Justice Department said investigating Harvard
Apparently, there is trouble in academic paradise.
The US Justice Department said in November that it is investigating Harvard University’s admissions policies and accused the school of refusing to cooperate, ratcheting up a fight that could have implications for affirmative action policies on campuses across the country, according to the Boston Globe.
The Justice Department released letters confirming that it had opened a probe into whether Harvard had violated civil rights laws, following up on allegations that it had limited its admissions of Asian-American students. The federal agency threatened to sue Harvard over what it called “delays and challenges” in producing documents related to the investigation.
The Justice Department’s aggressive pursuit of the case, stemming from complaints over two years old, drew applause from conservative opponents of affirmative action, but critics accused Attorney General Jeff Sessions of playing politics.
We’ll see how this story unfolds, but it’s curious that what some people consider the preeminent university is even bothered by policy missteps.
Pelosi gets 3 Pinocchios on carry reciprocity bill
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was awarded three “Pinocchios” from the Washington Post’s Fact Checker columnist, Glenn Kessler for a Twitter post concerning HR 38, The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.
HR 38 passed the House (see Page 1 story) and Pelosi tweeted, “Inviting violent criminals to carry concealed weapons doesn’t save lives. Inviting domestic abusers to carry concealed weapons doesn’t save lives. Inviting convicted stalkers to carry concealed weapons doesn’t save lives. Yet the @HouseGOP just voted to do exactly that,” on Dec. 6.
Kessler said he received a number of requests from readers to fact check Pelosi’s statement, which is not surprising since many in the anti-gun community have been making similar claims about the bill.
In the article, which appeared on Dec. 12, Kessler spoke with a Pelosi spokesman who said the tweet was based on information from Everytown for Gun Safety, the Michael Bloomberg-funded group. Everytown said the bill, “would even force states to allow concealed carry by many people with no permit whatsoever—allowing people who have never been screened by a background check to carry throughout the country.”
But the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), responded: “It’s a complete falsehood that HR 38 would ‘invite’ violent criminals, dangerous individuals, and convicted stalkers to carry concealed,” he said in a statement.
“Liberal elites are either cherry-picking data to fit their agenda or blatantly ignoring existing law which prohibits these categories of people from even possessing firearms. In fact, there is a specific provision in H.R. 38 that excludes any individual who is prohibited by federal law from ‘possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm.’”
Kessler also spoke with David Kopel of the Cato Institute and Adam Winkler, the UCLA law professor who has been considered a sort of unbiased fact checker by many in the media, as well as several people who urged him to take up the story.
While Kessler said there are still some details of the bill yet to be worked out in the Senate, and mentioned state attorneys general on both sides of the issue, he eventually awarded Pelosi’s comment “3 Pinocchios.”
The Fact Checker feature of the Post awards escalating Pinocchios based on their assessment of the truth of the statement. Four Pinocchios are awarded for “whoppers,” i.e. outright falsehoods.
The Post says the three Pinocchio is for “Significant factual error and/or obvious contradictions. This gets into the realm of ‘mostly false.’ But it could include statements which are technically correct (such as based on official government data) but are so taken out of context as to be very misleading. The line between Two and Three Pinocchios can be bit fuzzy and we do not award half-Pinocchios. So we strive to explain the factors that tipped us toward a Three,” The Post explained.
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Two days after a gunman killed 26 people at the small Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, TX, a pastor at a Tampa Bay, FL, church took to Instagram, according to the Washington Post.
Senior Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne of the River at Tampa Bay Church posted a photo of the signs on his church doors: “WE ARE HEAVILY ARMED — ANY ATTEMPT WILL BE DEALT WITH DEADLY FORCE — YES WE ARE A CHURCH AND WE WILL PROTECT OUR PEOPLE.”
The signs on the 21-year-old nondenominational church are about a year old, but caught national attention on social media after Howard-Browne’s post was covered by news outlets in the weeks after the Sutherland Springs shooting.
