The tweet of the day comes from the Firearms Policy Coalition. It points out that President Biden’s new nominee to head BATFE, Steve Dettelbach, is like David Chipman but without the paper trail.
I love the play on the old Scooby Doo cartoon as well.
Dettelbach’s nomination is nothing short of a stealth attempt by the Biden Administration to appoint someone with the same radical values as David Chipman, but without the extensive public paper trail. pic.twitter.com/6EuL8Rqddq
As I posted yesterday, supporters of permitless carry in Nebraska failed to get enough votes to invoke cloture on the filibuster of LB 773. The bill would have made Nebraska the 26th state with unrestricted or permitless carry. Gov. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) had said he would sign the bill.
While the Nebraska Legislature is officially non-partisan, the senators have political affiliations and are supported by the political parties when they run for office. The website Ballotpedia did the research and has the political affiliation of each senator.
As I noted yesterday, two more votes in favor of cloture were needed. I thought it would be interesting to look at who voted against the bill and, more importantly, those that voted “present – not voting”. This latter wanted to eat their cake and have it too. While they can say they didn’t vote against the bill, they still condemned it to defeat by not voting.
If truth be told, I have more respect for those senators that voted against invoking cloture. At least, they had the courage of their convictions however misguided.
Supporters of LB 773, the permitless carry bill in Nebraska, fell two votes short in their attempt to invoke cloture on a filibuster against the bill. The vote was 31-9. Failure to invoke closure in the Nebraska’s unicameral legislature means the bill is dead for the year. If it had passed, Gov. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) had promised to sign it.
The primary sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Tom Brewer (Dis. 43- Gordon) has promised to bring the bill back next session.
“Next year we’ll start over again,” he vowed, predicting that newly elected lawmakers will change the makeup of the Legislature and provide enough votes for the measure to pass.
Under LB 773, which was co-sponsored by a majority of state senators, Nebraska adults who were not otherwise banned from having guns would no longer have had to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Initially, the bill faced opposition from major law enforcement groups in Nebraska such as the Omaha Police Officers Association and the Omaha PD. However, Sen. Brewer had negotiated a compromise and the law enforcement groups would change to neutral on the bill if that compromise amendment was adopted.
Again from the Omaha World-Herald on the compromise:
But the amendment failed on a 13-29 vote Monday, with hard-line gun rights advocates joining those who favored gun restrictions to shoot it down.
The Omaha police union then switched back to opposition and began urging senators to vote against the bill.
The compromise amendment would have allowed cities of the metropolitan class, meaning Omaha, to continue to require registration of all handguns, other than those owned by people with a concealed-carry permit. The city could not deny registrations to anyone allowed by state law to own a gun.
The amendment also would make it a crime to carry a concealed handgun while committing any of a lengthy list of offenses. The list ranges from murder to “unauthorized” graffiti and includes violations of city or village ordinances, as well as state laws.
As I’m not a resident of the Cornhusker State, I don’t know all the hoops that Sen. Brewer had to jump through to get that “compromise” but to me it seems he was giving up more than was gained. While permitless carry would have been great, registration of handguns and any sort of a carve-out for Omaha would seem to negate what would be gained. Any registration scheme is anathema to me.
I hope Sen. Brewer is correct in seeing a potential pickup of the needed seats to overcome a future filibuster in the next session. I’d much rather see the effort go to picking up those seats than to making any sort of compromise that would minimize the win of getting permitless carry passed.
As you would expect, the anti-rights forces are crowing about the failure to invoke cloture.
THEY DID IT!!! Nebraska @MomsDemand and @StudentsDemand volunteers worked tirelessly with a coalition of law enforcement officers to fight back against dangerous permitless carry legislation – and they just won! #neleghttps://t.co/5Ii3ZbR3ht
In another tweet she says they sent 400 emails and made 400 calls as if that was an overwhelming number. Jeez!
The Nebraska Legislature is officially non-partisan. It will take some research to check the affiliation of the nine nay votes and the six who voted “present-not voting”.
Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) will sign Georgia’s recently passed permitless carry bill into law on Tuesday, April 12th. He plans to do it at Gable Sporting Goods in Douglasville which is located 20 miles west of Atlanta.
I received this media advisory from Kemp’s office on Friday:
Atlanta, GA – On Tuesday, April 12, 2022, Governor Brian P. Kemp, joined by First Lady Marty Kemp, legislators, and other special guests, will sign the Georgia Constitutional Carry Act (SB 319) into law.
WHO: Governor Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp, and other state leaders
WHAT: Governor Kemp and other guests will provide remarks before the bill signing.
