Tom

Tangentially referring back to Hermit’s “oathbreaker” comment, and the rioter’s (likely?) belief he was following the orders of ‘his’ POTUS, he may have believed he was following his oath.  
 
It has been my personal observation that at least some people who claim to closely adhere to a particular text can be very selective in their reading and interpretation. 

Tangentially referring back to Hermit’s “oathbreaker” comment, and the rioter’s (likely?) belief he was following the orders of ‘his’ POTUS, he may have believed he was following his oath.  
 
It has been my personal observation that at least some people who claim to closely adhere to a particular text can be very selective in their reading and interpretation. 

Tangentially referring back to Hermit’s “oathbreaker” comment, and the rioter’s (likely?) belief he was following the orders of ‘his’ POTUS, he may have believed he was following his oath.  
 
It has been my personal observation that at least some people who claim to closely adhere to a particular text can be very selective in their reading and interpretation. 

I'm inclined to suspect institutional issues.  If you believe there to be an immediate threat to students and faculty, why would you pass the buck to administration and wait to see what they want to do about it?
 
Fear of lawsuits and media frenzies aside, I also wonder if none of the adults in the equation felt comfortable with the idea of potentially having to deal with a loaded firearm if they did search the kid.

You might want to keep an eye on West Virginia vs EPA as well, though I'm not certain it's as big a stick as some of the "2A" crowd might want to believe.
 
ATF did, however, recently issue updated rules on 'stabilizing braces' which will generate a lot of lawyer fees in the near term and could result in a weakening of NFA requirements.  Worse case scenario, from a gun control perspective, given the current court would be overturning the NFA in its entirety.  I'm thinking that is wishful thinking on some people's part, but I'll be surprised if the final ruling only overturns the updated rule.
 
A more viable fix to the main problem isn't any easier than fighting/re-fighting the same fights about gun control legislation in the state houses and courts.
 
Getting people in crisis the help they need shouldn't be that hard, but it is.
Convincing people that 'every problem can be solved with a gun' is not true is also going to be harder than it should be.

You might want to keep an eye on West Virginia vs EPA as well, though I'm not certain it's as big a stick as some of the "2A" crowd might want to believe.
 
ATF did, however, recently issue updated rules on 'stabilizing braces' which will generate a lot of lawyer fees in the near term and could result in a weakening of NFA requirements.  Worse case scenario, from a gun control perspective, given the current court would be overturning the NFA in its entirety.  I'm thinking that is wishful thinking on some people's part, but I'll be surprised if the final ruling only overturns the updated rule.
 
A more viable fix to the main problem isn't any easier than fighting/re-fighting the same fights about gun control legislation in the state houses and courts.
 
Getting people in crisis the help they need shouldn't be that hard, but it is.
Convincing people that 'every problem can be solved with a gun' is not true is also going to be harder than it should be.

Quibble - those are the numbers for the "non-hybrid" cases, which are using conventional brass.  If you read up a bit in the article you'll see the hybrid cases are firing that same 135 grain projectile at 3,000 feet per second.  Additionally, even the hybrid cases aren't being loaded to their maximum rated pressure at this point - for reasons(?)...
 
The expectation is that the hybrid cases will be available on the civilian market.  To my knowledge, the specs on the military loading of the cartridge haven't been released to the public and these numbers are for the civilian loadings.
 
And, yes, SIG is hyping the bejeepers out of the rifle and the cartridge.  You can count me as skeptical on how well the new rifle and cartridge (and scope) will work out in practice, but I'm not in a position to make more than quasi-informed guesses.

New weapons change doctrine all the time.  I doubt it in this case primarily because I don't think the XM-5 is particularly suited to an active shooter scenario compared to a typical AR-type rifle.
 
If, on the other hand, the rifle lives up to its hype and becomes readily available, expect doctrines to be adapted or developed accordingly.
 
 
 
Cops, firefighters, and even soldiers aren't expected to throw their lives away needlessly either.
 
The point of small unit tactics is coordinated action.  Large groups of people mindlessly acting independently results in Keystone Kops.
 
That said, leadership would clearly seem to have been lacking.  Instead of Keystone Kapers, we saw everybody waiting on somebody (and not just anybody), so we ended up with nobody doing what needed to be done...

You may be over-estimating how easy it is to get the equipment.
 
You can order a drone online and have it shipped to your door.  I'm not sure how hard it would be to find the recipes for simple explosives, but it's clearly not impossible.
 
A firearm either requires dealing with a licensed dealer or finding someone to sell you something off-the-books.  Neither being quite as simple as point and click.  (and on-book is a little harder now for the 18-20 set with the additional gun control legislation that passed following Uvalde)

Every gun is a weapon. But I accept the concepts of self-defense, home defense, and animal defense, only when necessary. If every gun owner in America had that attitude, was trained in not only how but when to shoot, and there were safeguards in place to weed out people with instability or destructive intentions, I'd be fine with that.
 