The post has received both praise and criticism.
“Very sad that it is necessary to carry and be alert for killers while worshiping. It is our right and our duty to protect self and others — even in church,” Instagram user dorothea6111 commented.
“Awesome! Had the same idea for my church,” another Instagram user, gerswhin75, commented. “For those that are shocked by this — God will protect His people, but He expects us to do our part. That’s why we use seat belts, or wear helmets . . . just like others. We do our part, let God do His.”
Capitol gun carry applications surge after court ruling
FBI figures show surging interest in concealed carry licenses in the nation’s capital following a recent court ruling that effectively ended the District of Columbia’s discretionary licensing regime, the National Rifle Association reported..
DC officials decided not to appeal the ruling in early October. That month, the FBI ran 217 background checks for District residents, two-thirds of them in connection with concealed carry license applications. By contrast, only one-licensed-related check was run in September, and no one had applied for a concealed carry license at all during the previous October.
The surge then continued in November, with 75% of the city’s record 365 National Instant Criminal Background Check System queries run for concealed carry licenses.
Washington’s concealed carry requirements remain strict and include 16 hours of mandatory training. It’s also unusually difficult for residents to acquire ownership of a handgun, beginning with the fact that there are no stocking firearm dealers anywhere within the District.
But until October, it was virtually impossible for most D.C. residents to get a concealed carry license at all, even those with extensive firearms training, spotless backgrounds, and the willingness to jump through DC’s voluminous red tape. This was because DC had imposed a “good” or “proper” reason requirement that automatically disqualified applicants who simply wanted to carry a handgun for self-defense.
In July, a divided three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that the “good” or “proper” reason requirement was effectively a ban on bearing arms by people entitled to Second Amendment protection and barred its enforcement. The panel’s ruling came in the combined cases of Wrenn v. DC and Grace v. DC.
The District then asked the full DC Circuit to rehear the case, but the court denied the request in September. On Oct. 5, the District effectively threw in the towel by deciding not to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Funding bill sets CMP program to sell 1911 pistols
On Dec. 12, President Trump signed into law H.R. 2810, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (NDAA), which included a provision long sought by collectors of vintage firearms and militaiia that would require military surplus M1911/M1911A1 pistols to be made available for sale to the American public. The military currently has some 100,000 excess 1911s sitting in storage at taxpayer expense.
A previous version of the NDAA signed into law by then-President Obama in 2015 authorized, but did not require, the Secretary of Defense to transfer up to 10,000 surplus 1911s per year to the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) for sale to the public. Unsurprisingly, no such transfers were ever made while Obama remained in the White House.
The language in the 2018 NDAA effectively establishes a mandatory pilot program under which at least 8,000 – and as many as 10,000 –1911s would be transferred to the CMP for public sale in 2018. The Secretary of Defense must then report to Congress on the outcome of the program. Thereafter, the Secretary would be authorized to continue transferring up to 10,000 surplus 1911s a year to the CMP for further such sales.
Despite the typical inaccurate rhetoric from gun control advocates, the CMP pistols sales will utilize a variety of safeguards that exceed even the normal procedures the organization has used for years to distribute surplus military M1 Garands, M1 carbines, and .22 rimfire trainers.
For example, the pistol sales may only occur through a federally licensed firearms dealer in the purchaser’s state of residence, who of course will be obligated to obey all state and local laws of the point of sale. Sales records allowing for the tracing of the firearms – should they later be found at a crime scene – will be kept both by the CMP and by the transferring FFL. Furthermore, the buyer must receive the pistol from the FFL in a face-to-face transaction at the FFL’s business premises. Pistols will not be provided directly to the buyers by the CMP.
The CMP has further indicated two background checks will be conducted in connection with each sale, one by the CMP prior to shipping the pistol to the specified FFL and another by the FFL before releasing the pistol to the customer at the FFL’s place of business. And while federal law allows an FFL to transfer a firearm three days after a “delay” response by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the CMP will only transfer the firearm to the FFL if NICS provides a “proceed” response to the first background check.
