…….

Hagar was asked to write about the duty to retreat and why so many on the left feel it should be a requirement. Her answer was something like “2 to center of mass” She does not believe in the duty to retreat and it is not a topic she engages in when with her more leftist friends. They find her opinion on self defense to be “right wingnut extremist”.

In the 90’s there was a story in the Maryland press. A young man and was going to jail for murder. The press played it up as a “good job” by the jury.

The facts of the case were:

• Young man was over at his girlfriend’s apartment
• Girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend showed up at the apartment
• Ex was told to leave
• Ex starts banging on the door trying to get in.
• Girlfriend calls 911
• Boyfriend announces that he is armed
• Ex breaks down the door and starts to enter
• Girlfriend and boyfriend retreat into the bedroom
• Ex breaks down that door
• Girlfriend is on the call to 911 the entire time.
• Boyfriend points gun at Ex and warns him to leave.
• Ex advances on them
• Boyfriend fires multiple rounds (but not too many)
• Ex gets “reach room temperature” achievement
• Police arrive.
• Police arrest boyfriend for murder

At trial the prosecution and defense get all of the above into evidence. The defense gets the additional information that they were in a second floor apartment (10 to 12 feet from bedroom window to the ground).

The prosecution argued that the couple had a duty to retreat because the drop from the bedroom window wasn’t that much, they could have escaped.

With jury instructions, the boyfriend was found guilty of first degree murder.

Maryland has no castle doctrine. In Maryland there is always a duty to retreat.

Most states have some sort of duty to retreat, with exceptions.

You have a duty to retreat in all cases. If you can retreat you must make every attempt to retreat as judged by Monday night quarterbacks. Maryland for example.

You have a duty to retreat if you can do so safely. With safety is in the eye of the prosecutor.

You have a duty to retreat everywhere except your own home when you have nowhere else to retreat within your home.

You have a duty to retreat everywhere except your own home.

You have a duty to retreat outside of your home except where you can not do it safely.

You have a duty to retreat except when you are legally allowed to be where you are doing what you are doing. “Stand your ground” type laws.

The leftist mindset on duty to retreat can be exemplified by opinions of the left after 9/11. The opinion pieces constantly harped on the fact that Bush did not order the 2nd, 3rd and 4th hijacked planes shot down. If he had just shot down those 3 planes he would have saved so many thousands of people.

When it was pointed out to them that if he had done that, the left would be screaming for his head as a murder because he couldn’t be sure those hijacked planes were really going to fly into other buildings.

It is the same mindset we hear from the left when the scream about a rape victim murdering her rapist. According to the left, the rape victim should have called the cops, the cops would have then arrested the rapist, and the rapist would have had a trial before a jury of his peers and if he was found guilty by the jury, then and only then could punishment be handed out. But not the death sentence.

Here is the thing that they don’t get, a jury has a very few tasks. Their primary task is to evaluate the evidence presented and decide on the facts of the case. Was a crime committed? Was this the person(s) that committed the crime within the definitions of the crime.

In order to reach those conclusions, the jury evaluates each piece of evidence to see if that evidence is believable and actually implicate the suspect. There isn’t much more a jury does.

When some animal has his cock in a woman and she is able to blow him away, there is no jury required. That is the person committing the crime. They are in fact committing a crime.

There is no need to ask the Jury, “is this the person that raped her?” That fact is easily determined at that instant.

In order to understand this mindset, you need to remember that to the left, the government is the answer. You are never as good at making a decision as the government.

They have this mindset because so many of those that are not NPCs truly believe in what passes for a heart that they know better than others. That their opinion is better than yours, in every case.

If a wild animal is attacking my child I’m going to shoot it dead. I don’t have to have the government give me permission, the animal is attacking my child. That makes it dangerous. That is the end of the discussion.

The left operates from the point that “you could be mistaken”

Worse, the left feels that there are excuses that mitigate the actions of dangerous animals.

In the novel, play and movie “Les Misérables” the “hero” is in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. He excuses himself because he was hungry.

In San Francisco, heck in all of California, stealing less than $1000 worth of goods at one time is not a crime, because people were “shoplifting” in order to feed themselves and their poor hungry children. Would you really want a baby to go without diapers?

This is normal for them. When somebody does something wrong or evil, there is always a cause and that cause is never their own bad actions.

If a woman is being raped then the animal that is doing it that she shot and killed must have been driven to it. Did she bring it on herself? Was she being a tease? Always and forever it is victim blaming. If only she had not stopped to get cash out of the ATM he would still be alive. She didn’t have to shoot him.

When a young man was chased be a mentally deranged man that attempted to take his rifle from him. That young man shoot and killed that mentally deranged man. That child was found guilty in the court of leftist opinion. If he hadn’t been there two men would still be alive today. It is his fault.

If he hadn’t decided to play soldier and bring his assault weapon to a peaceful protest, those men would still be alive. He was looking to kill somebody when he brought a gun to a protest.

And because that young man fired those shoots, two men died, a third almost lost his life, and a forth man had his arm destroyed.

When everything is said and done, the left looks on an armed person as a person that has decided that they have the right to be judge, jury and executioner, all in one. They feel that you are not wise enough to make that determination. They feel that only the government should be allowed to make the decision and only the government should have the right to met out punishment.

You are the Jury as an armed person. You are making a judgement call. You are determining if there is cause for you to use deadly force. You are the Judge. You are deciding if the situation is within the legal boundaries that allow you to use deadly force. And you are the executioner. If you fire that shot you are either a good executioner or a poor one, but you have made the decision to kill another living animal.

