Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.
This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.
So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.
This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.
For those interested, please check out https://vladtepesblog.substack.com/ as an another avenue of expression.
Weakened immune systems overwhelming the weakened health care system (short):
I went to the bank the other day. I bought a GIC (Canadian equivalent of U.S. treasury bill). The bank officer said c’mon in, I got a good rate. When the paperwork was done I asked, “What’s the term on this? three years? 5 years?”
“One year. cashable,” he answered.
He went on to explain how the bank was “closing its book”. He said the bank can see that half of its mortgages are about to reset. (In the U.S. you have much longer mortgage durations than we here. Here, we must reset every 5 years at the prevailing interest rates.) This means the bank knows homeowners will not be able to afford the higher rates imposed on them. They will default, or try to sell their home before it hits. Either way the bank’s mortgage portfolio will be obliterated so it wants out. This is why it is very aggressively offering 4.75% interest on a cashable government bond–to attract capital it is about to lose in its mortgages.
Good luck you blood-sucking vampires, says I. Dear Leader can’t insure every deposit if half the market defaults.
More broadly, the fiat ponzi scheme is becoming more dramatic by the day. U.S. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell yesterday squished his banana in front of the world at 2 pm. The market ran away even before he’d finished, extrapolating that the Fed is fuc$ed and it cannot raise rates without crashing the massively indebted economy, and if it drops rates we will see hyperinflation, thereby destroying the USD. Consequently, the market kicked both gold and Bitcoin to the sky. (I don’t know how many of you know that a mere 48 hr. interruption in digital coin access due to electrical or governmental intervention is enough to crash confidence in that market.)
Every day sees greater undulations will less time between the peaks and troughs.
Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubinsky Rumored to be Summoned to Joe Biden’s Impeachment Hearings Is Violently Beaten by Unknown Assailants in Ukrainian Detention Center
by Guest Contributor Dec. 14, 2023 8:00 am114 Comments
Guest post by EU Insiders for The Gateway Pundit
With the intensification of actions around the possible impeachment of Joe Biden, the dependent Ukrainian government continued to persecute those who conducted their own investigations into his corruption cases and were not afraid to tell the world about them.
Another target was Oleksandr Dubinsky, a well-known journalist and an MP, who revealed and substantiated two crucial and sensational facts for the investigations against Biden: audio recordings of phone conversations in 2015-2016 between Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (known as “Derkach tapes”) are authentic, and behind their leak and dissemination is… the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky!
In Ukraine, Dubinsky is known for being close to Volodymyr Zelensky and the head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak for many years. And it was Dubinsky who was one of the participants in the press conferences organized in 2019-2020 by another Ukrainian MP, Andriy Derkach, where sensational evidence of corruption and influence peddling by Joe Biden in Ukraine was first revealed.
However, Dubinsky’s problems did not start in 2019, but only in 2023 – just after his allegations that Ukraine’s leadership gave instructions to publish and legitimize audio recordings with the voices of Joe Biden and Petro Poroshenko. This made it obvious that the story with the tapes was not a game of foreign intelligence agencies but solely a political game of Ukrainian top officials who allowed them to be leaked and encouraged their further dissemination. As a result, the Ukrainian Themis began hastily looking for any excuse to stop his revelations.
After a series of rather frivolous accusations in the summer, which did not stop Dubinsky’s public activities, on November 13, the Ukrainian authorities accused him of participation in a Russian agent network. And just as unexpectedly, the official reason was Dubinsky’s participation in the mentioned press conferences that took place four years earlier.
Late at night on November 13, Dubinsky was sent to a pre-trial detention center. It is noteworthy that on the previous day, he invited his audience to think about how the audio recordings of the conversations, which were conducted through the most secure special communications, could have unexpectedly gone beyond the Presidential Office and eventually reached one of the investigators of corruption in Ukraine, which turned out to be MP Andriy Derkach (who was not afraid to publicize them later).
Dubinsky also suggested to pay attention to the fact that such a leak took place during Zelensky’s presidency, just at the moment when he wanted to settle scores with Petro Poroshenko.
In Ukraine, they say that Dubinsky’s unwillingness to “keep quiet” coincided with the release of fresh presidential ratings in the U.S. (unfavorable for Biden) and the appearance of new accusations against the U.S. president (accounts of receiving funds and summoning his son and brother to the Oversight Committee), which clearly worsened the mood of the Ukrainian authorities.
Moreover, the emergence of rumors that Oleksandr Dubinsky, as well as Andriy Derkach, Andriy Telizhenko, and Viktor Shokin, might be invited to Joe Biden’s impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives could provoke another attack on Dubinsky.
On December 2, Dubinsky was beaten by unknown persons in the pre-trial detention center. His lawyers are still unable to get an official response from the authorities, and Dubinsky himself was denied a forensic medical examination.
Dubinsky calls these events “revenge of Yermak-Zelensky for the testimony I gave to the NABU about the involvement of them, and a number of other top state officials… in the attempt to legalize the Biden-Poroshenko vote tapes through the creation of a special investigative commission of the parliament…”
He adds: “…I will insist on cross-examination between me and Zelensky, between me and Yermak, Shefir, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. Because these people were present in the Office of the President during the issuance of, in my opinion, illegal and threatening to national security instructions to legitimize the tapes with the voices of Biden and Poroshenko, which were published later by Derkach…”.
Dubinsky’s statements are confirmed from other sources. Journalists recalled that in 2019-2020, part of Zelensky’s entourage supported the idea of launching a corruption investigation with Hunter Biden (Igor Kolomoisky), and the other part was against (Prosecutor General Ryaboshapka). They also pointed that the Ukrainian authorities took no action against Andriy Derkach, when he made the tapes public in 2020. On the contrary – the “servants of the people” even proposed to create an investigative commission in Parliament with the aim of discrediting Poroshenko. However, Biden’s victory forced Zelensky’s office to hastily abandon its plans, to which Oleksandr Dubinsky became a victim.
The importance of Oleksandr Dubinsky’s statements is extremely high. It was he who confirmed that the “Derkach tapes” are considered in Kyiv and Washington as evidence of exceptional importance, which could disrupt the political careers of both Joe Biden and his Ukrainian protégés.
One need only recall the topics of those conversations – interference in the US presidential election on the side of Hillary Clinton, provocation of criminal prosecution against Paul Manafort, groundless dismissal of Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin (who came too close to Biden in the Burisma investigation), Biden’s interest in nationalization of Privatbank. Therefore, the current prosecution of Dubinsky – right after the release of all the defendants in the Burisma case – is just another confirmation of the importance of the “tapes” and other information that Andriy Derkach made public in his time.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/ukrainian-mp-oleksandr-dubinsky-rumored-be-summoned-bidens/
UPDATE: Anti-Semitic Turkish Lawmaker Dies After Suddenly Collapsing in Parliament While Giving Hateful Speech Bashing Israel
by Cullen Linebarger Dec. 14, 2023 9:00 am189 Comments
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that an anti-Semitic Turkish lawmaker suddenly collapsed in Parliament while giving a hate-filled speech bashing Israel on Tuesday. Now, he has left the world of the living.
Reuters reported that 54-year-old Hasan Bitmez, a member of the opposition Saadat Party, died in Ankara City Hospital Thursday morning. He leaves behind a wife and one child.
Bitmez graduated from Cairo’s Al Azhar University and served as the chairman of the Centre for Islamic Union Research. He also worked for several Islamic non-governmental organizations
Bitmez’s collapse and subsequent death were reportedly due to a “heart attack.” The official cause of death has yet to be revealed, however.
During his closing remarks, Bitmez stated “We can perhaps hide from our conscience but not from history” and that “Israel will suffer the wrath of Allah.”
At that moment, he stumbles and falls to the floor. Other politicians rush to his aid.
WATCH:
claimed afterward that the hospital performed an angiography which revealed that the two main veins in Bitmez’s heart were blocked entirely.
“His heart stopped beating, then he was resuscitated in parliament and transferred within 20 minutes to hospital,” Koca said.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Palestinian terrorist Hamas following its October 7 attacks on Israel. Thanks to Hamas, over 1,200 people have been killed and 240 taken hostage.
Hamas has also committed numerous war crimes, including raping women, slaughtering babies, killing peaceful festival attendees, and beheading Israeli soldiers.
Despite these facts, Turkish politicians led by President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an have lavished praise on Hamas and bashed Israel continuously in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks. Now, one has died due to either health reasons or the wrath of God.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/update-anti-semitic-turkish-lawmaker-dies-after-suddenly/
“The President Was Familiar With What Hunter Was Going to Say Today” KJP Opens Door to Questions of Joe Biden Coordinating With Hunter to Defy Congressional Subpoena
by Kristinn Taylor Dec. 14, 2023 8:30 am87 Comments
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre opened the door to questions of Joe Biden coordinating with first son Hunter Biden in Hunter’s defiance of a Congressional subpoena to provide testimony in a closed-door deposition on Wednesday. KJP told reporters at Wednesday’s press briefing, “The President was familiar with what Hunter was going to say today.”
