Everytown made a post about guns and domestic violence that comes from this article in The Trace.

I read The Trace article, and the one after it, My Ex-Husband Used His Guns to Terrorize Me — Without Once Pulling the Trigger.  

In reading both of these articles there were two words that I never saw, and their absence was glaring: Lautenberg Amendment.

The Lautenberg Amendment, the formal name of which is the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban.  The is federal law, passed in 1997, which prohibits possession of firearms by individuals:

(8) who is subject to a court order that

(A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had an opportunity to participate;

(B) restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; and

(C)

(i) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or

(ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or

(9) who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

The Federal form 4473 which is part of NICS background checks includes questions about domestic violence and stalking.

The common theme of the two Trace articles is “guns are bad for women” but that’s it.  Neither acknowledges that some legal protection for the victims of domestic violence already exist.  So when Everytown says “Federal law does nothing to keep guns out of the hands of abusive dating partners or convicted stalkers” in their post, that’s a lie.

I was going to start a post about Cocks Not Glocks getting invited to the White House by a group called DoSomething.org.  I was going to rant on about how this is just the current administration spitting in our faces.  Cocks Not Glocks is an organization that makes no lucid points, does noting but mock concealed carry in the most sophomoric way, and contributes nothing positive to the dialog about guns.

Then I went to the Cocks Not Glocks Facebook page to see if they posted anything more about their trip to DC.

This is the first post that I saw:

Pardon my language but THAT IN ONE PICTURE IS THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT OF CONCEALED CARRY!!!

That’s it.  That’s the whole argument for women to carry a gun.  Right there.

But they don’t get it.  It shot right by them.  They are trying to mock Trump using a flag associated with the Right Wing/Tea Party.  It’s not sinking in.

The Gadsden flag is field of yellow, embellished with a Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake.  The words on it are DONT TREAD ON ME.

The Eastern Diamondback is a dangerous snake.  It is known to strike without rattling, and if threatened can and will strike repeatedly.  Although its venom is not the most toxic venom of American snakes, it makes up for that by delivering the largest venom load of any American Snake.

The message is quite clear: if you oppress me, I will kill you.  It is a threat.  It is promise of death.

The message of the Cocks Not Glocks flag is exactly the same: grab my pussy and you will die.

This is a sentiment that I, as an advocate for concealed carry, fully and unequivocally  endorse.  I would use this flag to advertise a woman’s CCW course.

But Cocks Not Glocks is anti concealed carry.  They can’t back up their statement.  Their people cannot deliver meaningful violence against someone that grabs their pussies.  They are disarmed.  They are have no fangs and no venom to deliver.

They post a picture that shows a complete understanding of the value of concealed carry but fight against the right to concealed carry.  The mental stress from the cognitive dissonance of trying to understand this post has me literally shaking and twitching.

They are so close to enlightenment they can almost taste but are too ideologically dense for it to sink in.  It is madness.

Racist homophobic mass killer assumed room temperature 49 years ago.

The gun control advocacy group founded by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords spends more of its money on fundraising and operating expenses than campaign activity, Federal Election Commission documents show.The Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC has raised just over $11 million in the 2016 campaign cycle, according to FEC filings. The group has spent just over $9 million of that money thus far. Fifty-three percent of that spending went towards things other than campaign activity.

Source: Gun Control PAC Spends Most Money on Fundraising, Operating Costs

I gave a cursory check at the expenditures and as an example, they spend a bunch of money on “direct mail” to a group called AB Data Inc (AB Direct) that touts itself as a progressive corporation:

Lots of expenses to “progressive” consultants like America Votes, Civis Analitics,  Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, Ryan Baukol and man y others with plenty of them tied to Chicago Elections machinery or the Obama campaign/White House. The non-political expenditures are also interesting: no Motel Six for Gabby and her gang but four star lodging and same for the food unless they are catering an event in Tucson and they get the meals from Safeway. And I almost forgot: they have to be Uber’s best client as there were twenty pages of reported expenses.

I think a lot of this advocacy groups are in on it to raise money for themselves and other like-minded. You have to admit it is a neat little business which has little overhead and you can rake the profits like crazy. I wish I could do something like that, but I suffer from a strange malady called honesty and I can’t simply sell political snake oil and live with myself.

Hat tip to Mark L.

