Articles by Herschel Smith

Source.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A man was accidentally shot by police with his own gun in Philadelphia’s Germantown section earlier this week.

It happened around 4:14 p.m. Monday on the 5700 block of North 21st Street.

Police say a 62-year-old man was walking his dog on a leash near 20th and Chew streets when one of two loose pit bulls began to attack his dog.

The man reportedly tried to pull the dogs apart but was unsuccessful. That’s when police say the man shot and killed the attacking dog.

The man, who was licensed to carry, then walked home to the 5700 block of North 21st Street to take care of his injured animal.

At some point after the gunfire, the man was able to flag down a 14th District officer to report the incident.

According to police, the man told the officer that he had just shot the dog around the corner and that his gun was in a holster on his side.

The officer told the man that he would have to secure his weapon, and the man placed his hands above his head so the officer could gain access to the weapon, authorities said.

While trying to remove the weapon, authorities say the officer accidentally shot the man in the leg.

A firearm could be SAO, DAO, SA/DA, hammer fired, striker fired, with a frame-mounted safety or without, carried with one in the chamber or not, half cocked or fully cocked, or not cocked at all, with a modified competition trigger or factory trigger, among many other idiosyncrasies and differences.

It is a stupid policy to disarm someone by handling their weapon unless there has been a crime.  Touching another man’s weapon is the dumbest thing a police officer could do in just about any situation.  I honestly cannot think of an exception to this rule.

I’ll reach out to the police commissioner’s office to see if that’s formal policy for the Philadelphia Police Department, but I probably won’t hear back.

And remember boys and girls, “You’re never in more danger than when the police are around.  Get away from them as quickly as possible.  No situation is so dangerous that it cannot be made worse by the presence of the police.”

I found it somewhat amusing that he couldn’t believe the muzzle velocity data he was getting.  Am I the only one who knew that they would publish the ballistics based on wheel gun muzzle velocities – probably from a 6″ barrel?

But the main takeaway for me, and the reason for posting this, has to do with the degree to which the bullet just disintegrates in tissue.

It’s behavior is similar to what we saw with PatRMG testing the .45-70 LeverEvolution,  Jacket came off, lead shards went everywhere, tissue damage was extensive, and probably meat damage was so severe that it could not be processed and consumed.

If this is the performance of this round, then it’s great for personal defense in the bush.  It penetrates AND expands, causing massive damage.  But it’s no good as a hunting round.

It seems to me a better hunting round would be the monolithic copper bullets which open quickly but stay completely intact.

Source.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats advanced seven of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees through committee on Thursday with Republican votes, shelving others that lack bipartisan backing with Sen. Dianne Feinstein absent.

The move by Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., marks a change in course after he had repeatedly delayed meetings since early March to advance a package of judges, lacking the decisive vote of Feinstein, D-Calif., who is out indefinitely on medical leave.

[ … ]

Democrats unanimously voted for all of them. They received varying degrees of Republican support, most notably from Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the ranking member.

“I hope Senator Feinstein returns quickly. I hope she recovers,” Graham said, adding that the committee can still operate without her. “Sometimes we just can’t agree, and that’s just part of life.”

Since they were Biden nominees, I’m absolutely certain the list included judges who would strip citizens of their RKBA.

Hey S.C. voters – remember that the next time Ms. Lindsey Graham trots out his AR-15 for people to look at during the next primary.

Via WiscoDave.

They couldn’t have cared less about the man’s legally obtained firearms.

New York citizen with 0 criminal record posts photos of a 3D printed AR lower on Reddit. NYPD (and presumably other agencies) magically have all of his credit card records and internet history within days showing "parts" purchases to complete the receivers. NYPD costume… pic.twitter.com/03EBzeeS0n

— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) April 21, 2023

This decision by a federal district judge justifies a magazine capacity ban in D.C.  In it he plays word games, kicks the can down the road, ignores the very real issue of multi-man home invasions, ignores the very real involvement of the second amendment in the militia and amelioration of tyranny, misapplies Heller, and uses historical analogues that are too late to be useful (from the 1800s).

This federal district judge in Illinois seems not to like magazine capacity bans very much and himself makes arguments against them in the very case he is presiding.

Prediction: there will be split in the district courts, and in the appeals courts.  So-called “assault weapon” bans (which are simply bans against semiautomatic firearms) and magazine capacity bans will end up at the supreme court because of the splits.

UPDATE: Zelman Partisans observes the following.

Oddly, Contreras cites HELLER in making that point. I can’t find that argument in HELLER, which was largely about whether non- military weapons could be regulated, and how, but there is this.

