Gannett Strikes Again  by Tom Reynolds

In newspapers, the article positioned ‘over the fold’ is meant to be the leading article placed in the most prominent position in the newspaper.  It’s usually reserved for the most important article - although the other old saying, “if it bleeds it leads” may also find its way ‘over the fold.’

Not so with the Gannett / USA Today’s newspaper chain, which is the largest newspaper chain in the U S A.  In Gannett, the “over the fold” position is reserved for the latest piece of Democrat Party propaganda.  So, no one should have been surprised when that lead position on November 2^nd headlined, “Trump judges steer law to the right.”  In fact, the article was so sensational that it went both above and below the fold and ran over into much of page 2.

Although not about the 2^nd Amendment, this article (in reality a thinly disguised op-ed) is a great example of what we are up against when we try to get balanced and accurate 2^nd Amendment information out to the general public.  (Or any information on our rights like freedom of speech, freedom of religion and gun rights, not in line with the Left’s narrative.)

“Trump judges steer law to the right” is about the New Orleans based 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals.  That court is one step below the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).

Gannett first labeled SCOTUS as “the most right-leaning in decades”. 

Then, the premise of the article is that the out-of-control conservative judges of the 5th Circuit, with 12 of 16 judges appointed by Republican presidents, are so far right that the even the far-right SCOTUS has to reel it in. 

There was a token effort by Gannett to give the illusion of fairness.  Buried two thirds of the way into the article, after pointing out the damning statistic that SCOTUS “at least partially reversed seven of the nine appeals from the 5^th Circuit” there was one sentence…one sentence…which said: “By comparison, last term the Supreme Court reversed 10 of 13 decisions by the San Francisco based 9^th Circuit, widely viewed as the nations most liberal appeals court.”

Perhaps the article should have been about the 9^th Circuit’s extreme liberal judges, instead.  A detailed study in 2018 reported by Brian T. Fitzpatrick, (a law professor at Vanderbilt University), looked at how often a federal circuit court was reversed by SCOTUS on the merits, during twenty-one years between 1994 and 2015. The 9th Circuit's decisions were reversed at the highest rate in the country and were unanimously reversed more than three times as often as the least reversed circuits and over 20% more often than the next closest circuit. 

Gannett failed to mention that little tidbit as it would switch the highlight to the decisions of extreme liberal judges and destroy the point of the article, which was to make conservative judges seem extreme.

The reality is that what was said about the 5^th Circuit could have been more accurately stated about the Left Coast based 9^th Circuit.  For instance:

Gannett stated that: “The 5^th Circuit hears appeals…from deeply red states where Republicans control legislatures and attorneys general can draw national headlines with culture war suits…”

The article could have just as easily and accurately said: “The 9^th Circuit hears appeals…from deeply blue states where Democrats control legislatures and attorneys general can draw national headlines with culture war suits…”

The casual person who read this article will only get the incorrect impression that conservative judges, who believe in the U S Constitution as it was written, are making erroneous, extreme decisions that are so extreme that even SCOTUS cannot abide by them.  Which is, of course, the exact purpose of the article; misinform the public.

If Gannett were producing anything closer to balanced reporting – and that’s a big if - it could have done an article on how two courts with opposite philosophical viewpoints are being reversed by SCOTUS.  Gannett could have still maintained its Democrat propaganda purpose and not mentioned that the leftist 9^th has been the most reversed for decades.  Of course, that might make SCOTUS look like a balanced arbitrator and that would have never been acceptable in Gannett editors’ offices.

If a tree falls in the forest an no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

We have truth and adherence to the U S Constitution on our side.  But if none of our statements make it to the general public, have we communicated?  The Gannetts of the world are not going to use those fallen trees to make paper which publicizes the truth.  Their business is propaganda.  It’s up to SCOPE and others to call the Left on these issues and it’s up to you, the readers, to pass this information on.

Schuyler SCOPE Legal Update Every month, Schuyler County SCOPE sends out an update on some of the latest news concerning firearms.  The November update had several sections dedicated to the new ammo background checks. Mass Confusion Over New York’s New CCW, Ammunition, & Gun Transfer Laws New York’s Gun Law Amendments: The Hochul Government’s changes are viewed as worsening the issues and not aligning with recent Supreme Court rulings. Opposition to the Second Amendment: New York’s leadership, especially under Hochul and Cuomo, is criticized for curbing Second Amendment rights. Ammunition Background Check Issues: Hochul’s attempt at implementing background checks for ammunition mirrors Cuomo’s failed 2013 attempt, causing processing delays. Unclear Leadership: The recent resignation of the New York Superintendent of State Police, Steven Nigrelli, adds to the uncertainty and complexity of gun law enforcement. Controversial Gun Policies: Policies around firearm storage, proof, and fees for background checks are being challenged as infringements on citizen rights. https://www.ammoland.com/2023/10/mass-confusion-new-yorks-ccw-ammunition-gun-transfer-laws/ New York Concealed Carry Improvement Act’s background check for ammunition is hurting local business New York’s rollout of background checks to buy firearm ammunition is creating issues for sellers and buyers alike. The state’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act took effect in early September and includes a background check prior to the purchase of ammunition as well as a $9 fee for a background check to buy a firearm and a $2.50 fee for a background check for ammunition.  The mandates effectively circumvent the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco and Firearms and the national background check the ATF is supposed to undertake, and instead places the background checks to be conducted in the hands of the New York State Police instead. “I’ve lost about $300 worth of sales this week alone,” said Bruce Piatz, the owner of M&M Sport’s Den. “The new system takes a lot longer to process than the federal one, it crashes often, and when you call the number they gave us to call for assistance it just keeps ringing … no one picks it up, it’s a mess.” Piatz wasn’t done with this lambasting just yet. “I know several customers who walked out and said, ‘I’ll just go across the border.’ So instead of us and the state getting a fee, Pennsylvania reaps the benefits,” Piatz said. Piatz wasn’t alone in his assessment. Firearms training instructors are also being effected by the legislation, including one who said he as placed on a terrorism watch list (for buying ammunition in bulk). https://www.observertoday.com/news/business/2023/10/new-york-concealed-carry-improvement acts-background-check-for-ammunition-is-hurting-local-business/ Sheriff Stymied In Ammo Purchase After New Law Kicks In New regulations that require state-conducted background checks for gun and ammunition buyers in New York state recently left one area resident in the lurch. The individual? Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone. “On Sept. 22, I attempted to purchase two boxes of shotgun shells at a local sports store,” Quattrone told The Post-Journal. “These shells were to be used at a trap/skeet shoot that I was sponsoring to raise funds for a new nonprofit organization.” Approval for Quattrone’s purchase didn’t come for another 25 hours — one hour after the fundraiser ended. https://www.post-journal.com/news/top-stories/2023/10/jumping-the-gun/ Legislator: Hunters Should Be Exempt From Ammo Tax Hunters or conceal-carry license holders should be exempt from additional ammunition background checks and fees, according to one Central New York state legislator. Assemblyman Joseph Angelino, R-Norwich, has introduced A.8085 to amend the state Penal Law to allow licensed individuals to purchase or take possession of ammunition without requiring contacting the statewide license and record database for a background check. The check is called for in the Concealed Carry Improvement Act passed by the state Legislature in 2022 and which took effect in September. “Licensed individuals with a pistol permit and semi-automatic rifle endorsement have already been through a significant background check and are required to recertify that permit,” Angelino wrote in his legislative justification. “Both pistol permit holders, and those with hunting licenses, have proven their ability to safely carry firearms and ammunition by taking New York state courses approved by the Department of Environmental Conservation. This legislation would exempt such licensed individuals from the duplicate background check and fees being imposed.” Angelino’s legislation is unlikely to be approved in the Democrat-controlled state Legislature. https://www.post-journal.com/news/top-stories/2023/10/legislator-hunters-should-be-exempt-from ammo-tax/ Sheriffs join pushback to New York state's ammo background check system County sheriffs in upstate communities are voicing concerns about the state's 2-week-old ammunition background check system, saying they disagree with state political leaders that it will reduce gun violence in the state. More members of law enforcement …spoke out about the New York State Police background check system as issues persist. More than 14,000 transactions for people to buy firearms and ammunition have been approved since the new law took effect Sept. 13, including more than 6,100 transactions approved for firearm purchases and 8,300 approved transactions for ammunition. State police refuse to release the number of applications that have been denied. The department will provide statistical system data in an annual report, per the law. State police also will not discuss the grounds, nor specific reasons they use to deny an attempted firearm or ammunition purchase, or respond to questions about why retired law enforcement have been rejected. Police provide the applicant a reason for denial upon appeal. Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino says he continues to hear about delays in certain parts of the state, especially for people with minor crimes on their record from decades ago, or dismissed charges that trip the system. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/politics/2023/09/29/sheriffs-join-pushback-to-ammo background-check-system For more Schuyler Co. SCOPE Legal Updates

