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CO Sheriff And Red Flag ERPO Critic Steve Reams Gets ERPO’d By Jail Inmate

Posted on February 28, 2020February 28, 2020 by Lesley Hollywood

One of Colorado’s most outspoken critics of Colorado’s Red Flag ERPO law, Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams, has been red flagged using the new Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law – and it was an inmate who has been incarcerated in his jail since 2016 on serious drug trafficking charges who filed it – from jail.

On February 25, 2020 the inmate filed the petition. On the petition, which is public record, the inmate claims he falls under the law’s extremely broad definition of ‘household or family member’ by marking the box “I regularly reside or have resided with the respondent in the last 6 months”. I suppose there may be some validity to this, as he is housed in Sheriff Reams’ jail.

In the body of the petition the inmate states that “Sheriff Steve Reams is the rudder of the ship, and that ship being the S.O.G. who carry shotguns inside the jail”. According to the inmate, these deputies carry these “deadly weapons 24 hours a day intimidating and threatening people for the most minor things, such as get on your bed.” You can read the entire petition below.

The Weld County jail S.O.G. (Special Operations Group) is responsible for maintaining order in situations involving enhanced security risk. The “shotguns” they carry are actually devices that fire less-than-lethal projectiles and are only carried by the specialized team of officers.

The petition was dismissed as soon as it landed on the desk of Judge James F. Hartmann, without allowing a temporary hearing where the petitioner would be present but the respondent would not be, and the case decided based on a preponderance of evidence. The judge wrote an in depth statement as part of his dismissal order which in conclusion stated that the petitioner failed to provide any facts that either Sheriff Reams or his deputies were a “significant risk of causing personal injury to themselves or others in the immediate future” as is required by the law, and that the allegations made were not against any specific individual or Sheriff Reams himself, but instead were an attempt to prevent peace officers from carrying firearms within the jail. The judge refused to address the threshold question of whether or not his residency inside the jail made him a qualifying petitioner.

In a radio interview with Peter Boyles of 710 KNUS today, Sheriff Reams said he found out about the petition when the dismissal order was emailed to him while he was out of town. This is because according to the law the person being Red Flagged, the respondent, is not informed of the proceeding until AFTER the first hearing has taken place.

This is the second ERPO filed against a member of law enforcement since the Colorado law took effect January 1, 2020. The first was filed on January 9, 2020 by Fort Collins resident, Susan Holmes, against a Colorado State University Police Officer who fatally shot her son in 2017. Her son was carrying an 11 1/2″ bayonet hunting knife and had lunged at the officer before he was killed. After a circus of a hearing, Holmes was charged with perjury for marking the box on her petition stating she was a ‘household or family member’ because her and the officer had a child in common. It is far less clear if perjury charges in this new case filed against Reams would stick, as “residency” is not really defined within the scope of the law.

Weld County is one of Colorado’s ten largest counties with a large land mass and diverse demographic.

I myself hold law enforcement to high standards when it comes to excessive force, therefore I feel it should be noted Weld is one of only a few counties where the DA refuses to sign off on no-knock raids, and Sheriff Reams has a record of taking swift action in cases of excessive force. In November 2019, two Weld County deputies were fired and one resigned after video surfaced of them using excessive force during an interrogation when the suspect refused to cooperate. Two of them had been with the sheriff’s office for 15 years. One of the deputies was charged with third degree assault.

Sheriff Reams has been sounding the alarm for over a year now on how Colorado’s poorly written Red Flag law can easily be abused and now he has lived it first hand. He made international news when he told CNN he’d rather sit in his own jail in contempt than enforce an unconstitutional and dangerous Red Flag order. Reams has been a great ally to us here at Rally for our Rights, even joining us on stage to speak against the Red Flag ERPO law at rallies as well as teaching seminars on the dangers of the law to gun owners and other concerned citizens. He also helped lead the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement here in Colorado, of which more than half the state’s counties joined.

A burning question of mine that I’ve brought up many times: Why are these free to file? Even a small filing fee would deter the most frivolous of cases. Nothing else in the court system is free to file and even a Temporary Restraining Order is $97.

