Tunisia Monique Bryant shot and killed Javion Tyrese Ford on Aug. 15, 2019, at the Scotchman gas station at the intersection of U.S. Highway 78 and Von Ohsen Road. The 39-year-old woman cooperated with authorities at the scene. She was charged later that day with murder and a weapons offense, according to court documents.
Sunday, March 19, 2023
SC: Followup, Judge finds Tunisia Monique Bryant acted in Self Defense in Shooting of Javion Tyrese Ford
More than three years after a woman
shot a 20-year-old man to death outside a Ladson gas station, a judge
granted her immunity from prosecution after determining she acted in
self-defense.
TX: Woman Claims Self Defense in Lubbock Shooting of Gomesindo Perez
A police report was released Monday. It stated that a woman who was “in a dating relationship” with Perez called authorities and said he was beating and choking her. The woman told authorities that she shot Perez, according to the report.
Police previously said it appeared that Perez “was involved in an altercation inside the home and was shot.”
OK: Shooting of Matthew Harvey was Likely Self Defense; Shoot charged as Felon in Possession of Firerarm
On Thursday, the Oklahoma City Police Department responded to a shooting at Southwest 74th Street and South May Avenue. Police said a man shot and killed his roommate, 20-year-old Matthew Harvey.
Police said the man isn't behind bars because of the shooting, but he was arrested for possession of a firearm after a former conviction of a felony.
“It sounds like in this case, much more likely perhaps, there was a valid self-defense claim, and the authorities want to do their due diligence and investigate all the facts before presenting facts to the district attorney's office," Clay Curtis, a criminal defense attorney, said.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
KS: Followup, Garden City Shooting was Self Defense
On March 6, a man from Garden City died after an argument with family members ended in a shooting in the 2600 block of N. 3rd.
The Garden City Police Department and the Finney County Attorney agreed the evidence available provides probable cause that the suspect acted in self-defense.
AL: Shooting of 43-Year-Old Tibaous Giles investigated as Self Defense
The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit is investigating a possible self-defense shooting that killed a 43-year-old man Monday night in Tuscaloosa.
At around 8 p.m., officers with the Tuscaloosa Police Department were dispatched to the 300 block of 24th Street after a shooting was reported. Tibaous Giles was found dead on the scene, said Capt. Jack Kennedy of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit.
Friday, March 17, 2023
MI: Robber Demands Wallet, Receives Bullets
On Feb. 8, Shot-Spotter detected three gunshots in the parking lot of Carmen’s Delicatessen in Detroit. Police officers rushed to the scene and were flagged down by two people, they said.
One man approached officers with his hands over his head and told them he owns a concealed pistol license. He said he had fired a shot in self-defense while being robbed outside the store.
The man told police that he and his friend had gone to the store that night and noticed an old man and a young man talking outside. The younger man was wearing a blue Detroit Lions jacket and a ski mask. He was later identified as Joshua Fordham, the criminal complaint says.
Thursday, March 16, 2023
TX: Burglar Charges Owner, is Shot, Killed in Liquor Store
According to San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers, on Wednesday, March 8, a burglary suspect was fatally shot inside the store by the store owner. The sheriff’s office dispatchers received a 911 call at approximately 5:20 a.m. from a male stating that his business, Frank’s Liquor, was actively being burglarized.
Multiple deputies, including a patrol supervisor, responded immediately. While en route, dispatchers advised the responding units that the burglary suspect had been shot by the store owner.
Deputies arrived on scene moments later and found the alleged burglar lying on the floor of the business with a single gunshot wound. Allegiance Mobile Health arrived on scene shortly after and began performing medical care to the male subject. The subject was transported by EMS to a Cleveland hospital where he subsequently was pronounced deceased.
NV: Man Shoots, Kills dog which attacked His dog Without Provocation
It states, “Due to the fact [the other neighbor] discharged his firearm in self-defense because he was in fear for his and his dog’s safety and the attack was unprovoked, I am unable to determine probable cause for a crime.”
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
MI: Resident Shoots, Kills, Man who Broke into Apartment
BATTLE CREEK — A 40-year-old Fulton man was killed in a Wednesday shooting inside an apartment in what police are calling a self-defense shooting.
The man is accused of breaking into an apartment at Georgetown Estates, Battle Creek police said.
Officers responded to a distress call at the 1975 E. Columbia Ave. apartment complex around 9:41 p.m. Wednesday where they found Donald Richard Guthrie had been shot.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
GA: Brother threatens Brother with Knife, is Shot by Family Member
During their initial investigation police told Channel 2 Action News 26-year-old Rodney Dobbins was in an argument with his brother when it became violent and Dobbins attempted to assault his brother with a knife.
Another family member who was there at the time fired a gun at Dobbins, hitting him in the leg.
Monday, March 13, 2023
Five .22 Cartidge Velocities: as Advertised, in Rifle, in Three Pistols
The Kel-Tec P17 barrel was measured at 3.814 inches.
Published Velocities for .22 cartridges are easily available, and are usually measured in rifle length test barrels. Lapau reportedly uses a 660mm (26 inch) test barrel for .22 rimfire rifle ammunition. RWS uses a 650mm (25 inch) test barrel for rimfire rifle ammunition. US manufacturers are said to use 24 inch test barrels. It makes sense manufacturers would use the longest commonly available barrel to test their ammunition. Velocities of .22 ammunition in the US is seldom given for pistol barrels.
In a previous article, information was published about the velocities from three pistol for five subsonic and suppressor ready loads. KevinC, in a comment, asked for a test of common rounds in the advertised 1200 fps range. This correspondent had a number of them handy, as well as some older (1970) Remington Standard Velocity ammunition, recently tested for a different article.
One difference in this article is the reported length of the barrel on the Kel-Tec P17. Earlier, it was reported as 3.93 inches. References to the 3.93 inch length are still found on the Internet. References to the barrel length as 3.8 inches were found as well. The 3.8" barrel length is now on the Kel-Tec web site. Measurement beats speculation. The Kel-Tec P-17 barrel measured 3.814. Measuring a pistol barrel to the hundredth of an inch seems overkill. 3.8 inches will be used going forward. The pistols were fired with a suppressor.
The results are shown in the chart.
There are sufficient differences in barrels to effect velocities from firearm to firearm. However, the results, in aggregate, are reasonable.
The 5.5 inch CP33 produced, on average, velocities 45 fps greater than the 3.8 inch barrel of the P17. The Taurus TX22, with a 4.1 inch barrel, was in between, with average velocities 16 fps more than the P17 and 29 fps less than the CP33. The velocity difference between the 3.8 inch and 5.5 inch barrels is 20 fps more than in the subsonic cartridges measured earlier. As expected, the higher velocity cartridges are not as efficient in the shorter pistol barrels.
