I hope you had a blessed Christmas day, a day of remembering and honoring God for His greatest gift to mankind, without whom the cosmic gulf between God and man would still exist, but with whom we have reconciliation to God and a vicarious atonement because of the sacrifice of the Word of God, God Himself in Jesus.

Remember this great decision by the Delaware Supreme Court?  Yea, well, it didn’t take long for the controllers to spring into action in order to blunt the force of God-given rights (finally recognized by men).

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Delaware Department of Agriculture plan to issue interim firearm regulations early next week.

The regulations come after the Delaware Supreme Court repealed a firearmsban.

The state anticipates that the interim regulations would prohibit firearms in certain public facilities and designated areas – including park offices, visitors’ centers, bathhouses, zoos, educational facilities, dormitories, group camping areas, swimming pools, guarded beaches, stadiums and water parks.

In addition, the regulations would allow holders of valid Delaware concealed carry permits to carry within parks, including designated areas. The regulations would further allow active-duty law enforcement officers and qualified retired officers to carry anywhere within the parks and other areas affected by Supreme Court decision.

Group camping areas.  So in other words, when you might most need a firearm for self defense (if you were a criminal bent on evil, would you go to a location where nobody else was?), you aren’t legally allowed to have one.

Hemp rope and lamp posts, after their toe nails have been pulled off, one by one.

News from Texas:

SCHERTZ, Texas – Teachers and schoolmates at Weiderstein Elementary School are heartbroken after the loss of 6-year old Kameron Prescott.

First-grade teacher Shanda Ince was with Kameron on Thursday morning just hours before the shooting claimed his life.

“Yesterday, we had our class party, our holiday celebration. His parents were there. We enjoyed food with one another,” Ince said.

Kameron was fatally shot by Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deputies’ gunfire during the pursuit of felon Amanda Jones. Investigators said Jones broke into the mobile home where the child and other relatives were.

Authorities said Jones verbally threatened deputies and was holding something in her hands they believe was a weapon as she attempted to escape from the home. Deputies opened fire and a bullet entered the home, killing the first grader.

“All I can think about right now is what could I have done differently, had it not been a half day. I know there’s nothing no one could have done differently,” Ince said.

Nothing anyone could have done differently.  Then there is this other news from Texas.

HOUSTON – A Oak Forest family is counting its blessings after a mother scared an intruder out of their house at gunpoint.

The mother’s quick thinking saved her and her child from danger.

The family does not want to be identified, but wanted to share the story in hope that awareness can help in similar situations.

The mother was at home with the family’s 3-month-old daughter Thursday night. Her husband was out of town working, but was coming home Friday to celebrate the first Christmas with their daughter.

After tossing and turning in bed for a while, the mother was not able to fall asleep and went to the living room around 11:30 p.m.

About an hour later, she heard the home alarm beep and her back door open.

Her instinct kicked in.

“I froze for a second and then I realized I needed to spring into action, I mean, I had my baby in the house. I was alone. My husband was away on business, so I had to take care of things,” she said.

She grabbed a gun and went towards the back door, where she found a man standing in her kitchen.

She yelled at the man while pointing the gun at him, and her dog ran towards him, scaring him out of the back door.

She locked the door and called 911.

Three Houston Police Department units were on scene within minutes.

Neighbors in the area reported seeing a suspicious person on their video camera surveillance systems Thursday night and Friday morning.

We blurred the man’s face because he has not been charged with a crime that our sister station in Houston, KPRC, is aware of.

The mother credits her husband’s training for the way she handled the situation.

“I am just glad that I had that training and that knowledge of what to do in that moment with the gun,” she said.

Hmm … within minutes.  The police are good for response within minutes.  Note that she didn’t ever discharge the firearm, which is good because the person was running away.  She didn’t have all of that super secret Ninja warrior stress management special ops special forces law enforcement simulator experience and training.  But she made the right decisions nonetheless.

And it happens every day in America.  Every day.  People without all of that super secret Ninjar warrior … [blah blah] … training do what they’re supposed to do and live to tell about it.  And cops panic like ignorant goobers every day in America and shoot up people and places, all the while telling America that they need to cower and wait on those cops with the super secret Ninja warrior stress management [blah blah] training.

I grow so weary of the claptrap.

Outdoorhub.com:

The versatility of the .22 Mag. lies in the wide range of ammunition available for it. With bullet weights ranging from 28 to 40 grains, and with rifle muzzle velocities spanning 600 fps – from about 1,700 to 2,300 fps – the .22 Mag. might not shoot as flat or fast as the .17 HMR, but it is unquestionably a more practical cartridge.

