The BBC:

Cyber criminals are starting to use fake blogs to snare new victims.

The bogus web journals are being used as traps that infect visitor’s machines with keylogging software or viruses.

Filtering firm Websense said it had found hundreds of bogus blogs baited with all kinds of malicious software to snare the unwary.

Websense warned that the baited blogs could get past traditional security measures that try to protect people from malicious programs

As much fun as messing with people was, I had to disable my bandwidth stealing measures. People who read via feeds were needlessly subjected to the Flashelhoff. And that’s no good for anyone.

Countertop has some testimony on the Lawful Commerce In Arms Act. Just go there and scroll away.

At least it means some liberals in NYC are pro-gun:

Bush Shooting Targets Appear in NYC

More gun lies from the Christian Science Monitor:

Florida’s lawmakers have passed a bill to remove criminal penalties for anyone who shoots an attacker even if the shooter didn’t first make an effort to escape.

That leaves out the rather important requirement that the person who uses deadly force presumes that there exists threat of serious bodily harm. Of course, attacking you kind of denotes that.

The “Stand Your Ground” bill, which is expected to be signed by Gov. Jeb Bush, removes the “retreat if it is prudent” clause from state law, thus giving citizens the right to use deadly force – even when it may not be needed.

Another lie. If deadly force is not needed, then the police can still prosecute under the law.

The Florida measure would push citizens toward a mentality of “shoot first and ask questions later.”

Yes. And back in 1987 when Florida passed concealed carry laws, people cried there would be blood in the streets. That never came to fruition.

And it could even encourage more citizens to carry weapons, thus increasing the possibility for using deadly force. Accidental shootings could also rise, especially among those with no gun training.

Packing.org tells us that a Florida concealed carry permit does require passing a training course.

The CSM yammers about states and courts debating self defense and duty to retreat. They fail to mention that most states do not have a duty to retreat. This legislation actually brings Florida in line with most other states.

The state’s move reveals the sheer force of the nation’s gun lobby, not the force of common sense. In fact, getting the law passed was the No. 1 priority in the state for the powerful National Rifle Association. Let’s hope other states don’t follow suit.

Actually, it is common sense. Retreating is a good way to get killed. And, as I said earlier, it’s actually Florida that is following suit. And, in the event there is no reasonable notion that the person was in danger, then the self-defense is not justifiable.

Looks like residents of Hell err New Jersey are becoming resistant to Eminent Domain:

This week, it was announced that a group is forming for owners of commercial properties who are concerned about their properties in the city’s redevelopment zones.

Against this backdrop of growing advocacy, the city is pushing ahead with redevelopment plans and last week met with developers who presented plans for the Broadway triangle, or gateway, zone.

Last Sunday, the Beachfront South Coalition, formed just last month, met for the second time to discuss the next steps in fighting what they say is an abuse of eminent domain, according to coalition founder Harold Bobrow.

In Groton:

With little discussion, members of the Groton Dunstable Regional School Committee voted last Wednesday night to seize by temporary eminent domain property located in East Groton for possible use as the site of a future elementary school.

What is temporary eminent domain? Do they give it back when they’re done? I read the article and still have no idea what is meant by temporary.

Heh!

I criticized the LA Times for being liars in their coverage of gun control. Since then, they’ve issued this correction:

An editorial Monday on a pending federal bill to shield firearms makers incorrectly stated that the bill would bar damage claims for injuries from an exploding or defective gun. The bill permits such gun-defect cases if the gun was “used as intended” but bars claims from accidental shootings that occur if an adult or child pulls the trigger believing the gun to be unloaded.

In other words, the bill defends gun makers from the negligent use of their products. The LA Times did not address their other lies, which were stating congress never called the AWB to a vote and stating that the congress and president quietly eviscerated key gun laws and regulations. One of three isn’t good odds.

Some troops were indicted for smuggling AK47s (the real ones, not the fake ones that gun controllers here are trying to get banned) from Iraq into the US:

Guy Brown and Nigel Brown, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Beau Uran, of Clarksville were indicted on charges of conspiring to unlawfully import machine guns from Iraq and aiding and abetting the possession of a machine gun.

Nigel Brown and Uran were soldiers deployed to Iraq in 2003. The indictment alleges that while in Iraq, they acquired 17 AK 47’s and a Chinese model assault rifle.

I recently spent some time in Northern Virginia and had a chance to visit the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. It’s located right next to Washington Dulles International Airport, which is way the heck out west of downtown D.C.

The SFUH Center is basically a big hangar with an IMAX theater and an observation tower. The exhibit highlights are the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the B-29 Enola Gay, a SR-71, and a whole host of other aircraft, spacecraft, engines, missiles, and….

a whole display case of MACHINE GUNS!

There’s no admission, but parking is $12. Also, there’s nothing else out here to see, whereas with the Smithsonian’s other buildings downtown (even so, I wasn’t able to spend as much time here as I would have liked; it’s tough when your group includes three hungry, tired, and cranky babies). All in all, I wouldn’t make a special trip, but if you are in the Dulles area, and have an hour or two to spare, it might be worthwhile.

Update – In the comments, Countertop points out:

While at the Udvar Center you were a mere yards (I’d say less than 1000) from Blue Ridge Arsenal and even more importantly you were about 5 miles down the road from the NRA and their award winning National Firearms Museum (talk about gun porn) as well as their stellar range. And to top it all off, you were only about 10 minutes from Bull Run Park Shotgun Center (not to mention Bull Run Park itself (as in Battle of Bull Run) and Manassas National Battlefield.

Thanks for the info! Now on to the Gun Pr0n!
Read the rest of this entry »

What with work, family, and reading (catching up on Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle), I haven’t had much time for posting. I thought I would snatch a moment or two to pass along this gem that Brian Tiemann found:

Spamusement.

I laughed so hard it hurt.

In the event the site looks screwy, let me know. Dealing with a bandwidth thief. Meanwhile, some gun porn:

Update: Heh and heh.

And if you see dancing flashelhoffs on this site, let me know.

Update 2: I de-flashelhoffed Bloglines. So, if you use another feed reader and are burdened with such a horrible image, let me know and I’ll add to the list of sites that can safely steal my bandwidth.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ravenwood notes that the pending assault weapons ban in Illinois would force residents to destroy or turn in guns. If their guns fit the bill, turn them in as they are illegal. And, since Illinois has registration, the task of finding those guns won’t be that difficult.

Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them in.

Head, displaying an image of a heavily armed New York City police officer standing guard outside the NYSE, notes that the officer has his Aimpoint red dot sight mounted backward. From the image, it looks like he does.

Update: Nope, not a photoshop.

Vice Squad reports that the Tennessee Attorney General issued an opinion that many of the state’s controls on alcohol advertising violate the US Constitution.

I’m pretty certain that forbidding passengers of airplanes from taking nail clippers, files and such onto airplanes has prevented absolutely zero terror attacks. And neither will this:

A nationwide security change means travelers at McGhee Tyson and airports across the country must soon give up their cigarette lighters at checkpoints.

Starting Thursday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will no longer allow lighters through security checkpoints.

These little inconveniences are a reminder that terror is an effective tool against us.

I have mentioned Koscielski’s Guns and Ammo and their fight against the powers that be before.

Now, Dave’s Picks has more:

It’s been fifteen years that Minneapolis has been trying to outlaw gun shops within city limits by using zoning regulations to make it impossible to sell guns in the city. Mark’s been fighting this all along, and since 1995 has been the only shop allowed in Minneapolis. In 2002, it became impossible for Mark to locate his shop anywhere in Minneapolis due to revisions in the zoning ordinances. He moved, and reopened anyhow while continuing to fight the city in court.

Why is this a big deal? Well, mostly it’s still legal to own a shop that sells guns, and in various legal battles, it’s been determined that using zoning to force people out of business isn’t kosher. Look into the history of “adult shops” in various cities for more on that. I don’t think it’s right to use zoning to make it impossible for a legal business to operate within the city, and neither does Mark.

Jed has more.

Via David

Blogging for Bryant has a rundown of the 2006 Tennessee senate race. It’s worth reading.

A while back, I wrote about Barrett (makers of a popular 50 caliber rifle) refusing to service LAPD rifles since the LAPD had a policy of actively infringing on the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Now, via reader Airboss, Barrett is refusing to sell to any California government agencies. No doubt, this is due to the recent 50 caliber ban in California.

Kudos to Barrett.

Bubba has an update to RTB membership. Welcome aboard, all.

In other news, Mike has apparently quit the RTB due to some joke Bubba made at the expense of Bill Hobbs. Mike may be taking it a bit too far. Sure, Bubba and Bill have had their little tussles but a joke is a joke. Hate to see Mike go.

In Maine, there is a bill in the works to ban weapons that look like assault weapons. A few notes about the bill:

Strimling wants to give Maine law enforcement leeway to develop a system to identify new assault weapons and add them to the list.

An open ended list sounds like a very bad idea. It is also subject to abuse by the powers that be.

Strimling says military-grade weapons are unnecessary and dangerous and he calls his bill a commonsense approach to gun control. Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence supports his bill.

Ethan Strimling is a liar. This bill does not ban military-grade weapons. It bans weapons that look like military weapons.

A while back, I mentioned a child who found a security guard’s gun in the bathroom and how proper gun safety likely saved him. The Knox County Sheriff’s office gave him a special safety certificate:

Billy says he knew not to touch the gun because he had participated in a gun safety program at his school.

“I saw the gun and I didn’t want to touch it so I told my dad,” he said.

Katy Davis says this is just the outcome her office hopes for when students receive safety training at school.

“It’s very rewarding to know that teaching safety lessons can save a kid’s life.”

The “Eddie Eagle” gun safety program, sponsored by the National Rifle Association, is designed to teach children the risks of touching an unattended gun.

The NRA saving children.

Speaking of the LA Times, an editorial entitled Remember Gun Control:

Over the last four years, the president and his congressional allies have repudiated or quietly eviscerated key gun laws and regulations.

Really, name one?

Now they are poised to shield firearms makers and sellers from nearly all damage claims when their products kill or maim. Not only is this a gift no other industry enjoys, it’s a truly bad idea that even gun owners have reason to oppose.

I support it merely to annoy hysterical bed-wetters like the editorial board of the LA Times. However, the bill just shields dealers who lawfully sell products from lawsuits that result from the misuse of those products. The analogy, of course, is suing Ford because that’s what kind of car a drunk moron happened to be driving when he plowed into a family of six.

Last year, Republican congressional leaders simply ran out the clock on the 10-year-old federal assault gun ban, refusing to even call a vote on renewing it despite steady popular support for the law.

Another lie. I watched, live on CSPAN, as Congress brought the bill up, voted on it and then killed the overall bill.

And now, the real hysteria:

With it died the ban on domestically made ammunition clips with more than 10 rounds, a boon for any disgruntled employee, terrorist or high school student who wants to mow down a crowd.

Actually, there was only a ban on making or importing new ones. There will still plenty around from before the ban. I’d venture to guess that over 95% of all AK magazines on Earth were made prior to 1994.

Meanwhile, a Government Accountability Office study examining FBI and state background-check records found that 35 people whose names appeared on terrorism watch lists were able to buy a gun. Incredibly, a would-be buyer’s presence on a watch list does not disqualify him or her from buying a firearm.

Yeah, that pesky due process of law.

It would even block injury suits from gun owners. That means gun owners can’t sue if poorly made handguns explode in their hands or fire unintentionally.

Another blatant lie. The bill will not protect manufacturers who make faulty or defective products.

Aaron has gone all Buy A Gun Day all the time. He wants to get 214 bloggers on board since the Second Amendment is 214 years old.

Laura Washington wrote a piece a while back that just reeked of hysteria an misinformation. Some snippets:

Political leaders nourish culture of deadly gun violence

No, they don’t.

We have become inured to “a culture of death.” That’s what the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence calls it.

Using the Brady Bunch as a reference?

Last September, Congress and Bush allowed the 1994 federal ban on assault weapons to expire. The law kept AK-47s and other semiautomatic assault weapons off the streets and out of the hands of the gang-bangers and drug dealers who trade in them.

I promise you that the AWB kept nothing off the streets. People predisposed to break laws will keep doing so.

Unless we get serious about gun control, the killing will continue. There is a gun around every corner. One of them could have your name, or the name of your child, on it. Live — and die — with that.

Serious like Australia, England or Canada? All three of which, after sweeping gun control, saw their violent crime rise?

Anyhoo, Laura wrote a column this week wherein she reprinted a bunch of letters from people about her hysterical column. She got over 100 pro-gun letters and exactly four gun control letters. She concludes with:

The gun control lobby needs to get on the stick. Now.

