February 28, 2014


There is a common misconception that if you just limit the number of rounds in a magazine then will significantly slow down an active shooter.

Those of us well versed on reloading know this is not true. By doing tactical reloads (inserting a new magazine before your gun is completely empty) you can very, very quickly keep rounds in your firearm regardless of the number of rounds in the magazines.

In this video made by Indiana sheriffs they test multiple scenarios and show that there is little to no difference in the time it takes to fire 30 round from 2 15 round magazines, 3 10 round magazines and 5 6 round magazines. They also demonstrate shooting multiple revolvers (the fastest way to put 30 rounds down range in the video) and the reload time on an AR-15 rifle.







February 27, 2014


COLUMBIA, S.C. — A police officer in South Carolina shot a 70-year-old motorist who was reaching for a cane during a traffic stop because he thought the man was grabbing a rifle from the bed of his pickup truck, investigators said. The man was expected to survive.

The York County deputy, Terrence Knox, pulled over Bobby Canipe (kah-NYP’) of Lincolnton, N.C., for an expired license tag about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday north of Clover, S.C., York County sheriff’s spokesman Trent Faris said.


After stopping, Canipe got out of his pickup truck and reached into the bed, pulling out what Knox thought was a long-barreled rifle, Faris said. It was Canipe’s walking cane. The officer fired several times, hitting Canipe once, Faris said.

Faris refused to say where on his body Canipe was hit, but said he was expected to survive. Canipe was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., where spokesman Kevin McCarthy said he was listed in fair condition.




“The situation is very unfortunate,” Faris said, reading from a statement at a news conference. “It does appear, at this time, that Deputy Knox’s actions were an appropriate response to what he reasonably believed to be an imminent threat to his life.”

The State Law Enforcement Division will investigate the shooting and turn its findings over to prosecutors, who will decide whether to press charges, Faris said. He said Knox, 24, has been a deputy for almost three years.

(Written in 1999)

Source: www.lexrex.com/

Synopsis of an interview conducted by Ginny Simone with Keith Tidswell of Australia's Sporting Shooters Association.

One year after gun-owners were forced to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed, including semi-automatic .22 rifles and shotguns, a program costing the government over 500 million dollars, the results are in...

A dramatic increase in criminal activity has been experienced. Gun control advocates respond "Just wait... we'll be safer...you'll see...".

OBSERVABLE FACT, AFTER 12 MONTHS OF DATA:
* Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2%
* Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6%
* Australia-wide, armed-robberies are up 44% (yes, FORTY-FOUR PERCENT)
* In the state of Victoria, homicides-with-firearms are up 300%
* Figures over the previous 25 years show a steady decrease in homicides-with-firearms (changed dramatically in the past 12 months)
* Figures over the previous 25 years show a steady decrease in armed-robbery-with-firearms (changed dramatically in the past 12 months)

* There has been a dramatic increase in breakins-and-assaults-of-the-elderly

* At the time of the ban, the Prime Minister said "self-defense is not a reason for owning a firearm"

* From 1910 to present, homicides in Australia had averaged about 1.8-per-100,000 or lower, a safe society by any standard.

* The ban has destroyed Australia's standings in some international sport shooting competitions

* The membership of the Australian Sports Shooting Association has risen to 112,000, a 200% increase, in response to the ban and as an attempt to organize against further controls, which are expected.

* Australian politicians are on the spot and at a loss to explain how no improvement in "safety" has been observed after such monumental effort and expense was successfully expended in 

"ridding society of guns". Their response has been to "wait longer".

"...The best organization you've got there, the biggest organization you've got there is the NRA. We didn't have an organization that size, and as a consequence, we suffered. And we hope that you don't suffer..."
Keith Tidswell Sporti


Source: examiner.com
Much has been written of late about what appears to be massive non-compliance with Connecticut's "assault weapon" registration requirement (the guns are banned, but "grandfathered," if the owner registers them). Well, much has been written, that is, in gun rights advocacy circles--the mass media would apparently have us believe that it's not worth covering the fact that scores of thousands--maybe hundreds of thousands--of people are committing a felony "crime" punishable by five years in prison.

That was interesting enough before the Hartford Courant editorial board decided to enter the fray, urging the state to use background check data to identify likely "assault weapon" owners, compare that list to the list of "assault weapon" registrants, and investigate the people on the first list, but not the second, in order to enforce the law:

Authorities should use the background check database as a way to find assault weapon purchasers who might not have registered those guns in compliance with the new law.

A Class D felony calls for a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Even much lesser penalties or probation would mar a heretofore clean record and could adversely affect, say, the ability to have a pistol permit.

