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Still Working Out The Kinks In MailPoet

July 28, 2021 by 6 Comments

If you didn’t receive an email with my latest posts, that is because I’m still working out the kinks in MailPoet. That is the app that is supposed to automatically send full text updates of all my new blog posts once a day.

It would have done it this morning if I had linked it to the correct mailing list. As it was, the list was linked to a default list with zero subscribers and not the real list.

Oops.

Maybe tomorrow it will work properly.

Software. You can’t live with it and you can’t live without it.

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Psaki Asked If Chipman Nomination Would Be Pulled

July 27, 2021 by

A reporter asked White House Press Secretary Jen “Baghdad Bob” Psaki if the President was going to pull Chipman’s nomination to head BATFE.

Here is the Q&A from the White House website:

Q    And on a different topic: What is the White House doing to specifically win over support from Democrats on the nomination of David Chipman to lead the ATF?  Senator Durbin just told us this morning that Democrats don’t have the votes, and Senator Tester also signaled this morning that the nomination could even be pulled.  So does — is the White House still pushing through on that nomination?  And what is the White House doing to whip up votes? 

MS. PSAKI:  Well, I’d first remind people, as you well know, but for others, that not only is he a veteran of the ATF, but he’s somebody who has been a supporter of smart gun reform measures that could save lives of people across the country.  And we — the President felt quite confident in the — his qualifications and his ability to lead the agency at a time where it hasn’t been led for many years. 

In terms of our specific legislative strategy, I’d really have to talk to the team and see where things stand with that.

Forbes captured this exchange and you can watch Psaki start to dance.

You have to believe Tester is praying that Chipman’s nomination is pulled so he doesn’t have to go on record. At the end of last week a guest editorial by Donald Trump, Jr. appeared in the Billings Gazette saying that Tester cannot support both Chipman and the Second Amendment. He pointed out that many hunting groups have come out against Chipman.

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Playing Politics With CCW Permits In Florida

July 27, 2021 by 5 Comments

Nikki Fried (D-FL) is the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. As such, she is in control of the issuing of concealed carry permits for the State of Florida. She is also the only statewide Democrat office holder. She is an announced candidate for governor of Florida in 2022. Her announcement video mentions that she “kicked the NRA out of gun licensing” for “the children”.

Commissioner Nicole "Nikki" Fried
Official Photo

When she ran for Commissioner of Agriculture in 2018 her major issues included medical marijuana and gun control. Fried has both a medical marijuana card and a Florida carry permit. She has contended under Florida law it is legal to have both. However, Federal law still prohibits the purchase as well as possession of firearms by those with medical marijuana cards. As a lawyer and former public defender one would think she would be careful about setting up people to run afoul of Federal firearms laws.

Today, Fried has gone a step further in playing politics with gun rights. She has suspended the carry permits of Floridians charged with involvement in the Jan. 6th riot at the US Capitol.

From Florida Politics:

“The deeply disturbing events that occurred at our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6 were sedition, treason and domestic terrorism — and those individuals involved in the insurrection must be held accountable for attempting to subvert our democratic process,” Fried said.

“Since charges began being filed, we are using our lawful authority to immediately suspend the licenses of 22 individuals involved in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. This is an ongoing effort, and as charges and sentences continue in the wake of this despicable attack, we will further suspend and revoke any additional licenses granted to insurrectionists.”

Florida law allows the suspension of carry licenses for those charged with a felony. However, many of those arrested for involvement in the riot have not yet been charged with any crime which calls into question whether Fried is acting outside the law. She certainly is playing politics with carry permits.

The article from Florida Politics goes on to note:

While Fried’s office by law cannot identify which individuals arrested have ever applied for or received a concealed carry permit, several of the individuals arrested were outspoken gun rights advocates.

It does make you wonder whether she is targeting only certain individuals. Fried certainly is using loaded language when she calls these people “insurrectionists”.

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Olympic Gold!

July 27, 2021 by 1 Comment

Shooters representing the USA have taken gold medals in the 10m Air Rifle, Men’s Skeet, and Women’s Skeet. Congratulations to Will Shaner, Vincent Hancock, and 1st Lt. Amber English.

Here are the NBC Sports broadcasts on each of their wins.

Shaner is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Kentucky and was the NCAA Individual Air Rifle National Runner-Up. He has made the All-American First Team each of his three years at UK.

Vincent Hancock is now a three-time gold medalist in skeet having won in 2008, 2012, and now in 2021. While he competed in the 2016 Olympics, he only finished a disappointing (for him) 15th. He formerly shot with the US Army Marksmanship Unit. He is now a professional shooter and coach.

1st. Lt. Amber English is a member of the US Army Marksmanship Unit. This was her first Olympics. Like Hancock, she also set an Olympic record on her way to winning. To win, she had to defeat defending Olympic gold medalist Diana Bucosi of Italy.

In a surprise given how the networks traditionally treat anything with firearms, the Today Show featured an interview with Hancock and English.

