VA open carrier robbed of sidearm
An open carry practitioner in Newport News, VA, recently got an opportunity to re-think his carry strategy when his exposed sidearm was stolen in a brazen evening robbery.
According to the Newport News Daily Press, the unidentified 37-year-old armed citizen was walking across a street when he was pushed to the ground and relieved of his pistol. Police spokesman Harold Eley told the newspaper that two men committed the theft. They approached the armed citizen from behind. One man demanded the pistol and the other man grabbed the gun and pushed the citizen down. They then fled the scene.
Maine universal check initiative awaits approval
On Jan. 19, anti-gun advocates collected the required number of signatures for the Bloomberg gun control initiative on universal waiting periods in this November’s general election. The language and purpose of the proposed ballot issue is very similar to a question already cleared for Nevada voters this year.
The Maine Secretary of State still will have to validate those signatures before the issue can be placed on the ballot. If enacted, this initiative would potentially criminalize all currently legal private transfers.
Despite the rhetoric, this radically misguided ballot initiative will not reduce crime. As proven by results of similar measures enacted in Oregon and approved by voters in a Washington state referendum, this initiative is unlikely to deter criminals, but is likely to lead to a universal firearms registration system.
It is another attempt by former New York City Mayor and media billionaire Michael Bloomberg to impose gun control on a state by state basis.
Clinton eyes Obama for Supreme Court
Second Amendment activists were given one more reason to oppose Hillary Rodham Clinton for president when she told an audience, during a question-and-answer appearance in Iowa before the caucuses, that she would “certainly take under advisement” the nomination of Barack Obama to the US Supreme Court.
Social media erupted with negative remarks following the reporting of her remarks, which were caught on video and posted to Facebook.
In her comments, Clinton acknowledged that the next president may be able to appoint “one to three” new Supreme Court justices. Clinton reminded the crowd, “Now we do have to get a Democratic Senate to get him confirmed so you’re going to have to help me on that, OK?”
Many states report increases in CCWs
Several states have recently been reporting increases in the number of concealed carry license applications and approvals, including Washington State, South Dakota and even Massachusetts.
The Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) reported one of the biggest spikes in concealed carry for the month of January, during which law enforcement agencies around the state reported issuing thousands of new concealed pistol licenses.
A rough analysis of the CPL data shows that anywhere from 18 to 25% of those licenses are issued to women, depending upon the county. Overall statewide, the average is about 20% for women.
According to a DOL monthly report, the state added 8,087 new CPLs, bringing the Jan. 31 total of active CPLs to 517,665. That is up from the Dec. 31 year-end figure of 509, 578. At that time, it signified an increase of 31,118 new carry licenses for the year in 2015.
Applications submitted in the days following that attack would be issued during January if they were approved.
South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs recently told KSFY News in Pierre that residents of that state recently set a record for concealed carry permit applications.
She told the station that the state had issued 3,879 permits in January, and that it set a new record, after December 2015 when the state issued 3,000 permits. The state currently has 87,580 active permits, Krebs said at the time.
South Dakota issues permits after they are approved by county sheriffs.
And despite having some of the toughest gun laws in the country, Massachusetts residents are arming up, according to figures obtained by the Boston Globe.
Last year saw the state add about 24,700 Class A firearms licenses, the newspaper reported. That brought the number of licenses to 342,622 at the end of 2015, and it is likely that figure has risen since then.
More significantly, the number of Class A licenses has jumped by 104,150 over the past five years, the Globe noted.
Anti-Hunters Protest at Denver Sport Expo
Anti-hunters tried to disrupt a seminar at the International Sportsmen’s Exposition in Denver, creating something of a flap as reported by The Outdoor Hub.
They were accompanied by youngsters, and at one point, some of the protesters tried to quiz Chris Roe, a wildlife biologist and outfitter, why he didn’t hunt his own dogs, rather than elk, the story said.
The group, Direct Action Everywhere/Denver, claimed that “activists” as young as 12 traveled from places like Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. On their Facebook page, this group alluded to hunters as “murder hobbyists.” The group claimed to have disrupted an “early season deer killing lesson.”
Direct Action Everywhere says it is an animal liberation group, founded about three years ago.
