Freedom, Firearms & Finance
In an amazing turn of events. The US department of defense has shut down Defense Distributed and required them to cease downloads of all firearm 3d printer files.
Of course, since the DOD doesn’t understand how the internet works, the cad files are still easily downloadable via torrent.
This is a very quickly developing story.
One of the top lawyers dealing with the litigation against the NY SAFE ACT has just posted a emergency message to a well-known New York firearm forum noting that the first firearm permits are starting to be revoked over the law and linkage between medications and permits.
Today I used pretty standard methodology in determining the total number of firearms sold in the month of Janurary based on weekly data from the FBI. A total of 27 days were available out of 31 for analysis. Ben, a world renown statician in the technology industry helped me with these numbers. He believes that these numbers are within 5% of actual with 99% confidence.
The current record for NICS checks stands at 2,783,765 in the month of December 2012. The Janurary number represents only a decrease of 17% from the record holding month, and is 31% higher than the month of November which holds the second place record for firearm background checks.
| 12/31/2012 – 01/06/2013 | 497,785 |
| 01/07/2013 – 01/13/2013 | 603,882 |
| 01/14/2013 – 01/20/2013 | 641,501 |
| 01/21/2013 – 01/27/2013 | 541,822 |
| Firearms Sold in 27 days | 2,284,990 |
| Firearms sold per day | 84,629 |
| Number based on 31 median days of sales | 2,623,507 |
| Alternative number (With regression) | 2,594,602 |
It was national news but for a short while.
The ATF has finally released a report detailing the source of the Keltec 9mm firearm used to kill
Was it from a gun store not doing background checks the right way? Maybe a gun show through that pesky loophole they all talk about? Maybe some well-meaning family member transferring it?
Nope, it was stolen in 2011 during a burglary which resulted in a total of 4 missing guns.
Once again , here is yet another shooting where the law was broken to obtain a firearm used to commit a murder that made national headlines. We can add this to the list of recent high-profile shootings where the firearm was obtained in a illegal manner. In the case of Sandy Hook, Klackamas mall shooting and the NY firemen ambush, all firearms were procured by highly illegal means.
Out of all the stupid, vile, disturbing things to come out of the NY state assault weapon ban & gun control laws, this is by far the worst.
The original verbiage of the bill, floated by democrats in the state called for outright confiscation of firearms. Not a buyback, not grandfathering of old, once legal firearms. A full-fledged policy of theft. Amazingly enough, the NY Republicans were able to block the measure, but barely. Watch the video and realize that there are plenty of politicians who would be more than happy to round up all gun owners and force confiscation. When another politician tells you “We respect the 2nd amendment” you need to remember what is taking place in New York and take it with a grain of salt.
Senator Steve McLaughlin posted a list of the NY Democrat “Requests” for the NY AWB on his facebook page. The list consists of the following.
1. Confiscation of “assault weapons”
2. Confiscation of ten round clips
3. Statewide database for ALL Guns
4. Continue to allow pistol permit holder’s information to be replaced to the public
5. Label semiautomatic shotguns with more than 5 rounds or pistol grips as “assault weapons”
6. Limit the number of rounds in a magazine to 5 and confiscation and forfeiture of banned magazines
7. Limit possession to no more than two (2) magazines
8. Limit purchase of guns to one gun per person per month
9. Require re-licensing of all pistol permit owners
10. Require renewal of all pistol permits every five years
11. State issued pistol permits
12. Micro-stamping of all guns in New York State
13. Require licensing of all gun ammo dealers
14. Mandatory locking of guns at home
15. Fee for licensing, registering weapons
Additionally, it now seems many democrats have attempted to cover up the fact that this list exists. Source
MidwayUSA.com , one of the largest firearm retailers in the United States was featured on a MSNBC hit piece against online retailers. Relating them to drug dealers, MSNBC called for them to be shut down.
In the past few hours, the website has been returning errors and is now no longer accessible.
This, only after a few short hours of the hit piece being run by MSNBC. The website is not down due to severe traffic, but appears to have been taken completely offline.
Update – After 3-4 hours of downtime the website is now connecting intermittently.
Today, president Obama held a press conference to outline his plans for gun control & mental health issues.
First up, Obama signed a total of 23 executive orders varying from background checks, to school ‘resources’ and other areas.
These are:
1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
11. Nominate an ATF director.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
Furthermore, president Obama called on congress to enact legislation that he outlined. These acts are :
These last 3 acts are the ones that people should be concerned about. Thankfully, these were not usurped via executive order and require a congressional vote. Now is the time to contact your representatives!
