The man who committed the fatal shooting, Alcapone Branch, 26, lives in a nearby apartment. Branch reported that he and Whitehead had just returned from a store when Whitehead began verbally threatening him. According to a witness, Whitehead drew a gun first, prior to Branch drawing his weapon and firing. Whitehead was transported to a hospital where he died.
Tuesday, January 03, 2023
Monday, January 02, 2023
Beware Scam gun sales sites
Rock Island M14Y .22 rifle 10 shots sale! $86.10 - Scam Alert!
When checking firearm availability and firearm prices on the Internet, this correspondent frequently comes across web sites which claim to have highly sought after models, at extremely attractive prices. They are almost always scams.
The purpose of these scams is two fold: First, collect your personal information and credit card information, so it can be sold and or used to defraud you. Second, collect money via an untraceable payment system. Surprisingly, Paypal seems one way; another is one of the digital currencies; another is through the use of gift cards, another is a direct bank transfer.
There is an old saying which applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
As humans we are always looking to score valuable things for minimum effort. It is part of the genetic makeup of people who hunted and gathered to keep breath flowing in and out. There is always the chance of finding that bonus of a super thick berry patch, or the silly bison calf which wanders into spear range, just when you huddled behind a bush. When we deal with other humans, there is a greater potential for deceit and fraud. It was difficult to pull off when we lived in close-knit clans and villages. Those who cheated received a reputation very quickly. The results were often unpleasant. As society and commerce grew with more unrelated people, the potential to cheat and not be held accountable became greater and more lucrative.
One of the "lures" which causes people to "bite" and get caught up in these scams is, occasionally, you come across an excellent deal. It usually doesn't last for long. In the nature of things, great deals are temporary, of short duration. The temptation is to bite while the bait is in front of you. Often, in the process, people get caught by a scam.
Here are some telltale signs to help avoid these traps.
1. Your caution should increase to higher levels the better the "deal" is.
2. If they cannot be reached by telephone, beware!
3. If there are few reviews, lacking detail, or only recent reviews, beware!
4. Payment methods which do not use credit cards are a flashing warning sign.
5. If there is no address listed, beware! If an address is listed, check it out with independent means, such as a realtor's web site or a search on a map site.
6. If they do not require an FFL for a firearms sale, it is a scam.
7. Scammers often use a .net address.
One way to check, which this correspondent has found helpful, is to do a search for the name of the website and the word "scam". In the vast majority of cases, there were plenty of people who explained how they detected the trap, how they avoided it, or how they regretted being caught.
It is easy to set up a web site with images and details which look legitimate. Once set up, it is easy to duplicate it, shut down the old site, and open a new one with a different name. Thus, a scam site only needs to succeed in defrauding a few people to make it profitable. Unfortunately, we do not have rigorous Internet police which track down tricksters and recover money which is lost. In reality, amounts of hundreds of thousands of dollars disappear into scammers hands without any repercussions. If you lose a few hundred dollars, it is only noise to the authorities.
The best way to prevent loss of assets to scammers is to avoid the scam to start. Be very careful who you give identity information to. Be careful about giving out credit card information.
Remember: If it is too good to be true, it probably is.
Use caution, avoid scams, and enjoy the holidays.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanuka to all!
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
AL: Domestic Defense? Kashonna Jenae Strong Claims Shooting of Antonio Robinson was Self Defense
"She was attacked by an armed man, and she feared for her life," Cole said. "He tried to strangle her. He went for a gun. I've known her for 10 years. She's coached in the community, she's officiated games in the community, and I know for a fact she's helped problem kids and kept them out of trouble."
Sunday, January 01, 2023
MI: Carjack Suspect Shot by Armed Victim, Arrested by Police
Shortly after midnight, in the early morning of, December 13, 2022, the owner of a 2022 Dodge Charger Hellcat was parking the vehicle in a driveway. The drive was was in Eastpointe, Illinois, a part of the Detroit metroplex. He was approached by more than one suspect in an apparent carjack attempt. From Eastpoint Police and Fire Department:
On December 13, 2022, at approximately 12:30 am, Eastpointe Police Officers were dispatched to the area of the 23 thousand block of Hayes on an attempt carjacking and shots fired complaint. The suspects approached the victim while he was parking his vehicle (2022 Dodge Charger Hellcat) in the driveway. During the attempted robbery, the suspects and victim exchanged gunfire. The victim was a CPL holder. The suspects then fled in a stolen Chevy Impala.Shortly after the exchange of gun fire, it was reported that a male, who was later identified as one of the suspects, had checked himself into a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg. As Eastpointe Detectives were in route to the hospital, the suspect had fled.