Those wishing to acquire one of the surplus 1911s must be US citizens, eligible to receive firearms under federal law and the laws of their places of residence, be members of a CMP-affiliated club, and be able to provide proof of participation in a marksmanship activity. Only one 1911 will be available to each customer per calendar year.
Once 10,000 orders are received, the CMP will assign a random number to each customer. These customers will be contacted in sequence with the grading and pricing options that are then available.
No timeline for release or pricing information is currently available.
Canadian antis implore Trudeau on firearms agenda
Canadian Gun-control activists implored Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December to not let the pro-gun lobby slow down his government’s efforts to introduce firearm legislation, The Hamilton Spectator reported.
Serge St-Arneault, who lost his sister during the Ecole Ppolytechnique massacre in 1989, asked Trudeau to keep his party’s campaign promise.
“I know the gun lobby is strong and noisy,” he said, standing with eight other gun-control activists in Ottawa.
“But your party … was elected with a majority due to, among other things, your promise to reverse the damage caused by the Harper government.”
Trudeau promised firearm-tracing regulations that would help police better trace guns used in crimes.
Trudeau’s campaign pledge was not popular with the firearm community, which has long opposed the rules and “continues to advocate against their coming into force,” according to an internal note to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, obtained by The Canadian Press last spring.
Heidi Rathjen, coordinator of an organization comprised of survivors of the Polytechnique massacre and members of victims’ families, criticized the government’s working group on firearms.
“The new committee … has had only two meetings — one in March and one in May,” she said. “When the minister (Goodale) was asked when the gun control bill would be tabled, one of his responses was the committee was ‘hard at work.’”
North Dakota AG’s opinion clarifies concealed carry law
In mid-December, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem issued an opinion clarifying that the constitutional carry law enacted by House Bill 1169 does indeed allow for the carrying of loaded firearms in vehicles by law-abiding residents without needing to first obtain a firearm carry license. Previously, when this question was raised, Senators and Representatives requested an official opinion from the Attorney General.
HB1169 allows any person who is legally eligible for a Class 2 firearm carry license and who has possessed a valid North Dakota driver’s license or ID card to carry a concealed firearm without needing to first obtain the firearm carry license. However, existing state law prohibiting loaded firearms in vehicles only specifically exempted firearms carried under concealed carry permits, prompting the question about whether constitutional carry applied in vehicles. Attorney General Stenehjem ruled that a North Dakota driver’s license or ID card “is the equivalent” of a concealed carry permit, so constitutional carry qualifies for the exemption to the prohibition against loaded firearms in vehicles.
Marine reunited with his World War II rifle
A 90-year-old World War II veteran who described being a Marine as the “high point” of his life has been reunited with his M1 Garand rifle after 73 years, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Dick Cowell was 18 and the war was in full swing when he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was handed a uniform, the rifle and some ammunition.
This Veterans Day, the old Marine was reconnected with the dented, scratched rifle that became his third arm during the war. Searched, found and purchased by his son Richard through gunbroker.com, it’s a historic relic that is bringing his family closer.
Air Force says it’s correcting NICS reporting
The Air Force is requiring higher levels of review before criminal cases are closed in order to ensure required disclosures are reported to the FBI’s National Instant Back Check database, Secretary Heather Wilson told Senate lawmakers on Dec. 6.
The new steps come after the Air Force failed to report the criminal background of a former airman to federal authorities, a disclosure that would have prevented him from purchasing firearms before he fatally shot 26 people last month inside a Texas church, the Washington Times reported.
Multiple levels of command now have to confirm that required disclosures have been made to the background check system in all reported incidents, Wilson said.
She also told lawmakers it could take up to five months to complete a review of 60,000 cases in which service members potentially should have been reported to the federal gun background-check database. An initial review of the cases, which date back to 2002, found several dozen instances where records were not properly relayed to the appropriate federal databases.