A very simple way to do this is to use ruger’s take action form. Using this form, you can easily tell your representatives not to pass these restrictive laws.
Here is the roundup for the week in progress, this list will be ongoing.
As always , you can subscribe to these weekly updates by “Liking” us on facebook (You will get sitewide updates) or following on twitter or by subscribing via RSS/Atom feed.
We end this week with a total of 18 self-defense shootings. Ranging from a home invasion to a store robbery.
Jan 12th – Pendleton, SC – Homeowner shoots intruder
A homeowner shot a man in the leg after he entered his home Saturday night, Anderson County authorities said.
The shooting happened shortly after 7 p.m. on Refuge Road near Cherry Street Extension east of Pendleton. Deputies responding to a 911 call found the man who had been shot lying in the homeowner’s yard.
Jan 11th – Houston Tx – Good Samaritan CCWer saves day
A couple of strangers came to the rescue when a man was robbed at gunpoint. Now, the victim wants to say thank you to the Good Samaritans.
Police believe the criminal who was canvassing a neighborhood in the 2500 block of Wichita near Hermann Park had no idea what he was in for when he picked his target.
The victim in this case had just walked back to his car from a bar around the corner.
Kevin Dorsey says he hadn’t even closed his car door Thursday night when a man wearing all black and a ski mask put a gun to his chest. The man took Dorsey’s wallet, cell phone and car keys.
Jan 11th – Shawnee , Ok – Shawnee woman stops home invasion
Armed with a gun and ready to shoot, a Shawnee woman defended her home as man broke down her door. It happened in broad daylight and she didn’t back down.
Pam Loman and her husband, James, say they’ve lived on Homer Lane in Shawnee for over 10 years and have never had any problems. But early Friday afternoon, while Pam was home alone, she quickly figured out, three men outside her home were up to no good.
“I still feel queasy sick at my stomach, a little shaky, a little nervous,” Pam said.
Pam was cleaning her home Friday afternoon when she heard someone knocking at her front door.
Jan 10th Delkab, GA – Homeowner shoots burglar
A Decatur man fired his shotgun and hit a burglar who had broken into his home Thursday afternoon. It is the latest incident of homeowners protecting themselves from criminals.
“I come into the gate. I come here and stop and he was coming out the window with a shotgun in his hand,” said George McRae, who lives along Elgin Drive.
The suspect found the shotgun that belonged to McRae inside the home after he had broken in.
“I had my pistol in my pocket and I said, ‘Put that gun down,’” McRae said.
Jan 10th – Milwauke Wis. – Store clerk thwarts robbery with handgun
A woman who was tending a convinence store was the victim of a robbery. That was until she turned the tables on the would-be robber with her handgun.
Jan 10th – Tallahasse Fl – Cattle Pro vs Hangun, who wins?
The clerk with the gun for sure.
But not before the 26-year-old attacker did some damage with the cattle prod. The report says that Lance Tomberlin went into the store just outside of Tallahassee, Florida, pulled a cattle prod and demanded money. The clerk obviously must have been slower then Tomberlin liked so Tomberlin gave him a taste of the cattle prod.
The clerk evidently didn’t like it; he pulled his gun Tomberlin started to run.
Jan 10th – Houston, Texas – Man shot after choking dog
Police said a late night scuffle that turned into a deadly shooting may be a case of self-defense.
Officers were called to a unit at the Cherry Creek Apartments on Hollister at Tidwell around 11:15 p.m.
They found a man in his early 20s with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was sent to the hospital where he later died.
Jan 10th – Dallas Texas – Man killed in botched home invasion
A grand jury will decide if a homeowner had the right to shoot and kill an armed man trying to break into a home in North Dallas Wednesday night.
The shooting happened in the 7700 block of McCallum Boulevard in North Dallas around 8:30 p.m.
Police say the intruder tried to break into the third floor apartment at McCallum Corners armed with a handgun.
Investigators say the 36-year-old man from Denton was shot and killed by the homeowner on the spot during the home invasion.
Jan 9th – Vallejo, CA – Homeowner shoots two burglars
A homeowner shot at two strangers he found inside his home Monday morning, police said.
At about 11:45 a.m. the man found the two men breaking into his home in the 200 block of Windsor Court, police said.
The man then armed himself with a weapon and took a shot at the suspects, who fled the house in a champagne four-door late 1990s Cadillac, police said.
Officers believed they were not struck by the bullet, police said.
Jan 9th - Independence, KS – Man shot in failed coin store robbery
People who know the owner of an Independence coin shop owner injured during an attempted robbery that also left the suspect severely injured say he is a very well-liked man in the southeast Kansas community.