RSVP: Please RSVP to Andrew Isenhour by Monday, April 11, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.
According to Section 18 of the bill, the law goes into effect immediately upon Gov. Kemp’s signature. As of Tuesday, fully one half of all the states will have unrestricted or permitless carry.
It must suck to be Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA). She was a darling of Everytown and the anti-gun lobby only a mere two years ago. They called her a “Gunsense” candidate and spent $1.2 million to get her elected in a suburban Atlanta district.
Now redistricting has put her in the same district as Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA). McBath is the fair-haired child so-to-speak of Everytown. They created her, they elected her, they own her. You can guess who is going to get the money and support of Everytown and their red-shirted Mommy brigade this election.
Rob Romano has a great tweet showing how Everytown has now discarded Bourdeaux in favor of their own creation.
McBath is running in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District against fellow incumbent U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux in the May 24 Democratic primary. Everytown’s political arm has supported both women in the past but chose McBath in this head-to-head matchup.
The organization said it is spending in the low seven-figures on direct mail, radio spots and digital ads.
Poor Carolyn should have picked her friends better.
Ruger issued a safety bulletin on their SR22 .22LR pistol. An assembly issue may render internal safety mechanisms inoperative in a small number of the pistols.
More from Ruger:
Ruger has discovered that a small number of SR22® pistols may have right and left frame inserts that are not properly secured together. In rare circumstances, this condition may render certain internal safety mechanisms ineffective and the pistol has the potential to discharge upon decocking. Pistols that may be exhibiting this condition will intermittently exhibit a “slack” single-action trigger.
NOTE: A “slack” single-action trigger occurs if, while operating the pistol in single-action mode with a magazine inserted, the slide forward, and the manual safety disengaged, a trigger pull does not encounter resistance and the hammer does not fall.
Although only a very small number of pistols appear to be affected, Ruger is committed to safety and would like to examine all SR22 pistols that have ever exhibited a slack single-action trigger or discharged upon decocking.
Potentially affected pistols include any SR22 pistol with a serial number of 369-40078 or lower (including all SR22 pistols with a “SS” prefix). If your SR22 pistol has ever exhibited one of the conditions described above, you should immediately stop using your pistol andsign up for the Safety Retrofit as outlined in theSafety Bulletin. If you have never experienced either condition, your pistol is not affected by this Safety Bulletin.
Details about what to look for and how to sign up for the retrofit also appear on our website at Ruger.com/SR22Retrofit. The website also contains answers to Frequently Asked Questions, a video demonstrating the inspection process, and other information that you may find helpful.
The Grass Roots North Carolina – Political Victory Fund will be holding a steel match and a BBQ to raise funds to support pro-2A candidates. The event will be held on Saturday, April 9th, at the Hyatt Farms Shooting Complex in Polkton, NC. A number of pro-gun VIPs will be attending including Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R-NC), Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), and NC Ct of Appeals Judge Richard Deitz (R-NC). Note that some changes in timing were made due to a North Carolina rally by former President Donald Trump later in the day.
More details are in the release from GRNC-PVF below:
APRIL 9: MEET MAJOR GUN RIGHTS FIGURES!
IMPORTANT CHANGE TO EVENT: Because Donald Trump recently scheduled a rally to endorse Ted Budd for U.S. Senate, we have been forced to make schedule changes to the event. ALL VIPS ARE STILL ATTENDING, but to allow them to make both Ring Steel for Freedom and the Trump rally, the BBQ has been moved to 11:30 AM, ending at 1:00 PM, with speakers from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM. We will continue steel plate match after the BBQ. Please note that match sign-in still begins at 10:30 AM. If you have questions, please email DirectorOfDevelopment@GRNC.org
REVISED EVENT SCHEDULE: Date/time: April 9, 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM 10:30 AM: Match sign-in begins 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM BBQ lunch 12:00 PM — 1:00 PM: Awards/meet & greet w/ VIPs 1:00 – 4:30 Steel plate match Location: Hyatt Farms Shooting Complex, 990 Burnsville Church Rd, Polkton, NC 28135 Cost: $95 for 1st person, $75 for 2nd
In addition to the major figures below, GRNC’s “Ring Steel for Freedom” event has now landed CONGRESSMAN DAN BISHOP, a gun rights stalwart who has been voting for gun rights even when some other Republicans haven’t.