After an exhaustive investigation, Eastpointe Detectives and Eastpointe Special Investigation Unit teamed up with the Detroit Police Organized Crime Unit and tracked the stolen Impala to Clinton Township. Eastpointe Detectives worked with Clinton Township Police and located the stolen vehicle. The suspect later exited a residence and entered the vehicle. After a brief vehicle pursuit, the suspect was arrested without incident.
Search warrants were executed at the residence and the stolen vehicle. Evidence of the crime was recovered. We are still working on locating the second suspect. We want to personally thank our Detroit Police and Clinton Twp. Police neighbors for their assistance.
ARRESTED
Damon Lamar Currie, 27 years old
CHARGES
Assault with intent to murder
Felony firearm
Bond was set at $750,000 with GPS tether-Currie was arraigned at the 38th District Court in Eastpointe.
Some of the comments on the Eastpointe Police and Fire Department site were illuminating:
Cindy Parchom
Thank you for catching yet another thug, here trying to ruin our neighborhood ! These people need to learn that our police officers don't take too kindly to crimes of any sort and you will get caught ! Smarten up and learn to be a good human being...the world needs more of that !
John Proul
Yo smooths, you might not be the master criminal you think you are. Perhaps you could should find another racket like actually working for a living like the rest of us.
When armed victims wound suspects, the police have a much easier job of finding and arresting them.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
SC: Gunfight at Conway Waffle House
An employee and several witnesses told responding officers that two men ran into the restaurant and jumped over the counter. One of the men began punching the worker in the head and pushed him into objects, the report said.
The other suspect stood by wielding a firearm, police said.
The two suspects then left and the victim grabbed a pistol and ran after them. When he got to the doorway, the two males opened fire and the victim shot back and returned to the restaurant, police said.
Saturday, December 31, 2022
Missippi takes Active Approoach to Guard against Mass Murder in Schools
On October 1, 1997, school principle Joel Myrick (a U.S. Army Reserve Major) stopped further shooting by the perpetrator at the Pearl Mississippi High School, by holding the killer at gunpoint until police arrived. A student had assisted by blocking the killers car with their car. The killer attempted to drive around the other vehicle, but became stuck. At that point, Joel Myrick pointed his .45 Colt auto at the killer and the killer surrendered.
At the time, it was illegal for Joel Myrick to bring his personal weapon on to the school property. He had to retrieve it from his car. No one attempted to prosecute Myrick for breaking the federal gun free school zone act.
Thirteen years later, in 2011, Mississippi passed a bill creating a shall issue enhanced carry permit, which allows the possessors to carry in several otherwise prohibited locations, such as schools and colleges, places which serve alcohol, polling places, meetings of the legislature, airline passenger terminals (excepting federally secured areas) and churches. This effectively allowed carry in schools by people with the enhanced permit.
In 2016, Mississipi passed a state version of Constitutional Carry (permitless carry). The permitless carry law did not apply to schools. From Mississippitoday.com:
In 1990, the board created a policy which prohibited weapons in schools, except in the possession of law enforcement officials. The policy also allowed districts to create additional rules about weapons in their district. But in 2012, when state lawmakers passed an enhanced carry law that allowed enhanced permit holders to carry weapons on school campuses, the board never updated its policy.
The board voted in July to adopt a temporary rule change to address this issue, and after receiving and reviewing public comment, the board made its temporary change permanent on Thursday. The new policy reads “each local school district shall have a policy concerning weapons on school premises.”
In the July meeting, the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE) general counsel referenced an attorney general opinion from 2013, which clarifies that possessing a gun on school property is a felony according to Mississippi law unless one possesses an enhanced concealed carry permit.
No mass murder at a Mississippi school has taken place since 1997. To further enhance Mississippi school safety, Republican Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi has recommended the creation of a school guardian program which would pay volunteers in schools to be armed and responsible for the defense of the students and staff. Volunteers would undergo training and be paid about $500 a month. From mcusercontent.com:
Enhance School Safety
There are few issues of higher importance than ensuring the safety of Mississippi children. When parents send their kids to school, they should be able to rest comfortably knowing that their kids will be safe and protected. Every child should be able to focus solely on learning, and Mississippi intends to provide the security necessary for that.
