GIVE TIL IT HURTS!

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Aging “rocker” John Cougar Melonhead keeps on hacking away.

John Mellencamp: Show Dead Bodies to Change Hearts and Minds on Gun Control
There’s a particularly twisted subset of gun control fans who firmly believe that if Americans are only exposed to the sight of murder victims after they’ve been shot and killed, they’ll support every one of the anti-2A infringements the gun control lobby wants to shove down our throats. I’ve always liked John Mellencamp’s music, whether he was going by Johnny Cougar, John Cougar Mellencamp, or just plain old John Mellencamp, so it’s disappointing to see that he’s among those who are convinced that exploiting dead children is a price worth paying, so long as it leads to gun bans that will be ignored by the very people who’ve robbed those children of their future.

If we as a country want to find the collective will within ourselves to change our gun laws, let’s stop playing silly political games. Show the carnage on the news. Show the American people the dead children and others who have been struck down. Show us what guns and bullets can do to the human body. The news media need to be brave enough to let Americans see what slaughtered children look like. Otherwise, I fear that too many perceive gun violence as an abstract; a story that’s repeated nearly every day to numbing effect. When I was a teenager, there was a war in Vietnam. In the beginning, no one paid much attention to this problem in a foreign land until the media shouldered the responsibility and showed America how our sons were being slaughtered. Once those images were shown on TV, there was overwhelming demand for that war to be ended immediately. I say this as a father and a human being, with deep empathy for the parents whose children have had their lives ended so suddenly and so senselessly: Show America the carnage. I am not being callous, and I know it will be painful to see. But, sad to say, I think it’s the only way to shock America out of its stupor.

Clue to the clueless: We already know what guns and bullets can do to the human body—the saner sorts among us do, at any rate. It’s why we have the damned things, what we insist on our right to keep and bear them for in the first damned place, you blithering idiot. Only ign’ant, hoplophobic douchenozzles like your precious self seem not to be cognizant of this, as well as the accompanying fact that not a single gun has ever, throughout the entire course of human history, hopped out of the safe or off the nightstand, walked down the street, and shot anybody without human intervention or intent—not even once.

Only a sick, deeply depraved shitwit like Melonhead could be so cruel, so inveterately craven and soulless, as to go as far as this in clambering up onto the caskets of murdered children to use the loved and lost as mere tools to advance the Leftard political agenda in such an obscene fashion. Put in terms much more courteous than this repellent runt in any way merits:

I’m so sick and tired of this pathetic argument from the anti-gunners, which is based on the premise that the only reason people oppose gun control laws is that they just don’t care about the victims of violent crime; that they need to have some shock to their senses to bring them in line with the already enlightened likes of Mellencamp. It’s such a toxic mix of condescension and yes, callous disregard for others. Oh, he knows how painful it will be, but trust him: it’s worth other people’s pain so long as it convinces those he views as the ignorant masses to start demanding… well, Mellencamp never did get around to saying what kind of gun laws he wants to see on the books, did he? 

We’ve seen this argument used to demand bans on “assault weapons” specifically (as if it’s somehow less awful to be killed by someone using a 9mm pistol, an ice pick, or fists and feet) to outright repeal of the Second Amendment, but Mellencamp can’t even be bothered to lay out what laws he wants to see once we’ve been shocked out of our supposed stupor. 

What Mellencamp (and the other poor souls who believe this is a great idea) don’t seem to understand is that there are plenty of folks out there who have seen the brutal results of a child murdered in cold blood but who don’t believe that gun control laws are the answer; including front-line law enforcement, trauma surgeons, coroners, and moms and dads who’ll never get over the pain of losing their child. They don’t see “gun violence” in the abstract, but they don’t believe that gun control is the answer either.

Nor should they. Because, y’know, it isn’t. Never was, never will be. Not that the abhorrent likes of John Cougar Melonhead really give a shit, of course.

As I always say: stop flapping your yap and just come and take them already, dickwart. Anytime you feel froggy enough, we’re all ready and waiting for ya. Let’s see how that works out for you and yours, once and for all.

Amen, Chuck.

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Your Celebrity Gall story of the year

Two via Ace: first up, Alyssa Milano self-beclowns in most spectacular fashion.

Alyssa Milano responds after critics slam her as ‘out of touch’ for requesting money for son’s baseball trip
‘Charmed’ star Alyssa Milano shares 12-year-old Milo with husband David Bugliari

Actress Alyssa Milano is responding after angering fans on social media by asking if they could donate to her son’s baseball team.

A day after her donation request, Milano took to X, formerly Twitter, to share that she had gotten a lot of “media inquiries about whether [she has] financially contributed to [her] son’s baseball team.”

“I’ve paid for uniforms for the entire team and coaches, thrown bday parties and sponsor any kid who can’t afford monthly dues,” she wrote Friday. “The kids also do fundraising themselves — car washes, movie nights, and many other fun things! Thank you to all who have contributed to the gofundme! You’ve made things easier for these boys and their families.”

