I did not catch these headlines earlier.

The reaction of many who did not know about is unsurprising to old hands.

After all the sorrow this shooting has brought to the community, it is a good thing that the court decided the way it did because it has taught to some that they have been lied by certain political groups that keep promising full protection from evil if they are willing to submit.

But as it is human nature, this too will soon be forgotten and people will return to the happy-happy thoughts of 911 as a Harry-Potter-Like magic incantation that will keep or save them from danger instantly. It is easier to think of unicorns dancing in fields of multicolored daffodils than realize they are their own First Responder.

A judge in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of New York  might have just delivered one of the greatest rulings in the history of the Second Amendment, not just for guns but for knives and less lethal weapons too.

New York ban on nunchucks ruled unconstitutional by federal court

A 1974 New York state ban on nunchucks that was put into place over fears that youth inspired by martial arts movies would create widespread mayhem is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, a federal court has ruled.

Judge Pamela Chen issued her ruling Friday in a Brooklyn federal court on the martial arts weapon made famous by Bruce Lee.

The case is James M. Maloney v. Madeline Singas, Nassau County

The plaintiff, James Maloney, started his legal quest after being charged with possession of nunchucks in his home in 2000. He initially filed a complaint in 2003, and appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court when the case went against him. The Supreme Court in 2010 remanded the case back down to be reconsidered in light of a Second Amendment decision it had made in another case, and Maloney filed an amended complaint later that year.

Maloney had been focused on getting the part of the law overturned that banned nunchucks, two rigid rods connected at one end by a chain or rope, even in private homes.

In her ruling, Chen said the court couldn’t simply take that part out, and ruled that the state’s law as it pertained to possessing nunchuks as well as to manufacturing, transporting or disposing of them was in violation of the Second Amendment.

It gets better.  From the text of the decision:

Following the trial, the parties submitted Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52. (Dkts. 184 (Plaintiff), 185 (Defendant).) However, after reviewing the trial record and the parties’ post-trial submissions, the Court determined that both parties had neglected to consider the Second Circuit’s leading case on Second Amendment challenges, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Cuomo (“NYSRPA”) 804 F. 3d 242 (2d Cir. 2015), which was decided after the Court’s summary judgment ruling, but before trial. (Dkt. 188.) In NYSRPA, the Second Circuit, inter alia, clarified that the government bears the burden of proving that the activity that is the subject of the challenged legislation falls outside the scope of the Second Amendment. 804 F.3d at 257 n.73 (explaining that the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller (“Heller” or “Heller I”), 554 U.S. 570 (2008) “identifies a presumption in favor of Second Amendment protection, which the State bears the initial burden of rebutting”).

So Heller is important…

At trial, the parties collectively submitted nunchaku sales data from six American nunchaku distributors: (1) American Nunchaku Company; (2) KarateDepot.com, a.k.a. Zengu; (3) Macho Products; (4) Swords Knives and Daggers; (5) Martial Arts Mart, a.k.a. Tigerclaw.com; and (6) AWMA. (Dkt. 199-9; Pl.’s Exhs. I & J. 9 ) Based on the data provided, at least 64,890 metal and wood nunchakus were sold to individuals in the United States between 1995 and 2018.  No evidence has been presented to explain what percentage of the United States nunchaku market share this data represents. (See Tr. 354:25–358:18 (Testimony of Susan Saraceni).) No reliable data was submitted about how many martial arts schools or dojos use nunchaku. (See Tr. 238:9–10, 278:25–279:4 (Pellitteri testifying “[t]here’s no specific data or statistics that I know of regarding the use of nunchaku as far as the number of people [using them],” but “nunchaku seem to be the most popular martial arts weapon”).)

And nunchucks are the most popular weapon in martial arts dojos and at least 64,000 nunchucks have been sold in the US…

While the logical implication of the two criteria identified in Heller—“common use” and “typical possession by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes”—is that the government need only disprove the existence of one or the other criterion to exempt the challenged law from Second Amendment coverage, the Court has concluded that the “common use” factor is ultimately irrelevant and that the government must show that, at a minimum, nunchakus are not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.  Maloney, 2018 WL 4771900, at *1, 3; see Caetano, 136 S. Ct. at 1031 (stating that the test for whether a weapon falls within the scope of the Second Amendment is “a conjunctive test: A weapon may not be banned unless it is both dangerous and unusual.”)

