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Is Brewer Getting His Hooks Into NRA-ILA’s Budget?

March 17, 2022 by 4 Comments

When Chris Cox was forced out as the Executive Director of NRA-ILA, his Deputy Director and General Counsel David Lehman was out soon thereafter.

Jason Ouimet was appointed to take Cox’s position as head of NRA-ILA. As has been explained to me, he then started to search for a general counsel who would have his back and who would protect the NRA-ILA from Bill Brewer’s depredations. He went outside the Second Amendment world and hired Wade Callender who had served as a trial attorney, a Judge Advocate in the Navy, and for eight years as a general counsel in the software industry.

It appears Wade did his job too well. He protected the NRA-ILA from those outside forces such as Brewer whose goals and aims were inconsistent with the purpose of the organization. Unlike John Frazer at the NRA, he did his job as a good general counsel should therefore he was a threat.

Today a memo went out from Jason Ouimet saying that Wade will be leaving the position effective Labor Day. There was the typical mumbo-jumbo about Wade wanted to seek new opportunities and that he wanted to remain in Texas where he had been working during COVID. Ouimet did say that Wade “improved legal operations, saved millions and his counsel to me as Executive Director has been invaluable.” He is also being credited with shepherding the NYSRPA v. Bruen case through the Supreme Court.

This is bad news for the NRA-ILA. Bill Brewer has had his sights set on the ILA’s Second Amendment budget for a long time. It is another pot of money from which he can get legal fees. Wade stood in his way and now Ouimet has cracked open the door for Brewer.

Not only will the ILA not have a General Counsel who could and would stand up to Brewer but their long-time litigation counsel Chris Conte passed away in 2021. Conte was the one responsible for developing cases which then would work their way up to the appellate level.

As should be self-evident by now, Brewer and his firm are not qualified to handle Second Amendment cases. The few minor 2A cases in which he has been involved have either been dropped or dismissed. To make matters worse, qualified Second Amendment lawyers like Charles Cooper of Cooper & Kirk were purged for “disloyalty” in 2019. I have even heard rumors that Brewer thought he should have been the one to bring the NYSRPA case to the Supreme Court and not Paul Clement. Even the thought of that makes me cringe.

I’m sure we will hear more on this in the coming days as the Annual Meeting approaches at the end of May. When we do, I’ll be reporting it.

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US Weapons Being Sent To Ukraine

March 17, 2022 by 2 Comments

After the President of Ukraine spoke to Congress, President Joe Biden announced another $800 million in weapons and other security assistance to Ukraine. There was one thing in the list that kind of struck me as interesting. See if you can find it.

The new $800 million assistance package includes:

800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems;

2,000 Javelin, 1,000 light anti-armor weapons, and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems;

100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems;

100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns, and 400 shotguns;

Over 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenade launcher and mortar rounds;

25,000 sets of body armor; and

25,000 helmets.

Since I don’t think the Ukrainian Army nor its Territorial Army are yet ready to engage in trench warfare, I’m wondering a bit about those 400 shotguns.

Given it is Biden, I surely hope he doesn’t expect the Ukrainians to take his advice on “self-defense” with a shotgun from his Vice-Presidential days.

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Repurposing Russian Armaments

March 16, 2022 by 2 Comments

Necessity is the mother of invention and it appears the Ukrainians are doing a good job of it. They have captured a number of abandoned or semi-destroyed Russian Army tanks and armored personnel carriers. Who has not seen the videos of Ukrainian farmers towing away Russian tanks with their John Deere tractors?

Most of these vehicles are armed, in part, with the Russian PK-T machine gun. That is the tank or coaxial version of their standard PK machine gun. France 24, the French public TV network, has a story on how Ukrainian auto mechanics are re-engineering and repurposing these tank machine guns into infantry weapons. They have added a stock and bipod as well as converted the firing mechanism. You can it in the video below.

Repurposing tank machine guns for infantry use is nothing new. As Ian McCollum relates in the next video, the Finns did it extensively with captured Soviet weapons in the Winter War.

H/T Stephen Gutowski on Twitter

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Every Picture Tells A Story, Part XV

March 15, 2022 by 3 Comments

My good friend Amanda Suffecool, co-host of Eye on the Target Radio, told me days ago that she thought that Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) would sign unrestricted or constitutional carry into law in Ohio. Her reasoning was that DeWine was being primaried by two strong 2A advocates and that given his somewhat lackluster record on gun rights he needed to prove his bonafides. Today she was proven correct. Ohio became the 23rd state with permitless or unrestricted carry.

