I don’t know what started me down the rabbit hole of gun control and racism (maybe it’s all this “identity politics” talk by the mainstream media) but I came across this 2017 NRA-produced video on Youtube (see above), conveniently titled, “Gun Control’s Racist History.” It’s a pretty good primer on the racist roots of gun control and follows in the footsteps of a two-part series produced by JFPO in 2009 called, “No Guns for Negroes.”
The other thing I realized in my search is that there’s a lot of great content in the GunsAmerica archives on the subject. Paul has written at least two cogent editorials on the matter which are worth checking out: “Eric Holder Racist Anti-Gun Rant Victimizes Minorities,” and “The Problem is Black People? – Inner City Gun Violence, Obama, Bloomberg & China.”
What one quickly realizes is that gun control has always disproportionately affected poor and working-class people, but particularly blacks. Many laws following slavery were crafted with the sole intent to deny blacks their right to keep and bear arms. That tradition has continued over the years with laws targeting inexpensive firearms, e.g. “Saturday Night Specials” and the adoption of may-issue concealed carry standards that give law enforcement the capacity to arbitrarily prevent “certain people” from bearing arms.
Today it’s not postbellum racists leading the charge to suppress blacks from owning guns but anti-gunners. What they don’t understand, or maybe they secretly do, is that disarming America only creates more victims. And since black people are the ones most frequently victimized by bad guys with guns, they are in essence creating more black victims.
As Paul notes in his editorials, instead of disarming law-abiding blacks they ought to be empowering them to learn how to defend themselves, their families and their communities. Shift the paradigm from a community of victimhood to one of an elevated level of personal responsibility and self-sufficiency. The truth is that the venerable black leaders of the ’60s like MLK and Rosa Parks always preached that latter approach (it’s why MLK and Parks obtained a gun license). It’s only in recent decades that black leadership, under people like Barack Obama and Eric Holder, has been pushing blacks to sacrifice their rights at the altar of the Nanny State, which works simultaneously to undermine individual liberties and line the pockets of those in power.
University of Utah Instructor Ostracizes Concealed Carriers & Loses Fairfax, VA –-(Ammoland.com)- In an outrageous attempt to punish anyone exercising their Second Amendment rights, a University of Utah instructor tried to isolate concealed carry holders by forcing them into a tiny corner in the back of the classroom.
The unnamed graduate teaching assistant told her students on the first day of class this week that anyone carrying a firearm would be forced to stand in a “3 x 3 taped square on the floor in the very back of the classroom.”
University of Utah Anti Gun Syllabus
Despite the fact that Utah is one of ten states that allows for campus carry, the instructor claimed she had the right to “restrict elements of the Second Amendment” in the class, adding that bringing a gun to class is “absurd, anti-social, and frightening behavior.”
The professor created a bizarre “Second Amendment Zone… that does not include a desk, because desks are reserved for students who respect the personal and psychological safety of their classmates and instructor.”
This absurdity did not sit well with at least one student. The 23-year old concealed carry permit holder, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, alerted a friend who then contacted Utah State Representative Karianne Lisonbee. Rep. Lisonbee was on the phone immediately with officials at the University of Utah who took swift action against the instructor.
In a statement provided to the NRA, a University of Utah spokesman said the instructor was forced to redact the syllabus and apologize to students. Officials also removed the instructor from any teaching this semester.
The university said the class syllabus “violated both state law and university policy.
“I am very pleased with how it turned out,” said Lisonbee. “I am very pleased the university handled it so quickly.”
Before the instructor could remove her syllabus from her class website, the anonymous tipster grabbed a screenshot of it as evidence of her outrageous anti-gun bias.
AmmoLand Editors Note: If any of our readers know the name of this teacher please let us know in the comments below.
*******************************
Well that was not handled well by this “Instructor”. It seems to me that she could of thought this one out a little better before hand.
As a Retired Teacher, I like to think that I would handled this issue this way.
“Hey guys with a Permit. I would like to talk to you later about this during my office hours. Okay?” Then I am sure that a fair & equitable deal would of been reached.
As is it now, I am willing to be that this instructor career just took a major hit. As like any Boss out there, you do not want any problems during your shift.
