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Comment Of The Day

November 9, 2018 by 2 Comments

You may have read about the active shooter event at Topsail High School in Pender County, NC that turned out to be a malfunctioning hot water heater. It made many news sources this morning.

One reader on the Firearms and Politics email list had this comment about it.

Don’t relax yet. David Hogg is claiming that the water heater was funded by Russian money funneled through the NRA. Film at 11.

After this week, we need something to laugh about and especially if it is at the expense of the gun prohibitionists.

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NSSF Analysis Of The Midterms

November 8, 2018 by 3 Comments

The National Shooting Sports Foundation sent out an email yesterday analyzing the midterm elections for their impact on the firearms industry as well as on firearm regulations. They will also be having a pair of webinars next Tuesday afternoon which I hope to be able to watch. I’ll report on those afterwards.

I think the NSSF is correct in that a lot of bills will be proposed and may even pass the House dealing with gun control. These will then die in the Senate. They refer to the Senate as the Red Wall. I think they are also correct that the pace at which new judges will be confirmed will pick up.

From the NSSF:

A Blue Ripple, A Red Senate Wall And What It Means For The Firearms Industry

The
results are still trickling in on Wednesday, but we’re getting a
clearer picture of what we can expect when it comes to the next two
years for gun laws in the United States.

Conventional
wisdom says that the party in the White House loses “bigly” when it
comes to the midterm elections, but last night’s results are proving
different. We’re seeing more of a mixed bag in the Congressional
results, a changing landscape in the governorships and gun control
advocates that spent big and claim victory. But that call might be a bit premature.

House of Representatives

The U.S. House of Representatives will flip back to Democrat control in the 116th Congress.
There are several West Coast races still awaiting final counts, but Fox
News’ Karl Rove predicted the final count will be 228-207 in favor of
Democrats, which will see the Speaker of the House’s gavel change hands.

Prevailing sentiment says Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will again become house speaker, but many incumbent and congressmen-elect have vowed to not support her
for the top leadership spot. We can expect short-term leadership
power-plays, but they will have little effect on what we will eventually
see in the next two years from the House.

What it Means

The “Blue Wave” wasn’t the tsunami gun
control advocates expected, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see a flood
of gun control bills. Rep. Pelosi promised Floridians when she visited
there in October that gun control would be a “top priority” in the
coming year. She said then that she’d push for a gun background check bill, which we can only assume means what she’s already advocated for in universal background checks.

Expect more. Virginia Democratic Congresswoman-elect Jennifer Wexton defeated Rep. Barbara Comstock on a platform that included banning AR-15 modern
sporting rifles and standard-capacity magazines. She’s just one of
several newly elected members of Congress who will be looking to make
good on their campaign promises.

Expect
the House to turn from a legislative body to an investigative body.
Democrats will take over every committee chairmanship. We should expect
little to get done in the way of legislation because they’ll be more
interested in investigating everything from impeachment to Russian collusion to President Donald Trump’s tax returns. And firearms will be in the mix too. Expect hearings on
taxpayer-funded gun violence research, magazine restrictions,
ammunition bans, age-based gun bans and attempts to outright ban entire
classes of firearms.

Senate

If
the House was the “Blue Ripple,” the U.S. Senate served as the Red
Wall. And it got bigger. Republicans appeared to pick up at least net
three seats, including North Dakota’s Kevin Cramer beating Heidi
Heitkamp, Missouri’s Josh Hawley defeating Claire McCaskill, Florida’s
Rick Scott topping Bill Nelson and Indiana’s Mike Braun overcoming Joe
Donnelly. Nevada’s Sen. Dean Heller lost to Jacky Rosen, turning one
Republican seat blue. Votes are still being counted in Arizona, and
Mississippi is headed for a runoff. The first and most glaring lesson is
that with the exception of Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), each of these
Democratic senators voted against Supreme Court Justice Brett
Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

What it Means

Most
importantly, the Senate has been called the saucer that cools the hot
tea that comes over from the House. It’s been a frustrating
characteristic at times, but now will become a reality that benefits the
firearms industry and gun owners. Legislation can pass the House by
simple majority, even if it’s just one vote. But it only takes one
senator to kill a bad bill.

It also means that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is going to keep up the blistering pace of
confirming judges to the bench and Trump Administration nominees won’t
be automatically mired in the morass of politics. That’s especially important when
it comes to the Supreme Court. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen
Breyer are in their eighties. Neither has indicated a desire to retire,
but no one foresaw that President Trump would nominate and confirm two
justices in his first two years either.

