Spreading the Word.

Did you know that 8.3% of your fellow Americans have a Concealed Carry Permit?  

That means they're packing heat.  They're trained, experienced, licensed and approved.  By their local Gubmint.  To put a firearm in their pocket and head on out the door.    

Which means anyone anywhere near a Concealed Carrier is safer.  Mucho safer.  More than 1,500,000 times a year a man/woman with a gun stops a crime in its tracks.  Did you know that? 

But our erstwhile "MainStreamMedia" almost always refuses to cover such efforts.  Just as a reminder, all but one Media organization is located within a six-block area of Midtown Manhattan.  And I'd put good money on the fact that few, if any are armed.  Or even know how to shoot a firearm.  Only knuckle-draggers carry guns, they'll tell you...

And did you also know if we were somehow able to eliminate California, Oregon and Washington from our National map of Concealed Carriers, that percentage would go up to 11.9%?

That's because these three states have done everything in their power to disarm their citizens.  While letting felons out of prison.  California, for example, has released more than 92,000 hardened felons while BoyGun ("Hairgod") Newsom has been in charge.  

And after passing Proposition 47 in 2014, making it "legal" to steal anything up to $949.00.  And telling them to call "911" if they have a problem.  With an average police response time of 31 minutes.  

Oh, and if you subtract CA, OR and WA from our National map, that 911 call response time goes DOWN to 14 minutes.  Decades and decades of Democrat "leadership" in our Big Blue Cities has resulted in death and destruction and chaos.  

The legality of the Concealed Carry of Firearms varies from state to state.  As of this writing 29 states offer "shall" or "must issue" Concealed Carry permits, and 8 of those states are "Constitutional Carry."  

That means you step into your friendly gun store, pick out the one that tickles your fancy, pass the FBI's "Instant Federal Firearms Background Check," (the one Democrats tell their voters doesn't exist), pay for it, strap it on or put in your pocket and walk on down the street.   

That's called "Constitutional Carry."  You should know that the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution spells out our fundamental Right "...to keep and bear arms."  That means "own" and "carry."  And the 21 states that don't know how to read, like CA, OR and WA, have erased the 2nd Amendment.  As if it doesn't exist.  And that's one of the reasons more than One Million high-earning, taxpaying citizens have run from California like bandits.  To greener pastures.  

Because almost any pasture is greener.  

Just so you know, only 121,000 CA citizens have a CCW (Concealed Carry) license in our "may issue" state.  Out of a reported 39.9 Million population.  If you were up to no good, that percentage should make you smile.

(News Flash:  Chevron just announced it's moving from California to Texas.  It will join Tesla and TeslaX, and Standard Oil, and SpaceX, and Oxy Petroleum, and a hundred other major corporations who have fled CA's high taxes and out-of-control crime and unmanageable regulatory environment.  Taking their $Billions of taxes with them.  They won't be the last to leave.  As I love to say, it won't be long before there won't be anyone left here but sign twirlers and Starbucks baristas.)

Oh yeah, states where the leadership is all grown up, and they consider their citizens grown up as well, like Florida, have honored "Constitutional Carry" for years.  In fact, fully 15% of Florida's 22,000,000 citizens are packing heat.  That's one out of every eight citizens.  And they and their neighbors are safer for it.

And if you have a problem with gun ownership, ask yourself this:  Do you think that the breaking and entering of households would go up, or down, if everyone owned guns?  41% of all U. S. homes now have one or more firearms.  What would happen if every home had a gun owner in it?  100% of them?  Ready to quell an attempted burglar?  You think maybe the would-be criminals might find other victims if every house had a gun and someone willing to use it?

Similarly, what about schools?  If every single school, which has now been declared a "Gun Free Zone," had a sign out front saying... 

"Be Advised, Our Teachers and Staff are armed and considered dangerous.  And They're Looking for the Opportunity to Prove it."

Ya' think maybe would-be mass murderers of little school children might choose another location?  And other victims?  

And speaking of which, why don't mass murderers ever choose police stations?  Or gun stores?   Or sporting goods stores?  They don't because they may be crazy, but they're not stupid.  Like the folks who labeled their schools "Gun Free Zones."

