Termite reminded me this morning that the weather-weenies are updating their predictions for Monday-Tuesday with a winter storm watch.  It's going to be snow-mageddon in central Louisiana. They tell us that the low  will get down to 16F, which is 20 degrees colder than we like it this time of year.

For much of the country, that amount of snow wouldn't be much of a challenge, but we don't get snow down here in the Deep South.  I  have one grandkid who was born in 2002 and didn't see snow until 2010.  According to my archives, the next snowfall was in 2019.  That was a huge pain in the ass, because it was mostly an ice storm.

Louisiana has no snowplows, or ice removal equipment.  Weather like that comes once in a decade.  The highway guys will put sand on the bridges, and everyone else will stay home. In less than 24 hours, most of it will melt and we'll go back to running the roads.

We'll be okay.  I have food in the pantry and the propane bottles are all filled.  Extra gasoline in case we need the generator. We'll be fine.

I see that Trump has moved the inauguration indoors, and that seems like a smart move.

On January 7, 2025, two interstate commercial truck drivers filed a complaint in the Federal District Court for the District of Minnesota. The lawsuit contends Minnesota, and in particular the Commissioner for the Department of Public Safety, is infringing on the exercise of their Second Amendment rights by not recognizing their right to bear arms across state lines.

Here is the introduction of their complaint:

1. This is a constitutional challenge to Minnesota’s refusal to recognize firearm permits lawfully issued by other States. Minnesota criminalizes carrying a firearm without a Minnesota permit or a recognized out-of-state firearm permit. Every year, the Commissioner for Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety decides which out-of-state firearm permits Minnesota will and will not recognize. The recognition of out-of-state firearm permits is at the Commissioner’s sole discretion and is not based on objective standards.

2. Currently, Minnesota only recognizes the out-of-state firearm permits from 20 states, and refuses to recognize the out-of-state permits from 29 states, including Texas, Florida, and Georgia. In other words, millions of law-abiding citizens who lawfully bear arms in their home states cannot do so while visiting the State of Minnesota—unless they obtain a separate Minnesota firearm permit.

3. Minnesota’s failure to honor lawfully issued firearm permits from all States places an unreasonable burden on Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment right to bear arms. Individuals do not lose their constitutional rights simply by crossing into another state. In fact, there is no other constitutional right that Minnesota requires a visiting individual to first obtain permission before they may exercise a fundamental right.

4. The Minnesota firearm permit law and the Commissioner’s arbitrary refusal to recognize the lawfully issued firearm permits from all other States violates the Second Amendment. Defendant will continue to infringe on millions of Americans’ right to bear arms in Minnesota unless, and until, a court declares the law and actions unconstitutional and enjoins Defendant’s enforcement.

There are several cases in the courts challenging restrictions which place unreasonable burdens on the exercise of rights protected by the Second Amendment while traveling across state lines.  There are two combined criminal cases in the State of Massachusetts Supreme Court of Judicial appeal.  There are two cases in process in California.  Any of these cases could make precedent favorable to exercising Second Amendment rights across state lines, if only in one state or one federal circuit. Reciprocity across state lines is highly variable and rapidly changing.

These cases could become moot if Senate Bill S65, National Reciprocity, is passed into law.  The bill was recently introduced into the Senate, with a companion bill introduced into the House of Representatives. 29 states have permitless or Constitutional carry. 21 states have "shall issue" permit laws, even if several of them, Hawaii, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey, are actively resisting the implementation of shall issue in the courts and in their legislatures.

Most senators are from states which already have large numbers of people who can legally carry concealed weapons.  Those senators may see little advantage in preventing visitors  to their state from exercising rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment and the United States Constitution.  The re-election of President Donald Trump means if the national reciprocity bill passes the Senate and House, the President will sign it.

©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

A failed carjacking left a man dead after police say the person he was targeting ended up shooting him in the Trader’s Point shopping complex on the city's northwest side early Wednesday.

At 5:41 a.m. Wednesday, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police were called to the 5700 block of West 86^th Street about a reported carjacking attempt. While en route, police say officers were told that a person had been shot.

Arriving officers found a man critically injured. The man, identified as Trevor Matthew Marrero, 23, died hours later at the hospital.