To better protect our kids, I propose creating the Mississippi School Safety Guardian Program. Guardians will be trained to provide armed intervention in the event of an active shooter threat. They will be employees of the school district and nominated by the district to be trained and certified by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Guardians will receive a monthly stipend of $500 dollars, be issued a firearm, a holster, and ammunition by DPS. They will graduate from a training program hosted by DPS and must recertify with the Department annually. I propose allocating $5 million to cover the cost of an initial rollout for the program across 450 schools, with the goal of ultimately expanding the program to every public school across the state.
Additionally, Mississippi should allocate a dedicated source of funding to identify and provide an annual threat assessment for every school across the state. I propose $1 million toward this effort.
School Resource officers cost about $100,000 a year. $500 a month per guardian would cost about $6,000 a year. About 16-17 school guardians can be trained and available for each School Resource Officer.
The enhanced permit in Mississippi costs about $115 dollars and can be renewed every five years for $72. There are reduced fees for retired and active duty military or spouse and law enforcement officers. Applications must be made in person, but people who have carry permits from other states may apply.
Republicans hold more than two thirds of the Senate and about 63% of the house seats in the Mississippi state legislature. It appears a bill supported by Governor Reeves has a reasonable chance of passage.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
IN: Fort Wayne Man shoots, wounds Intruder
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — A man shot an alleged home intruder Wednesday morning, leaving the other man in non life-threatening condition, according to police.
At approximately 7:00 a.m., police responded to reports of a shooting at a home along the 1900 block of Hillside Avenue.
Friday, December 30, 2022
Polar Bear Attack, Krosspynten near Svalbard, .44 magnum, 1988
Image from wikimedia naturepics online, 2010
At 6 a.m., on September 12, 1988, a trapper and his friend were staying at a cabin at Krosspynten, part of the Svalbard archipelago, which is under the jurisdiction of Norway. They were woken by a polar bear boar which had gained entrance to the cabin hallway (probably the air or weather lock to the cabin). The trapper had a .44 magnum revolver. Krosspynten is about a hundred and fifty miles north and eighty miles east of Longyearbyen. Mushamna is about one hundred miles north of Longyearbyen.
The incident report was uncovered with a Freedom of information Act (FOIA) request by AmmoLand. Individual names have been redacted. The report was translated to English, so it has been lightly edited for readability, and a fictitious name substituted. From the FOIA account, incident 142.
Oscar and a friend were staying at the cabin at Krosspynten. At 6AM a bear had entered the hallway of the cabin and woke them up. The bear had been rummaging in there for a few seconds before they knocked on the wall to drive it away. The bear went outside. A few seconds later it came around to the front of cabin and smashed the window of the room where they were. The bear backed up then accelerated and threw itself at the window. It destroyed the window bar and made the wall of the cabin bulge dangerously inwards. At that moment Oscar thought the wall would collapse. The bear was halfway inside the cabin, its front paws, head and a part of the upper body were through the window.
Oscar thought the wall would collapse if he didn't do anything. He had no choice but to shoot the bear. He had his revolver by the bed, and fired one shot in the throat of the bear. The bear tumbled out of the window. Oscar got up and fired one more shot with the revolver. The bear retreated. Oscar accessed his rifle. The bear managed to get about 100m from the cabin before Oscar was able to kill it with the rifle. The revolver was a .44 caliber magnum.
Oscar skinned the bear and hung the meat up at Krosspynten. He took the skin back to Mushamna, where he called up the Governor of Svalbard and reported what had happened. Oscar is an experienced trapper. His experience with polar bears began before polar bears were a protected species. Last winter he had over 140 polar bear visits at his trapping station near Mushamna. The last polar bear he shot was in 1973. He believes he has significant experience in dealing with polar bears. This bear was skinny. Everything indicates the bear was coming inside to get food no matter what. Oscar did not like to have to kill a protected animal, but the choice, at that point, was the bear or Oscar and his friend.
Opinion:
This was almost certainly a predatory attack. The bear knew there were people in the cabin. It was hungry. It directed its assault on the structure toward a way to get at the humans inside. This shows the advantage of having a pistol close by. Oscar was able to access the revolver and shoot the bear in the throat without having to fumble with a rifle at close quarters, or perhaps to chamber a round. Revolvers are normally kept loaded. The bear was probably mortally wounded with the pistol shots, but remained ambulatory until Oscar was able to access his rifle and kill the bear from a hundred meters away. Oscar was able to avoid killing a polar bear since 1973, the year polar bears became a protected species by international law.
