I will continue to remind everyone of the tragedy as long as I have breath.

By the way, I really love the cadence of his narration, and his prose is virtually poetic.

Recall that I told you that the Virginia Creeper trail above Damascus, Virginia, was closed, and the only part of the trail open was between Abingdon and Damascus?

Here’s why. I can’t embed it because it’s a YouTube Short. The images are stunning.

Pay attention or you’ll miss his point.

Standing tall and proud, as they should.

A group of coal miners from West Virginia have finished building a road from Big Chimney in under a week.

A road that North Carolina Government Officials said would take several months to a year for them to do. #appalachianstrong pic.twitter.com/Y5E9BWbcAM

— Appalachian Liberty (@Liberty_Xtreme) October 26, 2024

Here is what Chimney Rock looked liked during the flooding.

Here is an arial view of the road they built.

Here is the report.

Blue-collar workers prevailed over bureaucracy in Hurricane Helene-ravaged North Carolina by rebuilding a highway at breakneck speed on their own terms – allowing residents to finally return home.

Coal miners from West Virginia – whom locals have lovingly dubbed the “West Virginia Boys” – moved a mountain in just three days to reopen a 2.7-mile stretch of Highway 64 between Bat Cave and Chimney Rock washed away by Helene.

Chimney Rock residents who fled the hurricane one month ago will now be able to return home for the first time within a few days, months earlier than they expected.

“The river swallowed the road, so I haven’t been home since the hurricane,” Robin Phillips, 49, told The Post.

“The West Virginia boys have moved the mountains. All of the roads were just gone, until now. It’s nothing short of miraculous.

“I haven’t been to my house since the flood but I know very soon I’ll be able to. Without their help, who knows, it would be months before I could access our house.”

Phillips and her husband also run a campground in Chimney Rock, she said. They have not been able to assess the state of their business since the hurricane came through.

“For a small community like ours without many residents, that could easily get overlooked, it’s unreal what they’re doing,” she said of the miners’ effort.

The Post previously spoke to “sole survivors” from Chimney Rock, who expected to spend a year on the open road until road access to their home was restored.

On Friday, The Post watched while the miners balanced a bulldozer and two excavators on the banks of the newly-widened Broad River to shift the final 20-ton granite boulder into place to restore access between the two towns.

The miners, who were all volunteering their time, were too sheepish about building a highway without legal permission to speak on the record.

Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), North Carolina Department of Transportation and the local Sheriff’s office all visited the site but turned a blind eye to the unsanctioned build.

Logan Campbell, 37, a volunteer from Mississippi, said the miners embodied the American spirit.

“To see this many wonderful men, women, all races, different political views, none of that matters at all in these situations,” he told The Post.

“Weak people don’t show up for s–t like this, and if they do they don’t last long.

“It’s such a heartwarming thing to see amidst all the heartbreak.

“It gives you so much hope for the American we all want to believe in and the America we want our children to experience.”

Campbell and his friend Dan Lewis, 41, have been sleeping in tents for the past 17 days volunteering for the residents in the hardest hit towns.

“Different road crews came in and said ‘it’s not doable, the people who live between Bat Cave and Chimney Rock will be trapped in all winter,” said Lewis, who traveled to North Carolina from Oklahoma.

“The DOT (North Carolina Department of Transportation) said ‘yeah, we’ll send some engineers down here and assess the situation.’

“Then the West Virginia boys came in and said, ‘We’ll have this road punched in in about three days.’ No s–t,” he recalled.

“The Army Corps of Engineers took a look and said they’d send some surveyors and engineers, the same thing the DOT said pretty much. I told them you might as well not waste your time because the West Virginia guys will have this road built before you finish your paperwork,” Lewis continued.

“It’s a miracle. It’s unfathomable what has happened in the past few days.

Many in the area still feel abandoned by FEMA and other emergency responders.

Bat Cave resident Curtis McCart – who appeared on The Post’s cover in the immediate wake of Helene – said he still has not received any FEMA aid, but that the agency has set up in the fire department to help residents work on their claims.

“This area got left alone. I rode my horse around and talked to people who haven’t seen any officials,” Lewis told The Post.

Hey, my state of North Carolina indemnifies engineers for volunteer services performed during emergencies. If they need a PE to come look at it and put a seal on it, I’m available.

My wife and I took a bike ride on the Virginia Creeper trail Saturday morning. We had read the report that the trail had been re-opened and both wanted to ride again and also to help the fine folks in that area with our business. This is a trip we have taken dozens of times. The part of the trail from Whitetop to Damascus is closed and will be for a very long time, perhaps years. The portion between Damascus and Abingdon is open, albeit with a few rough patches that make is a little more like single track than pleasant road. That’s fine with me.

