2A Newsletter: October 8th

US Government Secretly Ordered Google To Provide Users’ Search Data

When a sealed Wisconsin court case was accidentally unsealed by the Justice Department Forbes discovered that in 2019, a warrant was issued to Google which asked for specific search query information to hunt criminals who targeted certain victims. At the time, federal investigators were tracking down men believed to have been a part of trafficking and sexual abuse of a minor. She was missing for a period of time and when the minor reappeared she claimed to have been kidnapped and sexually assaulted.

So the investigators’ ask to Google was for any users’ information that had searched the victim’s name, two different ways to spell her mother’s name and their home address across 16 days spread out that year. This is what’s called a ‘ keyword warrant’ and cases like this having been made public is rare as there were only two known cases prior to the 2019 Wisconsin abduction. The revealed court documents did not show how many users’ data was given to the government but this case had the broadest number of search terms within a keyword warrant. Unfortunately, the court documents have since been re-sealed.

Google complied and provided the requested data the following year in 2020 and shows that, despite the concerns over the legality of these controversial requests and the possibility of implicating innocent people who coincidentally searched for the relevant keywords, they are continuing to comply with the government’s requests. While the 2019 Wisconsin case was very specific in the keywords used that the possibility for wrongful implication was low, privacy experts are concerned for the precedent these keyword warrant cases present as a breach of the Fourth Amendment which protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Friends, the main takeaway here is to get smart with your online privacy and data. Use a VPN when possible, use the duckduckgo extension on the Google Chrome browser, or consider using the Vivaldi browser instead.

Federal Red Flag Laws About To Pass In Senate

In a new form of “red flag” gun confiscations, the Senate may soon pass H.R. 1620 - The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, also known as VAWA since 2019. Initially, the bill was defeated in 2020 but since having passed the house in March 2021, it is back on the table and its legalese includes funding for further gun control. Of course, we do not stand for domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence or stalking — but we’re tired of the disengenuous practice of hiding gun control measures behind “well intentioned” bills.

Specifically, the bill would establish federal grants to fund firearms seizures from Americans, expand gun confiscations to those convicted of only a misdemeanor, increase funding to prosecute background check denials (NICS) and it even includes special appointments planned for a new anti-gun force to further violate firearms rights of all Americans.

Get ready folks, because the latest leaked info from the ATF shows that the agency is looking to double its size over the next five years which tracks with what the anti-gunners have planned in H.R. 1620. We still have time before the vote so please write to your senators and let them know that you oppose H.R. 1620.

Gun Sales Continue to Trend For Second Highest Year According to NICS Report

The 2021 September NICS Report is out and it shows that it was the third highest month in sales of that month with 1.31 million gun sales recorded only behind last year’s 2020 September with 1.61 million gun sales. Only two years ago, 2019 September only showed about 974 thousand gun sales. We’re not completely surprised as gun sales traditionally increase around this time of year as hunting seasons begin opening up during the fall. But of course, there were a lot of factors pushing the sale of guns and ammunition the past couple of years (COVID-19, civil unrest, riots, etc.) which we’ve extensively covered.

Based on national sales trends we’re looking at hitting 19 million gun sales or transactions by the end of the year. (2020 reports showed anywhere between 18 to 23 million gun sales.) We can’t be only about bad news, so this certainly feels like a breath of fresh air. Keep it up everyone! The more Americans own guns, the more quills this porcupine of a country will have and the more people will realize how the government is infringing on our rights. If we don’t continually fight for our rights, it wouldn’t be a pipe dream for us to potentially become like Australia, Canada, or England. 

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