MDA Claiming False Victories

Moms Demand Action has never been above claiming a victory where there is none. I came across the picture below yesterday. It seemingly shows Academy Sports and Outdoor stores changing their policy because of a push from the Demanding Mommies. As I mentioned last week, they are on a campaign to get Cabela’s to kow-tow to their demands regarding the erroneously named “incomplete checks.”

They also posted a similar photo regarding Dick’s. Now I don’t care really what Dick’s does because I think they live up to their name post-Newtown.

I checked the Academy Sports website to see if they had any press release regarding this. I came up empty. Likewise, I came up empty on the Everytown Facebook page. Now it gets me to wondering if they just contrived this out of thin air. So I went to that fount of all knowledge, AR15.com, and posted a message on the General Forum asking about it. Out of the 88 replies, I got this one that seems to indicate Academy policy has always been to only release a firearm when they got a definitive OK. Bear in mind that this is from a part-time employee and not a store manager.

I work at Academy part time. Its 21 for handguns and pistol grip shotguns. 18 for long guns, period. I can’s even show a handgun or pistol grip shotgun to anyone under 21. But if you’re 18, you can buy any long gun. Academy won’t sell a gun without a “Proceed” or a CCW (at least in MS). IDK about historical data as I have only been there about 2 months.

Other comments seem to indicate that this policy probably came down from their risk management department a long time ago.

So is Academy Sports and Outdoors kow-towing to the Demanding Mommies? Probably not. They had, and have, a policy in place regarding NICS checks that was more stringent than called for by law. It’s not a victory because nothing was changed when Shannon and her minions came calling. It is a policy they like but it wasn’t a win.

About Damn Time!

The White House has finally ordered flags to be flown at half staff to honor the four Marines and one Sailor murdered in Chattanooga, Tennessee last Friday. I think the embarrassment of seeing the flag at half staff at the Capitol while flying at full staff at the White House may have finally prodded them into doing the correct thing.

From FoxNews

From FoxNews:

In a proclamation issued early Tuesday afternoon, Obama said of the Chattanooga victims, “We honor their service. We offer our gratitude to the police officers and first responders who stopped the rampage and saved lives. We draw strength from yet another American community that has come together with an unmistakable message to those who would try and do us harm: We do not give in to fear. You cannot divide us. And you will not change our way of life.”

He ordered flags flown at half-staff at the White House and “all public buildings and grounds,” as well as over military posts and naval stations and vessels — until July 25. Flags will be flown at half-staff at U.S. embassies and other overseas diplomatic offices.

The decision comes after congressional leaders ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol lowered to half-staff earlier in the day — that decision fueled questions over why the White House hadn’t yet done the same.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) had issued an order that flags in NC be lowered to half staff on Monday to honor these fallen service members. Staff Sgt. David Wyatt was born in Morganton, NC. Gov. Bill Haslam (R-TN) had previously issued a similar order in Tennessee ordering that flags be flown at half staff until Friday.

SAF Rips Plan To Add Social Security Recipients To NICS Database

Alan Gottlieb and the Second Amendment Foundation didn’t mince words when they ripped into the proposal to include those who have trouble managing their Social Security checks in the NICS prohibited person database. They make an excellent point when they say that gun control supporters will see nothing wrong with this proposal.

From the SAF:

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today responded to published reports that the Obama administration is pushing to prevent citizens collecting Social Security benefits from owning guns if they have problems managing their own affairs as proof the president wants to strip as many people as possible of their Second Amendment rights while he remains in office.

“This could possibly disqualify millions of people from owning firearms and might prevent many others from seeking help,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, himself a U.S. Army veteran. “It’s unconscionable that someone who might have problems balancing a checkbook or managing their finances would suddenly find himself or herself stripped of their right to keep and bear arms.”