More Here

Court documents released on Wednesday state that Martel called dispatch and said that he shot a man, stating that he did it because the man "came at him."

When police officers arrived at the residence, they heard the victim yelling for help and saying that he had been shot.

Martel reportedly immediately told officers, "I am the one who shot him."

According to court documents, Martel said that he frequently sat in a chair in the living room with a pistol tucked in the chair, waiting for the victim to "cross" an imaginary line.

More Here

Palmetto State Armory, under their Harrington & Richardson brand, has released a particularly neat model of 9mm AR. They talked about doing this “at some point” at SHOT Show 2024, but lo and behold it’s [...]

The post PSA/H&R Clones the Department of Energy Colt 9mm SMG first appeared on Forgotten Weapons.

On January 18, 1258 the Mongol army of 150,000, led by Hulagu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, arrived at the walls of Baghdad. Following a 12-day siege, the city fell on February 13th. It was recorded that the majority of the city’s one million residents were massacred in less than two days. — January 18, 1923: The first radio telegraph message from the Netherlands was received successfully in the Dutch East Indies. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 116 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The …

The post Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 18, 2025 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

About once a quarter I look at the list of ideas the editors collected for potential article topics in hopes that there is an area where I might be able to contribute to the community. For over a year I have noted the construction projects and realistic hand tools suggestions and wondered what approach I could take to share my experience(s). For context, I have spent most of my life in either the building or engineering workforces and currently have my own small general contracting business. The source material for this article came about with the recognition that I had …

The post A Prepper’s Carpentry Toolkit – Part 1, by A.F. appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds …

The post Editors’ Prepping Progress appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

“And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister: And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the Lord …

The post The Editors’ Quote of the Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

Great. Well heeled Vichycons and Fudds are on board with throwing the rest of us under the bus. So, what’s new? [More] The string pulling violence monopolists can always count on useful idiots, “real reporters,” and gunkapos (but I repeat myself) to do their bidding.

The post Narrative Parroting Helps ‘Reasonable’ Tennessee Gun-grabbers Influence the Ignorant first appeared on The War on Guns.

LaPierre Pays Up $, Lawyer Brewer Resigns, Our Causes Advance : NRA Board After Action Report [More] Jeff Knox updates us on Association happenings and some positive developments.

The post NRA Progress Report first appeared on The War on Guns.

The Archivist of the United States, charged with officially publishing ratified amendments, has confirmed that the ERA was not ratified and based that analysis on binding legal precedent. There is no 28th Amendment. [More] So if his handlers can just declare it’s “the law of the land” in violation of the Constitution, at what point … Continue reading "The Benevolent Dictator"

The post The Benevolent Dictator first appeared on The War on Guns.

This Gun Store Owner Just Forced the ATF to Reverse an Anti-Gun ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy [More] We need zero tolerance for infringements, zero tolerance for tyranny… [Via Michael G]

The post Zeroing In first appeared on The War on Guns.

Red state illegal immigration crackdown produces nearly 50K criminal arrests [More] Next step: Sanctions against Mexico to pay for all this. They’ll come around. [Via Michael G]

The post Half of the Equation first appeared on The War on Guns.

Alarmist ‘Ghost Gun’ Rhetoric Like This Really Getting Annoying [More] Almost as annoying as impotent egghead saps from foreign cultures annointing themselves as the standard for being “good men.” [Via Michael G]

The post The Man Who Would Be Role Model first appeared on The War on Guns.

I am trying to find a connector for combining .41mm leads to a wire that is considerably larger..These Harwin connector cables terminate in very fine leads, which I need to connect to a 9V battery holder.  Wire nuts usually bind wires of similar thicknesses.  I could solder the wires together and then wire nut the joint to nget an insulated, physically strong connection.

His mother says he was groomed by drug gangsters despite her attempts to get help. Let his death spark fresh debate about how we care for vulnerable people. [More] Kelyan, we hardly knew ye. All that and he was an “aspiring…rapper“…? To paraphrase Capt. Kirk, you bleed too much, Hinsliff. You’re too pure and noble. … Continue reading "Meanwhile, Across the Pond"

The post Meanwhile, Across the Pond first appeared on The War on Guns.

