Dave Kopel and David Hardy now of a blog entitled Of Arms and the Law. It’s mostly David Hardy right now. Still, it will be an excellent resource.

Terri Schiavo has died.

I don’t mean they’re bad for the environment in that, aside from turning perfectly good food into shit, they spend most of their time making a ton of diapers. I’ve mentioned before that the Mrs. and I recycled. We always felt it our civic duty, no matter the inconvenience, to make sure the world was a better place by recycling and some other hippie, tree-hugging bullshit that comes with the guilt of being affluent.

We had multiple trash cans for aluminum, plastic bottles, and various colors of glass bottles. We also had bins for newspapers, magazines, cardboard and plastic grocery bags. We’d make the weekly trip to the recycling centers (note the plural: no one recycling center in our area takes all recyclables so the trip always involves two stops).

With the baby, storage space is now at a premium in the Uncle household. We’re storing Junior’s no longer used clothes, toys, knickknacks, and other vital items in the event we have another child. So, we made the decision to screw the environment. No amount of hippie, tree-hugging bullshit will clear up a 10 by 5 feet area of valuable storage space in my garage. We’re not recycling anymore.

Plus, think of all the gas we’ll save and how that will put an end to global warming. Additionally, we spend about $30 per month for trash pickup. At the end of the week, our trash can had only one or two bags of trash in it for them to pick up. Everything else, we recycled. We weren’t getting our money’s worth.

I don’t feel bad. Screw the environment, what has it done for me? At least we’re not filling landfills with clothes, toys, knickknacks, and other vital items.

Cathy over at Domestic Psychology has the latest.

Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s just a coincidence but Blogging for Bryant notes that, since I chided the Van Hilleary site for it’s lack of content, that Hilleary’s website now has the disclaimer:

Welcome to the temporary website of the Hilleary for Senate campaign. We’ll have a full website and blog up in the coming weeks. Thanks for your patience.

Heh.

Update: In other news, Michael Silence informed Governor Bredesen about Stacey Campfield’s blog.

Head notes his favorite gun BS lines. I should note that gun dealers are usually the worst. I’ll add:

The military went with the 5.56 because it injured and did not kill. Thus, it took two people out of combat since an injured soldier would be rescued by a comrade.

The 5.56 tumbles upon impact. It goes in one hole and comes out somewhere else.

The 1911 is the best semi-auto ever.

Yeah, a set screw will make it fully automatic.

AKs are better than ARs.

That’s a fair price.

Dealers still label their rifles pre-ban and expect to get $1,500 for them.

I was just cleaning it, it went off in my hand.

Anyone can get a new machine gun, it just costs an extra $200.

Chrome-lined barrels are more accurate.

Update: 25 is an effective round.

A two-liter bottle, potato, or other household item makes a good silencer.

I’ve blogged before about how I’m not up to date on current movies and products because, due to TiVo, I never watch commercials. It also occurred to me tonight that, in the event of inclement weather or disaster, I won’t ever get notification via the Emergency Broadcast System since I don’t watch live TV. I wonder how long before something like that happens and some idiot tries to sue TiVo because it didn’t warn them?

Warning: Profanity to follow, do not click if that offends you and you have no sense of humor.

The Daily Probe is too damn funny

Read the rest of this entry »

I guess she looks so sad in the picture because she spent $422.25 on a gun that I bought for $275. She writes about how easy it is to buy an AK-47, which she describes as:

It was a clone, like most AK-47s in America. The first President Bush made it illegal to import the Russian and Chinese military models. The knock-offs look like AK-47s, fire like AK-47s and are very accurate at short distances. I said I’d take it.

First, you bought an imported WASR-10, which is not an AK-47. It is a semi-automatic version of the Kalashnikov rifle. It is not very accurate at any distance but is good enough.

Even this one, a semiautomatic rifle developed for Soviets tank crews to kill from a mile away.

I think you have your gun propaganda mixed up and are thinking of a 50 caliber. The bullet for an AK will travel a mile but the gun is only accurate out to about 300 yards.

Anyway, welcome to the shooting sports, Josie. Now, go get some ammo. Maybe she should go to the Second Annual Shooting for Women Conference.

An Illinois lawmaker has proposed concealed carry legislation there. Yes, that Illinois:

An Illinois lawmaker wants to allow the state’s residents to carry concealed firearms.

“We definitely believe that with concealed carry permits, the crime rate will go down in Illinois,” Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Norris City, the bill’s chief sponsor, said.

And not only is it Illinois, but there’s that conspicuous D after his name.

That’s pretty funny.

Stacey Campfield reports that one of his bills was killed for what was quoted on his blog. He also reports that the Tennessean is going to do a story on his blog. Good. More politicos should blog. And if they don’t want to blog, they could always send emails to bloggers with permission to post it.

Mr. Campfield, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, you need to run a spell checker on your posts. You can get one here. Granted, it won’t pick up things like for all intense and purposes but it’s a start. A proofreader wouldn’t hurt, either.

Update: TeeVee picked up on the story.

As did The Tennessean.

Bill Hobbs has more.

Update 2: Forgot to mention, Matthew White broke the story first.

I’m all for gun safety. I’m all for educating kids about guns and educating parents too. A recent $40K ad campaign has kicked off in Knoxville advising parents to lock up their guns:

The first of many billboards went up Tuesday morning, announcing the gun safety campaign. The signs say “Put ‘em up for children’s sake, lock up guns.”

Lamar Advertising donated billboard space for the $40,000 campaign. The agency is teaming up with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office for the campaign.

“This is a very important reminder for parents and anyone with children in the house,” Sheriff Tim Hutchison in a press release.

Of course, if you lock up your guns so that your child cannot access them, then you’ve defeated the point of having a gun in the first place because you can’t access them. If they’re in your safe, they’re not going to be real accessible in the event you need one. I have a gun safe for most of my guns but I keep one at the ready in case I need it. Fiddling with a lock is not something I want to be doing in the event I need a gun.

That said, I recommend people explore options such as quick access gun cabinets or storage boxes. They can be accessed by typing in a code or other measures. Junior isn’t walking around yet so, for now, my at the ready gun is in the nightstand. Once she’s mobile, I guess I’ll have to come up with something else. And, more importantly, when she’s of age, we’ll talk about guns and gun safety. Unfortunately, many parents don’t address guns and gun safety with their kids and act like they don’t exist. It’s a pity.

One of the problems with the AR-15 platform is that the gas tube can get dirty very quickly. This will result in failure to feed problems if the weapon isn’t cleaned regularly. This design issue (commonly called it eats where it shits because the gas tub comes in at the bolt, where ammo is fed) can also lead to carbon build up on the bolt and carrier, spring issues, unnecessary heat build up, and more.

Because of this, DSA and POF USA teamed up to create the P-416. This upper, while pricey at $975, operates on a gas piston system and features a ton of extra goodies. Excellent. Arms Tech has had one for a while but is so backed up with military contracts that there are no civilian sales.

Defense Review has more.

Having solved all of the county’s other problems, there will be more legislation against local adult businesses:

Knox County Commission Monday unanimously passed an ordinance that requires adult businesses to get a new license. However, it’s not as far reaching as you may think.

[boo-hooing and crying about the ordinance not going far enough snipped - What media bias? - Ed.]

Meantime, adult businesses in the county have 30 days to apply for a license. Then everyone who works at the store has to pass a background check.

