Category: Grumpy’s hall of Shame
Opinion
News Flash. The Montana Shooting Sports Association successfully pushed a bill in 1993 that I wrote to give Montana permit reciprocity. That Montana law was improved in 1995 with another bill I wrote. Because of that success, Montana recognizes all other state permits, and Montana permits are honored by 34 other states. Plus, Montana is now permitless for both open and concealed carry, so we even let people from New York and California carry here.
Thirty years later, the NRA comes along with its own bill claiming to create reciprocity for Montana. What’s up with that?
The NRA solicited introduction of HB 674, a bill intended to create an “enhanced concealed weapon permit” here. This bill is alleged to gain recognition of the new “enhanced” Montana permits by five more states. If the NRA had bothered to ask us about this D.C.-centric idea, we’d have told them it is not suitable for Montana and that the bill, as drafted, was seriously flawed, but they didn’t bother to ask. For lack of local knowledge, the bill the NRA introduced had to have a dozen amendments applied to it to fix the drafting errors and make it more compliant with existing Montana law.
But, that heavy fix didn’t complete the repair of the bill.
The five states with which the NRA bill would allegedly get Montana reciprocity all currently disallow Montana permits because they don’t recognize permits of states that issue to persons under 21 years old. Current permits in Montana are issued to qualified applicants who are 18. The touted NRA bill would limit the new “enhanced” permit, after jumping through many more qualifying hoops than existing Montana permits, only to people 21 years and older. That’s a fatal and unrepaired flaw in the NRA bill. Why?
Because the Montana Constitution declares that persons 18 years old are adults and must be allowed all privileges of adulthood.
That section of the Montana Constitution had to be amended to allow the Legislature to restrict possession of alcohol to persons 21 years and older, and again to allow the Legislature to restrict marijuana to persons 21 and older. Without another constitutional change, the NRA bill allowing their “enhanced” permits only for people 21 and older will simply not pass constitutional muster in Montana. In that case, even if the bill passes with a constitutionally-correct age of 18, it will not allow Montanans to use these new “enhanced” permits in the five states alleged to be the reason for the bill.
What a mess! And this mess is because the NRA is so desperate for relevance that it chose to wing this effort without talking to knowledgeable people in Montana about the idea and effort.
Meanwhile, the NRA refuses to acknowledge or support the pro-gun bills MSSA has working through the Legislature. This includes a bill to remove an 1884 Jim Crow provision in our RKBA that says the RKBA doesn’t apply to concealed weapons. This includes our bill to pay court costs for a defender who is prosecuted, pleads self-defense, and is acquitted. It includes our bill to prohibit discrimination because of firearms. It includes our bill to pay court costs and attorney fees if a person wins a suit against a government entity to secure the person’s RKBA.
The NRA is withholding support for all of these good MSSA bills while pushing its seriously flawed “enhanced” permit bill that won’t accomplish its alleged objective because it is constitutionally impermissible in Montana.
Since the 1980s, Montana Shooting Sports Association has gotten 70 pro-gun bills through the Montana Legislature and enacted them into law. None of these were initiated or written by the NRA, although the NRA did support a few of them. Maybe the NRA, in its quest for contemporary relevance, is jealous of MSSA’s record of success and seeks to show what a gorilla it is. If so, it misses its target by a wide margin with its ill-conceived HB 674 in Montana.
Gary Marbut is president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, the primary political advocate for Montana gun owners. Marbut has served on the Board of Directors of Gun Owners of America and has twice been the recipient of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Grass Roots Activist of the Year award.
NEWARK, N.J. — A man in New Jersey tried to board a plane with guns, multiple rounds of ammunition, and a fake United States Marshals identification card in his baggage, officials say.
In a news release, the United States Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey, said that Seretse Clouden, 42, has been charged with unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon and fraudulent possession of an identification document and authentication features of the United States.
According to court documents, on Dec. 30, 2022, Clouden went to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey for a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
During the screening process, Transportation Security Administration agents found ammunition along with a ballistic vest with “Deputy Marshal” in one of the bags, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.
