Stephen Gutowski reports at the Free Beacon:

The FBI's background check system for gun sales processed more than 2.3 million checks in October, setting an all-time record for the month.

There were 2,333,539 gun-related checks processed through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS, last month, according to FBI I documents posted on Monday. That represents an increase of more than 350,000 checks over the previous October, itself a record. It’s also the 18th month in a row to set a record.

With two months to go, 2016 has already seen 22,206,233 NICS checks, making it the second highest year for checks in the history of NICS with only 2015 seeing more.

"Many gun rights activists believe that Hillary Clinton and President Obama's positions on gun control are driving sales," Gutowski writes.

My view is that people are awakening to their responsibility as human beings to safeguard their families and friends. This is especially so in an age of increasing terror -- a point made by former Navy SEAL Don Raso in this video, with particular relevance to the AR-15.

"Choosing to defend your home with an AR-15 is a commonsense choice that tens of millions of Americans are making, and our neighborhoods and communities are safer for it," Raso affirms in the video.

A.W.R. Hawkins writes at Breitbart:

In response to questions from AARP Bulletin, Hillary Clinton made clear her position that to be successful, policies for ending terrorism must include gun control for all Americans. [emphasis added]

According to Hawkins, Clinton responded by making the fight against terrorism a part of the fight again "violence":

Well, these are legitimate fears. I believe that people are rightly concerned about violence. Terrorism is part of that violence, and we have to do the best job we can to keep America safe. So I've laid out a very comprehensive plan about taking on the terrorists, going after them where they operate, doing everything we can to take away their territories so they can’t mastermind attacks from afar.

And she also said, according to Hawkins:

But I'm looking at violence broadly. . . . It's also why I've advocated gun-safety reform, like comprehensive background checks, closing the gun-show loophole, closing the online loophole -- because, you know, it's not only terrorists we need to be worried about. Terrorism is part of it, but gun violence kills 33,000 Americans a year. . . . We've got to get serious about stemming violence and terrorism in every way we can.

Hawkins notes several weaknesses in Clinton's position.

First, there is the problem of California, which "has comprehensive background checks," Hawkins writes. "Therefore, the state does not have a 'gun-show loophole' or an 'online loophole.' But they did have the December 12, 2015, firearm-based terror attack and the more recent high profile murder-suicide on the UCLA campus on June 1, 2016."

Second, there is the problem of Paris, France, which "has background checks that are even more comprehensive than those in California," Hawkins states. In addition, "Paris has no 'gun-show loophole' or 'online loophole,' but they did have 12 people killed in a January 7, 2015, firearm-based terror attack and another 130 killed in the November 13, 2015, firearm-based terror attack."

Third, there is the problem of Clinton's gun-violence statistics. "Clinton consistently makes the false claim that 33,000 Americans are killed by gun violence each year," Hawkins observes. "She initiated this claim in a political ad that first ran in April. Breitbart News responded by showing 66 percent of the 33,000 deaths cited by Clinton were actually suicides."

Here's how, according to Hawkins, Clinton arrives at her inflated, misleading figure of 33,000. "The overall number of firearm-related deaths in 2013 was approximately 32,888," Hawkins writes. "Of these, the number of accidental deaths was 505, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the number of deaths due to actual 'gun violence' was 11,208."

"When Clinton repeats these numbers, she adds accidental deaths [505] and homicides [11,208] -- which equal 11,713 -- then adds the 21,175 firearm-related suicides," and "rounds the number off at 33,000." Clinton then "names 'gun violence' as the cause for all these things," Hawkins explains.

Hawkins concludes: "This swells the number of gun violence victims in an attempt by Clinton to justify more gun control."

Here's the news story from ABC15 about a petite young mother at a gas station in Glendale, Arizona, who defended herself in the midst of an armed robbery.

According to the news report, the robber asked Carolann Miracle "for a cigarette and a lighter before he threatened to take her life."

Her response was to channel in "what her father, a Marine, taught her about protecting herself," reports Navideh Forghani of ABC15.

"He stuck a gun to my neck and told me, 'It's loaded, don't move'," Carolann told the reporter. "I think he thought, 'She's a little girl. Maybe she doesn't know how to use her weapon'."

When asked, Carolann said she weighs 85 pounds and is 4 feet, 11 inches tall.

"I dropped my soda, released my gun from my holster, cocked it, and shot him and then we ran in the opposite way."

Carolann said, "I feel sorry for him" and that "I didn't mean to kill him" but that "I had to defend my sister and me."

How might you or a family member of yours have acted in this kind of situation? Dean Weingarten at Gunwatch offers several observations that some may find helpful.

Weingarten says Carolann Miracle "did many things right" and that her Marine father "taught her well."

