Albeit a small one. From Reuters:
The U.S. House of Representatives dealt a blow to Washington, D.C.'s strict gun control law on Thursday when it passed an amendment that would effectively allow fully assembled rifles and pre-1976 handguns to be kept in city homes.The amendment to an appropriations bill for federal subsidies for the District of Columbia prohibits the funds from being used to enforce certain sections of the city's 29-year-old gun control law.
Passed by a vote of 259-161, the measure submitted by Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder (news, bio, voting record) does not go as far as his recently introduced legislation to revoke Washington's 1976 ban on handguns and semiautomatic weapons, but it indicates continuing strong House support for such a measure.
[...]
Currently, rifles and shotguns and handguns registered before the 1976 ban may be kept in District homes only if they are unloaded, disassembled and stored in a locked cabinet.
Souder argued that this makes them useless for self-defense and his amendment prohibits the city from enforcing this law with federal funds.
His bill would roll back the handgun ban and registration requirements for ammunition and would decriminalize possession of unregistered weapons. Similar legislation has been proposed by Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.
"I believe the constitutional right to bear arms supersedes local authority," Souder said in favor of his amendment.
If -- hypothetically -- DC had rules prohibiting Blacks or Women from voting, the outcry all over the country would (and should) be that it violates the 15th and 19th Amendments and Congress should intervene.
Well, Washington DC's gun ban and other laws violate the 2nd Amendment rights of residents who wish to exercise that right and so I'm all for the proposed bills in Congress.
Update 7/1: Crosswalk.com has more on the Souder amendment:
D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey expressed their lack of support for the amendment, saying it will lead to more bloodshed. The amendment is "a slap in the face to me and the people who live in this city," Williams reportedly told a House committee.
Meanwhile, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said Mayor Williams considers D.C. residents to be mere "subjects" who can't exercise their Second Amendment right to self-defense."A far greater indignity is suffered by victims of violent crime every day in the capital of the free world. How dare Mayor Williams suggest that saving his political face is more important than restoring the right of self-defense to the citizens of the city?" said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb in a statement.
"This is just one more example," Gottlieb said, "of an anti-gun politician worrying more about his political skin than about the lives of the citizens he serves; citizens who, every day, must worry about being robbed, raped, assaulted or murdered by thugs emboldened by a 30-year-old gun ban that has only led to higher crime rates."
Metropolitan Police officers took more than a minute longer to respond to emergency calls last year than they did in 2002, according to recent police department statistics.The statistics, contained in the department's fiscal 2005 budget performance report, show that the average response time for the highest-priority calls — Priority 1 — was 8 minutes, 25 seconds in fiscal 2003, up from 7 minutes, 19 seconds in fiscal 2002 and 7 minutes, 47 seconds in fiscal 2001.
There is simply no good argument that the people of DC (or any city) should have to rely on the cops to protect them, that those people can't exercise their 2nd Amendment rights if they choose to do so.
Leon Archer is a columnist with the Valley News, an upstate New York weekly. His fine column is titled, "The Sportsman's World" and he had a smart rebuttle to the anti-.50 caliber legislators in last week's issue:
Every year, our New York State Legislature goes to work on one of its favorite wrong headed ideas—gun control. They ignore the fact that guns are already controlled in the state by numerous laws and regulations, and seek to add even more onerous and unreasonable statutes to control all us dangerous gun owners.Honest, upstanding gun owners bear the brunt of every new piece of legislation that arises out of wrong headed thinking that had the intention of reigning in criminals.
One law that was passed by the Assembly outlaws 50-caliber rifles. The good intent was to keep terrorists from blowing up airplanes with the 50-caliber weapons. Unless I’m mistaken, it is already a felony to even shoot at an air plane with any kind firearm, but even so, these guys must have been watching too many of Hollywood’s terrorist movies.
Airplanes are not as easy to bring down with a rifle as those movies would make it appear. Even if the shooter could hit some critical part of the aircraft, which would be unlikely, it would be even more unlikely to crash. Not many shooters own a fifty caliber rifle other than black powder rifles, but those who do mostly use them in distance shooting competitions.
To illustrate how uneducated or ignorant some of our legislators are, let me quote State Senator Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat from Manhattan: "Unless you have a recipe for splattered deer soup, you’re not going to be hunting with this weapon."
In trying to be graphic and denigrating at the same time, he simply comes off the fool to anyone who knows anything about weapons.
A 50-caliber rifle bullet will not splatter a deer as much as a 12 guage slug, but because the senator is from the heart of New York City I guess he can be forgiven. He probably knows as much about guns as my three-year-old granddaughter. I’d like to see the senator out in a marsh trying to bring down ducks with a 50-caliber rifle; that would be the equivalent of trying to hit a vital spot in a jumbo jet except ducks fly a lot slower.
Oops, he couldn’t do that, because it’s illegal to shoot wildfowl with a rifle. OK, I’d like to see him try to "splatter" a deer with a 50-caliber high powered rifle. Well, what I’d really like is to see him butt out.
And remember, folks, we need to let local newspapers such as The Valley News know that we appreciate writers and columnists such as Leon Archer.
I guess the City of Columbus, Ohio wants to enact its own "assault weapons" ban. They've tried before and failed. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) is firing back. From Crosswalk.com:
"This proposed ban is based on a model drafted by the anti-gun Legal Community Against Violence, an organization whose dubious efforts haven't prevented a single violent crime anywhere," added Waldron."All they want to do is deprive law-abiding citizens of legally-owned firearms, and that's hardly the solution to violent crimes committed by criminals who habitually disobey every law on the books. Evidently, that's something that seems to have escaped the limited grasp of the LCAV, and the authors of the proposed Columbus measure," he said.
[...]
"The proponents of this ordinance," said Waldron, "will argue that it is written to distinguish 'bad guns' from 'legitimate sporting weapons.' The Ohio Constitution does not contain language protecting a right to bear sporting firearms, and there is nothing in that document about hunting or sport shooting, anyway.
"The state constitution clearly says that the people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security," said Waldron.
Okay, that was a snarky lead. I'm GLAD that because of a Project Safe Neighborhoods grant, Nashville police are going after the gang-bangers. From the Tennessean:
In a joint news conference, Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas and Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the Nashville office of federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said agents from the two agencies will now meet weekly to target the most egregious gun cases and shooting suspects."I think that as we've watched this year develop, we're seeing young kids in the narcotics business shooting each other in less than fatal ways," Serpas said. "I think that represents that they are confident they can get away with it. They are doing it in a way to intimidate each other, and that causes the other side to retaliate."
[...]
Also, starting this Friday, Metro police will place a detective in each of the six police precincts who will focus strictly on gun-related crimes, Serpas said.
The federal prosecutions will be funded largely through a Project Safe Neighborhood grant, an effort by the U.S. Justice Department that allocated $220 million to combat gun-related violence in local jurisdictions. Since 2002, there have been 120 local cases prosecuted under the program, officials said.
I have long maintained that most police departments are reactive; all they can do is respond after the crime has been committed. That doesn't mean they should be short-changed the funds they need to operate, persue, and prosecute the mutants of this world.
Naturally, there is only so much a city can tax it's residents but when you consider some of the nonsense that money is spent on, it's up to the tax payers to demand that city budgets focus on what is important and to my mind, the police departments are VERY important.
Another brief has been released, this one by Robert A. Levy, Ph.D., J.D of the CATO Institute who supports the Second Amendment rights of DC residents, although he would prefer it first be decided by the courts. Here's a quote:
To vindicate the Second Amendment rights of D.C. residents, and guarantee that those rights will be permanently secured, a constitutional challenge to the District's gun laws should be brought in a federal court where there is no adverse judicial precedent. Preferably, the challenge should be civil, not criminal; filed by sympathetic, law-abiding plaintiffs who simply want a gun in their home for self-defense.In fact, such a case is now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In February 2003, three local attorneys and I filed a civil lawsuit in Washington, D.C.'s federal court on behalf of six D.C. residents who want to be able to defend themselves in their own homes. The litigation, Parker v. District of Columbia, is not about machine guns and assault weapons. It's about the right to own ordinary, garden-variety handguns. Nor do the plaintiffs argue for the right to carry a gun outside the home. That's another question for another day. This case is about a pistol in the home for self-defense.
