Non NY Residents Can Apply for a NYC Pistol Permit

About two weeks ago, there were a few articles about an ‘Emergency Rule’ in New York City allowing non-New York State residents to apply for a pistol permit in NY City.  The stories fell far short of being fully informative and left many people confused.  SCOPE read the actual Emergency Rule* and the following is a summary.

On August 6th, NY City Mayor Adams signed the NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF EMERGENCY RULES RELATING TO NON RESIDENT APPLICANTS FOR CARRY LICENSES AND TO PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION AUTHORIZATIONS.  (Emphasis added.) The Emergency Rules are effective immediately, but only for 60 days while the NY Police Department develops permanent rules.

First, a brief history:

On June 23, 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled in N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen that New York State’s “proper cause” requirement for obtaining a concealed carry firearm license was an unconstitutional restriction on an individual’s 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.

On July 1, 2022, New York State enacted new statewide licensing standards removing the “proper cause” standard and adding additional criteria, effective September 1, 2022, for carry license applicants. (The ill named Concealed Carry Improvement Act.)

In addition, New York City says it revised its licensing regulations to remain consistent with case law and continues to do so in response to evolving Second Amendment cases, including the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Rahimi.

2024 NYPD rules did not contain formal procedures for applicants who do not reside in New York State, are not principally employed within New York City, and do not have their principal place of business in New York City.

Which brings us to today. 

Mayor Adams believes an Emergency Order is needed, two years later!  Sounds fishy!  (With apologies to fish.)

The order justifies itself by the following statement: Delaying implementation of these additional rules would severely impede New York City’s ability to effectively and legally regulate handgun ownership within its jurisdiction.

That doesn’t begin to explain the sudden emergency, after two years, to permit non-New York State residents who are not principally employed within New York City to apply for a pistol permit in NY City.

And what is that add on about rules for “Purchase and Registration Authorizations”

Per the order:  Section 5-25 of Title 38 of the Rules of the City of New York, relating to handgun acquisition requirements is REPEALED, and a new section 5-25 is added. In addition to any applicable federal or state requirements, the following procedures apply to all licensees seeking to acquire and register a handgun to one or more of their licenses

No person shall acquire a firearm if such person has acquired a firearm within the previous ninety (90) days

Any licensee who obtains a handgun must purchase or obtain a safety locking device at the time of acquisition of such handgun,

A licensee may not take possession of a handgun without prior written authorization from the Division Head, License Division.

A licensee may not take possession of a handgun before it has been inspected by License Division personnel and entered on the license.

The number of handguns allowed under each type of handgun license is limited to 1 or 2.

Buried in the non-resident Emergency Rules are more anti-2A rules which have nothing to do with non-residents. 

Sneaky.  But could there be even more that is concerning NY City’s anti-2A leadership?

On August 24^th it was reported that the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), the California Rifle & Pistol Association, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of California and seven private citizens won a victory when a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction against California’s ban on non-resident concealed carry.  (The state has 21 days to file a response.)

In her decision, Judge Garnett observed, “the State bears the burden of showing whether California’s residency requirements for a CCW license is ‘consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation…the State has not carried its burden at this stage to show that the limitation of CCW licenses to California residents is part of a historical tradition of this Nation.”

Could this be the emergency?

Did NY City suspect that the courts would rule against California and issue an opening salvo against non-resident concealed carry as being unconstitutional under “Bruen”.  The same thing that NY City says it is addressing in its Emergency Rules - which only serve to make the rules more bureaucratic.  Non-NYS residents can apply for a permit but don’t hold your breath while the anti-2A bureaucracy in NY City buries you in rules, regulations, delays and disinterest under the Emergency Rules. 

When faced with losing a court case, in the past, both NY City and State have tried to moot the case by tweaking the law.  Their changes may not hold up under judicial scrutiny but that’s not the point.  Forcing 2A plaintiffs to spend years and hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawsuits - that’s the point.

