2024 Will Be Interesting For Second Amendment Radicals

For us Second Amendment Radicals and armed citizens, 2023 was quite the ride. The majority of the country, by landmass, became Constitutional Carry, with even us in the Gunshine State staggering over the finish line (kind of) after over a decade of concentrated effort and false starts. Ownership numbers continued to rise, especially with the Hamas attack on Israel serving as a stark reminder that large-scale and continuous violence can happen to even a somewhat-developed nation. On the legal side, it appears the decades-long federal ban on 18-21 year olds purchasing handguns will fall, and also the Supreme Court granted cert to Garland vs Cargill, which is a challenge to the bump stock ban. The cert was granted on “abuse of power” grounds rather than Second Amendment grounds, but we’ll take it! If (when) SCOTUS rules correctly, it could severely cripple the ATF and other executive branch rulemaking - and good!

Of course, there were some (hopefully temporary) setbacks. The Biden regime’s pistol brace ruling was put into place, though is currently enjoined until most likely the Supreme Court makes a ruling on it. A similar situation exists for the useless and much-maligned “ghost gun” rule, which seemingly gets enjoined, reversed, and enjoined again every other week. On the state level, Illinois’ “assault weapons” ban goes into effect on January 1st, though most likely it won’t stand for the long term once a sympathetic district Court or the Supreme Court rules that it is in violation of the Second Amendment.

Sadly, on December 27th, 2023, the legendary Gaston Glock passed on at the age of 94. Do a few mag dumps from your GLOCK 19 in tribute.

2023 was certainly a rollercoaster. However, 2024 is going to be lit, as the kids would say…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll realize that 2024 is a federal election year. Sadly, because of the way our government currently operates, the upcoming election will be yet another life-or-death battle for those of us on the side of freedom and fun. From the hot seat in the Oval Office, down to a scad of seats in Congress, and many state-level elections, it’s going to be a pitched electoral battle. All politics is local, but it’s the Presidential race that gets people heated.

Unfortunately, there’s no Javier Milei making himself known in the US, so the White House will be contested by the GOP and the Democrats once again. Despite the best wishes of some, the fight will be between incumbent Democrat Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr, and the unpredictable MAGA Republican Donald John Trump. While neither are really on the side of freedom and fun, the ground game for gun owners should ostensibly be to assist Trump in pulling off a Grover Cleveland, and holding him accountable for his mistakes.

We should also concentrate on Congress with equal or greater fervor. If Biden wins the White House, Congress can act as a check on his excess, at least until the 2026 midterms.

However, the bigger issue of this election is that no matter who wins the White House, a sizable chunk of the population will reject the results. Whether they are correct or not is beyond the scope of this blog, but the fact that they are calling foul on an election ups the ante for violence…

Prepare For Civil Unrest And Disruptions

The kids say 2024 is going to be lit, and they certainly aren’t wrong. Again, regardless of who wins the elections, there will be unrest and violence. Even if the regime-approved candidates win, it seems that a certain ideology, one that begins with a “p” and ends with a “rogressive”, tends to engage in acts of violence over the slighest fart in the wind. Whether it’s a war 5000 miles away that has zero effect on their day-to-day, or someone to the right of Marx having an opinion, the potential for civil unrest is high, especially considering how it has gone unchecked. In other words, they consider it a “normal” thing to do rather than a tactic of last resort.

However, politicking aside, it’s a fair indicator that everyday citizens should be arming up, training, and seeing to their preparations.

Don’t have a gun? Get one. Preferably two or more. Have a solid AR-pattern rifle, and a reliable, easy to use 9mm pistol such as a GLOCK 19 (thank you Gaston…) at the minimum. Set aside money and time for training. Don’t discount the value of training that doesn’t consume ammunition either. You can work on fundamentals with an unloaded gun, easily. However, you should constantly look to beef up your ammunition reserves. Aim to have at least 1000 rounds in each caliber you plan on using regularly. That would mean 9mm for your pistol and 5.56x45mm for your AR in most cases. Replenish what you use. Don’t forget cleaning supplies and spare parts for those guns, as well.

Guns are nice, but you gotta eat. Have nonperishable food on hand for yourself and your family. Just buy MREs and those Augason Farms kits and you’ll do fine. Learn to grow potatoes, as well. They’re actually easy.

You can live for a few weeks without food, but you’ll perish in less than a week without water. Get something to treat and filter water. Your pipes may be dry but there’s usually lakes, gullies, oceans, and such nearby.

Sounds a little crazy, I know. But the reality is, most grocery stores don’t have more than a day or two of inventory on hand. There’s nothing “in back”. Publix and Food Lion stay stocked because trucks show up every day. If those trucks can’t get through because of protests, infrastructure damage, and so forth, the stores will run dry quickly, especially in a panic.

Also don’t forget about communications, especially things that exist outside of your typical cell phone networks. Pick up a pair of Baofengs at the minumum, and pick up NC Scout’s handy guide to all things Feng. The first thing to be controlled and compromised in an upside-down situation will be the cell networks. You’ll want to be able to talk outside of them. Yes, I’m aware Fengs transmit in the clear, but there are ways around that.

