“I am tired of all the hate mail,” he began, “I am tired of people showing up at our factories, I’m tired of reading the misinformation out on the Internet right now about us not trying to service the demand that we’re experiencing. It gets really old when I hear and read constantly that our ammunition companies are not making ammunition or have it in secret warehouses (or) we are selling to only specific customers.”
His suggestion: Do the math. At the time the video was produced, there were an estimated 7 million new gun owners over the previous nine months. Conservatively estimated they each bought two boxes of ammunition, it adds up to 700 million new rounds of ammunition. The four companies under his umbrella have added hundreds of new employees to meet the demand, but that’s a lot of training and production.
And all of this has unfolded in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s the perfect storm. Things will improve if people just relax a bit.
“We’re making all the ammunition that we can,” he assured. “We are doing our damnedest to meet this demand.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIgvoJKovIg
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/america-firearms-2020-gun-control-b1777829.html
When Turnabout is Fair Play, And Other Happy Tales
Remember last August, when New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the National Rifle Association and called for the organization to be dissolved and the removal of Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre? The NRA counter-sued, so this is now a bare-knuckles street brawl in which social distancing may not prevent someone’s political jaw from getting bruised.
Two days before Christmas, 16 Republican state attorneys general put a lump of coal in her sock by filing a 17-page amicus brief in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York in support of the 139-year-old civil rights organization — and they say some unpleasant things about their Democrat colleague.
The attorneys general call James’ lawsuit “a politically motivated assault on free speech and an effort to destroy both a fundamental constitutional right and a political opponent dedicated to defending that right.”
A couple of paragraphs later, their brief adds: “When government officials, like the New York AG in this case, target organizations for their members’ political viewpoints, they subvert the very freedoms they are sworn to protect.”
The icing on the cake may be this passage, found on Page 10: “Finally, it is telling that a companion lawsuit against the NRA and the NRA Foundation brought by the District of Columbia AG on the same day as New York’s action does not seek dissolution…Indeed, the District of Columbia AG’s failure to seek so draconian a remedy underscores what’s all too obvious: there’s no plausible case for dissolution and the New York AG’s dissolution case is really about silencing anyone who disagrees with her view of the Second Amendment.”
Take that, Ms. James!
Sources:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-ag-dissolve-nra-lawsuit
https://www.foxnews.com/us/nra-lawsuit-ny-attorney-general-lawsuit
Who Are These Contrary AGs?
Insider examined a copy of the amicus brief and found the following names signing onto what amounts to blasphemy in the eyes of extremist gun prohibitionists cheering on the New York frontal attack on NRA:
Acting Alaska AG Clyde “Ed” Sniffen, Jr., Arkansas AG Leslie Rutledge, Georgia AG Christopher M. Carr, Idaho AG Lawrence G. Wasden, Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch, Oklahoma AG Mike Hunter, Kansas AG Derek Schmidt, Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron, Louisiana AG Jeff Landry, Missouri AG Eric Schmitt, Ohio AG Dave Yost, South Carolina AG Alan Wilson, South Dakota AG Jason Ravnsborg, Texas AG Ken Paxton, Utah AG Sean D. Reyes and West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey.
In their brief, they note, “The facts alleged in the NRA’s complaint are disturbing and, if true, show that the New York AG has violated the constitutional rights of the NRA and its members, targeting them for their political beliefs.”
Anybody can assert something violates the constitution, but when 16 state attorneys general say it, courts pay attention. Right up front they allege, “The New York AG campaigned for office on a platform of taking down the NRA by any means possible. And both her campaign rhetoric and statements since taking office leave little doubt that she has targeted the NRA because she disagrees with its political speech and zealous defense of the Second Amendment.”
Sources:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republican-attorneys-general-nra-lawsuit-letitia-james
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republican-attorneys-general-nra-lawsuit-letitia-james
Debunking Ammo Shortage Rumors
After the November election, gun owners predictably headed to local gun shops and started emptying the shelves, and subsequently began complaining on social media that ammunition companies weren’t producing more or were flat out stashing it.
Apparently, it didn’t occur to anyone that adding 5–8 million new gun owners to the landscape, who probably purchased three or four boxes of ammunition for the new guns they bought, might have an effect on ammo supplies. Add to that the hoarding by veteran gun owners who were stocking up “just in case,” and you’ve got the makings of a self-fulfilling nightmare.
Toss this in for good measure: The Independent, a United Kingdom publication, recently estimated that U.S. citizens bought somewhere in the neighborhood of 21 million firearms last year. All of that hardware is hungry, and it requires a steady diet of ammunition. The Brits have a fascination with America’s gun culture and pay lots of attention to all things “firearm” in this country.
Enter Jason Vanderbrink, president of Federal, CCI, Speer and Remington, with a video statement that put the situation in perspective — and wasn’t too kind to the conspiracy theorists.
You Can’t Make This Up
As the announcer on Jack Webb’s old “Dragnet” used to advise, “The following story is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.”
Except, in a story out of Maplewood, Mo., the main character wasn’t even identified, and any claim of innocence may be a little hard to swallow.
According to KMOV News, a would-be robber tried to hold up a Boost Mobile last month at gunpoint, but an employee of the store was not in the mood to be robbed. He drew his own sidearm and plugged the suspect, who was taken to the hospital.
Lo and behold, investigating police discovered the alleged perp was wearing an ankle monitor. It was a little souvenir from his previous court appearance on a separate robbery beef, for which he was awaiting trial.
According to the report, the 21-year-old suspect “will need to undergo multiple surgeries.”