Social media users were confused why Milano was asking her followers for money, when she is a multimillionaire. Milano starred on the hit drama “Charmed” for six seasons, and Bugliari is the co-head of motion picture talent at the management firm Creative Artists Agency.

Many were left wondering “why isn’t Alyssa Milano paying for the trip for the whole team herself,” while others were questioning why the actress is “asking for money from people who can barely buy groceries.”

Gotta say, that question occurred to me also. Next up, Kurt Russell provides the antidote, in most refreshing, no-bullshit fashion.


Most hilarious aspect: the “journalist” doing the interview obviously assumed he had himself a natural “gimme” with a big Hollywood name who was just bound to agree with his hoplophobic views such as Russell—OOOOPS!—but ended up getting his butt in the blades and chawed all to hell and gone instead. Y’know, a lot like Billy Bob Thornton’s poor character did in this solid-gold scene.

“You gonna do something, or just stand there and bleed? No? I didn’t think so.” Priceless, just priceless. Nice to know that the guy who could utter those lines so brilliantly really does have his heart in the right place, and ain’t exactly what you’d call shy about saying so either.

Update! Via brack in the comments: Clay Travis steps up, problem solved. Just one leeeeetle catch…and it’s hilarious.


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American classic

All hail the one, the only, the all-American Zippo.

Zippo Lighters: The Vietnam War Icon
During the Vietnam War, the trend of personalized the Zippo lighter emerged. Soldiers, with the assistance of local artists in Vietnam, began engraving their Zippos with various slogans. These engravings frequently carried a tone of sarcasm or expressed anti-war sentiments. This practice of customizing lighters gained popularity, as engraving messages on the metal casings of Zippos became a widespread phenomenon.

The Zippo lighter is a simple yet functional item, made of chrome-plated brass and measuring 2.2 inches in height with a weight of 2.05 ounces. It’s designed for efficiency, capable of being opened and lit with a single, practiced movement, and emits a satisfying ‘thwink’ sound upon being snapped shut.

However, during the Vietnam War, Zippos transcended their role as mere lighters. They became symbolic, much like the crests on medieval knights’ armor, bearing slogans that reflected the soldiers’ internal views on what many felt was a futile mission.

These lighters were comparable to tattoos in their personal significance. The custom engraving was often done in small, makeshift shops by the roadside.

Comparable to tattoos? Well, much as I’ve always loved my Zippos, let’s not get nuts here about this. A tattoo represents much, much more in the way of personal commitment, sacrifice, and dedication than a lighter purchasable in any truck stop for about 14.95.

History
The origins of the iconic Zippo lighter trace back to 1932 in Pennsylvania. George G. Blaisdell observed a friend struggling with a bulky Austrian-designed lighter, which was cumbersome and required two hands to operate, though it had a sturdy flame protected by an internal chimney.

Blaisdell set out to refine this design. His initial model retained the protective chimney but was more compact and stylish. He added a hinge connecting the lid to the base, allowing for one-handed operation. These innovations quickly popularized his creation, which he named the Zippo.

In 1936, Blaisdell patented his lighter design and offered a unique guarantee, promising to repair any defective Zippo at the company’s expense. The Zippo’s legacy was profoundly shaped by two major conflicts: World War II and the Vietnam War.

With America’s entry into WWII in 1941, Blaisdell ceased commercial production of Zippo lighters, focusing instead on supplying American soldiers. Due to wartime restrictions, the Zippo factory used lower-grade metal, and the lighters were given a protective “black crackle” finish.

Someplace around here I should have one of those wrinkle-black Zippos, I believe, althought not WW2 vintage; my friends, incredible as it may seem, even I am not that fuckin’ cool. My current favorite Zippo amongst the ten or twelve I still have would have to be this ‘un:

Okay, okay, allow me to adjust my previous statement a wee mite: I AM pretty danged cool after all.

A-HENH.

The Vietnam/Zippo chronicle continues at the link, featuring many snaps of those custom-engraved, jungle-dwelling, hooch-torching Zips of yore. It’s a fascinating tale, of which you should read the all.

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Moar sanctuary cities, stat!

Well, certain specific varieties of ‘em, that is: Gun Sanctuary Cities, Free Speech Sanctuary Cities, Conservative Sanctuary Cities, Wokester-Free Sanctuary Cities, and so on.

Just 1% of Illinois Gun Owners Register ‘Assault Weapons’ Ahead of Ban
Only a tiny fraction of Illinois gun owners registered their AR-15s and similar firearms before the state’s ban officially took effect.

Fewer than 30,000 of the state’s Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) card holders registered firearms recently classified as “assault weapons” by the end of the December 31 registration deadline, according to updated data the Illinois State Police (ISP) released on Tuesday. That means only 1.2 percent of the state’s 2.4 million documented gun owners complied with the state’s terms for allowing continued ownership of AR-15s despite enforcement of the ban beginning on Monday.