The velocity measurements were taken with a Caldwell Chronograph G2. The pistol velocities are the average of five shots, except the 1970 Remington from the P17. The five shot run was duplicated as part of another test, so the entire 10 shots were used for the average. The temperature was between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
All the cartridges measured averaged subsonic velocities from the pistol barrels. One round of Remington Golden Bullet ventured into supersonic range from the CP33. The four cartridges advertised as supersonic were supersonic from the 18 inch rifle barrel. Five of 25 of the 1970 Remington Standard Velocity cartridges had a noticeable supersonic crack, fired from an 18 inch barrel.
Most of the noise produced by cartridges fired through a suppressor can be categorized as muzzle blast or supersonic crack. In the author's subjective experience, the higher velocity cartridges increase the muzzle blast, even when the bullets are subsonic. The more efficient the suppressor, the less this is noticeable.
One advantage of subsonic velocities from the pistols is the "High Velocity" cartridges are often less expensive than dedicated subsonic or suppressor ready cartridges.
.22 rimfire pistols are very loud compared to rifles. It takes a more efficient or larger suppressor to reduce the noise to ear-safe levels. Having reliably subsonic ammunition makes this much easier.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
WA: Juvenile Resident Shoots, Kills, Intruder
PRESS RELEASE
A23-5229 SHOOTING INVESTIGATION
MARCH 8, 2023
At about 1514 hours of March 8th, 2023 Cowlitz 911 received a call from a resident in the 7200 block of Spirit Lake Hwy, Toutle, reporting they had shot a subject. The resident, a juvenile, advised dispatch that an unwanted male subject had come onto the property and was behaving erratically. The male subject, who was not known to the resident, was reportedly harassing the resident’s dogs. The caller reported they were threatened by the male subject.
Deputies with the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, with officers from the Castle Rock Police Department assisting. The male subject was found to be deceased. Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant and processed the scene for evidence.
This investigation is ongoing and no further information is available for release at this time.
Troy Brightbill
Chief Criminal Deputy
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office
Sunday, March 12, 2023
NE: Constitutional Carry Bill Passes Critical Vote
On Friday, March 3, 2023, the Nebraska Constitutional Carry bill LB77 passed a critical vote in the Nebraska legislature. Nebraska is the only unicameral legislature in the 50 states of the United States. When Nebraska switched from a traditional bi-cameral legislature to a unicameral one, in 1934, at the height of the Progressive revolution, safeguards were put in place to prevent a simple majority from exerting excessive power.
Bills proposed in the legislature have to pass three votes which require debate and may be filibustered. The three votes are: the General File (done, 36 to 12), the Select File (pending) and the Final vote (after the Select File). In these debates, if the bill is filibustered, a vote of cloture is required. 33 votes out of a possible 49 are required for cloture. In Nebraska, a bill has to have 33 yes votes, in each of the three debate votes, to be sent to the governor for signature.
The time between the votes allows for considerable horsetrading, logrolling, and arm twisting.
While the Nebraska legislature is nominally non-partisan, in practice there are Republicans and Democrats. Using the excellent voting resource of Ballotpedia, Nebraska has 32 Republican senators and 17 Democratic Senators. As 33 votes are needed to pass a bill, if all 17 Democrats vote against the bill, or do not vote, they can stop any bill from passing. If one Republican votes against Constitutional Carry, then two Democrats are needed to vote for it to pass the bill.
Four Democrats voted to pass Constitutional Carry. Two of them are the only two black legislators in the Nebraska senate. Both are from Omaha. Senator Terrell McKinney of District 11 has been a consistently supported Constitutional Carry in 2022. Senator Justin Wayne of District 13 has been for and against Constitutional Carry, depending on the amendments. The persuasive argument for Senator Wayne has been the use of infringements on the Second Amendment to target black and brown people. From the legislature:
Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne expressed concern over the pending amendment. While in favor of a provision in the underlying bill that would eliminate Omaha’s gun registry, he said the ability to stack charges under the amendment also could have a disproportionate impact on minority communities.
“I’m struggling with more Black and brown kids — based on the testimony in the hearing — being charged and going to prison for, if not significant time, maybe life,” Wayne said.
The Constitutional Carry bill, LB77, strengthens Nebraska preemption law. It overrides and eliminates the current Omaha law which requires handgun registration. From abcnews.go.com:
It's that Omaha law that spurred Omaha Sens. Justin Wayne and Terrell McKinney to break party ranks and support the bill.
“How many young African American and Latino kinds are affected by Omaha’s gun laws?” asked Wayne on the Senate floor. Young Black people in Omaha are often charged with gun possession violations when a gun that's not theirs is found in a car they're riding in, Wayne said.
The practice, known in law enforcement circles as “bumping up,” disproportionally affects people of color, he said.
“When they're talking about bumping up kids in Omaha, they're not talking about kids in Bennington,” Wayne said, referring to the overwhelmingly white bedroom community north of Omaha. “They're not talking about kids in western Nebraska.”
The other two Democrats who voted for the Constitutional Carry Bill are Mike McDonnell of District 5, in Omaha, and Matt Hansen of District 26, which is in the northeast quarter of Lincoln.
Senator Tom Brewer has been the driving force behind the bill. He has made it a legislative priority for his career. He is a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe.
Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon — the bill's conservative sponsor who has tried since 2017 to pass it — backed McKinney's comments, citing colonial American laws that criminalized arming Native Americans.
The banner in the Nebraska State Seal reads:
EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW
With 36 votes for cloture, prospects to pass Constitutional (permitless) Carry in 2023 are good. However, only three senators would be needed to switch their votes to kill the bill. That is what happened in 2022.
Nebraska is in a race to become the 26th member of the Constitutional (permitless) Carry club. Vermont has always had Constitutional Carry. 24 states have removed infringements on the rights protected by the Second Amendment to the point where no permission from the government is required to carry a loaded handgun in most public places, openly or concealed, for the vast majority of adults.
The Constitutional Carry club consists of:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Current prospects for Constitutional carry, in addition to Nebraska. are: South Carolina (passed the house), North Carolina, and Florida.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
WA: Former Basketball Player Shawn Kemp Released in Possible Defensive Shooting
Police say the altercation took place at a parking lot in the 4500 block of South Steele Street — an address that corresponds to the Tacoma Mall shopping center.
Citing people who are close to Kemp, local TV station FOX 13 reports that its sources say the former NBA player "had property stolen from his car on Tuesday, tracked his iPhone to Tacoma on Wednesday and when he approached the vehicle, a suspect shot at him. He fired back in self-defense."