If you want to disobey the law, you should be prepared to face the consequences.
As National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea notes, this puts the state in a very unenviable position. They could acquiesce to the Courant's demands, and take on the utterly impossible--not to mention lethally dangerous, both to private citizens and Connecticut law enforcement--task of confiscating the now "illegal" guns, and arresting and imprisoning the scores of thousands of newly-minted felons. Mr. Codrea points out a few of the reasons this is impossible:

Simply as a matter of resources and logistics, the state will be hard-pressed to allocate the manpower, budget, jail facilities and court case load capabilities to do more than scratch the surface to try to frighten everyone by making examples of a few. If The Courant is going to demand they apply those resources to all, perhaps the editors would flesh out what compliance with their call to action consists of, starting with realistic costs to arrest, prosecute and incarcerate every non-compliant gun owner, the number of total hours and dedicated personnel needed to execute that plan, how many decades it will take to accomplish, how many businesses will be disrupted by losing valuable employees, how much tax revenue the state will lose by taking productive taxpayers out of circulation and turning them into dependents . . . .




Codrea notes also that the Courant has also done gun owners the favor of confirming all gun owners' concerns that background checks are backdoor registration, and registration is tantamount to confiscation--concerns contemptuously dismissed as "paranoid" by the forcible citizen disarmament zealots. That, indeed, is the first lesson: background check data can be used as a de facto registry, and the registry can serve to find guns and owners. It's a lesson that should have been learned long ago, but better late than never.

The state's other option is to not attempt this bordering-on-apocalyptic task--which the state's top "justice" system official, Mike Lawlor, has already indicated is the plan, according to another Courant article:

"A lot of it is just a question to ask, and I think the firearms unit would be looking at it," said Mike Lawlor, the state's top official in criminal justice. "They could send them a letter."

An aggressive hunt isn't going to happen, Lawlor said, but even the idea of letters is a scary thought considering thousands of people are now in an uncomfortable position.

The Courant might be grossly overestimating just how "scary" these letters would be, especially given the fact that it's already clear that any kind of investigation and roundup is not in the cards. And that is the other, and most important, lesson. Scores of thousands of "assault weapon"-owning Connecticut residents have called the government's bluff. Now, what is the state going to do about it? What can it do?

In fact, as J.D. Tuccile points out in Reason, the only people likely to be forced to surrender their "assault weapons" are the ones who did try to register, but were too late:

Some people actually tried to comply with the registration law, but missed the deadline. The state's official position is that it will accept applications notarized on or before January 1, 2014 and postmarked by January 4. But, says Dora Schriro, Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, in a letter to lawmakers, anybody sufficiently law-abiding but foolish enough to miss that slightly extended grace period will have to surrender or otherwise get rid of their guns.
It is only through defiance of evil, unjust, illegitimate laws that one can avoid becoming a victim of them. This is a lesson for the entire country. If tens of thousands of citizens of one state can face the government down over a state gun ban and registration scheme, tens of millions of Americans can do the same in a face-off with the federal government, over an analogous law at that level. It is we the people who hold the only legitimate power in this country, and if enough of us stand together to exercise it, we can do so without firing a shot.

February 26, 2014


Man killed by single punch after complaining to cyclistThis is the moment a man with Asperger Syndrome was knocked to the ground with a single punch that would later prove fatal.

Andrew Young, 40, can be seen on CCTV telling Victor Ibitoye it is dangerous to ride his bike on the pavement in Charminster, Bournemouth.

Moments after Ibitoye left, his 20-year-old friend Lewis Gill walked up to Mr Young and struck him in the face.

Mr Young fell backwards and smashed his head on the road as a result. He died the next day from head injuries.






Source:Wnem.com
An 11-year old autistic child gets his head stuck in a classroom chair but instead of helping, the teacher recorded it.

The incident happened in a fifth grade classroom at Oaktree Elementary in Goodrich last November.

Officials say the teacher, Nicole Mcvey, recorded it all on her cell phone as the rest of the class stood by.

You can hear the teacher ask him if he wants to get tasered and then the principal comes in referring to it not being an emergency. He resigned shortly after.

At a meeting Monday night, parents rallied behind her at the school board meeting.

Patrick Greenfelder was hired by the boy's family as the incident has sparked so much controversy in the community.

Greenfelder says the teacher is on paid administrative leave while private tenure hearings debating her future take place.

Late last year the board voted to fire her.

Goodrich Superintendent Scott Bogner sent TV5 this statement.




Under Michigan's tenure law, that teacher has a right to a private hearing of any charges against her. The district is obligated to respect that right and will not discuss specifics of this case.

Greenfielder says the incident happened in November and the community has rallied behind teacher without seeing this video. At the Goodrich school board meeting, parents continued to stick by her.

We're told the boy was stuck in the chair for roughly ten to fifteen minutes.

His parents' attorney says they are considering a lawsuit against the school district, but they want to wait and see how the tenure hearings playout for the teacher involved.

Attorney Greenfelder has told me that the video was distributed to not just school staff, but to the friends of the principal and teacher who were not school staff. He says this is a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and contradicts the argument that this was a "teaching moment."
... energy increase when they start laughing together. It’s contagious























A Cape Coral, Florida woman living “off the grid” was ordered last week by a magistrate to hook up to utilities to comply with city codes or risk eviction from her home.

