Associated Press caught producing anti-gun advocacy

Lee Williams

Traditional journalism is pretty simple, really. If you’re writing about a complex issue, make sure to include all of the sides.

For example, most political stories usually involve two sides. A good reporter will include both sides in their fair and balanced story and then let the readers decide whom to believe. If the journalist only includes one side in their story, it becomes advocacy instead of journalism, which should be avoided.

No one should know this better than the Associated Press, which was founded in 1846—15 years before the start of the Civil War. During the AP’s vast 180-year history, they’ve had a bit of experience producing good journalism, at least until now it appears.

AP reporters Josh Funk and Claudia Lauer published a story Thursday titled: “Amtrak may make it easier to bring guns on its trains despite the alleged attempt on Trump’s life.”

Quite frankly, it needed a bit of work.

Their story only includes comments from one side, John Feinblatt, whom the reporters only identified as the “president of the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.”

The AP reporters never mentioned that Feinblatt is also president of the Trace, which is paid to produce anti-gun propaganda, or that both anti-gun groups are funded by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Certainly, these omissions would have helped Funk’s and Lauer’s readers put Feinblatt’s comments into better context.

Feinblatt, of course, used the story to further erode our Second Amendment rights.

“Just days after a man took an Amtrak train to Washington with a shotgun and pistol and tried to assassinate the president and other federal officials, the Trump Administration is trying to open the floodgates for firearms on every Amtrak route, while also moving to hollow out the agency responsible for enforcing gun laws and preventing gun trafficking. This will only make Americans less safe and Congress must step in before the next tragedy,” the AP quoted him as saying.

A pro-gun voice could have pointed out Feinblatt’s dual anti-gun roles, or that millions of riders have safely carried firearms aboard Amtrak for years, or that Congress has far more important things to occupy its time than turning trains into yet another anti-gun zone.

Funk, who was evidently the lead reporter, did not return emails seeking to interview him about his story. Unfortunately, that was expected, since the AP is not nearly what it used to be.

Since the mid-19th century, the AP served a vital role for newspapers, but not anymore. Print readership has tanked. The two largest newspaper chains in the country, Gannett and McClatchy, both dropped AP in 2024. The third largest newspaper firm, Lee Enterprises, announced it will be dropping AP at the end of this year.

Just last month the AP announced it was offering buyouts to a large number of its U.S. staff. They did not publish the number of staffers who would be losing their jobs.

Takeaways

One thing is certain: There will always be a market for factual and accurate journalism, but by publishing only one side of an important issue with layoffs looming, the Associated Press may get what it certainly deserves.

 

I’ve got a phone number for him: 1-800-CRY-BABY.

Amtrak May Soon Expand Policy on Firearms, and Gun Control Advocates are Fuming

Amtrak could soon be expanding the number of routes where gun owners can bring their firearms in their checked baggage, and one anti-gun activist has gone off the rails with his response.

Amtrak currently allows gun owners to bring their firearms along when they’re passengers on trains that have locked baggage cars. According to the Associated Press, the Trump administration has been pushing Amtrak to expand that access by putting lockboxes on most trains. Passengers still couldn’t carry their firearms on board, but they could at least store them until they get to their destination.

This seems fairly reasonable, unlike the reaction from the head of Everytown.

John Feinblatt, president of the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, said doing this would decrease safety.

“Just days after a man took an Amtrak train to Washington with a shotgun and pistol and tried to assassinate the president and other federal officials, the Trump Administration is trying to open the floodgates for firearms on every Amtrak route, while also moving to hollow out the agency responsible for enforcing gun laws and preventing gun trafficking,” he said. “This will only make Americans less safe and Congress must step in before the next tragedy.”

Allowing guns in locked boxes on trains is going to make Americans less safe? I thought Everytown was in favor of locking up unloaded firearms.

This policy, if enacted, would simply bring Amtrak in line with the rules for transporting firearms while flying. Given that the rail system operated $1.76 billion in the red in last fiscal year, Amtrak needs to be doing everything possible to be competitive with airlines, and making it possible for lawful gun owners to travel with their firearms on more trains is a small step in the right direction.

If the man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump had flown from Los Angeles to D.C., would Feinblatt be demanding airlines stop allowing guns in checked baggage? If he’d driven cross-country, would Everytown’s president be calling for a repeal of the Firearm Owners Protection Act? I wouldn’t put it past him, to be honest.

But here’s what Feinblatt is ignoring: there is no TSA for Amtrak. No baggage screening. No magnetometers or body scans before passengers get on board. There’s nothing stopping someone from carrying a gun on board an Amtrak train at the moment, except for Amtrak’s policy about keeping guns in locked luggage.

Security expert Sheldon Jacobson, whose research contributed to the design of the TSA PreCheck system used in aviation, said railroads should do more to screen their passengers ahead of time by collecting more information when they sell the tickets and checking passengers’ backgrounds. But he said it’s not possible to eliminate guns on trains when there is no way to enforce the rule.

“The initial condition is that there’s almost 400 million guns in this country,” he said. “Then work from there as opposed to trying to create a utopian environment where there’s not guns and we’re going to keep it that way.”

Rail travel poses fewer risks than air travel, so it wouldn’t be worth the investment needed to create a strict passenger screening system at every train station similar to what TSA does at airports, Jacobson said. But he acknowledged that calculation could change if there ever were a major tragedy on a passenger train.

“You have to weigh the risks and rewards. And you have to say, ‘Where are we going to put our money to get the greatest risk reduction for the greatest benefit with the least inconvenience to people?'” he said.

If Congress wants to step in, it should be to demand Amtrak allow lawful concealed carry as well. I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon, but that would be a major policy change. What Amtrak is considering now is basically expanding its current policy to cover more routes in order to serve more customers. That shouldn’t alarm anyone, but activists like Feinblatt will do whatever they can to convince Americans to join their freak out… including hiding the facts from their audience.

Every member of the State ought diligently to read and to study the constitution of his country and teach the rising generation to be free. By knowing their rights, they will sooner perceive when they are violated, and be the better prepared to defend and assert them. – U.S. Chief Justice John Jay

King Soopers Homicide Trial: Jury Clears Mansoor Ali of Second-Degree Murder

A Laramie County jury has found 22-year-old Mansoor Ali not guilty of second-degree murder and four counts of aggravated assault and battery. The verdict follows a high-profile trial where Ali’s defense successfully argued that he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot 19-year-old Benjamin Glenn, who had approached Ali with a firearm in a Cheyenne King Soopers parking lot.

CHEYENNE, WY — In a case that tested the limits of Wyoming’s self-defense laws, a Cheyenne man has been cleared of all charges related to a fatal September 2025 shooting. On April 29, 2026, a Laramie County jury returned “not guilty” verdicts for Mansoor Ali, who had been facing a life-altering sentence for second-degree murder.

The incident began as a “road rage” style confrontation on Dell Range Boulevard. Prosecutors alleged that Ali “lured” Benjamin Glenn and three friends into the King Soopers parking lot by flashing his high beams and engaging in aggressive driving. However, the defense team, led by attorney Thomas Fleener, presented a narrative of a man attempting to reach a well-lit, safe area to escape a car full of aggressive individuals.

The Point of Contention: The “Lure”

The prosecution’s case centered heavily on a phone call Ali made to his brother, in which he reportedly used the word “lure”. Police argued this proved Ali intended to provoke a confrontation.

The defense countered with video evidence showing that Glenn’s group had actually left the parking lot and returned moments later. It was during this second encounter that Glenn exited his vehicle while brandishing his own firearm. “My client was not out looking for trouble,” stated Ali’s previous attorney, Crystal Stewart, during earlier proceedings. “He goes to turn around to leave, and this car comes back… the decedent had a gun, and the situation unfolded”.

Immediate Surrender and Acquittal

Ali’s defense was bolstered by his behavior immediately following the shots. Records show he identified himself as the shooter as soon as officers arrived and fully cooperated with the investigation.

The jury’s decision to acquit on all five counts—including four counts of aggravated assault for the other occupants in Glenn’s car—indicates they found Ali’s fear of imminent bodily harm to be “reasonable” under Wyoming law.

Safety Tip: This case is a stark reminder of the “Disparity of Force” and “Retreat” dynamics. Even if you are involved in a verbal dispute or a “road rage” incident (like flashing high beams), your right to self-defense remains intact if the other party escalates the situation to lethal force (brandishing a gun). However, the word “luring” almost cost this defendant his freedom.

As a concealed carry holder, your words—both during the incident and in recorded calls—will be scrutinized by a jury. If you are being followed, your best move is to drive to a police station rather than a commercial parking lot. If you are forced to stop, keep your doors locked and stay inside your vehicle as long as possible to maintain a “protective barrier” between you and the threat.

I mean, I’ll take what I can can get, but how about Short Barreled Shotguns and Any Other Weapons too, huh?

House Appropriations 2027 Funding Bill Ends Suppressor, Short Barrel Rifle Registration

You may recall that language in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) removed registration for suppressors and SBRs early on, but that language was later removed, resulting only in the removal of the $200 tax stamp fee.