A cousin of Ken Preble, owner of Uncle Ken’s Coin and Jewelry Shop, never expected him to have to deal with anything like Wednesday’s incident.
“He’s just a real good, mild guy,” said Jim Richardson. “Never been in any trouble. Just a super guy.”
That’s why Richardson was shocked to learn his cousin had ben shot during an attempted robbery.
“We didn’t know what to do and then we heard a lot of different stories, you know,” Richardson said.
Independence Police Chief Harry Smith said the suspect entered the shop about 10:30 a.m. and pulled a gun. Preble was also able to grab a gun, Smith said, and both men were shot during a struggle.
Jan 9th – St. Louis, Mo – Man threatening group with a gun is shot
Police say a man flourishing a gun and threatening a group of people in the 4800 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive overnight, had the tables turned on him by one of the people he was threatening.
Just after midnight, the unidentified 48 year old man began waving a gun and yelling at the group of people and fired a shot. One of the men in the group being harassed, produced his own gun and fired at the man, striking him once in the upper portion of the arm.
Jan 8th (Likely DGU) – Richland County, SC- Convinence store clerk shoots robber
An accused shoplifter is recovering in an area hospital and another is sitting in jail after a convenience store employee fired a gun at them when they were fleeing the store early Tuesday morning.
Deputies say the incident happened shortly after 1:00 a.m. at the Shell gas station at 7441 Parklane Rd. when the alleged thieves ran out of the store with four cases of beer, according to department spokesperson Curtis Wilson.
Wilson says the store employee tried to stop the men as they were leaving with the beer, but was unsuccessful.
The suspects ran out and jumped into a waiting vehicle, Wilson said. He says that is when the store manager fired several shots at the three as they drove away. The employee said he was aiming at the tires to try to disable the vehicle.
Jan 8th – Columbus, Ohio – Man shoots robber to protect 2 month old son
A Columbus man said that he fought back when a man tried to rob him at gunpoint in west Columbus Monday night.
Kelby Smith, 34, told police he was in the driveway of the home on Crescent Drive just before 9 p.m. when he was approached by a robber.
Smith said that he had his 2-month-old in a car carrier and had to shield him from the robber who held a gun at Smith’s head.
The suspect took Smith’s money and started to flee the scene as he pointed the gun back at Smith and his child.
That’s when Smith pulled out his own gun and fired at the robber.
The robber continued to run, but police said that a man fitting his description arrived at Mount Carmel West a short time later with a gunshot wound.
Jan 8th – Colorado Springs, Colorado – Two men shot in attempted home invasion
One robbery attempt late Monday night in Colorado Springs didn’t go as planned.
Colorado Springs police say one man is in critical condition and another is recovering from injuries after a homeowner opened fire during a home invasion in the 2400 block of East St. Vrain Street.
Police say three men broke into a home shortly before 10 p.m. Monday and the homeowner resisted. The homeowner got a gun and shot two of the men.
Jan 7th – Tulsa , Ok – Gunman turns himself in (Appears to be defensive)
Jan 7th – Tipton County Tn – Man stops burglar
A Mid-South hunter captured a woman burglarizing his home.
It happened outside of Millington in the 4000 block of Quito Drummonds Road in Tipton County.
“I pulled up in the yard and there was a car there,” Alfred Wilson said.
Wilson told News Channel 3 on December 19th he was just getting home after a day of hunting to find a strangers car parked outside.
“The storm window was out like it was on a hinge,” he said.
A few minutes later he came face to face with the intruder.
“The lady came out from behind that bush there and was trying to get in her car and get away,” he said.
Jan 5th – Idaho falls, Idaho – Man shot in leg during home invasion
Vance T. Taylor of Idaho Falls has been charged with unlawful entry and malicious injury to property, both misdemeanors, the Bonneville Prosecutor’s Office said Friday. Taylor is also dealing with two .22 caliber gunshot wounds to the leg after he was shot in a home on the 400 block of Lincoln Drive in Idaho Falls.
Homeowner Rick Hopkins said he found Taylor, 22, in his upstairs bathroom. It was Hopkins’ 15-year-old daughter who called police.
Police said Hopkins reported being woken up just after 5 a.m. while sleeping in his basement by his Labrador dog barking upstairs. They said he retrieved his gun and went upstairs to find Taylor in the bathroom with his pants down.
Jan 5th – Casper Wyoming – Hotel clerk stops two robbers
A clerk at a Casper hotel used a gun she kept in her lunchbox to thwart a robbery at her business early Friday, police said.