Special Magistrate Harold S. Eskin ruled Thursday that Robin Speronis violated city codes by refusing to connect to the Cape Coral’s water system. Eskin ordered Speronis to pay for water service, adding that her sewer access would be capped until she did, The News-Press reported.
AFP Photo/Thierry Zoccolan
“I am in compliance,” Speronis told the News-Press. “I’m in compliance of living … you may have to hook-up, but you don’t have to use it. Well, what’s the point?”

In addition, her alternative source of energy must be approved by the city, Eskin ruled. The city contends that using rainwater and solar energy violates the International Property Maintenance Code, which is used in many US and Canadian communities. It “states that properties are unsafe to live in if they do not have electricity and running water,” according to Off The Grid News, though Speronis has both electricity and water.

Eskin also pointed out that several liens were placed on her home given Speronis had used drains but without paying water bills.




“This resident provided testimony at the code compliance hearing that she has been living in the home for the past year and using the city’s wastewater system without paying for the service,” said Connie Barron, a spokeswoman for Cape Coral.

Yet the Magistrate said the city abused its authority by not giving Speronis proper notice of the supposed violations. Speronis was given an eviction notice in November.

City spokeswoman Barron said the sewer would have been capped sooner, but the city decided to wait for the code hearing. The city had actually overlooked Speronis’ setup until she did an interview with a local television station regarding her living arrangements.

Eskin did admit, though, that the city’s code may be obsolete.

“Reasonableness and code requirements don’t always go hand-in-hand … given societal and technical changes (that) requires review of code ordinances,” said Eskin, who actually dropped two of three counts against Speronis.

Speronis’ attorney posited that there’s a conflict in the city’s code, given Speronis has been ordered to hook up to the water system despite city officials’ admittance that she does not have to use it.

“It was a mental fistfight,” Speronis’ attorney Todd Allen said of Eskin’s review of the case. “There’s an inherent conflict in the code.”

For her part, Speronis said she does not intend to hook up to the city’s water system, vowing to appeal the Magistrate’s ruling.

“I know how to live off the grid completely and in a sanitary way,” Speronis said in response to the city’s action, according to The News-Press. “That’s what seven months living in the woods taught me. I do have an alternative toilet from my days of living in the woods.”




The Cape Coral resident said she will dispose of waste just as dog owners do for pets. She also plans to collect wastewater in containers for use in her garden.

Speronis already collects rainwater for bathing and other uses, all while generating electricity with solar panels.

“What happens in the courtroom is much less important than touching people’s hearts and minds,” she told Off The Grid News. “I think that we are continuing to be successful in doing just that and I am so pleased — there is hope! [Friday] morning, as I took my two hour walk, there was a young man, unknown to me, who drove by me, tooted his horn and said, ‘Robin, congratulations on your victory yesterday, keep up the fight and God bless you.’ That is beautiful.”

Source: RT.com


Truly disgusting.








February 25, 2014

MILWAUKEE (CN) - A Milwaukee County jail guard raped a pregnant detainee, sexually assaulting her three times "within days of giving birth" and twice more after she had her baby while shackled, she claims in Federal Court.
Officer Xavier D. Thicklen's "abuse of his authority went wholly unchecked" by co-defendant Sheriff David A. Clarke, even though at least one of the assaults was caught on camera, Jane Doe claims in the lawsuit.
Thicklen is charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault by correctional staff, according to Milwaukee media. He could be sent to prison for 40 years on each county.
Doe, 22, claims she was in the early stages of her first pregnancy when Thicklen raped and sexually assaulted her in the jail. Days after she gave birth, in shackles, Thicklen sexually assaulted her two more times, Doe says in the 15-page complaint.
She was housed in the general population of the jail and Thicklen was assigned to be her medical clinic officer, in charge of transporting her to and from her doctor's appointments, she claims. On the way to her first appointment, she was isolated from two other inmates who were also being taken to the clinic. She says Thicklen put her in a separate cell and told her "he could make her stay at the jail better." Thicklen then began touching her genitals and put his fingers inside her vagina without her consent, Doe says. During all his assaults, Thicklen was "cloaked in his uniform and carrying his jail-issued weapon," according to the lawsuit.
The second time she was assaulted, Doe says, she was called into the sixth floor control area for an "attorney visit." Thicklen was waiting for her there, she says, with the intent of having sex.
"Thicklen then committed anal rape of plaintiff without her consent," according to the lawsuit. "Concerned about contracting a disease, plaintiff asked Thicklen to at least use a condom, but Thicklen did not."
Doe claims that Thicklen threatened to put her into maximum security if she told anyone. The threat scared her because the maximum security area was "not suitable" for a pregnant woman, she says.
"Detainees in 'max' remain isolated in their room for approximately 23 hours a day, with little opportunity to walk around. ... (T)hey are served only 'nutriloaf,' an inedible mixture of various meats and other items that is widely understood to be used by penal institutions as a form of punishment. Plaintiff grew concerned that her pregnancy would be negatively impacted by being sent to max. "
"Thicklen also threatened plaintiff by stating that no one would believe her, and that the fellow guards were his friends, implying that they would protect him and not her.
Plaintiff was terrified of Thicklen's threats and believed that she would be punished "by reporting the assaults. She believed that the guards would not help her but would protect him instead."
The came the anal rape without a condom, she says
"The third assault came when she was called to the attorney visiting area, where Thicklen again was waiting for her to have sex, Doe says. Plaintiff did not consent. In addition, plaintiff was unwell and had been experiencing labor-related pains.
"Thicklen did not relent. He bent her over a chair and sexually assaulted her.
"After the rape, plaintiff began bleeding in a manner indicative of the onset of labor.
"Thicklen committed this act while on-duty, cloaked in his uniform and carrying his jail-issued weapon."
Thicklen's sexual assaults and sodomy were unrelenting, Doe says in the complaint.
"The fourth sexual assault occurred within days of the birth of plaintiff's child. Plaintiff was recovering in the infirmary, where Thicklen was assigned to work that day.
"Thicklen approached plaintiff and brought her a warm compress. He then asked her whether she was ready to have sex. Plaintiff refused.
"Thicklen then pulled out his penis and forced plaintiff to perform oral sex, while she was on her hospital bed."