This is according to the report just issued by the U.S.Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission:

I wont even try to explain this, I will let the DOJ explain it themselves:

Today, our country is in the midst of an unprecedented national conversation on community-police relations. All across our nation – from small suburban hamlets to large, urban centers – tragic events have brought to the forefront underlying issues about the ways in which law enforcement agencies engage with the communities that they are sworn to protect and serve. Two years ago, President Obama established a Task Force on 21st Century Policing for the purpose of identifying “the best means to provide an effective partnership between law enforcement and local communities that reduces crime and increases trust.” Among its recommendations, the Task Force identified increasing the diversity of the nation’s law enforcement agencies as an important aspect in developing that trust. Building on this effort, in December 2015 our agencies – the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – joined together to launch “Advancing Diversity in Law Enforcement,” an interagency research initiative designed to help our nation’s law enforcement agencies recruit, hire, retain, and promote officers that reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. While we fully recognize that increasing diversity in law enforcement agencies alone cannot solve the myriad challenges in policing or address every concern about public trust in law enforcement, enhancing diversity must be part of the conversation about improving relations between law enforcement and communities.

People that cannot pass a regular background check to buy a gun, should be hired anyway so they can become police officers….and carry a gun.

Maybe DOJ should talk to Miami-Dade LEO agencies and ask them about a similar program (lowering standards in the name of social justice) they had in the 1980s and resulted in almost whole classes of graduates ending up serving time in prison or fired for assorted felonies and other crimes.  Some of the old readers might remember one case in particular: The Miami River Cops. It even got more than a couple of episodes in the TV series Miami Vice.

May God save us from Social Justice Warriors.

After 17 years in a Hurricane Zone, I thought I had the preparation thing down and for the most part I did. There were a couple of things that I missed but was able to patch.  Here are some thoughts and I hope it helps others. And also my regular reminder that I am not in the Prepper culture, so what it may seem obvious to some was not for me.

Hurricane Panels 1: Prior to Hurricane Wilma, I grouped the panels according to the opening they were supposed to cover, bolted them together and labelled them accordingly. When Wilma was threatening, just knowing which set of panel went were cut down the labor in half. The only mistake I made is I used a Sharpie to label them and after 11 years under the South Florida weather, it faded. I am planning on making nice stencils with the locations and Krylon the crap out of them, both sides. They may look stupid to a passerby, but they ain’t supposed to look pretty, just be efficient.

Hurricane Panels 2: Eleven years ago, I had no problems installing the panels by myself. Nowadays I have a medical issue that did not allow me to do it, so I secured a guy to come put them up and then take them down, grouping them and secure them. He charged $15 per opening which is about the right price from what I investigated. Price will go up on a two-story home which makes sense. Lesson here is, if you can afford it, go for accordion panels or other easy set up. If you can’t and are unable to do put up the panels yourself, get somebody. Pride dies when sustained wind speed pass the 73 mph marker.

Water: I simplified the water issue this year. I bought two cases of bottled water, but both went to the fridge’s freezer and the stand-alone freezer to keep items cold as long as possible. For drinking water, I went with 5 gallon water bottles filled from my home water filter.

My wife, the one with the brains in the family, got a water pump deigned to go with these bottles. The bathroom with the tub filled with water was supposed to be the one to be used for biological necessities. Also a spray bottle of Fabreeze and a small bucket were left inside.

Food: This year we cooked several items in bulk and froze them in smaller containers. Lots of rice and beans because they keep the longest. The usual canned foods were available plus a smoker and a grill beside the portable gas cooker were ready to prepare whatever meat was to defrost.

Time: Other than the shutters, we were done Saturday (or so I thought.) Items bought, food prepared, any meds needed picked up, ammo and guns checked and placed, cars gassed up, 20 gallons of fuel for the generator bought; all that without having to deal with nervous shoppers or irate jackasses or bad traffic. Then on Sunday, I remembered that although we had plenty of flashlights, the main Coleman gas lamp had been thrown away several months ago, dead by natural causes and forgot to replace it. One of the things you learn quick when you lose power in South Florida is that gas or kerosene lamps emit an awful amount of heat which is not what you need when the night temps are in the mid 80s. I went online, did some research and ended up buying a Streamlight The Siege and a 12-pack of ‘D’ batteries:

It arrived in time and what could have been an issue, turned out just a fixable nuisance because I gave myself enough time to get everything in order. This is basically a “Do not wait to the last second to get ready” advice. Prep months in advance and do final set up days in advance to cover your butt.

Screw ups: I ain’t perfect, right? So what is in my list for next time? First of all, if something from the kit is thrown away for “x” reason, to get it replaced before the next hurricane event. Don’t rush, take my time and shop smartly.
Next, don’t laugh: a baby camera. Withe the shutters up, I can’t see a damned thing outside and making protected viewing ports in the panels is too much work and expense. Baby camera systems work on batteries and some even have a VOX feature that starts video only when a sound is detected to save battery life. I just need to figure out a water-proof casing for the camera.

UPDATE: I went ahead and did a test of the stencil panel thing.

That is 2 panels. Notice the holes on top of the panels, that is where I thread the bolt to group the panels according to opening. By the way, before using the bolt, grease the heck out of the threads; some of my bolts ended up needing a 6 hour treatment with WD-40 and two required brute force to undo.

OK, done for now and starting to get ready for the next one.