Florida CWL Report: Still growing.
J. Kb.’s post reminded me I had not checked lately where do we stand in Florida lately about permits. Since June of this year, we have added 40,832 new licenses.
This ws the count that came out in June, 2019.
Till September 2019.
It is about 10 thousand a month, so maybe we get another 30K to the count for the year.
Not too shabby.
More violent theft in Omar’s District
Remember my post from last month about the group of super-predators, as per Hillary Clinton’s nomenclature, in Minneapolis who were attacking people for their cellphones and beating them up?
Despite some arrests, this is continuing.
‘You Have To Be Alert Constantly’: Community In Shock After Man In Wheelchair Robbed On LRT
Nothing to see here.
Just a pair of Eagle Scouts on their way to lead a church youth service, liberating a handicap old man of his cellphone.
Two 14-year-old boys are suspected of attacking a man in a wheelchair and robbing him on a light rail platform near the state Capitol.
The incident happened Sunday, Aug. 25 at 4:30 in the afternoon. The video shows the two boys on bicycles approach the man, eventually knocking him over and stealing what appears to be his cell phone.
The man was sitting in his wheelchair on the eastbound platform when the attack happened.
From two different angles, the two teens are seen harassing the man. He tries to hide his phone, but they continue to go after it, eventually grabbing it and knocking him backward before taking off.
Again, I’m going to refer you to an older post, one about a video from BBC Three on moped crime.
When you are on a public street, put away your damn cellphone. It’s hard, I know, trust me. But nose down in your phone, not paying attention makes you vulnerable and shows off that $900 piece of technology you have. To a thief, holding a new cellphone in your hand is like holding a fat stack of bills. It’s something they just want to grab out of your hands and run away with.
Put it away.
Also, these youths are pretty vicious to attack a man in a wheelchair.
It might be a bad idea to shoot a 14-year-old, but a face full of mace from a guy in a wheelchair seems like a reasonable idea.
A quiet victory
Miguel has dutifully tracked the number of issued Florida CCW permits, which cleared two million earlier this year.
That’s great, but at the national level, we’re doing even better.
From the Crime Prevention Research Center:
Despite the expectations of many after the 2016 elections the number of concealed handgun permits has increased for the third year in a row. In 2019, the number of concealed handgun permits soared to now over 18.66 million– a 304% increase since 2007. About an 8% growth over the number of permits since 2018.
Overall, that is more than 5% of Americans who have a CCW permit. Of course, it’s not broken down evenly.
This map shows the states by percent of residents with CCW permits;
You are welcome by the way.
I have gotten a CCW in every state I have ever claimed residence in, including Illinois, and have lived in four of the five states that are above 15% (I’m just missing Iowa). Throw in my Arizona and Utah permits and I’ve done my part to boost those numbers.
I think the state that impresses me the most is Pennsylvania at 10-15% despite being jammed next to a bunch of may/no issue ban-happy states (Maryland, New York, New Jersey).
This is a very quiet victory, you don’t hear much about concealed carry in the media, except when the are mocking the idea of a good guy with a gun, but our numbers are growing.
More Leftist Jew hatred – Portland NBA edition
I spoke too soon. The week of bad Leftist antisemitism wasn’t over when I wrote my post yesterday.
This time, we are going to turn to Portland, the city that the radical mayor has let come under the grip of Antifa.
From Willamette Week:
The Trail Blazers are ending a controversial partnership with Beaverton-based sniper-scopes manufacturer Leupold & Stevens.
NBA writer Sean Highkin first reported that Blazers President Chris McGowan made the announcement this afternoon at the team’s media day.
“Leupold is no longer a partner of the organization,” McGowan said. “I thank them for many years of supporting our organization. They were a great partner when they were a sponsor. But, for various reasons…they’ve decided to go in a different direction, so they’re no longer a partner of our team.”
Several groups, including the Portland Democratic Socialists of America, have protested the Blazers’ relationship with the company, which supplies rifle scopes to the U.S. military and other armed forces, including the Israeli Defense Force.
It’s the company’s work with the Israeli army that has drawn protest from the DSA, which opposes the occupation of Palestine.
In Portland, the Democratic Socialists of America are an actual political force and not just a bunch of pampered college kids who need to be beaten to within an inch of their lives with a copy of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
And why is the DSA protesting Leupold? Because of teh JOOOOOOOOOS!!!
Leupold supplies optics to a number of militaries around the world, including to places like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are only nominally our allies. Nobody on the Left ever protests American companies supplying anything to a dictatorial monarchy that chops off hands and feet in soccer stadiums to jeering crowds.
Supply equipment to the IDF and they lose their Jew-hating minds.
McGowan said the protests were not entirely the reason for the end of the partnership.
Leupold & Stevens had sponsored a regular segment at Moda Center called Hometown Heroes, meant to honor local military veterans and first responders with free tickets, gifts and in-game recognition.
During a Hometown Heroes segment at a game last year, a former Marine Corps security guard and member of the Portland chapter of the DSA unzipped his jacket, revealing a shirt reading “End This Sponsorship #NoLeupold.”
I still support our military on principle, and I work with a lot of veterans, but everywhere I turn I find more and more people in our military who signed up while at the same time are ideologically opposed to every single thing this country stands for.