Polar bear and human conflicts have increased since 1973, exactly what would be expected with increasing polar bear populations (recovering from unregulated hunting) and increasing tourism in the area.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
UT: Salt Lake City Shooting was likely Self Defense
The argument reportedly continued outside and one of the men, later determined to be the gunshot victim, pulled a knife.
In response, another man pulled out a gun and shot the man with the knife in the lower body.
The third man involved in the argument inside reportedly left before police arrived, but has been identified. The shooter remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation.
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Amicus Briefs Filed to Defend Serial Number Gun Ban in Fourth Circuit
In a previous article on AmmoLand, the West Virginia case was described where the federal ban on possession of a firearm which has had the serial number removed, was found to be unconstitutional. The case is USA v Randy Price.
Serial numbers were never designed as a means of confiscating firearms. They have been subverted for that purpose.
Demanding that firearms have serial numbers, and that they be kept so firearms can be linked to particular individuals, is key to setting up a system for gun confiscation. Those who wish for an unarmed population understand this. They have marshaled vast resources to keep the federal ban on possession of firearms which have had the serial number removed.
The Biden administration has appealed the district court ruling to the Fourth Circuit. The defendant is represented by an attorney appointed by the court. It is unclear what defense of the district court ruling will be heard by the Fourth Circuit.
Amicus briefs have been filed to reverse the district court ruling by:
- Everytown for Gun Safety
- Brady and March For Our Lives
- The District of Columbia joined by 20 state attorney generals.
The amicus briefs may be viewed on the PACER system.
In the District Court opinion, no attention was paid to the direct and clear threat requiring firearms to have serial numbers and the prohibition on the possession of firearms where the serial number has been removed, to maintaining an armed population.
A ban on firearms which have had serial numbers removed, is a direct seizure of power over the ownership of arms, which the Second Amendment is designed to protect against.
The federal law makes confiscation of guns from the population much easier. The serial number law makes gun registration possible. Gun registration is gun confiscation. House to house searches are not necessary when a particular firearm can be linked to a particular person. This is the reason those who want a disarmed population are pulling out the stops to keep this law, although it is a clear infringement of the Right to Keep arms, protected by the Second Amendment.
Several European countries require serial numbers on all major gun parts, such as on barrels, slides, and frames. This is seen on Glock pistols.
A court appointed attorney has relatively limited resources. No amicus briefs have been filed, as of the December 22, 2022, by any of the organizations which are dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms.
The foremost argument by those fighting to keep the ban is the claim that firearms with the serial number removed are not in common use for legitimate purposes.
This is sophistry of the first order. The removal of a serial number does not change the function of a firearm at all. A .38 revolver with or without a serial number is still a .38 revolver. Revolvers are a type of firearm in common use. It is a change in legal nomenclature, which was required by the federal government in the first place. The argument is circular. It states firearms may be banned if the federal government defines them as contraband.
The argument could as easily be made that pink guns are not in common use, therefore they can be banned. The banning of colored guns has been proposed.
California uses its handgun roster to ban guns based on non-functional criteria. If a model is offered in a different color, it has to be tested in that color, an expensive and time consuming process. The California handgun roster is being challenged in court.
There is no historical precedent for a ban on firearms which have had the serial number removed. It is recent law, enacted in 1990. It has almost no effect on crime.
The secondary argument in the amicus brief is the claim that tracing guns is an effective crime fighting tool. It is not, and never has been. Showing numbers of people which have been prosecuted for possessing a firearm with the serial number removed, does not show any ability to stop crime; it only shows prosecutions of victimless crimes.
Firearms tracing is a failed system, designed to move to a universal firearms registration system. Showing the ban on possession of firearms with the serial number removed to be unconstitutional renders the decades long project to enact universal firearms registration futile.
Opinion: Organizations in support of rights protected by the Second Amendment may not wish to invest scarce resources in a case with a less than stellar defendant. It may be worth the effort to get the argument on the record that the ability of the government to ban the possession of firearms which have had a serial number removed, is an infringement on Second Amendment rights.
It illegitimately transfers power to the government from the people.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
MI: Truck Driver Shoots Suspect who Ambushed him
DETROIT – Police are investigating after a tow truck driver allegedly shot and killed a suspect who tried to rob him.
According to Fox 2 in Detroit, the shooting occurred at 7 Mile and Kelly Road at 9:35 a.m. on Monday.
The truck driver was meeting the suspect to buy a car for parts when he was ambushed, police said.