Eighteen trestles were completely destroyed over the Whitetop Laurel River. That river is wide at parts and deep at parts, and both wide and deep at parts. Without the trestles there is no way to get down from the mountain, and also no way to get to the outside world (more on that later).

We began on Highway 321 but were soon diverted to other roads (we should have known that we couldn’t get there by the regular route). Highway 421 in the section crossing NC into Tennessee (to Mountain City) is closed. We were sent (by Waze) through West Jefferson, NC. We began to see the damage that had been done by the flooding as soon as we left West Jefferson.

Every few hundred yards was a new debris pile that will eventually have to be burned. I was astonished at the trash lining the river banks. The river banks were not what they used to be. A lot of escarpment had been washed away and in its place was debris, dead trees, mud, and as I said, trash. Miles and miles of trash that had washed down the river and deposited along the sides of the river. It looked like a scene from a war.

We were eventually routed on to a gravel road that was suitable only for a single vehicle, around winding turns, up hills and down, with washouts every few hundred yards. We were within feet or even inches of having a tire over the edge of some of the washed out areas (and then down the mountain with what I’m sure would have been several dozen rolls of our vehicle).

We didn’t know we would end up taking this route. We should have gone Highway 77 to Highway 81 to Highway 91 and it would have taken us into Damascus on clear roads. Anyway, this way I got to see the damage and destruction. People live up in these hills and believe me when I tell you that many of them are cut off from the rest of the world. That gravel road is currently only suitable for ATV traffic, at least safely, and then maybe not.

Asplundh trucks and workers are everywhere (before you get on this road). I wonder who is paying for all of this work? When you get on this gravel road, you’re literally on your own. You could have rolled off the side of the mountain and no one would have known it for weeks. Eventually though, we ended up in Taylors Valley, Virginia. I was shocked. We drove right up to the restaurant we always stopped at in Taylors Valley when biking from White Top. I looked to the right for the bridge / trestle and it was gone. In its place was an enormous amount of gravel on both sides of the river with a temporary bridge.

I was thankful for that bridge. On the other side of the Whitetop Laurel River, you need a bridge or trestle to get down to civilization. The folks there would be completely cut off without it, and I’m sure they were for some period of time before the temporary bridge was put up. The driver who took us to Abingdon talked some about what happened in Taylors Valley. He described the story of the couple who almost perished, although in greater detail that in this report (because up there, everybody knows everybody). He actually bound his life vest to a tree so that “his body could be found later.”

At Blue Blazes Bike Rental (where we hopped a ride to Abingdon with our own bikes) Rick told us that the mud inside the shop was two feet deep. They had to excavate before the shop could be reopened. Other businesses there were destroyed. It all made me very sad. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Rick for very long, but I’ve written him and told him that I’d like to volunteer my time for any manual labor they or anyone else in the area needs.

I do have a few closing thoughts. Our driver told us about a visit to Damascus from OSHA soon after the flooding. The OSHA inspector had a big problem with a receptable that had no plate – in a city without power. He made other problems for them too, until the chief of police told him to get out of the town.

FEMA came up there too, but sat in offices (or tents) and hooked up to the internet (I guess via uplinks and battery power) and after they were told of a isolated couple that needed help, the response was “Tell them to come down here and fill out some forms.” He was told that the couple was isolated, had no power, and didn’t know how to use a computer anyway. Eventually they were able to talk him into hopping a ride with someone to actually go see them.

The National Guardsmen who were manning the station at Ashe County to supply emergency resources to the people were doing mostly nothing as far as I could tell. They should have been on the train up to where we were with backpacks on. We went further in car than they did by any means at all. Asplundh made it further up into the NC mountains than the NC national guard did.

If the NG actually wants to train its men to do this sort of thing, they need to look for hunters, survivalists and backpackers. What better training for the NG than to put on backpacks and head into the mountains of NC and Virginia with no power, only the weight on their backs, and maybe a Milstar uplink?

FEMA should look for the same type of people if they are serious about their mission. But they apparently aren’t, and so it’s a waste of taxpayer money. No one I talked to said anything good about any government entity at all after the flood (except for city or county rescue), although the helicopter that picked up the survivor in Taylors Valley was a Black Hawk, so thankfully the NC NG did something right.

The NC legislature will have to make it so that all of these piles of debris can be burned without interference from NC DHEC. I have no confidence that the governor will do anything about this, but hopefully the legislature can get a veto-proof vote on helping these folks out. Most of the work I saw happening was being done by the people of Ashe County, not any government entity.