Finally, "Plaintiff's fifth and final sexual assault occurred when Thicklen again arranged for her to be taken from her pod to the clinic for a medical appointment. Thicken told her he did not have time to deal with her resistance. He sexually assaulted her and then returned her to her cell," according to the complaint.
Doe says the no one helped her at any time, despite at least one of the assaults being caught on surveillance cameras. She claims that Thicklen's "abuse of his authority went wholly unchecked by the Sheriff, or any of the supervisors to which the Sheriff delegated his supervisory responsibilities."
She adds: "Further evidencing the failure to meaningfully supervise and discipline guards such as defendant Thicklen is the fact that his supervisor (at all relevant times) was recently suspended following accusations that - while on duty - she would perform sexual lap dances for other officers." (Parentheses in complaint.)
Doe claims: "Milwaukee County Jail directly encourages, and is thereby the moving force behind, the very type of misconduct at issue here - inappropriate sexual contact by correctional officers. As a matter of both policy and practice, the Milwaukee County Jail facilitates the very type of misconduct at issue here by failing to adequately punish and discipline prior instances of similar misconduct, thereby leading Milwaukee jail officers to believe their actions will never be scrutinized and, in that way, directly encouraging future abuses."
She calls the "widespread practice so prevalent as to comprise municipal policy" and says that municipal policymakers "condone and facilitate by their inaction, a 'code of silence.'"
She also objects to being shackled during labor and delivery of her baby. She claims that "the County of Milwaukee and Sheriff Clarke have implemented, encouraged, and/or condoned an unconstitutional policy of shackling women during labor, delivery, and/or recovery from delivery."
She seeks damages and punitive damages is suing for 14th Amendment violations, failure to intervene and indemnification.
She is represented by Robin Shellow of Milwaukee and Arthur Loevy of the Chicago firm Loevy & Loevy.
Thicklen's next court appearance is set for March 4.

Source: USATODAY
DETROIT — A Michigan mother, who was accused of dismembering her son's body, was charged with his murder Monday.
Authorities revealed Monday that Donna Scrivo used an electric circular saw to dismember her adult son's body after she killed him.
The power saw was found in one of the bags in which Ramsay Scrivo's remains were discovered last month across rural parts of St. Clair County, Mich.
In a bizarre twist in his gruesome death, authorities said his mother was seen on a store security video buying the saw used to dismember her son's body.
Scrivo, 60, was denied bond during her arraignment on first-degree premeditated murder charges, the prosecutor's office said.
Authorities did not detail how Scrivo killed her 32-year-old son but an autopsy showed he died of asphyxiation. Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz ruled Monday that Ramsay Scrivo's death was a homicide.
During a bond hearing earlier this month on other charges in the case, Assistant Prosecutor William Cataldo told a district court judge that Ramsay Scrivo was "horrifically mutilated" with ligature marks on his neck and blunt-force trauma to his head and shoulders.
At that time, Cataldo told the court Ramsay Scrivo's body was probably placed in a bathtub and set on fire after it was mutilated.
Police have said that blood and bleach stains were found in Ramsay Scrivo's home, also in St. Clair Shores, and Donna Scrivo was seen carrying black garbage bags before her son's remains were found. There also was blood in her SUV, which was donated to the Mother Waddles car donation program after her son's body parts were dumped.
Scrivo was arraigned in 40th District Court in St. Clair Shores on the murder charge. A future court date has not been set. She was referred for a psychological evaluation to determine her competency to stand trial.
She previously was charged with disinterment and mutilation of a dead body and removing a body without medical examiner's permission.
Prosecutor Eric Smith said the charges "demonstrate the lengths Mrs. Scrivo went to before, during and after the murder of her son."
The case is unusual and disturbing especially after Scrivo just eight months ago sought hospitalization for and guardianship of her son, who was diagnosed with psychosis and threatened to hang himself after his father died of a terminal illness last year.
Donna Scrivo filed a missing person's report for her son Jan. 27, claiming he left his home where she also was living while her fire-damaged house was being repaired.
St. Clair Shores Police Detective Sgt. Jay Cohoe said investigators wanted some closure for the family, but have not been able to locate a missing limb, believed to be an arm.
He said investigators don't have a motive for the unique crime.
"That's been the difficult part, too, of this investigation, trying to wrap our heads around it," Cohoe said.
Mark Haddad, who was appointed by the court to represent Scrivo on the two prior charges, said a not guilty plea was entered for her on the murder charge and that her family is expected to hire private counsel for her for the murder case.
"The lady's a real sweetheart. Very pleasant, very respectful," Haddad said of Scrivo, who he previously met with. "I don't understand. ... There's gotta be more to this story."


