SOTI:
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the range.
Category: Gummint
So Much For Background Checks
Like everyone here I was saddened to read of the mass shooting that happened in Illinois last week. Dude got laid off, pulled a gun and started shooting, killing six and wounding several more, including cops. I was expecting to have ILGov Fatboi Pritzker immediately start calling for more stringent gun control laws etc., and was wondering what was taking him so long. Here’s probably why the delay:
The chief also released new details about Martin’s criminal background and the weapon in the shooting.
Martin should have been legally barred from purchasing a gun due to his felony record. He had a 1995 conviction for aggravated assault for stabbing a woman in Marshall County, Mississippi.
However, in January 2014, Martin applied for and was issued an Illinois Firearm Owners Identification (FOI) card, which is required to own or purchase a gun in Illinois.
On March 6 2014, Martin applied to purchase a handgun at a licensed dealer in Aurora. Five days later, he took possession of a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber revolver, the same type of gun described as the weapon in Sunday’s shooting.
On March 16 2014, Martin applied for a Concealed Carry permit in an unknown location. He was fingerprinted during the background check, and his prior felony conviction came to light during the background check.
At the discovery, Martin’s CCW application was rejected, and his FOI card was revoked. He apparently retained possession of the handgun, however.
Ziman was unable to explain why the felony conviction did not prevent Martin from obtaining a FOI card in the first place, merely saying it was possible that it would not have been discovered until the more rigorous CCW check.
So much for the much-vaunted background checks we’re always hearing about. Illinois screwed up, and six people died because of it. I would hope that the murdered people’s families initiate a class-action lawsuit for negligence against the state, because a law unenforced isn’t a law. Of course, Illinois is bankrupt because they’re paying off (or not even paying) excessively-high entitlements to former government workers, so the lawsuit might be a waste of time. And needless to say, the gnomes at the IL State Police (representing “police power”, see below) won’t be fired for negligence because unions.
One last thing about the choirboy’s gun: S&W doesn’t make a revolver chambered in .40 S&W, so it must have been a semi-automatic pistol (Clueless Journalism 101).
State of Illinois constitution, Article I, Section 22:
“Subject only to the police power, the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
Pass The Popcorn, Simon
I had to chuckle to myself when I saw this article about Amazon’s proposed new HQ in NYFC:
After months of haggling and wrangling to establish a deal involving major tax breaks and accommodations, Democrats in New York City are complaining that the deal isn’t good enough, the tax breaks are too dangerous, and Amazon’s arrival might be damaging to the social justice crowd because it could lead to further “gentrification” of the area. And that has Governor Andrew Cuomo seeing red and going to war with his own party.
It is, as the kids say nowadays, to LOL. And needless to say, as the first sod has yet to be turned on the thing:
Online retail giant Amazon is reconsidering its plans to open a headquarters in Queens due to opposition from local lawmakers, according to a new report.
Executives at the company recently met to reassess setting up shop in Long Island City, as pols and activists continue to rail against the controversial new campus, the Washington Post reports, citing two people “familiar with the company’s thinking.”
“The question is whether it’s worth it if the politicians in New York don’t want the project, especially with how people in Virginia and Nashville have been so welcoming,” one of the sources told the paper.
Down here in the Dallas area, our proposals to Amazon were tiny compared to all the others’ offers — mostly because Texas has such a business-friendly climate, we start with a built-in advantage and don’t have to carve out all sorts of exceptions. And New York doesn’t have a lot of stuff to give away, either:
The deal New York cut with Amazon is far beyond generous, including $2.5 billion in tax credits and $500 million in state construction subsidies. That hollows out the benefits of the new HQ in terms of municipal and state tax revenue considerably.
And of course, where’s there’s idiocy afoot, can Our Little Leninist Darling AOC be far behind?
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez applauded news on Friday that Amazon is reportedly reconsidering its plans to build a second headquarters in New York City as it faces fierce opposition from some state and city officials.