House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Andrew Clyde (R) responded by showing that the tax was the basis for registration and that now, with the tax gone, the registration should be gone as well. But the registration of suppressors and SBRs has continued since the OBBB took effect, and the GOP-led House Appropriations Committee is trying to end it.

On Wednesday Clyde posted to X, “I secured a measure in the OBBB to zero out NFA taxes for short-barreled firearms and suppressors. $0 tax = Zero registration. Yet the DOJ is currently defending this NFA registration. While litigation is ongoing, your tax dollars shouldn’t fund invalidated NFA requirements.”

Moreover, Gun Owners of America noted that the 2027 funding bill not only deregulates suppressors and SBRs, but also defunds regulatory gun controls instituted by the ATF during the Biden administration.

The funding bill defunds “Biden export restrictions,” among other things.

The surprising reason why buying guns helps endangered species
And why wildlife agencies are building so many shooting ranges.

Here’s a weird fact: Every time someone buys an assault weapon in the US, such as an AR-15, they’re funding wildlife conservation. The same is true if they purchase a handgun, a shotgun, or any other kind of gun or ammunition.

That’s thanks to a law most people have never heard of: the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, commonly known as the Pittman-Robertson Act. Passed by Congress in 1937, the law channels revenue from a tax on firearms, ammo, and archery equipment to state wildlife agencies — government organizations that restore wildlife habitat, monitor threatened species, and oversee hunting and fishing. Levied on firearm manufacturers and importers, the tax is 11 percent for long guns and ammunition and 10 percent for handguns, and it sits on top of other common taxes.

Over the last decade, the law has channeled close to $1 billion a year into state wildlife agencies across the country, amounting to a substantial share of their budgets. One recent analysis found that Pittman-Robertson made up about 18 percent of state agency budgets, on average, in 2019. (License fees for fishing and hunting, along with a hodgepodge of other revenue streams, including a similar tax on fishing gear, make up the rest.) And revenue from Pittman-Robertson has been increasing, roughly doubling in the past two decades — in no small part because gun sales have surged.

Key takeaways

  • An obscure law from the 1930s channels money from an excise tax on firearms and ammo into state wildlife agencies.
  • Revenue from this tax makes up almost a fifth of these agencies’ budgets on average.
  • Some scholars and environmental advocates worry that funding conservation with guns is morally problematic and creates perverse incentives for state agencies to promote firearm use.
  • Yet, these agencies already face severe funding shortfalls, and losing revenue from this gun tax would likely be disastrous for wildlife.
  • Even with this tax in place, state wildlife agencies need more money to conserve the increasingly long list of endangered wildlife within their borders.

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Armed Carjacking Suspect Shot by Off-Duty New York State Trooper in Yonkers

Armed Carjacking Suspect Shot by Off-Duty New York State Trooper in Yonkers
Yonkers Teen Armed with Knife During Carjacking; Apprehended by Yonkers Police After Fleeing
Yonkers, NY – At approximately 12:45 pm on Sunday, April 26, 2026, the Yonkers Police Department received a call from an off-duty New York State Trooper requesting assistance at the Mobil gas station at 838 Kimball Avenue. The Trooper reported that she had shot a male suspect who had attempted to stab her.

The investigation revealed that the off-duty New York State Trooper was refueling her vehicle at the gas station. When she finished fueling, the suspect approached her, brandished a knife, and entered the driver’s seat of her vehicle. The Trooper fired one shot from her off-duty firearm, striking the suspect in the left arm. The round continued into his torso. The suspect accelerated the vehicle toward the rear of the gas station, driving through a shed and fence at the end of the property before coming to rest in the parking lot of the adjacent apartment building at 1296 Midland Avenue.

The suspect then fled from the stolen vehicle, running toward Midland Avenue. Yonkers Police Officers quickly located the suspect at the entrance to 1328 Midland Avenue and placed him into custody without incident. A knife was recovered from the suspect at the time of arrest. Medical aid was rendered at the scene, and the suspect was transported to an area hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and remains in stable condition.

Due to New York State law prohibiting the identification of minors charged with a crime, he can only be identified as a 17-year-old male resident of Yonkers. No further information will be released regarding his identity.

The suspect is still awaiting arraignment but will be charged with Robbery 1st Degree, Robbery 2nd Degree, Robbery 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon 4th Degree, and Menacing 2nd Degree. The criminal investigation is being led by the Yonkers Police Department’s Detective Division Major Case Squad, while an internal review is being conducted by the New York State Police, consistent with department protocol.

As the Trooper was the victim, no further identifying information will be released, consistent with the Yonkers Police Department’s policy of not identifying victims of crimes in news releases. The Trooper will only be identified as a female off-duty New York State Trooper assigned to Troop New York City.

Additional information may be released as it becomes available.