A 40-grain FMJ load for the .22 Mag. will penetrate almost 20 inches in 10 percent ordnance gelatin. This is a great load for head-shooting tree squirrels because it won’t damage excessive amounts of meat. On the other hand, CCI’s 30-grain JHP load screams out of a rifle barrel at more than 2,300 fps and expands like a bomb. This makes it a great load for ground hogs or prairie rodents.

[ … ]

I’d not suggest the .22 Mag. as the ideal defensive handgun cartridge, but keep this in mind: Older or less physically capable folks might not be able to handle a centerfire handgun. Fortunately, the ammunition companies have recognized this and now offer personal protection loads for the .22 Mag. Hornady has a Critical Defense load and Speer a Gold Dot load. At handgun velocities, both can be expected to penetrate about 1 foot in 10 percent ordnance gelatin, with the bullets expanding to more than .30 caliber.

Of course, the .22 magnum isn’t going to take down large game or be a battle rifle, but that’s not its purpose.  I torn between the .22 magnum and the newer high velocity .17 HMR.  But I find this last quoted paragraph compelling.  I don’t carry a .22 magnum for personal defense, but women might find what I carry problematic.

If you can convince your wife to carry a .22 magnum wheel gun when she won’t carry anything else, that’s much better than nothing against two-legged threats.

I had wanted to make a much longer post on Christmas, but I’ve been so busy it’s been impossible.  Too busy.  I’ll follow up more later, but for now, Merry Christmas to my valued and important readers.

Newsweek:

The Justice Department has reportedly started questioning FBI agents about evidence they discovered in a previous investigation into the controversial Uranium One deal, as the country’s top law enforcement agency deals with allegations of bias from Republicans and President Donald Trump.

The internal questioning comes after an assistant attorney general told the head of the House Judiciary Committee, in a letter sent last month, that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had “directed” federal prosecutors to determine if another special counsel was needed to investigate Uranium One, NBC News reported Thursday.

A little late to the game, yes?  Hey, I’ll bet you thought that the whole Uranium One deal prevented the Clintons from shipping Uranium out of the country, right?  Sucker.

Calling beltway critter Jonah Goldberg.  Jonah?  Are you there?

The Kansas City Star:

A Leawood couple who were mistakenly targeted in a 2012 police drug raid have lost their lawsuit against Johnson County.

A federal court jury late Tuesday afternoon found that Adlynn and Robert Harte were not entitled to any monetary damages as a result of the raid by deputies with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

They maintained in the lawsuit that some deputies lied to a judge to obtain a warrant for the search of the Hartes’ home.

In a written statement released by their attorneys after the verdict, the Hartes said they and their children were grateful that they had the opportunity to tell their story to a jury, and that they intend to appeal.

“Although they are understandably disappointed in the outcome, they know that standing up for their rights as citizens was important — not only for themselves and their family, but also to preserve the vitality of the Fourth Amendment for all citizens,” their attorneys said in their statement. “They will never forget the day of the raid, and they believe their speaking out has helped to bring about positive change in Kansas’ open records law and in police practices.”

An attorney for the sheriff’s office also released a written statement.

“On behalf of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and the deputies we thank the jury for their service,” said Lawrence Ferree. “The Hartes had their day in court. The system worked. Hopefully the Hartes and the deputies can put this behind them and move forward.”

The Hartes were targeted for the search after a trip to a hydroponics gardening store drew the attention of law enforcement officers.

Deputies then took trash bags from outside the couple’s home that contained brewed loose tea. Deputies said that field testing of the tea registered positive for marijuana.

The information was used to establish probable cause for a judge to issue a search warrant.

But it was never submitted to a laboratory for more conclusive testing before the raid.

Officers armed with assault rifles conducted the raid on the couple’s home while their children, a seventh-grader and a kindergartner, were present.

The raid was timed to coincide with a planned press conference about the effort to fight marijuana trafficking.

But after a 2 1/2-hour search by deputies and a trained dog, all they found were the tomato plants the family was growing with the hydroponic equipment.

They filed suit in in 2013, but a federal judge dismissed the case in 2015.

The Hartes appealed and last July, a federal appeals court panel reinstated the suit on the issue of whether deputies lied about the test results in order to get the search warrant.

The Hartes contended that the deputies lied, making the warrant invalid and the search of their home unconstitutional.

Take careful note of the law enforcement response.  I couldn’t care less about tea leaves or Cannabis.  This was a man’s home, his castle.  Someone invaded it.  That someone, i.e., law enforcement, takes the position that the family had their day in court, and the right outcome was reached.  They are left unfettered to invade homes as they please, tearing up things, endangering lives, and violating the constitution.