If my Wonderful Readers have a better idea feel free to hit the comments button. Or better yet hit the Paypal Button. As I am looking to get a new toy soon in 22-250. More on that later!
Grumpy
John Apter warns the public ‘are already suffering’ and ‘are going to suffer more’ ( PFEW )
The British public are being “failed” because huge demand and stretched resources mean police are not responding to crimes they would have dealt with in the past, the new head of the Police Federation has warned.
John Apter, who has been a police officer for 26 years, told The Independent that policing in some areas was “broken” and said that government cuts had created a “crisis”.
“We are moving into an area where some crimes will not be investigated, whereas two to five years ago they were,” he said.
“We can’t do everything – there are going to be situations where we simply can’t deliver the policing we want to deliver.
“In those cases we are failing the public but that’s not the fault of police officers on the ground, and in some cases it’s not the chief constable’s fault. You can only slice the financial cake so many ways and you have to prioritise … the public are already suffering and they are going to suffer more and more.”
Last year the Metropolitan Police announced the creation of a new “crime assessment policy”, which gave officers new guidelines on when to stop investigations.
Details suggested that incidents involving a loss of under £50 would not be investigated, as well as offences where there is not a “realistic chance officers will be able to solve it”.
Shoplifting, car crime and criminal damage were among the “lower level” offences being downgraded amid a rise in violent crime, sex offences and 999 calls.
Scotland Yard said the measures were needed to “balance the books” as the force works to make £325m savings by 2022.
Cressida Dick: ‘Naive’ to think cuts to police haven’t had impact on rising crime
In response to questions by The Independent, several other forces said they had implemented measures aiming to make better use of their “finite resources”.
Thames Valley Police has changed its policies on dealing with shoplifting and drivers who flee petrol stations without paying for fuel “to reduce demand on the frontline”.
The force is giving business owners packs allowing them to collect their own evidence and CCTV footage for police, so officers can investigate without travelling to the scene.
“New structures have been designed to provide more flexibility to ensure Thames Valley Police better prioritises, and effectively and efficiently targets resources to the areas of greatest need,” a spokesperson said.
West Yorkshire Police chief constable Dee Collins said her force had to “completely change the way we work”.
“We have to make incredibly difficult decisions, as we seek to balance significantly reduced resources against very high levels of demand” that is often not crime-related, she added.
“I would really like to dispatch more officers to more victims on more occasions than we do but given the current situation and demands for our services, sadly we have to be realistic and pragmatic.”
Bedfordshire Police said the increase in “hidden crimes” like cyber offences, modern slavery and sexual exploitation had changed policing dramatically in recent years.
Deputy chief constable Garry Forsyth said the force had started giving appointments to victims of crimes where there is no threat to the wider public.
“We have to make difficult decisions every day about the crimes we can respond to and whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant a full investigation,” he added.
“Obviously we will always prioritise those high-harm crimes which change people’s lives, where there is a threat to the public’s safety, but we are exploring a range of options where there might be alternative resolutions to dealing with incidents to help maximise our officers’ time.”
The teenagers murdered in London in 2018
A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said it was using “limited resources most effectively to deliver public value for money”, adding: “We have to prioritise investigations that cause the highest harm.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has been urging police forces to use the “Thrive” model which prioritieses emergency calls according to “threat, harm, risk, investigation possibilities, vulnerability and engagement”.
“Every police service is facing continuous challenges re financial constraints and service delivery, demand and resourcing to public expectations and needs,” said a document published last April. “Each service has adopted its own approach, project and programme thinking regarding future policing delivery.”
North Yorkshire Police said the system is not a “one-size-fits-all-policy” on different crime types and still allows a bespoke response for each incident.
“There is no doubt that we have to manage our resources carefully and cannot attend every incident that’s reported to us,” a spokesperson added.
“Over the past year Thrive has helped us to reallocate around 2,000 hours of police-officer time from incidents that didn’t really need police attendance to incidents where they can make a real difference.”