I do have a few pictures I may share later.

Mrgunsngear reviews an American-made MP5 clone.

I think this is an interesting weapon, and I asked a friend of mine of adding a stock to this would make and SBR (knowing the answer before I asked).

He has a brace on it. You can argue that this is just a work-around to the NFA, or you can argue that this is an accoutrement that allows you to shoot the weapon in the best ergonomic configuration to be successful in a self defense situation. In the end, I don’t care how you argue.

The court has knocked down ATF challenges to the pistol-brace decision.

I think it’s instructive that the trigger is so heavy and has such large travel. I suppose if you purchased this model you’d have to get work done on the trigger (or a new one).

Source (via WiscoDave).

Hunters take note: State attorneys are arguing your rifles are not “constitutionally” protected in Connecticut.

What does that mean? According to attorney Joshua Perry, who works for the Connecticut Attorney General’s office, this means hunting rifles are legal but not protected by the Constitution. He argues that the Constitution only guarantees citizens the right to guns commonly used in self-defense and that semi-automatic rifles used in hunting do not fall into that category.

This discussion came up on Wednesday in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Attorneys representing Gov. Ned Lamont and the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) made oral arguments in front of Judge Alison Nathan. This was a part of a lawsuit the NAGR filed against the state last year.

NAGR, and a co-plaintiff Toni Theresa Spera, are challenging “An Act Concerning Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety.” The act, which was passed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, bans the sale of firearms and accessories classified as “assault weapons.” NAGR and Spera believe this violates their Second Amendment rights.

Perry argued the state could restrict guns not commonly used for self-defense. Nathan asked if, by this logic, semi-automatic hunting rifles were protected. Perry said they are not.

“Connecticut restricts instrumentalities that are unusually dangerous, that are like M16 rifles, that have combat functional features, that allow users to hose down… a battlefield or tragically a school and cause a disproportionate number of casualties,” Perry said.

He referenced the bans of the M16. In 2008, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on the weapon in Columbia v. Heller.

Perry argues that the “plain text as historically understood” of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to self-defense, “not a right to possess any type of weapon for any sort of confrontation.”

Immediately after these arguments, another gun case was argued: Eddie Grant, Jr., v. James Rovella. Perry presented during these arguments as well.

“Connecticut has not banned hunting rifles. Whether or not they are constitutionally protected, they are certainly democratically protected,” Perry said. “As a rule, something that is popular doesn’t need constitutional protection, because it’s popular. Hunting rifles would certainly fall into that category.”

He went on to say, “As to whether Connecticut could restrict hunting rifles, I think we probably could not, because I think it could be shown that they are not unusually dangerous. They are not ill disproportionately suited in the way that… AR-15s are, and the record might well show that they were used and useful for self-defense. I’ll be honest, we have not done that analysis, but I have no reason to think that wouldn’t be true.”

Semi-automatic shotguns are used for hunting pheasants, waterfowl and partridge, according to Eugene Kisielewski, the treasurer of the Northwest Connecticut Rod and Gun Club, who spoke with Inside Investigator about hunting and gun ownership in Connecticut.

Kisielewski, who owns a semi-automatic shotgun to hunt pheasants, believes gun regulations in Connecticut are too strict, and expects them to get stricter in the immediate future.

“We do have a constitutional right to own and use firearms. When you’re talking [banning] about a particular type of firearm, then I think you’re really discriminating overall,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t see the difference in hunting with a semi-auto versus a bolt action or a pump action or a single shot. The projectile still comes out at the end of the barrel at a high rate of speed.”

Attorney Barry Arrington, who represented NAGR, says the AR-15 is not dangerous or unusual in the United States.

“The fact of the matter is that this is political grandstanding by the Connecticut legislature, it has no effect on crime,” Arrington told Inside Investigator in an interview. “For obvious reasons, a criminal is not going to walk down the street with the AR-15. All the cases say that handguns are preferred by shooters, even in mass shootings.”

The AR-15 is the most common rifle in the United States.

According to a report from the National Institute of Justice, over 75% of mass shootings involved handguns, and 25% involved assault rifles.

However, only 3% of gun deaths involved rifles of any kinds, according to Pew Research Center.

“If the most popular rifle in America is not protected by the constitution, then [no rifle] is,” Arrington said in court.

This is almost too much to unpack in a single post, but let’s give it a try.

First of all, sniper rifles of all sorts are still predominately bolt action rifles. The shooters are just highly trained and very good at their craft. So are so-called DMs (designated marksmen), although a DM might also use a semi-automatic rifle (either in 5.56mm or 7.62mm).