“Can everyday people come together and effectively organize against creeping overreach of one of the world’s biggest corporations?” she wrote in a tweet. “Yes, they can.”
The New York Democrat, who represents the 14th Congressional District, has been a fierce critic of the e-commerce giant’s proposed second headquarters in Long Island City, a neighborhood in Queens.
It makes you wonder why Amazon chose — or even considered investing in — New York at all, despite the bribes incentives. All I can say is that they all deserve each other.
And if Amazon now comes a-calling on Dallas to re-pitch the area, we should offer them a great big Nada. Fuck ’em.
A Tale Of Four Shitties
…by which I mean shitty states to live in if you’re a gun owner, that is.
First up is our perennial anti-Constitutional state, California:
They’ve already proposed a requirement for gun owners to lock up their weapons, They’ve previously suggested a 10-year prohibition on firearm possession for anyone convicted of two drug or alcohol offenses within three years. They already have proposed a gun tax to fund violence prevention. It seems those things aren’t enough to add to their gun control basket.
Yup: the Golden (Shower) State is going Full Europe (and you never go Full Europe). However, not even Europe is considering what Illinois is talking about:
That’s why [some asswipe from suburban Chicago — Kim] is proposing gun buyers reveal their public social media accounts to Illinois police before they’re approved for a firearm license.
You have to know how bad a thing is when even the dickheads at the ACLU (who loathe the Second Amendment) are opposing it.
And of course, New York is trying to be even worse than Illinois:
FuckwitDidech says his bill is a less intrusive version of a similar measure that’s been proposed in New York state. That version allows police to recover a gun license applicant’s entire browsing history.
And then there’s Connecticut, which is trying to limit ammo purchasing through taxation:
A first-term Connecticut lawmaker wants to hike the price of ammunition in the state through the application of a special tax.
…
“I’m hearing push back about the need to protect one’s home… but how much ammunition does someone really need to do that?” Gilcrest said in a post to social media.
Anytime I hear someone say something like that, I buy another 500 rounds of ammo.
Man, it’s a Good Thing I don’t live in either Illinois or the Northeast anymore; I’d be fucked harder than a $5 whore during Fleet Week.
The best thing I ever did was leave Chicago for Texas. The second-best thing I did was toss my Illinois FOID card into the Mississippi River on my way down.
Unexpectedly
Looks like the People’s Soviet of New York is running out of other people’s money:
ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday announced a dramatic drop in state income tax revenue of $2.8 billion, which he says will prompt him to revise his 2019-20 budget and reconsider spending on schools, health care and repairs to roads and bridges.
“At this point there is no doubt that the budget we put forward is not supported by the revenues,” Cuomo said at a State Capitol news conference. “It’s as serious as a heart attack.”
Cuomo said he’s not certain what areas might need to be cut, but said the biggest spending areas now are education, health care, infrastructure and another phase-in of a previously approved middle-class tax cut.
Of course, it’s not his fault or the fault of NY’s bloated social policies, benefits obligations and union payouts, oh no. Guess whose fault it really is?
Cuomo, a Democrat, blamed the shortfall on a federal tax plan backed by Republican President Donald Trump. Cuomo said the law’s cap on deductions for state and local taxes at $10,000 was to blame and suggested it is, anecdotally, triggering high-earners to leave New York.
Any time a politician has to resort to anecdotal data, then he’s the one to blame.
Western Civilization
Here’s a map which ranks the various countries of the world from light to dark, from least corrupt to, well, Somalia.
Pop quiz: Of the lighter-colored (i.e. least corrupt) countries, find the common thread. (Hint: it’s in the title of this post.)
For those who are surprised at the relatively-low ranking of the United States among the civilized nations, I would suggest that we would rocket upwards with the conviction of Bill and Hillary Clinton, the dissolution of the Clinton Foundation and the imprisonment of all its officers. To reach the top of the charts, we’d have to convict all members of Congress (active and/or retired) who became millionaires whilst earning only a Congressional salary.
And by “conviction”, of course, I mean this:
