Well, not really me, but lots of folks. But I got a nice letter from Lamar Alexander (R-TN) thanking me for taking the time to let him know how I feel about gun laws. He explains:

Because I believe law-abiding citizens have a constitutional right to the weapon of their choice, I support allowing the 1994 federal ban on guns and magazines to expire.

It was obviously a form letter, which is a good news/bad news thing. The bad: he didn’t take the time to write me personally. The good: he had to write a form letter because he got a lot of calls (at least three from me).

Bonus: the letter was devoid of any language involving sportsmen or hunters, which may indicate Lamar gets it.

No word from Frist yet.

I have been remiss in my recipe blogging, so here’s a good little dish that will make you popular with anyone who likes olives. Trust me, this is the one most folks ask me how to make after they have it:

Olive Salad (note that amounts need not be exact)

Ingredients (for all this chopping, I use one of these but a food processor works as well):

One can of black olives (chopped)

An equal amount of green olives (chopped)

6 or 8 stalks of celery or celery hearts (chopped)

1 table spoon of minced garlic

1 cup of chopped leaks (or green onions; or both)

Mix all ingredients into a bowl with a lid and shake to mix thoroughly. Serve as a side dish or on crackers.

Also good to add but not necessary: capers, pepperoni, or sprinkle feta.

Heck, it’s good on a ham sandwich too.

USA Today writes that Americans are not prepared for a terrorist attack, despite a several million dollar ad campaign telling us to buy duct tape and plastic sheets:

Most Americans have not followed the government’s advice to prepare for terrorism by stocking food and water, making a plan to contact family members and identifying a “safe room” in their homes, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.

A year after the Department of Homeland Security launched a multi-million-dollar public relations campaign to encourage people to prepare for an attack, the percentage doing so is dropping sharply.

Four in 10 people say they have a stockpile of food and water at home, down from six in 10 a year ago. Fewer than four in 10 have a designated contact person to help their families coordinate actions. And one-quarter of those polled have a designated “safe room.”

Noticeably absent from most of this advice is the very simple Buy a gun plan. Seriously, buy a gun. Remember the LA riots? Mass confusion, neutered law enforcement, chaos in the streets, looting, beatings, and the National Guard. I particularly liked seeing the brave LAPD running from the rioters live on TV. Meanwhile, after it was over, those same police ran in bravely to arrest the Korean shop owners who used their evil assault weapons to defend their livelihood for relatively minor gun crimes. But I digress.

Fortunately for me and the Mrs., we like to camp. So, without really preparing a stockpile, we already have adequate supplies. We tend to keep about four to six gallons of store bought bottled water in the house for those impromptu camping trips. We have a huge pantry stocked with all sorts of dry goods for camping. These supplies work whether we’re camping or under terror attack.

Also, the Mrs. knows that she is to go to our secure, undisclosed location; otherwise known as my parents’ house. My job is to go home, get the dogs and supplies, and meet at the secure, undisclosed location.

I do recommend that others develop a plan because it could happen. However, I live in rural southeastern Tennessee. The odds are probably not great that we’d be subject to attack.

Spoons is back.

Bubba tells us that liberal media starts today. Yeah, right.

Any way, it was funny to see Al “tackle ideas, not people” Franken on The Daily Show telling people that the facts were on his side. But I digress. My prediction: liberal radio will fail (or at least it will fail every where in the country except the bigger cities).

Also, Have you seen Janeane Garofalo’s stand-up? Man, it’s painful and she prepares for it. Now, imagine her without a script and extensively prepared material. I predict twice the boredom. She is cute though and a talented actress, but that doesn’t come through in radio.

Looks like the legislators are trying to allow people to ride motorcycles without helmets:

Riders who are at least 25, have private health insurance and pass a safety course would no longer be required to wear helmets under the bill. Twenty-seven other states have such a law.

The riders would have to pay $15 for a special designation on their driver’s licenses. It would cover administrative costs, and $10 would go to the state’s traumatic brain injury fund, said the sponsor, Sen. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville.

I pretty much oppose helmet laws (and seatbelt laws) because it is, after all, my right to make decisions for myself, even if those decisions are irretrievably stupid.

Eugene Volokh addresses public housing residents being disarmed. Like some other gun laws, its result is that poor folks can’t arm themselves. This is not the intent but it is what happens.

The Maryland Assault Weapons Ban is dead, at least during this legislative session.

I get sometimes e-mail from my parents, aunts, uncles, and others of pre-boomer age. It’s usually of the chain-letter variety. Today I got one with this subject line:

Fw: FW: This is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally freaky!!!!!

The text of the message was:

Anybody out there know how this works?

Those two data points alone were enough for me to guess correctly the actual topic of discussion (way down there below the two groups of lucky folks who were forwarded this before it got to me).

Any guesses? Click “MORE…” to find out!
Read the rest of this entry »

One thing that people will warn you about when considering a bully type dog is that they tend to be a bit flatulent. Supposedly, they toot a lot. When our non-bully dog (Politically Correct Dog) strips a gear, it usually goes like this:

The family is watching a movie when suddenly Politically Correct Dog’s ears perk up and he runs away quickly. Then, you can count to about seven or so and you smell the result of his booty burp. Politically Correct Dog doesn’t really have a warning system for his barking spiders because him leaving the room may mean that he hears a noise and doesn’t necessarily denote a bratwurst bugle. He’s silent but violent.

The same situation with Politically Incorrect Dog (our bully) is different. See, Politically Incorrect Dog comes equipped with anal acoustics. When he rips a bubbler, everyone in the house knows exactly what happened. This warning system is awesome as it gives you ample time to prepare yourself for the pungency of his fartvergnugen. When you hear his butt trumpets, you have time to clear the area. And boy should you. It’s not that bullies let loose with low flying geese any more often but their fannytosis is usually loud.

What is particularly funny, is that his poots often surprise him. Suddenly, he takes a keen interest in his nether regions (as if to say Now, what the Hell was that?) for about 0.5 seconds before running like the wind he just broke. It is not uncommon for his air biscuits to awaken him (and the household) from a slumber.

I don’t think that Politically Incorrect Dog cuts muffins any more than Politically Correct Dog. It’s just that when he shoots bunnies, it’s louder. Mind you, no matter which dog steps on a duck, it smells like ass.

I have noticed Politically Incorrect Dog and Politically Correct Dog crank out a lot more duck calls since Mrs. Uncle is pregnant.

Bill (in addition to blogrolling me) has some advice for bloggers regarding feeds (everyone should have one). Particularly, he tells blogspot patrons how to set one up. It’s handy for those of us that use Bloglines.

I like that line in the title. It’s from some commercial I’ve seen a lot of lately. The problem is that, though I remember the commercial and am quite amused by it, I don’t know what product it was advertising.

Bad advertisement is funny, some of the time. But it’s not real effective at getting me to buy the product.

Thanks to a reader, I have to put in a shameless plug for Ad-Aware to rid your machine of adware.

Seriously, CBS edited Janet Jackson saying Jesus. That’s pretty lame. Good thing she wasn’t showing boobs or anything.

Anyone know why my google tool-bar is suddenly less effective at stopping pop-ups? And why Yahoo suddenly has pop-ups? Did I accidentally install some ad-ware or something?

Update: It seems that blogspot now has pop-ups to, which leads me to believe that I somehow installed ad-ware or something. Anyone know how to search and destroy that stuff?

A push is on to open police shooting ranges to the public. After all, the public does pay for them.

This is the obligatory apology for light blogging. Things are crunching at work, and so forth and so on.

The good news is that Say Uncle himself is always blogging up a storm, and we’ve got a mighty fine blogroll, too.

The bill to allow weapons permit holders to carry in establishments that serve alcohol as long as they’re not drinking, is getting pushed in Tennessee again. I support this because if I pull in to a restaurant and leave my gun in the car, I am breaking the law. The bill would allow restaurants to ban packing, just like other businesses do:

West says currently permitted gun owners technically are breaking the law if they have a weapon in their car while frequenting a restaurant that serves alcohol. The law would allow the gun owner to legally carry the gun in their vehicle or on their person. And business owners would possess the authority to forbid guns to be carried inside their respective establishments, says West.

And the article had these neat stats (which I want a record of):

While West says permit carriers haven’t committed felonies, according to the Department of Safety 133 permits were revoked last year for various requirement violations, said Beth Denton, DOS spokesperson. More than 155,000 Tennesseans possess permits, she said.

Hey, a college kid writes about the assault weapons ban and that it’s purely cosmetic. Good. Read the whole thing.

Via Steve, comes news of home raided because it’s power bill was unusually high. A high power bill is grounds for a warrant and raid?

This reminds me of a guy I wrote about here whose house was searched for guns and they knew he had guns because all the guns were legally registered and specified in the warrant. His house was raided to look for legally owned weapons.

Jeff has started a new blog about pets and asked for pictures. A while back, I told everyone how a laser pointer is entertaining for bull dogs and owners, even if you aim at the ceiling:

Yes, he’s on my couch.

G. Hayduke attempts to warn people about allying themselves with gun owners. S/He implies that all of us gun-toting types are backwoods hicks who dream fondly of taking the nation back to the 18th century. Of course, s/he spends (at my count) six paragraphs describing the characteristics of us gun-nuts and one making the point (which is careful who you ally with). All these characteristics ring of Howard Dean’s pick-up trucks and confederate flag hullabaloo.

So, Mr/s. Hayduke, as an anti-death penalty, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, income tax hating, pro-constitution, supporter of the war in Iraq and the war on terror (who realizes they are not the same thing), lover of civil liberties, pro-drug legalization, non-racist, pro-union, anti-affirmative action gun nut, I appreciate you lumping us gun folks into whatever categories make your world view convenient. However, I won’t lump you in the same category as the Saturn-driving, goatee-sporting, organic deodorant reeking, unwashed hippie-esque, Birkenstock wearing, Bush is a Nazi, Kucinich for president, all my clothes smell like weed, gun fearing wussies before I conclude you’re wrong. I’d appreciate the same from you.

Annan, the ineffectual, has asked for a worldwide moment of silence to remember the 500,000 Rwandans who died during the 1994 genocide. Ten years later, we get a remembrance.

Annan, who was head of U.N. peacekeeping at the time of the genocide that killed more than 500,000 people, told a memorial conference on the genocide that most of the deaths could have been prevented if the international community had acted swiftly.

“But the political will was not there, and nor were the troops,” he said in opening remarks to the conference.

The conference came about a week before the 10-year anniversary of the genocide, which targeted mainly minority Tutsis and politically moderate members of the Hutu majority. Annan said he backed a Rwandan call for a worldwide minute of silence at 12 p.m. local time in every country around the world on April 7.

Annan has expressed his regret over Rwanda in the past, but rarely so contritely.

“I believed that I was doing my best, but I realized after the genocide that there was more that I could and should have done to sound the alarm and rally support,” Annan said.

And somehow the international community is supposed to be taken seriously?

This list of drug war victims and their stories is quite disturbing.

Alphie reports that open government is on its way to Tennessee.

Bubba in his comments:

Bill Maher is the only guy (so far) to be fired over 9/11.

Three contenders for the Libertarian nomination made their respective cases as to why they should be the nominee for president:

The candidates, though, were hardly of the Kerry or Bush ilk. In fact, their relative facelessness is the crux of the party’s trouble.

Former Hollywood producer Aaron Russo, computer consultant Michael Badnarik and radio talk-show host Gary Nolan touted their platforms to about 70 people at their party’s annual convention in hopes of securing a ballot spot. The final candidate will be chosen in May at the party’s national convention in Atlanta.

The trio espoused a monolithic sentiment of limited government — the party’s mantra since it was founded in Colorado in 1971.

“Most of what our government is doing is unconstitutional,” Mr. Badnarik said in opening his presentation. “And most people understand that but don’t know what to do about it.”

Mr. Nolan promised to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and bring U.S. troops home from all stations abroad, adding that “if you want a smaller government, you really can’t vote for George Bush, can you?”

“We need a candidate who is going to get out and spread the word” of the Libertarian Party, he said. The party claims to have around 123,000 registered voters nationwide.

While I admire their sentiment, they keep affirming to the nation that they are crazy. As much as I’d like to see the IRS abolished, you can’t run on a platform like that and expect to be taken seriously. Also, I don’t understand why the Libertarians focus so much energy on the Presidency. They’d be better served using their resources to get lower level political offices. This way, they have a chance to win. And, if their record is good, they can run on those records. Until then, they’ll continue to be viewed as a fringe party. Of course, I’ll probably vote for their candidate.

