The Biden administration is using the tragedy of veteran suicides to push additional gun control. IMG iStock-1026593328
U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- An estimated 21 veterans kill themselves every day. One would be too many. Twenty-one is cataclysmic.
It is difficult to understand why so many develop thoughts of self-harm, but military life does take a tremendous toll. More than 500,000 veterans have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and more than 380,000 have suffered traumatic brain injuries. Other unseen wounds abound. I pray regularly that someone will find a solution to stop this daily horror.
As difficult as it is to accept this loss, it is far more difficult to believe anyone would use these deaths to help sell their political agenda, but that is exactly what Joe Biden is doing.
The Biden-Harris administration is using veteran suicides to garner public support for their war on gun dealers, whom they blame for skyrocketing violent crime rates in cities historically controlled by Democrats.
“The Biden administration is rolling out a new initiative aimed at reducing suicides by gun and combating the significant increases in suicides by members of the military and veterans,” the Associated Press reported Wednesday. As part of the plan, Biden will order the ATF to “seek to revoke the licenses of dealers the first time that they violate federal law.”
That’s sick – even for Biden – using the deaths of heroes to sell his gun control plan.
The other team doesn’t care. They love the plan. John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, told the AP the administration was “blazing a new path to keep guns away from people who could be a danger to themselves.”
To be clear, gun dealers – even the rogue ones – do not contribute to veteran suicides. The Veterans Administration contributes to veteran suicides. If a veteran decides they need help, they’ll spend months fighting to get the VA to accept that their illness is service-related and that they qualify for care. Democrats want to give away universal healthcare. In my humble opinion, it should go to the people who have earned it. All veterans should have access to immediate care.
What troubles me most is that Biden so cavalierly stereotyped us, again.
The vast majority of veterans are well adjusted and more law-abiding than the rest of the public. We lead superior lives after separating from the military, and we will continue to do so, despite the blood-dancing by an ungrateful commander-in-chief.
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
New Mexico/United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- By now, loyal Ammoland readers have head of the tragic incident involving Halyna Hutchins and Alec Baldwin on a New Mexico movie set. To put it bluntly, it was an accident that should not have happened. The ongoing investigation will determine the facts, and what, if any, charges will be appropriate.
ALWAYS Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger Until Ready To Shoot
ALWAYS Keep The Gun Unloaded Until Ready To Use
Just following these rules can can greatly reduce the risk that a tragedy like the one in New Mexico will happen. When those rules are disregarded, as reports from multiplesources about this accident indicate, the risk of a tragedy increases.
Whatever one may think of their legislative tactics and strategy, the NRA has worked to educate those who would exercise their Second Amendment rights for decades. While anti-Second Amendment extremists talk “gun safety” (a phrase they have hijacked to pursue attacks on our rights), the real work has been done by the NRA for decades.
The NRA’s efforts to carry out education and training is one reason why we have seen the number of fatal accidents decrease over those same decades as the number of firearms in the United States has climbed. In essence, the NRA in this case has been modeling and preaching the type of actions that reasonable people would assume or expect that responsible gun owners would do.
The Baldwin tragedy is a chance for us to show that we are not like our enemies. While many are tempted to dunk on Baldwin, given his history of anti-Second Amendment extremism, and doing so would be understandable, it is also the type of self-destructive move that could only help the likes of Bloomberg.
For one thing, we are at a serious media disadvantage. The fact is, anti-Second Amendment extremists get passes from the media all the time. See, for instance, a certain deceased United States Senator whose vehicle killed more people than the firearms owned by the vast majority of loyal Ammoland readers.
There is another thing: Just about anyone who seeks to responsibly exercise their Second Amendment rights has that nightmare at some point that despite all their caution, something could go wrong, and there could still be an accident. The best thing to do is to wait for the facts to come out.
Second Amendment supporters who wish to brush up on their training can and should check out the NRA’s variousofferings. There are over 125,000 NRA-certified firearms instructors across the country who can keep you up to date. Also, pass these on to friends, family members, or others you know who either are exercising their Second Amendment rights, or those who are thinking about it. This could save them the agony that those tied in to that tragic movie set accident are going through right now.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
Planned Gun “Buy Back” in Denver, Colorado is Likely Illegal
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Colorado politicians have planned a gun “buy back” for March of 2022. They probably will not be able to hold the event, as Colorado law makes it nearly impossible to hold a “buy back” legally.