Off and on over the years, Washington, D.C. has reclaimed its title as the nation's murder capital. Yet, the D.C. government has been feckless in disarming violent criminals. At the same time, however, it has done a superb job of disarming decent, peaceable residents.
Here's a newspaper correction that certainly makes all the difference in a report by the Montana Standard:
An item in Tuesday's police report on Page A3 concerning a camp trailer being shot with a high-powered rifle contained misleading information. The trailer was parked at the Butte Gun Club behind the silhouette firing line, not at the Dunks trailer court, as listed in the police report. The trailer was not hit by fire originating from the black-powder cartridge rifle competitors at the weekend match, said gun club spokesman Mike Johnson. Johnson said it's unknown from where the bullet originated that hit the trailer, but he emphasized that strict firing line discipline and safe firearm handling are enforced by the range officers at all Butte Gun Club matches.
A reader emailed me:
can you give me your opinion on the 7x57 as a deer cartridge? just bought a Ruger No. 1 RSI in this caliber and can't wait to hunt with it this fall. The only thing that bothers me is it only has a 20" barrel??? Will this effect my accuracy, more noise and or kick harder?
Confederate Yankee has moved his excellent blog to new digs. Set your sights accordingly.
I've already let known my thoughts on last week's US Supreme Court ruling that it is perfectly fine for towns to grab your life-long home if they can turn it over to a developer who will build something that generates more tax revenues. As one of the jerks who supported such a position, Supreme Court "Justice" David Souter should smile and say, "Thank you":
On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.
The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."
Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.
"This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."
Clements' plan is to raise investment capital from wealthy pro-liberty investors and draw up architectural plans. These plans would then be used to raise investment capital for the project. Clements hopes that regular customers of the hotel might include supporters of the Institute For Justice and participants in the Free State Project among others.
Why is it that I'm incapable of writing about this issue without getting vulgar? Probably because this was such an anti-Constitutional decision that basically gave all currupt politicians and zoning officials the power to line their pockets with big-business money.
Just in case you were thinking of trying to duck from serving on jury duty, you could get assigned to a case like this:
A California man facing life in prison for crashing his car into a UPS truck will not dispute that his actions resulted in the death of the driver when his trial opens Monday in Nevada County Superior Court.Instead, Scott Krause's defense will argue that the defendant believed he was trying to escape man-eating subterranean beings when he ran into Drew Reynolds' truck on Jan. 6, 2004.
Krause has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to five felony counts, including first-degree murder, carjacking, and burglary, stemming from a string of alleged criminal activities leading up to the fatal highway crash.
In three court-ordered evaluations, the defendant stated he was fleeing subterranean beings he called "hemadrones" when he carjacked a commercial vehicle near a Nevada City, Calif., gas station and then crashed into Reynolds' service vehicle.
Welcome to the June 28th edition of the Weekly Check on media issues regarding guns and the 2nd Amendment.
While the "New Media" (meaning bloggers) might not fully drive MSM (Mainstream Media) yet, certainly many TV and newspaper headlines are effected by the big guys such as Matt Drudge. Yesterday he had a pair of headlines that showed the futility of modern crime-fighting when the public isn't involved. First we had this ABC TV Chicago report:
The police are watching. And in Chicago, they're listening, too.City officials are using new technology that recognizes the sound of a gunshot within a two-block radius, pinpoints the source, turns a surveillance camera toward the shooter and places a 911 call. Officials can then track the shooter and dispatch officers to the scene.
Welcome to crime-fighting in the 21st century.
Nearly 24 people shot in less than 12 hoursShots rang out across the city Saturday night and Sunday morning -- from the Far North Side to the Far South Side -- with preliminary reports of nearly two dozen people shot.
The overnight tally -- which is unofficial -- included two shootings on the same corner, a fatal shooting near the Taste of Chicago and several on the West Side, where detectives were swamped.
"We're just spinning up here,'' one detective said.
Perhaps spurred by Drudge, there were other stories today about the technology such as this one from Myrtle Beach Online:
CHARLESTON - For two years, the ShotSpotter system has provided police in two Lowcountry cities key evidence in shooting cases and has resulted in less gunfire in some areas where the system is used.Also during the period, the number of gun assaults has remained relatively stable in Charleston and North Charleston.
The system uses acoustic sensors linked by phone lines to a computer to tell dispatchers where guns are fired. It lets officers to get to the scene quickly, allowing them to preserve evidence and helping get guns off the streets.
[...]
About a dozen cities nationwide use ShotSpotter.
Since 2002, neither Charleston nor North Charleston has seen a substantial decrease in gun violence, but the numbers have not increased either and have remained relatively steady.
In Chicago (24 shot in 12 hours) the law-abiding citizen isn't allowed to defend himself; handgun ownership is forbidden by law. You can't have one in your home and you can't carry one for personal protection. Some thug can accost you because he knows you aren't armed. He can shoot you and while a ShotSpotter box atop a lightpole rotates around to try to film you and then "dial 911", you're already a statistic.
In most areas, the cops are not there to prevent crime, they're there to investigate the crime scene. If the chalk outline is of you, too bad. ShotSpotter didn't prevent the crime; it merrily reported it. Since Chicago and Washington DC both forbid gun ownership and both lead the nation in gun crime, the equation doesn't work. It doesn't work in Britain or Australia either. San Francisco take note!
Why is it important that folks be able to defend themselves? From Click 2 Houston:
One man died and another was hospitalized after a family caught several men invading their northeast Houston home Monday morning, police told Local 2.Police said four men tried to break into the home on Lakewood and Jensen drives when the homeowner and his family arrived at about 1:30 a.m.
Investigators said a gun battle broke out between the family and the group of intruders.
Authorities said the intruders fled to a home on Willie and Terrell, where one of the men died from a gunshot wound. Another man was transported to Ben Taub Hospital. His condition was not released.
Last week I reported on a now widely syndicated story debating the end of the AWB. It starts off:
It's been 10 months since the federal assault weapons ban expired, and for an idea of what's happened since then, pick up a copy of a gun magazine.There you will find advertisements for semiautomatic rifles and pistols looking like something out of a war zone, with ammunition clips holding 30 or 40 bullets -- many features that 11 months ago, U.S. manufacturers could not make and gun stores could not sell.
"Since the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire, it has been open season for criminals who want the most dangerous types of military-style assault weapons," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who in March introduced legislation to revive the old ban.
Feinstein said that the expiration of the ban she fought hard to get in 1994 "will have deadly consequences on the streets of America."
Eric Howard, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said that just because there are no statistics to prove it does not mean the expiration of the ban has been a big so-what."Now manufacturers are kicking it up, and we're seeing things like fingerprint proof-resistant grips," he said.
"That's clearly to attract a niche that's not your regular duck hunter."
The silliest quote by Brady Bunch spokesman Howard was that "just because there are no statistics" to prove that the end of the AWB has led to an increase in crime doesn't mean it hasn't been "a big so-what." Somehow, that reminded me of an editorial by the brilliant Jonah Goldberg of NRO regarding accusations that President Bush had forwarning of 9/11. Specifically, about Rep. Cynthia McKinney:
When confronted, McKinney backpedaled a few millimeters. In a statement she explained: "I am not aware of any evidence showing that President Bush or members of his administration have personally profited from the attacks of 9-11. A complete investigation might reveal that to be the case."I see. Well, just let me just say that I am not aware of any evidence that Ms. McKinney has murdered several children or that she personally profited from sleeping with the entire defensive squad of the Atlanta Falcons. However, a complete investigation might reveal that to be the case.