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Electrode Gel for a Quieter, Cleaner Suppressor Experience
One of the things noticed when you start to use suppressors/silencers is the annoying first round pop often experienced with small silencers, especially for .22 rimfire pistols.
For many silencers, the first round sounds noticeably louder than subsequent rounds. The first round pop may not be much of a problem. On the other hand, the first round may be the round you wish to suppress the most.
It has been theorized the first round pop results from unburned powder flashing into the oxygen contained in air in the silencer. After the first round, the air with oxygen in the silencer has been replaced with gases from the first round.
People have found ways to reduce or eliminate the first round pop. Some spray water into the back of the suppressor. Some have put wire lubricant gels into the suppressor. One product displaces the air with CO2. Another method is to fire a very low powered cartridge, such as a Aguila Super Colibri .22 through the suppressor. The Super Colibri is very quiet, and it eliminates the first round pop if the suppressor is used in the next few minutes, before atmospheric gases re-populate the inside of the suppressor. This effect can be prolonged by placing a piece of tape ( a half inch square of duct tape works well for a .22) to cover the hole in the suppressor. The other end is sealed by a cartridge case or a cartridge in the chamber. There are safety concerns with this method as you do not wish to place your finger over the muzzle of the silencer if the firearm is loaded. A tool, substituting for your finger, such as a tennis ball, can firmly press the tape in place without placing your flesh in line with the bore of a loaded firearm.
The tape method has been observed to work fairly well for 30-45 minutes. The tape is blown off by gases coming out of the suppressor ahead of the bullet. The point of impact does not seem to be affected at 15 yards.
About five years ago, Silencerresearch.com marketed a product called Ultraquiet Silencer Gel. It appears to use ultrasound gel, but does not appear to be available any more.
A colleague of mine, Jeremy S., wrote an article about shooting suppressors "wet" about two years ago. An ablative material inside a suppressor, such as water, foam, oil, or gel, uses up energy which then reduces the noise produced by the shot. Jeremy S. has experimented with using electrode or ultrasound gel to run a suppressor "wet" to reduce the first round pop and improve performance. Jeremy reported significant success.
Considering Jeremy's success, this correspondent purchased some of the recommended gel, Spectra 360 Electrode Gel from Parker Laboratories. It was available from Amazon, a three pack (25.5 ounces total) for $13.35. Only a small amount, less than 5 cc, is used in a suppressor per application. The cost of the gel is a small fraction of ammunition cost, and a tiny amount compared to the cost of a suppressor. Jeremy warned against using more than 5 cc (cubic centimeters) per application. That amount can reduce the volume of the suppressor considerably, and can be dangerous because the gel, unlike air, does not compress.
25.5 ounces of gel is 754 cc of gel. If one cc is used per application, and is good for five shots, the cost per shot is about a third of a cent per shot.
One cubic centimeter is about the same volume as two .22 Long Rifle cartridges. Five cubic centimeters is about the same volume as eight .22 Long Rifle cartridges. One application lasts approximately 5-30 shots, depending on numerous factors. Comparison of a bead of the gel to a .22 cartridge can be seen in the orange bottlecap in the image showing the gel and .22 cartridge boxes.
In a small suppressor, the volume of 1-2 .22 Long Rifle cartridges is enough to reduce first round pop or later shot noise for 3-5 shots.
The gel is applied to the expansion chamber at the rear of the suppressor. Do not block the bore of the suppressor. Blocking the bore could deflect bullets, and destroy the suppressor. It is unsafe.
The gel is very, very sticky. It is easily removed with soap and water.
This correspondent verified what Jeremy S. determined. Being able to duplicate results is a basic part of science.
Use of the gel reduces the perceived noise of the "first round pop" significantly. Sometimes, second, third, or later rounds sounded louder than the first round. The gel has the salubrious quality of making suppressor clean-up easy. It is water soluble. As it is a gel, it tends to stay in the suppressor for a considerable period, at least for several days.
The gel appears to work the best in small suppressors, which appear to need it the most. The effect can be prolonged by placing some gel in between baffles if you can easily do this. Shots appear to distribute the gel fairly evenly. The gel disappears from the expansion chamber at the rear of the suppressor first. It appears vaporized or liquefied gel is gradually ejected out the muzzle of the suppressor, carrying fouling with it.
The gel has become another tool in this correspondent's ability to shoot without hearing protection.
Jeremy S. Tested centerfire pistol cartridges. This correspondent tested .22 rimfire cartridges in pistols. Your results may vary. AmmoLand would be interested in what others learn about this technique.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
IL: Dog Discovers, Dunning Homeowner Shoots, Intruder
A Dunning homeowner shot a suspected burglar in his left forearm at about 1:20 a.m. Sunday, March 5, inside the owner’s house in the 3600 block of North Newcastle Avenue, according to 16th (Jefferson Park) District police.
The resident reported that he was awakened by his dog barking and that he then called out his son’s name and when no one responded, he retrieved his gun and went to search his home, according to police.
He also told police that when he went to check the basement, his dog ran in front of him and made a distressing sound and that he then saw a man in the basement holding a dark object, police said. He told officers that he instructed the man not to move and fired one shot after the man allegedly began moving toward him, police said.
Friday, March 10, 2023
Off Duty Police Officer Uses AR15 to Stop Bear in Connecticut
Image by Troy Nemitz, with permission. The bear which was shot had two ear tags.
On Thursday, May 12, off duty police Sgt. Lawrence Clarke, 55-years-old, had his property damaged, livestock killed, and grandson threatened by an aggressive black bear which had become habituated to people. When the bear proved to be resistant and unafraid of people, he was forced to shoot the bear to protect lives and property.
AmmoLand has obtained a copy of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection report of the investigation of the incident.
On Friday, May 6, 2022, the Newtown police department received multiple nuisance wildlife concerning a black bear matching the description of a known problem bear. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) was called for assistance. The bear was said to be easily identifiable because of ear tags.
On Tuesday, May 10th, at about 0830, Clarke, who is a Sgt. in the Ridgefield Police Department, noticed one of his chickens on his back deck. He went to the front of the house, and saw his chicken coop had been tipped over. He found he was missing three chickens. Within an hour, he saw a large black bear near the coop. He yelled and ran at the bear to chase it off. For the next four hours, the bear was circling the south side of his property. While Clarke was repairing his chicken coop, the bear appeared about 15 feet away. Clarke retrieved a starter pistol and fired twice to attempt to scare off the bear. The bear was not deterred until he began yelling and walking toward it.
Clarke had his wife call DEEP and report the incident, and that the bear had killed three of his chickens. DEEP told them to purchase an electric fence for the chicken coop. Clarke purchased a solar powered electric fence that day for $300.