Why a background check? Wait for it:

“One of the things we want to make sure is that employees of these businesses aren’t felons,” says county Law Director Mike Moyers. “And specific felons, basically not sexual predators or drug dealers. We’re limiting the hours of operation.”

Huh? What the Hell does a felony conviction have to do with working at a porn store? I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to sell illegal drugs illegally at other places too. Are we going to perform checks on folks who work at drive-thru restaurants too? It seems to me, they just want to put an undue burden on the places to make opening such an establishment less appealing. More:

The stores can only be open from 8:00 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday. They can’t be open on Sunday under any circumstances.

You should be in church, you heathen, not getting a turgid little nubbin in the porn store.

The most significant thing the ordinance does is define what’s classified as an adult business. Some adult stores found ways to get around the classification under old zoning laws that used the amount of adult inventory.

Blount County had a problem with definition of adult businesses too. But, it seems in Knoxville, people skirted the law:

“On Lovell Road right now, there’s a store that sells X-rated videos and they have three, two, maybe three antique Harley Davidson motorcycles in there for sale. The value of those three motorcycles is greater than the value of all the X-rated material they have for sale. So they’ve circumvented the current zoning ordinance,” Griess explains.

I’m glad they’re trying to keep me safe from porn by requiring five tests ranging from the amount of displayed merchandise to the amount of revenue derived from adult merchandise. I mean, you can’t help but go in there. There’s nothing preventing me from going in there except, you know, self restraint and personal responsibility.

The Emergency Evacuation Kit distributed to state employees in NY. How utterly, terribly sad.

Jeff has the latest on anti-gun bias in the media.

Yeah, I know.

A man convicted of raping a woman at gunpoint for two hours before shooting her has been spared death:

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday threw out the death penalty in a rape-and-murder case because jurors had studied Bible verses such as “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” during deliberations.

On a 3-2 vote, justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without parole for kidnapping 25-year-old cocktail waitress Rhonda Maloney in 1994, raping her at gunpoint for two hours and then fatally shooting her.

The jurors in Harlan’s 1995 trial sentenced him to die, but defense lawyers discovered five of them had looked up Bible verses, copied them down and talked about them while deliberating a sentence behind closed doors.

The Supreme Court said “at least one juror in this case could have been influenced by these authoritative passages to vote for the death penalty when he or she may otherwise have voted for a life sentence.”

I’m generally opposed to the death penalty but I am also opposed to judges usurping the functions of a jury.

WATE reports:

A woman from Seymour has sold her name on eBay for $15,199.

Once the legal work is done, Terri Iligan’s new name will be goldenpalace.com.

The mother of five points out, the name change will only be on paper.

“To my kids and to my husband I will always be Terri. My husband is real supportive. He thinks it’s funny and the kids think it’s funny. As long as they get to call me mom, they don’t care.”

To study the recent deaths of people from Tasers and other stun guns, a professor plans to test them on pigs to see if they die from the shock or other causes:

A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison plans to study whether stun guns alone can kill pigs — or whether other medical factors must be at play — as part of an effort to understand why 70 people have died in North America since 2001 after being shocked by Tasers.

Animal rights groups are upset about it. Why the test?

Webster wants to test his hypothesis that Taser-related deaths were the result of heart failure fueled by drug use and other medical factors, not electrocution by the devices. To do so, researchers will begin in the next month studying how Taser electrical currents flow through 150-pound pigs.

A law aimed to curb the production of Meth in Tennessee is about to become law. The bill would require certain cold medicines be kept behind the counters at the pharmacy.

Sounds like a decent idea, I suppose. However, I’d say this could lead to more pharmacies being robbed at gunpoint.

First, sorry for taking so long to get to this fifth one (and I will do a sixth for Publicola) but been a bit busy. So, here are five questions for Ben:

1 – You can have one handgun and one only for the rest of your life, which would it be?

2 – Now, a rifle?

3 – So, what exactly is Carnaby Fudge and what does it mean?

4 – You use Linux? What on earth for?

5 – Battlestar Galactica: 2005 or 1970s?

Blogging for Bryant alerts us to the fact that Senate hopeful Hilleary has a launched a website. I guess Hilleary and his peeps don’t understand what a website can be used for. All his site tells us is that:

1) He’ll vote for conservative judges

2) So far, he’s in the lead. Yes, 19 months prior to the election, we want to know that you’re in the lead. Whoopty-damn-doo. You were also in the lead in that run for governor. How’d that work out?

We want the issues, dude. Give us that or go home.

Update: Oh yeah, and he wants money.

It’s pretty cool that a local congresscritter has a blog. It’s even cooler that he references South Park. Heh.

No, not the blog. But this article entitled The War of the Wrong is worth reading. A taste:

The recently expired Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) actually gives real insight into the mindset of the Million Mom March, the Violence Policy Center, or the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The AWB, which went into effect in 1994, was passed largely as a “feel good” measure. It made some politicans (sic) look like they were concerned about gun violence at the same time the law was essentially worthless. Though the anti-gun advocacy groups praised the AWB, and even demanded its renewal and expansion before it sunsetted in 2004, the reality of the AWB was that it addressed almost nothing but purely cosmetic features of various “ugly” firearms. The banned firearms, outside of appearances, didn’t fire different calibers at greater speeds than many hunting weapons not affected by the ban. This shows that anti-gunners are far more concerned with how things look than with how they actually are.

I don’t really have an issue with passive verb tense other than to the effect it is used to minimize something. Like this:

Two sheriff’s deputies in Lake County, Fla., were shot and injured when an officer’s gun accidentally discharged while training, according to a Lake County Sheriff’s Office release.

The officer accidentally discharged it. The gun did not accidentally discharge itself.

But only in that half-ass, they don’t really mean it kind of way:

The Virginia state legislature has passed SB301 which will protect some owner rights when property is seized by the state or its divisions through eminent domain.

Property owners, however, will have to wait a while before they obtain any kind of relief. The bill provides that when property is seized by any state government agency and has not been put to the public use for which is was seized after a period of 15 years; the property owner must be offered a chance to repurchase it. The offering price must be the original sale price plus interest at 6 percent per year.

Or how about, you know, just not taking it in the first place if the project isn’t ready to go?

Registration for the Blog conference to be held in Nashville has opened up. If you plan on going, head on over and sign up. Looks like a bunch of folks will be there, some of them I’ve even heard of.

The judge in the Jackson case has ruled that the past allegations of child molestation against Jackson may be used as testimony. Where have these folks been? In a cave in Afghanistan?

Who on the Earth doesn’t know that Jackson has been accused of this stuff before?

If you were ever a total nerd role-playing enthusiast as I was in the ’80s, you’ve probably seen Jeff Dee’s artwork. Turns out he has a home page of his own. It’s nothing fancy, but it does have some of his artwork as well as some articles he wrote. He seems like an interesting fellow.

Enjoy!

I’ve noted in the past how gun laws (notably the Assault Weapons Ban) had made it hard for troops to get adequate supplies. For example, the military magazines for the M9 pistol had spring issues and there was a shortage of the magazines and springs because there was no civilian market for regular capacity magazines (see here and here). Also, there were reports that AR15 regular capacity magazines were harder to come by because the Army’s supply was old and no one was making new ones without an interest from the civilian market.

