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Sneak Attack By Dems Fails

December 3, 2015 by 5 Comments

If it hadn’t been for an alert from the National Shooting Sports Foundation this afternoon, I would not have known that the Democrats were planning to bring up gun control amendments to H.R.3762 – Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015. That bill would repeal parts of ObamaCare so it was near and dear to the Republicans’ heart.

The two major anti-gun amendments were brought up by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Feinstein’s amendment would have made anyone listed on the FBI’s secret Terrorist Screening Database a prohibited person for NICS checks. The Manchin amendment was a repeat of 2013’s Manchin-Toomey universal background check bill.

Both amendments needed 60 votes to pass. Fortunately, neither even got a majority.

Feinstein’s amendment failed 45 Aye to 54 Nay. Meanwhile, Manchin-Toomey failed by a vote of 47 Aye to 50 Nay as reported live on the Senate’s livestream. It seems that an additional vote was added to the Aye column in the final reprot.

As NSSF General Counsel Larry Keane pointed out on Twitter, Manchin-Toomey got 7 fewer votes in 2015 than in 2013. (Actually, 6 but still…)

Both of these votes were cynical efforts on the part of Democrats to play off on yesterday’s terrorist attack in San Bernadino, California. I think we can come to expect to see this come up with every major vote or after any mass shooting that doesn’t involve JJ, Pookie, Ice Dog, or Ray-Ray.

The roll call vote on Feinstein’s amendment breaks down like this:

YEAs —45
Baldwin (D-WI)
Bennet (D-CO)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Booker (D-NJ)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Coons (D-DE)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)		 Gillibrand (D-NY)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Hirono (D-HI)
Kaine (D-VA)
King (I-ME)
Kirk (R-IL)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Leahy (D-VT)
Manchin (D-WV)
Markey (D-MA)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murphy (D-CT)		 Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Peters (D-MI)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-NM)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs —54
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Capito (R-WV)
Cassidy (R-LA)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Cotton (R-AR)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Daines (R-MT)
Enzi (R-WY)		 Ernst (R-IA)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Gardner (R-CO)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)		 Murkowski (R-AK)
Paul (R-KY)
Perdue (R-GA)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rounds (R-SD)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sasse (R-NE)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Sullivan (R-AK)
Thune (R-SD)
Tillis (R-NC)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)


Not Voting – 1
Warner (D-VA)

And the roll call vote on this year’s Manchin-Toomey universal background check amendment is as follows:

YEAs —48
Baldwin (D-WI)
Bennet (D-CO)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Booker (D-NJ)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-ME)
Coons (D-DE)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)		 Gillibrand (D-NY)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Hirono (D-HI)
Kaine (D-VA)
King (I-ME)
Kirk (R-IL)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Leahy (D-VT)
Manchin (D-WV)
Markey (D-MA)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murphy (D-CT)		 Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Peters (D-MI)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Toomey (R-PA)
Udall (D-NM)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs —50
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Capito (R-WV)
Cassidy (R-LA)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Cotton (R-AR)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Daines (R-MT)
Enzi (R-WY)		 Ernst (R-IA)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Gardner (R-CO)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Murkowski (R-AK)		 Paul (R-KY)
Perdue (R-GA)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rounds (R-SD)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sasse (R-NE)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Sullivan (R-AK)
Thune (R-SD)
Tillis (R-NC)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)


Not Voting – 2
Johnson (R-WI) Warner (D-VA)

Just like in 2013 the only Republicans voted for Manchin-Toomey were Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and, of course, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). (Corrected to add Collins who I missed when I first scanned the list)

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I Didn’t Know That ISIS Had Attacked Paris, Maine

December 2, 2015 by 3 Comments

Sometimes you just have to shake your head in wonder about the things that come out of the mouth of Barack Obama. The video clip below is a case in point.

Obama made these comments while in Paris, France. You know where on November 13th, eight ISIS terrorists killed 132 people in a set of coordinated shootings across the City of Lights.

I’m guessing he must have confused Paris, France with Paris, Maine. The former is the French capital while the later is a small town in western foothills region of Maine near Sebago Lake.

Likewise, he must have confused the Norway where 69 were killed and 110 wounded at a youth camp in 2011 with Norway, Maine. I mean, it is right next door to Paris, Maine. Besides that area of Maine has a slew of summer camps for kids. Any reasonable person could see how he got confused by this especially since Denmark, Maine is just about 25 miles away.