I understand that the military is not politically monolithic. I can name more Democrats in Congress who are veterans than Republicans. What I find frightening is that like Ted Lieu, Pam Keith, Amy McGrath, Seth Moulton, etc. they swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and then as politicians want to impose the most egregious restrictions on the rights of the people. We have military veterans in office who want to use the power of the Federal government to disarm the civilian population.
But I digress…
“We are grateful for the hard work of the many community groups, activists, Blazers fans, and veterans who united around this important issue to stand up for Palestinian human rights,” DSA co-chair Olivia Katbi Smith said in a statement. “We are relieved that the Blazers have done the right thing and finally ended this completely unnecessary partnership with a company that has provided sniper scopes to a brutal occupying force.”
Katbi Smith added that the DSA is still planning to oppose the Blazers’ preseason game against Israel’s Maccabi Haifa on Oct. 10.
“Apartheid has no business in Portland, including in our sports and entertainment,” Katbi Smith said.
Translation: “We are historically illiterate but we hate teh JOOOOOS and need to justify our hatred in a way that sounds Woke and Progressive.”
In a more rational place, a bunch of Jew-hating socialists would have been told to go fuck themselves with various sharp and painful implements. My recommendation is a length of shear cut #18 Rebar.
In Portland, what the Jew-hating socialists want, the Jew-hating socialists get.
I don’t blame Leupold, the political demographics of Portland have shifted so far and so fast I will honestly be surprised if they are not run out of the state the way gun makers were run out of New York.
If/when that happens, I’d like to welcome Leupold to the Huntsville, Alabama area. We have lots of engineering and manufacturing capabilities to help them as the world-class optics manufacturer that we are.
Also, if the shit hits the fan, I’ll make sure that I bag at least one DSA with my 308 topped with a Leupold Mk 4.
“shoot to kill” versus “shoot to stop”
This post is not for the discussion of Guyger’s innocence or guilt, but on a very specific turning point in the trial. Let’s keep it there.
From Massad Ayoob’s:
Watching the defendant’s cross-examination last week, I cringed when I saw what I knew would be a turning point in the trial. One source quoted the brief exchange that seems to have hurt Guyger’s case the worst:
“’When you aimed and pulled the trigger at Mr. Jean, shooting him in center mass exactly where you are trained, you intended to kill Mr. Jean,’ (prosecutor) Hermus said. ‘I did,’ Guyger said.”
Under Texas law, a finding of intent to kill is essential to a murder verdict. In a self-defense shooting, our purpose is to shoot to STOP, that is, to stop the opponent from killing or crippling us. “Shoot to stop,” as I’ve preached for decades, is not a figure of speech from the lexicon of political correctness; “shoot to kill” versus “shoot to stop” goes to the heart of state of mind. State of mind, in turn, is what makes or breaks a self-defense plea.
LEARNING FROM THE GUYGER TRIAL AND MURDER
This is a cautionary tale. Sometimes what comes out of our mouths is not a true reflection of what we are but the result of cultural programming and I believe this is one of this times.
In Aldous Huxley’s book A Brave New World, there is behavioral tool called Hynopeadia which is teaching by repeating a slogan or a principle over and over in your sleep.
Foster patted the Assistant Predestinator on the shoulder. “Every one belongs to every one else, after all.”
“One hundred repetitions three nights a week for four years,” thought Bernard Marx, who was a specialist on hypnopædia. “Sixty-two thousand four hundred repetitions make one truth. Idiots!”
How many times in our lives have we heard the term “shoot to kill” in our lifetimes? It has been tens of thousands of repetitions accepted without complain because they came attached to a work of fiction in a book, TV show or a movie. And no, we are not asleep, but our brain is in a passive state simply taking in the message that somebody else is putting out in words without truly processing it. Those words are now ingrained in our psyche and its repetition or affirmation come out in a pavlovian response even when they are the farthest thing from the truth.
If we have used a firearm in self-defense and the outcome is the death of the attacker, you will be under enormous amount of stress and same thing being the defendant on a murder case. What we say matters and we have to be very careful with it and not allow automatic responses sending us to jail.
I leave you with two guidelines. One we have covered before more than once.
Massad Ayoob’s Five-Point Checklist
1. Tell responding officers “I’m the victim; he is the perpetrator.”
2. Tell responding officers, “I will sign a complaint.”
3. Point out pertinent evidence.
4. Point out any witnesses who saw what happened.
5. If there is any hint that you are a suspect, say “Officer, you will have my full cooperation after I have counsel here.
And the second, I once again abuse Greg Ellifritz and send you over his article : What Do I Say After a Shooting?
The crux of the issue is that our brains don’t work very well when we are under extreme amounts of stress. When the adrenaline is coursing through your system, it’s extremely difficult to calm down enough to allow for rational thought and clear recall. No matter how cool and collected you may feel, you’ll likely make a mistake when answering police questions immediately after a shooting.
Never forget that we never stop training and that training is not only comprised about how precisely you can deliver a bullet downrange but it includes a wide variety of subjects, any of which can end your lifestyle as you know it if you are unaware of them.