Hunter read a statement to reporters Wednesday morning on the Senate side of the grounds of the Capitol. Hunter attacked Republicans and ran interference for Joe, saying, “My father was not financially involved in my business.” Hunter later repeated the line, adding, “Because it did not happen.”
Wednesday afternoon at the White House, KJP stunned reporters by acknowledging for the first time Joe Biden being involved with Hunter’s legal troubles, saying several times that he was “familiar with what Hunter was going to say today.”
CBS News White House reporter Ed O’Keefe spoke about the change in White House strategy, saying, “this was one of those ‘things that make you go ‘hmmm’ moments” that is going to lead to more questioning by reporters and Congress.
Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy said, “The wall that has been up between them to protect President Biden has been breached”:
“The President Was Familiar With What Hunter Was Going to Say Today” KJP Opens Door to Questions of Joe Biden Coordinating With Hunter to Defy Congressional Subpoena
by Kristinn Taylor Dec. 14, 2023 8:30 am87 Comments
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre opened the door to questions of Joe Biden coordinating with first son Hunter Biden in Hunter’s defiance of a Congressional subpoena to provide testimony in a closed-door deposition on Wednesday. KJP told reporters at Wednesday’s press briefing, “The President was familiar with what Hunter was going to say today.”
Hunter read a statement to reporters Wednesday morning on the Senate side of the grounds of the Capitol. Hunter attacked Republicans and ran interference for Joe, saying, “My father was not financially involved in my business.” Hunter later repeated the line, adding, “Because it did not happen.”
Wednesday afternoon at the White House, KJP stunned reporters by acknowledging for the first time Joe Biden being involved with Hunter’s legal troubles, saying several times that he was “familiar with what Hunter was going to say today.”
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CBS News White House reporter Ed O’Keefe spoke about the change in White House strategy, saying, “this was one of those ‘things that make you go ‘hmmm’ moments” that is going to lead to more questioning by reporters and Congress.
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Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy said, “The wall that has been up between them to protect President Biden has been breached”:
Excerpts from the White House transcript of Wednesday’s briefing by Karine Jean Pierre:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/president-was-familiar-what-hunter-was-going-say/
Social Media Users Roast Jill Biden After Releasing ‘Tacky, Tasteless, and Anti-Christmas’ Ads at the White House (VIDEO)
by Jim H?ft Dec. 14, 2023 8:15 am376 Comments
Last month, Dr. Jill Biden unveiled this year’s tacky and tasteless White House Christmas decorations.
“Nearly 15,000 feet of ribbon, more than 350 candles, and over 22,000 bells were used for the decorations, the White House said. More than 142,425 lights twinkle on trees, garlands, wreaths and other displays.” CBS News reported.
“Seventy-two wreaths sporting red ribbons adorn the north and south exteriors of the White House.” the outlet said.
“For this year’s holidays at the White House, our theme is inspired by how children experience this festive season: completely present in the beauty and bounty around them, their senses alight, with hearts open to the “Magic, Wonder, and Joy” of the season,” Jill Biden said.
We have Santa’s magical sleigh suspended in the air in the Grand Foyer, a working train running around the Official White House Christmas Tree, and a Gingerbread White House that celebrates the 200th Anniversary of a childhood favorite, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas!” Jill Biden said.
“In this season of reflection and goodwill, we hope you will embrace your inner child and delight in simply being present with those you love,” Joe and Jill Biden wrote in a welcome letter. “It is a time for our senses to awaken — for each of us to smell the aroma of favorite family recipes, to hear the warmth of a dear friend’s voice, to see the glow of lights and decorations, to taste the sweetness of candies and treats, and to feel the quiet stillness and strength of faith.”
Jill Biden did not even mention Jesus Christ in her message to Americans.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/social-media-users-roast-jill-biden-after-releasing/
Menorah Destroyed in Oakland Park, Threatening Message Left at Scene
by Kristinn Taylor Dec. 14, 2023 9:15 am115 Comments
A large menorah in a public park in Oakland, California was destroyed overnight early Wednesday with a threatening message spray-painted at the scene. The menorah was smashed into pieces that were scattered with some being thrown into nearby Lake Merritt.
The threatening message read: “F***ers, your org is dying. We’re going to find you, you’re on f***ing alert a**hole.”
Photos and video posted by the San Francisco Jewish Community Relations Council with comments, “The malicious destruction of a public menorah in Lake Merritt, #Oakland, accompanied by hateful graffiti, is just the latest example of rampant antisemitism tearing apart the Bay Area. There’s no room for debate; this vicious act unequivocally deserves condemnation.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/menorah-destroyed-oakland-park-threatening-message-left-scene/
Canadian Man Charged With 14 Counts of Murder for Mailing Poison to Young People, Helping Them Kill Themselves
by Paul Serran Dec. 14, 2023 9:30 am27 Comments
The number of worldwide victims of Kenneth Law may be in the hundreds.
The culture of death is spreading like wildfire in many Western societies.
From state-sponsored assisted suicide to an entrepreneurial ‘death sarcophagus,’ there is an ongoing worldwide phenomenon in which people have help and incentives to take their own lives.
Canada is one of the worst-case scenarios, with tens of thousands of people every year falling victim to this nefarious trend.
Now, a Canadian man who helped more than a dozen people in Ontario to kill themselves – by mailing them poison – has been charged with 14 counts of second-degree murder.
Kenneth Law had previously been charged with 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/canadian-man-charged-14-counts-murder-mailing-poison/
Top Insider Speaks Out: DOJ Investigations of the 2020 Presidential Election Under Former AG Barr Were a Lackluster Kabuki Dance
by Guest Contributor Dec. 14, 2023 8:45 am136 Comments
Summary
On November 9, 2020 (six days after the last presidential election), former Attorney General William Barr directed some of his key subordinates to investigate election irregularities, freeing them up to do so by overruling a prior internal Department of Justice (“DOJ”) policy that ordinarily pushed out such investigations until only after the relevant election had ended, been certified, and all election contests in court had finished. See Attorney General, Memorandum for United States Attorneys, The Assistant Attorneys General for the Criminal Division, Civil Rights Division, National Security Division, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (Nov. 9, 2020).
The November 9 Memo ignited a media firestorm. See, e.g., Matt Zapotofsky & Devlin Barrett, Barr Clears Justice Dept. to Investigate Alleged Voting Irregularities as Trump Makes Unfounded Fraud Claims, Washington Post (Nov. 9, 2020); Kevin Johnson & Kristine Phillips, Attorney General William Barr’s Election Fraud Memo Brings New Storm to Justice Department, USA Today (Nov. 10, 2020). Indeed, a senior career manager at DOJ resigned in protest of the November 9 Memo. See Bill Chappell, Head Of DOJ’s Election Crimes Unit Steps Down After Barr OKs Election Inquiries, NPR (Nov. 10, 2020) (“Richard Pilger resigned as head of the Justice Department’s election crimes branch Monday night, protesting Attorney General William Barr’s memo authorizing federal prosecutors to pursue allegations of voting irregularities.”). Pilger had edited the 2017 edition of DOJ’s approach to federal election crimes. See Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses (8th ed. Dec. 2017).
Then, on December 1, 2020, news emerged of an exclusive interview AG Barr had given to a single chosen reporter at the Associated Press. “The scoop, which was published on Dec. 1, 2020, quoted Barr as saying that the U.S. Justice Department had uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election.” David Bauder, The Story Behind the AP Report That Caused Trump to Throw Lunch, AP (June 28, 2022).
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/doj-investigations-2020-presidential-election-under-former-ag/
Senator J.D. Vance Wants Real Prison Time for Climate Change Activists Who Vandalize Historical Artworks
by Mike LaChance Dec. 13, 2023 10:40 pm242 Comments
Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance wants to raise the maximum amount of prison time that climate change activists can get for defacing famous works of art.
Over the last year, we have seen numerous instances of these lunatics gluing themselves to walls or artwork, in addition to throwing fluids like soup on the art. The public is disgusted but these people keep doing it anyway.
Vance wants them to face a possible ten years in prison instead of five. Why not fifteen or twenty?
FOX News reports:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/senator-j-d-vance-wants-real-prison-time/
The Telegraph
Opinion
Only Donald Trump can save the free world now
Con Coughlin
Wed, December 13, 2023 at 1:31 PM CST·4 min read
With the West in a desperate search for leadership, the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House next year might be just the fillip it needs.
US president Joe Biden’s three-year tenure in the White House has largely been characterised by his penchant for capitulation, from overseeing the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan to his constant dithering over the Ukraine conflict. His failure to provide Kyiv with the military kit it requires to make a decisive breakthrough in the conflict, informed, in part, by his fear of provoking the Kremlin, has been a key factor in creating the current stalemate.
Now Biden is wavering in his support for Israel after the horrendous October 7 attacks, questioning whether Jerusalem’s tactics are alienating world opinion. He should be pushing world leaders to give the Israelis the backing they deserve in their hour of need.
Europe, too, is suffering a leadership crisis, particularly on security issues like Ukraine, so much so that senior European diplomats are said to be lobbying Rishi Sunak to find his inner Winston Churchill, and assume the mantle Boris Johnson adopted so convincingly in leading Western support for Kyiv.