After agents retrieved more of Clouden’s luggage, they found an AR-15 rifle, another rifle, a handgun, a taser, a knife, a baton, a “United States Marshal” badge, and U.S. Marshal credentials with his name and his photo on it, FBI agent Christopher Granato said, according to the AP.
Granato also told the AP that Clouden was convicted in 2016 of unlawful possession of a weapon in New Jersey.
One of the rifles that were found “meets the definition of a machine gun,” according to officials.
The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Clouden is not and was never employed with them, according to authorities.
If convicted, Clouden could face up to 15 years in prison for unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon. Fraudulent possession of an identification document and authentication features of the United States has a maximum of five years in prison along with a $250,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey.
———————————————————————————- Here is what Einstein looks like according to Google. Grumpy
A 9-year-old girl was killed last week when a young man went on a shooting spree that ultimately killed three and injured two more.
Keith Moses, the 19-year-old suspected gunman, is being held without bond at the Orange County jail for his involvement in the string of shootings in Pine Hills, Florida.
Among those killed were a 9-year-old girl and a Spectrum News 13 reporter.
The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon when Moses allegedly shot four people within 15 minutes, per NBC News.
The arrest report shows that he left the scene where the first victim, Nathacha Augustin, was killed earlier that morning and went to 9-year-old T’Yonna Major’s backyard, where he allegedly shot her and her mother.
When interviewed, T’Yonna’s mother said she had been napping when her daughter ran into her bedroom, shouting, “He shot me!” After suffering a bullet wound to the arm, the mother took her daughter and they hid in the bathroom.
According to reports, the shooter entered her house through a sliding door, which was normally locked.
Less than five minutes later, news reporter Dylan Lyons and his photographer Jesse Walden arrived to cover the initial homicide investigation, and Moses is accused of shooting them as well.
Lyons died within the hour, and T’Yonna died in the hospital two hours later.
In the past few days, video has also been released with footage from police body cameras during the arrest of Moses.
The victims’ families are seeking justice, and deputies are still investigating the motive. They claim there is no connection between the victims of this tragedy.
This was a series of incredibly unfortunate and heartbreaking events. It is also a reminder to us that we should always be prepared, for we never know when a disaster could happen, affecting us or our family.
A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) this week stopped a passenger with an assault rifle and 163 rounds of ammunition from being carried onto a plane headed to Houston. (Cr
NEW ORLEANS – An officer with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stopped a passenger last week with an assault rifle and 163 rounds of ammunition, the agency said.
Officials said the 52-year-old passenger would’ve carried the items onboard a plane at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) heading to Houston.
A deputy with Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrived and confiscated the Palmetto PA-15 Multi AR firearm loaded with 30 rounds of .300 caliber ammunition. Five additional magazines were also found loaded.
(Credit: TSA)
The passenger now faces a civil penalty from the TSA that could be fined nearly $15,000.
RELATED: TSA finds 84 mm caliber weapon in checked luggage at Texas airport
“Threat detection is our mission and our dedicated workforce is protecting the traveling public every day,” TSA Federal Security Director Arden Hudson said in a news release. “Passengers need to focus on what is inside their carry-ons before entering our checkpoint. The introduction of a loaded weapon poses an unnecessary risk to both the traveling public and our employees.”
The incident was the second intercepted firearm on Valentine’s Day at MSY. The day before, a Glock was also confiscated.
The Transportation Security Administration is raising the fine for people caught with a gun in their carry-on bag after intercepting a record number of firearms at security checkpoints in 2022.
The TSA said Friday it’s raising the maximum fine to $14,950. Previously it was $13,910.
(Credit: TSA)
TSA officers found 6,301 firearms in carry-on bags in 2022, surpassing the previous record of 5,972 detected in 2021. The numbers have been increasing steadily over the last decade; in 2012, 1,549 firearms were detected at security checkpoints.
Firearm possession laws vary by location, but guns are never allowed in carry-on bags at any airport security checkpoint, even if a passenger has a concealed-weapon permit. Passengers transporting firearms must do so in a locked case in checked baggage. They also must declare them to the airline, the TSA said.