From Cleveland.com:

As of June 12, you no longer need a permit or training to carry a concealed handgun in Ohio.

Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday signed Republican-backed legislation to allow people in the state to carry a concealed handgun without a permit or training and no longer require them to proactively tell law enforcement during traffic stops that they’re armed.

Senate Bill 215, which takes effect in 90 days, allows anyone 21 or older to carry a concealed firearm unless state or federal law prohibits them from possessing a gun. Ohio will become the 23rd state to allow conceal-carry in public without needing a license, according to the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action. Ohio currently requires conceal-carry applicants to take eight hours of training and pass a background check.

The bill also removes the duty to notify law enforcement that you are carrying unless you are specifically asked about it.

Ohio is the second largest state with unrestricted carry after Texas. As with Texas and the rest of the constitutional carry states except Vermont, you can still obtain a carry permit if needed.

The addition of Ohio and Alabama to the roles of unrestricted states brings the percentage of the US population that lives in unrestricted states to approximately 31%.

As might be expected, the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the gun prohibitionists has begun. The Bloomberg organizations in Ohio are claiming DeWine prefers the “gun lobby” to public safety and law enforcement. They are stomping their feet and saying they will hold him accountable at the ballot box. No word yet from Brady United, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic), Violence Policy Center, or the Demanding Mommy herself Shannon Watts.

Now we just have to wait on Gov. Eric Holcomb (R-IN) and on Georgia to finish out numbers 24 and 25. Florida, sad to say, will not be on the list this year as they have just ended their legislative session without passing it.

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Whitetails: Which Apex Predator Do They Fear The Most?

March 13, 2022 by 5 Comments

Dr. Daniel Crawford sought to find out which apex predator struck the most fear in whitetail deer. They did this playing the calls of predators such as wolves, coyotes, and others to see which the deer would react to the quickest. As a control, he also played the calls of various local birds to see if the deer had any reaction to those sounds. He used trail cams to capture the reaction of the deer.

Dr. Daniel Crawford is affiliated with the Jones Center of Ichauway, Georgia and the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Center at Texas A&M University – Kingsville. He conducted his study at the Jones Center, a 29,000 acre reserve, located in southwest Georgia and it formed the basis of his Ph.D. dissertation.

The video below with Lindsay Thomas of the National Deer Association shows many clips that Dr. Crawford and his team recorded. You might be surprised at which apex predator caused the strongest flight response in whitetail deer.

If you are interested in reading more about the research on this super-predator interaction with whitetail deer, Dr. Crawford published an article in the journal Oecologia where he goes into much more detail.

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Every Pictures Tells A Story, Part XIV

March 11, 2022 by 3 Comments

Alabama became the 22nd state with permitless, unrestricted, or constitutional carry this afternoon. Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) signed House Bill 272 which will go into effect in January 2023. When I first started publishing this graphic created by Rob Vance in 2011, the unrestricted or blue section at the upper right of the graphic was rather small. Now over a quarter of all Americans live in a state with unrestricted carry.

Furthermore, as I write this, the governors of the states of Ohio and Indiana both have unrestricted carry bills awaiting their signature. If those states join Alabama, another 7% of the United States population will reside in unrestricted carry states.

Gov. Ivey had this to say in her signing statement:

“Unlike states who are doing everything in their power to make it harder for law abiding citizens, Alabama is reaffirming our commitment to defending our Second Amendment rights,” said Governor Ivey. “I have always stood up for the rights of law abiding gunowners, and I am proud to do that again today.”

The primary sponsor of this bill was Rep. Shane Stringer (R – Mobile). He brought the amended bill to the floor of the Alabama House today and it was approved in a 70-29 vote mostly – but not entirely – along party lines. The Alabama Senate then approved it in a 24-6 vote. The House had originally passed it on February 22nd but then the Senate made amendments which pushed it to a conference committee.

Rep. Stringer had this to say about the bill’s passage:

“I am deeply thankful to my colleagues in the Legislature for passing this constitutional carry measure, which allows Alabamians to exercise their fundamental rights without first having to pay a gun tax in the form of permit fees,” Stringer said in a statement. “Those who still wish to purchase a permit for reciprocity with other states or other reasons continue to retain that option under this law.”

Stringer also noted that the law does establish a database of prohibited persons which he contends is more important than whether one had a permit or not. He contended there were some Alabama sheriffs who did not conduct background checks before issuing – or selling – permits.