Hat tip: Stacy on the Right

At CR:

A mass shooting attempt at a night club in Spartanburg, SC, Sunday has received little to no national media attention.

Why? Because a man with a concealed carry permit was able to shoot the attacker in the leg and prevent further carnage. A good guy with a gun isn't juicy enough for the mainstream media outlets.

Make that the "so-called mainstream media." Because whatever "mainstream" "journalists" are up to these days, it has more to do with an extremism that hides facts and information that disrupt comforting liberal fairytales than about responsibly and factually reporting the news.

If you want to overcome evil with good, you have to stand up to it. Sometimes this means employing the proper force necessary to stop violence and save lives. And, of course, it means being equipped and prepared to do so.

This kind of engagement is good, is healthy, and is humane. It is taking responsibility for your life, and it is a very concrete way of showing love for friend, neighbor, and community.

Let's have more of that -- and an honest commitment to real reporting so that other people can learn and live.

The stars curse, they rant, they rave -- in utter alienation from the real world. Chris Pandolfo has the story at CR.

"Texas A&M University officials cleared the way for concealed-carry permit holders to cart their guns into classrooms with 'few major restrictions,' according to the new policy," Cheryl Chumley reports at WND.

Read more.

Matt Vespa writes at Townhall:

Mothers in the Houston area are concerned by the 50 break-ins that have occurred in their community. So, they’re doing what many moms would do to protect their families; they’re undergoing firearms training.

Here's a video report at KPRC-TV news.

Stephen Gutowski reports at FreeBeacon.com:

A report published by the FBI on Monday shows that gun murders and other violent crimes continued to fall in 2014.

The FBI Crime in the United States report found 8,124 murders committed with firearms in 2014, down from 8,454 in 2013. That represents a 3.9 percent drop year over year and the lowest rate of any year included in the report.

"The gun prohibition lobby and Michael Bloomberg and friends must be choking on this huge drop in homicides,” the Free Beacon quotes Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation as saying. 

"They have been claiming that we have a 'gun violence' epidemic. What we have are a record number of new gun sales and owners over the past few years which has translated into more guns less violent crime," Gottlieb said, according to the Free Beacon.

"It is time for people like Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton to admit that guns save lives," Gottlieb said, the Free Beacon reports.

A.W.R. Hawkins writes at Breitbart.com:

On April 20, The Washington Post ran a column showing that campus carry has been the law of the land in Colorado since 2003, and the results have not been anything like those currently fighting against campus carry claim it should be.

There have been no mass shootings and, apart from one incident in which a gun was accidentally discharged by a Colorado University employee, there have been no crimes by permit holders.

No one was injured in the accidental discharge, and the employee was fired.

"The success of campus carry in Colorado is especially good news for women, who are able to level the playing field by being armed and better able to defend their dignity when under sexual attack,' Hawkins writes.

The National Crime Victimization Survery and Florida State University Prof. Gary Kleck's scholarly work "show that guns in the hands of law-abiding women allow those women to stop a sexual assault in its tracks," Hawkins continues, "and Colorado’s campus carry experience shows concealed carry permit holders simply aren’t those committing crimes on campuses."

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"A new poll shows that Gabby Giffords’ home state of Arizona is abandoning gun control, partly because fears of imported jihadism are growing," A.W.R. Hawkins reports at Breitbart.com.

"According to the Arizona Daily Star, the poll was conducted by the Behavior Research Center (BRC), which found that a large portion of the 48 percent of Arizonans who supported more gun control in the wake of Sandy Hook have now changed their position, with only 33 percent favoring more gun control," Breitbart reports.

"Forty-eight percent of Arizonans 'think the current level of gun control is just fine.' That figure represents a 10-percent increase from the poll taken after Sandy Hook," according to Breitbart.

"BRC found that support for gun control 'dropped among all political and age groups'," Breitbart reports.

Greg Richter writes Newsmax:

Despite efforts from the left to restrict gun ownership on claims that it will reduce crime, the opposite is actually true, says Reason.com editor Nick Gillespie.

In a Sunday blog post, Gillespie points out that crime rates drop in states that enact laws allowing more people to carry concealed weapons, and they drop even further as more residents of those states avail themselves of their right.

In 1987, Gillespie notes, the total crime rate was 5,550 per 100,000 people while the violent crime rate was 610 per 100,000. By 2013, those figures had dropped to 3,099 and 368.

Terry Jeffrey reports at CNSNews.com:

Sixty-three percent of Americans questioned in a Gallup survey conducted in October and released this month said they believe having a gun in their house makes it a safer place to be.

"A record-high percentage in U.S. say guns makes homes safer," said Gallup in its analysis of the survey. The organization has polled on this issue in five surveys going back to 1993 (although the question in the 1993 survey was somewhat different than in later surveys).