January 20, 2016 cannot get here soon enough.

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A NICS Check Two-Fer

December 2, 2015 by 2 Comments
The FBI’s NICS checks marked two milestones on Black Friday, November 27th. First, it had the highest recorded number of NICS checks on record for the day after Thanksgiving which is otherwise known as Black Friday. Second, and more importantly, it surpassed the previous one day record total for NICS background checks set on December 21, 2012.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reports that it processed 185,345 transactions on Nov. 27, Black Friday, making the day the highest Black Friday ever and the highest day in NICS history. The highest previous day was Dec. 21, 2012 with 177,170 background checks. For the entire Nov. 26-29 2015 four-day Black Friday period 368,774 checks were completed, a 9.9 percent increase over the 335,555 checks conducted over the corresponding 2014 4-day period.

While the number of NICS checks are indicative of the number of firearm sales transactions, they are not perfectly correlated. For example, concealed carry permits in many states are taken as a substitute for the NICS background check. Thus, the actual number of firearms sold could be even greater than the number of checks reported.

Many factors probably are coming into play here. First, the ISIS attacks in Paris are still fresh in the minds of many people. I know my fellow Polite Society Podcast co-host Gary Daugherty has reported a significant rise in the number of people contacting him to take the Illinois concealed carry class. Second, the Democrats have decided the gun control is a winning issue for them and have gone all in on it. Finally, President Obama has said he wants to make gun control one of his primary focuses in his last year in office.

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Malfeasance Rewarded

November 30, 2015 by 5 Comments

Imagine if you will that you worked for a large company and were issued both a company car and company-provided credit card. Then imagine what would happen if you decided to use that company car to drive to a casino, to use that company-provided credit card to get a cash advance to buy chips, and you did it all on company time.

You would likely be fired and perhaps even prosecuted for stealing from your employer. Or, at least, that is how it should work in the real world.

However, if you were a BATFE Special Agent and you did this, then you just might get promoted to Special Agent in Charge of a Field Division and move into the Senior Executive Service. According to the summary report from the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General posted to CleanUpATF.org, that is exactly what happened.

Investigative Summary:
Findings Concerning On-Duty Gambling and Related Misconduct by an ATF Special Agent in
Charge While in a Prior Position


The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) initiated this investigation based on information from
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) alleging that a current Special
Agent in Charge (SAC) gambled on duty and engaged in related misconduct while in a position
with ATF prior to being promoted. The OIG investigation determined that the SAC gambled on
duty, misused his government travel card to facilitate his gambling, and misused his assigned
government vehicle by using it to travel to casinos. By gambling while on duty, the SAC violated
federal regulations that prohibit federal employees from gambling while on duty. In addition,
the SAC violated ATF policy by, among other things, misusing his government travel card to
obtain cash advances to gamble, and using his assigned government vehicle to travel to casinos
to gamble, which is not an “official purpose” for which use of the government vehicle is
authorized. Prosecution was declined. The OIG provided a report of investigation to ATF for
appropriate action.

So the question remains, which one of the 25 Special Agents in Charge (SAC) on this list is the culprit? Was it Eric Harden in LA, Delano Reid in NYC, Carl Walker in Atlanta, or someone else?

Inquiring minds want to know.

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Do Mag Bans Reduce Casualties In Mass Shootings?

November 30, 2015 by 1 Comment

Bans on standard capacity magazines, that is, magazines with a capacity over 10 rounds, are supposed to have an impact on the number of casualties in mass shootings. The question is do they?

The simple answer is no.

As David Yamane reports in his Gun Culture 2.0 blog, criminologist Gary Kleck presented research at the recent American Society of Criminologists annual meeting that studied this question. Kleck’s research looked at mass shootings in which more than six people were killed or wounded. He went with six because that is the capacity of most revolvers and thus no standard capacity magazine would have been needed.

Even with this restrictive definition of a mass shooting, Kleck found that large capacity magazines – defined as holding over 10 rounds – were used in only 21 of the 88 incidents (24%). So, in 76% of the incidents, a large-capacity magazine ban would have made no difference in any event.


Kleck then goes on to analyze further the 21 incidents in which a large-capacity magazine was used. In every case, the shooters carried either multiple guns or multiple magazines. Therefore, even without a large-capacity magazine, the shooters could easily switch guns or magazines.


Kleck also marshals evidence to show that the rate of fire of most mass shooters is so slow that having to change guns or magazines more frequently would not diminish their casualty counts.