Those who want a disarmed population coined the Orwellian term “buyback” to describe events where people turn guns into police, to be destroyed, for money. The police cannot “buy back” guns they never owned, to begin with.
In 2013, people started fighting back against this propaganda effort by privately purchasing guns at these events. At some events, people used the money to buy better guns. States started requiring guns purchased by local governments to be sold, and the money used for the public good.
Local entrepreneurs/activists started selling homemade guns at these events, earning a profit and making for good photo opportunities.
Organizations such as Guns Save Life organized turn-ins of junk guns in order to buy good guns for youth programs.
The number of “buybacks” fell precipitously. A few continued in states where draconian law prevented private parties from purchasing firearms at these events, such as New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California.
Academic studies have confirmed these events do not reduce crime or suicides and may have a small effect of increasing crime for a short period.
Colorado banned such events as a byproduct of a push for gun control.
Most people who initiate these programs do not research them. They insist on doing them for illogical or propaganda reasons. That seems to be the case of Denver and Aurora “buybacks” planned for 2022. From cbslocal.com:
Starting in March 2022, a new gun buyback program will be implemented in hopes of remedying the problem.
“Our goal is to get guns off the street. What we’re seeing is an extraordinary uptick in crime in both Denver and Aurora,” Denver District 5 Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer told CBS4’s Mekialaya White via Zoom.
Sawyer says now is the time to take action, after a massive increase in violent and property crime in recent weeks. That includes two shootings in Aurora injuring several teenagers just last week.
“I think for a long time there’s been a hesitancy for government to get involved in a program like this, especially in the metro area. There’s a crisis in our communities, especially with young people,” echoed Aurora Councilman-at-Large Curtis Gardner. “So, we are partnering with Colorado Springs-based nonprofit RawTools that will take guns volunteered at our buyback that will turn them into garden tools and jewelry. It creates a really neat synergy for the community.”
“We think it’ll be a really valuable partnership between both cities,” added Sawyer.
At each buyback, residents can turn in firearms anonymously.
Such events are not allowed by Colorado law. Every transfer has to go through a federally licensed dealer. The dealer charges a fee. It makes an anonymous turn-in unworkable, and almost certainly illegal. It is an unintended consequence of the draconian “Universal Background Check” law.
The law, passed in 2013, made private sales illegal. All transfers have to be conducted through Federal Firearms Licenses, making them subject to government approval, thus, no longer private. Permanently giving a weapon into another entity to be destroyed, is a transfer, under the law.
In 2013, Colorado “buyback” events were canceled because they were made nearly impossible by the new Colorado law.
It seems unlikely the proposed event organizers will be able to get an exception to the Colorado law passed before March of 2021. It appears the event organizers and those promoting the event in the Media, have not considered the legal implications before publishing their efforts.
Ignorance of gun laws is common among those who push for disarming the public.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
You can tell by the design of the handle on the Real Avid Bore Max Smart Rod that you can get more leverage than with a normal cleaning rod.
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- To do a job properly you need not only the right tools but also good tools. As a kid, when we cleaned our guns, we used a 3-pc. wood rod that screwed together to clean our shotguns and a copper-coated wire rod or a screw together 3-pc. aluminum rod for our rifles. I don’t ever remember cleaning the barrels on our pistols.
A lot has changed since then Now we know it’s best to use a bore guide and remove the bolt and clean from the back instead of running a rod down the front and damaging the crown. (The crown is the last spot the bullet touches before it leaves the barrel. You don’t want it dinged up. That’s why rifles have recessed crowns).
I just got two Real Avid Bore Max smart rods. I got one 36” rod to clean my ARs and a 44” one to clean my bigger bore hunting rifles. I love these rods. A lot of rods are stainless and coated. If you knock the coating off then you can ding up your barrels. I like that these rods are carbon fiber.
