John Richardson.

Unfortunately, as I found out yesterday from multiple sources, regardless of the new procedures, nepotism and the disrespect for the members’ money lives on at the NRA. That is because a mere 21 days after Wayne LaPierre’s resignation from the NRA became effective, his niece Colleen Sterner was promoted to be Director of Events for Advancement. She will continue to live and work from her home in Nebraska. According to my sources, insiders are saying her salary is estimated to be in the $300,000 range.

300K for work at home. It’s a nice gig if you can get it.

I’m frankly not sure that I disagree with nepotism as a practice. It seems to me okay to hire family members. There are benefits to the practice, such as family loyalty transferring to company loyalty.

The problem to me is (a) any association with Wayne or his family at all, (b) favoritism in performance evaluations or pay scale, and (c) over-payment for work. 300K is of course too much for the job this lady has.

And no, I wouldn’t give one penny to the NRA until the entire board has been replaced, along with virtually every employee of the organization.

The corruption goes too deep to trust the NRA with any money at all.

As I had said earlier, I was skeptical about the chances for success, especially given the gamesmanship in the senate. The previous attempt “codified the right to carry without a permit as long as you had a permit. No, I’m not kidding.”

But it looks like it has happened, adding to the list of constitutional carry states. But there are caveats I want to call out.

Greenville News.

Permitless firearm carry is now legal in South Carolina. Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday afternoon signed the bill, which was prefiled in the state House of Representatives in December 2022. The legislation was heavily debated by members of the state’s House and Senate.

After a joint committee with members of both chambers met Tuesday, that committee’s report was approved by the House later the same day and by the Senate on Wednesday.

Rep. Bobby Cox, R-Greenville, told the Greenville News Wednesday afternoon that McMaster signed the bill into law at a private 2 p.m. ceremony. South Carolina becomes the 29th state with permitless carry after Louisiana enacted a similar measure last week.

The new law enables individuals 18 and older who are legally allowed to own firearms to carry them, openly or concealed, without requiring training or registration for a permit.

Previously, the 2021 Open Carry law allowed a concealed weapons permit (CWP) holder to open carry handguns. With House Bill 3594 – dubbed “constitutional carry” by some – signed into law, it negates the legal need for CWPs in South Carolina.

“(People) can open or concealed carry if they can legally own guns,” Cox told the News. “If you’re prohibited from owning guns, you’re breaking the law.”

Cox, the Vice President for Government Affairs at Sig Sauer, a firearms company, was the lead sponsor of the bill, which originated in the House, and was one of six legislators on the joint legislative conference committee that convened Tuesday.

There are restrictions of where an individual may carry a gun, such as hospitals, doctor’s offices, churches, many government buildings, schools, polling places, detention facilities, post offices, or personal residences without permission.

However, some places, such as churches and doctor’s offices, may choose to allow individuals to carry weapons onto the premises.

Businesses have the right to label themselves as a gun-free zone.

I am an incrementalist (something I’ve learned from the controllers) and believe in taking chunks where we can get them. This is a big chunk, but there is still more to go.

We had a difficult fight with open carry, but a permit was still required. At the time I said that police would have a difficult time enforcing that because if open carry was legal, then it wouldn’t be a so-called “Terry Stop” if police stopped you and demanded to see your permit. Additionally, the S.C. legislature didn’t do anything in the open carry law to make S.C. a stop and identify state (which would have been unconstitutional anyway). If they had wanted to enable police to stop folks, they would have had to make that change to S.C. law. They didn’t do that when they passed the open carry bill.

But there was still that nagging issue of the fact that a permit was required to exercise a God-given right. Now that permit has vanished, but churches are exempt from carry unless specifically posting that firearms are allowed.

So this is the same trap into which New York fell in essentially making everywhere a gun-free zone without specific posting by the establishment, and that feature of the NY law has been struck down (and furthermore doesn’t comport with the Bruen decision). I say trap, but of course anything the controllers can do in NY to infringe upon rights isn’t so much a trap as it is a reward for reflexive behavior.

Churches shouldn’t have to specifically post that firearms are allowed. Rather, like every other establishment, they should have to post if firearms are not allowed. Gun rights advocates are also property rights advocates, and if an establishment doesn’t want firearms, then they have that right (just as I have a right not to patronize that establishment).

This chunk of liberty should be the focus of effort going forward. Remove the exemption for churches in the current law. This is another increment of freedom for future work by our community.

Source.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – Within a matter of days, South Carolina could become the 29th state in the country to allow adults to carry guns with no permit or training.

On Tuesday, a group of legislative negotiators struck a compromise after weeks of discussion on the bill known as “permitless carry” or “constitutional carry.”

“The dialogue we’ve been having with the Senate, the House, and the governor’s office is that they want this to immediately become law,” Rep. Bobby Cox, R – Greenville and the bill’s lead sponsor, told reporters following the conference committee’s meeting Tuesday morning.

The Senate and House had already passed this permitless carry gun bill, but their versions of it were different.

Yeah, the gamesmanship in the S.C. senate codified the right to carry without a permit as long as you had a permit. No, I’m not kidding.

The compromise they reached Tuesday now allows the bill to move closer to the governor’s desk.

In their agreement, the bill would allow adults 18 and older to carry loaded handguns openly with no permit or training.

Guns would still be banned in the same places they are now, including schools, courthouses, and the State House, and people could still obtain a concealed weapons permit if they wanted.

It would also tack on the governor’s top request, increased penalties for people who illegally carry, like felons who possess guns despite being legally barred from doing so.

The negotiation committee adopted most of the Senate’s changes, including optional, free training offered twice a month in every county and tougher penalties for people who do not have a permit and are caught carrying where it is prohibited.

“Is it really fair to, I guess, punish those particular folks more severely than the ones who choose to get a CWP when the state doesn’t require it anymore?” Rep. Justin Bamberg, D – Bamberg, asked.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, who advocated for those enhanced penalties during the Senate’s debate on the bill earlier this year, pointed out they would only apply to people already convicted of certain gun crimes.

“Y’all, we’re talking about criminals now,” Massey said. “We’re talking about shooting into a dwelling, we’re talking about sneaking a gun into a school, we’re talking about pointing a weapon at somebody.”

But they nixed a Senate provision that would allow state lawmakers to carry guns in places where the general public cannot, an exemption that judges and prosecutors currently have.

“We’re not special. We’re servant leaders, and what’s good for our constituents is good for us,” Cox said.

They also omitted a House section that could have, unintentionally, allowed local school boards to vote to override the ban on guns in schools.

Well, congratulations, maybe, for the win for civil liberties. I want to see the bill first. This has been a long, hard-fought battle to get open carry first (with a permit), and then constitutional carry next (because of law enforcement opposition – as always, of course, you know, because of the “blood running in the streets” and all of that). I have always advised incrementalism, and the gains have been nothing if not incremental.

I will try to find out the gesticulations of the committee and get the final bill and share as I can.

Occasionally, I disagree with Mark. This is one of those times.

I understand the reflexive response to defend the NRA, but believe me when I say that he shouldn’t. Relying on the NRA was the smartest thing that lawyer did in his arguments.

The NRA wasn’t a hero for keeping pistols out of the NFA. They were traitorous for allowing anything at all in the bill or even in allowing the bill to hit the floor of Congress.

Yeah. That’s the headline. This is the source.

A deal made by congressional leaders to avert a partial shutdown of the U.S. government includes an attempt to ease some veterans’ access to gun ownership, even when they are deemed “mentally incompetent” to handle their own finances.

The $436 billion funding package agreed on by congressional lawmakers Wednesday extended the deadline for the expiration of funding for government agencies—including the military and Department of Veteran Affairs—from March 1 to March 8. It was the fourth extension painstakingly agreed on by a divided Congress during this fiscal year, but it spelled optimism that a deal for the long-term budget plan could be reached later this year.

Among the victories touted by Republicans in this deal is a bill that would eliminate the decades-old ban on gun ownership for veterans deemed unfit to possess a firearm—a measure gun-rights advocates have long protested.

Gun Owners of America, a nonprofit lobbying organization that promotes gun rights, wrote about the elimination of the ban on X, formerly Twitter.

“Congressional deal cuts funding to the ATF,” the organization said, referring to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “and eliminates a 20+ year old gun ban for veterans. It also temporarily reauthorizes the archaic Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988.”

By law, the Department of Veterans Affairs can report the names of veterans deemed mentally incompetent to handle their VA funds to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System—which is used for criminal background checks during the purchase of firearms—without a judge’s order.

According to this database, a veteran found mentally incompetent under VA regulations and assigned a fiduciary to take care of their finances can be banned from buying a gun, as the veteran is considered a danger to themselves or others.

BREAKING: Congressional deal cuts funding to the ATF and eliminates a 20+ year old gun ban for veterans. It also temporarily reauthorizes the archaic Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988.

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) March 4, 2024

You know who gets swept up in this net? Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, who have assigned financial responsibility to their mother, father or spouse, for the time they are deployed. They do this for the simple reason that they are in no position to do the books, challenge false charges, and all the things that go with having fiduciary responsibilities.

That’s right. Innocent servicemen get swept into this net of “danger to themselves or others” because they had an “fiduciary to take care of their finances.”

If you were a serviceman, the FedGov hates you. I know that’s hard to hear, but it’s the truth. They would sooner see you disarmed than anyone else on the planet. Again, I’m sorry, but this is truth-telling at its most raw.

Don’t trust them. Never talk about assigning someone over your finances. Never talk to them about PTSD or emotional problems stemming from anything, including combat.

Never trust the FedGov.

