The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at the great chicken cull.

Judge Suspends California Ammo Background Check Law

Good news for California gun owners: The onerous state’s ammunition background check law has been temporarily suspended! United States District Roger T. Benitez. wrote: “The experiment has been tried. The casualties have been counted. California’s new ammunition background check law misfires and the Second Amendment rights of California citizens have been gravely injured.”

It is noteworthy that this is the same Judge Benetiz who created California’s “Magazine Freedom Week”, last year. Clearly, he has common sense which is all too uncommon in the Federal courts. So he’s on my hero list.

I strongly recommend that Californians stock up heavily on ammo, while they can!  Notably, Brownells (a SurvivalBlog affiliate advertiser) has announced that they are again shipping ammo to California.  This window of opportunity might be brief, so don’t hesitate!

61,000 Minnesota Chickens Culled

Reader DSV sent this: Egg demand shifted, and 61,000 Minnesota chickens were euthanized

Bankrupt States Now Want a Bailout

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: States Made Risky Bets with Pensions Before Coronavirus. Now They Want a Bailout.

St. Louis COVID Snitches Get Outed

Our own Michael Z. Williamson sent this: COVID-19 snitches in St. Louis were in for a surprise

Coronavirus at Meat Packing Plants

Reader H.L. sent us this: Coronavirus at meat packing plants worse than first thought, USA TODAY investigation finds. A selection from the article:

“More than 150 of America’s largest meat processing plants operate in counties where the rate of coronavirus infection is already among the nation’s highest, based on the media outlets’ analysis of slaughterhouse locations and county-level COVID-19 infection rates.

These facilities represent more than 1 in 3 of the nation’s biggest beef, pork and poultry processing plants. Rates of infection around these plants are higher than those of 75% of other U.S. counties, the analysis found.”

A Warning on Re-Worded Congressional Legislation

All gun owners should take a few minutes to read this policy paper, from the Firearms Policy  Coalition (FPC):  Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWRA). Re-defining the term “spousal abuse” is the issue. They want to sneak this in to the latest “stimulus” package.  The FPC notes that some 12 Republican congress members have co-sponsored this back door gun grab.

565 Americans Have Lost Their Job for Every COVID-19 Death 

Over at Zero Hedge: 565 Americans Have Lost Their Job For Every Confirmed COVID-19 Death In The US

Garand Thumb: ACOG Versus LPVOs

ACOG vs LPVO (Primary Arms ACOG with ACSS Aurora). You can skip past the music-enhanced slow-mo  opening, to the 6 minute mark for the important stuff. For the record:  I’m still an ACOG believer. Yes, can buy four (or more) red dot sights for the cost of one Trijicon, But there is no comparison for ruggedness.

‘It’s a Free Country, Brother’

Tim J. sent us this piece in National Review by Victor Davis Hansen: ‘It’s a Free Country, Brother’.  Tim pointed out this key quote:

“Out of nowhere little Napoleonic governors arise to enact decrees prohibiting gardening or strolling on an empty beach — decrees that seem to have little purpose other than to reflect that they can do so. Snitches volunteer to out felonious social deviants who are seen cooking in the backyard with a neighbor. A little horned-devil virus seems to be trying to do what those Russkies never could.”

New York Rescinds No-Resuscitation Order

Fox News reports: New York state rescinds DNR order for cardiac patients amid coronavirus crisis

Florida Suspends Processing CCW Permit Applications

Tim J. spotted this: news from Florida: Attorney General and Ag Commissioner face off over concealed carry

You can send your news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) Thanks!




36 Comments

  1. If you can’t see the tyranny being enacted during this crisis you aren’t paying attention. This is an historic time for us. The choice to act, or observe, is coming fast.

    1. K in Tenn…many do not want to acknowledge what is taking place…we are in the last days of freedom as we have known it in this country…may The Lord forgive us and have mercy… we must stand up for our children and grandchildren…

    2. “If you can’t see the tyranny being enacted during this crisis you aren’t paying attention.”