More to Come

We’re
still sifting through all the results, including state governorships,
state legislatures and ballot initiatives. Tune in when NSSF hosts webinars on
what the midterm election results mean to our industry and what we can
expect. You can know this much: NSSF will remain engaged, fighting
against legislation that hurts our industry and that infringes on our
rights while working to America safer while respecting our liberties.

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Remind Me Again Why SHOT Show Continues To Be In Vegas

November 7, 2018 by 9 Comments

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The largest convention centers in the United States are not in Las Vegas. The largest, McCormick Place, is in Chicago and then the second largest, the Orange County Convention Center, is in Orlando, Florida. The Sands Expo Center which is the site of the SHOT Show comes in at tenth in size.

I can understand why McCormick Place was not chosen for the SHOT Show. Despite its size which I can assure you is huge having driven right past it twice in the last week, no one in their right mind would want to hold a convention in January in frigid Chicago. I won’t even speak to the anti-gun politics of Chicago as a reason to avoid having the firearms industry trade show there.

I come from the school of rewarding our friends and punishing our enemies.

Nevada voters just elected Democrats to three out of four House seats including one flipped seat, ousted Dean Heller (R-NV) in favor of Jacky Rosen (D-NV) in the Senate, flipped the governor’s office from Republican to Democrat, hold both houses of the state legislature, and now have only one Republican official, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, elected statewide. The Las Vegas Sun opines that Democrat dominance of the state should continue thanks to Latinos and young voters. I’m sure you might want to add (some) ex-pat Californians to that list as well.

Contrast this with the State of Florida. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) beat Tallahasse Mayor Andrew Gillum (D-FL) for the governorship. Rick Scott (R-FL) beat three-term incumbent Bill Nelson (D-FL) for the US Senate. Republicans hold the other three statewide offices (AG, Ag Commissioner, and Chief Finance Officer). Despite losing two seats in House delegation to Democrats, Republicans still hold a 14 to 13 edge. They are also projected to hold majorities in both the state House and Senate.

The Sands Expo Center which is the location of the SHOT Show in Las Vegas has about 1.2 million square feet of exposition space. Earlier this year it was announced that the SHOT Show would expand their venue to include the MGM Grand Conference Center in 2020 and the Caesars Forum in 2021. According to the announcement, it is due to running out of space at the Sands Expo Center and having to turn away potential exhibitors.

The Orange County Convention Center, by contrast, has 2.1 million square feet of exposition space and is the nation’s second largest convention center. You would not need to expand the SHOT Show to multiple locations to handle the growth in exhibitors. OCCC also has over 6,000 parking spaces. Orlando does have fewer hotel rooms with “only” about 121,000 rooms as compared to Las Vegas which has approximately 175,000 rooms available. However, when you expand out of the city limits of Orlando to places like St. Cloud and Kissimmee you thousands of more rooms. Another advantage to Orlando is the generally warmer, even balmy, weather you are likely to find there in January.

I would be all for immediately switching the 2020 SHOT Show from Nevada to Florida for many of the reasons mentioned above including more space and a gun friendlier location. However, it won’t happen overnight.

 The fly or flies in the ointment on making the switch are two-fold. First, the National Shooting Sports Foundation has extended their contract with the Sands Expo Center through 2027. I don’t know if this is because they got a better deal from Sheldon Adelson or because they just were very familiar with the location. The second issue is a shooting range large enough to handle Industry Day at the Range. The Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club is outstanding in that regard. There are a number of shooting ranges in Central Florida but nothing approaching it that I know of.

To conclude, the gun industry has changed from being a boys’ club to being more inclusive of women and families. You see fewer and fewer “booth babes” at the SHOT Show and the NRA Annual Meeting than in the past. It would be nice if the industry’s major event would leave Las Vegas behind and move to a more gun and family friendly location like Orlando. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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For Illinois Gun Owners And Voters

November 6, 2018 by

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Illinois gun owners and voters are faced with the choice today between Gov. Bruce Rauner (R-IL) and billionaire and Hyatt Hotels’ heir J.B. Pritzker. From what my Prairie State friends tell me, Rauner has been somewhat ineffectual as governor but has vetoed some of the most egregious gun control legislation to come out of the Illinois General Assembly. Pritzker, on the other hand, promises to support the whole litany of gun control from gun bans to state licensing of firearms dealers. The RealClearPolitics poll average on this race gives a clear edge to Pritzker. It will stay that way if gun owners stay home.

Both the Illinois State Rifle Association and Illinois Carry are supporting Rauner who they say has had an open door to them. Expect that door to be nailed shut under Pritzker.