Kristallnacht  by Tom Reynolds

Yesterday, we wrote about the history of Veterans Day and how, today, there are similar events to those that led to World War 1.  Eighty-five years ago, there was another event which should give us pause when we see what is happening today. 

November 9th to 10th, 1938 is known as Kristallnacht (”Crystal Night” or the “Night of Broken Glass”).

Beginning in 1933, when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Jews had been subjected to repressive policies that were primarily non-violent. 

But in the fall of 1938 a 17-year-old Polish Jew shot and killed Ernst vom Rath, a German diplomat, in Paris.  Never letting a crisis go to waste, Hitler attended Rath’s funeral and used the assassination to rile up anti-Semitic frenzy.

Starting in the late hours on November 9th and continuing into the next day, Nazi mobs, SS troops and ordinary citizens torched or otherwise vandalized hundreds of synagogues throughout Germany and damaged or destroyed, thousands of Jewish homes, schools, businesses, hospitals and cemeteries.

Approximately 100 Jews were murdered.

Nazi officials ordered German police officers and firemen to do nothing as the riots raged and buildings burned.  (Firefighters were allowed to extinguish blazes that threatened Aryan-owned property.)

After Kristallnacht, the streets and sidewalks of Jewish communities were littered with broken glass from vandalized buildings, giving rise to the names “Crystal Night” or “Night of Broken Glass.”

The Nazis imposed a collective fine of $400 million on the German-Jewish community, claiming it was responsible for the damage.

Additionally, more than 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to the Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen concentration camps in Germany

Kristallnacht marked a turning point toward treatment of Jews by the Nazis. By the end of 1938, Jews were prohibited from schools and most public places in Germany.

During World War II, Hitler and the Nazis implemented their so-called “Final Solution” to what they referred to as the “Jewish problem,” and carried out the systematic murder of some 6 million European Jews (along with, by some estimates, 4 million to 6 million non-Jews) in what came to be known as the Holocaust.

Why didn’t the Jews defend their lives and property on Kristallnacht?

Both before and after the Nazis took power in 1930’s Germany, few citizens owned, or were entitled to own firearms due to strict gun control laws.  Under the Nazis, the laws were further tightened to ban ownership of guns by Jews. Nazi laws systematically disarmed so-called "unreliable" persons, especially Jews while relaxing restrictions for Nazi party members.

So, the answer is that the Jews did not have guns to protect themselves.  We can’t make that mistake.

Over the last four years, we have seen mobs run wild in many cities; burning, looting and killing.  Just like the Nazis in Germany, government officials ordered police and firemen to do nothing as the riots raged and buildings burned.   

Encouraged by their success, the haters have turned on the Jewish population after Israel responded to the barbaric invasion by Hamas.

Hitler used a shooting to provoke the anger against a race of people that led to Kristallnacht.  We see Biden and Hochul using every shooting incident to blame guns, instead of the shooters, in order to further their unconstitutional political motives.  

Ida B. Wells had a quote: “A Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.”  Whether it’s Kristallnacht or riots in American cities, that advice is as appropriate now as it was over one hundred years ago.

We cannot relax in our efforts to preserve protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.  Especially defending it against those that believe the 2nd Amendment is a 2nd Class Right.  A strong 2nd Amendment is our first line of defense against another Kristallnacht.

Veterans Day  by Tom Reynolds

A little history to show why history is important.

In June 1914, a Bosnian Serb assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. 

Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible and declared war. Russia came to Serbia's defense and Germany, France, Britain and the Ottoman Empire were soon drawn into the war. Then, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Italy and others joined in.  In the Pacific, New Zealand occupied German Samoa and Australian Forces landed on Germany’s island of New Britain.  A German cruiser sank a Russian cruiser.  Japan declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary in what was a land grab.  German forces attacked South Africa. India supplied large quantities of food, money, ammunition and soldiers to the British.

In early 1917, the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies.

Later in 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power in the Russian October Revolution

It was truly a World War.

Millions died.  It led directly to geocide and a pandemic.  A worthless worldwide political body was established in the aftermath.

On November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed and on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918, hostilities ceased on the Western Front of World War I.  (On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed which formally ended the war.)

November 11th was declared as “Armistice Day” to celebrate the end of the “Great War.”    (It wasn’t yet known as World War 1 since World War 2 was still 21 years in the future.)

Commemorations of November 11th were initially focused on honoring the military dead of the First World War and the return to peace. Later, many countries changed the name of the holiday; several changed the focus to include all veterans of their armed services and a few honor their war dead both uniformed and civilian. Most member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted the name Remembrance Day.

In 1954, the United States changed the name to ‘All Veterans Day’, later shortened to 'Veterans Day'.  (The United States has a separate holiday, “Memorial Day’, to honor and mourn the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.) 

Saturday is the 105^th anniversary of the armistice.  Have we learned anything from history?

WW1 started because one person was assassinated and it rapidly grew from there.

Currently, Hamas invaded Israel and performed barbaric acts.  Israel responded.  Hezbollah in Lebanon, on Israel’s northern border, attacked Israel and threatened an invasion.  Iran, which has dreams of recreating the Persian Empire, threatens the United States for helping Israel defend itself.  American troops were attacked by drones and rocket barrages in Iraq and Syria and U S forces face ramped up attacks by Iranian-backed groups.  Syria has been in a decades long civil war where poison gas has been used.

Russia’s Putin is determined to restore the past ‘glories’ – and atrocities – of the Soviet Union Empire.

China is determined to take over global leadership and is not against genocide directed against its own people.  It also threatens America’s ally, Taiwan.

Africa lags behind the rest of the world in almost every important category and is a hotbed of atrocities and civil wars.

Today’s situation sounds a lot more explosive than just one royal being assassinated.

One of the major aspects of World War 1 was the incompetence of the military and political leadership.  Countless men on both sides were butchered as the generals fought the wrong war – the ‘last war’.  (Unknown officers Eisenhower and Patton were reprimanded for espousing tank tactics that differed from what was then accepted army doctrine.)

Today, our military leaders (both generals and politicians) are fighting the wrong war as they prepare to fight the next war on Woke battlefields where climate change is the biggest enemy.  These generals were securing their own political support by focusing on Woke propaganda instead of planning and implementing a successful withdrawal from Afghanistan and keeping our armed forces prepared to fight real world enemies. 

When the U S A entered WW1, it was not prepared; soldiers trained using broom handles instead of rifles.

At a time of heightened tensions, our current readiness is threatened as all military branches are missing their recruitment goals.  For instance, the Coast Guard has major national security missions to accomplish, including interdicting drug smuggling and illegal immigrants on the high seas, maritime search and rescue, and other important missions.  Forbes just reported that the Coast Guard will have a 10% shortage in enlisted ranks forcing the Coast Guard to take ten cutters out of service.  Is anyone aware that the U S A has a fentanyl drug smuggling crisis which is killing tens of thousands of Americans and that the Coast Guard is a major player in protecting our borders?

Are our generals and admirals fully engaged in finding the root cause of the enlistment crisis?  They just raised the maximum enlistment age to 42.  They are trying to offset the problem rather than solve the problem.      

During WW1, Congress passed and President Woodrow Wilson signed and enforced a Sedition Act which covered a broader range of offenses. Those offenses included speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light. 

Anyone noticed any assaults on our 1^st Amendment protected right of free speech by the Swamp in Washington?

We need to honor veterans on this coming Saturday, but a history lesson on what brought this holiday about and its parallels with today’s worsening global situation should give all of us a reason to pause, remember and take action.  We don’t need another holiday to celebrate the end of another war.

One other thing.

During and immediately after WW1, we had a president who did not believe in the U S Constitution.  Then, that president was totally incapacitated and unable to perform his duties but his wife kept his incapacity a secret and she was, basically, running the country.

Glad that history couldn’t repeat itself!

Tick…Tick…Tick  by Tom Reynolds

On June 23, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court, (SCOTUS) in a 6-3 opinion authored by Justice Thomas, struck down New York State’s restrictive concealed carry law.  (NYSRPA v Bruen.)  In response, New York and other blue states immediately began attempting to work around the ruling, which resulted in New York passing its new Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA).  (Only eight days after SCOTUS’ ruling.)