No surprise: Anti-gunners endorse Hillary Clinton
In case you didn’t know which presidential candidates are pro- or anti-gun, you can judge a candidate by the company he or she keeps. In January, Democrat Hillary Clinton received endorsements from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Americans for Responsible Solutions, and former Attorney General Eric Holder.
All of these organizations or former cabinet members are in lock step with the gun control agenda President Obama has pursued during his first term of office, and ratcheted up in his second.
Clinton has already laid out her extensive gun control campaign platform, establishing herself as the most anti-gun candidate of either party running for president in 2016.
The Brady Campaign said Clinton “will finish the job” begun by Obama. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and husband Mark Kelly, said Clinton is the only “candidate for president that has the determination and toughness to stand up to the corporate gun lobby.” Holder said Clinton, “has bold plans to address police brutality [and] fight for common sense reforms to our gun laws.”
Of course, what’s common sense to Holder is always questionable.
For her part, Clinton has said she’s “with” Obama when it comes to not only so-called “universal” background checks for even private sales, she also wants to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, and thinks the British or Australian models for grabbing everyone’s firearms are just the ticket for America.
NH grannie shoots mugger, earns ‘shooter’ nicknames
In early January, a 65-year old New Hampshire woman driving home at night was followed by a white male in a dark hooded sweatshirt in another vehicle, which blocked her approach to her apartment building.
As she left the car, so did the man who blocked her path to the building and attempted to grab her. At that point, she drew her handgun from her pocket and shot the man in the chest at close range, according to the Boston Herald.
The man, weighing over 200 pounds, who attacked her, Michael Bontaites, 23, no fixed address, was charged with robbery. Police placed no charges against the woman, half the weight of her assailant was not charged. Police described her actions as self-defense.
But the senior woman, who has not been identified, apparently fascinated some columnists and politicians. She is now being referred to as “Dirty Harriet” and “Grannie Oakley.” Donald Trump, campaigning for votes in her state’s First in the Nation’s primary, recounted her ordeal and described her actions as “a beautiful story.”
Herald columnist Howie Carr, said the woman, by any name, is President Obama’s worst nightmare, while chiding the current resident of the White House for not giving the woman as a “shout out” as he does for victims of violence.
Age no impediment to effective defense
Here’s further proof that age isn’t necessarily an impediment to success in self-defense.
On Jan. 31, an allegedly axe-wielding robber turned and fled after hearing the first shot fired by 92-year-old World War II veteran Joe Milspa about 11 a.m. in San Jacinto, CA.
According to CBS Los Angeles and other news outlets, Milspa said he heard “noise” as the suspect was allegedly using an axe to try to get through the door. The WWII vet then saw a window shatter and the suspect beginning to climb through soon after.
So Milspa grabbed his .45 caliber Model 1911 pistol and turned a corner, where, he says, “I could have shot him right in the head between the eyes. But I didn’t want to do that.” So he fired a shot to the side to frighten the burglar, according to Brietbart.com.
Milspa laughed, and said the suspect dropped his axe and took off running. The nonagenarian said he has had the gun for decades and still goes to the shooting range.”
If that sounds like a rare story, bear in mind that a couple of years ago in Kentucky, another 92-year-old World War II veteran shot and killed a suspected robber who attempted to break into his home. In that incident, two other men believed to be involved in the botched home invasion are lucky to have escaped with their lives and are now behind bars, WLWT reported.
Bloomberg party guests share disappointing news
In case you didn’t know, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the godfather of gun control, recently announced that he is considering an independent run for the presidency this year. But there’s an ill wind blowing.
Bloomberg News threw a lavish party in Des Moines, IA, the night of Jan. 30 to reveal the results of the final Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register pre-caucus Iowa Poll, which included some disappointing results for the company’s founder, Michael Bloomberg, Politico.com reported.
As servers at the makeshift Bloomberg TV studio passed trays of canapes and flutes of champagne to journalists and political operatives, the results were revealed: The man footing the bill for the event had a higher unfavorability rating compared with every other candidate, Democrat and Republican, with two exceptions: Jeb Bush and Sarah Palin.
Bloomberg Politics’ own story spent several paragraphs explaining how Bloomberg fared.
According to Politico, the event crystallized what has become an important and sometimes awkward question for the media company which has poured incredible amounts of resources into covering the 2016 election: How to cover their own boss.