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary’s annual report found that forces are failing to respond to low-priority crimes because of “significant stress” caused by budget cuts and rising demand, saying that prioritisation assessments can sometimes “be misapplied or poorly managed” and put people at risk.
Inspectors also warned that if a victim’s first experience with police is not positive, they may not report crimes in the future.
Research published exclusively byThe Independent earlier this month showed that confidence in the criminal justice system is declining among victims, with one woman saying her experience left her wondering “what is the point in ringing” the police.
Police forces have been working to improve their technology and procedures, but many cite the impact of “unprecedented” demand driven by factors including increasing 999 calls, rising violent crime and complex sexual offence cases and fraud.
Sajid Javid promised police officers he would fight for more funding shortly after being made home secretary (PA)
The number of police officers in England and Wales has fallen to a record low after plummeting by around 22,000 since 2010, while the past year has seen homicides rise by 12 per cent, knife crime by 16 per cent and robbery by 30 per cent.
The government says there is no conclusive evidence of a link between rising crime and falling police officer numbers, but Mr Apter insisted there was “absolutely” a relationship, adding: “The demand has massively increased while officer numbers have considerably been cut.
“The maths just does not add up and the government are purely responsible.”
Almost half of all criminal investigations are being closed with no suspect identified, and the proportion ending with someone being charged or summonsed to court fell to just 9 per cent in the year to March.
Mr Apter said funding cuts were also increasing the strain on police officers themselves, amid a rise in long-term sickness and a record number taking second jobs to supplement their incomes.
“The reality is that policing in some places is broken, we are most certainly in crisis and that is a direct result of the pressure the government has put on by a reduction in funding,” he added.
“I’m not saying that in the early days of austerity there were not efficiencies to be made, but what we are finding now is that we’ve been cut so much we start to become inefficient.
“We’re not giving the service we want to the public and we’re certainly not looking after our officers as much as we should be.”
Sajid Javid has promised to fight for more resources for policing in a government-wide spending review but admitted he has “no magic wand” to increase funding.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Police have the resources they need to carry out their vital work and we have provided a strong and comprehensive settlement that is increasing total investment in the police system by over £460m in 2018/19, including funding for local policing through council tax precept.
“However, we know the nature of crime is changing. That is why the policing minister spoke to every police force in the country to understand the demands they are facing and why the home secretary, in May, committed to prioritising police funding in next year’s spending review.”
Israel has changed its gun regulations to enable hundreds of thousands more civilians to apply for licences, a move authorities say will increase security but others argue will stoke violence.
The shift in policy, announced by the public security ministry late Monday, means that up to 600,000 Israelis could apply for gun licences, a dramatic increase on the current 140,000 civilians with permits.
A source in the public security ministry, however, estimated that only 35,000 people will be interested in applying for gun licences under the new regulations.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the change could help thwart “lone-wolf attacks” by Palestinians, who have carried out gun, knife and car-ramming assaults that have at times been deadly.
A number of people have been shot by accident, however, in the chaos resulting from such attacks, while Israeli security personnel have in some instances been accused of excessive force.
“Many civilians saved lives during attacks and, in an age of ‘lone-wolf terror’, the more trained civilians carrying arms, the higher the chances of thwarting attacks and minimising casualties,” Erdan said in a statement.
Under the new regulations, any Israeli who had extensive infantry combat training can apply for a gun licence.
Most Jewish Israelis must complete obligatory military service after they turn 18, but only a minority receive such training.
Police volunteers, medics and former military officers will also be eligible, the statement said.
Prior to the change, the main criterion for a permit — besides professions such as hunter or diamond merchant — was one’s place of residence.
Settlers or other Israelis working in the occupied West Bank tend to receive licences. It is common to see Israeli settlers in remote West Bank outposts openly carrying rifles.
The new regulations do not change Israel’s vetting process for gun licences, which, according to Erdan, is “one of the strictest.”
“There’s no intention to reach a situation like in the United States,” he told public radio on Tuesday.
“Here we conduct background checks on people’s past, their health, including mental health — you need permits from the health ministry and police.”
Erdan’s move was met with criticism from left-wing politicians who expressed fear an increase in gun ownership could lead to more violence.
