Gun sales have been brisk this year, and even The New York Times has acknowledged it, and explained why.

Something remarkable happened recently in the pages of The New York Times, a newspaper that has never been friendly to the Second Amendment. In a story headlined “A Divided Nation Agrees on One Thing: Many People Want a Gun,” the newspaper actually put forth a balanced, in-depth report on why so many people have bought guns for the first time in their lives this year.

The Times quoted Douglas Jefferson, vice president for the National African American Gun Association, explaining, “The year 2020 has been just one long advertisement for why someone may want to have a firearm to defend themselves.”

There was also this tidbit: “Across the country, Americans bought 15.1 million guns in the seven months this year from March through September, a 91% leap from the same period in 2019, according to seasonally adjusted firearms sales estimates from The Trace, a nonprofit news organization that focuses on gun issues. The FBI has also processed more background checks for gun purchases in just the first nine months of 2020 than it has for any previous full year, FBI data show.”

What about that data? At the end of September, there had been more background checks initiated with the FBI’s National Instant Check System (28,826,449) than in all of last year combined (28,369,750). Those are raw numbers the FBI acknowledges, “do not represent the number of firearms sold.” Checks are initiated for other reasons. Still, 2020 is going to be a record year for NICS checks.

According to The Trace, described disingenuously by the newspaper as “a nonprofit news organization that focuses on gun issues,” gun sales in September in Michigan were up 198% over the same month last year. In gun-restrictive New Jersey, they were up 180% over September 2019. Incidentally, The Trace is a product of Michael Bloomberg’s billions.

Perhaps equally astonishing to the story’s appearance in the pages of The New York Times was that the Seattle Times — another newspaper not friendly to gun rights — picked up the story and published it almost word-for-word.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/us/guns-2020-election.html

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/u-s-voters-agree-on-one-thing-theyd-feel-better-owning-a-gun

Associate Justice Barrett

Immediately following confirmation and swearing in of Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, social media erupted with a meme featuring her photography with this caption: “Hey Libs…Grin and Barrett.”

While Democrats and anti-gun groups disdained the confirmation, the firearms community quickly rallied to congratulate the new associate justice.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, according to Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane, “is extremely pleased with the confirmation of Justice Barrett and we are confident her service to the nation and the Supreme Court will have tremendous and lasting impact for decades and generations. Justice Barrett’s service will reaffirm the importance of originalist jurists when protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. The firearm industry is grateful for the resolute foresight of President Donald Trump to nominate such a qualified jurist to serve on the bench.”

“I believe the nation has gained a remarkable addition to the highest court in the land,” said Second Amendment Foundation founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We have truly witnessed history in the making, and we are confident her confirmation cements President Donald Trump’s fulfillment of his campaign pledge four years ago to bring balance to the federal courts…The confirmation of Judge Barrett will help make the Second Amendment great again.”

“On behalf of our millions of members, we offer congratulations to all who participated in the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. She promises to serve our nation with distinction and honor,” Jason Ouimet, executive director, NRA-ILA stated.

As for the spoilsports, what they had to say amounted to sour grapes and veiled threats of payback.

https://www.nssf.org/nssf-praises-senate-confirmation-swearing-in-of-justice-amy-coney-barrett

https://www.saf.org/saf-congratulates-associate-justice-amy-coney-barrett

https://www.nraila.org/articles/20201026/the-nra-applauds-confirmation-of-amy-coney-barrett

Wayne on YouTube

This year’s National Rifle Association’s 149th Annual Meeting of members was a rather small event, but there was still time for Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre to deliver his annual report.

Among the highlight quotes:

“Despite all the best intentions of the policemen and women, the truth is, when seconds matter, they’re minutes away. In fact, the national average is 11 minutes. And, if a growing number of anti-gun politicians have their way, then police, they’re not going to be there at all.”

“We all know that human society is best served when the good people can arm themselves.”

They may prohibit baseball bats, rocks and bottles in Bellevue, but the Washington State Constitution
protects carrying a sidearm for personal defense or defense of the State.

Mayor Read the Constitution

Several jaws dropped recently when the mayor of Bellevue, a Washington city just across the lake from Seattle, hastily issued an emergency order in anticipation of a potentially violent demonstration ten days ago.

City officials received solid information, and found physical evidence to back it up, that dangerous trouble was on the way. Police found caches of rocks, bricks and other potential weapons. They reportedly found canisters of propane hidden near a couple of businesses. So, the mayor laid down a ban on the possession of “any weapon” within a restricted area. That is, with one exception: firearms.

The Washington State Constitution’s Article 1, Section 24, expressly protects “the right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state.” The order noted that armed citizens were prohibited from discharging any firearms in the restricted area “consistent with the rights of individuals” under the constitutional provision. Translation: It’s okay to shoot in self-defense.

Perhaps, not surprisingly, more police turned out for this protest than protesters. They literally couldn’t move without a police escort, and since all the rocks, bottles and other would-be weapons had vanished, they didn’t have anything with which to start a riot, anyway.

https://bellevuewa.gov/sites/default/files/media/pdf_document/2020/Emergency%20Order%20Prohibiting%20Items%2010-24-2020–Final.pdf

https://mynorthwest.com/2257820/bellevue-emergency-order-prohibiting-weapons-protest

SIG Custom Works Equinox Models

SIG SAUER recently announced the continued expansion of SIG Custom Works pistols by introducing the SIG Custom Works Equinox Series of pistols for the P226 Equinox and P229 Equinox.

“This is an exciting addition to the SIG Custom Works series of pistols, and a must-have for SIG aficionados and collectors alike,” said Tom Taylor, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President, Commercial Sales. “SIG Custom Works has recreated the popular two-tone, contrasting Equinox finish originally introduced over a decade ago for the iconic P226 and P229 pistols. These throwback limited-edition builds have the same look and feel of their predecessors that made the Equinox series a consistent request of SIG fans.”

The SIG Custom Works P226 and P229 Equinox pistols are 9mm hammer-fired pistols featuring a black anodized metal frame and a Nitron stainless steel slide to achieve the two-tone equinox finish. Both models are equipped with X-RAY 3 Day/Night Sights, Hogue classic contour SL G-10 grips, a short reset trigger and ship with three magazines. Exclusive SIG Custom Works features include a logo engraving on the slide, a Negrini SIG Custom Works case, challenge coin and an official SIG Custom Works Certificate of Authenticity.

SIG Custom Works Equinox Series pistols are now shipping and available at retailers.

https://www.sigsauer.com/firearms/pistols/custom-works.html

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