Your support is vital to helping our political action committee, the GRNC Political Victory Fund, ELECT PRO-GUN CANDIDATES in the 2022 elections. Get your ticket now by going to: www.grnc.org/steel-plate
ATTENDEES INCLUDE: LT GOV MARK ROBINSON Exciting announcement: As GRNC’s April 9 “Ring Steel for Freedom” continues to grow, we now have the honor of featuring Lt. Governor MARK ROBINSON, who initially became famous after his impassioned defense of gun rights to the Greensboro City Council went viral. Since then, Robinson has driven the left nuts as he spoke truth about not only gun control, but also family, the LGBTQ agenda, and how leftists are indoctrinating your children in schools.
CONGRESSMAN TED BUDD As the most pro-Second Amendment candidate in the race for retiring U.S. Senator Richard Burr’s seat, CONGRESSMAN TED BUDD is a gun shop owner who, while serving in the U.S. House, has stood tall for gun rights, often voting against anti-gun legislation that even other (less resolute) Republicans support.
GOA EXEC DIR EMERITUS LARRY PRATT We are also happy to announce that Larry Pratt, Gun Owners of America’s Executive Director Emeritus, will join us on April 9.
GOA SENIOR VP ERICH PRATT Also addressing the crowd on April 9 will be Erich Pratt, who is currently directing Gun Owners of America. Pratt will educate attendees on current threats to gun rights and what we can do about them!
JUDICIAL CANDIDATES Judge Richard Dietz, strong constitutionalist for the NC Supreme Court, Judge Michael Stading for NC Court of Appeals, and other pro-Second Amendment candidates!
SPACE IS LIMITED!RESERVE YOUR TICKETS NOW BY GOING TO: www.grnc.org/steel-plate YOU DON’T WANT TO SHOOT? NO PROBLEM: Attendees not interested in shooting the steel plate match can attend the BBQ for the reduced rate of $55 by selecting the “Under 18 or not shooting”. If you prefer this option, please check in at 2:00 PM.
RING STEEL FOR FREEDOM EVENT DETAILS:Date/time: April 9, 10:30 AM to 4:30 PMLocation: Hyatt Farms Shooting Complex, 990 Burnsville Church Rd, Polkton, NC 28135 Steel plate match: 1:00 — 4:30 PM Match Sign-in: Begins 10:30 AM Awards/meet-and-greet: BBQ lunch/meet-and-greet: 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM PMCost: $95 for 1st person$75 for 2nd & subsequent$55 for under age 18, incl. match fee & BBQ$55 for BBQ only Additional prizes if you can beat GRNC President Paul Valone! First, anybody who beats his cumulative time to clear all the plates gets a GRNC challenge coin. But it gets better…. Anybody who beats GRNC President Paul Valone also gets entered into a drawing, with the winner getting his or her choice of 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition or 500 rounds of .223/5.56mm ammunition – and not steel case. Reloadable brass FMJ ammunition worth nearly $400. Remember: With ‘Brandon’ ruining the country, ammunition prices are expected to skyrocket once again!
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) has announced it is winding down operations. It will be merging its sister organization Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (sic) with Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention. The new organization will be called the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.
According to CBS Baltimore, the new center will be co-led by Daniel Webster who led the Bloomberg School center and Joshua Horwitz who was executive director of CSGV.
The release from JHU’s Bloomberg School of Public Health said the new center would “bring a public health lens to reduce gun violence in the U.S., focusing on research while expanding evidence-based advocacy for effective and equitable policies. They also say the new center will be financed by foundations, private donors, and other sources. I read this to mean that they will be getting significant monies from Michael Bloomberg, his own foundations, and the Joyce Foundation.
The press release goes on to say:
The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions will focus on prevention strategies that, if implemented broadly, would significantly reduce gun-related death and injury. It will:
Conduct research to evaluate and strengthen public health approaches to gun violence such as community violence intervention programs and handgun purchaser licensing.
Advance the use of racial equity impact analysis when considering policies to address gun violence.
Advance evidence-based policies such as handgun purchaser licensing and laws to remove firearms from those at risk of harm to self or others.
Develop new approaches to curb political violence and address the misuse of personally manufactured firearms, commonly referred to as ghost guns.
Track public opinion on policy and violence-reduction programs through surveys.
“Our Center will continue to apply strong research methods to assess the effectiveness of strategies intended to prevent gun violence,” says Webster. “With our new colleagues, we will now have even more capacity to bring meaningful policy change through evidence-based advocacy.”
“Our biggest successes have come when the evidence meets the moment,” says Horwitz. “Right now is one such moment. This new Center will put the evidence-based solutions identified and developed by our new colleagues directly into the hands of the policymakers ready to make change.”
There are two major implications from this merger. First, the growth of Everytown and Giffords relegated CSGV to being a gun control bit-player with not even marginal influence. The most they could do is stomp their feet, post angry tweets, accuse gun rights activists of being “insurrectionists”, and try to get a dozen people to attend a demonstration.
