Massad Ayoob has a post up about the video evidence surrounding Kyle Rittenhouse’s use of a rifle to defend himself in Kenosha. The photo at the top of the post clearly shows the assailant who Rittenhouse shot in the arm pointing a pistol at the young man’s head. A few milliseconds difference in timing would have put a bullet though the teenager’s head instead of the bad guy’s arm.
Various sites around the Interwebz are using the term “Biden voters” to describe the thugs engaging in BLM and Antifa rioting. I have another post about why I think this is not a strictly accurate term.
OTOH, there seem to be a large number of folks in the country who have been mugged by reality, but when they tried to call the cops, they found that they were on their own. Nearly 5,000,000 of them have now become gun owners, and lots of them are in swing states. Almost a quarter of a million in Pennsylvania, for instance. That’s resulted a significant increase in the percentage of households with firearms. With that in mind, consider these maps.
As a first guess, let’s assume that the 80/20 rule applies and that roughly 4,000,000 new voters are now associated with map on the right. That would tend to sustain Trump’s majorities in the rust belt states, and it would tend to flip Minnesota and Virginia to Trump. It could also produce a shift in the popular vote that would wipe out the 2016 gap.
Don’t get cocky or go off half-cocked.
Well, only one tiger. Glenn Reynolds has a link to a report that the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency is leading the search for a tiger that was spotted by a deputy sheriff in Knox County. The professor adds, “Tiger shows up at my house, he’s a rug.”
One of the neighborhoods where I lived in California had a problem with mountain lions. They were usually dispatched by a deputy using a 12 ga shotgun firing slugs. Mountain lions were also a problem where I used to hike in the Cleveland National Forest. I never hit the trail there without a suitably powerful handgun. I prefer to remain at the top of the food chain.
The post at Instapundit got me thinking about what I might have in my locker suitable for converting a tiger into a rug. 12 ga or even 20 ga slugs would probably do the job, but I think I would reach for my .45/70 lever action rifle. It will stop a large bear, so it should be adequate for a tiger, and I’m more confident with my ability to take a fast precision shot with it than with a shotgun
A friend has told me that he doesn’t expect the sort of looting that has appeared in some urban centers to occur in his rural area, but that if looters come his way, he’s prepared to generously share some of his property with them. He says it’s prepackaged in 10 gram lots which he can provide at a velocity of about 850 meters/second.
It’s getting very hard to find practice ammo to use with some of my firearms. All the common calibers are in short supply. While I have reasonable quantities of 20 ga., .38 Special, .45 ACP, and 7.62 x 51 mm rounds on hand, I’ve deleted my stocks to the point that I’m now using other calibers for practice, .243 Win, .30 Carbine, .and .45 Colt, but mostly .22 LR. If the .22 stash runs low, I have a couple of bricks of .22 Short ammo and an old High Standard target pistol chambered for it. I may be using my 16 ga. for hunting the fall.
Which brings me to the point of this post: If you’re buying a firearm, also buy several hundred rounds of practice ammunition at the same time, and use that ammo to familiarize yourself with the new gun and verify that it functions properly. (And cleaning the gun after using it will help you understand how it works, so buy a cleaning kit too.) If you can’t buy enough ammunition for that introductory practice, you probably should buy a different gun.
If it’s your first gun or if it’s been a long time since you handled firearms, get training in safe gun handling. I recommend the NRA’s Home Firearm Safety Course or you state’s Hunter Safety Course. The online version of these courses will give you good information, but proper hands-on instruction will give you a better opportunity to practice safe handling skills.
Finally, make sure you have what is necessary (slings, holsters, storage boxes, or lockers) to safely carry and store your firearm.
It’s being reported that when rioters tried to move into a residential area of Kenosha, at least one person fired warning shots at them. I was afraid this sort of thing would happen.
It’s understandable that an armed citizen would attempt to repel rioters entering his neighborhood. However, one should not use deadly force irresponsibly, and in almost every instance so called “warning shots” are not justified.
First, a fired bullet is going hit someone or something. A random shot can kill or injure a bystander or do unintended damage. The person pulling the trigger would be responsible.
Second, deadly force is only morally and (IANAL, but lawyers tell me) legally justified in response to an imminent threat of death or serious injury. If deadly force must be used, it must be applied only to the actual threat.
Third, pointing a gun at someone else is an assault. One shouldn’t do it except in response to an actual threat.
I was taught—first by my father, a lawyer with law enforcement experience, and later in the Army—to keep a firearm holstered or pointed in a safe direction until there was no choice left but to open fire. I was also taught that because shooting someone is a use of deadly force, choosing to shot implies shooting to kill. Not to warn. To kill.
It looks as if things are about to get very messy.
Today is yet another day when I wish things weren’t proceeding as I have foreseen.
James O’Keefe, III, went to buy a firearm a few days ago, and the transaction was denied when he failed the NICS background check. The FBI’s database had him flagged as a felon, but he’s never been convicted of a felony. O’Keefe sued the FBI. Townhall reports that the FBI has rather expeditiously corrected their error and removed him from the list of prohibited persons.
The AP reports that the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that California’s ban on standard-capacity magazines for firearms is unconstitutional.
This puts the Ninth Circuit in opposition to several others including the Fourth which upheld Maryland’s ban.
Several people have asked me for advice about buying a gun. The best general advice I can give on the subject is to take proper firearm safety training (such as the NRA Safety Course or your state’s hunter safety course) prior to buying a gun. In the course of that training you’ll learn material that will help you decide what might work best for you.
It’s also a good idea to have some kind of “less lethal” (what that term really means is less likely to kill than a firearm, but still dangerous) means of self defense available for use when deadly force isn’t absolutely necessary. One tool that I’ve adopted is the Kimber PepperBlaster II. It looks like a firearm, but it isn’t. It can project a blast of pepper spray and dye about 13 ft, and it holds two charges of spray. It’s available from Amazon.
It’s small enough to slip into a trouser pocket or purse, but I don’t recommend carrying it without some sort of holster which protects the trigger. (Imagine a pepper spray blast going off by surprise in your pocket or purse.) I carry mine in an Uncle Mike’s Size 3 Pocket Holster. It’s an excellent fit.
Remember, force offered in response to an attack should be proportionate to the danger the attack creates. There are times when deadly force is called for, but there are also times when it isn’t. It’s wise to be prepared to respond appropriately.
Finally, check your local laws and obey them.
I see that the usual suspects are in a tizzy over the armed St. Louis couple who confronted BLM protestors outside their house. It appears that the pair are both lawyers, so I’m going to assume that they are aware of the elements of the crime of assault and that they would not have pointed their weapons at anyone who was not threatening them with severe injury or death.
However, their gun handling is clearly inept. They appear to have poor awareness of the direction their weapons are pointing, and the women never seems to be holding her Walther PPK properly. They both need more training in safe gun handling.
I haven’t had to shot anyone since I left Viet Nam in 1972, but I have been in several dangerous confrontations since then. In all of them, when the other people realized I was armed, they decided to withdraw. The sight of a holstered sidearm or a firearm slung over my shoulder or held at low ready was enough to influence their behavior.
The arms I keep for defensive purposes are not kept for offense. They are not kept to inflict my brand of justice on anyone else. They’re kept as a credible deterrent, tools that I am trained to use and willing to use.
One of the reasons Mrs. Hoge and I settled where we did was that the community was peaceful. I doubt that we’ll see much turbulence here, but if the rioters come to our small town, they’d be well advised to stay off my lawn.
As I’m drinking my second cup of coffee this morning, I’m finding pictures on the Interwebz of an armed couple confronting a BLM mob outside of their house. This may become a more common scene as the ongoing marxist lunacy tries to metastasize to the interior of the country.
While Rick Blaine’s advice to a couple of totalitarian thugs may no longer apply in New York, it still holds true in most of America.
It’s even true in certain parts of Maryland.
Information in this picture of a cupboard shelf in a friend’s house in rural Maryland suggests that violent protestors might have a more difficult time if they venture outside of the cities.
The past couple of months have seen a significant increase in background checks for firearm purchases as a large number of first-time gun buyers decided to exercise their Second Amendment rights just in case things get out of control because of the Wuhan virus pandemic.
I’ve got a hunch that there may be a sizable number of additional first-time buyers going to gun stores over the next few weeks with a new-found understanding of why those stores are essential businesses—and that they may develop a changed attitude about their states’ waiting periods for gun purchases.
Politics makes strange bedfellows. How else can one explain Brett Kimberlin’s use of not-for-profits to support gun control? The TKPOTD for seven years ago today took note of that irony.
* * * * *
Brett Kimberlin received a 50 year sentence for his conviction for using explosives to cause injury. He has claimed that his conviction was based on evidence manufactured by the ATF. Here’s what Mark Singer concluded about Kimberlin’s claim as recorded in the Appendix of Citizen K (p. 377):
To believe that Kimberlin’s conviction represented a widespread effort to frame him required the postulation of a sophisticated, ingenious, and illegal network of his enemies—nothing less, it seemed, than a “conspiracy per se.” Sometime the ingenuity with which Kimberlin credited the ATF specifically seemed too generous. For instance, on 20 September 1978, the day of Kimberlin’s arrest and the impounding of the Impala, the ATF agents involved in the search did not have the lab results from the bomb scenes. If the government had wanted to lace the Impala, they would’ve needed to guess exactly which substance—Tovex, that is, not dynamite or TNT—would link Kimberlin to the bombings. Additionally, the ATF was unlikely to have known that Kimberlin was using Tovex to excavate his property three years earlier.
It’s interesting that, although Brett Kimberlin doesn’t trust the ATF to honorably deal with crime scene evidence, he is campaigning through his NRA Watch website to increase the ATF’s gun control authority.
Go figure.
* * * * *
Most of the NRA members I know aren’t the sort of people who would contribute to one of Kimberlin’s not-for-profits. Follow th money.
Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
—Mao Zedong
Upgrading from BASIC self defense …
… or at lest, Chuck Schumer won’t if one of those New Rules is enforced against him as it would be enforced against a Deporable.
The Minority Leader made remarks earlier this week that most rational people (and even some Democrats) found to be threats against two Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, Neal Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Based on those remarks, the Second Amendment civil rights organization Gun Owners of America has sent a letter to New York Governor Cuomo seeking a Temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order (Red Flag Order) against Senator Schumer.
I hate say it, but I’m betting against equal justice under law in this case.
I’m seeing reports that Joe Biden claimed during the South Carolina debate tonight that 150 million Americans have died of gun violence since 2007.
Or was it the tax cut that killed me?
And why do I still seem to be breathing?
And can we hold out for another 11 years?
HB961 was the Democrats’ prime bill in a package of anti-Second-Amendment legislation they were threatening to pass after gaining control of both houses of the Virginia legislature. It would have banned many common firearms and standard-capacity magazines. It’s been tabled for until next year by the state Senate Judiciary Committee because four Democrats broke ranks and voted with Republicans.
I suspect that those Democrats took notice of two facts. First, the vast majority of the states counties have joined the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement. The odds are the four who voted with the Republicans represent sanctuary counties.
Second, the Democrats just barely took control of the legislature. Something on the order of 6,000 votes statewide would have kept the Republicans in charge, so there are a lot of potentially vulnerable Democrats outside of the DC suburbs.
BTW, I’ve heard a rumor that Governor Blackface has promised to keep the bill comfortable until a final decision on aborting it is taken.
I don’t think they’re willing to play by The Rules they want for us.
The men in primitive human societies are the hunters and warriors. As such, they must be dangerous. They must be capable of the violence necessary to harvest game and to protect their tribe, but they must restrain their violence in order to be cooperative members of the tribe. That ability to act with restraint in one of the marks of a proper adult male human being. Indeed, as we have become more “civilized,” that restraint and cooperation have become even more necessary to allow large societies to function smoothly.
The attendees at the pro-second-amendment rally in Richmond today were mostly men, and the peace and calm reflected in their behavior is an example of mature restraint.
It’s a bit early yet, but it seems that there is a great deal of disappointment in certain quarters because the rally was peaceful. There seems to have been an expectation that mature men would act like spoiled children and have some sort of hissy fit because they weren’t getting their way.
The governor and legislature in Virginia are on a path that could take them beyond the point where peaceful protest of their actions is no longer appropriate, but they aren’t there. Yet. Perhaps, they will reconsider their unwise attack on Second Amendment rights, but it may be that they won’t. If they persist, many Virginians may be inspired by these words written by the second governor of Virginia—
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Now, one peaceful way of handling such a situation would be recall elections, but the legislature is moving to make recall more difficult. If they unfairly game the political process, they should not be surprised if other means are sought.
There are times when it justified for dangerous men to be dangerous.
UPDATE—Seen on Gab—
Nancy Pelosi allowed the forces on her left wing to go a bridge too far. She tried to find a way to salvage the House Impeachment Hoax, but she’s been outmaneuvered by Cocaine Mitch. The mopping up action will begin in the Senate next week, and the hapless PR skirmishing by the Maddows in The Media will not save The Narrative.
Meanwhile in Virginia, Governor Blackface and his friends in the Legislature are pushing ahead with California/New York style gun control. As anyone who has looked at a map of those Second Amendment sanctuaries can see, the proposed laws have little popular support outside of the DC suburbs and a few urban areas. The legislature has responded to public unrest by changing its rules in order to be make lobbying by gun control supporters more difficult and by moving to change the law related to recalling public officials. The governor plans an emergency declaration to prevent the carrying of firearms at a pro-Second-Amendment rally. These are not the acts of fair-minded politicians seeking to do the will of their constituents.
We see the system of checks and balances envisioned by The Founders working in the case of the Impeachment Hoax. We see it apparently failing in Virginia. I doubt Madison or Jefferson would be pleased with their home state today.
President Trump will face an election, and the voters will either keep him for another term or fire him.
Virginia … well, the state’s motto is sic semper tyrannis, so let’s hope that cooler, wiser heads prevail.
Kyle Smith has a piece over at Nation Review that looks at the difference between The Media’s relative interest in David Hogg vis à vis Jack Wilson.
What kind of culture are we living in when Hogg-ism is somehow more celebrated than Wilson-ism? Hogg is one of many Americans who think gun-control regulations should be tightened. He may be right, he may be wrong, but there is nothing particularly exceptional about him. Wilson is a singular figure, a man of action who did something amazing on the spot that can hardly be praised enough. Who knows how many more people might have suffered and died that day in Texas if Wilson hadn’t been so skillful and brave? Led by our media, we’ve become a society that reacts intensely over terrible things but works hard to forget about the great things.
Yeah, but so many of those great things don’t fit The Narrative.
Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS Shoes, is a strong proponent of gun control, and he has spent millions of dollars of company funds pushing universal background checks. Now, creditors are taking control of the company, which has been losing money and was in danger of being unable to pay a $300-million loan due in 2020.
I took a look at the company’s website and found the image on the left. Maybe times have changed more than I realized, but I’m so old that I remember when men’s dress shoes were actually … well … dressy and suitable for wear with formal attire. If the company’s management has this sort of trouble understanding how to properly categorize their own products, I suppose it’s not surprising that they wouldn’t fail to see that sinking corporate funds into virtue signaling on a matter unrelated to the company’s business might not good for its bottom line.
Get woke. Go broke.
The Narrative states that we lesser folks don’t need firearms to protect ourselves or, if we do, we should follow Joe Biden’s advice and get a shotgun instead of an AR-15.
The West Freeway Church of Christ murderer used a shotgun.
He was stopped by a good guy carrying a concealed handgun.
Of course, the facts don’t fit the Narrative, so I suspect that the Media will quickly (in the words of David Burge) cover the story. With a pillow. Until it stops breathing.