Statement of Basis and Purpose of Emergency Rule

PRESS AND PROTESTS SHOULD CHALLENGE DEM CRIME REFORMS  - by Bob Lonsberry 2024

When you call the police, they come.

But now the police have called us, and we should come.

On Friday, in the lobby of the Public Safety Building, Chief Dave Smith of the Rochester Police Department lingered somewhere between rage and heartbreak, thundering in exasperation and emotional fatigue about one more crime and one more death and one more illustration of the fact the laws and lawmakers of the state of New York are on the side of the criminals.

This involved Thomas Chase, a 92-year-old retired college professor who spent the last 30 years as a volunteer piano player at a nursing home. Chief Smith leaned into the wreckage of Mr. Chase’s car on Thursday, his lifeblood still flowing from his shattered body, and recited the Lord’s Prayer as a service at his passing.

Mr. Chase’s car had been hit by a 17-year-old blowing like hell down East Avenue in a stolen Kia.

It was the 17-year-old and two confederates and 10 minutes before they had been one side of a shootout on Maria Street. Between then and the moment of impact there had been a car change – from one stolen Kia to another – an attempt to ram a police officer, and the headlong sprint away from the screaming blue and whites.

And then the crash into a sainted elderly man the next town over.

And that was pretty sad. But, with more than 30 years on the job, Chief Smith has seen dead people before. And with his Christian faith and the cross on his uniform denoting his chaplain training, he’s prayed for victims before.

But this was different.

Because this vehicular homicide had so many accomplices. The governor, the speaker, the majority leader, Harry Bronson, Jeremy Cooney, Samra Brouk, Jen Lunsford, Demond Meeks, Sarah Clark, and all their co-conspirators in the state capital. All have blood on their hands. All the way to their elbows. They had a part in killing Thomas Chase, and in victimizing hundreds of others who were slain, raped, beaten or robbed by criminals freed and empowered by the “criminal-justice reforms” of the Democratic Party.

That 17-year-old? The one behind the wheel and behind the crime? He is a parolee – already, at 17 – who was arrested a dozen times in Rochester alone last year for stealing cars and smashing them into businesses to steal and loot. His most recent arrest was for another stolen car in the Buffalo area four weeks ago.

He has been arrested over and over and over by the police, and turned loose over and over and over by the politicians. Raise the Age, a specific piece of legislation pushed by the governor, speaker, majority leader and every member of the local Democratic delegation to the state legislature, removed him as a juvenile from any sort of real accountability. Bail Reform, a specific piece of legislation pushed by the governor, speaker, majority leader and every member of the local Democratic delegation to the state legislature, turned him loose repeatedly with nothing more than an appearance ticket. Less is More, a specific piece of legislation pushed by the governor, speaker, majority leader and every member of the local Democratic delegation to the state legislature, made it virtually impossible for his parole to be violated, even when he was charged with subsequent felony crimes.

And so he was free.

The politicians set him free.

To get in a shootout on Maria Street, to almost smash into a cop, to kill a kindly retired professor in Brighton.

And Chief Smith stood there on Friday in the lobby of the Public Safety Building fit to be tied.

He was calling for help.

And it’s our time to answer.

The direct moral culpability of specific local and state politicians must be acknowledged and protested – by the people and the press.

Dog-and-pony show appearances in the Rochester region by the governor, speaker and majority leader should be protested loudly. Let every ribbon cutting, airport press conference and glory-seeking stop by any member of this troika of lawlessness be met with pickets and protests.

And let the local press stop being lapdogs for politicians who treat them like PR functionaries. At every appearance by visiting office holders, and at every press event or public appearance of Jeremy Cooney, Samra Brouk, Harry Bronson, Demond Meeks, Jen Lunsford and Sarah Clark, let local reporters have the courage to make every question be about criminal-justice reform. If the people, sheriff, chiefs, district attorney and activists decry the carnage imposed by these reforms, why are reporters not persistent in pressing those in power on the issue?

If the press is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, no one is more comfortable, powerful, privileged or elite in this community than those who have voted to support the laws which killed Thomas Chase and others across Rochester.