"In 1993, 42 percent said having a gun in the house makes it safer; in 2000, 35 percent; in 2004, 42 percent; in 2006, 47 percent; and in 2014, 63 percent," Jeffrey reports.

"The percentage of Americans who believe having a gun in the house makes it a safer place to be (63%) has nearly doubled since 2000, when about one in three agreed with this," Gallup said.

A.W.R. Hawkins writes at Breitbart:

A Durham, North Carolina, restaurant with a sign on its front door reading, "No Weapons, No Concealed Firearms," was robbed at gunpoint on May 19.

Gunsnfreedom.com published a photograph of the sign on May 21, making "The Pit" restaurant a self-declared gun free zone -- the same kind of zone Michael Bloomberg and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America pressure other restaurants into becoming.

According to Durham's ABC 11, around 9 PM "three men wearing hoodies entered the restaurant through the back doors with pistols, and forced several staff members to lie on the floor." The armed men "also assaulted two employees during the crime." 

"The suspects are still on the loose," Hawkins writes. A reward has been offered for the "arrests and convictions of the suspects responsible," according to WNCN.com.

"When Chipotle announced their intended gun ban by saying the sight of law-abiding citizens carrying guns caused customers 'anxiety and discomfort,' Hawkins continues, Breitbart News asked a "simple question": 

If law-abiding citizens caused customers "anxiety and discomfort," what will those customers feel like when a criminal enters Chipotle, now confident that no victim in the restaurant is allowed to have a gun which which to fight back? 

"Perhaps the armed attack on 'The Pit' can be of some help in answering this question," Hawkins concludes.

Related
Texas School District’s Warning Signs May Make Criminals Think Twice 
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Tony Lee reports at Breitbart:

After Attorney General Eric Holder revealed that he was considering forcing gun owners to wear identifying bracelets, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin harshly warned him that he better not even think about trying to implement the idea.

"Eric, 'You don't want to go there, buddy'," she declared on Wednesday. 

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Jason Howerton writes at The Blaze:

Sometimes things can spin out of control when open carry activists and police officers meet. That was certainly not the case in Austin, Texas, when an officer responded to a call about "suspicious" men openly carrying rifles.

In this Youtube video of the encounter, the officer says, "Just checking you guys out. I already know the law."

Related
Woman Home Alone Opens Fire on Thugs 
Woman Hiding With Kids Shoots Intruder
Gun Control Fallacy
Star Parker: Blacks Who Back Gun Control Need to Study History of Slavery and Jim Crow

David Urbanski reports at The Blaze:

One school district in the Amarillo, Texas, area isn’t messing around when it comes to potential intruders.

The Shamrock Independent School District has added two signs warning troublemakers that staff members are armed and may use force to protect its 450 students.

Photos that accompany the news story show that the signs state the following: "Attention. Please be aware that the staff at Shamrock ISD is armed and may use whatever force is necessary to protect our students."

The school district has also "installed 30 security cameras as well as an intercom system and bulletproof windows," and "according to KHOU-TV in Houston, most parents are happy with the stepped-up security," the Blaze reports. 

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Paul Joseph Watson writes at Infowars:

Californian Congressman Doug LaMalfa and 14 of his House peers have written a letter to the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] demanding to know why the federal agency is buying so many rounds of ammunition and whether the purchases are part of a deliberate attempt to restrict supply to the American people.

The DHS has committed to purchasing around 2 billion rounds of ammunition over the course of the last year. Many believe the purchases are exacerbating bullet shortages across the country, supplies already strained by record sales prompted as a result of the Obama administration’s gun control agenda.

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Charles C. Johnson reports at The Daily Caller:

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein made an impassioned call for gun control during a Capitol Hill hearing Thursday, recalling putting her fingers into bullet wounds on the body of slain gay activist Harvey Milk.

But the gun that did the killing -- a .38 special -- doesn’t appear on the list of firearms she wants the federal government to ban.

And Feinstein carried the same model revolver in her purse for nearly four years after the attack. [emphasis added]

"'When you come from where I’ve come from and what you’ve seen, when you found a dead body and put your finger in bullet holes, you really realize the impact of weapons,' the California Democrat told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday, after a pointed exchange with Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz about the Second Amendment," The Daily Caller reports.

Survival instructor Creek Stewart writes at WND:

The general principles of the liberal left agenda exist in the absence of personal responsibility.

They simply will not and cannot admit that people are responsible for their own actions.

If they do, the agenda begins to crumble. The entire foundation rests on completely ignoring personal responsibility and the consequences of one’s own choices.

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Gun Control Fallacy
Star Parker: Blacks Who Back Gun Control Need to Study History of Slavery and Jim Crow