The cool winds of Fall are sweeping across the cities, towns, villages and prairies of Illinois. The grain harvest is progressing although slowed by rain in certain areas. There many deer in the woods. Best of luck getting your trophy!
The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), founded by John Lott, reports that concealed carry permits are 10.5% over this time last year. Looking back to 2016, permits are up 48%. The wild card in all these statistics is the number of states that have adopted permit less carry or constitutional carry. Right now, we are at about 21.5 million concealed carry permits in the United States. I estimate that there are in the neighborhood of another 20 million in constitutional carry states.
For some reason, some people seem to be bewildered by why it is happening. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure it out. Look at what is happening in southern Mexico. There are about 60,000 illegals making their way north to walk unopposed across our border. Somehow the Haitians got 2000 miles from Haiti to Mexico. Now they have 250 charter buses waiting to move them north. Think for a moment of what a large logistical operation this is. Think about the cost and coordination that this takes.
Someone is paying for all of this, but who? Radical American billionaires, cartels, Red China or maybe Russia. The United States government who is supposed to protect all of us is laying down like a sleepy lap dog. All this is going to wind up on our door step. There is no one to protect us but ourselves. I’m surprised the number of concealed carry and constitutional carry people aren’t 60 or 70 million.
The National Rifle Association recently held their Annual Meeting in North Carolina. I am pleased to report that three of the most capable people I know are now in leadership. They are Charles Cotton, President; Willis Lee, First Vice President; and David Coy, Second Vice President. I have known these individuals for several years. David Coy has been a life member of the ISRA for a long time. They will do a great job. Hopefully, the NRA will get these lawsuits behind them in 2022. When they do, there will be some rebuilding to do.
There are those jumping up and down demanding everyone’s head, particularly Wayne Lapierre’s head. If Wayne LaPierre were to step down, who would replace him? I, like many of you, have sent untold dollars to the NRA over the years. I am not mad but I am disappointed. This is not the time to fight about this. We have to save the ship first; we have to deal with the New York lawsuit and then begin to rebuild the NRA. It is not going to be easy.
It’s crazy in Chicago and getting crazier. Kim Foxx, the notorious Cook County State’s Attorney, let five people go who were involved in a “rolling shootout” which left one person dead because they were mutual combatants. In another case, a father fired a shot in the air to ward off carjackers and he was cited for illegal use of a weapon, Cook County Justice at its finest.
I always thought that Santa Claus showed up on Christmas Eve in a sleigh, overloaded with gifts, pulled by eight reindeer, with Rudolph leading the way in bad weather. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Santa depended on container ships waiting to be unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles and truck drivers to deliver those goods to all parts of the country. Store shelves are becoming empty, businesses can’t hire employees because they get paid more on the government dole, fuel prices are going up, people that want to work but can’t because they refuse to be vaccinated because of unknown long-term effects and on and on it goes.
What is the cause of all of this?
Piles of mandates, laws, rules and regulations that get deeper and deeper by the minute as no-nothing bureaucrats flex their muscles. No matter how hard Santa and his team of dedicated elves work, they are being outdone by Scrooge Biden and his team of left-wing nut jobs. My Christmas wish is for a new President but I’m afraid he or she might be in one of those containers from China.
The FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2020 is out. In 2020, legally armed citizens killed more criminals than the police. Armed citizens killed 343 criminals and the police killed 298 criminals. There are differences between the two numbers. I don’t have the exact figures but when a legally armed citizen kills a criminal he or she is in defense of their own life or the life of another. They are stopping a crime and they are also preventing further crimes from being committed. In the case where the police have to arrest someone and they are shot and killed, it is because they have already committed a crime and have left victims who have been killed, injured, maimed, mentally injured or in some cases, scarred for life. Seldom are the police able to intervene during the commission of a crime.
Reminder: October 30 & 31, 2021, Defensive Training International (DTI) Defensive Handgun Course – John Farnam, Instructor, will be at our Range. To register for this 2-day course, please use this link to register.
