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Reminder: 50 years ago, they came home
In February and March of 1973, after years of brutal captivity for many, 591 American prisoners of war in Vietnam returned home—including 138 courageous members of the Sea Services.
Their return was coined Operation Homecoming—a journey back to their families and country that helped mark the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. More importantly, it represented the uniquely American spirit of shared sacrifice, mighty defiance, unmatched bravery, and holding out hope in the face of unthinkable adversity.
To mark the 50th anniversary of this moment in history, for a limited time, we are offering individually-numbered 2023 Operation Homecoming Challenge Coins to our supporters with any gift of $35 or more to the Navy Memorial. This pre-sale opportunity is the FIRST time you can secure your 2023 Challenge Coin, so please donate now, and we will do everything we can to get the coin to you ASAP.
When these nearly 600 heroes returned home in 1973, many had spent years at the hands of their merciless captors. They were shackled, starved, beaten, and tortured. They had missed birthdays, anniversaries, and American milestones. They had no idea when, or if, their captivity would ever end.
But they were never broken. Extraordinary men like Naval Aviator Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr., who spent over eight years as a prisoner of war, and the late Sen. John McCain, who spent five and a half years in captivity, with two of those years being in solitary confinement, also exemplify this unshakeable resilience. They quietly demonstrated the very best of the United States Sea Services, and we honor their sacrifice to this day—especially this year, on the 50th anniversary of Operation Homecoming.
Thanks to generous supporters like you will guarantee that historic moments like Operation Homecoming and the valor of our Sea Service members are never forgotten.
Join the Navy Memorial as we recognize the 50th anniversary of the return of our Vietnam POWs with this exclusive pre-sale offer: Donate $35 or more today to help us continue honoring our Sea Service veterans and receive your limited-edition, individually-numbered 2023 Operation Homecoming Challenge Coin.
From an email. Let's be clear, these guys are fund raising. Because I am part of a couple communities, they tend to target me for their fund raising drives. If anyone actually wants a challenge coin - https://donorbox.org/coin-1 Or, click it if you just want to read a bit more.
Fifty years ago. A lifetime, and more. I was a high school junior at that time.
But, let's not stop there. Every war has, had, or will have their returning veterans. Vietnam may have been more brutal than some wars, and less brutal than others. But, every war has had their veterans, prisoners, and their dead eventually returned home, or at least accounted for.
Ukraine is up for recognition soon - and then there will be more.
Are convicts people?
US government suggests that convicts are not people.
Applying that standard, Bruen held “that the Second and
Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry
a handgun for self-defense outside the home.” Id. at 2122. But
the “where” question decided in Bruen is not at issue here.
Range’s appeal instead requires us to examine who is among
“the people” protected by the Second Amendment. U.S. Const.
amend. II; see Bruen, 142 S. Ct. at 2157 (Alito, J., concurring)
(“Our holding decides nothing about who may lawfully
possess a firearm . . . .”); see also Eugene Volokh,
Implementing the Right to Keep and Bear Arms for Self-
Defense: An Analytical Framework and a Research Agenda,
56 UCLA L. Rev. 1443 (2009) (distinguishing among “who,”
“what,” “where,” “when,” and “how” restrictions). Range
claims he is one of “the people” entitled to keep and bear arms
and that our Nation has no historical tradition of disarming
people like him. The Government responds that Range has not
been one of “the people” since 1995, when he pleaded guilty
in Pennsylvania state court to making a false statement on his
food stamp application, and that his disarmament is historically
supported.
Having explained how Bruen abrogated our Second
Amendment jurisprudence, we now apply the Supreme Court’s
established method to the facts of Range’s case. Both sides
agree that we no longer conduct means-end scrutiny. And as
the panel wrote: “Bruen’s focus on history and tradition,”
means that “Binderup’s multifactored seriousness inquiry no
longer applies.” Range, 53 F.4th at 270 n.9.
After Bruen, we must first decide whether the text of the
Second Amendment applies to a person and his proposed
conduct. 142 S. Ct. at 2134–35. If it does, the government now
bears the burden of proof: it “must affirmatively prove that its
firearms regulation is part of the historical tradition that
delimits the outer bounds of the right to keep and bear arms"
This one is almost certainly going to the Supreme Court, and it will decide whether non-violent criminals will be treated the same as violent criminals, regarding their Second Amendment rights.