OUTRAGEOUS: Pro-Trump Georgia State Senator Who Previously Tried to Impeach Fani Willis Assaulted and Arrested While Trying to Enter Georgia House Chambers [More] Jon Burns gets ratioed… He’s one of those compromise on guns Vichycons, which pretty much tells me whose side I should be on. The Only Ones acting like his personal Praetorian Guard … Continue reading "Feel the Burns"

The post Feel the Burns first appeared on The War on Guns.

Exclusive from Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes: No Man Left Behind – Why President Trump Should Pardon ALL J6 Defendants, Including the So-Called “Violent” Ones [More] The enemy will just focus on that, but hear him out. He makes some very valid points. Related UPDATE Kurt Schlichter agrees. [Via bondmen]

The post Free the J6ers first appeared on The War on Guns.

A homeowner shot a man who was attempting to forcefully break into his home… [More] Everyone who lies about a gun in the home being the greater danger would rather the intruder had succeeded. [Via bondmen]

The post Prohibtionists Frustrated Again first appeared on The War on Guns.

Vatican Promises Stiff Penalties for Illegal Aliens Crossing its Border [More] They need them all to send here. [Via bondmen]

The post Pontifex, Tear Down This Wall! first appeared on The War on Guns.

Ron DeSantis picks Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to fill Marco Rubio’s Senate seat [More] I’ll take any gift that p!$$e$ off Gabby’s handlers. But wait! There’s more! And it won’t be hard to be an improvement. [Via Jess]

The post The Great Replacement first appeared on The War on Guns.

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today introduced the Second Amendment Guarantee Act (SAGA) to ensure that states are prohibited from banning the manufacture, sale, importation, or possession of any rifle or shotgun that is lawfully permitted under federal law. [More] Looks like they’ve been trying to get traction on this since at least 2017… [Via Jess]

The post Once More Unto the Breach… first appeared on The War on Guns.

From yesterday’s Bondi hearings what became abundantly clear is Democrats don’t want DOJ looking into their shenanigans. I wonder what political connections and communications will emerge… [Via Michael G]

The post A Senior Moment first appeared on The War on Guns.

Congressman Michael Cloud (TX-27) and Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) today reintroduced the No REGISTRY Rights Act, legislation prohibiting the federal government from creating a federal firearms registry. [More] It didn’t receive a vote last time out. We’ll see if it fares better this time– so far, there’s no prognisis on chances of being enacted. [Via … Continue reading "Off the Record?"

The post Off the Record? first appeared on The War on Guns.

Gun Rights Groups Losing Their Damn Minds Over New Magazine Limit Bill [More] Here’s a person who doesn’t have a clue as to what 2A is about resorting to Alinsky Rule 5 ridicule under cover of a pen name to shield from personal accountability for being so ignorant… What is it we know about trolls? … Continue reading "Character Study"

The post Character Study first appeared on The War on Guns.

 Watching the wildfires in California and struck by the loss of property and lives.

Driving to town yesterday I followed a log truck.  Not unusual, we have lots of log trucks in Louisiana, but what struck me about this load was that there were only four logs on the truck. And, it was a full load. As I looked closer, the logs looked like hardwood, easily six feet at the base.  Someone is going to get some beautiful slabs out of those logs.

And I wondered.  California is going to need a lot of logs to rebuild, and the wildfires are in forests.  Why not cut the logs that are standing and use those to mill into lumber.  Institute good forestry practices and treat the forest as the renewable resource that it is?

As a young man, I had to know the native pine species in Louisiana Basically, long leaf, short leaf and loblolly's.  As the pines were cut down and reforested, the Southern White Pine replaced most of the native species, but I still see the native species.

There is no reason California can't manage its forests, except that it seems they can't manage water or power either.  We'll see what the next elections reveal about Los Angeles.  Has the disaster changed enough minds that forest management is no longer a foreign concept.

If you want to build houses, you gotta have lumber, and it's standing right there in the forest.

What determines the rate of fire of a machine gun, and how can that rate of fire be determined or changed from a design perspective? Let’s talk about pressure, mass, and distance…

The post Rate of Fire: What Determines it and How to Change It first appeared on Forgotten Weapons.