The final year-end numbers paint a picture of mass non-compliance with the efforts of Illinois officials to crack down on the supply of AR-15s, the most popular rifle in America, and similar firearms in civilian hands despite facing the threat of criminal penalties. Starting Monday, possession of an unregistered assault weapon became a misdemeanor, while the manufacture and sale of one became a felony. It adds to a recent trend of gun owners being reluctant to go along with similar gun bans and registration requirements in states like New York and California.

Good on ’em, and keep it up, Fightin’ Illini. Elsewhere, how’s that original-recipe Sanctuary City thing working out for you sanctimonious shitlibs?

NOT. TOO. GOOD.

New Jersey deploys cops to send dumped migrants to NYC in desperate move: ‘F–k this’
Migrants in Jersey? Fuhgettaboutit.

New Jersey officials are making sure the Big Apple doesn’t dump the out-of-control migrant mess on the Garden State — and are even deploying cops to usher asylum seekers from the US border onto Manhattan-bound NJ Transit trains as soon as they get off their buses.

The scrap across the Hudson comes as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tries to rally the state’s mayors to form a unified front, while New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleads with Murphy to take on at least part of the migrant burden that is burying the five boroughs.

“New Jersey just said, ‘F–k this,’” one source close to the situation told The Post on Wednesday. “New Jersey Transit cops were waiting for them in Secaucus to show them how to get on the train to New York.”

Multiple Garden State sources described the scene as hectic over the last few days, as nearly two dozen migrant buses rolled into train stations with “chaperones” — with NJ Transit cops then taking over and serving as guides to get nearly 1,000 asylum seekers across the river.

The process has been successful so far, with no migrants choosing to stay in Jersey.

Well hey, who would that didn’t just absolutely have to? Abbott lays down the real bottom line here:

Earlier this week, Abbott boasted online that he had sent 95,000 asylum seekers north — including 33,600 to New York since August 2022 — and would continue to do so.

“Sanctuary cities like NYC & Chicago have seen only a FRACTION of what overwhelmed Texas border towns face daily,” he wrote on X. “We will continue our transportation mission until [President] Biden reverses course on his open border policies.”

Exactly, precisely so, right down the line. They’ve always talked a big open-borders game, but it seems those self-righteous “Sanctuary City” denizens really don’t seem to like being forced to put their money where there big fat yaps are, don’t it? In the words of a memorable schoolyard taunt issued back in Junior High by my now-deceased friend Sherry Beatty, tough titty said the kitty, but the milk’s still good. Now, sit back and suck on it, whydon’tcha.

Update! Dang it, I’ve had this one sitting in an open tab all this time just waiting for me to get around to it, and damned near forgot to include it.

Why 2024 Needs to Be the Year of the Energy Sanctuary State
As the world’s climate luminaries hop back on their private jets in Dubai after COP28, Americans should be worried.

Among the ideas being pushed is a global tax on oil and gas, shipping, and financial services. Its supporters are demanding nearly $10 TRILLION dollars to implement the green agenda around the world. With the Biden Administration well represented at the conference, America’s governors need to be thinking about what they can do to protect families from this radical push.

Here’s an idea: 2024 should be the year that “Energy Sanctuary States” are introduced to fight a globalist agenda.

The concept of sanctuary states is used extensively by those on the left, usually around immigration and drugs. However, it can and should be extended to the energy sector.

The new year is an ideal time for states to embrace their energy sovereignty. Such states would be able to contend with burdensome federal regulations by focusing on delivering reliable and affordable energy to their citizens. The left has decided to ignore federal immigration and drug laws. Let’s apply the same treatment to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the rest of Joe Biden’s Green New Army.

Currently, states must sue the Biden Administration for relief, as they did in West Virginia vs. the EPA that resulted with the Supreme Court rolling back the federal government’s ability to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. However, looking for relief through the courts takes time and a lot of money. States would be better off standing up first and suing later. Furthermore, redirecting state resources away from an unwanted climate agenda is a sensible move that benefits both the economy and energy consumers.

An energy sanctuary state should seize the opportunity to bypass onerous federal regulations that often impede progress and hinder affordable energy delivery. The current federal regulatory framework creates significant challenges for states in pursuing viable and efficient energy solutions. By establishing an energy sanctuary state, a state would be able to tailor its regulations in a way that best suits its unique circumstances. This flexibility allows for quicker decision-making, streamlined processes, and the ability to adapt to changing energy demands.

Indeed so—exactly as the Founders intended from the very beginning, ironically enough. We seem to have somehow lost track of the concept over our long, slow downhill slide into the socialist ditch, but the fact is that’s why those great men wrote the Constitution as they did in the first damned place—which fact even a cursory review of said simply-worded, easy-to-comprehend document will make clear as crystal and beyond further debate, without the average reader having to so much as break a sweat over it.

Come to think of it, “ironic” doesn’t begin to meet the case.

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Another day, another…

Another madman shoots up a school, another demand for law-abiding, non-insane people who have never shot anybody and never WILL shoot anybody to surrender their 2A rights.

Las Vegas police: 3 dead, 1 injured after Wednesday shooting at UNLV
A source close to the investigation says that the suspect is believed to be a 67-year-old college professor.

