Military – Green Hill Report

Washington (GGM) Analysis | September 18, 2019
by Noreen Wise

There are many states who began passing common sense gun legislation to curb gun violence and are now experiencing the benefits. Lives have been saved. Communities are safer. Thus, it’s very clear why more than 90% of Americans are demanding that local, state and federal legislators do something.

Diving deeper to assess which states have passed which bills, it soon becomes crystal clear that the permissive gun states that have allowed gun ownership to go unchecked, are the states with the highest gun violence deaths. This makes sense, which again is why more than 90% of Americans, many millions of whom are gun owners, are demanding action.

How can Mitch McConnell hold a blind eye to this reality? Why is Mitch McConnell suddenly saying that he can’t allow any bill that Trump won’t sign to be brought to the floor for a vote? This is illogical and unconstitutional. The Legislative Branch is separate from the Executive and McConnell is at the helm of the Senate in the Legislative Branch. Going rogue and eliminating a vital check & balance, especially when it comes to the safety and protection of the American people, should be grounds for having him removed as Senate Majority Leader.

Connecticut is an excellent example of passing common sense gun laws that have served residents well and saved thousands of lives.

The Sandy Hook massacre of 20 innocent first graders and 6 adults occurred on December 14, 2012
In idyllic Newtown, Connecticut
On April 3, 2014…. less than 4 months after the traumatizing horror, the bipartisan state legislature passed sweeping gun reform
State Permit is required to purchase both long guns and hand guns
Registration is required through Department of Emergency and Public Protection for log guns & handguns, gun tracked by authorization number and DPS-3-C form
Partial ban on assault rifles: no new sales/purchases of assault rifles; banned ARs already owned, must be registered, if owner wants to sell AR, can only sell to licensed gun dealer

Magazine Capacity Restriction: any magazine that holds greater than 10 rounds is considered an LCM (Large Capacity Magazine); all LCMs were banned when new law went into effect, cannot be sold or transferred; existing owners had to register LMs by
Permit Required for Concealed Carry: owner must meet requirements, and abide by two-step process, first, 60-day temporary permit issued by local authorities, Second, 5 year permit issued by DESPP
Permit Required for Open Carry: MUST have a license to open carry
Vehicle Carry: Must have valid pistol permit to carry loaded gun in car, otherwise must be unloaded and firearm and ammunition stored in separate locked containers; if car left unattended, firearm must be locked in trunk or glove box
Castle Doctrine: not the exact same as “stand your ground,” but if intruder enters home or yard and owner has permit and “reasonable force,” courts provide civil immunity
Background Checks: required for private party transfer and must be performed by federally licensed dealer
Red Flag Law: allows police to obtain a court warrant and seize guns from anyone posing a risk to others or themselves once they investigate and determine probable cause

Connecticut’s sweeping common sense gun laws are some of the most reasonable and effective in the country and serve as a very sensible model to follow. In 2019, Connecticut ranks in the top 5 states with the lowest number of gun deaths per capita.

Hawaii
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
New York
Connecticut

The top 5 states with the highest number of per capita gun deaths are five red states with permissive gun laws:

Alaska – most permissive gun ownership in country, must be 21, complete handgun competency course, no permit required to carry, Castle Doctrine, that’s it
Montana – must be 18, open & concealed carry legal without permit, Castle Doctrine, done
Alabama – must be 18, no permit or background check or registration required for private sales, open carry legal without permit, concealed carry needs pistol permit, Castle Doctrine, done
Louisiana – must be 17, no permit or background check or registration required for private sales, concealed carry is legal with a permit, open carry requires no permit, Castle Doctrine, that’s it
Missouri – must be 19, no permit or background check or registration required for private sales, open carry and concealed carry both legal without permit, but gun owners can obtain a concealed carry permit (CCP) if they’d like one, local authorities are able to restrict in certain locations, Castle Doctrine, done

The Connecticut common sense gun laws respect the 2nd Amendment, while simultaneously protecting the American public’s expectation to live in a safe community. Colt is headquartered in Connecticut, and yet these bipartisan common sense gun laws passed in record time following the Sandy Hook massacre.

If more than 90% of the American public are demanding common sense gun laws, and the data proves the effectiveness, it doesn’t make sense to sit on the sidelines and hold a blind eye to such convincing proof that common sense gun laws save lives, maybe your own.

The newly appointed Acting Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, seems to be setting a great example for his troops… arriving in the dark, and first tweet at 4:15 AM.

Shanahan won Trump’s confidence in September 2018, when he energetically supported Trump’s plan for a military Space Force, a whole new branch of the military. The military wasn’t too keen on this idea, too much bureaucracy was their assessment when they pushed back. The current military branches consist of: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard.

Shanahan seems to have a great attitude, appears thrilled with the promotion, seems very intelligent and knows how to begin the first day on the right foot. These are all very positive signs. And yet, deep in the back of one’s mind, there can’t help but be a nagging feeling that Shanahan’s chipper, positive attitude springs from naiveté. For how can he possibly be anything but naive without the proper background for the position?

A 31 year career at Boeing, with his most senior position as senior vice president, Supply Chain & Operations. This is an excellent job. However, in the big scheme of things, it’s a fairly junior position considering how many senior vice presidents Boeing has, and that this level is an entire notch below the top level of President and CEO.

Shanahan’s leap from senior vice president, to Deputy Secretary of Defense, a Trump choice rather than Mattis choice, was a stretch. But now, with just 19 months as deputy, to be the Acting Secretary of Defense, seems as unqualified as a sailer who becomes an expert on a lake where he can see the shoreline at all times, there are no tides, plenty of people around who can help if he has a problem… suddenly up and deciding he’s going to sail around the world on the wild and turbulent and unpredictable ocean using the same boat.

It seems most Secretaries of Defense arrive at work on their first day very somber, appearing to have a deep understanding that this is the most difficult job on the planet, perhaps even more challenging than president of the United States. That this won’t be fun and exciting, but rather very, very difficult, yet monumentally rewarding. They are patriots. This is their duty, no matter how impossible and nerve wracking the position may seem at times.

The Space Force is confusing. The United States has had a Space Force dating all the way back to Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. It may have been a secret Space Force, but it’s still our United States Space Force. Back then, they used hot air balloons for surveillance, and a few decades later apparently signaled troops in the field using hot air balloons during the War of 1812. Perhaps Trump missed this in his daily briefing, or maybe he intentionally decided to let the secret out when he announced we would finally have a Space Force. At various moments across the last two centuries, there appear radon documents and events that confirm this apparent secret Space Force. Some people call these UFO sightings, one was documented as a UFO crash, (Auroro, TX 1897). There are some who read these historic reports and simply nod their heads and smile to themselves, knowing it was really the US Space Force testing new equipment. There were more than 12,000 of these mysterious UFO sightings studied under the Air Force’s Project BLUE BOOK, from 1947 – 1969, the two decades leading up to Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon. Project BLUE BOOK was closed shortly after Neil Armstrong returned home. Definitely has a ring of secret Space Force to it. I welcome you to google NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia and see if that doesn’t have a US Space Force ring to it as well. It’s been around awhile. So again, this is confusing.

There’s a new TV series on the History Channel that begins January 8, 2019… Project Blue Book.

Best of luck Acting Secretary of Defense Shanahan. You have a wonderful attitude!