Proponents of Red Flag laws will undoubtedly point to this case as “working as it intended” since no one had their guns seized or their rights violated. I would argue against that in several ways. First, what an absolute waste of court time and taxpayer resources. Second, how scary is it that these petitions are THIS easy to file? And third, just as we saw in the Susan Holmes case, we’re again seeing how high profile individuals are naturally awarded protection from the abuses of the law. If this had been an average citizen, unknown to the judge, and someone they had let crash on their couch for a couple weeks, we’d have a completely different story to tell. And honestly, that is playing out in Colorado already. This case is the eighteenth ERPO filed in less than two months and a repeal bill has been introduced into the Colorado State Legislature. That bill will get it’s first hearing on March 12, 2020.

To learn more about Colorado’s Red Flag Law, obtain attorney resources, and/or report if you’re Red Flagged, visit www.redflagresourcecenter.com.

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VIDEO: Leftist Protester Wants AK-47 To “Mow Down” Gun Rights Activists

Posted on February 19, 2020February 19, 2020 by Lesley Hollywood

A group called “Longmont Leads With Love” has been protesting every Saturday in the same spot since Trump was elected in 2016. This group of mostly baby boomers come together in a small commons area at 6th and Main in Longmont, CO. Their message varies from week to week and person to person, but wanting more gun control is always part of it. These protests are regularly attended by Longmont City Council members and the city of Longmont even passed a bizarre anti-gun resolution last year.

Recently a handful of Longmont residents decided they were tired of these protesters going unchallenged and started a counter-protest group they’ve coined as “Longmont Leads With Logic“. So now, while the so-called “Love” group protests, you will find the “Logic” group on the opposite side of the street with signs, flags, and some even openly carrying firearms.

In an attempt to better understand what the “Love” group wants, people from the other side attempt to have conversations with them. This exchange was caught on video. A woman dressed in a Handmaid’s Tale costume, who was apparently protesting Trump’s boot on her neck, stated that if she had an AK-47, she’d mow down all the counter-protesters across the street. Not very “loving” if you ask us.

WATCH!

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What We Know About Colorado’s First Red Flag ERPO Case

Posted on January 3, 2020January 3, 2020 by Lesley Hollywood

Colorado’s Red Flag Extreme Risk Protection Orders ERPO law just went into effect on January 1, 2020. Today the news broke to the public that the first case had been successfully filed and granted. Sadly, it’s not unlikely the person being ERPO’d also heard about the ERPO against them for the first time on the local news along with the public. That is because the person being accused is not awarded the opportunity to defend themselves at the first hearing, nor are they even aware of it.

Here’s what we know about this unique first case:

Police made contact with a 26 year old man at a SW Denver gas station on December 29. 2019. PD allege he had a cut over his eye, and during a pat down search they discovered he had a loaded 9mm Glock in his waistband.
The man said the cut was from falling down and the gun was because he wanted to “off himself” after an argument with his wife and her sister. PD also allege he was visibly intoxicated.
The man later told PD that the cut was actually from his wife, who had hit him in the face with a bottle.
PD took the man in on a mental health hold due to his suicidal statement.
The firearm was seized and logged into Denver Police Property.
When PD spoke with the wife, she was also visibly intoxicated and admitted to throwing the bottle at her husband. She was booked on 2nd degree assault charges. Her story later changed and she claimed her husband has perpetrated the abuse and that he had pointed his gun at her while making threats.
At the request of PD, the man voluntarily surrendered another firearm while the domestic violence investigation took place. That firearm was a .45 caliber Springfield.
It is also alleged the man told police it was a “good thing they stopped him because he was contemplating doing something bad”.
On January 2, 2020, the Denver District Attorney’s Office declined formal charges on both parties in regards to the domestic violence allegations.

This is where the ERPO comes in:

Because no domestic violence charges were filed, the firearms needed to be returned to the owner. Instead of returning the firearms, the police officer chose to request to continue to hold them through an Extreme Risk Protection Order ERPO citing that the individual may still be suicidal.

So, now we have a potentially suicidal individual, who may or may not also be a victim of domestic violence (or perpetrator), and the police feel they have “done something” by withholding firearms –while leaving the person in crisis with many other tools. Possibly two people in crisis.

Considering this man voluntarily gave up his guns prior to the ERPO and allegedly told the police officer that he was worried he would have harmed himself if he had not, a private solution would be a great option. Imagine if this police officer visited suicide prevention organization Hold My Guns (www.holdmyguns.org) and helped arrange a FFL who would store his firearms until he felt he was in a better place. No courts, no judges, no rights being infringed – just help and compassion.

What will happen now?