Now, gun laws are again having a detrimental effect on the efforts in Iraq. An acquaintance of mine has accepted a job as a contractor in Iraq. He is a policeman and has been contracted to serve in a consulting capacity with Iraqi police forces for one year. It’s a sweet deal in that he gets a pretty healthy salary; three trips home for vacation; and his wages are exempt from federal taxation. Of course, it does run the risk of getting him killed. There are many, many other policemen doing the same thing.

He must provide his own weapons for the job (though I would assume he’d have access to some when he gets there). As such, I was asked if I could build him some AR15s, if he bought the parts then I would assemble them. He wants an AR15 for a variety of reasons but notably because with the US military there, parts can be found. He wants two AR15s. One with a 10.5 inch barrel and telescoping stock (at least the AWB is gone, and he can get a telescoping stock legally) for use inside a vehicle; and one with a 16 inch barrel for longer range stuff. I informed him that the 16 inch would be no problem at all. However, to get a 10.5 inch barreled AR, he would have to go the National Firearms Act route and fill out an application to make a short-barreled-rifle; pay the $200 tax; get approval from the chief law enforcement officer in his area; and then wait for 3 to 6 months for approval from the ATF. He’s leaving sooner than that. And I won’t build one because I’d go to jail.

It never came up, but I’m sure he would want them to have full-auto/three shot burst fire control groups as well. If I were in Iraq, I would. Of course, if I built one of those for him, that would be making a machine gun and he and I would go to jail. And, since 1986, there can be no new transfers of machine guns to civilians.

So, we have a guy going to Iraq, contracted by the feds, who can’t equip himself with the weapons he needs/wants. Now, he can wait and get those weapons when he arrives in Iraq. And he could spend about $100 on an AK-47 off the street while he’s there too. However, he wants to get his weapons now so that he can function test them, take them to the range, break them in, and familiarize himself with these weapons before arriving in the combat zone. It’d suck to get there and realize your AR was faulty.

Matthew White has more on Tyler Harber.

The FBI is getting in on the selling guns to people who don’t have felony convictions and are not illegal immigrants but are on a federal watch-list issue:

FBI Director Robert Mueller is forming a study group to review the law that let suspected terrorists buy guns in the United States after they cleared background checks.

Mueller unveiled his plan to form the Justice Department working group, which will include the FBI, in a letter sent Wednesday to Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. The group will also review the government report issued earlier this month that said more than 40 terror suspects were able to buy firearms in the United States last year because background checks showed they had no felony convictions and weren’t illegal immigrants.

I would hope they would be. Putting them on a list doesn’t make them guilty and should not revoke their rights.

Bubba welcomes a bunch of blogs into the fold of the Rocky Top Brigade:

Todd, who has a couple of blogs.

Blogging for Bryant, which covers the TN 2006 Senate race and who I have mentioned before.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton Civic forum.

Chris Woodhull, who I’ve mentioned before, is a blogging Knoxville City Councilman.

Communists for TennCare, who I have also mentioned before, is just too damn funny. Though the original communist shtick can be found here.

Poop Happens, by Poopie.

Tennessee Guerilla Women, kinda moonbatty but without all the crazy. And Rs.

Whoa Mama! for your mental health needs.

Will work for doughnuts. He will work hard because most people would take the easy way and spell it donuts.

Welcome aboard all.

A bill is in the works to curb eminent domain abuse in Nevada:

Care’s 2-page bill would bar the use of eminent domain by government agencies to get property for open-space use or for “protecting, conserving or preserving wildlife habitat.”

The measure also says an agency could exercise eminent domain powers to get property for a redevelopment project only after making a written finding that “a condition of blight exists for each individual parcel of property” being acquired.

Not the best but it’s a start. Of course, since the federal government owns 92% of Nevada, they’re probably running out of room.

We keep seeing more bills against eminent domain lately. I’m guessing people are getting mad enough to contact their representatives or they figure the Supreme Court will not rule in favor of property owners.

An $80M federal program to give people free gun locks isn’t working out as planned. It seems farmers are using their free gun locks to lock their gates. I want my money back.

I, personally, have about 10 or so gun locks laying around the house collecting dust. It seems everyone gives you one with the purchase of a new gun these days. I don’t use them. Maybe I could donate them to some farmers.

Via Deb.

In this post, I pointed out how a report had confused millimeters with caliber. I then (from memory, TLTG) figured up a quick caliber conversion. I was wrong. Reader Andrew commented

As I have no doubt you are aware, the .38 special caliber shoots 0.357″ bullets, which equates to 9.0678mm (exactly – the inch has actually been defined as exactly 2.54cm. Interestingly the meter has been defined as the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 seconds. The second has been defined as the time it takes for 9,162,631,770 vibration cycles in the radiation emmited (sic) by cessium (sic)-133). Near enough to just call it 9mm. Now, if the .38 special actually fired 0.380″ bullets, it would be 9.652mm.

I am nothing, if not self-correcting.

Michael Silence notes that some local politicos aren’t happy about other local politicos blogging.

Matthew White first drew attention to the issue:

Speaker Jimmy Naifeh’s staff is taking pot shots at a State Representative for starting a blog and daring to show the public what goes on behind the curtain. The Speaker himself has retaliated against the blogger, Rep. Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville), by re-referring one of Campfield’s bills to committee because he didn’t respect the institution of the House.

And what non-scandal would be complete without an intern. Here’s the intern’s blog and here’s Stacey Campfield’s blog.

For all your weekend gun blogging, The Carnival of Cordite #6 is up.

A reader emails:

Was reading up on Walther PPKs, as it was recommended to me by a county police officer. My situation? I am a paraplegic with tremendous upper body strength and am finding I tend to get accosted lately in mall parking lots…when I’m getting back into my van. I carry police grade mace and a knife, but quickly realized these bozos must have been scoping me out because they picked the moment or two when I was MOST vulnerable to come up to the van and into MY space. Mace and knife both out of reach…

Question: where can I get info on permits and CC in North Carolina? I keep getting different answers from those I ask….and haven’t found the right website yet. This is new territory for me and I’m trying to get all the steps in order so I can find myself on the local shooting range, checking out which handgun will suit me best.

He also wants advice on which gun and carry set up to use. I have addressed wheelchair carry before but that person stated they had weak grip strength so I don’t think it’s completely applicable. I should point out that he wants to carry the gun on his person and not on his wheelchair. I, of course, recommended either a Sig, Glock, H&K or Springfield XD in any .4X caliber as the Walther, though easily concealable, doesn’t fire a powerful enough round. He also wants to carry in a shoulder holster for cooler weather and an ankle holster in warmer weather. So, if you have any advice, leave it in comments.

If you’re familiar with North Carolina’s CCW law, steer the gentleman in the right direction. I recommended he head down to the local range/gun shop and take a class. Those folks would provide him with the information on where/how to get a permit in addition to training him properly in the safety and handling of firearms.

He also writes:

A little background on me: I’ve been in a wheelchair for 30 years and moved to NC eight years ago. I have to admit I was NOT pro-gun for most of my life, but I have seen the error of my ways! I am 53 and value my independence above all else. My attitude now is that I’ll go do my shopping (or whatever) by myself and if anybody tries to F**K with me seriously, I’m going to be prepared and trained to defend myself.

There you have it.

Update: Apparently, the reader is not a he. I just assumed and we know what that does. So, she may not need the blond with a big chest that reader Robert suggested.

Bruce notes a report that a 38MM handgun has quite a kick. Then, they corrected this error noting it was a 0.38MM handgun.

For those who don’t know, it’s actually a .38 caliber handgun which is approximately 9.5MM, IIRC.