The bottom line to Kleck’s research, as David notes, is that it isn’t the tool but the desire of the evil doer to kill as many people as possible.  However, this conflicts with the desire of politicians and gun prohibitionists to “do something”.

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Doing My Part To Stimulate The (Gun) Economy – 2015 Edition

November 25, 2015 by 2 Comments

In years gone by, I have worked hard to include every firearm, tactical, big box sporting goods store, and accessories sale that I could find for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Call me lazy but this year I will point you to two very good compilations that already exist. I don’t see any reason to reinvent the wheel or do extra work when others have already done it.

First, Slickguns.com has done an extraordinary job in compiling the Black Friday/Cyber Monday ads from all the major players and then some. It can be found here.

Second, for those who are seeking more tactical items, Soldier Systems has their Black Friday list which is sponsored by Tactical Distributors. You can find it here. If it is like last year, it will be a work in progress with more and more sales and discounts added.

One sale I got in my email box that I haven’t seen in either of these two lists is from Going Gear. If you are looking for a high lumen flashlight, then they can help. Find them here. Another sales going on is from ALG Defense. They are offering 20% off all their AK and AR triggers plus some other stuff. ALG Defense is connected with Geissele which is also having a Black Friday event. It is listed on the Slickguns page.

Feel free to add sales and discounts you come across in the comments section. I would welcome it and I’m others will find it helpful.

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NSSF Points Out The Contradictions In Big City Police Chief’s Advice

November 25, 2015 by 2 Comments

Last Sunday in an interview on 60 Minutes DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier said that if you can take out an active shooter, do it. She noted that even the best police response time will be 5-7 minutes. NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton disagreed with that advice saying essentially it was a good way to get killed. He didn’t think a person with a handgun could take out someone with an AK-47 as they would be “outgunned”.

The NSSF video below shows the contradictions in what Lanier says and what Bratton says.

However, the problem in both New York and the District of Columbia is that Joe Average can’t get a carry permit. Donald Trump has a carry permit but he also now has Secret Service protection. Michael Bloomberg doesn’t need a carry permit because he has a swarm of armed guards around him all the time. The bottom line is that a lot of people will get killed in either city before the cops arrive.

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One Shot Draw Drills

November 23, 2015 by 3 Comments

Enough with the political stuff! Here is something interesting that you can use at the range if they allow you draw from a holster. While most indoor ranges forbid it, you could do it at an outdoor range in most places.

In this training video from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Doug Koenig demonstrates how he uses a one shot draw drill to speed up his response time for steel challenge competitions. He notes that he first starts out doing the drill at home with dry-fire practice. That is something everyone could do regardless of what his or her favorite range allows.

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This Is Getting Tiresome

November 23, 2015 by 3 Comments

The New York Daily News – “New York’s Picture Newspaper – is keeping up their propaganda campaign against the NRA and Republicans for refusing to add those on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database to the NICS denied list.

They are now reporting that NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) are supporting efforts to add those on the “No-Fly” list to the NICS denied list. What they are forgetting is that the FBI still runs a check on everyone who buys a gun through a FFL.

As Bratton made clear yesterday on NBC’s Meet The Press, he is more worried about people put on a list for some unknown and ephemeral reason buying a gun than he is about ISIS using Syrian refugees to smuggle in jihadis into the United States. Clearly one does not get to be the commissioner of police without bowing to one’s political masters.

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Just How Are We Supposed To Do That In DC, Pray Tell, Chief Lanier?

November 23, 2015 by

Emily Miller, author of Emily Gets Her Gun and one of only 45 people in the District of Columbia with a carry permit, tweeted this yesterday afternoon.

It was in response to the interview with DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier by 60 Minutes. In the interview which dealt with active shooters, Lanier said that it was unreasonable to expect the police to arrive in time to stop most mass shootings. She told Anderson Cooper:

I always say if you can get out, getting out’s your first option, your best option. If you’re in a position to try and take the gunman down, to take the gunman out, it’s the best option for saving lives before police can get there. And that’s– you know, that’s kind of counterintuitive to what cops always tell people, right? We always tell people, “Don’t– you know, don’t take action. Call 911. Don’t intervene in the robbery”– you know– you know– we’ve never told people, “Take action.” It’s a different– this is a different scenario.

 You can see the full interview below which also includes comments by NYC Police Commissioner William Bratton.

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