Mark Chesnut:

Three states—Alabama, Texas and South Carolina—are currently vying to be the next state in the nation to do away with the requirement for law-abiding gun owners to be licensed by the government to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense.

This expansion of the “permitless,” or constitutional, carry movement represents a continuation of a march toward freedom occurring throughout the country.

On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate passed that state’s version of an NRA-backed permitless carry measure—Senate Bill 24—by a 25-6 vote. The bill now heads to the House, where it will likely be assigned to the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.

Put simply, SB 24 would eliminate the requirement to obtain a permit to lawfully carry in the state.

[ … ]

In Texas, the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety on Tuesday also passed a permitless carry measure. HB 1911, which passed in the committee by a 6-2 vote, eliminates the requirement for obtaining a license to carry for law-abiding citizens who would otherwise meet the eligibility requirements to qualify for that license.

[ … ]

Meanwhile in South Carolina, efforts to pass permitless carry legislation are also moving forward. Like the House version, the Senate bill—SC Constitutional Carry Act of 2017—allows those who are legally permitted to own, carry or purchase a firearm to do so without having to obtain a permit. Open carry, which allows for a person to carry a firearm exposed on their person, also would be permitted.

Since the last time we discussed the status of constitutional (and open) carry in South Carolina, it’s been difficult to get a read on the status of things.  The House has passed a bill, while the senate is currently debating one, it seems.

But Martin requested the panel suspend discussion on his bill, and instead pick up the House bill to increase the proposal’s chances of becoming law by the end of session the first week of May.

“I just want to give people their constitutional rights to carry,” Martin said.

You see where this is headed, don’t you?  The house was able to get something done.  The senate, not so much.  They have their own version, and if they pass something different than the house, it will have to be “worked out in committee,” likely not getting done before they leave.

And it will all have been done by design.  It appears that Shane Martin wants to move things along, but he has run square into the blocking schemes of the collectivists.  Dean Weingarten points to a potential score in our column, though.

There are 27 Republicans in the Senate, and 18 Democrats. Mere numbers are not the entire story when it comes to passing legislation.  In 2016, the Constitutional Carry bill was bottled up and killed in a Senate subcommittee. Senator Katrina Frye Shealy (R) Lexington was one of the primary opponents. She is still on the Judiciary Committee, which is a likely place for the bill to be sent in the senate.

This year she is listed as a sponsor of SC S0449, which is a senate bill quite similar to H. 3930.  If she actually supports Constitutional Carry in 2017, it would be a significant change.

Contact your senators yet again and let them know where you stand.  This is easy, and we all know it.  Use Robert’s Rules of Order, make a motion, second the motion, “call the question” (or stop debate), and vote on the motion.  It’s easy.  I’ve done this many times in church government.  It can be done in two minutes or less.

You know it can be done, state senators, I know it can be done, and my readers all know it can be done.  We’re privy to the games you play, and “we tried ever so hard but couldn’t reconcile the house and senate bills” just won’t do.  That isn’t good enough.  That will never be good enough again.  That excuse has run dry.

So who wants to be the laughingstock?  Who wants to stop constitutional carry, folks?  South Carolina, Alabama or Texas?  Who among the three of you wants to look the most like communist China?  Who wants to prove themselves the most corrupt?  Who wants to paint that target on their backs?  Speak up.  We’re waiting and watching.

David Codrea:

… enough clues exist to speculate that banishing USCCA may have something to do with NRA recently launching very similar insurance products competing with those offered by USCCA. Bearing in mind that USCCA acknowledges meeting with NRA over “shared goals,” it’s fair to note how similar NRA’s new Carry Guard service is to USCCA’s established program. Both offer three levels of services with similar price points (named after metals), and both offer magazines and memberships.

It goes without saying that if the NRA could find the balls to cooperate with other likeminded organizations, its effectiveness would be the beneficiary.  You understand that, right?  I don’t even have to say it, or I shouldn’t have to say it.

So I’m glad David brought this up.  Let me turn to the comments for a moment.

He who represents himself in court is a fool.

Kansas or not your self defense shooting will not be as cut and dried as it is in your mind. If you are so up on the law you should know that you are entering a system that is set up for obtaining your conviction. Police and prosecutors make a living and a name convicting people (not looking for the truth).