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Prospects for States to pass Constitutional Carry in 2023
Alabama passed their Constitutional Carry bill or (permitless carry) in 2022. The bill does not go into effect until January 1, 2023. This correspondent considers Alabama's Constitutional Carry to have been established in 2022. Including Alabama, there are 25 states, half the states in the Union, which have Constitutional (permitless) carry laws in effect.
Constitutional Carry is considered to be when no government permit is required to carry a handgun, concealed or openly, in most public spaces.
In 2023, there are two prime candidates to pass Constitutional Carry bills. They are Florida and Nebraska.
Governor Ron DeSantis in Florida, has repeatedly said he will see a Constitutional Carry bill passed while he is governor. After his resounding success in re-election, and the election of large Republican majorities in the Florida legislature, this appears to be plausible. Over the last several years, Constitutional Carry bills have been kept from passage by the Republican leadership. Governor DeSantis has changed the equation of power in the Republican party in Florida.
At a press conference on at about 21:00 on the video, Governor DeSantis is asked if he is going to pass Constitutional Carry on your own. The Governor says he has been willing, and the Republicans have had a majority the whole time. Then he asks the new House Speaker, Paul Renner: "Are you going to do it?" and Renner replies: "Yes." With Governor DeSantis and the new Speaker of the House on board, it will be the Florida Senate as a possible stumbling block. If Florida passes Constitutional Carry, two of the three most populous states will belong to the Constitutional Carry club.
In 2022, Nebraska came very close to passing Constitutional Carry. The stumbling block has always been senators from districts in Omaha and Lincoln. Legislative procedures are unique to Nebraska, which is the only state with a unicameral (single bodied) legislature among the United States. Nebraska is almost surrounded by Constitutional Carry states, with just a fraction of its borders touching Colorado. Nebraska Senator Brewer, who has been a significant force pushing for passage of Constitutional Carry. Senator Brew thinks just enough changes happened in the 2022 election to pass the bill in 2023. From klkntv.com:
Sen. Tom Brewer said that includes his gun rights bill, which would bring permitless concealed carry to Nebraska.
The proposal fell just two votes short of the 33 needed to overcome a filibuster last legislative session.
Brewer said in a column last week that November’s election made the
Nebraska Legislature slightly more conservative, so there are finally
enough votes to advance several priorities.
Other possibilities:
Louisiana is a strong contender to pass Constitutional Carry, but is unlikely to do so while Bel Edwards is governor.
In 2021, Louisiana passed a Constitutional Carry bill by veto proof margins in the House and and Senate, on 27 May. Democrat Governor Bel Edwards vetoed the bill, as he promised he would. Governor Edwards is term limited in 2023, and a new Governor may sign a Constitutional Carry bill, or refrain from vetoing one.
Wisconsin has legislative majorities to pass a Constitutional Carry bill, but such a bill would be vetoed by Democrat Governor Evers. Pennsylvania is in a similar position to Wisconsin.
South Carolina will have a Constitutional Carry bill introduced in 2023. South Carolina now has open carry, which has not caused any problems this correspondent has found in recent searches. This is the typical experience. South Carolina might pass Constitutional Carry, but it is uncertain at this time.
In general, the Supreme Court's decision in Bruen adds to the push for the restoration of Constitutional Carry in the states. The protection provided by the Second Amendment of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, is now clear law from the Supreme Court.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
TX: Apartment Resident Shoots, Kills Maintenance Worker
Wilson is not associated with the case.
“[It’s] certainly a sad and tragic situation,” said Wilson. “One is, did the apartments notify the apartment owners that they were going to be having individuals on their balconies? And two, what’s the location of the pipes? Has this type of incident, the repair of the pipes, occurred before? And, has it always been done in that way?”
Wilson says the Castle Doctrine could be applied in the case. It allows homeowners to defend their property, which extends to their balconies, against ‘an anticipated burglary,’ said Wilson.
Homeowners are not required to retreat in their own homes, he said.
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Tucson Bar Shooting Was "Active Shooter Situation" according to Bar Owner
On December 18, 2022 at about 6 p.m., a previous customer returned to Famous Sam's bar in Tucson, Arizona, and fired round into the ceiling. Another customer pulled his pistol and told the person with the rifle to drop the gun.
When the suspect started to point the rifle at him and another customer, he shot the rifle toting shooter.
The story was originally reported in KOLD as this:
TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - A man is battling for his life after a bar fight ended in a shooting near Grant and Silverbell in Tucson late Sunday, Dec. 18.