President Biden on Wednesday afternoon issued a statement on the shootings in Texas and Nevada:

“Yesterday, in Austin and San Antonio, at least six people were killed and several more injured by a gunman—leaving families devastated, and communities forever changed. And just hours ago, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas became the latest college campus to be terrorized by a horrific act of gun violence, and the community is still awaiting information on casualties.

Jill and I join citizens across our nation in praying for the families of our fallen, and for those who were injured during these latest acts of senseless violence. We are also grateful for the courageous work of law enforcement—who risked their own safety to bring an end to these deadly shooting sprees. Federal law enforcement officials are on the ground working with State and local law enforcement in both states and I have directed that all necessary support be provided to assist in the investigations and support these communities.

This year alone, our nation has experienced more than 600 mass shootings, and approximately 40,000 deaths due to gun violence. This is not normal, and we can never let it become normal.

For all the action we have taken since I’ve been President, the epidemic of gun violence we face demands that we do even more. But we cannot do more without Congress. Republican lawmakers must join with Democrats in Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, pass a national red flag law, enact universal background checks, require the safe storage of guns, and advance other commonsense measures that will help stem the tide of gun violence. And together, we must do more to prevent more families, and more communities like Austin, San Antonio, and Las Vegas, from being ripped apart by gun violence.”

Yeah, let’s allow you gun-grabber shitweasels to rip the entire fucking country apart by gun “control” and/or confiscation instead. From the above sub-hed, sounds to me like what we could really use here is some reasonable, common-sense loony-toony-college-professor control, Mr “President.” A good first step might be to enact strong legislation preventing opportunistic, lying scum-sucker ProPols like yourself from clambering atop the nearest podium before the sound of the shots has even stopped echoing to thump your scrawny chests and lecture the rest of us about what we must and must not do.

Update! For my money, the great Charlton Heston said it best.

Sure, I’ll be happy to give up my guns to you rat-bastards: bullets first, any old time you feel froggy enough.

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Know your rights

Alllll three of ‘em, as Joe Strummer once sang.

Not long ago, I heard about an incident I want to bring to your attention. A motorist, traveling outside his state of residence, was the victim of a minor traffic accident. However, during the investigation, an officer found two handguns in his car. The motorist was arrested for carrying without a permit, a felony in that particular state.

The problem was that the motorist had a concealed-carry permit alright—but only in his home state. This man was not a criminal. He had no prior-arrest record. He simply was in a state that refused to recognize another state’s license. What that oversight meant for this gentleman was a trip to jail, very expensive legal fees and possible time in prison—and loss of his Second Amendment rights.

We spend a lot of time talking about guns and gear and even some time talking about tactics. But, I’m not sure we spend enough time discussing the various laws concerning personal defense. It is possible to be otherwise justified in defending oneself, yet still be charged with a crime for some violation of legal procedure.

For example, some states have the so-called “Stand Your Ground” law. That is, if you have a legal right to be where you are, then there is no requirement to retreat before defending yourself. Other states require you to attempt to retreat, sometimes with an exception when you’re in your home, before responding to a violent attack. What do they consider a legitimate attempt to retreat?

While you may know the law in your home state, you are bound by the law, whatever it is, in the state that you are visiting. And, trust me, they are not going to be the least bit interested in how you do it back home.

That’s a fact, Jack. In Amerika v2.0, the State’s one and only interest is locking you up, first, last, and always. The Constitution itself clearly states that no State law may traduce the US Constitution—which certainly includes the 2A—rendering gun-grabber legislation in even the most Left-“liberal” of states null and void. “Shall not be abridged,” remember? Yet somehow, well, here we all are nevertheless.

What a travesty. As the bumper stickers have it: the Founders would have been shooting a loooonnnng time ago.

(Via Insty)

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Sanctuary city county

About damned time.

Town Forms Militia to Resist Whitmer’s Gun Control Laws
The Second Amendment reads, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the people’s right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” We who oppose gun control tend to recognize that nothing in the introductory clause negates that whole “shall not be infringed” bit.

A lot of other people focus on that first part, arguing that “well regulated” means the same thing today as it did back then. Some will even say that if you want a gun, you should join a militia.

Now, they mean the National Guard, but they failed to be specific and that’s on them.

In Michigan, though, gun control laws seem to be rolling steadily down the line. One town, however, is in that “shall not be infringed” camp and declared itself a Second Amendment sanctuary. They also formed their own “well regulated militia” to try and make it stick.

A township in Muskegon County has declared itself a Second Amendment sanctuary and created a maximally inclusive militia in hopes of protecting citizens’ constitutional rights from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s gun control laws.

…The resolution stated that “the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of our nation; … the Second Amendment to the Constitution states, ‘A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed’; and … the United States Supreme Court has affirmed that the right of an individual to ‘keep and bear arms,’ as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporated by the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment against the states.”

Noting that board members will remain steadfast in upholding the the U.S. and Michigan constitutions and oppose “any law that would unconstitutionally restrict the rights of the citizens of Holton Township to keep and bear arms,” the resolution called for the technical establishment of a militia.