I’m sure this doesn’t matter to some folks because it doesn’t matter if the bullet is near 1.5 inches in diameter, or 0.38 inches in diameter, or 0.02 inches in diameter because they’re all killers so who needs the truth?

Update: They’ve since fixed it.

There’s a new blog in town (my town, anyway) devoted to Blount County. Check out Blount Truth.

Update: I found this item about a police search at a local high school rather troubling.

In this post highlighting how the comparison to machine guns and their semi-automatic counterparts from the Brady Campaign is hypocritical, Barry comments that:

And this is a big deal to anyone but you? It’s verbal shorthand, that’s all…

It is not verbal shorthand. It is intentionally misleading. The Violence Policy Center (an anti-gun group) even concluded:

Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.

It is an intentional effort to mislead you. I guess it’s OK for someone to lie as long as it’s not something Barry cares about?

A bill in Illinois to arm judges has been introduced. They compare it to judges in Texas carrying guns. They don’t point out that almost everyone in Texas can carry guns with a permit.

Do mine eyes deceive me? Someone gets it right regarding the Red Lake shooting:

It has become clear over the years that most of these spectacular episodes are so freakish that they are not amenable to regulatory solutions. It has also become clear that any imaginable gun control laws are not likely to have much effect on crime in America.

Even the staunchest anti-gun organizations made only perfunctory efforts to capitalize on the Minnesota shootings. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence used the opportunity to criticize Congress for letting the federal “assault weapons” ban expire, mandating immediate destruction of the records of gun sales, and considering a bill to limit lawsuits against gun dealers.

But these had nothing to do with what happened in Red Lake. Records of gun sales? The killer, Jeff Weise, 16, wasn’t old enough to legally buy a gun in Minnesota. At least two of his guns were stolen from his grandfather, a police officer whom he killed.

Assault weapons ban? His arsenal included no such weapons–only a .22-caliber pistol, plus a police-issued .40-caliber handgun and 12-gauge shotgun. Limiting lawsuits against dealers? A bill that hasn’t been enacted couldn’t have caused a mass shooting yet.

My favorite snippet is:

But decrying America’s love affair with guns is like decrying America’s love affair with football or movies. There are some 260 million firearms in private hands in this country. Any solution requiring vast numbers of people to reject something they have long valued is not a solution but a fantasy. It’s also an admission that no politically feasible options are likely to have any perceptible effect on crime.

Excellent!

To further their agenda, anti-gunners often mislead, misrepresent or outright lie. The Brady Campaign did it again:

“I can’t imagine what’s going to happen to 100,000 AK-47s…I can’t understand why Venezuela needs 100,000 AK-47s. I personally hope it doesn’t happen. I can’t imagine, if it did happen, it would be good for the hemisphere.” — Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

The Bush Administration very deliberately allowed the Federal assault weapons ban to expire last fall. Since the ban expired, it is quite likely that there are more than 100,000 new assault weapons like AK-47s in the United States.

Here is the lie. The AK-47s that Venezuela is getting are AK-47s. The AK-47s that the Brady’s are referring to in the US are just guns that look like AK-47s.

I can’t imagine lying for a living.

It’s a little short notice, but the weekly auction in Mebane, NC has some antique black-powder rifles and pistols tonight.

Due to the recent comments by President Bush regarding immigration, the Schiavo fiasco, and baseball steroids; I figure the Republican Party will be in trouble in 2006 and maybe through 2008. These issues have really pissed off a bunch of people who are ordinarily inclined to vote Republican.

Gunner says it much more eloquently.

They have to lie to win: Michelle Malsbury who misquotes already misleading statistics regarding the ban on weapons that look like assault weapons, repeats Brady Campaign talking points. I can almost excuse her general dumb-assedness but when Joe pointed out the errors in her report, she responded to Joe in the following highly sophisticated manner:

Hi Joe. Thanks for your thoughts on this subject. I guess that any percentage of decline would not make a difference for those bent on carrying guns that get in the hands of babes and then kill other children…so let’s begin to issue guns to children in grade school so they can protect themselves from each other. NOT!

She does not address the factual inaccuracies in her hysterical piece and resorts to sarcasm. She can’t win based on the facts and has to resort to debate tactics reminiscent of the 1980s valley girls.

Feel free to email her at Zackywacks@aol.com.

Perhaps the website name should be changed from Useless Knowledge to Useful Idiots.

A local security guard at a credit union has been fired for leaving his gun in the bathroom. The thing that leaps out at me is this:

While Daryl Thornton was in line at the TVA Employees Credit Union off Clinton Highway Wednesday afternoon, his son, Billy, went into the bathroom and says he found a Glock 40 sitting on the back of the toilet pointing at him.

“I was just shocked that it was just sitting there. When it’s not really, don’t come every day that a gun is sitting there towards you,” Billy says. He also says that he didn’t know what to think. “Umm, I didn’t know whose it was so I was just freaked out.”

The third grader at Carter Elementary had been taught in school never to touch a gun so he ran out and got his dad, Daryl Thornton. “It was loaded. It was laying there. Anything could happen,” Daryl says so he took it to the credit union’s manager.

Looks like the NRA’s gun safety program for children can pay off. Remember, kids, if you find a gun:

1 – Stop
2- Don’t touch
3 – Leave the area
4 – Tell an adult.

Well, that’s odd.

First, a jury sides with a landowner regarding just compensation:

After a one week trial, the jury found on March 10 that the MBTA underpaid Ricky Bernasconi, the owner of the former Landing Auto Sales property on 25 Quincy Ave., by approximately $325,000.

Attempts to obtain comment from the MBTA about the verdict were unsuccessful.

On Jan. 29, 2002, the MBTA took the land from Bernasconi, who operated a used car sales and repair business on the property.

At that time, the MBTA valued the land at $350,000.

Bernasconi filed suit on Sept. 29, 2002 through his attorney, George McLaughlin III of the McLaughlin Brothers law firm of Boston, claiming that the MBTA undervalued his land.

The jury concluded that the land was worth $673,000, resulting in damages of approximately $700,000 after interest, almost double the value initially determined by the MBTA.

Excellent. Also, citizens fight city hall in opposition to eminent domain and win.

And a politico was pitching eminent domain at a meeting and almost everyone disagreed with him.

A good day for property rights, I’d say.

No, really:

Battle lines were drawn Tuesday in the debate over the government’s counterterrorism powers, as an unlikely coalition of liberal civil-rights advocates, conservative libertarians, gun-rights supporters and medical privacy advocates voiced their objections to crucial parts of the law that expanded those powers after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Keeping the law intact “will do great and irreparable harm” to the Constitution by allowing the government to investigate people’s reading habits, search their homes without notice and pry into their personal lives, said Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman who is leading the coalition.

If you’re going to abuse your teenage daughter, make certain that you don’t do so when the cameras are rolling as you’re participating in a stupid reality show:

Production was halted on an episode of ABC’s reality TV show Wife Swap being filmed in Nashville after one of the participants was arrested and charged with punching his 13-year-old daughter in the face Tuesday evening, network and police officials said yesterday.

Yanni Panagiotakis, 38, who owns the Athens Family Restaurant on Franklin Road with his wife, Dina, was charged with domestic assault late Tuesday and freed yesterday morning on $1,000 bail, Metro police said.

