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Every Picture Tells A Story, Part X

February 28, 2021 by 1 Comment

Less than a week after Utah became the 17th state to adopt constitutional or permitless concealed carry, Montana became the 18th. Thanks again to Rob Vance, we have the picture showing the growth of freedom.

Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) signed House Bill 102 on Thursday, February 18th. The bill extended permitless carry to incorporated towns and cities within Montana.

Gov. Gianforte said at the signing ceremony, according to the Montana Free Press:

“Our Second Amendment is very clear: The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” Gianforte said at a bill signing ceremony Thursday afternoon. “Every law-abiding Montanan should be able to defend themselves and their loved ones.”

The exceptions contained in the bill include secure police facilities, Federal buildings, courtrooms, and K-12 schools. Note that universities are not included in that list.

Additionally, the measure forbids the state university system from restricting firearm possession on campuses beyond requiring gun owners to have safety training akin to a hunter’s education course and safety measures such as requiring that firearms be transported in cases and stored with gun locks. The university system will also be allowed to forbid gun possession by students who have been formally disciplined for substance abuse or “interpersonal violence,” and prohibit possession by attendees at football games and other events that are supervised by armed security guards.

The university’s Board of Regents are reportedly studying the bill to see whether they plan to challenge it insofar as it applies to universities. However, as the governor’s press secretary said, ““The Board of Regents has the authority to oversee and manage the university system, but it does not have the authority to take away Montanans’ constitutional rights.”

If things continue along the path they are on, Tennessee may become the 19th state to adopt permitless carry. That would be very significant as it would add 6.8 million more citizens not having to ask government permission to exercise their right to bear arms.

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Mind Your Own Knitting

February 22, 2021 by 3 Comments

I came across a tweet from Everytown’s favorite demanding mom this morning and the comments could just write themselves.

Then there is the last sentence in her tweet: “I’m not a natural.” I think we all knew that!

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Judge Says Time To Act Like Adults

February 18, 2021 by 2 Comments

US District Court Judge Joe Fish has ordered mandatory mediation in the case between the NRA and AckMac that is pending in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He has told all parties that they have 30 days to set a mediation date or the mediator will do it for them.

The named parties shall be present during the entire mediation process and each party which is not a natural person must be represented by an executive officer (other than in-house counsel) with authority to negotiate a settlement (the authority required shall be active, i.e., not merely the authority to observe the mediation proceedings but the authority to negotiate, demand or offer, and bind the party represented). Counsel and the parties shall proceed in a good faith effort to try to resolve this case

As I read that, it means the both Wayne LaPierre and Revan McQueen must be present for the entire proceedings.

To make sure they play nice, Judge Fish has said he will order sanctions if the parties involved don’t “comply in good faith.”

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The Lawsuit That Keeps On Giving

February 18, 2021 by 5 Comments

The lawsuit and counter-lawsuit between the NRA and Ackerman McQueen is the lawsuit that keeps on giving. Reading the amended complaint filed yesterday by Ackerman McQueen is like reading about one of those Hollywood celebrity divorce cases but only better.

I give you the first three sections of AckMac’s “SECOND AMENDED THIRD-PARTY COMPLAINT AGAINST WAYNE LAPIERRE & THE NRA FOUNDATION, INC.” The Complementary Spouse said to me when I started snorting that it must have been funny.

This Third-Party Complaint arises from a series of ethically questionable
undertakings by the NRA through its longtime leader Executive Vice President and CEO, Wayne LaPierre (“LaPierre”). As a result of his authoritarian management style, love of money and power, and deep personal paranoia, today, LaPierre has reduced the NRA to a cult of personality as he continues to waste membership funds on media stunts and serial litigation with only one purpose: to save his own skin.

Through the intricate financial arrangements he constructed over decades with very little oversight from the NRA Board of Directors or other executives, LaPierre was able to obtain millions of dollars in personal benefits by keeping vendors and the NRA’s own accounting
department in the dark about his personal spending. As the gathering storm clouds of a possible investigation by the New York Attorney General (“NYAG”) started to form in 2018, LaPierre became concerned the details of his financial adventurism may come to light.