Washington (AFP) - Acetaminophen, a common pain reliever considered safe for pregnant women, has been linked for the first time to an increased risk of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder in children, said a study Monday.

More studies are needed to confirm the findings, but experts said the research points to a new potential cause for the worldwide rise in cases of ADHD, a neuro-behavioral condition which has no known cause and affects as many as five percent of US children.

Women who took acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol, while pregnant had a 37 percent higher risk of having a child who would be later given a hospital diagnosis of hyperkinetic disorder, a particularly severe form of ADHD, said the study in February 24 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics.

Compared to women who did not take acetaminophen while pregnant, women who did also had a 29 percent higher chance of having children who were later prescribed medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a 13 percent higher chance of exhibiting ADHD-like behaviors by age seven.




Previous research has suggested that acetaminophen can interfere with normal hormone function and may affect the developing fetal brain. The painkiller has also been linked to a slightly increased risk in boys of cryptorchidism, a condition in which the testicles do not descend.

The latest research was based on survey data on more than 64,000 Danish women from 1996 to 2002.

More than half said they took acetaminophen at least once during pregnancy.

Outside experts cautioned that the observational findings do not prove that taking Tylenol-like pain relievers causes ADHD, only that a preliminary link between the two has appeared and would need to be confirmed by further research.

"Findings from this study should be interpreted cautiously and should not change practice," said an accompanying editorial in JAMA Pediatrics by Miriam Cooper and colleagues at the Cardiff University School of Medicine.

"However, they underline the importance of not taking a drug's safety during pregnancy for granted."

The reasons the women took the painkillers could have also had a confounding effect on the outcome, they added.

The study was led by Zeyan Liew, of the University of California, Los Angeles, and was co-authored by Jorn Olsen of the University of Aarhus in Denmark.






Source: Ukraine Live Blog

2308 GMT: Is Russia really sending a new fleet to Sevostopol? Before Izvestia reported this (see previous update below) Oleh Tyahnybok, the leader of the far-right Svoboda party and a man known for firey rhetoric, reported the same thing.

“I can show you the SMS” said Tyahnibok, reading out: “A large landing ship from the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation is expected to arrive today in Sevastopol from the Russian port of Temryuk. It will deliver around 200 armed soldiers from the 328th detached battalion of the Marines, who are based in Temryuk, and 10 BTR-80s.”

He also mentioned that “between 22-23 February, personnel of the 45th Airborne Special Forces were airlifted from Kubinka (in the Moscow area) to Anapa on Il-76 flights, and four other IL-76 flights redeployed even more divisions from Pskov to Anapa. And six Mi-8 helicopters were airlifted from Sochi to Anapa” said Mr Tyahnibok.

Now, Izvestiya is carrying a report which, it seems, has a separate source. However, the Izvestiya story is about 9 hours old. In it they said that the ships would reach Sevastopol in 4 hours at a speed of 10-15 knots so…even if they were slower, unless the fleet stopped or turned around then the ships would be there by now, and there aren’t any reports of them arriving yet.

That Izvestiya and Tyahnibok are reporting that there are ships on the move is a story in and of itself, whether or not it proves true.

2200 GMT Could Russia really invade Ukraine? Two claimed pieces of news might indeed by tidings of war. Here is a translation by Catherine A Fitzpatrick:

Russian State Duma deputies have arrived in Simferopol. The delegation is headed by Leonid Slutsky, head of the committee on the CIS. Russians promise to simplify the issuance of passports to Crimeans.

Report summarizing their statements from Oleg Kryuchkov of censor.net.ua:

“Russia is starting to give out passports under a simplified procedure. Russia demands the fulfillment of the conditions of the agreements between the opposition and Yanukovych. And the main thing is that in the event of a decision of the Crimeans to have a referendum, or an appeal to the Supreme Council of the Crimea to Russia with a request to annex…Russia will review this question very quickly. Tsekov and Aksyonov mumbled, spoke about integrity and the Russian Word festival.”