This has been brought to you by your Fellow Patriot, Scribe Without Portfolio, and Incendiary Journo, the fabled Chuckmeister.  Bringing you inconvenient truths, every week of the year...  

"Murphy's Law"

 So there was this guy named Murphy.  Edward Aloyisius Murphy.

He was the Director of Safety for Northrup Aviation back in the late '40's.  They were trying to determine if man could withstand the rigors of exceeding the speed of sound.  They did that by strapping a guy named Lt. Col. Stapp into a rocket sled.  And firing those rockets up and sending Stapp past the speed of sound on train tracks leading across Edwards Air Force Base.  But even after multitudinous testing, and preparation, and making sure nothing could go wrong, it did.

Waaay wrong!

Turns out a sensor switch failed to turn off at the desired time.  Resulting in Stapp failing to stop when they planned.  So bad was this failure that Stapp went more than 100 mph faster than planned.  And like the fall doesn't kill you, but gravity does, the stop nearly killed Stapp.  He wound up with detached retinas, bruised kidneys and dislocated shoulders.  

Murphy later commented, "Seems like if a thing can go wrong, it will.  And sooner rather than later."

Arthur Bloch remembered that event.  He was a professor at Berkeley and decided to write a book about it.  One intended to map out all the ways a thing can go wrong.  And just like with the "Peter Principle," which I've written about in the past, "Murphy's Law" became entrenched into our psyche.  And I've been collecting "Laws" for decades.  And here are some of my favorites...

     -  Once you open a can of worms, the only way to recan them is to use a larger can.

     -  Left to themselves, things will definitely go from bad to worse.

     -  Nature will always side with the hidden flaw.

     -  If you're feeling good, don't worry.  You'll get over it.

     -  When things can't possibly get any worse, they will.

     -  Capitalism is based on the assumption you can win.  Socialism is based on the assumption you can break even.  Mysticism is based on the assumption you can quit the game any time you desire.

     -  If you keep anything long enough, you can throw it away.  If you throw it away, you'll need it the very next day.

     -  No matter which way you ride, it's uphill and against the wind.

     -  A toothache will always begin on a Saturday night.

     -  The other line will always move faster.

     -  Computers are unrealiable.  But humans are even more unreliable.

     -  The likelihood of a buttered slice of bread falling buttered side down, is directly proportional to the price of the carpet.  Inversely.

     -  If it jams, force it.  If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway.

     -  The fear of loss is a far greater motivator than the anticipation of gain.

And I close with:

     -  Never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes.  And if you still don't like the bastard, you'll be a mile away and you'll have his shoes.

If you like these, let me know.  I'll send a few more your way in the future... 

In-N-Out. Waaay Out!

Perhaps nothing is as emblematic of the rapid devolution of California as In-N-Out's recent decision to move their HQ's out of State.    

They started in Baldwin Park in 1948 and have grown like Topsy ever since.  But they expanded using their own money, not franchisees.'  So they can control every aspect of their operations, a rarity in fast food.  And now, nearly 70 years later, they have 418 stores.  272 in California and the others just built in Utah, Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.  They've stopped trying to grow in CA.  

And it's CA's fault.  

Their new HQ will be in Nashville, TN.  The home of the Volunteers.  A freedom-loving State.  Unlike California.  It was, but it is no longer.  It has hamstrung its businesses with a flurry of regulations and laws and dictats.  The new $20 an hour wage demand by BoyGuv Newsom and his cohorts has driven in the last nail.  CA has killed the Golden Goose.

In-N-Outs fate was set the day Rich Snyder and four others died in a Lear Jet.  It was on final to Santa Ana Airport and got upset by the wake from a 767 landing ahead.  It smashed into a building a mile short of the airport, killing all on board.  This is important is because Lindsey Snyder, Rich's daughter, now owns the company.  One of the youngest $Billionairesses in America.  And she's discovered that California is no longer an easy place to work and live and grow a family.  Her words.  And also that it's no longer safe.  Her words.  So she's decided to pick up and move; Tennessee's gain, Taxifornia's loss. 

