The Resistance Library from Ammo.com

On this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and Dave discuss the Pittman-Robertson Act. It's unusual to think that Second Amendment proponents and members of the freedom movement would celebrate the day that a tax took effect. But that's precisely what the Pittman-Robertson Act is – a tax often celebrated by gun enthusiasts, patriots and pro-freedom elements in the United States. Its story is one of the more fascinating in the history of American legislation. Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 2, 1937, the Pittman-Robertson Act, known officially as the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937, does not establish a new tax. Instead, it commandeered an existing 11-percent excise tax on rifles, shotguns and ammunition, and a 10-percent tax on pistols. Rather than going into the general fund of the United States Treasury, the Pittman-Robertson Act earmarked this money for the Department of the Interior and its wildlife preservations efforts. The money is then distributed to the states and can be spent how they see fit. This was a coup for the Second Amendment and liberty movements. Rather than the money going toward a federal government interested in stripping them of their rights, it went to the Department of the Interior, with interests in keeping the American wilderness wild at heart. With this bill, hunters and firearms enthusiasts continued their role as the unsung heroes of the American conservation movement. In fact, Federal Ammunition was instrumental in getting the bill made into law. You can read the full article "The Pittman-Robertson Act: The Forgotten History of the Celebrated Tax on Firearms and Ammo" at Ammo.com. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Helpful Links:

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• Sam Jacobs

On this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and Dave discuss the subtle differences between "freedom" vs "liberty." The terms "freedom" and "liberty" have become clichés in modern political parlance. Because these words are invoked so much by politicians and their ilk, their meanings are almost synonymous and used interchangeably. That's confusing – and can be dangerous – because their definitions are actually quite different. "Freedom" is predominantly an internal construct. Viktor Frankl, the legendary Holocaust survivor who wrote Man's Search For Meaning, said it well: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way (in how he approaches his circumstances)." In other words, to be free is to take ownership of what goes on between your ears, to be autonomous in thoughts first and actions second. Your freedom to act a certain way can be taken away from you – but your attitude about your circumstances cannot – making one's freedom predominantly an internal construct. On the other hand, "liberty" is predominantly an external construct. It's the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The ancient Stoics knew this (more on that in a minute). So did the Founding Fathers, who wisely noted the distinction between negative and positive liberties, and codified that difference in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The distinction between negative and positive liberties is particularly important, because an understanding of each helps us understand these seminal American documents (plus it explains why so many other countries have copied them). The Bill of Rights is a charter of negative liberties – it says what the state cannot do to you. However, it does not say what the state must do on your behalf. This would be a positive liberty, an obligation imposed upon you by the state. Thus in keeping with what the late Murray Rothbard said above, the liberty of the individual is the necessary condition for the flowering of all the other "goods" that mankind cherishes. Living in liberty allows each of us to fully enjoy our freedoms. And how these two terms developed and complement one another is important for anyone desiring to better understand what it means to be truly free. You can read the full article "Freedom vs. Liberty: How Subtle Differences Between These Two Big Ideas Changed Our World" at Ammo.com. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Helpful Links:

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On this episode of The Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and Dave discuss Davy Crocket and the forgotten history of the King of the Wild Frontier and the Battle of Alamo. David Hawkins Stern Crockett, fondly remembered as Davy Crockett, was born in eastern Tennessee to pioneer parents on August 17, 1786. Like many settlers of the time, the Crockett family continually pushed West, blazing into new territory (a trend Davy would continue to do with his own family) and by the time Davy was 12, the family had moved three times and was living in western Tennessee. Known as an honest and hardworking boy with a good sense of humor, Davy learned to shoot with his father around age eight and enjoyed joining his older brother on hunting trips. The boy who would become known as "King of the Wild Frontier" ran away from home at the age of 13, after getting in a fight at school almost immediately after he was enrolled. Not wanting to face the wrath of his father, or retaliation from the class bully he fought, Davy went on his own, taking up odd jobs including working as a farmer, cattle-driver, and hatter. At 15, Davy returned home and indentured himself, more than once, to pay off his father's debts. Unbeknownst to the country boy, young Davy's humble beginnings were leading him down roads that would twist through politics, battlefields, and America's heart – turning him into a folk hero of mythical proportions. You can read the full article "Davy Crockett: The Forgotten History of the King of the Wild Frontier & the Battle of the Alamo" at Ammo.com. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Helpful Links:

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On this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and Dave discuss Venezuela and the paradox of plenty – a cautionary tale about oil, envy, and demagogues. As Venezuela falls into the abyss of economic collapse – the economy has halved in five years, a contraction worse than the Great Depression or the Spanish Civil War – a simplistic narrative in the American press has formed, which starts with the Chavez regime seizing control of the country in 1998. The charismatic populist Hugo Chavez is, after all, the leader most Americans are familiar with when talking about Venezuela, as he made worldwide headlines with his 2006 UN speech where he called U.S. President Bush "a devil" while celebrities like Sean Penn and Michael Moore cheered him on. In the 1950s, Venezuela enjoyed its place among the top 10 richest countries on a per-capita basis. How has it turned into a country where more than 2.3 million of its 30 million citizens have fled since 2015 due to starvation? A toxic mix of creeping interventionism, institutional decay, private property seizures, irresponsible fiat monetary policy, and wide-ranging corruption are the main culprits. But Chavez wasn't the instigator of this mess; the story goes back much further and should serve as a cautionary tale about one country's faithful adherence to the tenets of socialism to the bitter end. You can read the full article "Venezuela and the Paradox of Plenty: A Cautionary Tale About Oil, Envy, and Demagogues" at Ammo.com. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Helpful Links:

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On this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and Dave discuss the history of the Bennington Flag. Like many flags championed by the Patriot, Constitutionalist and Second Amendment movements, the Bennington Flag is older than the Constitution itself. As the "76" in the canton probably gives away, the flag dates back to the revolutionary period, from the Battle of Bennington in 1777. The battle didn't actually take place in Bennington, Vermont, but rather about 10 miles away in what is now Upstate New York. You can read the full article "The Bennington Flag: A Pre-Constitutional Symbol of Freedom" at Ammo.com. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Helpful Links:

• Purchase the Bennington Flag
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On this episode of The Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and Dave discuss George Soros. Of course you've heard the name "George Soros," often invoked as a sort of folk demon on the American and international right, it's likely that you have some vague notion of why you think he's a bad guy, or maybe you think the whole thing is a bunch of hype. However, if you're a freedom lover, there's nothing "hype" about the influence that George Soros has around the world attacking your freedom. Indeed, you probably vastly underestimate the influence that he has on politics. From the perspective of someone who values life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, there is no more dangerous man today than George Soros. This is not hyperbole, it is the simple truth. While we don't plan to paint a picture of a man standing behind the scenes, rubbing his hands together and cackling as he plays puppet master over each and every attack on freedom around the world, Soros acts as a strawman and a caricature of what is actually going on in the world. George Soros, his money, and his NGOs are bankrolling and influencing public policy and opinion from the local level all the way up to the national level. Entire nations have been made to bow to the Soros agenda, but perhaps more importantly for our purposes, key local officials in government are increasingly wholly owned subsidiaries of the Soros machine. Ever wonder why urban terrorists can burn down cities with no consequences but the McCloskeys are prosecuted for defending their home against the same? The answer is George Soros, his money, and his influence. You can read the full article "Godfather of Color Revolutions: Is George Soros the Most Dangerous Man Alive?" at Ammo.com. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Helpful Links:

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On this episode of the Resistance Library podcast, Sam Jacobs interviews Julia Song. Julia Song is an author, commentator, and activist originally from Brazil. She is a fierce opponent of socialism and big government and a proponent of radical freedom. We had her on to discuss how the COVID lockdowns groomed Americans for socialism, what you can do to become anti-fragile starting today and what it is that makes us Americans. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Julia Song Links:

• @RealJuliaSong on Twitter
• Julia Song on Muck Rack

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• Sam Jacobs

On this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and David discuss the corresponding rise of antidepressants, SSRIs, and mass shootings. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a mass murder occurs when at least four people are murdered, not including the shooter, over a relatively short period of time during a single incident. Over the last 30 years, the United States has seen a significant increase in mass shootings, which are becoming more frequent and more deadly. Seemingly every time a mass shooting occurs, whether it's at a synagogue in Pittsburgh or a nightclub in Orlando, the anti-gun media and politicians have a knee-jerk response – they blame the tragedy solely on the tool used, namely firearms, and focus all of their proposed "solutions" on more laws, ignoring that the murderer already broke numerous laws when they committed their atrocity. Facts matter when addressing such an emotionally charged topic, and more gun control legislation has shown that law-abiding Americans who own guns are not the problem. Consider the following: The more gun control laws that are passed, the more mass murders have occurred. Whether or not this is correlation or causation is debatable. What is not debatable is that this sick phenomenon of mass murderers targeting "gun-free zones," where they know civilian carry isn't available to law-abiding Americans, is happening. According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, 97.8 percent of public shootings occur in "gun-free zones" – and "gun-free zones" are the epitome of the core philosophical tenant of gun control, that laws are all the defense one needs against violence. Therefore, when the media and politicians focus their ire on guns, specifically what types of guns are used, such as AR-styles, carbines, semi-automatics, and "high capacity" handguns, in the wake of such tragedies the American public are being intentionally drawn into an emotionally charged debate about legal gun ownership (irrespective of whether the murderer's gun was legally or illegally obtained). This debate leads them away from the elephant in the room and one of the real issues behind mass shootings – mental health and prescription drugs. You can read the full article "Prescription For Violence: The Corresponding Rise of Antidepressants, SSRIs & Mass Shootings" at Ammo.com. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Helpful Links:

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On this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam Jacobs interviews Gavin Wax. Gavin Wax occupies a list of positions in grassroots Republican organizations about a mile long. Perhaps most notably, he is the president of the oldest and largest Young Republican Club in America, the New York Young Republican Club. We spoke to Gavin about how to win the youth vote without pandering, why cultural conservatism still matters, Northeast Republicanism and the mayoral campaign of Curtis Sliwa. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Gavin Wax Links:

• Gavin Wax
• @GavinWax | Twitter
• @GavinWax | Instagram

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• Sam Jacobs

On this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and David discuss the untold story of the Boers and the ANC. South African farm murders have long been a niche cause on the Internet, and the country has made headlines again due to a South African government plan to seize the land of white farmers under the guise of "South African land reform." News of these farm murders and land seizures have gained steam with the release of Lauren Southern's documentary Farmlands. And United States President Donald Trump has brought even more attention to the plight of Afrikaners with his tweet that he would be looking into the South African land and farm seizure. Most people don't know much about the history of South Africa beyond the simplistic propaganda of the 1980s – white South Africans bad, ANC good. The history and current situation of South Africa, however, is much more complex. You can read the full article "Land Reform and Farm Murders in South Africa: The Untold Story of the Boers and the ANC" at Ammo.com. For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to https://ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners). Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamJacobs1776 Helpful Links:

• Resistance Library
• Sam Jacobs