 When it comes to armed protests or large patriotic gathering around Inauguration Day, be smart and use your head. Don't be part of the herd pushed over the cliff in a buffalo jump or identified by hostile media and law enforcement as "right wing terrorists/extremists." Many people have been rightly suspicious of plans going around online to protest this coming weekend. The Truth About Guns has an excellent article about these events potentially being false flags. In the comments, uncommon_sense said: Some entity with some serious backing/resources created that flyer. In Nevada in particular, right now is not the time to give the Legislature any ideas.  The Republic is dead, even what passed for its walking dead version (exactly when it reached the zombie stage is debatable). It was a hell of a beautiful run and will teach humanity what is possible if you're willing to live free. It served us well.  While I like to see Americans be Americans, this is my opinion on it all. Batten down the hatches, a storm is coming. It doesn't matter why or what side you're on, it's gonna be bad. Bittersweet I suppose, but with a deeper sense of foreboding.  Why, what should have been done differently, etc. is off the table at this point. Events have taken over. Buckle up, be safe, and remember you answer to yourself, your family, and God. May America and our government wake up and somehow stumble back from this brink for a brighter day.  The certification sessions of the US Congress has been suspended as pro-Trump patriots have breached the US Capitol and reached the House floor. Patriots have scuffled with police. Vice President Pence, senators, and representatives have been evacuated. Mainstream media is suppressing, skewing, and minimizing what is going on why demonizing Trump protestors. This information comes on scene from people at the Capitol in Washington DC. This moment and these images are historic. Get out there and find the unbiased news; try Twitter and Gab. Whatever this moment brings, it is historic and part of the hallowed rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. However, rebellion and revolution comes at a risk. Whatever happens, the outcome is unknown. Whether it will be good for America or bad, who knows. The revolution has begun.   Not sure who credit should go to, but Elijah Schaffer for the video. It's not pleasant to see this happening to our country, but that the escape valve has been hit is the fault of a tone-deaf Congress, cowardly courts, and state officials that sought to subvert democracy. Totally ignoring the concerns of Americans and gaslighting them was the wrong thing to do. The allegations should have been taken seriously and seriously disproved. Ultimately to these revolutionaries, they have submitted themselves to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions. Now the events are beyond us. If there is any lesson here, it is that politicians must be responsive to their constituents and not simply dismiss them. Parliament did this to us in the 1760s and 1770s and they lost the colonies for it. I'm not sure what comes next, but surely the responsibility whatever rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem in our future is born of a government that forgot it needed the consent of the people.  The Truth About Guns has good article about the regulations, what to say, and links. If you want the comment link directly, here it is: Regulations.gov  
On November 7, 2018, Ian David Long entered the Borderline Bar and Grill, a country bar/restaurant locally famous for line dancing and began shooting. 11 patrons were killed and Ventura County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) Sergeant Ron Helus was killed in a friendly fire incident by a CHP officer when they entered the bar, were confronted by the gunman, and a gunfight erupted. Disclaimer: this is a hot take. It is not sober and well considered. I am pissed off at the inaction displayed by some deputies that night and at how long it took the report to come out. This is only the DA’s officer involved shooting investigation, which provides important clues, but not a full review of the investigative material. Once that is released to the public (like through a public records release to news media) I will review it in detail. This does not discuss much in the tactical sense. This is basically an examination of the police response and a defense of “your own your own.” The police aren’t necessarily going to save you. Please note, I formerly worked for this department and know many of the people involved, including Sergeant Ron Helus. I have also been given some inside information not public reported. I haven’t been to the Borderline in 10-15 years (if you can’t line dance, the girls are nasty). You’re On Your Own This incident compares to the 2017 Orlando Pulse gay nightclub shooting in that police waited outside. In that incident, people were held hostage while police were outside for hours, but did not enter. At the Borderline, the killing stopped after the first gun battle with the police. However, deputies failed to enter the bar to clear it until SWAT arrived nearly 40 minutes later. By my recreation, SWAT did not make entry for 50-60 minutes. My criticism is that Long could have resumed killing at any time while police waited outside. Though it does not appear to be the case, injured victims could have bled out and died before anyone go into them. What went wrong: I have been told that many of the deputies stood around outside waiting for SWAT to arrive. After the initial entry by Helus and CHP was repulsed, the building was not entered and cleared for about 50 minutes after the shooting. The DA’s report is quiet on the failures that night, but some reconstruction can be done even without inside knowledge. My inside knowledge is based on what confidential sources within the department have told me. Someone recorded scanner traffic that night (likely from Broadcastify) covering both West County and East Country radio traffic (East County is where it occurred). Based on re-construction of radio traffic recorded the call was dispatched by VCSO radio to Thousand Oaks deputies at approximately 11:19, meaning the first 911 calls were received almost immediately after the shooting began. Luckily, CHP and Sgt. Helus were in the immediate vicinity and arrive promptly. Three minutes after arrival, officers make entry. The gunfight begins and occurs quickly. 11:18 PM, the killing begins. 11:19 PM, CHP officers are notified in person 11:20 PM CHP arrives in the parking lot 11:22 PM VCSO Sgt. Helus arrives in the parking lot 11:25 PM Officers make entry and gun battle begins 11:26 PM Gun battle between Long and CHP/Helus; Helus is shot 11:33 PM Officer Barrett converses with Deputy Kahn 11:38 PM Long commits suicide At approximately 11:33 p.m., Officer Barrett (the CHP officer who entered with Helus) states to deputies outside, “We need to get up there” and asks, “Do you guys have rifles?” Both deputies reply that they do not have rifles. Deputy Kahn adds, “We’re gonna call our SWAT team, they’re responding.” At approximately 11:34 p.m., Officer Barrett tells Deputy Kahn, “We have other victims up there, too.” As deputies discussed a possible officer down, Deputy Manley seems to have departed from the other’s opinions. “Manley: Fuck. Did you hear that? Well, fuck if that’s him let’s go get him.” Two deputies (their identities are unknown to me at this time) independently of each other did choose to go in after standing outside a few minutes while their deputy peers tried to persuade them to stay outside. Witness Garrett Gratland (who I’m told is retried special forces) approaches Sergeant Natoli and Deputy Gallagher and tells her that he saw a downed peace officer. Gratland: Well . . . with all due respect, there’s two people down and they could be really wounded right now, so I recommend like . . . Two deputies separately did attempt to make entry on their own initiative, but I don’t have details on this. So not everyone that night was paralyzed by inaction. Oxnard Police units that responded also pushed to go in. 25 minutes in to the recording, Natoli asks the units about making entry and they reply they are formulating a plan. This is the group that recovered Sgt. Helus. It was not until about 50 minutes after the shooting began that SWAT finally made entry. From what I’ve been told, the SWAT commander was very unhappy entry was not made prior. It's a Miracle Long Didn’t Kill More Long was left alive with the victims after the initial gunfight and police stood around outside. For nearly 13 minutes, he stayed in the office area. Why he didn’t go out and keep killing is unknown, but probably attributable to the fact that Helus and CHP had already engaged him. Long was possibly afraid that he would be re-engaged by police. For whatever reason, it is a miracle the killing didn’t continue. Long retrieved another smoke grenade, ignited it, and threw it out the office door. He posted to social media and frequently checked his phone and appeared to prepare for another confrontation with police. Approximately 15 minutes after the gun battle, Long sat down, placed his handgun under his chin, and fired a shot into his head, killing himself. Long was unopposed inside the building with survivors still hiding inside. Eight minutes into the audio recording, VCSO dispatch relays to field units that there are victims hiding in the bathroom. 13 minutes in, survivors are reported to be in the attic. Presumably, with a scanner or app, Long could have heard that and went to the bathroom to execute the victims. At 19 minutes into the recording, at 11:38 PM, one shot is heard by the units outside. Long committed suicide. Shortly thereafter, Sgt. Laura Natoli asks “Is the SWAT team en route?” and dispatch replies they are being notified. 20 minutes after the shooting, responding deputies rescued Helus from where he lay. “Nineteen surviving victims were located hiding inside the Borderline and were rescued." Nineteen victims that could have been murdered by Long because deputies didn’t go in. Those 19 people are alive because of a fucking miracle that Long didn’t start killing people. I’ve been told (but unable to document via official sources) that up to six off-duty law enforcement officers were present as patrons of the bar. They were unarmed because they were drinking. I think that at least one of them should have been the “designated carrier,” but hindsight is 20/20. What Went Right: the Heroes CHP Officer Todd Barrett was an infantryman, and an Active Shooter and Tactical Casualty Care Instructor. Sergeant Ron Helus was in his final year before retirement, a former narcotics deputy, and also a concealed carry instructor. Ron Helus and Todd Barrett were the men you wanted responding to that incident. But as any soldier will tell you, the enemy gets a vote. Nothing ever goes according to plan and even the best men can be sidelined by evil. To their credit, Long stopped killing after the gunfight with Helus and Barrett. Barrett was a hero of the night, urging his partner and Sgt. Helus to make entry. It is a damn shame he lost situational awareness of where Helus was in the fog of war. He acted well and bravely that night and the tragic blue-on-blue shooting was a crying shame. No one should ever question Barrett and his actions that night were incredibly gallant. Investigators were trying to keep the knowledge that Barrett shot Helus secret until after Christmas, when they were going to make the information public, except the information leaked and the public became aware. As the DA’s report states: Despite being mortally wounded, Sergeant Helus grabbed his rifle, rolled onto his back, and prepared to confront Long if he reappeared. A few seconds later, Long returned to counter and resumed shooting out the doorway. Sergeant Helus fired eight shots through the window at Long, who continued firing at Sergeant Helus and Officer Barrett. At the time that Sergeant Helus shot at Long, Sergeant Helus had been shot at by Long from close range and had been struck by one bullet fired by Officer Barrett. In their defense: Taking a devil’s advocate perspective, the deputies outside may not have fully realized they needed to go in. The shooting was over; no shots were heard from inside. A gun battle between the bad guy and police had occurred, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume the killer was down or had escaped. Thus, the threat inside was over. Deputies could enter in a less hazardous manner than just rushing in. Or, knowing that cops had just been ambushed, they may have felt it was too dangerous to enter, especially with no indication the killing continued. However, this does not solve the problem that it was unknown what the killer was doing. What if he resumed killing? What if he took hostages? What if victims were bleeding out and died because they were not rescued? I can’t necessarily I’d perform any differently (I was never under fire), but I would hope that if I acted less than I was trained or expected to that one would criticize me. Other stuff: “High capacity” magazines are/were sorta illegal in California…a lot like murder. That didn’t stop the crime. Second, in California, it is not a crime to carry a concealed weapon in bar or drink alcohol if you have a license to carry. A generic term of LTC’s in California is that you won’t drink and carry a gun. Specifically: While exercising the privileges granted to the licensee under the terms of this license, the licensee shall not, when carrying a concealed weapon:
Borderline is kinda iffy. It’s a bar/restaurant that has a dance floor and turns into a dance club late in the evening. Presumably, at the time it would be a “gun free” zone. The restriction is enforceable by revocation of one’s license by the sheriff, although the jury is out whether an actual concealed carry violation occurs by violating the license’s terms. The alcohol terms are to of course keep people from doing stupid stuff while drunk, but a lot of good it will do you in a situation like this shooting. Restrictions like these are common throughout the country. Nevada allows one to carry while armed as long as they are not under the influence (same as DUI). Gun control and carry restrictions are very naïve and are more concerned about making issuing officials and lawmakers look bad than allowing people to defend themselves places like bars. Outcome: I’ve been told that a lot of the deputies in the field were relatively new and had no veterans to really lead them. Anecdotally, Ventura County is one of a few agencies in California that sends full deputies into the jail prior to the streets. This can cause years-long jail tours in which some deputies quit and work elsewhere to get to patrol. One guy I know spent 7 years working in the jail before he went to patrol. The sheriff began rotating experienced guys into the jail to rotate deputies out into the field before they transferred to other agencies. Confidential sources within the department have told me that the supervisors and deputies outside who did not perform as trained or expected were not disciplined and demoted. I’ve been told the shame of it was enough punishment for them. One hopes they’ve learned a lesson; it’s the public that pays the price. Moral of the story? A bunch of cops feel like shit for what happened that night. More learned a lesson a very hard way. As for the citizen carrier, always carry a gun, watch out for yourself, GET OUT to safety if a shooting happens (don’t hide; the police won’t necessarily save you), and a trauma kit on your ankle or something is a great idea.  This is the fruit of the "bump [fire] stocks are just toys" stuff. ATF is once again abusing its regulatory power to piss all over the Constitution and your right to keep and bear arms. What these regulations essentially do is allow ATF to make criteria it can use to define certain braced AR pistols as SBRs (Short Barreled Rifles). Thus, if your "pistol" is too much like a rifle (say it's an 10.5", 11.5", or 14.5" barrel) they will say it's too long and heavy to be a handgun. The worst part is that this criteria is likely to be fairly arbitrary and subject to ATF's ever-changing whims. Nevermind the fact that the entire reason short-barrel rifles and shotguns are NFA items is because the National Firearms Act originally intended to ban handguns and thus sawed-off long guns had to be banned too. The NRA just didn't push to remove the barrel length restrictions from the NFA. There is no reason at all that these weapons should be regulated at all. The ATF is only doing it because governments by their very nature hate armed citizens and regulatory bureaucracies have to regulate. Literally because SBRs are regulated, the ATF feels it "has to" regulate the AR pistols. I don't even need to start in on the leftist and Biden/Harris plans for total civilian disarmament. If the ATF offers amnesty SBR registration for your braced AR pistol, don't take it. You are asking the ATF "eat me last." If you give a mouse a cookie, he'll keep coming back for more. Registration will require dong mountains of paperwork, getting fingerprinted, and asking permission from the ATF (sending in another form) any time you want to take your SBR'd-AR pistol out of state, if you move, or want to change calibers. Second, Biden/Harris have already floated a $200 tax on semi-autos; why tell the goverment what you own? What's to stop them from passing a new tax law