Although “SCOTUS struck down the prior law as giving too much discretion to the state, the new legislation has plenty of fuzzy, judgmental standards that reestablish unconstitutional discretion.   In addition, it prohibits concealed carry in “sensitive places’, which are defined in the CCIA law as just about every place in NY State.

Litigation ensued, and in October, 2022 (four months after the CCIA law was passed) U.S. District Court Judge Glenn Suddaby found critical parts of New York’s CCIA to be unconstitutional. 

The case was appealed by NY State and oral arguments were heard on March 20, 2023 (nine months after the CCIA law was passed).  Five cases out of New York’s federal district courts were combined and were heard in the Second Circuit in front of a panel of three judges.  The five cases are: Antonyuk v. Nigrelli; Hardaway v. Nigrelli; Spencer v. Nigrelli; Christian v. Nigrelli; and Gazzola v. Hochul.  These cases had resulted in a number of the CCIA’s provisions being thrown out so NY State appealed.  Money is not an issue for NY State since it is operating on the taxpayer’s dime while the plaintiff’s had to self-finance.

In spite of SCOTUS’ direction to the Second Circuit to expedite the appeals, we are now seven months past the March 23^rd hearing and still without a decision.  (Sixteen months since CCIA was passed.) 

Kathy Hochul and the NY Legislature passed several laws which flew in the face of the Bruen ruling. They knew they were on extremely radical ground (not just shaky ground but an earthquake) when they passed these laws.  But they didn’t care that these laws won’t stand up to scrutiny by anything but leftist judges and would be struck down by any reasonable reading of the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision. 

And Hochul is not alone as Deep Blue states such as California, Washington, Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland are passing similar laws.

Why are they not concerned with the Constitution?

Like NY, these deep blue states have been dominated by Democrats for years.  The governor’s mansion and the legislatures have Democrat majorities and the state judicial systems are heavily filled with Democrats.  And it’s not enough to just be a Democrat.  To be in a political leadership position or judgeship, one has to be a far-left, woke, radical, Democrat.

The politicians believe that they will be reelected in Deep Blue states where the Democrat nomination is akin to winning the election.  (If gun owners in NY State would vote, this would no longer be true.) 

They also are acutely aware that it will take hundreds of thousands of dollars to challenge these laws, while plaintiffs can expect defeats in the state courts and must get to federal court in order to prevail on the Constitution.

Like politicians, the judges know that there are no personal repercussions to their ignoring the Supreme Court.  Judges are rarely impeached and probably never impeached for ruling wrong on a constitutional issue.  And if SCOTUS tells the lower courts to make haste, that is just another SCOTUS direction to be ignored.

Should the Second Circuit decide to defy SCOTUS with their ruling, the cases will be appealed to SCOTUS, which puts a final decision, months if not a year, further away.

"Justice delayed is justice denied" is a legal maxim. It means that if legal redress or equitable relief to an injured party is available, but is not forthcoming in a timely fashion, it is effectively the same as having no remedy at all. 

The 2^nd Circuit is denying justice and the voters of NY State need to know about this miscarriage of justice.

AMMO Act  by Tom Reynolds

The usual Democrat Senator suspects are pushing the Ammunition Modernization and Monitoring Oversight Act. (AMMO Act)

• It would require background checks for ammo purchases.  (Using NY State’s venture into ammo background checks as an example, can you imagine a nationwide system?  Put in your order now for approval in time for hunting season…2025.)

• It prohibits bulk sales of ammunition based on the type of ammo. It specifically limits individuals to purchasing - within a 5-day period - no more than 100 rounds for .50 caliber ammo and 1000 rounds for all other ammunition. 

• Ammo dealers must get a license separate from the Federal Firearms License (FFL) required for gun sales.

• It would also ban out-of-state ammunition purchases.

• It will require all vendors to report ammunition sales to the ATF.

• It would require serial numbers to be engraved on each item of ammunition.

• It would also require a license from the United States Attorney General of all who engage in business as a firearms or ammunition importer, manufacturer, or dealer.

The Democrats endorsing this are bringing out all the usual talking points including that it is just “common sense” (which is an uncommon attribute amongst the Democrats in Washington D C .) 