The only other Olympic sport I’ve been paying any attention has been the women’s butterfly where the niece of good friends, Torri Huske, came in 4th by 1/100th of a second. I am hoping she will be part of the women’s 4x100m medley relay.

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Time Is Not On David Chipman’s Side

July 26, 2021 by 6 Comments

The longer that the debate on David Chipman to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives goes on, the less likely it is that he will be confirmed. One reason is that it gives the opposition even more time to dig up his public record of making snarky and snide remarks like that in the video below. That is not to mention it gives time for investigators to dig through public testimony he has given before state and national legislative bodies that contain outright falsehoods.

This video excerpt in which Chipman ridicules new gun owners as prepping for the Zombie apocalypse and as Tiger King wannabes was posted the Republican National Committee’s research arm.

Earlier this week, you had a story in Politico in which Sen. Dick Durbin, Senate Judiciary Chair and Majority Whip, saying that Chipman had “a lot of issues”. That was obvious recognition that the nomination was in trouble.

Then yesterday, the British newspaper The Guardian ran a long story on their website saying the nomination is stalling. They noted the Attorney General Merrick Garland has had to step in and push for his confirmation.

The intervention was the latest warning sign that the nomination of Chipman might be in trouble – which would be a serious blow to gun control advocates and those appalled at America’s shocking rates of gun violence.

“As you all know, ATF is on the frontlines of our efforts to battle gun violence,” Garland said during a visit to the agency’s headquarters on Thursday. “We are very hopeful that the Senate will soon act.”

Now you have a story in the Huffington Post that is asserting that it is really the gun industry in the form of the National Shooting Sports Foundation that is the primary opponent of Chipman. This is because they are running two television ads in West Virginia and Maine. The author of this piece Kevin Robillard accuses the NSSF of adopting “NRA’s over-the-top playbook.” Of course, Chipman’s longtime employer, Giffords, jumped on the story to promote the lie that opposition to Chipman is based on trying to sell guns.

What this story ignores is that every gun rights organization at every level is in opposition to Chipman. This includes the NRA, GOA, CCRKBA, and the Firearms Policy Coalition at the national level. At the state level, I know for sure that organizations such has Grass Roots North Carolina have mobilized their members in opposition with alerts and pleas to call their senators.

As my friend Chris Knox said on Twitter in response to Robillard’s article, “Blue check media can’t comprehend a grassroots resistance without some organization at the helm. Movement to #StopChipman is not top-down.” He is correct. I didn’t wait for the NRA or GOA to tell me to oppose Chipman. The moment he was nominated I called both of my US senators saying “Hell, No!”

Whether or not the nomination succeeds or fails will come down to four Democrats and an Independent who caucuses with them. They are Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and Sen. Angus King (I-ME). They are all officially undecided. All it will take is for one of these senators to vote nay and the confirmation goes down the drain. If you would like to contact them even if you don’t “officially” live in their state, Grass Roots North Carolina a link that might be helpful. I know that the email I sent Sinema went through and I got a response from her.

I think that these five are waiting to see which way the wind blows and are really hoping that the nomination is eventually withdrawn so that they don’t have to publicly commit one way or another. If the Chipman nomination is withdrawn, they will still be able to say (lie) that they support the Second Amendment and not have a vote for Chipman thrown in their face to refute that.

I had been using the analogy that nomination Chipman to head BATFE was the equivalent of putting a vegan in charge of the meat inspection division of the USDA. I came across a better analogy – Chipman is the equivalent of nomination an anti-childhood-vaxxer to head the FDA or CDC. In these days and times that does get the message across.

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Blog Updates

July 26, 2021 by

I am trying out an updated way to send out emails featuring new blog post. It is a service called Mail Poet and it should send out an email every day that I do a new blog post or posts. I know many readers prefer to just read it by email rather than visiting the blog itself.

I am having to make these changes thanks to Google making changes to their Feedburner service. They say it isn’t going away but that it is turning off email subscriptions.

Hi John,
As we announced earlier this year, we’re making several upcoming changes to support FeedBurner’s next chapter. Here’s what you can expect to change and what you can do now to ensure you’re prepared.
Now starting in mid August, we are transitioning FeedBurner onto a more stable, modern infrastructure. This will keep the product up and running for all users, but it also means that we will be turning down most non-core feed management features, including email subscriptions, at that time.

My guess is that Google isn’t making money on it anymore or at least as much revenue as they would like. It is what it is.

If you have already signed up, I don’t think you much changes other than the format of the emailed blog post.

In the meantime, if you haven’t signed up for email notification, I would urge you to give it a try. You can see where to do it in the picture below. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and it will be in the sidebar. You will get an email asking you to confirm your subscription. I have tried it out and it does work.

UPDATE: This seems to be working but you may need to check your spam filter.

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Not Good Signs For NRA

July 25, 2021 by 1 Comment

The blog NRA In Danger is reporting on two more indicators of trouble for the NRA.

First is regarding the NRA Annual Meeting scheduled for Labor Day Weekend in Houston. They report that only half of the booth space has been rented out with little more than a month to go. That in and of itself isn’t good. They also note that organizations like the Second Amendment Foundation which have traditionally had booths at the Annual Meeting are turning down the “opportunity”. I had known that and was told by my friends at SAF that they considered it a “waste of money” to be there.