Sunak may have many qualities, but providing strong and effective wartime leadership, alas, is not one of them. Consequently, with no one prepared to make the obvious argument that Nato’s future security is inextricably linked to Ukraine achieving success on the battlefield, key powers such as Germany, France and the US find themselves struggling to sustain their backing for Kyiv.
Enter Donald Trump, or so a recent US opinion poll would have us believe. A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal predicts that the former US president would win next year in a race against Biden, with Trump currently enjoying 47 per cent support compared with Biden’s 43 per cent. The poll also shows that Trump has a clear lead in key swing states such as Florida, Georgia and Arizona.
The prospect of Trump returning to the White House has prompted paroxysms among political elites on both sides of the Atlantic,who are still licking their wounds from the bruising encounters they suffered during his previous term in office.
Trump is no Churchill: the billionaire businessman is too vain and erratic to stand comparison with Britain’s great wartime statesman. Nevertheless, it is just possible that, given Trump’s track record in handling several important security challenges, a political comeback by the former president might just succeed in galvanising the West into adopting a more robust stance against aggressors like Russia and Iran.
Trump’s recent interventions on Ukraine have, admittedly, not helped Kyiv’s cause. He opposed the Biden administration’s aid programme, arguing that the money would be better spent helping American parents to feed their children. One of Trump’s cardinal bugbears is, after all, an aversion to spending American taxpayers’ dollars overseas, not at home.
There is, though, some merit to his claim that, if he were still in office, Vladimir Putin would not have dared to launch his invasion of Ukraine. As Trump demonstrated in his dealings with North Korea and Iran, he is not afraid to use American military might as a deterrent when the need arises.
Indeed, while avoiding the lengthy and costly military interventions that have bedevilled previous Republican administrations, Trump authorised decisive military action on numerous occasions.
Unlike Barack Obama, who reneged on his threat to respond if Syria’s Assad regime resorted to the use of chemical weapons, Trump launched missile strikes against Syria in 2017 and 2018 after the regime deployed the weapons. Another significant intervention was Trump’s decision to revise the rules of engagement used by coalition forces in the military campaign to destroy Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which ultimately resulted in the destruction of the movement’s so-called caliphate in Raqqa.
Trump’s decision in 2020 to authorise the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard terrorist responsible for expanding Tehran’s malign influence in the Middle East, was another masterstroke, as was his role in negotiating the Abraham Accords, which led to several Arab nations normalising relations with Israel.
In Europe, meanwhile, Trump is primarily remembered for his constant hectoring of its leaders for not paying their fair share towards the continent’s defence, a criticism that remains as valid today as it did then. With several European countries, like Germany and France, seemingly more interested in cutting a deal with Moscow than giving Ukraine the military support it requires to defeat Russia, Trump’s return to global politics might help them to better understand where their true interests lie.
Trump might not be the most appealing character in American politics, but he is not someone who is easily ignored. He might be just the person to give the West the jolt it needs to wake up to the very real threats it faces.
https://news.yahoo.com/only-donald-trump-save-free-193159533.html
The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome
@TheMossadIL
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https://twitter.com/i/status/1734559786799190019
Israel is flushing Hamas out of Gaza
Colonel Richard Kemp
I was inside the Gaza Strip yesterday and witnessed two terrorist tunnels being destroyed with explosives by IDF engineers in Shejaiya. In the same area of Gaza City a short time later, the IDF suffered one of its deadliest single skirmishes since the ground offensive began, with nine soldiers of the Golani Brigade killed in a gun and explosives battle with terrorists.
Heavy fighting continues in the north and south of Gaza, both above ground and in Hamas’s extensive tunnel network, which – to give you a sense of scale – is assessed to be even more extensive than the London Underground’s 250 miles. The tunnels bring yet another incredibly formidable dimension to urban combat, which is itself among the most challenging of battle environments, characterised by particularly high casualty rates, especially among attacking forces.
I’ve been into those tunnels: they are heavily fortified, concrete lined and with lighting, electric power and air supply. Over two decades they have been constructed using vast sums of money, including international aid that should have been spent on civilian infrastructure, and costing the lives of many Gazans including dozens of children sent underground to work on them.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/12/13/israel-hamas-war-latest-news-updates-gaza-day-68-live/
“Rarely seen” killer whales spotted hunting sea lions off California coast
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/killer-whales-spotted-hunting-sea-lions-california-coast/
Head of Biden Crime Family Feels Guilty…but Doesn’t Plead Guilty
By John Green
The MSM are reporting that Joe Biden is raging at his staff because of the unfairness of Hunter being investigated. It’s giving old Joe a guilty conscience. I didn’t even know that was possible. According to Axios:
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2023/12/n-j-attorney-general-files-malicious-civil-complaints-against-firearm-industry-members/#ixzz8Lt27Fr8o
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N.J. Attorney General Files Malicious Civil Complaints Against Firearm Industry Members
Ammoland Inc. Posted on December 14, 2023 by John Petrolino
FPC, SAF, NJ2AS Challenge New Jersey Handgun Carry Ban
N.J. Attorney General Files Malicious Civil Complaints Against Firearm Industry Members
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin has filed two civil complaints against members of the firearms industry. Platkin, who’s been a member of Governor Phil Murphy’s team in one capacity or another since its inception, is executing a law that was enacted maliciously to put the squeeze on firearm-related businesses.
New Jersey’s Statewide Affirmative Firearms Enforcement Office enforces the 2022 firearms public nuisance law and acts as a work-around for the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The 2022 law allows the Attorney General to go after firearm companies in civil suits for breaking New Jersey’s law, even if they’re outside of said jurisdiction.
The companies named in the complaints are FSS Armory from New Jersey Patriot Enterprises Worldwide LLC (does business as Eagle Shows), and Not An LLC (does business as JSD Supply) from Pennsylvania.
The Attorney General alleges that FSS Armory was reckless in how they allegedly stored their firearms. A theft that occurred, as stated in Platkin’s release, was essentially being blamed on FSS.
The company’s failures put New Jersey residents, as well as those in neighboring states, in danger by allowing the weapons to be trafficked and placed in the hands of criminals and others not legally permitted to own a firearm.
The complaint against FSS Armory states:
FSS Armory, a state-licensed gun dealer, stored stacks of guns within easy reach of a ground-floor window adjacent to its sales floor and glass-doored entrance. It did not secure either the window or the guns. FSS Armory showcased these unlawful and reckless practices, posting images of the unsecured weapons and window to the homepage of its website and to the store’s Google Maps business listing….
After searching for “gun stores in nj” on their cell phone, a group of individuals found FSS Armory, drove there, broke the glass window, reached through, and stole twenty guns. The burglars promptly trafficked the guns. Some have since been since recovered in criminal investigations. Others have been used in crimes or recovered at active crime scenes. Most remain unaccounted for.
In the complaint against Eagle Shows and JSD Supply, Platikin alleges that these companies “have targeted the sale of ghost gun products to New Jersey residents.” Platkin is suing the companies for conducting lawful business in a completely different state, Pennsylvania.
The Attorney General brings this action to stop and remedy Defendants’ unlawful sale to New Jersey residents of products designed to create unserialized, untraceable firearms— commonly known as “Ghost Guns.” defendants, who know full well that Ghost Guns are illegal in New Jersey, deliberately sell their products at gun shows just across the New Jersey— Pennsylvania border. They do so to make Ghost Guns readily accessible to New Jersey residents—even though such weapons have been illegal in New Jersey for years.
Neither complaint filed against these companies was authored by Attorney General Platkin. The signatory attorney is listed as Assistant Attorney General David Leit.
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In the case of FSS, Platikin is punishing a victim of a crime, and in the other complaint, he’s punishing a company for lawfully conducting business outside of his own jurisdiction. “New Jersey’s residents demand and deserve to live free from fear of gun violence, and that requires we do everything possible to get illegal guns off our streets and out of our communities,” Platkin said in a statement. “[These] action[s] should make New Jersey’s position clear: Gun traffickers and their enablers will be held accountable when their actions place our residents in danger. Gun dealers and the firearms industry must abide by our laws or face the consequences.”
There was no mention of Platkin’s office referring to those who participated in the theft as “gun traffickers,” nor were there any known efforts to go after actual criminals who participated in criminal activity utilizing firearms that were self-made. In these bold steps, Platkin is not going after the real criminals who commit crimes but rather law-abiding companies.
The Director of SAFE, Ravi Ramanathan, said in a statement, “The unlawful and unreasonable actions of FSS Armory, JSD Supply, and Eagle Shows have caused significant harm to our communities, and they must be held accountable.” If the actions of the listed companies were “unlawful,” then where are the criminal complaints? “Unreasonable actions” amount to what in a court of law?
The State of New Jersey, under Governor Phil Murphy’s regime, has suffered irreparable damages from unlawful and unreasonable laws and policies. The execution of the firearms public nuisance law is just a way for the Garden State to ring up legal bills for law-abiding members of the firearms industry.