The now deceased Texas gunman, Devin Kelley, was able to obtain multiple firearms legally after passing background checks despite a history of abusing his ex-wife and stepson during his time in the Air Force. He served a 12-month sentence in the brig after he pleaded guilty, a conviction that should have gotten him flagged by the NICS and prevented him from buying a gun from a licensed dealer. But the Air Force didn’t report his conviction.
Once a final report on the Kelly incident is completed by the Air Force, Ms. Wilson said a decision “about any accountability or disciplinary action” will be made.
“Before we pass new laws, we should make sure that our current laws are being effectively followed and enforced,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles E. Grassley (R-IA). “We should also make sure that existing programs designed to ensure NICS reporting compliance are fully funded and effectively run.”
A report issued earlier indicates that fingerprint and final disposition records were not properly submitted in approximately a quarter of cases handled by the Air Force between 2015 and 2016. Out of 2,502 cases, fingerprint cards were not submitted in 601 cases and final disposition reports were not submitted in 780 cases.
Pro-gun candidate in Massachusetts
A pro-gun Republican lawyer has thrown his hat into the state attorney general’s 2018 race in Massachusetts.
Attorney Jay McMahon, a Republican, may have an uphill struggle in the deep blue East Coast state in his effort to replace current AG Maura Healey, who launched a controversial campaign to ban “lookalike” semi-automatic rifles in June. Healey is also reportedly considering a run for governor next year.
McMahon is a defense attorney from Cape Cod who once served as a policeman in Barnstable and as a lieutenant in the military police. McMahon told WAMC radio that there are three major issues of concern in his campaign; the Second Amendment, public safety and the opiate crisis in Massachusetts.
Delaware court strikes gun bans
By a narrow majority, the Supreme Court of Delaware recently struck down decades-old regulations that it found conflicted with the state constitution by “completely eviscerat[ing] a core right to keep and bear arms for defense of self and family outside the home.”
Article I, Section 20 of Delaware’s Constitution protects the right “to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use.” Courts interpreting Section 20 have found this state law is “intentionally broader than the Second Amendment” and specifically protects an independent right to bear arms outside the home.
Two state agencies had long-standing regulations that effectively banned the carrying of firearms for self-defense in Delaware’s state parks and state forests.
After Delaware gun clubs and their members brought a legal challenge alleging that the regulations violated Section 20 and exceeded the scope of authority granted to the agencies, a lower court upheld the restrictions. In a ruling last December, the Delaware Superior Court found the regulations were justified as being substantially related to the objective of keeping the public safe from guns, and did not unduly infringe on the plaintiffs’ rights.
On appeal, in a 3-2 decision, the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware reversed that ruling earlier this month. It ruled that not only did DNREC and DOA fail to justify “such sweeping regulations,” but failed to show they even had the authority to enact “such unconstitutional regulations in the first place.”
Timney gift supports Buffalo Bill Center
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West has announced that Timney Triggers has pledged $500,000 toward its Cody Firearms Museum (CFM) reconstruction. The Center recently revealed its plan to fully renovate the CFM. Timney Triggers’ donation combines with several federal grants and high-level individual donations received to date for the project; however, Timney led the charge in the firearms world as the first substantial industry gift, the museum said.
“I am happy to make this gift,” said John Vehr, Timney Triggers owner, “because our industry must support and appreciate the benefits derived from having the finest gun museum in the world educate hundreds of thousands of people who visit [the museum] AND are new to guns, on the historical importance and the positive aspects of our industry.”
The CFM is planning a two-floor renovation that caters to both firearms enthusiasts and the general public. This museum will boast more than 4,500 firearms on display, Steel Challenge simulators, and additional hands-on interactive displays that teach people not only about how firearms changed throughout history, but why they’re significant to our cultural heritage.
