Remember when the hurricane came through and the communist who is governor of the U.S. Virgin Island ordered seizure of guns and ammunition?  We discussed it.  Well, he’s at it again.

U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp renewed a highly controversial executive order in January that allows the National Guard to seize arms from everyday civilians.

The executive order Mapp extended on Jan. 2 was first issued in September. The order declares that the U.S. Virgin Islands is in a “state of emergency” and gives the adjunct general power “that may be required by the military forces for the performance of this emergency mission.”

Mapp told The Daily Caller in a December 2017 phone interview that the national guard is “not authorized to take arms and munitions from civilians,” and said those that continue to think the order authorized that power are being “foolish.” While Mapp continues to make the same assertion when questioned about the order, the language of the text explicitly authorizes the seizure of arms and ammunition.

The governor said in the Jan. 2 order that the nation is still in a state of emergency following the devastation brought on from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The order also says that the “state of emergency declared effective 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 5, 2017  is hereby renewed, and such State of Emergency, along with all terms previously declared in the order.” That would include the language authorizing the seizure of arms, ammunition and other property.

And it doesn’t even matter.  As I’ve previously noted, confiscation of guns and ammunition is irrelevant when you’re not allowed to have any to begin with.  Communists gotta’ be communists.  It’s what they do.  Can a leopard change it spots?

Fox News:

A federal judge dismissed all charges against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons and another man on Monday after accusing prosecutors of willfully withholding evidence from Bundy’s lawyers.

U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro cited “flagrant prosecutorial misconduct” in her decision to dismiss all charges against the Nevada rancher and three others.

“The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated,” Navarro said.

[ … ]

On Dec. 20, Navarro declared a mistrial in the high-profile Bundy case. It was only the latest, stunning development in the saga of the Nevada rancher, who led a tense, armed standoff with federal officials trying to take over his land. The clash served as a public repudiation of the federal government.

The Brady rule, named after the landmark 1963 Supreme Court case known as Brady vs. Maryland, holds that failure to disclose such evidence violates a defendant’s right to due process.

“In this case the failures to comply with Brady were exquisite, extraordinary,” said Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano. “The judge exercised tremendous patience.”

[ … ]

Navarro said Monday it was clear the FBI was involved in the prosecution and it was not a coincidence that most of the evidence that was held back – which would have worked in Bundy’s favor – came from the FBI, AZCentral reported.

With prejudice.  That means it’s over … for now.  The BLM won’t go quietly into the darkness like they need to.  Controllers gotta’ control.  It’s what they do.  Besides, there’s too much land to be taken and given away in the patronage in which Senators and Congresscritters all engage.  This one was just about Senator Harry Reid and his son.  There’s more where this came from.

Not long after the unnecessary and criminal shooting of Mr. Andrew Finch in his own home by a Wichita cop, and about the same time that the mother of Mr. Finch appealed to the city because the police won’t even release her son’s body to her for burial, there is yet another shooting in Wichita (via reader TK).

A Wichita police officer was placed on administrative leave after a girl was injured when the officer tried to shoot a dog inside a home on Saturday.

The officer tried to shoot a dog that charged at him while in a home in the 1500 block of North Gentry, near 13th and Hillside, at around 6:15 p.m., Officer Paul Cruz said in a statement. The shot missed the dog, the round broke into fragments when it hit a hard floor, and a piece of fragment ricocheted and hit a 9-year-old girl in the forehead just above her right eye.

The girl was treated and released from a local hospital that night.

Officers were responding to a 911 call of a domestic dispute and suicidal person with a gun, and they were told a 33-year-old man in the home had held a gun in his mouth and choked a dog, the statement said.

So we have here a number of very serious errors.  First of all, the family apparently called the cops.  Only bad things can happen when you call the cops.  Second, the officer went into the domicile with the dog unsecured.  The dog did what he’s supposed to do, what he is bred to do, and what he is expected to do.  He defended the home from invaders.

Third, the officer didn’t maintain awareness of his backstop.  He violated one of the most basic rules of gun safety because he probably panicked.  Rather than take a chance that he kill innocent people, he should have taken the bite to the arm that was sure to come unless he has very good verbal command skills and depending upon the breed of dog.

