I have decided that Fall has finally arrived.  I know we have the autumnal equinox and the Meteorological Fall, but I think Fall is determined by individuals in accordance with where they live. For me it’s determined when the sugar maple across from my office and the hard maple in my mother-in-law’s turns. Both are beautiful.  They both started dropping leaves earlier this week.  

Get ready to roll your clocks back an hour.  On November 5, at 2:00 AM local time, Daylight Savings time officially ends.  We will gain an extra hour of sleep when we "fall back" to standard time. Now you can make up for that one hour of sleep you lost last spring.  

The winds of war are blowing harder and harder throughout the world.  To think that What is going on in Ukraine, Israel or elsewhere is not related would be a fatal understatement of the situation.  

The United States is being tested.  If we fail the test, we are looking at WWlll.  We have to be sure the Ukrainians win; Israel wins; and support Taiwan.  And not in some limp wristed way, but decisively.   We should also go on a war footing Immediately.  The best way to deter war is to be ready for it and let the world know it.  This readiness includes you, me, and everyone else.  

Speaking of ammunition, the Vista Group has been sold to CSG Corporation, a Czechoslovakian company.  For those who may not know, the Vista Group owned Federal Ammunition, Remington, CCI and Speer. CSG manufactures firearms and ammunition in Europe.  This may not be a bad thing.  It will take awhile to see any changes CSG may make in operations and supply.  Let’s hope for the best.   

Compliance Still Looking Bad for Illinois Gun Registry.  After the first week of Illinois’ gun registry, things weren’t looking so good. Compliance rates were ridiculously low.  That’s hardly surprising. Gun registration is one of those areas where few are interested in becoming an early adopter, especially since there’s a chance this will be thrown out by the courts at some point in time. Why register guns if you don’t have to?  

Federal Judge Blocks California’s MSR Ban – Again.  U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez has declared the state’s decades-old ban on so-called “assault weapons” to be unconstitutional.  Federal Judge Roger T. Benitez’ ruling will almost certainly be appealed to the Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. 

It is the second time Judge Benitez blocked the law as unconstitutional. “California’s ‘assault weapon’ ban takes away from its residents the choice of using an AR-15 type rifle for self-defense,” Judge Benitez wrote in his decision.  This decision bodes well for our “Assault Weapons Ban” case in Illinois.  He noted that there are 24.4 million MSRs in circulation and just 447 people were reported killed by individuals that criminally-misused the firearm. That equates to “less than .00001832% were used in homicides,” and “that 24,399,553 (or 99.999985%) of AR-15s were used for lawful purposes.

Guess What Happened to Violent Crime Rates After Ohio Adopted Permitless Carry?  Last June, Ohio became the 23rd state in the nation to adopt a “permitless carry” law, allowing legal gun owners to both keep and bear arms without having to first obtain a government permission slip.

Did Ohio become a more dangerous place because of permitless carry?   Nope they did not.  Overall violent crimes were down in Ohio and the U.S. in 2022, with Ohio seeing a 7.5% decrease from 2021 and the U.S. reporting a 1.63% decrease.  Last year Ohio and the U.S. both also saw a drop in homicides after increases in 2021 and 2020.  Ohio had 6.1 homicides per 100,000 people last year, compared to 7.5 and 7 in 2021 and 2020, respectively, according to data from the FBI.  Nationally there were 6.5 homicide per 100,000 in 2020 and 6.8 in 2021 compared to 6.3 in 2022.

Not only did violent crime and homicide rates both decline last year, the drop in violent crime in Ohio far outpaced the national average.  The doom-and-gloom predictions of the anti-gunners were flat-out wrong, and Ohio is now a safer state today.  

Your Help Urgently Needed! Comment Period Open on Biden’s Illegal Background Check Rulemaking.  The official comment period on ATF’s rulemaking, “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” began on Friday, September 8.  Comments on the rule will be accepted for 90 days, until December 7, 2023.  The more comments ATF receives exposing the flaws, false premises, and overreaching nature of the rule, the more ATF will have to answer for, if the agency persists in this ill-conceived effort.  While it might be true that no amount of well-reasoned opposition will cause the Biden Administration to discontinue its persecution of gun-owning America.  The easiest and most effective way to comment on the proposal is through the online portal at regulations.gov.  Comments can also be mailed to Helen Koppe, Mail Stop 6N–518, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 99 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20226; ATTN: ATF 2022R–17.  In either case, be sure to reference docket number ATF 2022R–17 to identify the rulemaking on which you are commenting.  

FN Breaks Ground at Future Site of Second Production Facility

Framed by a backdrop of the Blue Ridge mountains, FN America, LLC broke ground on what will be the site of the company’s second production facility in South Carolina. This new facility will be located within the Pickens County Commerce Park in Liberty, South Carolina.  

More than 40 years ago, FN opened operations in Columbia to fulfill a government contract for the U.S. Army.  The company was originally established in the United States in 1979 and opened its doors in 1981 to produce the M240 medium machine gun, a variant of the FN MAG-58, under contract to the U.S. Army. For more than 40 years, the company’s primary production facility has been located in Richland County, South Carolina.