It may be objected that if weapons that are most useful in military service—M–16 rifles and the like—may be banned, then the Second Amendment right is completely detached from the prefatory clause. But as we have said, the conception of the militia at the time of the Second Amendment’s ratification was the body of all citizens capable of military service, who would bring the sorts of lawful weapons that they possessed at home to militia duty. It may well be true today that a militia, to be as effective as militias in the 18th century, would require sophisticated arms that are highly unusual in society at large.

Rather the opposite of Contreras’ weasel-wording, eh?

Via Ken.  Yes.  As I said, the ruling plays word games.  I suspect those word games will come to an abrupt end at the supreme court.

Epoch Times.

Texas secretly gives its citizens’ incomes to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Documents show this has led to at least one person being monitored by the feds without a warrant through the federal gun background check system. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) told The Epoch Times that it has written contracts with ATF  for “sharing income information” for criminal investigations. The revelation may lead to oversight by the legislature.

Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain, a Republican, is “deeply troubled” about this coordination with the state’s unemployment agency and federal government.

“My office will be looking into whether the Texas Workforce Commission is assisting the ATF in the Biden Administration’s mission to violate the constitutional rights of law-abiding Texans,” Cain told The Epoch Times after reviewing the emails obtained by Gun Owners of America (GOA) as part of its ongoing FOIA lawsuit.

This is the third part in an exclusive Epoch Times series on the ATF giving information on innocent suspects to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for daily monitoring through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The FBI uses NICS as a database of people who are prohibited from possessing or buying guns.

In one of the documents, an ATF agent emailed the FBI that a person suspected of straw purchasing or firearms trafficking needed to be put into the gun background check database. The agent wrote that “per TWC,” the man’s “reported wage earnings with the State of Texas do not appear to supply the financial means to afford the firearms purchased.”

Isn’t that nice?  The FedGov is making decisions on what you have the money to purchase based on income level.  Here is the kicker.

A spokeswoman for TWC said in a statement: “Federal and State law provides a path for sharing income information with a federal governmental agency if the federal agency can establish a purpose that is permissible under law and enters into a written agreement which sets forth legal requirements regarding allowable use and protection of the information.” She also said a warrant to release salary information is not required by law.

They’ve been caught and they’re proud of their cooperation with the FedGov.  Proud of it.

The road to disempowering the FedGov starts right there in your own city, county and state.  I don’t want to hear another word about how big Texas is, how they are a 2A sanctuary, and how they respect gun rights, until they clean house and get rid of the controllers in their own midst.  Next up should be passing state laws against this sort of thing, with heavy penalties for violation (such as prison time).

Oh, and where is the governor in this?  Someone near him should ask him if he supports the actions of his employees in cooperating with unconstitutional infringements of the second amendment.

Source.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Nebraska’s permitless concealed carry bill will be heading to Gov. Jim Pillen’s desk.

On Wednesday, state senators voted 33-14 to pass Legislative Bill 77, which would allow Nebraskans to carry a concealed handgun without a permit.

State Sen. Tom Brewer, who introduced the bill, says the measure guarantees the right to bear arms in Nebraska.

“What we do in this body sometimes is trying to follow through with the will of the people and give them the rights that they have in the Constitution,” Brewer said. “And sometimes we go out of the way and twist those rights and keep people from having them, and I think (the concealed carry permit) is a case of that.”

In previous legislative sessions, Brewer has made the bill a top priority.

Early on in the final reading, State Sen. Jane Raybould filed a motion to place the measure back into the Judiciary Committee.  That motion failed 5-40.

“This bill is not ready for us to pass or approve,” she said. “There is way too much at stake.”

Opponents of the bill, including Lincoln Police Chief Teresa Ewins, have said the proposed law could put lives at risk.

“You have heard from law enforcement and the chiefs of police on how insistent they are to keep concealed carry permits in place for the protection of their officers and communities, and how important it is to kill this bill,” Raybould said.

Lincoln Police released a statement after the vote:

“The chief is disappointed in the legislature’s decision because the most important factor in making these decisions should be public safety and the men and women who serve our community.”

Of course the police are against it.  Blood will run in the streets.  Except it never happens.  Someone ought to tell these idiots to put up or shut up, proving that blood will run in the streets based on other constitutional carry states.  And notice that she puts the alleged safety of officers above constitutionally guaranteed rights.  Of course she does.

Nebraska is already an open carry state, so they did this the right way.  Florida is too scared of falling support for tourism to let that one go.  The “only ones” are the only ones who can carry openly.

Watch the entire video.  Furtive movement.  That’s their excuse for arresting and throwing a man in prison for a year after they had let him go.

This is the stuff of school yard bullies, whether they bullied little boys and girls, or got bullied, they learned it without learning that you don’t do that.

They’re learning this somewhere – probably in police academy, or perhaps from the public prosecutors.  A furtive movement is reasonable excuse for beating someone up, or illegally detaining them, or throwing them in prison.

This is the same category as the cops in NM who shot an innocent homeowner dead after going to the wrong house.

An experienced investigator in officer-involved shootings who viewed the footage said he understands why Mr Dotson would have a gun ready after getting a knock unexpectedly late at night.

However, the officers believed they were going into a domestic violence situation and they are taught domestic violence calls are among the most dangerous, said Edward Obayashi, who is also deputy sheriff and policy advisor for the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office in California.

He said officers on domestic violence calls can find themselves facing people “hell-bent” on killing officers or being killed by officers themselves.

“I’m not saying this is the situation here,” Mr Obayashi said.

“But the officers definitely — based on their training and experience nationwide — are taught this. As soon as they saw the gun, instinctively that’s exactly what went through their mind.”

They’re a gang, and the gang leaders are teaching them all the wrong things.  I’ll say it again.  My son did room clearing in Fallujah for seven months, and never shot any innocent people.  It’s possible to be a man, not to be so timid and scared, and to do this the right way.  Unleashing cops who have been trained to be unaccountable monsters has ruined their reputation.  And properly so.

Don’t talk to cops.  Don’t open the door for them.  Get away from them as soon as possible.  “You’re never in more danger than when the police are around.”  Calling cops to a scene only makes it more dangerous by orders of magnitude.

Harrison Kass writing at 19FortyFive.

And when there’s a problem, sticking with the status quo is unlikely to solve the problem. Something needs to give. And while second amendment enthusiasts will argue that the solution to gun violence is more guns, I don’t find that argument compelling. And while liberals believe the solution to gun violence would be to get rid of all guns, that’s just simply never going to happen.

Banning assault rifles and high-capacity magazines seems like a reasonable accommodation to make. Sure, it would impede people’s recreation. And no, it wouldn’t do anything for the assault weapons and high-capacity magazines already in circulation.

But a ban would reduce the number of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in circulation increasingly over time (the longer the ban is in effect), and resultantly, over time, that would continue to reduce the likelihood of assault weapon/high-capacity mags use in a deadly shooting.

When there’s a problem, approaching its solution from the right world and life view is critical.  His world and life view is vapid and empty.  It has no solutions for anything.  Notice the lack of ideas, the desperation, the general malaise and the complete impotence to effect anything good.

The solution to wickedness is the justification freely offered by the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.  What Harrison proposes is to remove weapons from the hands of the very people who would be left unprotected against tyranny by the government.

How much damage could that do?  At least 170 million people dead at the hands of governments in the twentieth century alone according to Dave Kopel.  Stephen Halbrook also has some stern words for the controllers.

If Harrison doesn’t have any faith in God and His Holy Word, he certainly has it in mankind, evil as it is.  It must be an awful thing to have so much faith in something so wicked, deceitful and tumultuous as the heart of man.

By the way, 19FortyFive feigns militaria and other related articles and posts, but it’s a very liberal publication.  They no more care about you and your right to live peaceably and protected from your government and other criminals than they care about God’s laws.  They are not so dissimilar to CNAS with its globalist ideas, and Harrison is not so dissimilar to Andrew Exum with his support for controlling and overbearing government.  So it’s not surprising that Harrison wants some solution, any solution, to a problem he and his ilk cannot even begin to address, i.e., evil.  That they even try would be amusing if it wasn’t so sad and pathetic.

Source.

Cage spoke to Nicholas Hoult, his co-star in the upcoming film titled “Renfield,” as he told the tale of his bug-eating experience.

“Oh yeah, I ate it twice, because the director did it just to prank me,” Cage said, according to Yahoo. He then gave Hoult some advice about eating bugs on the set of their new film, since his character eats insects to gain superhuman powers. “If you could get rid of your fear, your phobia of eating insects you could solve world starvation,” he said, according to Yahoo.

Cage continued to detail the potential perks that come with eating bugs.

“High protein, no fat, excellent nutrients, abundance — they’re everywhere,” he said. “I mean, why not? But nope. Not gonna happen,” Cage said.

Hunger is caused by theft, laziness, and lack of obedience to God’s laws.  Eating bugs won’t solve any problems.  It will create more.

But at least you know that all of Hollywood is controlled by the WEF and Klaus Schwab.  There is nothing in it for Nicholas Cage to promote bug-eating except for acceptance and money.  To him, that’s reason enough.