If you haven’t looked into your soul and found peace within for making that decision, you might want to rethink carrying a firearm for self-defense.

Be well out there. Be safe.

At this time there are dozens of lawsuits in play by many different players fighting for our Second Amendment guaranteed rights. These are cases being run by some of the best lawyers in the country. Some of those lawyers are admitted to the Supreme Court bar.

Legal costs add up in a hurry.

My wife did a stupid a few years ago, a traffic violation. Nobody was hurt. It had nothing to do with being impaired while driving. It was a moment of inattention followed with some serious brain not engaged stupid.

She was guilty, she wanted to plead guilty. We still got a lawyer involved. For a simple traffic case with nobody trying to do anything and not arguing, just negotiating for the least punishment, it cost us over $3000. That was for a good local lawyer.

Right now the Oregon Firearms Federation as a suit field in the district court. The case is being argued by Attorney John Kaempf. His rates to the OFF are $500/hour for attorneys’ work and $250/hour for paralegals’ work. This appears to be at some sort of discount as other lawyers in the area are charging more.

At this point OFF has racked up more than $126,000 in legal fees. They have already paid $60,000 of that but have not been able to pay the December bill.

This case is going to cost a boat load of money to fight. OFF doesn’t seem to have the money right now. It would be shitty if the case failed for lack of representation.

Now the GOA and FPC have cases against Measure 114 happening as well. Those cases are racking up legal fees rapidly too.

Take a moment to consider joining or making a donation to any of the groups that are fighting in court for all of us.

[visual-link-preview encoded=”eyJ0eXBlIjoiZXh0ZXJuYWwiLCJwb3N0IjowLCJwb3N0X2xhYmVsIjoiIiwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9kb25hdGUuZ3Vub3duZXJzLm9yZy9qb2luLyIsImltYWdlX2lkIjotMSwiaW1hZ2VfdXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9kb25hdGUuZ3Vub3duZXJzLm9yZy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvMjAxOC8wMy9zdGV2ZV9kYWluZXNfcXVvdGVfMi0xMDI0eDM4NS5wbmciLCJ0aXRsZSI6IkpvaW4gR3VuIE93bmVycyBvZiBBbWVyaWNhIOKAkyBHdW4gT3duZXJzIG9mIEFtZXJpY2EiLCJzdW1tYXJ5IjoiIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJ1c2VfZGVmYXVsdF9mcm9tX3NldHRpbmdzIn0=”]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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”]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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″]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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”]

And the full story on the legal issues that OFF is currently having.

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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″]

This could not have happened to a more deserving man. Unfortunately, the armorer is also being charged.

They are up for 2 counts of involuntary manslaughter at 18 months for each count and an special circumstances of it involving a gun for 5 years. This means that they could each be facing up to 13 years in prison.

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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”]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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″]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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″]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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”]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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”]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”eyJ0eXBlIjoiZXh0ZXJuYWwiLCJwb3N0IjowLCJwb3N0X2xhYmVsIjoiIiwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlZ3VhcmRpYW4uY29tL3VzLW5ld3MvMjAyMy9qYW4vMTkvcnVzdC1maWxtLXNldC1zaG9vdGluZy1jcmltaW5hbC1jaGFyZ2VzLWFsZWMtYmFsZHdpbiIsImltYWdlX2lkIjotMSwiaW1hZ2VfdXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9pLmd1aW0uY28udWsvaW1nL21lZGlhL2Q2ZDhkZWIyYjljMmRkNDRkZDVkY2U1YzgzZmMxNjkwNTI1OGI4MDEvMF8wXzIyNjZfMTM2MC9tYXN0ZXIvMjI2Ni5qcGc/d2lkdGg9MTIwMCZoZWlnaHQ9NjMwJnF1YWxpdHk9ODUmYXV0bz1mb3JtYXQmZml0PWNyb3Amb3ZlcmxheS1hbGlnbj1ib3R0b20lMkNsZWZ0Jm92ZXJsYXktd2lkdGg9MTAwcCZvdmVybGF5LWJhc2U2ND1MMmx0Wnk5emRHRjBhV012YjNabGNteGhlWE12ZEdjdFpHVm1ZWFZzZEM1d2JtYyZlbmFibGU9dXBzY2FsZSZzPWE1NmZmYWJjZWQzZjcyYTQzMWY4M2EyYjUyNjFjMmQ3IiwidGl0bGUiOiJBbGVjIEJhbGR3aW4gdG8gYmUgY2hhcmdlZCB3aXRoIGludm9sdW50YXJ5IG1hbnNsYXVnaHRlciBpbiBmYXRhbCBzaG9vdGluZyBvbiBSdXN0IGZpbG0gc2V0Iiwic3VtbWFyeSI6IkZpbG3igJlzIGFybW9yZXIgb3ZlcnNlZWluZyB3ZWFwb25zLCBIYW5uYWggR3V0aWVycmV6IFJlZWQsIHdpbGwgYWxzbyBiZSBjaGFyZ2VkIHdpdGggaW52b2x1bnRhcnkgbWFuc2xhdWdodGVyIGluIDIwMjEgc2hvb3RpbmciLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6InVzZV9kZWZhdWx0X2Zyb21fc2V0dGluZ3MifQ==”]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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”]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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″]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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″]

