Articles by Herschel Smith

In sad news concerning the U.S. Marine Corps, those in charge have decided to rid themselves of one of their greatest assets.

The Marine Corps is getting rid of one of its most elite and storied jobs — the scout sniper.

Official message traffic leaked to social media last week described a switch from scout sniper platoons to what will only be known only as “scout platoons.”

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The Marine Corps’ commandant, Gen. David Berger, has been vocal about wanting infantry Marines to become well-versed in multiple weapons systems — less specialized and more “commando-like.”

That’s a joke.  I’ve told them before what it would take to bring them up to par with SOCOM, or thereabouts, so they don’t get hand-me-down weapons and last place in the money pecking order.  It’s basically everything they’re not doing.

In unfortunately related news, the greatest close air support aircraft ever invented is finally being phased out because AF pilots want to fly sexy fighter jets, I guess.

• After years of debate, Congress has approved a US Air Force plan to begin retiring A-10 Thunderbolts.
• The A-10 is the only US military aircraft purpose-built to provide close air support to ground forces.
• But training documents raise questions about the Air Force’s focus on that mission going forward.

After repeatedly blocking the US Air Force’s attempts to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II, Congress late last year approved a plan to decommission 21 of the venerable ground-attack aircraft, which is the only US military aircraft purpose-built for close air support.

Those retirements would shrink the Air Force’s A-10 fleet to 260 aircraft, and Air Force leaders plan to continue decommissioning A-10s in the years ahead.

Air Force officials have said they want to replace the A-10, affectionately known as the Warthog, with the F-35 as the service’s primary close-air-support aircraft.

That last statement is as much of a joke as the MC statement I called out above.

The gutting of the U.S. military is almost complete.  The perfumed princes have been in charge for too long now to recover it.  Is it any wonder they aren’t meeting recruitment goals and won’t in the future?

Source.

Lawmakers are poised to let Floridians carry guns, without the need for a concealed weapons permit. In a strange crossfire, though, the pro-gun bill is drawing heat from both sides of the battle over access to firearms.

So-called ‘constitutional’ carry advocates are angry because they want people allowed to openly display weapons, a step not allowed in the legislation. Supporters of more gun limits call it crazy to give more untrained Floridians the opportunity to wield guns.

But the delicately crafted ‘permitless’ compromise has the support of the Florida Sheriffs Association and other law enforcement groups, who balk at open carry. A question hovering: Will DeSantis sign a bill that doesn’t satisfy Second Amendment ideologues?

I’ve written on how this so-called “constitutional carry” bill is a farce, a phantom put forward by workers of magic and flim-flam artists.  I’ve also written DeSantis to tell him that no one will be happy with this outcome.

The progs will hate him for it, of course.  But this doesn’t appease those who want their liberty recognized by law.

No one wins.  It means nothing.  It’s worthless.

Will DeSantis sign it?

Source.

Biden made the comments at the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference in Baltimore, Maryland on Wednesday night.

“I know it may make some of you uncomfortable, but that little state above me, Delaware is one of them, has the highest rate, one of the highest rates of gun ownership. But guess what? We’re going to ban assault weapons again come hell or high water and high capacity magazines. When we did it last time to reduce mass deaths,” Biden said.

These are signs of a demented old man who doesn’t know what’s going on around him.  First, those sentences make no sense.  The second bolded sentence is a sentence fragment and thus incomplete.  Also, it bears no relationship to the preceding sentence.  The man is losing it.

Second, the horse left the barn long ago.  He’s down the road and into the bush now.  There’s no getting him back in.  Semiautomatic pistols and handguns are ubiquitous.  They’re everywhere, carried on a daily basis even if your local Karen can’t see them.  You see, we’ve made it like that.  We’ve made it to where gentlemen don’t openly display their weapons.  Like criminals or those who are ashamed, everybody hides them now.  Karen’s can’t see them, and because of that, they don’t know that so many exist.

But they do.  Multiple tens of millions of them.  And they won’t be confiscated or turned in.

Further, the Bruen decision has now made it impossible for there to be a national ban on semiautomatic weapons.  A new AWB is a pipe dream.

