Quote Of The Day

On the issue of the utter uselessness of Covid19 restrictions, Robert Zimmerman of the blog Behind The Black has done the yeoman's task of breaking down the statistics for the rest of us. We own him much. At the post Covid-19: The pandemic is ending, why do government restrictions remain? Zimmerman answers his own question:

But they [the restrictions] remain, and have been continually expanded. Anyone want to guess why?

I will tell you if you can’t guess. We are now serfs to the state, our lives constricted by its desires to tell us how to live, in sometimes the most trivial manner. For now and into the future for generations, our political leaders will have the power to clamp down on us, shoving their boots onto our faces, whenever any minor flu epidemic might appear on the horizon.

Worst of all, too many people seem okay with this. To go back to normal means we all finally admit that COVID-19 is no longer a threat, that in fact it was never that much of a threat. This too is unacceptable. Americans have fallen in love with their fear of COVID-19, and no facts are going to dissuade them from giving up that love.

No Fear

So, now according the New York Times 90% of positive Covid-19 test results are in fact negative. The story comes from a tip sheet at Townhall.com by Bronson Stocking entitled Oops: It Looks Like the Vast Majority of Postive Covid Results Should Have Been Negative.

According to The New York Times, potentially 90 percent of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 have such insignificant amounts of the virus present in their bodies that such individuals do not need to isolate nor are they candidates for contact tracing. Leading public health experts are now concerned that overtesting is responsible for misdiagnosing a huge number of people with harmless amounts of the virus in their systems.

"Most of these people are not likely to be contagious, and identifying them may contribute to bottlenecks that prevent those who are contagious from being found in time," warns The Times.

So, the Left is once again exposed as lying to us. As always, when a long train of lies, misstatements, misdirection, all pointing in the same direction; to stampede people into voting for socialism, one can not remain silent. There was never any need to lock down the economy. There was never any need to make healthy people wear masks, nor was there any need quarantine most of the public. The whole object of these measures was to convince us that the virus was incredibly dangerous, that somehow it was all Trump's fault, and if you want to stop the virus, vote for the Democrat. It is a truly sick plot.  It would have been easier to do something positive for people, as Trump has done.  Instead, you have a vast conspiracy to tear down the America we know and wreck the economy for generations.

At the American Thinker today, there is a post by Stephanie Hitt entitled Media Hop To Gain A November Victory For Democrats Through Fear. Here is an example

The media's complicit and alarmist coronavirus reporting. Despite clear national trends of weaker cases, lower hospitalizations, fewer deaths, and increasing therapeutic successes, the headlines about various spikes are designed to make us think it is getting worse, not better. Blue-state governors are using this panic to support rolling back openings. For example, Illinois is experiencing an overall decrease in positivity and death rates. Yet, just this week, Governor Pritzker added the extra requirement of wearing masks while interacting with wait staff at restaurants and order-takers at drive-thrus — despite no proof that any spikes are related to restaurant patronage. It does not matter; the goal is to keep people scared from one inflated crisis to the next.

As you can see, the propaganda are of the Democrat party is attempting to scare us into voting the way they want us to.
Note that our ancestors and progenitors sacrificed much, some of the gave everything, in order for us to have the relative comfort and prosperity we have today.  In turn we could pass it on and make it better.  But there are people who want to reduce us to a banana republic.  Why?  Because a prosperous America stands as a rebuke to every socialist, or communist, of fascist regime out there.

The Left has been using fear of Covid as its latest scare tactic.  But it has pretty much run its course.  I have been telling folks that it will be over by November 4th.  After that, something else will be trumped up to scare the public, because the Left never sleeps.

The only answer we can give is to have no fear.  Sounds like a slogan from a T-shirt.

Our Obligation To Defend Our Lives...and the Lives of Others

Another 2nd Amendment story today, this one from novelist Jack Carr at Townhall.com entitled Our Obligation To Fight. Carr starts by setting the table:

Over the past few months, shocking videos have surfaced of drivers getting surrounded by violent mobs of people, many times armed with blunt instruments and firearms. Citizens have been pulled from their vehicles and savagely beaten. A 9-1-1 call surfaced from a mother trapped in her car with a small child inside, rioters hitting her windows and climbing on top of her vehicle. In the chilling audio recording, the emergency operator tells her, “We can’t do anything” and “We would suggest you call up city hall to let them know about your frustrations.” At least one person was shot in their car, their forward progress arrested by demonstrators. The recent riots confirm that “when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.” If authorities do arrive, it will be after the fact. Despite their best efforts and intentions, police respond to criminal activity and will not be there beforehand to defend you from a violent attack.

Politicians protected by 24/7 taxpayer-funded armed security details also ironically want to defund the police and take our guns, actions that are the height of hypocrisy. The rest of us need to stand ready as our own quick reaction force. We are dealing with the most sacred of all gifts, the gift of life. As citizens it is our responsibility to protect ourselves and the lives of our loved ones. In fact, that is our primary obligation.

Every life is unique and precious. The Left wants us to be cogs in a machine; undifferentiated and infinitely replaceable. That is why they use the word "masses" to refer to people in groups, and that is why they dress in uniforms. As the Left thinks, we are in fact replaceable because the for the Left, it is a material world. They claim to want everyone to have an equal amount of stuff. But as the Founders thought, and as I believe, while someone else may be able to do my job as well as or even better than I can, the fact is that my life is not replaceable. It is not replaceable to my wife, my daughter or grand kids.  Life is not merely the physical stuff of which we are made, but there is a spiritual component as well.

Of course, that is for a different day. 

 Now if someone other than God, who gave you your life, attempts to do you harm or kill you, you have the right, indeed, the obligation to defend that life. The assailant, of course, has a unique and precious life as well.  But he has placed his life in mortal danger by attacking another person.  Those who would riot, loot, and murder others over such events wish to cloud this simple fact.  The assailant has placed his own life in mortal danger.  He should not have done so, and whatever happens is on him.

Jack Carr closes with this:

You may have seen the memes floating around that say, “Wait until those who just want to be left alone get involved.” As with any good joke, the best memes have an element of truth. Those who served the country in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and a multitude of other hot spots around the world, who saw friends die or forever maimed by an IED or sniper’s bullet, those people are out there. They know combat, and they are not going to let a mob surround their vehicle and pull them, their spouse, or their child from the car. They are not going to go quietly and allow themselves to be beaten to death without a fight. These are people who have a very close relationship with violence. They are highly trained, and they are prepared. They just want to be left in peace to pursue their dreams and raise their families. If you happen to run into them and try to take their lives, well, you better bring your A-game.