On January 9, 2025, Senator John Cornyn, (R TX) and Senator John Kennedy (R LA) introduced a national reciprocity carry bill.  The bill requires all states to allow people who may legally carry concealed handguns in their state of residence to legally carry concealed handguns in other states. A picture ID would be required to verify the residency of the person who is carrying a concealed handgun.

From the press release of Senator Kennedy:

This legislation would:

• Allow individuals with concealed carry privileges in their home states to exercise those rights in any other state that has concealed carry laws.

• Treat state-issued concealed carry permits like drivers’ licenses, allowing an individual to use his or her home-state license to drive in another state while abiding by the speed limit of whatever state that person is in.

The official text of S65 has not, as of this writing, been published in the Congressional record.  Senator Grassly (R Iowa) links to a copy of the proposed text. This correspondent will assume the text is accurate for the purposes of this analysis.

There are 43 sponsors and co-sponsors of the proposed bill. It is a good start.  The bill may need to overcome a filibuster. 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster. Of the 100 senators, 58 come from states with Constitutional Carry. The other 32 states have some form of shall issue carry. Only 20 senators come from states which are actively resisting the Supreme Court to deny people the right to carry outside the home.  There is a reasonable possibility for the bill to overcome a filibuster.

The bill provides for two cases where individuals must be allowed to carry concealed handguns in states where they do not reside. The two cases are:

1. If the individual is carrying government issued photographic ID and has a license or permit to carry from their state of residence

2. If the individual is carrying government issued photographic ID and is not prohibited from carrying a concealed firearm in the state in which the individual resides, otherwise than in paragraph 1.

The wording appears a bit awkward to this correspondent. The two cases appear to be for shall issue states and permitless carry states.  To qualify, Individuals must not be prohibited from carrying or possessing or receiving firearms in interstate commerce. The handgun must have been has been shipped or
transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Individuals must carry government issued photographic identification. Individuals are required to comply with the restrictions on concealed carry in the state they are traveling in, but only to the least restrictive standard of residents of the state who are issued a license or permit to carry.

Analysis: If passed, the economic and structural restrictions which apply to shall issue licenses in the most restrictive states, such as Hawaii and New York, would result in visitors from other states being able to carry concealed more easily than residents of those states. This is close to the same carry authority provided  to retired and active duty police officers by LEOSA, passed in 2004.

LEOSA has already been tested in the courts, found to be constitutional and enforceable. It has been expanded over the years.

S65 only applies to concealed carry of handguns, similar to the restrictions in LEOSA. Neither bill applies to open carry.

While S65 only mentions "states", it applies to all territories of the United States.  The LEOSA statute also uses the word "state" or "states" and applies in all U.S. States and U.S. territories.

The bill is in early stages. Amendments to bills are common as they go through the legislative process.

©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

Soon after the initial call, the caller reported that the front-end loader was now in their driveway, attempting to run through their house and destroying vehicles in their driveway, according to the sheriff’s office. 

Based on an initial investigation, the sheriff’s office said people in the home came out and fired several gunshots at the front-end loader. The machine then reversed out of the driveway and fled the scene, crossing a large field and going down a road into the woods.

More Here

Sheriff’s investigators determined that two individuals had allegedly been assaulted by a man at the residence. During the incident, the man reportedly reached for a gun and was then shot by another male in what appears to be an act of self-defense, according to the sheriff’s office.

More Here

On January 17, 1746: In the Battle of Falkirk Muir, the Jacobites under Charles Stuart defeated Hanoverian forces. — Acting for Hawaiian sugar interests and their American allies, a committee led by Sanford Ballard Dole deposed Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani on January 17, 1893 and installed a provisional government with Dole as president. — On this day in 1994 the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake struck Los Angeles. It caused about $20 billion in damage and killed 61 people. — Today is the last day to take advantage of the introductory sale price for the new two-volume Red State Relocation Guidebook. It …

The post Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 17, 2025 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

Editor’s Introductory Note:  I am belatedly posting the following article that was submitted to SurvivalBlog back in August of 2021. I held off running it because at the time the owners of arm-braced pistols were in legal limbo.  But as of January 15, 2025, the BATF has finally conceded to the Fifth Circuit Court’s November 8, 2023 nationwide injunction of not enforcing their on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again ban on arm-braced pistols.  That was reinforced by an Eighth Circuit Court decision in August, 2024 that called the ATF’s ban “arbitrary and capricious.” — I refer to myself as a …

The post Practical Utility: A Braced 9mm AR Pistol, by Francis, the Semi-Prepper appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at credit cards and their proper use. (See the Credit Card Use and Credit Card Debt section.) Precious Metals: China’s central bank purchases 10 tonnes of gold in December, analysts say it’s nowhere near done buying.  JWR’s Comments:  Those are just the official numbers on Chinese gold purchases. The word in the Comex …

The post Economics & Investing For Preppers appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

“A state that denies its citizens their basic rights becomes a danger to its neighbors as well: internal arbitrary rule will be reflected in arbitrary external relations. The suppression of public opinion, the abolition of public competition for power and its public exercise opens the way for the state power to arm itself in any way it sees fit. … A state that does not hesitate to lie to its own people will not hesitate to lie to other states.” – Václav Havel

The post The Editors’ Quote of the Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

A U.S. congressman from Virginia has introduced federal legislation which seeks to remove firearm suppressors—frequently mis-identified as “silencers”—from the restrictive regulations of the 1934 National Firearms Act, and two major firearms organizations have thrown support behind the measure. H.R. 404, known as the Hearing Protection Act, is sponsored by Republican Rep. Ben Cline. The bill […]

The post Gun Groups Support Federal Suppressor Legislation appeared first on Liberty Park Press.

I was going to post the great Miller Lite commercial with him, but Dwight beat me to it. 

I can heartily endorse his book about his baseball career, Catcher In The Wry.

Rest in peace, Uke.

Wife and I are going to go treat my best and oldest friend ( we’ve had many, many adventures since meeting freshman year in college) to dinner for his birthday. Be back tomorrow. Comments and tips will have to wait.

The post I’m Outta Here first appeared on The War on Guns.

The Second Amendment Foundation has won a victory for young adults in Pennsylvania, where a panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to remand the case back to the District Court with instructions to enter an injunction forbidding the state police from arresting law-abiding 18-20-year-olds for openly carrying firearms during a … Continue reading "An Age Old Question"

The post An Age Old Question first appeared on The War on Guns.

Darrin’s been telling people we’re the danger to children. [Via Michael G]

The post Projection Much? first appeared on The War on Guns.

The latest Crime Report from the Seattle War Zone-Updated [More] Serves ’em right. [Via Michael G]

The post When Democrats Rule the Earth first appeared on The War on Guns.

When I see a GOP senator in the year 2025 talking lovingly about FISA after all the abuse we’ve seen, I see a man who’s been approached by the intelligence services with pictures of him and midgets. [More] Hello, Dolly… [Via Michael G]

The post Every Picture Tells a Story first appeared on The War on Guns.

Man faces long list of charges after New Year’s party homicide, was on federal house arrest [More] What law could have prevented this? [Via Steve T]

The post Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before first appeared on The War on Guns.

Giffords Gun Control Group: Palisades Fire Should Make GOP Back Off on Defunding ATF [More] Yeah, who else will follow up on Democrat-created problems after the damage has been done? [Via bondmen]

The post Pouring Gas on the Fire first appeared on The War on Guns.

Police say the man was fending off the dogs with the broom and had previously fired shots in an attempt to distract the dogs. [More] Between him and the “Only Ones” who let them get away… [Via bondmen]

The post Unclear on the Concept first appeared on The War on Guns.

Vivek Ramaswamy Back in Contention for Filling Vacant Ohio Senate Seat – Trump Privately Backing His Candidacy [More] Sorry, Jon… Maybe if you’d been more vocal on H-1Bs… [Via bondmen] UPDATE He picked Husted.

The post The Bigger Name first appeared on The War on Guns.

Trump May Not Be Safe at His Inauguration [More] I don’t think he’s ever going to be “safe” another day in his life. And if he’s not… Related UPDATE FBI Declares No ‘Credible Threats’ Ahead Of Trump Inauguration [More] I haven’t felt this relieved since NRA ended an alert with “Rest assured…” [Via bondmen]

The post We Hold This Truth to Be Self-Evident first appeared on The War on Guns.