Jeff opines:

Have you ever noticed that 90% of the political bumper stickers you see on cars express far-left views, while the other 10% express far right ones?

He then proposes moderate bumper stickers. I don’t think that’s the problem, really. See, what happens is that far left folks tend to have shittier cars. Therefore, they have no qualms about defacing their property with some one-liner.

As a matter of policy, I don’t put stickers on my car because I don’t want some soccer mom or hippie loser to decide to vandalize my vehicle based on my political statements. Plus, as Kevin said, there’s not a bumper sticker big enough for everything I have to say.

Jeff has the latest check on gun bias, with a cool .50 cal pic.

Heh!

Rocky Top Brigadier South(of)KnoxBubba’s questions about voting in churches resulted in a front page Knoxville News Sentinel article. Soon the RTB will be shaping policy and stuff. Congrats to Bubba.

Everyone is blogging about this no-warrant search business. Brutal Hugs attempts to defend the search but I must disagree because if the guy was threatening to kill judges, that seems to be a sound basis for obtaining a warrant. I don’t think the sky is falling, I just think this is shitty case law. And this case law will be used to further diminish fourth amendment protections.

Kevin, gunner and John also have more.

Bill Hobbs rips the Tennessean a well-deserved new one over it’s opinion err coverage of the taxpayer bill of rights.

Mike of Half-Bakered is back and seems to be sticking with it. Go give him a read, you won’t be sorry.

From this:

“The Senators and Representatives shall … in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.” – U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 6, Clause 1.

So, our elected officials can lie while doing the job they were hired to do and not be held liable. And read that article for more debunking of the myth of assault weapons.

A Veterinarian claims he has never seen a pit bull or a pit bull mix come into his adoption center:

Veterinarian Dr. Bill Suro, medical director at the MaxFund Animal Adoption Center, has never seen a mixed-breed pit bull arrive at his shelter, let alone a full-blooded pit bull terrier.

Of course, he’s seen lots of “boxer mixes” and “American bulldog mixes,” which bear an astonishing resemblance to pit bulls. But a pit bull? No, he’s never seen one. And as long as Denver has a ban on the breed, and as long as city animal-control officials euthanize all dogs they suspect are pit bulls or pit bull mixes, Suro isn’t likely to see one.

MaxFund Animal Adoption Center medical director Dr. Bill Suro says that if MaxFund resident Malcolm had ended up at the pound, he would have been euthanized for his resemblance to a pit bull.

Veterinarian Dr. Bill Suro, medical director at the MaxFund Animal Adoption Center, has never seen a mixed-breed pit bull arrive at his shelter, let alone a full-blooded pit bull terrier.

Of course, he’s seen lots of “boxer mixes” and “American bulldog mixes,” which bear an astonishing resemblance to pit bulls. But a pit bull? No, he’s never seen one. And as long as Denver has a ban on the breed, and as long as city animal-control officials euthanize all dogs they suspect are pit bulls or pit bull mixes, Suro isn’t likely to see one.

“Yes, I’d say we do have some dogs here who’d be put to sleep if they got to the pound,” Suro says. “Their ancestry is in question. But it’s silly to say if someone looks Italian, they must be Italian. . . . They have no way of proving they’re pit bulls except to say they look like pit bulls.”

Good. Down with doggie racism. As regular readers know, there is no scientific way to determine what breed of dog a particular dog is. If you live in an area with Breed Specific Legislation, take advice from this guy and call your dog a boxer.

In a follow up to my post on BSL in Adrian, I am glad to report that the mayor is no longer pushing a breed ban but is looking at ways to make pet owners more responsible. Of course, just making people responsible in general would be a good idea. Too bad it’s just not that common these days. It is good that they are not trying to pass the ban.

Sometimes I think some people believe this is how it works.
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Some pretty funny pix over at Phelps’ place.

The Fifth Circuit ruled that police officers don’t need warrants to conduct brief searches of homes and businesses. Two dissenting judges called it the road to hell.

What is wrong with these people?

Update: John has more.

Mark Lancaster, who I wrote about here and here, had his sentencing hearing today. Blake has the scoop.

Thanks to an email from a reader, I have the answer to the question I posed about whether or not grenade launchers are Destructive Devices. Turns out, the receiver is transferable as a long gun through a Form 1 (i.e., it’s a NFA transferable weapon subject to the $200 tax and is considered a firearm, like a machine gun). However, if you have the 40MM barrel, then it’s a destructive device, which still is subjected to the same regulation (i.e., LEO sign off, $200, filling out forms, etc.) but has a different name.

Seems I was right but for the wrong reasons. And the receivers cost about $2,300, in addition to taxes. And the barrels about $2,600, plus taxes. And this doesn’t include grenades, which are destructive devices.

Boring stuff but I have been paying attention to my stats a lot lately. If you’re averse to horn-tooting, read no further.

Per Sitemeter, the average length per visit (which excludes page views) is two minutes and nine seconds. And I average 577 visits per day. So, 577 visits multiplied by 129 seconds is 74,433 seconds (or roughly 1,241 minutes or 20.68 hours). So, this site is read by people for approximately 20 hours and 41 minutes per day.

Ravenwood sums up an atrocious story:

That’s right, police raid a man’s home, involuntarily commit him to a mental institution, and then refuse to give him his guns back because he has a history of being involuntarily committed to a mental institution.

Tom has created a nifty little spreadsheet where you can enter your AGI and figure out what the Bush tax cuts saved you err if Kerry will raise your taxes. It’s neat. It does assume that Kerry will stick to his campaign promise of only raising taxes on the top income bracket.

Via UnknownNews, the Georgia House voted 160-0 (with no debate) to ban female genital piercing. Is this really something the Georgia House should be worried about? Losers.

Seems there’s a bill for the president to sign called the fetus protection act, which would make it a separate crime to harm a fetus during an assault on a pregnant woman. But if you read further:

The measure is limited in scope, applying only to harm to a fetus while a federal crime is being committed against the pregnant mother, such as terrorist attacks, drug-related shootings or attacks on federal lands or military bases. But proponents on both sides of the fetal rights and abortion issue saw far-reaching consequences.

Both sides of the abortion debate view this as a possible step toward outlawing abortion under the precedent that it essentially acknowledges a fetus as a person. I, personally, don’t see how congress has any authority to pass such a law but that’s never stopped them before. Nor do I see how this is a federal matter to begin with. However, the fallout will be interesting to watch.