On January 16, 2020 the man will go to court where he will have an opportunity to defend himself and request his firearms be returned. The police officer who filed the ERPO petition will also be there to present his case, or he could submit sworn affidavits if unable to attend in person. At that hearing, the judge will make a decision whether or not the accusations are true. This decision will be based on clear and convincing evidence, whereas at the first hearing the decision was based on a preponderance of evidence (meaning one side had more convincing evidence, even though only one side was present).

The man who has been ERPO’d can either retain a private attorney, represent himself, or request the court appoint one. Because this is a civil, not criminal, proceeding, public defenders are not used, but instead attorneys who have volunteered to work these cases for state pay will be called upon.

At the January 16 hearing, the order will either be dismissed or made permanent. If made permanent it will go into effect for 364 days. The person who has been ERPO’d will have one opportunity to ask the courts to lift it during that time. If he was to make that request, the police officer would be alerted and could ask it remain in place. At the end of the 364 days the police officer will also be alerted that it is going to expire and could request the ERPO be renewed for another year.

To learn more about Colorado’s Red Flag law, get attorney resources, and more visit www.redflagresourcecenter.com.

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Red Flag Law Now In Effect In Colorado, Here’s What You Need To Know

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Lesley Hollywood

On January 1, 2020 Colorado’s Red Flag Extreme Risk Protection Orders ERPO law officially went into effect. This means Red Flag ERPO petitions will start making their way into the courts and orders will be coming out, landing in the hands of law enforcement who will then be responsible for serving them and confiscating firearms – or not.

There is a lot to learn about this downright dangerous and unconstitutional law. The Red Flag Resource Center will be your absolute best resource. Bookmark this site. Share it with your friends and family. This effort is a collaboration between Rally for our Rights, civil rights activists, and legal experts. It has all the information you could need about the law, what to do if you’re Red Flagged, along with attorney resources. They will also be tracking ERPO’s and providing transparency to the public.

Here’s what you need to know if you are Red Flagged:

These are civil cases, not criminal. You have not been charged with a crime. The first court hearing has already taken place without you. This hearing included the petitioner and a judge. If you are receiving the ERPO order, the judge granted it based on the accusations provided by the petitioner.
Law enforcement will come to your home or place of employment to serve the order.
The law enforcement agency who will serve the order and seize the firearms will be your local municipal agency if you reside inside city limits, or your sheriffs office if in unincorporated county.
They will have a TEMPORARY Red Flag ERPO order. This order will have a future court date where the ERPO will either be made permanent or will be dismissed. This court date must be within 14 days of the initial hearing, but it can be less.
They may or may not have a search warrant.
Law enforcement may assess you for a mental health hold.
They may or may not request to take your firearms and/or CCW permit.
If they do not have a search warrant, and do not request to take your firearms, they will provide instructions as to how you can surrender them yourself. Law enforcement agencies are supposed to provide storage but many have said they will not store firearms and/or do not have the space to store firearms.
If you do not surrender your firearms, it is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
When the temporary order is granted, you are put into the NICS and CBI databases as a prohibited buyer.

Since the introduction of this bill in the state legislature, there has been debate about who can actually file a petition. The proponents have said it has to be a family member or law enforcement. We have long stood by our words that the definition of “family member” in the bill language is broad enough to include spouses and ex-spouses, former and current roommates, anyone you’ve dated, grandparents and grandchildren, and so on. When the court finalized the petition and put it on the Colorado Judicial website, everything we’ve said this whole time was vindicated. The images below are of the actual petition. This is all that needs filed. There is no filing fee. You can find all the court forms related to ERPO’s here.

If you or someone you know is Red Flagged, the Red Flag Resource Center wants to know.

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If you or someone you know is Red Flagged, the Red Flag Resource Center wants to know.

California: 21 Shot, 11 Fatally, and 1 School Bomb Attempt During Week of Widespread Violence

Posted on November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 by Lesley Hollywood

The state with the most strict gun control in the nation, California, is giving Chicago a run for their money. In the past seven days, they have seen three horrific shootings taking 11 lives and injuring 21 as well as a school bombing attempt that was foiled by the groundskeeper.

On Thursday, Nov 14, 2019 a 16 year old boy used a .45 semi-automatic handgun to open fire at his Santa Clarita, CA high school. He murdered two students and wounded three others before taking his own life. The shooter’s father had died in 2016 and had a history of domestic violence in the home prior to his death. It has been reported that at one time law enforcement legally confiscated six firearms from the father based on their ability to track the serial numbers to him through California’s “this-is-not-a-registry” program. It is now being reported that the firearm used in the school shooting was a privately manufactured firearm that did not have a serial number. It is not known where he obtained it.