This is not a partisan undertaking – math and mail-ins assure that Democrats will win every countywide and state legislative election in Monroe County for generations to come – so the press wouldn’t be hurting the Democratic Party, with which it is apparently allied, but it would be helping the people of Rochester, which whom it should be allied.

It’s time to go Ida Tarbell and Jacob Riis on this subject. Neglect by the elites – through poisonous legislation – victimizes the people of Rochester, who are disproportionately poor and non-white. Somebody should stand up for them.

And somebody should answer the call of the police.

They did their job. Over and over and over. And Thomas Chase still ended up dead.

It’s time to answer the call.

Protest all visits of senior state officials to Rochester, and make every public appearance by Democratic state legislators a press conference on criminal-justice reforms.

It’s time all of us – the people and the press – were fit to be tied.

Lead Ammo Again

The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is pushing the use of non-lead ammo. 

In April, it released an update to their study.  A summary is published on their web site under the heading: “Choose Non-Lead Ammunition.”

The following is taken directly from the DEC web site.

“…due to the social, political, economic, and ecological complexity of this issue, the New York State "Lead Ammunition Working Group" was formed in December 2020. The charge to the Working Group…was to conduct a comprehensive examination of the risks posed by lead hunting ammunition to wildlife and people and recommend actions to minimize those risks.”

The summary is almost entirely devoted to the dangers of lead ammo or the advantages of non-lead ammo.  It includes “helpful tips that deer hunters would never have thought of, such as:

Practice marksmanship and outdoors skills to get cleaner, closer and precise shots.

Avoid shots at running deer as this decreases accuracy.

Wow!  Thanks DEC!

Buried in this indictment of lead ammo is one sentence:

“To date, there are no reported human illnesses related to the consumption of wild game shot with lead ammunition.”

One question left unanswered is how much money was spent to produce this study.  Since Cornell University was involved, my guess is “a lot.”

 

The “War on Lead Ammo” has been previously highlighted by SCOPE with its coverage of NY Senate bill S8461, which would add very expensive modifications to many (if not most) Skeet Shooting Ranges, in the name of lead ammo contamination prevention.  Thankfully, that bill has gone nowhere, yet.  But like the “Terminator”, it will be back.

Operation Demoralize

Cornell Professor William Jacobson wrote in Legal Insurrection:

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke to you about Operation Demoralize.

It’s something we’ve been tracking at Legal Insurrection since 2011 and what it is, it is a concerted effort every presidential election to suppress Republican votes by creating a narrative that it’s over. There’s nothing you can do. The momentum is with the Democrat. It’s already been written, the result.

And we know that’s not true. People are falling for it again. Now I see it all over the internet. I see it in my inbox, I see it in comments, I see it everywhere.

I just want to give you a little bit of historical perspective. On this date. August 14th, according to the Real Clear Politics national polling average, and that’s important, it’s the national average, Kamala Harris is up 1.1%. Oh my God, the sky is falling. It’s over.

By comparison on this date in 2020, Joe Biden was up by 7.7% in the same Real Clear Politics average, and on this date in 2016, Hillary was up 6.8%.

That’s the historical record. That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be concerned. That doesn’t mean people can’t do better. That doesn’t mean really anything other than you are being played.

Polling at this time in the year is junk Polling at this time in the year predicts nothing, and you should ignore it. Now you can’t ignore it because it’s all over the place. People are constantly citing the latest poll. What I’m telling you is this is Operation Demoralize.

This is going to be a close election just like it was in 2016 and just like it was in 2020. It’s going to be 30 or 50,000 votes in this state and 20,000 votes in that state. And we’re really fighting over a handful of states for who’s going to be president, and turnout is going to be critical. It doesn’t matter if Democrats win California by 5 million votes, that’s irrelevant. What matters is Pennsylvania and Michigan, and Georgia and Arizona, and two or three other states.

And to the extent the media is able to convince you that it is all over and there’s nothing you can do, that is not in your interest as a voter.