Today, I got an email from girl who is a senior in high school. She wanted me to give her some resources on gun crime statistics overall and gun crime statistics based on race. I was happy to oblige. This is the second time that I have been used as a resource for homework, that I know of. Cool.

Via Jed, Talkleft tells us that the tenth circuit has held there is no individual right to arms.

Both Jed and Talkleft provide some criticism of the ruling. And people wonder why I have almost zero faith in our courts.

Francis Warin, who I blogged about here and here, has been sentenced to 33 months.

I love bourbon. Unfortunately, it can ruin your plans. See, prior to going to my neighbors house and slamming down approximately 5 bourbons, I had a thought for a post. This post was the end-all-be-all of posts. Blogging and conflict would have ceased to exist. It would have solved all problems in the world. We would have all gotten along. Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, libertarians, independents, all would have worshiped me for my clarity of thought and euphonious insights into the general nature of life, the universe, and everything. EVERYTHING! I’m pretty sure the post involved guns, furry slippers and ruthless efficiency but now we’ll never know. I would have likely won a Nobel prize, gotten a bitchin’ cabinet position or some shit.

But no. Bourbon is a harsh mistress. And to think, I planned on applying some wood stain to some furniture and was going to take apart my Ruger 10/22. Did I mention that when I get a new gun, the first thing I do is take it apart to see how it works? Probably not. This, coincidentally, makes the wife nervous despite my assurances that I don’t even have ammo for the gun within 10 feet of it. Actually, it makes her nervous that I put it back together and then take it shooting. Go figure. Bourbon ruined those plans too.

I realize I am babbling incoherently now but that’s what bourbon does. Did I mention that I love bourbon? I have now violated the don’t drink and blog rule so I’ll stop.

Back when I was in public accounting, the term employee empowerment was a big buzzword. Like the mindless sheeple we supervising staffers were, we got sucked into one of the most colossal failures of human resources buffoonery ever. One year, the managing partners decided they’d implement reverse evaluations as part of the yearly employee evaluation process. The way these reverse evaluations would work was that we staffers would get an opportunity to evaluate our managers and partners using the same forms they used to evaluate us. We’d rate them on a one to five scale on various attributes like productivity and punctuality; and offer comments to aid them in their work.

To borrow a cliché, most public accounting managers and partners were what we called seagulls. They’d come in, make a lot of noise, shit all over everything, and leave the place in a worse mess than it was before they arrived. In public accounting, being a good accountant doesn’t determine your success. What determines your success is your ability to sell. Hence, there were many seagulls who lacked certain ability.

Needless to say, these reverse evaluations provided valuable insight into what the seagulls did. Apparently, this valuable insight was absolutely not wanted. After the evaluations were done, we never heard a peep about them again until many months later. We got some memo stating that the policy of reverse evaluations didn’t provide valuable information and would be discontinued. I’m guessing the seagulls weren’t real happy hearing about how they were doing.

I later heard from a manager who was leaving the firm that seagulls were not at all happy about how staffers viewed them. Instead of addressing the issues, they decided they just never wanted to hear about the issues again.

Jeff at Alphecca has a post about the Sopranos and the real Mafia.

folks, these Mafia dudes, organized crime types, whatever you want to call them, are terrible people. Yeah, you can feel for Tony but in the end, they are nothing but thugs. And that’s the problem with TV and Hollywood: They love to glorify the miscreants of the world. And kids then think these thugs are cool.

I couldn’t agree more. Just take that Casino movie, for example. At the end of the movie, De Niro’s character is lamenting how the Evil Corporations are ruining Vegas. Hey, De Niro: you and your goons just spent the whole movie beating and killing people! You’re telling me the corporations are the bad guys?

Rubbish.

In Tennessee, we have this government funded ad campaign called Click It or Ticket, which means that if you don’t wear your seatbelt then you’ll be issued a ticket. A local congressmonkey has pointed out that the ads are actually misleading:

But one state senator says the ad is untruthful and misleading because motorists in Tennessee cannot be pulled over and ticketed for not wearing a seat belt.

In Tennessee, adults can be ticketed for not being buckled up only if they are stopped for another violation, such as speeding.

Also, in Tennessee, passengers of motor vehicles can drink. The driver can’t. But they’re trying to change that:

Currently, Tennessee only outlaws drivers from boozing it up while on the road. But that has led to a loophole — drivers passing their beer cans to a passenger when the blue lights start flashing behind them. Legislation to end that cleared a Senate panel unanimously yesterday.

Similar legislation passed the Senate two years ago but stalled in the House, with some thinking it would cut down on the fun during road trips to University of Tennessee football games.

Now, as someone who drinks a lot as a passenger on his way to UT football games, I can say that waiting until I get to the tailgate party location to start slamming beers would be a major inconvenience.

Update: Justin details some more Tennessee driving law buffoonery. Up next: blood tests.

From the latest Commentaries:

We emphasize again that freedom and liberty are not interchangeable ideas. Freedom basically denotes the elimination of restraint – the breaking of shackles. It was used as a conspicuously successful morale builder for galley slaves, among others. It was promised to the slaves on the Christian side at the critical battle of Lapanto, 1574. They were told they would be freed if their side won. Since the existence of a galley slave is about the closest approximation of hell that humanity can devise, freedom from it was an unequaled objective. Liberty, on the other hand, is a political idea denoting the right of an individual to do whatever does not interfere with the activities of his neighbor. Men also fight very well for liberty, but that objective is less well understood and may not even be prized by persons lacking the spirit for it. Most of today’s governments are socialist in which liberty is mostly lacking, and the people in those states do not seem to mind. Thus it is somewhat annoying to hear exhortations which do not differentiate between those two words.

Another guy defended himself in NY and was subsequently charged with violating NY’s meaningless gun laws. Make no mistake, NY’s gun laws are designed to keep law abiding people from purchasing guns, not merely criminals.

Brian correlates red v. blue states in terms of gas prices. Red states have lower gas prices, apparently.

The trainer’s quote of the day has this snippet:

The murder rate in Gore counties, 13.2 per 100,000 residents, contrasted with 2.1 in the Bush counties.

Looks like gun and environmental controls are working as expected.