Deal with it.

Source.

Only three states fully prohibit the open carry of firearms by citizens, and I bet you’d be surprised to hear Florida is among them. Yes, we frustratingly find ourselves in the company of New York and Illinois on this issue. And Republican leaders, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, appear poised to keep it that way under the misnamed “constitutional carry” bill that is expected to pass this session.

Gun owners saw right through the façade when House Speaker Paul Renner threw a press conference at the end of January to celebrate introduction of the “constitutional carry” bill.

On the one hand, it does go a long way in restoring the rights of our residents and visitors alike to carry arms in public for self-defense without a permit. On the other hand, the bill falls short of every constitutional carry law in the country by quietly omitting the right to carry openly.  So our leaders are trying to appease one side and fool the other.

I drove eight hours to testify at a hearing earlier this month on the current bill, and walked away ecstatic when witness after witness demanded the addition of open carry. In contrast, when pressed about open carry afterward, sponsor state Rep. Chuck Brannan (R-Macclenny) apathetically stated the bill “is what it is as filed.” Meanwhile, Brannan’s sentiments were shared by Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples).

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The same old arguments about bad people getting guns and “Wild West shootouts” materializing in the streets will be raised, but we have a mountain of evidence from other states to refute these claims. And to clarify, this legislation has nothing to do with acquiring firearms – rather it only authorizes those who already own firearms legally to carry them in public without government permission.

Now is the chance for Gov. DeSantis to once again step in and snag victory from the clutch of defeat by the members of his own party in the Legislature. While he’s catching some flak over other Second Amendment missteps, DeSantis can prove the doubters wrong with this issue by demanding open carry before anything gets his signature.

We don’t want watered down legislation. We want the great leap that other states have taken, which will put Florida at the forefront of liberty on another critical issue and far away from New York, Illinois and Washington, D.C. I’m urging Florida’s leadership to get it done – the right way!

Luis Valdes is the Florida state director for Gun Owners of America, a nonprofit, grassroots lobbying organization. He is a former police officer and detective.

The so-called “constitutional carry” Florida is pushing is not constitutional carry.  There is nothing in the constitution about the government telling men how they must carry their weapons.  What they’re doing is a sham, a fakery, and an insult.

It’s a trick perpetrated by carnival barkers and flim-flam artists.

The Florida legislature has failed that they even have to be told to do this, and even greater that they’re refusing to do it.  This is all a gigantic failure, and while I like what I see in DeSantis, if he claims on the campaign trail that he recently passed constitutional carry, I’ll point out the lie each and every time I see it.

He should make it clear to the legislature that unless this bill includes open carry, he won’t sign it.  That the current bill doesn’t include it is totally irrelevant.  They can work through the night to pass the right language.  So in addition to being flim-flam artists, the legislators are liars for pretending in front of constituents that there is nothing they can do about it.

They can always rectify errors.

Maybe they were already a member.  I don’t often follow Minnesota politics, but this one is a doozey.  If you value your firearms and live in Minnesota, you will have to move if this bill passes.

Yes, it’s only one down, and many more to go.  But it has to throw a wet blanket on the rest of them for one of the AGs to say in writing that their own laws violate the 2A.

Here is the court filing.

The Supreme Court has made clear that individuals have the right to carry handguns publicly for self-defense. (J.A. 36). As noted by the district court, “New York’s exclusion is valid only if the State ‘affirmatively prove[s]’ that the restriction is part of the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” (J.A. 36 citing Bruen, 142 S.Ct. at 2127). Since the Second Amendment is the very product of an interest balancing, already conducted by “the People,” which “elevates above all other interests the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms for selfdefense”, the Court constructed a rigorous test in determining whether this restriction is part of the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Id. at 1231 citing Heller, 554 U.S. at 635.

Despite this long-standing tradition, New York’s new exclusion is in direct conflict with the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen …

So admitted and confessed by one of the defendants.

I don’t have to worry about this since I NEVER put metal to my BCGs.  I only use cleaners and nylon brushes.

With that said, I think it might be nice to get the gauges he mentioned.

Source.

