TOC Ready Room 20 Nov 2021: Rittenhouse, an odd-duck judge: Checking in on the rule of law

The verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial was rendered on Friday 19 November, by a courageous jury that ruled on the evidence and not on the prosecution’s or the media’s false narrative.

Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all five counts, meaning the jury understood fully that he was acting in self-defense.  As numerous commentators said on Friday, this was obvious to anyone who actually watched the trial.

Those who watched the actual Rittenhouse trial on television should not have been surprised at the not guilty verdict. But those who got their information about the trial from biased commentators on CNN or CNBC may well have been shocked and surprised.

— Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) November 19, 2021

Not only did the evidence, including prosecution witness testimony, make it clear that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense;

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Migrant influx has Europeans arming up

The workshop of Austrian gunmaker Steyr-Mannlicher. (Image via gunsforsale.com)

The urge to self-preservation may not be entirely dead among native Europeans.  According to European news sources, cited in this article at WND, Europeans who have the realistic option of purchasing firearms have started doing so, at a dramatically increased rate.

Although the citizens of several key countries (e.g., Germany, the Netherlands) are basically prohibited from buying guns — by the very high obstacles their governments set for such purchases — those who can are flocking to gun vendors.  Women are reportedly the customer base showing the biggest increase.

Austria is one of the nations where guns are selling fast.

Memo to David Frum: Weimar German ‘gun control’ enabled Hitler to confiscate Jews’ guns

These nice people made Germany’s strict “gun control” laws during the Weimar Republic era, hoping to curb street violence between Nazis and Communists. Reichstag, 1925. (Image: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-01154. 12 Mar 1925)

At Breitbart, John Nolte notices that David Frum is trying to school Ben Carson on “gun control.”  (The correct expression for the concept intended is gun restrictions, so I will use that here.)

What Nolte calls out is Frum’s remarkable assertion that a gun-restriction policy in Germany could have prevented the Holocaust.

Hold back the laughter for a moment.  You’re going to want the information below, so please follow along with me.  I promise, this is better than a meme image with a questionable “quote” from Hitler.

After Chattanooga: Another armed man shows up outside a recruiting center

Authorities were investigating an “active shooter incident” late Thursday morning at the Naval Reserve Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Fire Chief Randy Jackson said. (Image via Liberty Unyielding)

Liberty Unyielding’s Julie reported on Saturday that the death toll had gotten worse in the terror attack by Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez on Navy facilities in Chattanooga.  In addition to the four Marines who died on Thursday, Navy Petty Officer Second Class Randall Smith succumbed to his injuries from the attack in the pre-dawn hours on Saturday morning.

They’re pretty jittery around the military recruiting center where Abdulazeez perpetrated so much carnage.  They’re jittery at military facilities across the country, especially recruiting centers that are located in easily accessible places like strip malls.  A handful of governors have already authorized their National Guard forces to arm those on active duty, which will affect some recruiting offices, although not the recruiters for the federal military departments.

FBI: Background check ‘flaw’ let Dylann Roof buy a gun

Perhaps it’s technically the New York Times that’s saying a “flaw” is what allowed Roof, the Charleston church killer, to buy a gun.  “Flaw” is the word used in the NYT headline.  The actual communication from the FBI is summarized this way in the text:

A loophole in the system and an error by the F.B.I. allowed the man, Dylann Roof, to buy the .45-caliber handgun despite having previously admitted to drug possession, officials said.

The “error” by the FBI stands up to scrutiny as an actual error.  The “loophole” in the background check system is another story.  Here’s the extended summary from NYT: