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NY: NYPD officers arrested in prostitution, gambling probe
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Seven New York City police officers were arrested Wednesday as part of a wide-ranging gambling and prostitution inquiry, multiple media outlets reported.
According to the New York Post, the investigation centered on a retired vice detective who operated multiple brothels in Brooklyn and Queens with his prostitute wife.
WABC-TV reported that the arrested officers — three sergeants, two detectives and two officers — are suspected of providing protection for the ring. |
WA: Read I-1639 carefully before you vote
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I-1639 will be on our November 2018 voter ballot. It defines ALL semi-automatic rifles as so called Assault Rifles.
It creates an exceedingly broad definition of what rifles are to be included no matter the year of manufacture, make or caliber, even the .22 caliber rimfire rifles you and I grew up with when we were pre-teen age, rifles such as the hugely popular Ruger 10-22, Remington 597 and Marlin 60.
It would not impact crime or stop criminals.
It would have little to no effect on violent crime. |
WA: With Court Fight Over, Gun Control Measure Goes Around Legislature to Voters
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For about a week, it looked like Washington wouldn’t vote this year on a sweeping gun control initiative that would restrict the sale of semiautomatic rifles and require firearms to be stored safely in the home.
But neither supporters nor opponents of Initiative 1639 took a break between a Thurston County Superior Court judge’s ruling the measure could not go on the November ballot and a Washington Supreme Court ruling that it must. Both had campaigns in full swing as soon as the high court said questions about the size of type and formatting in the initiative language weren’t enough to kill it. |
NC: Florence and Preparedness
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It’s National Preparedness Month, and with Hurricane Florence literally settling her sights on the east coast it should remind everyone, everywhere, to keep certain essentials on hand for the inevitable. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a handy list on its Ready.gov website. There are also hour-by-hour recommendations to maximize your chances of surviving this storm and other emergencies to come.
I know, I know, it’ll never happen to you. Well, I live inland in North Carolina—where 100 mph winds are reserved for the news and movies—and Florence’s projected path this morning is literally right over my house. I may save the Weather Service graphic and provide it as a map for friends and family trying to find my place. |
A Supreme Court Transformed
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Was this language, different in tone from the rest of the opinion and structured almost as a “by the way,” the price for Justice Kennedy’s vote? I can’t prove it, but I thought so at the time, and still do. Circumstantial proof lies in the court’s failure for the past decade to take up another Second Amendment case, despite Justice Thomas’s repeated charge that the court is turning the Second Amendment into a “constitutional orphan.” |
CA: California Ban on Handgun Advertising Ruled Unconstitutional in Federal Court
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The Second Amendment Foundation said the ruling ensures the constitutional rights of gun dealers are protected. "This decision will serve as a reminder that firearms dealers have First Amendment rights as well as Second Amendment rights, even in California," Alan M. Gottlieb, the group’s founder, said. "The bottom line is that a state cannot legislate political correctness at the expense of a fundamental, constitutionally enumerated right. We are delighted to offer financial support of this case." |
OK: Gun rights group pushes against Tulsa park policy
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Oklahoma Second Amendment Association President Don Spencer argues that the park needs to abide by a state law that allows licensed handguns in parks. Spencer recently sent letters to the park, the River Parks Authority and Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan, demanding that the park comply with state law.
"Whether it is public property or a private entity lease the public property, the (right to) peaceful possession of a firearm does not change, because it is always considered public property," Spencer said.
State law prohibits individuals from carrying licensed handguns into public structures, but it exempts public parks. |
Vigilante acts on the rise
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The promise of impunity offered by “stand your ground” laws ensures that others will feel similarly empowered.
There’s good reason to feel empowered: Under many state statutes, police officers only need to claim that they feared for their lives to justify shooting unarmed suspects. So it stands to reason that ordinary citizens can invoke “stand your ground” laws to do the same.
“Stand your ground” laws create a slippery slope in at least 25 states across the country. At their worst, they allow racial bias to manifest as legally permissible murder. |
The NRA’s Catch-22 for Black Men Shot by Police
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When armed black men are shot by the police, the NRA says nothing about the rights of gun owners; when unarmed black men are shot, its spokesperson says they should have been armed. To this day, Loesch defends Castile’s shooting as justified—despite the fact that Castile informed the officer he was carrying a firearm. There’s also a catch-22 here: If Jean had been armed, Guyger would have a much more plausible defense. If innocent unarmed black men like Jean are shot, it’s because they lack firearms; if innocent black men who are armed like Castile or Sterling are shot, it’s because they had a gun. Heads, you’re dead, tails, you’re also dead. |
What Kavanaugh Means for the Second Amendment Fight
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With the contentious confirmation hearings over, it now looks very likely that Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. This will have a major effect on the battle to protect our Second Amendment rights on several fronts.