So what I’m saying to you is: We are still in Operation Demoralize. It’s working just like it does every summer that we’ve tracked it. Shake out of it and get yourself together. There are legitimate concerns that people need to address, but this hyperbole and this hair-on-fire reaction is ridiculous. So, carry on.

And it isn’t just Jacobson saying these things.

CNN’s Harry Enten issued a warning that Donald Trump is still very much in the presidential race.

Enten said, “We put out those poll numbers yesterday…all of which showed Kamala Harris with clear momentum and enthusiasm potentially on her side. But I just want to take a step back and sort of point out we’ve kind of been here before. So, August 13, how far were the polls off in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — and this is in 2016 and 2020 — Trump was under estimated both times around and by significant margins. Take a look here, in 2016 the average poll in those states they mentioned, those Great Lakes battleground states, Trump was underestimated by nine points on average at this point in 2016. How about 2020? It wasn’t a one off, look at this: He was underestimated by five points on average.”

“And of course Kamala Harris’s advantage in those New York Times-Siena College polls were four points in each of these key battleground states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. The bottom line is this: If you have any idea- if you’re a Kamala Harris fan and you want to rip open the champagne bottle, pop that cork, do not do it…If we have a polling shift like we’ve seen in prior years, from now until the final result, Donald Trump would actually win.”

And as to the ‘enthusiasm’ that he mentioned, Enten also pointed out that polling actually shows that Republicans are slightly more likely and Democrats are slightly less likely to say they will go to the polls than they were a few months ago.

Flip Flopping Away

Tim Walz is the Democrat nominee for Vice President and 2^nd Amendment defenders are jumping on him.  Even though the President is the important one in policy decisions, the Vice President should not be forgotten.  So, what the heck, let’s point out Walz’ history with the 2^nd Amendment.

Walz once had an A rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA).  The NRA has since changed that to an F.

Walz, who says he was never been a member of the NRA, replied, “I had an A rating from the NRA. Now I get straight F’s. And I sleep just fine.” 

So much for “inclusiveness” when it comes to caring what constituents who are gun owners think!

What changed Walz?

 Walz was a member of the House of Representatives for 12 years, he represented a conservative district that borders Iowa and the district was relatively friendly to guns.

In 2018 when Walz decided to run for Governor of Minnesota, he started pushing anti 2^nd Amendment policies.  Could his move leftward had to do with trying to get votes as he moved from a conservative district into a statewide race in a leftist state?

(Note: his running mate seems also inclined to change positions as she changes constituencies.  For instance, she is no longer for single-payer health care, or for defunding the police.  She is now for fracking and more border control.  Not to mention no taxes on tips, but I mentioned it anyway.  Reminds us a lot of Kristin Gillibrand’s “about face” on guns after she fell under Chuck Schumer’s magic spell.)

Walz wrote on Facebook during his run for governor, “I support universal background check legislation, oppose conceal and carry legislation…oppose legislation to reduce restrictions on gun silencers…I will work to ensure that Minnesota passes universal background check legislation…and support additional restrictions that ensure that Minnesota keeps guns out of the hands of dangerous people.”  (Sounds like he has checked most of the anti-2A boxes.) 

You know someone is deeply anti-2A when they are for restrictions on silencers / suppressors.  They don’t know what they are talking but that anti-2A rabbit hole they are going down forces them to say it, anyway.

He pushed an assault weapons ban by saying he wants to ban the guns he carried “in war.” He said: “We can make sure those weapons of war that I carried in war is [sic] the only place that those weapons are at.”

Oops.

As many have pointed out, he has never been in combat or carried any firearm “in war.”  His campaign has now acknowledged this was a misstatement by Walz.  (When a Republican does something like this it is ‘misinformation’ and must be censored to protect delicate ears.)

Kamala Harris told a Philadelphia campaign event that Walz believes: “as the majority of gun owners do, that we need reasonable gun safety laws in America.”  Walz is also portrayed as supporting “common-sense regulation.”