LaPierre sought assistance from lawyer/media-darling, William A. Brewer III (“Brewer”), and his law firm/public-relations firm, Brewer Attorneys & Counselors (the “Brewer Firm”), who together with LaPierre’s Chief of Staff, Joshua Powell (“Powell”), formulated a plan
to pin all liability on a convenient scapegoat, deflect media attention from LaPierre’s malfeasance and failed NRA programs, and maintain LaPierre’s domination of the NRA. Many of the resulting actions were made possible by LaPierre’s paranoia and guilty conscience, as he repeatedly proclaimed that Brewer was the only one who “could keep him out of jail.” By fantastic coincidence, Brewer determined that it was AMc—a company owned by his own father-in-law— who could be blamed for all of the NRA’s malfeasance and financial woes. In return for deflecting the spotlight from LaPierre, Brewer was given free rein to reap a financial windfall in exorbitant attorney fees, displace his father-in-law’s company as the public-relations firm for the NRA, and set up AMc as the perfect “fall guy.”

It was the “lawyer/media-darling” characterization of William Brewer III that had me in stitches.

While all of this is somewhat humorous to read, the sad thing is that from everything I’ve heard that Wayne LaPierre is paranoid and let Brewer be his “Rasputin” in an effort to save his own skin.

The ones to suffer from all of this will not be Wayne, Bill Brewer, or AckMac. It will be the ordinary NRA members who gave their hard-earned monies to the organization in order to protect their God-given right to self-defense as enshrined in the Second Amendment. Just when it is needed most, the NRA’s attention is on its series of lawsuits against AckMac and its bankruptcy stunt.

You can read the whole complaint here.

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“She Works Hard For The Money”

February 16, 2021 by 3 Comments

The latest filings in the NRA’s bankruptcy case contain a treasure trove of information. This is especially true for the NRA’s statement of financial affairs. It goes well beyond a mere balance sheet and includes a complete list of payments and distributions to insiders. Insiders would be the officers of the NRA as well as all members of the Board of Directors.

Reading through the list, most of the payments are recruiter payments. While I might quibble on whether or not directors or their organizations should be compensated for bringing in new members, it is a relatively minor thing and the amount of money was not material (using an accounting term).

Bearing in mind that 2020 was a horrible year, financially and otherwise, for many people, there is one person who did rather well in 2020.

Marion Hammer.

Ms. Hammer received $246,500 in direct payments for “consulting services”. In addition, she received another $183,600 in indirect payments made to United Sportsmen of Florida for a “consulting agreement.” (See pages 53 and 54 of the NRA’s filing.)

As Donna Summer sang, “She works hard for the money.
So you better treat her right.”

Being Wayne LaPierre’s No. 1 defender and attack cat (she is a cat person) is hard work. He must have thought so which is why she got $430,100 of member’s money in an effort to treat her right.

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Jaime Zapata – 10 Years On

February 16, 2021 by 0 Comments

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the ambush and murder of ICE-HSI Special Agent Jaime Zapata in Mexico. He was killed by narcoterrorists with the drug cartel Los Zetas and his partner Victor Avila was seriously wounded. Some of the weapons used by the narcoterrorists were walked to Mexico as part of the Obama-Biden Administration’s Operation Fast and Furious.

Victor Avila was our guest tonight on the Polite Society Podcast. He spoke about the ambush and the aftermath.

His interview starts at the 10 minute mark and runs to about the 40 minute mark. We had some audio difficulty towards the end due to winter storm-related power issues in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas.

Last year, the US Office of Special Counsel issued a report that stated Agents Zapata and Avila received insufficient support for their mission in Mexico.