I don’t think she understands what the issue really is.

Update: Yeah, you damn spelling gurus.

Head has consolidated links to his series on building your own AK47 and answered questions from readers. A good resource for those of you who like doing it yourself.

It includes a bunch of legal info too. This gun law stuff is quite complex.

Headline of the day:

Homemade Sausage Just Tastes Better

Kinda interesting to see how much free federal money is used and misused locally.

Patterico reports that GM pulled its advertising from the LA Times for factual errors and misrepresentations. Of course, those factual errors and misrepresentations were specific to GM.

Good news: Maryland’s assault weapons ban is done for.

Bad news: So is concealed carry.

So says kirk.

A reader emails a link to the International Network on Small Arms propaganda arm. Ghana’s government supports disarmament. More propaganda here.

This stuff is almost comical. After all, if you disarm a bunch of Africans, what could possibly go wrong?

Truly savage. Oh, the canininity.

A reader emails this article, which specifies that CCW holders can’t carry their weapons into certain places. Unless, of course, you are retired and current police officers, private detectives, corrections officers, auxiliary officers and security personnel.

Lawmakers in Georgia are again looking to ban Pit Bulls. The news piece even has a hysterical piece labeled Animal Outlaw, though I don’t think the dog listed is a pit bull. The entire article:

[16 paragraphs describing one incident where four unrestrained pit bulls killed a horse]

A proposed bill would make it illegal to “import, sell, transport, carry, or own any live pit bull dog.”

In other news, it’s not breed specific legislation but breed specific discrimination:

“We’re urging every officer on the force to exercise zero tolerance on pit bulls,” Smith said.

The city has a dangerous dog ordinance already but is targeting pit bulls. Another negative for BSL.

An article that notes gun control is losing ground (good!) is filled with quite a bit of misinformation:

This February and March, there was another round of high-profile, gun-related killings in Atlanta, Chicago, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas. Two dozen men, women and children as well as three of the gunmen were killed. Yet this time, there has been no widespread clamor for tighter gun control.

[snip]

The circumstances of the recent killings differ from those at Columbine in that many of the guns involved were legally obtained — or, in the case of Atlanta’s courthouse killings, taken from a law enforcement officer. But gun-control advocates, lawmakers and the families of shooting victims said this week they believe the reasons for the apparent shift in public sentiment about gun control run much deeper.

Let’s see, in Atlanta the guy took the gun from an older security guard. The Minnesota kid stole the gun from someone after he murdered them. And I recall reading the guy in the Texas shooting was prohibited from owning guns because he was a felon.

I never heard about the one in Chicago but, since most guns are heavily regulated there, I’d venture to guess it was obtained or possessed illegally.

A few pro-gun bills were making some headway in Illinois. Now, a couple of anti-gun bills are:

Rep. Robert Molaro (D-Chicago), the bill’s sponsor, welcomed Blagojevich’s help on what is a critical piece of the mayor’s anti-gun package, saying the governor’s support may help to pick up votes when the measure is called a second time. The governor also said he sees progress to ban assault weapons, prohibit the sale of .50-caliber sniper rifles and close a gun-show loophole. He called the three initiatives “very competitive.”

The bill also allows people to sue gun manufacturers.

Last week, I noted a pretty stupid bill that would make the death penalty a sentencing option to any murder committed with an assault weapon. The bill was stupid for a couple of reasons. One is that murder is murder. The second is that there is now no such thing as an assault weapon in the eyes of the law. Now, the ATF agrees:

He rewrote it to allow the death penalty for murders committed with weapons that are federally banned. Smitherman said he believed this change would cover murders with fully automatic weapons.

But the ATF says he’s mistaken.

“There are no federally banned guns, either,” said Carl Bengtson, supervisory special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. “They need to do some more tweaking.”

A federal law that had banned assault weapons was allowed to expire last year. Owners of automatic weapons, sometimes called machine guns, face specific tax and registration laws. But as long as a buyer pays $200, fills out a registration application and passes a background check, he or she can legally own an automatic, Bengtson said.

Few such guns are used in homicides, though.

So few in fact, it approaches one. Actually, it was only one and it was a weapon used by a cop. Then, the paper states:

A Florida State University study of guns used in crimes found that less than 1 percent of murders, even in high-crime areas such as Miami and Chicago, were committed with fully automatic weapons.

Actually, that is wrong. Less than 1 percent of murders are committed with assault weapons as defined under the now expired assault weapons ban. The ban did not ban assault weapons but weapons that looked like assault weapons.

The Carnival of Cordite #8 is up with lots of gun blogging.

Aaron’s back to promoting buy a gun day, even though others of us took up the charge in his absence. He notes that last year’s BAG day netted 141 bloggers. Well, let’s top that. Say, is it number of guns that’s important or number of bloggers? I mean, I’m not above buying two, though the Mrs. might be.

Bills are moving through Congress to ban the sales of firearms to people who are on terror watchlists. On the issue:

The National Shooting and Sports Foundation (NSSF) says the recent revelations that the secret government lists include senators and congressman, as well as the foundation’s own senior vice president and general council, are proof the lists are not reliable.

It’s a secret government list and we don’t know who gets on or why, said Gary Mehalik, communications director for the NSSF, a trade association for the firearms industry. It’s an excuse for gun control.

If someone is suspected of terrorism, which is a crime, they should be arrested and not be roaming around free, Mr. Mehalik said.

Also, this is amusing:

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat; Rep. John Lewis, Georgia Democrat; and Rep. Don Young, Alaska Republican and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, say they have been stopped at airports because their names are on the no-fly list.

Don’t they have armed guards? And AG Gonzales is backing the bill.

Not many of my friends know I have a blog. My wife and three friends know about it. None of my family does and I don’t talk about it. Never told a co-worker about it or anything. People that I’ve met through blogging (and there have been a dozen or so) obviously know about it.

One night, me and my friends had a little poker game. They started asking about the blog (and had apparently been reading it). It was weird talking about it because it occurred to me I had never really used the terms blog, blogosphere, fact check their ass, and a whole host of other words and phrases in, you know, conversation for any length of time. Made me feel a bit geeky to actually use those words. They don’t roll off the tongue. It’s also odd to hear someone mention the blogosphere on TV.