Everything here is my own opinion, so you know who to blame…

For me, especially lately, it’s getting to a point where I just don’t know why I bother serving in the military to protect our country. Much of it comes from liberal media, much of it from friends and co-workers who just don’t really know the truth behind the lies. Worse, I used to honestly say that I fought for freedom. Do I now?

Read the rest of this entry »

I still owe three people five questions. I’ll get to it soon, promise. But, to reduce that number to two, here are questions for Kirk:

1 – I assume you’re going to Boomershoot. What are you taking?

2 – If you could have one and only one gun for the rest of your life, which gun would it be?

3 – Boxers or briefs?

4 – Why do you advocate the abuse of gummy animals?

5 – You have a ton of hobbies, which is your favorite. How do you find the time?

Looks like the reason they took Tyler Harber’s computer was to probe the theft of emails of some local officials.

The Tennessee Senate approved the bill allowing handgun carry permit holders to carry their weapons into places that serve alcohol:

More than 100,000 Tennesseans who hold handgun carry permits will be able to pack their pistols into establishments that sell alcoholic beverages for the first time under legislation approved overwhelmingly by the Senate on Wednesday.

The state’s gun permit law, adopted in 1997 amid considerable controversy, included a provision forbidding pistols in bars as a concession to critics.

Experience since then has shown that permit holders are law-abiding citizens and the restriction is unnecessary, said Sen. Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, sponsor of the bill.

“They respect the law. We have had no problems at all,” he said. “The experiment is over.”

And I love this quote:

“All the doomsday we heard at that time – there’ll be shoot-outs at stop signs and all – have never happened,” Ramsey said.

Some details about the bill:

Jackson said the permit-holders now run the risk of having their weapons stolen when they go into a restaurant, leaving guns inside cars in “a dark parking lot.” He said that poses a greater risk than having the weapon taken inside.

The bill specifies that the permit-holder cannot consume alcoholic beverages himself and allows restaurant and bar owners to decide individually not to allow weapons in their establishments.

Sneak-a-taxes.

CHUCK McCUTCHEON, on the elusive middle-ground in the gun control debate, asks:

Why can’t a gun-control compromise be found to prevent such incidents?

First, because there is no compromise to prevent these instances. The Red Lake incident occurred because someone broke the law by killing someone to take their gun. Second, there is no compromise as one side just wants to pass any gun law no matter how ineffective or arbitrary. The assault weapons ban did nothing to stop crime, yet they want one. They want 50 caliber bans, despite these not being used in crimes.

We could just ban murder, oh wait.

Anthony Harwood on guns in New York:

Crazy gun laws mean there is every chance that the other person is armed. In America, there are believed to be around 70million owners and 222million guns.

An adult can walk out of a shop in many states with a semi-automatic machine gun and a pistol for £100. There are no checks needed if weapons are sold at gun shows. No Federal laws demanding owners register their weapons.

Crazy gun laws? I seem to recall that your country has a higher violent crime rate than the US. And there is no such thing as a semi-automatic machine gun. Weapons sold at gun shows are subject to the same checks as if you bought the weapon at a gun shop.

In an update to Tennessee’s tax on illegal drugs scoring its first booty, I have additional correspondence from someone alleging to be Jerry [redacted]. He tells me that the police first entered the home looking for a runaway girl. They then entered the home the following day by kicking the door down. They had no warrant. Mr. [redacted], a single parent, has since lost his job and, as of yet, there have been no charges filed.

You can read his comment here. He states the police held a news conference and stated he confessed. He was not living in the house that was raided but was renting it to someone else. This doesn’t jive with the Herald-Citizen report:

An unoccupied house on DeBerry Road where the smell of marijuana was coming out of the vents led to a raid by law officers yesterday.

They found a marijuana crop growing inside the place.

The owner, Jerry [redacted], who lives nearby, allegedly admitted that he had set up the elaborate pot growing system inside the house, and he and possibly others will face criminal charges, Putnam Sheriff David Andrews said today.

“This is just another part of our effort to come down hard on illegal drugs in this county, and we intend to keep pursuing every case we can,” Sheriff Andrews said this morning.

It was Deputy Red Golden’s case, the sheriff said.

Deputy Golden had received information alleging that marijuana was growing inside the house, which is located at 1781 DeBerry Road in Bloomington Springs.

More on the dumb idea known as the smart gun:

Yet despite millions of federal dollars poured into developing a personalized handgun that only the owner can fire, there still is no magic bullet – and many law enforcement officials and gun experts are leery of the idea.

In Congress, Rep. William Pascrell, D-N.J., is pushing a bill that would require all new handguns to have “smart” technology within five years if experts deem the technology feasible.

The bill – whose chances are slim in the Republican-led Congress — would exempt law enforcement, which also lobbied against a similar 2002 New Jersey state law.

“They haven’t come up with a [foolproof] gun yet and if they do we’re not sure we’re interested,” said Jim Pasco, executive director of the 318,000-member Fraternal Order of Police.

If the police don’t trust them with their lives, why should you? Since it’s being developed, supposedly, with the police in mind, why would the bill exempt police from the requirement? And, finally, what the Hell are my tax dollars doing paying for this fiasco?

Head has part 5 in his series on AK building.

Additionally, I was unaware that one of the premier AK and Title II manufacturers was located right here in East Tennessee. Check out In Range.

During the recent school shooting, the kid wore a bulletproof vest. The nut in Tyler, Texas wore a bulletproof vest too, as did the culprits in the infamous LA bank robbery. Expect a push for a federal ban on bulletproof vests soon.

A must read by Marc Folco.

It’s nothing like School House Rocks. Heh.

No, not the AARP, the other one. You know, it gets bad press for being an evil, right-wing organization that kills children?

Triggerfinger points out that the NRA is letting people in Montana down. It seems some mid-level NRA person is withholding support for a bill that clarifies a right to self-defense.

Codrea has more.

As does Publicola.

Couple things over at Blake’s:

First, Mark Lancaster is set to get out of prison in early April.

He also notes some dishonest local reporting. Really, a guy had ammo that could pierce bullet proof bests? So do I. Any rifle round will. Thousands of rounds? Are they in my closet?

Hey, Buck is back. You should be reading his blog.

Barry, who ordinarily wets himself at the thought of guns because they emit radiation, calls for parent control:

But we see it again and again – children growing up in America by themselves. Parents and guardians who are indifferent (Littleton, CO) or absent or misguided (Red Lake, MN) or just inexperienced.

Read the whole thing.

Ari Berman, in an op-ed, is shocked that common-sense legislation is being shot down by the NRA. What common sense legislation? The right of people to engage in lawful commerce or the private party transfer provision of the Brady Bill or, as you probably hear it in the media, the gun show loophole. And he advocates banning guns that look like military weapons. And bans on 50 calibers. Absolutely none of these laws would have prevented any single crime he listed.

Publicola points out others are doing the same thing. Nicki does too.

Some random Russian news agency:

Perhaps the reason for the killings by a mentally unstable teenager is less important than his ability to be able to get hold of so many firearms to carry out such an attack?

He got the gun from his police officer grandfather, who would not be subject to these hard gun laws you like.

Citizens for a Safer Minnesota dance in the blood of dead children:

“Every time a child uses a gun in a violent act, we must ask, where did the child get the gun? Eighty percent of the time, the answer is from his own home, or the home of another family member or friend,” Dr. Thoman said. “Our national experience, tragically, shows that not only do guns fail to keep us safe, but accessibility to firearms is the single factor that transforms a routine conflict into a tragedy,” Dr. Thoman added.