Based on the evidence introduced at trial, at least 64,890 metal and wood nunchaku were sold on the retail market in the United States between 1995 and 2018. Courts have not set a numerical floor for determining what constitutes “common use.” See, e.g., Hollis v. Lynch, 827 F.3d 436, 449 (5th Cir. 2016) (“Every post-Heller case to grapple with whether a weapon is ‘popular’ enough to be considered ‘in common use’ has relied on statistical data of some form, creating a consensus that common use is an objective and largely statistical inquiry.”) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted); Friedman v. City of Highland Park, 784 F.3d 406, 409 (7th Cir. 2015) (“[W]hat line separates ‘common’ from ‘uncommon’ ownership is something the [Supreme] Court did not say.”).25 In his concurrence in Caetano, Justice Alito found that stun guns were in “common use” because “hundreds of thousands of Tasers and stun guns have been sold to private citizens, who it appears may lawfully possess them in 45 States.”

You can see where this is going…

Therefore, the Court declares that the portions of Section 265.10(1), (2), & (4) that apply to nunchaku are void as violative of the Second Amendment.

For the reasons stated herein, the Court grants judgment in favor of Plaintiff, declaring that New York Penal Laws § 265.01(1) and § 265.10(1), (2), & (4), as applied to nunchaku, are an unconstitutional restriction on the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment and are, therefore, void. The Clerk of Court is respectfully requested to enter judgment and close this case accordingly.

A judge decided that 64,890 nunchucks used by law abiding citizens in martial arts practice in dojos is enough to pass Heller for common use and not unusual.

This is fantastic.

First of all when it comes to AR-15’s there are, at minimum estimates, 15 million in the hands of law abiding citizens.  That is more than 220 times the threshold set by this judge for “in common use.”

Second, this is the statue that bans nunchucks:

New York Penal Law § 265.01(1) (“Section 265.01(1)”) criminalizes possession of nunchaku, along with a host of other banned weapons, as a Class A misdemeanor. “A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree when: (1) [h]e or she possesses any firearm, electronic dart gun, electronic stun gun, gravity knife, switchblade knife, pilum ballistic knife, metal knuckle knife, cane sword, billy, blackjack, bludgeon, plastic knuckles, metal knuckles, chuka stick, sand bag, sandclub, wrist-brace type slingshot or slungshot, shirken or ‘Kung Fu star.’” 

Note what is in bold.

I have covered New York City’s abuse of gravity knife laws to arrest just about every black person and nearly every tradesman who has a lock back pocket knife on them.  Pretty much, if the knife locks and an NYPD cop can shake it until it opens, it’s a violation of the law.

There are a lot more than 68,000 lock back knives sold in America every year.  Browsing knife catalogs, it’s hard to find a non-locking knife except Swiss Army Knives and some of the Case or Old Timer old fashioned designs.  Everything new (and made of a decent steel) is locking.  It’s safer.

The threshold set in this case could easily overturn the ban on gravity knifes.

Getting New York City to actually obey the injunction is another issue.

But with this as the new Federal standard, that opens the door for improved knife rights and gun rights, as well as challenges on less lethal weapons such as pepper spray and Tazers, across the country.

This is actual, factual good news.

Realizing that she made a valid point, and being unable to control herself, Congresswoman-Elect Ocasio-Cortez had to Tweet something stupid.

So I’ve decided to take others along with me on IG as I learn what self-care even means and why it’s important.

Feel free to comment here & share any resources or suggestions that have been helpful to you ⬇️

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 17, 2018

She has to politicize “self-care.”

Her followers had to double down on this “I can’t treat myself because victimhood.”

A lot of female self-care is likewise ridiculed. A man going for a beer is deemed socially acceptable. A woman getting a manicure is vain and wasting money on frivolous things.

— Lacy (she/her) – Outlining (@reachwriter) December 18, 2018

This is one of those issues that for majority of people isn’t political.  If you want a spa day, take a spa day.

Why is AOC making it political?

Back in 2014, the EU declared the right to take a vacation and to travel for vacation, a human right.  Like the EU human right to health care, that means that governments have to pay for it.

An overseas holiday used to be thought of as a reward for a year’s hard work. Now Brussels has declared that tourism is a human right and pensioners, youths and those too poor to afford it should have their travel subsidized by the taxpayer.

Under the scheme, British pensioners could be given cut-price trips to Spain, while Greek teenagers could be taken around disused mills in Manchester to experience the cultural diversity of Europe.

This is why the politicization of “self-care” is important to AOC.

If you want a spa day and can afford a spa day, it’s your money, you can do what you want.

What happens when you can’t afford a spa day?  I have a feeling AOC is going to propose subsidized “self-care,” so if you can’t afford a spa day, the tax payers will foot the bill for your spa day.