They hate you.  Realize that.  Law enforcement hates you.  You are the peasants, they are the king’s men.  Also realize that this award of nothing was given by a jury.  The American people apparently want a police state.  The “sheeple” have decided they want “security” more than liberty.

They will end up having neither.

In Do You Need To Break In A New Rifle Barrel, I said that I have followed this procedure for breaking in new rifles barrels.

This involves (1) a round, (2) brush/solvent/patch full stroke down the barrel, (3) dry patch or mop, next round, and so on. This process continues for several dozen rounds, then you skip to three rounds before the same procedure, and so on until the process is completed at 50 or more rounds.  You’ll wear out at least two bore brushes this way.  I’ve done it.  A bore guide is handy, and a day at the range is necessary.  You can’t complete the process in under a day.

At GoHunt.com, the author outlines a similar procedure, and states that:

I’ve read a lot of things on this subject (mostly during the random years when I decide to pick up a new gun) and it seems that most people will agree that a rifle break-in period is a good thing … Basically, the process of breaking in a new barrel is essentially just conditioning the barrel to smooth everything out (remove small burrs). Some barrel materials may take more rounds, others might not need much at all. Keep in mind that you don’t want to burn your barrel up in this process. Rifle barrels don’t last forever, so like I mention at the end of this article, if your rifle shoots great using half the steps, then call it good.

Running 50 rounds through the barrel along with copper wiring for cleaning purposes is hardly going to burn the barrel.  But also remember that I embedded some video by barrel manufacturers who have all weighed in telling us that the process just isn’t necessary for the barrel, but more necessary for the throat.  It’s also not apparent to me how the process isn’t duplicated by sending rounds through the barrel anyway, regardless of the cleaning stroke in between shots.

If you have strong opinions on this, please weigh in.  I’m beginning to lean against this procedure the more I think about it.

Dave Hardy links this letter from a very brave BLM agent who outlines a number of terrible, illegal, and ridiculously clownish things that have happened at the BLM.  This is a sad read, and I did read all of it.  It’s a head shaker and eye roller, but if you want to be informed on the latest goings on at BLM, you need to spend the time in this letter.

The letter is from Larry C. Wooten, Special Agent, to Andrew D. Goldsmith, Associate Deputy Attorney General, National Criminal Discovery Coordinator.  There is no date on it, and the contact information has been blacked out.  But the contents speaks for itself.  He begins by outlining his own involvement in the various cases with which we are familiar regarding Bundy, and then his involvement in the investigative process when he brought various illegalities and conflicts of interest to the attention of his superiors.  He states his unease at the situation.

As the Case Agent.and Lead Investigator for the DOI/BLM (for approximately 2 years and 4·0 months), I found myself in an unusual situation. I was specifically asked to lead a comprehensive, professional, thorough unbiased and independent investigation into the largest and most expansive and important investigation ever within the Department of Interior. Instead of having a normal investigative team and chain of command, a BLM Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge (ASAC) decided to act as a subordinate co-case agent, but also as my supervisor.

Right off the bat, the BLM has put the agent into a position where there is conflict of interest.  Many times with professional work, direct review authority is removed from supervisory or management control to ensure the fidelity of results.  This investigation was ensured to be tainted from the outset.  Or, it was ensured that agent Wooten would end up with nothing because of command influence.

Later, he states that “In February of 2017, it became clear to me that keeping quite became an unofficial condition of my future employment with the BLM, future awards, promotions, and a good future job reference.”  Wooten then proceeds to outline what he sees as the most ridiculous behavior he had ever seen, thinking back to middle school.  Name calling, insults, ignoring lost evidence, hiding evidence from the defense, illegal monitoring of jail calls from defendants and their wives without prosecutor or FBI consent, failure to disclose substantive and exculpatory case and witness bias, violation of the BLM code of conduct, workplace harassment, discrimination, lewd comments, and claims of roughing up various defendants like Dave Bundy.  He states this.

Many times, these open llD.professional and disrespectful comments and name calling (often by law enforcement superyisors who are potential witnesses and investigative team supervisors) reminded me of middle school. At any given time, you could hear subjects of this investigation openly referred to as “ret*rds,” “r*d-necks,” “Overweight woman with the big jowls,” “d*uche bags, “‘tractor-face,” “idiots,” “in-br*d,” etc.

He calls it a carnival of childish behavior.  Of the SWAT raid, he says this.