In 2018, Walz in an Op-Ed published by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, wrote about the NRA saying: “…it’s the biggest single obstacle to passing the most basic measures to prevent gun violence in America — including common-sense solutions that the majority of NRA members support.”

It is mandatory that every leftist statement on 2A include “common sense” and “reasonable” when describing their positions.  (Common sense seems to be an uncommon virtue in the left.)

Mr. Walz supports laws like universal background checks and extreme risk protection order (ERPO) laws which he believes don’t violate Constitutional protections. Walz also claims that anti-gun laws do not make it more challenging for gun owners to acquire firearms, even though he backs banning certain guns.

It’s a fair statement that Walz has earned his F rating from the NRA.

What Josh Shapiro Tells Us

Kamala Harris made a surprise pick for Vice President in Tim Walz, cementing her ticket as the most far left presidential and VP candidates in history.  Yes, even further left than Biden / Harris or Obama / Biden.  Which unquestionably means trouble for gun rights if they should win.

At the beginning of the V P selection process, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was viewed as the front-runner, as he is a popular governor of a must-win battleground state.  Why he was not selected tells us as much about Kamala Harris and the Democrats surrounding her as does the Harris / Walz ticket, itself.  We can learn much from the Shapiro episode.

In a nutshell, Shapiro wasn’t ‘progressive’ enough. Actions speak louder than words and he wasn’t far enough left.  The Left doomed Shapiro’s chances of being on the Harris ticket. Why?

Shapiro is pro-Israel.

The Biden-Harris Administration is struggling with its handling of the Israel-Hamas war. The horrific terrorist attack that Hamas unleashed last October, and Israel’s subsequent campaign to stomp out Hamas, ignited a firestorm of pro-Palestinian protest.  Being politicians, Harris (and Biden) have been pandering to the Palestinians who may be crucial in Michigan’s voting.  (For instance, the “Squad’s” Rashida Tliab is a Michigan Congressperson.)

Shapiro, who is Jewish, has been a strong defender of Israel.  A commentary he wrote decades ago, while a college student, labelled Palestinians as incapable of living in peace.  Since Harris and the left have been extremely negative to Israel, being pro-Israel probably doomed Shapiro’s candidacy.

If Harris / Walz are elected, it is reasonable to say, “Israel beware!”  

Shapiro is pro-school choice.

Shapiro has verbally supported education freedom and school choice and vetoed legislation designed to provide minority children in underperforming school districts with new education options. This antagonized the Democratic Party’s labor union base, especially the teachers’ union.

He failed a WOKE test.

Leftists feel that Shapiro failed to adequately address a sexual harassment scandal involving one of his cabinet secretaries.  What could be a greater sin than not bowing to the Woke ideology?

U S Senator John Fetterman doesn’t like him.

Fetterman warned Harris against picking Shapiro because of Shapiro’s overt ambition and reputation for throwing even allies under the bus if it suited his political goals. (No other politician, including Fetterman, is guilty of being ambitious and self-serving?)

Shapiro probably would have given a boost to Harris’ chances of winning battleground Pennsylvania, but he enraged key Democratic constituencies. In Harris’ mind, the harm to Harris’ far left constituency that Shapiro would have done greatly outweighed whatever electoral advantage he brought to the ticket in Pennsylvania. 

The interesting question is how much damage has been done to Shapiro within the Democrat Party by pointing out he is NOT a radical leftist.  If Shapiro really is so overly ambitious, will he move farther left to appease the controlling interests in the Democrat Party? 

And if there is any silly talk about the Harris / Walz ticket being centrist, the rejection of Shapiro proves they are wedded to the far-left branch of the Democrat Party, which seems to control the Democrat Party.  No centrist wanted.

Is there any doubt that the far-left leadership of the Democrat Party hates your 2^nd Amendment gun rights?  Beyond the many anti-gun statements of Harris and Walz, the Shapiro episode sends a clear message to those that defend the 2^nd Amendment that Harris / Walz will cater to the far left wing of the Democrat Party that hates gun rights.

