Firearms Friday

I'll be joining Michael Dukes at 10:45 Eastern to talk about the developing Constitutional crisis on the Supreme Court. [Listen]

@Pontifex Tear Down This Wall!

Pope Francis Rips Capitalism, American Immigration Policy at Mexican Border [More]

How many "undocumented migrants" and refugees is the Vatican City-state taking in?  Because groups like Catholic Charities/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sure are working overtime spreading 'em around everywhere else.

And while the Swiss Guard is holding on to their military arms, this is the predominant view for the rest of us...

UPDATE: Guess who the walls were built to keep out...

If You See Something, Say Something

Virtually... [More]

Unless it's something where we find it more useful to publicly shame you as a bigot for saying anything...

Countercurrents

Police Call Department of Homeland Security To Investigate Anti-Trump Graffiti As Domestic Terrorism [More]

Seems like overkill, doesn't it?  Has the First Amendment been eroded this much. so that, appropriate vandalism charges aside, there's no room for offensive political disagreement?

If so, that's important to know about, and important to alert others to. That's how I found out about this  -- from a post on a Facebook activism page that had the effect of getting all kinds of people stirred up and angry, including some good people I know who are generally fairly critical about what they accept as real.

Funny thing, though -- you go looking for the story itself and you find it happened last December, and while it did make the news, no one else is reporting a domestic terror/DHS connection. Could it be they all missed the most significant part of the story and Counter Current News scooped them all?

Perhaps-- we've seen sins of omission and commission by the media so many times before it's hard to keep track. So who are these guys at CCN?

Unfortunately, they don't tell us and the story itself doesn't give an author byline, so we can't check his/her qualifications, credibility and reliability of past work. They do tell us they're not responsible for inaccuracies, but who exactly "they" are is unknown, as the website is registered via a proxy service.

So we seem to be at an impasse here, with CCN making a shocking claim and the rest of the world seemingly in the dark. What to do...?

Why not contact Atlanta PD and ask?

"Our investigation found that similar graffiti was placed around the country. It was removed immediately," Elizabeth Espy, Director of Public Affairs for the Atlanta Police Department told me. "We did not classify it as domestic terrorism."

We have persons unknown telling us one thing, with no evidence aside from their making unsubstantiated claims. We have someone willing to go on record under her own name,with attendant professional risks if she's proven to be wrong, telling us something altogether different.

If CCN is going to stand by their story, they'd best be prepared to provide some corroborating details, including if they spoke with anyone at Atlanta PD and to whom. They certainly didn't indicate they were dealing with a whistleblower who needed to be protected, so that shouldn't be a factor now. (Then again, perhaps there's something in the video I can't get to load in three different browsers.)

The object lesson here is one that can't be overstressed -- do some due diligence on information before just assuming it's gospel. Otherwise, we end up wasting time and energy on virtual snipe hunts. That not only calls our credibility into question, but keeps us from focusing on stuff that actually is important.

And yeah, I've embarrassed myself before on that, by sharing tip links without checking close enough.

UPDATE: This evidently was the source CCN relied on, so we at least know they were acting in good faith:

It would have helped had the source link been included.

Using that, I've been able to locate the story by NBC's "11 Alive News Staff," and it indeed says "According to Atlanta Police, Homeland Security has been notified."

I'm kicking this one back to Ms. Espy and bringing Channel 11 into the discussion.  We'll see what they have to say.

UPDATE:

Me to Ms. Espy: This is the source others used:
http://buckhead.11alive.com/news/news/1863492-two-donald-trump-swastikas-found-atlanta

"According to Atlanta Police, Homeland Security has been notified."

Is that true?

I've contacted 11 Alive to ask who told them what.

Please advise.

Thank you.

Ms. Espy: Yes we have our own Homeland Security unit with the PD.  Not United States Homeland Security.

It's nice to finally get that out of her, considering what I'd repeatedly pressed her on in earlier email correspondence, including:

• I'm trying to determine the validity of a report that your department has reported the Trump swastika graffiti you encountered in December to DHS as "domestic terrorism." The only one I can find reporting on this is an alternative political website. Can you confirm or deny the allegations ... and provide any other information/elaboration if it is true?
• After she replied "Our investigation into the graffiti did not classify this as domestic terrorism," I wrote back "I take it by your response that this was NOT reported to DHS by APD?"
• Her response: "Our investigation found that similar graffiti was placed around the country.  It was removed immediately.  We did not classify it as domestic terrorism."

It wasn't until I sent her the NBC link this morning that I got back the reply about APD having their own Homeland Security unit, which, by the way, makes a point of including the DHS logo and "If you see something say something" slogan on its handout materials.  I suppose I could ask WHY it was reported to the APD HS unit, but really, what would be the point?

So, OK, Counter Current News, it wasn't literally DHS as you guys reported, but that's kind of beside the point. You mistake wasn't as big as mine, which was to assume somebody was purposely embellishing your story, and for that, I owe you a humble apology.  

As I said earlier in this post, I've embarrassed myself before by not checking.  I believe this is the first time I've done it by checking.

Shallow Principles Seeking Deep Pockets

See, according to Opposite Day "progressives," not infringing = "negligent entrustment." [More]

I may have time in a few days to revisit this with some further observations.  For now, my only other immediate thought is that guy in the photo looks pretty old to be an Eagle Scout...