Lindsey's company is the 198th to leave California in the past 5 years.  Including 15 Fortune 500 companies.  Like Tesla.  And Toyota.  And SpaceX.  And Occidental Petroleum.  Just to name a few.  They've taken 509,000 jobs out of our State.  They've bolted for greener pastures.  And almost any other pastures are greener.

When I got here CA was the pinnacle of places to live or visit.  Ronnie Reagan has just finished two terms.  We dithered with Jerry Brown, but then voted in Deukmajian for 8 years.  And then two lovely terms with Pete Wilson.  Then Ahhhhnuld Schwartenhoozits for 8 years.  (The first two weren't bad, but then wife Maria Shriver told him no more nookie if he didn't start guverning like a Democrat.  He then knocked up the housemaid).  

Everything's gone to Hell since then.  Somebody elected BoyGuv, J. Paul Getty's Godson.  And Auntie San Fran Nan Pelosi's nephew.  He was gifted a winery on his 21st birthday, fergoddsake!  So he knows squat about our problems, and has guverned like it.  We have the highest taxes in the Nation, the highest gasoline prices, the highest housing prices, the most homeless, the highest unemployment and the dirtiest cities.  Pluuuus, crime that shockingly out of control.

If I didn't have 4 daughters within 60 miles in every direction, I'd join Lindsey on her move to TN.  Clean air, no income taxes, low sales taxes, low housing costs, Constitutional Carry firearm laws, low property taxes, and gas selling for $2.49 a gallon.  What's not to like?

It seems that whenever you vote in a would-be socialist, you get disastrous policies and awful results.  Remember Argentina ("Don't cry for me, etc.)?  4th most oil on the planet.  Top Ten of richest countries on Earth 80 years ago.  It's now a socialist "paradise."  With 50% inflation.  Where dissidents get dropped from a helicopter into the nearest ocean.  I'm not predicting that for CA.  I am, however, hoping it's gotten so bad that we vote in another Republican next time.  

I know, I know.  But one can always hope...       

My, How We've Grown!

 The Constitution of the United States was signed into effect on September 17, 1787.  

Just eleven years after we declared our independence from King George, we'd progressed enough to update our Declaration of Independence into a final governing document.  Agreed upon by representatives of all our 13 original colonies.  Making us a Representative Republic.  One where we select those to vote in our stead.  Not a "plus-one" democracy, but a Republic.  

And on that fateful day we had exactly 3 employees; our President, our Vice President and our Secretary of the Treasury.  People to run things, and somebody to raise money on behalf of the 2,500,000 people who inhabited America.

Although our cabinets were fleshed out with secretaries and Directors, and their assistants and helpers, we were operating pretty lean back then.  Unlike today.  Where people are tripping over one another.  We have some 2,900,000 people employed in one form or another by You and Me.  The Taxpayers.  Paying for bloat.  

The State Department, as an example, just underwent its very first internal audit.  To determine how effeciently it's being run.  It was determined 50, count 'em, 50 layers of approval are required to change any Operating Policy.  The Secretary of State requested a list of employees in February and it only just arrived.  It took that long to count them...

The Department of Energy had life breathed into it back in Jimmy Carter's term.  He'd so screwed up our energy policy that the Arabs cut off our oil delivery.  Some will remember we could only buy gas every other day.  That Department had as its marching orders to figure out how to make us independent of Middle Eastern Oil.  Now, some 40-plus years later, it hasn't.  There are now more than 100,000 Department employees and contractors, costing us $161,500,000 a year.  People moving pieces of paper around on their desks, making an average of over $100,000 a year, and accomplishiing nothing.  Except how to prevent fracking.  And how to make people drive electric cars.  And how to make our solar output greater. 

The 2nd Amendment to our Bill of Rights says, "...the Right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."  And then our Gubmint decides to create the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.  Presuming, one would guess, that gun owners are drunken chainsmokers.  That one Bureau exists to "infringe" upon the 2nd Amendment.  It does so by writing laws to restrict our purchase, use, storage and ability to sell firearms.  