Finally, it seems questionable to me how much danger he was in anyway, since apparently there was no bite forthcoming.  The report doesn’t say that the officer was taken the hospital to suture wounds.  Remember, he missed.  What happened to that threatening dog?  No, the only person who was injured was a little girl who should have been safe in her own home.

Next up we have an example David Codrea brought up and a reader sent to me.  A grandfather was shot by police because they (gasp) thought they saw him in his own home with a firearm.

Rossville, GA – A family is heartbroken after their grandfather was shot and killed in his own home by police officers who arrived at the house in the middle of the night, and opened fire 30 seconds after they claim that they saw him in the kitchen with a firearm.

Video has yet to be released and details are still emerging from the Jan. 1 shooting that killed Mark Steven Parkinson, 65. Police have admitted that the beloved grandfather was not the target of the alleged welfare check that was being carried out by the sheriff’s deputies who knocked on his front door.

The deputies were initially dispatched after police received an anonymous 911 call around 3 a.m. that requested a welfare check at the residence. A report from the Walker County Messenger claimed that during the call, “information was provided that stated a female at the residence was threatening to kill herself and her children.”

Greg Ramey, a special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), told WTVC News that the 911 call “did not come from the house itself.” He also confirmed that “there was nothing going on at the residence to substantiate these claims, however, and the threats weren’t true.”

At the time, the deputies arrived at the house knowing that they were being dispatched based on a tip from an anonymous caller who was not at the residence, therefore they were unsure of what kind of scene they would find.

Ramey told the Walker County Messenger that as soon as sheriff’s deputies arrived at the house, they began knocking on the door and they “announced their arrival.” Instead of finding a suicidal woman, Deputy John Chandler claimed that he “observed Parkinson within the residence with a weapon.”

Ramey said that Parkinson was seen “in the kitchen, near a counter, and pointing a gun through a kitchen window at the deputy outside of the house,” claiming that the homeowner was aware someone was outside of his home.

[ … ]

GBI Special Agent Ramey claimed that as soon as Deputy Chandler saw Parkinson, he waited “15-30 seconds” before he fired multiple shots, killing the homeowner. The current information that has been made public does not clarify whether the deputies had entered the home and were in the same room as Parkinson when Chandler opened fire, or whether Chandler shot through the kitchen window.

So here’s the apparent bottom line.  This was a prank call.  None of it was true.  An innocent man heard something outside, and like all responsible men would do, he grabbed a gun.  The cops either shot into the home from outside it, or went into the home uninvited and shot an innocent man who was trying to protect his home.

So there are a number of things to learn from all of this and previous similar events, but one similarity is that police in America no longer respect property rights (if they ever did).  Your property is considered state property if the cops want it to be considered that way.  Your safety is at the bottom of the list when it comes to importance, and the Castle doctrine is salient only up to a point.  If it happens to be the police outside (or inside), they can shoot you with impunity and never be held to account by the “justice” system in America.

There were other nation-states like this in history, but the examples – Nazi Germany, the USSR under Lenin and Stalin – are repulsive.  It’s where we are in the failing nation-state called America.  Understand your risks and act and react accordingly.

Bob Owens and I always disagreed on open carry, and I told him so very plainly.  It looks like the visceral, emotional, irrational hatred for open carriers continues in Bob’s absence with a writer named Tom Knighton.

There’s a lot of debate that takes place around the idea of open carry. Many argue that open carry is tactically stupid as it makes it clear to any potential bad guy who to take out first during a robbery. Others counter with arguments about how open carry initiates conversations about the Second Amendment and our right to keep and bear arms.

Both are good points, but for one open carrier in Fayetteville, NC, open carry isn’t such a grand thing these days.

[ … ]

Officers arrived and discovered that a man had grabbed a gun off another man who was open-carrying the weapon. The man who grabbed the gun then ran off.

Of course, this illustrates one of the main problems with open carry. Besides freaking out the uninitiated citizen, it also makes yourself a target for crap like this.

To be sure, there are things you can do to mitigate this kind of thing. First, look at your holster and see how easily it is to draw from someone else’s hip. I’ve found that some holsters are very easy to draw from when they’re no your hip, but not so much when they’re on someone else’s.

Also, look at learning some weapon retention techniques. These are, in my opinion, a good idea for anyone who is carrying a firearm, whether open or concealed. The last thing you want is for your decision to rely solely on stealth to come back and bite you in the rear should someone figure out you’re packing.