And, for what it’s worth, I’ve never said heh, like you and me only better, when city planners attack, lame, and other blog memes that I use here when talking to people.

Boy, I tell you. You don’t comment on the local officer who shot himself while cleaning his assault rifle and you get emails and comments and everything else. I didn’t think it worth commenting on initially, even though the initial reports were that the officer had been shot, which implies some sort of nefariousness was involved. But it wasn’t:

The victim is Capt. Tony Arden. He was apparently cleaning his .223 caliber rifle in his office around 3:45 p.m. when other officers in the justice center heard a gunshot and found Arden laying on the floor.

I assume it was an AR15 type rifle based on that sentence and the fact our state troopers recently bought some too. As to how it happened:

Officers at the scene of the shooting said the magazine was out of the rifle while Arden was cleaning it. They say a bullet may have gotten lodged in the chamber and been overlooked.

This is why you assume all guns are loaded and you keep your finger off of the trigger. To say a bullet may have gotten lodged in the chamber is not accurate. The bolt was pulled back and a bullet was put in the chamber, as evidenced by the fact it went bang! A bullet was in the chamber.

Additionally, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, assuming it was an AR15, the guy probably wasn’t cleaning it. At least, he wasn’t cleaning it correctly. When you clean an AR, the first step (after unloading it) is removing the upper portion of the rifle from the lower portion. When these portions are separated, the gun is incapable of firing. It’s possible that he was trying to run a patch down the barrel while the gun was not taken apart (which is not the proper way to clean an AR15). At least, that’s my guess.

The TBI is investigating this incident. I wonder why.

Update: Reader Chris writes:

Am I the only person to observe that, in the last 3 weeks in our local area, that:

1. a security guard at a local credit union left a pistol on the toilet;
2. a school security guard lost a pistol on the school premises; and
3. a police captain accidentally shot himself while cleaning his rifle?

People who carry a gun for a living need to engage in firearms training or practice regularly.

They don’t necessarily need to be gun enthusiasts, but they need to be competent with firearms.

Ayup.

And Les has, err, more.

Heh:

I’m registered for Blog Nashville. Here’s the list of registrants. There are lots of people I’m looking forward to meeting. And also Oliver Willis.

I’m thinking about going to Blog Nashville myself. Could be fun but I primarily just want to meet people and not attend the seminar stuff.

David Hardy reports that the Fifth Circuit continues to take the second amendment seriously:

The Second Amendment right is subject to “limited narrowly tailored specific exceptions or restrictions for particular cases that are reasonable and not inconsistent with the right of Americans generally to individually keep and bear their private arms as historically understood in this country.” Id . at 261. It is not inconsistent with the Second Amendment to limit the ability of convicted felons to keep and possess firearms

Well, the fifth circuit acknowledges the individual right. So does the Congress and the President. So do the official platforms of major political parties. Why then do the other circuit courts not get it? More importantly, why hasn’t the Supreme Court ruled on it?

Seriously:

When Blount County schools (sic) officials asked for help Wednesday, the Sheriff’s Office provided a show of force at William Blount High School with more than 50 uniformed and plain clothes officers on the scene after threats of “bodily harm” were made against some students.

Sheriff James Berrong said he and Blount County Schools Director Alvin Hord are taking “a proactive instead of reactive approach” to the situation.

Investigators are pursuing “all leads and information regarding racially motivated threats and graffiti made by students against other students at the high school,” according to a press release.

Honestly, involving the police over threats of violence? Back when I was in school, they never called police. See, our teachers in the 1980s had something teachers today don’t have. They’re called balls. I recall one incident in high school where the assistant principal intervened in a student dispute. A student then punched the assistant principle right in the face. The assistant principle looked the student in the eye, without flinching, and said If that’s all you got, son, you better sit down now. And he sat down.

Heck, I worked in a juvenile prison for a while right out of college. We had no guns, no tear gas, nothing at all like that. All we had were padded rooms and some mechanical restraints, both of which required three days of paperwork to authorize the use of so they were no use at all. Still, we never called the police even when we had full on riots. We did it ourselves. And these were violent criminals.

Teachers are too quick to call the police these days. Kid has a knife, call the cops. Kid has a BB gun, dial 911. Call the five-0 because some kid has over the counter drugs. I guess they’re so damn scared of another Columbine that they don’t want to take chances.

Here’s a newsflash for the teachers, you are expected to maintain discipline at the school. It’s your job. Do your job or go home. Sitting down isn’t an option.

Update: Bubba notes in comments:

But according to the details starting to emerge, the problem has been brewing for several weeks. They don’t say what specific event(s) triggered the law enforcement response, but there was apparently a list with specific names, more than one case of racist grafitti, in one case mentioning a specific date.

So when you have named targets and specific threats and a date, seems like something you have to take seriously. Even if you didn’t care about the kids on the list, think of the school’s liability if it turned out to be a real threat.

I suppose, in the event that targets are that specific, the school is probably justified for involving the law.

In Alabama, there is a law proposed that would:

State senators are working on expanding Alabama’s death penalty law to cover murderers who use illegal assault weapons, and they are trying to narrow it to exclude minors and the mentally retarded.

Huh? First, murder is murder. Why bother with assault weapons? Second, the assault weapons ban no longer exists, which the article reports as:

Smitherman’s bill would not affect as many weapons as it would have a year ago. The federal ban on 19 military-style assault weapons expired in September, but some foreign-made assault weapons, such as the Israeli-manufactured Uzi, are still banned under a 1989 federal law.

The bill would be pointless as there is no assault weapons ban. Additionally, the foreign-made assault weapons are not banned under a 1989 federal law. They are prohibited from importation via executive order and subject to limits on the amount of foreign made parts they can have. Additionally, there’s this:

Smitherman, who is chairman of the committee, also got the committee to vote unanimously for a companion bill that would make it a crime, punishable by up to life in prison, to knowingly furnish a banned assault weapon to a convicted felon who then used it to commit a crime.

Too bad there are no banned assault weapons.

Pork, it’s what’s for dinner.

First, this blog is fake. It’s not real. SayUncle is actually a hot blond who does porn but wanted to be taken seriously for her thoughts. As such, she chose a male pseudonym so that people would respect her opinions.

Second, I clearly cannot agree with everyone on my blogrolls. I must, therefore, remove all of you.

And since I don’t toe a party line, you all must remove me from your blogrolls.

Yeah, that’s three things. Now four.