Update: Via Phelps, the murder rate quote is fabricated: The quote has been shown to be a lie. The actual ratio is about 6.5 to 4.1.

Les has his weekly gun links up.

I just want a record of this from CNN:

They also tend to be armed with AK-47s rather than more accurate rifles, giving soldiers time to return fire or get out of harm’s way.

It’s about Iraq, of course. Yet when AK-47s in the US are covered, they’re extremely deadly.

This time in New York. A Newsday article on .50 caliber rifles is accurate about the rifles:

The rifles shoot a large bullet and are accurate to within four inches at 1,000 yards at supersonic velocity, then carry more than two miles with declining accuracy. The forerunner is the .50-caliber machine gun that has been used in the military worldwide since World War I, but today’s rifles available on the legal market are often single shot, bolt-action firearms.

The Internet is also full of semiautomatic models that resemble the military assault weapon that have been mounted on tanks and jeeps for decades.

Today, the rifles cost between $2,000 and $11,000, can weigh 50 pounds and are most often used by target shooters in competitions nationwide. Occasionally they are used in big-game hunting in Africa, Alaska and some western states.

Of course, they quote Tom Diaz of the Violence Policy Center as well:

These are the tools of the trade of terrorists

Odd how the only violent crime committed with a .50 was by a policeman and not a terrorist. KABA has it right: Tom Diaz is nothing but a professional liar. In fact, here’s a list of VPC lies.

Tennessee legislators are trying to push a bill to allow gambling at charity events:

Charities that hold gambling events to raise money would have to keep at least 25 percent of the gross profits under a provision adopted Wednesday by the Tennessee House.

The House also voted to allow criminal background checks for board members of charities applying to hold a game.

Legislators further amended the bill to limit charitable gambling events in one location to two per month; as it came out of the Senate, the bill said two per week at any given site.

You’re kidding! All of those regulations seem to me to be completely arbitrary. I guess it makes them feel important to be involved.

The Commissar offers some advice for bloggers. With that, I’ll follow up with mechanical things that you can do:

Have a blogroll – If you link to other sites, people using Technorati or the Ecosystem will notice you’re linking to them. This may inspire them to read your blog. I find, however, some people have huge blogrolls and massive reciprocal links. Here at SayUncle, if you’re on the blogroll, then I read your site. If you don’t link to people, you won’t get noticed. I have to say that if you’re just starting out, do as I say and not as I do. Link to anyone you find interesting. People appreciate links.

Watch your hits – Whether you use sitemeter or any other traffic counter, figure out where your hits are coming from. People linking to you will let you know what sort of audience you’re attracting.

Read other blogs – And go there from your blogroll. People will appreciate that you read their site and this will get you noticed. Also, leave comments. I’m not saying troll comment sections and shamelessly plug your blog at every opportunity. I am saying that engaging in debate and discussion will increase your traffic.

Have comments – people like to discuss, debate, call you an idiot, or whatever. Of course, some folks’ sites get too bogged down with comments so they disable them but most of us aren’t that big. If people have a platform to express themselves or refute you, they’re more likely to come back.

Enable Trackbacks – Another way to find out who is linking to you. In fact, my page has in-line Trackbacks so that if you link to my site, you’re guaranteed a link back.

Email bloggers – Don’t email everything you write to everyone. In fact, lots of stuff that I personally get emailed as part of a bulk list gets classified as spam by Yahoo. But send well-thought posts about relevant issues. Borrowing from Volokh: Plug the post, not the site. If you have something insightful to say and you want to say it to someone, then email it. I get a lot of email and I’m a small-fry blogger. But I get, at a guess, 50 emails per day (that aren’t spam). I don’t read them all but try to read most of them.

I consider my blog moderately successful. I am a large mammal in the ecosystem. Even though it counts many carnival links for some reason despite emailing TTLB a few times, I still get quite a few links. I get 157 links excluding Carnival links which still places me in the Large Mammal group. I also get about 577 visits per day and 967 page views per day according to Sitemeter. Per Awstats, I get 759 visits and 2522 page views per day. I also have a fairly active comments section. If you’d asked me when I first started this blog (and my only reader was SouthKnoxBubba, and a big thanks to him for plugging me in my early days) if I thought my blog would do that well, I’d have said no. But I stuck to it and am quite happy with it.

That’s my advice. Take it for what it’s worth.

This 9/11 Commission thing is turning into a partisan pissing contest. I advise everyone to take anything from it with a grain of salt. No, it’s not Clinton’s fault that some whackos flew some planes into some buildings. It’s not Bush’s fault either.

This is just an attempt to prop up some political careers of congressmonkies, while taking some jabs at whichever other politico they want to make look bad. It also serves as a venue to let the same incompetent congressmonkies stand up on their bully-pulpit so they can show their constituents that they’re doing some work.

Unfortunately, this partisan snit will result in getting very few answers that mean anything substantial. Mark my words.

Via Ravenwood, it turns out a county in Oregon has banned marriage (gay and hetero) until the state decides who can get hitched.

There’s probably a lot of pissed off wedding planners in Oregon.

Brian has lots of good stuff. The two I found most interesting were this post on what the tipster in the Ohio sniper case had to go through; and you will get my bowling balls when you pry them from my cold dead hands. Actually, I don’t bowl. I guess I need to get a ball.

The bill requiring dogs in truck bed to be restrained has been withdrawn. I find it odd that this bill has been front page news off and on for about a month. Not much happens here in Tennessee.

This is about the worst article on the Assault Weapons Ban I have read. Not only is it factually inaccurate but it contains many spelling and grammatical errors. I’m glad this guy is on the other side.

WBAL writes:

A proposed state ban on assault weapons appears doomed this year in Annapolis.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich opposes the bill, and a Senate committee is poised to reject it by a single vote.

They may try to attach a tax bill to it to get it through but still seems to be good news.

Here’s another AWB post. During the recent Senate battle, I emailed my Senators in addition to phoning them. I have just now received a reply from my Democrat Senator:

Thank you for contacting me concerning the important issue of gun ownership and gun safety. I appreciate hearing from you.

I believe the best approach to this important issue is one which strikes a balance between two important principles: protecting the legitimate rights of law-abiding gun owners and keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals and children.

As you know, our state has a rich tradition of hunting and sporting uses of guns. I value this part of our state’s history, and I believe that the Second Amendment gives law-abiding citizens the right to own a gun. I also believe that there are a few common-sense measures that can improve the safety of firearms and help protect all of us from weapons in the hands of violent criminals.

I understand your view about the assault weapons ban, especially your concern that certain firearms used extensively by hunters and sportsmen are covered by the ban. While I am always open to suggestions for reform, it is my belief that the law already gives hunters and sportsmen a great deal of flexibility to choose the right weapons. Although you and I may disagree about this, please be assured that I will keep you thoughts in mind as the Senate considers this matter.

I will continue to support measures that strike this important balance, and I appreciate hearing from you about this issue. Please feel free to keep in touch.

This email is astonishingly similar to the snail-mail I got from him a couple months ago in response to my letter about the AWB. No, I don’t blame him for sending a form letter; it’s perfectly reasonable thing to do.

Still, if I had the Senator’s ear for a bit, I’d like to discuss some issues with him. For starters, let’s just consider “gun safety.” The Senator is obviously concerned with “safety,” because he mentions it twice. Well, first of all, I wasn’t aware that there was a national problem with unsafe guns in circulation. I mean, I think I read something about exploding Glocks, but that doesn’t seem like an issue for the Congress. Furthermore, as I recall, the AWB doesn’t address the gun safety. All it does is ban the manufacture of firearms with certain cosmetic features. How does that make the guns safer?

Ha ha, I’m only kidding. I know what the Senator REALLY means. “Gun safety” is just the new way of saying “gun control.” The Democrats have finally figured out that “gun control” isn’t a winning issue, but what kind of monster could be against safety? The Senator wants to keep us safe, not from our own guns, but from guns in “the hands of violent criminals and children.”

But wait a minute. Isn’t it ALREADY illegal for “violent criminals and children” to have ANY gun in their hands? So how does a law (that prohibits manufacture of firearms with certain cosmetic features) accomplish the goal of “keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals and children,” when laws that SPECIFICALLY PROHIBIT “violent criminals and children” from having guns in their hands aren’t doing the job?

Let’s move on. The Senator says he believes “the Second Amendment gives law-abiding citizens the right to own a gun.” That’s comforting, because I’m pretty sure that puts him in the minority in the Senate. But I’m not sure the Senator is all that familiar with the actual text of the Amendment, because he mentions “hunters and sportsmen” three times. Now, the Senator is a lawyer, and I am not, but I’m fairly certain the Second Amendment says nothing at all about hunters or sportsmen. In fact, I’m fairly certain the Supreme Court ruled that the Amendment really only protects the ownership of firearms that could be used by the militia–i.e., those used by soldiers.

However, there’s a more fundamental issue here that the Senator is side-stepping: where does the Constitution empower the Congress to ban the manufacture of certain firearms, regardless of the issues of “safety?”

I refer the Senator to the Constitution. In particular, Article 1, Section 8. Show me the one that empowers Congress to ban the manufacture of ANYTHING, much less certain firearms.

The Senator points out that the very first line says the Congress has the power to “provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.” That’s nice, but I’d like to refer the Senator to the words of James Madison (I believe he is considered an authority on the subject of the Constitution), from his veto of a public works bill and the Federalist #41. Madison says that the “general welfare clause” does not grant any powers; instead, it is a general phrase that is that is refined and qualified by the list of specific powers that follow. In other words: the “general welfare” clause is there to explain why the Congress has the following list of powers. Rather similar, if you think about it, to the “well-regulated militia” clause of the Second Amendment.

The Senator points out that the Congress DOES have the power to regulate commerce “among the several States.” That’s a very good point, and it’s true that the Congress has decided they can use this power to do just about whatever they please. I do note for the record that a Constitutional amendment was necessary for the Congress to prohibit the manufacture or sale of alcohol.

Anyway, that’s what I’d like to talk with the Senator about. It probably wouldn’t do much good. He’s unlikely to change his views, and since he’s not running for another term this fall, he doesn’t have much incentive to make me happy. I should be thankful, though: he hardly ever shows up for votes.

In honor of Buy a Gun for Michael Moore Day, Mrs. Uncle bought me a Ruger 10/22 Synthetic.

Now I gotta get one of these.

Today’s our anniversary. Two years. We’re no longer eligible to be contestants on The Newlywed Game. I figure it’s OK if one gun serves as a gift and a Buy a Gun for Moore purchase.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie!

Publicola emails that he thinks my primer on the assault weapons ban may have a factual error. He thinks that grenade launchers (i.e., a device that throws grenades) is not actually regulated by any gun law. This is largely a moot point with respect to the assault weapons ban as, even though launchers may not be, grenades themselves have been regulated as destructive devices since 1934. And I do recall seeing flare launchers for sale at gun shows that could launch grenades. Does anyone know if launchers themselves are regulated or if it’s just the grenades?

I posted this entry with a little over a year to go on the ban. Since the ban is looming, I figure a repost is in order:

The Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 (hereinafter AWB) is confusing.

People were led to believe that rifles like this one:

Would be banned. While rifles like this one:

Wouldn’t be. Of course, both rifles above fire 5.56MM ammo, accept magazines with a capacity of 30 (and even more) rounds. Oh, and both of the above rifles are actually not banned by the AWB. The latter rifle doesn’t look as mean. Continuing with the rifles that look evil theme, look at this one:

The above rifle is legal to own:

This one isn’t:

Alert readers will note that this is a picture of the same rifle mentioned above. What then is the difference? The first rifle was made on September 13, 1994. The second was made on September 14, 1994. Tricky, isn’t it?

The most important factor is that the AWB doesn’t ban Assault Weapons. It bans features. It actually doesn’t ban individual features. It bans combinations of features. From the text of the AWB:

(B) a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of-

(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
(ii)a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
(iii)a bayonet mount;
(iv) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor; and
(v) a grenade launcher

First, grenade launchers have been regulated as destructive devices since the 1934 Gun Control Act. And drive-by bayoneting hasn’t been a problem for anyone. A rifle made on or after September 14, 1994 can have one of the above features but not two or more. Such as this one:

You wouldn’t know it to look at the picture, but the one above has a pin (which coincidentally is easy to remove) inserted into its stock that prevents it from collapsing. Mind you, you can purchase stocks that come in varieties of sizes ranging from the shortest position of a telescopic stock to longer than the telescopic stock. The AWB has just banned the ability for the same stock to change sizes. You can still purchase small stocks or large ones.

