David Codrea

Anonymous Snitch Group to Dox ‘Domestic Terrorist’ Trump Voters

February 25, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

“Outed” Trump voters get what they deserve? (The Witch, No. 2, Joseph E. Baker, Library of Congress)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Help Us Fight Domestic Terrorists!” TrumpVoterList.org with its slogan “Keep America Honest” urges anyone and everyone. “We’ve created this organization to ensure that those responsible for the election of Donald Trump can never threaten our nation and our freedom again. We’re building a list of known Trump voters to be submitted to public officials willing to take action. Join us in ensuring freedom always rings!”

Join you? After you libel 79+M Americans as “domestic terrorists”? More to the point, who are you?
“We’re a diverse group of patriots and People of Color looking to make a positive difference in America by unmasking Donald Trump voters,” they declare. “We believe that the majority of Trump voters only supported his presidency anonymously. It’s clear that the true majority of Americans opposed Donald Trump in public, but it’s our duty to expose those who actually supported him in private.”

They followed that up with a non sequitur quote against the tyranny of standing armies from James Madison, interestingly the Founding Father who penned the Second Amendment. It goes without saying that’s the issue that attracted so many Trump voters against the gun-grabbing Democrats. And the “About Our Team” blather still hasn’t answered the question of who “they” actually are, and whether this is really a “team” or just some lunatic loser with a website, and a white one at that, the claim of being diverse and the “PoC” appropriation notwithstanding.

And it’s a cowardly, hypocritical lunatic loser at that if the WhoIs domain registry can tell us anything about someone who proposes to lob rocks from the safety of the shadows. The website is registered through a Panamanian proxy.
That’s not the only thing that’s cowardly about all this. If you want to be a snitch, you have the option to turn in friends, family, and acquaintances anonymously, just like the Stalinists, the Nazis, and the Chicoms! There’s a “group of patriots” for you! And note the update that they’ve “added filters to stop the names of prominent Democratic officials and contributors from being added,” to keep the list “Republican.”
So, what else do they tell us about this “effort”?
“We’re compiling the information in a secure database to be released to the public at a later date, or to public officials if we decide that releasing the names publicly constitutes significant risk,” they proclaim. “If you have strong feelings regarding the potential use of this data, or would like to see it released publicly, let us know!”
What delegated powers Democrat politicians have for avenging themselves on Trump voters is left unsaid, although there are certainly some who have made their desire to pursue treason charges clear. While the site links to a government voting laws page, it offers no legal insights on whether the vengeance it seeks could be construed as a conspiracy to encourage voter intimidation and suppression.
There’s also no indication if they are qualified to determine “significant risk” and have the resources to make restitution should their evil irresponsibility be legally found to have contributed to an injury or worse to a growing list of threatened and/or attacked Trump supporters. That said, there’s every indication they are maniacs urging retaliatory terror against any whose votes they want to punish.
Did I mention they are cowardly maniacs?
Who else has noticed that these are the same people who demand our guns?
This site is so ridiculous, a part of me wonders if it’s really not just a goof, or even a trap by “friendlies” to get leftist snitches to out themselves by submitting entries, and then doxing them. Could be. Could also be some clinically narcissistic, psychopathic, and sadistic troll with delusions of significance.
You can sign me up, comrade. I wasn’t a “Trump voter” per se as much as a Trump agenda voter because he didn’t go nearly far enough for me, but feel free to “out” me to anyone pathetic enough to turn to a twitching loser snitch like you for “guidance.”
About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

Gallup Gun Law ‘Satisfaction’ Poll Fails to Ask Most Important Question of All

February 24, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

If people think this was a huge opinion poll upset, they ain’t seen nothin’ yet. (The Harry S. Truman Museum/PD)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Americans Remain Largely Dissatisfied With U.S. Gun Laws,” a Friday report by the Gallup polling firm announced. “Fifty-six percent of Americans say they are dissatisfied with U.S. gun laws and policies, marking the ninth consecutive year of majority-level dissatisfaction since the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. At the same time, 42% of U.S. adults express satisfaction with U.S. gun laws.”

Left unsaid, although they have the information because they compiled it and linked to it, is that there is a 0% change in overall respondent attitudes since the last poll in 2020. No matter, since it’s all meaningless anyway, but presented to advance Gallup’s admitted goal of providing “global analytics and advice [to help] leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems.”

Argue with their methodology [download] if you like, that’s not what’s important here. I’m perfectly willing to stipulate those are the numbers yielded from their sample size, and the way they are “weighted to correct for unequal selection probability, non-response, double coverage of landline and cell users … to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, population density, and phone status.” I will say I’ve been around awhile and have never met a right to keep and bear arms advocate who has ever participated in one of these polls, but that’s not the deal killer for me, either.

Neither are results showing differences between Democrats and Republicans. You’d expect more of the former to want more “laws,” and the latter would be OK keeping things the way they are. It is disappointing, but not unexpected, that the numbers wanting fewer laws are so low, but that gets to the crux on what’s NOT being asked.
In all the hubbub about “do you want more, do you want less, is it too hot, too cold, too hard, too soft, just right?” (and let me just segue off into a wholly-unrelated “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” story for a moment), there’s one question that is glaringly absent:

“Just how much do you know about gun laws in the first damn place?”