“This is the law. The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain, all else is supplemental.” –John Steinbeck

Be safe out there. Use good situational awareness, but stay prepared.

2nd Amendment: Do You Believe It and Do You Support It

From the American Partisan comes this video that talks about the 2nd Amendment support versus belief. When someone says the support the 2nd Amendment, BUT...that indicates they neither believe in the 2nd Amendment, nor support it. The man speaks the truth there. Go watch.

What Really Happened In Kenosha?

The American Partisam has a post today giving a dtailed frame by frame analysis of the events in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It appears pretty clear that the 17 year old was defending himself from people who intended to beat him to death. Remember that just because there is no weapon apparent doesn't mean that a firearm can not be used. The fact that he was attacked by 4 or 5 thugs, and that people are often killed by fists and feet, the young man had every right to defend his life with a firearm.

Also note the lessons learned at the end of the post. 

The Seven Consequences For Not Pursuing Russia Hoax Traitors

I have, frankly, given up any hope that the perpetrators of the coup attempt would receive justice.  Of course, Sean Hannity keeps reporting that Attorney General Barr will bring charges against these traitors.  From Hannity''s mouth to God's ear, I say.  But I don't believe it.  And I wouldn't recommend placing any bets on it either.

At today's American Thinker Erik Gregory and Todd Gregory point out the consequences if Barr doesn't take stern actions. You can read the article at Bated Breath For Barr's Big Break

They are right. For too long, Progressives (read socialist/communist/fascist) actors at high levels have gotten a pass. The names are familiar. Names like Comey, Brennan, Strzok, Lisa Page...and the list goes on.  Hilary of course.   If you have paid any attention at all, you know the list by heart.  I won't demand that Barr go after a previous A.G. like Holder. I might even forgive him for not going after the perpetrators of Fast and Furious though that operation still infuriates me, and it had murderous consequences for the Brian Terry and his family.

But, and this is certain, unpunished illegal behavior breeds contempt for the law.  A two tiered system of justice wherein one side of a political fight gets a pass for anything they do, while the other side is punished for trumped up crimes leads to civil war.  Need I remind readers of the words of our Declaration of Independence:

But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

Please go read the linked article at the American Thinker today. Pay special attention to the seven consequences spelled out in excruciating detail. Time is getting away for Barr to bring charges against anyone. And frankly, having a relatively low level person like Kevin Clinesmith plead guilty does not satisfy justice. It almost seems a joke. Yet even if Trump wins re-election, there is real doubt about his ability to retain the Senate, much less take back the House. Without these tools at his disposal, he can not govern effectively. This is why I say that Barr must work to truly clean house, and show that he is doing so.  Otherwise these things will continue. 

Never Forget What Kind Of Ghouls These Tyrants Are

Two articles yesterday at two different sites had the same theme.  That theme was that the Covid panic and the forced masking of Americans is a socialist aattempt to destroy America.  One article, by Scott Morefield at Townhall.com and entitled The Battle Against Corona Fascism Could Be The Existential Fight Of Our Generation. Morefield's article is a polemic calling for Americans to rebel against the masking mandates. The other article by Anthony J. Ciani at the American Thinker and entitled A Pandemic Of Socialism is more informational.

 But both should be read. Let's look first at A Pandemic Of Socialism. 

The Constitution of the United States provides for no limitation of our liberty, freedom, or democracy in an emergency. Is this because our Founding Fathers had never heard of the Black Death (1347, multiple) or the Great Plague of Marseille (1720) or the Yellow Fever from the Caribbean (1793) or smallpox (vaccine 1770)? Why, then, did they limit powers in the face of such great calamities?

Absent such powers, the federal government cannot take advantage of panic, real or contrived, to tyrannize the states or the people, and with the 9th and 14th Amendments, neither can the states (or cities) tyrannize their people. The protections of our Constitution have been eroded over the last century by a crisis culture that has people abandoning liberty for (illusory) safety...

...snip...

But without that "Crisis Constitution," how can government keep us safe from disease? There is no scientific study demonstrating that liberty and freedom are required to spread disease, although there are works of assumptions masquerading as such. To the contrary, a 2001 study published by George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University recommends against large-scale quarantine, isolation, and other liberty-infringing actions in favor of informed individual action. One finding is particularly interesting:

During the past century in the United States, professional medical and public health familiarity with the practice of quarantine has faded. A review of the medical literature found no largescale human quarantine implemented within US borders during the past 8 decades.

Huh. So, we have tried this before and it hasm't worked? When was that? Well, it turns out it was the Spanish Flu of 1918. Quarantines and isolation didn't work. Neither did masks. Indeed, masks are credited with making the flu worse by causing the flu, which was apparently fairly mild, to be followed by bacterial pneumonia. And it was the pneumonia that actually killed more people. Yet here we are doing the same things. Einstein described insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

The quarantine, isolation, and mask-wearing failed to diminish the spread of the influenza. Instead, the practices likely increased fatality and had disastrous economic consequences. The medical policy of 1918 was contrary to the medical science of 1918, and the destructive practices of quarantine, isolation, and mask-wearing were largely abandoned. The United States embraced socialism in the first half of the 20th century, and the pain sent us running back to freedom and liberty in the 1950s and 1960s, until 100 years later, when socialists once again abandoned medical science in favor of panic and socialist policy.

But now the socialists think they have enough people proopaganized such that they can try again to impose socialism on our nation. Therefore it is time to trot out the old socialist ideas. Thus, we need to do what Scott Morefield writes about: wage the existential fight of our generation.

Morefield takes the reader on a trip through a list of those people who have been harmed or killed by the enforced isolation and mask wearing. This includes small business that have been shut down, or have been forced to cut the number of people served such that they have to close down. Children have been kept out of schools and have been kept from their friends. Those who have been working for years at athletic pursuits have had their seasons wiped out. And of course, the standard events we all enjoyed such as senior proms and graduation ceremonies have been curtailed or cancelled. Children will never get these back. And then there are thousands of musicians and other performers who have been denied a living.

And then there are the churches that have been prevented from serving their congregations.  As with other Constitutionally protected rights, there is no allowance for an emergency to curtail the worship of our God.

