On January 5th, 2024, the National Rifle Association of America aka the NRA announced the impending retirement of Executive Vice President (EVP) and CEO Wayne LaPierre. Serving in the position since 1991, LaPierre oversaw the NRA during some of it’s most tumultuous years. From the years of the thankfully-repealed “Assault Weapons” Ban, to the post-Bruen landscape of today, “WLP” proved to be a lightning rod for the anti-2A forces, the mainstream media, and Second Amendment supporters alike. Between this and Texas, 2024 is already lit.

Conveniently enough, LaPierre chose to retire just before his civil trial to combat accusations of fraud was to begin. Filed by anti-2A New York State Attorney General Letita James (the NRA was incorporated in New York State at the time), the suit alleges that LaPierre and other NRA top brass misused charitable funds, engaged in fraud, and other financial crimes. While it’s obvious James filed the charges in a political witch-hunt, the accusations will be hard for LaPierre to fight, owing to his extravagant lifestyle (bespoke suits, private jets, the works) and multi-million dollar yearly salary.

The prevailing theory is that LaPierre chose to retire with some dignity, rather than being forced out of the NRA by the courts. Regardless of his motivations, the seat is now vacant, and no doubt being hotly contested behind the scenes on Waples Mill Road…

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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…

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Whether you have one AR-pattern rifle or ten, invariably you’ll fall into the habit of just not being able to leave well enough alone. You may not have the skill yet to out-shoot that stock trigger, but you’ll get an itch to take it out and install a Geissele (the big brother to ALG, makers of the EMR V3X Handguard) Single-Stage Precision Flat Bow trigger. That mil-spec stock that wouldn’t look out of place on a GWOT-era recruiting poster? Gone - you’ll acquire something a little more ergonomic such as an Adaptive Tactical EX Performance Stock or a B5 SOPMOD Stock.

Eventually you start replacing major groups of hardware on your AR-15 rifle. Or, you fall into the trap of finding one spare component, and you get bit by “the bug” and have to build out something completely new.

And that’s what happened to me…

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Disclosure: MIRA Safety sought me out to review the CM-6M Gas Mask from my perspective. While you may see affiliate links to their product line throughout this article, my perspectives, as always, remain mine.

When it comes to preparations for The End Of The World As We Know It, the Ice House Fiesta, or whatever your terminology is, it’s super easy to focus on firearms, accessories, and ammunition. Yes, guns and ammunition are cool. And fun to learn about. However, you could have an ammo dump bigger than the reserves at LCAAP and still be boned if you don’t have a supporting infrastructure. In a world gone upside down, or even more mundane situations, the air itself can become a hazard. That fancy H&K MR556 will just be a convenient grave marker if you’re unable to breathe.

Within the Second Amendment Radical community, there’s always been a layer of interest in the “other things” - like gas masks and respirators. Spurred on by the unexpected contact from the team at MIRA, my own interest in the fascinating world of gas masks and PPE was amplified.

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Over the past few decades, the amount of Americans who own at least one firearm has grown exponentially. Whether it’s a GLOCK 19 pistol or some variant of an AR-pattern rifle, it is estimated that over 120 million people currently possess one firearm, at the minimum. For a good reason, concrete data of actual ownership is hard to come by, but estimates can be gleaned from NICS background check inquiries, manufacturer-supplied data, and gun shop statistics. Regardless of the sources, a generally accepted estimate, even by the government, is that somewhere north of 420 million firearms are in private hands in the United States. To be certain, the real figure is much, much higher.

However, it’s one thing to possess a firearm. To actually be “armed” is technically quite another thing entirely….

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248 years ago as of this writing, a gathering of merchants, physicians, lawyers, farmers, and entrepreneurs gathered in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence of the United States. Knowing full well this would brand them as war criminals in the eyes of the regime, they nonetheless made their declaration, and truly sparked the American Revolution. For themselves and those allied with them, there was no going back. The Crown would, after some political theatre, execute them for being traitors if they were ever captured. To say that the Founding Fathers and their supporters were fighting for their lives is putting it mildly. Failure meant certain death. Success meant establishing the nation, for better or for worse, that we all enjoy today.

And the primary reason they were able to secure that freedom is because they understood the importance of the inherent and absolute right to keep and bear arms as acknowledged by the Second Amendment…

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In just about a week, the great State of Florida’s rather unique permitless carry law will go into effect. On July 1st, 2023, anyone within the borders of the State will be able to carry a concealed handgun in public without having to first obtain a Florida Concealed Weapons or Firearms License aka the CWFL.

Representing an admittedly watered-down version of one of Governor (and now Presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis’ wish-list items, the Florida permitless carry law promises to kick the Gunshine State out of a decades-long doldrum with regards to firearms rights. While the vast majority of Second Amendment Radicals and armed citizens in Florida see this as welcome news, there’s a small amount of Quisling-esque behavior emanating from the community, most notably from some firearms instructors…

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the world of Second Amendment Radicalism And Armed Citizen Adventures. From the tragedy in Nashville that was thankfully cut short by law enforcement officers who know a thing or two - yes they still exist - to the signing into law of Florida’s much-debated and much-awaited Permitless Carry law, it’s been a pretty exciting couple of weeks out there.

And to top it all off, it seems the ever-unpredictable President Donald John Trump has been indicted on a whole litany of administrative charges, ushering in a new era of petty political warfare. Well, if they’re too busy indicting each other and arresting each other, they can’t cause problems for the people. I’ll take a deadlock any day of the week. But that’s beyond the scope of this blog.

But without further ado…

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As has been recently discussed, there’s a very good chance that the great State of Florida will get some form of permitless firearms carry signed into law in the current legislative session. As of this writing, the Florida House has passed the permitless carry bill. We now wait for the Florida Senate. Of course, since Florida was and may still be an electoral battleground state, the usual histrionics from the harridans has ensued. Much like it did in 1987 when Florida became the first major state to institute a shall-issue concealed weapons permit scheme, the mainstream media is predicting the state will be knee-deep in blood, the Wild West, and that sort of thing.

Interestingly enough, the 1987 adoption of a statewide and state-managed shall-issue permit scheme is what led to Florida getting the moniker The Gunshine State…

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As of February 23rd, 2023, West Virginia’s SB 10, a bill removing restrictions on the carry of firearms on public university campuses in the state, has cleared the final hurdle in the West Virginia legislature. Governor Jim Justice (what a name!) has promised to sign the bill into law when it gets to his desk on March 1st, 2023. While there was some performative whining and kicking from some students at West Virginia and Marshall Universities, the campus carry bill has by and large seen little opposition amongst the population and their duly elected lawmakers…

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