No, I Don’t Have ADD!

No, I don’t have ADD, or Attention Deficit Disorder, but you might feel that way after this week’s President’s Message. It’s my observations on just some of the last few weeks’ news, with a few of my remarks mixed in.

My first story is about a case before the US Supreme Court; Rahimi v. U.S., where clearly a bad actor is attempting to overturn the restrictions against convicted domestic abusers (misdemeanors that should actually be felonies but that’s a different issue) from possessing firearms. Back in March the 5th Circuit sided with Rahimi, noting while he’s “hardly a model citizen,” the statute barring him from owning a gun is an “outlier that our ancestors would never have accepted.”

The second story is from Guns America and it highlights a study about inner-city gang members and why they are carrying firearms. The study, by The Center for Justice Innovation, highlights four reasons for the carrying of firearms by gang members.

1. Carrying for Protection: Those who carry for protection expressed ambivalence about carrying and, even more, firing guns. “I’m not trying to kill nobody. I’m not a killer.” But this ambivalence was trumped by the safety imperative: “It’s not about being cool or being tough or nothing. It’s just more about being safe.”
2. Carrying for Image: Those who carry for image might brandish the gun in a group, flash it to intimidate opps, or shoot and intentionally miss. They were also perceived as likely to get into beefs related to false claims or representation.
3. Carrying for Street Hustles: Those engaged in street hustles (e.g., drug dealers, scammers) were known to hold large amounts of cash or goods. They carried for protection against being robbed. Others engaged in robbing or breaking-and-entering used guns to acquire the cash or goods sought through intimidation and threat, seldom intending to kill.
4. Shooters: Rarer than the other three categories, “shooters” were carriers who regularly went on the offensive, if need be killing those perceived as threats.

Go figure, we all know the first reason above is the same as everyday law-abiding Americans who want to carry defensive firearms, to protect themselves from the latter three groups listed above! How much money was wasted on that study?

My third story is about Brazil, a notably dangerous country that has seen crime and murder rates start to drop under liberalized firearms ownership and carrying laws in the last few years. Go figure. Dr. John Lott is proven right again that more guns equals less crime. Yet criminologist researchers cannot figure out what is going on. My suggestion is they go read Dr. Lott’s seminal book on the subject titled “More Guns Less Crime”; it’s now in its third edition.

We all know how much our mainstream media lies through omissions. I don’t care if it’s our once-trusted Iowa WHO-Radio’s news department or the NY Times. A great example is the recent terrorist attack in of all places, Fargo, ND on July 16th. While you may have heard about the event, what has not been widely reported was that it was brought by a Syrian immigrant with no social media presence, who had spent years in the background of legal society, and had been a student of mass killing events.  From local reports of an official release;

July 21 is the first time officials have released a photo of Mohamed Barakat. Officials say he is a Syrian national who came to the United States in 2012. Barakat became a U.S. citizen in 2019. Investigators say it appears Barakat was working off and on at different jobs, and over the years he has been researching mass casualty events and collecting weaponry. His name appeared on what officials call a “Guardian Report,” but they clarified the tip received was not about a threat of violence.

Wrigley says Mohamed Barakat was not on the terrorist watch list and all of the firearms appear to have been purchased legally. Investigators say he appears to have no ties to the local Muslim community. He has family living in the United States, but not in the local area. Wrigley says Barakat’s family has been spoken to, but they do not appear to have had a lot of communication with Barakat.

I have no idea what motivated the Syrian shooter and wanna-be bomber. But please remember to be Ready at All Times and never forget that those anti-freedom dangerous quacks are playing a long game but so are we at IFC. Help us by joining or renewing your IFC membership here today.

Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.

Dave Funk
President, IFC