Venezuela

Venezuela is floating on a sea of oil. But the socialist government’s corruption and mismanagement has forced most of the population into poverty.  As a result, many of the people invading our southern border are fleeing from Venezuela. 

Venezuelan dictator / president Nicolas Maduro ran against Edmundo Urrutia for President of Venezuela.  Last Monday, Maduro formally announced that he had won the election with more than 51% of the vote. His opponent’s party claimed Urrutia won with more than 73% of the vote.  (124% of the vote went to somebody!  Even CNN would have difficulty explaining that one away.)   

Ammoland reports that: “…when it became clear that he was going to lose to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, Maduro sent armed government thugs into polling places with orders to stop the voting.”

How are Venezuelans protesting?  In Caracas, hundreds of people marched through the streets, waving Venezuelan flags and chanting, “Liberty!”  Across the country, videos show crowds banging pots.

Maduro responded that his government “knows how to confront this situation and defeat those who are violent.”  CNN reports witnessing dozens of national guard soldiers in riot gear repressing the pot wielding protesters with tear gas and batons.

Pots are all Venezuelans have with which to protest.

In 2012, Venezuela banned private sales of firearms and ammunition and closed private gun shops.  In 2013 Venezuela stopped issuing new firearm licenses and in 2017, the government banned the carrying of firearms in public places.  (Inspiration for Kathy Hochul and the Concealed Carry Improvement Act.)  The army, police, and certain groups trusted by the government are exempt from the ban and can buy firearms from state-owned manufacturers.  The penalty for illegal firearm possession is twenty years imprisonment.

As Lee Williams said in Ammoland, “Every dictator knows that the first thing they must do to maintain their grip on power is ban civilian firearm ownership and then confiscate all the guns…Venezuela is the latest example of the need to protect and defend our Second Amendment rights. Rather than focusing solely on how they intend to disarm us, we should focus on why our politicians – including Harris – want a disarmed populace. It is certainly a question worthy of a response.”

Anti 2nd Amendment Vice President Kamala Harris issued a statement supporting Maduro’s claims.  “The United States stands with the people of Venezuela who expressed their voice in today’s historic presidential election. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected.”

Apparently, Kamala Harris is following in Biden’s footsteps and is on the wrong side of every international issue.  Move on.  Nothing to see here.

But now, she may be on the wrong side of Biden Administration.  Last Thursday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken finally acknowledged Gonzalez had won “the most votes” in the presidential election.

By the time you read this, who knows where Biden and Harris may be standing.

Other leaders were not so accommodating as Kamala Harris to Maduro.  He has bowed to pressure from neighboring countries and called for an audit.  (The audit will probably be as accurate as any audit of New York City voting.)

If faced with six more years of Maduro, we should see increased pressure on our southern border, to which “Border Czar” Kamala Harris will have to respond.  (Or not…based on previous experience.)

Which leaves us with two reasons for the 2^nd Amendment protections.

Socialist politicians fear an armed populace.  Guns are like nuclear deterrence; you never want to use them but having them keeps the bad guys and gals at bay. 

Those Venezuelans who will cross our border won’t all be law abiding people who just want to assimilate into the United States.

Crime Pays?

Justice Department officials Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page each had a role in feeding the false Russia Hoax aimed at handicapping Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Attorney General Sessions fired Deputy Director McCabe before McCabe could retire.  The DOJ Inspector General and the FBI's disciplinary office had said that McCabe had improperly authorized releases of information to The Wall Street Journal about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation and had misled agents who questioned him about it on four occasions, three of which were under oath.

Strzok played a senior role on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team until he was removed after an internal investigation revealed his texts with Page exhibited political bias. Page, who had also briefly served on Mueller’s team, resigned from her role as a lawyer for the FBI after the messages were discovered.

Oh yeah, the texts also revealed that Strzok and Page had an extramarital relationship.