Accordingly, all legal residents with primary residency within the township who are 18 or older, capable of passing a federal firearms background check, and desire to do so can become a member of the Holton Township Militia simply by indicating their intent “on open media or to friends and or family or by letter.”

Divemedic frets that this move may bring us one step closer to CW II, and he may well be right about that. As disturbing a prospect as that is, though, the fact remains that if 2A people had stepped up in defense of their Constitutionally-enumerated rights like this long ago, we wouldn’t be in this mess to start with. Ref: Mike’s Iron Law Nos. 1, 213, 873, and 1,246. The underlying principle applies in other contexts beyond the 2A—far too many of ‘em, actually.

Real Americans from 50-60-70 years ago might possibly be excused for being unaware of the implacable, insatiably-rapacious nature of the Goosesteppin’ Left, maybe, but not today. We’ve surely seen enough by now to understand that, with authoritarian Leftards like Fraulein Whitler, if you give ‘em an inch, they’ll take absolutely everything you have. Rights not defended are rights lost; as the Founders warned, they are never restored willingly—they must either be taken back, or surrendered forever.

I believe I’ve just come up with a new Iron Law: In the face of creeping tyranny, complacency is death. It’s sad, it’s scary, it’s unpleasant to contemplate, it’s tragic, even. What it also happens to be is the cold, hard truth.

Update! Mike’s Iron Laws have been duly revised.

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Heroes

Though the term has been cheapened on these shores after having been spewed across the entire landscape like water from a firehose, in some places it still has meaning. The Nir Am kibbutz would definitely be one of those places.

Israeli Woman Who Helped Save a Kibbutz: ‘I’m Not a Hero, I Wasn’t There by Myself’
‘I hope you won’t have too much to do,’ Inbal Lieberman was told when she first took the post of security coordinator for Nir Am less than a year ago

Inbal Lieberman doesn’t want to be everybody’s heroine. She refuses to grant interviews, rebuffing the attention. She would like to remove the crown placed on her head by the masses online. Like many others living in the vicinity of Gaza, Lieberman just wants a little peace of mind and a safe space to grieve.

Last Saturday, she and her colleagues in Kibbutz Nir Am’s guard detail saved hundreds of people, but they too knew people who were killed by invading Hamas forces in the neighboring communities. The hundreds of calls and texts reaching her at her hotel in Tel Aviv contrasted starkly with her state of mind.

During the first hours of the ongoing war, while Liebstein (head of the Sha’ar Hanegev regional council Ophir, from whom came the pull quote in italics above—M) was meeting death trying to defend other people in the area, Lieberman encountered the test of a lifetime. At 6:30 A.M., as rocket sirens wailed, everybody in the kibbutz – seasoned in these matters – ran for shelter. Lieberman also went into a shelter, but then she heard other noises. Unusual ones.

Ofer Lieberman, her father, is a different kind of parent. Unlike others, he evades the expectation that he will hail his daughter. He finds it more comfortable to reconstruct the event as he experienced it. “The electricity went out because of the rockets and she ordered that the power not be restored so nobody could open the gates to the kibbutz,” he says. “The security detail had woken up and she took the decision to arm them and place them in positions.”

And so it was done. Like in the mythological stories of early Zionism, Lieberman and 11 other kibbutz members stood guard and waited.

Like in any of those mythological stories, the precise details of her heroism were inflated. Social media messages reported “25 terrorists killed” while actually one had been killed and one wounded. But for three hours, Lieberman and the security detail fought from positions within the kibbutz and with militants some dozens of meters away from the entrance.

Other kibbutz members could hear the whole thing from their shelters. Her father, though, though left the safe room for the kitchen at the height of the battle to fry an omelette. “She called us at some point, asking for a sandwich,” her father explains. “So I left the shelter, made her an omelette sandwich and brought it to her.”

You see what I mean about heroes, I’m sure. Lieberman père and jeune fille both qualify as such, eminently. Cross-dressers and Nee-grows who collapse into paroxysms of hysterical grief claiming “genocide” anytime someone looks at them disapprovingly for, respectively, public acts of pedophilia and looting/burning of entire cities assuredly do NOT.

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Wisdom of the ages

Listening just now to one of the best OTR shows, Gunsmoke, Doc Adams was opining to Marshall Dillon:

ADAMS: Y’know, Matthew, in Europe they don’t allow people to just walk around with guns like this…

DILLON: Yeah, but Doc, this ain’t Europe, we’re in Dodge City.

ADAMS: That’s true, I guess. At least here, we can still drink.

Heh. Turns out, some truths really ARE eternal.

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NOTICE: “Ballistic fingerprinting,” like “drug-sniffing dogs,” is the bunk

DM reports, Kevin derides.

Well, the news of Maryland’s Integrated Ballistics Identification System database being a failure has made the rounds of the blogosphere. Kim commented on Wedneday, so did Say Uncle (with an Instalanche). Triggerfinger, Keith Devens, and No Quarters, did too. The Geek with a .45 gives a link to the actual report in a PDF file (graphic, rather than text file, though,) and Irons in the Fire commented on that.