Oh yeah, and then they added "Explosives" to the Bureau.  So we firearm owners drink too much, smoke too much and blow sh*t up too much, I guess.

From an original 3 offices in our Gubmint, we now have more than 400.  Not counting all their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level subordinate agencies, departments and bureaus.  Which totals, are you ready, 

More than 1,000 agencies supping at the Public Teat.

There are many more examples I could offer just off the top of my head.  That's why "DOGE" was created.  And you might have noticed the cacophanious uproar that resulted when useless drones discovered that our Gubmint was considering eliminating their useless drone asses.  It was fun to watch.  But it was, and is, a real shame.  A shame that the "Takers" might be defeating the "Makers."  They are the ones who create value in our Republic.  Who makes things.  And generate revenue.  Which we can tax.  Exorbitantly.  While the drones fight to maintain their priveleged lives.

That cabin in the woods sounds pretty good, now don't it?    

If a Tree Falls in the Forest...

...is it still Trump's fault?

I've been really wrong about a couple of important things recently.  One was the outrageous antisemitic attitudes that burst forth on Ivy League university campuses over the past few years.  I would have bet large bank that we'd put away Jew hatred decades ago.  Along with anti-Black racism.  And racism of all kinds.  I assumed those wars had been fought and that the war was over; all men are created equal, etc., etc.

But I was wrong.  Waaaaay wrong!  It started immediately following the murder and kidnapping of more than 1,300 Jews from a kibbutz in Israel on October 7, 2023.  The coordinated anti-Jew protests then broke out at Harvard, and Yale, and Columbia, and a dozen other $80,000-a-year-plus colleges and universities.  Pre-made, professional signs handed out by whomever (Soros) was bankrolling this outrage helped perpetrate it.

I am ashamed for them, even if they're not smart enough to be ashamed for themselves.  My Country doesn't do that.  Or permit it being done.  Yet, the still mush-filled brains of rich young Americans have been hipppmotizzzed by far Left professors and pro-HAMASS activists.  It's still not resolved, even though Pres. Trump has signed an Executive Order banishing the practice.  Those same colleges and universities have yet to correct their behavior, unfortunately.  Even forcing Trump to withhold $Billions from them hasn't caused them to mend their ways.  Proving that their behavior is not an accident.   Their anti-Jew hatred has been festering in the darkness, just waiting to show itself.  

Like I say, I wouldn't have believed it.  

And the second time I was wrong was in the response by a faction of our citizens to D. J. Trump's reelection.  It appears that a portion of the Democrat Party just cannot get their arms around the fact that O'Biden is gone, Harris didn't replace him, and Trump is doing his best to keep his promises to his voters.  Promises to undo all the damage O'Biden did while he wasn't hanging out on the beach.

Promises Democrats just cannot abide.

I recall my father making me watch the 1956 Democrat Party presidential nominating convention.  Estes Kefauver was debating Adlai Stevenson for the Democrat nomination for President.  It was the very first televised debate on Black and White TV, and I watched it with both awe and admiration.  These were two statesmen.  Two very capable leaders who carried themselves like gentlemen.  They were respectful, soft-spoken, and interesting.  They argued forcefully, but without rancor or personal attack.  I was a kid, but Dad said I needed to know about civics in order to be a better citizen.  That was the Democrat Party of 1956.  We should hold a wake as it is dead and gone.  It is no more.

Today?  They're a cadre of screaming harpies lamenting their loss of power.  An entire Party being whipsawed by their extreme Left flank into the dumbest and most ignorant statements, positions and demands possible.  Some of them even post the most inane garbage on the Internet as if it will cause others to agree with them.  Or to just express their anger and anguish.  And presumably without the awareness that those postings last forever.  

Gone is that age-old understanding that when you contest an Election and lose, you become the Loyal Opposition until you get another chance.  Not the loud, objectionable, petty and frankly ignorant/stupid rantings I see daily.    

