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Warning Shots Are Now OK For Police? Huh?

April 25, 2017 by 4 Comments

We as armed civilians are always told that we are responsible for every bullet that leaves our gun. Sometimes this is characterized as every bullet carries a lawyer with it. We are also told that warning shots are never a good idea. If you are in a deadly encounter and you are forced to fire your firearm, then firing a warning shot contradicts the fact that this is a deadly encounter.

What got my attention on this was the newsletter from the Force Science Institute. They were asking for feedback on the “National Consensus Policy on Use of Force” which was published this year by a group of police associations including the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. As part of the section on the use of deadly force, the consensus was that warning shots should be considered by police when they are in a situation warranting the use of deadly force.

From the Force Science Institute:

In a section devoted to deadly force, the Consensus acknowledges that warning shots are “inherently dangerous.” But the guidelines suggest that they be permitted when:


“1. the use of deadly force is justified;


“2. the warning shot will not pose a substantial risk of injury or death to the officer or others; and


3. “the officer reasonably believes that the warning shot will reduce the possibility that deadly force will have to be used.”


In a recent radio interview, the IACP’s deputy executive director, Terrence Cunningham, said “a lot of discussion” preceded this recommendation and that the intent is to give officers more leeway when faced with a threat. He referenced “this new environment in use of force where everybody is trying to learn how to better de-escalate.”


And he asked, “Why not give officers more tools? I think it’s the right thing to do.”


Some trainers, however, have expressed concern that adopting this policy will create a public expectation that warning shots should be fired before every use of force—or that this will open the door to officially urging officers to shoot to wound as the next logical step.

So these cops now think a “McClatchy” (or warning shot named after the co-host of Slam Fire Radio, a Canadian gun podcast) is OK.  Frankly, I think it is a stupid idea.

I’m not sure how I missed it but this was covered by NPR in late March. Massad Ayoob was the first trainer interviewed in the report. He thinks it “opens a can of worms”.

Mas had a couple of blog posts on this at Backwoods Home asking for comments. You can read them here and here.

For an extended discussion of warning shots on Liberty Watch Radio between Charles Heller and Mas, go here. It is a great discussion.

While the consensus of these police organizations is that a warning shot has its place, I think I’ll defer to more conventional wisdom and especially that of Massad Ayoob and avoid their use. I think they have just too much liability attached them to even consider their use. Besides, as my Dad taught me ages ago, “if you pull a gun on a man you better be ready to use it. If not, he’ll shove it up your ass.”

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Tweet Of The Day

April 25, 2017 by

Reflecting on the results of the presidential election in France wherein Emmanuel Macron will face Marine Le Pen in a run-off, David Burge – IowaHawk – tweeted this.

I don’t know how he comes up with this stuff but damn that was good.

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NRA And CRPA Sue California Over Assault Weapons Control Act

April 24, 2017 by

I have not seen the complaint yet but the NRA and the California Rifle and Pistol Association are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the State of California that seeks to have the Assault Weapons Control Act declared unconstitutional. Attorney Chuck Michel said the complaint would be up soon.

I think this is just the beginning of the lawsuits to come against the new gun control laws enacted in 2016 plus by Prop 63.

From the NRA-ILA on the lawsuit:

Fairfax, Va.— The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) today announced it is supporting, along with the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA), an important Second Amendment lawsuit challenging California’s newly expanded Assault Weapons Control Act (AWCA).

The suit, Rupp v. Becerra, seeks to have the courts declare the AWCA unconstitutional because the ill-conceived law will do nothing to stop terrorists or violent criminals, and infringes on the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment.

The AWCA makes it illegal to manufacture, sell, transport, import or transfer hundreds of popular and commonly owned semi-automatic firearms the law inappropriately demonizes and condemns as “assault weapons.” This means it is illegal for owners to transfer or sell these firearms to anyone in California, including to their own children or heirs upon death. And owners themselves will be violating the law by continuing to possess their firearms unless they register them as “assault weapons” with the state.

The Rupp case was filed in direct response to a number of anti-gun-owner laws, including the expanded “assault weapon” statute, which were signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in July 2016. Collectively, those new gun bans have become known as “gunmageddon” among California’s roughly 10 million gun owners. The Rupp case challenges those restrictions, as well as California’s broader statutory scheme, which arbitrarily and unconstitutionally restricts the use and possession of the most commonly owned firearms in the United States.

Multiple lawsuits challenging other aspects of the unconstitutional laws passed last year are also in the works and will be filed in the coming weeks. Rupp is the first of a number of NRA/CRPA sponsored lawsuits soon to be filed that will challenge the “gunmageddon” bills, as well as the new laws enacted by Proposition 63 — which was overwhelmingly opposed by law enforcement.