Could you post bail today? Could you afford to miss work. Do you own a home? If your shooting is at all questionable you may lose everything.

Many people only think of the scenario where there door gets kicked in in the middle of the night. Go ahead and shoot.

Let’s say that your are in a parking garage in Vegas and three scary thugs start talking nasty trash to your girlfriend. You lift your shirt as a warning to scare them away. You just committed assault because you scared the idiots and in theory you could do 10 years.

How will you afford the professional witnesses that will testify on your behalf? They don’t work for free and airline tickets and hotels aren’t free. Then the trial may be delayed and you have to fly them back to court all over again.

Statistics say that a proper defense is about $50,000 minimum. The USCCA will cover you up to $300,000 for under $20.00 dollars a month. Do you have car insurance? Homeowners insurance? By the way homeowners insurance probably won’t even cover your bail.

The USCCA gives you one number to call from jail and the operator/councilor stays with you from bail until the trial is over.

Think hard on it.
Las Vegas Craig
Stay Safe

And then there is this.

I got 13 emails in 7 days from USCCA. Few have any valuable information. Some rehash the same old cases about somebody who needed the insurance. They are all just trying to sell the insurance or get me to visit the web site to sign up for the daily drawing. If they can give away $1000 a day to purchase a handgun, it suggests to me that they have a very high profit margin.

I don’t know what the truth is.  I do know that we live in perilous times, with the entirety of the legal system tilted against gun owners.

So how about my readers weigh in on this.  Do you have such insurance?  Do you think you need it?  Are you prepared to finance your defense?  Have you compared plans out there to see which one is the best?

Remember we discussed Muslim open carrier Ehab Jaber, specifically within the context of Christian fear and trembling?  Well, there have been developments in the case (via reader Mack).

Twelve days after a Muslim man sat in his car in the parking lot of our Sioux Falls Christian Worldview Weekend brandishing 5 weapons, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and told us to be scared and terrified, he has finally been arrested and charged. But it is even worse than we thought. You can read the initial article on this incident here. 

News reports state that police found his weapons in his house along with meth. My blood ran cold when I found this out. METH? You mean we could have had a guy jacked up on drugs, combined with his ideology, putting 500 men, women, and children at risk at our Christian conference? Why was he not arrested that night or even questioned? How did he stay on the streets for 12 days with guns and meth? He even posted on his Facebook page he had 1,200 rounds of ammunition in his car.

On April 19th the Muslim man went on another Facebook rant and posted the following:

“But if you still have animosity, we can shoot it out. I hope you’ve been practicing your quick draw …and your aim became I am 25,000 rounds deep.”

Remember the Lincoln County prosecutor told WND:

“I’m not aware of any record. He’s a host and a server in a very high-end steak house here in Sioux Falls and everyone who works with him enjoys working with him. We can’t run roughshod over people’s First Amendment rights, or their Second Amendment rights,”

Brandishing weapons and making terroristic threats is not a First or Second Amendment right. The same prosector and police that seem to defend the Muslim in the news media have now arrested and charged him? Why could they have not done this on April 9th and avoided the political correctness, double-standard, putting Worldview Weekend and the community at risk and making themselves now look completely inept and negligent? If they charged him on April 21st with terroristic threat they could have done so on the evening of April 9th.

I believe the citizens of Sioux Falls should be demanding the resignation of the Sioux Falls Police Chief and the recall of the Lincoln County State Attorney for letting this man be on the street for 12 days when there was an abundance of evidence that this man was a threat to the public.

The political and law enforcement failure on this is HUGE. The police could have and should have arrested him Sunday night, April 9, 2017 when they saw his Facebook videos while our conference was STILL going on. I know they saw them because the off duty police officer we hired told me about them while our conference was still in session.

Instead of him being arrested that night, this man was free to roam armed and possessing METH for 12 days!

Ha!  Some Muslim.  If ISIS had caught the asshole with Meth they would have put him to death, or perhaps taken pity and only cut off his hands so he could never do that again and be an example to others.

As for me, I couldn’t care less if he smokes meth until his head explodes.  But what we learn from this article is interesting indeed.

So the cops are worthless and inept.  So what?  They are pretty much everywhere.  And from what I understand the arrest had to do with Meth rather than threats.  Get used to it, Christians.  As I said, “gun up.”