Another nice feature is that it has a pistol grip instead of an inline screwdriver type of grip like all of my other cleaning rods have. This give4s you more leverage. It has ball bearings in the handle and spins easily. To try to explain how smooth it spins. I spun it with medium effort and it did eight revolutions before it glided to a stop.
This isn’t a gun cleaning article but I do want to briefly highlight a few items/steps. If the barrel has a lot of fouling, I’ll screw a Swab-Its foam pad into the Real Avid Bore Max Smart Rod and dip the foam pad into a bottle of Barnes CR-10 fluid and run it down the barrel. I’ll let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then run a brush down the barrel and work it for a couple of minutes. Then run some patches down the barrel to remove any loose fouling. Repeat soaking with the Barnes CR-10, brush, wipe out and hopefully, it is clean by now. If not, repeat. When a rag comes out clean wipe the barrel dry with a rag and then oil with a high-grade gun oil
Some of the fouling removal solvents are very corrosive so you want to make sure you get all of the solvent removed and then oiled up.
Your rifle is now clean and should shoot better groups.
If you properly clean your rifles they should last for years. In fact, for generations. But if you don’t, you can ruin one in one season. I remember one year I ran down to Texas to take my 12-yr. old nephew deer hunting. He pulled his older brother’s deer rifle out of the plastic gun case only to discover that it was pitted and rusted up the worst I have ever seen. He’d thrown it in the back of his truck after hunting and it poured on him all the way home. When he got home, he threw it in the closet. Unbeknownst to him, the case had leaked big time. A perfect recipe to ruin a good rifle.
One last comment. The rod comes with a plastic wall hanger bracket which is nice. Screw it in the wall and then you can hang up your Smart Rod so it doesn’t get bent or broke. The MSRP on the Real Avid Bore Max Smart Rod is $24.99-39.99 and as is usual, we will close with the specs.
Features
Ultra glide bearings
Includes wall hanger storage bracket
Cleans lands and groves efficiently and effectively
Length They offer at least two that I know of.
Threads 8-32
Caliber Group They offer at least two that I know of.
Rod Material Carbon Fiber
Coated Rod No
About Tom Claycomb
Tom Claycomb has been an avid hunter/fisherman throughout his life as well as an outdoor writer with outdoor columns in the magazine Hunt Alaska, Bass Pro Shops, Bowhunter.net, and freelances for numerous magazines and newspapers. “To properly skin your animal, you will need a sharp knife. I have an e-article on Amazon Kindle titled Knife Sharpening #ad for $.99 if you’re having trouble.”
USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- In a one-of-a-kind system unknown in other states, Florida’s wildly popular Concealed Weapon or Firearm Licensing program is overseen by the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture, in this case Nikki Fried.
Florida’s licensing division, which to date has issued more than 2.4 million CWFLs, is subordinate to Fried’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. State lawmakers once flirted with the idea of taking the CWFL program away from Fried and transferring responsibility for the concealed-carry licenses to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, but, ultimately, the changes were never made.
Fried is the only Democrat to hold statewide office in the Gunshine State, where last week Republican voters finally outnumbered registered Democrats. She is also the only state official known to possess both a CWFL and a Florida Medical Marijuana Card, regardless of the federal legal problems this creates when she purchases a firearm.
Now, Fried is using access to confidential gun-owner data that her position offers, in her campaign for governor against incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Fried has shrugged off scrutiny about her actions as well as attempts to gain clarity and accountability.
On July 27, at approximately 1:07 p.m., Fried tweeted: “I just suspended the concealed weapons permits of 22 people involved in the insurrection against the United States of America instigated by Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.”
I just suspended the concealed weapons permits of 22 people involved in the insurrection against the United States of America instigated by Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.
“Thank you for being a real American. Those folks do not need to carry weapons,” one replied.
Gun owners saw it differently.
“So, you’ve stripped them of a constitutional right before they’ve even been convicted? I can’t wait until DeSantis destroys you because someone who abuses their position for political reasons should be in jail,” one replied.
State law allows Fried to suspend the CWFLs of licenses who are charged with certain crimes – usually felonies or misdemeanors involving domestic violence, which would prohibit someone from purchasing a firearm – until the final disposition of the case. However, not every crime qualifies. Several of the Jan. 6 attendees were charged with misdemeanors that would not prohibit a firearm purchase.