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101 Years Ago Today

April 24, 2017 by

Since we are on the topic of countries declaring their independence, 101 years ago today, on Easter Monday 1916, the Irish Republican Brotherhood joined by the Irish Citizens Army and the Irish Volunteers declared independence from Great Britain. They were joined by a women’s paramilitary group Cumann na mBan.

As I made clear in a post from a few years ago, the Easter Rising was quickly crushed by British forces. It would take another six years before an independent Ireland, the Irish Free State, was created under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Given my Irish ancestry, I’ve always felt fortunate to be born on April 24th.

UPDATE: For an interesting article on how families were divided with nationalists on one side and serving members of the British Army on the other, the Irish Times has a great article on Eamonn Ceannt (Kent) and his brother William Kent who was killed in France a year later. Eamonn was a signatory to the proclamation of Irish Republic and was executed by the British in 1916.

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A Nice Way To Honor 100 Years Of Finnish Independence

April 24, 2017 by 2 Comments

2017 marks the 100th year of Finnish independence. They had been a part of the Kingdom of Sweden until 1809 when they were ceded to Russia as the Grand Duchy of Finland. With the October Revolution and the overthrow of the Czar, the Finns declared their independence.

Now a musical interlude to set the mood and what would be more appropriate than Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia.

To commemorate this momentous event, the Finnish firearms company Sako is releasing a limited edition of their TRG 22 sniper rifle in white snow camo.

A special commemorative knife will come with the rifle as well as extra magazines, a bipod, and a case.

I’m sure some people, though not my readers, would be aghast that a company would release a firearm to commemorate 100 years of a free Finland. To those people I would say remember the Winter War and the role that snipers played in keeping the Red Army at bay. Indeed, one sniper, Simo Häyhä, is credited with over 500 kills in a 100 day period using a Mosin-Nagant with iron sights.

Sako was founded a few short years after independence and has played a significant role in the indigenous firearms industry in Finland. They are now part of the Beretta Group.

This press release announcing the TRG-22 “Finland 100” gives more details:

A RARE COLLECTOR’S ITEM FROM SAKO INSPIRED BY FINLAND’S 100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Sako is manufacturing a limited edition of numbered Sako TRG 22 “Finland 100” sniper rifles with white camouflage, designed in the spirit of Finnish persistence to celebrate fFnland’s 100 years of independence. This jubilee model will become a collector’s item.

SAKO, which started as a gunsmith’s shop for the White Guard’s joint chiefs of staff and has evolved into a globally renowned manufacturer of rifles and ammunition, has been an important element of the history of independent Finland. Now SAKO wants to pay homage to its traditions and above all to its 100-year old homeland by manufacturing a numbered series of 100 Sako TRG 22 “Finland 100” sniper rifles.

The TRG 22 “Finland 100” jubilee model is offered in .308 Win caliber. The white snow camouflage colouring of the stock and barrelled action of this real collector’s item reflects the severity of the Finnish winter, and, also pays homage to the heroes of the Winter War who saved Finland’s independence in demanding conditions – and relied on Sako products even then.

The Sako TRG 22 “Finland 100” sniper rifle has the text “Finland 100”, and the gun’s serial number is laser-engraved on its frame. The rifle is packaged in a carry case with a jubilee knife with the same engravings as the rifle itself. The jubilee model also comes with two magazines, bipod, muzzle brake and removable open sights.

Sako is retaining part of the series for its own use, for example to be sold in charity auctions. However, part of the series of 100 guns will also be available for sale. Those interested in the Sako TRG 22 “Finland 100” collector’s item should enquire from the importers of Sako products in their respective countries.

I was fortunate enough to visit Finland in 1978 while in college. I regret that I’ve never had a chance to return as it was a beautiful country. I still have my Leuko reindeer knife as a reminder.

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Polite Society Podcast Patches

April 24, 2017 by

Many of you remember the legal travails that Paul Lathrop of the Polite Society Podcast went through last year. To refresh your memories, a hothead at a truck stop falsely accused Paul of waving a gun in his face and threatening to shoot him. This led to his arrest for “terroristic threats” and “possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony”. The good news is all charges were dropped as surveillance video confirmed Paul’s account of the incident. The bad news is that he still has some debts left over from the incident.

To help retire these debts, I have had Polite Society Podcast patches made. These patches are 100% silk thread embroidered with a Velcro backing. It measures 2.5″ square. As you can see below, the patch company did a great job with our logo.

The price for these patches is $10 for one or $18 for two including postage. I have set up a special PayPal account to handle the sales of these patches. Payments can be sent via PayPal to john@politicsandguns.com. I’m not going to ask you to send the money as a “gift” but I won’t stop you if you do as PayPal charges a transaction fee for payment for “goods”.