that you aren't exempt from or them making that $200 tax annual? On top of that, then they definitively know you have a firearm in a database that is instantly searchable. As it stands, if the ATF wants to know if you own a non-NFA firearm, they must do significant legwork to find the ATF Form 4473. ATF would have to get Congress to erase the anti-computerized gun registry law and then manually scan and catalog all the 4473s before they could easily search out who owns what. With the NFA registry, this is a quick computer search. But hey, you want to keep shooting your gun at a public range or whatever and don't want your dog shot, because you are a "law abiding citizen" so some of you will probably do it. We need to draw a line in the sand and show the government that we will not comply. Remember that very few people turned in their bump fire stocks. The only large numbers were from manufactuerers and distributors. They can't arrest us all and massive non-compliance denies them any legitimacy in the eyes of the public and other gun owners. Raids on gun owners (especially if they go bad like the ATF's abortions in Waco and Ruby Ridge) will only turn local cops against gun control. Don't count on the Supreme Court to save you. The rule of law is dead in America. You are on your own. There is no voting your way out of this. "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." To start, when the interim ruling is posted in the Federal Register, comment on it. NRA and GOA will likely have easy forms to fill out to register your objections. Because I write these statements, I fully expect that the government will try to make an example out of me. When gun confiscation starts in earnest, "tall nails" who are outspoken about gun rights, anti-tyranny, Trump supporters, etc. will probably be jailed on trumped up charges to silence them and terrorize others. "Show me the man and I'll show you the crime," once boasted Lavrentiy Beria, a rapist who headed the Soviet predecessor to the KGB, the NKVD. And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?... The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If...if...We didn't love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation.... We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.—Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn  Now this is happening in Richmond, Virginia, but in the context of Nevada and all the "no guns" signs on public buildings (which authorities—by now—know perfectly well applies only to concealed carry, not open carry) are intended to keep you from carrying at all. The intent of the signs is to purposely mislead gun owners so they don't lawfully carry in that area. And security, unless they've been thoroughly schooled, will try to disarm you. Depending on the building, they'll make you leave. Will we see such signs in Carson City around the Capitol based on some pretext or other during the 2021 Legislative session? I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me at this point, but then again I'm sure the Legislature won't be allowing members of the public to comment in person, which raises a whole host of issues with virtual appearances. No doubt the mad mommies will try and steal all the spots. Anyhow, the quote stands. "No guns" signs anymore are about discouraging lawful carry, not some naive effort to get criminals to comply.  ATF DRAFT DOCUMENT LEAKED - TO RECLASSIFY SOME BRACED PISTOLS AS RIFLES OWNERS WILL BE MADE TO DESTROY, REGISTER, OR LENGTHEN BARREL OF FIREARM —@inteldotwave (Twitter) Federal filing here Good luck with that BATfags. Remember folks, WE WILL NOT COMPLY!  We need to talk about resisting gun confiscation. It is a difficult topic because too many people are afraid of losing their lives, their homes, and their freedoms. However, if we give up the ability to defend ourselves, we will surely be victimized. We need to set the narrative that is its okay to ignore unconstitutional dictates on gun confiscation. We need to encourage people to stand up for their rights. America is beyond the rule of law. Our constitutional democracy will breathe its last breath at noon on January 20, 2021. The Supreme Court will not save us. In 2021, many common firearms will be targeted by the federal government by many means we formerly considered illegal. We must resist. It will be ugly, it will be scary. The government will threaten you, but if you allow them to do what they want, the end result will be worse. Hiding your guns, giving up a token rifle or pistol, or claiming a "boating accident" won't save you. No more boating accidents; MOLON LABE! Our Rubicon is mandatory gun registration. Do not register any gun, at all. Delivering a massive failure to meet their own registration goal will be embarrassing to the federal government and further de-legitimize their gun control efforts. Second, never, ever surrender a firearm; not a single one. If you give up one, they will come back for the rest. "If you give a mouse a cookie..." Populations that have surrendered their firearms to tyrants have been killed. Look up what the Khmer Rouge did. They can't get us all. The feds do not have the ability to enforce the law themselves and a few high-profile incidents of ATF SWAT teams being attacked will make that unattractive. Local law enforcement that cooperates with gun confiscation needs to be deincentivized. Local law enforcement in many places won't comply anyway, but those that do need to be encouraged not to participate. I'll leave how to your imagination. We must all stand together or we will all fall separately. If you register your guns or surrender them, you will be like the Jews that trusted the Nazis to treat them well in the ghettos and camps. Make resistance to tyranny cool again; WE WILL NOT COMPLY!  |
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