The Gift

Gun owners may not like President Biden, but gun writers love the guy, not only because he’s a gaffe machine but because he’s occasionally overly candid about his intentions.

Last month at a fund raiser in California, held at a private residence, Joe Biden once again trotted out his discredited claims about the Second Amendment, including the demonstrably false claim that when it was signed, “Even during when it was passed, you couldn’t own a cannon.” (Actually, yeah, you could, and a lot of people did, including riverboat operators and private ship owners. The smaller cannons were called swivel guns, used as “anti-personnel weapons.” They were sometimes found on keelboats, too.

The prez also asserted, “You can’t own a machine gun,” which will certainly surprise the people who legally own them. According to a report at CNN, there are now some 700,000 law-abiding citizens who legally own machine guns in the U.S. This is documented in a federal report on firearms commerce in the U.S.

He got “out in the weeds” a bit at this fund-raising event, resurrecting an assertion he made months ago about people who own modern semiautomatic rifles. According to a White House transcript, he said this: “You know, I love these guys who say the Second Amendment is — you know, the tree of liberty is water (sic) with the blood of patriots. Well, if want to do that, you want to work against the government, you need an F-16. You need something else than just an AR-15.”

Back in mid-January, as reported at the time by the Daily Mail, he spoke to the National Action Network, contending that AR-15s would not be adequate for American citizens wanting to take over the government, or protect citizens against the government. Why should we need protection from the government? Besides, we take over the government every time there’s an election.

The Second Amendment Foundation has been running advertisements for the past several months containing a video clip of Biden telling a CNN Townhall audience how he has been trying to “ban the sale” of so-called “assault weapons” plus 9mm pistols. He said it, SAF caught it and millions of gun owners have heard it in his own words.

This past March, CNN even took the president to task when he told a group, “I’m a Second Amendment guy. I have two shotguns. My sons have shotguns. You know, but our states — you know, everybody thinks somehow the Second Amendment is absolute. You’re not allowed to go out and own a — an automatic weapon. You’re not allowed to own a machine gun. (See above) You’re not allowed to own a flamethrower.”

After last month’s remarks, Kentucky Congressman Andy Barr, a Republican, felt compelled to observe, “Well he certainly doesn’t sound like a Second Amendment guy.”

Two shotguns don’t make anyone a “Second Amendment guy,” especially west of the Mississippi. Such a contention might get you laughed out of a gun store in a place where two smoothbores is proof someone is woefully under-gunned.

Dual Standard?

Grassroots reaction to the deal cut for Joe’s son, Hunter, on his non-charge of lying on a Form 4473 when he allegedly bought a Colt Cobra a few years ago, is still simmering across social media.

Over at the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, chairman Alan Gottlieb called the arrangement—if the younger Biden stays out of trouble for two years, the alleged gun crime disappears from his record—an “outrage” and “an insult to the intelligence of the American people.”

But he raised an interesting point: “Why should anybody respect any gun laws if the president’s son gets a pass? The American public should be outraged at what amounts to a deplorable double standard.”

There was also a deafening silence from the gun control crowd when news of the agreement was reported. Had such an arrangement been made with someone else, the prevailing opinion is that anti-gunners would be howling. Evidently, the gun ban crowd is okay with the “Biden loophole.”

Meanwhile…

Out in Oregon, lawmakers passed legislation to ban so-called “ghost guns.” According to Oregon Public Radio, the original bill would have eroded state preemption by allowing cities to ban guns from public buildings and raise the minimum age for Beaver State gun purchases to 21.

Governor Tina Kotek was eager to sign the measure, noting, “This is a common sense, long overdue reform that I hope can prevent the kinds of tragedies we saw last year in Buffalo, Uvalde and Bend.”

In an unusual display of candor, OPR acknowledged, “None of the firearms used in the three mass shootings Kotek referenced would have been illegal under the bill passed Wednesday.”

In Washington, D.C., Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst’s legislation to disarm IRS agents and transfer their authority to some other agency will probably gather dust, but it’s a reasonable step, especially considering the raid by 20 heavily-armed IRS agents on a Great Falls, Montana gun shop last month.

The raid has gotten lots of attention, including demands by Montana Sen. Steve Daines and Congressman Matt Rosendale, in whose district Great Falls is located. Rosendale was in town when it happened, and he stopped by the shop, Highwood Creek Outfitters to chat with owner Tom VanHoose. Both lawmakers sent letters to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel.

The Lineup

Someday I may write a book titled “You Can’t Make This Up,” detailing stories involving truly foolish bad guys with guns, and there are lots of them.

For example, last month in Atlanta, a fellow described as “an alleged repeat offender” was arrested “just nine days after being released from the Fulton County jail.” His offense? Atlanta’s finest encountered Kermeron Johns, a convicted felon, “in midtown Atlanta after they say he shot at random cars in the area.”

Now, wait a minute; convicted felons aren’t supposed to have guns and they definitely aren’t allowed to shoot at cars. Of course, it gets better. According to WSB Radio, Johns “also fired shots at APD officers.” How dumb is that? After all, police officers do return fire.

Vying for the “Stupid in Public Award” is a gent in Milwaukee who was back in jail two days after being convicted in absentia for attempted homicide. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Donnie Darnell Williams was found guilty of the charge “for shooting at two Milwaukee police officers” in May 2022.

It’s not clear why he wasn’t in court for the verdict, but he’ll certainly be there for sentencing, which could be a stretch of up to 60 years.

Remember last time we talked about a Seattle man named William Toliver, who will spend the next four years in prison for his part in a wild downtown shootout in 2020? Another guy involved in that fracas, but acquitted, was Marquise Tolbert. Still, he’s not supposed to have guns but, lo and behold, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Seattle had him in court last month for…get ready for it…unlawful possession of a firearm.

According to the U.S. Attorney, Tolbert and two other guys were caught on a wiretap, apparently discussing trafficking in guns. Pretty sure there’s a lesson in there somewhere.

Big ‘Oops’

My hat’s off to a couple of sharp-eyed reader pals for catching a really bad typo last month in my discussion of high-visibility targets.

I somehow substituted one of my favorite reloading propellants for another, and all I can say is I wrote the column late in the evening, and it just slipped past me. I’ll definitely sleep on it and try harder from now on!

A quick call to the editor got everything squared away. Thanks to all!