Chevron going down?
Nearly 40 years ago, in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the Supreme Court ruled that courts should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute as long as that interpretation is reasonable. On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to reconsider its ruling in Chevron.
The question comes to the court in a case brought by a group of commercial fishing companies. They challenged a rule issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service that requires the fishing industry to pay for the costs of observers who monitor compliance with fishery management plans.
Relying on Chevron, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the companies’ challenge to the rule. Judge Judith Rogers explained that although federal fishery law makes clear that the government can require fishing boats to carry monitors, it does not specifically address who must pay for the monitors. Because the NMFS’s interpretation of federal fishery law as authorizing industry-funded monitors was a reasonable one, Rogers concluded, the court should defer to that interpretation.
Fourteenth Amendment, Section 4:
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned...
Let's see if Biden has the cajones to bypass congress and kill the debt ceiling
Scotty vs Brandon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImLVzQdKIQ8
Just some good old boy who knows cars. Enjoy!
Sorry ATF, You Don’t Make the Rules
There were fireworks at a Congressional hearing covering a critical topic not just to the firearm industry and Second Amendment supporters, but to all Americans. It wasn’t entirely unexpected. The U.S. House Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance’s hearing titled, “ATF’s Assault on the Second Amendment: When is Enough Enough?” posed a simple question. And the question gets to the heart of whether or not the ATF makes the rules.
Sorry ATF, You Don’t Make the Rules
Who writes law in the United States? That begged other questions. Can government agencies go rogue and create sweeping regulations that turn law-abiding citizens into criminals? Or does law-making authority reside with the people through their duly elected representatives in Congress?The Background
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) promulgated a new Final Rule in January. This new rule has drastic implications for millions of existing law-abiding gun owners. The agency unilaterally decreed that stabilizing arm braces attached to pistols are now defined as short-barreled rifles (SBRs). As such they are subject to registration under the National Firearms Act (NFA).That means owners who already legally purchased the firearm accessory must register their purchase. Likewise, they must submit photos and fingerprints, pass an additional background check and alert local law enforcement that they possess one.
If they don’t, they risk facing felony charges and imprisonment. The Congressional Research Service estimates there could be upwards of 40 million braces in circulation today.
Alex Bosco testified about how we got here today. The former Marine invented the forearm stabilizing brace in 2012 to help disabled veterans more safely participate in recreational pistol shooting.
Pretty long read, so I'm sticking a spoiler tag here.
https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2023/03/atf-rules/
“Since I began my business, I’ve made every effort to comply with all the rules and regulations set out by ATF. After submitting the original brace to ATF for review, ATF responded in writing stating that attaching a stabilizing brace – quote – would not alter the classification of a pistol or other firearm, and that – quote – such a firearm would not be subject to National Firearms Act controls,” Bosco explained.
He added ATF has “repeatedly held that various pistol brace designs did not convert a pistol to a short-barreled rifle.”
That all changed once ATF reclassified stabilizing arm brace-attached pistols as SBRs. This put Bosco’s livelihood, and millions of other law-abiding Americans, at serious risk.
Whose Authority?
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) asked the central question of who writes law for the United States.“Ever since Mr. Biden took office, his administration has actively sought to infringe on the Second Amendment and I’m deeply concerned about the ATF and their recent actions,” Rep. Fallon said. “This rule will effectively turn millions of law-abiding gun owners into criminals if they fail to comply even though Congress did not act. We didn’t pass any new criminal laws or penalties related to pistol stabilizing braces. We had unelected bureaucrats do it. That’s not the way this works.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) echoed, adding that bureaucratic rulemaking is wrong under Republican and Democratic administrations.
“This should send shivers down the spine of all members under Article II,” Rep. Roy said. “And look, I don’t view this through the lens of being a Democratic administration. I didn’t like it when the Trump administration was doing stuff like this. Whether it was the bump stock ban – I didn’t like that either.”