Illinois Carry sent this out yesterday by email. They are correct in asserting that if all FOID card holders voted the 2A that it might be safe in Illinois.

Candidate for Governor
J.B. Pritzker Announces :
“NO safe space for NRA in Illinois!”
J.B. Pritzker vows, “The NRA will have no safe space in Illinois if I am elected governor.”  That means NO safe space for you and me!
Governor Rauner is the absolute only logical choice for gun owners.  He has a FOID card and supports the Second Amendment. The
Governor has provided IllinoisCarry access to his office and staff. He
has sought our opinions on gun legislation.  This last legislative
session, his veto and amendatory veto power was all that stood between
gun owners and the anti-Constitution tyrants in Springfield.  
If
Pritzker is elected – that protection will be gone and all he will need
is a simple majority to pass all the horrible anti-gun bills that gun
owners have been fighting against all these years.
Imagine
how safe the Second Amendment would be here in Illinois if all
2,287,291 FOID card holders went into the voting booth Tuesday and voted
for pro-Second Amendment candidates like Gov. Rauner.
The Second Amendment
Is At Stake On Nov. 6th!
We Urge All Gun Owners To Vote!
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GRNC On Tomorrow’s Election

November 6, 2018 by

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If you have not partaken in the early voting period and are still wondering who is or isn’t the pro-gun candidate in North Carolina, Grass Roots North Carolina and GRNC-PVF have a convenient way to check both their ratings and their recommendations. They also have recommendations on the six Constitutional amendments to the North Carolina Constitution as well as recommendations on the statewide judicial races. The recommendations are from GRNC-Political Victory Fund while the evaluations are from GRNC itself.

This last one is critical. Anita Earls is running as a Democrat against Justice Barbara Jackson (R-NC). She is a far-left SJW who would tip the NC Supreme Court even more to the Left and presumably anti-gun. She was the executive director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice which should say it all. She is very well funded compared to her competitors. Moreover, don’t be fooled by the R after Chris Anglin’s name. He is a Democrat who only switched to siphon away votes from Justice Jackson.

I anticipate that the Republicans could very well lose their super-majority in the General Assembly meaning that they can’t easily override vetoes by anti-gun Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC). Given the number of anti-gun candidates running as Democrats, the era of pro-gun Democrats in North Carolina seems over and any new gun rights legislation will have a hard time passing and getting signed by the governor.

From GRNC:

VOTE TUESDAY

CANDIDATE EVALUATIONS
&
RECOMMENDATIONS
TOMORROW IS ELECTION DAY
Tuesday, November 6th is Election Day. Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30
p.m. If you’ve
waited for Election Day to vote, you can review GRNC Candidate Evaluations and your GRNC-PVF Candidate Recommendations at any time. 
Evaluations vs. Recommendations

Candidate Evaluations differ from Recommendations. While  GRNC–PVF recommendations are analytical and therefore subject to interpretation, the evaluations are intended to
provide an objective measure of where candidates stand on Second Amendment issues. For a full explanation of GRNC’s objective star
evaluations, go to: https://www.grnc.org/remember-in-november/grnc-candidate-evaluations-2018
Candidate recommendations,
which are more limited than blanket “endorsements,” are not made in all
races, only in races where a clear pro-gun candidate stands out or where
strategic voting is necessary to keep anti-gun candidates out of
office. 

CANDIDATE EVALUATIONS
You can CLICK HERE to see GRNC Candidate
Evaluations. These are just one more tool voters can use to understand where any given candidate stands on gun rights, and
a copy of these evaluations can come in quite handy in the voting booth.  Print the PDF that is sorted by name and take it with you to vote. Just check this alphabetical list
against the candidates on your ballot, and you’re in business. You may have
also received the Candidate Evaluations in the mail, in GRNC’s “Remember in November” Voter
Guide.
YOUR CANDIDATE
RECOMMENDATIONS

CLICK
HERE to review all of GRNC-PVF’s Candidate Recommendations.
After clicking over to the page, scroll down to find your
recommendations for the US House, important judicial races, the NC
Senate and the NC House. If a district is not listed, GRNC-PVF was
unable to
recommend a candidate in that race. If you don’t know which districts
are yours, see below.

WHAT DISTRICTS AM I IN?

CLICK HERE
to look yourself
up at the State Board of Elections. Among other things, this voter
lookup tool will display the district information pertinent to you.

Still having trouble finding your districts? CLICK HERE to see the GRNC Candidate
Evaluations (open the PDF
sorted by name). Print this, take it with you to vote, and you can check the sheet against the candidates on your ballot.