The plan, according to the Los Angeles Times, “could potentially affect millions whose monthly disability payments are handled by others.” The report says this push “is intended to bring the Social Security Administration in line with laws that prevent gun sales to felons, drug addicts, immigrants in the United States illegally, and others.”

“So, let’s see,” Gottlieb observed. “The Obama administration wants to equate some Social Security recipients who own guns with felons, drug addicts and illegal immigrants. That’s not simply insulting, it’s insidious, because who knows where this could lead?

“What’s next,” he wondered. “Will they take away someone’s right to vote, claiming they’re not competent?”

Published reports estimated about 4.2 million adults are now receiving monthly Social Security benefits that are managed by someone else, designated as “representative payees.”

“What may seem reasonable to people who reflexively support any and all gun control is really just one more effort by the Obama White House to erode Second Amendment rights any way they can,” Gottlieb stated. “Taking away someone’s Second Amendment rights because they can’t manage their finances is wrongheaded and repugnant.”

NRA Response To Social Security Proposal

The NRA-ILA issued an alert on Saturday after the story broke about the proposal to include 4.2 million Social Security recipients in the NICS database as prohibited persons. This proposal from the Social Security Administration has been traced back to a Presidential Memorandum issued in 2013. That memorandum, issued post-Newtown, ordered Federal agencies to improve the availability of relevant records for inclusion into the NICS database.

The alert does not explain why it took the SSA over two and a half years to come forward with this proposal. Moreover, the alert notes that other Federal agencies were named in the memorandum and might be expected to add even more names to the prohibited list.

There are links in the alert to communicate with your legislators.

From the NRA-ILA:

As the L.A. Times reported on July 18, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is currently developing a program to strip the Second Amendment Rights of over four million Americans currently receiving SSA benefits through a “representative payee.”  Not only would this amount to the largest gun grab in American history, but according to the published report, would take place without any due process protections for recipients, amounting to a nullification of Second Amendment rights for millions of Americans who don’t pose a threat to themselves or anyone else.
This new program appears to have been instigated by the SSA in response to a memorandum issued by Obama in January of 2013 which directed all federal agency executives to “improve the availability of records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).” This memorandum required all agency heads to submit to the Department of Justice (DOJ) a plan for “sharing all relevant Federal records” for submission to the NICS.

Take Action Now to Stop the Largest Gun Grab in American History

Are you a prohibited person? A new, unconstitutional Social Security Administration program will add over 4 million Americans to the prohibited persons list without due process. Contact your lawmakers today. Ask if you’re one of the 4 million.
Evidently, Obama’s SSA bureaucrats read “all relevant Federal records” to mean all Social Security recipients who have a “representative payee” assigned to their accounts to help them manage their payments and receipts. Obviously, many individuals swept up in this egregious case of bureaucratic over-reach would not otherwise be prohibited from owning, possessing, or acquiring firearms under federal law.
The federal prohibitions against acquiring or possessing firearms apply to those “adjudicated as a mental defective,” among others. The term “adjudication,” however, refers to a determination made after a judicial-type process that includes various due process protections. In no case does the federal law describe or contemplate the type of prohibition by bureaucratic fiat exercised by the SSA in developing its guidelines for those with “representative payees” assigned to their accounts.
But SSA is not alone in this directive. The memorandum names several agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Transportation, and “such other agencies or offices as the Chair may designate.” Potentially, bureaucrats in all these agencies could be working hard to identify and forward “all relevant Federal records,” to the NICS pursuant to the Obama mandate.
In total, this program could easily grow to include many more millions of Americans who have any connection to the Federal government through the various agencies named in the memorandum.
Unfortunately, this fits a pattern of abuse within the Obama Administration which is clearly hell-bent on destroying the Second Amendment in any way possible. As we reported previously (here and here), the Veterans Administration (VA) has already implemented a similar program to designate veterans as “prohibited persons”  when they have a fiduciary assigned to administer their VA benefits. Like the SSA program described above, the VA procedures are also devoid of significant due process protections or any requirement that the beneficiary be found a danger to self or others. According to the L.A Times article, 177,000 vets have been swept into NICS with the bureaucratic short-cut.
The implications of this policy are too far reaching to fathom at present. Social Security is one of the more prolific and relied upon Federal programs in American history. That Obama’s directive could so easily be implemented within the SSA suggests that bureaucrats could effectively cloak such a program in any agency within the growing leviathan that is the federal government.
Please call or write your members of congress and demand that Obama’s attempts to implement the largest gun grab in American history be stopped in its tracks.  You can contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives at 202-225-3121. You can write your lawmakers by using our “Write Your Lawmakers” tool below.