The investigation, conducted by the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility, substantiated that ICE officials failed to provide the agents additional support for their mission from either U.S. personnel or Mexican law enforcement. The agency also failed to properly brief and prepare the agents in advance of the assignment to discuss the cargo, security measures, and any other relevant information. The report confirmed that there was “a known lack of diligence with regard to the maintenance of the ICE armored vehicles.”  For example, it was known prior to the incident that the agents’ armored vehicle did not have properly functioning tracking equipment.

The investigation revealed that, at the time of the attack, management lacked specific policies and procedures for the execution of the agency mission in Mexico. For example, the agency lacked formalized policies with respect to travel; did not provide counter threat training to those stationed in Mexico; and did not provide armored vehicle training to employees in Mexico. Additionally, the Mexico City office suffered from weak operational security, which was evident in the lack of planning and execution for the trip taken by Agent Avila and Agent Zapata.

One thing that stood out in our interview with Victor was that some of the records from the Department of Justice regarding Operation Fast and Furious are still locked up. They were initially kept sealed under the Obama Administration’s claim of executive privilege. Despite President Trump’s pledge to the Terry family to release them, they still have never been released and I’m sure President Biden will make sure they never see the light of day.

Victor has written a book on his efforts to get the truth released among other things. It is called Agent Under Fire: A Murder and a Manfesto. I just ordered my copy tonight.

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The Next Battle Has Begun – Salvo Three

February 15, 2021 by 0 Comments

You didn’t think Nancy Pelosi would ignore a chance to burnish her progressive credentials with a statement on gun control, did you? If you did, you were living in a dream world.

Of course, Pelosi had to weigh in on gun control on the anniversary of the Parkland murders.

“Three years ago, our nation watched in horror and heartbreak as 17 beautiful souls were stolen in an act of unspeakable terror and gun violence at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.  Today, we continue to grieve and work with the Parkland families and survivors who have turned their pain into courageous action, inspiring a movement across the country to say, ‘Enough is enough!’

“Last Congress, moved by the daily epidemic of gun violence and guided by the millions of young people marching for their lives, House Democrats took bold action to save lives and end the bloodshed by passing H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, and H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act.  Now, working with the Democratic Senate and Biden-Harris Administration, we will enact these and other life-saving bills and deliver the progress that the Parkland community and the American people deserve and demand.

“On this solemn remembrance, Democrats join the American people to renew our commitment to our unfinished work to ensure that no family or community is forced to endure the pain of gun violence.  We will not rest until all Americans, in schools, in the workplace, in places of worship and throughout our communities are safe, once and for all.”

If she were serious about “gun violence” (sic), she would be battling the scourge of drug gangs in minority neighborhoods, she would overturning Obama era policies that allowed the Parkland killer to avoid coming to the notice of police, and she would be getting rid of gun free zones that are nothing but hunting preserves for psychopaths to quote Massad Ayoob.

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The Next Battle Has Begun – Salvo Two

February 15, 2021 by 0 Comments

The next salvo in this battle came yesterday from Joe Biden. After bemoaning the lives lost to “gun violence” (sic), he lists a number of “commonsense” items that will solve the issue and “make us safer.”

Three years ago today, a lone gunman took the lives of 14 students and three educators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In seconds, the lives of dozens of families, and the life of an American community, were changed forever.

For three years now, the Parkland families have spent birthdays and holidays without their loved ones. They’ve missed out on the experience of sending their children off to college or seeing them on their first job after high school. Like far too many families, they’ve had to bury pieces of their soul deep within the Earth. Like far too many families — and, indeed, like our nation — they’ve been left to wonder whether things would ever be okay.

These families are not alone. In big cities and small towns. In schools and shopping malls. In churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples. In movie theaters and concert halls. On city street corners that will never get a mention on the evening news. All across our nation, parents, spouses, children, siblings, and friends have known the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence. And in this season of so much loss, last year’s historic increase in homicides across America, including the gun violence disproportionately devastating Black and Brown individuals in our cities, has added to the number of empty seats at our kitchen tables. Today, as we mourn with the Parkland community, we mourn for all who have lost loved ones to gun violence.