The most interesting (and pitiful) thing we learn is the reaction from people who were there.  The poor man’s “blood ran cold.”  He wants protection by the police.  How did the police fail him?  How could this have happened?  The outrage of it all!

Christians in America are in need of a serious, hard core intervention.  They claim to hear the voices of other Christians around the world who are suffering because of their faith, but yea verily, the police in America won’t let that happen to good Christians in America, to read the ranting of the author.

My goodness.  Hard times are coming, sir.  Hard, hard times.  Law enforcement will implement and effect the wishes of the rulers, and the rulers do not have your interests at heart.  You’d better gun up now and try to keep that blood from running cold.  You’d better steel yourself, calm your nerves and prepare for battle.  It’s interested in you even if you aren’t interested in it.

TheAlaskan:

“Those who demand that you surrender your arms, are planning on keeping theirs.”

Bob Owens:

As tempting as it may be to turn to theological roots for the Second Amendment, the fact is the Second Amendment is a direct descendant of English Common Law. In her treatise, “The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms: The Common Law Tradition,” Joyce Lee Malcolm explains the English Bill of Rights adopted in 1689.

When William III of Orange, a protestant, invaded England in 1688 he overwhelmed James II, a Catholic, who was unable to mount an effective defense. It is important to understand that the religion of the monarch determined the religion of England. James II wisely withdrew which lead to Parliament negotiating with William, and his wife Mary, for the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland. The subsequent accession, known as the Glorious Revolution, was predicated upon their acceptance of parliamentary rule.

Parliament drew up a Declaration of Rights which was signed by William and Mary on February 13, 1689 and cleared the way for them to be crowned as joint monarchs. It was that Bill of Rights our Founding Fathers used as a basis for our own Constitution.

The basic tenets of the Bill of Rights 1689 included freedom from royal interference with the law, freedom from taxation without agreement by Parliament, and freedom to have arms for defense among other stipulations. While there were significant religious overtones due to the country’s struggle to reduce the influence of Catholicism in favor of Protestantism, the Bill of Rights established the rights of individuals over the government and it is that right to bear arms for defense that was the basis for our own Constitution’s Second Amendment.

A man-made document can never … never … establish rights.  It can only recognize what has already been established by the almighty.  Bob began okay with a recitation of Scriptures, but he eventually migrated to a discussion of the second amendment.

We’ve discussed this before in detail.  The constitution is a covenant, an agreement by which men will live together, with both blessings and curses, whether explicit or implied.  Breakage of said covenant means that the covenant is null and void, just as adultery in the marriage covenant justifies divorce.

English common law is indeed the basis for much of what we live by today, or are supposed to live by.  But English common law has as its basis biblical law, because our own founders and our mother country understood that ethics and morality must be rooted in something other than might, will to power, rule of the majority or convenience.

Those roots are the Scriptures.  God gives us the right to carry weapons, even if the second amendment disappears tomorrow.  And Bob should have stopped a third of the way through his commentary.

The Blaze:

A South Dakota Muslim, who was escorted out of a Christian conference after protesting it with foul language, took to Facebook Live to tell viewers they should be “terrified” as he flashed multiple firearms in his car.

The man in the video is identified as Ehab Jaber is a South Dakota resident who is self-described as being formerly from  Saudi Arabia. According to World Net Daily, Jaber infiltrated the Christian Worldview Weekend conference on April 9 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Sioux Falls, as they were discussing the Islamic persecution of Christians around the world.

[ … ]

Jaber, wearing a shirt that read “I’m American, I’m a Muslim, I open carry, I conceal carry, and I’m dangerous only if you’re stupid,” and carrying a Koran reportedly began disrupting the proceedings and live streaming the conference on his phone.

Jaber went to his car, and still sitting in the parking lot, once more took to Facebook Live where he began complaining about how many people were in attendance. It was then that Jaber asked “ya know, if you want to be really scared?”

Jaber then reached behind him and began displaying various handguns and an AK-47, each time saying “be scared.” Pulling out an extended magazine and an AR-15 he added “be f***ing terrified.”

But here’s the thing, Jaber.  I’m not scared or intimidated one damn little bit.  I’m not even the slightest bit nervous.  Jaber is only taking his cue from the Qu’ran, and his example from the hoards of barbarians in the Middle East.

