You’re Not Going
to Believe This

Finally, after a half-century in journalism — much of it covering gun rights, gun politics and “all things firearms” — this correspondent gets to declare, “You’re not going to believe this.”

On second thought, we’re about to discuss Portland, Ore., so no matter how crazy the following is going to seem, Insider couldn’t possibly make this up. Try to imagine a city with nuttier far-left politics than Seattle, Wash. and you get Portland, where the loons wage a constant war on police and gun rights.

Portland’s Mayor is Ted Wheeler, a liberal’s liberal. But just to demonstrate how crazy the Rose City has become, when Wheeler went downtown last summer to talk to people at a protest against police, he was blitzed with vulgar epithets from people who didn’t seem to want him around because he wasn’t radical enough for them.

Portland crazies spent most of last summer trying to destroy the downtown area. There were attempts to burn the federal building and at least one homicide, whose suspect fled to a residence about 100 miles north in neighboring Washington, where he was later killed by police.

A major component of the 2020 unrest were demands to defund the police. Jump ahead five months and Portland recently reported its 20th homicide — a point not reached in the city until mid-summer of last year.

And now, you guessed it, Wheeler announced plans to request $2 million to “allow more proactive policing on city streets with greater civilian oversight to try to stem a growing wave of gun violence.”

Translation: Hizzonor wants to re-fund the police. Yeah, rioting, looting, plundering and pillaging are lots of fun for the perennially unemployed social misfits involved in these riots until people start getting killed. The body count includes one 42-year-old man who was gunned down in broad daylight in a city park.

Sources:
https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/03/mayor-ted-wheeler-seeks-2-million-to-bring-back-uniformed-police-team-to-address-spike-in-shootings.html

https://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-mayor-ted-wheeler-faces-protesters-and-tear-gas-head-on/

Now, Pay Attention

Are the funds going to pay for the kind of lawmen and women who will fearlessly wade into a mob of thugs and drag out the perpetrators of these killings? Not exactly.

According to the Portland Oregonian, “The mayor made the announcement alongside religious and community leaders, who urged city officials to take immediate action to prevent more people from dying in shootings, particularly young Black and brown people who have been disproportionately affected by the violence.” And how do they want this accomplished?

“The interfaith group called for bringing back a dedicated uniformed police patrol team that would ‘act on criminal intelligence’ to try to intercept and seize guns, work to prevent shootings and retaliatory violence in the city,” the newspaper said.

Right. It’s not bad people that are responsible for the shootings and slayings. It’s the guns.

But at least there was some semblance of good sense when J.W. Matt Hennessee, described as “chair of the collaborative,” wrote a letter to the Portland City Council in which it was reportedly stated last year’s cuts to the police “created a vacuum that undermined public safety and the very communities whose voices the Council — and our community -— seek to amplify.”

Ya don’t say.

Many a veteran peace officer may cringe at this: The interfaith group (many of the same folks who support efforts to ban modern sporting rifles and original capacity magazines) want to create “a new independent community committee to gather data on the officers’ stops and arrests and the effectiveness of their work.”

According to The Hill, the newspaper focused on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., this team approach will involve people “not connected to city government or the police, who would track and publish the new police team’s stops and arrests, as well as provide guidance on parameters for the team.”

Oh, goody, street cops are going to be schooled about how to make arrests.

Sources:
https://www.lawofficer.com/portland-mayor-calls-to-refund-police-as-homicides-spike/

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/542963-portland-mayor-asks-to-fund-police-patrols-after-spike-in-violence

On That Subject

While we’re talking about spiking gun sales in the Beaver State, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) recently released a report detailing how firearm and ammunition sales have jumped 232% nationally between 2008 and 2019.

In Oregon, that translates to an estimated $1.54 billion in total economic activity in the state last year, according to the NSSF. Sharpening that down a bit, the sporting arms and ammunition industry provided more than 2,600 full-time jobs, amounting to $179,614,300 in wages, with an economic impact on the economy of $650,859,700. Add to that an estimated 4,388 jobs “in supplier and ancillary industries,” according to the NSSF, which “include jobs in supplying goods and services to manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, and those that depend on sales to workers in the firearm and ammunition industry.”

The business taxes generated by gun and ammunition produced, bought and sold came to more than $112 million in federal taxes and more than $58 million in state taxes.

Note to anti-gun lawmakers in Salem: Money talks and the way you treat gun owners walks.

Sources:
https://www.nssf.org/firearm-industry-economic-impact-rises-232-since-2008/

http://www3.nssf.org/share/PDF/EconomicImpact/2020data/oregon.pdf

New Ruger MAX-9

Just in case you haven’t heard, there’s a brand new 9mm sidearm on the landscape from Ruger, and it is getting a lot of attention for many reasons.

It’s called the MAX-9, and it’s a semi-auto striker-fired pistol measuring just 6” long with a 3.2” barrel, tritium/fiber optic front sight and 10-or 12-round magazines.

The MAX-9 has a machined aluminum fire control chassis, features an integrated trigger safety and a loaded chamber viewport on top of the barrel, and is available with or without an external thumb safety.

There’s also a top plate on the hardened steel slide that can be removed for direct mounting of co-witnessed JPoint- and Shield-pattern micro red dot sights.

The grip frame is textured for a solid hold even in crummy conditions, while the magazines are coated with E-Nickel Teflon. Each pistol comes with two magazines. MSRP is $499.

Source:
https://ruger.com/products/max-9/models.html

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