In an interview with KVOA, Mark Rhude, the bar owner gave a more detailed account of what happened. From kvoa.com:
TUCSON (KVOA) - A shooting at a bar on Tucson's west side Sunday was initially reported by multiple media outlets as a "bar fight", but Famous Sam's owner Mark Rhude said it was a much different situation that could have been more serious.
Speaking exclusively with News 4 Tucson, Rhude said it was an active shooter situation stopped short by a heroic customer with a gun.
Arizona was the second state to re-establish Constitutional Carry. Vermont always had Constitutional Carry, from the time the Bill of Rights was ratified. Alaska re-established Constitutional Carry in 2003. Arizona re-established Constitutional Carry in 2011. In Arizona law, there is a local wrinkle in Constitutional Carry. A person may carry in an establishment which serves alcohol, but the person who is carrying is not allowed to consume alcohol while they are carrying a concealed firearm. The firearm has to be concealed. From AZleg.gov:
A. A person may carry a concealed handgun on the premises of a licensee who is an on-sale retailer unless the licensee posts a sign that clearly prohibits the possession of weapons on the licensed premises.
As private property, establishments may ban the carry of firearms altogether, if the owner desires to do so.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
SC: Jim Duggan, "Hacksaw" pro Wrestler, Hold Intruder at Gunpoint for Police
Jim Duggan is one of the most recognizable names in pro wrestling and earlier this month he needed to put some of those moves to good use when he was faced with an intruder in his South Carolina home.
Duggan, who goes by “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan in the wrestling world, revealed in an interview with Wrestling Inc. on Friday that his home was broken into on Dec. 8 and that he faced the intruder himself.
The 68-year-old told the wrestling news outlet that a man in his mid-20s entered through his and wife Debra’s front door. Duggan said he took the man down by himself and grabbed his .44 caliber pistol and held the man at gunpoint. The retired wrestler added that he heard more people outside and thought there could be more trouble, so he turned off his Christmas lights and told the man to keep silent.
More People Exercis Right to Bear Arms: More People Caught with Firearms at TSA Checkpoints
As more and more people have been exercising their right to bear arms in the United States, the number of people who forget they have a firearm in their carry-on luggage has been steadily increasing. The number of firearms caught at TSA checkpoints is shown in the chart above.
The number of people with carry permits has grown rapidly in the last decade, as have the number of states which do not require a permit to carry a concealed firearm. The legal system is known as Constitutional Carry or permitless carry.
In 2011, there were 6.06 thousand permits holders for every firearm discovered at a TSA check point. Three states had Constitutional carry.
In 2014 there were 5.26 thousand permit holders for every firearm discovered at a TSA check point. Five states had Constitutional Carry
In 2018, there were 4.08 thousand permit holders for every firearm discovered at a TSA checkpoint. Thirteen states had Constitutional Carry
In 2022 there were 3.49 thousand permit holders for every firearm discovered at a TSA check point. Twenty-four states had Constitutional Carry. Alabama will become a Constitutional Carry state in January, 2023.
This graphic shows the growth in Constitutional Carry (permitless carry) (green) states.
As more and more people are exercising their right to bear arms, more and more of them are making the error of forgetting they had their firearms in the luggage they intended to carry on an airplane. The vast majority of people who make this error do so inadvertently. TSA discovers about 10 undeclared firearms for every million passengers screened, as shown in the numbers from 2021.
TSA has been increasing the maximum civil penalty over the years. On December 16, 2022, it was raised from $13,910, to 14,950, or 7%. In 2018, the maximum penalty was $13,000. In four years the maximum civil penalty has increased 15%. From TSA press release December 16, 2022:
Firearm possession laws vary by state and local government, but firearms are never allowed in carry-on bags at any TSA security checkpoint, even if a passenger has a concealed weapon permit. In order to reduce the threat of firearms at checkpoints, TSA has increased the maximum civil penalty for a firearms violation to $14,950. TSA determines the penalty amount for a violation based on the circumstances in each case. TSA will continue to revoke TSA PreCheck® eligibility for at least five years for passengers caught with a firearm in their possession. TSA may conduct enhanced screening for those passengers to ensure no other threats are present. Depending on state or local law in the airport's location, passengers who bring firearms to a checkpoint may be arrested by law enforcement.
The penalty which will apply depends on a number of factors, such as whether this was the first offense, or if the firearm were loaded. Here is the Table of Ranges of Civil Penalties for TSA for individuals, among others:
(3) Violations Committed by All Other Entities Including, but Not Limited to Airport Operators, Indirect Air Carrier, CCSFs, Individuals, Contractors, Small Businesses, etc.