That could then be drilled down into subsets like “Do you even know what an ‘assault weapon’ is and what the gun-grabbers and their media mouthpieces want you to believe?” or “If ‘universal background checks’ work, what the hell is going on in Baltimore?” That and “Explain ‘due process’ and how ‘red flag laws’ could possibly provide it,” or “Produce one citation from the time the Constitution was being debated to show the Founders did not intend for the citizenry to have ‘weapons of war’ when they ratified the Second Amendment.”
We could do this all day, but the point is made. It doesn’t seem to occur to the survey wonks that a meaningful opinion sounding of Americans who have taken time to inform themselves already exists in the form of gun sales going through the roof.
The reason politicians “rely” on such polls like this latest bit of Gallup nonsense is to ascertain how successful they’ve been in swindling the ignorant out of their rights, and to determine what could work to further spook the herd.
There’s an old saying we’ve all heard, at times attributed to Mark Twain, at times to 19th Century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, at times to others:

“There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

The gun-grabbers who use such surveys to advance their citizen disarmament agenda are skilled in all three.
About David Codrea:

Second Amendment Resolutions Add Emphasis to Adage That ‘All Politics is Local’

February 21, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

Establishing formal rights enforcement partnerships between citizens and peace officers is crucial. (Newton County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- Last September, AmmoLand hosted one of my articles about a resolution being considered by the Halifax County Board of Supervisors to support a local militia. The move was in response to unprecedented gun grabs being enacted in Virginia and was one of a number of responses that include establishing what are being called “Second Amendment sanctuaries.” The Halifax resolution didn’t go forward due to self-imposed ignorance and gutlessness on the part of a critical mass of supervisors, and predictable misrepresentation and fear-mongering by the media.

A reader recently forwarded links to me pertaining to some additional county militia resolutions.
One was a resolution approved in December 2019 by the Amherst County Board of Supervisors that declared “the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms … must be respected, celebrated and upheld; urged the state and federal governments not to pass further infringements and “burdens”; expressed “intent to take lawful actions to protect and support the rights of its citizens [and] not to aid in unconstitutional efforts to restrict these rights”; and “oppose… any provision, law or regulation that may impose additional regulatory burdens or result in mandates … to expend additional public funds on enforcement or administration of such laws, or to require constitutional officers of the locality to do so…”

The second link my correspondent provided went further, a May 2, 2020 resolution (scroll to pg. 8) adopted by another Board of Supervisors “recognizing the militia within the county of Bedford pursuant to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 13 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Cutting to the chase, here’s what they resolve to do:

“[W]e express our intent to uphold and protect the Second Amendment and Article I, §13 rights … and to prepare for service or to serve as a member of the Militia in Bedford County; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in order to support the Militia, enhance the safety and security of the citizens of Bedford County and establish, as our founders intended, a barrier against a tyrannical government, the Board hereby expresses its intent to:
(1) Decline to expend county resources for any effort to enforce unconstitutional laws enacted after January 20, 2020 restricting ownership and use of firearms that are in common use … required for self-defense by individual citizens or for service to the community as part of the Militia in Bedford County.
(2) Recognize the right … to assemble and train to arms for service individually or in groups … in the event they are called or ordered out for lawful purposes …
(3) Support opportunities for law-abiding citizens to assemble for recreational and civic purposes and train to arms … that enhance the individual citizen’s ability to defend himself, his family, his community; and the Militia’s ability to respond effectively to a crisis.
…the Board hereby declares our intent to oppose all unconstitutional restrictions on the Bill of Rights and specifically the Second Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and Article I, §13 of the Constitution of Virginia through such legal means as may be expedient, including, without limitation, legal process.

That’s better. It goes beyond “Second Amendment Sanctuary” declarations and recognizes the purposes and the right of citizens to train and to possess the minimal type of weaponry needed for performing Militia duty (we are, after all, basically talking semiautos here). The ornery among us (OK, me), might point out that some of us may be ineligible for the “law-abiding” qualifier because we refuse to comply with existing disarmament edicts and opt to retain banned firearms, magazines, and the like in defiance of such blatant and arrogant infringements.
And then there’s the problem of “existing law” in states like Virginia, which essentially declare:

“Groups of armed individuals that engage in paramilitary activity or law enforcement functions without being called forth by a governor or the federal government and without reporting to any government authority are acting as unauthorized private militias.”

They’ll need to take care and especially be on guard against CIs/provocateurs trying to lure them into violation traps.
It’s nice to see more counties and states waking up to the existential “obey or be destroyed” threat that the violence monopolists are forcing on gun owners. It’s great to see so many movements turning the “sanctuary” maneuver adopted by the left to impede immigration law enforcement around and using it to resist the evisceration of what founder Tench Coxe called “the birthright of an American.”
Here’s what they don’t do, at least until now: They don’t actually enforce rights, which if you think about it, is the sworn duty of every “law enforcer.” They might not help the feds or the state rape a citizen of his rights, but they don’t stop them from the act, either.
Daniel Horowitz at The Blaze notes that Newton County, Missouri aims to change that. Their commission not only declares federal infringements invalid, but it also criminalizes their enforcement and authorizes the arrest of agents:

That one has some teeth in it. It also marks the county, the commissioners, and the sheriff as cancel culture targets for advancing such an ordinance, and as actual targets if they attempt to enforce it.