There is no scientific basis for quarantining the healthy, for shutting down businesses, for forcing the masking of of everyone.  Did you know they even demand that children over two years old wear a mask?  Anyone remember what a three year old is like?  They won't even wear a hat unless someone keeps on them.  In fact, the quarantines, the social distancing, the masking, is designed to get Americans used to obeying nonsensical orders from so called "authorities."

Morefield's solution?  Resist.

Never, ever forget what kind of ghouls these tyrants are. Denying free human beings the ability to earn a living in their chosen profession is and always will be evil. Quarantining and imposing restrictions on the healthy is and always will be morally wrong. Preventing the sick from being allowed to try a drug that could help them based on politics alone is sick to the core. These things should be resisted by freedom-loving people with every ounce of our being.

Now Is The Time To Speak Up

Rebekah Gantner writes about her experiences of tyranny in Maryland in a report at Townhall.com entitled Americans Must Oppose The Tyranny That Is Rapidly Spreading Across America. She starts out by comparing the rise of Nazi tyranny in Germany before WWII to the rise of tyranny in Maryland, and then ties that to a personal experience:

As Adolf Hitler rose to power, he took control of churches, shut down businesses, encouraged neighbors to report each other, and created a public surveillance operation system. If these actions sound familiar, they should. Public officials and bureaucrats are now putting their own tyranny on full display, using the COVID-19 crisis to impose similar draconian tactics in the United States.

While Maryland officials keep the state in lockdown, they are encouraging citizens not only to snitch on one another for breaking “prevention guidelines,” but they are allowed to do so anonymously! The Maryland Emergency Management Agency, State Police, and Department of Health announced a “COVID Prevention Line” available 24 hours a day as well as an email address where citizens can “report situations of concern where prevention guidelines are being ignored and the potential for the spread of COVID-19 is high.” Reports will be followed up with a visit from the health department or law enforcement.

Since July 2, nearly 40 Anne Arundel County businesses and restaurants have received citations, including my church. After an anonymous reporting on August 11, a female employee from the Anne Arundel County Department of Health showed up at our Sunday morning service.

You can, of course, read the rest of her experiences for yourself. What I wanted to highlight here are the experiences of a woman who was born in Austria, and who lived through the Nazi era:

My friend Kitty Werthmann lived in Austria under Hitler’s rule. She has traveled all across the country to warn American citizens about the dangers of totalitarianism. Austrians were arrested for attending church. If they worked for the government, church attendance meant that they were fired from their jobs. Kitty also shared the following experience in one of her speeches.

“We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn’t meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.”

I was going to make a plea that everyone needs to speak up, while speaking up is still allowed. But Ms. Gantner makes the plea more effective than I could here:

Citizens who value liberty and religious freedom must remain vigilant and make their voices heard. We must stand up and fight, and the time is now. Bureaucrats are waging a war on our churches and businesses. They are fabricating a dilemma, pitting a false sense of safety against our constitutionally guaranteed rights as citizens of the United States. America will only remain the land of the free so long as we oppose the tyranny that is rapidly spreading across our country. As my friend Kitty says, “After America, there is no place to go.”

President Reagan noted that America is mankind's last best hope. There is nowhere else to go for those who want to live free, to worship God as their conscience dictates. The Evil One can not stand that there is someplace on this earth where men can do God's will unimpeded. There are a number of countries one could go to where one could experience the wonders of Communism. Why not go to Cuba, for instance? Experience the wonders of universal health care, say. Or, any of a number of African nations, where black people are the majority. No oppression there, right? But no, America must be destroyed, because it stands as a rebuke to those Communist and Socialist regimes. If you want it to remain so, now is the time to speak up.

New York Is Losing Residents. Could This Be Part Of The Reason?

Another article from the Arbalest Quarrel entitled The Government Cannot Protect You! You Protect Yourself!. The article contains remarks by Stephen L. D’Andrilli on another article by Stephen Halbrook that was published in the NRA publication America's 1st Freedom. Halbrook's article is entitled How Does New York City Get Away With This?”

How indeed? How have the courts, with straight faces, denied so many the fundamental right of self defense? D'Andrelli notes that Halbrook retraces the denial of New Yorkers' rights to the 1911 Sullivan Act. Actually, it was the first such law in the country. Had New York's oppression been nipped in the bud, the landscape would likely look much different today.

It is of course disturbingly, depressingly, frustratingly true that, indeed, nothing has changed in New York City since 1911, insofar as the City continues to require a valid license to lawfully possess a handgun.

Still, in a few important respects, much has changed, and for the worse, since enactment of the unconscionable and unconstitutional Sullivan Act.

In the 109 years since handgun licensing began, New York City’s laws have become more extensive, more oppressive and repressive, and confoundingly difficult to understand. These laws are a labyrinthine maze of ambiguity and vagueness, and they are singularly bizarre.

...snip...

New York City’s tiered handgun licensing scheme is not only inconsistent with the Second Amendment, but it also promotes unlawful discrimination under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and invites both abuse by and corruption in the City’s Licensing Division. In fact, the City’s insufferable and puzzling handgun licensing scheme is, from a purely logical standpoint, apart from a legal standpoint, internally inconsistent and incoherent.

Premise residence and business handgun licenses place considerable restraints on a licensee’s right of self-defense. Unrestricted handgun carry licenses, on the other hand, are issued only to a select few people who satisfy arbitrary “proper cause,” requirements. Of course, powerful, wealthy, politically-connected “elites” are exceptions, routinely obtaining rare and coveted unrestricted handgun carry licenses, unavailable to the average citizen, residing in the City.

And criminals don’t obey handgun licensing rules or any other State law or City code, rule, or regulation pertaining to firearms. So they don’t care what the laws say. And this hasn’t changed.

But it is deeply troubling, indeed mind-boggling, to believe New York City’s harsh, brutal, even despotic handgun licensing scheme continues to escape Constitutional scrutiny...

It may be readung to much between the lines to suspect that both Halbrook and D'Andrelli smell a rat. But certainly I do. How have the courts consistently found that this law doesn't offend the Second Amendment? And once the Supremes had new York in the crosshairs, why didn't they pull the figurative trigger?

Sullivan apparently got tired of  Italian immigrants shooting back at his gang members.  Hence the law designed to disarm them.  His gang members, of course, wouldn't be stopped by the police, but Italians would be.  So, the law from the start was intended to be discriminatory.  It has become discriminatory against the average citizen, as only the elite can get a license to exercise the what has become a privilege.