Maximum $11,290-$14,950
Moderate $5,900-$11,290
Minimum $1,450-$5,900
People are not perfect. When you have well over 22 million people who legally carry firearms, some are going to get busy and make mistakes. Some will leave a firearm in luggage and forget to take it out in the rush to the airport, as they are delayed for an unexpected reason.
As the number of people exercising the right to bear arms increases, the number who make mistakes and bring a firearm to TSA checkpoints also increases.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
Monday, December 26, 2022
SC: Domestic Defense, Father Shoots, Kills Son
When deputies arrived, they reported finding the father on the front porch of the home with another deputy, and the son was lying on the floor of a bedroom inside the home, with an injury to the left hip area consistent with being shot. After arriving on the scene, EMS determined that the son was deceased.
The Fairfield County Sheriff’s office reported that it was later ruled that the shooting was in self-defense.
Saturday, December 24, 2022
Australia: Queensland Police Killing used to Call for National Gun Registry
A bizarre police killing in a sparsely populated part of Queensland, about 170 miles northwest of Brisbane, Australia, happened on Monday, December 12. The accused police killers had all worked for the Queensland Department of Education. Two were brothers, Nathaniel and Gareth. Gareth was married to Stacy, who had been married to Nathaniel. Both Nathaniel and Stacy were school principals at one time. Gareth resigned from his school position in 2016, Nathaniel in 2020, and Stacey in December of 2021, reportedly because of the mandatory Covid vaccination policy. Both Nathaniel and Stacy were reported to be well regarded in their schools before becoming radicalized.
Four officers were investigating the property, on a "welfare check" requested by police in the neighboring state of New South Wales. The welfare check was instigated by a call from the estranged wife of Nathaniel Train. The three assailants were reported, in the Daily Mail, to be methamphetamine addicts. Meth is known to make people paranoid. From dailymail.co.uk:
It is understood Constable Rachel McCrow, 29, and Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, arrived in the first vehicle, and met up with a second car containing Constable Keely Brough and Constable Randall Kirk, both aged 28, before approaching the property.
McCrow and Arnold then honked their horn to alert the residents of their presence. When there was no movement from inside the house, the four officers got out of their cars and jumped over the locked fence.
Seconds later, a shower of bullets descended on the four officers, believed to have been fired by Nathaniel and Gareth Train and Gareth's wife Stacey.
(snip)
On Tuesday, Daily Mail Australia revealed the Trains had spent years fortifying the wooden home into a makeshift
bunker to try to fend off an assault by police which they had long anticipated.They had also been bingeing on methamphetamine, with Gareth posting increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories online that claimed the 1996 Port Arthur massacre was a military operation and Princess Diana was killed as a 'blood sacrifice'.
This correspondent has not found any confirmation of Meth use or addiction. No toxicology reports have been found.
After the initial killing, the Train trio posted a video online claiming the police came to kill them, and they killed the police instead. From theguardian.com:
After ambushing police officers with a hail of bullets, Stacey and Gareth Train huddled together in the dark at their remote Queensland property and recorded a video.
“They came to kill us and we killed them,” Gareth said in the video, uploaded on Monday night and still circulating online.
“If you don’t defend yourself against these devils and demons, you’re a coward.”
Devils and demons are descriptions often used by methamphetamine addicts when involved in violent crimes in the United States. The Guardian article mentions several Christian end of times references as well. In the Guardian article, the Trains claim several previous "welfare checks", and harassment by authorities.
The Premier of Queensland, Australia, Annastacia Plaszczuk. has used the incident to call for a national gun registry. Paszczuk has been the leftist labor party PM in Queensland since 2015. From abc.net.au news:
Ms Palaszczuk echoed her comments, saying a national register should be discussed at national cabinet.
"Anything we can do to tighten gun laws in this country would be a good thing," she said.
Australia has some of the strictest gun laws in the world. The laws vary by state, but conform to a set of national standards. The standards were agreed to by the Australian states in the rush to pass draconian gun restrictions after the Port Arthur mass killing in 1996. The extreme gun laws have had little effect on homicide or suicide levels. Mass killings have occurred after the 1997 laws were implemented. From news.com.au:
National cabinet will consider options to better regulate gun ownership in Australia in the wake of two police officers and a bystander being killed in Queensland, the Prime Minister has announced.
The rush to use the killing of the young police officers to impose even more restrictive gun measures seems well supported in the Australian media.
How a national gun registry could have prevented these police deaths is far from clear. Firearms possession is not uncommon in rural Australia.