February 24, 2014

In reality, these letters - 106 to rifle owners, and 108 more to residents with standard capacity magazines – are the first step in the Connecticut State Police beginning to round up guns arbitrarily made illegal last year in that state.  These guns include America’s favorite rifle, the AR-15 and magazines over 10 rounds, which include the standard capacity magazines made for that America’s favorite rifle.
Failure to register is now a felony now in Connecticut.
How long will it be before there is bloodshed over this law?  We’re not sure, but we’re confident it is coming unless the law is rescinded or struck down by the courts.
Mike Vanderboegh of the edgy Sipsey Street Irregulars released an open letter a couple of weeks ago,warning of what’s coming to Connecticut.  The Connecticut State Police aren’t listening.  Yet.
We suspect attitudes may change after the first few rounds of bloodshed.
As it stands right now, the best estimates are that 4% of newly-regulated guns and magazines in The Nutmeg State have been registered, leaving a hundred thousand or more newly classified potential felons looking over their shoulder.
Editor’s note:  We’re not going to link to the article because they are hiding most of the content behind a paywall and we won’t drive thousands of readers to their website.
One more chance for gun owners
Posted: Monday, February 24, 2014 3:35 pm | Updated: 3:36 pm, Mon Feb 24, 2014.
Manchester, CT (Journal Inquirer) – When state officials decided to accept some gun registrations and magazine declarations that arrived after a Jan. 4 deadline, they also had to deal with those applications that didn't make the cut.
The state now holds signed and notarized letters saying those late applicants own rifles and magazines illegally.
But rather than turn that information over to prosecutors, state officials are giving the gun owners a chance to get rid of the weapons and magazines.

Source:  http://www.gunssavelife.com/?p=11186




How the hell should I know?:
Another week, another batch of videos where police beat, shoot and harass those they are suppose to protect and serve.















WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will propose on Monday a reduction in the size of the U.S. Army to its smallest size since before World War Two and scrapping a class of Air Force attack jets, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

The plans, which the paper said were outlined by several Pentagon officials on condition of anonymity, would be aimed at reducing defense spending in the face of government austerity after a pledge by President Barack Obama to end U.S. involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It would leave the military capable of defeating any enemy but too small for long foreign occupations, and would involve greater risk if U.S. forces were asked to carry out two large-scale military actions at the same time.

"You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can't carry a large land-war Defense Department when there is no large land war," the Times quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying.

It added that some of the plans may face political opposition in Congress, but quoted the officials as saying that they had the endorsement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

















Bildungblog


AUGUSTA — Maine Gov. Paul LePage is returning home from the National Governors Association gathering before meetings with the president and vice president.

LePage’s office said he was returning Sunday from Washington, D.C., after governors tackled topics including employment trends and prescription drug abuse.

He is leaving before an evening meeting at the White House with President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. More meetings were scheduled Monday with the president and vice president.




Source: Portlandpressherald.com




The California state legislature passed a bill Thursday approving $24 million to expedite the confiscation of the estimated 40,000 handguns and assault weapons illegally owned by Californians.

With Democrats in Congress and in the California state legislature pushing as much gun control as humanly possible, California gun sales are skyrocketing.SB 140, authored by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), seeks to remedy the gun-confiscation backlog that has left thousands of illegal guns on the streets, including those owned by those with criminal convictions or serious mental illness.

“We are fortunate in California to have the first and only system in the nation that tracks and identifies individuals who at one time made legal purchases of firearms but are now barred from possessing them,” Leno said in a statement. “However, due to a lack of resources, only a few of these illegally possessed weapons have been confiscated, and the mountain of firearms continues to grow each day."

The measure will take $24 million from the Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) surplus funds and give it to the California Department of Justice, which is in charge of confiscating illegal guns. The DROS account holds fees that are imposed upon every transfer or sale of a firearm in California.

Assemblyman Brian Jones (R-Santee) said he voted against the measure because the fees that make up the DROS funds are intended to cover the cost of background checks -- not confiscations.

"For example, if you go to the DMV and pay for a driver's license, that fee is for processing the driver's license, not for setting up sting operations for catching drunk drivers," he said.

"If the legislature wants to raise extra funds for the DOJ, it would have to impose a tax on firearm sales, which requires a two-thirds vote," he added.

Brandon Combs, executive director of the gun advocacy group Calguns Foundation, agrees that gun confiscation should be paid for out of the state's general fund. His and other pro-gun groups have argued that California's fees on gun buyers are exorbitant.

"The state should not be stealing millions of dollars from gun owners who were overcharged," Combs said.




The funds will go toward enforcing the California DOJ's Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) program, which began in 2007. APPS cross-references various databases to check people who have legally purchased handguns and registered assault weapons since 1996 against individuals who are prohibited from owning or possessing firearms.

APPS also cross-references gun owners with individuals who have reported to the state DOJ as mentally ill. Doctors and hospitals are required to report to the state individuals who were found to be a danger to themselves or others, or who were certified for intensive treatment for a mental disorder.