If you don’t wish to use PayPal, just pop me an email there and I’ll send you an address to mail a check.

I will have some of these patches with me at the NRA Annual Meeting if you happen to run into me there.

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Let’s Call It What It Really Is – Institutionalized Racism

April 21, 2017 by

I just received an email from the Brady Campaign railing about North Carolina HB 588 and how it rolls back “four decades” of “lifesaving background checks”. I’ll let you read it first and then I will comment on it.

The corporate gun industry is bringing its fight to weaken lifesaving background checks to North Carolina! Right now, they’re pushing H.B. 588, a dangerous bill that would dramatically undermine the current background check system, through the state legislature.

This bill would roll back at least four decades of a lifesaving policy requiring a background check and a “permit to purchase” for every handgun sale. If this bill passes, dangerous people will easily be able to acquire handguns at gun shows, online or from private individuals without any background check whatsoever.

These permits are proven to lower suicide rates. And when Missouri eliminated a similar law in 2007, the state saw a 25 percent increase in the gun murder rate!

H.B. 588 would also require universities, community colleges, and some houses of worship to allow hidden loaded handguns on campus — even against their wishes.

The House Judiciary Committee is expected to consider H.B. 588 at any time. It’s critical that we STOP this bill before it goes any further — and before it has the chance to put North Carolina lives at risk.

Call committee members today and urge them to oppose H.B. 588 and stand up for lifesaving gun laws!

Thank you,

Kris Brown
Chief Strategy Officer

First let’s be clear – HB 588 does not eliminate the pistol purchase permit as much as I’d like to see it do that. It merely changes how the mental health reporting requirement is implemented. Nothing more and nothing less in that section of the bill.

What the Brady Campaign calls “four decades of a lifesaving policy requiring a background check and a ‘permit to purchase’ for every handgun sales” is actually 98 years of institutionalized racism. They won’t say it but it is what it is.

The pistol purchase permit system was adopted by the General Assembly in 1919 for the implied purpose of denying blacks – and especially those who were veterans that had just come back from France in World War I – the ability to have a handgun for self-defense. There had been significant racial unrest in various North Carolina cities post-war with a major riot in Winston-Salem in late 1918. The “Act to Regulate the Sale of Concealed Weapons in North Carolina” was adopted soon after in March 1919. The primary sponsor of the bill was State Sen. Earle A. Humphrey (D-Goldsboro). Sen. Humphrey’s brother-in-law, US Sen. Furnifold Simmons, was the architect of the NC Democrat’s segregationist political agenda. I think you can connect the dots here.

As to the claim about the increase in murders in Missouri, it all has to do with how you cherry pick your data. Dr. John Lott exposed it here and here.

The bill would allow a person with a valid carry permit to carry on school property that is also used for worship services AFTER school hours. My thinking is that was included as many church communities have instituted security teams consisting of trained congregation members.

And yes, HB 588 would allow campus carry at both community colleges and public universities in North Carolina. And, yes, it is against the wishes of university administrators because, let’s face it, they are anti anything that takes power out of their hands including a monopoly on the power of violence. That said, I also don’t know of any public university campus in North Carolina that is fenced and has controlled entry. While they all have their police forces they also are all open to criminals and potential terrorists.

HB 588 does clarify that merely possessing or carrying a firearm, openly or legally concealed, is not grounds for charging a person with going in terror of the public. Many citizens who were legally open carrying and minding their own business have been charged with “going in terror of the public”. These cases also are usually thrown out of court because walking down a public sidewalk in a non-threatening manner while open carrying is not a crime in North Carolina.

Instead of calling legislators to ask them to stop HB 588, I suggest calling them to demand an end to 98 years of institutionalized racism and an end to keeping our sons and daughters as defenseless targets in officially gun free zones.

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Knife Check Offered By Knife Rights For NRA Leadership Forum

April 21, 2017 by

If you are attending the NRA Annual Meeting and plan on attending Friday’s Leadership Forum, you need to remember that Secret Service rules are in effect. In other words, you won’t be allowed to carry concealed nor will you be allowed to have a knife on your person because the President will be in the attendance.

Last year Knife Rights set up a knife check system and they will again be offering it. As a bonus, if you check your knife with them you could win a new custom knife.

From their newsletter:





Knife Rights FREE Knife Check at NRA for Trump Speech 







Knife Rights is pleased to be able to again provide a FREE Knife Check
to NRA Annual Meeting attendees who are going to hear President Trump
speak at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum next Friday in Atlanta.  Last year
we checked over 2,600 knives in Louisville when then-candidate Trump
spoke.



Again this year, Hogue Knives has generously donated a very nice prize
that all those who check their knives will be eligible to win.  This
year it’s a Damascus X5 Flipper that has been custom ground by Allen
Elishewitz, valued at $500.  Attendees who bring their Knife Check Claim
Stub to the Knife Rights Booth #3717 will be entered to win.