They just had no future within the gun control industry. According to their Form 990, they were barely covering expenses. They had a little more than a half million dollars in revenue and about the same in expenses of which Joshua Horwitz’s salary consumed about a third. By contrast, Everytown had revenues of approximately $85 million.
The second major implication is that Michael Bloomberg is going to push the supposed public health implications of the criminal misuse of firearms in his attempt to get legislation passed. I don’t think this merger would have happened without the consent, implied or expressed, of Bloomberg. This was not a merger of equals. If anything, it was a takeover that consolidated more of the 501(c)(3) gun control world under his influence while getting rid of a bit-player that could have muddied the message.
In one sense I am sad to see CSGV go away. They provided material for many blog posts with their craziness. You could always depend upon Horwitz to be foaming at the mouth about “insurrectionism” while their former communications director Ladd Everitt could be depended upon for invective about gun rights. I was a “gun extremist” while my friend Kurt Hofmann was branded a “traitor“.
CSGV may be leaving but I still have my commemorative patch!
The issue with returned ballots is not restricted to eastern Pennsylvania. The ballot below was sent back to a Benefactor Life member residing in Nevada. Not only was it sent back to him but he received it in the damaged condition shown. I scratched out the name and he covered his address with a flyer to preserve his privacy.
In the comments section of my first post on this, another person in Tennessee has also received his ballot back in the mail due to the wrong Plus 4 ZIP and barcode. To date, the NRA has not issued any public notice of the issue with the envelope. How many more out there that have been returned or will be returned is open to speculation.
The person who had the first known returned ballot reached out the NRA’s Membership Department and got this response. I would urge anyone who had a ballot returned to do this.
If you have not returned your ballot yet, my original suggestion that you scratch out the Plus 4 ZIP and the barcode below the address still stands. It will prevent the USPS mail sorting machines from kicking it out as undeliverable.
If you have friends who are voting NRA members, you need to warn them about this. My fear is that a number of people will wait until the last moment to send in their ballots. Then, when it is too late to resubmit the ballot, they will get it back in the mail.
Frank Tait brought this to the attention of NRA Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer. Here is the response he and the person to whom the first ballot was returned.
It does appear that a small number of envelopes containing completed ballots for the 2022 NRA board election were mailed to our independent accounting firm for processing, but have been returned to sender. We are continuing to investigate this situation in collaboration with the accounting firm. It appears that this situation is limited to a specific geographic area, which may indicate a problem at a specific postal facility – not a widespread problem impacting the majority of ballots. We are committed to the integrity of the election process, and to ensuring that process works to the benefit of all voting members.
Notably, the address on the ballot envelope is the same one used for all ballots, both this year and last. Nearly 100,000 ballots were received last year for processing. So far this year, about 60,000 ballots have been received—which again suggests that this is an isolated issue. In other words, tens of thousands of NRA members are participating in the election without experiencing this problem.
If a ballot envelope is returned, the member can still vote. We ask that the member please enclose the entire return envelope in a larger envelope, and mail it to:
Rogers & Co.
P.O. Box 686
Dunn Loring, VA 22027
We regret the inconvenience for those who were affected by this issue. The NRA is confident that our election process is fair – and we thank our members for participating in this important undertaking.
What bothers me the most is that this is being treated like a small aberration by the powers that be in the NRA. If we learned anything from the 2020 elections it is that people get really pissed off if they perceive that an election has issues with their vote not being counted. I don’t care if it is a “found” bundle of ballots in the middle of the night or a valid mailed-in NRA BOD ballot that is being returned to sender as undeliverable.
To be sure this is not a case of malfeasance. It is a case of negligence. Moreover, it is a case of repeated negligence. John Frazer acknowledges that the same erroneous address was used last year as well. If I could see the error almost immediately, then why did the highly paid consultants, the accounting firm, and other experts at the NRA not catch it? Could it be that they assume the outcome of this election is preordained and they just don’t give a shit if my vote or yours is counted or not?
The study of camouflage has long been of interest to me. Whether it is for military use or for hunting use, I am intrigued by the different sorts of camouflage out there. One of my favorite blogs has long been that of Professor Roy Behrens at the University of North Iowa who writes Camoupedia.
I recently came across the video below put out by Venture Surplus. It traces the evolution of US Army camouflage uniforms from ERDL up to today’s OCP aka Scorpion W2.
My own collection includes BDU Woodland, DCU or desert camouflage, the ill-fated UCP, and MultiCam aka OEF-CP.
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