Kavanaugh is best noted for his dissent in the October 2011 ruling in Heller v. District of Columbia. In his dissent from that ruling, Kavanaugh stated that he would have struck down DC’s ban on certain semi-automatic rifles. |
Gun Use in Self-Defense is Minimal, Study Says
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Private citizens rarely use guns to kill criminals or stop crimes, contends a new study from the Violence Policy Center, an advocacy group. The center cites recent federal data showing that private citizens use guns to harm themselves or others far more often than to kill in self-defense. The study said that in 2015 there were only 265 justifiable homicides involving a private citizen using a firearm reported to the FBI. Seventeen states reported zero justifiable homicides in 2015. That year, there were 9,027 criminal firearm homicides. |
Pot Prohibition Makes Self-Defense Illegal
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Arkansas is hardly unique in treating nonviolent felons as unworthy of gun rights. Most states have similar laws, and the federal government forbids gun possession by cannabis consumers as well as people convicted of marijuana felonies. Violating that ban is itself a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The upshot is that people who have never violated anyone's rights or demonstrated any violent tendencies can go to prison for exercising a fundamental human right guaranteed by the Constitution. That is true even of people who were convicted of doing things that are no longer crimes under state law, unless they manage to get their records downgraded or expunged. |
MO: Police investigate fatal shooting of alleged home intruder
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Police are investigating after a Springfield homeowner reported that he had fatally shot someone breaking into his home.
Lt. Chris Wells said officers found 36-year-old Christopher Seitz dead at the home early Wednesday.
Wells said the homeowner has been cooperating with the investigation.
The Springfield News-Leader reports Travis Hollingsworth said his father, who is a Pentecostal minister, shot the man. Hollingsworth lives across the street from his parents. |
TX: Police: Woman shot local man in the face as he choked her
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Police are investigating after they say a woman shot a man in the face as he choked her during an argument at a Waco apartment complex.
Waco police confirmed Wednesday that officers were sent to the Arlington Farms apartments in the 1800 block of Primrose Drive just before midnight.
When officers arrived they found a man shot in the face.
Police later identified the man as Homer Hampton, 40.
During the investigation officers discovered Hampton and woman, who are in some sort of relationship or possibly related, were fighting when the man began to choke the woman, Waco police Sgt. Patrick Swanton said.
During the struggle, Hampton pulled out a gun, but the woman was able to point it toward him and shoot him, Swanton said. |
WA: Concerns mount as the homeless bring weapons into courthouse
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Sometimes activists will claim that these shelters can be dangerous, but these same people tend to mock homeowners who have guns for self-defense, claiming it’s needless, so let’s have some basic consistency. And if shelters are truly that dangerous, perhaps they can focus some of their righteous indignation on addressing that problem instead of passing on that discussion, promoting people sleep outside. |
MT: NRA endorses Gianforte and Rosendale, targets Tester
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The National Rifle Association has launched a six-figure TV ad against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, saying he does not support the rights of Montana's law-abiding gun owners.
Records filed Sept. 7 with the Federal Elections Commission have the group reporting it would spend $383,196 for TV advertising and $21,300 for production costs to oppose Tester. The NRA made its announcement about the ad Sept. 6. |
WA: Fatal Gorst shooting appears 'consistent with self-defense,' detective says
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Detectives investigating a fatal shooting in Gorst last week said Wednesday the inquiry could take months to complete because of toxicology tests, but indicated that so far the shooting of Cody T. Brooks, 31, appears to be self-defense.
However, the determination of whether a crime was committed and if the shooting was in fact in self-defense, will be made by county prosecutors. Two people were detained and released at the scene. No arrests have been made. |
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| QUOTES
TO REMEMBER |
| The supposed quietude of a good mans allures the ruffian; while on the other hand, arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside...Horrid mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them... — Thomas Paine, I Writings of Thomas Paine at 56 (1894). |
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