[visual-link-preview encoded=”eyJ0eXBlIjoiZXh0ZXJuYWwiLCJwb3N0IjowLCJwb3N0X2xhYmVsIjoiIiwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3BiZi5jb20vYXJ0aWNsZS9ydXN0LWZhdGFsLXNob290aW5nLWFsZWMtYmFsZHdpbi80MjU2MDMyOSIsImltYWdlX2lkIjotMSwiaW1hZ2VfdXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9rdWJyaWNrLmh0dmFwcHMuY29tL2h0di1wcm9kLW1lZGlhLnMzLmFtYXpvbmF3cy5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2dldHR5aW1hZ2VzLTE2NzQxMjk0OTguanBnP2Nyb3A9MS4wMHh3OjAuNzgyeGg7MCwwLjAzMzN4aCZyZXNpemU9MTIwMDoqIiwidGl0bGUiOiJBbGVjIEJhbGR3aW4gY2hhcmdlZCBpbiDigJhSdXN04oCZIG1vdmllIHNldCBzaG9vdGluZyB0aGF0IGtpbGxlZCBIYWx5bmEgSHV0Y2hpbnMiLCJzdW1tYXJ5IjoiQ2luZW1hdG9ncmFwaGVyIEhhbHluYSBIdXRjaGlucyBkaWVkIHNob3J0bHkgYWZ0ZXIgYmVpbmcgc2hvdCBieSBhY3RvciBBbGVjIEJhbGR3aW4gZHVyaW5nIGEgcmVoZWFyc2FsIG9uIHRoZSBzZXQgb2YgdGhlIFdlc3Rlcm4gbW92aWUg4oCcUnVzdOKAnSBvbiBPY3QuIDIxLCAyMDIxLiIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoidXNlX2RlZmF1bHRfZnJvbV9zZXR0aW5ncyJ9″]

For years I’ve been having breakfast conversations with my lady. I would bring her news from my feeds and my point of view. As a trusted source she had no problems engaging people in her feeds with the information, facts and opinions I gave her in the morning.

On one particular morning I told her about something I had heard. She forwarded it to her feeds and got slammed. What I had told her was factually incorrect. I had not checked my sources, I had not bothered to verify what I had heard. It was one of those “too good to be true” stories and it turned out it wasn’t.

I damaged my reputation with my lady with that one clumsy action.

To this day, if I have not personally verified something I will tell her that I have not verified it myself. If I have verified it and said as much she will trust my representation, but if I have not specifically verified the information she will before she uses it.

I am an opinionated S.O.B. I tried to ground my opinions in facts and figures. I don’t always succeed.

When I started to write here I took it upon myself to make sure that I very carefully delineated my opinion from actual facts. This has caused me to do deeper dives into content than I had originally intended. Most of my articles take hours to write. I’ve had some take 8 to 10 hours including all the research.

To that end I’ve attempted to make sure that I quote my sources and that I provide references.

So we need to talk about references or sources. There are three types of sources we deal with, primary sources, secondary sources and first hand sources.

If I report that I observed a particular thing, that is a first hand or first person source. I am reporting what I saw or heard. For example: I observed that nobody in my area had any issues with people destroying Trump yard signs. The local police didn’t do anything. The local media didn’t report it. When there were two or three BLM signs vandalized the police investigated, the police issued a statement and the local media published multiple articles regarding the evil of the right-wing.

Now if you repeat that story “AWA wrote an article about how destruction of Trump yard signs was treated differently from the destruction of BLM yard signs.” That is a true statement. People can reference my article and draw their own conclusions.

On the other hand, if you were to write your own article based on the information I provided you would be using a secondary source.

In order to help with this, I attempt to provide references to my primary sources. These would be links to local media, links to police announcements, links to images of destroyed Trump signs. Now I won’t do that because I really don’t want to say what “local” means.

Over the years of watching 2A videos and reading 2A articles I noticed that they often showed a document or the talked about a document but they never put links to the documents.

The reason for this is likely simple, PACER. PACER is Public Access to Court Electronic Records. The idea is that all documents that are filed in court are recorded in PACER for the public to access… at $0.10 per page.

While no one document will cost more than $3.00 there is a heck of a lot of documents that get filed. You would have to pay for all of them. In addition there is a price for doing searches. “Anytime a search is performed you are charged a fee based on the number of pages generated in the search, even if the search displays “no matches found.” There is no maximum fee for these searches.” So if you get a huge set of search results, you better save it as there is going to be a bill associated with it.

In addition, transcripts are charged at $0.10 per page. With the formatting on transcripts this can be pretty big.

The Second Circuit maintains its docket in the Case Management/Electronic Case-Filing (CM/ECF) system for all appeals filed on or after January 1, 2010. Anyone wishing to view docket entries and electronically filed documents for an appeal with a docket number starting with “10” or higher can access the docket by logging in the Second Circuit’s CM/ECF database linked with PACER.

It is the same for district courts as well. The Supreme Court, on the other hand, keeps their documents open and available and free.

What this means is that if somebody pulls a legal document from PACER they can’t just post a link to it and worse, PACER claims to own all of the documents they have, so sharing it is also forbidden.

This often times leads to extended searching in order to find primary sources for court documents. And the actual words of some of these documents make a difference.

For example, in my article about As the Narrative Turns – “Gun reform” Episode 32768 has a mention of the Supreme Court ruling for New York State in regards to the CCIA. In reading the actual opinion published by the Supreme Court you quickly find that it isn’t a victory for anybody.

Alito clearly says that the case is being left with the second circuit court to allow them to work through in the normal course of a court. He also tells the plaintiffs to reapply to the Supreme Court if the second circuit doesn’t give them the reasons for the current stay or if the second circuit doesn’t give them an expedited hearing on any appeal filed with them. Finally, the opinion mentions a number of district court cases by name regarding the CCIA. All of which is polite talk from the Supreme Court to the second to get their act squared away.

