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From America’s 1^st Freedom:  https://www.americas1stfreedom.org/articles/2017/6/13/permitless-carry-momentum-grows/

by AWR Hawkins
Tuesday, June 13, 2017

When Florida shifted from a “may-issue” to a “shall-issue” concealed-carry permitting process in the 1980s, the state unknowingly birthed a movement that swept the country. Not only did state after state adopt concealed carry, almost all eventually adopted a “shall-issue” permitting process. Today, every state has some sort of concealed carry, and very few of the states remain “may-issue.”

We saw the same thing happen with the Castle Doctrine and with “Stand Your Ground” laws. And now, Americans are watching as permitless carry gains momentum and becomes the law of the land in state after state after state.

The permitless-carry push is sometimes referred to as “constitutional carry,” because the philosophy behind it is that Americans ought not have to apply for and pay for a government-issued permit before exercising a right that is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Seen in this light, permitless carry is simply an outworking of four crucial words—“shall not be infringed.”

A total of 12 states recognize permitless carry as the law of the land, and one can best understand the momentum behind this by noting that there were only six states that recognized permitless carry on Jan. 1, 2016. In less than a year and half, six states added their names to the roster of states where the Second Amendment is your concealed-carry permit, and two others—Michigan and North Carolina—are weighing the same decision now.

The momentum that launched the permitless carry wave in 2016 actually began building in 2015, when pro-Second Amendment legislators in West Virginia passed permitless carry legislation that was vetoed by Democrat Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. The legislators pledged that they would bring it back with even more legislative support and pass it again in 2016. They did so, and Tomblin vetoed it again, but this time the legislators overrode his veto, thereby abolishing the requirement that residents of West Virginia get a government permit to carry a firearm for self-defense.

Idaho, Missouri and Mississippi also abolished their permit requirements in 2016, and suddenly one-fifth of the states recognized legal carry without a permit.

Then came 2017, and the wave continued. On Feb. 22, Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed legislation abolishing his state’s concealed- carry permit requirement, and on March 24 Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation ridding his state of the requirement as well.

The addition of New Hampshire and North Dakota means permitless carry is now the law of the land in 12 states—and it could soon be 14, depending on the outcome of the current legislative debate in Michigan and North Carolina.

Continue reading at:  https://www.americas1stfreedom.org/articles/2017/6/13/permitless-carry-momentum-grows/

From The Guardian UK:  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/20/philando-castile-shooting-nra-response-colion-noir

Colion Noir says Friday ruling that police officer Jeronimo Yanez would not be charged in the death of Castile is ‘just wrong’ and ‘covert racism is a real thing’

Lois Beckett
Tuesday 20 June 2017

Two days after Philando Castile was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop, the National Rifle Association issued a statement.

Castile’s death was “troubling”, the group said, adding that it supported the right of law-abiding Americans to carry firearms, no matter their race. “Rest assured,” the statement added, “the NRA will have more to say once all the facts are known.”

On Friday in St Paul, Minnesota, close to a year on, the police officer Jeronimo Yanez was cleared of all charges in the death of Castile, a beloved elementary school cafeteria worker who had a permit for the firearm he was carrying when he died. There were protests in St Paul. The NRA remained silent.

However, the group’s most prominent black commentator, Colion Noir, is speaking out about the decision.

“Yanez walking away from this case a free and clear man is just wrong,” Noir wrote in an impassioned online post on Sunday. Though he despised “race-baiting”, Noir wrote, “covert racism is a real thing and is very dangerous.

“Philando Castile should be alive today. I don’t feel [Yanez] woke up that day wanting to shoot a black person. However, I keep asking myself, would he have done the same thing if Philando were white?”

On Monday, Noir – who works under a pseudonym and requested his real name, though widely reported, not be used – was filming for his NRA News television show in Utah. In a phone interview, he said Castile’s death had touched him deeply. But he said he was speaking only for himself, not as a spokesman for the NRA or its leadership.

As a lawyer, Noir said, he understood why it was difficult to secure a manslaughter conviction in the Castile case. But as a young black man, he was outraged.

“It’s not a clear-cut case,” he said. “It’s not. [But] Yanez made mistakes that cost someone their life, period, and he didn’t take the steps necessary to prevent that.”

When Castile was killed, Noir said, he was 32 – the same age as Noir at the time.

“I had just gotten pulled over about a week prior,” he said, “the exact same way he had. It was almost eerie how similar, you know, the situation was … how easily that could have been me.”

In his online post, Noir wrote that while accusations of racism can be overplayed, there is a “problem with some people in this country dismissing racism wholesale when it isn’t overt racial slurs or crosses burning on front lawns”.

Continue reading at:  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/20/philando-castile-shooting-nra-response-colion-noir

This weekend we are back at our favorite venue doing a show produced by great folks of Premier Shows.  Just off the I30 where it intersects with the 80.

We have some new knives and a few old guns including a really nice Colt Lightening.

Show Hours are:
Saturday:      9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday:       10:00am-4:00pm

Admission is $8, kids 11 and under are FREE, and parking is FREE! Say “DAD” at the door for $1 off admission.

We’ll see you there!

It should be added that this law reform doesn’t take effect until September 1.

Among other things it also legalized double edged knives and removes the 5.5 inch restriction.

I will give more on the specifics at a later date.  I think some restrictions still apply that are also shared with restrictions on CHL and carrying in a bar or place of business that derives 51% or more of its income form the sale of alcohol.

Guess I’ll be trying to get some more double edged Ultratechs and maybe Infidels for our table

From Knife News:  http://knifenews.com/new-texas-knife-laws/

June 16, 2017

Earlier in June, we learned that Bowie, Texas’ big Bowie was officially crowned the World’s Largest Bowie Knife by the Guinness Book of World Records. The news carried a hint of irony because it is still illegal to carry a Bowie knife in Texas. But this and other restrictions will disappear on September 1st, 2017, following Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s signing of Knife Rights‘ Texas Knife Law Reform Bill yesterday.

“It’s always been ironic that you couldn’t carry a Bowie in Texas,” says Doug Ritter, Chairman and Executive Director of Knife Rights. With the passing of the new law, the doors are open on what Texans can put in their pocket or on their belt. “There are no more illegal knives in Texas,” says Ritter. The only exception to the new statute is that you can’t bring knives to restricted areas such as schools, hospitals, churches, and bars that make 51% or more of their income from alcohol sales. “Texas is getting closer to being the Texas that everyone thinks it is,” Ritter says.

According to Ritter, the victory in Texas was the culmination of six years’ worth of work, and only possible with the ongoing support from the community. In a final fundraising push for the 2017 Ultimate Steel Spectacular mega-raffle, Knife Rights has added a Tail End Bonus Drawing to sweeten the pot.

From NRA-ILA:  https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170609/the-loophole-in-background-check-thinking-criminals-obey-the-law

Friday, June 9, 2017