Fried’s 22 suspensions raised the question of whether she was taking legal action as the state official in charge of the CWFL program, or whether she grandstanding as part of her gubernatorial campaign.
Jacksonville attorney Eric Friday is general counsel for Florida Carry, Inc., a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental civil right of all Floridians to keep and bear arms for self-defense as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I Section 8 of the Florida Constitution.
At the direction of the Florida Carry board of directors, on July 28 Friday sent Fried’s office a public records request, seeking:
“1. All notices of suspension of license or notice of intent to suspend, or any other communication sent to the 22 individuals by Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, or the Department of Agriculture, Division of Licensing as set forth in the Tweet by Commissioner Fried; 2. All charging documents or other information relied upon to suspend the 22 licensees identified in Commissioner Fried’s Tweet; 3. All information received from any law enforcement agency, a court, or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement regarding the 22 licensees and the arrests or charges which form the basis for the suspension of the license; and 4. Any subsequent written verification regarding the 22 licensees received by the Department of Agriculture from any law enforcement agency, a court, or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.”
To be clear, Friday did not ask for the names or other identifying information of the 22 licensees whose CWFLs were suspended: “Because the individually identifying information such as name and address of the 22 licensees is protected from disclosure by law, this information may be redacted from any documents responsive to this request,” his request states.
Fried ignored the public records request, which is a violation of state law.
Last month, Fried announced she suspended the CWFLs of six more Jan. 6 attendees, whom she called “domestic terrorists” and “traitors.”
“Today I’m announcing the suspension of six licenses of domestic terrorists who participated in the January 6 insurrection attempt against the United States,” she said in an Oct. 19 tweet. “That brings our total to 28 suspensions. As more charges are filed, we will continue to hold these traitors accountable.”
Today I'm announcing the suspension of six licenses of domestic terrorists who participated in the January 6 insurrection attempt against the United States.
That brings our total to 28 suspensions. As more charges are filed, we will continue to hold these traitors accountable.
“The storming of the Capitol on January 6th where we witnessed acts of violence and domestic terrorism intended to undermine our democratic institutions shook our nation to its core – and its impact continues to be felt every day. The individuals involved must be held accountable for their treasonous actions. While Florida has the shameful distinction of being home to the largest proportion of individuals charged in relation to the insurrection, our department has been using its lawful authority and carrying out its legal duty to suspend the licenses of anyone charged with disqualifying offenses. When we announced the initial 22 suspensions earlier this summer, we made it clear that this would be an ongoing effort and that additional suspensions and revocations would be issued as additional charges were filed and sentences rendered. Since that time, FDACS has suspended six additional licenses of individuals related to the insurrection, and should further charges and sentences come down, we will enact further suspensions and revocations of licenses issued by our department as required by Florida statute.”
Two days later, Fried’s department officially acknowledged that they received Friday’s public records request, which was sent approximately three months prior.
Dear Requester,
Thank you for contacting the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (the department). Please consider this response as acknowledgement of the department’s receipt of your public records request. … You are encouraged to frequently check the GovQA portal for updates, clarification requests or cost estimates (if applicable). To search for updates to your submitted request, click on the “My Request Center” link and then click “Search by Reference Number”.
Sincerely,
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Public Records
407 South Calhoun Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0800
Fried did not return calls, emails, or messages left with her staff seeking comment for this story. To date, her department has not supplied any of the documents sought in Florida Carry’s public records request.
In an email sent Tuesday in response to a request to interview Fried, Erin M. Moffet, Fried’s Director of Strategic Communications & Federal Affairs, wrote:
“It is the Department’s position that providing the specific license types would lead to the disclosure of personally identifying information, which is required to remain confidential. Pursuant to Section 790.0601, Florida Statutes, FDACS can neither confirm nor deny whether an individual has ever applied for or received a concealed weapon or firearm license, as this information is exempt from disclosure as a public record.”
Moffett never addressed the intent of the original email – the request to interview Fried.
Sean Caranna is Florida Carry’s executive director and co-founder.