Another horrific incident took place in San Diego, CA on Saturday, Nov 16, 2019. During this massacre, a father used a handgun to kill his wife, three of their children, and then himself. Another child survived and was last reported to be in critical condition. In this tragic incident, the mother had filed for a restraining order just days before but it is unclear if it was ever served, although a restraining order is nothing more than a piece of paper.

Only one day later in Fresno, CA on Sunday, Nov 17, 2019 a family was gathered in a backyard watching a football game when two unknown suspects entered the yard through the back fence and opened fire in to the group. Four people were killed and six others wounded. It is reported that the family was part of the Hmong community, and possibly the attack was related to a violent Hmong gang. The perpetrators are still at large.

To finish off the violent week, on Wednesday, Nov 20, 2019 a homemade bomb was found and defused at a San Jose, CA high school. A groundskeeper found the device in the bushes right next to the school. The school was placed in lockdown, administrative offices were evacuated, and a bomb squad was called in. After some time the bomb was rendered safe and evacuations of the entire campus began. Bomb dogs were brought in and area was cleared. There are no suspects at this time.

Wow, what a terrible week for a state who continues to add more gun control laws on top of more gun control laws. A state that has had a “Red Flag” law in place since 2014 and just recently passed legislation making that particular law so extreme even the ACLU opposed it. In fact, California just added seven new anti-gun laws to their already extensive roster.

These atrocities are not supposed to happen in California. They have “the laws”, ya know!

As expected, national gun control advocates are already screaming for an assault weapons ban and expanded background checks because of the incidents I listed above. Never mind California requires background checks on everything right down to ammo. And each of these incidents used handguns, not so-called “assault weapons”, well, except for the homemade bomb.

Although honestly, I think this week of violence tells a much more important story, one that gun rights activists such as myself have been trying to help people understand. Until we get to the root of the violence, it will not stop.

And it’s even bigger than that. Lawmakers need to stop grouping together violent crimes under the umbrella of “gun violence” or “mass shootings”. It does a disservice to the victims. It derails meaningful conversation and real solution seeking.

Let’s look at school shootings for example. When will we start asking the hard questions about what is happening in schools that makes these children want to execute their classmates and teachers? Why have suicide rates among children, teens, and young adults skyrocketed? Why are our children choosing death? These are questions those seeking gun control don’t ask. They can’t, because it distracts from their heartless goal of disarming citizens. When I talk with gun grabbers or law makers pushing for more gun control, I often start with the premise that we all agree on the problem, and I mean that. The problem: school shootings are horrific and heartbreaking and we want to see them end. We just disagree on the solutions. The fact that we now have to worry about homemade bombs showing up at schools is a example of why it’s so critical we get to the root cause rather than simply making laws requiring the locking up of guns (which hasn’t stopped school shooters in the past) or making Red Flag laws that clearly have done nothing to prevent tragedy in California.

What about domestic violence? The motives behind domestic violence murder and murder-suicide are extremely different than school shootings, or public mass shootings, or gang or drug related shootings. Once again, grouping them in some ambiguous term called “gun violence” and assuming just another gun control law will help is downright dangerous. Domestic violence is incredibly tricky because the victims are often afraid to leave, and when they do, they are sometimes in extreme danger. This is why many victims have chosen firearm ownership and training when deciding to leave. But it also poses yet another potential dangerous aspect to poorly written Red Flag laws because domestic violence perpetrators can actually use these laws to disarm their victims.

As for gang related shootings, tackling this epidemic is troubling as these people thrive on crime. No law will stop them. And again the solution to gang violence is very different than the solution to school shootings or domestic violence.

So, let’s start talking about solutions. What do you think the solutions are? Leave them in the comments.

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Debunking CBS “60 Minutes” Segment On Colorado’s Red Flag ERPO Law

Posted on November 20, 2019November 20, 2019 by Lesley Hollywood

It seems a day doesn’t go by that we’re not debunking more lies and half truths coming from the mainstream media. The latest is a 60 Minutes segment that aired Sunday. This segment titled “A look at Red Flag laws and the battle over one in Colorado” is chock full of inaccurate facts, omissions, and misinformation. We go over those below.

To watch the full segment, you will have to visit the CBS website and view it there. It is 14 minutes long and free to watch.