And for the second time in two days, good for the GOA for taking a principled stand.

Source.

Gun Owners Of America came out swinging against Senator John Cornyn, R-TX, after he entered the race to succeed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Aidan Johnston, Gun Owners Of America’s (GOA) Federal Affairs Director, said tCornyn has failed to stand firm on conservative values and has instead, compromised with Democrats on gun control bills.

“Every time gun control gains steam in Congress, Senator John Cornyn is right there working with Democrats on a ‘compromise.’ That isn’t conservative leadership, it’s capitulation!,” Johnston said.

The GOA said that Sen. Cornyn’s record on gun rights makes him “wholly unfit” to become the Senate minority leader.

“In the eyes of gun owners and all those who treasure our liberties, the traitor from Texas’ record makes him wholly unfit to lead Republicans in the Senate,” Johnston said.

The conservative gun rights group said Cornyn has helped pass a series of bills that are “gross infringements” on the Second Amendment.

The GOA pointed to Cornyn over the Safer Communities Act, which he cosponsored with Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy in 2022.

The bill incentivizes states to pass extreme risk protection laws, also called “red flag” laws, that allow members of the public and law enforcement to petition the courts for a civil order to temporarily suspend a person’s access to firearms for fear that person might do violence.

Well, yes, of course he’s wholly unfit to do anything attached to any sort of responsibility, much less lead the senate. He’s a communist.

I’m glad GOA has spoken out against Cornyn. Someone has to. Where is the NRA in this? Oh, did they give Cornyn a “report card?” What does it say? No, don’t tell me. I’m not interested.

John Cornyn is a traitor. Tell everyone you know.

Source.

New Jersey officials on Wednesday released a long-awaited report on gun “microstamping” technology that would make it easier for police to solve gun crimes, an “important step” toward making every commercially sold weapon traceable, according to the state’s attorney general.

Just one problem: Nobody sells them.

New Jersey is now one of just a handful of states with laws concerning microstamping, a method using lasers to inscribe a unique code onto a gun’s firing pin, which then imprints the mark onto a bullet’s casing. Think of it like the VIN number etched all over your car.

Gun control advocates call it a game-changing technology, one that allows police to trace weapons even in cases where no gun is recovered. The gun industry maintains the technology isn’t up to snuff, and a federal court last year ruled against a California law mandating microstamping and other features in new guns.

New Jersey’s law, enacted in 2022, doesn’t mandate microstamping like similar laws in New York or California, instead offering rebates and incentives to pressure gun manufacturers to incorporate the technology. It also ordered the state attorney general to investigate the “technological viability of microstamping-enabled firearms.” That report was released Wednesday — more than a year after its statutory deadline.

The report details a live fire test conducted last summer at a State Police lab by New Jersey’s new microstamping examiner, retired ATF agent Reinaldo Roldan, concluding that the markings left on spent shell casings could be reliably matched to the gun. It was published by the attorney general’s Statewide Affirmative Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) office, which was created by legislation signed by Gov. Phil Murphy with the purpose of suing the gun industry over instances of gun violence under the state’s public nuisance laws.

“Now that we have certified that this technology is viable, we urge gun manufacturers to adopt microstamping technology in their production facilities and apply for placement on New Jersey’s microstamping-enabled firearms roster,” state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.

No, don’t think of it as a VIN number for a car. Think of it as a very stupid idea. Let me count the ways: (1) peening of the striker over time from discharging rounds, (2) filing of the number off the striker (and no one would ever be able to prove that it was from peening), (3) replacement strikers, and so on the story goes.

And no, no one sells them. And no one will. Ask Smith & Wesson how the customer base treated them after they agreed to put the internal lock on revolvers because of pressure from the Clintons?

This will go nowhere. No manufacturer will be interested in it. Again, the controllers have wasted a lot of money and time trying to control others. But you can’t stop the signal.

Congratulations on your victory over the powers of darkness.

Louisiana is showing the state of South Carolina how it’s supposed to be done. If you will recall, S.C. tried to pass a bill that agreed to permitless carry as long as you had a permit. No, I’m not kidding.

The Louisiana House has given final legislative approval to a bill allowing law abiding citizens to carry a firearm without a permit or training. The bill now goes to the governor’s desk. Gov. Jeff Landry says he will sign it into law. ⁦@WWLTV⁩ pic.twitter.com/1DPSHZwK6t

— Paul Murphy (@PMurphyWWL) February 28, 2024

That PSA rifle did very well in my opinion. There may very well be a difference in the materials of construction of the BCG, or the roundness of the upper receiver, to have caused the wear he sees on the bolt rails, but honestly, I don’t know the testing protocol of that Knight’s Armament rifle, or even if there was one. In other words, they may have cleaned and oiled that rifle versus having run the PSA rifle dry and without lubrication. So the comparison means nothing without more information.

Besides, a BCG can be replaced.