Constitutionally Problematic
Heritage Foundation’s Amy Swearer agreed the ATF rulemaking is Constitutionally problematic.“Our Constitution is set up with a separation of powers. You have the Executive Branch, whose job it is to enforce the law and you have Congress who passes laws because Congress is held accountable to the people,” Swearer said. “No official at the ATF… is elected and held accountable through that process.”
The overreach by ATF may be rectified in due time if recent precedent plays out. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overwhelmingly overruled the Trump administration’s ATF Final Rule. It said the rule overstepped its authority to classify bump stocks as “machineguns.”
In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Power Plan in West Virginia v. EPA because the agency overstepped its authority with similar rulemaking without clear congressional authorization.
The ATF stabilizing arm brace rule could be approaching a similar fate.
Know What You’re Talking About
Democratic lawmakers demonstrated they are uninformed about the arm brace accessory.Democratic lawmakers used terminology like “high-powered,” “increasingly lethal,” and “weapons of war.”
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) praised the ATF for usurping her congressional authority “to prevent…the misuse of stabilizing braces, which convert everyday firearms into killing machines.”
It was similar to when Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) misidentified an arm brace, confusing it for a bump stock, during a previous debate.
Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C), a Federal Firearms Licensee, asked Everytown for Gun Safety Senior Director for Policy Rob Wilcox about the accessory. “Will a pistol brace change the capacity of a firearm? Meaning the number of rounds?”
“No sir,” Wilcox responded.
“Will a pistol brace change the firing speed of a firearm?” Rep. Edwards continued.
“No sir.” Wilcox answered.
Rep. Edwards asked Bosco about the confusion.
“I think the problem is that a lot of people aren’t informed about what is and isn’t a pistol and what is and isn’t a rifle. It’s very nuanced,” Bosco replied. “A stabilizing brace is not a force multiplier.”
Gun Control Won’t Stop
The ATF pistol brace rule is yet another example of the Biden administration going beyond its authority to restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. Gun control groups have grown frustrated that more hasn’t been done. However, they ignore the criminals who are the ones committing violent crimes.Manuel Oliver, whose son was murdered in the 2018 Parkland high school shooting, disrupted the committee hearing, was removed, and subsequently arrested. Oliver also disrupted and was removed from a White House ceremony when President Biden announced several gun control executive actions.
The actions by gun control groups, Democratic lawmakers shaming companies for not doing their gun control bidding and the ATF overreaching its authority on the pistol brace Final Rule are a pattern. It shows the goal is not to hold criminals accountable. It’s about controlling law-abiding Americans.
Story originally posted to NSSF.org.
This question has come up before, and it has never been firmly dealt with. The Environmental Protection Agency has assumed authorities that it does not have, in the past. The Transportation Department has acted unilaterally under questionable authorities. Ditto the Federal Communications Commission.
The heart of the issue here, is the question: Who makes law in this country? Constitutionally speaking, only Congress may enact a law, change a law, or repeal a law. The Executive Branch's one and only responsibility and authority, is to enforce the law that Congress passes.
Donald Trump can't make certain gun accessories legal, or illegal. Joe Biden can't make certain guns legal or illegal. The ATF can't make certain gun accessories legal or illegal. Only Congress has the authority to do that.
It's high time that Congress took notice, and reigned in all government agencies!
Not Florida Man, but Buffalo Man!
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Police tell 2 On Your Side an Internal Affairs investigation is underway after an officer's rifle fell off a roof and onto a sidewalk during the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday.
Pictures shared with WGRZ by Andrew Mavrogeorgis show the officer positioned on top of the building at 560 Delaware Avenue at Allen Street in downtown Buffalo. The rifle is perched on the edge, on top of a stand, a short distance from the officer. At some point, the rifle fell onto the sidewalk below, where people were walking about.
Another picture shows the officer peering over the ledge of the building at the rifle on the sidewalk below, while people gathered for the parade pass by.
A nearby officer was able to pick up the rifle and carry it to safety.
There's no word yet on if the officer will be disciplined, and there are no reports of any injuries.
Buffalo Police say the officer was on the roof conducting "overwatch" of the parade, a routine safety protocol at large events.
Click the link for pics.
Is the city of Buffalo hiring Florida Man for their police force?