You can watch a quick preview of the segment here:

Our take:

1.) There have not been 366 mass shootings this year (learn more: www.rallyforourrights.com/we-are-being-lied-to-about-mass-shootings-again)

2.) California passed their Red Flag law in 2014, not 2016. Now this is a minor discrepancy, but something 60 Minutes absolutely should have gotten correct. If they are going to flub on such a simple fact, what else will they get wrong? Do they not know how to use Google?

3.) Connecticut had a Red Flag law in place when Sandy Hook happened. Theirs was enacted in 1999. Sandy Hook happened in 2012 and was NOT the catalyst to write the law as the segment implies.

4.) Law enforcement is not the only entity who can petition the courts. Spouses, ex-spouses, roommates, former roommates, any relative or step-relative, a Tinder date gone wrong, or someone you had an affair with are all also people who can petition the courts for a Red Flag ERPO. If you don’t fall in to the insanely broad range of people the law defines as “family members”, you can then simply go to a law enforcement officer and have them file the petition for you.

5.) The temporary orders are granted based on a preponderance of evidence – even when law enforcement files the petition. Preponderance quite literally means the more convincing evidence, yet the person being accused is not present at the hearing and doesn’t know it’s taking place, therefore cannot present any evidence at all. The accuser will ALWAYS present the more convincing evidence. How will any of these ever be denied?

5.) It’s despicable how Sheriff Tony Spurlock said “this is a tool to take away guns” then turns around and says “this isn’t about taking away guns, it’s about getting people the help they need” when there is absolutely NO mental health component to the Colorado law.

6.) Watching the Zackari Parrish footage has us wondering how that is any different than serving a Red Flag warrant? How would the outcome change? Also, if they just left him alone that night, what would have happened? Why did Spurlock send his deputies into what he knew could be a gun fight with soft body armor?

7.) Sheriff Steve Reams was thoughtful, reasonable and great in pointing out that we need to be helping people, not simply removing the tool that could do harm. We are thankful for him.

8.) They omit the fact that more than 50 of Colorado’s 64 sheriffs oppose the law as written, as does the Denver Police Union and the Aurora Police Union.

Learn all about Colorado’s Red Flag law here.

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Colorado Gun Control Has Been A Complete Failure In Reducing Violent Crime

Posted on October 24, 2019October 25, 2019 by Lesley Hollywood

In 2013 anti-gun elected officials in the Colorado legislature passed a package of gun control bills with the promise it would bring down violent crime and save the state from what they claimed was certain catastrophe. We knew at the time they were lying, and the most recent FBI data shows those laws have been a complete failure to help reduce violent crime. In fact, violent crime has been on a steady rise ever since the laws were enacted, reversing a downward trend.

Here’s what went into law July 1, 2013:

HB13-1229: Expanded Background Checks

This law expands the federal background check requirement to include private sales and adds a mental health component.

Under the new law, before any person who is not a licensed gun dealer transfers possession of a firearm, he or she must arrange for a licensed dealer to obtain the required background check. In obtaining the background check, the dealer must follow all procedures that it would follow were it transferring the firearm in a retail transaction, including recording the transfer, retaining the records, and complying with all state and federal laws.

The law also requires the reporting by the courts of persons to the NICS and CBI database who are (1) found to be incapacitated, (2) committed to a behavioral health treatment program (e.g., for substance abuse), or (3) involuntarily certified for short-term or long-term treatment and care for mental illness.

HB13-1224: Large Capacity Magazine Ban

This law prohibits the sale, transfer, or possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines or feeding devices, which includes fixed or detachable magazines that can hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition among other things such as shotgun shell limits. A through description of the ban can be found here.

HB13-1228: Background Check Fees

This law directs the Bureau to impose a fee for performing an instant criminal background check pursuant to state law. The fee amount cannot exceed the total amount of direct and indirect costs the Bureau incurs in performing the check.

The bills were signed into law by then Governor, John Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper is currently running for senate against sitting Senator Cory Gardner who is up for reelection in 2020. Hickenlooper has even gone as far as to praise the laws and the impact they have had on the state of Colorado. I have no idea what he is praising. The new laws also spurred the 2013 successful recall of State Senator Angela Giron and then Senate President John Morse. Another recall attempt resulted in the resignation of former State Senator Evie Hudak. The resignation was a strategic move by the Colorado Democrat Party to prevent losing a third senate seat.

