Month: May 2020

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Time For Canadians To Stop Being Polite

May 20, 2020 by 2 Comments

I took time to read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms today. Obviously, there is no equivalent of our Second Amendment in it. Interestingly, there is no protection for property of any sort within it unlike our Fifth Amendment. Some Canadian scholars have written that this was purposely omitted as it was seen as a restriction on government. Indeed the first article of the Charter expressly states the rights guaranteed within it were “subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law”.

I’m not a Canadian legal expert but that sure as heck sounds like the whole Charter is founded upon the rational basis level of scrutiny. Given that, it is no wonder Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thought a mere Order in Council was sufficient to ban over 1,500 firearms from ownership. In his mind, there was no need to bring it to Parliament and have a debate on the ban.

There is a petition demanding that the matter be brought to the House of Commons for debate. It has over 175,000 signatures currently. It has been presented to Parliament by MP Glen Motz who represents the Medicine Hat area of Alberta.

Perhaps it is time to stop being so polite.

Maybe it is time to tell Trudeau and his cop to politician Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. I might suggest even flying a Canadian version of the Gonzales Flag similar to the rough one I just Photoshopped below.

The bully-boys of the RCMP firearms unit might not like it. Nonetheless, Article 2(b) declares “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression” as a Fundamental Freedom guaranteed to all Canadians.

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And Ladd Responds

May 19, 2020 by 4 Comments

When I posted A Trip Down The Anti-Gun Memory Lane to Twitter I made sure to tag Ladd Everitt in it. And he responded with his usual sort of invective.

I responded that it was my pleasure.

As Howard Nemerov pointed out on Facebook, if we are “fake losers” then that by definition makes him a “fake winner”.

As to his assertion that we are loathe to criticize President Trump, he must have been living under a rock. Many in the gun rights community have been very critical of President Trump with his ban on bump stocks by decree and redefinition. That would include me. He is also ignorant of the many lawsuits brought by gun rights groups like the Firearms Policy Coalition.

While now relegated to the periphery of the anti-gun industry, I’m glad to see that time has not made Ladd change his approach to those of us in the gun rights community. “Fake losers”, “insurrectionists”, and “gun extremists” are all the products of someone who knows he has a weak argument. If he had the facts, the data, and most importantly, the Constitution on his side, he would be arguing that but he can’t.

Fake loser = winner

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A Trip Down The Anti-Gun Memory Lane

May 19, 2020 by 2 Comments

Miguel at Gunfreezone.net pointed out a tweet yesterday by Ladd Everitt that brought back memories.

Ladd had been the Director of Communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) before he headed off to be Executive Director of George Takai’s anti-gun organization One Pulse for America. He and CSGV’s Executive Director Josh Horwitz loved nothing better than labeling gun rights activists and Second Amendment supporters as “insurrectionists” back during the Obama years. It was their favorite epithet and Josh wrote long articles about insurrectionism for the Huffington Post as well as a book entitled, “Guns, Democracy and the Insurrectionist Idea.”

Here is an example from 2011 when this blog wasn’t even a year old. It was in reference to the Tucson shooting of then-Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) and others.

Sadly, Saturday’s tragedy was both predictable and inevitable. Insurrectionist rhetoric—which posits that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to take violent action when they believe that our government has become “tyrannical”—was once confined to the dark corners of gun shows and the Internet. In today’s America, however, it has become a “mainstream” idea that is widely promoted by movement conservatives, high-profile media figures, and even elected officials and candidates. Tucson was not unique—since the conservative wing of the Supreme Court embraced the insurrectionist idea in the D.C. v. Heller decision in 2008, there have been numerous threats and acts of violence against government officials.

Ladd hated pro-gun politicians like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) whom he labeled an “insurrectionist thug”. That should been Senator Insurrectionist Thug.

We in the gun blogging community actually took great pride in getting under the skin of Ladd. A post I did about Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) using the tragic death of her husband for political gain got me labeled a “gun extremist”. That was when I knew my blog had arrived and was gaining traction.

My friend Kurt Hofmann, who at the time was the Saint Louis Gun Rights Examiner, had patches printed up. If I remember correctly, Kurt was a definite target for Ladd and CSGV. I had to do some digging this morning but I found some of the patches and stickers that they each had made up. I probably have more around if I dig deeper.

Kurt now writes the Enemy at the Gate column for S.W.A.T. Magazine. It has been a few years since I’ve seen Kurt in person but we had some damn good discussions over a beer at his local watering hole.

Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of this blog. I don’t know how many years that is in blog years but it is a lot. I know many have said the day of the blog is over with but I am a contrarian and just can’t accept that. Many of the gun bloggers have gone on to other things but there are still some of us plugging away at it. People like Sebastian, SayUncle, Tam, Old NFO, Weerd Beard, and T-Bolt were blogging before me and are still blogging. We as a community are better for it.

Ladd was correct about one thing. We are the unorganized militia. We just aren’t the “private white militia of a fascist dictator”.

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SCOTUS Punts Most 2A Cases Again (Updated)

May 18, 2020 by 3 Comments

The Supreme Court has their conference on Fridays to examine which cases they wish to take and the ones they don’t. They announce the results on Monday in the Orders of the Court. Not all pending cases are sent to conference but those that are can be denied certiorari (or mandamus), accepted, or passed on to another week’s conference.

The Orders of the Court released this morning indicate that they punted all the major Second Amendment cases to the next week. The exception was Bradley Beers v. Barr which dealt with the denial of Second Amendment rights to those who had been involuntarily committed no matter how long ago.

In that case, the Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated the judgment, and sent it back to the 3rd Circuit to dismiss as moot.

The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit with instructions to dismiss the case as moot. See United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., 340 U. S. 36 (1950).

Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about the Beers case to say why the Supreme Court said it was moot.

The Polite Society Podcast will have attorney Cody Wisniewski of the Mountain States Legal Foundation as our guest tonight. He will be discussing these potential cases and why he considered the finding of moot in NYSRPA v City of New York was not the end of the world for 2A cases. I will have a link up later where you can watch this on Facebook Live.

Cody was one of the attorneys who brought the case that forced New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) to reopen some gun stores in that state.

UPDATE: Thanks to Rob at 2A Updates I have an answer as to why the Beers case was considered moot. Mr. Beers has been cleared by the State of Pennsylvania, was granted a firearms license, and now has a legally owned firearm.

UPDATE II: The link to the Facebook Live broadcast of the Polite Society Podcast can be found here. It starts at approximately 7:05pm EDT tonight.

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Interesting Chart On Population Density

May 14, 2020 by 3 Comments

This chart came to me in an email I get daily from Strategas. I’m not sure how I got on their mailing list but I get daily charts regarding economic issues from them.

They noted in reference to New York City reopening for business:

Population Density Will Cause Trouble for NYC Reopening
Reopening is underway in many areas of the country but New York City may have a more difficult time than other major cities for one reason: population density. NYC has a population density that is more than 1.5x that of the second densest city. With social distancing playing a large role in stopping the spread of the virus, New York City faces many challenges and may take longer to return to normal.

This reinforces my introvert’s desire to have 50 acres with the house smack dab in the center of the property. Oh, and to have a thorn-filled hedge of bramble and other thorny stuff surrounding all 50 acres.

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April Was Another Banner Month For NICS Checks

May 13, 2020 by 2 Comments

April 2020 had the highest number of NSSF-adjusted NICS checks on record for the month of April in the past 21 years.

The April 2020 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System(NICS) figure of 1,678,223 is an increase of 69.1 percent compared to the April 2019 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 992,642. For comparison, the unadjusted April 2020 FBI NICS figure 2,878,176 reflects a 24.9 percent increase from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,305,136 in April 2019.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation adjusts the raw NICS data to remove those checks done for permits such as FOID cards from Illinois and for CCWs in many states. While it isn’t a one-to-one ratio of firearm sales, it is indicative of trends in sales by made through dealers and in those states requiring universal background checks. What it doesn’t show are most private sales as well as sales made to those who hold a carry permit that substitutes for a NICS check such as in North Carolina.

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2A Cases Still Alive

May 11, 2020 by 1 Comment

All 11 Second Amendment cases that are still pending before the Supreme Court have been redistributed for conference on Friday, May 15th.

Scroll through the embedded tweet to see all the cases.

Figuring out what the Supreme Court will do is like reading tea leaves. That said, I still think the SCOTUS will take one or more of these cases and hold the rest for remand based upon their final opinion.