      Or don’t care. The majority of Americans just don’t care and they can’t define what freedom is in the first place. If they cared about their freedom and civil liberties, there would have been mass protests when their governors ordered them to go into lockdown in the first place. Instead, the few that are protesting waited until they got bored staying home doing jigsaw puzzles. Americans are hopeless. We will slowly degrade into what the USSR was in the ’60’s with the majority of Boobus americanus applauding all the way. Don’t kid yourself. There aren’t enough of us that care any more, or cared to begin with.

      Case in point: In the story above, “Florida Suspends Processing CCW Permit Applications”, why are Floridians whining about losing their right to get a CCW permit during the virus epidemic instead of every single citizen who believes in the second amendment storming the state legislature with pitchforks and torches demanding their right to carry a weapon without the need of permission from the government in the first place? That’s what freedom looks like, exercising the right to use your private property as you see fit without needing a permission slip from the government, plus your fingerprints in Big Brother’s database.

    3. Funny thing about this talk of freedoms and fighting for it.

      Right now. Today. Would you look a law enforcement officer… A community member … In the eye and repeatedly stab him or her until they are dead? Covered in thier blood? Smelling thier innards… While they began for it to stop? Could you look at a Greig stricken widow? Mother? Childminder father? Good Christians?

      And say to them … 2 months of rights removed temporary was worth the life taken?

      So many people willing to spill words…. And yet can’t abide by wearing PPE properly (which would either end the quarintine or truely reveal the intent of the policies) so many people who think that an armed fight is on par with thier video games and super sniper I just gotta pull a trigger.

      Keep in mind this was one of the first communities to say “we need tests and find out who has antibodies and antibody treatment”

  2. On the snitch article

    I remember that a-while-ago-back someone set up a snitch line for neighbors to report other neighbors whose Christmas lights were still up for too long. He made an add that claimed it was illegal to keep them up past a certain date and gave a phone number (it was a real phone number he set up for this) where people could report their neighbors for having their Christmas lights up past that date. His number got a lot of “reports.” That was really his point that people would do something like this.

  3. I’m seeing a lot of reasons to hunt, fish, butcher, raise, grow etc.
    If folks still ain’t getting it there’s no hope for them.
    It kills me to see animals, like chickens, destroyed when so many are trying to get them. Little to no chicks were delivered this year to many places and zero rabbits of the outdoor variety to be had. Cattlemen are stuck with feeder steers. Individual local sales might help them for those who can find butchers open or know how.
    I just got done planting mushrooms for future seasons in an unused and pretty much inaccessible corner of the yard. It’s never too late (till it is) to get going. It’s a lifestyle that needs to be embraced. Backyard chickens, potted gardens and all kinds of things can get started now.
    Y’all stay safe.

  4. The airwaves (media) is repugnantly repetitive with its “SeeSay” ads re: see something say something Trotsky turn in your neighbor to get a foretaste of government power.
    Even though I’ve never been a politician ~ if you vote for me I promise to fix this. In other words – give me the power.
    Servants don’t wield power, they are called to empower those they serve.

  5. I feel that many of the rules and regulations to help mitigate the spread of Covid-19 were well intentioned at the start but developed unintended consequences.
    Few politicians want to anger their constituents on purpose,however the governors all have
    advisors putting thoughts and ideas into their heads.

    All in all some of the restriction have likely saved lives while some of the restrictions have
    only made a large number of our fellow citizens angry.
    There is no game plan for a Black Swan event such as this.Trial and error is the best that we
    hope for until a cure is found.

    The unemployed and financially distressed have every reason to be more than upset and I
    will do whatever I can to help,except exposing myself to the virus.When you are elderly and
    and have all of the underlying medical conditions you tend to look at this from a narrow
    perspective.

    I think I’ll go put on the coffee and wait for the ensuing rants.