Stringer himself has had a long career in law enforcement. He served as a deputy in the Mobile County Sheriffs Department and was also the police chief of the towns of Citronelle and Satsuma.

George Owens, Legislative Director of the Alabama Gun Rights Network, pointed out some of the details of the bill in this post.

First it means that if you can legally own a pistol you don’t need a permit to carry that pistol openly or concealed, or in your vehicle.

Second, you can still buy a permit including the lifetime permit that will become available later this year.

Your permit remains important to legally protect you from being criminally charged under certain circumstances.

You must have a permit if you carry a pistol onto a school grounds or at any school function like at a football game. This includes having a pistol in your vehicle when picking your child up. This is a federal law and it is taken very seriously.

You may not carry onto the private property of another person unless you have a permit, OR have the permission of the owner of the property.

Your permit will still grant you carry privileges in the roughly 22 states that have reciprocity agreements with Alabama. That includes Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, to name a few.

Regardless of whether you prefer to call it the Yellowhammer State or the Heart of Dixie, congratulations to all Alabamans on the hard won freedom.

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Frank Tait Rides Shotgun With Charlie

March 10, 2022 by

My good friend and fellow co-host of the Polite Society Podcast Charlie Cook has a series of videos called “Riding Shotgun with Charlie.” The series involves Charlie driving with a guest (or two) while he films his interview of them. It is the gun culture’s equivalent of Jerry Seinfield’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee or James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke.

Charlie’s most recent guest was Frank Tait who is running for the NRA Board of Directors. In this case, Frank really was riding shotgun as Charlie’s carry permits were not valid in Pennsylvania. While driving around Philadelphia, they discussed a number of things including how Frank got started in competition, how he became an instructor and training counselor, his work with Appleseed and Revere’s Riders, and, of course, his run for the NRA Board of Directors.

In full disclosure, I have endorsed Frank for the NRA Board and have encouraged people to “bullet vote” for Frank. He is the only person I endorsed for the Board and the only person who got my vote. If you are eligible to vote, I would encourage you to vote soon and to vote for Frank.

I got to ride shotgun with Charlie a few years ago. I think Frank’s interview is much better than mine!

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Russian Army Uses Chinese Ham Radios?

March 4, 2022 by 3 Comments

I read a report today that the Russian Army is using Baofeng UV-5R Dual Band (2m/70cm) ham radios for communications.

What the heck?

These radios sell for $25 on Amazon!

I have one as a cheap back-up to my Japanese-made Yaesu FT-60R dual band hand-held. They are not bad little radios but they certainly are not what I’d consider secure or for rugged military use.

Someone named George Turner who reported their use had this to say:

The Russian forces are using Baofeng (China) UV-5R dual-band 2m/70cm (440 Mhz) ham radios that sell on Amazon for $25 to $60. It’s a great radio for the money, and lots of hams I know have them, along with the separate clip-on mic/speaker so the radio can stay on the hip.

Except for jamming and lack of encryption, and the fact that amateur radio operators in all countries already frequent those bands, it’s an extremely good choice for an army under budget.

And of course these hand-helds also scan the bands, and this of course makes intercepting Russian radio communications a snap. That is apparently providing a trove of information, and showing just how bad the state of the invasion force is. Screaming, crying, bitching, confusion, rebellion, shock at what the mission is, and anger at the abysmal supply and food situation.

I have no way of verifying the accuracy of this report but, if true, the Russian Army is in far worse shape than I thought it was. It seems a little far-fetched but so are a lot of things.

UPDATE: It actually might be true.

I came across this story with pictures of the Baofeng in an Indian business publication.

And this thread on Twitter.

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Ackerman McQueen And NRA Settle

March 3, 2022 by

The Federal lawsuit that the NRA brought against Ackman McQueen in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas has reached a settlement. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed but in a joint filing from attorneys for both parties they say a settlement has been reached and ask that the case be dismissed with prejudice.

The Parties have reached a settlement in the above captioned case. The Parties have stipulated and respectfully request that all pending deadlines be stayed immediately, and ask the Court to remove the case from the Court’s current March 7, 2022 trial docket. The Parties request that the Court allow the Parties time to finalize the terms of the settlement and to file the appropriate dismissal pleadings with prejudice on or before March 21, 2022.

The timing is very interesting coming as it does a day after Judge Cohen issued a partial dismissal of the New York Attorney General’s dissolution case. As a friend noted, “they are both so dirty and intertwined that neither can afford to let it get to trial.”