But as for the danger any long gun presents, simply see the example of Charles Whitman, who managed to kill 17 people mostly with a Remington 700 and Remington 6mm rifle, both bolt guns.

This conversation above is way behind the times. Many deer hunters are taking game with semi-automatic AR-10s shooting 6.5mm Creedmoor or .308. Good guns are capable of ~ 1 MOA or better. There is simply no difference today except hunter’s choice.

The conversation above also shows the complete ignorance of the lawyers who argued the case. They hadn’t thought about these issues. Or maybe they had thought about it, they just didn’t have an answer because lawyers seldom attempt to make their case logical, preferring to submit arguments to win a case regardless of how inconsistent or irrational they are. Here’s a tip for reading legal briefs and “friend of the court” briefs. If you study an argument, and agree or disagree with it, you might go to the next argument in the brief and see one that completely contradicts all of the salient points made in the prior argument. That’s not a mistake. They usually make no attempt to be persuasive using a logical approach all the way through the brief. The singular goal is to win the case, and if the judges won’t accept one argument, they might accept the next one.

But for the deer hunters out there who prefer their bolt action rifles and look down on guys who use AR-10s (there is still a lot of folks like that) and therefore stay away from gun rights arguments and even neglect to vote, David Codrea has a message for you: “Your turn in the barrel, Fudds. Just because Polyphemus promised to eat you last didn’t mean he wasn’t going to.”

You see, they don’t care about being honest. It’s all just in the messaging. All they care about is confiscating your firearms. In Australia, my understanding is that they have even outlawed lever action long guns because they are “repeaters.”

Always remember their long game (TCJ, citing Daily Kos).

The only way we can truly be safe and prevent further gun violence is to ban civilian ownership of all guns. That means everything. No pistols, no revolvers, no semiautomatic or automatic rifles. No bolt action. No breaking actions or falling blocks. Nothing. This is the only thing that we can possibly do to keep our children safe from both mass murder and common street violence.

Unfortunately, right now we can’t. The political will is there, but the institutions are not. Honestly, this is a good thing. If we passed a law tomorrow banning all firearms, we would have massive noncompliance. What we need to do is establish the regulatory and informational institutions first. This is how we do it.  The very first thing we need is national registry. We need to know where the guns are, and who has them.

If you think they are willing to stop at collecting machine guns, they will eventually go for your semi-automatic rifles. If you think they will stop at semi-automatic rifles, they’ll go for your bolt action and lever action rifles when you’re not looking.

They are the enemy. See them as such or you won’t have any firearms to take on your deer hunting trips no matter how nice that Remington 700 is and how many deer you’ve taken with it.

They hate you. They want you disarmed. Never forget that.

The second amendment is about the right of insurrection, not hunting, nor technically self defense, unless you fold self defense into the right of defense against tyranny (which I think is a perfectly fine and logically consistent thing to do). The point isn’t whether hunting rifles (here they mean bolt action rifles) are protected and whether they can be used for self defense. They are, and they have been, as have AR-15s.

Any weapon can be and has been used in warfare, from rocks to spears to arrows to revolvers to balls of fire to melted tar to bolt action and semi-automatic rifles and pistols and bombs.

All weapons are weapons of war. The issue here is that if they want to collect your guns, they intend to do something to you that would cause you to need your guns.

UPDATE: Kamala Harris once suggested that it would be great to ban all gun ownership (via Instapundit). But you knew that about her anyway.

Watch this video first. It’s short but instructive.

Snake Boots.

Next up, here’s someone who’s been out there a lot.

I had been suspecting something like this. And it’s not the first time I’ve heard it from folks who should know.

Also, catch what Mr Guns & Gear says about where FEMA is: Asheville and Boone. The land of progs and the town of ASU. I would have expected something like that from the cowards at FEMA. The rest of the poor folk are left to die in the wilderness or get help from the locals.

Also, he points out a very said fact. It’s getting cold in the hills of N.C. and Tennessee, and there are a lot of people who tried to survive as their house floated away, have no food, have no power, have no internet, and have no clean clothes, and are still having to make house payments.

Oh, and by the way, I would believe Eustace Conway before I would believe anybody in government, whether local, state or federal.

Of course, what he’s saying is a lie. He knows better when he says that the police will leave you your deer hunting rifles in a seizure of your firearms. The most unfortunate part isn’t that he’s a liar – everybody already knows that.

The most unfortunate part is that there are enough Fudds out there who focus on deer, turkey and upland bird hunting that if they can do that during season, that’s enough for them. As for red flag laws, implement away as far as they’re concerned.