    1. I live in a densely populated state with its share of infections in parts of the state, and community spread over most of the state. Our governor acted early with voluntary restrictions and slowly added mandatory restrictions to slow the virus as the number of cases increased. If voluntary restrictions had slowed the spread no mandatory restrictions would have been put in place, but voluntary was not enough. His approval rating for handling the virus is over 80%. Think about that. How often do any politicians see an approval rating of 80%? The people of my state recognize the threat from the virus, they’ve read about Italy, China, Spain, NY City and they want the spread slowed down so the streets are safer for commerce. There is a small minority who want the state open now even though Federal Guidelines say we should still be closed. Some because they are hurting financially, some for ideological reasons, some because they listen to propaganda and really don’t understand the situation, and I’m sure for other reasons I haven’t gleaned. I do know this, opening for business does NOT bring customers. Without Customers no sales are made and no profits. Most customers are not coming out until the virus is under better control.

  6. The CA ammo “background check” injunction; The 9th Circuit Court (who else?) issued a stay on this… So much for that…

    As for the quotes, this “background check” is nothing more than an ongoing info-grab by Nanny Newsom and his inane clown posse. When did you buy ammo? Where did you buy it? How many rounds did you buy? How many rounds do you go through (what’s the interval between purchases)? Also, what wasn’t said before this soiled TP became law, was that you can only buy ammo for firearms registered with the state. …So you can add power-grab to this as well.

  7. California’s ammo purchasing restriction is back on. The 9th Circuit Court put it back in place last night. The ability to purchase ammo online and have it shipped lasted 1 day.

  8. The issue for us is that we moved to the American Redoubt, and have ZERO issues with the law and there is ZERO lock downs where we live. We have not lost ONE IOTA of freedom in the American Redoubt. We are ready and willing to defy any law/ordinance of unconstitutional isolation and quarantines but NONE has happened for us. We lost no wages, no hours working, children are home schooled and we shop and go out when we want.

    We would fight these unconstitutional ordinances through lawsuits, when we are struck down in courts, then defy physically, when we are let out of jail on bail, fight through firearms…. YES, this is a strong statement, but IT is our family mantra!!!

    Sorry folks, in NYC, Houston, Detroit, California, you get what you deserve with the tens of millions of people not taking one step towards THWARTING tyranny.

    It’s funny that the THESE dunderheads in the LEFTIST media call us in the American Redoubt “anti-government” people. This is the rhredoric the LEFT uses to paint Constitutionalists as against their unconstitutional CREEDS. It is the LEFT, whom want to shred their constitution upon which their government was founded are in fact the “Anti-Government” people. Who lives in a country and want to remove the Amendments of their Constitution and remove human freedoms granted by their government… “Anti-government people! THE LEFT!”

    1. eleventh hour, I’m glad you live where you live. Your state probably doesn’t have many cases, you naturally practice physical distancing, you probably even have N95 masks laying around. I live in a state where the virus is spreading across the community. We’ve read what the virus did in China, Italy, Spain, NY City, we’ve read how sick it can make young healthy people, we’ve read what it can do to older people (the death rate is much higher), we don’t want to lose our parents or grandparents to the virus. Over 80% of the residents of my crowded state approve of the governor and his restrictions. This isn’t out of ignorance, its because we are informed and legitimately scared, this also isn’t about constitutional rights, this is about personal and public safety, once we have that we’ll start worrying about rights. We want to be able to walk the streets, shop, and go to work without wearing a tyvec suit and respirator because every other person we pass is shedding the virus. Something over 30% of the country is high risk with its much higher death rate. If we don’t have that right of personal safety the rest of the rights aren’t of much use. I’ve been pandemic planning for at least a decade, there have been calls by experts to plan for pandemics for decades but not enough has been done, now we have one, the Feds ignored the virus until it was already spreading across the country, the states have been forced to plan on the go, 50 plans that have to cover everything (though the depth and detail of everything varied from state to state) because the feds aren’t providing leadership. Not very efficient and the results show it.

  9. A blood bath is coming ,and I’m not talking about chickens or cows ,under stand the chicken kill was all told more than a million birds ,for that plant alone ,folks on the inside tell me nation wide the kill is over a hundred million birds layers alone ,no one is talking about the broiler kill ,the farm next door empty barns two night ago,250,000 birds ,kill plant closed day before,
    Is this atlas shrugged on steroids ,read about directive 10-289 ,or the equalization act ,what does it take to make a man say enough,i quit ???
    I have a herd of cattle I won’t sell at a loss ,do I say enough is enough ,dig a hole and shoot them?? Ok so I put some in the freezer then I’m a horder??
    Hard times coming
    So who is John Galt ?we are living that book !!!!!!

    1. On a side note about the chickens being killed, did you get a look at the picture of the chicken that the farmer and his wife were holding? It looked sickly. It’s cone was laying over to the side instead of standing up and the cone’s color was some sort of pale pink instead of bright red like it should be. Is this typical of the health of chickens that lay the eggs that we buy in the grocery store and that we eat at restaurants? No wonder store bought eggs have a pale and runny yoke and are tasteless, just look at the poor bird!
      My wife and I raise our own laying hens and our birds free roam over many acres every day. Our chickens have dark red cones that stand up straight and their eggs have dark rich and thick yellow colored yokes and boy are they tasty. Raise your own chickens folks. And oh yes, no antibiotics or growth hormones or steroids in them.

      1. Mray,,,the comb on a leghorn cross will flop over on even a healthy bird ,those eggs were for food service,and baking ,the kind of eggs you like are not what sells in the volume talked about here ,as for free range birds it can’t be done on a large scale ,when I had my broiler barns any bird that got out did not last hour be for coyotes would get it ,we were not allowed the bring it back in the barn , we raised over a million a year ,, our farm flock is not allowed out of the run to keep them safe from over head and four legged critters , you wouldn’t want me shooting a eagle now would you ? Some folks complane about shooting coyote. That I do.
        Best to you

      2. Mray,
        Just to second what Oldhomesteader said, I have Leghorn hens that are completely healthy and their combs flop over. Even some of the birds I have that are crosses from the Leghorns do that. Our birds do have bright, red, healthy looking combs, much more so than any birds I have ever seen when I worked installing chicken house equipment.

  10. It’s good to know who the snitches are.
    I even noticed where I live, someone was complaining about the fact that some young ‘uns were driving ATV’s and appeared underage and they wanted the Sheriff called. Seriously?!! I thought, aHA, there are even snitches where I live. I didn’t see anyone being reckless or rude, so I can only guess that someone has too much time on their hands during this shutdown. This is why OPSEC is so important.
    It’s good to know which governors have a Napoleon complex so they can be dispensed with by their respective constituents.
    It’s fantastic that a judge finally stood up for Californians. Stock up on “canned goods” y’all!!
    When I heard about some of the pork plant processing closures weeks ago, I sent out a message to my adult children and told them it would be wise to go ahead and contact the rancher we’ve used for a decade, and put in a deposit for the next delivery. That ensures they are ahead of the crunch. I put in a deposit with my local rancher.
    I’m excited to see that some of my adult children are actually stocking up, even though states are starting to open up. Maybe the scare was good for them.
    I’m still doubtful that the pandemic is really a pandemic. I think it was grossly over exaggerated and hyped. If I could see separate charts for influenza A & B, next to COVID19 & it’s variants, then I might be able to come to a reasonable conclusion. I read a number of blogs with differing opinions. Some are still saying that opening up states is insane. Some are like, this whole thing was a political ploy. I’m somewhere in the middle. In my opinion, we need to open up this economy or we won’t recover for decades. Also, in my humble opinion, folks like me who are immunocompromised are responsible for our own health. The Idaho governor’s plan is to slowly, every 2 weeks, loosen restrictions. It looks like a good plan, but wearing a mask in public when no one’s around but deer, is really dumb, in my opinion. I keep one in my purse in case of snitches. lol. Most folks around here aren’t wearing masks, but are “carrying”. LOL!! Have a wonderful day y’all!