NC Sets 2015-16 Webless Migratory Bird Seasons

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has set the dates for webless migratory bird hunting for 2015-2016. They also set the early seasons for Canada geese and teal.

A quick look shows that dove season starts on the traditional Saturday before Labor Day and that resident Canada geese inland from the coast must be getting to be a real problem. I say that last bit because the daily limit for geese during September is 15! Not only that but you can use an unplugged shotgun and electronic calls. I guess some golfers are upset about them pooping all over the manicured greens.

The other thing I noticed is that there must be some Biblical injunction about shooting birds on the Sabbath. The commission has said there shall be no migratory bird hunting on Sundays.

RALEIGH, N.C. (July 17, 2015) — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has approved the season dates for dove and other webless migratory game birds, as well as September seasons for Canada geese and teal.
Seasons and bag limits for most species are similar to last year. Shooting hours for all species are ½ hour before sunrise until sunset unless otherwise noted. Dove hunters should note that shooting hours for the entire season, including opening day, begin at ½ hour before sunrise. The change to opening day shooting hours for doves was implemented several years ago. 
Each year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provide frameworks from which to select the seasons and the Wildlife Commission chooses the actual dates within these guidelines. The Wildlife Commission requested public input on the seasons throughout June on its website.
The 2015–16 seasons for webless migratory game birds and waterfowl early seasons are:  
Species
Season
Daily Bag
Mourning Dove & White-winged Dove1
September 5 – October 10,
November 23 – January 15
15
King & Clapper Rails1
October 23 – November 28
15
Sora & Virginia Rails1
September 1 – October 3,
October 23 – November 28
25
Gallinule & Moorhens1
September 1 – October 3,
October 23 – November 28
15
Woodcock
December 17 – January 30
3
Common Snipe
November 13 – February 27
8
1Daily bag limit is either singly or in aggregate.
·      Federal guidelines allow for shooting hours for all migratory game birds to be from ½ hour before sunrise to sunset.
·      Possession limit is three times the daily bag for all species. 
·      These listed seasons do not include Sundays.  There shall be no hunting of migratory game birds by any method on Sundays.
Species
Season
Daily Bag
Canada Goose
September 1 – 30 (statewide)
1.  extend shooting hours to ½ hour after sunset
2.  allow use of unplugged guns
3.  allow use of electronic calls
These expanded methods are only to be allowed west of U.S. 17.
15
September Teal
(blue-winged, green-winged and cinnamon teal)
September 12 – 30 (East of U.S. 17 only)
6
·      Federal guidelines allow for shooting hours for all migratory game birds to be from ½ hour before sunrise to sunset.
·      Possession limit is three times the daily bag for all species. 
·      These listed seasons do not include Sundays.  There shall be no hunting of migratory game birds by any method on Sundays.
The 2015–16 extended falconry seasons for webless migratory game birds are:
Species
Season
Mourning dove/White-winged dove
October 15 – October 31
Rails, Gallinule and Moorhens
December 5 – January 9
Woodcock
November 7 – December 5 &
February 1 – February 27
  • The falconry daily bag limit is 3 permitted migratory game birds, singly or in the aggregate.  The regular, i.e., gun season bag limits for individual species do not apply.
  • The falconry bag limit is not in addition to the gun bag limit.
  • These listed seasons do not include Sundays.  There shall be no hunting of migratory game birds by any method on Sundays.
For more information on migratory game bird hunting, visit Waterfowl and Migratory Game Birds in North Carolina. For more information on hunter safety, hunting regulations and the free Hunting Heritage Apprentice Permits, go to www.ncwildlife.org/hunting

Hasn’t Bought A Gun There, Has She? (Updated)

The latest little campaign that has sprung from the febrile mind of Shannon Watts is against Cabelas. It’s entitled, “Tell Cabela’s: No Completed Background Check, No Gun Sale.”

Unlike Little Ms. Shannon and her acolytes, I have actually purchased a firearm at Cabelas. I bought a used FN Mauser in 6.5×55 at the Greenville, SC store last year. As I’m sure Linoge would attest, Cabelas is not slack when it comes to gun sales.

Let me take you through the process as I remember it. Also bear in mind that I have a NC CHP which is accepted as a substitute for the NICS check in North Carolina. I also have a Curios & Relics FFL which could have allowed Cabelas to ship that Mauser to my door if I had gone that route.

First, the clerk wrote up the sale. He then took me, my ID, and the firearm to another sales counter to start the NICS check process. I was turned over to a specialist who handled the Form 4473 paperwork which was actually on the computer. After I filled out the computer screen, it was checked for accuracy. Then it was checked again by a manager. I remember having to wait until an authorized manager was available. Once she gave the OK, it was submitted to the FBI in Parkersburg, WV.

It came back OK. Duh! A manager gave the authorization to complete the sale.

Now I actually pay for the Mauser. After I paid for it, a manager walked me and the firearm out of the store. From time the transaction began until I walked out the door was close to 30 minutes.

Shannon, please tell me again how Cabelas is being a slacker when it comes to firearms transactions.

I also note that you are addressing your petition to Thomas Millner who is the CEO of Cabelas. I have one word for you – Zumbo.

Prior to becoming the CEO of Cabelas, Tommy Millner was the CEO of Remington Arms for 10 years. He was CEO of Remington when Jim Zumbo stepped on it. He pulled Remington’s sponsorship of Zumbo’s TV show within a matter of days after Zumbo called the AR-15 a “terrorist rifle”.  Millner saw the outraged response of the gun community and he listened.

So Shannon, let me pose this simple question to you. Do you think Tommy Millner and Cabelas is going to kow-tow to you and your airhead friends OR is he going to put his business at risk?

I think we all know the correct answer.

UPDATE: Linoge posted this on Facebook regarding the differences between a denial and a hold/delay in a NICS check. He worked the Gun Library at Cabela’s for a while so I think he knows of what he speaks. The key thing is that the default in the NICS check is “yes”. He gave me permission to reprint it.

Wait.


Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America are harassing Cabela’s for abiding by federal law?


Let’s make something clear here – an FFL making a sale on an “incomplete” background check is breaking the law. Period dot.


Cabela’s doesn’t sell people guns if they don’t complete their background checks. I should know. I helped with those background checks.


Furthermore, a “hold / delay” in the background system is NOT an “incomplete” background check.


For those not in the know, the background checks you submit to whenever you purchase a firearm from an FFL – ANY FFL at ANY location, including gun shows – can have one of three responses.


1. Approved. Congratulations. You’re either not a criminal, or you don’t share enough identifying characteristics with a criminal, and you’re allowed to purchase a firearm.


2. Denied. Suck. You’re either a criminal, or you share enough identifying characteristics with a criminal, and you can’t buy that gun. You can, however, appeal the decision. I know of perfectly law-abiding folks who ONLY ever get this response, and it gets overturned every time. The system is that broken.