That said, stealth–in other words, carrying concealed–is the best way in which to carry as a general rule. If you want to make a statement, that’s fine, but don’t expect anyone to listen to you when they’re concerned about the heater on your hip. Some will, but a lot more won’t.

But if you’re serious about protecting yourself and others with a firearm, carry it concealed. Doing so means that not only will you minimize your chances of being murder target number one in the event of a robbery, but you’ll also help make sure that you actually have your gun at that key moment, rather than having lost it to some schmuck in a local Walmart who snatched it and ran off.

Folks, if we want to be considered responsible gun owners, we need to act like it. That means not advertising what we have so would-be thieves like this can grab a hold of our weapons and run for the hills. The last thing any of us want is to help arm criminals, but just what do you think happened with this weapon?

This is an idiotic commentary.  First of all, I absolutely hate the words “packing” for carrying (concealed or openly), and “heater” for firearm.  It comes across as fifth grade level writing (or worse, something a MSM “journalist” would say, but maybe I’m being redundant).  It’s language like this that serves to poorly educate the public rather than open carry.  I don’t “pack a heater,” and neither should you.  I carry a firearm.

He states that “Many argue that open carry is tactically stupid as it makes it clear to any potential bad guy who to take out first during a robbery.”  I’ve made it clear what I think about that argument.

I’ve stated before that you get to hide the fact that you’re carrying a gun to a perpetrator is the most hideously awful argument against open carry I can conceive.  It’s tactically absurd, inasmuch as if the perpetrator intends to perpetrate a crime, he’s going to regardless of whether you have a gun.  You will still have an opportunity to prevent it, and it’s more likely that you’ll be the first to engage the perpetrator.

That’s not a bad outcome unless you wish to see women and children perish before you do.  “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).  I’m not knocking concealed carriers as cowards.  Much of the time I’m a concealed carrier when circumstances prevent me from open carry.  I’m knocking those who knock open carry for the reason that a concealed carrier gets to wait to engage.  I don’t carry a weapon in order to wait to engage.  You don’t hear LEOs making the argument that openly carrying their weapon is a tactical disadvantage.  Let’s don’t look stupid by making that argument for ourselves.

Next, he charges open carriers like me with being irresponsible and unserious.  I’m simply befuddled where he would come up with something like that or why he would make that charge.  He gives no reasons at all, he just reacts like a schoolgirl to something he read in the news.  If he wishes to demonstrate that he can present from a concealed position faster and more reliably than I can present from an open position, I’m waiting and I’ll take the challenge any time.  And while I don’t want to appear “holier than thou,” it’s better for me to engage first and be the one a perpetrator shoots at than some woman or child, even ones I don’t know.

So if you’re an open carrier, use this as a great learning example and do better than the man in the report.  Be more vigilant and aware of circumstances, and wear a retention holster.  I am and I do.  Next, he states unequivocally that more people won’t listen to us than do listen.  He doesn’t really know that, he just made it up.  I’ve had many conversations with folks asking me about it (from the perspective of God-given rights to the laws in my state), and while I initially took the position that I open carry because I simply hate concealed carry and I sweat my weapon, I have morphed to a position of speaking out and trying to educate with my practice of openly carrying.  I think it makes good sense, or otherwise I wouldn’t do it.

I’m guessing it’s been more than a year since I’ve read anything at Bearing Arms, and now I know why.  This is simply awful firearm commentary.  They should be doing a much better job of arguing for and discussing what we see as our God-given rights rather than trying to make sure they run to the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.  At one time open carry was the common practice in America, and it was considered uncouth, crass, ill-bred and even criminal to conceal your weapons.

We should return to that practice, and the only way to do that, other than changes to the law, is educating an ignorant public.  As I’ve said, I open carry “For the peace, good and dignity of the country and the welfare of its people.”  Just so.

I see that you’ve read my commentary, along with that of my commenters.  So tell us.  Do you really care if we live in a police state now?  Do you care enough to stop it?

There’s that thing of the fourth amendment, the second amendment, the Castle doctrine which is embedded in English and American law, and on and on I could go.

So do you?

Via Claire, this video is worth watching.