None of the articles on this mention a bill number so, at this point, it has apparently not been officially introduced and given a bill number.  But it is coming!

However, officially introduced in the House and given a bill number is the Ammo Identification Act of 2023. (HR 4339.)

As usual, the devil is in the details – or to be more precise – the unfeasibility of this is in the details.

There are billions of rounds of ammo manufactured every year.  That’s going to require a loooong ID number. 

And, if it were possible, would the ID be on the casing or the lead bullet itself?  The authors of the bill probably don’t understand the difference between the casing and the bullet. 

And they don’t understand that, if the ID was on the casing, the shooter needs only to ‘police his brass’ or use a revolver to defeat the purpose of the bill. 

And if it was actually imprinted on the lead bullet, say a .223 caliber used in the infamous ‘assault weapons,’ that’s would require really really really small printing of a really really really long number. 

And don’t the authors watch crime programs on TV; bullets get distorted when they hit the target.

But like most gun control measures, the left wing media won’t ask any questions and, instead, just reprint the Democrat propaganda about ‘common sense gun control.”

Second Amendment Advocates Must Show Guns Also Save Lives  by Tom Reynolds

Self-defense expert Massad Ayoob* makes the argument that 2A advocates need to be more vocal in talking about the lives that are saved by guns.  The gun grabbing Left is always on the offense and, thus, we are on the defense.  We need to go on the offense!

Those who advocate for gun control, usually through the passing of additional laws, have controlled the narrative for too long. It is time to “use the emotional element on our side as well.” He acknowledged that several thousand people are killed with guns every year. But he said gun control activists focus almost exclusively on the tragic number of deaths while ignoring the millions of lives saved by guns.

According to the 2021 National Firearms Survey published by Georgetown University, there were an estimated 1.67 million instances in which a person used a firearm in defense of self or others.  According to the survey, a little over 25 percent of these incidents occurred in the gun owner’s home, and more than half, 53 percent, happened outside their home but on their property. About 9.1 percent of defensive gun uses were in public, and 4.8 percent occurred at work.

Most importantly, in 81.9 percent of the cases, no shots were fired, the study reads. Yet gun control advocates, and their complicit media sources, ignore, downplay or deny the “good guy with a gun” narrative.

Other studies have shown similar results.  Gary Kleck used Center for Disease Control (CDC) unpublished surveys and found 1 million annual defensive uses of a gun.

Using Kleck’s lower number of 1 million defensive gun uses, if only 1 percent of them would have resulted in a murder, that is 10,000 lives saved.  If only 1 percent would have resulted in a rape, that is 10,000 rapes prevented.

The focus is always on the killers and their victims. The faces of the two Columbine, Colorado shooters appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek. This type of media attention drives copycat killers to seek attention they can’t get any other way. Mr. Ayoob said the attention should be on the people who take the role of defenders.

Mr. Ayoob points out that another killer had a similar plan for a church, also in Colorado. But it turned out very differently. On Dec. 9, 2007, a gunman opened fire in the parking lot of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (He had killed two other people the night before.) He shot four people in the parking lot, two of whom died. As he entered the church foyer, he shot and wounded one man and was confronted by volunteer security guard Jeanne Assam.  The former police officer was holding a 9 mm handgun and was able to stop the killer before he could hurt anyone else.

According to Mr. Ayoob, it’s a travesty that Columbine is a catchphrase for gun control, while New Life Church is virtually forgotten.

*Massad F. Ayoob (born July 20, 1948) is an American firearms, self-defense instructor and Security advisor. He has taught police techniques and civilian self-defense to both law enforcement officers and private citizens since 1974. He was the director of the Lethal Force Institute in Concord, New Hampshire, from 1981 to 2009, and now operates his own company. Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, Guns & Ammo and Combat Handguns. On September 30, 2020, Ayoob was named president of the Second Amendment Foundation.

Lewiston, Maine  by Tom Reynolds

Reuters reported on Thursday that 18 people were killed and 13 were wounded when a man with what appears to be a semi-automatic rifle attacked patrons at a bowling alley and a bar in the city of Lewiston, Maine, the previous night.

Robert R. Card is being hunted as a person of interest and an arrest warrant has been issued.