The Lone Star Times blog, with the headline Second Amendment lie makes news, notes:

A KTRK story informs us that a Houston man accidentally discharged his “assault rifle” while removing it from his vehicle, and the shot struck his wife in the hip, putting her in the hospital.

Unfortunately, the Harris County Sheriff’s Department doesn’t seem to be aware of gun laws, given this absurd statement from one of its deputies:

“With the ban being lifted on assault weapons, we are having more people carrying these weapons than we did when the ban was in place,” said Deputy Dennis Brown with the Harris County Sheriff’s Department.
While not surprising, it is none the less aggravating to hear a law enforcement officer make such a ludicrous statement, than have it amplified by news agencies as truth.

The fact is that the so-called “assault weapons ban” did not ban such weapons. It did ban importation and manufacture of certain specific makes of weapons, and restricted magazine capacity to an arbitrary 10 rounds, but most semi-automatic rifles, including the kind involved in this accidental shooting, were perfectly legal to own and transport.

That’s actually not lying about the second amendment. That’s lying about the assault weapons ban. Regardless, people lie about guns (and the media parrots the lies) every day. And those of us that rebut those lies should do so truthfully.

Not here but here.

Kathy Kinsley, in comments:

The Fourth Amendment has been dead for quite some time. Ever since the courts decided that any property suspected of being involved in a crime could be seized. Without due process.

Update:

Update 2: Yeah, the fifth amendment is more applicable with respect to due process as people are pointing out in comments. The fifth is not quite dead yet.

One of the RTB newbies, Tennessee Values Authority, lists me as a favorite read. I’m flattered. He writes of me:

It is likely safe to assume that SayUncle and I never vote in the same primary. He reminds me a lot of my father-in-law (and a few of my actual uncles), which is one reason I enjoy getting his perspective regularly on issues of the day. The thing is, I find that SayUncle and I tend to agree on a great many topics. It seems we’ve allowed our varying interpretations of the 2nd Amendment cloud the fact that we are usually in general agreement on the other nine amendments in the Bill of Rights. I find myself shouting out a few amens to his concerns about the erosion of the 4th amendment under the so-called USA PATRIOT Act, his cynical observations on the erosion of civil liberties under the guise of moral values and the local war on porn, and his concerns over property rights and eminent domain. Maybe one day I’ll understand more of the “gun nut” stand. I see how it connects to the other issues, but admittedly there’s a fervor there that leaves me unnerved. Maybe he thinks the same thing when folks like me wax on and on about the 1st Amendment. (Although the 4th is my real favorite, because without it the others don’t work so well.)

A few comments, I voted in the Democrat primary in 1992 for Jerry Brown. Young and stupid. Too much MTV, beer and hanging out with hippie chicks. They’re easy, you know.

There are no varying interpretations of the Second Amendment, it’s a pretty straight forward read. What passes for the results of case law, however, is confusing, arbitrary, and merely represents the fact that the .gov doesn’t like us citizens to be armed. It’s also wrong in every circuit court but the fifth. And, honestly, this issue is very likely why the left is in the minority. Oh and terror.

I’m also a big fan of the fourth amendment but, due to ridiculous case law, it’s all but done for in the courts, much like the first and second. The second amendment exists to protect the other nine.

And there can be no peace between us right-leaning libertarians and lefties until they get it right.

I also tend to doubt Mr. TVA is a big fan of the Tenth Amendment but I could be wrong.

And my standing offer to Mr. TVA: Anytime you want to head to the range and see what this gun nuttery is all about, let me know. Guns, ammo, range time, targets are all on me.

I think I’ll just start calling this the Carnival of Uncle, bet it gets more links that way:

Head has everything you ever wanted to know about the CETME.

Head also gives advice on AK-47s to a denizen (no, I am not making this up) of Democratic Underground.

In an earlier decision, a court ruled that adding a secondary pistol grip to an otherwise legal pistol does not constitute making an Any Other Weapon. Someone should tell the ATF because they apparently still think that is the case. The ATF has pretty much adopted the rule that an AOW is any thing that it can’t classify as something else, even though that is not coded into law.

Gun laws are a bitch. They’re arbitrary and often pointless (such as AOW laws). I think Huffman’s rule is appropriate:

Firearms law are so complex, victimless, and nonsensical that almost every firearms owner breaks multiple laws without knowing it. A general rule to compute the earned prison time for crimes committed is to multiply the number of years of activity in the shooting sports by five.

As someone who goes out of his way not to violate gun laws (because it’s so easy to do unintentionally), I can concur. Denise has much more on random gun laws.

A Zogby poll says 75% of Americans don’t think gun bans reduce the threat of terrorism. Duh. Deb has more.

The NRA says the 50 caliber ban is the tip of the agenda of anti-gun groups plan to ban all rifles. That should probably read all gun ownership. What I found funny was that the rifles the VPC wants to ban under the guise that they are sniper rifles, defined as:

a bolt action or semi-automatic
having a two-stage trigger
having a free-floated barrel
having a”bull” or “target” barrel
having a fluted barrel

That’s pretty much most rifles.

Spoons is gun blogging. We need more of that and he needs a rifle. His post was for Pejman Yousefzadeh, who is looking for advice on guns. My advice, get something simple (like a revolver or a Glock). If you get a revolver, the .38 and .357 are fine rounds. If you opt for the semi-auto, get any .4X caliber.

Michael Bane on the realpoliticks of shooting:

The biggest point is what I’d call the “hang together or hang separately” issue, i.e., antigun forces stand to benefit from any schism between hunters and non-hunting shooters. That’s certainly a fair point. However, I don’t think there needs to be a break between the two groups. It would not take much for the hunting side of the industry to accept and acknowledge that the shooting sports represent 1) a viable alternative to field sports and 2) an alternative marketing resource for the hunting industry.

Ayup.

Via Jed, we find that (yet again) newspapers merely repeat anti-gun propaganda.

Florida will soon abolished the duty to retreat requirement of self-defense and replaced it with reasonable belief they are in danger of death or great bodily harm.

The city of Maryville has annexed a portion of land to build a Wal-Mart. WATE says they can’t confirm that it will be a Wal-Mart but my inside sources tell me it’s pretty much a done deal and there will be a Wal-Mart put there.

Aside from offering tax incentives, I’m not sure why the city would annex it.

Montana keeps poking the feds with a pointy stick. This time, their legislature passed a resolution condemning the Patriot act.

