Good Morning.
Skimming the headlines today, it strangely feels more "normal" on the veteran's front.
Nevertheless - it's still the military, and it's still dangerous. I'll start with a curious story today. Not curious because of the story, but rather because I know about it. As I often state, I don't do guns. I've only ever fired a rifle at summer camp (ages ago now), and the only place I've even seen a handgun is on a policeman's hip. Yet somehow - I am aware of the problems with the Sig-Sauer handguns used by the military,
and they have claimed another life.
The Air Force on Thursday identified the Security Forces airman killed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming by a firearm discharge that led to America's nuclear missile and bomber bases temporarily banning and investigating the use of the service-issued M18 handgun.
Airman Brayden Lovan, 21, was killed by the firearm discharge on Sunday at the base. Following his death, Air Force Global Strike Command issued an immediate order pausing the use of 9mm Sig Sauer M18 handguns as a result of the incident, and widespread investigations and inspections into the firearm followed.
The incident and ongoing probe of the Sig Sauer M18 come amid recent controversies involving the firearm manufacturer's P320 series -- the civilian designation for the guns – including lawsuits after reports and allegations of unintended discharges among civilians and service members alike.
Widespread claims of the weapon firing unintentionally have been reported by media outlets including New Hampshire Public Radio, which obtained reports of nine incidents within the military of the weapon reportedly firing without the trigger being pulled.
Amid growing media reports and lawsuits, Sig Sauer said in a March news release that "the P320 CANNOT, under any circumstances, discharge without a trigger pull," adding that "the allegations against the P320 are nothing more than individuals seeking to profit or avoid personal responsibility."
The gunmaker did not return a Military.com request for comment sent earlier this week following Lovan's death.
Curiously, the company is not even American - it's Swiss. And it doesn't even exist anymore. The "Sig" group does, but all the firearm business has been divested. So - nobody to sue. Convenient, right?
Heading Southwest,
there's some more raw meat being thrown at the MAGAs along the perimeter fence. Of course, at the expense of other things. $200m isn't much, but it could surely be used better elsewhere? Just a short quote, but it tells you all you need to know.
The Pentagon recently asked Congress to shift $200 million in funding -- originally allocated for projects such as barracks, aircraft hangars and military-operated elementary schools -- to construct a roughly 20-mile-long, 30-foot-high barrier across the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona.
And let's wrap up today with yet another executive order. A few days ago, Dear Leader made a note enabling the unhoused in our cities to be forcibly rounded up and moved from public parks and other places where they seek shelter. Of course, we're aware that not an insignificant percentage of them are veterans.
Advocates and critics are warning that a recent White House order aimed at getting homeless individuals off city streets and public parks could cause significant problems for efforts to help veterans without stable housing.
They argue that the executive order, signed July 24, would force veterans into institutions without considering their available options and discourage individuals from seeking help for multiple, interrelated issues.
“Veterans fought for this country,” officials from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans said in a statement on Friday. “They have earned the dignity of a hand up in the way of investments in housing, mental health, and substance abuse treatment, and additional supportive services — not surveillance and detention.”
President Donald Trump’s executive order — “Ending crime and disorder on America’s streets” — would allow local officials to remove homeless individuals from public areas and permit those authorities to commit those Americans to drug treatment centers or other public health institutions.
It's unclear where those homeless will go. Shelter and drug treatment beds are already few and far between, especially in those warmer, southern cities where the homeless tend to migrate. But there is another solution. And like everything Dear Leader does, he's taken inspiration from the past.
In 1933, the Nazi Party passed a Law "against Habitual and Dangerous Criminals", which allowed for the relocation of beggars, homeless, and the unemployed to concentration camps.
Alligator Alcatraz is going to be a boomtown.