Now, how about a Bedford-type Militia resolution to supplement this and cement a partnership with the citizens they serve? And how about if the movement grows? That’s where the adage “In unity there is strength” comes in, and more importantly, where YOU come in.
Horowitz lets us know about the website SanctuaryCounties.com, where we can find out about similar efforts in our areas of operation, and further points us to the Constitution Action Network, “for people of the same state and county to meet, collaborate, and raise awareness of the power of state and local government to interpose against the growing list of blatant constitutional violations and extra-lawful lawmaking…”
Former House Speaker Tip O’Neill once observed that “All politics is local.” It’s easy to see, especially in “Blue States” dominated by high population density urban areas, how citizens in “flyover/drive-through” country can feel like their voices will never be heard and that it’s useless to even try. When we get closer to home, our impact becomes stronger, especially if we involve ourselves in what the Democrats know to be effective, but which far too many gun owners seem unwilling to even try: Organizing.
Ideally, we should be working toward all three goals: A Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution, a Militia resolution, and a Second Amendment enforcement bill. I urge you to find out what’s going on where you live, if productive organizing looks feasible there, and what you need to do to be a part of it.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

DGU By Minor Raises Questions for Phony ‘Gun Safety’ Prohibitionists

February 16, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

The NSSF promotes programs like First Shots which helps introduce new young shooters to the basic safety protocols of firearms. IMG NSSF.org
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “A North Carolina man died on Saturday after he broke into the home of a 73-year-old woman and was fatally shot by her 12-year-old grandson who was trying to defend her,” the Daily Mail reports. “Two masked robbers entered the home of Linda Ellis in Goldsboro at around 1am on Saturday, where they demanded money and shot the grandmother in the leg. Ellis’ grandson fired back at the two intruders in self-defense and they fled.”

Good for the boy. He was able to keep his head and act, and fortunately, he had something to act with. And by the home invaders initiating fire, they put to the lie the naïve advice of all who counsel “Just give them what they want.” By shooting the grandmother, they made that more than clear. Only one thing stood in the way of that happening.

This is hardly the first time a young hero has saved the day by using a firearm to ward off a lethal threat.

20 years ago I wrote about another 12-year-old who saved his grandmother from armed predators who were trying to rob her store and, according to news reports, holding a gun to her head. As I asked at the time:

Do you think the scenario may have played out differently had the wonks at Handgun Control, Inc., been heeded? What do you think the outcome would have been had the grandmother kept her gun unloaded, locked up, and separated from its ammunition, or if she had installed a trigger lock? What about if her firearm was a personalized “smart gun” that no one but herself could fire? And had these “safety methods” resulted in the death of this valiant boy and his grandmother, would HCI have exploited this to call for yet more gun control?

More examples can be found – if one is inclined to look for them. These took me all of a minute to find:
I could keep doing this but the point is made. Perhaps, in addition to “The Armed Citizen,” someone ought to put together a compilation for young armed citizens.
We’ve also seen what can happen when parents heed gun-grabber advice and deny the means of defense to children who would otherwise be capable. Remember the Merced Pitchfork Murders?

“Fear stalks Merced, California — fear of the government. Because of that fear, two innocent children died needlessly, victims of California’s ‘safe storage’ gun laws. The mass media never told Americans what really happened in Merced.”

That’s because DGUs (Defensive Gun Uses) don’t advance the blood-dancing narrative the way stories of homicidal criminals using guns do. When the object is to disarm the citizenry, you don’t want people thinking there might actually be good reasons to own a gun.
There are also good reasons to teach children about guns, exactly the opposite of what those who call themselves “commonsense gun safety advocates” do, pushing for ignorance and fear instead. They then use that deliberately-engineered ignorance for setting the scene to scare equally ignorant “adults,” if it’s appropriate to use that term for the willfully and childishly hysterical. They make all gun owners out to pose the same risks as passed-out crackheads leaving guns within reach of three-year-olds.
In fact, we who advocate for responsible firearms ownership have always emphasized the need for development-appropriate training (notice I did not say “age-appropriate” on purpose). And we practice what we preach.
My own sons, now grown, accompanied me to the range from an early age, so they understood what guns do and the importance of safety. They watched me clean my guns, and were able to sit down, talk about what I was doing and why, and even help. They learned Cooper’s rules and learned to use safety equipment to protect their eyes and ears. They got BB guns and training when they were interested and ready. They soon got to shoot actual firearms under careful supervision. Each step along the way, they proved to me they were ready for the next one through careful observations of safety adherence, maturity levels, motor skills, and attitudes. They knew if they were ever curious, all they needed to do was ask. And all of that was done with an additional goal of anticipating what they’d do if a friend had access to a gun and they saw any rules being broken.

My wife and I managed to get them both to adulthood with zero “accidents” and incidents of misplaced trust regarding firearms. It’s something those of us who practice real “common-sense gun safety” do all the time. And we didn’t learn how by sticking our heads in the sand and trying to suppress information like the phony “gun safety” prohibitionist frauds do.
Back to the North Carolina story, we see another happy potential outcome:

“Charges against the 12-year-old are not expected.”

That leads to some basic questions every “true believer” gun-grabber ought to be asked:
Since you demand what you call “safe storage laws” and since a child, in this case, was able to access and use a firearm, regardless of the outcome, why wouldn’t you say the grandmother should be prosecuted?
Would you rather see educated children watch their younger siblings get murdered with pitchforks than able to stop maniacs by using a gun?
If you were being robbed, assaulted, and shot at by murderous home invaders, who would you rather have come to your defense, the armed 12-year-old in this story, or “grown-up man” David Hogg?
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

Gun-Grabber Hogg to Stuff Pillows with Astroturf

February 15, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

These are the fellow Americans of all backgrounds and affinities gun-grabbers like David Hogg, and rope-selling capitalists like Kohl’s and Bed, Bath & Beyond are willing to see lose their jobs as collateral damage in their campaign to destroy MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for his political beliefs. (MyPillow/Facebook)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Parkland survivor David Hogg [is] taking on MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell,” the New York Post reports. “[H]e’ll team up with the progressive tech entrepreneur William LeGate in an effort to create a rival pillow firm.”

This development coincides with the announcement that Hogg is taking a leave of absence from March for Our Lives.

“[LeGate] and I can and will run a better business and make a better product all with more happy staff than Mike the pillow guy while creating US based Union jobs and helping people,” the story quotes a Hogg tweet. “We also hope to hire formerly incarcerated people, vets and the workers from my pillow in the case we put them out of business.”