But I've said all I have to say on this topic, and would like to move on.
 
 

I still recall when "pet rocks" were a thing people actually paid money for - but at least you got something physical for your dollar...

Assuming they’re working their way up the ladder, I’d assume there’s quite a few rungs to go before we see Trump facing a jury. 
 
I’d also assume they’ll need to do something concrete before the 2024 electioneering starts getting serious. 

No offense taken.  I don't belong to either party, so I can usually find at least some fault with both - even if I can sometimes have an easier time understanding one over the other regardless of whether or not I agree.
 
My favorite quote about being of the same coin actually comes from an old Champions supplement.  "... might be differ'nt sides of the same coin, but they ain't the same side."  (more or less, I'm too lazy to go digging for the book right now)

My favorite part of US politics.
 
The two primary parties spend so much time and energy trying to control some aspect of somebody else's life, mostly, it seems, as a means of ensuring their own positions.
 
 

Hey, I have a radical idea. How about we celebrate Veterans Day in the U.S. by demanding that our 'leaders' fund the VA and other programs to take care of all of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines when they get home from deployment? Someone who survives action in Kandahar or Fallujah shouldn't die from homelessness or suicide once they get back home.

At least Kaptur beat Majewski…

Well, Trump is having another bad day.
 
SCOTUS has apparently declined to involve itself with the Mar-a-Lago documents case and the Jan 6 committee has voted to supoena him.
 
Both breaking news on CNN, the supoena news is also on BBC. 

Well, Trump is having another bad day.
 
SCOTUS has apparently declined to involve itself with the Mar-a-Lago documents case and the Jan 6 committee has voted to supoena him.
 
Both breaking news on CNN, the supoena news is also on BBC. 

Ariel=/=Arial.

Despite the thumbnail, it’s not just a “gunz bad!” analysis. 

I suppose if the guns are in the hand of recognized military and “resistance” groups, they don’t count?
 
As violent as the US is, and I live in a supposedly violent part of the country (too darn close to Detroit, I guess), I’m not particularly concerned with gun violence…
 
As opposed to say, someone in Ukraine, or any one of the multiple countries where people are literally running around with fully automatic weapons and anti-tank rocket launchers killing each other.
 
As gun crazy as ‘Murica might be, we are not the most brutally violent place on the planet.
 
And I’ve seen more police in Europe toting submachine guns as regular carry than I’ve seen in the US.

It turned out, I didn't have to wait too long to find out who my fiancée had approached.when she pulled back to my side, somehow finding that niche that I felt like god had molded me to be for her comfort and support. I wrapped an arm around her and despite the scramble for teams in the midst of celebration? I felt whole.
 
"Missed you," I told her.

"It's been less than fifteen minutes," she smiled at me with her eyes as well as the upturned corners of her mouth.
"Feels like months," I told her honestly.
"Silly," She told me, but her tone was anything but chiding, "Missed you too," then she took a breathe and reported on, "Fox is going north, she met a fellow by the way."

"Hope he's a better man than Valoderous," I snorted softly, "But I'm glad for her, even if she'll be missed. So far we've got Lady Obsidian, us, Pinprick, Trailblazer, Aspirant, and Pogo."
"No Mayo?" She inquired.
"Hold the Mayo," I tried to hide my disappointment behind a joke.
"Oh, you just love slipping that one in," She groaned, but then added, "I'm sorry."

It looked like I hadn't hidden anything as well as I thought.
 
She patted me, "Well, that leaves us with seven. You did better than I did. Bramble wants just a bit of space from her grandmother so she'd going to Port Cascade as well."
It occurred to me that Ariana might have indulged just a bit in being fussed over as bride to be and left most of the recruiting to me. And who was I to blame her? Likely she had chattered Mabel and Fox up all over again, and as they were about to be in another city regularly; it was understandable she'd want to squeeze out as much farewell with them as possible. And her Uncle was always more like a big brother to him. Lord knows there would be video calls back and forth at the least.
 
I processed the current list, "So Port Cascade's branch has Brazen, Tornado, Arctic Fox, and Bramble that we know of. We should get moving and grab up Slime, Viewpoint and Hussar."
 
"Ahem," She cleared her throat, "We have SEVEN. That's big enough. Give my Uncle a chance, okay?"
I looked sheepishly at her, "Sorry, for a moment it was 'gotta catch em all'"
 
Ariana looked at me as if I were insane, then broke down into a laugh which she buried into my chest. I liked the way her throaty snorts echoed into my rib cage.
 
"Hussar Chu, I choose you?" She asked.
 
"Well, I keep hoping he evolves, but fine, Tornado can have him," I allowed as if it were magnanimous. In truth I kind of figured Hussar would say no anyway. I respected him more now, and he me; hell I even felt for the kid. But we still clashed. Of course, Trailblazer and Valerosa had their own bumps, but I felt Trailblazer was holding no grudges. I wasn't as sure about Hussar.