But have these laws impacted violence in Colorado? Our research team scoured the most recent FBI crime reporting data to get a better picture. The results were stunning. Not only has crime not decreased as was promised, it’s increased – and drastically. The following charts were put together based on the data provided by the FBI.

This first graph is violent crime which includes murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

These following two charts show the overall murder rate year over year, as well as trends. While these show the murder rate was rising before the 2013 laws (0.20 murders per 100K per year, between 2010-2013), since the laws passed it’s been rising 30% faster (0.26 murders per 100K per year, between 2014-2018). So not only did the laws not reverse nor even slow the rising murder rate, it is rising even faster than before the laws.

This chart below details the forcible rape rates in the state.

Note: the revised line accounts for a change made to the definition of forcible rape in 2013 to include male victims of rape (the FBI previously only added female rape victims into their data). The revision also clarified that any penetration without consent was considered rape, including penetration by object. Learn more about that change here.

Below you will find the aggravated assault stats. The FBI defines aggravated assault as an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury.

And lastly, here are the robbery stats for Colorado. The FBI definition of robbery is the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.

Bottom line: Colorado has a violence problem and gun control has done nothing to curb it. Until we address the root cause of the violence, it will continue to escalate no matter how many laws are made to restrict the tools a violent person may use.

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They’re Coming For Your AR-15s and AK-47s Even Though Handguns Are Used In Nearly All Gun Crimes

Posted on October 17, 2019October 17, 2019 by Lesley Hollywood

AR’s, AK’s, and assault rifles, oh my!

If you watched the last two Democratic Presidential Debates you heard how every candidate wants to get “weapons of war” off the streets in an effort to tackle what they call our country’s “gun violence” epidemic. These candidates quickly make it clear when they say weapons of war, they mean AR-15s and AK-47s . Beto O’Rourke even said he plans to have the police go door to door to confiscate these terrifying guns from those who refuse to cooperate with a mandatory buyback, backing up his “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15” promise.

It’s unclear if these candidates are clueless as to how infrequently rifles such as AR-15s and AK-47s are actually used in gun crime, or if they are using these scary sounding trigger words to garner support from a populace that is being brainwashed to believe these particular firearms are responsible for a grossly inflated number of mass shootings. My guess is it’s a combination of the two.

If you haven’t yet learned how the gun grabbers are inflating these mass shooting numbers, you must read this article.

Our research team dug into the latest FBI report on gun deaths and put together some very telling charts. This first one shows exactly how insignificant rifles are in the larger picture, and in fact, up until 2015, shotguns have been used in more murders than rifles.

Look closely, there are four lines in this graph…and the rifles line is so insignificant it can barely be seen.

In addition, our research team took it one step further to look at the alleged “gun violence” epidemic and how it relates to rifles. This chart shows that even these small numbers have been declining for years, and continue to do so.

Here’s another graph that shows where the firearm murder rate sits compared to all murders via other methods. It’s clear that both have been steadily trending downward for years, and that the firearm murder rate follows an overall murder trend, again emphasizing that the problem is violence, and not the tool one wishes to be violent with.

Bottom line: “Assault Weapons” Bans or mandatory buybacks are nothing but knee-jerk, virtue signaling reactions.

Just say NO.

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LAPD Swarms Library After Citizen Reports Star Wars Stormtrooper as ‘Gunman’ During Reading Event

Posted on October 15, 2019October 15, 2019 by Lesley Hollywood

First, this is NOT satire.

Second, you read that right. A “concerned citizen” actually called the police and reported a cosplay Stormtrooper as a gunman at a Star Wars Reads event at the Los Angeles Public Library.

According to KTLA News 5, “A Star Wars-themed event catering to children at the Los Angeles Public Library’s Silver Lake branch on Saturday drew a police response after someone reported a performer dressed as a Stormtrooper as an armed man, authorities said.

The incident unfolded around noon at the library, 2411 Glendale Blvd., a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant said.

Officers responded to a report of a person with a gun and were directed to a performer wearing the costume of the evil warriors from the Star Wars series. The performer carried a large prop gun as part of the costume.

After briefly detaining the Stormtrooper, officers determined the weapon was, in fact, a prop and posed no threat.”

There were reports on Twitter of LAPD initially swarming the building, scaring children and parents alike.

This hyper-vigilant report of a gunman at the mere sight of a cosplay prop is undoubtedly a response to the fear mongering and brainwashing the gun grabbers spread every day. It’s also a peek into the future with Red Flag Laws.