The words make a difference.

One problem with some of these documents is that I don’t have clean electronic copies of the primary references. The Gun Control Act of 1968 exists in PDF form on the net. It is a sequence of images of the act. In order to provide you with quotes from the Act I had to transcribe it by hand.

Regardless, references are important and you should all strive to use primary sources. Watch for weasel worded quotes. Anytime you find a quote with ellipses (…) you should ask yourself what was left out. We’ve seen many cases where the author of an article uses ellipses to cut out words that change the entire meaning of the quote.

That is one of the reasons my block quotes get so big. I want to provide you with complete context, or nearly so.

Finally, be careful of circular confirmation or single source items.

A circular confirmation is when multiple articles all report the same base set of facts. It seems like those are the actual facts. But the different articles often times reference back to each other. It isn’t that the NYT has independently confirmed fact B, it is that they read in the Washington Post that B was a fact. The Washington Post hasn’t independently confirmed fact B, it is that they read in the NYT that B was a fact.

Finally there is the single source problem. This is when multiple articles reference a single source. Then more articles reference the first set of articles. In a short period of time everyone is reporting the same set of facts. Unfortunately, all of the sources for that set of facts leads back to a single source, which may or may not be trustworthy.

When you write about a subject, you are adding the weight of your reputation to the that subject. Get your facts right before you begin. I really don’t want to admit the number of times I’ve deleted paragraphs from an article because my research showed that I was wrong about the base facts.

Finally, pay attention to your sources. There are people out there that want to make you and I look bad. They do that by creating content and attributing it to respected sources. Or pretending to be that respected source. If somebody tells you that Ben Shapiro said something that doesn’t match what you expect to hear from him, demand the proof.

I use to watch Glenn Beck, I was often told that he said horrible things. All I needed to do was to search youtube and the proof would be there. I did. What I found was a few dozen videos of Glenn Beck saying bad things. The total time he spent saying those “bad things” was around 5 to 10 minutes. So for a man with 1000s of hours of live broadcasts to have only 5 to 10 minutes of things that sound bad, out of context, that’s doing pretty good.

So check. If it doesn’t sound right, it likely isn’t.

And remember, there are people that will fake things just to mess with you.

You only need to look at the language used in order to understand what the infringers want. There use to be The Temperance Movement. It started in the early 1800’s and advocated for people to stop overindulging in alcohol consumption.

Most of these Temperance Movement members were female. Often they became members because they were dealing with alcoholic husbands and fathers. Alcoholism was generational. With one generation teaching the next to be “hard drinking men”.

At the same time recovering alcoholics were creating their own temperance groups. The difference being that they wanted total abstinence. It was a huge issue.

But the language was of “temperance”. That was the name of the groups. As one pundit put it recently, “It is right there in the name.”

By the beginning of the 20th century, these groups had morphed into demanding a complete prohibition on alcohol at both state and federal levels. Many members were violent, destroying bars and saloons. Destroying alcohol whenever they found it.

They believed in violent action to get their way.

The “Temperance Movement” soon demanded and got a complete ban on alcohol within the United States with a constitutional amendment.

In 1974, Mark Borinsky founded the National Council to Control Handguns. Its original mission statement is not easy to find. The general target at that time was for cheap, inexpensive guns, sometimes referred to as “Saturday Night Specials”. I.e. the target was those that had limited means to purchase higher quality firearms.

Just a few months earlier the Committee for Handgun Control, Inc. was founded. This group put members in other infringement groups to work for a common message. The message was “handguns are bad. Nobody but a criminal needs a handgun.” They advocated for licensing handgun owners, restricting certain handgun types, and creating a nation wide handgun owner and gun registry.

They wanted every handgun registered and every owner of a handgun registered as well.

They even went so far as to get the US Consumer Products Safety Division to define handgun ammunition as a hazardous substance and ban its sale. This required an act of Congress to kick the CPSD back into their place.

Congress was pressured into passing several laws banning “Saturday Night Specials” but they were unable to move any legislation forward on handguns in general.

The CFHC became renamed themselves as the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV). Reportedly because the NCCH was not advocating for strong enough gun control laws.

The National Council to Control Handguns become Handgun Control, Inc. in 1980.

The language was very clear, they wanted to ban all handguns.

After the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan Handgun Control, Inc. worked to get more gun control passed.

They were joined by Sarah Brady and using the image of James Brady got the Brady Bill passed, this established NICS and all of the rest of that mess.

In 2001 they rebranded again as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

The messaging is clear at this point. They were no longer talking about “handgun control” or “gun control”, they were talking about “stopping gun violence”. Where the formal definition was “gun-related violence”. This is the same word game that the climate extremist use when they talk about lowering carbon emissions which are actually defined as carbon dioxide emissions.

Talking about stopping all those nasty companies from spewing black ugly carbon into the air sounds so much better than talking about a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that plants need to survive. Talking about stopping gun violence by restricting access to guns sounds much better than talking about stopping gun related violence by restricting access to guns.

Today the infringers talk about “Stopping Gun Violence”, “Introducing common sense gun safety regulations”, “Advocating for gun responsibility”, and general “gun safety”. They never step up and admit that they are attempting to ban all firearms from the people of the United States.

Even though more than a few have let that slip, as in “Hell Yes we are coming to take your AR-15s” from the presidential wannabe. Or Pelosie’s “If I had had the votes I would have take them all.” when she got the first federal AWB passed.

In order to push the narrative, the term used for “more gun control laws” is “gun [law] reform”. That sounds so much better than “gun bans”.