Actually, in the two high profile shootings (this one and Columbine) they got them illegally. And guns keep us safe between 700,000 and 2.5M times per year, depending on who you ask.

The Brady Bunch thinks it can mention this shooting and the expiration of the ban on guns that look like assault weapons at the same time and that they’re somehow related.

Michael Bane has more on the Brady’s. So does Denise.

Joe Huffman notes the school’s security guard was unarmed.

I blogged here about Tennessee’s tax on illegal drugs claiming its first booty. A man claiming to be Jerry [redacted](the person whose house was seized for non-payment of the tax that they won’t even let you pay) left some comments there:

The house is worth about $90,000 and I owe $71,000 on it. They taxed me with $139,000 and interest is $1,370 a month and growing. There was only 28 plants and I was renting the house to friends to grow. It wasn’t even mine and they caused me to lose my job. They took 1/2 vacation pay comming to me and took lawnmowers, tiller, chaisaw, pressure washer, and anything else they could find.

He also notes that, as of now, there have been absolutely no charges filed against him. So, they took his land and property without due process of law. He claims that no charges have been filed because the search was bad. I don’t know what he means by that.

No, not in America, but in Iraq:

Ordinary Iraqis rarely strike back at the insurgents who terrorize their country. But just before noon today, a carpenter named Dhia saw a troop of masked gunmen with grenades coming towards his shop and decided he had had enough.

As the gunmen emerged from their cars, Dhia and his young relatives shouldered their own AK-47’s and opened fire, police and witnesses said. In the fierce gun battle that followed, three of the insurgents were killed, and the rest fled just after the police arrived. Two of Dhia’s young nephews and a bystander were injured, the police said.

And they used real assault weapons, not the ones that look like assault weapons that people are trying to get banned here in the states. This may mark one of the few times the MSM correctly used the term AK-47, as well.

Kudos to them for running the story.

The article rightly states that this indicates that the Iraqis are willing to stand up to attacks from terrorists. First democracy then standing up to tyranny? That combination, of course, is aided by arms in the hands of the people.

I don’t think I’ve ever featured a blogger for Today’s Idiot before, but there’s a first for everything. James F., who I can agree with about hating DC, is today’s idiot:

A public service announcement for mobs of angry parents looking for revenge

Here’s how to get from Red Lake High School to the NRA’s headquarters in Fairfax.

Yes, yes, I know. Sure, their school got shot up by a crazy kid, but it’s a small price to pay so that Philip Van Cleave can double carry while walking around his subdivision at night. Why do I hate freedom, etc.

While dancing in the blood of dead children to score political points, he links to a map to the NRA HQ to advocate revenge on a party in no way responsible for the incident. If you’re going to be an anti-gun bed-wetter afraid those evil guns for all the violence they do, wouldn’t it be hypocritical of you to advocate violence against someone else?

In an update to the post, Mr. F. then (no doubt disappointed that dancing in the blood of dead children was unwarranted) admits the NRA was off the hook since the kid was using a gun from a relative who was a policeman.

Reader Jim emails:

And wanted to let you know that we have started a public forum dedicated to help getting CCW for Nebraska. The site is here.

FYI, Senator Combs, the bill’s sponsor has stated that she has the votes necessary to pass it, and also she believes that she has enough votes to bring cloture to the inevitable filibuster which will be brought on by Senator Chambers. So, things are looking good this year, but every vote counts.

We’re winning.

Via Defense Review, this is one sweet M1A set up. Drool on keyboard.

Bad form to quote yourself, but I thought it was funny:

Would you buy beef in a Libertarian world?

Jeff has the latest on gun coverage in the media.

Tom has zinged me back on this five questions meme. I don’t intend to solicit five more but will answer Tom’s questions. Here they are:

1 – You’ve said in the past that you’re not opposed to all “common sense” gun regulation, just most. What, to you, constitutes acceptable gun regulation? In particular, I’m talking about regulations that do not currently exist but which you either support, or at least do not oppose.

One man’s common sense is another man’s kiss my ass. But as far as laws not on the books, I have never opposed registration nor databases. I oppose them to the extent they could lead to confiscation, but that is all. A registry/database could be an effective police tool and could also alert authorities to straw sales. In other words, it’s not a normal transaction to walk into a gun store and order 50 of the same gun. That could be a valuable lead to police, assuming they actually investigate as someone may actually have a need for 50 of the same gun.

I also wish that our government didn’t classify their gun laws as tax laws. If you possess a machine gun illegally, the crime you committed is a tax violation. Until recently, the ATF was a part of the Department of Treasury. If they want to pass gun laws, call them fucking gun laws. Hiding behind the guise to taxes is disingenuous and we all know what they’re up to anyway. And taxing a right is illegal.

The government should also train and properly equip the militia, that’s what well-regulated means. It should, of course, be voluntary to be trained and equipped. This can be done to an extent by restoring the Office of Civilian Marksmanship Program.

On current laws, I do support the National Instant Check System

However, some gun laws on the books need to be repealed. Most notably, the 1986 Hughes amendment (which bans the transfer of new machine guns to citizens), the $200 tax on NFA weapons established under the 1934 law, and a check needs to be placed on the ATF’s seemingly arbitrary ability to classify a gun as something else to regulate it (like them stating pistol with two grips is an Any Other Weapon, even though, by law, AOW’s are defined as not pistols; or the classification of certain shotguns has destructive devices/smooth bore rifles just so they can regulate them out of existence). Also, the 922 provisions that specify that imported rifles can only contain a certain number of non-US made parts need to go. Does it matter to anyone if a WASR-10 has 9 or 10 foreign made parts?

2 – Getting a dog: From a reputable breeder, or from a rescue group?

Depends. In my experience, rescue dogs can be problematic in their interactions with children and other dogs. If you get the rescue as a pup, it shouldn’t be a problem. Sometimes, though, getting an older dog from a rescue means they come with all the bad habits that likely got them placed in the rescue in the first place. If you’re going to have only one dog, a rescue would be fine in most cases. In addition to temperament, you don’t know what you’re getting in terms of health and longevity out of a rescue dog.

When you go to a reputable breeder, you should get good temperament, health, desired physical appearance, and ability. But it costs you and you’re not saving a rescue dog. Me and the Mrs. have one of each and we’ve had a few troubled times. Politically Incorrect Dog is of the age now where he is asserting his dominance over Politically Correct Dog. There have been a couple of skirmishes and PCD has always been dog-aggressive. He doesn’t play well with others. When our friends bring their dogs over, poor PCD often gets left in the house while PID plays with his company.

3 – Mary-Ann or Ginger?

Assuming I can’t pick both, Mary-Ann. Say, Lovey never makes the list!

4 – You often refer to yourself as a “small-l” libertarian. You believe that government should be severely limited in what it can and can’t do, and that taxation should be minimal. In your view, what specifically should the government (all levels, not just federal) be able to do; how should it pay for it; and do you really expect that a system such as you describe can, you know, work?

Due to the volume involved, I’m limiting this discussion to the federal level. The .gov should be able to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.

Granted, some things are subjective. All I want from the .gov is defense (though it should be cut back some), roads, health standards enforced (would you buy beef in a Libertarian world?), education (and only because it is the only way to do it in a cost effective manner that’s available to everyone), and a few other things on the federal level. The feds should not be telling me how many gallons per flush my toilet can have and they shouldn’t arrest me if I purchase a lobster tail that is less than 5.5 inches.