Hogg’s qualifications to run a business is left unstated because his experience at doing a startup and then managing one is about the same as his experience co-authoring a book without financing and “guidance” from behind-the-scenes pros. His main claim to “fame,” although some might argue it’s to notoriety, is being a “Parkland survivor,” a status wholly due to chance, and “achieved” with neither acumen nor competence.

Anyone with factory experience, aware of the myriad interrelated disciplines required, will quickly peg this arrogant poseur as a pure Astroturf figurehead. That is quickly becoming apparent, from Hogg’s initial suggestion to “Call it our pillow because we’re all socialists.”

“Looking to hire a consultant with experience in the United States manufacturing industry who can refer me to – and help coordinate – the manufacturing of a high-volume of union & sustainably-made, rectangular neck rests for bedtime sleep,” LeGate announced on Twitter.
“I NEED A UNIONIZED PILLOW MANUFACTURER IN THE US We’re having a hard time finding one If you know one PLEASE dm,” Hogg tweeted. He followed that up with the bright idea to hire “unemployed Theatrical Stage Employees that lost their job due to covid.”
“David & I are in the process of building a governing Board of Directors which will be largely composed of biz leaders in under-represented groups – women, people of color, sexual orientation, etc.,” LeGate tweeted. Hogg went on to announce three “advisory board” picks, an LGBT “community organizer,” a “Pulse Nightclub survivor,” and a leftwing “pollster.”

That’s a lot of figureheads for a startup.
And with that “deep bench,” they’ve announced GoodPillow, ready to make all kinds of promises except how they intend to keep them all and make profit enough to stay in business without subsidies from well-heeled “progressives.” So much for the socialist dream.
They want to destroy not just Mike Lindell for having the temerity to believe the presidential election was stolen, but his entire company, and the 1,500 employees who rely on the jobs he provides for their livelihoods, their housing, their food, their children. Democrats make a big deal about being the “party of the workin’ man,” but when “progressive” priorities take precedent, the pawns become expendable. Case in point, Hogg’s total bs about hiring “workers from my pillow in the case we put them out of business” is just that—he doesn’t even know what state “his” company is going to be in.
Nor do we have details on how things are going to be structured. Is it going to be publicly traded or privately held? If the former, they’re going to need some SEC expertise to make sure any forward-looking statements are compliant with the law (note they’ve already started a “1st come 1st serve” waitlist for pre-orders and claim to have 16,000 signups so far), and if the latter, who will the owners be, and what kind of visibility on their compensation will be provided to those 16,000 would-be customers in it solely for the “social justice”?
Another question might be how come leftists always call seem to call their declarations “manifestos”?
The compensation concern is not without foundation. No less an “influencer” than Hogg’s March for Our Lives co-founder Cameron Kasky has called this venture “pillow grift,” said it was “embarrassing,” and apologized “to those of you who marched, donated, lobbied, and called for change…”
In a related development, leftist MoveOn.org is hosting a petition urging Costco membership warehouse stores to stop carrying MyPillow, as has already been decided by the corporate cowards running Kohl’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, and more. It will probably be successful, as we’re talking about a company where they remove conservative books and where, due to banning guns on their premises, the only thing lower than their prices is your safety (which I nominate for their slogan). And again, these rope-selling capitalists don’t care that they’ll not only be putting customers who are MyPillow employees out of work but also hurting the bottom line of places these employees will no longer be able to patronize when they find themselves unemployed in an already devastated-by-Covid job market.
Whether GoodPillow actually gets off the ground or is just another way for Hogg to get his name in the “news” remains to be seen, as many hurdles between drawing board and sustainable actualization must be overcome. One of the first might be with the chosen name. That is unless they just choose to use their powerful friends to squeeze out a smaller operation that’s apparently laid claim to it first.
About David Codrea:

Continuing Gun Voter Betrayals, Rubio Adds Blacklists to Red Flags

February 9, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

I say take him up on it. (Marco Rubio/Facebook)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Senator Marco Rubio introduces bill to suspend gun rights of anyone who has ever been ‘investigated’ for domestic terrorism,” The Unz Review reported Sunday. “The Senate bill, named the Terror Intelligence Improvement Act, was reentered last week in hopes of exploiting the hysteria surrounding the January 6th Capitol protests. The law intends to violate the civil liberties of American citizens who are not charged or convicted of a crime if somebody is deemed politically dangerous.”

“Reentered”?
Yes, Rubio tried this before in 2016 as a “kinder, gentler” alternative to a bill being pushed by then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. No doubt the rationale is if Republicans throw a scrap of flesh to the circling pack of Democrat jackals, it will satisfy them and keep them from pushing through something worse.

Like that works in nature.
You don’t give the gun-grabbers an inch because they will take it and then come back for more. They always have and you’d have to be an idiot not to see it. Their end goal has also been clear for anyone willing to admit the truth to the lie about “commonsense gun safety laws” and see them for what they are (and what their early “leaders’ have admitted to — incremental steps on the way to total disarmament).

And while Rubio’s bill makes noises about “due process,” those are just that. It would still remove guns from citizens not only not convicted of any crime, but not charged with any. And who among us has the financial resources to take on the government’s virtually limitless reserves in the hopes that the judge won’t be a robed Democrat apparatchik, and/or that the Roberts Supreme Court would hear our appeal if he was?
Then again, “due process” and “Marco Rubio” don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand, as Rubio’s flat-out lie of a promise that “A red flag law will reduce bloodshed and respect the rights of gun owners” shows anyone willing to look behind the weasel words.
So first “red flag laws” and now a “blacklist,” despite NRA assigning Rubio an “A+” rating and telling members he “has a proven record of support for our Second Amendment freedoms,” pointedly adding:

“Opposes Government Blacklists – Voted against denying persons on secret government lists their Second Amendment right to purchase or own a firearm without due process.”

What goes unsaid in all the “national security” flag-waving (ironically much of it being done by politicians who otherwise demonize nationalists as “extremists” and worse), is that if I were a terrorist, I’d want to be on the blacklist. That way, if I wanted to find out if I’d been made, I’d try to buy a gun, see if I was flagged, and plan my next evasion moves accordingly.
Suddenly the list isn’t so secret. I’m no surveillance pro, but isn’t it a cardinal rule not to let your subject know he’s being watched? The thought strikes: Maybe that’s not what this is really about?
OK, but what about all those other items on NRA’s list, all those things we’re told Rubio “opposes” and “supports”?
Most of them are meaningless happy talk: What does “Opposes Anti-Gun Supreme Court Justices” really mean when the whole system is set up to protect them – during their “job interview” – from telling us what the Founders intended when they declared “shall not be infringed”? And it’s easy to say you support permit “reciprocity” when you know the “Republican leadership” has no intentions of bringing a bill to the floor, and when your symbiotic relationship with NRA protects you from answering direct questions about “Constitutional” carry (really “permitless” carry, as gun bans and “gun-free zone” prohibitions, still apply).
That’s not saying Rubio hasn’t voted “right” much of the time and that an overt Democrat gun-grabber wouldn’t have voted “worse.” But the thing about that is, his (and other Republiquislings’) actions on another issue will ultimately undo and reverse every one of those “good” votes:

“Republican Senators Marco Rubio, John Cornyn, Susan Collins, and Thom Tillis will attend a Thursday “summit” meeting hosted by the “American Business Immigration Coalition,” a pro-amnesty group consisting of big business donors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as the George Soros-funded United We Dream organization.”

We know where that will lead, particularly after Joe Biden fast-tracks millions of illegals on his superhighway to citizenship: All credible polls and all real-world experience in places like California and Virginia demonstrate that “amnesty” and a “pathway to citizenship” for MILLIONS of foreign nationals in this country illegally (and legally, with CURRENT culturally suicidal policies) will overwhelmingly favor Democrats and anti-gunners. This will result in supermajorities in state and federal legislatures that will then be able to pass all kinds of anti-gun edicts. It will also result in confirmations of judges to the Supreme and federal courts who will uphold those edicts and reverse gains made to date.

I know there are some who discourage such talk under the false assertion that we must focus exclusively on the “single issue.” Nonsense. Anything that threatens the right to keep and bear arms IS the single issue. These are the same people who tell us it’s OK for gun owners to consider other issues more important than guns and vote for Joe Biden. Again, nonsense. If appreciation of firearms and shooting was what mattered, we’d have no better friend than Lon Horiuchi. They’re (deliberately!) disregarding that it’s really not about guns at all. It’s about freedom, and nothing is more important than that.
So what do we do about politicians like Rubio?
If we don’t vote for him, we’ll get someone really, really bad, the common excuse goes, pretty confident that in the interim, we’re not going to be doing what we can to look for “primarying” alternatives. Based on the ratio of gun owners complaining about things to the number actually doing the hard and consistent work of organizing to change things, they probably have a point.
“Politics is the art of the possible,” a “gun rights leader” once told me, using silly platitudes to persuade me to tone down on the hardline rhetoric. “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”
How anyone afraid to push the envelope with just words is able to determine what is possible is beyond me. And forgive me for not acknowledging that a flexible-principled political ingrate subverting our efforts from inside the gates is “good.”
“He votes our way 90 percent of the time, the argument goes. Well then make the damn political rating reflect that. We’re smart enough to know the difference between a “C” and an “A,” and to present things otherwise smacks of cynical deception to maximize fundraising. And here I thought the object was to have an informed membership.
Just for argument’s sake, would you accept that level of “fidelity” from your wife or husband?
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

Hypocritical Giffords ‘Only One’ Throwing Stones from Glass House

February 5, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

Once again, the gun confiscation lobby wants to blame all gun owners for the negligence of a few. (TSA Blog)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Action must be taken to curtail carelessness among gun owners,” a Monday Las Vegas Sun editorial urges. “Last week, the Transportation Security Administration announced that McCarran International Airport ranked among the top 10 U.S. airports where guns were found in carry-on baggage or improperly packed last year.”

“Throughout 2020, TSA caught approximately 10 firearms per million passengers screened as compared to about 5 firearms per million passengers screened in 2019,” the agency confirmed. TSA officers discovered a total of 3,257 firearms on passengers or in their carry-on bags at checkpoints…”

“As for the per-passenger upswing in guns found last year, it’s entirely plausible that it was tied to a massive increase in gun sales in 2020,” the Sun piece notes. “The spike, which was attributed to fears related to the coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, pushed the overall number of civilian-owned guns in the U.S. to nearly 400 million, according to one widely cited estimate.”

So far, no one has relayed any information that’s not supportable. And I’ll stipulate upfront, regardless of how some of us feel about TSA and mandated disarmament, that any gun owner who forgets that he is armed is being inexcusably negligent.

Confining the repercussions to them is not good enough for the gun-grabbers, who, having set up the argument by observing a problem and giving people a scare, then proceed to exploit it and swindle those people out of their rights.

“And keep in mind, these numbers didn’t include weapons packed properly in checked luggage,” the Sun hit piece continues. “Under federal law, guns can be placed in checked bags as long as they’re unloaded and placed in hard-sided cases…”

You get the feeling they’re against that, too? Oh, they’re against plenty more, and to help set the rubes up for the pitch, they bring in an “expert” who can wow the crowd with his credentials, former ATF special agent, and now special spokes-flack for the Giffords Gun-Grab Group, David Chipman.
AmmoLand readers may remember him. He’s the sleight of mind artist who says AR-15s should be regulated like machineguns, claiming them to be “weapon[s] of war, the same gun that was issued to me as a member of [the] ATF SWAT team.” And that con, of course, was devised years ago by Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center, who explained:

“The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.”

Having proven that he can say just about any damn thing they want and the DSM (Duranty/Streicher Media), incompetent or deliberately deceptive, or both, will have his back, Chipman offers another meme that sounds good to the fearful and the ignorant:

“There are probably a small percentage of people who carry and are trained, like we expect from law enforcement or military. The rest are untrained or irresponsible.”

You know, government enforcers are the “Only Ones” who can be trusted with guns. Remember the parable about the mote and the beam?
Remember how Chipman’s assertion worked out for DEA agent Lee Paige, who made the claim that he was “the only one professional enough” to carry a gun in front of a room full of schoolchildren and then proceeded to shoot himself in the leg?
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Without setting out to, I’ve compiled quite the “Only Ones” archive over at my The War on Guns blog, and there’s also a growing one here at AmmoLand. My purpose has never been to bash cops. I do it to amass a credible body of anecdotal evidence to present when those who would deny our right to keep and bear arms use the argument that only government enforcers are professional and trained enough to do so safely and responsibly. I also do it to illustrate when those of official status, rank, or privilege, both in law enforcement and in some other government position, get special breaks not available to we commoners, particularly (but not exclusively), and especially to expose law-breaking and corruption.

Since the topic the Sun introduces here is gun owners forgetting they have guns, let’s take a look at how much more superior Chipman’s “trained” and “responsible” professionals have proven themselves to be. Years ago I examined the ridiculousness of that contention by recalling some disturbingly common reports of officers leaving their sidearms in public restroom stalls (archived link may load slowly).
We also can’t overlook incidents of guns stolen from police vehicles, and reports of guns missing from police and federal agencies. Take, for instance, Chipman’s ATF, where lost and/or stolen agency guns have later been used in crimes. And don’t get me started on the guns they deliberately let “walk” to Mexico.
It’s hardly surprising that Chipman, a careerist with his snout in the disarmament trough, would want to point fingers at everybody else, and it’s hardly surprising that the Sun would help advance that agenda. They segued seamlessly from airline passengers forgetting the contents of their carry-ons into an attack on permitless carry, and a call for registration-enabling “background checks,” due process-denying “red flag laws,” and more. After all, there’s a well-financed elitist push for more Nevada disarmament edicts, and the media has always been more than happy to parrot narrative talking points on cue.
The airline angle being used here reminds me of a post I did years ago that illustrates how much we’ve lost from the way things used to be, or more accurately, how much we’ve allowed to be taken from us, which is never enough. Because it’s buried on my blog, I’m going to steal from myself and repost much of it here:

Turner Classic Movies has been playing a resurrected John Wayne film, just recently released to DVD and apparently seen on TV for the first time: The High and the Mighty.
I enjoyed it–from the soapy melodramas among the passengers to scenes that were obvious sources for the “Airplane” parodies, right down to Robert Stack thanking John Wayne for slapping him when he lost his cool: “I needed that.”
I half expected to see Lloyd Bridges declaring it a bad week to give up sniffing glue, or Stack warning “That’s just what they’ll be expecting!” when the control tower ordered the runway lights turned on.
But what really struck me were the assumptions of the time: A stewardess (before the pc days of “flight attendant”) lighting a passenger’s cigarette–indeed, the pilots smoking in the cockpit. Not that I miss that, but you know what?–that choice ought to be determined by the market rather than dictated by the fedgov.
And then there was the handgun–carried by a passenger who was stalking a man he believed to be his wife’s lover. He carried it right in his coat pocket.
He got on a plane without going through metal detectors. TSA didn’t grope him or wand him down or make him take off his shoes. The other passengers took it away from him. One kept it in his pocket for safekeeping, and gave it back when the guy promised to be good! And because there was no harm/no foul, no SWAT team was waiting to take the guy out when he got off the plane–he disembarked down the stairs and walked across the tarmac to the terminal. In San Francisco!
I was two years old when this movie came out. I see the changes in assumptions that have happened in my lifetime and wonder what assumptions will change when my sons are my age.

If the self-anointed high and mighty represented by hirelings like Chipman have their way, those changes will be total.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

Gun Bans and Prior Restraints Being Sold as ‘Progress’ in Nevada

February 3, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

That none of this will even make a dent is not the issue, because it’s not about public safety. It’s about the elites enhancing their power, tightening their grip, and denying our rights. (Center for American Progress/Facebook)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- The Center for American Progress presented “6 Policies to Reduce Gun Violence in Nevada” on Wednesday. Replete with footnotes to make it appear to be a serious study, it unsurprisingly shows itself to be another piece of Astroturf propaganda commissioned by connected and powerful elites. It has been designed to smear gun owners and advance citizen disarmament by swindling the ignorant into surrendering their rights.

The policies being stumped for are:

“Repeal gun stores’ essential business status.”
They lead into this with the coronavirus business closures, but without presenting any evidence whatsoever that gun stores pose any greater public health risk than any of the other establishments deemed “essential,” including, of course, casinos.