In addition to the Russia Hoax, Strzok aided in Hillary Clinton not facing prosecution for her multiple violations of the law in storing top-secret information on her private email server.  (You may remember, the same laws Donald Trump was prosecuted for.)

In 2021, the Biden / Harris Justice Department’s restored Democrat McCabe’s retirement benefits, which he lost when he was fired.  (If he were a Republican doing the same thing, does anyone doubt he would be in jail?)

Now, the Biden / Harris Justice Department settled a lawsuit filed by Democrats Strozak and Page about supposed privacy violations that publicized their anti-Trump messages on government phones in the early phases in the get-Trump “Russian interference” probe.

Those Democrat Deep Staters running the Justice Department share McCabe’s, Strozak’s and Page’s Democrat politics, so they took care of their fellow travelers.

Strozak and Page will get $2 million if the settlement is approved by a judge.

Strzok, who was ultimately fired from the FBI, hasn’t settled the portion of his lawsuit in which he sued for backpay and his job back.

Your tax dollars at work under Biden / Harris.

ATF Efficiency?

Congressional laws prohibit the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) from creating searchable digital records.  One reason being that 2nd Amendment defenders fear that the ATF could create a database of firearm owners and that it could eventually lead to confiscation.

ABC News reports that, typically, the bureau takes around eight days to track a weapon and urgent traces average 24 hours.

The attempted Trump assassin, Thomas Crooks, was not carrying any ID when he was shot by Secret Service snipers but the FBI had his rifle.

Again, ABC News reported: “Within 30 minutes of the shooting at Donald Trump's Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, federal law enforcement used a byzantine paper records system to track down decade-old gun sales records to help identify the 20-year-old would-be assassin...Agents tracked the AR-15 style rifle the shooter used to a 2013 purchase from the now-closed dealer, sources familiar with investigators' findings told CNN.”

The ATF stated: "ATF completed an urgent trace through ATF's National Tracing Center based on out of business records from a closed gun dealer…Results were provided to the FBI and Secret Service in less than 30 minutes."

There are two possibilities.

ATF is super efficient when it wants to be.  After all, it only had to:

Contact the manufacturer of the rifle ON A SATURDAY to get the distributor the gun was sold to.  Then,

Contact the distributor of the rifle ON A SATURDAY to get the dealer the gun was sold to. Then,

Discover that the dealer was out of business and BATFE had the dealer’s records.  Then,

Have an employee manually go through all those records looking for the rifle and then pull the purchaser’s information.

Or

There exists a secret, illegal searchable digital record.

Your Government is Protecting You

Why do American citizens want to own personal firearms when we have the state and federal governments to protect us?  Certainly, we have to carry because those governments are filled with top level officials who are corrupt and incompetent and can’t protect us.  Am I talking about the recently resigned Secret Service head Kimberly Cheatle?  No.  There are plenty other scandals and would be scandals floating around the Biden/ Harris administration.

Here's one you may not have heard about.

Pauline (Polly) Hanson, was appointed on June 14th as Deputy Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS).  On July 16th, Judicial Watch reported that she has “stepped down”.  Judicial Watch reported that the appointment “came just months after the administration quietly replaced the last FAMS director, marking the fourth time in around as many years that the agency got a new leader.”

Hanson previously was Amtrak police chief and also served as chief of Metro Transit Police in the District of Columbia and Executive Director of the D.C. Police’s Strategic Service Bureau.  Sounds like she had ‘connections’ in Washington D C.

Hanson, was appointed to the FAMS’ position despite previously being investigated for fraud and conflict of interest as Amtrak police chief.  Hanson was investigated for “unethical and illegal” behavior after awarding her then live in boyfriend, ABS Consulting senior director Kerry Thomas, a million-dollar counterterrorism contract to train officers in her agency.  An investigation was initiated in December 2015, based on allegations about Hanson and Thomas’s relationship. The allegations included that Hanson and Thomas have been romantically involved for a “substantial period of time, that they cohabitated in Arlington, Va., and own a residence together in Delaware, and that, consequently, their actions regarding the procurement of the contract. . .were unethical and illegal.”

The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General stated that as deputy director, Hanson would have been in charge of all purchasing and contracts for FAMS. “If the allegations are true this is akin to letting the fox into the hen house,” the Air Marshal National Council wrote.

Hanson fought in court to limit investigators’ access to her bank records and when a judge ordered her to turn them over, she resigned as chief of the Amtrak Police.

Hanson’s appointment by TSA Director David Pekoske to be second in command at FAMS raised questions about the criteria to qualify for the top-secret clearance required for the position and ignited fury among air marshals nationwide. The Air Marshal National Council, the union that represents thousands of agents nationwide, asked the DHS Inspector General to reopen Hanson’s investigation, days after Pekoske’s appointment, to ensure she is eligible to hold a position of public trust and top-secret security clearance.

Judicial Watch also investigated after it was advised of this issue by aviation security specialists and the Air Marshal National Council.  Judicial Watch immediately fired off two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to TSA and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation Inspector General, asking for details about Hanson’s criminal and ethical investigation as Amtrak Police Chief and her subsequent resignation.

Was Hanson a Diversity, Inclusion, Equity (DIE) appointee instead of being appointed on merit?  We’ll never know.  But one has to ask, wasn’t there anyone better available and doesn’t anyone in the Biden / Harris administration bother with background checks?

Yes, American citizens need to continue exercising their right to ‘keep and bear arms,’ especially since the government which is supposed to protect us is prioritizing politics and ignoring merit when appointing people to protect us.

On the positive side, at least Hanson wasn’t going to be in charge of airplane maintenance.

Given that they first raised this issue, the men and women who make up the ‘grassroots’ of the FAMS seem to be more competent and honest than their leadership.  Those of us who will be flying soon will appreciate that.  We need that competence since we can’t carry on airplanes.

Crime Going Down?

In the upcoming Firing Lines is an article titled: ‘Crime Going Down?’

Basically, the article shoots holes in Joe Biden’s statement, during his State of the Union address, that: “America is safer today than when I took office…last year, the murder rate saw the sharpest decrease in history, and violent crime fell to one of the lowest levels in more than 50 years.”

Here is one highlight from the upcoming Firing Lines article concerning the source of Biden’s data; the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report.

Several large cities no longer report crime statistics to the FBI.  As the Washington Examiner notes: “In 2019, 89% of agencies covering 97% of the population submitted data, but by 2021, that coverage plummeted to less than 63% of departments overseeing just 65% of the population.“ Included in those that no longer report to the FBI are New York City and Los Angeles.

Why did “crime go down” per the FBI’s report?  Because crimes were not being reported to the FBI!  And what cities are no longer reporting crime?  New York City and Los Angeles, two of the most crime ridden cities in the U S A!

Basically, any comparison of crime by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report is no longer valid because the basis of comparison, is no longer uniform.

So, why are we jumping ahead of the Firing Lines?

Newsweek is gleefully reporting that Pete Buttigieg schooled Fox News about crime.  Buttigieg said: "…trying to make people think that crime is up when crime is down under Joe Biden and crime was up under Donald Trump. Now I don't know how often that gets reported on this network. So, if you're watching this at home, do yourself a favor and look up the data."

Where is the data to look up?

Newsweek also reports where to look it up: “According to the latest quarterly statistics released in June by the FBI known as the Uniform Crime Report...”  (Emphasis added.)

Buttigieg, like Biden, (and you can be sure Harris will be added) is using an obviously invalid report to mislead the American people in order neuter a major campaign issue. 

This erroneous report is on the top of a web page where it will be read and passed on as the truth. Newsweek never lies - except in print - but most people don’t realize that.

Watch for this lie to become an integral part of Harris’s political campaign.   

Oh yeah, Newsweek also reported that Buttigieg; “…has emerged as a top choice to be Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate in this year's presidential election.”   (After all, he has been as effective heading the department of Transportation as Harris has been as the “Border Czar.”)