In Michigan, there are calls for a ban on pit bulls. Bans do not work and are fraught with problems. But I guess it’s more important to do something (anything!), even if it’s pointless.

Actual statement from the ContraCostaTimes:

Responsible pit bull owner an oxymoron, say readers

Whoever made that statement is just a plain old moron.

The NRA reports that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson signed concealed carry reform into law. The bill makes it easier to get permits.

Yeah, I’ve posted it before but I just like this pic:

Also, Tom, forgoing buy a gun day, welcomes a new addition to his family.

And for the record, I think that dogs are more effective at deterring bad guys at the house than a gun.

A local police officer in Grainger County lost his gun. At a school. It still hasn’t been found.

Update: Michael reports it has been found. And details are to come.

Update: WBIR reports it has been found.

Buck notes:

Kevin from Always Low Prices, which features both positive and negative news items concerning Wal-Mart, is being “asked” by Wal-Mart to stop using their slogan on his site, which by the way he has been using for over a year now. Anyway he is reaching out to the Blogosphere to ask for some help/advice in how to respond. If you are such a person or know such a person he would like to talk to you.

I do it all the time and am about to do more of it. Now, this, uhm, well, you make the call:

Sen. John Cornyn said yesterday that recent examples of courthouse violence may be linked to public anger over judges who make politically charged decisions without being held accountable.

In a Senate floor speech in which he sharply criticized a recent Supreme Court ruling on the death penalty, Cornyn (R-Tex.) — a former Texas Supreme Court justice and member of the Judiciary Committee — said Americans are growing increasingly frustrated by what he describes as activist jurists.

First of all, none of the recent cases were the result of some citizen disgruntled with some issue taking it out on a judge. One case was a nutjob who didn’t want to go to jail for raping a woman. The other case didn’t even involve shooting a judge. In addition to Cornyn’s claim being irresponsible, it’s also total bullshit.

Lefty blogs are all aflutter at the asininity of the statement. They should be. Insty chimes in with:

“THERE’S BEEN SO MUCH DISREGARD FOR CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES IN CONGRESS, that I wonder if it might not lead some people to want to lynch Senators in the majority?”

An irresponsible statement. So how come Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said pretty much the same thing about violence against judges?

Gandelman has a good round up of reactions and he notes that:

Sen. Cornyn has now seemingly given a perfect mental fig leaf for every nut on the right OR ON THE LEFT who wants to physically take out a judge (or the judge’s family) with whom he or she disagrees.

Now, here’s where I out myself as a nutjob, more like a nutjob-lite. Some aspects of our government do seem to be getting out of control. The Supreme Court is utterly useless and is merely a shill for the powers that be. It doesn’t serve the people or the law. If it did, they’d stand up against abuses that go against the fourth amendment. They’d have smacked down the abysmal campaign finance reform. They’d have gone to bat for the second amendment when the assault weapons ban was challenged (or, Hell, if they’d agree to hear any gun case and make a decision one way or another). The wouldn’t have refused to hear a variety of cases that impact civil liberties. All it takes is five hands and we’re fucked.

Congress, now dominated by what was supposedly the party of smaller government, is worse. The jackpot congress and the president, who hasn’t vetoed anything ever that I can recall, go on their merry way spending our money, involving themselves in things they shouldn’t be involved in, and growing the government to the biggest it has ever been. Ever. Meanwhile, we the people are only concerned about important issues, like dudes kissing and Britney’s big ass.

Still, that doesn’t mean you go killing judges. Or congressmonkies. Or presidents. Like Claire Wolfe said:

America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.

I don’t advocate shooting or killing anyone. But I do advocate kicking their asses. Ginsburg needs to be smacked repeatedly about the head and neck area. Bush needs a wedgie. Frist needs to be kicked in the nuts. Sure, I’m kidding but our civil and public servants need to be taken down a peg or two. They really do. But that doesn’t mean you kill them. I don’t really have a method for bringing them down a peg. Can we bring back tarring and feathering?

Per insty, Cornyn has clarified and stated his speech was taken out of context. Additionally, Cornyn notes:

My point was, and is, simply this: We should all be concerned that the judiciary is losing the respect that it needs to serve the American people well.

The judiciary needs to work on getting the respect back. It gets that by serving the American people well. It doesn’t need respect to start serving us well. No branch of government currently serves the people well. Something needs to be done to hold them accountable. Vote them out. Impeach them. We need to do something.

Or I’ll bring the feathers.

I was never particularly excited about the Minuteman Project, where citizens patrol the border because our government is doing a crappy job of it. The president called them vigilantes but, with the president’s failure to take adequate steps to secure the borders, consider the source. The real significance of the Minuteman project is to draw attention to our porous borders and it has done that.

So, how are the Minutemen doing? Depends who you ask.

USA Today reports that the volunteers are disruptive:

Volunteers who have converged on the Mexican border to watch for illegal immigrants are disrupting U.S. Border Patrol operations by tripping sensors that alert agents to possible intruders, an agency spokesman complained Monday.

The AP, however, reports that it’s paying off:

Participants helped federal agents make 18 arrests near Naco, authorities said Sunday. The volunteers were surveying the border to familiarize themselves with the area before starting their regular, monthlong patrols Monday.

Meanwhile, the .gov will tighten border controls by 2008.

Update: An article I was emailed (can’t find a link to it – for future reference, send me a link too) states that:

Citizens take posts on the border; 118 illegals caught, officials say

FoxNews confirms that 118 were spotted.

Update 2: In comments, there’s a link to an article that claims the Minutemen have stopped 141 illegal aliens. I wonder how many the Border Patrol gets in a comparable time period?

So says Radley Balko. I can’t say I disagree.

I’m a little Poped out. Every where you look, it’s Pope this, Pope that, Pope the other thing, and what about the Pope mobile? I, like most of the population of the Earth, am not Catholic so maybe the coverage just seems excessive to me. And there’s still over two days until the funeral. I need a Pope-free zone.

Go win some guns and guns staff.

Jeff has the latest round up of gun stories in the media.

In NY, there is little difference between real guns and toy guns. They fined CVS and K-Mart for selling illegal toy guns. Ravenwood has the scoop.

In anticipation of Buy a Gun day, I’m mulling over what I want to buy. As such, here’s sort of the wish list:

The Walther P-22 with a sound suppressor: Fun toy, quiet and good for backyard plinking. As a bonus, the suppressor can be used on Mr. Plinkie.