The Supreme Court, of course, like other elite government officials, have the protection of law enforcement at their disposal.  The average citizen, not having the means to hire their own body guards, must defend themselves.  Therein, of course, is but one of the reasons for the Second Amendment.

The Arbalest Quarrel notes that in 2020, things have become even fore precarious for the average joe who just wants to defend himself and his family from two legged predators.

Radical Left State and local governments are no longer even allowing their police departments to provide a modicum of protection for their community. This follows from the unrestrained actions and antics of volatile Marxist and Anarchist groups whom they kowtow to. They have called for the defunding of and disbanding of community police departments across the Country and some jurisdictions have done so. In New York City the Radical Left Mayor, Bill de Blasio, has slashed $1 Billion from the NYPD budget. This comes at a critical time when soaring crime and daily riots demand more funding for police, not less.

This is a major change because the average American can, now, no longer depend on the police to provide even general protection to the community.

Americans are taking notice. They are buying guns and ammunition in record numbers. Maybe the Supreme Court should also take notice as well.  Meanwhile, New York is losing residents, and with it tax base, at an alarming rate. The proximate cause is of course the Covid lockdowns.  But surely the fact that they can not own a gun by law, while also not having a dependable police department doesn't help.  Besides food and water, one of a person's basic needs is security.

Please go read the article at the Arbalest Quarrel, and while your at it, go read Halbrook's article at the NRA's America's 1st Freedom

Americans Are Buying Guns While Democrats Defund Police. What Could Go Wrong?

Julio Rosas, senior editor at Townhall.com has a "Tipsheet" entitled The DNC Pushing Gun Control During The Country's Unrest Misses The Bullseye that suggests the Democrats embrace of gun control may be a mistake, just as Bill Clinton said it was. Rosas noted that:

Americans are not stupid. They have seen the riots, mobs, and rising crime rates and have responded accordingly.

July saw an estimated 1.7 million guns being sold, a 133 percent increase from July 2019. Around 2.3 million guns were sold during June, an increase of more than 145 percent from June 2019, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Campaigning on restricting gun access while also wanting to defund sections or entire police departments during such an uncertain time in the nation may backfire on Democrats in November.

Of course, I am noting the polls that say all is lost, conservatives may as well surrender now and report to the nearest re-education camp. And of course, just because Americans are buying guns doesn't mean they are going to vote accordingly. But it is an interesting indicator, don't you think?

Where We Are Heading

If you have had a loved one who has, or had a form of dementia, you will recognize when looking at Joe Biden, that the man has dementia.  It is in his eyes.  Joe Biden is no longer 'there.'  Oh, his body still functions, and he speaks and does things, but the old Joe, love him of not, is not there.  The question is what does the Democrat party plan to do about it.  Dementia, once it sets in, only gets worse.  'And if he has dementia now, what will he be like in six months, or a year?

I have long thought that the plan is to get Biden across the electoral line, by hook or by crook.  The by crook involves various frauds including vote by mail, faithless electors, as well as old fashioned ballot box stuffing.  It still works afterall.  Shortly after his inauguration, he will tragically have to step down, at which point  Ms. Harris will become President.  But I have not thought things entirely through, as will become clear when you read the Arbalest Quarrel article entitled The Savaging Of America: Forget About Biden; it's Going To Be Trump Versus Harris.

I urge you to read the entire article.  The authors put a bright light on this upcoming election.  America, as we know it, the Constitutional republic that, sad to say, hangs on by a thread, will disappear if we do not take action.

The Left can feel it, can taste it.  They are already taking their imagined revenge for their imagined grievances.  They are well organized, and well funded.  They may have help from foreign  countries as well.  After all, how would you feel if you were the leader of a country that everybody who lives there wants to leave to go to America.

It has often been noted that America goes to the rescue of every country that suffers a disaster, but there is no one to come to our rescue.  If we are going to save our republic, it will be up to us.

ICYMI

John Lott's Crime Prevention Research Center points out that people seem to wonder why gun sales are skyrocketing. Of course the answer to why folks might want a gun can be seen in the riots currently taking place in Portland, Oregon.

Couple the riots, the looting, the violence against people for no reason other than their looks and the effort to defund the police...is it any wonder?

Run Forest Run

I have characterized our governor, Roy Cooper as a mini Cuomo.  Cooper has imposed his share of irrational restrictions during the time of Covid-19.  He has also been...how should I put it...not a friend to gun owners.  Fortunately, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest is running against Cooper for the governor's chair.  Today, over at Ammoland Harold Hutchison writes Can Second Amendment Supporters Get A Good Governor?

As such, the North Carolina gubernatorial race could be very important for Second Amendment supporters. Cooper has vetoed pro-Second Amendment legislation, including a measure similar to a Texas law that deserves credit for greatly mitigating the Fort Worth church shooting. The Second Amendment Preservation Act would have allowed places of worship the option to allow worshipers to carry firearms.

Second Amendment supporters have long known how gun-free zones have not enhanced safety for the public. Instead, places declared “gun-free zones” have all too often just become shooting galleries for those intent on committing horrific crimes. Common sense would indicate that the introduction of substantial resistance to a potential mass shooter should take place as soon as possible, and nothing is faster than having armed resistance on the scene.

Cooper, though, did the bidding of Bloomberg and his stooges and cast a veto, which was, sadly, upheld. Cooper also declared gun stores ‘non-essential,” even as the combination of the coronavirus pandemic and the riots that took place across the country have led many to decide that exercising their Second Amendment rights might be a prudent course of action.

I have always believed that the Second Amendment should not be a partisan issue. Each of us is equally vulnerable. While we each may evaluate our risks differently, we each have a right to defend our lives, those of our loved ones, and our property. Therefore, we each also have a right to the most efficient means of defending our lives.  And if both parties sought freedom and liberty, but disagreed on how best to achieve that, there would be no desire on the part of one party to eliminate Second Amendment rights.

Unfortunately, the Second Amendment demonstrates that one party, the Democrat party, does not want these things.  Instead, the Democrats seem to have embarked on a Socialist/Marxist destiny for the United States.  But a Socialist state is also a tyrannical state.  Tyrants, who wish to stay in power can not afford an armed citizenry.