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The NRA’s Lack Of A Succession Plan

May 7, 2020 by 6 Comments

Healthy organizations have succession plans. Good leaders make it a priority. Development of future leaders is such an organizational imperative that it is usually under the purview of the CEO. Having a succession plan is both forward looking and a measure of risk management.

Think how many corporations and non-profits have lost their chief executives to heart attacks, cancer, and accidents. The list goes on and on.

This has been at the back of my mind regarding the NRA for a long time now. What brought it to the forefront was a post by Jeff Knox on the lack of new leadership options for the NRA and its cloudy future.

For almost a decade I’ve been asking people in the firearms and Second Amendment community to seriously consider who might take over as Executive Vice President of the NRA if Wayne LaPierre were to retire or be hit by a bus.

About 6 years ago I got really serious about that question and was raising the issue in my regular columns, then 3 and a half years ago, after the election of Donald Trump, there was talk that Wayne might be offered some sort of position within the Trump administration, and I was very actively asking people for suggestions of possible successors, or at least the qualities a successor would need in order to be successful and keep the NRA strong. Finally, last year all sorts of accusations of financial improprieties and self-dealing among LaPierre and other NRA executives, broke in major media, and a lot of people began asking the same questions I’d been asking for years, but the same answer kept coming back… Crickets.

Let’s look at the people that Jeff notes have been seriously mentioned as potential successors as Executive VP and CEO of the NRA.

Chris Cox.

Out. Through the machinations of either Wayne LaPierre or his erstwhile Rasputin, William Brewer III, Chris was labeled as having been a part of a “coup attempt”. This was always strongly denied by Chris and he eventually resigned.

Ollie North.

Out. Again, was accused of plotting to overthrow Wayne and again the fine hand of William Brewer III seems to have been involved. This happened after Ollie started asking too many questions especially with regard to Brewer. Wayne portrayed this as “extortion“.

Kyle Weaver.

Out. Weaver was the Executive Director of General Operations who got replaced by Josh Powell. He is now the President and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Weaver had spent 18 years with the NRA in positions of ever increasing responsibility. The RMEF gets a 4 star rating from the Charity Navigator which is the highest possible. By contrast, the NRA is under a “concern advisory” from them.

If you need an example of a corporation that had good succession planning, look at General Electric. It has been the focus of many case studies on how to do succession planning. Jack Welch who served as CEO of GE for 20 years was known for grooming potential successors. He did such a good job that those who lost out on succeeding him at GE where snapped up by other companies.

It isn’t just the CEO who should be responsible for succession planning. Professor Ram Charan who taught at both Harvard Business School and Northwestern University, had this to say on succession planning.

A CEO or board that has been in place for six or seven years and has not yet provided a pool of qualified candidates, and a robust process for selecting the next leader, is a failure. Everyone talks about emulating such best practitioners as General Electric, but few work very hard at it.

By all objective measures, the NRA Board of Directors has failed. They have no succession plan for Wayne. The majority of the board has kow-towed to Wayne and jumped when he said jump.

Part of the reason the board fails is structural and part is due to the composition. The structural issue is that the Board of Directors is too damn large to be effective. The other issue is that many on the board are there due to either celebrity status or allegiance to Wayne. It is the latter that is the greater problem. The board owes a duty of loyalty to the organization and not to any one individual.

In the short run, nothing can be done about the size of the board. However, the board can still start to work on a succession plan to Wayne. Based upon Wayne’s age of 70 alone, this needs to be done. My fear is that the board will do as it has always done. That is do nothing and the organization will continue to suffer while our blood enemies grow stronger.

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All Existing 2A Cases Before SCOTUS Still Alive

May 4, 2020 by 3 Comments

The Supreme Court Order List released this morning denied certiorari to a number of cases. However, they did not deny nor grant certiorari to any of the 11 existing Second Amendment related cases that were sent for consideration at Friday’s conference.

This means that cases dealing with everything from interstate sales to carry to microstamping are still alive. I am keeping my fingers crossed that one or more of them will be granted certiorari. The dissents plus Kavanaugh’s concurrence in NYSRPA v. City of New York indicate at least four votes to hear Second Amendment cases. It only takes four votes but realistically you would need five or more to be assured of a pro-2A ruling.