In addition to the fine, an amount determined by the TSA based on the circumstances of each case, the TSA will revoke PreCheck eligibility for at least five years for anyone caught with a gun at a security checkpoint. Passengers may also be arrested for a firearms violation depending on the state or local laws in the airport’s location.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
Or how to talk a classic design and make it look like it has a factory mistake on its front sight. Grumpy
Letitia James has demanded documents and testimony related to The Trace’s 2021 investigation into the LaPierres’ travel and the NRA’s employment of their niece.
Wayne LaPierre and his wife, Susan LaPierre, pose for a photo at the 18th Annual Larry King Cardiac Foundation Gala in 2012. Paul Morigi/Getty
The attorney general of New York State issued a subpoena last week to Susan LaPierre — the wife of National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre — in connection with its lawsuit that seeks to dissolve the NRA for an alleged pattern of self-dealing.
The subpoena, dated January 5th, is lengthy and wide-ranging, and covers revelations first reported in The Trace’s 2021 investigation into the LaPierres, published in partnership with The New Yorker. The development shows that the attorney general, Letitia James, is following evidence into new areas, despite indications that the judge may be skeptical of her bid to dismantle the NRA.
Two of The Trace’s stories concerned a 2013 hunting trip in Botswana, where LaPierre was captured on video repeatedly shooting an elephant at close range and failing to kill it, forcing the contractor whose company paid for the excursion — Tony Makris — to step in and fire the fatal shot. The footage, which had been hidden from public view for eight years until it was obtained by The Trace, also showed Susan shooting an elephant. After killing the creature, she cut off its tail, held it in the air, and shouted, “Victory!”
Later, the LaPierres secretly shipped the elephants’ front feet, along with other animal parts, back to the United States. A taxidermist converted the trophies into decorations for the couple’s home, including leather-topped stools made from the feet. The articles showed that the costs associated with the shipping and taxidermy were covered by Makris’s company, Under Wild Skies, Inc., in seeming violation of the NRA’s rules regarding conflicts of interest and gifts from contractors.
The final installment of the series focused on misleading and possibly false statements LaPierre made under oath during the NRA’s bankruptcy proceedings last year. LaPierre testified that, in the wake of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, he had used a vendor’s yacht, for free, as a “security retreat” in the Bahamas — a place to be safe when he was facing threats to his life. The Trace revealed that the first of six such trips, in July 2013, coincided with the wedding of Wayne and Susan’s niece, Colleen Sterner. The LaPierres attended the wedding, held at the Atlantis Resort, on Paradise Island, and they traveled the Caribbean on the boat with Sterner and her husband.
Two years later, the NRA hired Sterner to work under Susan at the Women’s Leadership Forum, a program within the NRA that cultivates wealthy female donors. She received expensive travel perks that were not available to her colleagues. In testimony, Wayne LaPierre said Sterner was an integral employee and that the costs carried a legitimate business purpose. But former staffers, who worked on WLF events and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the niece occasionally performed menial tasks, but was otherwise not around.
In its subpoena, the Attorney General’s Office demanded all documents concerning the owner of the yacht, David McKenzie, and his wife, Laura Stanton, who, The Trace’s series showed, both have stakes in multiple entities that do business with the NRA. Moreover, James has requested all records “relating to safaris or international trips” taken by the LaPierres that were paid for in full or in part by, among others, the McKenzies, Makris, or Under Wild Skies, Inc.
Additionally, James wants all “documents relating to the NRA’s decision to hire and use the services of Colleen Sterner,” as well as all “documents and communications relating to the business purposes and actual activities undertaken by you, Wayne LaPierre, Colleen Sterner, or your family members during travel paid for or reimbursed at any time” by the NRA.
The subpoena orders Susan LaPierre to furnish the documents by January 31 and to appear for a deposition at NRA headquarters, in Fairfax, Virginia, on February 4.
Neither the NRA nor the Attorney General’s office responded to requests for comment.