The common denominator is Donald J. Trump.  He is Satan, the Devil, the Boogeyman, and the second coming of Adolf Hitler, they say.  Especially Hitler.  Even though Hitler was responsible for the killing of more than 50 million souls, including 6 millions Jews, Trump is as bad as Hitler, they say.  Maybe even worse, because that was then and this is now.  Hitler, as we were all trained, is a place you do not go.  Proclaiming someone to "be" Hitler makes an ass out of those who do the proclaiming.  It's the "N-Word" in spades.  No pun intended.      

All this is because Trump wants to round up and deport all the to-be-Democrats O'Biden let in.  20 Million or More illegal aliens.  With many of them hardened felons.  Murderers, thieves, rapists and pedophiles.  Streaming across our Border all day every day.  While the Democrats lied to us for years with that "The Border is secure" claptrap.  

Trump wants to force people to work 20 hours a week to qualify for Medicaid.  Oh, the Humanity!  Working 20 hours a week!  The Monster!

And he believes people should keep more of their own money.  So keeping those taxes low is important to Republicans, but is wolfbane to Democrats.  Let's organize a protest!  Oh wait, they already did. 

And Trump thinks we should be able to drive whatever kind of car our hearts desire, instead of being forced into a State-approved vehicle.  That's half-baked.  Answers to questions none of us were asking, BTW.    

He believes that women are women and men are men.  And that men shouldn't compete in womens' sports.  Which causes Democrats to go into a fit of pique.  They state without a hint of guile that there's no difference between the sexes.  Everybody's the same, they argue.  If women can't compete with men twice their size, they should just get over it, they believe.  

And Trump believes that you can be a transgender if you want, but just not in his military.  Being ex-military, I agree with him.  But Democrats are having a canniption fit. 

And when thousands of anti-ICE protesters are trying to kill ICE officers, Trump sends out the National Guard!  Oh, the humanity!  The Guard!  Just let them beat the crap out of our officers, they believe.  Indicative of their mental acuity.   

And to create a staging area for those felons with a final order for deportation and removal, Trump has caused "Aligator Alcatraz" to be built deep in the Florida Everglades.  Trump and Gov. De Santis built a camp for 3,000 on an abandoned airstrip.  When ICE rounds them up, they're sent there to await a flight to their home country or 3rd party destination.  It's a jail.  For hardened felons.  The Democrats think it's not as comfy as the Roosevelt Hotel.  Even though it's air conditioned with the temp set at 75 degrees.

Oh, the Humanity!

There'a a bunch more things that Trump wants and Democrats hate, but I believe it's just 'cause Trump wants them.  If he came up with a cure for cancer tomorrow, the Democrats would hate it, and him for finding it.  Remember, he's the guy that came up with the Chinese Wuhan COVID 19 Coronavirus vaccine in weeks instead of years.  They said he couldn't do it.  And then he did it.  And they hated him for it.  And still do.

And I was wrong about all this.  I would have assumed Democrats would have cried a bit after Trump's victory, got drunk, skulked around the house for a couple of days, and then went back to work.  Unless they don't work, that is...

Yep, I was wrong about both of these matters.  Proving I'm human.  And still eaten up with a deep-seated belief in America that no amount of Democrat intransigence can dislodge.  I guess we'll be plagued with their middle school tantrums for the entirety of Trump's entire term.  

And maybe his next one, too... 

       

Words to LIVE by.

We are confronted every single day about the inequities of wealth distribution.  Some have a lot, some have near nothing.  

Some call that "tough nuggies."  Others, like the dodos who voted for Momdami in New York City, want to storm the battlements and sieze other peoples' stuff.

Jeffey Bezos has a $500,000,000 yacht.  And a wife with fat lips.  And gigondo teats.  You don't.  And your wife, don't.  Should you be pissed?  How about Elon and his 5, count 'em, FIVE personal jets.  All the way up to a Gulfstream G-700.  Costing a mere $76 Mil.  And those hedge fund managers with their private islands.  And movie stars with $Multi-Million Dollar homes.  It's just not fair!  

Excepppppt, I'm here to deliver some good news, fellow Patriots!  I'd like you to start thinking about it differently.  Start thinking about it this way...

     -  If you don't take an expensive vacation to a tony island resort, and swim in the ocean, you'll never get eaten by a shark.  