Michal Rozin of the Meretz party said the new rules would not diminish the risks of militant attacks but rather “significantly increase the risk to the lives of women and children” in domestic violence cases.
Dov Hanin, a Jewish lawmaker from the mainly Arab Joint List, said that Erdan’s plan would lead to more guns in Arab towns, where unlicensed weapons are already a serious problem.
Arab Israeli leaders accuse police of neglecting Arab towns and allowing crime to flourish in them.
A new advertising campaign by the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence claims that every day in the United States eight “kids” die or are injured by unintentional gunshot wounds. There’s just one problem: it isn’t true.
According to the CDC statistics they cite, the actual number of children (0-17) unintentionally killed or injured by gunshot wounds every day is closer to four. While still a tragically high number, it’s nowhere near the statistic they repeat here, here, here, and here.
To reach the eight-children-per-day threshold, 18 and 19-year-old adults must also be included in the data set. In that case, the number is just shy of eight per day.
We contacted the Brady Campaign via email, and they admitted to using the 0-19 range. When we asked why they included adults in their ad about “kids,” they said they used that age range because 18 and 19-year-olds still have access to their parents’ homes.
“We chose to include 18 and 19 year olds in our statistic because the majority of them either still live with their parents or have access to their parents home,” said KyAnne Hunter, VP of programs at the Brady Center and co-founder of Vets for Gun Reform. “They may legally be able to purchase a firearm from a store, but if they have access to an unlocked and loaded gun in their parents’ home there’s a greater risk of unintentional injury.”
The data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WISQARS reporting system, which includes categories for fatal and non-fatal injury reports. The Brady Campaign calculated their stat by averaging the data from 2011-2015 for non-fatal gun injuries and 2012-2016 for fatal gun injuries.
The reporting system is easy to use. In our analysis, we filtered the data by intent or manner of injury (unintentional), cause or mechanism of injury (firearm), years reported (2011-2015 non-fatal, 2012-2016 fatal), and age range (>1-17). We’ve posted screen shots below.
If those numbers are added together and divided by 5 (per year) and 365 (per day), the resulting number is 4.44 children unintentionally killed or injured by a firearm per day.
If the data set is expanded to include 18 and 19-year-olds, the number jumps to 7.83.
Conversely, if the data set is restricted to children of the age represented in the ad (0-10), the number drops precipitously. In that age range, 1.003 children are unintentionally injured or killed per day with a firearm. For perspective, about 1.3 children (0-10) per day unintentionally drowned over that same time period.
Brady spokespeople told NBC News that this campaign is designed to find common ground with gun owners.
“In the gun violence conversation, gun owners were largely missing,” Hunter said. “This is completely outside the realm of politics. It’s not red state, blue state — it’s families who want to do what’s best to protect the most vulnerable.”
Gun owners agree that firearms should be stored safely, and even though the Brady Campaign uses misleading stats, the true numbers are still tragic. But pro-gun organizations like the National Shooting Sports Foundation have been promoting safe gun storage for decades. Since 1999, NSSF’s Project Childsafe has worked to encourage and empower gun owners to store firearms securely, and their efforts have succeeded: according to the CDC, fatal firearm accidents have declined 24 percent between 2006 and 2015.
If organizations like the Brady Campaign really want to reach across the aisle, they’ll partner with organizations like the NSSF rather than using trumped-up statistics to mislead the public.
We aren’t holding our breath.
New Jersey Governor Ends Public Land Bear Hunting New Jersey –-(Ammoland.com)- Fulfilling a campaign promise to the best of his ability, newly elected Gov. Philip Murphy has ended black bear hunting by executive order on all state-controlled public lands in New Jersey.
The order stops short of an outright ban on bear hunting in the Garden State only because, as stated in the order, the governor doesn’t possess the power to do so. That power resides with the New Jersey Fish and Game Council, which has authorized black bear hunting for the last eight years and through 2021.
“This is pure political pandering at its finest. Gov. Murphy knows that the wildlife experts in his own agencies use the best available science and practices when evaluating wildlife populations and setting hunting regulations,” said Evan Heusinkveld, president and CEO of the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “This backdoor attempt to undermine scientific wildlife management is a slap in the face to those biologists, presents a clear and present danger to New Jersey’s citizens and, ultimately, hurts the entire population of bears.”