The Estes Park Police Department received a report from an anonymous source at approximately 9:23 a.m. Wednesday that there would be an active shooter at the Estes Park High School, which was closed due to weather.

Estes Park was among several Colorado school districts that received threats Wednesday, including Alamosa, Aspen, Boulder, Brighton, Cañon City, Clear Creek County, Durango, Englewood, Fort Morgan, Gilpin County, Lamar, Roaring Forks and Wiggins.

A majority of the schools were either evacuated or put on lockdown as a safety precaution, and all threatening reports proved unfounded.

Estes Park Police Chief David Hayes said he was informed about a threat that came into Boulder High School at approximately 8:33 a.m., before being informed by an EPPD staff member that Estes Park received a threat of its own.

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While one of the last rooms in the elementary school was being cleared, an Estes Park Police officer fired their rifle. “It was an accidental discharge,” said Hayes. “The bullet went into the floor. The good news is that no one was injured, clearly something we don’t want to happen.”

As I’ve observed so many times before, “You’re never in more danger than when the police are around.”  Get away from them as fast as is humanly possible.

I suspect that pranksters know this dictum and intended this to be a dangerous situation.  It’s a wonder someone wasn’t shot by the cops.

Can you imagine a chief of police being so nonchalant about a negligent discharge by you?  Do you think you would be charged with a crime if you discharged a firearm inside a school?  Maybe red flagged with permanent loss of firearms rights, a hefty fine, and some punitive jail time?

Tenth Amendment Center.

The federal government relies heavily on state cooperation to implement and enforce almost all of its laws, regulations and acts – including gun control. By simply withdrawing this necessary cooperation, states and localities can nullify many federal actions in effect. As noted by the National Governors’ Association during the partial government shutdown of 2013, “states are partners with the federal government on most federal programs.”

Based on James Madison’s advice for states and individuals in Federalist #46, a “refusal to cooperate with officers of the Union” represents an extremely effective method to bring down federal gun control measures because most enforcement actions rely on help, support and leadership from state and local governments.

Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano agreed. In a televised discussion on the issue, he noted that a single state taking this step would make federal gun laws “nearly impossible” to enforce.

“Partnerships don’t work too well when half the team quits,” said Michael Boldin of the Tenth Amendment Center. “By withdrawing all resources and participation in federal gun control, states and even local governments can help bring these unconstitutional acts to their much-needed end.”

The state of Iowa can legally bar state agents from enforcing federal gun control. Refusal to cooperate with federal enforcement rests on a well-established legal principle known as the anti-commandeering doctrine.

Simply put, the federal government cannot force states to help implement or enforce any federal act or program. The anti-commandeering doctrine is based primarily on five Supreme Court cases dating back to 1842. Printz v. U.S. serves as the cornerstone.

Despite all of the accolades for the appropriateness of the action being taken by this subcommittee, I see efforts like this as toothless.

They are necessary first steps, but proponents should see them as such.  Until they send county Sheriffs after FedGov agents who attempt to enforce federal infringements, this just isn’t a serious effort.  FedGov agents must be imprisoned when they attempt their infringements, or else they won’t stop.

Non-cooperation isn’t nullification.

Source.

Colorado counties would be able to prohibit people from discharging firearms in specific unincorporated areas under a bill moving through the state House.

Currently, a board of county commissioners can designate unincorporated areas of a county where it’s illegal to discharge firearms. However, the commissioners can’t prohibit the discharge of firearms in shooting galleries, on private grounds or in residences in circumstances where persons and property aren’t endangered. Plus, an area must have a population density of 100 people or more per square mile for commissioners to enact a designation.

House Bill 23-1165 repeals the exemption for private property. It changes the minimum population density to require any designated area for restrictions to be 35 dwellings or more per square mile. The legislation also prohibits any county from restricting the discharge of a firearm by any peace officer, in an indoor shooting gallery located in a private residence or at a shooting range.

This is one more tactic used by the controllers.  First they go after firearms.  Then they go after ammunition.  Then they go after licensing and permitting to own and carry them.  Finally, they go after being able to practice and hunt with them.

The work around the clock to infringe upon your rights.  We must work around the clock to stop them.