Rational consumers reacting to the threat of prohibition . . . How an ‘ugly,’ unwanted weapon became the most popular rifle in America
The lines at Hyatt Guns, his shop in Charlotte, North Carolina, snaked out the door. The deep, green-walled warehouse bills itself as the largest gun shop in America, but even then Hyatt had to stretch to meet the demand.
At one point, he dispatched 37 salespeople to man the cash registers. He put up velvet ropes and hired a police officer. He even put a hot dog stand outside.
It was just after the Sandy Hook massacre — and customers were lined up to buy AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, like the one the shooter Adam Lanza used.
That the boom in business happened after one of the most heinous mass shootings in American history was no coincidence. Mass shootings, rather than temper gun sales, only feed the hunger.
Some attorneys are more equal than others . . . Probation for attorney caught with arsenal of guns after DUI arrest
A Crystal Lake attorney who had dozens of guns seized from his home after a DUI arrest in early 2017 pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was sentenced to probation and alcohol and drug treatment this week.
McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather sentenced Donald F. Franz, 51, to 24 months of probation, five days in jail, treatment, and $2,845 in fines and costs after he pleaded guilty this week to felony obstruction of a peace officer and failure to surrender his Firearm Owner’s Identification card, a misdemeanor, according to court records.
Other charges — such as the most severe charge of aggravated battery to a police officer, which carried a top penalty of seven years in prison; a felony DUI charge; and a host of weapons charges — were dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea, records show.
Some politicians are more equal than others . . . No charges for Colo. State Rep. Lori Saine who ‘totally forgot’ about handgun
The Boulder County District Attorney has decided not to press charges against Colorado State Rep. Lori Saine, R-Firestone, who was arrested December 5 after carrying a loaded gun through security at Denver International Airport.
In a statement released Thursday, Boulder District Attorney Stanley Garnett’s office said a criminal case against Saine could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and charges “are not appropriate.” She was facing a possible class 6 felony charge.
According to the statement, Saine told Denver Police officers she “totally forgot” about the 9mm semi-automatic handgun inside her purse, which TSA agents discovered as it passed through an x-ray machine. She refused to be interviewed and requested an attorney during the arrest, the statement read.
Speaking of which . . . Looks like it’s another bumper crop of seized guns at U.S. airports this year, TSA says. Plus: How Texas does it.
The number of firearms seized at security checkpoints in U.S. airports is on its way this year to setting yet another record, security officials said Wednesday.
The Transportation Security Administration seized 3,939 firearms through November, spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said, citing preliminary figures. If those numbers stand, that already puts the TSA ahead of the record-breaking 3,391 firearms seized in 2016, which was ahead of a record-breaking 2,653 in the previous year, which was ahead of a record-breaking 2,212 in the previous year, which … you get the picture.
Space cadet vs. the right to armed self defense . . . An Astronaut Reaching For The Stars … And Grasping At Straws
Gun grabber Mark Kelly is an astronaut, as the mainstream media so sympathetic to his efforts loves to remind us each time they run a story about him. I get it. It’s cool that he’s been in space four times, but it doesn’t mean he’s right in his crusade to strip his fellow Americans of their essential freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. It doesn’t make it OK that he works relentlessly every day to render me and other good people defenseless against the evil that he sadly knows all too well exists in the world.
Being one of NASA’s select few does not give him license to constantly mislead the public. At every press opportunity, he touts his “strong support for the Second Amendment” and desire to “protect responsible gun ownership” while working to kill every policy that makes the right to keep and bear arms stronger and conditions for gun owners better.
An object lesson in the futility of gun control . . . Exclusive: Tracing ISIS’ Weapons Supply Chain—Back To The US
Spleeters carefully picks through the stacks of warheads until he finds what he’s been looking for: “I’ve got a PG-9 round, habibi,” Spleeters exclaims to al-Hakim. It is a Romanian rocket marked with lot number 12-14-451; Spleeters has spent the past year tracking this very serial number. In October 2014, Romania sold 9,252 rocket-propelled grenades, known as PG-9s, with lot number 12-14-451 to the US military. When it purchased the weapons, the US signed an end-use certificate, a document stating that the munitions would be used by US forces and not sold to anyone else. The Romanian government confirmed this sale by providing CAR with the end-user certificate and delivery verification document.
In 2016, however, Spleeters came across a video made by ISIS that showed a crate of PG-9s, with what appeared to be the lot number 12-14-451, captured from members of Jaysh Suriyah al-Jadid, a Syrian militia. Somehow, PG-9s from this very same shipment made their way to Iraq, where ISIS technicians separated the stolen warheads from the original rocket motors before adding new features that made them better suited for urban combat. (Rocket-propelled grenades can’t be fired inside buildings, because of the dangerous back-blast. By attaching ballast to the rocket, ISIS engineers crafted a weapon that could be used in house-to-house fighting.)
Everytown’s head honcho opines . . . NRA hijacks first bipartisan gun bill in years. Now it’s too dangerous to pass.
“Fix NICS” would decrease the chance that the next domestic violence call to which a cop responds involves an abuser with a firearm. “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” would leave local police powerless to stop people with dangerous histories from carrying guns.
In short, “Fix NICS” would strengthen our gun laws. “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” would eviscerate them. The bad far outweighs the good, and it isn’t a close call.
“Concealed Carry Reciprocity” would gut our gun laws because it would force each state to accept the concealed carry standards of every other state — even states that have weaker standards, or worse, no standards at all. And it would not establish a national standard for who is allowed to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public.
Dress for success . . . Inside America’s Growing Bulletproof Clothing Industry
Within this industry is a small but growing sector of manufacturers and retailers that, like Caballero, are proffering upscale bulletproof apparel that’s light-years beyond the standard bulletproof vest, both sartorially and functionally. From bespoke suits to safari jackets, the new breed of bulletproof clothing is comfortable and undetectable.
The NIJ sets the only nationally acceptable standards for body armor, ranked by level. According to the Justice Technology Information Center, a subsidiary of the NIJ, Level II body armor is tested to stop 9 mm and .40 S&W ammunition fired from short-barrel handguns (no rifle ammunition protection); Level IIA is tested to stop 9 mm and .357 Magnum ammunition fired from short-barrel handguns (no rifle ammunition protection); Level IIIA is tested to stop .357 SIG and .44 Magnum ammunition fired from longer-barrel handguns (no rifle ammunition protection); Level III is tested to stop 7.62 mm FMJ lead core rifle ammunition; and Level IV is tested to stop 30-caliber steel core armor-piercing rifle ammunition.
MILITARY IMPOSTERS / STOLEN VALOR