Interestingly enough, our founding documents indicate that the rights, which are acknowledge in our Constitution in fact are granted to all mankind by our Creator.  Therefore, the right to arms acknowledge in the Second Amendment can't legitimately taken away.  But that doesn't mean the Left doesn't want to deprive you and me of our arms.

Forest, on the other hand, has been a supporter of our Second Amendment rights. In eight years as lieutenant governor of North Carolina, he has not let Second Amendment supporters down. The fact of the matter is that he would be a huge upgrade over Cooper in the governor’s mansion.

I am not telling you who to vote for, just providing information.

Pray For Our Nation

Fay Voshell, as one who holds a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, has a unique perspective on the current masking requirements gripping the nation.  And Joe Biden promises more of this nonsense if elected.  We are being forced to accede to things we do not believe by a combination of legally and scientifically dubious "orders" from our governors, and peer pressure from scared to death neighbors and colleagues.  Our neighbors are being frightened by nightly news reports that resemble reporting during the Vietnam War.  They hear of increasing number of cases, which are implied to equate with numbers of deaths.  Without additional context, it is no wonder they think Covid-19 will kill them all.  And the governors, of course, also enforce these orders by threatening to take away their business licenses if they don't comply, making them complicit in enforcing their wishes.

Last night, Mrs. PolyKahr and I took our grand daughter out to a steakhouse.  The steakhouse had a bunch of signs announcing that masks were required to be worn by all who entered by order of the State of North Carolina.  So the governor is now "the State of North Carolina"?  Once seated though, we could all take our masks off.  How does that work?  When we are standing, we are spreading Covid-19 around, but when we are seated we don't?  Now, I'm just an old civil engineer, but this doesn't sound like any science I learned in college.

Fay Voshell, with her unique perspective, makes the universal wearing of masks clearer to me.  It is not about the virus, but about ritual purity, about social castes, about changing who is in power and who is out.  You can find her latest article at the American Thinker entitled The Ritual Masking Of America. Ms. Voshell writes:

During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as repressive regimes seized vast areas of the world, their leaders established severe regimens formerly characteristic of the deeply religious. The habits of strict religious orders were simply retrofitted to suit secular regimes. Practices rejected as useless superstitions, such as fasting, prayer and sacramental rituals were replaced with equally severe routines. Rigorous calisthenics performed in fresh air, natural foods, and detailed public sanitation measures imitated and replaced former spiritual rituals meant to deal with the health of the soul. Socialist, fascist and communist societies saw a transference to the material realm what had once been characteristic of the spiritual realm. It was considered better to preserve the body and lose the soul.

...snip...

It’s fairly clear by now that the vast majority of Americans have been made leprous outcasts even while still living within their own society. Citizens have been cordoned off into their domiciles and in Joe Biden’s plan, not permitted to go out without a mask covering the lower part of their faces as a signifier of their potential lethality to their fellow human being.

When outside their homes, most Americans are required to sit, stand or shuffle at least six feet apart from one another -- much as lepers in Christ’s time were required to stand at least sixteen feet from everyone else. So far no one has been required to shout, “Unclean!”

Even were Americans to be unmasked tomorrow by decree from the increasingly absolutist states most of us presently live in, it’s apparent that the masking of Americans has gone beyond any genuine health issue and has devolved into a signifier of castes having societal purity.

During the Obama administration, we were treated to being "nudged." A little nudge here, a small prod their. There is a tree across the road ahead, but, hey, there's a left turn ahead. How convenient!  But now, the Left is no longer just nudging us.  Instead, they are out and out forcing us.  Apparently, the Left thought that we weren't taking nudges fast enough.  Voshell again:

Purity rituals now extend to almost the entire populace and to every aspect of life. Go to get food at a grocery store and violate the mask or social distancing rule, and you will be called out by the reigning religious authorities -- much as Jesus was when he and his disciples were rebuked for gathering and eating grain on the Sabbath.

If you dare to go outside the parameters permitted you, be it travel to another state or to the dentist, the ritual priests will test you to see if you are fit, taking your temperature, testing for antibodies, and then pronouncing you clean or unclean. Go to church and be masked, socially distanced and don’t dare sing.

Persist in your transgressions and you will be at least temporarily cut out of the community by having to live outside the camp until you are healed. You will be a leper.

So, how do we heal our ailing society?  Well, clearly, we must resist. We can not accede to the demands.  We must insist on seeing reality at all costs.  And, of course, Ms. Voshell has a solution, one I believe in myself:

It lies in the Judeo-Christian foundations of our nation. It lies with a body of government that has self-rectifying mechanisms. It lies with the permeable and flexible class system that allows merit and effort to determine one’s rise. It lies in a Constitution that allows reform while not permitting the annihilation of the Union.

t lies in the belief that no man or woman has to be a supplicant kneeling before a fellow citizen. It lies in the conviction that each man and woman must be free to exercise his or her religion without interference from the State. It lies in the conviction that beings made in God’s image kneel in supplication and plead for restoration before God alone.

Our country was established with the Blessings of Providence. It's time we humbly asked Him for His Blessings again.

The "Defund the Police" Movement is Making Gun Ownership More Popular

David Harsanyi has an article at The National Review that argues that The Riots and Protests Will Make Gun Ownership More Popular;

Not in a million years, not if all the nation’s prestigious public-relations firms were mobilized for the cause, could gun manufacturers have conceived of a more effective advertising campaign for their product than the “defund the police” movement.

Of course, realizing that a flagrantly anti-cop message might not sit well with a public still sweeping up shards of glass left by rioters in city centers across the country, Democrats and their media allies moved quickly to temper the movement’s message. But whatever “defund the police” ends up meaning in practice, it highlights a gaping disconnect between the Left’s anti-cop rhetoric and their anti-gun rhetoric about the Second Amendment.

Harsanyi goes on to demolish the typical liberal and Lefitst arguements that make no logical sense.

Gun-control advocates have long argued that trained police and military, but not civilians, have cause to be armed. We’ve been told that owning a gun is a dangerous fetish — not to mention useless in the face of a state armed with tanks and thermonuclear weapons. A civilized society relies on law-enforcement officers to safeguard the peace, not a bunch of unregulated slack-jawed yahoos. Even the notion of a constitutional right to individual self-defense is, they claim, a fraud perpetrated by the gun lobby and its collaborators.