This wasn't supposed to happen. When the federal assault weapons ban ended on Sept. 13, 2004, gun crimes and police killings were predicted to surge. Instead, they have declined.For a decade, the ban was a cornerstone of the gun control movement. Sarah Brady, one of the nation's leading gun control advocates, warned that "our streets are going to be filled with AK-47s and Uzis." Life without the ban would mean rampant murder and bloodshed.
Well, more than nine months have passed and the first crime numbers are in. Last week, the FBI announced that the number of murders nationwide fell by 3.6% last year, the first drop since 1999. The trend was consistent; murders kept on declining after the assault weapons ban ended.
Even more interesting, the seven states that have their own assault weapons bans saw a smaller drop in murders than the 43 states without such laws, suggesting that doing away with the ban actually reduced crime. (States with bans averaged a 2.4% decline in murders; in three states with bans, the number of murders rose. States without bans saw murders fall by more than 4%.)
And the drop was not just limited to murder. Overall, violent crime also declined last year, according to the FBI, and the complete statistics carry another surprise for gun control advocates. Guns are used in murder and robbery more frequently then in rapes and aggravated assaults, but after the assault weapons ban ended, the number of murders and robberies fell more than the number of rapes and aggravated assaults.
Update: Last month I mentioned that the San Diego Fair wouldn't allow off-duty police to carry their guns within the fair grounds because:
Linda Zweig, fairgrounds spokeswoman, said Thursday that the 2004 fair "came off as a model of a safe and secure public event," because of stepped-up security measures such as video cameras and metal detectors, as well as a "substantial and highly visible security force.""Our incident rate at the fairgrounds is low," Zweig said, explaining the ban on off-duty officers carrying guns. "We want to provide a safe venue."
Off-duty law officers will be able to bring their guns to the San Diego County Fair, a federal judge ruled Monday.Fair officials had prohibited firearms at the fair, but the Deputy Sheriff's Association of San Diego went to court to contest the ban.
Judge Irma Gonzalez ruled that the officers have a legal right to carry their weapons to public events on public property while they are off-duty. Gonzalez granted the officers a temporary restraining order blocking fair officials from enforcing the ban.
Update 2:
The Brady Bunch has just put out a press release attempting to discredit John Lott. I'll ignore the personal attacks and focus on one statement:
Let's review Mr. Lott's credentials.He's Been Discredited By Scholars
"A good scientist needs to use reliable data and appropriate models and to present findings fairly and accurately. All scientists make mistakes, but one widely cited gun proponent, John Lott Jr., all too often presents inaccurate information, uses inappropriate data and models, and obtains questionable results. He then publicizes them extensively." (Private Guns, Public Health, David Hemenway, Professor of Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health. University of Michigan Press, 2004)
"In at least eight published articles, more than a dozen academics have found enough serious flaws in Lott's model to discount his findings.... The general consensus among those who have seriously analyzed the results is that any "inference that is based on the Lott and Mustard models is inappropriate, and their results cannot be used responsibly to formulate public policy"..." (Private Guns, Public Health)
It is obvious to us that David Hemenway (H) had no intention of producing a balanced, intellectually serious assessment of our estimates of defensive gun use (DGU). Instead, his critique serves the narrow political purpose of "getting the estimate down," for the sake of advancing the gun control cause. An honest, scientifically based critique would have given balanced consideration to flaws that tend to make the estimate too low (e.g., people concealing DGUs because they involved unlawful behavior, and our failure to count any DGUs by adolescents), as well as those that contribute to making them too high. Equally important, it would have given greatest weight to relevant empirical evidence, and little or no weight to idle speculation about possible flaws. H's approach is precisely the opposite--one-sided and almost entirely speculative. Readers who have any doubts about the degree to which H's paper is imbalanced might carry out a simple exercise to assess our claim¾ count the number of lines H devotes to flaws tending to make the estimate too high and the number devoted to flaws making the estimate too low. We submit that the ratio is over 100-to-1, i.e., almost entirely devoted to speculations about why the estimate is too high.
So the Brady Bunch have found a few "experts" who dispute John Lott's figures. Here's a news flash: There are quite a few "experts" who dispute the Theory of Evolution and still more who claim the earth is only four thousand years old. I guess we'll all have to just keep shouting at each other. Alphecca is MY megaphone.
For those of you who don't stop by that often, remember that I cover media stories like this all week long. You might want to browse the site. And as long as I'm tooting my own horn, my Taurus Fund has $61 bucks in it. Cool. If you'd like to contribute towards my acquisition of this pistol, head to my home page and hit the gun graphic on the right...
Here's what's happening at some other pro-2A bloggers' sites:
Kim du Toit has more citizen disarmament in Africa. So does Say Uncle.
Irons in the Fire writes about the well-dressed cowboy.
Les Jones as a range report on the Armalite AR-7.
mASS Backwards shows what happens when folks don't follow gun safety rules.
Countertop Chronicles has just the thing to perk up your, er, week.
Carnaby Fudge had a multi-cultural range trip. With pictures. And in case you're wondering why I don't have one this week, it's because there ARE no pictures of the ShotSpotter.
Cowboy Blog has a range report, too. Home, home on the range...
In a rambling post, The Ten Ring mentions a new pro-2A Democrat site. We'll see...
Also, NZ Bear and Say Uncle have a Gun blogger's community page where you can catch the latest stuff from blatherers like me... It's nifty, swift & bitchen'!
Time to get this posted. I'll be on Cam's Corner later this afternoon and until then, thanks for stopping by!
LONDONDERRY — Make room in the tree stand, guys.For some of the 75 women who attended Doe Camp this summer, new skills with a rifle were proven with a good eye for clay pigeons.
And they might like to bring home some venison.
Shotgun Safety and Marksmanship was one of 42 outdoor skills classes that women had a chance to try hands-on as part of the fourth annual Vermont Outdoors Women summer session developed by the Vermont Outdoor Guides Association.
Classes at the women-only hunting camp ranged from fly-fishing and nature photography, to skinning wild game, critter calling and kayaking.
A new class proved to be very popular this year.
"The chainsaw class filled up first," said VOGA Director Graydon Stevens of Ferrisburgh. "I hope that doesn't mean we're starting something."
GREENWOOD — Retiring Police Chief Ronnie White found a bargain: City Council sold him his gun for the low price of $1, and he didn't even have to pay for it.The 65-year-old White is stepping down at the end of June, and he wanted to keep his Smith and Wesson 4053 .40 caliber service pistol to complete his set of four duty-issued weapons from his 41-year career in law enforcement.
City Council recently approved selling the weapon to White for $1, and Mayor Harry Smith paid for the firearm.
[...]
When he retired from the Mississippi Highway Patrol, he was allowed to keep his two guns. He became police chief in Greenwood in 1992 and bought back his Smith and Wesson Chief's Special from the gun dealer to whom the city first sold the firearm.
"I've got four weapons, and I've got four grandsons. One of these days, I hope to be able to give them these guns and explain to them what role they played in my life," he said.
About a month ago I had mused that -- having gotten the Ruger 10/22 -- I'd also like to get their 10/17. One thing has totally put the brakes on that. The manual is the same for both guns and in one spot it conspicuously states, ...10/17 chambers must be scrupulously cleaned at least every 50 shots."
Yipes! That sounds too much like work to me. If I'm lucky enough to have the range to myself (actually quite common) I easily run hundreds of rounds through my guns. Heck, I'll staple 10 targets to the boards at a time. With my .22s I can shoot the better part of a brick before going home.
If I have to spend half of my precious time there "scrupulously cleaning" (I'm assuming that simply running a cord through the barrel won't suffice) I'm no longer interested. I prefer to bring my guns home, sit on the couch with the TV on, and huff Hoppe's #9 everything down, then.
I'm reminded of a quip from Steven Wright, "24-hour banking? I don't have time for that!"
Do .17 caliber rifles REALLY require that kind of maintenance schedule?
There's a nice (alas short) feature in today's Green Bay Press-Gazette by Ed Culhane on M-1 enthusiasts:
He asked Ploeckelmann to leave the gun with him for a couple of weeks. Seeing the M-1 Garand sparked a flood of memories, some of them hard. He needed time.They restored it together and went to the range. For the first time in a half century, Bruce had fun shooting, remembering the skills that made him a gifted marksman.
That day changed Ploeckelmann’s life. He fell in love with the art of shooting. He learned about breath control, about calming the mind, about the dynamics of body position, about adjusting for the wind, about placing the finger on the trigger so that the pull is straight and comfortable.
Now, he owns three M-1 Garands and loves meeting others who share an affection for this piece of American history. After the matches, if someone expresses an interest, as I did, he’ll point to his open gun cases and say, “Grab a Garand.”
I'm having a Rodney Dangerfield kind of day:
"I put my shirt on this morning and a button fell off. I picked up my briefcase and the handle fell off. I'm afraid to go to the bathroom!"
Individ looks at the origins of the word "gun". It's a woman thing...
I think you'll find Zendo Deb's Right to real and personal property amendment quite interesting.
Well, that's the gist of the title of this story:
It's been 10 months since the federal assault weapons ban expired, and for an idea of what's happened since then, pick up a copy of a gun magazine.There you will find advertisements for semiautomatic rifles and pistols looking like something out of a war zone, with ammunition clips holding 30 or 40 bullets -- many features that 11 months ago, U.S. manufacturers could not make and gun stores could not sell.
"Since the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire, it has been open season for criminals who want the most dangerous types of military-style assault weapons," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who in March introduced legislation to revive the old ban.
Feinstein said that the expiration of the ban she fought hard to get in 1994 "will have deadly consequences on the streets of America."
But has it really made much of a difference? Are the streets less safe?
There is no hard evidence one way or another.
Eric Howard, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said that just because there are no statistics to prove it does not mean the expiration of the ban has been a big so-what."Now manufacturers are kicking it up, and we're seeing things like fingerprint proof-resistant grips," he said.
"That's clearly to attract a niche that's not your regular duck hunter."
Then they quote the VPC as saying there never was a real AWB. Well in that case I guess there's no reason to bring it back, right?
It seems to me that stories like this, with no real information in them other than saying, "Just look what's for sale in gun magazines!!!" serve no purpose other than to try to drum-up public support for another AWB by trying to frighten them. Reads like bias to me.
Last night at the local watering-hole we were talking about the KELO decision. One waitress (who I now realize is an American Indian) overheard, huffed, and said, "What a concept: White man taking white man's land."
It gave me pause...
Possession of a machine gun is illegal in Michigan, but authorities say that did not stop a local teen from ordering one over the Internet.A 15-year-old Lodi Township boy is being charged for his purchase of the gun. He is a student at Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School.
Washtenaw County authorities say the teen emailed video in which he was using the gun to a friend in New Mexico. That friend’s father saw it and contacted police.
The machine gun is a British-made Sten 9mm. It is a World War II era weapon. Commander Dave Egeler of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that it does still operate.
If you read the whole thing, his school is unconcerned about it but local cops are... Here in Vermont, you can own anything; there are no laws against owning automatics other than whatever the federal regulations are.
Hey, other bloggers chat about the guns they wish they had, they have "buy me guns or other stuff" jars; why not me? As any casual reader here knows, I've always been a fan of the Taurus PT series of 9mm pistols. In the past, I've owned two of them (long since sold when cash was low). Last weekend I was at a gun shop in Northern Vermont and they had one of these. It's the new series PT909. 17-round magazines, compact, and it has the same good feel to it that my old PTs had. So as long as I'm dreaming...
Update 6/25: Just a reminder that you don't need an account at PayPal to contribute via it.
Current "Jeff's Taurus PT Fund" tally: $11.00 dollars. Hey, it's a start and I thank you!
Update 6/25 PM: The "Fund" is up to $41.00 dollars plus what folks have promised to mail in. This is great! At this rate, by next weekend I could buy this beauty. Thanks so much!
By the way, I've been sending thank you notes to everyone via email and one, to "Warren" bounced from the receiving ISP. Please accept my thanks, here.
Update 6/30: The "Gun Fund" now stands at $76 dollars. Too cool! You folks are the best!
Update late 6/30 PM: I'm flustered at your generosity. My "Taurus Pistol Fund" is now up to $104 dollars. Thank you! This post is about to scroll off the blog shortly but you can keep tabs on the total with my graphic on the right side-bar of the main page. I need about $500 bucks for the gun and an extra magazine. I should be able to come up with a hundred of my own so there's not much farther to go. I'm ready, the range is ready, my camera is ready for all sorts of range reports. You folks are swell! This is the best affirmation of my constant blatherings in defense of the Second Amendment that you could possibly give me. Thank you so much.
I forgot to blog about this the other day but better late than never. From the LaGrande Observer (OR):
Saying they're tired of the gun control issue costing them defections to the GOP, Baker County Democrats voted last week to approve a platform resolution in support of gun ownership that they hope the state party will add to its platform.[...]
The local resolution states, in part, "The Democratic Party of Oregon resolves as follows: To recognize and support the right to keep and bear arms in Section 207 of the Oregon State Constitution and the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as an individual right not granted by the government but rather guaranteed by the government.
"In recognition of the tremendous personal responsibility engendered by the right to keep and bear arms, the Democratic Party of Oregon further advocates severe penalties and their enforcement for criminal use or misuse of this right."
It was good to get that mini-rant off my chest yesterday, responding to the Supreme Court decision that you are not entitled to your own home if it stands in the way of currupt politicians and their big business friends wanting to put up a strip-mall or some other property-tax-rich construction. This country is going down the tubes as the federal government usurps powers that rightfully should belong to the states, and more than that, to the citizens. Jim at Smoke On The Water agrees, as do others.
Since we can no longer count on Republicans, Democrats, and the courts to protect our rights, I more firmly than ever feel that I am -- not just independent -- but almost alone in this country. I feel as if I've been transplanted in some THX-1138 universe (or is it The Matrix) where the politicos know best and why don't we just lay in our cacoons while Big-Brother tells us what is best for us. We don't need Rights anymore because the government is in control of our VR screens. Suddenly, the opening of the original Outer Limits TV show seems oddly prescient.
Both the Left and the Right are destroying this country and the Moderate Middle doesn't seem to give a fuck. The Kerrys, Kennedys, Delays, Santorums, Bushs, Schumers; they all suck the life out of our Constitution. Can you imagine what the Founding Fathers would think of our federal government today?
To that end, I need to begin exploring other political venues -- organizations -- that limit their scope to preserving our rights as they were originally written AND INTENDED instead of attempting to re-engineer those rights as well as our liberties and.
I've been invited to hear one-time NH Libertarian gubernatorial candidate John Babiarz speak at the Orford Common about American history. I think I'll go. I also think I'll start spending more time at websites such as the American Sons of Liberty. Your recommendations are welcome. So are your thoughts.
We already know that most of the fucking politicians in this country are currupt. Now, apparently, the Supreme Court has shown that it is, too. Big business and greedy local political shits rule the day! From CNN:
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses -- even against their will -- for private economic development.It was a decision fraught with huge implications for a country with many areas, particularly the rapidly growing urban and suburban areas, facing countervailing pressures of development and property ownership rights.
The 5-4 ruling represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex. They argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas.
As a result, cities have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes to generate tax revenue.
Update: InstaPundit has a fine roundup of opinions on the KELO decision. Many liberals (but not so many leftists) are upset, too.
I should have added "again". From the Evening Standard (UK):
Teenage gunmen are responsible for a huge surge in shootings across London.Police say they are arresting teenagers with loaded guns as young as 16, while one community leader told the Standard there were now 14-year-olds carrying guns.