This language shows what we know. The laws, as written, are in favor of the right to keep and bear arms. They need more laws to infringe on that right. That’s why they need reform.

We, the people, don’t need gun laws reformed, we need them removed because they are in violation of the Contstitution.

The Guardian holds up the CCIA of New York State, the “Kill Carry” bill of NJ, the AWB of Illinois as examples of state level victories in gun reform.

In recent years, the US has seen a flurry of activity at the state level to combat gun violence, which the American Public Health Associations has classified as an epidemic. According to the Gun Violence Archive, guns claimed the lives of more than 44,000 Americans in 2022, including 24,000 who died by suicide. Gun safety groups say passing new laws like the Illinois assault weapons ban will become even more crucial in the coming months to address this issue: with Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives, the prospects for enacting additional federal gun legislation in the near future appear bleak.

At least they were honest enough to include actual suicide numbers. More people died of suicide by firearm than all other gun related deaths. Remember that gun related deaths includes all justified homicides as well.

That armed robber, moving towards room temperature, is considered a victim of “gun violence” by the gun rights infringers.

They fail to point out that any statistic from the Gun Violence Archive is bogus. The reason is that GVA uses media reporting to determine instances of gun-related violence. This equivalent of one “unnamed source near the investigation” leaking to four different media outlets the same story. And then all four of them report the story is true because they had “independently verified the story” Even though they all used exactly the same source.

As always, they never ever stop. Having gotten the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed, one group had this to say:

“That’s just the beginning, and we’re just scratching the surface there,” said Zeenat Yahya, director of policy for the gun safety group March For Our Lives. “That’s not the end all, be all, but it was really exciting to see that progress.”

They continue to use “gun safety advocates’ demands for more action at the federal level” rather than the older “Gun control extremists demand…”

Everytown brags about the number of infringing laws that were passed by the states.

Still, Yahya agreed that reform at the state level has become “even more important with the Republican control of the House”. In the past year, states have already enacted a number of new gun laws championed by groups like March For Our Lives. According to the group Everytown for Gun Safety, at least 51 new laws aimed at reducing gun violence were passed in 2022, while dozens of bills backed by the gun lobby were defeated.

If they can’t win at the federal level, they attack at the state level, if they are losing at the state level, they attack on the federal level. The only consistent function is they always want more.

And again, notice that anything we, as gun owners, advocate for is “back by the gun lobby” rather than any suggestion of a grassroots advocacy.

Of course they can lie by misdirection:

Last June, the conservative-leaning supreme court struck down a New York law that placed strict regulations on carrying a firearm in public. In response to the court’s ruling, New York legislators enacted a new law that included an extensive list of sensitive places where guns would be prohibited – such as schools, medical facilities and government buildings. The new policy is now facing legal challenges, although the supreme court ruled Wednesday that the law can remain in effect for the time being.

The Supreme Court didn’t rule on anything. They decided not to hear the request for an emergency action. Very different.

Just because they don’t hear a case doesn’t mean they have think the situation is correct, as it sits.

Gun safety advocates highlight New York’s legislative response to the supreme court’s ruling as a key example of how states can proactively address gun violence, even as federal legislation remains stalled.

Yep, they love those F’ You’s that the states are throwing towards the Supreme Court.

“This year, we’ll be doubling down on our efforts to go statehouse by statehouse to continue to pass life-saving laws,” said Monisha Henley, managing director of state government affairs at Everytown. “That is happening no matter what’s going on in DC.”

[visual-link-preview encoded=”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”]

I asked my wife for a recommendation for today. She mentioned “Grand Old Flag” and I really wanted to put it here. Unfortunately all of the YouTube videos (and videos searches in general) kept popping up kids versions. Not what I wanted.

But in the midst of all that chaff there was a kernel.

My flag means so much to me.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
And to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I’ve said these words all my life. I stand up when the flag goes past. I take my hat off and put my hand over my heart.

It isn’t the colorful fabric moving slowly up the street, carried by veterans or Boy Scouts, or the High School Marching Band, that pull on my emotions.

It is what that flag represents to me. It is a nation founded on natural rights. A nation with equality for all. A nation where there is justice for all, equally.

It is a country where the rule of law is always the goal.

There are times when I hate the people in power for the disrespect they show my country and myself.

There are times when I see somebody being disrespectful of the flag, because they know it shows disrespect for my country.

“My country, right or wrong.” and “I disagree with you but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” are phrases I grew up with.

I cried when I saw people burning the flag of my country. Of hating it so much. Of hating everything that I love about my country.

And this expresses it:

Words have meaning “House Democrats introduce measure to lower voting age to 16”

Hmmm, so not a bill. Just a measure.

The bill, House Resolution 16, would establish that “the right of citizens of the United States, who are sixteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.”

So which is it? Is it a “bill” or is it a “resolution”? This doesn’t make any sense.

The policy would repeal the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which establishes the national voting age as 18. 

What? This policy would repeal an amendment to the Constitution? Did they miss every Schoolhouse Rock episode?

H/T to Dive Medic

TL;DR; I’m a home owner. I had to replace the sump pump after my basement flooded. It was cold yucky and things went wrong before the went right.

I’m very lucky. We own our home. I grew up in a family that moved from place to place but my parents always owned, where ever they lived.

When I left University I dreamed of owning my own home. After a few years I bought my first home. And lost it when I got divorced and all of my income went to lawyers, child support and living in a shit place to stay near my children.

I blame it on the divorce, but it was my fault.

Years later my wife and I worked with another couple and we bought a beautiful farm. House, barn, detached garage. 125 acres with about 100 of that in forest. It was my dream home.