Lynda Gledhill, spokesperson for the California DOJ, said that of the individuals deemed unfit to own guns, about 30 percent have a criminal record, 30 percent are mentally ill, 20 percent have a restraining order out on them and a small percentage have a warrant out for their arrest.

California is the only U.S. state where law enforcement officials confiscate guns from the homes of individuals not legally permitted to own them. Because gun-confiscating agents do not obtain search warrants, their job involves convincing people to let them into their homes and hand over their guns. If an individual does turn over a gun, he or she can be arrested on suspicion of illegally owning a firearm.

Over the past five years, agents conducting twice-weekly sweeps have confiscated more than 10,000 guns. Using the $24 million from SB 140, the California DOJ says it would take three years to catch up with the backlog of confiscated illegal guns.

Leno's bill returns to the Senate for approval of some noncontroversial amendments before heading to Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) desk. If SB 140 is signed by the governor, it would take effect immediately.

"This makes enormous sense and is one of the only ways available to reduce access to already purchased firearms," Deborah Azrael, associate director of the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center. "Universal background checks, as much as we should have them, can affect only the next gun purchased, not the sizable reservoir of guns already out there."

Adam Winker, UCLA law professor and expert on constitutional law, commented on the passage of the California bill after the U.S. Congress' failure to enact national gun background checks.

"We're likely to see much more activity at the state level in the wake of Congress's failure to act," Winkler said. "The gun-control movement's best options now are gun-control laws at the state level."




By Dan Whitcomb and Dana Feldman

File photo of California State Senator Ron Calderon in SacramentoLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California state senator has been indicted on federal charges that he took $100,000 in bribes from a businessman and from undercover FBI agents posing as Hollywood movie executives in exchange for steering legislation in their favor, prosecutors said on Friday.

Democrat Ron Calderon, 56, has agreed to turn himself in on Monday to face two dozen counts of bribery, fraud, money laundering and other charges, U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte said at a news conference to announce the charges.

"Senator Calderon is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and using the powers of his elected office to enrich himself and his brother Tom, rather than for the benefit of the public he was sworn to serve," Birotte said.

State senate leader Darrell Steinberg called on Calderon, a veteran legislator and member of a political dynasty going back several decades in California, to resign or take a leave of absence.

"At a minimum, he should take a complete leave of absence until the criminal proceedings are finished," Steinberg said. "If he does not resign, or take that leave of absence voluntarily, the Senate will seek to suspend him."

Phone calls made to Ron Calderon's offices in the Los Angeles area and in Sacramento were not answered on Friday.




According to a 28-page indictment handed down in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday, Calderon is accused of taking some $100,000 in cash bribes, along with plane trips, golf outings and jobs for his children, in exchange for influencing legislation.

Prosecutors say the lawmaker accepted bribes from Long Beach, California, hospital owner Michael Drobot to preserve a legislative loophole that allowed Drobot to defraud the state's healthcare system out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The senator's brother, Tom Calderon, a former member of the California State Assembly, was also named in the indictment and charged with conspiracy and seven counts of money laundering.

Drobot has agreed to plead guilty to separate federal charges and is cooperating in the case against the Calderon brothers, prosecutors say.
 The Department of Homeland Security, along with a SWAT team and Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies raided the home of Robert Adams in Albuquerque, New Mexico and, according to a federal search warrant affidavit the raid seized nearly 1,500 firearms from the man's home and business. However, no charges have been filed against him, despite the fact that court documents reveal that agents had been watching Adams for years.
By Wednesday afternoon dozens of rifles were hauled out of the house, bagged as evidence and laid out on the lawn.

According to search warrants that were filed on Thursday Homeland Security Investigations confiscated nearly 900 firearms from Adams' home, 548 handguns and 317 rifles. They also seized 599 pistols and revolvers from his office.
Neighbors say that he was a firearms collector and some indicated that he was also a licensed gun seller. No confirmation of that has been forthcoming.
While having been watched for years and no charges filed as they seized Adam's firearms, Federal investigators are saying that they are investigating him for gun smuggling, tax evasion, violating importation laws.






From the Houston Chronicle:


In front of a run-down shack in north Houston, federal agents step from a government sedan into 102-degree heat and face a critical question: How can the woman living here buy four high-end handguns in one day?… Success on the front lines of a government blitz on gunrunners supplying Mexican drug cartels with Houston weaponry hinges on logging heavy miles and knocking on countless doors. Dozens of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — sent here from around the country — are needed to follow what ATF acting director Kenneth Melson described as a “massive number of investigative leads.” All told, Mexican officials in 2008 asked federal agents to trace the origins of more than 7,500 firearms recovered at crime scenes in Mexico. Most of them were traced back to Texas, California and Arizona. Among other things, the agents are combing neighborhoods and asking people about suspicious purchases as well as seeking explanations as to how their guns ended up used in murders, kidnappings and other crimes in Mexico.




File:A Look At The Life Of Prison.jpg - Wikipedia, the free ...Evidence from a dashboard camera on a police cruiser ended a nightmare for a New Jersey man facing false charges of eluding police, resisting arrest and assault.

Prosecutors dismissed all the criminal charges against Marcus Jeter, 30, of Bloomfield, N.J. and instead indicted two Bloomfield police officers for falsifying reports and one of them for assault after the recording surfaced showing police officers beating Jeter during a traffic stop, according to WABC of New York. A third has pleaded guilty to tampering.

Jeter’s defense attorney requested all recorded evidence, but the police failed to hand over a second tape until additional evidence surfaced of a second police car at the scene. The tape showed Jeter complying with police, even as one punched him in the head repeatedly.

Without the tape, prosecutors had been demanding a five-year prison sentence.




Source: Freethoughtblog.com




February 21, 2014

Quintero documented the event through his blog. The following text comes from his post and explains his recount of the event:
Sitting at Starbucks, on the corner of 24th and San Antonio, I noticed a particularly odd situation. Two Austin Police officers standing outside the Castilian just lingering.

Every time I looked back there was a different student holding a carbon copy of what looked to be a jay walking citation. Suddenly, one of the cops shouts at an innocent girl jogging with her headphones on through West Campus.

He wobbled after her and grabbed her by the arm. Startled, and not knowing it was a cop, she jerked her arm away.

The cop viewed this as resisting arrest and proceeded to grab both arms tightly, placing her in handcuffs. She repeatedly pleaded with them saying that she was just exercising and to let her go.

She repeatedly cried out, “I did not do anything wrong…just give me the ticket.” The other officer strolled over and now they were making a scene.


Source:thefreethoughtproject.com

I personally think this is one of the best bug out carbines on the market. Ammo is cheap and it hardly has any recoil making it a great firearm to shoot under stressful circumstances.







February 19, 2014


Kayla Michelle Finley, of Pickens, S.C., was arrested Thursday when she went to the county sheriff's office to report a crime, according to Fox Carolina. Police discovered she had an active warrant for not returning a movie. (Yes, apparently that is a crime.)

The 27-year-old woman was charged with petit larceny for failing to return a video cassette of the Jennifer Lopez movie "Monster-In-Law" in 2005. She spent the night in jail.

The video store she rented the movie from is no longer in business.

"It's obvious that Pickens County has nothing better to do," Finley wrote to Fox Carolina via Facebook. "I fully intend on fighting this. It's ridiculous that I had this happen to me."

Police said letters ordering Finley to return the video were sent to her almost nine years ago. They also said a certified warrant was sent to her on Sept. 21, 2005. According to WYFF, Finley said she never got any of those.Source: Youtube






Christopher dreamed of joining the Marines. All of that ended when he was executed by a cop. The OP-Nat Eye reports that 17-yr-old Christopher Roupe was shot and killed moments after sitting down to watch a movie in his family’s home.

At around 7:30 PM, young Christopher took out his Nintendo Wii controller to put on a movie.

As he was sitting down, he suddenly heard knocking on the front door.

He asked, “Who is it?” but received no response.

At that point he got up from his chair and opened the door.

To his shock, the female cop already had her gun drawn and pointed at him, according to reports.

She immediately fired a bullet into the boy’s chest and killed him, according to Renee Vance, the boy’s aunt.

The police claim that “he had a handgun.”

It was actually the boy’s small Nintendo Wii controller, says the aunt.



The officer gave him “no warning” to drop the controller before taking his life, the aunt added.

The police claimed to be at his house regarding a “probation” matter. It turns out that it had nothing to do with Christopher.

His 13-yr-old little sister heard the gun shot and ran over to the door to find her brother bleeding and crying.

The little sister held her brother and tried to comfort him as he cried in pain, according to reports.

That’s when the female cop pointed her gun at the child and said “Shut up!” according to reports, forcing the girl away.

Moments later Christopher bled to death.

Both the female officer and the officer who was with her have received “paid administrative leave” as the investigation proceeds.

The boy’s family is deeply saddened.

They have set up Facebook page speaking out about the incident. Many of the boy’s friends are confused as to how this could possibly happen to a young man with so many plans for his future.”

“Prayers for his younger siblings, may they take pride in knowing what a great big brother they had, and what a great Marine he was going to be….” said one commenter.

Christopher leaves behind his younger sister, who was told to "shut up" as she cried and held her dying brother. 
Christopher leaves behind his younger sister, who was told to “shut up” as she cried and held her dying brother.
Another commented, “God wrap your arms around this family in their time of grief!  So sorry for your loss!”

Another young girl recounted the time when Christopher saved her family from a fire, already displaying heroism as a teenager:

“I remember at Americas best inn my mom and my sister was at the pool so was my dad and a paper towel blew in my moms candle and you helped me stop the fire. If it wasn't for Christopher the room would of caught on fire thanks for helping me Chris.”

“I’ll never understand why or how this happened,but what i do know is you were a great friend and more than that you were family.I miss you bro and i’ll see you again when our paths cross. FLY HIGH AND PROUD!” said one of Christopher’s friends.

Source:Filming Cops



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