The teenage gunmen are suspected of being behind a rise of as much as 146 per cent in gun crime in some London boroughs in the months since April, during which Met Police figures show a 10 per cent rise capital-wide.
One senior detective on Operation Trident, combating armed black drug gangs, said: "The gunmen are getting younger and younger. These kids are less disciplined than older gunmen and more volatile. The terrifying thing is they are getting hold of these guns and they are more willing to use them than older criminals."
No word yet from the law-abiding victims. See, folks, when the mutants KNOW that their victims are unarmed, even with a kitchen-knife, that just gives them the green light to run rampant. Maybe, just maybe -- and I'm not saying it would -- if these punks KNEW they could be killed by their intended victims, they might think twice. And if the courts in England would put the fear of life in prison or the death penalty in them, that couldn't hurt either.
Instead, we have the peculiar situation where the public can't defend itself and if they try, then THEY face worse penalties than the thug.
And for those simplistic anti-gun types who think that simple bans on all guns will solve the problem here in the US -- that if we outlaw all guns the criminals will mysteriously not have them anymore, I would first point to England, and secondly, I would point to drug laws. Heroin and cocaine are illegal here in the US; a total ban on them. So how's THAT going?... Bans don't eliminate anything where criminals are concerned. In the case of guns, though, at least the average citizen should have the right to fight back with their own.
Short on details but long on spin, WLWT TV (OH) reports:
Gun violence in the city escalated to even an more frightening level when a group with assault rifles sprayed a neighborhood with armor-piercing bullets Wednesday night, News 5's Jonathan Hawgood reported.[...]
Even police veterans were shocked at the firepower, Hawgood reported.
The firefight broke out about 9:30 p.m. at Linn and York streets in the West End.
One group was riding in an SUV. Another group apparently was waiting on the street to ambush them.
When the SUV approached, the other group opened fire. No one was apprehended.
From the description at the end of the piece, it's obvious that this was a gang war, yet there's no mention of that. IN FACT, they're simply called "groups". You know, just a bunch of folks loitering around the streets of Cincinnati who suddenly opened-fire on each other.
Guns were used, to be sure, but wouldn't the journalist have been more accurate putting the focus of his story on the street-gangs perpetrating this violence? This ugly incident was a gang-control problem.
Ithaca Gun Company has been struggling for years and apparently they are throwing in the towel. From the Ithaca Journal:
AUBURN -- Mired in debt and struggling to compete, the Ithaca Gun Co. has ended production after more than a century in business."We're just tapped out, we can't do it any longer," Andrew Sciarabba, one of seven investors who own Ithaca Gun Co., told The Post-Standard of Syracuse.
Closure of the company, which had 26 employees, comes less than a year after it received $150,000 from Cayuga County for operating expenses. Ithaca Gun had missed its May and June payments on the loan, for which it had put up its equipment as collateral.
The company reportedly had recently completed a move from King Ferry to Auburn.
Sciarabba, whose group acquired the company out of bankruptcy in the mid-1990s, said Ithaca Gun was several hundred thousand dollars in debt.
Sciarabba said the company also owed several years worth of back excise taxes to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The gun company, which had operated on a 2-acre site on Ithaca's Lake Street continuously since 1880 manufacturing shotguns, went bankrupt in the 1980s and was bought by new owners in 1989 and relocated to King Ferry.
Sorry, there just isn't enough meat out there to put together any sort of bias report. I covered the worst examples late last week and nothing new really catches my eye except as re-treads of previous stories. This means I won't have a segment on Cam's either, today. This seems to happen a lot during the Summer months as the media focuses on other subjects. Or maybe I just have writer's block...
I like this story from Out-Law.Com:
British insurer elephant.co.uk has lost an attempt to capture elephant.com from a Canadian who uses it for his web site about elephants and who had indicated that he would sell the name if the offer price was over $1 million.Elephant.co.uk is a brand of Admiral Insurance Services, fronted at the web site by a cartoon character called Trunkie. The brand makes millions from selling cheap car insurance over the web. But the owner of elephant.com, Adam Dicker from Ontario, told an arbitration panel that he had never heard of the British business.
[...]
He said that until he received the complaint he had not been aware of any company using the word elephant as a brand of insurance. His previous communications with Oberwager and Admiral had made no mention of the term. He said that as soon as he knew of the possible infringement he had removed the insurance ads and replaced his original content.
The site, he argued, was therefore being operated in good faith.
Admiral disagreed, producing evidence showing that the site was still generating insurance adverts. On the elephant.com homepage at the time of writing, Google AdSense displays one advert for insurexyz.com, headed "WWF Save the Big Cat" and linking to a page on insurexyz.com's site that promotes pet insurance. Dicker pointed out that he has no control over the ads that Google AdSense displays on his site.
He also argued that Adsense sometimes generates different adverts for the same web page, depending on the internet protocol (IP) address of the person viewing the page, so that UK viewers see different adverts to those from Canada. Dicker had had no idea insurance adverts were being shown in the UK, he said.
Dicker reasoned that if AdSense is linking to competitors of Admiral, that is a matter for Admiral to raise with Google, not him.
The three-man WIPO panel agreed, finding that Admiral had not proved bad faith on the part of Adam Dicker. The panel refused to transfer the domain.
Now, if these guys want to buy Alpheccca.com, I'd entertain a six-figure offer; I'm not greedy...
While I'm against individual cities and municipalities adopting stricter gun laws than a state requires, naturally I'm all for they're having more lenient ones, as Roswell Georgia does. From the Macon Telegraph (GA):
The city of Roswell is abandoning plans to rewrite part of its gun law after receiving a flood of calls and e-mails from supporters of the National Rifle Association.The city decided to change the law earlier this year to conform with state law, which says citizens can only use force to defend a person. Roswell's law includes people and property.
The change in wording caught the attention of the NRA and its supporters, who complained in large numbers to City Hall.
A new version of the city's ordinance will be drafted, but without the change opposed by the NRA, said City Councilman Kent Igleheart. The state law takes precedence in criminal matters.
Apparently, anyone can say anything, politicians can blithly repeat falsehoods perpetrated by anti-gun groups, and with little or no fact checking, the Associated Press will print them:
The National Rifle Association and its allies in the House beat back an effort Thursday to restrict gun manufacturers' exports of high-powered, .50-caliber rifles that can bring down jet airliners from a mile away.By a 278-149 vote, the House killed an amendment by Rep. James Moran (news, bio, voting record) to block .50-caliber exports to civilians. He said the guns are dream weapons for terrorists.
Secondly, if these are the dream weapons of choice for terrorists, how come none of them are using them? Couldn't be the $5000 dollar price tag or the size or the weight? And -- here in this country -- no .50 caliber rifle has ever been used in a terroristic act, no one has been killed by one. No plane has been brought down (here, or anywhere else in the world, actually).
So the first two paragraphs of AP writer Andrew Taylor's report are just plain bullshit. Now, while it's true that the proposed measure would supposedly have only effected US manufactured rifles being exported to "civilians" in other countries, let's face it, there's a roundabout agenda at work here.
The VPC, Brady Bunch, and other gun-banners would instantly sieze on such a bill if it passed and say, "We wouldn't allow people in other countries to own such rifles, why would we allow the sale of them, closer-to-home, to civilians here in the US where anyone could be a potential terrorist?" Because, of course, these gun-banners consider all of us law-abiding citizens to be terrorists. Heck, in Maryland, the VPC thinks that cops shouldn't be allowed guns!
By the way, the AP story also quotes the discredited CBS 60 Minutes story about about the .50 caliber rifle, as if that's supposed to be the final say on the matter. And, as usual, the NRA is painted to be the demon which caused the export-ban legislation to fail. No, Taylor, it was common sense that brought about its demise.
