Top of the Fold

• Biden’s intentional ammo shortage: Anti-Second Amendment activists have long set their crosshairs on America’s most popular firearm, the AR-15. While legislation aimed at banning that rifle is a nonstarter in Congress, Biden and crew are still determined to do everything they can to limit your access to it. In that vein, Biden took a page out of Barack Obama’s playbook and is going after the ammunition used for the AR. The government-owned Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri has produced ammo for the U.S. Army since 1941. The factory also sells excess supplies to private sellers such as Winchester, which in turn sells the ammunition on the open market. Lake City happens to be one of the largest manufacturers of 5.56 ammunition, one of the calibers used by the AR-15, producing approximately one-third of all 5.56 ammo sold in the U.S. Now, however, the Biden administration has slated Lake City for closure, a move that would eliminate some 400 to 500 jobs and significantly impact the nation’s supply of 5.56 ammo, even as current supply levels struggle to keep up with demand. This closure would “freeze over 30 percent of the 5.56/.223 caliber ammunition used by law-abiding gun owners,” observed Mark Oliva, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Worse, he says, “It risks the ammunition industry’s ability to surge production capacity for national defense if the costs to maintain the present workforce isn’t recouped through sales to the civilian market.” If you like your gun, you can keep your gun…

• Virginia’s lieutenant governor considers the irony of teenage abortion protestors: Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Sears recently responded to images of teenage pro-abortion advocates by saying: “I have no words when I see these grotesque images. I wonder what country am I living in? And what is the mindset that would cause this to happen?” The images Sears was referencing were of teenage girls with their hands tied wearing white blood-stained pants while a sign featuring a bloody coat hanger stating “not going back” was held over their heads. Sears then noted: “It must be that their parents feel the same and think the same as they do, and don’t they realize the irony of this? The reason why you are here is because at some point, your mother was pro-choice. And that’s why you, my dears, are here. Otherwise, you would not be.” She then diagnosed the root cause of the problem: “We’ve left God behind, plain and simple. And I don’t know what we’re going to do because we keep calling on him only when there is a crisis, and he’s probably saying, ‘Don’t you know me at any other time?’” Sears pointed to family as being the “bedrock of any society,” saying we need to be cultivating the right values into our children and society.

• So much for Biden’s Russia sanctions: After months of sanctions in response to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s currency has actually increased in value. The ruble is currently at its highest value against the dollar in over seven years. The ruble is now up 35% on the U.S. dollar this year, trading at 55.78 to the dollar. The Russian currency is this strong despite initially cratering at the start of the war, dropping to a value less than a penny. Now it’s the world’s best-performing currency against the dollar. Much of the value increase can be attributed to skyrocketing global energy prices. Economist Tatiana Orlova notes, “Commodity prices are currently sky-high, and even though there is a drop in the volume of Russian exports due to embargoes and sanctioning, the increase in commodity prices more than compensates for these drops.” The problem Moscow is now facing is how to keep the ruble from getting too strong in order to encourage economic growth. “The central bank is in a rough spot,” says Institute of International Finance deputy chief economist Elina Ribakova. “If they continue loosening, they may open the floodgates of capital flows out of the country. In previous crises, $200 billion left the country in a matter of months.” Meanwhile, Putin is showing no intentions of ending his war anytime soon.

• Chaos on Juneteenth: Political analyst Gary Bauer writes: “Sadly, in multiple cities over the weekend, folks started celebrating Juneteenth early with unlicensed street parties, full of drugs, booze and twerking. In Chicago, it was another bloody weekend with 47 people shot and four killed. In Washington, D.C., chaos broke out when gunfire erupted, killing a teenager and injuring one police officer and at least two others. A shooting in New York City left one dead and eight injured. Like many big cities dominated by the left, Washington, D.C., jumped to cut its police department. Now, Mayor Bowser is begging for new officers. She’s offering up to $26,000 in signing bonuses. But even that big of a bonus is unlikely to get new recruits to do a dangerous job while people like Bowser and others on the left call them ‘racists.’”

Headlines

• Twitter board unanimously recommends Musk’s takeover bid (Fox Business)

• American Rescue Plan cost taxpayers $850K per job saved (Based Politics)

• Biden’s tall tales on economy fall flat; declarations on money matters, other claims shrivel under scrutiny (Washington Times)

• Majority of Democrats say runaway inflation is Biden’s fault (The Federalist)

• Biden State Department racial equity rep says white diplomats like America too much (Free Beacon)

• More Disney problems as “Lightyear” crashes and the Leftmedia ignores the woke agenda behind it (Townhall)

• Israel’s prime minister is stepping down, sparking a new round of elections (NPR)

• Pope Francis resigning? Catholics wait with bated breath as rumors swirl (Washington Examiner)

• Policy: Don’t draft our daughters — or anyone else (Heritage Foundation)

• Humor: Theologians believe Jesus slept through the storm on a MyPillow (Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit Headline Report.