How is this going to shake out in the long run? It’s hard to tell. We’ll be watching closely what comes of these civil complaints. New Jersey might be barking up the wrong tree, and considering the abject failure of Platkin’s office in defending other unconstitutional laws, they may have bitten off more than they can chew. We’ll be reporting back with any updates
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2023/12/uscca-instructor-testifies-to-congress-on-importance-of-second-amendment-for-women/#ixzz8Lt2XrqJB
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USCCA Instructor Testifies to Congress on Importance of Second Amendment for Women
Ammoland Inc. Posted on December 13, 2023 by AmmoLand Editor Duncan Johnson
NSSF Congressional Report Card: Democrats Fail Miserably, iStock-1154438278
USCCA Instructor Testifies to Congress on Importance of Second Amendment for Women iStock-1154438278
Today, women firearms experts, advocates, and dealers from across the country will testify at a hearing hosted by the House Judiciary Committee’s Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee. The hearing, titled “Second Amendment Rights Empower Women’s Rights,” will explore how firearm ownership empowers women and has led to an increase in female gun owners and discuss the role of the Second Amendment as the nation continues to be plagued by violent crime.
Hearing witnesses include Beth Alcazar, a USCCA member, author of the USCCA’s Women’s Handgun & Self-Defense Fundamentals training curriculum and editor-at-large of Concealed Carry Magazine, as well as Geneva Solomon, a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) dealer; Shirley Watral, State Director for Florida at Women For Gun Rights; and Ruth M. Glenn, President of Survivor Justice Action.
Alcazar’s testimony highlights the growing number of responsible, trained gun owners from all walks of life and the work that the USCCA has done to educate and empower women gun owners.
Highlights from Alcazar’s opening statement include:
“I have made a personal choice to live as a mom with a gun. After all, I have three children who look to me as their guide, coach, counselor, and protector. And my journey in — and my dedication to — firearms, self-defense, and training has all been motivated by them.”
“As a woman and a mother, I am honored to be one of the leading instructors in the firearms industry. With this, I have witnessed, firsthand, a rich diversity as scores of American women are purchasing, training with, and carrying firearms in the name of female empowerment.”
“I view the attempt to limit or even criminalize law-abiding gun owners as anti-productive and dangerous, potentially carrying grave consequences for the safety of our families and our communities. The reality is that violent criminals — many with evil intent — do exist and are terrorizing us. This shouldn’t be the way that we live.”
The USCCA has the privilege of working with thousands of industry-leading instructors and educators like Alcazar, whose testimony provides a clear reminder that law-abiding citizens should be able to defend themselves from danger at all times, especially the growing demographic of women gun owners. While many anti-gun politicians claim to be pro-women, it’s clear that attempts to further restrict the right to self-defense through ineffective gun control laws will ultimately hurt more women than they help.
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The U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) is an association of responsible armed Americans whose members get exceptional self-defense education, lifesaving training, and self-defense liability insurance, preparing them for the before, during and after of a lawful act of self-defense. Headquartered in West Bend, WI, the USCCA is the largest, fastest-growing self-defense association dedicated to responsible gun owners.
For more information about the USCCA, visit our website.
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2023/12/dining-with-cannibals-the-mood-in-western-europe/#ixzz8Lt2tHSkx
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Dining with Cannibals! The Mood in Western Europe
Ammoland Inc. Posted on December 13, 2023 by John Farnam
Opinion
IMG iStock-1288437044
This is from a friend in Western Europe:
“As soon as an Islamic terrorist commits an act of violence over here, all while yelling ‘Allahu Akbar,’ he is instantly (re)defined as ‘mentally ill,’ and our media assures us that this person ‘does not represent the majority of Islamics.’
When the same media is able to keep secret the name and national origin of the terrorist, they will gladly do so. However, when a ‘real Frenchman,’ commits a crime, his name will be all over the news, and he is always accused of being ‘right wing.’
There is currently an epidemic of attacks upon, and murders of, Europeans by Islamics! No matter how many times it happens, nothing it is ever done. Understandably, rage among native Europeans is mounting!
Unwillingness of western European governments to even address this issue pushes us all towards the far right.
In The Netherlands, Geert Wilders (labeled by the media as ‘right wing’) has just won in the latest election. No one is surprised. Over here, as in your country, we are fed-up with woke gas-bags!
Right now, social tension is extremely high in France, as well as in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Spain.
In western Europe, leftist/woke politicians are unwilling to understand that Islamics from the Mid-East and north Africa represent a specific immigration that is altogether incompatible with our democratic/Judeo-Christian values.
Islamics take-over entire areas of our cities, and police are deathly afraid to so much as set foot inside these self-declared, ever-expanding ‘sovereign nations!’
Eastern Europeans (Poland, Hungary), know this all pattern all too well, and have thus wisely refused to let non-assimilating radicals past their borders. They are so much smarter than we are!
Even Egypt and Jordan don’t want them. Nobody wants them!
Western Europe is coming to the inescapable conclusion that we need to finally take strict measures to stop this uncontrolled immigration (most of it illegal), immediately expel all illegals, and restore order.
Or, we kiss our civilization, and all of Western Civilization, good-by!”
“When you dine with them cannibals, well sooner or later darling, you’re gonna get eaten” ~ Nick Cave.
Civilization Versus the New Nihilists
Americans must choose between civilization—or its destroyers
Nihilism is the religion of the Left. Anarchy is now at the core of the new Democratic Party.
If the Left wished radically to alter the demography of the U.S., it could have expanded legal immigration through legislation or the courts.
Instead, it simply erased the border and dynamited federal immigration law.
By fiat, nihilists ended the wall, and stopped detaining and deporting illegal aliens altogether.
Elon: Cut Your Electric Bill By 90%
Or was it worse than that when candidate Joe Biden in September 2019 urged would-be illegal aliens to “surge” the border?
As a result, through laxity and entitlement incentives, eight-million illegal entrants have swarmed the southern border under the Biden administration.
They are swamping border towns, bankrupting big-city budgets, and infuriating even Democratic constituencies.
The same nihilism applies to crime.
In the old days liberals gave light sentences to criminals or reduced bail. But today leftist prosecutors do not even seek bail. They hardly prosecute theft or random assaults.
Criminals are arrested and released the same day. Is the nihilist plan to destroy the entire body of American jurisprudence, and to ensure “equity” in being victimized?
Is the woke idea that all Americans—inclusive of diverse Beverly Hills elites, Hollywood celebrities, or members of Congress alike—must share victim equity, and thus experience first-hand street robbery, car-jacking, smash-and-grab, and home invasion?
The United States can produce annually more natural gas and oil than any nation on earth. It once pioneered nuclear power. It has vast coal reserves and sophisticated hydroelectric plants.
The old idea was to use these unmatched resources to transition gradually to other cleaner fuels such as hydrogen, fusion power, solar, and wind. That way consumers would still enjoy affordable energy. And the United States could remain independent of coercion by the oil-producing Middle East.
But that was not the nihilist way.
Instead, the left deliberately cut back on pipelines, new energy leases, and fracking. It bragged of an upcoming ban on fossil fuels. In drought-stricken, energy-short California, the state is blowing up, not building new dams.
Is the nihilist agenda to punish with bankrupcy the energy-using middle class?
Is the hope that Americans will have to beg the Saudis, Iranians, Venezuelans, and Russians to pump more of the hated goo for our benefit so we would not have to dirty ourselves helping ourselves?
When Joe Biden entered office in January 2021 the U.S. was naturally rebounding from more than a year of Covid-enforced lockdowns.
Overtaxed supply chains were still fragile. Pent-up demand was soaring. Consumers were flush with government cash. Trillions of dollars had been printed and infused into the economy to ward off a feared recession.
All economists advised not to increase the deficit, spike further consumer demand, and expand entitlements.
Instead the Left did just the opposite.
Four-trillion dollars were printed and distributed. In no time, Americans, recovering from Covid, next experienced the worst, but entirely preventable, inflation in 40 years.
Three years later prices on staples remain 30-40 percent higher than when Biden took office. Mortgage rates tripled.
Abroad the nihilism is even more inexplicable and terrifying.
All nations suffer military setbacks. But none in memory have shamefully hightailed out of a theater as we did from Afghanistan.
Few countries could even imagine discarding billions of dollars of weapons and hardware into the hands of the terrorist Taliban, or abandoning a $1 billion new embassy, and a huge, remodeled air base.
Why did the administration simply allow a huge Chinese spy balloon to float and photograph leisurely over the continental U.S.?
Naïve countries might endure two or three attacks on their overseas bases without serious retaliation. But how could the U.S. military permit 135 rocket barrages by Iranian-supplied terrorists on American soldiers without a major and sustained response?
Is the point to humiliate our own troops? To destroy what is left of U.S. deterrence?
Popular culture is especially captive to leftist nihilism.
It is not enough to object to a statue or artwork. Instead, without deliberation or public input, they must be defaced or destroyed, all the better stealthily and by night.
After the massacres of October 7—but well before Israel had even responded to the barbaric invasion—thousands of students swarmed their elite universities cheering on the violence.