[Via Keith B]

Government 'Solutions'

Brilliant skewering of "Uncle Stupid." [More]

Looks like when you knock on Tim's door, you can let him know not everything he does is unappreciated.

[Via Michael G]

Uncoupling

Does this mean someone got snookered and that we can never trust the antis? [More]

[Via Mack H]

Best Practices

Yeah, as long as you have the firepower to infringe on unalienable rights without the due process protections of being tried and found guilty by a jury, and as long as we understand that it doesn't stop anyone who is a proven threat to from access to potential victims or to be able to obtain whatever tools and materials he's determined to get, then yeah, I guess you could call these "best practices." [More]

Brought to you by our old pal Mike "Der" Feuer. (Uh-oh, I'm not going to get in Nugent trouble for implying he acts like an the odious little Nazi, am I?  Too late!)

I wonder if we can get any closer to finding out who else is bringing this to us than last time?

Nothing I can find yet on Guidestar and I don't have time right now to spend looking around, especially since these guys always seem to want to cover their tracks. Still I won't be surprised to find a familiar troll lurking under the bridge...

[Via Mack H]

Welcome to the Club

Baseball bats are a public threat and they need to be regulated and banned from public use. [More]

Donald Borsch Jr. gives a recent bat attack the same treatment the antis use whenever they find it advantageous to weigh in after a crime involving a gun.

Except when they do it, they're serious.

Meanwhile, Across the Pond in Piers Morgan Paradise

Sure, Jeb's tweet is pandering and pathetic, but not as pathetic as Jonathan Jones. [More]

[Via Mack H]

Make it Personal

Please IMMEDIATELY send an email to Governor Rick Scott and tell him, to hold SWFWMD accountable for their illegal attack on the Skyway Trap & Skeet Club. [More]

Single white females with weapons of mass destruction?

No, the Bloomberg Moms haven't militarized. But if this government agency gets its way, it can call in the B&D guys who have.

So make it personal and tell Gov. Scott if he doesn't do the right thing, you'll be making sure he's got plenty of time for long walks on the beach.

Cruz Control

I've seen all kinds of arguments pro and con on this. [More]

That's not what I'm trying to stoke here.

I just maintain that unless Sen. Cruz himself takes whatever measures he must to secure his eligibility in light of "natural born" arguments, the Democrats and the media will do everything they can to use it against him. Including in court.

If there's an argument against that happening, educate me, because I think it should be resolved and bulletproof before the GOP nominee is selected.

And yeah, that raises the possibility of an expedited SCOTUS ruling with things potentially being 4 - 4. I don't pretend to have an answer for this.

[Via Andrea Shea King]

Lemonade Out of Lemons?

Reaffirming that all citizens have a right to use gun ranges offering facilities to the public helps reaffirm that all citizens have the right to own and use guns. [More] 

Personally, do I think a business ought to be able to discriminate, and the market would do a superior job of ensuring more welcoming competitors are the ones to thrive?  Yeah, I guess I do.

In addition to boycotts, I can't imagine public-minded suppliers of needed goods and services wanting to involve themselves with such an establishment, along with the disruptive and costly repercussions that could entail.

To illustrate the ineffectiveness of coercive government "solutions," even though keeping me out based on my race would be "illegal," there are plenty of joints in certain areas where I would rightfully fear for my safety just because of genetics and culture. No one conducting themselves peaceably could say the same about the places I do frequent.

[Via Florida Guy]   

A Bureaucratic Workaround

I suppose it's an improvement, but really, 11 pages and 25 policy statements full of weasel words to cover all the ways they intend to skirt around "shall not be infringed"...? [More] 

This practically insists on parody:

[Via Florida Guy]   

If You Can't Lick 'em, Joiner

Joiner said he didn’t have a problem with open carry or gun rights laws in general, but added he thought public buildings should be gun free. “It’s just a very sensitive thing … the public is supposed to be protected,” Joiner said. [More]

By rendering them vulnerable...

It must be Opposite Day in Calhoun County.

Do Bundy Ranch Standoff Indictments Mean More Arrests are Imminent?

There’s “intel,” there’s bad “intel,” and there’s flat-out disinformation put out there by secretive parties with agendas to force an emotion-driven move, and to entrap. [More]

Look before you leap. Especially to conclusions from unknown sources.

The Neighborhood Rotten Apple

Neighbors on Bartlett Avenue near the facility say security guards tail them when they walk their dogs. “You have security guards following you in their cars,” Porter said. [More] 

That would happen to me a grand total of once.

As for 3 a.m. noise, that's even more easily handled.  Then again, you could just drive to Tim's house and ring the doorbell and complain.

Still, it's pretty understandable why Sunnyvale residents feel personally powerless.

We're the Only Ones Testing Enough

The scene is designed to be dramatic, and it is. But it is also illegal under Iowa law. [More]

Cue the prosecution in 3...2...1...

No?

The Bystander

A walker-by trips over the ankle of a man sitting on a bench outside a pet shop. Harsh words are exchanged and a fist fight ensues. A bystander witnesses the struggle and calls 911. Feeling that the fight will result in serious injury, the bystander draws his concealed pistol. [More]

This week on "Stop the Threat"...

Something's Missing, But What?

Oh, yeah, any reference to laws requiring "smart guns."... [More]

I'm sure it's just an oversight. After all, if we can't trust Mother Jones on honest gun reporting, who can we trust?