Bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson standing against tyranny inside the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC. Ed: Dr. Faria originally published this May 23 at Hacienda Publishing. It is modestly edited for DRGO.] When discussing government overreach, which continues unimpeded, or the danger of the monopoly of force concentrated in the hands of government by way of law enforcement, especially from federal police, particularly the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF),  I’m frequentl...

It appears that the coronavirus has outpaced both Obama and Beto as gun salesman of the decade.  Reports abound of large numbers of first-time gun buyers depleting inventory in local gun stores across the country.  These purchases have elicited the expected pearl-grasping by the confiscationists, but these hoplophobes always miss the obvious:  gun are used defensively vastly more often than they are used in the commission of crime.  Perhaps the pandemic-associated terms ...

[Ed: Dr. Petrocelli originally published at Ammoland on May 13. It is reposted by permission.] Dear Republican Party of Virginia, I replied to your emails, and I didn’t get a reply, so I thought I’d write to you publicly so that you understand where a portion of the electorate stands. It’s a larger portion than you know because most of my kindred spirits wouldn’t bother to email you, much less write to you. I thought the earnestness of your emails deserved a direct reply. (more&h...

New York Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo is gaining a deserved reputation as a strong leader and effective communicator about the coronavirus crisis in New York state, which has been particularly bad in New York City. His daily live video updates are watched all over the country because of that, and the fact that the state and City are at the epicenter of infection in the United States. But this is the same governor who on March 25 required nursing homes, the highest risk facilities for ...

[Ed: First appearing on DRGO 2 years ago, we repost this piece yearly.] Memorial Day has now come for the 53rd time since it was officially proclaimed in 1967. It has been kept nationwide, though unofficially, since World War II, and as Decoration Day since 1868.  It was born in spontaneous memorials early during the Civil War.  Remembering war dead has been important throughout history, even as the manner of recognition has changed across time and societies. As with many things cultu...

(from ammoland.com) [Ed: This was first published on Ammoland May 20, and is minimally edited to repost here with permission. It is the best discussion of the (non-)relationship of suicide rates with the prevalence of private firearm ownership I have seen, including my own. Kudos to Dean Weingarten! The only additional note from this psychiatrist is that while the final act may happen on impulse, nearly all suicides are pondered for some time, so choice of method becomes part of a plan well ...

(from njspotlight.com) The world will never be the same.  People are out of work.  Factories are retooling to make equipment that we need to fight this war.  The President of the United States has declared an emergency in every state at the same time, which has never happened before.  No one really expected this.  We aren’t prepared for things like this to happen, are we?   The government can respond to something like this.  Industry can ramp up production quickly...