The bill would allow the import of firearms when similar products are domestically produced and available for sale in the United States. [More] I wonder if he reads Firearms News. The thing is, it doesn’t need to be a bill, which would allow for it to fail. : There’s something else Trump could do quickly … Continue reading "A Sporting Chance"

The post A Sporting Chance first appeared on The War on Guns.

"Sun stones and the darkened sun: Neolithic miniature art from the island of Bornholm, Denmark" Antiquity 1/16/25

Hunter Biden artworks worth ‘millions of dollars’ destroyed in LA fires: source [More] The guy’s no more qualified to be an artist than he was an oil executive. Once “The Big Guy’s” out for good, no longer able to sell his influence, and subject to well-earned reverse legal scrutiny, I can see the “value” dropping … Continue reading "Can You Say ‘Insurance Fraud’?"

The post Can You Say ‘Insurance Fraud’? first appeared on The War on Guns.

Stacey Abrams group to pay largest fine for campaign violations in Georgia history [More] I vote for Kal-if-fee. And as long as I’m on a Star Trek kick, I just saw this today further illustrating how p*ssified the damn limeys have been for some time now… [Via Michael G]

The post We Can’t Wager for Trifles Like Quatloos first appeared on The War on Guns.

Gun Violence Among Black Americans [More] Ah… the elephant in the room again…

The post Inconvenient Truths first appeared on The War on Guns.

On January 1, 2025, a mass murder was committed with firearms in the European country of Montenegro. Twelve victims were killed. The perpetrator, Aco Martinovic committed suicide. Martinovic had been previously convicted of possession of illegal weapons and was appealing his sentence. Four of the victims were shot in Martinovic's home. He was drinking heavily before the event. From rferl.org:

PODGORICA -- The Montenegrin government has announced a raft of new gun-control measures, following a mass shooting that killed 12 people, including two children.

The shooting took place on January 1 in the western Montenegrin city of Cetinje. Four other people were injured.

On August 12, 2022, another mass murder started with the murderer killing a mother and two children in his home. The killer then started killing random people in the city of Cetinje. Another seven victims were killed before an armed citizen stopped the rampage by shooting the murderer and killing him, while the murderer was in a gunfight with police.  From rferl.org:

 The Action for Human Rights and the Center for Women's Rights NGOs called for a thorough examination of the police response, saying that Cetinje had only a minimal police presence despite being home to 120 known organized crime members and having experienced a similar massacre in August 2022, when an attacker killed 10 people and wounded six before being killed by a passerby.

If a person looks only at these two incidents and the four year period in which they occurred, Montenegro has had .91 people killed in mass public murder with firearms per 100K population per year.

Over a 20 year period 1998-2017, the United States had .0079 people killed in mass public murders where firearms are used. The rate in Montenegro for 2022 - 2025 was 115 times as high as the rate for the United States from 1998-2017.

The comparison is not fair, because it looks at a four year period in a country with a population of about 600,000 (Montenegro) compared to a country with over 315 million over a 20 year period (USA).  When an attempt is made to correlate mass murder with firearms to the number of firearms in a country, there is no correlation.  Overall, Europe does not have a great difference in the number of people killed by by public mass murder with firearms. Much depends on the definitions used.

The Montenegro experience dramatically illustrates the lie put forward by the Left: Mass murder by shooting only happens in the United States. This is illustrated by quotes in Crime Prevention Research Center study of mass public murder with firearms around the world, published in 2020. The CPRC goes on to show mass public shooting in Europe are pretty common. The study eviserates the lies quoted below.:

 “The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world.” –President Obama, interview that aired on CBS Evening News, Dec. 2, 2015

“This doesn’t happen anywhere else on the planet.” -- California’s Governor-elect Gavin Newson, referring to 12 people killed at the Borderline Bar and Grill, Thousand Oaks, California, November 8, 2018

“We stand alone in the world in the number of mass shootings," Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), November 5, 2018

Claims that the USA is unique in the number of mass public murders with firearms have become scarce after the presentation of Lott's paper to Congress.  Mass murder with firearms has little to do with the number of firearms legally available to the citizens of a country.

An interesting bit of information is the persistent claim one of the two mass murders in Montenegro was stopped by an armed citizen.

According to Crime Prevention Research Center, the FBI has consistently overlooked and misclassified reported cases where privately armed citizens have stopped mass murder. The FBI reported 4.1% of cases were stopped by armed civilians. The CPRC research shows the correct number to be  35.7%. If cases where private citizens are banned from carrying guns are taken out of the mix, the number is 63.5%.  The death toll in the USA would likely be much higher if citizens were forbidden from carrying weapons for defense.

Montenegro has one of the highest rate of private firearms in Europe. Looking at the data collected by the CRPC and presented by John Lott, there are several countries in Europe which surpass the number of people killed in public mass murders with firearms in the United States. Those include Norway, Kosovo, Finland, and France.  The trending tactic used to commit mass murder trend is to use ramming attacks with vehicles, such as the one in France in 2016, in which 84 (updated to 87) people were murdered.

Banning gun ownership by private citizens does not stop mass murder. In some ways, it facilitates mass public murders by greatly restricting the ability to fight back. None of the policies put forward in the wake of public mass murder with firearms in the USA would have been stopped by "universal background checks" or requirements to lock up firearms.

Analysis:

Mass murder is a cultural phenomena, independent of the weapons used.  The most important and effective way to stop mass murder is to stop the media contagion effect. Media contagion happens which media gives enormous coverage to mass murderers, making anti-heros of people bent on mass murder/suicide, or celebrates mass murderers as Jihadi martyrs.

©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

All of the above is true. It illustrates  of the ways to lie with statistics.

In August of

People killed in Mass Public Shootings per 100k per year  in Montenegro 2022-2025  population 605K   .91

Paper on rate of mass public shootings by Crime Prevention Research Center

Paper presented by John Lott, Congressional testimony 2020   has graphs

From rferl.org:

PODGORICA -- The Montenegrin government has announced a raft of new gun-control measures, following a mass shooting that killed 12 people, including two children.

The shooting took place on January 1 in the western Montenegrin city of Cetinje. Four other people were injured.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic announced the proposed new Law on Weapons on January 3 following a seven-hour session of the National Security Council, which is chaired by the country's president.

The proposed law will mandate the reverification of existing weapons licenses and impose severe penalties for those who fail to surrender illegal weapons within a two-month period. Spajic also said that hunting clubs would be verified and the authorities would establish an anonymous tip line where citizens can report illegal weapons possession for a reward.

Manhunt

The suspected shooter, Aco Martinovic, died on the way to the hospital after attempting suicide following the killings and subsequent manhunt.

Martinovic had previously had illegal weapons confiscated in 2022 and received a three-month prison sentence in late 2024, which he had appealed.

Police have not yet revealed the identities of the victims, but they are believed to have been relatives, friends, and godparents of Martinovic.

(snip)

The Action for Human Rights and the Center for Women's Rights NGOs called for a thorough examination of the police response, saying that Cetinje had only a minimal police presence despite being home to 120 known organized crime members and having experienced a similar massacre in August 2022, when an attacker killed 10 people and wounded six before being killed by a passerby.

ST. CLAIR COUNTY, `Ala. (WBRC) - A 44-year-old armed man from Hale County was shot and killed Jan. 12 during a robbery.

The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department says Timothy Jones went into the Shell gas station in Cropwell around 4:30 a.m. with a knife. He was shot and killed by the clerk.

More Here

A licensed gun owner who fatally shot a young man in a Brooklyn park in the dead of night claims he was acting in self defense after the 23-year-old victim tried to rob him at knife point, police sources said Tuesday.

The shooter told detectives he was walking through Carroll Park on President St. near Smith St. in Carroll Gardens around 2:45 a.m. Saturday when Jordan Dillard put him in a chokehold, and with a knife to his neck, demanded he hand over cash, law enforcement sources told the Daily News.

The two men fought until the would-be robbery victim, who has a concealed carry permit, whipped out a registered gun and shot the assailant in the torso. A knife was recovered at the scene; there’s no indication Dillard and the gunman knew each other, according to the sources.

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The shooting happened at a home on the 1200 block of Walnut Street near North 12th Street around 6:45 a.m.

When officers got there, they found two men who had been shot. Both were taken to the hospital.