What this will do is deny citizens the tools of defense in times of emergency, when they need them most and when civil authorities are overwhelmed, meaning people will be on their own.
“Prohibit people who commit hate crimes from possessing guns.”
“The Nevada Legislature should amend current state law to prohibit people convicted of all hate crimes—both felony and misdemeanor—from gun possession,” the proposal advocates. Here’s what they don’t tell us about how “hate crimes” can be defined:

It’s now against the law in New York City to threaten someone with a call to immigration authorities or refer to them as an “illegal alien” when motivated by hate. The restrictions — violations of which are punishable by fines of up to $250,000 per offense — are outlined in a 29-page directive released by City Hall’s Commission on Human Rights.

Among the most rabid, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, being at the core of the Republican caucus makes you a “legitimate white supremacist sympathizer.” It’s not hard to see where this will go.
“Ban ghost guns.”
Criminals already aren’t “allowed” to have guns. If they steal one or buy one on the black market, first they will need to drop it at a crime scene (think ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious), and even then, knowing the serial number will not tell authorities who illegally obtained it.
What this is really about is the government knowing who has what so that when the time comes, it can be confiscated. And, of course, criminals such edicts are supposed to deter will carry on business as usual unimpeded, laughing at the “law-abiding” suckers.
“Implement gun licensing.”
Right. And of course, it will be “may issue,” so there’s no room for corruption there, right? Plus, it’s a prior restraint on a right, one that specifically comes with a “shall not be infringed” prescription. Plus… oh bull, we don’t need to explain further, how about “No”? How about “Hell, no”? If totalitarians want to keep pushing and make us outlaws for claiming our rights, they’re going to find some of us are going to be the very best outlaws we can be.
“Update Nevada’s firearm preemption law.”
You know, create a patchwork quilt, where you’re “legal” here, but cross an invisible county or municipal line and suddenly you’re illegal. It would become impossible to comply with the law, which fittingly, recalls a quote attributed to Joseph Stalin’s head murderer, Lavrentiy Beria:

“Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.”

“Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
That’s what they’re also going for in the Biden administration, and when there’s another atrocity in a “gun-free zone,” they may just get enough feckless Republicans to betray their “staunch defender of the Second Amendment” ratings from NRA (as we’ve seen happen so many times before) and give it to them.

At that point, when the order is to obey and surrender or be destroyed, it will not just be “No,” and not just “Hell, no,” but “No. Your move.”
Some Americans aren’t of a mind to accept a one-sided, mandatory version of “unity and healing” at gunpoint.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

Santa Clara’s Sheriff Smith Set Tone for Deputy Accused of Filing False Report

February 1, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

Why wouldn’t we expect Sukhdeep Gill to imprint off of the ethics he sees coming from his leadership? (Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office / Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “A northern California sheriff’s deputy was ‘lucky’ to survive a gunshot to the chest after his body camera helped to block the bullet an unknown suspect fired during an ‘ambush’ attack near a reservoir,” Fox News and other news outlets reported a year ago.

“Anyone of those rounds could have hit him anywhere,” Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said at the time. “He was very brave under fire.”

Except it’s now alleged the whole story was “fake news” based on a lie made up by the deputy.

“Sukhdeep Gill, a 27-year-old deputy with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office in California, has been charged for allegedly filing a false police report about being ambushed by a drive-by shooter,” Newsweek and other news outlets report. “He was placed on administrative leave as investigators looked into his story. He has since been charged with felony vandalism and a misdemeanor charge of filing a false police report [and] placed in San Jose’s Main Jail.”

If anyone is surprised by pervasive indicators of blatant corruption in the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, they shouldn’t be. Evidence suggests it starts at the top, with Sheriff Laurie Smith and her underlings the subjects of an ongoing probe into the awarding of “may issue” concealed gun carry permits in exchange for political campaign contributions and other considerations by well-connected elites seeking special “privileges and immunities.” Meanwhile, ordinary citizens risk being arrested by Smith’s enforcers for daring to exercise their rights without her permission.

This goes to the heart of “the right of the people to keep and bear arms,” the one with the mandate that it “shall not be infringed.” What level of corruption can we not expect from liars who swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and then set themselves up as the “Only Ones” who can be trusted with guns, ready to obey unlawful orders (the Constitution being the “supreme Law of the Land”) and confiscate yours?

The question really is: Why wouldn’t deputy Gill think corruption is systemic, lies are rewarded, and the only rule not to break is to not get caught?
There’s another elephant in the room, one that the prevailing cancel culture will intimidate some from commenting on, but that nonetheless raises a point we must not be afraid to bring up: Some will note the deputy’s name and that he is a Sikh, and if they mention it they’ll be condemned and “canceled” as racists, white supremacists, extremists, Nazis, and worse.
That’s hypocritical, because it’s a human reaction, not limited — I guess if you listen to Democrats — to “Republicans.” Tell me someone considered by all to be of “traditional” American heritage, a white Christian with a “European”-origin surname, working as a cop in India, wouldn’t be the subject of much speculation and tell me people in the land of caste discrimination don’t have plenty of “tolerance” issues of their own. Not that we’re likely to ever hear of such a thing, because the flow between continents is pretty much one-way.
Curious, how many people from around the world are literally dying to come to a land that “progressives” insist is dominated by “haters.” It’s also curious how many foreign nationals come to this country, become citizens, and then vote Democrat and seek to impose more disarmament laws. Why does anyone think Joe Biden is turning the “pathway to citizenship” into a superhighway?
Resistance to and resentment of that is hardly bigotry or xenophobia. Rather, it is a reasonable expectation that all immigration laws enacted should uphold the principles of the Preamble to the Constitution, that is, that they will help, among other stated purposes, “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” At a minimum, foreign nationals welcomed into this country should understand and support its founding principles and the Bill of Rights. It makes no sense to open the doors to those whose beliefs are antithetical to those values, unless, of course, your purpose is to undermine and replace them.
And it’s not us imposing concealed permit-issuing policies that favor elites and discriminate against minorities.
It’s relevant to wonder about Mr. Gill. That said, we must also acknowledge there is no indication that he is not a citizen. I bring up the subject of assumptions to illustrate a pretty common trait of reacting differently to the familiar and the unfamiliar that is shared by people around the world. I mention it because — get real — would anyone feigning offense care to bet his defense will not exploit “systemic racism” as a motivating mitigator for his alleged inexcusable actions?
I also bring it up because many don’t realize Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies don’t need to be citizens to have the power to arrest those who are. A cadet, empowered under supervision to “apprehend law violators” can be a “permanent resident alien who is eligible for and has applied for citizenship.” Ditto for reserve deputies. In other words, foreign nationals are authorized to enforce disarmament edicts against American citizens on U.S. soil.
It’s fair to wonder how, before taking the oath of citizenship, they can legitimately take California’s required oath to qualify for employment as an officer. It’s also fair to ask if we can import disarmers, who needs UN blue helmets?
It’s a trend more police chiefs are trying to accelerate:

“Desperate for recruits, more police departments looking at non-citizens…”

Why would we expect that those who see their function as law enforcers rather than rights defenders would balk at setting the new Hessian mercenaries against upstart citizens?
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

Excuse-Making for Pfleger Illustrates Gulf Between Media and Normal People

January 27, 2021 by contrib1 Leave a Comment

Choosing perceived citizen disarmament gains over a thorough investigation of sex abuse claims, Gabby Giffords didn’t let accusations against Joe Biden stop her from supporting him. So don’t expect her to treat accusations against Michael Pfleger any differently. (Father Michael Pfleger/Facebook)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)-“Two brothers on Monday detailed sexual abuse they say they suffered at the hands of the Rev. Michael Pfleger more than four decades ago, with one saying the abuse ‘destroyed my life,’” the Chicago Sun-Times reports. “But attorneys for the longtime St. Sabina Church pastor have blasted the accusations as ‘false attacks . . . motivated by greed.’”

This is a significant update to a story discussed on AmmoLand Shooting Sports News earlier in the month, naturally of interest to gun owners since Pfleger is a longtime vocal and persistent opponent of the right to keep and bear arms. By bringing forth not just one accuser, but two, the dynamics of the case and public perception of it just intensified.

It’s ironic that Pfleger has spent a career assuming his countrymen are the ones who, by default, can’t be trusted to act lawfully. Without knowing a thing about you or me as individuals, he would have the state deny us our rights simply because some, disproportionately concentrated in the area he “serves,” have proven they cannot exercise freedom responsibly.

In case of the accusations against him, we need to acknowledge a couple of things, starting with a word of caution: If Pfleger can have his reputation destroyed by anonymous accusations, what’s to stop your and my enemies from doing the same thing to us? I also note the story makes mention of statements and news conferences, but nothing about submitting formal and actionable sworn depositions that would carry criminal penalties if proven false. Add to that, so far there has been a request for money and an attorney’s hope for a settlement that will make a lawsuit unnecessary.
On the flip side, the archdiocese certainly knows who the accusers are and if their recollections track with where Pfleger was and which boys he had access to at the time of the allegations. That the older brother is reportedly “an Air Force veteran and former Texas police officer” will sway some opinions, right or wrong. That is probably not an insignificant consideration to church attorneys, especially if any thought of settling out of court is being entertained as the most expedient way out.
What’s revealing is how Pfleger supporters have gone to automatic “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” mode, and with no more evidence than we see here in vehemently defending their priest. They are also angrily attacking accusers who may, in fact, be telling the truth, may in fact have had their innocence stolen from them, and may in fact have suffered grievous emotional and spiritual wounds rendering them damaged goods for life.
Or they could be crazy people and opportunistic liars. We don’t know. Still, it’s fair to ask, does advocating for #MeToo only apply to some? Note Gabby Giffords, pictured with Pfleger above, didn’t let sex abuse accusations deter her from supporting Joe Biden for president.
What’s even more revealing is an excuse-making Chicago Sun-Times editorial purporting to unpack the latest developments for us. What it really does is get us to look at this as if such accusations should be analyzed through a filter of “moral relativism” that could best be described as “depraved.”

“But I will say that even if the accusations are true, if anybody has redeemed himself through a life well-lived, that would be Michael Pfleger,” columnist Neil Steinberg hideously advocates. “Father God I ask you to keep your arms around our Pastor and to give him the strength he needs to sustain his faith in you…”

Even if they’re true? Why would anyone write that?
And why would he then go back in and revise his article to take that part out without notice? So much for journalistic standards. I took a screenshot, Neil. The internet is forever:

What about the brothers, Neil? No prayers to Father God for them? Since you brought it up, why does a line from the Book of Matthew about making a big show of praying come to mind? And since we only recently heard about the allegations, what proof do you have — if Pfleger’s accusers are telling the truth — that there haven’t been more unreported incidents over the years?

You get the feeling that if the archdiocese did settle, with binding nondisclosure agreements, of course, Steinberg and the St. Sabina apologists would be quick to make the meme “Exonerated!!!” go viral while dismissing all charges as “baseless.”
There really is only one way to lawfully settle this. Conduct an exhaustive investigation. Get it into court. Get everyone involved under oath. And assign honest reporters and commentators to the case — as opposed to someone with the type of twisted worldview who would declare there’s a redemption upside to a trusted protector raping defenseless and emotionally vulnerable boys…
Right now, Pfleger is legally presumed innocent. If the brothers are proven to be lying, charge them criminally and throw the book at them. If they’re telling the truth, I’d like to say there will be one less “prohibited person” on the streets of Chicago, but the accusations predate Illinois’ statute of limitations on child sex abuse crimes elimination bill.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.