3. Delayed. Wat? Well, the FBI – you know, the owners of the NICS system – have an explanation of this right here: https://www.fbi.gov/…/federal-firearms-license…/a-nics-delay Basically it boils down to NICS is not willing to say the person’s clean, but can’t find any reason to deny him, so they’re going to go do some more homework. If the FFL doesn’t hear anything from NICS after three full business days have elapsed, they are allowed to lawfully transfer the firearm to the buyer.


That is not an “incomplete” background check, as the blithering imbeciles at the anti-rights organizations are trying to get everyone to believe. That is a background check that failed to discover any disqualifying problems in the buyer’s history, and, as such, cannot prevent the person from purchasing the firearm.


Simply put, the government doesn’t give us the permission to buy firearms. They only tell FFLs if we’re not allowed to – the default, however, is “yes”, as it absolutely should be in the free, permissive society that America is supposed to be.


Suffice to say, statists like the ignorant tools at Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Bans want the equation to work the other way.

It’s Because Of All Those School Shootings By Grandmas With Alzheimers

Alzheimers and dementia are dreadful diseases. They leave an individual as a shell of their former self. It hollows them out and leaves a physical shell with no soul. As I’ve often described it to others, the person you knew and loved has died. In their place is a sweet little lady (or man) who (hopefully) brightens up when she or he sees you. They will sweetly ask you, “How is your mother?”, and act exasperated when you tell them “You are my mother”.

I have seen the ravages of Alzheimers up close and personal. My mother died of it in 2008 after suffering from it for five to six years or more. Now my mother in law Grace whom I dearly love is moving towards the middle stages of the disease.

So why am I talking about Alzheimers and dementia?

Because of this as reported on the front page of the LA Times:

Seeking tighter controls over firearm purchases, the Obama administration is pushing to ban Social Security beneficiaries from owning guns if they lack the mental capacity to manage their own affairs, a move that could affect millions whose monthly disability payments are handled by others.


The push is intended to bring the Social Security Administration in line with laws regulating who gets reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, which is used to prevent gun sales to felons, drug addicts, immigrants in the country illegally and others.


A potentially large group within Social Security are people who, in the language of federal gun laws, are unable to manage their own affairs due to “marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease.”


There is no simple way to identify that group, but a strategy used by the Department of Veterans Affairs since the creation of the background check system is reporting anyone who has been declared incompetent to manage pension or disability payments and assigned a fiduciary.


If Social Security, which has never participated in the background check system, uses the same standard as the VA, millions of its beneficiaries would be affected. About 4.2 million adults receive monthly benefits that are managed by “representative payees.”


The move is part of a concerted effort by the Obama administration after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., to strengthen gun control, including by plugging holes in the background check system.


But critics — including gun rights activists, mental health experts and advocates for the disabled — say that expanding the list of prohibited gun owners based on financial competence is wrongheaded.


Though such a ban would keep at least some people who pose a danger to themselves or others from owning guns, the strategy undoubtedly would also include numerous people who may just have a bad memory or difficulty balancing a checkbook, the critics argue.

So as the individuals – not all of whom are elderly by the way – suffer from a disease for which there is no known cure, the Obama Administration is looking for ways to rob them of even more of their dignity.

The whole idea is utterly repulsive.

If the criterion for being added to the NICS prohibited list is the inability to manage your own financial affairs, I have seen more people than I can count who would be on that list. I’m talking educated people – professionals. Many with advanced degrees and specialties. People with whom you would entrust your life if you were in the hospital yet who have debt out the ying-yang and are living paycheck to paycheck because they can’t get a handle on their finances.

Heck, if the inability to manage financial affairs was the sole criterion, most Democrats and many Republicans in Congress would be on the prohibited list given how they’ve helped screw up the economy. I’d add in every appointee in the Obama Administration that has helped grow the national debt to over $17 trillion.

So while we have a mental health system in crisis, while we have “lone wolf” Islamofascist terrorists killing unarmed Marines, while we have street gangs in major cities having more control of the city than the police, while we have young men who aren’t being treated for their psychosis engaging in mass murder, while we have all of this, the Obama Administration thinks the way to solve “gun violence” (sic) is to put grandma on the NICS prohibited list.