One of the men died. He has been identified as Franklin Roosevelt Lee, 64.

The other man survived. He is the suspected shooter, according to police.

On Monday, Chardo told WGAL News 8 that investigators are looking into whether the shooting might have been self-defense. Stay with us for updates on this developing story.

More Here

This keeps coming up over and over.  The latest example is GoDaddy:

GoDaddy has failed to protect its web-hosting platform with even basic infosec tools and practices since 2018, according to the FTC, but the internet giant won’t face any immediate consequences for its many alleged acts of omission.

As one of the world's largest web-hosting companies, and a registry and registrar with about 82 million domain names in its care, one would assume GoDaddy would be adept at applying software updates and monitoring security-related events in its hosting environment to protect its millions of customers and the visitors to their websites from online threats.

But according to a Wednesday statement from the FTC, “GoDaddy has failed to implement reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect and monitor its website-hosting environments for security threats, and misled customers about the extent of its data security protections on its website hosting services.”

So what triple-propellorhead security tech did they miss?  Basics like security log analysis tools, multi-factor authentication on login, missing security patches, and not maintaining an inventory of their systems.  This is all Security 101.  Actually, it may be Security Pre-K.

If you use GoDaddy's hosting you might want to consider an alternative.

• Weird family moves to Russia to escape immigrants and lesbians. Madcap hijinks ensue. Seriously, this story has it all, including a plan to support a family of five by selling caramelized nuts in a country where you don't speak the language, and the quote "Jesus is our lawyer."


• Fapping to Clippy is not only a sad indictment of our atomized modern society, but also the title of my band’s next album. (The band's name is Virtual Boyfriend Dystopia, fwiw.)


• Canadian jailbreaking?

Me: "I'll bet even if you live smack in the middle of downtown Unalaska you can't get much in the way of same-day Amazon deliveries. The produce department at the local Safeway's probably pretty weaksauce, too."

On this day in 27 BC, the title Augustus was bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate. — The Persian Gulf War, triggered by Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait in August 1990, began on this day in 1991 with a U.S.-led air offensive against Iraq that continued until a cease-fire was declared on February 28, 1991. — The Space Shuttle Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16th, 2003. STS-107 would explode on re-entry 15 days later, killing all seven of the crew members on board. SurvivalBlog salutes all seven crewmembers: Commander Rick Husband, Pilot …

The post Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 16, 2025 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

The .357 Magnum revolver cartridge is a favorite with many people for hunting and self-defense. It is a proven performer with a great balance of power and controllability. It is available in handy mid-size revolvers. It is a great trail gun cartridge and easy to reload. I use it as a sidearm to keep on my person when rifle hunting or walking around my property. It is hard to go wrong choosing a .357 Magnum revolver from any of the major manufacturers. Both single-action and double-action revolvers are readily available. The Ruger Blackhawk series of single actions are extremely reliable. …

The post Gas Checks for .357 Magnum Cast Bullet Loads, by Steve A. appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, we look at preparedness for severe winter weather. Winter Weather Food Prepping A television news station in Alabama aired this segment: Winter Weather Food Prepping.  JWR’s Comments: Last-minute …

The post The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

“What then is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interest alongside its own without bias; the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded; the spirit of liberty is the spirit of him who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind …

The post The Editors’ Quote of the Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

 Lyin' Joe is giving his farewell speech tonight, and I can't wait until this national nightmare is over.

Everything that Joe has done has been despicable, misguided, or felonious.  The simple fact is that our elected president is a demented old fool who can't tell the difference between fact and fantasy.  If he were a simple old curmudgeon, it might be understandable, but he lies about everything.  

A week or so ago, President Trump took a page from Ronald Reegan's playbook and told Hamas to release the hostages before he takes office.  Or else. Today, Hamas wisely announced the release of the hostages.

As sure as God made little green apples, Joe is going to try and take credit for that tonight. The fact is that Hamas knew that Joe is an empty vessel, and they didn't want to find out what manner of hell Trump was about to rain on them. Joe had nothing to do with this.

The next few days will be about waiting for the calendar to run out, and Joe to leave the national stage.  He's over, done, kaput. And not a moment too soon.

Hey, Joe!  Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.