Someone tell me again why we should trust the police.
Radical police chief in District of Columbia
DC police chief offers simple solution to get homicide rates down: 'Keep violent people in jail'
The D.C. Council Chairman just pulled legislation Monday that would have reduced maximum penalties and abolished minimum penalties for various crimesMetropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee gave a simple solution for what Washington, D.C., can do differently to get homicides down Monday: "Keep violent people in jail."
Contee was speaking along with Mayor Muriel Bowser at Mayoral Public Safety Media Availability to discuss crime in the District. He responded to a reporter's question about how to address increased homicides rates in the city.
"What we got to do, if we really want to see homicides go down, is keep bad guys with guns in jail. Because when they're in jail, they can't be in communities shooting people. So when people talk about what we gonna do different, or what we should do different, what we need to do different, that’s the thing that we need to do different," Contee said.
"We need to keep violent people in jail. Right now, the average homicide suspect has been arrested eleven times prior to them committing a homicide," the chief continued. "That is a problem. That is a problem."
Repeat offenders are a problem in the nation's capital. Last month, Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., called out the city's elected officials over their soft on crime policies after she was assaulted by a homeless man. She was his thirteenth victim.
"I got attacked by someone who the District of Columbia has not prosecuted fully over the course of almost a decade, over the course of 12 assaults before mine that morning," Craig said at the time. "I mean, it wasn’t even in every instance that he got 10 days or 30 days. Many times, the charges were completely dropped before any justice was achieved at all."
Last year, D.C. hit 200 murders in consecutive years for the first time since 2003.
Among the topics covered during Monday's press conference included the apparent defeat of the D.C. City Council's attempt to soften penalties on violent crimes through revisions to the criminal code.
The crime bill would have reduced maximum penalties for violent crimes such as burglaries, robberies and carjackings, along with abolishing minimum sentences for most crimes. It faced backlash even from some liberals with Bowser vetoing it in January, though the city council overrode her veto.
Monday, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson pulled the controversial crime bill after the U.S. House voted to block it and President Biden said he would not veto Congress' decision.
The U.S. Senate may still vote on the legislation with the potential for up to 20 Democrats to side with Republicans in voting against the bill. However, it is unclear if the Senate still can vote on the bill as a symbolic gesture given that it was pulled by the chairman.
The value of a gender studies degree
The news: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-man-suspected-burglar-home/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Only on 2: A father detained a suspected burglar in his own garage.
His wife and two-year-old daughter are inside the house as this all happened. He is speaking exclusively with CBS 2's Sabrina Franza, reporting from Wrigleyville.
"Went into the garage and I just followed him into the garage."
Niko Kara was the only person standing between, he said, a suspected burglar and his family. His two-year-old daughter was sound asleep upstairs when Kara said a man broke into the garage.
"It happened quick. I just followed the guy. I didn't want him to cause anymore harm."
Kara first learned the man was there when he tried getting into the front entrance. His Ring camera caught someone moving.
"It was a surprise for all of us."
He and his wife realized the man got into the garage behind the house. Kara followed and found him going through boxes as his wife called 911.
Kara, a concealed carry permit holder, and that suspect, stood still behind this garage door. He raised his weapon but did not fire. He waited for police to show.
"He was quick to show me his hands and drop whatever he was holding in his hands."
Which was a phone and a water bottle.
"They were here in about 45 seconds and he couldn't get out of the garage. I was standing in the door," Kara said.
A Ring camera from across the alley caught the garage door opening as police stood outside. The suspect ran but didn't make it far. Chicago police took him into custody shortly after.
"You know what, I'm really happy that I spent last night at my home, in bed, and everybody was safe. The bad guy got arrested."
Both Kara and his wife are very shaken up by this, but are both doing ok. His two-year-old daughter slept through the entire thing.
Charges against the man they say broke in are still pending.
What the newsies didn't tell us:
The Declining Value of Higher Education: Burglar With Gender Studies Degree Held At Gunpoint by Chicago Resident
While they may be highly prized in ivory tower universities, out here in the real world, gender and women’s studies degrees don’t take you far or open many doors to high-paying jobs. Bringing nothing but a gender studies degree to a gunfight also seems like a good way of proving its worthlessness. A Monday evening break-in in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood was the perfect case for proving that hypothesis.