I’ve been pretty busy, but I had a chance to read the report yesterday, and it’s an interesting expansion on the other reports I’ve read. There are two from California’s ballistic imaging feasibility study, and the original Maryland study. All of these reports reference New York’s system, but I have yet to find a study of that system specifically.

The general consensus of all of the blog pieces was a sarcastic “big freaking surprise!” which is understandable given our stated biases. The response from the gun confiscation, er, control, um, SAFETY groups was a bit more muted. JoinTogether didn’t make a peep, as far as I could tell. No press release from the Brady Campaign. Ditto for the Violence Policy Center. But one thing that struck me, as immersed in this topic as I am, was this comment at Say Uncle:

I am fairly green, could you explain why the idea would not work.

I can see their problem of the guns not being indexed, but would it would seem that that could be solved by indexing all the guns.

Several respondents made a valiant effort to explain the problems inherent in the system, but a couple of paragraphs is insufficient. Like most controversial topics, there’s a whole lot of “there” there, and no simple two- or even ten-sentence response is enough. Sometimes I forget that a lot of people don’t have the basic information I’ve accumulated over the last ten years. (Generally not, though, which is one reason my posts – like this one – tend to the Den Bestian in length.)

So here, in some detail, is a dissertation on just some of the problems with the concept of “ballistic fingerprinting” as a crime-fighting tool.

Much, much, MUCH more here (including supporting links throughout), of which you should read the all. Taken altogether, it’s as thorough and comprehensive a debunking—with pictures, yet—of the “ballistic fingerprinting” hokum as you’re ever gonna see. Now, about those “drug-sniffing dogs…

In a nutshell, then: Everything we’ve been told for lo, these many, many years by FederalGovCo and anti-2A, anti-freedom shitlibs (BIRM) is a goddamned lie.

Resist we much!

SO—how’s that gun-grabbing thing working out for ya there, Gov?

NOT. TOO. GOOD.

Gun owners defy New Mexico governor, rally in Old Town Albuquerque
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s attempt to put the right to bear arms on ice in Albuquerque for 30 days is off to an inauspicious start; with the first lawsuits already underway, confusion over which law enforcement agency (if any) will try to enforce her mandate, and dozens of gun owners openly defying Grisham’s order by rallying with their firearms in the city’s Old Town on Sunday.

The rally didn’t feature any arrests or citations for those openly carrying firearms, which must be disappointing to the gun-grabbing governor. In a sign that her experiment in authoritarianism is already backfiring, several participants said their attendance marked the first time they’d ever taken part in an organized protest.

Bob Hurtado had never attended a protest in his life until Sunday.

The former engineer decided to join the crowd gathered at Old Town Plaza because he felt Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s recent emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque was targeting the wrong people.

“She’s going after the wrong people,” Hurtado said. “I pay my taxes, I’m a God-fearing American and I think we should have our Second Amendment rights. I’m here for that.”

Better be prepared to take those rights back then, and defend them vigorously by, as the D卐M☭CRATs always say, any means necessary. With this in-your-face protest, I’d say you’ve made a fine start, sir. Hopefully, it will be only the first of many.

And speaking of “many.”

New Mexico AG to Governor on Defending her Second Amendment Suspension: Drop Dead
There are now six lawsuits (and counting) challenging New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public health order suspending Second Amendment carry rights in the Bernalillo County and the city of Albuquerque. While literally no local authorities are willing to enforce her clearly unconstitutional diktat, Grisham is still claiming that the New Mexico State Police will do her dirty work.

The State Police, however, have remained strangely silent on the matter and no one has been cited for any violations.

This afternoon, however, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez delivered the latest body-blow to the Governor’s authoritarian tendencies by announcing in a letter to Grisham that his office will not be defending her in court.

From NMPoliticalReport.com…

“Though I recognize my statutory obligation as New Mexico’s chief legal officer to defend state officials when they are sued in their official capacity, my duty to uphold and defend the constitutional rights of every citizen takes precedence,” Torrez’s letter stated. “Simply put, I do not believe that the Emergency Order will have any meaningful impact on public safety but, more importantly, I do not believe it passes constitutional muster.”

Ouch.

Taken all together, these are EXACTLY the kind of all-in, full-court-press measures which constitute the only real hope for fighting back against tyranny without resorting to swinging filthy fascist scum like Grisham from lampposts in job lots. The operative words being ALL TOGETHER; pieces-parts, patchwork steps, here and there and now and then, are never gonna suffice.

As Bracken has always said: if you think it’s time to start burying your guns, it’s actually time to start digging them up instead.

2

Rule of law by decree

Fascists gonna fascist.

New Mexico governor issues order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days in response to a spate of gun violence.

The Democratic governor said she expects legal challenges but was compelled to act because of recent shootings, including the death of an 11-year-old boy outside a minor league baseball stadium this week.