As for paying for it, use taxes and income tax. And if the government actually did only what it was supposed to do, there would likely be no deficit on current tax dollars.

Can it work? No, it can’t. The cornerstone of political careers is promising people shit that the government shouldn’t be giving them anyway. The way politics works is inherently against what libertarianism is about. Until people realize that politicians’ mouths shouldn’t be writing checks their asses can’t cash, it’s all academic.

5 – Thibodeaux: Real or made up?

Quite real. He was a commenter here for a while and I asked him to blog because he had some good stuff to say and because I needed to fill some space. He’s a bit passionate on occasion.

Some commenters have pointed out that the Schiavo case is not as cut and dry as the press would have me believe. Notably, David Codrea informs me that she’s not in a coma; her husband has allegedly denied her therapy; there have been allegations of abuse; and there’s money involved.

The money, I don’t think, is an issue and Mr. Schiavo has offered to give it to the parents. I was mistaken about her being in a coma. Regarding the denial of therapy and alleged abuse, those should be (and likely have been given the coverage of the case) investigated.

One thing I didn’t change my mind about is that this case does not warrant Federal intervention.

I know, everyone’s all atwitter for my comments about the school shooting in Minn. Ok, it was tragic. That’s really all. The kid took two handguns and a shotgun that belonged to his father or grandfather (not sure which, reports are conflicting), who was a policeman, and went nuts.

Sadly, this quote leapt out at me:

Then, in a nearby classroom, he heard the gunman say something to his friend Ryan: “He asked Ryan if he believed in God,” Graves said. “And then he shot him.”

Didn’t the little Columbine bastards reportedly do something similar?

Until the anti-gunnies start dancing in the blood of the dead (and they will – though I don’t know how because it was a cop’s gun, no assault weapons were involved and it wasn’t a 50 caliber terror attack), I have nothing to add. Xrlq seems to concur.

Spoons wants advice for a shotgun for trap shooting. I’m not a trap shooting sort of guy and don’t own a shotgun. Head on over and help.

The five questions meme continues. Ben and Publicola are next. [Update: And Kirk (yeah, I'm doing an extra one, sue me)]. All slots full, sorry.

It’s Countertop’s turn.

1 – As someone who has endorsed the Republican party, where do you see them headed? Specifically, a lot of people (ahem, me) who used to vote Republican are becoming disenchanted with them and are no longer happy with the fact that they are just not Democrats. Are the Rs going to reach out to people like me or say to Hell with us?

2 – Why exactly do countertop’s need chronicling?

3 – You live in (or maybe near?) DC and you are a firearm enthusiast. How hard is that? And what’s in your firearm collection?

4 – Heard any good jokes lately?

5 – IIRC, you’re some sort of lawyer. What type? I assume you have political aspirations being a lawyer in DC?

TriggerFinger has the trials and tribulations of purchasing a gun in Washington DC. It’s worth the read.

Actually, that’s how the headline should have read but someone chose to title it: Inclusion best option for gun control group. Some good advice:

Although many of you are conservative, remember that the right to bear arms is not a conservative issue. Nor is it a liberal issue. There are as many liberals who oppose gun control as there are conservatives who support it. Most of those liberals don’t join the National Rifle Association or similarly aligned organizations – mostly because the NRA tends to support politicians who really don’t care about the other nine amendments in the Bill of Rights.

Caught 60 Minutes nonsensical scare piece on the 50 caliber rifle last night. The gist is that some dude buys guns in the states and sends them to help some Albanians fight a revolution. They interview him and he outlines what he does. I TiVoed it and may have more later. But here are the lies that leapt out at me immediately.

The guy said (and reporter agreed) that exporting rifles and weapons was perfectly legal. It is legal, if you are a licensed exporter of firearms which this guy was not. This was a lie. Additionally, they even pointed out in the story that they set up a dummy hunting reserve so they could justify exporting to authorities while in Switzerland for a layover. Seems the Swiss became suspicious that this guy had a few 50 calibers in the cargo hold. The guy can leave the country with guns for legitimate sporting purposes (such as going on a hunting trip) but he was exporting without a license. So, would you set up a dummy hunting reserve if what you were doing was perfectly legal? A source said he exported several hundred 50 caliber rifles out of the country by hiding them in humanitarian aid shipments.

The guy also said that in the US every gun in use by the military is available at a gun shop. That is also a lie. I challenge anyone here to obtain legally (and without the use of a Special Occupational Tax) a Colt M4 Carbine. You cannot because they have never been available to the public as they were made after the 1986 Hughes Amendment banning the transfer of new machine guns to civilians.

Per the transcript, here’s the quote:

“Anything you need to run a small guerrilla army, you can buy here in America,” says Krasniqi. “You have all the guns you need here to fight a war. M-16s. That’s what the U.S. soldiers carry in Iraq. All the rifles which U.S. soldiers use in every war, you can buy them in a gun store or a gun show.”

Additionally, the guy said that the 50 was the most popular rifle for these rebels. I tend to doubt that as they weigh 30 pounds and are not real easy to lug around in a firefight. It’s more like a support weapon.

And they repeated the lie that these weapons could shoot down airplanes. Amazingly, Ed Bradley (looking particularly dated with his gold earring) was shocked and amazed that people could actually, you know, buy guns and ammunition in this country.

Now, most of these lies were being told by the guy being interviewed and not 60 Minutes. However, doesn’t journalism require that you check facts or something?

Coincidentally, if you Google the name of the guy featured in the story (Florin Krasniqi), you get interesting results:

TriggerFinger:

There’s a FrontPage Magazine article that talks about Kerry’s position on the war in Kosovo, and how we were misled into military intervention under Clinton by false claims of genocide. Combine that with this account from House of Wheels reporting on a Dutch documentary that has film of KLA terrrorists (sic), allegedly associated with Al-Qaeda, donating to the Kerry campaign. The primary name associated with this is Florin Krasniqi, who is reported as having donated to the Kerry campaign by independent sources.

House of Wheels:

But back to the documentary – 11:08 into the video, we see KLA recruiter and illegal immigrant Florin Krasniqi at a John Kerry fundraiser with a few other KLA members. Then the defining moment – the KLA terrorists are shown, on video, financially contributing to the John Kerry campaign. Shortly afterwards, the video shows Democrats Wesley Clark and Richard Holbrooke having a nice laugh with the terrorists.

A quick check of Fundrace.org found that Florin Krasniqi has donated to the Kerry campaign, and that Florin Krasniqi has raised 30 million for KLA, who we have already established is a terrorist organisation.

Also noted is that he has been given credit for sucking Americans into the Kosovo war.

So far, it’s looking like 60 Minutes interviewed someone who allegedly has ties with known terrorists. Of course, he is a gunrunner so that’s not surprising. He has been in the news before yet 60 Minutes doesn’t disclose that?

Oh, and he’s trying to sell a book.

Here’s the transcript.

Update: And I forgot to mention that an ATF agent was interviewed who advocated gun registration. The logic being that tracking gun sales based on a pattern could lead to identifying and prosecuting potential gunrunners. And some more kitten-stomping.

Update 2: More allegations:

The KLA is currently smuggling weapons into Kosovo as part of a plot to attack American and other UN peacekeepers, should the UN Security Counsel refuse their demand for Kosovo’s secession from Serbia and Montenegro.