See openly available video/audio footage titled “The Bundy Trial 2017 Leaked Fed Body Cam Evidence,” or a video posted on You Tube titled “Leaked Body·Cams from the Bundy Ranch!” published-by Gavin Seim). Some of these statements included the following: “Jack-up Hage” (Wayne Hage Jr.), “Are you fucXXXX people stupid or what,” ”Fat dude, right behind the tree has a long gun,” ”MothetFuXXXX, you come find me and you’re·gonna have hell to pay,” ”FatAsX slid down,” “Pretty much shoot first, ask questions-later,” “No gun there. He’s just holding his back standing like a sissy,” “She must not be married,” “Shoot his fucXXXX dog first, “We gotta have fucXXXX fire discipline,” and “I’m recording by the way guys, so … ” Additional Note: In this.timeframe, a key witness deactivated his body camera.)

The person of Dan Love plays huge in all of this.  I had previously never heard of him, but a Google search on his name turns up copious material to show what kind of person he is.  He is behind some of this, but doubtless much of the BLM management and other agents are the same as Love.

We do learn one other useful thing about the standoff at the ranch.  We had wondered who was there and where they came from.  This apparently answers the question.

Note: The investigation indicated that there was at least one school trained Federal Sniper equipped with a scoped/magnified optic bolt action precision rifle, another Federal Officer equipped with a scoped/magnified optic large frame (308 caliber) AR style rifle, and many officers that utilized magnified optics with long range graduated reticles (out to 1,000 meters-approximately 500 meters on issued rifles depending on environmental conditions) on standard law enforcement issued AR (223 caliber/5.56mm) and that often officers were in “over watch” positions. Additionally, the investigation also indicated the possibility that the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department had law enforcement snipers/designated marksmen on hand/or possible deployment.

There is no way on earth any of this should ever go to court, or else the prosecution risks total catastrophe with this information going public (you reading this information here isn’t public – this site doesn’t get enough traffic).  Agent Wooten continues with his thoughts on the illegalities committed by the Bundy family, and that may or may not be.  I won’t weigh in on any of that, except to say that I’m still convinced that the whole thing was an attempt to rid that land of the Bundys for the purpose of Harry Reid’s son and a deal he made with the Chinese to develop it.

In any case, this is what the founders feared, and if you listen closely, you can hear their complaints against King George in the Declaration of Independence.  Agents of the state lord it over the peasants, steal largesse, and step on whatever liberty happens to be the infringement du jour.  It would be easy to lampoon Wooten’s description of the BLM if it weren’t so sad.  They are apparently filled with entitled, overpaid, pampered brats who have been given way, way too much power.

News from Atlanta:

Officials at Georgia’s leading power provider faced tough questions Monday, a day after a massive power outage grounded travel at the world’s busiest airport for nearly 11 hours at the start of one of the biggest travel weeks of the year.

Georgia Power officials said the investigation continues into the cause of the fire-related outage at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. However, they said a piece of the utility’s switchgear in an underground electrical facility may have failed and started the blaze. A switchgear helps to manage the flow of power.

The utility had backup equipment, officials said, but it was in an adjacent room and was also damaged in the fire.

“We are doing what we can to make sure this never happens again,” Georgia Power spokesman Craig Bell said. “We truly apologize for the inconvenience.”

Well, it will happen again, somewhere.  He shouldn’t have promised that.

The outage hit about 1 p.m. Sunday, plunging the airport into darkness, grounding nearly 1,000 flights and leaving 30,000 people stranded. International flights were diverted to other airports. Planes sat on the tarmac for more than six hours.

[ … ]

Videos posted on Twitter showed passengers using the lights on their cellphones to make their way through darkened concourses. Other photos shared on Twitter showed TSA officers carrying wheelchairs up stalled escalators.

[ … ]

“The straight answer to that question is: We absolutely do” have a redundant power supply, Reed said. “But because of the intensity of the fire, the switch that accesses the redundant system was damaged, which caused damage to two systems rather than one.”

Bowers said the utility will work with the airport to prevent a repeat of such an event. Among the strategies the company may consider: encasing the cables in concrete [Ed: dumb idea] or putting the cables in separate areas.

“Our focus is on reliability and making sure this never happens again,” he said.

“Train” separation is a good idea, because it’s not redundancy if the trains aren’t separated.  But here’s the point.  Power outages will happen, darkness comes every day.  If you don’t have light, you’re disabled.

Do you carry a tactical light when you travel?  I do.  Always and everywhere.  I carry a tactical light when I travel through the neighborhood with the dog.