Lujan Grisham said state police would be responsible for enforcing what amount to civil violations. Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina said he won’t enforce it, and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he’s uneasy about it because it raises too many questions about constitutional rights.

The firearms suspension, classified as an emergency public health order, applies to open and concealed carry in most public places, from city sidewalks to urban recreational parks. The restriction is tied to a threshold for violent crime rates currently only met by the metropolitan Albuquerque. Police and licensed security guards are exempt from the temporary ban.

Bold mine, both times. The second instance underscores the essential point made three years ago by Buck Throckmorton which served as the inspiration and springboard for my Friday Eyrie post: that Real Americans will be paying for the disastrously supine response to FauxVid tyranny indefinitely, in ways both many and varied. As for the first instance, CBD has that one covered.

Well, that’s nice, but it doesn’t mean a damned thing. The state has its own thugs who will gleefully do the bidding of LandesFuhrer Lujan Grisham.

Only if the Albuquerque police and the county sheriff’s deputies stop the state police from enforcing this vile and obvious insult to our natural, God-given rights will their statements mean anything. Otherwise they are part of the problem.

Yes, if they act there will be a legal confrontation…something that is sorely missing in America today. Donald Trump should have told Fulton County Georgia DA Fani Willis to pound sand, and that if she wants him she can come and arrest him. Governor Abbot should have told U.S. District Court Judge David A. Ezra that he can enforce his edict himself, but that Texas will continue to defend its border.

Playing by the rules has gotten us to where we are today, with a compliant “opposition” party willing to get along so they can continue to pad their bank accounts while America slide farther into the abyss of totalitarianism. The left is superb at manipulating the law to their own ends, and it is far past the time when rational Americans begin to push back against the insanity of a two-tiered justice system.

Civil Disobedience? Absolutely.

Damned skippy. Civil disobedience, at the very least.

It has been argued in several places, notably around these parts by CF Lifer Barry, that DeSantis should have had the Mar A Lago-raiding FBI/Stasi goon squads stopped in their jackbooted-thug tracks before they ever arrived at the Trump casa, a sentiment with which I concur. Although, given Trump’s tiresome personal attacks against DeSantis and his entire family, I can kinda-sorta see why he might be content to sit back and let The Donald stew in his own juices also. But that only dodges the central issue here, which isn’t just the main thing, it’s the ONLY thing now.

There seems to be general acknowledgment that trouble is coming, a sentiment with which I do NOT concur, quite; trouble is in fact here, all around us, and has been since the spring of 2020. We’re up to our clavicles in it, the only question being which way we’re going to jump this time out. I won’t say it’s our last chance to get it right; I don’t feel as if there’s any real need to, frankly. Just say no, or just say bye-bye to individual liberty.

Update! Brandon Smith knows what time it is.

In terms of direct conspiracy and tyranny, the solution is usually war and the elimination of the cabal behind the agenda. That requires talking about the problem and inspiring people to organize for the fight.

But what happens when you finally have the numbers to do something? I would partially agree that the conservatives, libertarians, independents and moderates that make up what I call the “Liberty Movement” tend to talk a lot more about the problems, to the point that solutions become lost in the fervor of discussion.

After nearly 20 years writing for the movement I have noticed a consistent pattern – When I publish an article identifying a concerted attack on the US economy, for example, the audience numbers run high. When I write an article about methods for preventing collapse, such as independent barter markets and localized production, the traffic is cut in half. The truth is, real solutions are not sexy, they are scary.

People can become addicted to watching the system break down and I realize it’s hard to look away from a train wreck. But when it comes time to doing something about the mess and make some hard decisions a lot of people run away. This has to change.

It is with this issue in mind that I am launching a series of articles focusing ONLY on solutions. These are not silver bullet solutions; they will not save people from struggle or hardship. They will not end the globalist empire with a single calculated social shift or technological innovation. Such solutions do not exist and anyone who claims otherwise is either ignorant or a fraud trying to lure you into complacency. The real solutions require hard work, sacrifice, courage, tenacity and above all, risk.

If a solution to tyranny and collapse doesn’t scare you at least a little, then it’s probably not a legitimate solution.

And, if there is one solution that has been demonized more than any other in our modern era, it’s the citizen militia. It’s hard to think of a greater taboo, a more sneered at and disdained concept than the militia, and that’s on both sides of the political aisle. Many leftists hate the militia because they fear it; many Republicans hate the militia because they think it makes them look “extreme.” Sorry sunshine patriots, but if there was ever a time for extreme measures, it is now.

Annnnnd Woot! There it is. He goes on in like vein from there, and although it might not be pretty or comfortable, it’s also bang on the money. I urge everyone to read it to the very last.

Updated update! More from Brandon, in reply to a commenter bringing up Sun Tzu’s dictum: “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

You are misinterpreting Sun Tzu – He meant that great strength would be required to DETER the enemy from ever attacking in the first place. Strength is not shown through public engagement; public engagement is how you eventually build strength. The Covid mandates were defeated for one reason and one reason only – Millions of Americans with arms refused to comply, and the elites realized to continue would mean war. But, they never should have felt safe enough to try. With organized militias, there would have been NO covid mandates to defeat. This is what Sun Tzu meant. There is no digital silver bullet solution; this conflict will require rebellion and great sacrifice. There is no other way.