We will be fed a line about how much the working poor work and how they have the least time and money for self-care and if we the American public don’t subsidize their self-care we are abusing them, and it’s racist and sexist since the working poor is overwhelmingly women and POC.

You can hear it now, can’t you?

I can just about guarantee that she will bring up some sort of subsidized self-care or vacation program during her tenure.

I’m not sure if hell is about to freeze over but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez actually Tweeted something I agree with wholeheartedly.

This blows my mind: House Ethics Rules prevent me from receiving a $100 gift card, or crashing at a place as I wait for rent ?, but somehow allow members w/ investment portfolios to write laws that will personally enrich them $1000s in their own stocks; potentially millions. https://t.co/E9L1cVubFe

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 17, 2018

Way back in 2011, the CBS news show 60 Minutes did a story called Insiders about insider trading in Congress.

This was a bombshell that let to reports and analysis from The Wall Street Journal and Forbes on just how much money members of Congress and their staff were making from knowledge that would get the rest of us thrown in prison for trading on.

The scandal led to the passage of the STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act), drafted by Joe Liberman and signed into law by Barack Obama.

Congress patted itself on its back for doing the right thing.

Then, very quietly, made some changes to the STOCK Act that pretty much undid the whole thing.

There was just too much money to be made to not be corrupt.

This is what Congresswoman-Elect Ocasio-Cortez is talking about.

And she is right about this, it is beyond unethical for Congress to be able to use the privileged information available to them because of their office for personal gains.

It is clear that there are many in Congress who are there, and continue to fight to stay there, for no other purpose than personal enrichment.  They have figured out that graft, corruption, and grifting is the only way they can make it rich, because they are garbage people who will fail in the private sector.

Right now, it is easy for AOC to call out the rest of Congress.  She’s still principled (I never said she’s not, many socialists are, it’s just that their principles are absolute shit) and she hasn’t been sworn in yet.

From here I see one of three possible things happening to her:

1. She gets sworn in, is shown the ways of corruption, becomes corrupt herself and shuts up about this.
2. She gets sworn in, is shown the ways of corruption, becomes corrupt herself and continues to criticize the corruption as a blatant hypocrite.
3. She refuses to engage in the corruption and continues to complain about it and the other Democrats making insider money stomp her guts out behind the scenes.

I swear to God, when I saw this Tweet I was reminded of the scene in Training Day when the cops shoot Scott Glen’s character and take his stash.  I was imagining Nancy Pelosi as Denzel Washington and AOC as Ethan Hawke.

The only difference is, I don’t expect AOC to shoot Nancy Pelosi in the streets of DC.  Most likely, it would be the other way around.

On October 1, 2017 between 10:05 and 10:15 p.m, Stephen Paddock  opened fire on a crowd at  music festival in Las Vegas firing more  than 1,100 rounds from his suite in Mandalay Bay hotel, killing 58 people and leaving 851 injured (including over 400 by gunfire).  The drums of Gun Control chants went into high gear.

Four month later, on February 14, 2018,former student Nikolas Cruz opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing seventeen students and staff members and injuring seventeen others.

What followed a full-fledged attack on Gun Rights in this country. The Media would not stop blaming gun owners and the NRA. possibly hundreds of millions of dollars were spent in organizing PR events, marches, protest, etc. Media darlings were created as spokespersons for “Gun Safety” who had access to any TV station, to any newspaper and say whatever the wanted to say, truth be damned. The closest our side could get to a fair CNN interview was to pay our cable bill and watch the station at home.

The onslaught of 24/7 lies, misconceptions and personal attacks against Americans gun owners was brutal.  Lesser people would have caved (probably some did). We saw many taking the flag of gun control to get a political career and even one instance where an idiot actually committed a federal felony while virtual signaling.

Some states did get one in the chin, Florida possibly being the nastiest with the raising of age to 21 buy any firearm and the ban of bump stocks. I almost forgot the half a billion dollars allocated for “School Security.”

And at a Federal level? Nothing but the stupid bump stocks and people are losing their minds. I posted way back that I thought bump stocks is a stupid hill to die on and my opinion still stands. We could have had a sweeping Assault Ban legislation brought to the floor of Congress and in any other era of the past, we would have seen a vote or at a minimum a full discussion. Instead we can buy online AR 15 for under $400, 30 round magazines under $7 and ammo by the barrel.