And what so exhilarated them?
The nihilist, ghoulish beheading, torture, mutilation, mass rape, dismemberment, and necrophilia of unarmed, civilian Israeli elderly, women, children, and infants.
In sum, we are witnessing an epidemic of leftist nihilism similar to the 16th-century European mad wave of iconoclastic destruction of religious art.
Or is the better parallel the suicidal insanity that Mao Zedong unleashed during his cultural revolution of the 1960s?
The old politics of right versus left, and Republican opposed to Democrat have now given way to a new existential struggle: Americans must choose between civilization—or its destroyers.
https://amgreatness.com/2023/12/14/civilization-versus-the-new-nihilists/
Eliot A. Cohen, prof at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Internat’l Studies:
For Israel, the Existential Question Returns
The uncertainties of the moment are immense, but a few things are clear. The first is the striking resilience of Israeli civil society. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis fled not abroad, but home, many of them to don uniforms and join reserve units. Civil action groups have filled in all kinds of gaps – from supplying soldiers to replacing labor on Israeli farms.
For nearly half a century, the existential question hasn’t been on the table for Israel. After Oct. 7, however, Israelis live under the constant threat of an unshakably hostile and eliminationist coalition led by Iran and including Hizbullah, Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis and kindred groups –
[don't forget the Moslem Brotherhood!]</code]- that will use any means to weaken and eventually destroy their state.
Once again, as in Israel's first quarter-century, they may have to live under perpetual siege, building a society while keeping one wary hand ever on the sword, for at least the foreseeable future. The first Israelis accepted that challenge and still managed to thrive. Their spirit thus far suggests that one should not doubt that their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are capable of doing the same.
https://archive.ph/8ybwD
or
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-state-middle-east-war-0ef86623
.......
Yad v'Shem, the Hand of G-d, provides an existential crisis to pull people together. That's the deal, has been since the Exodus.
The Father of modern Zionism, Theodore Hertzl said:
Entire branches of the Jewish people may fall away - but the trunk remains.
During the Congressional testimony of the three-stooge University Prez panel, many of the interrogators were taking the opportunity to address
conservative*all-American* issues. Sometimes explicitly (specific examples of abuse of White Christian students AND conservative Blacks), more often implicit (replace the words "Jew" or "Jewish" with AMERICAN.Watching it I could feel the spirit of John Quincy Adams - POTUS-6. (Quickie background: "Noah’s Ark - and Ours")
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/noahs-ark-and-ours/
Incisive comment: "Tell the Jewish left in America that they are not essential for Israel. Most Americans back Israel about as much or more than the liberal Jews. Now over two million members of Christians United for Israel and ?growing each year. More reliable than "liberal" Jews in the US."
Four arrested in Europe over alleged cross-border Hamas terrorism plot
Three held in Germany and one in Netherlands over plans for possible attacks on Jewish institutions, prosecutor says
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/14/four-arrested-in-europe-over-alleged-cross-border-hamas-terrorism-plot
Four people have been arrested in Germany and the Netherlands on suspicion of being part of a cross-border Hamas terrorism plot that German federal prosecutors said aimed to target Jewish institutions in Europe.
Three others were arrested in Denmark on apparently related terrorism offences, and while police in Copenhagen were more circumspect about the details, the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said the threat was “as serious as it gets”.
The office of Germany’s federal prosecutor said three men were detained in Berlin and the fourth in Rotterdam on Thursday and were described as “longstanding members of Hamas” who had links to its military wing and “have participated in Hamas operations abroad”.
One of the group, named only as Abdelhamid Al A, was accused by the prosecutor of having “started searching for an underground weapons cache in Europe no later than spring 2023” on the orders of Hamas leaders based in Lebanon. The cache had been “created in the past in a conspiratorial manner” by Hamas, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement released on Thursday afternoon. “The weapons were due to be taken to Berlin and kept in a state of readiness in view of potential terrorist attacks against Jewish institutions in Europe.”
In October, the month of Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel, three of the four men “travelled repeatedly from Berlin to look for the weapons”, the prosecutor continued, with a fourth accused of providing assistance.
The German authorities gave the first names and the initials of the surnames of the four arrested: Abdelhamid Al A, born in Lebanon; Mohamed B, an Egyptian national; Nazih R, a Dutch national who police in the Netherlands said was aged 57; Ibrahim El-R, born in Lebanon.
Danish police said their investigation revealed “a network of people has been preparing a terrorist act” which ran across international borders, according to Flemming Drejer, a police chief superintendent.
At a meeting with EU leaders in Brussels, Frederiksen offered more context. “It is of course – in relation to Israel and Gaza – completely unacceptable for someone to bring a conflict elsewhere in the world into Danish society,” she said.
Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency said police in Denmark had “arrested seven terrorists acting on behalf of the Hamas terrorist organisation” and had “thwarted an attack, the goal of which was to kill innocent civilians on European soil”.
Hibz ut-Tharir a spin-off of the Muslim Brotherhood hoods
Article 56 of Hibz Constitution:
Calls for compulsory conscription in their sought after caliphate. It states that every Muslim male who is fifteen years and over, is obliged to undergo military training in readiness for jihad.
The definition of Jihad is also quite clear. The meaning of Jihad being a duty of sufficiency is that we initiate the fighting of the enemy even if he did not attack us. if the Muslims failed to initiate the fighting at any given time, they would be sinful. Hibz believes that defensive Jihad is a falsehood.
Remember, Hibz ut-Tharir leader Dr.Mohammed Malkawi, at a conference in Jordon said “Let Britain, America and the entire West go to hell, because the Caliphate is coming”.
Does the government of Canada have people monitoring outspoken, Canadian leader of Hibz ut-Tharir, Mazin Abdul-Adhim, if so, why has he not been charged with hate speech?
Finally after 6 years, Ibrahim Ali, a Syrian refugee, fast tracked by the Trudeau government was found guilty of 1rst degree murder. Ali was 27 at the time, his victim a 13 year old BC girl, viciously raped and strangled, was found in a park. He had been in Canada for 3 months at the time.
Golitsyn’s Revelations: the Big Picture
Video + comments
by J. R. Nyquist – December 13, 2023
https://jrnyquist.blog/2023/12/13/golitsyns-revelations-the-big-picture/
“New Lies For Old” by Anatoliy Golitsyn – Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDl-5kn82E4&list=PL8ZqEN0xwCfP5daF5xGP2zWVLMDjU5uBA&index=1
Friends & Enemies (12/10/23) Return of anticommunism
Candor Intelligence Network – December 10, 2023
Congress Passes Legislation Blocking Trump and Future Presidents from Exiting NATO Without Senate Approval
by Jim H?ft Dec. 14, 2023 5:00 pm35 Comments
On Thursday, the House passed the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a vote of 310-118, following the Senate’s endorsement, which now advances the bill to President Biden’s desk.
The NDAA extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, pledging continued U.S. support in the region through fiscal 2027.
This bill also removed almost all of the cultural provisions proposed by the GOP — this includes a clause that would have prevented the Defense Department from covering travel expenses for military personnel seeking abortions in different states.
Johnson permitted the inclusion of an extension for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This incorporation of a Section 702 extension into the bill will enable the FBI and other government agencies to conduct surveillance on U.S. citizens.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/congress-enacts-legislation-blocking-trump-future-presidents-exiting/
Lawless FBI Notifies Blaze Journalist Steve Baker He Will Be Charged Next Week for His Actions as a Reporter at the J6 Protests
by Jim Hoft Dec. 14, 2023 2:20 pm217 Comments
Nearly three years after the January 6, 2021 fedsurrection, Blaze reporter Steve Baker reported on Thursday that he will be charged for his actions that day reporting on the event.
Steve wrote in October that he was under investigation for the past two years by Chris Wray’s FBI for reporting at the historic protests in Washington DC.
Even reporters aren’t safe from this tyrannical regime. Steve expected to be charged by the Biden regime.
Steve Baker detailed his experiences that day in a previous report. Then in February 2021 he began questioning the role others may have played in the protests and rioting that day That was clearly off limits.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/lawless-fbi-notifies-blaze-journalist-steve-baker-he/
Libs Have Started An Afterschool Program Teaching Children About Satan
by Sharika Soal Dec. 14, 2023 1:20 pm355 Comments
Wow, 2023 will go down in history as a wild one. According to school officials, an After School Satan Club plans to offer activities to children at a Tennessee elementary school after Christmas break.
CBS reports
As one would imagine, some of the locals aren’t thrilled about the idea of an After School Satan Club.
The school’s superintendents put out a statement trying to reassure parents that teaching elementary-aged children about satan is wholesome and there is nothing to worry about.
The Gateway Pundit reported on a Spring ruling forcing a Pennsylvania school district to host an After School Satan Club.
Homeschool is always an option and seems to be a great path for parents who do not wish to have their 7-year-old learn about satan after school.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/libs-have-started-afterschool-program-teaching-children-about/
“Son of a B*tch… This Is Our Country!” – Muslim Youths Physically Attack Santa Claus in Germany, Rip His Costume
by Jim Hoft Dec. 14, 2023 4:40 pm174 Comments
54-year-old Ranier B. has performed as Santa Claus for several years in Kassel, Germany. This year was different.