Oh yeah, learn first aid and have medical things on hand.

Prepare yourself, even if the disruptions are mild or do not happen at all. You’ll need it at some point anyway.

On A Brighter Note, The Second Amendment Scene

One of the prices of being a Second Amendment Radical and armed citizen is having to be on constant guard against busybodies, harridans, and scheming bureaucrats. It’ll never end, to be honest. However glum it seems, we are gradually restoring our rights.

As of this writing, 27 states have some form of permitless carry, as I noted above. That alone is huge. For most of our nation’s history, carry was essentially may-issue. You either had to have the cash to bribe your way through the system, be “someone”, or be part of the system in order to carry lawfully. Ironically, Texas of all states was effectively no-issue for most of it’s history as a US state.

Bit by bit, we clawed the right back. Now to be fair, it’s not perfectly in line with the Constitution. To lawfully carry, you have to essentially be able to pass a NICS inquiry. Which means if you smoke a plant, even if your state is OK with it, you can’t lawfully carry a gun. But we’re working on that part.

Anyway, in 2024, several states are poised to join the permitless carry club. Louisiana elected a GOP governor in 2023. While no guarantee of anything, (after all, GOPers like Rick Scott signed gun control bills, and Reagan looked the other way on Hughes…) it’s likely Louisiana will get Constitutional Carry in 2024, as the legislature repeatedly sent CC bills to the Governor’s desk in previous years, but unfortunately the Governor was a Democrat. Laissez les bons temps rouler, I hope? I dig NO, it’s fun.

Also along those lines, it’s quite possible that Florida might go full Constitutional Carry and finally make the open carry of a firearm a lawful activity. Governor DeSantis has once again said he would sign something of this nature if it reaches his desk. Provided he stops futzing around the country and comes back home. Ron, Don’s gonna get the nod, even though nuance says you’re the better candidate. Come back to FL and try for hot seat in 2028, if the US as a whole lasts until then.

A bigger deal is that Garland vs Cargill (aka “the bump stock case”) was granted cert by the Supreme Court, and will be heard in the 2024 session. If the 2022 calendar where Bruen was heard was any indication, this case will be most likely dealt with later in SCOTUS “season” - saving the best for last I guess. Now, as I touched on above, the case is not specifically a Second Amendment case, but instead concerns executive overreach and the tendency of the courts to defer to said agencies when the regulations in question are vague and convoluted. What this means is traditionally a court would defer to the EPA if they felt they couldn’t grasp the nuances of the case. Or a court would defer to the ATF because they couldn’t grasp the nuances of firearms technology. Technically, what Garland v Cargill is about, is punting the privilege of criminalizing or decriminalizing something back to Congress, where it belongs. Of course, Congress needs to abide by the Constitution, but that’s another issue entirely.

If successful, which is likely, Garland v Cargill would gut the excesses of the three letter agencies, including the ATF, which seem to make up laws (under the guise of ‘executive orders’) as they go along. Traditionally an executive order is just a memo on how the government should do business. It’s basically a note from the head office. For example, the company you work for institutes a dress code, after some input from everyone involved. The code might be “business casual” attire, which can mean any number of things. Someone may wear “dressy” shorts, which causes a stir. So the head office releases a memo, “business casual doesn’t include shorts, no matter how formal they look…”. A clarification. However, the government seems to now abuse the power to circumvent the legislative process.

For example, Congress votes to ban apples because they’re acidic or something. The president signs it, apples are banned. Someone gets huffy over oranges, which aren’t banned. They’re acidic, but weren’t named in the anti-apple law. Lawmaking requires nuance. If something isn’t included in a law, technically another law needs to be passed to include it. However, that takes time and you can’t score points in an election year like that. So, you’ll go the “executive order” route. Find a compliant agency, have them spit out 200 pages of credible-sounding dreck, and have the President sign it. So instead of having Congress ban oranges by name, you get the Department of Agriculture to write 200 pages of nonsense to call an orange an apple, because it’s round or something. Boom, now oranges are banned. Essentially this is what Donald Trump had the DOJ and ATF do for bump stocks, because he didn’t like them, or something.

Garland v Cargill is being heard on these merits, and not as a 2A case. The convenient thing is that it’ll add fuel to the fire to overturn the Biden regime’s rules on pistol braces and unfinished receivers, among other things. A case about a funky piece of plastic could have positive implications for everyone.

In miscellaneous nuance, I’m thinking we will see several “Bruen Response” laws be struck or at least called into question. You know the ones. New York making everything a “sensitive place” so even if you get a carry permit you cannot lawfully carry, and also California making NRA-certified trainers unable to legally endorse their students to receive a carry permit in the state. Additionally, New Mexico Governor Lujan-Grisham’s version of the DOA (thankfully) GOSAFE act, which would have banned “gas operated” firearms, which is pretty much every modern rifle, and conceivably could include handguns as well, will be up for debate and a vote, and even if it passes, it will likely be struck by the courts. Bruen has the progressives in this nation pretty heated, and it’s somewhat hilarious to watch them try to squirm around it.