Alas for us all, there is not. If there’s anyone, anywhere, who has been more consistently correct than Brandon Smith about the current sorry state of affairs and how it might most effectively be addressed, I’m sure I don’t know who it would be.

Update to the updated update! Divemedic has questions. Good ones.

Police are used to victimizing unarmed people. That’s why they call SWAT when there is the least chance of facing armed opponents. I want to remind you of this incident, point out that the cops in New Mexico will chase anyone who runs from them instead of allowing themselves to be searched for firearms, and then ask again:

What could a four man fire support element do if they were in an overwatch position 100 yards or so away and this was a planned ambush? How hard would it be to lure police into a kill box and then overwhelm them with large amounts of fire before disengaging and disappearing before the cops can organize an effective counter ambush?

Despite the foolish fantasy cherished by all too many amongst what Brandon calls the “Liberty Movement” that cops and soldiers can reasonably be expected to “switch sides” en masse in a situation like this—which cuts across the grain of the “must get home safe to my family” mantra adopted by 5-0 in recent years as if it were an inviolable Prime Directive—we’re probably going to find out the answers to DM’s questions before too very much longer.

4
1

Hey rube, AR15s suck

The indecipherable yet ineluctable twisting and turning of the irrational hoplophobic mind.

Frequently Debunked Crackpots Claim the AR-15 is Worthless for Self-Defense
When the young paste-eaters at Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun propaganda factory, known as the Trace, team up with the stodgy window-lickers at the Gun Violence Archive to produce a story about the utility of the AR-15 platform as a modern self-defense tool, it’s hard not to get too excited.

It’s like watching two freight trains headed toward each other on the same track. You know the results are going to be cataclysmic. None of these halfwits have ever heard a shot fired, much less one fired in anger, or especially one fired to good effect. They know less about what makes a reliable home defense weapon than I do about man-buns, skinny jeans, or avocado toast.

We have debunked the Trace and the Gun Violence Archive so often it’s getting old. The kids at the Trace masquerade as legitimate journalists when, in fact, they’re nothing more than highly paid anti-gun activists. The GVA purports to track gun crimes and maintain a list of mass shootings, but their data is collected from media, and even social media sources, and their stats are so inflated they’d have you believe a mass shooting occurs nearly every time someone draws from a holster. When the two anti-gun nonprofits combine for a story, it’s bound to be something as bereft of facts as it is poorly written, and to that standard, their most recent collaboration does not disappoint.

A story published Tuesday asks: “How Often Are AR-Style Rifles Used for Self-Defense? Supporters of AR-15s, often used in mass shootings and racist attacks, say they’re important for self-defense. Our analysis of Gun Violence Archive data suggests otherwise.”

Don’t give a fart in a whirlwind what your ginned-up, jerry-rigged “data” does or does not suggest. My God-given rights, as codified in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, are not up for negotiation, nor will they ever be. I like my AR, I intend to keep it, and I care not one iota whether it’s practical as a self-defense weapon or is as useless as teats on a boar-hog. That’s flat; end of discussion, no more to be said. You can’t bear the idea of me having it, you just come ahead on and try to take it from me, then. FREE ADVICE: bring help. Level III body armor might be a pretty good idea, too.

As Mr Williams points out, the writer of Tuesday’s “published story” arrived at her conclusions via data glommed off her gungrabber sob-sisters at Herr Bloomberg’s GVA, which ludicrous tag-team circle-jerkery amuses me no end. As if any gun person in existence would ponder this meticulous, scrupulously impartial and honest “analysis” and freely decide he needed to shitcan his AR, so as to improve his ability to defend himself and his family using some other alternative.

More “as ifs”:

  • As if the Trace, the GVA, or any other passel of pissypantsed, pathologically gun-shy shitlibs give a fat rat’s patoot about how one might go about defending oneself more effectively
  • As if they’re in the least interested in how Normals might feel about anything, at all
  • As if they hadn’t demonstrated, over and again, their preference for the “rights” of the predator class over those of their victims
  • As if sane, sensible Americans would trust obviously manipulated statistics and naked propaganda over their own native common sense, lived experience, and observable reality
  • As if shitlibs sincerely felt obliged to honor the very concept of natural, God-given rights in the first place

As Williams says, we’re talking about people who have not only never heard a shot fired, they’ve probably never so much as even been in the same room with a gun, and are totally ignorant about them. In fact, the one and only thing they DO know about guns is that they don’t like them, and wish they would all just go away. Yet somehow this footling, cowardly neurosis translates into blanket moral authorization to trample the rights of more mentally balanced, less hysterical sorts.

So yeah, go piss up a rope, shitlib hoplophobes. I repeat: stop flapping your yaps and just come take ‘em already. Let’s see how that works out for ya in the end.

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