Said Caranna: “The reason that the licensing program was transferred to the Department of Agriculture years ago was to make sure that there would be an elected official who could be held responsible by the voters for abusing, misusing and failing to properly administer Florida’s first-of-its-kind shall-issue licensing program. Nikki Fried has just provided an important example of why that decision is still well-founded. She has mismanaged the program, infringed upon the people’s right to keep and bear arms, denied licenses without providing proof or evidence that people are disqualified, and now she uses secret information that is supposed to be confidential for her own political gains.”
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
Right To Dissent & The Right To Bear Arms: Bulwarks Against Tyranny iStock2
New York – -(AmmoLand.com)- Americans remain at the moment privileged to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, Independence Day, Labor Day, and other Holidays. But, for how much longer.
“With Independence Day only days away, this Country can hardly be in a celebratory spirit, as the very words, ‘nationalism’ and ‘patriotism’ are treated like obscenities.
We witness two-legged predators laying waste the Land, destroying property, intimidating innocent Americans, causing bedlam and mayhem. The police, under fire, are ordered to stand down. Government cowers. Law and Order breaks down everywhere. The seditious Press and Radical Left members of Congress, along with Radical Left State Governors and City Mayors give their blessing to the perpetrators of this violence.”
Has anything changed, almost seventeen months later? Yes, the threat to our Nation has only grown direr.
The Trotting Horse of American Marxism and Neoliberal Globalism is now running at full gallop. It is charging directly toward a formidable defense to be sure—the Bill of Rights. But it is determined to break through, destroying the Constitution of the United States, annihilating a free Republic, subjugating a free and sovereign people.
Evidence for this is everywhere, including, inter alia:
Government acquiescence to violent rioting, and looting in the Nation’s cities.
A systematic plan to indoctrinate the Nation’s youth with “Critical Race Theory”.
Constraints on the exercise of Free Speech/Intolerance toward Dissent.
Violations of Due Process and Equal Protection Guarantees.
Violations of the Right Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures. [Red Flag Laws]
Unlawful Government orders and mandates, such as mandatory COVID Vaccinations.
Failure of Government to Enforce the Nation’s Immigration Laws.
Debilitation of the Military: Purging of the Ranks, Politicization of Upper Echelons, Creating Dissension, and Destroying morale.
Consolidation of Governmental power in a single Branch.
Expanding Federal Government power over the people and the States.
Emasculation of State and Community Police Forces.
Politicization and Corruption of Executive Branch Departments.
Deliberate Destruction of the Nation’s Economy.
Collusion between the Government and the Press to Distort News and to indoctrinate the public. [Fake News Media]
The defacing, destroying, and removing of national monuments.
Denigration of the American Flag and other national emblems.
Belittlement of the notion of “Citizen of the United States”.
Ennoblement of Marxist Lawbreakers and Illegal Aliens.
And most ominously,
Concerted Attacks on Civilian Possession of firearms and of the inherent, natural Right of Armed Self-defense.
The Era Of “Hybrid Warfare”
The Marxist & Neoliberal Globalist [deep state] forces that dare to crush both the institutions of our Nation and the spirit of our people are engaging in a new, sophisticated multilayered stratagem. It has a name. It is called, “Hybrid Warfare.” This is an expression that entered the political and military lexicon in 2008.
“In the twenty-first century, wars are not declared or waged conventionally; instead, conflicts are instigated by clandestine agents using military, non-military, media, cyber tools, information operations, NGOs, nonstate actors, intelligence agencies, economic tools, propaganda, ambiguity, terrorism, and insurgency or rebel movements. In hybrid warfare, the lines between peacetime and wartime and between combatants and civilians are blurred. Further, systemic aggression is imposed on the targeted state using gray zones, nonlinear warfare, unrestricted warfare, unconventional warfare, and color revolutions to avoid attribution and possible retribution against the aggressor.
The threat posed by hybrid warfare is real. hybrid warfare employs a wide array of power tools, including: political, economic, military, asymmetric, civil. Additionally, it includes informational tools such as: diplomacy, terrorism, proxies, and economic attacks to persuade populations or to divide societies. hybrid warfare targets the vulnerabilities of a society and system while deliberately exploiting ambiguity to avoid detection. It is usually detected only when it is fully functional and capable of inflicting harm. Some researchers believe that lawfare (in which law is used as a tool of aggression) is also a branch of hybrid warfare.”