Click here for more information on the NRA-ILA Freedom Forum or to get tickets. 

Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge there won’t be any similar gun check system for those carrying concealed. Tom Lindsay at the Fill Yer Hands blog mentioned that Georgia Carry had considered it and then discarded the idea as too expensive and complicated.

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Anti-Gun Law Professors Pen Amicus Brief In Bushmaster Lawsuit

April 20, 2017 by 11 Comments

Thirteen law professors have penned an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs in Soto et al v. Bushmaster et al. This is the Connecticut state case where Bushmaster, the distributor, and the FFL are being sued for negligent entrustment for selling an AR15 to the Newton murderer’s mother. The case is before the Connecticut Supreme Court on appeal after it was dismissed at the superior court level where the judge said negligent entrustment did not apply.

From the Connecticut Law Tribune:

While a state Superior Court previously ruled negligent entrustment doesn’t apply in this case, the professors’ brief claims the “flexible tort has been applied to a range of domains, including firearms.”


The brief’s co-author, Stanford law professor Nora Freeman Engstrom, said negligent entrustment boils down to one question. “That is, did the defendant take adequate precautions given the magnitude of the foreseeable risk? And, here, the jury might ultimately find the defendant failed to take adequate precautions in their sale of military grade assault weapons to an untrained civilian population.”


Negligent entrustment occurs when a party provides a product to another party knowing the receiving party may injure someone.

The first case cited in their brief is State v. Skakel in support of their argument for a “flexible tort”. That was the murder case involving the Kennedy cousin who may or may not have killed a 15 year old girl with a golf club. As things would have it, Michael Skakel’s original attorney was my mom’s first cousin and the Skakel family attorney. How weird is that?

Among the group of attorneys on the brief is Prof. John J. Donohue III of Stanford University. Prof. Donohue is best known for his attacks on John Lott’s research.

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In News That I Missed, The Sky Is Falling

April 20, 2017 by 2 Comments

Actually, in the news I missed from last week, SCCY Industries is moving from Florida to the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

From the Daily Times in Maryville, TN:

A Florida handgun manufacturer has reached an agreement with Blount Partnership to bring more than 350 jobs to Blount County with an initial $22.5 million investment, constructing a 150,000-square-foot campus to house corporate, research and development and manufacturing facilities.


SCCY Industries LLC — which company President Wayne Holt said is “probably the fastest growing semi-automatic handgun manufacturer in the United States”— also voiced plans Wednesday to move the company’s headquarters from Daytona Beach to the 68-acre lot in Big Springs Industrial Park.


SCCY founder and CEO Joe Roebuck said during today’s announcement that SCCY needs to expand and it’s “not happening” at its current location in Daytona Beach, Fla., where it employs about 200 people. “We’re at about 40,000 square feet and there’s no room to grow,” Roebuck said, explaining that the biggest problem the manufacturer has there is space and electricity.


Roebuck said his original plan was to expand here, but decided, “Tennessee’s been so great. We’ve got a big piece of land. I’m gonna do it all there.”


“I’m gonna keep a small footprint back in Florida, but I’m moving my headquarters here,” Roebuck said, later explaining, “It’s only going to be an office — maybe some engineering. Ninety-nine percent of the company is coming up here.”


Roebuck also said the estimated employment of 350 people is “very conservative.”

And in something that Michael Bane would appreciate, the story at the link above also included a video of his visit to the SCCY factory in Florida.

The Knoxville News Sentinel produced this video clip of the highlights of the story. They also included this about CEO Joe Roebuck’s expansion plans.

Roebuck employs about 200 in his Florida factory, but plans to move only “a few key people,” maybe a half-dozen, to Tennessee as he gradually shuts down the Daytona Beach facility, he said.

Roebuck said he hopes to start construction on a 75,000-square-foot plant late this year or early next, and begin production in mid- to late 2018. Initially, it will have about 200 employees, hired locally, and SCCY will add 50 to 60 people per year for the following three years, he said.

“Anything from office work to machine operator all the way up to high-level administrator” will be hired, Roebuck said. He also intends to start a paid four-year apprenticeship program.

Roebuck plans a campus of five industrial buildings, plus a “sky lodge” to house visiting industry leaders and gun writers, with an outdoor shooting range, he said.

Given I live on the other side of the Smokies, I think this is a very interesting development. I can see why he picked the the Tennessee side rather than here in North Carolina – no income tax, less expensive land, a (somewhat) Republican governor, and a stronger industrial base than in the Asheville area. With some luck, maybe we’ll see a blogger shoot put on by SCCY Industries similar to what Luckygunner.com did back in 2011. That would be cool.