"How kind of you," My bride to be fussed at me, "He's got the goods. And they'll be lucky to have him."

She pulled me along to rejoin Tornado and the others.
And that's how I learned recruiting had not gone as well for Tornado and Brazen as they hoped.
 
"What do you mean you're forming your own team?" Valentino's voice boomed in one of those awkward moments of silence that owns a room.
"What, I passed the course," Hussar replied, "Look, Angel Man has a dark history, One that has been covered up way too long. I'm his clone, not him, so maybe I don't bear any stain for anything he ever did, or maybe I do. I'm not sure, but I do know it pisses me off that he got away with it and others are still paying the price. I got a mission to stir some trouble, and set things right. People may hate my guts for 'tarnishing' his name... big whoop. But I'm gonna spread word. That's why I invited Viewpoint along."
 
Viewpoint nodded, confirming it, "If the kid is going to sling even well deserved mud on an icon of old, he could use someone who is better at Public relations than he is."
 
'WHICH IS ANYONE, REALLY'  Slime texted on his own surface.
"Oh yeah, Slime's coming too," Hussar nodded, "He's cool."
"When you first met, you attacked him, and he said you tasted like chicken," I reminded. I shouldn't have, but this had caught me off guard as well.
'HIGHER QUALITY CHICKEN' Slime assured the room.
 
"Yeah, we got over it," Hussar says, "So I invited him along. He's got some old interstellar tech patched together. It won't get us past orbit but it sure cuts the miles to nothing."
'THE TRIO TAKING A NATION WIDE TOUR,' Slime seemed enthused 'READY TO HIT THE CITIES OF AMERICA AND BROADEN SOME MINDS! HERE TO HELP YOU FACE YOUR PREJUDICES, YOU UGLY UGLY SOLIDS'
"Like I said, I'll be doing most of the PR part," Viewpoint said after we all gazed at that text.
"Good thing, I'm thinking," Lady Obsidian observed, but looked more amused than alarmed, but she moved to Hussar, "You sure you're up for this?"
"One thing I've never been afraid of is a fight" Hussar told her, "But I'm not so stupid as to think I don't need some help."
Viewpoint adds, "The Kid's cause is righteous. But hey, if we're in the area of Port Cascade, we'll chip in and help out."
"Well, I appreciate that, "Tornado said, then looked to Mabel who nodded at him, before saying "If you would, make Port Cascade the first place you start spreading the word?"
"Sounds like a plan" Hussar nodded.
'RAINS A BIT MORE THAN I LIKE, BUT SURE' Slime agreed.
Viewpoint said to Brazen and Tornado, "Looks like you'll have back up close by if you four get overwhelmed"
 
"Might be five of us" Arctic Fox muttered over her glass, but most of us heard and stared at her.
"I met a local at Port Cascade, he's nice," She said sounding defensive. "And yes, I know, that's bit me in the ass before."
"More like it bit you in the heart,"  Brazen was kind about it "Don't beat yourself up. We'll give him a look."
"Is he an archer?" Pinprick inquired.
"No," Arctic Fox rolled her eyes at him.
Pinprick nodded, then looked at Tornado "Your team is going to suck now."
"Where's a bread box when I need one?" Tornado asked "And crazy glue to seal it?"
"I have have an adhesive in my tool box," I offered.
There were some chuckles all around , smiles. Sure, the banter poked, but it didn't cut flesh. And we all knew sometimes joking was easier than simply saying how much we'd miss each other.
Teams sorted, the focus shifted back to the upcoming wedding. Two cities or not, everyone agreed to show up for that.
 
Ariana also announced, "Well, the wedding will be soon, no waiting a year for this. Even if it means a smaller place. We're getting hitched quick."
 
"We are?" I was surprised.
 
"We are," Then she kissed my cheek, and whispered in my ear "Your mother and father are going to see it from places of honor. Whatever happens, whatever doesn't, your dad gets to watch us get married."
 
I was wordless, too choked up to really do anything but gaze with gratitude. As folks cheered and chattered at this latest news, I held her hands and gazed in her eyes nodding.
And I realized another reason I loved this woman. She was rescuing me again. I might be a big ass strong man with the ability to juggle tanks, or plunge to the depths, but this woman? This amazing woman?
She was MY hero.
 
 

Whenever gun control, especially 'assault weapon' bans, become a prominent topic in the  media there is a spike in sales of that category of firearms.  This is likely a factor in the continuing surge in sales past the election itself.
 
However, as someone who works in the shooting industry, in addition to the increased demand for AR-type rifles/pistols, I've been seeing a lot more interest in personal carry handguns and people worrying about their their ability to defend themselves.

That bridge is burned. It’s long past time to put up or shut up. 
 
The true believers on either side won’t believe any verdict that doesn’t vindicate their position, but there are still people who believe that laws and government are supposed to work  and haven’t finalized the verdict in their own minds (hard as that may be to believe) that want to see less innuendo and more action. 
 
If Trump is guilty, then prove it and convict him.