John J. McCuen, in his 2008 paper ‘Hybrid Wars,’ describes hybrid warfare as ‘spectrum wars with both physical and conceptual dimensions: the former, a struggle against an armed enemy and the latter, a wider struggle for control and support of the combat zone’s indigenous population, the support of the home fronts of the intervening nations, and the support of the international community.’
Marxists and Neoliberal Globalists, are using hybrid warfare against Americans.
Be cognizant of it: what it is; how and where it is employed against our Nation and its people; and its impact on the Nation and on the people. Its effects are both subtle and lucid.
The application of hybrid warfare is subtle where it attacks the mind, psyche, and spirit of the American people. It is lucid where it attacks the tangible infrastructure of our towns and cities along with the intangible fundamental institutions of the Country, the very fabric of our society. These fundamental institutions include education; health; law; business and finance; and family and religion.
It is all under attack.
But the most insidious attack against the American citizen is the subtle—the attack on the psyche of the American people.
The Marxists and Neoliberal Globalists have attacked the very core of the American psyche in its assault on natural law rights: The most fundamental Natural Law Right—the Right of Self-defense—includes the Reciprocal Natural Law Responsibility of Self-defense.
Armed Self-defense provides the best means available to protect one’s physical being and that of one’s family.
The idea of “Self-defense,” generally, and “Armed Self-defense, especially, embody the concept of the sanctity and inviolability of Self.
The Right of Free Speech also goes to the sanctity of one’s Selfhood. The Right of Dissent is intrinsic to Selfhood.
The unalienable, immutable, illimitable right of the individual to be individual means Government cannot lawfully impinge upon or encroach on one’s Selfhood.
The sanctity and inviolability of Self are at the core of what it means to be an American. The framework of our Constitution is grounded on that sacred, inviolate, Truth. It is the single source of our Nation’s power and success.
The Marxists and Neoliberal Globalists know this to be so, and they are chiseling away at all of it. They intend to destroy the Soul of the American citizen. To effectuate this it is necessary to destroy the exercise of armed self-defense and exercise of free expression.
If the Marxists and Neoliberal Globalists defeat the exercise of armed self-defense and the exercise of free expression, they have succeeded to defeat the two salient avenues of resistance to their iron will.
For, if one is prevented from exercising one’s freedom of speech—the freedom to dissent, the freedom to exercise independence of thought—one’s mind, spirit, and soul is damaged.
And, if one is prevented from exercising his freedom to bear arms—one’s right of defense against a predatory beast, predatory man, or predatory government—then the safety and well-being of one’s physical Self are imperiled.
The two most basic rights—the right of self-protection and independence of thought—go together.
To lose the one is to lose the other.
Autonomy of Selfhood is impossible where the individual is helpless—physically, psychically, mentally, intellectually, spiritually.
The Marxists and Neoliberal Globalists intend to cripple mind, spirit, and soul, and they are doing this through the propagation of disinformation, misinformation, and psychological conditioning.
Control of government and the Press and social media provide them with powerful mechanisms to accomplish this.
Americans must do what is necessary to see that these ruthless, jealous, rapacious forces do not succeed.
About The Arbalest Quarrel:
Arbalest Group created `The Arbalest Quarrel’ website for a special purpose. That purpose is to educate the American public about recent Federal and State firearms control legislation. No other website, to our knowledge, provides as deep an analysis or as thorough an analysis. Arbalest Group offers this information free.
Gun-grabbing “leaders” have to make it look like they’re doing something, otherwise, people might figure out it’s all a big scam to hold on to power and influence. (New York State Attorney General/Facebook)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “As city of Poughkeepsie officials continue to grapple with a rash of gun violence, and city school district leaders deal with the implications of a shooting incident outside its high school, a second gun buyback event through the Attorney General’s Office in less than six months is scheduled in the city for the beginning of next month,” the Poughkeepsie Journal dutifully promotes. “Letitia James’ office is holding the event, in association with the city police department, Dec. 4…”
There is so much denial, hypocrisy, and outright public endangerment to unpack in such events, it’s difficult to know where to begin. We could start with the question gun owners have been asking for years: “How can government buy back something it never owned?