The worker pulled out the gun after two men with covered faces approached her and said they were going to rob the hotel. The would-be robbers ran from the building and remain at large, said Sgt. Deahn Amend.
No shots were fired and no one was injured in the incident.
The men entered the Quality Inn on Poplar Street shortly before 1 a.m. and spoke with a woman working at the front desk.
(Missed this on last week’s) Jan 4th – Kalispell, Wyoming – Woman holds man at gunpoint who beat husband
Curry says Michael Stephens tried to physically detain Elliot, but the suspect grabbed a flashlight from Stephens and began to hit him with it.
The attack ended when Amy Stephens came to her husband’s aid and held Elliot at gunpoint until authorities arrived on the scene.
Elliot was arrested and taken to jail, with Curry saying that the Flathead County Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case and charges are pending against Elliot.
(Missed this one last week) Jan 2nd – Leigh Acres, Fl – Neighbor holds robber at gunpoint
The suspected burgalars broke into Carole Steiner and her husband Randy’s home the week before Christmas. The thieves struck again, this time at their next door neighbor’s house on the 4600 block of 15th Street Southwest. This time, the Steiners were ready.
“[Randy] looked out the window and saw what direction the dogs were going so he grabbed his gun and went out to where the dogs were at. There were two young men in the woods,” she said.
Steiner kept the two suspects, 18-year old Edward Chamberlain and his 14-year old accomplice at gunpoint until Lee County deputies arrived. The thankful homeowner, Michel Pierre, was at work at the time.
“It was awesome for him to do that because a couple weeks ago he got robbed himself,” Pierre said.
Could the city of Detroit be saved by a liberty-minded developer?
Maybe so, recently a company has offered to buy a 982 acre island off the coast of Michigan from the city of Detroit for a billion dollars.
Under the plan set forth, the island would be able to secede from the state of Michigan and form its very own nation state. A website has even started up to pitch the idea.
The most interesting part about the concept is that to become a citizen, you must pay a $300,000 citizenship tax. Although the plan is to allow up to 20% of the gross population (A estimated 35,000 citizens) to be allowed in the city free of surcharge.
As with many other libertarian projects, the Belle Island project would be be quite free legally.
Here’s the scenario for the Commonwealth of Belle Isle that Lockwood and others want to see: Private investors buy the island from a near-bankrupt Detroit for $1 billion. It then would secede from Michigan to become a semi-independent commonwealth like Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. Under the plan, it would become an economic and social laboratory where government is limited in scope and taxation is far different than the current U.S. system. There is no personal or corporate income tax. Much of the tax base would be provided by a different property tax — one based on the value of the land and not the value of the property.
Ran across a bit of research dug up by the late John Noveske that is amazingly interesting. This was posted just a few days prior to his death. Thankfully he did a great deal of research into this, and really makes you wonder. From the research done, it appears nearly every single person involved in mass murder in the United States in the past 10 to 12 years has been on some sort of prescription anti depressant or SSRI.
Standard Gravure shooting - First known shooting with ties to Prozac. Joseph Wesbecker kills 12, injures 9.
Eric Harris age 17 (first on Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold aged 18 (Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado), killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and wounded 23 others, before killing themselves. Klebold’s medical records have never been made available to the public.
Jeff Weise, age 16, had been prescribed 60 mg/day of Prozac (three times the average starting dose for adults!) when he shot his grandfather, his grandfather’s girlfriend and many fellow students at Red Lake, Minnesota. He then shot himself. 10 dead, 12 wounded.
Cory Baadsgaard, age 16, Wahluke (Washington state) High School, was on Paxil (which caused him to have hallucinations) when he took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates hostage. He has no memory of the event.
Chris Fetters, age 13, killed his favorite aunt while taking Prozac.
Christopher Pittman, age 12, murdered both his grandparents while taking Zoloft.
Mathew Miller, age 13, hung himself in his bedroom closet after taking Zoloft for 6 days.
Kip Kinkel, age 15, (on Prozac and Ritalin) shot his parents while they slept then went to school and opened fire killing 2 classmates and injuring 22 shortly after beginning Prozac treatment.
Luke Woodham, age 16 (Prozac) killed his mother and then killed two students, wounding six others.
A boy in Pocatello, ID (Zoloft) in 1998 had a Zoloft-induced seizure that caused an armed stand off at his school.
Michael Carneal (Ritalin), age 14, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded..
A young man in Huntsville, Alabama (Ritalin) went psychotic chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.