Tragic stories of Christian experiences under the Islamic State continued to emerge throughout the month of January.  A Christian doctor who forfeited the chance to escape his Syrian village after ISIS had captured it because he wanted to stay and help the sick and needy, both Christian and Muslim, was kidnapped by the Muslim terrorists and ordered to renounce Christ for Muhammad.  When he refused, they publicly slaughtered him.  Similarly, after ISIS ordered another Christian youth in Syria to embrace Islam, he too refused and was slaughtered for it.  His mother-who was prevented from burying her martyred son’s body-recalled that when ISIS first invaded their village, he reminded her of Jesus’ assertion in the New Testament: “If you deny me before men I will deny you before the Father.”

After ISIS raided the home of Zarefa, an elderly Christian woman in Iraq, they discovered crucifixes and Christian icons. “They forced me to spit on the Cross,” she recalled. “I told them that it was not appropriate, that it was a sin. He said that I must spit. ‘Don’t you see that I have a gun?’ he asked me. I said to myself, ‘Oh, the Cross! I am weak, I will spit on you. But Lord, I ask you to take revenge for me. I cannot escape from this.'”  According to the report, “The shame is still visible on Zarefa’s face when she recounts the memory; her town, Qaraqosh, is liberated now, but she is still recovering from the traumatic two years that are only just behind her.”

Hmm … let me see.  Spit or perish.  Well, I don’t approve of those options.  How about this option.  Eat this .45 ACP 230-grain fat boy down the throat, goat fucker.

Yea, that’s it.  A much better option.  If you don’t like that option, I’ll give you the option of 5.56mm.  So there you have it.  .45 ACP or 5.56mm.  Those two are much better than spit or perish.  Listen to me, Christians.  You’d better “gun up” now rather than later.  If you don’t, you and your Bohemian hippie flower child pacifist peace-and-love will be run over like a freight train.

Bill Federer at World Net Daily:

AL.com:

The Alabama Senate, divided sharply along party lines, has passed a bill eliminating the requirement for a permit from a county sheriff to carry a concealed handgun.

The Senate passed the bill by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, after voting to cut off debate.

Democrats in the Senate opposed the bill and sought to amend it.

The bill passed by a vote of 25-8, with all eight Democrats in the Senate voting against it. It moves to the House of Representatives.

Allen said people should not have to buy a pistol permit to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

“It’s unthinkable that you have to pay a fee for a constitutional right. That’s really the heart of the whole issue,” Allen said.

Some law enforcement officials had argued against the bill in committee, saying it would take away an important enforcement tool.

People would still have the option of buying pistol permits, Allen noted, which he said would be important for those who want to carry in other states that recognize Alabama’s concealed carry law.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said the bill would not promote public safety but would turn the state into the “wild, wild West.”

The bill was one of a set of controversial bills on the Senate calendar today that Democrats generally opposed.

Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, said Republicans were trying to polish their public image after the resignation of Gov. Robert Bentley, suspension of Chief Justice Roy Moore and ethics conviction of House Speaker Mike Hubbard.

“This is called rebuilding a brand day,” Ross said.

No, this is called a change to state law, and what Sen. Rodger Smitherman said is called a lie.  That’s when something is untrue, in case you needed help understanding what I just said.  “The Wild, Wild West” is make-believe.  Smitherman apparently watched too much television when he was a kid.

I like how they did this.  There was no protracted and useless debate over a bill about which nobody’s mind was going to change.  Take note, South Carolina state senate.  The S.C. House cut off debate and did constitutional carry, the Alabama senate cut off debate and did constitutional carry.  Apparently they didn’t want to see Alabama Sheriffs Association Executive Director Bobby Timmons get away with his lies to the public.

As for the S.C. senate, don’t be such weaklings and pussies, boys.  Get it done.  They showed you how, they showed you it can be done, and no one really believes this thing has to die in committee.  We all know better than that.

The National Interest:

The people who generally obeyed the ban were law-abiding citizens and not the criminals … drug gangs – which are frequently the shooters in D.C. homicides – obtained handguns regardless of whether the ban was in place.

I’m certain that the D.C. police and other collectivists inside the beltway are shocked.  Just SHOCKED!!

Get thee to thy fainting couch, commies!