When the other couple decided that I had to go we were bought out for pennies on the dollar. Seems that all the money that we were contributing went to “household expenses” while all of the, significantly less, money that they brought in went to paying down the principal on the mortgage. So according to the books they had all the equity.

We bought this house. I love our house. It needs work. It always needs work.

We bought it from the bank at about half the assessed value just as the housing bubble burst. One of the first things we had to do was replace the hot water heater and furnace and much of the copper piping.

Luckily for us, most of the copper was in exposed areas so easy to get to and replace. For those areas that were not accessible the pipes passed pressure tests. They were good.

Seems that when the bank took ownership of the house the first thing they did was turn off the water and power.

They didn’t winterize the house. This caused the water to freeze and burst pipes.

While our house sits on the top of a hill, when it was built they built it with a sump pump design. This means that water is routed around the foundation to a single opening in the foundation. From there the water flows in to the sump from which it is then pumped out of the sump.

When the bank turned off the power, they turned of the power to the sump pump.

About a month later a neighbor called the realtor and told them water was coming out of the basement windows.

The water lines in our basement are at the bottom of the windows. The basement flooded.

The bank took care of the sump and getting the water out and making sure it didn’t flood again.

But that pump was old. And when we moved in it failed. We would check for water and I’d go get that pump running.

It would run fine for a year or so until the wife would move the discharge pipe because it was in the way or knock something into the sump and not fish it out.

Last summer it died and I replaced it.

The new pump was cheap. Amazon purchase. I got it installed and it was amazing. Kept the basement dry. Noisy as hell though.

It was cheap chinesium. It didn’t like to pump water to begin with, but always did in the end. Sometimes it wouldn’t shut off. But it worked. I was happier.

But because it wasn’t right I bought a much better replacement pump.

Friday was a not fun night.

My lady and daughter were reporting a “burning plastic smell” which they could not identify. They checked every outlet in the house and couldn’t find anything.

I through they checked the basement as well.

It was date night so I took wife out for some very good Indian food.

When we got home the smell was obvious. I started checking upstairs and sent the kids to check if they could find the smell in the basement.

Smells are sometimes and issue in our house. It is a rural type area and we have had more than a few mice die and we find out when they start to smell and we have to find and remove the rotting bodies.

So the kids head down to the basement. Access is via a set of outside storm doors. I hear them open the door and start laughing.

Daughter comes up and tells me there is water in the basement.

Which is my cue.

I take of my socks. Put on my shoes and head out and down to the basement. I roll up my pants legs to over my knees and walk down the steps into the basement and water.

Somewhere between 8 and 12 inches of very very cold water. This is water from melted snow that has flowed off the roof and yard and into the basement through that damn opening.

I make my way through the floating storage boxes to the sump. I get there and plunge my hand into that icy water, find the float and wiggle it.

The pump turns on. A few minutes later it sounds like it is ejecting water.

It took about an hour or two to drain the basement but then the pump didn’t turn off.

Back I went. Pulled the pump up to check it.

The float will not dip far enough to turn off the sump nor is it coming up enough to turn on the sump pump.

The float is attached to the pump by a plastic tube that carries the wires to the float valve. In the float valve there are two contact points, one on the bottom and one on the top. When the float is hanging down it makes contact with a solid click and the pump stops. If the float is high enough the the contact swings/rolls/moves to contact the switch at the top which turns on the pump. Easy stuff.

You adjust when the pump turns off or on by adjusting the length of the arm attached to the float.

When we installed the pump it was warm. Everything worked wonderfully.

But that plastic tube becomes stiff when the temperature goes down. Like sitting in a sump filled with snow runoff.

When it is stiff, it doesn’t move up and down so the sump doesn’t turn on or off.

This was the root cause.

I stayed down there to make sure it turned back on. It didn’t want to. I did the magic to make it work. Made plans to replace it today.

Once the sump was empty I wiggled the pump and it turned off. I went upstairs to get ready for the night, knowing that I would awake up to a flooded basement, again.

Well I didn’t. The pump turned on but refused to turn off. I decided I would rather the damn thing burn itself out over night than to come down to a flooded basement.

So today’s fun was the replacement of that pump.

First thing is that NONE of the fittings from the old pump(s) fit. In addition, I had to disconnect two barb fittings. And they would not come apart.

The issue was that the black plastic pipe doesn’t deform worth shit when it is cold. Which it was.

I ended up cutting the pipe to get everything out. Then once I had all the fittings apart I could figure out what I needed.

And while I’m doing this, the sump is filling.

Off to the hardware store. They have all the parts I need plus they are willing to sell me a four foot length of 1″ black plastic piping to replace the piping I cut. I didn’t have to buy an entire roll. Thank goodness.

I get some water to boiling and by dunking the pipe end into the boiling water I made it soft enough to push in the barb. Things are going better.

Back into the basement to get things put together with the new pump.

And the fittings don’t match. So I take the copper riser pipe and its nasty crusty pipe out to the shop where I can use some serious persuasion. I get the fittings off the pipe. I go to put the new fittings back on and realize that the iron coupler needs some work.

I put it in the lathe and get it cleaned up to reuse.

Back to the basement to put everything together.

And my son has misunderstood his task. He’s pulled the exhaust pipe out of the wall, including breaking the bracketts holding it inplace.

GRRRRRRRR.

And he hasn’t accomplished what I actually needed him to do.

He is retasked and daughter and I start putting the new pump in place. Water is out of the sump and about 1″ deep at the sump. Most of the basement is still damp from the night before but not yet flooded.