Andrew Golden, age 11, (Ritalin) and Mitchell Johnson, aged 14, (Ritalin) shot 15 people, killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.
TJ Solomon, age 15, (Ritalin) high school student in Conyers, Georgia opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates.
Rod Mathews, age 14, (Ritalin) beat a classmate to death with a bat.
James Wilson, age 19, (various psychiatric drugs) from Breenwood, South Carolina, took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers.
Elizabeth Bush, age 13, (Paxil) was responsible for a school shooting in Pennsylvania
Jason Hoffman (Effexor and Celexa) – school shooting in El Cajon, California
Jarred Viktor, age 15, (Paxil), after five days on Paxil he stabbed his grandmother 61 times.
Chris Shanahan, age 15 (Paxil) in Rigby, ID who out of the blue killed a woman.
Jeff Franklin (Prozac and Ritalin), Huntsville, AL, killed his parents as they came home from work using a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic’s file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister.
Neal Furrow (Prozac) in LA Jewish school shooting reported to have been court-ordered to be on Prozac along with several other medications.
Kevin Rider, age 14, was withdrawing from Prozac when he died from a gunshot wound to his head. Initially it was ruled a suicide, but two years later, the investigation into his death was opened as a possible homicide. The prime suspect, also age 14, had been taking Zoloft and other SSRI antidepressants.
Alex Kim, age 13, hung himself shortly after his Lexapro prescription had been doubled.
Diane Routhier was prescribed Welbutrin for gallstone problems. Six days later, after suffering many adverse effects of the drug, she shot herself.
Billy Willkomm, an accomplished wrestler and a University of Florida student, was prescribed Prozac at the age of 17. His family found him dead of suicide – hanging from a tall ladder at the family’s Gulf Shore Boulevard home in July 2002.
Kara Jaye Anne Fuller-Otter, age 12, was on Paxil when she hung herself from a hook in her closet. Kara’s parents said “…. the damn doctor wouldn’t take her off it and I asked him to when we went in on the second visit. I told him I thought she was having some sort of reaction to Paxil…”)
Gareth Christian, Vancouver, age 18, was on Paxil when he committed suicide in 2002,
(Gareth’s father could not accept his son’s death and killed himself.)
Julie Woodward, age 17, was on Zoloft when she hung herself in her family’s detached garage.
Matthew Miller was 13 when he saw a psychiatrist because he was having difficulty at school. The psychiatrist gave him samples of Zoloft. Seven days later his mother found him dead, hanging by a belt from a laundry hook in his closet.
Kurt Danysh, age 18, and on Prozac, killed his father with a shotgun. He is now behind prison bars, and writes letters, trying to warn the world that SSRI drugs can kill.
Woody ____, age 37, committed suicide while in his 5th week of taking Zoloft. Shortly before his death his physician suggested doubling the dose of the drug. He had seen his physician only for insomnia. He had never been depressed, nor did he have any history of any mental illness symptoms.
A boy from Houston, age 10, shot and killed his father after his Prozac dosage was increased.
Hammad Memon, age 15, shot and killed a fellow middle school student. He had been diagnosed with ADHD and depression and was taking Zoloft and “other drugs for the conditions.”
Matti Saari, a 22-year-old culinary student, shot and killed 9 students and a teacher, and wounded another student, before killing himself. Saari was taking an SSRI and a benzodiazapine.
Steven Kazmierczak, age 27, shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amounts of Xanax in his system.
Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen, age 18, had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School – then he committed suicide.
Asa Coon from Cleveland, age 14, shot and wounded four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon was on Trazodone.
Jon Romano, age 16, on medication for depression, fired a shotgun at a teacher in his
New York high school.
Missing from list… 3 of 4 known to have taken these same meds….
What drugs was Jared Lee Loughner on, age 21…… killed 6 people and injuring 14 others in Tuscon, Az
What drugs was James Eagan Holmes on, age 24….. killed 12 people and injuring 59 others in Aurora Colorado
What drugs was Jacob Tyler Roberts on, age 22, killed 2 injured 1, Clackamas Or
What drugs was Adam Peter Lanza on, age 20, Killed 26 and wounded 2 in Newtown Ct
Roberts is the only one that I haven’t heard about being on drugs of some kind.
In an amazing turn of events. The US department of defense has shut down Defense Distributed and … [Read More...]
This is a very quickly developing story. One of the top lawyers dealing with the litigation … [Read More...]
Today I used pretty standard methodology in determining the total number of firearms sold in the … [Read More...]
It was national news but for a short while. The ATF has finally released a report detailing the … [Read More...]