Western Journal Independent Journal Review, March 2, 2023
Anyone using a Discover card to make a purchase in a gun store will have that purchase tracked, beginning in April.
“We remain focused on continuing to protect and support lawful purchases on our network while protecting the privacy of cardholders,” Discover said in a statement, according to Reuters. Last year, the International Organization for Standardization, an international body, announced that it was creating a new merchant category code for gun shop sales. Such stores had formerly been classified as dealers in “general merchandise,” according to Fox Business. As noted by CNBC, the code will show where a purchase was made and the amount, but not what was bought. As noted by the website UpgradedPoints, there are 57 million Discover credit cards in existence
Beginning in April 2023, Discover will become the first credit card issuer to track gun purchases made by their cardholders.
On September 11, 2022, Breitbart News noted that Visa caved to pressure from gun control groups and New York Democrats, agreeing to flag gun and ammo purchases via a new sales categorization.
The Associated Press observed that Mastercard and other major credit cards also agreed to flag gun sales.
On March 2, 2023, the Independent Journal Review (IJR) reported that Discover will be first among credit card companies to track gun sales, inasmuch as the company will begin doing so in April. IJR explained, “Anyone using a Discover card to make a purchase in a gun store will have that purchase tracked, beginning in April.”
There are over 55 million Discover cards in usage, so a lot of information on gun purchases can be gathered via that one company.
The 2nd Amendment protects one’s right to feed one’s family the same as it does to defend one’s family. No licensing or fee should be required.
If the 2nd Amendment protects our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms and carrying a firearm in public, without asking the State for permission through applying for a State issued license,it should not be necessary for sportsmen to request permission from the State to harvest game to feed their families.
If under the proposed bill (HB-543) no training, license or fee paid to the State will be required to carry a firearm in public for self-defense, why should it be necessary to receiving training, pay a fee and request permission from the State to carry a firearm in the field or the woods to harvest game to feed one’s family?
If our 2nd Amendment applies to carrying a firearm in public, for defensive purposes, without asking permission from the State through a license, our 2nd Amendment should also apply to harvesting game to feed one’s family, without asking the State for permission through a hunting license.
It should be understood that to obtain a hunting license in Florida, anyone born after June 1, 1975 must successful complete an approved hunter safety education course.
In other words, a person must attend and successfully complete a training course to be eligible to apply for permission and pay a fee to be able to exercise one’s Constitutional right to use one’s gun or other weapon to feed one’s family.
If a person has the Constitutional right to carry a deadly weapon while grocery shopping, clothes shopping, having one’s nail’s done or getting a haircut, without demonstrating proficiency with a firearm and applying for a license through the State,
then a person has the same Constitutional right to harvest game to feed one’s family, without having had required training or having to request permission to do so from the State.
Contact you state representative immediately and tell him or her that any “Constitutional Carry” law in Florida should include the abolishing of State issued hunting licenses and the training required to obtain one.
Its “permitless carry” not “constitutional carry”.
The first bill regarding “constitutional carry” in Florida has been filed by Representative Robert Brannan, of Lake City. It is HB-543. The bill is 63 pages long.
Contrary to common understanding the bill is “permitless carry”, not constitutional carry. Basically, in summary, the bill provides for the permitless carrying of a handgun or other weapon, by both Florida residents and non-residents.
The bill (HB-543) does not require training, fingerprinting or background checks in order to legally carry a firearm or other weapon, anywhere other than where otherwise prohibited. In the Bill, otherwise prohibited maintains all the locations where a firearm or other weapon currently cannot be legally carried. Everything remains the same. That includes businesses or other private property whereby the owner prohibits the possession or carrying of a firearm on his, her or their property.
The bottom line: An individual’s 2nd Amendment right does nottrump personal property rights.
As good as permitless and constitutional carry sounds, a surge in the appearance of NO GUNS ALLOWED signs can be expected in private business. Private business that currently tolerate the carrying of firearms by trained, background checked and licensed firearm owners.
Yes, Florida’s concealed carry weapons licensing process needs revision; however, it is not believed that “permitless carry” is the answer.
Florida is the 3rd most populated state in the country, with a population similar to Texas. In September 2021, Texas’ “constitutional carry” law went into effect. Since that time, there has been a 550% increase in firearm violation convictions. That is convictions, not arrests. Firearm violation convictions rose from 1,049 in 2020 to nearly 7,000 since the last year reporting data was available. The same can be expected to occure in Florida. The question begs: Who benefits from “constitutional carry”? Follow the money!
You may not be aware that Florida currently has a “permitless” vehicle carry law in effect. Specifically defined in FS: 790.06, a person who is not otherwise prohibited from owning and possessing a firearm can legally transport a loaded firearm, in a vehicle or other conveyance, without a concealed carry weapons or firearms license, if done so in the manner described.
No background checks are required for vehicle “permitless” carry. No fingerprinting is required for vehicle “permitless” carry. No firearm training is required for vehicle “permitless” carry.
Have you noticed the sky rocking increase in road rage shootings in recent years?
“Permitless carry” in Florida . . . Be careful what you wish for. The result may be that where you currently enjoy the right to carry your concealed carry weapon or firearm (private business property), you will no longer be able to exercise that right. It must be kept in mind that private property rights supersede your 2nd Amendment right.
In the event you are not aware, government takes care of and protects itself.
Neither currently, nor in the proposed bill (HB-543), can a person or will a person be allowed to carry a firearm or other weapon, in any government building where government business is conducted. In addition, neither currently, nor in the proposed bill, can a person or will a person be allowed to carry a firearm or other weapon on any property owned by a public or private school. That includes: pre-school, elementary school, middle school, high school or college. It also includes any school sponsored event.
January 10, 2023 : Renzo Downey – FLORIDA POLITICS
Florida could be the first state to protect gun sale data with the Arms and Ammo Act.
Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is unveiling his first legislative proposal since taking office, a first-in-the-nation measure to prevent businesses from tracking Floridians’ firearm and ammo purchases.
Simpson, the former Senate President who was sworn in as Agriculture Commissioner last week, announced his proposal for the “Florida Arms and Ammo Act” Tuesday.
The measure comes in response to new international standards for recording payment transactions last year that established a separate identification code for firearm and ammunition sales. With the new merchant category code, it is potentially easier to track people who have purchased guns or ammo.
“We are all blessed to live in the free state of Florida where our Second Amendment rights are valued and protected, but Democrats in Washington continue to try to chip away at these rights — and we must stay vigilant,” Simpson said.
“The ‘Florida Arms and Ammo Act’ draws a line in the sand and tells multi-national progressive financial institutions, and their allies in Washington, that they cannot covertly create a backdoor firearm registry of Floridians — or else.”
A Florida man has been arrested by deputies after twoconcealed carry permit holders stopped him from escaping by holding him at gunpoint after he allegedly shot two women.
Florida police say Lee David Wilkerson, 38, was standing outside the Bingo Paradise bingo hall in Pensacola, Fla., on Wednesday when two women tried to enter and an argument ensued, according to a Facebook post from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
When Wilkerson tried to go back into the building, two citizens with concealed guns drew those guns and held him at the scene until police arrived.
Wilkerson allegedly pulled a gun from his side and hit one of the women in the head with it before firing in their direction as they tried to run away.
Wilkerson, who police say was carrying methamphetamine at the time, then allegedly threw his gun into a nearby dumpster.
Lee David Wilkerson, 38, was arrested after shooting two women outside a Florida bingo hall.
Authorities were able to locate Wilkerson’s gun in a nearby dumpster..
NYPD officers ordered to turn in their ammunition – RECALL
NYPD orders officers to turn in their bullets in ammunition recall
January 7, 2023
The NYPD issued a department-wide recall of its 9 mm ammunition (SPEER Gold Dot 9 mm 124-gr. +P) this week after it was discovered that a bad batch of bullets was failing to fire properly, the Daily News has learned.
The recall was issued on Jan. 5 and all officers who received 9 mm ammo from the department between Dec. 19 and Wednesday were ordered to report to the outdoor range on Rodman’s Neck and return them for a new cache of bullets..
On September 1, 2021, Texas’ “permitless carry” law took effect. Since then, there have been a 550%increase in unlawful carrying of a weapon convictions. That is “convictions” not arrests.
AUSTIN, Texas ― Few people are more enthusiastic about carrying handguns than Mike Cargill. The owner of Central Texas Gun Works often carries three ― two concealed, plus one holstered outside his belt.
He’s also enthusiastic about handgun education. Even after the Republican-dominated state legislature passed a “constitutional carry” law, which allows Texans to carry handguns both openly and concealed without getting a license, Cargill kept teaching classes and range qualifications for the now-optional License to Carry Program (LTC). Cargill says a license offers a lot of benefits, not least of which is helping people navigate the state’s complicated gun laws.
And since Texas became one of about half of the states in the country that view carrying a gun as a constitutional right, it looks like people are getting confused by those complicated laws. Several of Cargill’s students over the last year and a half signed up for an LTC class hoping to avoid conviction for unlawfully carrying a weapon ― usually after taking a gun somewhere they shouldn’t have.
When Cargill checked the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website, he found that his experience wasn’t an anomaly. Convictions for unlawfully carrying weapons skyrocketed in the state, from 1,049 in 2020 to nearly 7,000 last year — a spike of 550% and the highest number by far since 2016, the last year of complete data. The state adopted the constitutional carry law in September 2021.
“Yes, it’s your right to carry a gun,” Cargill said. “But you have to know how to carry that gun. If not, that’s a problem.”