The same people now inform us that cops are shock troops deployed by a systemically racist state to suppress African Americans. So much so that the public should contemplate abolishing, defunding, or “reimagining” law enforcement altogether. We frequently hear progressives hyperbolically assert that black Americans are being “hunted down” in the streets by nefarious cops. When the New York Times published an op-ed by Senator Tom Cotton in which he proposed that the president “employ the military,” if necessary, to protect city neighborhoods from rioters and looters, dozens of the paper’s staffers acted as if the words themselves were violence, tweeting, “This puts Black @nytimes staff in danger.”

So the question is: Why have liberals spent years demanding that we arm racist killer cops and disarm innocent black civilians? Why do they believe white supremacists should have guns but not shopkeepers?

Granted, most liberals won’t admit to any inconsistency in their position, because the liberal position has devolved into a perpetual game of Calvinball. But in the long run, this kind of argument is unsustainable.

As the Taney Supreme Court recognized in the Dred Scott decision, if the slaves were allowed to be freed, they could carry guns. Chief Justice Roger Taney was at great pains to twist the Constitution into pretzels to prevent Blacks from carrying guns for self defense just like other Americans. Liberals are often at pains to tell Blacks and women that they should not have guns. Yet, it is Blacks and women who benefit most from having a gun.

A rational person needn’t subscribe to either maximalist position, of course. Cops are granted great power, and they will sometimes abuse it. But this doesn’t make law enforcement “institutionally” racist. And the simple fact that Americans rely on law enforcement doesn’t mean they should be stripped of the ability to protect themselves, their property, or their family when necessary.

African Americans can offer a stronger case for the importance of the Second Amendment than any other group in the nation. The same gun arguments that 1960s Black Panthers were making in the Manhattan penthouses of celebrities would not be out of place at an NRA convention today. Nor would the contention of the great black journalist T. Thomas Fortune that a black man needs a gun to “defend his home and children and wife.” Nor would civil-rights leader Ida B. Wells’s claim that firearms “should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.”

In truth, a black American has a far better chance of being shot down by a criminal in his own neighborhood than by the local police officer. But if we accept that the law refuses to grant him the protections he deserves — nay, that it targets him — the case for the Second Amendment becomes stronger still.

David Harsanyi is, of course, an excellent writer. In addition, he has done a great deal of research on the subject of gun rights for his book The First Freedom: A Ride Through America's Enduring History With the Gun.  Please go read the article.

The Left may be trying to stampede us one direction, but Americans may not be going along with it.

You are being lied to

Deana Chadwell has an excellent article today at the American Thinker entitled Reality And Delusion In A. D. 2020 Ms. Chadwell makes many of the same points that I have been making: that we should not be living our lives in fear. Rather, we should take common sense stock of the information available to us, make informed decisions, and go about our lives believing that God is in control, not us. His will be done, not ours. Interestingly, another post by Peter Barry Chowka at the same site entitled New media journalist Millie Weaver jailed until at least Monday in a somewhat lengthy film (embedded in the article. You can view it, but it takes 1 hour and 22 minutes out of your day.) seems to support the notion that we are being routinely lied to. Indeed, that the media are engaged in an attempt to stampede us with all the bad news. They seem to want us running around with our hair on fire, sure that the world is about to end.

Take a breath.  Close your eyes...breathe...

Ms. Chadwell is correct.  None of the so-called crises we have suffered this year have been real.  Indeed, they have all be manufactured.  The coronavirus is real enough, and it is deadly to some, but if reasonable precautions are taken, 99% will recover from it.  No need for universal mask wearing, no need for economic shut downs.  You have been lied to, and many are buying the false narrative.  Similarly, an honest look at the facts of George Floyd''s death would show that he died because of resisting arrest.  Whether or not the fentanyl in his system would have killed him anyway is speculation, but in any case, it should not have blown up into nationwide riots.  But people are buying the false narratives, and it turns out that these false narratives are being placed in the media by a group of globalists at the top.  They are stampeding us to buy into a socialist, globalist world,

Stay calm, do the right thing, don't let them win

Between Birth and Death, What's Important Is How We Live

Irrational fear is how I have characterized the many people who huddle in their homes, afraid that the Covid boogyman will get them.  But a more compassionate and nuanced look at such people comes from an article by Jenni White at The Federalist entitled How Losing My Son Years Ago Took Away My Fear Of Covid 19.

Today, as I watch the specter of COVID-19 cause fear in so many, even people I’ve thought of as essentially fearless, I look back over my life and realize that through all its travails, pains, and losses I’ve gained perspective many others may lack.

Something that kills 48.9 people out of 100,000 (2.3 percent of the population) when I’ve survived cancer, a disease that kills 139.6 people out of 100,000, doesn’t truly scare me. Our oldest son is one of 34.1 million people (13 percent of the population) diagnosed with diabetes, yet he works hard at managing his disease and is healthy and thriving today. I’m among one in 1 million women in the United States whose pregnancies ended in stillbirth, yet, after a rocky start, we brought home another healthy son nearly a year later.

...snip...

For me, it boils down to this: life is a condition that ends in death 100 percent of the time for 100 percent of human beings. There’s no stopping it. It will come whether we’re ready or not, and possibly when we least expect it.

What’s important is how we live our lives during the days, weeks, and years in between. If we allow fear of illness or death to rule our lives, we’ll be unable to learn the lessons we learn through all life’s trials, troubles, and struggles — and isn’t that what makes life worth living?

I don't take stupid risks, but everything one does, every decision one makes, involves risks. She is right that we are all going to die. The question is are you going to actually LIVE, or huddle in your home, and die anyway.

ALesson In The Use Of Deadly Forcce

Long time readers will remember that I have stated on many occasions that while I carry a weapon everywhere it is legal to do so, I also pray that I will never have to use it.  The use of potentially  deadly force is a horrendous event, fraught with both moral issues and the chance that you will be charged with a crime.  In any case, you have to know that your life is about to drastically change.

So, it was interesting to read about a University of Kansas Study That Finds Religion Shapes Gun Ownership, But Not Like Some Think. The study seems to mirror my own experiences.

“People have these stereotypes of religious individuals and think their connections to guns are simple, when in fact they’re fairly complex,” said Margaret Kelley, associate professor of American studies at the University of Kansas. “One of our main findings is religion actually drives responsible gun ownership. Because of their duty, they needed to be diligent about training and practicing and making sure they are careful with their firearm.”