A group of Muslim youths attacked Ranier, beating him and ripping his Santa suit.
The Santa Claus performer was forced to flee as the youths screamed that this was “their country” and you’re a “son of a bitch!”
They may want to revamp those multiculturalism classes in Kassel.
This is not the first time Muslims have attacked German Christmas and holiday celebrations.
** in 2027 Muslims torched Germany’s oldest church on New Year’s Eve.
** In 2018 a hatchet-wielding jihadist screaming “allahu akbar” was arrested at a Christmas market.
** In 2019 eight Arabs attacked a Christmas Eve party at St. Nicolai’s church in Chemnitz.
** And in 2016 a Pakistani refugee killed at least 12 people when he drove a truck through the Berlin Christmas market.
read more at
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/son-btch-this-is-our-country-muslim-youths/
=====================================================================
Hamas Plot Targeting Jews in Europe Foiled, Arrests Made in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark
by Margaret Flavin Dec. 14, 2023 3:20 pm79 Comments
Arrests by authorities in Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark have reportedly foiled a plot by Hamas to attack Jewish targets in Europe.
According to German police, three suspected members of Hamas were arrested in Berlin and an additional suspect was arrested in the Netherlands.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Germany’s federal prosecutor shared, “One of the men, acting under orders from Hamas leaders in Lebanon, had in the spring begun searching for a cache of weapons the organization had clandestinely assembled in the past.”
The weapons were to be brought to Berlin in advance of a possible attack on Jewish institutions.
Prosecutors suggested the suspects were “strongly suspected of membership of a foreign terrorist organization,” referring to Hamas.
read more at
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/hamas-plot-targeting-jews-europe-foiled-arrests-made/
Unconventional Trial Judge Could Remove Trump From His N.Y. Empire
December 14, 2023
in News
Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, set out to prove that Donald J. Trump had committed fraud. Mr. Trump took the stand to assail Ms. James. Lawyers on both sides screamed that their opponents were out of line and wasting time.
When 11 weeks of chaotic courtroom wrangling ended Wednesday, the fate of Mr. Trump’s civil fraud trial began to move behind the scenes and into the hands of Arthur F. Engoron, the unconventional New York judge overseeing the case. And because the judge will decide the verdict — there is no jury — he will determine the future of Mr. Trump’s role in his family business.
ustice Engoron ruled before the trial began that Mr. Trump had fraudulently inflated his net worth, and announced an initial round of punishments. That blow recast the trial as a battle over how steep a penalty the former president would face. Ms. James has indicated that she may press for a fine well above the $250 million she originally sought and will ask the judge to bar Mr. Trump from running a business in the state, banishing him from the world that made him famous decades ago.
The attorney general’s arguments seemed to persuade the judge, and under the powerful New York law underpinning the case, he has broad authority to punish Mr. Trump. His decision is expected as soon as next month, after closing arguments in court.
“The judge has extraordinary powers to fashion a remedy to curtail and punish the misconduct, meaning bad news for Trump,” said Steven M. Cohen, a former top official in the attorney general’s office who is now a partner at Blue Raven LLP and teaches corporation law at New York Law School.
Yet Justice Engoron might have already erred when he issued that initial punishment of Mr. Trump, ordering that some of his New York companies be dissolved.
The decision set off a firestorm and appeared to imperil much of Mr. Trump’s New York empire. But interviews with legal experts and a review of court rulings suggest that the judge may have lacked the authority to dissolve the companies.
An appeals court last week granted Mr. Trump’s request to pause the punishment so it could consider Justice Engoron’s ruling. That could presage a more thorough assessment of the judge’s decision-making throughout the trial; Mr. Trump’s lawyers have placed their hopes on an appeal.
“President Trump very much appreciates the court’s consideration and ruling,” Christopher Kise, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, said in a statement after the appeals court granted the request, adding that it would help “pave the way for a much needed, and deliberative, review of the trial court’s many errors.”
Alternatively, Justice Engoron could adjust the order himself. If Mr. Trump’s lawyers persuade him, he could use the expected January verdict to change his position before the appeals court has its say.
Al Baker, a spokesman for the court system, said that it would be inappropriate to comment on a continuing case, and referred “to the actions and rulings in this matter which are all part of the public record.” A spokeswoman for Ms. James declined to comment.
The trial is the product of a lawsuit that Ms. James filed last year against Mr. Trump, his adult sons and their family business, accusing them of fudging the value of his assets on years of annual financial statements they provided to banks and other lenders.
Ms. James contended that the statements were so inflated that the Trumps had defrauded the banks. Her case hinged on years of documentary evidence and the testimony of the Trumps themselves, who acknowledged a role in creating the statements.
For its part, the defense called expert witnesses to emphasize that the valuation of real estate is subjective, and that they had found no fraud. The defense also summoned the bankers, who testified that they had done their own analysis of Mr. Trump’s net worth and had concluded it was safe to lend him money — business that was profitable for them.
Despite the trial’s hinging on spreadsheet cells, accounting rules and financial arcana, it took on a distinctly schoolyard atmosphere: Mr. Trump stormed out of the courtroom one day, a witness answered his mobile phone while on the stand, Mr. Kise likened Ms. James’s team to the Kremlin and one of the attorney general’s lawyers snapped at Mr. Kise for issuing “a bunch of ridiculous objections.”
The tension had already boiled over early in the trial, when another of the attorney general’s lawyers demanded that Mr. Trump’s team “be more respectful,” prompting Mr. Kise to reply, “No.”
Justice Engoron presided over the ruckus, often looking like an exasperated parent gently trying to restore order while defusing tension with self-deprecating humor. He dispensed birthday wishes to lawyers and once remarked, “I’m not as dumb as I look.”
Mr. Trump, a Republican, took aim at the judge, who, like Ms. James, is a Democrat. He portrayed them both as members of a left-wing cabal out to derail his latest run for the presidency. In the courtroom, Mr. Kise repeatedly accused the judge of bias. On social media, Mr. Trump took aim at Justice Engoron’s family; court officials later said that numerous antisemitic threats had been made against the judge..
The former president and his defense team also attacked Justice Engoron’s law clerk, landing them in trouble with the judge, who imposed a limited gag order to prevent them from speaking ill of court staff. Mr. Trump twice violated the order, resulting in $15,000 in fines.
Things are now likely to get a lot worse for Mr. Trump. With the courtroom portion of the trial concluding, Justice Engoron, who has appeared sympathetic to Ms. James’s case from the beginning, is poised to impose a sweeping array of punishments.
In addition to the financial penalty, Justice Engoron could institute five-year bans blocking Mr. Trump and his company from striking commercial real estate deals in New York or seeking loans from banks chartered in the state. Most notably, Justice Engoron could permanently bar Mr. Trump from running a company in New York, a move that would essentially erase the former president from much of his company’s operations.
Although Mr. Trump has largely turned the page from business to politics, those punishments would nonetheless constrain his company and be a shameful capstone to his half-century as a New York businessman.
Justice Engoron’s first punishment of Mr. Trump — dissolving some of his New York companies — is less likely to stick.
The order, which came shortly before the trial began, canceled a special type of business certificate that allows some of Mr. Trump’s New York companies to operate using certain names. The punishment would force 10 or so businesses — including Mr. Trump’s New York golf clubs and the entity that manages his hotel overlooking Central Park — to obtain new certificates, a relatively minor headache.
The next line of Justice Engoron’s order went further, referring to the “dissolution of the canceled LLCs,” legalese for the limited liability corporations that control Mr. Trump’s properties. In other words, the judge seemed to be terminating not only the certificates, which can be replaced, but also the actual Trump companies that own or manage his golf resorts, hotel and other assets. For those companies, it appeared to be lights out.
Even Ms. James had not sought that severe a punishment. Under New York law, the experts said, a judge can dissolve an LLC only if one of its members seeks to.
“He’s going beyond what the statute seems to allow,” said David W. Lowden, a lawyer who for decades specialized in commercial transactions and corporate law at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. Mr. Lowden said that while many observers had predicted that the ruling would crush Mr. Trump’s New York operations, it might ultimately be a simple bureaucratic irritation, resolvable through paperwork.
Other experts noted that the judge’s order applied to all 10 or so of Mr. Trump’s New York companies that have this special type of business certificate, not just the much smaller subset implicated in Ms. James’s complaint. Imposing a punishment on a company not accused of wrongdoing most likely runs afoul of various legal principles, the experts said, and could prompt the appeals court to intervene.
“He may have bought himself an appellate problem and fueled an otherwise dubious claim of bias,” Mr. Cohen said.
But despite the monthslong slog of a trial — and the risk of reversal — Justice Engoron maintained his sense of sarcasm. When Mr. Kise said this week that he wanted to tie up some loose ends for the sake of his appeal, the judge asked, “You’re going to appeal?”