Dense is the best way to describe New Jersey. It is the most densely populated state in the country with approximately 9 million citizens, and is estimated to have the densest population of black bears with surveys topping 3,500 bears in just the northern portion of the state.
With a robust population of black bears and such a large population of people, sightings, conflicts and attacks have taken place regularly in New Jersey – including the death of a student in 2014.
In his executive order, Gov. Murphy admits that neither his office nor the Commissioner of Environmental Protection have the power to unilaterally alter or cancel a hunt, something that has been upheld several times in court.
Instead, Gov. Murphy invokes safety on public lands as the motivation to end the hunt, even though all research affirms that hunting remains one of the safest activities millions of people engage in every year.
“New Jersey laws, court decisions and 100 years of wildlife management science all attest to how flawed Gov. Murphy’s logic is, and so he’s wielding the only political power he has been able to muster, and that is to discriminate against and attack the public-lands hunter via an executive order,” said Heusinkveld. “Millions of people depend on public lands in this country, and this is a perfect example of why so many sportsmen fear the transfer of federal lands to state ownership.”
The Sportsmen’s Alliance is evaluating its legal options to protect New Jersey sportsmen, public-land hunters, state biologists and scientific wildlife management.
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., right, listens as her husband Mark Kelly, left, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Giffords, was a congresswoman when she was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011. Susan WalshAP Photo
Progressive vets, gun control advocates join forces on the campaign trail
August 20, 2018 05:00 AM
Updated August 20, 2018 10:07 AM
Democrats are ready to play offense on the issue of gun control — led by a coterie of veteran candidates competing in competitive districts.
A pair of organizations — one led by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, another that supports progressive veterans — will campaign on behalf of more than a half-dozen candidates next month, a tour meant to try and put the issue of gun control front and center in general election battlegrounds.
It’s a newly aggressive approach, reflective of a belief among many Democratic officials that the politics of gun control have shifted in their favor this year after a series of mass shootings.
“For a long time Democrats have been playing defense on issue of gun safety,” said Dan Helmer, vice-president of VoteVets, a group that backs progressive candidates who once served in the military. “We see a trend across the country where, increasingly, the American people are demanding change.”
VoteVets is pairing with Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence, a group that advocates for tighter restrictions on firearm access. The organization is led by the onetime congresswoman from Arizona, who in 2011 was shot in the head in an attack that left six others dead, and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly.
“These folks are running on gun safety and the problem of gun violence in our country like people haven’t until recently,” said Kelly, who will campaign with each candidate alongside Giffords. “They understand they can run on this issue and win on this issue, and we’re helping them in whatever way we possibly can.”
VoteVets and the Giffords group will campaign on behalf of seven candidates: New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, Chrissy Houlahan and Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania’s 6th and 17th districts, respectively, Jason Crow in Colorado’s 6th district, Gil Cisneros in California’s 39th Congressional District, Amy McGrath in Kentucky’s 6th district, and Elaine Luria in Virginia’s 2nd district.
Each candidate is a veteran of the U.S. armed services and running in a top-tier general election bellwether districts. Most of them are also seeking to represent suburban-heavy districts, areas where Democratic strategists think they can make the most inroads this fall.
The two groups say they think veterans are especially good messengers for policies that restrict access to guns. They have the “platform and credibility” to talk about the issue, Helmer said.
“No one more than vets knows just how deadly some of these weapons can be,” he said. “Nor have others proven so dedicated to defending the country.”
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Duration 1:19
Can Democrats win back a majority in the House in 2018?
These six bellwether districts will help to determine whether the Democrats can engineer a wave election to regain control of the House of Representatives in 2018.
By Nicole L. Cvetnic | Patrick Gleason
Anti-Gun Democrat Running to Become Texas Governor Lost Service Pistol
byS.H. BLANNELBERRY
Lupe Valdez misplaced her service weapon in December of 2017 when she resigned from her position as Sheriff of Dallas County to make a bid for governor of Texas. (Photo: Facebook)
Texas gubernatorial candidate Lupe Valdez is in a bit of a pickle right now. The Democrat, who is hoping to take down incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott (R) this fall, misplaced her service pistol, local media reports.
Valdez apparently lost track of her Beretta 9mm in December of 2017 when she was transitioning from her role as publicly-elected sheriff of Dallas County to private citizen running for governor. As part of the move, she was required to return the handgun to the county.
Last month, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office issued a report about the missing firearm fearing it may have been used in the commission of a crime.
This week a spokesperson for the Valdez campaign told The Dallas Morning News that the candidate is working with investigators to “locate the firearm.”
“As mentioned in the [police] report, it is possible that this weapon could have been stolen or misplaced during Sheriff Valdez’s moving transition and she is working with the Dallas County Sheriff Department to locate the firearm,” said spokesman Juan Bautista Dominguez.
Valdez may have an out if it’s discovered that the gun was lost after she turned it over to the department. However, Dominguez offered no comment about whether it went missing on her watch.
Complicating matters for Valdez is that she openly supports gun control. In the past, she’s championed criminalizing private transfers, banning certain magazines, and has opposed expanding campus carry on Texas universities. All of which has earned her support from the anti-gun lobby.
The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the gun-control organization fronted by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), endorsed Valdez for governor in May.
“Law enforcement and first responders like Sheriff Valdez know how a firearm ending up in the wrong hands can lead to tragedy,” said Giffords. “Sheriff Valdez also knows that both law enforcement and elected officials play a pivotal role in keeping our communities safe from gun violence.”
In what might be the understatement of the year, the optics of the situation are très mal for Valdez. And, it didn’t take long for Gov. Abbott’s team to take note.
Texans for Abbott
✔@AbbottCampaign
If Lupe Valdez can’t keep track of her own gun, she can’t be trusted running the state of Texas.
“If Lupe Valdez can’t keep track of her own gun, she can’t be trusted running the state of Texas,” said Gov. Abbott on Twitter Wednesday, above a video montage of media members discussing the faux pas.
Just to get things straight. Valdez is an anti-gun Democrat running for to become the next governor of Texas. Texas! She is a former CLEO who lost her service weapon. Call me crazy but I don’t see a major political victory in her future.
** If it had been me, I would of offered to buy it back. Then a couple of days later report it as lost. I think Texas deserves better than this Lady’s offer of Service. Grumpy.**
She Ran for Congress on Gun Control, Now She’s Charged with Murder
byS.H. BLANNELBERRY
Kellie Collins is being charged with murder and grand larceny. (Photo: WSB-TV)
A former Georgia Congressional candidate who supported “responsible” gun control is now being charged with murder, local news affiliate WSB-TV reports.
Kellie Collins, who ran as a Democrat in 2017 to represent Georgia’s 10th District, is accused of fatally shooting her former campaign treasurer Curtis Cain.
Authorities at the McDuffie County Sheriff’s Office say that Collins turned herself in after Cain’s body was found in Aiken County, South Carolina.
Police went to Cain’s home for a wellness visit after he did not show up for work on Tuesday. Upon arriving, investigators say that Cain was dead from an apparent gunshot wound. His body had been there for at least four days, according to the coroner. The man’s Subaru Legacy was also missing.
Police suspect that Collins took the vehicle. Along with murder, she’s being charged with grand larceny.
During her stint as a congressional candidate, Collins said more needed to be done to “shield the community from the effects of firearms falling into the wrong hands,” per a report on WJBF.
She also told Girls Really Rule, a feminist blog, that she would “practice what I preach and be a proponent of public policies that benefit the community as a whole.”
“When your friends and family are depending on you to make ethical decisions that affect their lives for many years a member of Congress should hold her or himself to a much higher standard than the bare minimum that many GOP members are currently using as a benchmark,” she told the website.
Collins would end up dropping out of the race, telling a local paper that it was for “personal reasons.” No word yet on when she’s scheduled to appear in court.
University of Utah Instructor Ostracizes Concealed Carriers & Loses
New Jersey Governor Ends Public Land Bear Hunting