    1. I looked up and found an official definition for a pandemic and the coronavirus fit the description. The final damage from the virus, how virulent it is, or how deadly it is won’t be known for a while.

  11. On Friday, in Dallas, Salon A la Mode opened for business at 0800. By 0830 the DPD was at her door (actually being very courteous), advising the owner she was in violation of a citywide ordinance banning “non-essential” businesses. Owner Shelley Luther asked the officers when had the Texas legislature decided her shop must remain closed. The officers admitted the legislature had not done so, and Ms Luther told the officers since she wasn’t in violation of Texas laws, she would be open for business, and if they needed a haircut they could make an appointment.

    Later in the day she was issued a “Cease and Desist” letter by the city, as well as a citation ordering her to appear before a judge, but the PD agreed she was violating no duly passed laws. The city has also threatened to revoke her business license.

    “It won’t matter if I have a business license because I won’t have a business,” Luther told the press Friday afternoon, saying if she can’t pay her rent, she will be evicted and lose her business, so until the State legislature orders her to remain closed she will remain open.

    My greatest concern in the “Shutdown of America” is how silent the patriots are. I do not read in the Constitution that the executive branch has the authority to order privately-owned businesses to close their doors, and yet the entire country has silently marched to the tune played by the Fed.

  12. RE: Kalifornia Ammo injunction: Within hours of the injunction, Chuck Michel, CRPA legal counsel, stated that Becerra went to 9th Circuit and got an emergency stay on the injunction (which was expected) put in place at 9:54 PM 24 April 2020.His response was:
    “9th Circuit Has Stayed the District Court’s Injunction Order.
    The fight for freedom goes on, but we are back to ammo sales restrictions for now. More to come.
    The following transaction was entered on 4/24/2020 at 9:54 PM PDT and filed on 4/24/2020
    Case Name: Rhode et al v. Becerra et al
    Case Number: 3:18-cv-00802-BEN-JLB
    Filer:
    Document Number: 66
    Docket Text:
    ORDER of USCA as to [64] Notice of Interlocutory Appeal to the 9th Circuit filed by Xavier Becerra. The USCA has received appellant’s emergency motion for a stay. The request for an immediate administrative stay is granted. The USDC’s April 23, 2020 preliminary injunction order is temporarily stayed pending further court order. The USCA will address the emergency stay motion by separate order. (akr) ”

    Eventually, this is going to either be struck down by 9th Circuit if they want to try to protect other restrictive states, or by the SCOTUS . It will just take more time. I am cautiously optimistic that with the appointments of so many new judges, eventually we will get some legitimate 2nd Amendment wins out of the courts. I just hope I live to see it….

    1. I heard about the injunction about 4pm, Pacific time on Thursday. I was on the phone in the early morning hours of Friday with Bulkammo.com, who said they had a team of lawyers poring over the 120-page Benitez ruling and had not yet decided to lift the CA shipping restrictions. I got off the phone and referred to a buddy’s DM to me the day before. Top Gun Supply in Ohio had congratulated CA and was shipping, immediately. I ordered right then and there. I got an email that my shipment had gone out later that day, a few hours before I heard that the injunction had been “stayed.” Whew, looking forward to my first mail delivery of ammo in almost two years.

  13. I have to wonder if we in the state of California can file a huge class action suit against the legislatures that voted for any un Constructional laws they passed and include the who governor who signed ithem into law. If so sign me up. This may be a way to hit them in the pockets and stop this infringement of our rights.

    1. Use Pacific Justice Institute – a free law firm who takes payment through public donations as a non-profit. You don’t need to donate to for them to fight on you behalf.

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