PappaBear, beloved husband and friend to MommaBear has passed away. I met both of them at the NE Blog Bash last year. They've been one of those marriages that lasted for about half-a-century. You just knew they were perfect together. My sincere condolences go out to MommaBear. MommaBear is a part of the team at On the Third Hand and has been a good friend to me since I started blogging way back when.
A coalition of District political, labor, business and religious leaders took aim yesterday at U.S. senators seeking to repeal the city's gun restrictions, with some accusing the senators of using D.C. residents as pawns to further their own political ambitions.At a news conference at the District's Shaw Junior High School, some of the local leaders threatened to work for the defeat of Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) and George Allen (R-Va.), who are spearheading a Senate bill to abolish various D.C. gun laws, including the city's 29-year-old ban on private ownership of handguns
Hutchison is weighing a 2006 bid for governor. Allen faces reelection in 2006 and is contemplating a 2008 presidential bid.
"To those who seek to use the District of Columbia as a platform to run for governor of their state . . . you might find residents of the District of Columbia knocking on doors in Texas and educating folks about your work," said Joslyn N. Williams, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO.
The Rev. Lionel Edmonds, head of the Washington Interfaith Network, said leaders of the 60 denominations represented in his group would reach out to organize like-minded clergy in Virginia and Texas.
People who live in Wisconsin would be barred from suing gun makers over shooting deaths or injuries under a bill advancing through the Legislature.The bill passed by the Assembly this week, also exempts gun
dealers and firing-range owners. It would only allow a lawsuit against manufacturers when the guns are found to be defective.The sponsor is Republican Representative Mark Pettis of Hertel.
The issue is also being debated at the federal level.
Governor Doyle promises to veto the bill if it passes the
Senate.
After today, I have several days off and family is coming to visit. Expect lighter than normal posting... Sorry about that. Um, let me rephrase that! I'm sorry for light posting, not that family is arriving!
From the Bangor Daily News (ME):
A man in his 70s managed to fire his .22-caliber rifle at a person who broke into his home last week in what may have been a home invasion by people looking for drugs.[...]
The victims told police that the intruders asked them repeatedly "where the stuff was," Tripp said Tuesday.
At least two people entered the home. Exactly what "stuff" they were looking for was not clear to the couple, he said, but police speculate they may have been looking for drugs.
During the attack, Tripp said, the intruders blindfolded the woman and ordered her to remain in the living room. The man's feet were bound to the footboard of his bed and a pillowcase was placed over his face.
The man managed to get free while the intruders were elsewhere in the house. Tripp said the man fetched a .22-caliber rifle he keeps by the side of his bed and when an intruder returned to the bedroom, the man fired a shot at him.
"A shot was fired into the wall," Tripp said. "They fled the residence."
Joel Rosenberg examines the bias in a report critical of Minnesota's concealed-carry law.
Okay, maybe not for you but for me, and since this is MY blog, that's all I really want to talk about... For over a week we've been in the 80s and 90s with horrible humidity. Even taking a shower every morning and evening, I still felt covered with sweat and slime all day and night. Today, about Noon time, it all went away. Cool temps moved in with some pleasing rain. Right now it's 67 degrees outside, my windows are open, life is good, and it's supposed to stay this way for several days. Lord, it feels good. There IS a God!
A LOT of folks use my RSS feeds. I have no idea how they work but I've added the SiteMeter code to the templates for them to find out. If you find my RSS Feeds suddenly screwed-up, let me know and I'll delete that code and restore them to what they were (not that I understand any of this...). I just find it weird that SiteMeter says I have about 600 folks stopping by each day and Hosting Matters says I have over a thousand.
On another note: While browsing through my (reciprocol) blogroll, alas, I discovered that some bloggers have become inactive. I'll be "culling" them out in the next few days, not a pleasant task. This is a good time for those of you who ARE active and blogrolling me to let me know so I can add you to mine. I'm not a "linky" blogger but I do appreciate you -- I just tend to focus on gun issues and those writing about them. I generally only pay attention to folks who are on my blogroll as I use that as my "bookmarks" or "Favorites".
Welcome to the Flag Day edition of my Weekly Check on the Bias by the media of gun rights and the Second Amendment.
It brings up the thought that while many countries claim to offer freedom, only here in the United States do we have it written as an imperative in the founding documents of our nation, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Alas, both are under seige from special interest groups on both the political "left" and "right".
In this Weekly Report, I confine myself to just one of those, the right to keep and bear arms, as reflected in the media. I try to find new examples each week of pro-or-con reporting to blab about here, plus (since many of you only stop by on Tuesdays) recap what I've been reporting on during the past week.
If there is a theme to this week's report, it is that while any right could be abused or misused, that doesn't mean we should start abridging it or eliminating it. That would be caving-in to the criminals or terrorists or critics of freedom. "Freedom is not free" should be the watch phrase. Most folks who enjoy cooking would never give up their chef knives, yet as you all know by now, that is what some in Great Britain would force you to do in the interests of "safety".
Likewise, here in America, some would make it almost impossible to obtain a handgun for personal defense or for pleasure or for whatever reason you might want it for, all in the name of preventing the misuse of them. The Buffalo News is leading the charge:
Bostic, now 34, carried out the biggest illegal gun trafficking scheme ever uncovered in Western New York, The News found, by taking advantage of loopholes in the nation's gun laws and limitations on federal law enforcement. And he was helped by powerful gun rights lobbies that undermined the enforcers.Bostic also benefited, The News found, from hatching his scheme in the gun-friendly state of Ohio - where he and three girlfriends roamed through gun shows, seeking weapons dealers willing to turn a blind eye to make a buck.
If you want to believe the Buffalo News, this is all the result of lax gun laws in the US, in Ohio, in lax enforcement by the BATF, and by support from gun-rights lobbying organizations. Obviously this is nonsense! We have a rare case of a thug working the system, or circumstances, abetted by two corrupt FFL dealers, to propagate a gun-running scheme. You can pass all the laws you want but someone(s) bent on committing a crime will ignore those laws.
Let me use an example: A couple thieves go on a burglary spree, robbing ten homes before getting caught. There are already laws against breaking-and-entering, stealing, selling stolen goods, and so on. The thieves don't care. They also know that the town they're in has only so many cops on patrol who can only be in so many places at once. Further, they recognize that there are shady folks who are willing to buy such stolen goods.
Is there something more that we, as a nation, could have done? Would more laws have helped? Of course not! Criminals ignore laws -- hence their moniker. Could we have greater policing? How high are you willing to see your taxes go? Should we require more vigilance by homeowners? How much government control of your life and home are you willing to tolerate?
You see, there has to be a balance between the rule of law and the right to be left alone. There will always be violators, but how much, how many rights are you willing to sacrifice to eliminate them? Would you be willing to sacrifice as much to limit freedom of the press? Of speech? Of -- yes, really! -- of the rights of alledged criminals during their trial? Suddenly, trying to ban all guns isn't that simple! You lose one right, the others fall like dominos.
The Buffalo News wasn't satisfied to only pound on our nation's gun laws (they didn't seem to care much that there was an actual perpetrator who broke laws) but continued yesterday with a scolding of Hi-Point:
Hi-Point's owner, Deeb
Hi-Point has manufactured over 700,000 guns since 1992, making it the fourth biggest handgun maker in the country. The guns sell for $79 to $199 each, and are a favorite among criminals. Critics say the guns are high-powered Saturday night specials. Deeb says he is simply making affordable guns for working people.
In another story in this series, the Buffalo News laments that not all states are as enthusiastically trampling the Second Amendment:
"This is getting to the root of the problem, stopping the supply of guns from other states," said Buffalo Police Commissioner Rocco J. Diina."It's extremely difficult to get a gun in New York State," added Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard P. Maigret. "It would be a lot more difficult if every state had strict gun laws. I would like to see the same restriction on handguns that New York State has federally."
Ohio officials said they are satisfied with their gun laws, so putting more controls on the sale or purchase of firearms is not a priority for them.
Turning to Maryland... Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has been -- no, not great but -- better than recent Maryland politicians on the gun-rights issue. He recently decided to go along with a new federal law that allows retired police officers to continue to carry firearms. From the Washington Times:
"This is good public policy that will make a safer state, which is why I am very proud Maryland has led," said Mr. Ehrlich, a Republican.Surrounded by officers from various local and state law-enforcement agencies, Mr. Ehrlich made the announcement at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3 in Baltimore.
The setting underscored Baltimore's high murder rate despite crime-fighting pledges by Mayor Martin O'Malley, a likely Democratic rival to Mr. Ehrlich in next year's governor's race.
Last week, the FBI reported that violent crime in Baltimore increased 4.2 percent to 11,667 incidents in 2004, while the numbers declined in most other cities.
Mr. O'Malley, who took office five years ago promising to lower the homicide rate, but instead watched the city become one of America's deadliest, was not invited to yesterday's announcement.
The mayor yesterday said he was not bothered that the governor held the event in his city. But he said Mr. Ehrlich could do more to reduce crime in the city by reforming state public safety offices such as the departments of juvenile services, parole and probation, and corrections.
Leah Barrett, executive director of the gun-control group CeaseFire Maryland Inc., said allowing officers to carry a gun anywhere at any time is "essentially dangerous.""We have too many guns in this country and too many people carrying them," she said. "Accidents happen."
Well yes, accidents do happen and as I reported last week, in Arizona, pools are more dangerous than guns:
Standard summer companions in our desert climate, swimming pools can be deadlier for children than guns. A child is 100 times more likely to die in a swimming accident than in gunplay, writes Steven D. Levitt, University of Chicago economics professor and best-selling author.Levitt analyzed child deaths from residential swimming pools and guns and found one child under 10 drowns annually for every 11,000 pools. By comparison, one child under 10 each year is killed by a gun for every 1 million guns, according to his research, outlined in a new book "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side to Everything," which he co-wrote with journalist Stephen J. Dubner.
Then we have a "scare story" from Iowa where KTVO TV (IA) shouts a headline that says, "Handgun permits in Iowa on the rise". I suppose that's meant to be a warning but in an article that reads as if it was written -- not yesterday but -- three years ago:
The Department of Public Safety says the September 11th terrorist attacks may be the main reason why the number of people applying for gun permits is growing in the state of Iowa."I think people are just trying to be cautious nowadays," said Tom Lacey of Accucast, Inc.
Back in 2001, more than 25,000 gun permits were issued in the state of Iowa.
The Department of Public Safety says the 10% jump is due to the September 11th terrorist attacks. In 2003, the number spiked to a record 27,000 permits. Last year, the number showed a decrease including in Wapello County.
"We haven't noticed a real increase in personal permit requests. The number here in Wapello County has stayed quite steady, but you have to understand that these people may have a permit that they don't bother to renew for next year," said Sheriff Don Kirkendall.
Speaking of hysteria, blogger Countertop Chronicles relates the story of an editor of a skiing magazine attempting to get rid of some guns:
I went straight to the Hollywood branch of the L.A.P. D. Leaving the weapons in the trunk of my Volkswagen, I went in and explained the situation.''We can't take the box if it's still locked,'' the officer in the lobby explained. ''Who knows what could be in it?''
''So you'll let me leave with a trunk full of guns that I'm not licensed to carry?'' I asked. She said yes, as long as the box was locked, and expressed little further interest.
[...]
Since the L.A.P.D. hadn't been that helpful, I decided to drive to Glendale, which has its own police force. This time, I hauled the guns in a cardboard box. As I entered the police station, the cop there put a hand on his side arm and told me to drop the box. I did. After I explained my situation, he ran a background check on the firearms: clean. He checked my record: squeaky clean. Then he lightened up -- and tried to talk me into selling him the Glock and the Smith & Wesson, which he told me were worth a bundle.
''But they're not even registered in my name,'' I said, ''and the owner is dead.''
This was no problem, he assured me, because California gun laws were such that if my friend gave me his guns, registered in his name, before 1991 (wink wink), it would be perfectly legal for me to have them. And to sell them. [He didn't--JS]
[...]
...So one slow spring day I went to the garage, took out the handguns -- and smashed them with a 15-pound ax. I shattered the butt of the .38. I disfigured the barrel of the .25. I chased the Glock and the Smith & Wesson around the garage as they bounced from each blow. My hands began to burn from the repeated swinging. My lower back ached. But I eventually rendered the guns useless.
I put the guns in an industrial-strength trash bag. But then I imagined some kids rummaging around a suburban landfill and finding them, which made me picture the violent opening scene of a made-for-TV movie. So I added garden dirt and poured in some old paint. Then I added more, and I shook the sack and rolled it around. I picked up the bag and threw it in the trash. Then I called Elizabeth and reported that the job was done.
Mike Kessler, the author and asshole of this story, decided to grandstand rather than just sell the guns or return to the L.A.P.D. with the now unlocked-box and turn them in. Or he could have just waited (since he did so (wait) to smash them up anyway) for the (seemingly endless) local gun-buy-backs that cities are always sponsoring. Oh no, he had to make himself the martyr of the poor beleaguered soul in possession of a deceased's firearms and make some money off the story by selling it to the anti-gun New York Times.
Bias is a funny thing... Another story I mentioned last week (See! Stop by here more often!) came from Colorado, specifically from the Colorado Springs Independent:
Terry Bernstein
They come from all over Colorado -- men and women with AK-47 assault rifles tucked into dusty truck cabs, their children holding cardboard boxes filled with multicolored paint balls.They come almost every Saturday and Sunday to the place where they can play war games to their hearts' content. Their destination: a 220-acre compound consisting of a gun store and firing range, paintball field, motorcycle repair shop and several massive war museums, eight miles east of Colorado Springs.
"This is the most freedom you can have in America," said Mel Bernstein, aka Dragon Man.
"Right now I could go outside and shoot machine guns. I could blow something up. I could ride my motorcycle around. I could fire up the tank and run it into the wall." He paused to laugh. "As long as you don't hurt anyone."
Bernstein is one of three gun dealers in Colorado with a Class III license, which allows the sale of some of the most lethal weapons in the United States. This September 11, he plans to mark the anniversary of the al Qaeda terrorist attacks by turning his rifle range into an apocalyptic war zone. He will unleash 150 full-automatic machine guns, spitting 90,000 to 100,000 rounds into a series of gassed-up cars that will explode in balls of flame. World War II- and Vietnam War-era cannons and mortars also will be fired.
"We've got a mannequin of [Osama] Bin Laden that we're going to blow up," he said. As a finale, all 150 machine guns will be fired in unison for three minutes.
There's also this clinker near the end:
Not everyone appreciates the passions of people like the Bernsteins."The thousands and families who treasure their sons and daughters far outweigh those who want to clutch their AK-47s," said Eric Howard, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C.
Howard's group wants to halt the sale of semi-automatic guns, such as the AK-47 and machine guns like the Mac-10 -- "weapons favored by terrorists and criminals," he said.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Assault Weapons Ban, which prohibited the sale of 19 types of high-powered guns, including the AK-47, the Uzi and the Street Sweeper.
The ban expired last fall when President Bush chose not to re-sign it.
Still, imagine how much worse it (the rhetoric) would have been if such a story was written by Fox Butterfield or some hack at the Boston Globe Magazine!
I really enjoyed this bit about Terry Bernstein:
When Terry Bernstein moved to Colorado in 1981, she was, as she describes herself, a naïve 22-year-old. She quickly realized that if the business was to thrive, she needed to step in and help her "totally unorganized" partner.She taught herself business accounting and took over the paperwork. She also mastered the rapidly changing subject of land use permitting after their land finally was zoned in the mid 1980s.
It was her inspiration to start the gun dealership, because, as she puts it, "I'm cheap." Bernstein had been spending thousands of dollars buying high-powered rifles and machine guns. She decided to cut out the middleman and become a dealer herself.
In 1993, she acquired a permit to sell Class III, or fully automatic, machine guns.
"We complement each other," she said. While Bernstein is the flashy salesman and tough guy who steps in if customers get out of line, she is the quiet realist.
Here's what some other pro-2A bloggers are up to:
Matt at Stop the Bleating reports the gun bias at WaPo.
Denise at the Ten Ring on animals and guns.
TechnoGypsy will be hosting this Friday's Carnival of Cordite. Get your entries in!
I missed it last week but you shouldn't: Cowboy Blob had some fun at the range! With pictures, of course; I like pictures...
Interesting post and discussion over at Jame's Hell in a Handbasket about how -- if you were fighting in WWII -- what gun would you want?
Say Uncle is showing off his AR15s. Sorry, let me just wipe the drool off my keyboard...
Ben at ReasonableNut goes to the range with his .270.
Kim du Toit loses a gun but for a righteous reason (and I'm glad his friend is doing better) and now has his sights set on...
Interesting report by Blogonomicon on gun training. When I took the Vermont State Police "Civilian training course" about ten years ago, one of the COOL things we did was to get time in the computerized giant video armed-response training machine where you are interactive with potentially deadly situations. I forget the acronym now but it was very intense. I scored well.
I better get this posted. I'll be on Cam's later today. Keep the faith and thanks for stopping by!
Geek With A .45 had some fun last weekend!
Another story of a gun being used to protect life from the Gazette-Enterprise (TX):
GERONIMO — Jennifer Cooper had never fired a gun until Friday.That was the night a person still unknown to her unexpectedly walked into her home while her two children were asleep in the next room.
[...]
She called her husband’s name, and when no one answered, she panicked, ran to the master bedroom, where she had left her sons, and locked the door behind her.
Seconds later, she heard the sound of someone on the other side twisting the doorknob trying to get inside the bedroom.
Jennifer and her children would spend almost the next two hours in fear, hoping whoever was on the other side would take what they wanted and leave. She told the intruder there was an alarm and the police were on their way, but the intruder reportedly stayed in the house turning on all the lights, the television and periodically twisting the knob.
Jennifer did not have a phone in the master bedroom with her and was unable to call the police herself.
[...]
To calm her children, Jennifer took a .357 Magnum from the closet and told her children she would protect them.
“I told them this gun would either hurt this man or he will run away,” she said. “I told them we were going to try and wait for daddy because I didn’t want to shoot this gun. I told them I was between them and the door and I would protect them.”
Then, she heard what sounded like the door lock being picked.
Jennifer pointed the gun at the door and fired once.
“I really couldn’t believe I did it,” she said.
The bullet hit the top of the door and entered the ceiling.
The intruder stopped picking the lock, and Jennifer heard the sound of footsteps and the door chime as the intruder left the home.
She and her boys were safe.
Yesterday, the Buffalo News ran a series of stories about a man, James Nigel Bostic, who bought over 250 guns at Ohio gun shows and sold them off to thugs, gang-bangers, etc. in New York. Here are quotes from one of the stories:
About Bostic:
...If only Bostic had lived his dream, perhaps Williams would have gotten a shot at his.But it wasn't to be.
Instead, Bostic became a local symbol of everything wrong with the nation's handgun laws.
Williams became a symbol of gun violence. A bullet from one of Bostic's guns ripped through Bud's stomach while the teenager was shooting baskets near his home one night.
[...]
Bostic didn't pull the trigger that night in August 2003 when the 9mm bullet tore a hole through Bud's insides and his dreams.
Bostic never pulls the trigger. That's not how he kills or maims people, or destroys their lives.
But Bud still was one of Bostic's victims.
So was Armod Law. And Christopher Leftwich. And Larry Sommerville, even though Sommerville killed himself.
They were all Bostic's victims. And there are more. Many more.
Bostic put enough weapons on Buffalo's streets during 2000 to arm a company of military police: Roughly 250 handguns. Forty-five caliber pistols designed to knock down the strongest men. Nine-millimeter Hi-Points, light and easily concealed.
But he didn't give these weapons to military police. Bostic put his arsenal in the hands of doped up teenagers, petty thieves and hard core drug dealers. Anyone who wanted a cheap handgun for whatever reason - protection, status, to settle a grudge.
Bostic, now 34, carried out the biggest illegal gun trafficking scheme ever uncovered in Western New York, The News found, by taking advantage of loopholes in the nation's gun laws and limitations on federal law enforcement. And he was helped by powerful gun rights lobbies that undermined the enforcers.
Bostic also benefited, The News found, from hatching his scheme in the gun-friendly state of Ohio - where he and three girlfriends roamed through gun shows, seeking weapons dealers willing to turn a blind eye to make a buck.
[...]
If Bostic had been in New York, with its tough handgun laws, his scheme would have failed, authorities say. New York requires an extensive background check and waiting period for a required pistol permit.
In fact, given his criminal record - he had 17 aliases, two Social Security numbers and 23 prior arrests with 11 convictions - it's unlikely Bostic could legally own even one handgun in New York State.
But he was in Ohio, where buying box loads of handguns was easier than getting a credit card.
In that gun-friendly state, there are no licenses or waiting periods required to buy handguns.
There are no limits on the number of guns that can be bought at one time and no background investigation beyond a routine criminal check to weed out convicted felons. Despite his many troubles with the law, Bostic had not been convicted of a felony at the time.
So Bostic and his three girlfriends in 2000 traipsed into the welcoming world of Ohio gun shows. They easily bought about 250 handguns.
Bostic bought some of the guns, but most were in his girlfriends' names. The majority were 9mm Hi-Points selling for $89. Some were .40 and .45 caliber guns, costing a little more. All were purchased from two gun dealers on the pretext that Bostic would one day open a gun shop.
The dealers went along with Bostic's story.
[...]
By the time Bud was shot, Bostic's gun scheme was three years old and he was already charged with gun running.
Authorities became suspicious shortly after the Hi-Points first appeared up on the streets.
"The police were finding them on people who used them in homicides," Scherie Smith said. "He (Bostic) told me something might happen."
In addition, red flags went up at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when the agency was notified of the guns Bostic and the women bought in Ohio. Under federal law, dealers must inform the ATF when anyone purchases more than two guns in a five-day period.
"We knew something was amiss," ATF agent Robert Wilson said.
Bostic thought he could insulate himself by reporting the weapons stolen.
His strategy boomeranged.
He had used his girlfriends as straw buyers to distance himself from many of the purchases, but now, with his name on a burglary report, Bostic was linked to most of the guns.
In August 2002, Bostic was arrested. In 2004, he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
You can read some of the other stories here and here and here.
You're thoughts on all this, please. A report like this can be very damaging to "our side" in resisting gun control, such as "one gun per-month" or the so-called "gun-show loophole". I wonder, though, what was left out of these stories...
TFS Magnum's Zendo Deb reports that your rights don't end at work anymore, thanks to a new bill in Oklahoma.
Rev. Dr. N. Graham Standish on claiming God:
There are millions of Christians who lean Republican, but have found that the Christianity of the Republican Party is a strand of Christianity that promotes a narrow Gospel, while ignoring much of what Christianity has always taught about caring for the poor, the virtues of sacrificing self for the welfare of others, and the need for humility, compassion and peace.Too many Republican Party leaders have aligned themselves with a fundamentalist brand of Protestant Christianity characterized by black-and-white, us-versus-them perspectives: we're saved, you're not; we're right, you're wrong; we conservatives are right and virtuous, you liberals are wrong and sinful.
This kind of thinking bleeds into their political rhetoric as they assert a kind of divine mandate for proposed programs and platforms. The Republican Party has been guided in this way of politicking by fundamentalists like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, Rick Scarborough of the Patriot Pastors Network and James Dobson of Focus on the Family, among others, who have an agenda to make the