Card is a U.S. Army reservist who law enforcement had committed to a mental health facility over the summer.  According to the bulletin from the Maine Information & Analysis Center, a unit of Maine State Police, he was, “reported to have been committed to mental health facility for two weeks during summer 2023 and subsequently released."  The Associated Press reported he was “acting erratically in mid-July” while taking part in training at West Point. Police in New York were called and Card was taken to West Point’s Keller Army Community Hospital for evaluation.

The gun grabbers, especially Joe Biden, have already come out in force.  Guns bad.  Red Flag laws good.  Constitutional rights are of no interest.

Reuters, of course, had to add that, “Guns are lightly regulated in Maine, a largely rural state near the northeast border with Canada where about half of all adults live in a household with a gun, according to a 2020 study by RAND Corporation.

Later, Reuters added that, “Maine, which has the fourth-lowest murder rate in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of annual homicides in the state has fluctuated between 16 and 29 since 2012, according to Maine State Police.”

Lots of guns in Maine but a low gun murder rate.  Doubtful that fact will get picked up by left-wing organizations or mentioned by Joe Biden and company.

Reuters also added, “Maine does not require a permit to buy or carry a gun, and it does not have so-called "red flag" laws seen in some other states that allow law enforcement to temporarily disarm people deemed to be dangerous.”

Not mentioned is that Maine does have a ‘yellow flag’ law which allows police to petition for temporary confiscation of a person’s firearms after an examination by a professional trained in these issues.  It deals with the potential problem while solving the constitutional issue of due process of law. Imagine that, Maine does not have ‘Red Flag’ laws, but they certainly do have laws in place to deal with mentally ill people. 

Oh yeah, why was Maine’s ‘yellow flag’ law not used?

Notice that, in the midst of the Reuters’ article about a shooting, Reuters used the generic “murder” and “homicide” words which include murders and homicides not involving a gun.  But you are not supposed to pick up on the fact that gun related deaths are even less.

And questions that are certainly not going to be asked by the media: what psychotropic drugs was he prescribed and what were the side effects?  Was he actively using the drugs?  Was he addicted?  Was he using other illegal drugs?

And especially to be avoided: was he a cannabis user?

The average non gun owner probably doesn’t know much about the issues behind gun ownership and the average person doesn’t know about the government’s failures when it runs mental health institutions.  But they do know that the media will continue the drum beat that guns are bad and avoid any evidence that does not fit the narrative.

Working as Planned (SNAFU)  by Tom Reynolds

Because of NY State’s new laws on background checks for ammunition purchases, Tom King, the head of NYS Rifle & Pistol Association, was denied when he tried to purchase .410 shotgun shells in Rensselear County.

King has had a pistol permit for more than 40 years and has indicated that he will go through the appeals process.  He cannot buy ammunition until the appeals process is concluded.

A person who had been denied has 30 days to appeal and the NYS Police have 30 days to respond and explain the reason for the denial.

King said, “The only person that this is affecting is the lawful legal citizen of New York State.  We’re the ones being discriminated against.”

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Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone told the Post-Journal:.

“On Sept. 22, I attempted to purchase two boxes of shotgun shells at a local sports store. These shells were to be used at a trap/skeet shoot that I was sponsoring to raise funds for a new nonprofit organization.”

“Prior to being permitted to purchase the ammunition, the store spent the 15 minutes or so entering my data in their computer to complete the background check.  The status came back ‘Delayed.’ We waited another 15 minutes with no update, so I had to leave the store without completing the purchase.”

Approval for Quattrone’s purchase didn’t come for another 25 hours — one hour after the fundraiser ended…

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Per Cornell’s Legal Information Institute:

Federal regulation 28 CFR § 25.11 Prohibited activities and penalties (concerning use of the NICS system.)

(a) State or local agencies, FFLs, or individuals violating this subpart A shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $10,000 and subject to cancellation of NICS inquiry privileges.

(b) Misuse or unauthorized access includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(2) State or local agencies', FFLs', or individuals' purposefully using the system to perform a check for unauthorized purposes; (background checks on ammo purchases would be an unauthorized purpose.) 

The ongoing Gazzola lawsuit contends that New York State’s new ammunition background checks system violates the above regulation because the FBI is only authorized to use the NICS system to do background checks on firearms transfers.  NYS Police employees are manually entering individual ammunition background check data from their new system, by hand, into the federal FBI-NICS system in violation of 28 CFR §25.11

In simple terms, using the federal NICS system to do background checks on ammunition purchases is illegal.