Election Day is Tuesday, November
6th


This is your last chance to
vote. To find your Election Day voting location, CLICK HERE to look yourself up. Among
other things, this State Board of Elections voter lookup tool will display your Election Day voting location (it will probably
not be the same location as your early voting location(s)). On Election Day, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to
7:30 p.m.

PLEASE VOTE
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Knife Rights Will Appeal NY “Gravity Knife” Case To SCOTUS

November 5, 2018 by

Knife Rights has announced that they will appeal their long-running case against New York over the definition of gravity knives to the Supreme Court. The case centers around common folding knives that have been the target of enforcement by the NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney. The victims of this unjust definition have usually been trades people and minorities.

From Knife Rights on their plan to appeal:

Knife Rights’ NYC Gravity Knife Case Appeal Headed To U.S. Supreme Court

Knife
Rights is going forward with an appeal to the Supreme Court of the
United States of the Second Circuit’s decision in favor of New York City
and District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. in our long running civil rights
lawsuit over their persecution of pocket knife owners.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg last week granted us a 60-day extension
until January 13th, 2019, for submission of our petition for a writ of
certiorari asking the Court to hear our appeal.

While our
lawsuit against New York City and DA Vance centers on their abusive
enforcement of New York State’s gravity knife ban against owners of
common pocket knives, the focus changes somewhat as it moves to the
Supreme Court. Keep in mind that the Supreme Court does not generally
agree to hear a case just because any particular decision in a case is
unjust, irrational or just plain terrible, all of which describe this
ruling in spades.

Beyond settling major constitutional issues,
the Court will sometimes choose to resolve differences in the
application of Federal law among different Federal circuit courts when
its decisions are not applied the same throughout the U.S. The Second
Circuit panel’s ruling regarding our constitutional vagueness claim in
this case opens up that possibility with starkly split decisions between
it and other circuits, as well as splits between a number of state
courts. The writ explains why this case is important and worthy of the
Court’s limited time.

A Supreme Court decision to hear the case
could affect the implementation and enforcement of a wide spectrum of
laws to persons throughout the U.S. It is no longer just about these
common folding knives. New York City’s enforcement of the state’s
gravity knife law against common folding knives is now the vehicle to
answer the bigger constitutional question at issue. Only if the Supreme
Court accepts the case do we get to argue the merits of our particular
case as it reflects this bigger issue.

It’s always long odds for
any case to be accepted by the Supreme Court. However, not making the
attempt ensures we lose. And, that would allow very bad precedent to be
set in stone.

Taking a case to Supreme Court is an expensive
proposition, more so for a small organization like Knife Rights. We
still need to raise significant funds for this effort if we don’t want
to hand a victory to New York Governor Cuomo, DA Vance andr New York
City Mayor de Blasio

Please consider a year-end TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation to Knife Rights to support our efforts at the Supreme Court.  Donate at:  www.kniferights.org/donate/foundation

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Has Your Business Been Stopped from Using Google AdWords/AdSense?

October 30, 2018 by 1 Comment

The National Shooting Sports Foundation sent out an email today regarding a class action suit against Google. If you or your business had their AdWords or AdSense account canceled as a result of advertising certain items including firearms, knives, and crossbows, you may qualify as a class action plaintiff in a lawsuit filed in San Jose, California.

Read the full details below. If this pertains to you and your business, by all means investigate it. The othering and stigmatizing of those in the firearms, self-defense, and Second Amendment community by the large social media technology companies needs to stop. Hitting them in the wallet is one of the better ways to get them to back off.

If your company was prevented from using Google AdWords/AdSense you are being invited to join a class action lawsuit that is now pending in federal court in San Jose, California.

To qualify, a person or company must have had its AdWords/AdSense account suspended or terminated by Google LLC between March 2014 and September 2017 based on the fact their websites advertised “any products that (i) were designed to injure an opponent in sport, self-defense or combat such as knives, crossbows and guns or (ii) which comprised any part or component necessary to the function of a gun (iii) or which were intended for attachment to a gun” in violation of Google’s “dangerous products or services policy.”

You do not necessarily have to hold an FFL to become a plaintiff in this lawsuit. Your business does not need to be based in California, it can be located anywhere in the United States.

No attorney fees or costs will be charged to join this federal class action lawsuit. Rather, plaintiff’s counsel will be paid by court order on a contingent basis.

If you are interested in learning more or in participating in the case you should directly contact William McGrane, Esq., who is acting as putative class action counsel in the pending federal class action lawsuit by emailing him at william.mcgrane@mcgranepc.com. Mr. McGrane’s contact information and biography may be viewed at www.mcgranepc.com.