Either a Springfield SOCOM or Springfield scout: Probably the best all around rifle ever. I like the compactness of the SOCOM but I also like the 18 inch barrel of the scout. Problem is they run about $1,500, which is a lot for gun in my opinion.

New England Survivor in 308, available at your friendly, neighborhood Wal-Mart. A quality hunting, plinking rifle for a damn fine price.

Special Purpose Rifle in 6.8SPC: I really, really want one but just can’t get motivated to do so until the ammo is readily available.

Concealed hammer .357 revolver: No particular brand picked yet, but I’m leading toward the Taurus. I need a good pocket gun. And I want lasergrips for it.

Glock 21: Full size 45ACP.

Kel-Tec P3AT: Another pocket gun but this one will actually fit in your pocket. Not sure about the 380 caliber though.

So, there’s my current list. It will change next week, it always does.

While my hopes are not high, Congress is reviewing the merits of the Patriot Act. I found this bit interesting:

The data released by the Justice Department late Monday centered on its use of Section 213 of the law, which allows federal agents, with a court order, to enter a suspect’s home or residence secretly and search for evidence without immediately telling the person they have been there. The provision is among those set to expire at the end of 2005.

The new data showed that the Justice Department used the secret warrants 108 times from April 2003 to January 2005, for an average of almost five warrants per month. That represented a sharp increase from the last reported tally from October 2001 to April 2003, when 47 warrants were issued, for an average of fewer than three per month.

Justice Department officials said they resorted to using the secret warrants in less than 0.2 percent of all search warrants granted to law enforcement officials.

By my calculation (108/0.2%) the Justice Department conducted 54,000 warranted searches in 21 months? {Update: Keying error. Numbers updated and look a lot more reasonable}. Also:

The secret warrants were used in a wide spectrum of cases beyond terrorism, including child pornography, drug trafficking and organized crime, the officials said.

I thought the Patriot Act was to be used for terror? I mean, that’s why they pushed it.

A bill entitled The Pharmacists Freedom of Conscience Act is making its way through the Tennessee legislature. It will allow pharmacists to cite moral objections as a reason for refusing to dispense drugs without fear of liability or disciplinary measures. WATE has more.

The bill is being called (and rightfully so) an effort to limit access to contraceptives. And Viagra, I’d guess.

In Colorado:

Drivers who insist on staying in the passing lane are risking tickets as the State Patrol has begun enforcing a law requiring motorists to use the left lane for passing only.

Since the patrol started enforcing the “Left Lane Law” three months ago, troopers have written about 460 tickets or about an average of five a day to drivers who dawdle in the left lane.

Update: In local news, if you’re one of those asshats who waits until the last minute to merge in a construction zone, you’ll be getting fined for it:

Tennessee Highway Patrol Troopers are launching a new effort to make construction zones in Tennessee safer. Drivers who don’t merge in a timely manner could face hefty fines.

It’s a big frustration for a lot of drivers. Traffic is merging into one lane, then someone suddenly cuts in front of you.

T-DOT and THP want the practice to stop. Starting immediately, troopers will issue tickets to anyone who merges past the intended zone.

I still advocate an ass-whippin’.

Justice Ginsburg advocates lending more credence to international law:

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court embraced the practice of consulting foreign legal decisions on Friday, rejecting the argument from conservatives that United States law should not take international thinking into account.

After a strongly worded dissent in a juvenile death penalty case from Justice Antonin Scalia last month that accused the court of putting too much faith in international opinion, Justice Ginsberg said the United States system should, if anything, consider international law more often.

The Constitution is the law of the land, not world opinion.

The ATF is getting poked with a stick because it fails to conduct adequate background checks on people who purchase explosives. What government does:

People with criminal records and other disqualifying factors have access to explosives because the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is failing to do adequate background checks, posing a significant risk to public safety, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog said Monday.

At least 655 people can continue to work for companies licensed to handle explosives even though they have criminal records or fall into one of six other prohibited categories, Justice Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said. ATF continues to classify their applications as pending; until the clearance process is complete, applicants can continue to handle explosives.

It gets better:

The agency did not even request an FBI background check on an estimated 3,420 of the 38,000 people who have sought government clearance to work with explosives, Fine said.

Gunner reports that in San Francisco will soon vote on a law that would require local bloggers to register with the city Ethics Commission and report all blog-related costs that exceed $1,000 in the aggregate. Also:

Blogs that mention candidates for local office that receive more than 500 hits will be forced to pay a registration fee and will be subject to website traffic audits, according to Chad Jacobs, a San Francisco City Attorney.

Morons.

After the Red Lake shooting, I was rather surprised at the lack of calls for gun control. Even the Brady Campaign, an organization usually inclined to politicize the death of children, only made a half-hearted attempt. The SacBee notes the same thing:

The day after the Red Lake reservation shootings – the latest of three mass killings in Minnesota and Wisconsin in recent months – a group of House Democrats fired off a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., demanding a fresh look at new gun legislation.
More than a week later, they’ve received no reply, and nobody believes there will be a bill-signing ceremony for gun legislation anytime soon.

Gun control is not on the agenda when Congress returns from spring break next week. Most Republicans are loath to do anything that could restrict gun rights, and Democrat leaders – still smarting from recent election reverses – aren’t eager to be the anti-gun party either.

Even in Illinois, there is a line drawn among rural and urban folks. Urban folks tend to support gun control while rural people do not. As such, Chicago-led bans aren’t going to fly in the rest of the state:

Illinois hunters and gun dealers are trying to shoot down a flurry of gun-control proposals they say rose from fear in the streets of Chicago, far from the downstate prairies and woods where guns are appreciated for sport.

They see no room for compromise on Chicago-led efforts to ban assault weapons and .50-caliber rifles and ammunition, and they oppose proposals to require background checks for gun-show purchases and to limit gun buyers to one handgun per month.

Some, however, still call for gun control regardless of its merits, like the Christian Science Monitor:

Yet even with such startling figures, and just six months after Congress shamefully allowed the assault weapons ban to expire, the National Rifle Association (NRA) remains committed to supporting bills now pending in the House and Senate that would grant broad immunity from liability in civil lawsuits to gun manufacturers and dealers. Sen. Jack Reed (D) of Rhode Island rightly calls that “an unprecedented blanket protection that no other industry enjoys.” And worse, the bills apparently are on a fast track, with a vote expected soon.