We could find it curious, but not unexpected, that Letitia James is taking a short break from trying to forcibly steal association assets away from NRA members not responsible for the accused misdeeds of “leadership.” She’s just grabbing some quick publicity for herself to make it look like she’s part of the solution to community violence instead of a big reason behind why the problems will only get worse under the policies she imposes.
We could also note that the Poughkeepsie Journal is “part of the USA Today Network” (a Gannett Publication), and note the media giant has never come across a gun it didn’t want to help grab. So it’s no surprise that, instead of presenting a complete report that covers all of the relevant considerations, it instead subjects its low-information, manipulable readership with what is essentially a publicity release and free advertising for the violence monopolists.
“Participants can trade in as many guns as they wish,” they obligingly parrot. “Weapons must be unloaded and transported inside a plastic bag, paper bag, or box.”
For such big poseurs about “commonsense gun safety,” that requirement endangers people unfamiliar with guns, like the widow who doesn’t know what to do with her late husband’s semiauto, and anyone around her. What steps have those offering a monetary incentive taken to ensure those following their instructions know the rules of real gun safety, where to keep it pointed, and how to clear the chamber or not touch the trigger?
How is that not creating an “attractive nuisance” that endangers the public?
“Identification is not required to take part, and no questions will be asked,” the “instructions” continue.
In other words, they are inviting, among others, “prohibited persons” to break the law, that is, encouraging what they otherwise call “gun crime.” That also happens to be a federal felony, so it’s interesting that New York’s top law enforcer has assigned herself the authority to do that. And we could go on about the state acting as a potential fence for stolen merchandise, or disposer of so-called “crime guns” (including murder weapons, all with “no questions asked!”)
It’s also interesting that everyone involved in “masterminding” this farce knows damn well it will have absolutely no effect on the situations they’re using as an excuse to put on a show exploiting the time-worn grabber mantra, “something must be done.” They just don’t know what. And they’re counting on the useful idiots dumb enough to vote for them to be unaware of the reality even recognized by the National Institute of Justice, which admitted almost 10 years ago:
“Evidence: Gun buybacks are ineffective as generally implemented. 1. The buybacks are too small to have an impact. 2. The guns turned in are at low risk of ever being used in a crime. 3. Replacement guns are easily acquired. Unless these three points are overcome, a gun buyback cannot be effective.”
Letitia James and the political opportunists know all this, but don’t dare admit that is the reason we see reports telling us “There have been more homicides [in Washington DC] so far in 2021 than any year since 2004 [and] Homicides rose in 29 major U.S. cities through September compared with the same period last year.” The major cities are Democrat-run and more likely than not part of the Bloomberg mayors club. Find one that’s not.
A convenient ploy used by all of them is to pin the blame on straw men rather than where it belongs, so it’s because of guns, or “systemic racism,” or anything else that is politically expedient to fault rather than on actual perpetrators of violence. Another common tactic is to condemn removing such violent misfits from society as “disproportionate” and use that as “justification” to release them unchecked back into an unlimited victim pool. That’s typically one where most of the victims come from the very communities being sold a fraudulent and resentment-fueled bill of goods by their “leaders.”
“Is there going to be an individual I divert, or put into a program, who’s going to go out and kill? You bet!”
Bringing things closer to Letitia James territory, we have a 13-year-old kid in the Bronx, one working to better himself and his community as evidenced by his attending the Manhattan Business Academy, randomly shot in the neck by an apparently deranged suspect reportedly “out on parole at the time and has several gun arrests [and] is a member of a family of reputed gang members.”
Yeah, keep letting sociopathic predators out. “Cancel” the rights of those of us who don’t need grants or mentorship programs to know it is wrong to murder and wrong to steal. Gin up mob fury for our heads If we ever commit the unforgivable act of “vigilantism” by defending ourselves with a gun.
And, oh yeah, why not hold another “buyback”? USA Today will be happy to write it up.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