     -  If you don't drive a Bugatti, you won't have to pay $25,000 for an oil change.

     -  If you don't own a Cybertruck, you won't be burned to a crisp when it won't let you open the doors.

     -  If you don't fly, you won't crash and burn.

     -  If you don't skydive, your chute will never fail to open.  

     -  If you don't have credit cards, they'll never be stolen.  (After which, in my case, the perp bought $176.00 of wings at Wing Stop.)

     -  If you can't afford a car, you'll save a fortune on registration, insurance, gas/electricity, and maintenance and repair.  Plus, you won't perish in a firey car wreck.

     -  If you don't own a home, the state and county cannot rape you blind with property taxes.  And your county can't bankrupt you with water and electricity bills.  And Jeff, from State Farm, can't take you for a ride on your home insurance premiums.

     -  If you can't afford a ticket to the football/ basketball/baseball game, you won't have to pay $50.00 to park your car, and be so disappointed if your team loses.

     -  If you can't afford to eat out, you won't be embarrassed over the size of the tip you leave.

     -  If you're afraid of finding Bigfoot, don't go camping in the forrest.

     -  If you don't want to be stabbed, shot, mugged or carjacked, the FBI tells us you should live in a town of less than 56,500 residents.  Making you 9 x more likely to live through the day.

All of the activities mentioned above cost money.  Some of them cost lots and lots and lots of money.  And you don't have any.  Now then, congratulate yourself on avoiding all the sturm and drang associated with buying and owning and insuring and protecting all that stuff.  You don't need it, it'll just bog you down, and everybody will be jealous of you. 

Some will even wish to harm you to get all your stuff, and you'll never again be sure your friends are really your friends, or is it just because you have all that stuff.  

Go to sleep tonight knowing you're among the lucky ones.  The ones who aren't famous, or rich, or forced to pay big beefy guys to protect you and your family from roving gangs of stuff stealers.   

If They Don't Obey the Law...

...why should we?

After some exaustive research, which took less than 10 seconds, courtesy of Mr. Google, I learned there is a total of 1,003 Sanctury states, cities, towns and villages across the Fruited Plain.

22 states have passed laws making declaring themselves Sanctuaries illegals.  Yet all but 4 of Virginia's 89 counties, one of the 22 states, have declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal aliens.

Come on in, take off your shoes, put your feet up on the table, demand some dinner and a spare bedroom.  And maybe the keys to your car.

505 of our largest cities, including Lost Angeles, Philadelphia, New York City and Chicago, have all declared their cities above and beyond our Federal Laws.  Picking and choosing which ones to obey and which ones to simply ignore.

That means 17 states, including the District of Columbia, have announced to the public that they don't intend to obey at least one of our Federal Laws.  And that Federal Law is most often the one that forces them to honor Federal prison and jail retainers.  So when an illegal alien is a known or suspected felon, and is to be released from their jails, they have to call the Feds to come and take possession of him/her/it.  

Except these 17 states and D.C., don't.  

They don't call, preferring rather to let the perp out the back door while the Federal officers wait out front.  Because they don't believe any aliens are illegal, and nobody, it seems, should be in jail.  Murderers, rapists, burglars, carjackers, Bad Guys.  They want them all to be free.  We know that's true because our very own BoyGuv Newsom has released 62,000 hardened felons from our prisons since being elected.  

And residents of any of the other 178 countries should be able to wander on in and supp at our Public Trough.  Free cell phone, free lodging, free food, free education, free health care, and free legal advice to help them avoid deportation.  

That's your modern Democrat Party.

Trump and his Team are all about trying to round up and deport the million or more illegal alien felons hiding in the fabric of our society.  But the Sanctuary folks aren't helping.  Using Lost Angeles as an example, POTUS Trump even had to call in the National Guard, over BoyGuv Newsom's head, to help protect our ICE officers.  Who they were trying to kill.  And so L.A. now looks like a war zone, in addition to being a gigantic septic homeless encampment and home to gangs and theives.