What the hell are they thinking?

No Preliminary Injunction In California 1st Amendment Gun Store Case

California law prohibits a gun store from having advertising on the building indicating that they have handguns for sale. Obviously, this is a clear violation of the First Amendment rights of the store owners and it was for that reason that they sued California Attorney General Kamala Harris last November.

The judge hearing the case, US District Court Judge Troy L. Nunley, an appointee of President Obama, agreed that the First Amendment rights of the plaintiffs were being violated. Nonetheless, he refused to issue a preliminary injunction as it “would alter the status quo” and he found that this was a greater harm than the damage to the plaintiffs’ Constitutional rights.

Say what?

Please tell me what harm there is to the public by allowing a store to put a Team Glock sign or a S&W logo on their front display window.

I’ll let the CalGuns Foundation continue the story.

July 16, 2015 (SACRAMENTO, CA) – The State of California’s ban on
handgun-related speech by licensed gun dealers likely violates their
First Amendment speech rights, held a federal judge in
Sacramento earlier this morning. The order, issued by District Court
Judge Troy L. Nunley, found that the ban is probably unconstitutional,
likely doesn’t materially reduce crime, and likely irreparably harms
plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to express themselves the way they
wish to. Nonetheless, the judge allowed the restriction to temporarily
stand, while the case progresses further.

The gun dealers argued that California Penal Code section 26820—first
enacted in 1923—prevents them from displaying any “handgun or
imitation handgun, or [a] placard advertising the sale or other transfer
thereof” anywhere that can be seen outside their stores and
“unconstitutionally prevents firearms dealers from advertising even the
most basic commercial information—‘Handguns for Sale’—at their places of
business.”

In today’s order, Judge Nunley said that the State “does not meet its burden of showing that the Central Hudson elements,
in tandem with the additional First Amendment principles discussed
above, are met. Therefore, Plaintiffs raise serious questions going to
the merits of their First Amendment challenge to section 26820.

“On balance – based on the arguments and evidence currently before the
Court – the Court also finds it is more likely than not that Plaintiffs
will succeed on the merits of their First Amendment claim.”

While California Attorney General Kamala Harris had argued that the law
was useful in preventing handgun-related crime, the Court held
that “there is not adequate evidence produced by the Government showing
how, specifically, limiting impulse buys from passersby helps to manage
handgun crime and violence….the Government has not shown that the ban is
narrowly tailored to achieve the desired objective of managing handgun
crime and violence.”

Drawing an inference that most prospective gun store customers would
believe the dealers sell handguns in addition to other types of
firearms, the Court said that common-sense understanding “perhaps shows
the pointlessness of section 26820.”

In spite of the fact that the firearm dealer plaintiffs showed a
“likelihood of irreparable harm” to their First Amendment rights, and
Judge Nunley’s finding that Harris failed to show how the law actually
advanced public safety, the Court said that the public interest is best
served by allowing the California Department of Justice to continue
enforcing the challenged law during the course of the lawsuit.

“Granting the injunction would alter the status quo by requiring
California to alter its regulatory scheme and practices as they pertain
to firearms. Therefore, the Court takes the requisite caution in
deciding against altering the status quo. With due consideration to the
free speech considerations raised by Plaintiffs, which are also of
public interest, a cautionary approach that favors denial greater serves
the public interest than granting the injunction.”

The gun dealers noted that judge’s arguments for a “cautionary approach”
in denying the preliminary injunction are undermined by his conclusion
that the law likely isn’t really reducing crime.

In response to today’s ruling, California Association of Federal Firearm
Licensees (CAL-FFL) President Brandon Combs said that
the firearm dealers are reviewing the decision and
considering their options.