The tragedy bears some resemblance to the killings at the Branch Davidians in Waco, in the and the Ruby Ridge incident in Idaho in the USA. A key difference is the potential presence of Meth in Australia, and the ambush of police.
Opinion:
Much remains unclear in this tragedy. Were the Train trio Meth users or not?
How often did the police have contact with the Trains?
How was it four police officers were deemed necessary for a "welfare check"?
A video supposedly put out by the Trains, claimed Nathaniel was a whistleblower on corruption in the New South Wales Department of Education and the New South Wales police.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
NY: Man Shot by Transit Worker was Habitually Aggressive
The 39-year-old straphanger who was shot by an MTA worker in Brooklyn on Tuesday night was allegedly angry that the transit employee blew him off when he tried to fist-bump, sources said.
The incident happened about 9 p.m. at the Brooklyn R train station when Renaldo Gurrier tried to make the hand gesture to one of a pair of MTA workers, but the employee refused over COVID concerns, police sources said.
Gurrier allegedly followed the men onto an R train, threatening to “beat them up,” NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said at a press briefing about the incident at the scene Tuesday.
Friday, December 23, 2022
Polar Bear Attack near Paulabren, Norway, Stopped with Revolvers, in 1993
Image from wikimedia naturepics online, 2010
On July 20, near Paulabren, Norway, in 1993, three people fought off a polar bear using two handguns. Paulabren is part of the Svalbard archipelago, under Norwegian administration, north of the arctic circle, south of Longyearbyen.
This story was uncovered as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by AmmoLand. The names of the individuals involved were redacted. The original account is a translation. Names have been added to make the report more understandable. The report has been lightly edited for ease in reading. The attack was by a single sow polar bear, on polar researchers in their camp.
From the FOIA account, incident 157:
Paul was sitting outside the tent in his sleeping bag. John and Ian were also outside the tent. Suddenly Paul became aware of a bear coming towards them at great speed over the moraine heap that was about 5 m away. The bear came directly at the 3 people being outside. First it looked like it was coming at John, who was standing, but suddenly he realized that it was
coming at himself.
Everything happened very fast, in about 2 seconds. Paul had a revolver, a Smith & Wesson, lying on his left side. The same moment he saw the bear he bent over and grabbed the gun. Before he had the gun ready to fire, the bear was at him and he pulled his legs back. The sleeping pad he was sitting on had claw marks on it.
Paul kicked out with his legs and fired the gun. He didn't see if he hit, but he was sure he must have, at that range, about 1 m. He fired one more shot immediately. The bear then turned around and ran away. John could not see if the bear was bleeding from a gunshot wound. Ian also came to the tent opening and fired one shot at the bear, but thinks he didn't hit the bear.
The bear ran back the same way it had come. First it stopped at about 400 m away. They saw it was bleeding from a wound in the chest. They didn't have any rifle with them (it was left in town for another expedition that was going to come up on the 26th of July.) They tried to get closer to the bear to finish it. When they closed the distance to about 80 m it ran away.
They followed it a while down the moraine, but had to give up since the bear vanished from sight once in a while. The moraine was full of small heaps and hollows and they found it too dangerous to follow a wounded bear without being certain of its whereabouts. They continued to follow the bear at a distance. After it had walked 2-3 km it stopped and stayed there from around 2 PM until the Governor's representatives came to kill it at midnight.
Paul was asked why they hadn't secured the camp with tripwires. He said that he knew they had brought them out in the field but couldn't find them when they came to Paulabreen. He also said he and another person had come up from the shore the day before and they hadn't seen any bears or tracks.
The FOIA return has a space for comments, presumably by the person maintaining the database. This correspondent found the comments interesting. They were terse, in four lines:
- Bad shooting
- No trip wires
- Bad camp location
- No adequate weapons.
It appears, with a polar bear coming at the three people at a fast pace, in a couple of seconds, from 5 meters away, they did well. All three escaped injury. The polar bear immediately broke off the attack and fled after being shot. It was almost certainly mortally wounded. What good would trip wires have done, at most a few feet from the exposed people?
While the caliber of the handguns used was not reported, they were almost certainly .44 magnum revolvers. .41 magnum revolvers are fairly unusual compared to .44 magnums. The .44 magnum meets the energy criteria for adequate firearms for protection against polar bears in Svalbard. The .44 magnum has a good reputation for dealing with attacking bears. The X-frame .500 and .460 Smith & Wesson revolvers had not been introduced in 1993.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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