But there is a loud group of Gun Owners who think everything was lost, the Second Amendment was derailed because of the ban. They think we should burn the world or at least the White House lawn for a piece of plastic that looks all tactical and makes you go pew-pew-pew-pew very fast without having to pay a federal tax stamp. And what that piece of plastic does, can be replicated by a frigging rubber band costing possibly a couple of pennies. I think it is time we get a grip on reality: It sucks to lose it, but it is a very small price to pay.

But if the bump stock ban is not enough, they throw in that President Trump  (The head of the Executive Branch) did not deliver National Reciprocity or The Safe Hearing Act: a couple of bills that are in Congress, what we know as the Legislative Branch. I know I learned US civics late in life, but unless the bills are passed by both the House and the Senate, they do not get signed by the President. At least that is how I was told this stuff worked.

I was told that Trump could have used the bully pulpit and that is where he failed. I will ask you if you called every day to your congresscritter or Senator demanding to have the bills brought to discussion on the floor.  Were you a pest? Do the aides know your voice and caller ID by heart? Did you flood their mailboxes with emails and letters?

No.

None of us did. We sat in our asses and like good little entitled morons, we waited for this to happen without our intervention. We wanted stopped working for it and felt we did not have to work for it anymore. And come end of the month, we will collect nothing for our efforts.

Trump did not fail us, we did. Let’s stop whining, let’s man up and begin the fight again in January… yes, even with a Democrat-Controlled Congress. because it seems we do not roll and get serious  unless they are trying to shove some bad law up our collective butts.

You can go to the Federal Registrar and read the history of the ATF rulings on bump stocks.

In a nutshell, the ATF decided that the original bump stock, which had a spring in the stock was a machine gun, but with the spring removed was not since pushing on the bump stock so that the finger engaged the trigger and fired the gun didn’t meet the definition of a machine gun.

Vice did a video on this:

In 2017, the ATF indicated that any changes to the bump stock rule would be legislative, i.e., Congress could ban them, but the ATF wasn’t going to change the ruling.

Today, that ruling was changed.

This scares the shit out of me for two reasons.

Reason 1: Arm braces, AR pistols, and firearms.

The ATF has ruled that arm braces are not stocks.  You can legally put one on an AR pistol.

AR pistols are functionally the same as AR-15 rifles, but without butt stocks and with different serial numbers.  The ATF lets manufacturers classify them as pistols.

Firearms like the Remington Tac13, Tac14, and Mossberg Shockwave are not short barreled shotguns, but firearms because they are 26 inches long, how they are serialized and that they come OEM without stocks.

If the ATF can, because of political pressure from the DOJ…

From the ATF website:

On February 20, 2018, President Trump issued a memorandum instructing the Attorney General “to dedicate all available resources to… propose for notice and comment a rule banning all devices that turn legal weapons into machineguns.”

In response to that direction the Department reviewed more than 186,000 public comments and made the decision to make clear that the term “machinegun” as used in the National Firearms Act (NFA), as amended, and Gun Control Act (GCA), as amended, includes all bump-stock-type devices that harness recoil energy to facilitate the continuous operation of a semiautomatic long gun after a single pull of the trigger.

Reverse a previous ruling on bump stocks, it can reverse the rulings on arm braces, AR/AK pistols, and Shockwave type firearms.

Congratulations, your Tac14, AR Pistol, or arm brace is now an unregistered SBS or SBR.  You have 90 days to destroy it or you are in violation of the NFA and get to go to prison.

We are now talking hundreds of thousands or millions of people made felons overnight with a rule change.

Reason 2: Social media and search warrants.

I’ve already seen it posted online “compliance will be low, how many people will really destroy their bump stocks?”

How many gun owners have pictures or video of their guns with bump stocks on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, YouTube, etc.

Well, that’s now evidence, and potentially enough to get a search warrant for your address.

Your honor, here is a YouTube video of the suspect shooting a bump stock, we just want to make sure it’s destroyed.

An no, a boating accident won’t cover this.  The ATF is very specific when it comes to destroying NFA items.  Failure to destroy a bump stock in the way they want you to is just as bad as not destroying it at all.

A legislative ban on bump stocks might have been as bad as “no new ones but existing ones are grandfathered in, and you can’t sell it or transfer it after you die.”  Essentially what California did with assault weapons after registration.

Owners wouldn’t be felons.

The rule change just turned thousands of people into criminals in 90 days.

That’s one hell of a blow to civil rights.

So I am gonna make them simple starting tomorrow:

DON’T BE A DICK. 

You can argue, present you differences of opinion and even wave your fist to the sky and be angry at the clouds. I will not accept people being keyboard dickheads.