No Obvious Explanation
It’s not clear why convictions for unlawfully carrying a weapon have risen so sharply. HuffPost reached out to several local law enforcement agencies asking for an answer. Few responded. Those that did hadn’t noticed the trend, though some agreed with Cargill that confusion might help account for it.
The “apparent rise in unlawful carrying cases across the state is alarming,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg wrote in an email to HuffPost.
“In Harris County, we seem to have filed more than one charge against some suspects which indicates that defendants freed on bond have been charged with the same crime more than once,” Ogg wrote. “Around the rest of the state, they may have the same problem or it could be something else, such as a lack of education about the constitutional carry laws or other laws regarding the possession of firearms.”
Although permitless carry sounds simple, gun laws are complicated. Even under the new law, places like airports, courthouses, hospitals and schools generally don’t allow weapons. Private businesses can also prohibit people from bringing in guns, either by displaying a sign or warning people verbally.
In theory, you can’t bring a gun into a place that earns more than 51% of its revenue from alcohol. But in practice, you can take a gun into a bar if the bar’s liquor license classifies it as a restaurant, which requires checking the Texas Alcohol Beverage Control’s website.
Permitless carry added a new layer of complexity by creating two classes of people allowed to carry handguns ― those with licenses and those relying on the constitution.
The most commonly cited perks of getting a license are that it allows the holder to concealed carry in most other states, and license holders only have to submit federal background checks for application and renewal, instead of every time they buy a gun.
But the law favors LTC holders in many other ways. Carrying a gun with a blood alcohol content of up to 0.08 is legal for license holders. Without one, drinking any alcohol at all while carrying a gun is illegal. An LTC exempts the license holder from the restriction on carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of a school under federal law (though bringing one inside a school building generally remains illegal).
The once-required classes explain all these details. Those carrying a gun because they read a news article saying they can, might not know, for example, unholstering a handgun while inside a car and leaving it in plain view is a crime.
Still, it’s not clear how confusion alone would translate into more gun charges. If someone’s doing a decent job concealing the handgun, they’re not likely to get caught with it.
Instead, many people are charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon only after police arrest them for something else, according to attorney Shane Phelps ― usually drinking and driving, or possession of marijuana.
The only people Phelps regularly sees with unlawfully carrying a weapon as their only charge are felons caught with guns. But Texas tallies the crime of possessing a gun despite a felony conviction separately from unlawfully carrying a weapon.
“That’s kind of a shocking statistic to me ― I don’t have an explanation for it,” Phelps said, referring to the increase in charges. “It’s really hard right now in Texas to get arrested for just carrying a weapon.”
The introduction of permitless carry may not account for the shift, given that it can take several months to cycle defendants from charging to conviction. The data increase could also be due to a historic and sustained spike in gun sales that started during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harris County, for example, showed a clear rise in unlawfully carrying a weapon dating back to 2019, with the number of people charged more than doubling in two years to 4,454. Incomplete numbers for this year were on track to slightly exceed last year.
In an open letter to firearms dealers dated Dec. 27, the ATF told firearm vendors that nearly-complete handgun frames or receivers will be treated the same as fully completed firearms.
The Biden administration has dialed up its crackdown on so-called “ghost guns” by issuing guidance that basically expands the definition of what “readily converted” means in a new federal rule and making more do-it-yourself pistol parts subject to restrictions.
In an open letter to firearms dealers (pdf) dated Dec. 27, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) told firearm vendors that nearly-complete handgun frames or receivers—basically the pistol grip and firing mechanism—will be treated the same as fully completed firearms
It’s happen again. Mass shooting averted. A good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun.
December 14, 2022
Amazon contracted employee returned fire at shooter outside warehouse.
The suspected shooter was killed when an Amazon contracted employee returned fire, Chandler police said. One other person was hospitalized.
CHANDLER, Ariz. — A contracted Amazon worker returned fire on a suspected shooter at the Amazon Flex warehouse in Chandler, police said.
Investigators believe the deceased man shot an Amazon contracted worker before another employee fatally shot him. The deceased man did not work for Amazon, according to the Chandler Police Department.
The worker who shot the original shooter is cooperating with the police, and authorities said that his actions may have prevented a larger shooting.
“He did come to the aid of an individual who was being shot by our suspect. So and so in that case, I would say he is a Good Samaritan,” said Sgt. Jason McClimans.
Chandler police said the incident did not involve an “active shooter” investigators are working to determine the circumstances leading up to Wednesday’s shooting.
Authorities said they don’t know if it was a targeted attack.
“We’re deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence in our parking lot. We’re working closely with law enforcement as they investigate and are focused on supporting our team during this difficult time,” said Amazon spokesman Richard Rocha.
Bryton Bobbitt was in his delivery van in the Amazon warehouse parking lot near McQueen and Queen Creek roads when the shooting started.
After hearing a “pop, pop, pop” sound, the driver quickly looked for a safe place.
“As soon as I saw employees running, I just put my van in drive and got out of here as quickly as I could,” Bobbitt said.