A homeowner with a surveillance camera system noticed a prowler lurking outside his home. Mr. Homeowner, the proud holder of a carry license, then checked his attached garage. That’s where police say he found 31-year-old Tyler Hamlin.
The armed homeowner held Hamlin — on probation and wanted under two active felony warrants — at gunpoint until police arrived. Given Mr. Hamlin’s history of serial criminal activity and violence, the gun proved a wise decision.
The homeowner, identified as Niko Kara by CBS2 in Chicago said he was the only thing standing between the intruder and Kara’s wife and 2-year-old daughter.
Here’s the story from CWB Chicago . . .
The concealed carry holder received a security alert showing someone was on his porch with a flashlight in the 3500 block of North Fremont in Wrigleyville around 8:30 p.m. Monday…“[The police] were here in about 45 seconds, and he couldn’t get out of the garage. I was standing in the door,” the homeowner told CBS2 before charges were filed.
A Ring camera from across the alley caught the garage door opening as police stood outside. The suspect ran but didn't make it far. Chicago police took him into custody shortly after.
"You know what, I'm really happy that I spent last night at my home, in bed, and everybody was safe. The bad guy got arrested."
Both Kara and his wife are very shaken up by this, but are both doing ok. His two-year-old daughter slept through the entire thing.
Charges against the man they say broke in are still pending.
The concealed carry holder received a security alert showing someone was on his porch with a flashlight in the 3500 block of North Fremont in Wrigleyville around 8:30 p.m. Monday…
“[The police] were here in about 45 seconds, and he couldn’t get out of the garage. I was standing in the door,” the homeowner told CBS2 before charges were filed.
Hamlin’s lawyer apparently thought this fact would attest to what a fine, upstanding person his client is . . .
Hamlin’s defense attorney said he has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and gender and women’s studies from UIC. He’s unhoused and unemployed.
The “unhoused” Mr. Hamlin — that’s newspeak for homeless — has quite the criminal history. In 2020, he allegedly tried to skip out on a cab fare, eventually battering the cabbie and an Illinois State Trooper before being arrested. Unfortunately for him, that infraction took place in Will County, south of Chicago where they actually prosecute criminals.
Hamlin blew off his court date on that case and forfeited his bond, resulting in a warrant on the case per the Will County Circuit Court Clerk.
Meanwhile, Cook County prosecutors gave him probation when he pled down an aggravated arson charge — a Class X felony (6 to 30 years in prison) — to a criminal damage to property charge (potentially just a misdemeanor).
And there’s another battery charge in Chicago from April, 2022.
Hamlin is currently being held without bail on the outstanding warrants. How long that will last is anyone’s guess in Chicago’s revolving door criminal justice system. In the mean time, he can regale his cellmates with the finer points he picked up while earning the gender and women’s studies degrees that helped make him the man he is today.
Almost makes you regret that you never took gender studies, don't it?
Red flag laws are history, folk.
Before Jones, Ho, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
Cory T. Wilson, Circuit Judge:
The question presented in this case is not whether prohibiting the
possession of firearms by someone subject to a domestic violence restraining
order is a laudable policy goal. The question is whether 18 U.S.C.
§ 922(g)(8), a specific statute that does so, is constitutional under the Second
Amendment of the United States Constitution. In the light of N.Y. State Rifle
& Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022), it is not.
That paragraph sums it up pretty nicely, but I encourage you to read the entire decision.
Mr. Rahimi seems a proper scoundrel, and I hate that such a person might be made an icon for 2nd amendment rights - but he challenged an unjust law, and the court decided in his favor.
Red flag laws are hardly any different than the issue decided here. Just like a jealous ex can get a restraining order on a whim, the same jealous ex can pick up the phone and make up a story about you being suicidal, or threatening, or whatever. In short, anyone can strip you of your rights, just to be vindictive if they only get the restraining order, or cite a red flag law.
Moving forward, I expect to see more due process before people are stripped of their 2A rights. Sure, a lot of fools bargain, and surrender their rights. But, you'll still see more due process in the coming years.