Over these three years, the Parkland families have taught all of us something profound. Time and again, they have showed us how we can turn our grief into purpose – to march, organize, and build a strong, inclusive, and durable movement for change.

The Parkland students and so many other young people across the country who have experienced gun violence are carrying forward the history of the American journey. It is a history written by young people in each generation who challenged prevailing dogma to demand a simple truth: we can do better. And we will.

This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer. Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. We owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now.

Here is an inconvenient truth that Mr. Biden will never acknowledge. It was the policies of the Obama-Biden Administration that created the circumstances that allowed a troubled, angry, and violent young man to stay off the radar and pass a NICS check.

And since we are talking about the deaths of those with brown skin, it was also the policies of the Obama-Biden Administration with Operation Fast and Furious aka Project Gunwalker that sent thousands of weapons south of the border which led to the deaths of at least 300 Mexican nationals.

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The Next Battle Has Begun – Salvo One

February 15, 2021 by 0 Comments

The war for our gun rights began in 1934 with the National Firearms Act if not earlier. Battles that were fought along the way include the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 (with the Hughes Amendment), the Brady Bill, and the Clinton Assault Weapons Ban.

The first shots in the next battle have been fired. We knew it was coming the moment the Democrats essentially won control of the Senate.

Last week, Bide policy advisors Susan Rice and Cedric Richmond had all the major gun control groups to the White House to discuss strategy. Here is the White House’s release on it:

Today, Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice and White House Public Engagement Director and Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond hosted a virtual discussion with leaders of gun violence prevention advocacy groups – Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action, Giffords, and Brady. They discussed the ongoing public health crisis of gun violence in America, the historic increase in homicides across American cities last year, and commonsense steps that can be taken to make our communities safer such as closing background check loopholes, stopping the proliferation of unregulated and untraceable “ghost” guns, and expanding community-based violence intervention programs.

Ambassador Rice and Congressman Richmond expressed gratitude for the leaders’ ideas, persistent advocacy efforts over the years, and commitment to working together to tackle the gun violence epidemic. Ambassador Rice and Congressman Richmond also underscored President Biden’s longstanding record of fighting for families impacted by gun violence, his full support for taking commonsense actions to reduce gun violence, and his unwavering commitment to pushing ahead further steps to make our communities safer.

The Bloomberg groups had this comment on the event:

“This meeting provided more evidence that the Biden Administration is committed to being the strongest we’ve ever seen on gun safety,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “With Covid making gun violence worse and armed extremists literally holding our democracy at gunpoint, the time for action is now –– and we fully expect to see it soon.”

“Gun safety was a cornerstone of President Biden’s campaign, and this meeting confirmed that gun safety is a top priority for the Biden administration as well,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “We look forward to working with the administration to save lives and stop gun violence, and we’re confident that we will see executive and legislative action in the near future.”

Remember, it is not about the criminal misuse of a firearm with these people. It is about power and they need a disarmed populace to achieve it.

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Old NFO Has Another Winner

February 15, 2021 by 1 Comment

Jim Curtis aka Old NFO, gun blogger and author, has written another winner.

Released last week, Showdown on the River: The Bell Chronicles, follows Rio Bell and his compadres as they make their way up from Texas moving a herd of cattle in the early 1870s. Along the way to Fort Laramie, they run into hostile Indians, rustlers, and stampedes.

After delivering the herd to the buyer and selling the excess to the U.S. Army, Rio makes his way up in the Rockies outside of Fort Collins to check on his Uncle Ethan Bell. As he searches for his uncle, he stumbles into a range war. The Kidds, led by patriarch Roger Kidd, are seeking to expand their spread by taking over other claims by force.

What the Kidds didn’t know was that Rio was also known as Rio Kid, a legendary gunman, who would “fight for the brand” against all comers.

Western stories are not usually my preference. However, this book kept “a’holt” of me from start to finish. I highly recommend it.

Available in Kindle format, you can get it here. It is $4.99 well spent.