When American citizens are asked about Washington D.C., the term “swamp” comes to mind. The question is what is the swamp? How does it manifest itself to influence American life? A really good example has come out of the National Archives.
Let’s digress for a moment. There are three branches of government. The most respected is the Judiciary. People think of the Supreme Court of the United States. It is staffed by those who study and love the law. These people are serious. This is the only place in the swamp that one can find dry stable land. It is an island. The reason it is an island is that it is the most nonpolitical of the three branches of government. If the court packing liberals get their way, it too will sink into the swamp but, for now, it is okay.
When we get to the Legislative and Administrative branches of government, the murky waters of the swamp overtake us. The Legislative branch is the least trusted of all the branches of government. That is because it has the most prominent swamp creatures that we see and hear often. The Administrative branch is the most dangerous part of the swamp. The reason for that is it has hundreds of thousands of people who are employed as mid-level bureaucrats who like to fool around with American’s lives. Many of these people are left wing idealists who dislike the United States. Still, working for the U.S. Government, they can collect a check and be safely nestled away while quietly influencing government policies which harm and push the Country to the left.
One such example occurred in the National Archives in June. An agenda driven Obama appointee, David S. Ferriero, established a task force of the National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) to identify issues of racial inequality. So, what came out of all this taxpayer funded nonsense? The NARA found that the founding documents contain harmful language and sent out a harmful language alert. What documents were included? Things like the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and others. This is a prime example of the swamp creatures chipping away at the fabric that holds the United States together and embarrassing us in the eyes of the world. This is one of the ways the left operates, and we pay for it. We are stupid for letting this kind of activity go on.
The number of approved FOID cards and ICCLs has gone up substantially. In August of 2020, the number of new and renewal FOID card applications was 19,995; in August of 2021, that number went to 104,339. The same trend is showing in the approved ICCLs. In August 2020, the number of approved ICCLs was 4393; in August of 2021, the number of approved ICCLs was 10,806. At this point, the Illinois State Police have done a great job of eating into the backlog. I am looking forward to getting the backlog problems behind us. Right now, the number of FOID cards is 2,535,715 and the number of ICCLs is 438,135.
A Federal Circuit Court Judge has ruled the ban on an ICCL holder carrying their concealed carry firearm on a Cook County Forest Preserve Trail is unconstitutional. When the Concealed Carry Act was passed, carrying a firearm on the Cook County Forest Preserve trails was negotiated out of the bill. All other forest preserves are in the bill. United States District Judge Robert M. Dow of the United States District Court for Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division issued the opinion on 9/13/2021.
Before you run off to a walking trail in the Cook County Forest Preserve with your concealed carry gun, you should know there is a stay on the order for six months. This is to give time for the Cook County Forest Preserve to decide what they are going to do. If they appeal this case, it could be a long time because it has to work its way through the courts. If not, it would take effect March 15, 2022. There are reasons not to appeal this case. If the anti-gun side goes up the court chain and Judge Dow’s ruling is upheld, it would set a precedent and such laws throughout the United States would be struck down. If they leave the case right where it is, it is just a local ruling that would only affect the Cook County Forest Preserve. Judge Dow’s rulings are seldom overturned.
The Hunter’s Moon will be at full zenith on October 20th. If the weather holds, most of the crops will be out by then. Depending on what part of Illinois you live in, the first frost is around October 15th. All those factors, including the rut coming on the deer, will make it crazy out there. Be careful.
It is time to get those shotguns out and make sure they are working properly. Check those barrels and make sure there are no obstructions in them. This includes debris, spider webs, bugs and who knows what else could have crawled in there. Most shotguns have choke tubes these days so take them out, lubricate with anti-seize choke tube grease and put them back in. Check the choke tubes frequently to be sure they are tight. Choke tubes may have a plastic buildup in them. You will need to take the plastic buildup out if you have any. Plastic buildup will affect your shot pattern. There are several companies that make choke tube cleaner but plastic does not come out easily. The best thing you can use is spiral brushes and copper cleaning pads. Copper is softer than steel and works for cleaning gas tubes in your semi-automatic shotguns. I would not use steel cleaning pads because small steel fibers can break off and be left behind.
If you remove the trigger group, be careful with the pins and keep track of them. Clean the excess oil and grime out of the receiver. When everything is clean, oil the inside lightly. I prefer synthetic oil because it works better in cold temperatures. If you are going where it is really cold, I would not oil the trigger mechanism at all. I always put a protective coating of metabolic oil on the outside of the gun to help protect it from moisture. There are various companies that make protective oils for the outside of firearms. All of them work pretty well.
When you are all finished, take your gun out and test it. If you do all of this now and something is not working right, you will still have time to take it to a gunsmith before hunting season. Opening day is a lousy time to find out your gun doesn’t work. Finally, don’t store your shotgun in a gun case for long periods of time. That is a prescription for rust. When in the field, it is good to carry a spare shotgun case if the one you are using gets moisture inside of it. Guns like dry gun cases. Be sure to check the manual for your shotgun or whatever gun you are cleaning. If anything conflicts with what I have said, follow the manual. Good hunting.
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.
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