddie Gray. 

"It seems odd to say it is associated with a decrease in these three counties, but 70% of murders happen in Baltimore City-County," Richardson said. "The murder rate is higher in 2020 than it was in 2015."

The increase or decrease in murders is not germane to the case under the standards set forth in Bruen. Bruen ruled out mean-ends testing for the Second Amendment, as for other rights protected in the Bill of Rights.

 

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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NH: Followup - No Charges for Shane Frazier a Year after Fatal Shooting of Kristopher Chagnon

Almost one year after a man shot and killed another man outside his Keene home, investigators said Wednesday that no charges will be filed.

Shane Frazier said he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Kristopher Chagnon, 27, in May 2022. Officials with the attorney general's office said there was insufficient evidence to disprove that claim.

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Ill: Federal Judge Stephen P. McGlynn Issues Injunction Against Gun Ban, Citing Second Amendment

Federal Judge Stephen P. McGlynn

In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal Judge Stephen P. McGlynn has issued a well reasoned and argued opinion covering several challenges to the "Protect Illinois Communities Act" (PICA). The opinion puts in place a temporary injunction against the enforcement of PICA. 

PICA bans the ownership of over 190 models of firearms and criminalizes the possession of magazines which hold over 10 rounds, among other things. Judge McGlynn filed the opinion on April 28, 2023. The opinion is straightforward. In the fifth paragraph, after describing the events leading up to the passage of PICA, Judge McGlynn expounds on rights Americans enjoy, which are protected by the United States Constitution.  From the opinion: 

As Americans, we have every reason to celebrate our rights and freedoms, especially on Independence Day. Can the senseless crimes of a relative few be so despicable to justify the infringement of the constitutional rights of law-abiding individuals in hopes that such crimes will then abate or, at least, not be as horrific? More specifically, can PICA be harmonized with the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and with Bruen? That is the issue before this Court. The simple answer at this stage in the proceedings is “likely no.” The Supreme Court in Bruen and Heller held that citizens have a constitutional right to own and possess firearms and may use them for self-defense. PICA seems to be written in spite of the clear directives in Bruen and Heller, not in conformity with them. Whether well-intentioned, brilliant, or arrogant, no state may enact a law that denies its citizens rights that the Constitution guarantees them. Even legislation that may enjoy the support of a majority of its citizens must fail if it violates the constitutional rights of fellow citizens. For the reasons fully set out below, the overly broad reach of PICA commands that the injunctive relief requested by Plaintiffs be granted.

Judge McGlynn expounds on the immediate harm to the plaintiffs. He explains any denial of Constitutionally protected rights is an immediate harm. Even so, Judge Stephen P. McGlynn, argues (arguendo, "for the sake of the argument"), there are other, obvious, immediate harms. Plaintiffs may not purchase firearms or magazines they desire. Plaintiffs may not sell existing inventory. 

But for PICA, Barnett and Norman would purchase additional banned firearms and magazines. Should either one attempt to do so, he could face criminal penalties. There is no monetary award that can compensate for such an injury and make them whole.

There is also no question that both Hoods and Pro Gun have lost income and will continue to do so while PICA remains in effect. The declarations of both James Hood and Paul Smith, owners of Hoods and Pro Gun respectively, expressed that a large percentage of their income was derived from sales of items banned under PICA and that they currently had in their possession tens of thousands of dollars worth of inventory that they have been prohibited from selling since PICA’s effective date.

Of interest, Judge McGlynn finds arm braces are arms protected by the Second Amendment, at least in as much as they are designed for use by people with disabilities. McGlynn quotes the ATF to bolster this argument.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) has recognized that such braces are necessary for those with disabilities to use a firearm by directing that “[t]his rule does not affect ‘stabilizing braces’ that are objectively designed and intended as a ‘stabilizing brace’ for use by individuals with disabilities.”

Judge McGlynn does an admirable job of pointing out the obvious, and making the obvious arguments. This may seem simple and clear. It is necessary for a judge to do so. In the Ninth Circuit, Judge Benitez has done the heavy lifting. In the Seventh Circuit, Judge McGlynn is doing his part. The arguments are straightforward and obvious. The politics are where the heavy lifting is necessary. Both judges are bucking Progressive headwinds of long duration. Judges McGlynn and Benitez have facts, text, and rationality on their side. 

Their opponents have two main philosophical arguments.  

The two arguments are, first: "That was then, this is now." This is a major component of Progressivism. Things change. Things change fast. Political decisions have to be made fast to react to the change. The argument is in opposition to the philosophy of the Constitution. The founders understood human nature does not change. They understood: it is human nature to attempt to use emotional events to push through unwise change, partisan change, change to favor special interests,  quickly.

The Second argument is: Experts know what is better for you than you do. Therefore there should be a government by experts, and there should not be any limits on the power of government. Limits on government only prevent the government from doing good things for you. Therefore, limits on government power are bad. This is the root of "means/ends" arguments. 

Both these philosophical arguments have failed real world tests.

Fast decisions based on emotional arguments almost always are decisions which are bad for the people as a whole. Unlimited governments tend to rule for the benefit of the those in charge, to the detriment of everyone else. Philosopher kings tend to find philosophical arguments to support debauched lifestyles without responsibility or accountability. 

As noted by founding father John Adams:

“If Men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and the next place, oblige it to control itself.”

Many governments have risen in the centuries since Adam's profound words. Many have attempted to show themselves an exception. All have failed.  Limits on government are necessary. The latest fad is to claim the Chinese Communist Party in China is an exception. The trend appears to be against them. 