The post Unconventional Trial Judge Could Remove Trump From His N.Y. Empire appeared first on New York Times.
https://dnyuz.com/2023/12/14/unconventional-trial-judge-could-remove-trump-from-his-n-y-empire/
Denmark, Germany arrest terror suspects, including alleged Hamas members, authorities say
Denmark and Germany announced Thursday the arrests of several terror suspects, including alleged Hamas members suspected of plotting attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in Europe over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The announcements were issued separately and it was unclear how the arrests were connected and if they were the result of coordinated actions, or even possibly one operation spanning the continent.
Danish police said three people were arrested across Denmark while a fourth person was detained in the Netherlands on suspicion of plotting to carry out “an act of terror.”
Officials in Copenhagen did not provide any details beyond saying the arrests had “threads abroad” and were “related to criminal gangs,” singling out the banned, predominantly immigrant gang Loyal to Familia that had long been behind feuds, violence, robberies, extortion and drug sales in the Danish capital.
However, Flemming Drejer, the operative head of Denmark’s Security and Intelligence Service, cryptically said police had “a special focus” on Jewish institutions. He said Denmark was not changing its terror threat level, which has been at “serious,” the second-highest level, since 2010.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hamas-germany-denmark-terror-attacks-foiled-against-jewish-targets/
Oslo’s E-Bus Fleet Could Use Some Warming…City Paralyzed as Buses “Break Down” Due To Cold
18 hours ago
Guest Blogger
94 Comments
From the NoTricksZone
By P Gosselin
This site here reports that Oslo, Norway’s new electric buses didn’t fare very well during the recent cold. The capital city’s public transport ended up “paralyzed”.
The buses were advertised to have a range of 250 km…but then reality hit!
“Oslo’s brand new fleet of electric buses is not designed for these temperatures – their batteries are failing miserably in the icy cold,” reports aussiedlerbote.de/.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/12/13/oslos-e-bus-fleet-could-use-some-warmingcity-paralyzed-as-buses-break-down-due-to-cold/
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2023/12/bill-to-ban-gun-cad-files-nears-vote-in-the-senate/#ixzz8LujbHKAG
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
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Bill to Ban Gun CAD Files Nears Vote In The Senate
Ammoland Inc. Posted on December 14, 2023 by John Crump
3D Printed Ghost Guns
FPC Sue State Department For Records About ‘3-D’ Gun Blueprints
A bill to ban computer-aided design (CAD) gun file sharing could be voted on in the United States Senate any day.
The bill reads: “It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally distribute, over the internet or by means of the World Wide Web, digital instructions in the form of Computer Aided Design files or other code that can automatically program a 3-dimensional printer or similar device to produce a firearm or complete a firearm from an unfinished frame or receiver.”
Senate Bill 1819 is known as the 3D Printed Gun Safety Act and was introduced by Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and co-sponsored by 28 other Democrats, including Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and the late Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). It also has support from most of the other Democrats in the Senate.
“Let me be clear: We aren’t just talking about water pistols here,” said Co-sponsor Senate Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY). “We’re talking about real, fully operational semi-automatic firearms like AR-15 rifles and Beretta M9 handguns. Because many of the 3D printed guns are made of plastic, they can bypass metal detectors commonly used at…secure public areas. People are going into these public spaces and using these ghost guns to commit crimes, and law enforcement is finding it more and more difficult to stop them.”
The bill will prevent the sharing of gun CAD, which is hosted on sites such as Defense Distributed’s Def CAD website. The CAD files let anyone with a 3D printer print a firearm receiver. The affordability of 3D Printers that can be purchased for as little as a few hundred dollars has led to an explosion of DIY gun builders that design and print firearms. The 3D print revolution has made gun laws obsolete.
The bill cites the lack of serial numbers on 3D-printed firearms as one reason the Democrats believe that this proposed law is necessary. Federal law does not require homemade guns to have serial numbers. Anti-gun politicians in Congress have not been able to muster the support to change the law to require serial numbers for privately manufactured firearms (PFM).
Due to the lack of action in Congress, President Joe Biden ordered the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to issue a rule banning 80% kits and changed the classification of unfinished frames to be considered firearms. The ATF rule change did not address the 3D printing of guns.
Some states have proposed radical laws to try to cut down on the printing of firearms. New York has proposed a law that would require background checks to buy a 3D printer. Anyone the government prohibits from owning firearms would also be prevented from acquiring a 3D printer.
The proposed federal law raises constitutional questions beyond just the Second Amendment. Many believe that computer code is protected speech, and this law would run afoul of the First Amendment. Many books and resources exist that teach people how to make drugs and bombs, like the Anarchist Cookbook. Some in the gun community reason if that is protected by freedom of speech, then computer code that allows someone to make a gun must also be covered by the First Amendment.
A companion bill in the House of Representatives is currently in the House Judiciary. The House bill is expected to fail due to a lack of support from Republicans. It is doubtful that the Senate bill will have enough votes for a supermajority, but the Democrats have been able to pressure the Republicans into passing anti-gun bills such as the Bi-Partisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA)
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2023/12/the-2nd-amendment-why-we-have-it-why-democrats-want-to-destroy-it/#ixzz8LukkZuzw
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The 2nd Amendment, Why We Have It & Why Democrats Want To Destroy It
Ammoland Inc. Posted on December 14, 2023 by F Riehl, Editor in Chief
Opinion
Letter to the AmmoLand Editor
Democarts War on Guns and America
Democarts War on Guns and America
Because of the British King and parliament in 1775, the American Colonies were in distress over government mandates and taxes. To counter this, local militias were formed by Minutemen, who were prepared to confront the oppressive government at a minute’s notice, hence the name. These Minuteman militias gathered military-grade weapons and gunpowder and stored them in central locations. They were stored in a warehouse near Boston in the Town of Concord.
The key to these militias was that they trained as units at farms around their cities. In order to meet the British Army, they needed training to do so. Alongside these militias was a dedicated group [today, we call them Anons] that disseminated the truth and some fiction about the evils of the British.
Among them were Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, Thomas Payne, and numerous others.
In an attempt to control the spreading of these truths, rumors, and falsehoods, the British Government clamped down on the press. In 1775, the Colonial press was strictly controlled by the British Government, and only what they said was allowed to be printed.
Local gathering spots, like pubs and stores, allowed posters, pamphlets, and bills to be left for all to read in order to circumvent these new, aggressive, repressive laws intended to suppress any non-governmental truth from being heard. Men and women were imprisoned for speaking the truth.
After our Constitution was ratified, before the ink was dry, the Bill of Rights became the first ten amendments to ensure that no government would ever again be so powerful that “We the People” could not replace it using the exact force used to expel the British.
That is why the Second Amendment is the only one that addresses only one subject; “The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms.”
The Second Amendment, above all others, is the only means that ‘We The People’ have to ensure that our leaders obey the rest of the Constitution. Of course, this writer is not the only one who has read American history. Biden’s handlers have read it, too. It is why there was a concentrated effort to destroy and punitively punish the Oath Keepers.
The Oath Keepers presented a particular dilemma for the anti-American left.
They really didn’t require additional training to be a viable militia and were a threat to the communist-loving left who are destroying our Constitution. The Oath Keepers were an organization of ex-military and police. These men and women had two things in common: they were all patriots and all trained in the martial arts. They were ready to go to war with a minute’s notice.
They were an existential threat to the Democrat party and had to be destroyed. It is why all of the leaders have been imprisoned for multiple years. And the organization no longer exists. All other para-military organizations, such as the Proud Boys, Three Presenters, and any other patriotic movement, have also been diminished, almost into obscurity.
As patriots are being imprisoned, demeaned, and isolated. The Biden administration, along with all Democrats nationally, have been attempting to destroy the Second Amendment in the most concentrated effort ever in the history of the United States. Even as the Supreme Court has found in favor of the Second Amendment in its most forceful ruling ever, the Bruen decision, anti-American communists are attacking the decision through activist judges and outright attacks on conservative justices of SCOTUS.
3%
One more piece of history must be remembered to fully understand the severity of where we are at this very minute. When our Revolution began, about one-third of the citizens of the American Colonies were for separation from England, while one-third were opposed to it.
It was that one-third that were unsure that made the difference between America being another British Colony or an independent nation.
Through the efforts of those writers who posted the truth on bulletin boards, at pubs, and meeting houses, and every patriot who repeated those truths that swayed the majority of Americans, independence from Great Britain was not only possible, it was achievable. It took the militias’ dogged resolve in battle to provide victories in Oriskany, New York, Bennington, Vermont, and finally, Saratoga, New York, in 1777 that convinced enough middle-of-the-roaders that we could win that changed the course of history.
Today, we have one-third of our nation who are true patriots, one-third who are anti-American, and one-third who are middle-of-the-roaders. While our government, at every level, is doing everything it can to suppress the truth from getting out, making up new government-speak words like misinformation and disinformation, there are still those trying to spread the truth.
You must become one of those spreading the truth. Pass on these truths any way you can. Email, social media, snail mail, word-of-mouth, and even pamphlets on bulletin boards in bars. It is the only way that America and our Constitution can remain without blood being spilled. Yes, we are nearing the point of no return.