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Interesting Conversation On Holsters

October 30, 2018 by

In the video below, Bill Wilson and Ken Hackathorn have a very interesting conversation on different types of holsters and what to look for when selecting one. They discuss the pro’s and con’s of the various styles and get into a bit of the history of some of them. For example, the Askins Avenger holster that came out from Bianchi was actually designed by holster maker Bruce Nelson and was designed to be worn cross draw.

This is part of the Gun Guys series put out by Wilson Combat.

Note – posting may be a little sporadic this week as I will be doing a bit of traveling.

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The Soylent Green Of Whiskey?

October 26, 2018 by 1 Comment

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My Wall Street Journal today included their “The Future of Everything” magazine. Featured on the cover was “synthetic spirits”. That isn’t something for Halloween but a lab-created whiskey from San Fransciso.

The company is called Endless West and was founded by Mardonn Chua. Originally their intent was to recreate expensive wines. The problem was that they couldn’t market them as wine under Federal law. However, due to a loophole in the regulations, they could create “spirit whiskey” so long as it contained 5% on a proof gallon whiskey.

In the spring the company raised an additional $10 million and hired a small staff of food scientists and analytical chemists, then outfitted its lab with equipment that allows them to intricately sequence the molecular makeup of spirits (the machines are also used in food science and life science research). Though they keep the exact makes and models of these machines under wraps—going so far as to cover up their names with stickers reading “Bonnie” and “Clyde”—Lee let me tour freely throughout the lab. He showed me one machine that he described as “an electronic nose,” which inserts needles into half-filled vials of commercial wines and whiskeys, absorbs the gas trapped above the liquid, then “de-absorbs” the compounds to identify and quantify them.


Endless West can then source these compounds, mixing and matching them to taste (and smell). To satisfy the Tax and Trade Bureau, Glyph contains some traditionally made whiskey. The bureau defines spirit whiskey as “produced by blending neutral spirits and not less than 5% on a proof gallon basis whiskey.” About 5% of Glyph consists of “distilled clean whiskey” that, according to Lee, isn’t noticeably distinguishable in flavor from pure ethanol.

“Distilled clean whiskey” is, in other words, vodka to which they are adding flavoring to make “spirit whiskey”.

Eric Simanek of Texas Christian University has this to say about synthesized whiskey:

But technology—and that ineffable, essential whiskey quality—may still be a limiting factor. “Science knows most of the components of whiskey, and most of the relative concentrations, but not all of them,” says Eric Simanek, the co-author of “Shots of Knowledge: The Science of Whiskey” and the chairman of the chemistry and biochemistry department at Texas Christian University. “It’s very much like a cocktail party. You have a guest list. The folks show up. But the outcome of a party isn’t necessarily predictable. And it may be one guest, whom you’ve discounted, who changes the entire tenor of the assembly. This is the challenge that Endless West has.”

I don’t think Jimmy Russell, Fred Noe, Harlan Wheatley, or Jim Rutledge have anything to fear from Glyph.

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About Those Mail Bombs Sent To Clinton, Obama, CNN, Etc.

October 24, 2018 by 4 Comments

First off, while I heartily disagree with most anything Bill or Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say, I condemn most forcefully whomever sent them – and others – what appear to be mail bombs. This is not how we do things in a republic.

I’m sure whomever sent those will be found quickly and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

A picture of the bomb sent to former CIA Director John Brennan in care of CNN is shown below:

I’m not a bomb expert but it looks to be a pipe bomb using galvanized pipe to hold the explosive.

Given this and assuming it is a six inch piece of one inch pipe, I’d guesstimate it weighs at the minimum 13.5 ounces. Add in the weight of the explosive, detonator, and packaging and you are at about one pound. The postage was paid for with stamps

Why does this matter?

It matters because of USPS postal regulations which state:

If your mailpiece weighs more than 13 oz and you’re using postage stamps, take it to a Post Office retail counter to mail it. If put in your mailbox for pickup service, the carrier will leave it. If dropped in a blue collection box or lobby location, it will be returned to you.

Moreover, if you look at that picture you will notice that the stamps are not cancelled with a postmark. That might be the failure of the post office or it might indicate that this device never was in the USPS mail system to begin with and was someone dropped off at CNN.

I’m not going to get into conspiracy theories and suggest that the perpetrator was actually engaging in a false flag attack. I’ll leave that to Alex Jones. I prefer to wait until we know just who was behind this. Regardless of who they are, I hope they spend many, many years behind bars.