Of course, the same line of thinking that one goes through when carrying a gun must apply as well for a range of issues. For instance, Civis Americanus has an article at American Thinker entitled Should Motorists Run Over Anarchists At impromptu Roadblocks? Of course, similar considerations should apply to the situation in question. A vehicle can be a powerful weapon if so used.

The author of the piece discusses situational awareness, such that if you spot certain events soon enough, you as a moral person, should get out of the way.  By staying to "see" what is going on, you are placing yourself in danger, which means that whatever happens to you is partly your fault.  But he also discusses what you should do if trapped by an  impromptu roadblock.  Of course, escape if you can.  But there are situations where you can not escape, and you do not know what they intend to do.  You should go read the whole article for the complete analysis.  I would have to reprint it all here, but that is the purpose of hyperlinks, so just go read it..

Civis Americanus also brings up a delicate topic, but one often discussed with respect to gun cases: the notion of jury nullification.

There are unfortunately plenty of virtue-signaling prosecutors who would rather ingratiate themselves with Black Lives Matter and Antifa by forcing motorists (and police) to defend themselves against bogus criminal charges than prosecute rioters who instigate the violence in the first place. Educate yourself and others about our society's generally accepted rules about use of force in self-defense. The law usually says you can use deadly force if you are in reasonable fear for your safety, but not to take the law into your own hands. Some states have "stand your ground," laws while others require you to retreat if you can do so in complete safety. If the rioters do not give the driver the option of retreating, then I think it is reasonable to conclude that whatever happens subsequently is on them. Many states also have "castle doctrines on wheels" which make vehicle invasions legally identical to home invasions. Know that a prosecutor who is sufficiently unethical to charge the driver (or cop) in the first place is probably willing to lie to the jury and the judge to advance his career. It takes only one holdout to hang a jury and make it clear to such prosecutors that they will be hitting a brick wall every time they try to bring such a case, and also to carjackers and highway robbers that juries will hang them out to dry every time.

I hope if the McCloskeys are actually brought to trial, that there is a juror who is ready to nullify that prosecution.

What Life Was Like Before The Ten Commandments

Here's a post at the American Thinker from January 2018 by Karin McQuillan entitled What I Learned In The Peace Corps In Africa: Trump Is Right  A hat tip to Kevin at the Smallest Minority for pointing me to this old post.

I have lived for a time out of the United States, in what is often considered a third world country, but it was still a country where the people and those governing them had a strong attachment to a Biblical and Christian culture.  It is only recently that I have become aware of just how much we live in the culture, how much our ideas of right and wrong come from this culture.  It almost seems that these things are instinctual.  Indeed, I have had conversations with atheists who insist the can be moral without believing in God.  Truly, they can not, because without God's word, they wouldn't know how.

Several recent articles and books have pointed out just how revolutionary the Bible's moral code truly was at the time it was introduced.  Rather than being monstrous as the critics of the Bible claim, God's laws introduced a kinder, gentler way of life into a cruel world, one where men savaged one another constantly, where people sacrificed their own children to their gods, and other abominations.  Indeed, one in which a man might be killed for a pair of sneakers, had they had such things.

Miss McQuillan writes:

The longer I lived there, the more I understood: it became blindingly obvious that the Senegalese are not the same as us. The truths we hold to be self-evident are not evident to the Senegalese. How could they be? Their reality is totally different. You can't understand anything in Senegal using American terms.

Take something as basic as family. Family was a few hundred people, extending out to second and third cousins. All the men in one generation were called "father." Senegalese are Muslim, with up to four wives. Girls had their clitorises cut off at puberty. (I witnessed this, at what I thought was going to be a nice coming-of-age ceremony, like a bat mitzvah or confirmation.) Sex, I was told, did not include kissing. Love and friendship in marriage were Western ideas. Fidelity was not a thing. Married women would have sex for a few cents to have cash for the market.

What I did witness every day was that women were worked half to death. Wives raised the food and fed their own children, did the heavy labor of walking miles to gather wood for the fire, drew water from the well or public faucet, pounded grain with heavy hand-held pestles, lived in their own huts, and had conjugal visits from their husbands on a rotating basis with their co-wives. Their husbands lazed in the shade of the trees.

...snip...

The Ten Commandments were not disobeyed – they were unknown. The value system was the exact opposite. You were supposed to steal everything you can to give to your own relatives. There are some Westernized Africans who try to rebel against the system. They fail.

...snip...

One of my most vivid memories was from the clinic. One day, as the wait grew hotter in the 110-degree heat, an old woman two feet from the medical aides – who were chatting in the shade of a mango tree instead of working – collapsed to the ground. They turned their heads so as not to see her and kept talking. She lay there in the dirt. Callousness to the sick was normal.

Americans think it is a universal human instinct to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's not. It seems natural to us because we live in a Bible-based Judeo-Christian culture.

The Bible introduced compassion, forgiveness, and mercy into a world that had none. Christ in particular changed actual lives. The Apostles were changed men, and changed the lives of others through Jesus, for without Christ, nothing good could be done. For an example, the existence of hospitals was a result of Christian compassion. Anti-abortion laws were another effect of Christian compassion and mercy.  It may be, in fact, that the current rioting, looting, and destruction by the Left is God's judgement against us.  I pray we have more time, but we need to reverse the trend and as a nation turn back to God.

We need to appoint Justices who will reverse Row v. Wade. Yes, I understand that the question of abortion will return to the States, and many of those will permit it under some circumstances. But the current abortion regime will be curtailed. Please remember that as Christians, we should have compassion and mercy on all children, for they are the result of adult decisions and should be treated as blessings. They deserve to be loved and cared for, not thrown in the trash.

Things Will Get Ugly

According to this piece at Bearing Arms things may get ugly if Biden loses. But I suspect that things will get ugly even if he wins. You can find the article at Are Democrats Pondering Civil War If Binden Loses? Remembering that these people intend to transform America by any means necessary, such wargaming is not surprising. Still, I was shocked.

I recommend you read the entire article, and the linked article as well.  But note that:

After all, it’s not like Democrats haven’t made something of a habit of not accepting election results of late, now have they? Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams are just two such examples, the latter becoming an outright punchline over it. It’s not a stretch to imagine Joe Biden being among those who might contest the results as well.