This author believes that the election of 2024 will be a turning point in our history, no matter who wins and who loses if Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the candidates. Whoever wins, the losers’ supporters will not believe the results. Another January 6th will result, but it will not end non-violently because nonviolence was tried, and we all know the results.
The attack on the Second Amendment by team Biden is telling that the anti-American left believes that they are near the end of their campaign to substantially transform America as Obama promised five days before his successful 2008 presidential run. They believe that they will be able to suppress ‘We the People’ once we are disarmed. It is why they are putting so much effort into it while ignoring violent criminals.
Once they are in total control, those criminals, the homeless, and all patriots will be rounded up and sent to some gulag to vanish forever. That is why removing private possession of guns is so important to them. Just look at old England now, without guns. They arrest people for saying the word queer or silently praying in public. That is what we avoided when we took up arms in 1775. Democrats want that power now. And it all begins by ending the Second Amendment.
There is only one reasonable chance of avoiding violent conflict: winning the hearts and minds of most Americans before November 5, 2024. And we all can play a part in that simply by spreading the truth.
God bless America.
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2023/12/hochul-celebrates-antonyuk-outcome-but-will-justices-thomas-alito/#ixzz8Lulk0pt6
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Hochul Celebrates Antonyuk Outcome, but Will Justices Thomas & Alito?
Ammoland Inc. Posted on December 14, 2023 by Roger Katz
Opinion
Comp-Tac eV2 Max Holster and eV2 Mag pouch Concealed Carry
File Photo
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit came down with its decision in Antonyuk vs. Chiumento, on December 8, 2023. The case is mostly bad news for present or prospective concealed handgun carry licensees in New York, although it’s not surprising news to us.
There is much to glean from the decision.
The Second Circuit’s rulings in Antonyuk cohere essentially with that Court’s own prior rulings, giving only lip service to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In Heller and Bruen the U.S. Supreme Court explained the faultiness of the Second Circuit’s approach to the Second Amendment and that of several of its sister Federal Appellate Courts that also abhor the natural law right codified succinctly and in the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The Second Circuit apparently felt it could defy Heller because the Heller rulings, while directly affecting New York’s Handgun Law, didn’t directly refer to that Law. The Bruen rulings, though, did. The impetus for the Heller rulings, apart from the major reaffirmation of the right to keep and bear arms as an individual right, was directed to the D.C. Law on handguns.
However, since Bruen specifically dealt with New York’s Handgun Law, the Second Circuit found itself in a quandary—the nature of that quandary we had previously discussed.
See the Arbalest Quarrel article, posted on January 20, 2023, in Ammoland Shooting Sports News. What Supreme Court’s Order To NY Sate In Antonyuk vs Nigrelli Really Means.
The Second Circuit has now played its hand. Acceding to the wishes of the New York Hochul Government, it has spurned the rulings and reasoning of, and mocked and provoked, its parent, the U.S. Supreme Court.
It has echoed and amplified the sentiments of Kathy Hochul and of other New York Government officials and leaders and has made clear its own contempt for those citizens who wish to exercise their right to armed self-defense in New York.
The decision of the three Federal Appellate Judges was unanimous.
A cursory inspection of the decision may convey the impression to some that the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found a way out of the morass:
Reassuring Governor Hochul and the Democrat Party-controlled Legislature in Albany that the New York Government can continue to enforce the CCIA and placating the Plaintiffs, New York concealed handgun carry license holders and the Second Amendment Foundation.
But, as for the latter, only a fool would think the Second Circuit gave Party Plaintiffs anything to be happy about.
True, the Appellate Court prohibited Government licensing authorities from demanding that applicants reveal their personal identifiers for social media accounts.
And the Court prohibited Government licensing authorities from mucking about in a person’s private social media accounts.
But the constraints are lessened if not negated by the Court’s copious rulings on Good Moral Character, whose use by the New York Government—the Court made clear—is Constitutional, and the enforcement of it will, then, remain a serious concern for any applicant of a New York concealed handgun carry license.
Good Moral Character is one of the two foundational components of the CCIA that infringes the core of the Second Amendment right.
Since the Court held that assessment of one’s “Moral Character” is a legitimate prerogative of Government and, since perusal of social media is a key component in the review of a person’s moral character, the Court had no wish to prevent licensing authorities from accessing social media information that would assist them in a determination of one’s character to possess a handgun in the public sphere.
So, the Court reinforced the licensing authority’s discretion to peruse an applicant’s social media with a workaround:
The Court said,
“More generally, we have already explained that it is constitutional for a state to make licensing decisions regarding an applicant’s ‘good moral character,’ at least where that ‘character’ is defined in terms of dangerousness. It must, therefore, be constitutional for the licensing authority to investigate the applicant’s character, and no one argues that a licensing officer may not inquire into the applicant’s trustworthiness beyond the challenged disclosures. It follows that the State can also require modest disclosures of information relevant to that investigation, making the (permissible) assessment of dangerousness more efficient and more accurate.”
The CCIA falls apart in the absence of “Good Moral Character” and New York’s “Sensitive Location Restrictions.”
These two things are the guts of Hochul’s CCIA.
The Government insists on their retention and is adamant that the Government can enforce them. The Second Circuit has obliged the New York Government.
Re: Good Moral Character
The Court remarked,
“We recognize that ‘good moral character’ is a spongy concept susceptible to abuse. . . .”
The concept is more than “spongy.” The Second Circuit uses that word as a makeweight to avoid acknowledging the concept is facially unconstitutional.
The Court slithers around that fact, doing what it can to deal with pragmatic concerns attendant to the concept’s application only.
But logically, the Court’s approach is flawed.
The nature of one’s character is irrelevant to one’s exercise of the natural law right to self-defense. Its application is constitutionally suspect at the get-go.
No other fundamental right necessitates a showing “Good Moral Character” as a condition precedent to a citizen’s exercising his natural law right.
The Court should have investigated whether and not have assumed that Good Moral Character is an appropriate, legitimate, legal, logical, ethical, and pragmatic concept to be employed in a matter involving exercising a fundamental, natural law right.
It dispensed with all of this except for the ostensible pragmatic reason for keeping it.
The Court said this:
“The CCIA’s definition of ‘character’ is a proxy for dangerousness: whether the applicant, if licensed to carry a firearm, is likely to pose a danger to himself, others, or public safety. And there is widespread consensus (notwithstanding some disputes at the margins) that restrictions which prevent dangerous individuals from wielding lethal weapons are part of the nation’s tradition of firearm regulation. We therefore cannot conclude that every denial on grounds of ‘good moral character’ as defined by New York will violate the Second Amendment, though various avenues lie open for as-applied challenges.”
From a close reading of the text of the opinion, one can infer the Second Circuit concedes, albeit only tacitly, the dubious legality of employing “Character” to deny one the exercise of a fundamental, unalienable, natural law right.
More to the point, if “Dangerousness” is really of concern, then why do two standards for Good Moral Character exist in the New York Handgun Law—
One for those few individuals who make application only for a restricted “premise” license that does not permit the licensee to use a handgun lawfully for self-defense while in the public domain, and another, a new, more robust, standard for those individuals—most individuals—who apply for a concealed handgun carry license that ostensibly allows for the lawful use of a handgun for self-defense in the public domain?
Re: “Sensitive Location” Restrictions
The concepts of “Sensitive Location” Restrictions and the bolstered “Good Moral Character” Requirement are as ingenious as they are devious.
The two operate in tandem as a substitute for “Proper Cause” (i.e., “Extraordinary Need”), which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional.
The Hochul Government concocted a “Sensitive Location Restrictions” mechanism to transform the “Unrestricted” Concealed Carry License into—what is now effectively—a “Highly Restricted” Concealed Carry License, and for all such license holders.
Why did the Hochul Government do this? It did this because The U.S. Supreme Court has compelled the Hochul Government to grant more concealed handgun carry licenses to many more applicants, and the Government is decidedly unhappy about this—enraged, in fact.
The Government has, therefore, imposed a bizarre, extensive, ad hoc patchwork quilt of areas in the public sphere where civilians who hold valid licenses are prohibited from lawfully carrying a handgun for self-defense, thereby transforming all unrestricted carry into restricted carry.
N.Y. Penal L. § 265.01-e is the “Sensitive Location” statute.
There are many areas where a concealed carry license holder is prohibited from carrying and using a handgun for self-defense, as stated in this statute.
The lower District Court imposed a preliminary injunction on most of these areas, and apart from one instance involving one Church, the Second Circuit broadly vacated the District Court’s granting of the Plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction.
This means the Hochul Government may continue to enforce restrictions on concealed carry in those areas. The Second Circuit has set its imprimatur on this.
There is no point in Plaintiffs spending time and money to request an en banc hearing of the full complement of Second Circuit Judges to rehear the case, which the Court can peremptorily deny anyway. And the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to take the case up for review since the CCIA is a direct, unabashed assault on and affront to the Bruen rulings.
And, just as likely, the High Court will not have kind words for the Second Circuit, whose reasoning and rulings in Antonyuk are blatantly inconsistent with the High Court’s own reasoning and rulings in Bruen and Heller.