Continuing the meme, it’s Jay of NGD’s turn to be asked. CounterTop and Ben have also volunteered. I need one more person to commit to answering five questions. If interested, leave a comment. Here’s five questions for Jay:

1 – At NGD, you often sound angry and curse a lot. Is that how you are in real life or do you just blog that way to blow off steam?

2 – A common theme on my blog is like you and me, only better. You live in Mass., which has may-issue CCW. May-issue is typically abused to give cronies and good ol’ boys permits while denying them to others. My understanding is that Mass. is that way and, yet, you have a permit. So, are you just like other Massies, only better? (note: no way implying you shouldn’t be allowed to carry, just wondering about other folks)

3 – Paper or plastic?

4 – As a general rule, I avoid going to certain areas. You happen to live in one. Why Taxachusetts? And why blog at North Georgia Dogma since you’re not in North Georgia?

5 – What’s it like having a wife who is afraid of guns?

The RTB blogroll is temporarily gone until such time as blogrolling decides to come back.

Update: Oh, and we’re experiencing a trackback spam attack. TB has been disabled again.

Honestly, I’m not really familiar with the Schiavo case. My understanding is that she’s been in a coma for about seven years; her friends and husband say she probably wouldn’t want to go on living; and most doctors testify that her reactions to stimuli are random and often can’t be reproduced. All that said, I’m not sure if pulling the plug is warranted or not.

What I am sure of is that this case not a federal issue. Congress and the president rushed to pass a law to let the woman’s parents ask a federal judge to prolong Schiavo’s life by reinserting her feeding tube. Seems to me, they’ve overstepped their bounds on this one. Is this regulating commerce? Providing for defense and general welfare?

That aside, this should serve as a reminder to get your living will in order. A decent lawyer and a few hundred bucks could save you and your family some heartache. I have one and trust the Mrs. to make that decision on my behalf. Of course, I also have a backup plan which consists of one of my friends who agreed to put two 230 grain jacketed slugs into my noggin in the event I’m in a vegetative state. I agreed to do the same for him.

Update: The starving her to death thing seems a bit cruel and painful. Surely, there would be a better way if it comes to that?

Regarding the DEA agent who shot himself while giving kids a gun safety class, David Codrea asks:

Why does he still have a job?

Why hasn’t he been prosecuted for reckless child endangerment and negligent discharge of a firearm, as would you or I be, save for the fact that we’re not dumb, incompetent and irresponsible enough to pull such a bone-headed move?

Who’s the jihadi in the ski mask? Dont’cha feel safer knowing guys like him are kicking in doors across the land?

And why is there an investigation to determine who “leaked” what is being described as a “home video”?

Also, Gunner notes that there’s an investigation into how the guy shot himself. No, I kid. Instead of investigating that, there is an investigation regarding who leaked the home video. It turns out, he’s an undercover sort of guy (the dreadlocks clued me in) and this video may blow his cover. You know what else may blow his cover? Giving improperly conducted gun safety classes at a high school. I’m just saying. He’s also been suspended but maybe for the wrong reasons.

Or rather, like you and me but pushing to be better:

When U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow discovered the bodies of her husband and mother in her home last month, she was alone — without bodyguards or a police officer keeping watch over her from a car nearby.

Yet every day, politicians, from governors and mayors down to California’s school superintendent and Chicago’s city treasurer, routinely travel with protection provided by the taxpayers.

It is a disparity that is getting more attention after the killings of Lefkow’s family members by a man upset over a malpractice case and the recent shooting rampage that began in an Atlanta courthouse and left a judge and three others dead.

What about regular citizens? They are, after all, more likely to be the victims of violent crime that politicians and judges. I want my state funded protection too!

Tyler Harber has resigned his job. Anyway, his lengthy resignation letter is here. He notes:

Over the past few days the safety and well being of my friends, family and I have been compromised by the vengeful and illegal actions of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Last night, after I was followed by undercover officers and then forcefully removed from my vehicle, I was handcuffed and confined in the back of a Knox County Sheriffs vehicle, officers refused to show proper identification, read me my rights, or notify me of why an illegal search of my vehicle was conducted, or why I was taken into custody. I decided that I could no longer endanger myself and my loved ones.

Shortly before my incident, Knox County Sheriff Officers invaded my close friend, Adam Groves’ house and conducted an illegal search and seizure of his computer and illegally and forcefully interrogated him while showing no warrant, receipt of property confiscation, and without demonstrating due cause.

Adam Groves is a local blogger. His website says nothing of the incident but that may be because he doesn’t have a computer. If the facts are as Tyler Harber says (which is quite questionable since, you know, it’s Tyler Harber) then heads should roll at the Sheriff’s Department.

And, for what it’s worth, I’ve heard speculation from many folks that Tyler Harber (and maybe Adam) was behind CasWalker.com and there’s been some speculation regarding their affiliation with Communists for TennCare.

Bubba has more. As does Michael Silence. Barry is on it too.

And, Adam, if you’re reading and would like to comment, do so. Or shoot me an email

Heartless Libertarian notes that Lautenberg has introduced another assault weapons ban. Thankfully, it can’t make it through The House. The bill, in addition to banning based on one of the evil features provisions of the expired assault weapons ban as opposed to two, it would also prohibit the transfer of such weapons with a large regular capacity feeding device. Also, it would leave it up to the AG to track crimes committed with such weapons

Here’s the house bill.

does creating black hole in a laboratory seem a bit dangerous?

Michael Silence reports another local politico is getting in on the blog game. Knoxville City Councilman Chris Woodhull’s blog is here.

Jed has posted a good round up of gun stuff and it was on Thursday.

Wadcutter also has an excellent piece on energy and momentum.

A junior in print journalism, Matthew Werlein, proves he needs to spend some more time learning how to fact check:

These founding fathers had in mind that each individual had the right to own their rifles or pistols, and, while they never specifically clarified what type of arms these are, I really cannot fathom that AK-47s and semi-automatic machine guns were what they had in mind.

A semi-automatic is not a machine gun. A semi-automatic fires one round per pull of the trigger. A machine gun fires multiple rounds per pull of the trigger. Continuing with his idiocy:

However, and please someone correct me if I’m wrong here (I will, don’t worry – Ed.), I’ve never known a hunter who needed to use a machine gun to bag a deer.

So, that raises the question of why are we allowing citizens to buy them?

Citizens have been denied by an act of congress the right to purchase new machine guns since 1986. In almost every state, it is illegal to hunt with machine guns (even those made prior to 1986). But, as you said before genius, the amendment was about the founding fathers wanting us to repel invaders and not about hunting.

For example, I will use the case of the shootings Saturday in Brookfield.

The accused suspect, Terry Ratzmann, walked into the Sheraton Hotel and sprayed the crowd with his 9 mm gun, killing seven and injuring several more.

He shot 22 rounds in a matter of seconds.

Would he have been able to shoot off as many rounds as he did if he was using a rifle or a regular handgun?

Uhm, he used a regular handgun. You’re really not too bright are you, Mr. Werlein?

You can go there and leave a comment, if you want.

Gun violence on the decline despite the crying from the antis. The data is from the Justice Department. I found this statistic interesting:

Firearms Violence 200% Higher for Blacks Than For Whites

Using the logic of the anti-gun crowd, we clearly need to ban blacks.

Update: David Codrea adds:

There are more guns in circulation now than at the start of the study period. If guns were truly responsible for violent crime, such a reduction would be impossible.