It has been a subject of much misunderstanding, one that I have tried to clear up before.  Hitler never attempted to disarm his allies or Germans whom he believed he could trust.  Hitler wasn’t anti-gun.  Hitler was anti-gun concerning those upon whom he intended to perpetrate genocide.

… the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 was consolidated by massive searches and seizures of firearms from political opponents, who were invariably described as “communists.” After five years of repression and eradication of dissidents, Hitler signed a new gun control law in 1938, which benefitted Nazi party members and entities, but denied firearm ownership to enemies of the state.

The same thing happened to the Christians in Turkey in the Armenian genocide.  True to form in South Africa, where there is the beginnings of genocide against anyone who has lighter skin color, the next step is gun confiscations, and the warnings have been issued.

South African Gunowners Association ( SAGA ) has been advised that South African Police Service ( SAPS ) in the Western Cape will be conducting an operation aimed at gunowners who have failed, for whatever reason, to timeously renew their licences in respect of specific guns.

It appears that SAPS teams will be conducting ‘raids’ on targeted individuals mostly at their residences with a view to confiscating guns and ammunition.

SAGA cannot at this stage speculate as to what SAPS intends to achieve by this action, nor what other steps may be taken by SAPS at the time of such visit.

1. If you are in possession of the old green licence, that licence is still valid in terms of an Order of the High Court – a copy of this order is available from SAGA.

2. If SAPS personnel or anyone under their command, after correctly identifying themselves, and providing some form of warrant or authorization insists on taking possession of your gun, you are advised to cooperate with them while pointing out that a green licence is valid at this date. Moreover, with respect to the validity of expired White Licences you may point out that within weeks of this date various high profile court actions are due to be heard.

SAGA legal counsel believes the so-called raids and any confiscation of guns as a result thereof is possibly breaching the Firearms Control Act and other laws.

SAGA doesn’t need to speculate as to the reason for these actions.  They intend to confiscate guns, and they intend to target peaceable and law abiding men with these confiscations.

There are a couple of very important points to be made concerning this dreadful news.  First of all, LEOs will always reflexively enforce the wishes of the ruling class.  You cannot entrust your future to the state, and even now the LEOs in South Africa are ensuring the future deaths of their own culture and people.  Second, gun registries are in fact the pretext for gun confiscation, regardless of what the Fascists claim.  As I’ve explained, we’ve even seen that from American Fascists who have explained to each other the true intent of such data and information.

The only way we can truly be safe and prevent further gun violence is to ban civilian ownership of all guns. That means everything. No pistols, no revolvers, no semiautomatic or automatic rifles. No bolt action. No breaking actions or falling blocks. Nothing. This is the only thing that we can possibly do to keep our children safe from both mass murder and common street violence.

Unfortunately, right now we can’t. The political will is there, but the institutions are not. Honestly, this is a good thing. If we passed a law tomorrow banning all firearms, we would have massive noncompliance. What we need to do is establish the regulatory and informational institutions first. This is how we do it.  The very first thing we need is national registry. We need to know where the guns are, and who has them.

This happened for those who are “subjects of the Queen” a long time ago, which is why they are ripe for takeover by the Islamists and utterly powerless to stop it, even if they did have the will.  The future for the poor people of South Africa looks bleak.

So too does the future for the poor people of Venezuela, where the communists are arming their allies.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he will expand the number of civilians involved in armed militias, providing guns to as many as 400,000 loyalists.

The announcement came as Maduro’s opponents are gearing up for what they pledge will be the largest rally yet to press for elections and a host of other demands Wednesday.

The Bolivarian militias, currently at approximately 100,000, were created by the late Hugo Chavez to assist the armed forces in the defense of his revolution from external and domestic attacks.

Speaking to thousands of militia members dressed in beige uniforms gathered in front of the presidential palace, Maduro said that vision remains relevant as Venezuela continues to face “imperialist aggression.”

“A gun for every militiaman!” he cried.

Except not the militiamen who would overthrow him.  Collectivists know the power of armaments, and the control over them – taxation, licensing fees, data and information, approval authority over types and kinds, and ultimately authority to decide who gets to keep them – means everything to their station in life.

It goes without saying that you should husband your own possession of weapons and ammunition.  There will be no life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness without them.  There may not be happiness even with them, because men who are armed are not [yet] enslaved and must make hard decisions.  But you may be able to ensure that future generations of your family enjoy the liberty they need to flourish and thrive.