Sebastian – Page 13 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Red Flag

USA Today is running an op-ed from Michael Hammond, Chief Counsel for GOA (oops, didn’t notice this was a year old).

But there’s a larger issue:Â If the Constitution can be suspended in a secret hearing, where does this lead?Â
What if this newspaper could be shut down for 21 days without due process â€”Â based on a secret complaint?Â Or an individual could be arrested or imprisoned for 21 days?Â Or tortured?

I was reading NJ AG Gurbir Grewal’s directive to law enforcement about enforcement of New Jersey’s ERPO. I don’t even like the idea of the police walking out of someone’s house with a sharp pencil with this kind of due process. Guns aside, if the state wishes to seize my property, I have a right to due process. I shouldn’t be able to lose property just because the police think I’m an asshole.

And don’t give me “the police have to have probable cause to … blah blah blah.” We all know there’s a gulf between what things ideally should be and how they work in practice. â€œUpon arriving at the scene, based upon my training, knowledge and experience, I determined that Mr. Smith was a danger to himself and his family,” will be to red flag laws what, â€‹”I smelled marijuana coming from the car,” is for traffic stops.

Losing Ground Among Gun Owners

Latest Fox News poll, which is being touted by The Trace and no doubt being put in front of lawmakers too, shows NRA has lost ground in approval among gun owners. That’s going to be spun as gun owners coming around to gun control. That’s a lie, but that’s how it’s going to be spun, and the FAANG corporations will do their level best to make sure we can’t get our message out. We all know the reason for this drop is the utter chaos reigning at NRA.

NRA’s high favorables have always been one of its strongest assets. Wayne is pissing that away as we speak. I don’t know how, at this point, any member of the NRA Board can argue with credibility that Wayne can be allowed to remain EVP. He’s got to go. You have to restore confidence.

The time for that was yesterday. Wayne should have retired in 2016 when Trump was elected, we had the House, and things were looking about as good as they were going to get.

People who knew NRA well knew there were a lot of problems like this for a long time, but we also knew the NRA was still working pretty effectively and that fixing the problem would be more painful than letting it continue. We’re all complicit. It’s not just Wayne. But it has to be fixed now. The person primarily responsible for this mess is still running the show. That can’t stand.

Aimed Squarely at Roberts

Dems are threatening some court packing if the Court actually puts some teeth in the Second Amendment. Roberts is very concerned about the perceived legitimacy of the court, so I believe these Dems are trying to scare him into dismissing the case using arguments that will be likely to sway him.

I can tell Roberts that nothing will endanger the legitimacy of the courts more than failing to secure a robust Second Amendment right. This isn’t just calling a penalty a tax and feeling good you dodged the issue: you’re talking about erasing an amendment out of the Bill of Rights by judicial abrogation.

I Wish My Employer Would Buy Me a House

I’d even settle for a measly $400k house. I was willing to look past the suits and the travel. That was a nothing burger. But this isn’t. I get that the EVP of NRA is going to have security concerns, and that work is the primary driver of those concerns. So I’d be OK with a housing allotment to deal with security issues at any home the EVP owns. But our membership dollars should not be buying the EVP a house outright. Also, why Dallas?

I’ll be completely honest with you, if NRA buying Wayne a $6MM house in Dallas would convince him to retire, I’d say it’s a deal.

That Some Condescending Click Bait Right There

I’m reluctant to help the troll troll, but it’s one of those things where I don’t like the tone at all, but I’m not really sure he’s all that wrong in some of his points. I do think gun owners need to get serious.

But when it comes to reconnecting disconnected young men to their communities, getting them off the online fever swamps, and out of their parents basements, the gun culture isn’t part of the problem, it’s part of the solution.

The Left: “These disconnected young men living in the fever swamp of the chans are murdering our citizens where they live, work and shop!”

Also the Left: “Let’s enact policies that will further alienate young men and remove their sense of citizenship and community.”

Perceived Weakness

He’s right, you know. I should just note that my beef is with Wayne, not the NRA, it’s mission, or it’s position against banning private transfers. If Trump wants to be a one termer, cross us. Absent guns, I have no reason to show up to the polls to vote for Republicans. None.

Clayton on Mass Murders

Clayton is doing an extensive study of mass murder in the United States, going back to 1657.

You probably canâ€™t name the mass murders that killed 87 people in 1990 ;or 97 people in 1986; or the 1973 New Orleans gay bar with 33 dead.Â All were arson, and are nearly unknown because there were no guns.Â The 1990 murders were with $1 of gasoline bought a nearby gas station; the 1986 murders with a can of camp stove fuel; the 1973 murders were with a can of cigarette lighter fluid bought down the street.

RTWT.

Uncomfortable Truth for Our People

Tam is also right, and much like NDT, I’m not sure a lot of people will want to hear it:

Most people don’t get carry permits, and even those who do mostly don’t carry their guns. The odds of a mass shooting are already like a lightning bolt or meteor strike. The odds of a mass shooting happening within 25 yards of a truly skilled shooter with a USPSA GM ticket or FAST coin* are “meteor strike in your back yard that goes through the hoop of the basketball goal in your driveway and gets nothing but net” rare.

I’m not a USPSA GM and I don’t have a FAST coin. But I’m better than your average shooter. And to be honest, if I’m near a mass shooting in progress, and I can find an exit from the situation that doesn’t involve return fire, I’m taking it. If I a shot presented itself, I’d take it. But I’m not going to go looking for it. I’ll let the guys with body armor handle that.

If you ask me, politicians don’t have the answer for this phenomena, and anything they try will just do more damage. A mass public shooting is lightning strike in terms of probability. It’s a symptom of an increasingly disconnected society and marginalizes and isolates a lot of young boys. I think the causes are multiple. But ultimately, I think it boils down to a destruction of community, family, and connectedness, and social media is only making the problem worse.

Who Was Managing Trump?

Oh yeah, Chris Cox was. Good thing Wayne ran him off! Remember, Trump is a manhattanite that doesn’t understand the issue well and has a set of quirks and biases that are going to be tough to deal with even for an experienced lobbyist.

I’ll grant you that Trump is probably aware the Dems will never accept that deal. But I’m very worried about Trump with ILA transitioning to new leadership.

He’s Not Wrong

Party of Science! At least until the science doesn’t fit with your emotionally driven narrative:

Twitter exploded in rage as all the usual pearl clutchers rushed to condemn him. I am not NGT’s biggest fan since he stopped doing what he was good at (being a science educator) and started doing what he ain’t so good at (being a political pundit). But he’s right here. And no amount of hand wringing and condemnation is going to erase this very fact.