We get everything done but son is still not done. Send daughter up to check on him. He’s messed it up. He decided that he couldn’t get the elbow into the pot of boiling water. So instead he just poured the boiling water over the elbow and onto the ground. Which half did the job but now he doesn’t have any more boiling water.

Daughter takes care of that by getting more boiling water and showing him that he can pour the water over the elbow into another pot and back again until the pipe is soft enough to take apart.

So after 30 minutes of letting him work the problem with his sisters assistance, They finally bring the piping back to me.

Water is now about 1.5 inches deep at the sump. I quickly get my pipes into the boiling water that daughter has brought down. With the black pipe soft I’m able to get the elbow in place. All of the hose clamps have been snugged down and the pump goes into the sump.

I plug it in.

No sounds. I can almost feel a slight hum from under my feets.

I send son out to check for water coming out the exhaust pipe.

He reports back that there is water flowing well.

The new pump is faster and very quiet. It just works. The difference between a $79 cheap but it works and a $300 cast iron 15 year plus warranty pump.

Basement is drying. Daughter took care of the few items that were water damaged. Been here, done this. We are slow learners but we do. Everything that is stored in the basement is in Rubbermaid bins that are water tight.

I’ve heard/felt the pump do its thing a couple of times. It is right under my offce.

Oh, yes, we have water sensors in the basement.

My wife didn’t know what they were so moved them up and out of the way so they wouldn’t get wet if the basement started to flood again.

Often when we see a bill being argued we analyze the bill and discuss how it is intended to be used and how it is likely to be used. WHen things happen that the bills originators did not intend we call that “The Law of Unintended Consequences.”

My favorite example of this was G.W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” program. My wife is a teacher. As she explained it to me, the program meant that they could no longer fail a student, “hold back” as they now call it. Every child, no matter how far behind, no matter how many sigmas below mean they might be had to be passed to the next grade.

This was the start of the great push to get everybody through high school. It didn’t matter if the student had earned a high school degree, they were going to graduate.

The harm this did to so many children is propagating through out our current society. Kids that couldn’t read, couldn’t do math, that were ignorant of just about all of history are no adults that are functionally illiterate, incapable of adding two numbers and getting the same answer twice in a row, and are pontificating on subjects where they don’t know what happened 10 years ago much less 100 or 500 years ago.

Ignorant by design.

And all because the teachers unions wanted G.W. Bush’s program to fail. This was my introduction to hating teachers unions. Prior to this, it was only a mild dislike.

In 1993, in response to the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, by a crazy person, the gun grabbers (Chuck Schumer) got the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 passed and signed into law. This established the NICS check program.

Under the Brady Act an FFL was required to run a background check prior to transferring a firearm.

5 business days (meaning days on which State offices are open) have elapsed from the date the transferor furnished notice of the contents of the statement to the chief law enforcement officer, during which period the transferor has not received information from the chief law enforcement officer that receipt or possession of the handgun by the transferee would be in violation of Federal, State, or local law; or

This is language, in the “Interim Provision” is there to light a fire under government bureaucrats. The FFL had one day to file for the background check with the chief law enforcement officer. The chief LEO had 5 days to get a response back to the FFL or the transfer could proceed.

The bill gave the Attorney General 6 months to identify the system they were going to build and a total of 60 months from time of passage to have a NICS system in place. This is because everybody on the gun grabber side KNEW that it would take longer than five days to do the checks that they wanted done.

The actual thought by the infringers was that the NICS system would stop people from buying firearms. It didn’t.

Oh, notice the language “Handgun”. It quickly morphed in include all firearms that are not also NFA items.

There is more language in the bill to allow the states to do their own thing as long as they did the check. And it still required the ability for the FFL to proceed if they had no response within those 5 days.

But now we are seeing a spat of bills showing up that are designed to circumvent this fail safe. The infringers argue that the default should be to NOT transfer the firearm. Just to make sure no bad person gets a gun from an FFL.

But we know what will actually happen. We have the proof already. NFA transfers and approvals take months if not years to be approved. And paperwork gets sent back for minor errors that require the application to be resubmitted.

Every location that had a permit to purchase scheme in place started slow walking applications when the panic began. South Carolina is experience huge backlogs in permits for CCWs.

If we let them add “we were busy” as a reason to delay a transfer you can darn well bet that we are going to see staffing reduced in those places. No need to be efficient or rapid. So what if it takes 6 months to approve a firearm transfer. They should just be happy they are allowed to purchase a firearm at all.

And it would not surprise me if we started to see lubricant being presented to government officials to fast track applications.

Measure 114 out of Oregon already does this. They changed a “no response” to be “wait until we allow you to proceed”. This isn’t an unintended consequence. This is intentional.

Post Bruen the states that are anti-freedom are doing their best to stop people from exercising their right to keep and bear arms.

Watch for more of this “delays should not proceed” legislation in the near future.

Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

The American public no longer believes the Supreme Court is impartial

“Never in recent history, perhaps, have so many Americans viewed the Supreme Court as fundamentally partisan.”

Ummm, I’d guess the author of this rant never talked to anybody from the right in “recent history”. We had Sotomayor and Kagan appointed to the Supreme Court with some of the worse credentials and court history. We saw Kagan(?) refuse to recuse herself when ruling on ObamaCare when the state brought the arguments she wrote to the court.

We had the “notorious RGB” how was freaking awesome at finding a reason to go with her political choices in almost every major ruling.

For decades the question was never “Which leftist justice will side with the conservatives?” it was always “Which ‘conservative’ justice will cave this time?”

The number of decisions made by the Supreme Court while under leftist control that were unmoored from the constitution is absolutely amazing to consider.