“While we are pleased that Judge Nunley agrees with us on the law’s
likely unconstitutionality, it’s disappointing that he would allow the
State of California to continue enforcing it during the balance of
litigation.

“If this were a speech case about abortion providers rather than gun
dealers, I doubt very seriously that the Court would have allowed the
law to stand while it was being litigated. For that matter, it’s hard to
imagine that Attorney General Harris would have bothered defending it.

“We look forward to the plaintiffs’ next steps and will continue to
support the case until the law is overturned and our dealers’ First
Amendment rights are restored.”

Today’s order in Tracy Rifle and Pistol, LLC, et al. v. Attorney General Kamala Harris, et al. and other case documents can be viewed at calgunsfoundation.org/litigation/trap-v-harris.

The lawsuit is supported by CAL-FFL, California’s firearm industry association, as well as Second Amendment rights groups The Calguns Foundation and Second Amendment Foundation.                         

UPDATE: Professor Eugene Volokh discusses the case at the Washington Post. He advised on the case and thinks the judge got it wrong here.

As we noted in our reply, the “impulse buying” rationale for the law rests thus on a rather far-fetched argument. It imagines a person who is in the grip of some emotion (presumably anger, jealousy or depression). He “otherwise might not enter [a] store” (to quote the state) to buy a handgun — even though he is seized by an emotion that presumably makes him contemplate violence, and even though everyone knows that handguns are commercially available.

That the store is free to have a sign saying “Guns” and has signs depicting rifles or shotguns does not influence him at all. But when he sees the word “handguns” or a picture of a handgun, he “respond[s] on impulse,” and then waits 10 days to get a handgun that he otherwise wouldn’t buy. After those 10 days are up, he then proceeds to commit a handgun crime (or commit suicide). His rage or depression is thus strong enough to last 10 days — but so weak that they wouldn’t drive him to get a handgun, were it not for an ad that specifically depicts or mentions a handgun (as opposed to some other gun).

The court agrees that this sort of argument isn’t reason enough to justify a restriction on speech promoting handguns. I think it likewise can’t justify keeping in place a restriction that the court has recognized likely violates the First Amendment; instead, as is normal for such likely unconstitutional speech restrictions, the restriction should be preliminarily enjoined while the litigation proceeds.

I’m Going To Miss Them

The Gun Dudes are riding off into the sunset. Podcast episode 340 was their last one. I have to admit being a little shocked when they were talking about what they did with guns this week and then all of a sudden slipped in that this was the last podcast. WTF?

I have been listening to them since around Episode 30 or 40. They were part of my Monday morning commute and got my week off to a start with a laugh.

I remember feeling a bit down and somewhat old about just turning 53 that day. Then I started laughing as I listened to them talking about the Misfire Award or Shelton or how to slip a new gun past their (extremely patient) wives. I could feel my mood begin to improve and suddenly I didn’t feel so old.

To the Dudes, I say thank you for 340 podcasts. Or some number like that but who’s counting. After all, I am older than Stan.

I’m going to miss those guys. I wish them all the best as they ride off into the Utah sunset. Their humor made at least one person’s life a little easier.

Video: Ankle Holsters For Concealed Carry

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has just released another one of their excellent training videos. This video features SIG SAUER Academy’s Adam Painchaud talking about carrying a pistol or revolver in an ankle holster.

As I have long batted around the idea of doing this given that I drive a lot and often work in places where guns are not welcome though not illegal. While it is not the ideal situation for a primary carry gun, it is good for a backup gun as well. I think it is a viable option when it’s a choice between carrying and not carrying due to clothing or the work environment.

Adam mentions both Galco and Alessi holsters for ankle carry. I’m sure there are others if you look. I think he is correct in saying a flimsy holster isn’t got to be comfortable. I’d go a step further and say it ain’t gonna cut.

One last comment – if you typically wear skinny jeans, you may want to consider other alternatives for carrying your concealed firearm. Just saying.