The solar fence instructions are that it takes three days to charge. Clarke did not set up the fence.
On Thursday, May 12, at about 0900, Clarke's son and three year old grandson were outside in the front yard. Clarke's son noticed the bear about 30 feet away. The bear and his grandson were staring at each other. The son ran, yelling at the bear, to the grandson and grabbed the grandson. The bear stomped the ground, and the son ran inside with the grandson. Clarke went outside and yelled at the bear. The bear ran into the woods. For the next hour, the bear kept returning to the chicken coop and pawing at it. Clarke kept going outside and yelling at the bear, causing it to run into the woods. The bear returned and was on its hind feet attempting to pull over the chicken coop. Clark went outside with his Colt Match Target AR-15 type rifle. He walked toward the bear while yelling. The bear slowly walked away. The bear was about 20 feet away and huffing and pounding the ground with its feet. It was on all fours and about 15 feet from the chicken coop. Clarke yelled at the bear again, and it took one step toward Clarke, and Clarke shot it in the head.
The bear fell to the ground and started convulsing. Clarke stepped up to the bear and fired six more shots to put it down and stop its suffering.
Because of the angle of the shots, Clarke had a good backstop of the earth and a dense woods behind the bear. The nearest houses were over a hundred yards away, on the other side of the woods.
Clarke was 55 years old when he was forced to deal with the problem bear. The bear had been creating problems for several years. It was a large sow black bear weighing 208 lbs. Some people in the area had labeled the problem bear "Bobbi". From newstimes.com:
By 2019, Bobbi “showed little to no fear of humans,” the report said. That was also the first time Bobbi was seen with cubs.
Between 2017 and 2021, there were 191 reported sightings of Bobbi, mostly in the Southbury, Redding and Newtown areas. The majority of the sightings involved Bobbi damaging bird feeders and chicken coops and killing numerous chickens, according to a report from DEEP.
That is a lot of people whose property and lives were disrupted by the problem bear.
The Ridgeway police put Sgt. Clarke on paid leave while the incident was investigated by DEEP. An investigation was conducted by the Ridgeway department as well as the DEEP.
Sgt. Clarke was cleared of any wrongdoing. A provision of CT Fish and Game code allows for killing fur-bearing animals which are injuring any property. Bears are officially classified as fur-bearers. From Connecticut Fish and Game code:
No provision of this section shall be construed as prohibiting any landowner or lessee of land used for agricultural purposes or any citizen of the United States, or any person having on file in the court having jurisdiction thereof a written declaration of such person's intention to become a citizen of the United States, who is regularly employed by such landowner or lessee, from pursuing, trapping and killing at any time any fur-bearing animal, except deer, which is injuring any property,
The law appears to be clear. Bears are legally fur-bearers in Connecticut. A bear which is causing damage may be pursued, trapped, and killed if it is causing damage on land used for agricultural purposes.
This correspondent is not a lawyer. However, this correspondent has spent time serving as a game warden in two states. Nearly all states allow farmers to kill animals which are doing agricultural damage. There is some exception for endangered species. Black bears are not endangered. Their numbers are growing. The laws vary from state to state. A Connectitcut attorney, described as an animal rights advocate, claims there is no provision in Connecticut law to allow killing a bear to protect property or people. From greenwichtime.com:
Per Throckmorton’s interpretation, state laws make it illegal to “take” a bear in Connecticut, with no statutory exception for protecting yourself, livestock, or poultry against a bear.
The DEEP investigator had a different interpretation.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
VA: Fredericksburg Man Claims Self Defense in Shooting of Acquaintance
FREDERICKSBURG, VA — A man suffered several gunshot wounds in Fredericksburg on Sunday afternoon. The shooter told police that the man had attempted to attack him with a knife.
The gunshot victim was in stable condition on Monday morning, according to the Fredericksburg Police Department.
Authorities have not provided any information about the victim or the shooter, as no criminal charges have been filed.
The shooting occurred around 4 p.m. on Sunday on Ivanhoe Court. A man called 911 and reported that he shot an acquaintance outside of his home, according to the police report. The caller noted that the acquaintance tried to attack him with a knife.
Thursday, March 09, 2023
Update: Appeal Dismissed for Age Limitation for Texas Concealed Handgun License Adult Applicants
On November 9th, 2021, the Firearms Policy Coalition filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas, titled, at the time, Andrews v. McCraw in the North District of Texas. From the complaint:
To be sure, Plaintiffs acknowledge that their facial challenge to Texas’s ban on public carry by 18-to-20-year-olds is foreclosed in this Court by National Rifle Association of America Rifle, Inc. v. McCraw, 719 F.3d 338 (5th Cir. 2013), but they believe that case was wrongly decided. They therefore institute this litigation to vindicate their Second Amendment rights and seek to have McCraw overruled by a court competent to do so. Even under McCraw, however, this Court can and should rule in favor of Plaintiffs’ as-applied claim with respect to 18-to-20-year-old women asserted by Plaintiffs Blakey and FPC on behalf of its similarly situated members.
On August 25, 2022, Judge Mark T. Pittman issued an order showing the Texas age limitation of 21 for adults to apply for a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) was unconstitutional under the Bruen decision of the Supreme Court. Opinion and Order of the court
District court Northern District of Texas Judge Mark T Pittman
The issue is whether prohibiting law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds from carrying a handgun in public for self-defense is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Based on the Second Amendment’s text, as informed by Founding-Era history and tradition, the Court concludes that the Second Amendment protects against this prohibition. Texas’s statutory scheme must therefore be enjoined to the extent that law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds are prohibited from applying for a license to carry a handgun.
On September 22, 2022, the State of Texas appealed the case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
On December 21, 2022, the State of Texas appeal was dismissed at the request of the appellant, Steven C. McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. From the court document:
the appeal is dismissed as of December 21, 2022, pursuant to Appellant’s unopposed motion.
Update, From the dps.texas.gov:
9. Can an individual who is between the age of 18 to 20 years old apply for a license?
A federal district court has ruled the Department can no longer apply the License to Carry statutory eligibility criteria that prohibit otherwise eligible 18-to-20 year-olds from obtaining the license. Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc. et. al., v. Steven McCraw, et. al., No. 4:21-cv-1245-P. The Department will therefore no longer deny applications solely on the basis that the applicants are 18-to-20 years old.
Opinion:
It appears the State of Texas Department of Public Safety will now start accepting applications for Concealed Handgun licenses from adult residents of Texas who are more than 18 years old.
The Texas Constitutional Carry act limited lawful carry of handguns to people over the age of 21. The precedent has been set that adults 18 and over have the right to carry handguns with a permit. We may see a challenge to the law requiring they must have a permit to carry handguns in Texas.