Also, that thing on the tip of the barrel isn’t a flash suppressor, it’s a muzzle break. A flash suppressor doesn’t actually suppress the flash. It causes the flash to disburse to the sides of the barrel instead of straight ahead. A gun with a flash suppressor is as easy to see fired at night as one without. What is the significance of a suppressor then? You can maintain a site picture without the flash getting in the way. Now the muzzle break is designed to keep the barrel from rising when fired. You’ll notice that you can’t tell the difference between a flash suppressor and muzzle break in this picture so I will tell you the difference. A flash suppressor has vents all the way around the circumference of it. A muzzle break only has vents on top. So, the AWB has essentially banned the placement of little holes on a small piece of metal, which doesn’t affect the fact that the gun is still a semi-automatic rifle based on a military design.

As for pistol grips, that seems to be the feature most people want. It doesn’t affect the function of the weapons it just makes it more comfortable to shoot.

People interpret the threaded barrel bit as a ban on threaded barrels when really it is a ban on threaded barrels that can accept flash suppressors. Of course, you could have a threaded barrel so long as there no suppressors available for it.

So to recap: A rifle made before September 14, 1994 can have any of the above features. A rifle made after can only have one. If you think you have it mastered, I suggest you take this little quiz. Good luck and tell me how you did. I missed one.

Barry has trackback and wants to see if it works.

Update: Nope.

Update2: You have to ping the trackback URL. It’s not smart enough to associate the permalink with the trackback.

Bjorn tells us exactly why we shouldn’t purchase any third-party warranties. Read it, it could save you a few bucks.

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights is being taken seriously. Bill Hobbs has been on this issue for about two years now. What it does:

When the state government takes in excess money, taxpayers would get a refund of the extra cash under a proposal going before a legislative committee Tuesday.

The ”Taxpayer Bill of Rights” is designed to keep state revenue from growing more than population growth plus inflation.

Money over the amount set by that formula would be refunded to taxpayers through a check or a reduction in taxes.

It’s modeled after a law in Colorado that taxpayer advocates cheer but advocates for public services call a devastating straitjacket on government finance.

The constitutional provisions would also give voters the last say on tax increases.

The 9/11 commission has cited inaction by both the Bush and Clinton administrations. To be honest, I think all of this is just a witch hunt. I tend to doubt either administration thought seriously that the attacks could have been pulled off.

Walmart housed a program that did tax returns for low and moderate income tax payers. But not any more:

After nearly 10 years hosting a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site inside its Walker Springs location, the discount chain has informed VITA tax preparers to find somewhere else to do free tax returns for low- and moderate-income taxpayers.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Services, a for-profit tax preparer, has a contract with Wal-Mart to sell its services at the store and said the Internal Revenue Service-sponsored VITA program was competing for customers in violation of that contract.

Jeff of Protein Wisdom got a letter from Ted Kennedy and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign. He gives the letter a nice little fisking, so I won’t comment on the content of the letter. I just want to know one thing:

How the blazes did I get on THIS mailing list?

Turns out teachers don’t do so well on tests. Another study is here. I’m starting to see why teachers oppose No Child Left Behind requirements about testing.

Another proposed .50 ban full of the usual lies and misinformation. Can anyone actually identify a crime that has been committed with one of these rifles?

Even though I am skeptical of any claim made by Al Qaeda, it is important to note that their number two whacko is going around telling people they have a suitcase nuke:

Osama bin Laden’s terror network claims to have bought ready-made nuclear weapons on the black market in central Asia, the biographer of al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader was quoted as telling an Australian television station.

In an interview scheduled to be televised on Monday, Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir said Ayman al-Zawahri claimed that “smart briefcase bombs” were available on the black market. It was not clear when the interview between Mir and al-Zawahri took place.

Unfortunately, yours truly did not watch 60 Minutes last night. This is mostly because I never watch 60 Minutes or any other tabloid news program (particularly when The Simpsons is on). But apparently, Richard Clarke asserted that the administration was woefully inadequate at this whole terrorism thing and kept trying to steer things toward attacking Iraq.

These charges are pretty heinous and absolutely should be addressed but there is one factor that I still have to consider: The jilted lover factor. Seems to me Clarke may have ulterior motives.

Update: Drudge is reporting that CBS had a financial stake in the book and didn’t disclose it. This page at CBS says:

His allegations are also made in a book, “Against All Enemies,” which is being published Monday by Free Press, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster. Both CBSNews.com and Simon & Schuster are units of Viacom.

But I don’t know if that info was made available on 60 Minutes. Could be nothing.

Phelps writes:

And one last thing: You may think of yourself as Upper-Middle Class, S-Train, but to the people who talk about “the rich” and “the poor”, you get lumped into the rich pile. When people start talking about The Man, they are talking about you.

Yup. I recall when that Democrat stooge (governor of Washington, I think) did his rebuttal to the president’s state of the union last year. He admitted that the rich were those that made over $300,000 per year. If you can’t stop working now and never work again, you’re not the rich.

Buddy Don has posted some Whisky Porn.

If I almost financially ruined my employer, I don’t think I’d be trying to get a 49% raise. But that’s what Tennessee legislators are trying to do:

A bill pending in the General Assembly would raise legislators’ salaries for the first time in 16 years, something some lawmakers say is necessary to attract and retain quality members.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike Kernell, a Memphis Democrat who lists ”legislator” as his occupation in legislative reference books, would bump the salaries from $16,500 to $24,600.

[Snip]

Tennessee lawmakers, in addition to their salaries, also receive $525 a month for home office expenses, along with $129 a day per diem when they’re in Nashville and 32 cents a mile for travel expenses

However, they do seem a bit underpaid. I guess we get what we pay for.

So, the founder of Hamas has been whacked. Doesn’t break my heart but I wonder if this will add a few hundred years to that little conflict in the Middle East.

I’m no fan of Kerry but comparing him to Michael Jackson is just mean.

And we thought police were all for gun control:

I took exception to Tuesday’s letter, “Common sense won,” from Marsha McCartney of the Dallas Million-Mom March for implying that any vote against the assault weapons ban was a vote against law enforcement. I have been a police officer for the last 13 years, and I can’t remember the last time I saw an assault weapon used in a crime.