Star Wars Reads is a month long event that is held worldwide with many events at local libraries, bookstores and even schools. During these events, people will dress as characters from the films and read to children. The all ages events are meant to spur excitement and interest in reading, a worthy and wholesome goal.

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The Delusion of California Gun Control

Posted on October 12, 2019October 12, 2019 by Mario Acevedo

California Governor Gavin Newsom is like the rooster in the fable who says, “Look how wonderful I am. When I crow in the morning, that’s the reason the sun rises.” Simply put, he’s too delusional to see the coincidence.

Governor Newsom just signed 15 new gun related bills into law. During the signing he had this to say:

“California has outperformed the rest of the nation, because of our gun safety laws, in reducing the gun murder rate substantially compared to the national reduction. No state does it as well or comprehensively as the state of California, and we still have a long way to go.”

He also added that between 1993 and 2017, the latest available, there was a 62 percent decline in the gun murder rate in California, nearly double the 34 percent nationally. What he fails to mention is that in 1993 California’s gun murder rate was well above the national average. In 1993 the gun homicide rate in California was 9.6 per 100,000 people, while nationally it sat at 6.75 per 100,000. In 2017 California landed at 3.64, just slightly below the national average of 4.6. Their decline was in line with the national trend, but steeper due to the how high it was initially.

Likewise, Newsom’s claim that California’s drop in gun homicide has anything to do with the state’s ever more restrictive gun laws. Nationally, the 34 percent drop in gun homicide is the consequence of the crack epidemic declining since 1993. As to California’s 64 percent drop in gun homicide, that’s the result of both the state getting a handle on the drug trade, but more significantly, the effect of gentrification from the mountains of cash brought in by Silicon Valley and high-tech. Large swaths of California real estate have been upscaled and where rich people move in, gang-bangers and drug dealers get pushed out. East Palo Alto, one of the most dangerous communities in California, has been swallowed up by Silicon Valley and no big surprise, its violent crime rate has plummeted. Los Angeles has been similarly gentrified. Boyle Heights, another neighborhood notorious for gangs and violent crime, has been recast as a trendy hotspot for the very well-to-do, and its violent crime and gun homicides have gone down.

So if more restrictive gun laws are really the answer, let’s look at two other states that have pursued aggressive gun-control measures like California’s.

From 1993 to 2017, Illinois experienced a 34.9 percent drop in gun homicide–in keeping with the national average. And Chicago is the murder capital of America.

From 1993 to 2017, Maryland experienced a 15.25 percent drop in gun homicide–well short of the national average by half. And Baltimore is the most dangerous city in America.

The big difference between Maryland, Illinois and California? Neither Illinois or Maryland have seen big influxes of cash and gentrification like California.

Let’s look at another telling example about the impact of gentrification: New York City.

In 1911, the city passed the Sullivan Act which required that anyone who possessed a handgun had to get a permit issued by the police and to have all handguns registered.

What was the result? Fast forward to 1981, which was the most violent year in New York City’s history with over 2,000 murders, mostly by handguns. The time was known as the “Death Wish” years when the city was one of the most dangerous in the world.

Now New York City is one of the safest? What happened? The government got serious about stopping organized crime and drug dealers but more importantly, it was New York’s “broken windows” policy. The city cleaned itself up. Research any article about the New York City turn-around and gentrification was key. And you’ll be hard pressed to find any mention that gun control was a factor. Why? Because gun control only affects law-abiding gun owners and they are not the cause of violent crime.

Let’s throw more cold water on the more-gun-control-makes-us-safer myth. Let’s look at Colorado. From 1993 to 2017, the state experienced a 26.2 percent drop in gun homicide. (You have to consider that Colorado was safe to begin with compared to California, Illinois, or Maryland.) In 2014, Colorado enacted two of California’s hallowed gun-control measures, Universal Background Checks and the High-Capacity Magazine Ban. Since then, Colorado’s gun homicide rate has increased by a whopping 47.6 percent. So anyone who claims that gun control has made the state any safer is as delusional as the Gavin Newsom rooster.

What else Gavin Newsom fails to mention is that despite California’s very restrictive gun-control environment, four of the most publicized recent mass-shootings happened on his turf: San Bernardino, Thousand Oaks, the Poway Synagogue, and Gilroy. And three of the most dangerous cities in America are in California: Stockton, San Bernardino, and Oakland. That’s nothing to crow about.

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Tag: gun control