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Governor Hochul was recently in Israel for some unknown reason other than shoring up political support amongst Jews.  While in Israel, Hochul was spotted wearing body armor.  Last year, Hochul signed into law a ban on the sale of body armor to most people. 

She was probably protected by armed guards, just as she is in NY State which is another thing that she would prevent ordinary citizens for enjoying.

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Reports are pouring in about delays and denials under the new ammunition background checks.  It’s up to the Superintendent of the NY State Police to fix the system.  As SCOPE pointed out on Wednesday, the current Superintendent is: “to be named later.”

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Aaron Dorr, Executive Director of NYS Firearms Association had this to say about Hochul’s new scheme: “This is blatantly unconstitutional. 100%. And that was before last year’s Bruen decision. Post Bruen, this is nothing more than a middle finger from Kathy Hochul to gun owners. The Bruen decision made it clear that ANY current or future gun control laws needed to show a ‘historical precedent’ or they would immediately be deemed unconstitutional. There is ZERO historical precedent for registering people who buy ammunition. And that goes doubly true for requiring gun owners to pay a tax to the government for the ‘privilege!’”

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Does Hochul care?

Is the state working day-and-night to fix the system?

Hochul probably relishes the delays.

She doesn’t care because she is doing exactly what her wealthy benefactors, and what the Biden Administration, and what those citizens residing in New York City who voted her into Office, want her to do. Hochul knows she is on safe ground politically on this as well as not having any personal liability, and that is all that matters to her—at least at this moment.

Will this change as increasing violent crime and the frustration of the ammo purchasing public ramps up?

Musical Chairs  by Tom Reynolds

If you are paying attention to the various firearms related lawsuits filed against the Cuomo and Hochul administrations, you will know that last year’s big Supreme Court decision was in the case of NYSRPA versus Bruen.  Bruen was Kevin Bruen, the head of the NY State Police, at that time, but no longer. 

Current lawsuits are being filed against Steven Nigrelli, the current head of the NY State Police.

Oops.  No longer current but now the former head of the NY State Police. 

Currently, there is no head of the NY State Police as Nigrelli has resigned.  Is this a clever plan of the Hochul Administration?  If there is no head of the NY State Police, there is no one to file suit against for the many unconstitutional acts of her NY State government?

Why the turnover?

Kevin Bruen was confirmed by the NY Senate in June 2021.  Fifteen months later (October 2022) he resigned.  Apparently, the governor’s office began investigating his potential mishandling of internal workplace complaints.

The NY Times reported* that Mr. Bruen was being investigated for supposedly shielding a former director of human resources at the agency with whom he had a close working relationship from at least one internal complaint that had been lodged against her.

Mr. Bruen had a close relationship with the former human resources staffer, MaryEllen Tedesco, whom Bruen had sought to protect, according to the two officials with knowledge of the matter. Ms. Tedesco, who assisted with vetting applicants and making hiring decisions at the agency, had already resigned.

Enter Bruen’s replacement Steven Nigrelli as the Acting head of the NY State Police, starting October 2002.

Exit Steven Nigrelli on October 2023 due to his resignation.

The Times Union reported** that Nigrelli submitted his resignation after learning he would not be named the permanent leader of the agency following an investigation into allegations that he had harassed or mistreated employees, including women.  The state Office of Employee Relations launched an investigation after receiving a harassment and discrimination complaint against the 32-year veteran of the State Police.

Gov. Kathy Hochul's office informed Nigrelli of her decision not to nominate Nigrelli as the permanent head of the NY State Police.  That followed the investigation that substantiated some of the allegations dating back years. There was no finding of any criminal conduct.

In August 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned after a report from the New York State attorney general concluded that the governor sexually harassed nearly a dozen women, including current and former government workers, by engaging in unwanted touching and making inappropriate comments. The 165-page report also found that Mr. Cuomo and his aides unlawfully retaliated against at least one of the women for making her complaints public and fostered a toxic work environment.

Gun owners in NY State must now submit to and pay for a background check to buy ammunition.  Perhaps, the same should apply to high level executives in the NY State government.

*  State Police Superintendent Resigns Amid Investigation - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

** NY state police leader Steven Nigrelli resigns after harassment probe (timesunion.com)