The .45 ACP knocked that big boy on his can, for sure, but my goodness, I think the shooter needs some retraining in the rules of gun safety.  He just about killed his partner too.  Maybe they need to think a little harder about formation.

Via WRSA, this analysis deserves to be heard.

Basically, think about it this way.  If you put your own safety ahead of the safety of others, you have lost your heart and soul.  No, not just your bravery and courage (if you ever had any), but your heart and soul.

CNN:

Nearly a week after police shot and killed a Kansas man while responding to a prank call, the victim’s mother pleaded with authorities to allow her to see her deceased son.

Lisa Finch wrote in a letter to the Wichita, Kansas, mayor and police chief that she doesn’t know where they’re keeping his body and that she wants to give her son “a proper funeral service and burial.”

She questioned “why Wichita City leadership is compounding our grief and sorrow, by keeping my son from us?”

“Please let me see my son’s lifeless body,” she wrote in a letter dated Tuesday. “I want to hold him and say goodbye. Please immediately return his body to us.”

Her son, Andrew Finch was killed by police last week in his home in a case of swatting. Swatting refers to when a person makes a false report to draw a major police response or SWAT teams to a certain location.

The cops won’t even release the body to the family.  What a bunch of bastards.  In other news, remember I said this?

There are a number of misdirects in this report.  Let’s address two of the most prominent and important.  First of all, the blame will be placed on the illegal practice of Swatting, or calling the police and reporting an active shooting or hostage situation.  The perpetrator will likely be found and dealt with, and the blame will be placed squarely on him.

[ … ]

It doesn’t matter if he was armed, any more than it matters whether he was a gamer or if he was Swatted by another gamer.  While Swatting is illegal, the perpetrator didn’t do the shooting.  Being armed while answering the door isn’t illegal or immoral.  Gaming isn’t illegal or immoral.

True to form, the gaming community is self examining.

A joke gone bad ended in tragedy last week, and it brings into the spotlight one of the worst aspects of gaming culture.

Last week, someone made a fake emergency call (known as swatting) to police in Wichita, Kansas, and the police shot an innocent man. On Friday, police in Los Angeles arrested 25-year-old Tyler Raj Barriss, who reportedly goes by the name SWAuTistic, for allegedly calling in the false report. Social media posts on the incident have continued this week. Let’s hope that this leads to increased awareness of these prank calls among law enforcement and realization that toxic behavior like swatting can have deadly consequences.

While it’s deplorable that someone would do this, it wouldn’t be a problem if cops wore uniforms, didn’t assume that the call was legitimate, and simply knocked on the door to chat with the occupants since, after all, it is their property.

The practice of swatting is a problem only because of the hero soldier-boy complex that infects the police forces around the nation.  Take their guns away from them and they won’t be able to shoot anyone.

US News:

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police in Las Vegas say a man suffered a minor injury after the rifle of an officer on the Las Vegas Strip discharged following the New Year’s Eve festivities.

Officer Laura Meltzer says the officer was moving barricades around 1:19 a.m. Monday near the Monte Carlo casino-hotel when he had a “negligent discharge.”

Meltzer says the man was hit in the calf and refused medical treatment. She says two other people indicated they had been struck by something, but they had no visible injuries.

Meltzer says the situation is under investigation. She did not know whether the officer had been placed on leave, but said that is not typical in negligent discharge incidents.

Hmm … so let me see about this.  He was moving things around, he had a round chambered, his rifle wasn’t on safe, and something snagged his trigger.  How’d I do?

I guess all that “special training” didn’t help him after all.  But at least if he can’t trust anybody else, he can trust his buddies in blue to have his six.  No leave.  Continued pay.  All is forgotten except for some locker room banter.

Well, it’s gun silly season when the manufacturers trot out their new designs hoping for a piece of the market.  As for myself, I have tried to optimize my gun safe by minimizing the number of calibers it contains.  My favorite cartridge of all time is the .45 ACP.  If your wife really loves you, she gets you something like this for Christmas.  It’s a CMMG .45 ACP PDW, and it sells as a pistol rather than a long gun.

Springfield Armory is introducing their newest line of M1As shooting the 6.5mm Creedmoor.

Wilson Combat is introducing what they call the .458 HAM’R.  Looks like a “wildcat” cartridge and I wonder about availability (and cost).