In cultural nuance, I see more record sales of firearms and ammunition, especially when riot season kicks in the spring of 2024. The cops aren’t there to protect you, get armed.

Ammo Prices Going Up Aside From Inflationary Pressures

Ammo prices are scheduled to rise by March of 2024 from most sellers and distributors. The prices kick in from the manufacturers on January 1st, but most places have hedged in inventory to keep prices at the old levels for a few weeks.

Not just because of inflation, but the simple and sad fact that the raw materials to make ammunition are being gobbled up by the ever-hungry war machine of the United States “defense” establishment. With our government most likely continuing to prop up NATO “allies” and Ukraine with ammo, as well as Israel (if that drags on), things like nitrocellulose and brass are going to be contested resources. Thus, whatever commercial manufacturers and divisions can score will automatically cost more. Supply and demand.

The easiest way to stop this, of course, is for us (gasp!) not to get involved in foreign entanglements. Ukraine can get their ammo from European sources. RUAG makes a ton of it. So does Czechoslovak Group. Israel has IMI and a few other plants.

Barring that, we need to bring the cost of polymer-cased ammo down. Paging True Velocity…

However, the shock shouldn’t hit for a few months. Smart sellers have already hedged for the price increase and will continue to sell at December 2023 prices for a bit. So get while the getting is good.

The ‘Civil War’ Film And Predictive Programming?

A cultural touchstone, and fodder for meme magic, the upcoming Alex Garland film, ‘Civil War’, will be released in late April of 2024. While the actual plot has yet to be revealed, the premise is that a team of journalists journeys across a near-future United States in the throes of violent Balkanization. So far, a trailer has dropped, and some themes and details can be gleaned from it.

Firstly, the film is definitely way out there in some regards. In Garland’s universe, Texas and California have teamed up to fight the federal government, for currently-unspecified reasons. There’s a “Florida Alliance”, as well, which is probably gonna be lit, as the kids would say.

There’s a besieged President with some evangelical tones, probably a cross between Trump and Romney. The “Trumpian” aspect comes into play since one of the characters says that they “kill journalists” in DC. According to the MSM, this is what Trump wants, apparently.

The big crux is that the stereotypical “militia” character is seen keeping the poor journalists on their knees at gunpoint, quizzing them as to “what kind of American” are they.

With those two clues, it’s pretty much a shoe-in that any character portrayed as being to the right of Marx will be be the bad guy in this film.

Not surprising to be honest. Garland is a Brit, and has no real feel for the nuances of our nation. Plus, most English are left-leaning by default. Thirdly, the distributor, A24, is tied in with Disney and has secured lines of credit from JP Morgan and Bank of America. Financial discretion being what it is, there’s simply no way big banks would finance a company that produces something that portrays people from “flyover country” in a positive light. Lastly, the cast consisting of Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and the others is pretty much a who-is-who of leftoids in Hollywood.

While the regime in DC may not be involved in the production per se, the themes of a dystopia wrought by right-wingers would play well into their ethos. Also, the film is slated to be released in a major election year. Principal production started in early 2022, and unless the film proves to be extremely CG-heavy, there’s no specific reason it could not have been released in 2023 before the SAG-AFTRA strike. Besides, A24 was exempt from the strike as they had no relationship with the aggrieved parties.

My take echoes some sentiments out there. While we Second Amendment Radicals joke about the big ice house fiesta and the like, and in some cases advocate for peaceful secession or de facto secession, we’re really not the sort to advocate for a violent domestic conflict. However, it seems the themes and hysteria over such a conflagration are being pushed by the progressives and the media.

The message seems to be almost along the lines of “Vote a certain (progressive) way, or else the crazy MAGAtards are going to burn the country down!”

It’s almost as if they want it - they’re just looking for an excuse to unleash their golems. If anything, the whole J6 farce showed their hand. I’ve been to concerts more violent than that. But the progressives seem to think it’s akin to 9/11 or Pearl Harbor, and have unleashed a torrent of attempts at wholesale violations of individual rights just because some stupid Congresspeople got scared. Now, to be fair, disrupting the electoral process in that manner wasn’t the best move, but the response was not warranted at all.

Anyway, between this film and the Obama-produced snoozefest of ‘Leave The World Behind’, it seems that the predictive programming machine is warming up.

Let’s not give them the pleasure of being right. We can still restore our right to keep and bear arms, our right to privacy, and our right to speak our minds without resorting to violence.

However, if they start it, let’s be prepared to finish it.

2024 Will Be Lit!

My general gut feeling is that in all aspects of things Second Amendment, 2024’s going to be pretty nuts. However, to be optimistic, our nation has weathered worse, and we’ve come out of it in pretty decent shape overall. Keep positive, keep training, keep spreading the good words about Second Amendment Radicalism, and keep your powder dry.

Happy 2024 to everyone except gun control advocates.

A big thanks to:

• The Mag Shack for being awesome
• MIRA Safety for being awesome.
• ALG Defense for sending down that epic handguard.
• Firearms Policy Coalition for being awesome to us and vile to the enemy.