Now, all this said, don’t think I can’t foresee a possibility of civil war if Trump loses, either. Many won’t accept the election results in that case, citing mail-in voting and other things as being used for voter fraud.

In other words, if we’re not very careful, we might start seeing things get even uglier than they have in recent months.

Pray for America, dear reader.  Only God can help us now.  The nation that has been the ally of other nations will find no allies in this fight.

Blacks Looking To Protect Themselves.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, blacks are buying guns in record numbers.  You can find the story at Bearing Arms Black Gun Buyers: Our Ancestors Died For Us To Carry Guns.

Yes, yes they did.  I welcome black gun owners to the fold.  We need them, just as they need us. 

Whitney Davis of Houston admits that learning more about Black history is the reason why she recently purchased two guns for herself. “I realize in this country a long time ago, Black people weren’t even allowed to own guns,” she said.

Davis’s dad grew up on a ranch in rural Texas, where over his lifetime he accrued a lot of guns, but it wasn’t until Davis learned more about her Black ancestors that she felt motivated to buy guns of her own. “So just like people promote that our ancestors died for us to vote, they also died for us to be able to carry guns as well,” she said. “So I wanted to fulfill what my ancestors weren’t able to do in the past.”

Here's the truth about BLM: Black Lives Matter has nothing to do with black lives. Instead, it is a Marxist organization trying to terrorize the citizens of this country into voting Communism into office. Blacks understand this, and they are taking steps to protect themselves and their families. 

Good.

Oh, and by the way, if you want the Truth About Slavery you could start by checking out the linked article at the American Thinker Just go read the article. I can tell it any better than the author Robert Wedge.

What the Left is doing wht social distancing and forced masking

I have been trying to put my finger on exactly what is wrong with the current social distancing and forced masking of America.  Yesterday, I and a small group went to a Subway sandwich shop.  As we approached the order end of the counter, I noticed that a barrier had been erected consisting of a series of tables and a rope line between the customers and the sandwich maker.  I even commented that it seemed as if they were afraid of their customers.

Then today, Fay Voshell answered my concerns with a piece at the American Thinker entitled A New Prohibition Is Silencing The Deplorables. Voshell points out that the goal of Prohibition was not just to keep people, men in particular, from drinking, but also to close down a place where working men gathered to discuss politics, the pub or saloon.

Students of American history will recall the colorful figure of Carrie Nation, who in her enthusiasm for the temperance movement, took to whacking up saloons with a hatchet. The six-foot-tall Nation would later go on to earn her a living from her notoriety by selling small axes as souvenirs.

...snip...

The broad sweep of what she and others saw as a deleterious influence on individual and national health and welfare accomplished little in the way of removing the scourge of alcoholism.

...but...

But in addition to nearly decapitating law and order, Prohibition eliminated something enormously important to American democracy, as John Grinspan pointed out in his New York Times article, titled, “The Saloon, America’s Forgotten Democratic Institution.” Grinspan wrote the American saloon, rather than always being the stereotypical den of iniquity, was often a place where “survivors of the Industrial Revolution could drink and debate, politick and speechify. The new American proletariat took full advantage of their relatively open political system, voting at higher rates than rich men. More than the beer, saloons provided a gathering place in a nation with little public space for working-class men to argue the issues or meet the candidates.”

The Left is pulling out all the stops to demoralize the "deplorables," and make us believe that all hope is lost. Do not fall into the trap. We can, and should wherever we can defy the illegal orders of governors. We must also realiz, and openly acknowledge that the people insisting that we do this do not believe one word of what they say. Governors, like Cooper appear in public without a mask on. What does that say? We have a photograph of Fouci at a baseball game without his mask on. What does that say? Principles of leadership include being willing to do yourself what you want followers to us, and being consistent. When Lefists tell you to wear a mask and stay home, but its ok to gather by the thousands to protest, what does that say?

Keep, as the saying goes, a stiff upper lip, keep your powder dry, but have a goodly supply.  Most of all, vote.  'Another saying that is apropos:  It ain't over until the fat lady sings.

Suit filed against Sheriff Baker & Wake Co. for failure to issue gun permits

Baker ignoring consent order in delaying pistol purchase permits and concealed handgun permits</>

[Raleigh] In recent weeks, GRNC’s office has been flooded with complaints from people who want to buy handguns for protection against riots spreading across the country but are unable to do so because Sheriff Gerald Baker refuses to process pistol purchase permits within the 14 days required by law, effectively denying citizens their right to keep and bear arms.

Said Grass Roots North Carolina president Paul Valone:

“In what is now the third lawsuit filed against Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker over his refusal to follow state law regarding issuing handgun permits, Grass Roots North Carolina intends to ensure citizens’ rights are respected. Sheriff Baker seems to think he is above the law. Grass Roots North Carolina intends to prove otherwise. Since Baker doesn’t seem to be getting the message, we will deliver it loud and clear. We are also holding Wake County responsible for its refusal to stop Baker’s continued malfeasance.”

Link to suit: https://www.grnc.org/baker_complaint

Baker is clearly violating G.S. §14-404(f): The statute requires sheriffs to issue or deny NC pistol purchase permits in 14 days, further stipulating that applications may only be denied or statutorily permissible reasons. In truth, applications, if they are being processed at all, are taking nearly two months.

Baker is trying to circumvent state law by arguing that the requisite 14 day issuing period doesn’t start until his office decides to allow a citizen to come in to his office to finish the application begun online, effectively claiming the power to deny citizens’ rights indefinitely.

North Carolinians are being denied their rights: It is unlawful for citizens to buy handguns without either a pistol purchase permit or concealed handgun permit from their county of residence, meaning that Baker’s actions are denying citizens’ rights not only to keep and bear arms, but to protect their families at a time of national crisis when personal safety is very much in question.

Reports indicate the Wake County Sheriff is non-responsive: Email queries on permit applications are reportedly being ignored as phone calls to the department go unanswered. Reports also suggest that Baker has limited the number of hours during which Wake County sheriff’s employees may process applications, as department representatives have become hostile to frustrated applicants.

Baker may be thumbing his nose at the law: Despite a consent decree requiring him to issue handgun permits, Baker appears to be dragging his feet in order to issue the minimum possible number of permits, clearly defying the decree. Wake County may be liable: Under the Supreme Court decision in Monell v. Department of Soc. Svcs., Wake County may also be liable for its refusal to stop Baker’s malfeasance.