The Heritage Insider: Brexit is about self-government, Obama counter-terror strategy not working, why do non-law-enforcement agencies need so many guns?

June 18, 2016

 

The Brexit vote is coming up. It’s an opportunity for the British to decide to govern themselves once again. A man who pledged loyalty to ISIS and shouted about U.S. foreign policy shot up a gay night club in Orlando killing 49. Somehow the Left figured out how to blame it on America. But if we want to prevent future attacks, we’ll need to be honest about where the threat is coming from. One idea: A larger effort to gather human intelligence on terrorist networks. Another idea: a new 9/11-style commission to re-examine the threat. And since we’re talking about who does and doesn’t need guns, why do so many non-law-enforcement and non-military federal agencies need guns and armor? Plus, over 50 new studies, articles, speeches, videos, and events at The Insider this week. Visit to see what the conservative movement has been thinking, writing, saying, and doing to win battles for liberty.

 

 

How the EU really works. The EU was designed to make sure the people didn’t have a say in how Europe was governed. Brexit the Movie examines the consequences of that design for Britain. [Brexit The Movie]

 

The attack on Orlando is the 22nd terrorist plot in the United States since 2015. Clearly, as James Carafano points out, the Obama administration’s counterterrorism strategy isn’t working. What to do? Carafano writes that now is the time for another 9/11-style commission to deliver a “frank, credible, and nonpartisan assessment” of the evolved terrorist threat. [Daily Signal]

 

How do we foil terrorists from striking again? The task is getting harder because terrorists are getting more sophisticated at avoiding electronic surveillance. That means, says Matt Mayer, that local law enforcement needs to fill the gap with more monitoring, surveillance, and undercover investigations of suspected terrorist networks. The Department of Homeland Security can support local jurisdictions in this effort with its Homeland Security Grants. [American Enterprise Institute]

 

Bending over backward to put their heads in the sand. Commentators on the Left offered one theory after another in an attempt to identify the motive behind the Orlando nightclub massacre this week, but they couldn’t get around to saying Islamic jihadism. As Walter Olson points out, one argument in particular that doesn’t stand up is that Mateen was really conflicted homosexual not an Islamist. He may have been both, Olson points out, but: “Had [Mateen] followed many other sects, what it would mean for religious observance to ‘win’ in this context might be something like unhappy and lonely celibacy, or staying at home with Noor. Had he done that, many would now be alive. That he did not is attributable not to the hypothesized ‘push’ of self-loathing due to whatever may have gone on in his sex life, but to the ‘pull’ of a malign and evil ideology.” [Ricochet]

 

Yes, let’s talk about who doesn’t need guns. From 2006 to 2014, 67 non-military federal agencies spent $1.48 billion on guns, ammunition, and military style equipment, report Adam Andrzejewski and Thomas Smith for Open the Books. They also note that such non-military arms spending has more than doubled over the eight-year period. Non-law-enforcement agencies are part of the splurge, too. The Environmental Protection Agency spent $3.1 million on weapons during that period. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service spent $4.77 million on arms. [Open the Books]

 

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