Historical laws which limit what people under 18 may do are few, and inconsistent except for voting. As an example, voting was limited, generally to adults which were 21 or over. Age limits on the carry of firearms are not generally found before 1968, so they are very new, historically.
The restoration of rights protected by the Second Amendment continues, boosted by the Supreme Court decision in Bruen.
Progressive philosophy holds the Constitution is outdated and must be worked around. History holds no precedent for Progressive, as noted in the primary argument they put forward when they ignore Constitutional constraints:
That was then. This is now.
Only a couple of parts of the Constitution are time limited.
Congress is forbidden to prohibit Migration or Importation of Persons as any of the States now existing shall thing proper to admit before the year one thousand eight hundred and eight.
No amendments to the Constitution are allowed prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight which effect the first and fourth clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article. The first clause is the migration or importation clause above. The fourth clause deals with imposing taxes.
As it is more than two hundred years past 1808, changes to the Constitution can be made with the amendment process. There is no mechanism to change the Constitution with mere legislation.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
VA: Frying Pan to Gun Fight, Woman Breaks in, Attacks Man, is Shot
AUSTINVILLE, Va. - Authorities in Virginia said a homeowner shot a naked woman who broke into his home and attacked him with a frying pan.
The Carroll County Sheriff's Office said the incident happened on Feb. 26 before deputies received a report on a shooting at 2655 Loafers Rest Road in Austinsville.
Deputies arrived and found the woman shot in the leg. First responders treated and transported her to a local hospital.
Wednesday, March 08, 2023
South Carolina House Passes Consitutional Carry (again)
On February 22, 2023, the South Carolina House passed a Constitutional Carry bill with 75% of the votes, 90 to 30. Constitutional or "permitless" Carry is when a state does not require a permit to carry loaded handguns, openly or concealed, for most adults in most public places, a close approximation of the state of the law when the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791. From abcnews.com (AP):
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Republican-controlled South Carolina House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to allow lawful firearm owners to carry handguns openly or concealed without a state permit.
The 90-30 vote brings the conservative state one step closer to joining 25 others with some form of so-called “constitutional carry” laws. The fate of the state's latest effort to loosen gun restrictions once more falls to the Senate, where lawmakers rejected a similar proposal two years
ago.
The South Carolina bill for Constitutional (permitless) Carry is H 3594. The ALL CAPS format is the way the bill is formated at the South Carolina legislature site. From H 3594:
A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE "SOUTH CAROLINA CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY/SECOND AMENDMENT PRESERVATION ACT OF 2023" BY AMENDING SECTION 10-11-320, RELATING TO CARRYING OR DISCHARGING FIREARMS AND EXCEPTIONS FOR CONCEALABLE WEAPONS PERMIT HOLDERS, SO AS TO DELETE A PROVISION THAT MAKES THIS SECTION INAPPLICABLE TO PERSONS THAT POSSESS CONCEALABLE WEAPONS PERMITS AND TO PROVIDE THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO PERSONS WHO POSSESS FIREARMS; BY AMENDING SECTION 16-23-20, RELATING TO UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF HANDGUNS, SO AS TO REVISE THE PLACES WHERE AND CIRCUMSTANCES UPON WHICH HANDGUNS MAY BE CARRIED, AND PERSONS WHO MAY CARRY HANDGUNS; BY AMENDING SECTION 16-23-50, RELATING TO CERTAIN PENALTIES, DISPOSITION OF FINES, AND FORFEITURE AND DISPOSITION OF HANDGUNS, SO AS TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS TO THE UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF HANDGUNS;
The bill is available in full at the link.
The South Carolina legislature has been attempting to pass a Constitutional Carry bill for years. In 2021, the House passed Constitutional Carry, but the Senate, even with a large majority of Republicans, did not pass the bill. It seems likely a Senator in a leadership position killed the bill. However, the Senate passed and the governor signed into law, a licensed open carry bill. This is incremental progress. There are only four states which ban open carry, even for those with gun permits (California, New York, Illinois, and Florida).
With half of the states in the union now having a form of "permitless" or Constitutional Carry as the de facto standard of their law, it becomes more and more difficult for Republicans to find reasons to vote against Constitutional Carry. No ill effects have been shown to result from Constitutional Carry.
This year, Governor Ron De Santis is promoting Constitutional Carry in Florida, although it may become only a permitless carry law for concealed carry.
Nebraska is on the brink, and may pass a Constitutional Carry law for that state. North Carolina may have the votes to pass a Constitutional Carry law over the veto of a Democrat governor. It appears four states are in contention to become the 26th state where no permit is required to exercise the rights protected by the Second Amendment in most public spaces.
Every state which joins the Constitutional Carry club shows respect for the Second Amendment continues to grow in the United States. According to a poll in 2008, 73% of Americans believed the Second Amendment protects individual rights. In June of 2022, a poll sowed 83% believed the Second Amendment was adopted to protect self, family and property, and to protect against tyranny.
The legislatures and courts are reflecting the common understanding of the Second Amendment, at the time it was ratified, and as people understand it today.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
NC: Leland Man, Ronald Lee Merrick, Found Not Guilty of Murder by Jury
A Brunswick County jury delivered a not guilty verdict, exonerating Ronald Lee Merrick from the August 2020 killing of 26-year-old Dondre Shaw.
Leland police said in 2020 that Shaw and Merrick got into an argument, leading to the shooting.
After less than two hours of deliberation, the jury decided that Merrick, now 70 years old, justifiably killed Shaw in self-defense.
IL: Northwest Chicago homeowner Shoots Intruder
CHICAGO (CBS) – A man accused of breaking into a home on Chicago's Northwest Side early Sunday morning is hospitalized after police say he was shot by the homeowner he was attempting to rob.
The
27-year-old suspect, identified as Jeremy Tyler, was listed in critical
condition Sunday evening after he was shot in the arm by the homeowner.
He has been charged with a felony count of burglary.
Monday, March 06, 2023
NICS numbers for February 2023, Fourth Highest for Gun Sales, Background Checks
Lines are from 2022. Bars are for 2023.
In February of 2023, the number of gun sales and total National Instant background Check System (NICS) checks continue to be very close to the numbers from February of last year, 2022. The number of gun sales from 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 only vary by 8 percent from lowest (1.24 million in 2020) to highest (1.35 million in 2021). It appears the United States has reached a semi-stable level of gun sales close to what was an unprecedented record of sales in 2016. The number of gun sales for February of 2023 is 1.30 million.
Background checks, by themselves, show a misleading picture, because of extremely high numbers of background checks done for other purposes, especially for gun permits and gun permit rechecks. Illinois and Kentucky do astounding levels of gun permit and gun permit rechecks. Both states check hundreds of thousands of the same people every month, without any gun sales being done. This created very high NICS total checks in February of 2020 and 2021. In February of 2021, the permit and permit rechecks were 60% of total national NICS checks.
Then Illinois changed their policy, by a revamp of the Illinois Firearms Owner IDentification (FOID). This dropped the NICS checks for Illinois by a significant amount. Permit and permit rechecks in February of 2023 were only 46% of the total background checks in the NICS system. In February of 2021, Illinois had over 846 thousand checks done for permits and permit rechecks, about 25% of total checks done for the United States for the month. In February of 2023, Illinois had over 372 thousand checks done for permits and permit rechecks, about 15% of total background checks for the United States for the month, a drop of about 474 thousand background checks in February, mostly from the change in Illinois state law and policy.
The change in the number of background checks had almost no relevance to the change in the number of gun sales.
The United States, according to surveys done by the industry group, National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has large numbers of people choosing to be first time gun purchasers. (Full disclosure: the author is a media member of NSSF.) The number of gun owners in the United States is growing. After having purchased a firearm, many gun owners find they want more than one.
There are many specialized purposes for guns. New gun owners often find they need several different guns to do different things, just as most people have several different kinds of shoes and boots for different purposes. Running shoes work better for running. Hip boots work better for wading. Shotguns work better for shooting birds. Pistols are easier to carry everyday. Rifles are better for longer ranges. There are numerous sub-categories.
Most new gun owners start with just one gun. Once they break through the mythology of "evil" guns, many find they want more than one gun. Guns are at historically low prices for new guns. Breakthoughs in manufacturing technology, the relative open nature of the United States firearms markets to foreign manufacturers, and the removal of many infringements on the right to carry arms in the United States, all work to increase gun sales.
A pair of polls by different groups now show more people are opposed to President Joe Biden's proposed ban on semi-auto firearms than are for it.
As government's willingness to provide for domestic tranquility drops in Progressive controlled cities, the ownership of arms becomes more attractive.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
VA: Roanoke County Homeowner Shoots Intruder
ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) — The Roanoke County Police Department says a person was shot during a break-in at an apartment complex on Sunday morning.
Around 2:41 a.m. on March 5, officers responded to the North Point Apartments for a call of a break-in. At the scene, investigators learned the homeowner used their gun and the alleged intruder was shot.
Sunday, March 05, 2023
GA: Followup, Jury Finds Jesse Castillo NOT GUILTY of all Charges
A Polk County jury acquitted a man of all charges relating to a February 2021 shooting, finding that he acted in self-defense.
Jesse Castillo was arrested and charged in the shooting death of Michael Griffith in the 500 block of Clarkwood Road in Rockmart. A jury found that he was innocent of all the charges Thursday after a four-day trial. Castillo was then released to rejoin his family.
Saturday, March 04, 2023
TX: Home Invader Shoots Dog, Resident Shoots Invader
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A home invasion Wednesday morning in northeast El Paso and a man found shot 2 miles away from that location appear connected, according to El Paso police.
Investigators say 29-year-old Bruce Wayne Murphy, a northeast El Paso resident, forced his way into a home Thursday on the 7500 block of Howard Street in northeast El Paso around 8:56 a.m. There were three people inside the home, including a dog. According to residents, Murphy shot a weapon inside the home, injuring the dog.
That's when police say 37-year-old Sean Patrick Suniga, a resident of the home, pulled out his own handgun and fired back at Murphy.
Friday, March 03, 2023
WV: Campus Carry Law Removes Power of "Higher Education" Administrators to ban Carry on Campus
Link to Youtube Video of Governor Justice proudly signing SB 10 (Campus Carry) in West Virginia
On March 1, 2023, Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia has signed SB 10, the Campus Carry Act into law. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2024. Governor Justice was enthusiastic about signing the new law. He proudly described his growing up in West Virginia, and told a story about hunting grouse with a 20 gauge shotgun, which was repaired by one of the people in attendance at the ceremony. West Virginia is the 12 state to remove bans on the carry of weapons at institutes of post secondary education. Numerous members of the West Virginia Citizens Defense League (WVCDL) were at the signing ceremony. Many of them had worked for years to obtain this reform.
The new law removes the power of institutions of post secondary education, in West Virginia, to ban the legal carry of concealed handguns, by those with a valid concealed carry permit, in most areas on campus. There are a few areas where the concealed carry of firearms may still be banned by the administrators of institutions of post secondary education. The new law applies primarily to students, educators, and employees of West Virginia institutes of post secondary education. West Virginia law did not and does not ban carry on campus. However, administrators of those institutions were allowed by law to impose administrative penalties for actions which were not banned by West Virginia law. Students could be expelled. Employees could be fired. Lesser sanctions could be imposed.
In effect, the administrations of most institutions of "higher learning" created effective "gun free zones" where most people at the institutions were not allowed to carry defensive weapons. SB 10 removes most of that legal loophole from campus administrators. From SB 10, the Campus Carry Act:
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish, by this act, conditions under which persons with a current and valid license to carry a concealed deadly weapon may carry a concealed pistol or revolver at a state institution of higher education. When a person exercises the rights granted by this section, neither the carrying of a concealed pistol or revolver, nor any other conduct of person involving a concealed pistol or revolver, shall be construed to be an act of the state institution of higher education nor of the state, and no liability for any such actions of such person shall be imputed to the state institution of higher education, its officers, agents, or employees, unless the state institution of higher education has expressly requested or directed such person to carry a concealed pistol or revolver: Provided, That the failure to provide adequate security measures at any building or location at a state institution of higher education where the carrying of a concealed pistol or revolver is not permitted shall not give rise to a cause action or any liability whatsoever related to or arising from the carrying of a concealed pistol or revolver by any person.
To obtain the votes necessary to pass the bill, several compromises were made. The bill only applies to people with valid concealed carry permits. Those include people who have an out-of-state permit recognized by West Virginia, who are over 21, not a resident of WV, and have the permit or license in their possession. West Virginia recognized the permits from 28 states, as of November of 2022.
There are a few places on campus where administrators are still allowed to create gun free zones. They include: stadiums, on-campus daycare, disciplinary hearings, individual office settings, certain laboratories with significant amounts of hazardous materials, dormitory rooms, and others. Firearms storage areas are required at residence halls if individual firearms safes are not provided in rooms.
