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That Other Pandemic
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Mark A. Taff
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The national pandemic continues. You think I�m talking about coronavirus? I�m talking about guns.
Two new studies by the Brookings Institution and University of California, Davis show a nearly 50% spike in gun sales in the US during the last 4 months -- nearly 4 million in June alone, and 19 million sold so far this year. Two main things seem to be catalysts: Covid-19 and the largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protests. (Yes, despite the media focus on instances of violence and looting, the vast majority of the nationwide protests were peaceful and lawful.) |
NY: People of all walks invest in �the great equalizer�
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More Americans bought a gun in June than in any month on record, and it�s not just the usual repeat customers. The gun binge, which began in March, has cleaned out shelves from Walmart to Dick�s to local sporting goods shops.
�The virus thing got people thinking about this � food shortages and civil unrest � but once the riots started, that cleaned everybody out,� said Jim Gully, owner of Master Arms in Sloatsburg, N.Y. What with Covid-related supply chain snags and panic-driven hoarding, �there aren�t any home defense shotguns available now,� he said. Some of his customers have been stockpiling ammunition, too. |
WA: Police can sometimes manipulate a suspect
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You should be familiar with your many rights. You should be aware of the psychology piece during interviews and interrogations. The psychological approach varies from case to case. The more complicated the case, the more psychological manipulation will be brought to bear. Self-defense cases put you in special jeopardy.
Let�s say you killed someone who attacked and violated you and put your life and that of others in danger. Let�s say you arm yourself and ask him to leave. Instead, he attacks and you shoot. The police will then come at you with many questions and psychological manipulation will be employed in a big way. |
Freedom is on the Ballot This November
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Mark A. Taff
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My family and I have always proudly counted ourselves among the tens of millions of law-abiding American gun owners. My brother and I grew up shooting, and both of us are avid, lifelong sportsmen. We are not the type of family that buys shotgun shells by the box; we buy by the case and pallet. We are also the kind people who reload for calibers from the most obscure .14 wildcats to the biggest double rifles. If we are not working, we are shooting�it is who we are, and is deeply ingrained in our DNA. We are not phonies who champion gun rights for political advantage; we are active participants in every aspect of the shooting sports. |
KY: Who Is the Armed Militia Group Traveling to Louisville?
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This Saturday, members of the Not F****** Around Coalition (NFAC) are coming to Louisville to demonstrate their first and second amendment rights.
�Black pants, black button-down shirt, black masks, shotgun, semi-automatic or rifle. Pistols, hide holsters are under your arm. If you�re not in that uniform, won�t be in the formation. Period,� said NFAC leaderm Grandmaster Jay during a video post announcing the date the formation will happen in Louisville.
He and other NFAC members will not be messing around with their first and second amendment rights, as both will be on full display as they plan to go to Metro City Hall this weekend. |
MO: St. Louis couple had right to defend their home
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The good news is that there�s been plenty of official blowback. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson tweeted that �We will not allow law-abiding citizens to be targeted for exercising their constitutional rights.� He has promised a pardon if they�re convicted.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt is working to get the case dismissed, noting that, in addition to the U.S. and Missouri constitutions, Missouri law recognizes the �castle doctrine.� This allows residents to use force against intruders, including deadly force, based on self-defense and the notion that your home is your castle. |
Claiming Self-Defense Isn't a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card
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It�s become an all-too-familiar scenario: a gun owner becomes scared that a protester or mere passerby could endanger him and brandishes a gun. The gun owner then asserts that the rights to self-defense and to keep and bear arms protect him from prosecution. This line of argument, which is playing out in the McCloskey case in St. Louis, greatly misconstrues the scope of the Second Amendment and how self-defense actually works as a defense to criminal charges. |
The Back-Up Gun: 3 Reasons To Carry One
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While perusing various online sources of gun-related news and information, I've noticed an old term cropping up that I haven't seen in a long time: The New York Reload.
This term was brought into circulation by Massad Ayoob many years ago after learning that officers of the NYPD Stakeout Unit of the time, who were armed primarily with double-action revolvers, often moved to a second (or third) wheelgun when the ammunition was exhausted in their primary firearm. |
The Media Can�t Stop Misleading on Guns
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What these stats show is that very few prohibited Americans attempt to buy guns from dealers (this number is even lower than typically suggested, because many of them aren�t attempting to hoodwink the FBI but are simply ignorant of the law), and that this is as true in 2020 as it was in 2019. The rejection rate in February 2019 was 0.6 percent and in February 2020 it was 0.68 percent. In March 2019, the rejection rate was 1.15 percent, and it was 1.64 percent in March 2020. As a 2019 Government Accountability Office report inidicates, the number of rejected applications has consistently been around 1 percent for years. Remaining around the historical average is neither �whopping,� �jarring,� nor �massive,� despite the framing of the piece. |
CA: Felon Shoots Man in Self Defense & Later Set Free
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Convicted felons still have the right to self-defense. A clear, easily followed mechanism should be in place so they can legitimately regain there Second Amendment rights, as protected by the Constitution.
Mark Anthony Young has gained the trust of the local community.
Perhaps prosecutors are starting to reconsider the common procedure of charging felons with illegal possession of firearms, even when they have been involved in justified self-defense shootings.
It should, at least, be a mitigating factor. |
GA: Attorneys, sheriffs' associations debate Georgia's citizen's arrest law
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Georgia lawmakers continued their review Thursday of the state's citizen's arrest law, which is facing scrutiny after the death of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed after being suspected of a burglary.
Members of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee are trying to decide whether to repeal the current law or add a language to clarify a private person's authority under the law.
Georgia law allows a civilian to arrest someone if he or she witnesses a crime or has "immediate knowledge" the offender has committed one. If the crime is a felony and the suspect attempts to escape, the law also allows any person to detain a suspect. |
Senators introduce �Virginia Plan� for nation on gun control measures
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On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine introduced the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act of 2020, a bill to federally enact a series of gun violence prevention measures adopted by Virginia earlier this year.
Included in the bill are measures to remove firearms from those at risk of harming themselves or others, close current background check loopholes, mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms, prevent children from accessing firearms, and implement a one-handgun-a-month policy. |
As Isolation and Gun Sales Both Grow, Experts Urge Gun Owners to Plan to Prevent Suicides
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Brett Bass has spent the past few years traveling to gun shows and retailers across Washington, educating people on safe weapon and medicine storage and the importance of a mental health crisis plan as part of his work with the Safer Homes Suicide Aware program.
When the coronavirus pandemic took hold earlier this year, gun shows may have been canceled but life factors that contribute to suicide were plentiful.
"It's unprecedented," Bass said. "One of the most troubling things from the perspective of somebody that works in suicide prevention is lock everybody in their homes and hope for the best." |
Lack of customers not a problem, finding restock ammo is
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The uncertainty of a future with COVID-19 has impacted businesses everywhere, including those in Pratt. But business is booming at Shooter�s Corner, a gun store and recreational outlet that has seen changes in customer visits and a shift in interest to purchasing guns and ammunition. This increase has made it difficult for employees to keep the shelves restocked.
Gary Myers, Shooter�s Gallery manager, said while he has hand guns, rifles, shot guns and ammunition in stock, getting restock items is taking longer and longer. |
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QUOTES
TO REMEMBER |
A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks. � Thomas Jefferson, Encyclopedia of T. Jefferson, 318, Foley, Ed., reissued 1967. |
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