Yes, many Americans view the Supreme Court as partisan, they have for decades, the difference is that it is now the left that is feeling it rather than rejoicing in it.

“In one recent poll, a majority of Americans opined that Supreme Court justices let partisan views influence major rulings.”

A true statement, I do believe that the leftist justices let their partisan views influence them. While I might not like some of the rulings that come out because they didn’t give me the results I want, I respect those conservative judges that follow the law, rather than their partisan views.

“But Democrats’ support has plummeted to 13 percent,…”

Of course, because they weren’t getting their way. Leftist love to cry when the lose, hoping mommy will come save them. For years “mommy” was SCOTUS.

Just look at the number of times that they run to the courts to overturn some conservative law, regulation or order. Yet they are always upset if a conservative asks for the same.

“Public support for the high court sank swiftly last summer in response to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a landmark ruling that revoked a constitutional right to abortion. The decision delighted many conservatives but defied a large majority of Americans who believe abortion should be legal.”

Oh my, look at how they twist the language. “revoked a constitutional right” is their way of saying “abortion is a states issue”. As a conservative I approve of this. It didn’t outright ban abortion nor did it make abortion legal in all 50 states. It said that the states get to say.

This is because our country was designed to allow the different states to experiment within the bounds of the constitution. The people can then vote with their feet if it gets bad.

The big kicker is that they are conflating “abortion should be legal” with “should have a federally protected ability to legally get an abortion”. And the results are in the details. There are a number of conservatives that believe that all elective abortions should be illegal. There are others that have some other limit on when elective abortions should be illegal.

This means that “large majority” includes all those shadings of “should be legal”.

“Yet, partisan anger runs deeper than Dobbs. Liberals are fuming about a confluence of lucky timing and political maneuvering that enabled a Republican-controlled Senate to approve three conservative justices in four years, knocking the panel out of synch with the American public.”

It shouldn’t matter if the court, not panel, is “out of sync” with the American public. That is something for the legislature. The court is suppose to be honoring the Constitution by applying it faithfully as it was written, within the history and tradition of the Constitution.

The court is not suppose to be about winning popularity contests.

The term now being used is “legitimacy”.

“James L. Gibson, a political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, defines it[legitimacy] as ‘loyalty to the institution. It is willingness to support the institution even when it’s doing things with which you disagree.'”

Ok. That’s a reasonable definition. Not sure what Webster has to say, but I can work with this.

“But then, with Dobbs, the high court suffered ‘the largest decline in legitimacy that’s ever been registered, through dozens and dozens of surveys using the same indicators,’ Gibson said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.'”

Wait a moment, is legitimacy being loyal to the institution or is it something you get by polling? The court didn’t suffer a decline in legitimacy, it suffered an attack by the left questioning the Justice’s loyalty to the institution which the left defined as loyal to the laws, regulations, and rules they wanted to see upheld.

This is always the same game played by the left. Something is illegal for years and years and years. They finally get ONE decision to go their way. From that time forward it is evil to question that decision. From that point forward is the status quo and nobody should question it.

“‘The idea that you have the spouse of a Supreme Court justice advocating for overthrowing the government — sui generis, I think,’ said Caroline Fredrickson, a visiting law professor at Georgetown University, invoking the Latin term for ‘unique.'”

Except this is a lie. Ginni Thomas didn’t advocate for the overthrowing the government. Nobody did. And what difference does it make what Ginni does? She’s not a Supreme Court Justice. Just listen to the left screaming that there is no conflict of interest when there are spouses in the media of Democrats in the White House.

“‘[Roberts]’s the justice who twice saved Obamacare,” Malcolm said. Roberts joined the court’s liberals in rejecting legal challenges to health care reform by a popular president.”

Did Roberts save it by finding the law as written was Constitutional? Nope, he had to redefine a penalty as a tax. He gave the government the ability to tax people for not doing something. That’s a new tax for sure.

Roberts is the darling of the left right now because he can’t be trusted to follow the Constitution. He is much more likely to be swayed by political concerns.

“In its first term with a six-person conservative bloc, the high court overturned Roe, posited a Second Amendment right to carry guns in public and restricted the government’s role in combating climate change, among other rulings.  ”

Interesting word there “posited”. According to Oxford Languages it means “assume as fact; put forward as a basis of argument.” In other words it wasn’t that Bruen reaffirmed the guarantees of the second amendment belongs to the people for all lawful purposes, it was just “assumed” to be a fact, for argument’s sake.

This is all because the Supreme Court is no longer an extremist left-wing institution.

“In previous decades, by contrast, ‘the U.S. Supreme Court has rarely been out of step with the preferences of its constituents, the people,’ Gibson said. ‘Throughout history, the court has ratified the views of the majority, not opposed them.'”

Again we have this professor arguing that the court is suppose to be siding with the mob, not applying the law, as written.

“In the months to come, President Biden and congressional Democrats could restore the court’s ideological balance by packing it with liberals, or hobble it by narrowing its jurisdiction. But they probably won’t, legal observers say, because the Republicans could one day weaponize the same tools against the Democrats.”

It amazes me how often the left wants to change the rules when they win but don’t want the new rules to apply to them when the lose. Yes, Trump appointed 3 Justices. All of the noise about should or should not allowed a vote on Garland or Amy Coney Barrett was because the right was using the rules against the left. The left screamed for a do over or a change in rules. Something they would never do if the shoe was on the other foot.

Since they lost the battle of court packing, the left is now arguing for term limits for Supreme Court Justices. One has to ask “How would the left have responded to RBG being kicked off the court?”