The second is even more disturbing. It concerns upkeep of the NRA headquarters building in Fairfax. Even when not occupied or lightly occupied, you still have to do the upkeep or the building falls apart.

Second, the headquarters building is being allowed to deteriorate. Rain is penetrating the roof, sometimes pooling on the floor and running through passages through floors to soak lower stories. Most of the surviving employees are still working from home, so this is a building that has largely been unoccupied for over a year, and over two summers. Likely a major mold problem will follow, if it isn’t there already. There is money enough for tens of millions in legal fees, but no money to fix the headquarters roof.

NRA in Danger speculates that the board is unaware of these issues as they are being kept in the dark by Wayne and the rest of the Gang of Four. If so, it is malfeasance on the part of the leadership and a continued refusal by the board to do their fiduciary duty of care.

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Quote Of The Day

July 22, 2021 by 2 Comments

I am reading Kurt Schlichter’s latest Kelly Turnbull thriller The Split. It had a quote that combines my Irish heritage and my disdain for “woke-ism”.

An Irish crime boss is being questioned in his Charlestown bar by a People’s Bureau of Investigation (what used to be the FBI) Special Agent regarding a bank robbery gone bad. The agent is warning that trouble is coming from the authorities if he doesn’t cooperate.

“We’ve survived Cromwell and the Potato Famine by sticking together,” Seamus said.

“But will you survive woke?”

“We’ll take our chances.”

Schlichter is a good story teller and he knows just how to parody the politically correct. I can recommend reading the whole series.

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Thank You, Brownells

July 21, 2021 by 1 Comment

The “Made in America” pre-Independence Day promotion at Brownells raised over $150,000 for the Firearms Policy Foundation. This money will certainly help the FPF in supporting their Second Amendment legal efforts.

In another day or time, you have to think this donation would have gone to another firearms group. You know that one where this donation would only cover about 1/10th of the Executive VP’s annual salary? Or maybe a fraction of the monthly billing from their outside counsel? Yeah, that one.

From the release:

Brownells donated more than $150,000 to the Firearms Policy Foundation, with money generated by the “Made in America” promotion at Brownells.com leading up to Independence Day.

The Firearms Policy Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization which helps fund the Firearms Policy Coalition, a 501(c)4 dedicated to defending the Constitution of the United States, especially the individual right to keep and bear arms.

The donation will help with the on-going struggle to restore and eventually expand constitutionally guaranteed Second Amendment rights for all Americans.

“I want to thank everyone who bought American to help save the 2nd Amendment,” said Brownells Chairman Pete Brownell.   “We all benefit from the great work of the Firearms Policy Coalition.”

“On behalf of the FPC team and our members, we are humbled and honored that Brownells and its amazing customers have so generously provided this significant funding for our critical pro-rights legal and education programs, including dozens of active lawsuits and new cases being prepared today,” said FPF Chairman and FPC President Brandon Combs. “Especially in this era where our rights are under attack at all levels, from the Biden administration to local governments like San Jose, California, every dollar counts and will go straight to the front lines in principled efforts to defend and expand individual liberty,”

The FPC has been involved in several recent high-profile Second Amendment court cases, including Miller v. Bonta which resulted in California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” to be declared unconstitutional.

FPC also filed suit against Nevada’s recent ban on homebuilt firearms, and filed a brief in support of the right of all Americans to carry arms on their person in public.

To find ways to become involved in the struggle to maintain and recover 2nd Amendment rights, visit the Brownells Second Amendment Action Center.

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Durbin – Chipman Has “A Lot Of Issues”

July 20, 2021 by

File this Politico story under the “No Shit, Sherlock” label.

Senate Majority Whip and Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) said “there are a lot of issues” over David Chipman’s nomination to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Durbin goes on to say:

Durbin acknowledged Monday that the whip count “is not where we want it yet, but there’s always a chance.”…

“Members understand this is a highly controversial position,” Durbin said Monday. “It has been left vacant because Republicans and Democrats couldn’t find someone to fill the slot so it’s no wonder that we’re having some difficulty with it.”

What I read Durbin’s statement to mean is that he hasn’t been successful in convincing Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) that the political fallout from supporting Chipman won’t be as bad as they think. They are still listed in the undecided column.

It is either that or the incentives that he is offering to them have not risen to the level where they will hop onboard. By incentives I mean support for pet legislation, campaign money, and the like.

If Durbin and Chuck Schumer were convinced they had 50 votes to confirm Chipman, the vote would have already been held. Since they don’t, Chipman remains in limbo. The longer it goes, the less likely he is to be confirmed. All it takes is for one non-Republican to come out against Chipman and the nomination will be withdrawn. One way to read Durbin’s interview with Politico is that he is signaling the White House it is time to pull Chipman’s nomination.

As to the issues surrounding David Chipman, I think that I and virtually every other gun owner in America would run out of fingers if we had to list them all.