The bill bans open carry of firearms by state law on campus, even for people who are not under the jurisdiction of the institution. The ban on open carry on campus for everyone appears to have been one of the tradeoffs. In return, people with a carry permit can carry in most campus buildings, most of the time, and campus administrators cannot prevent most students and employees from carrying concealed, with a shall issue permit, most of the time in most places.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
NY: Resident Shoots two in Attempted Home Invasion
Two people were shot in Glens Falls, following what police are calling an attempted home invasion.
The two people shot were breaking into the home when a third person who lived there shot them, a city spokesperson said. The two remained at Albany Medical Center Thursday night, with one in critical condition.
Thursday, March 02, 2023
Federal Civil Lawsuits Against Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin
Two civil lawsuits have been filed against Kyle Rittenhouse and others, stemming from Rittenhouse' self-defense shootings of three men who assaulted him during the Kenosha riots. One of the lawsuits was filed by attorneys for Gaige Grosskruetz, who was wounded after pursuing Kyle Rittenhouse and while pointing his pistol at Kyle. The Grosskruetz lawsuit was filed in 2020. The other was filed by attorneys representing the estate of Anthony Huber, who attacked Rittenhouse with a skateboard, after pursuing Rittenhouse, while Rittenhouse was on the ground, just after fending off another attack. It was filed August 17, 2021. By chance both lawsuits are being held before Judge Lynn Adelman.
Judge Lynn Adelman is a well know Democrat. He was appointed as a federal judge in 1997 by President Clinton. In 2020, he published a political paper railing against the Supreme Court. The Seventh Circuit mildly censured Adelman for publishing the political document, as judges are supposed to maintain a public image of political neutrality. Adelman is 83 years old. Before he became a federal judge, he was a Democratic state senator in Wisconsin, representing Milwaukee, and a private attorney. Judge Adelman dismissed the lawsuit against the Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm in the John Doe investigations case, where Chisholm actively persecuted Republicans for political purposes. Adelman applied the absolute immunity doctrine for prosecutors, established by the Supreme Court in 1976, to stop the lawsuits.
Judge Adelman has a reputation of being fair as a judge, in spite of being an ideological and political Democrat.
The Grosskruetz case was filed over two years ago. In this situation, a case can be dismissed if the defendants are not served a summons within 90 days. After two years, Judge Adelman told the plaintiffs to serve Rittenhouse within 21 days, or he would dismiss the case against Rittenhouse. The plaintiffs failed to serve Rittenhouse. Then the plaintiffs filed for an extension. It is unknown if Judge Adelman will grant the extension. From madison.com (AP):
Attorneys for a man shot and injured by Kyle Rittenhouse during a protest in 2020 are asking a federal judge to give them more time to serve Rittenhouse with a civil lawsuit, alleging that he is purposefully trying to evade them.
Attorneys for Gaige Grosskreutz filed the request on Wednesday, the deadline that U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman had given them to serve the lawsuit on Rittenhouse and the other defendants. Grosskreutz added Rittenhouse as a defendant last week in the lawsuit that also targets the city of Kenosha and local officials.
The second lawsuit against Kyle Rittenhouse, police departments, and various governments in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is about the death of Anthony Huber. From fox6now.com:
Huber died after he was shot by Rittenhouse. Anthony Huber's father, John Huber, alleges that Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, conspired with law enforcement to cause harm to protestors. John Huber is seeking unspecified damages from city officials, officers and Rittenhouse.
Because of Judge Adelman's history, many are concerned Adelman is acting as a partisan in the matter of the Huber lawsuit against Kyle Rittenhouse. Judge Adelman felt compelled to publish his comments about those concerns. From Judge Adleman's Decision and Order in the Huber case:
The subject matter of this case is well known. The shooting of Jacob Blake, the resulting protests (which gave way to rioting and arson), and the actions of Kyle Rittenhouse were extensively examined by news outlets. Rittenhouse was charged with crimes, including first-degree intentional homicide, for shooting Huber and the other two men, and his criminal trial was highly publicized. As a result, members of the public may be familiar with the events at issue and believe that plaintiff’s allegations, which I describe below, are contrary to the facts reported in the news or leave out important details. For this reason, I again stress that a court confronted with a motion to dismiss a complaint must accept the plaintiff’s factual allegations as true and ignore outside evidence that may contradict them. That would include matters reported in the news and evidence presented during Rittenhouse’s criminal trial. Moreover, some may find certain of plaintiff’s allegations—such as his allegation that law enforcement conspired to have armed civilians use violence against protestors—hard to believe. But this is not the stage of a civil case at which the court weighs evidence or decides whether the plaintiff is likely to be able to prove his allegations. Rather, so long as the facts alleged by the plaintiff are not fantastic or delusional, the court must accept them as true. Deciding whether the allegations are true or false comes later in the case, after all sides have had a chance to present their evidence.
The two cases against Kyle Rittenhouse appear to be ideological and fantastical to many. A jury in Kenosha found Rittenhouse not guilty of numerous charges, including a bogus charge of firearms possession, which was not even a crime. The standard of proof in a civil lawsuit is much lower.
A source in Kenosha, who is intimately familiar with the case, expects the City of Kenosha to fight the cases in court, not to settle, as often occurs.
Opinion:
Much may depend on what insurance the City of Kenosha has. Because this is a federal case, the jury pool will come from much of Wisconsin, not just Kenosha. Judge Schroeder, who presided over the Rittenhouse criminal trial, is also a Democrat, appointed by a Democrat governor. In this correspondent's opinion, Judge Schroeder did an excellent job, in spite of intense pressure from the left and his history as a Democrat.
Now, another Democratic Judge is presiding over two civil cases about the same events. It is premature to grade Judge Adelman. He appears to be following correct procedure in these two cases. The cases appear to be ideological and fantastical, given the documents filed. Our system allows for ideological and fantastical cases to be filed. Many have complained about that reality. It was not always the case. This correspondent believes reform is necessary, but the reality of the judicial system, as it is, must be dealt with at present.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
By filing
MADISON, Wis. — A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled Wednesday that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a man shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during a protest in 2020 can proceed against Rittenhouse, police officers and others.
Huber died after he was shot by Rittenhouse. Anthony Huber's father, John Huber, alleges that Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, conspired with law enforcement to cause harm to protestors. John Huber is seeking unspecified damages from city officials, officers and Rittenhouse.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman on Wednesday dismissed motions filed by Rittenhouse and the government defendants seeking to dismiss the civil rights lawsuit.
In allowing the case against Rittenhouse and the others to proceed, the judge said that Anthony Huber's death "could plausibly be regarded as having been proximately caused by the actions of the governmental defendants."
Attorneys for a man shot and injured by Kyle Rittenhouse during a protest in 2020 are asking a federal judge to give them more time to serve Rittenhouse with a civil lawsuit, alleging that he is purposefully trying to evade them.