So I'm thinking:  If Brendon James, the idiot mayor of Chicago, is free to announce, "Chicago will never assist ICE!," as he did yesterday, then the residents of Chicago should be free to also pick and choose which of that City's laws to simply disregard.  Like their traffic laws.  And their parking laws.  And their property tax bills.  

Maybe the citizens of these Big Blue Cities should form a Union, representing only them, to start advocating for law breaking.  Pick one here, and another there.  And then when they get ticketed, they ask for a jury trial and a free public defender lawyer to help them fight the charges.  Imagine if, oh, say 1,000,000 honest, honorable, God-Fearing, tax-paying citizens of Chicago began to revolt?  Decided to no longer play nice and just pay up?  To clot up the courts for decades until and unless the City decides to obey Federal Law.  To pick up the torches and the pitchforks and march on City Hall?

I'm thinking that could be a Pay-Per-View event.  And one I'd gladly pay-to-view...   

"Shall Not Be Infringed."

As is clearly stated in the 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights, "...the Right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

For purposes of educating those who don't understand clear English, "keep" means to own, hold, bury, hide, ensconce and lock up."  "Bear" means to carry, twirl, show off and discharge.  "Infringed," as we all should know, means mess with, try to change and endeavor to ignore.  

So now that we have all the bases covered, let's focus our little spleen venting for the day to the once-Great State of California.  The Poster Child for "infringing."  Let's pull back the curtain...

     -  28 American States have made "Constitutional Carry" their law. That means you can go to the local gun store, buy one or as many firearms as you can afford, then put them in your pockets and stroll on home.

     -  California, on the other hand, is at the opposite end of the Freedom Spectrum.  It features more anti-gun laws than any other state.  In fact, since BoyGuv Newsom's family financed his Guvnership, he's signed more than 125 separate anti-gun laws into existence.  Everything from how you can buy one, how many you can buy, how often you can buy them, when you can take possession, how you can carry them home, how you have to store them, whether they can be loaded, how much ammunition you can buy, where you have to store it, how you can transport it, and when you can use it.

      -  California is one of only three states that gathers and maintains a list of purchasers, owners and users of firearms.  Even though Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms makes that illegal.  Even though it does nothing about it.

     -  California just made the purchase of Glock firearms illegal.  Even though they make the most popular pistol in America, and owned and carried by most of their police and military forces.  Sort of like making Chevrolets illegal for your sheriff's department to buy and drive.

     -  California makes the purchase of any firearm not available in the State as of 2015 illegal unless and until it makes "microstamping" standard.  Microstamping is the theoretical printing of a unique number on all the various firearm assemblies, including the firing pin.  Which would, theoretically, if available, print that number on the cartridge casing as it is discharged.  Making it easier for the fuzz to track down the user.  

As I said, "if available."  It isn't available because no manufacturer has perfected it.  Yet, CA requires it before a newly offered gun can be certified for sale in the State.  Meaning no newly manufactured firearm has been available for sale in CA in a decade.  Sort of a "Catch 22," wouldn't you say?

     -  California makes us wait 10 days after we buy a gun before we can pick it up.  The thinking, I'm guessing, is that if you're really pissed at someone they make you wait until you cool off before you can have your gun.  So you're less likely to shoot them, I guess.  And you can only have 1 gun per 30-day period.*  For some strange reason. 

     -  If you have a concealed firearm carry license from any other state, you must cough it up the moment you pass the "Welcome to California" sign.  And getting a new one from the vast majority of California's counties is sort of like pulling teeth.  They make you testify as to why you need one before they'll decide to grant you permission.  Which almost never happens.

And speaking of which, there have been more than 200,000 murders committed in America since the 1950's.  And 40% of them go unsolved.  Plus, most of those which are solved happen because of the victim's families' or the media's digging.  Cops are too busy writing speeding tickets to bother.

California has the highest personal income taxes, the highest sales taxes, the highest death taxes, and the highest gas prices.  And an average 911 response time of 31 minutes.  The most anti-gun laws serve to be the cherry on top for many of the Constitution-loving folks bolting our State for greener pastures.  And almost any pastures are greener...

There are 41,000,000 people in California.  They say.  Probably another 10 million illegal aliens are intertwined into the fabric of our State.  And nobody vetted them when they showed up at our Southern Border.  Could be murderers, terrorists, or pirates for all we know.  And so carrying a nice, light little insurance policy sorta' makes sense, now don't it?  

It sure does for me...   

*   Imagine telling your wife she's can only have one pair of shoes a month?

"Can't We All Just...Get Along?

 

With apologies to Rodney King, I believe his quote is very relevant today.  Here's how...

The Army stationed me in Germany during the Viet Nam "Police Action."

I grew to love it.  I learned the language and made lasting friendships.  I even came home with a Porshe, a Volkswagen, two cookoo clocks and a wife.  And I also learned just how the word "Hitler" bacame the very worst epithet you could possibly utter.

Like the infamous "N-word," times ten.

Few know that Germany's parliamentary system enabled Hitler and his "National Socialist Party (NAZI)" to take control of the country back in 1933.  They were mired in the aftermath of WW1 and believed his empty promises to help guide them to a better life.  No more than 30% of the country formally adopted Nazism.  And only 16% was necessary to assume governmental power.

Whereas Germany had the freedom of speech and movement prior to 1933, by '34 the Nazis had passed a new constitution making it illegal to badmouth that Party.  Or to write or publish negative commentary.  So illegal that Hitler filled his prisons with German dissidents well before he began attacking his neighboring countries or gassing the Jews.  

Guns were made illegal, removing any meaningful opposition.  Unapproved travel became illegal, forcing people to "show their papers."  Cushy jobs were only available to Party members.  And I arrived in Germany barely two decades after Hitler lost the War.  

I arrived so close in time to VE Day that most of the population were involved in it.  And they explained to me in no uncertain terms that Hitler had ruined Germany, and their lives.  And that they were doing everything possible to forget he ever lived.  His name, "Hitler," became the single most evil word you could speak.  And comparing someone to Hitler was the height of an insult.  Fighting words.  Rubbing salt in a still sore wound.

Many of my friends are Democrats.  Even "Progressives," although it's tougher to be their friends.  And many have made it a point to express their displeasure with having Trump as their President.  Loudly.  Adamantly.  Probably as displeased as I was when Joe O'Biden was sort-of elected.  

But as I'd been trained, if your guy or gal loses an election, you get drunk, lick your wounds, and then get up and go back to work.  Perhaps even advertising yourself as a member of the "Loyal Opposition."  Because, when all the chips are down, we're all Americans.  And there will be another day.  Another election.  Another opportunity to correct the corrections that previous administrations had corrected.  

But always, the "Loyal Opposition."

But no longer.  Now an infection named "Trump Derangement Syndrome" has visited itself upon the Nation.  Angry Democrats who should know better have permitted their hatred for Donald J. Trump to cloud their judgement.  Maybe its his cotton candy hair.  Or his orange complexion.  Or the fact that he has more money than they do.  But whatever, the hardest of their core even allow their "TDS" to take precedence over their love of Country.  And they evidence it every time Trump secures a victory in the courts.  Or his tarrifs begin to pay off.  Or he brokers a peace deal that been festering for decades.  Or when he starts arresting some of O'Biden's illegal aliens.  They hate him.  They hate the ground he walks on.  And that brings us up to the present...

A friend passed along a picture on the 'Net of Trump's face wearing Hitler's hat.  And Hitler's uniform.  And Hitler's moustache.  I was shocked.  "Hitler" is a place you were never supposed to go.  Yet my friend chose to forward it.  I asked him, "Do you think this is appropriate?," attempting to strike a middle-of-the-road posture.  He wrote back letting me know that if I was asking if he compared Trump to Hitler, he answered "...absolutely." 

I would ask everyone who reads this to adopt a more "liberal," i.e., neutral attitude toward politics in general and our President and his Administration, in particular.  As much as I abhored O'Biden, and Obama, I chose to only rail against their policies.  You can't change our POTUS no matter how mean-spirited and vitriolic your Internet opinions might be.  But you can make enemies by puking forth your extreme opinions for all to view...