Assault weapons simply are not the weapons of choice for criminals. I have talked to a great many officers, and I have yet to find one who supports the assault weapons ban. They see it for what it is – a political ploy by liberal politicians that has no benefit on society.

So I am wondering what law enforcement the Texas senators turned their back on. As far as I can see, they stood with us.

Mark Mladenka, Dallas

I personally know a lot of local policemen. All of them seem to be opposed to the ban.

This article addresses some of the gun bill stuff. My issue with it is that it refers to Americans for Gun Safety as a moderate group. Moderate, my ass. Continuing:

They should look, in fact, to a bill to be offered as an amendment to S. 659. The amendment would close the gun-show loophole, a move supported by President Bush, that currently requires dealers at gun shows to conduct background checks on buyers but exempts casual sellers who are sometimes not so casual. The loophole not only gives criminals an easy way to buy a wide range of high-powered guns in large quantities but creates an unfair market for legitimate dealers. The bill, sponsored by Republican Sens. John McCain and Mike DeWine and Democratic Sens. Jack Reed and Joe Lieberman, redefines the difference between commercial sales, which would include sales where at least 75 firearms are offered, and private sales, including sales from private homes or at hunt clubs, which would be exempt.

Background checks have become much faster – more than 90 percent take less than a few minutes, only 4 percent take more than a day, according to the FBI – and would not be a burden for the small-time seller. Under the bill, the gun show officials itself would qualify as licensees to call in any sale. The checks would be further improved by legislation co-sponsored by Sens. Larry Craig, a Republican, and Edward Kennedy, a Democrat, to speed up and improve the accuracy of the checks.

The reauthorization of the assault-weapons ban is expected to be a second major amendment to S. 659. Despite the warnings of a slippery slope infringement on the Second Amendment when it was passed 10 years ago, the assault-weapons ban has not led to the widespread diminishment of gun ownership. But it has worked: the percentage of banned weapons traced to crimes has dropped by two-thirds since 1994, and a strong majority of Americans, including a majority of gun owners, back its reauthorization.

The assault weapons ban has had zero impact on crime. The reason is that these weapons were only used in considerably less than one percent of crimes before the ban and these weapons also represented a small market share of total guns sold. Also, very few criminals get guns at gun shows.

And then there’s this:

The ban, enacted in 1994, will expire Sept. 13 unless renewed by Congress and signed by President Bush.

Among those supporting the legislative effort is Atlantic Chief of Police Roger Muri. He said while his department has never had to deal with such a weapon, they never want to.

“That is it in a nutshell,” he said. “These types of weapons are designed for one purpose – to rob banks and ’shoot the place’ up.”

Muri said he supports the right to own guns, but sees no need for assault weapons.

If you support the ban on assault weapons, you do not support the right to own guns. I have an AR15 and I am happy to say that I have never robbed a bank nor have I shot the place up.

And it looks like Pennsylvania is looking at enacting its own ban.

One thing I have noticed is that just about every article I have read to day points to the fact the assault weapons ban (which isn’t a ban and has no effect on assault weapons) is expiring. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more stories that tell us the sky is falling as September 13 draws near.

Here is a decent article on problems with Pit Bull bans:

“Many people believe that pit bulls and Rottweilers are dangerous dogs. In law, the general rule in the United States is that no dog is dangerous because of its breed. Rather, it is dangerous only as a result of its actions.”

After all, ANY dog — for that matter, any animal, including a human — can be “trained” to become a vicious, anti-social beast. Violent tendencies are not necessarily inherent to a particular breed, they are learned behaviors.

And that is where the focus should rightly be placed: on the owner who trains the dog to be a threat to unsuspecting passers-by.

We hope city commissioners will not fall victim to that peculiar brand of groupthink in which an entire breed is condemned due to the unfortunate actions of a few unpenitent outlaws.

There are laws already on the books concerning animal behavior; those laws simply must be enforced, because they were intended to guarantee public safety.

This also ignores the fact that when Breed Specific Legislation is passed, owners of dogs who teach those dogs to be vicious just switch to another breed.

I still get a lot of hits to this post from people searching for spiked bracelets. I get the occasional comment as well and they’re pretty funny. There’s some new comments so go read them. They’re quite funny.

Seriously, Mike is back from hiatus. It’s a blog you should be reading (and it’s a blog he should be writing more regularly).

How about those Fightin’ Whiteys? Vandy Men upset NC State!

In other news, MTSU women upset the Lady Tarheels.

Lots of good basketball teams in Tennessee. Congratulations all around! Tomorrow, hopefully, Vanderbilt’s women will win, and the Lady Vols will LOSE LOSE LOSE! We hates it, my precious.

Angel Shamaya, director of Keep and Bear Arms (which gets more hits than the NRA website), was asked to lend his financial support to President Bush. His response is here and worth the read.

A new article on the M1 Garand is up over at the Carnival.

Got up. Mowed the lawn for the first time this year and washed cars. Spent the rest of the day packing. Beautiful weather until about 10 minutes ago when it started to look like a storm. And about an hour ago I through some beer butt chicken on the grill. Good ol’ Rocky Top.

Update: Looks like the storm of doom is coming. Rain, lightning, and just ugliness.

I just an entire set of World Book Encyclopedias for THREE DOLLARS!

Now I need a bookshelf…

Spain is pulling out of Iraq and Poland has threatened to. But I thought this was a unilateral, US only operation. I thought that because that’s what the press and certain politicos tell me. Unilateral, my ass.

Thibodeaux provided a link to this VPC chart that supposedly details the assault weapons used to kill police officers. One of them is the M151A. Turns out the M151A is a jeep. Yes, a jeep. Losers.

I felt obligated to save the page to my local hard drive for future reference.

I’d seen the page before but never really paid attention. By my count, the number of assault weapons (as defined by law) on there is only 13 (i.e., only the ARs and the AKs. The MAKs and others are, you know, post ban).

No comment but I will be curious to see how (or if) this pans out.

For a while there, I had a slogan: I do this to entertain me, not you. I don’t have one currently, but I’ve been contemplating some:

SayUncle, where our daily content is bigger than our blogroll.

SayUncle, we say more dumb shit before noon than most people say all day.

SayUncle, proud affiliate of the Republican controlled media conglomerate.

SayUncle, the other liberal media.

SayUncle, I don’t need all of you to believe me, just 12.

Discuss.

Thanks to Jay Allen. MT Blacklist has been working overtime.