Attorneys for Gaige Grosskreutz filed the request on Wednesday, the deadline that U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman had given them to serve the lawsuit on Rittenhouse and the other defendants. Grosskreutz added Rittenhouse as a defendant last week in the lawsuit that also targets the city of Kenosha and local officials.
Complaint in Huber lawsuit makes a number of claims which appear to be obviously false.
TN: 71-Year-Old was Shot as Armed Aggressor in Road Rage Incident
Police say a 36-year-old fatally shot 71-year-old Alden R. Jones on State Route 45 at Rio Vista Drive after Jones approached the man and his wife while armed at a traffic light.
According to investigators, Jones was driving aggressively, speeding and cutting off drivers. Jones came to a stop at the light of the intersection and approached another vehicle behind him, banging on the vehicle window while holding a pistol.
The 36-year-old and his wife were stopped behind the vehicle Jones was threatening and tried to verbally intervene. Jones then turned his attention to the 36-year-old and started to walk with weapon in hand towards him. The 36-year-old yelled for Jones to stop, warning he was also armed.
Wednesday, March 01, 2023
CT Mayors Discover Data Surprise: Most "Gun Violence" Involves Repeat Offenders!
Great Seal of Connecticut, public domain
On February 20, 2023, the Hartford Courant published a story by Edmund H. Mahony titled: CT mayors wrestle with what data show is at root of gun violence: Chronic repeat offenders.
MSN.com picked up the article and published it online. The article portrayed data compiled by the Office of the Chief State's Attorney. The data came from arrest records for the Harford and Waterbury police departments from January 2019 through part of 2021. The article portrayed he findings as "startling statistical analysis". From msn.com:
Last week at the state Capitol, Woods joined Connecticut’s big city mayors, who departed from the new decriminalization orthodoxy to push a package of proposed laws that would enhance bail and sentencing laws as they apply to repeat gun criminals. They backed up the legislative pitch with a startling statistical analysis of gun crimes that shows most gun criminals are chronic reoffenders who are committing second and third offenses while released on bail or probation.
The mayors, all Democrats, arrived with the statistics and an array of inner city supporters, including mothers with emotional stories about murdered children.
To those who have been following Second Amendment issues, this is nothing new. It has been known for decades. In Don Kates seminal book Restricting Handguns, the Liberal Skeptics Speak Out, the categorization of the murderer as tiny, highly unusual segment of society was explained in 1976 (p. 106). David Kennedy has been explaining this statistical reality since the 1990s. The concept was used successfully in operation Ceasefire in 1996, and has been duplicated many times.
The success of the Ceasefire type operations depends on maintaining an intense effort of working with the communities to target the tiny minority of violent repeat offenders. Success appears to fade after time dulls the urgency which created the program.
This correspondent has written about David Kennedy's work several times. In 2014, in an article about open carry in Milwaukee. From David Kennedy:
“We now know that homicide and gun violence are overwhelmingly concentrated among serious offenders operating in groups: gangs, drug crews, and the like representing under half of one percent of a city’s population who commit half to three-quarters of all murders.”
Alert readers see how successful those pushing the Orwellian term "gun violence" have been. Kennedy, above, in the quote, uses "Gun Violence" as synonymous with violent crimes in which guns are used. Those who popularized the term "Gun Violence" in the media have deliberately included suicide and accidents, significantly different phenomena, to triple the numbers of "victims". This appears to have been done to avoid discussion of falling homicide rates coincided with huge increases in per capital numbers of firearms. Suicides outnumber homicides two to one. A rising suicide rate is being used to push for more infringements on rights protected by the Second Amendment, even though the percent of suicides committed with guns has been falling. A further conflation of "Gun Violence" with gun crime, as used by criminologists, is shown in the Hartford Courant article under discussion:
Hartford data drawn from 345 gun violence incidents between January 2019 and March 2021 shows that 85% of the suspects arrested for gun crimes had been convicted of gun crimes previously.
Last year, of the 44 people arrested in Hartford for murders or attempted murders with guns, 39% had charges pending from other crimes, but had been released from custody after posting bond. Fifteen percent were on probation. Five percent were on parole. Of those arrested last year, 39% had prior convictions for violent felonies or gun crimes.
The victims, according to the data, differ little from their shooters.
As expected, there is the unannounced switch in the definition of "gun violence". The term is used to conflate criminal violence with suicide, in order to push polices to restrict gun ownership and access. When State Representative Steven Staftstrom (D), chairman of Judicial committee uses the term "gun violence" in the Hartford Courant article, he is referring to studies which explicitly include suicide and accidents:
“States like Connecticut that have stronger gun control laws but are smart on criminal justice have vastly lower rates of gun violence than states that are just tough on crime and may have more lax gun laws,” Staftstrom said. “That’s why the committee’s focus has really been on access to firearms, particularly over the last several years.”
There are many logical loopholes for Representative Staftstrom to use to defend his lying with statistics. Which is a state "like Connecticut"? Montana or Maryland? Does the District of Columbia count? How about the U.S. Virgin Islands? What difference does it make to a homicide or suicide victim if another method is substituted for a gun?
Access to firearms only results in higher "gun violence" if you count suicides. Suicides with guns are, statistically, a non-issue in the violent urban centers where homicide has risen recently. A prohibition of one suicide method only results in a switch to other suicide methods, the "substitution" problem. The method used does not predict the rate of suicide. Access to firearms does not translate to higher suicide rates or homicide rates.
Opinion:
Those who want a disarmed society are not interested in the fact that most violent crime is committed by a small number of violent criminals. They want society disarmed. Violent crime is simply a lever they hope to use to sway public opinion toward disarmament.
They no longer have tight control over the flow of information. Articles like the one published in the Hartford Courant educate more people and cause them to question what they have been told about guns. If a small group of criminals is causing most of the problem, why should everyone else be disarmed?
A recent poll showed public opinion has shifted to the point a majority of people are opposed to a ban on semi-automatic rifles, proposed by President Biden.
Educated readers may ask: What took them so long?
Answer: Those who want the population disarmed have controlled most of the information flow for 50 years. It is hard to make good decisions with bad information.
©2023 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
OH: Carjacking, theft and Murder spree end with Perp Killed by Armed Samaritan
Moser then went to the gas station and attempted to steal a minivan at a gas pump before shots were fired and a female victim was struck.
The female was identified as Meagan Kennedy Stanford of Greenville, S.C. The sheriff’s office said Stanford died at the scene.
Moser then allegedly turned and fired at a U-Haul van that was driven by a male occupant. The male was able to return fire and a fight ensued involving multiple people.
The sheriff’s office said Moser died at the scene of apparent gunshot wounds. The shooting remains under investigation.
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