Judge Stephen P. McGynnis is an example of the principled sort of man who is necessary to use the government to limit itself. 

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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GA: Armed Store Clerk Shoots Suspect, Stops Police Chase across state lines

KINGSLAND, Georgia (CNN/WJXT) — A police chase spanning two states and five counties came to a dramatic end when a store clerk shot the suspect eight times. The chase began just north of Orlando, Florida and ended in southeast Georgia.

According to authorities, it all started when Quinntavus Jordan robbed a Shell gas station in Flagler County, Florida, taking $90 in cash. Jordan then demanded items from the store before leaving.

 

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Brown Bear Fatal Attack in Italy price of Expanding Bear Populations Worldwide

 Image of grizzly bear  by Troy Nemitz, used with permission. 

In Italy, Andrea Papi, a young man, running for exercise, was killed by an aggressive European brown bear. European brown bears are essentially the same species as American grizzly/brown bears. From Nature World News:

Fear and rage spread throughout the area after Andrea Papi was
fatally attacked by the aggressive bear while jogging above the town of
Caldes in the Brenta Dolomites on the slopes of Mt. Peller. Papi is the
first Italian reported to have died in the last few years at the hands
of a bear.

In Italy, bears are a protected species, and since they were
reintroduced to the area two decades ago, their population has been
growing recently.

(snip)

 JJ4's biological parents had been transported from Slovenia to northern
Italy as part of the "Life Ursus" European conservation project. On
Mount Peller in 2020, it had already attacked and hurt a father and son
who were hiking.

For most of the history of homo sapiens, bears have been known to be dangerous. There are accounts of problems with bears in the Old Testament. Bears, especially brown/grizzly bears have been a danger to humans and their food supplies in Eurasia throughout recorded history. The Eurasian brown/grizzly bears are a relatively recent immigrant to North America south of Canada, appearing somewhat after early human immigrants to the same area, about 15,000 - 16,000 years ago. Only recently have bears been considered harmless or necessary.

As humans developed more effective agriculture and came to dominate the land, bears were driven away from human population centers. The hunting team of humans armed with stand-off weapons, such as spears and bows, with the tracking and holding ability of dogs, is a combination bears find difficult to overcome. The productivity of agriculture allowed a sufficient population density of humans to eliminate the danger of bears from an area.

Wild bears were eliminated from England during the medieval period. In the rest of Europe west of the Ural mountains, they persisted only in areas remote from human population centers. With the advent of cartridge firearms, a single human became effectively able to defend against European brown bears. The European brown bears became reclusive and wary of  human contact.  The bears who were not reclusive and wary did not survive. By the end of the 20th Century European brown bears were reduced to a few hundred in remote mountain areas in Western Europe, and a few thousand in forest reserves in Eastern Europe. Intense hunting pressure had selected for wary, reclusive brown bears.  Attacks by bears on humans, or even human food sources, became nearly non-existent in Western Europe.

Prosperity and safety brought about complacency and the myth of the harmless bear.  Bored urban Europeans and Americans who chaffed at the sexual restrictions of Judeo/Christian morality, restarted pagan worship of the Earth as goddess, Gaia.  Near worship of wild animals followed. With this worship came the movement to return dangerous large predators to areas from which they had been eliminated at great cost and effort. Some support the movement out of a desire to destroy Western civilization. Many students of history and human nature warned a price would be paid in blood and treasure. Fatal bear attacks are on the rise around the world.

Andre Papi has paid part of that price. The father and son, attacked in 2020 also paid in blood, pain, treasure and time. Wild animal worshipers are willing to sacrifice as many Andre Papis as it takes for the public to demand the removal of the danger among them.

In the United States, humans who venture where there are large, wild, predators are able to legally arm themselves. The right to defend against animal attack is part of the right to keep and carry arms in defense of self and community, so dearly fought for and paid with Revolutionary and Civil war blood and treasure.

Western Europeans are re-learning the lessons of the dangers of wild brown/grizzly bears among them. Those dangers were well known in Roman and medieval Europe.  If bears are aggressively hunted, the bears learn or are selected, to be wary of humans.  When bears are wary of humans, bear/human conflict and the threat of bear attack, is minimized.

©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

AL: Grand Bay "Freind" Shot, Killed in Self Defense

According to MCSO, on April 29, 2023, 12:00 am, Mobile County Sheriff’s Office responded to 13750 Fred Freeland Rd, Grand Bay AL in reference to one shot. Deputies made entry into the residence and discovered the victim, Oliver Turner, deceased of an apparent gunshot wound.

Detectives interviewed the homeowner, 80-year-old Lee Eubanks on scene. Eubanks was elderly and gave a limited statement. Eubanks stated that on this date, Turner had been drinking heavily and acting belligerently. Eubanks stated that Turner was a friend who had been staying at the residence for the past several days. Eubanks stated that on this evening, Turner was acting “out of his mind” and attempted to set the residence on fire with himself, Michelle Jones (Eubanks’ niece), and Jones’s 8 year old daughter inside. Eubanks stated that he was fearful for his safety and Jones shot Turner.

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IL: Chicago Gunfight, Armed Victim Wounded

CHICAGO - A 31-year-old man was shot during an attempted robbery in Englewood Saturday night.

Police say the victim was in the 5600 block of South Elizabeth Street around 9 p.m. when two unidentified males approached him as he got out of his car.

The victim told officers that one of the offenders pulled a gun and demanded his personal belongings. 

The victim, who is a licensed conceal carry holder, exchanged gunfire with the robbers.

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