Both measures should fail.

First, the assault weapons ban was not effective at anything. It is shameful that the CSM is pimping some junk science on the issue. Additionally, there is no blanket immunity in the liability bills proposed. The bills are designed to stop the lawsuits aimed at breaking the gun industry. For instance:

One of the many problems with the bills: They include granting immunity to gun dealers who are reckless, some of whom even supply the criminal gun market. What’s more, the civil damages claim brought by the families of victims in the 2002 D.C.-area sniper shootings could not have moved forward had these bills been law.

Granting immunity to reckless dealers? That line is totally made up. The claims of the DC sniper shootings should have failed (at least against Bushmaster, though there is question that the retailer may have not acted responsibly). In fact, Bushmaster merely settled the suit on its own because it was cheaper to pay out than fight the battle. That is what these bills are designed to stop. Bushmaster made a lawful product and lawfully sold it to a dealer. They were not negligent and committed no crime. They should not have had to pay out.

Michael Blanding, attempting to address what the real culture of life would entail, writes that one method is:

3. Pass Effective Gun Control Laws

More than 80 Americans are killed by firearms each day. Yet Congress has made it easier for criminals to get their hands on weapons — most recently with the repeal of the assault weapons ban — instead of following the lead of states like Massachusetts and New York, which have passed tougher laws and decreased handgun deaths.

A few things: 80 Americans are killed each day by themselves or other Americans. Guns don’t walk around killing people. The assault weapons ban was not repealed, it had a sunset provision to expire after ten years. That provision was the only way they could get it to pass. There is also nothing to indicate it was an Effective Gun Control Law. The CDC and NIJ concluded that there is no correlation between gun laws and crime.

Eleven police held after Brazil killings

Eleven police officers were arrested on suspicion of participating in the massacre of 30 people last week on the city’s poor outskirts, and the search continued for another suspect, authorities said Monday.

The shootings — the bloodiest massacre in years in a state well known for its violence — left many residents perplexed by their seemingly random nature. Only two of the victims had criminal records and five were teenagers shot dead while playing video games at a local bar.

What happens when only the police have guns… Brazil implemented a strict gun control program in 2004, leaving the citizens unarmed at the mercy of their government.

Now, under a new law hailed by supporters as the most sweeping gun-control measure in South America, only Brazilians with valid reasons — police and security guards, for example — are allowed to carry firearms in public.
Ordinary citizens who own guns either must register their weapons, turn them in or face jail time.

Doesn’t this make you feel a whole lot better about gun control?

Adam, whose computer was allegedly taken by the police, is back to blogging. Hey, Adam, we want the skinny on the little dust up. You could, you know, blog about it.

David Hardy writes, despite common knowledge, that some courts do show respect for the Fourth Amendment:

ATFE’s search warrant was invalid. The 4th Amendment requires that a warrant specify the place to be searched and the items to be seized. With regard place, this one specified an entire building, although the items were known to be confined to a special Customs vault in the basement. With regard items to be seized, the warrant said only “see affidavit,” and the affidavit was not attached and had been sealed by the court.

A complete understanding of the Second Amendment.

Women are assumed to be stupid and targets.

To stop the Sudanese genocide, Dimitri Vassilaros advocates sending guns instead of aid.

This piece, asking if America needs more gun control, makes some pretty stupid (if not outright inaccurate) claims:

The number of people killed by firearms has unfortunately risen after seven consecutive years of decline, and there are critical loopholes and ambiguities in the United States’ federal gun laws.

Got a cite for that? I’m fairly certain that is untrue. However, mark it because someone will come along and try to assert that this is because the assault weapons ban expired.

While the Second Amendment clearly gives citizens the right to bear arms, Americans have continued to radically abuse this right. Elaborate mass shootings frequently haunt the nation’s front pages, and smaller incidents casually go unnoticed.

You get the first part right. However, shooting someone is not a radical abuse of that right. It is committing a crime.

Congress’ failure to renew the familiar assault weapons ban has immunized gun manufacturers from civil liability for letting weapons fall in the hands of gun traffickers, snipers and terrorists – a critical factor in the dramatic nationwide killing spree.

Wow! The expiration of the AWB somehow immunized gun manufacturers?

The rest of the piece reads like a Brady Campaign press release, featuring such bogeymen as the non-existent gun show loopholes, terror and the assault weapons ban.

Update: I should read blogs before I start blogging. Joe points out she basically plagiarized a Brady Campaign special report.

Can some one identify this:

лещен

It’s my number two search phrase suddenly. No clue what it means. Any ideas?

Times Dispatch:

Three men wearing ski masks burst through the back door and into the kitchen. The first man drew a gun and ordered Travis Rappold, 21, his girlfriend Amanda Searle, 18, and their three friends to lie down.

Enter Rock, Rappold’s 75-pound pit bull. The dog jumped up from his seat at his master’s feet and ran out from under the table toward the armed assailant.

“They yelled ‘get that pit’ and I yelled ‘get him, Rock,’” said Rappold, recalling last Sunday’s incident at his apartment on Rossmore Road in South Richmond.

Backpedaling, the gunman fired once, striking the dog in the chest. Rock kept going.

The intruders fled through the back door and scattered.

Rappold shut the door before Rock could keep chasing the three men.

Sadly, Rock died from his wounds.

The NYT:

Shootings Fuel a Drive to Ease Gun Laws

Paul Bucher, the district attorney for the Wisconsin county where a man opened fire in a church service last month, killing seven people and himself, has one answer to the deadly mass shootings around the country in recent weeks: more guns.

“The problems aren’t the guns, it’s the guns in the wrong hands,” said Mr. Bucher, a Republican who recently announced his candidacy for Wisconsin attorney general. “We need to put more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens. Whether having that would have changed what happened is all speculation, but it would level the playing field. If the person you’re fighting has a gun and all you have is your fists, you lose.”

And no cries of blood in the streets and trumped up statistics? More:

Across the country, efforts to expand or establish laws allowing concealed handguns have been fueled by the horrifying shootings in the last month – of the family of a federal judge in Chicago, at the church service in Wisconsin, at courthouses in Atlanta and Tyler, Tex., and the nation’s second-deadliest school shooting, on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota.

In Texas and Illinois, the shootings prompted new legislation to allow judges and prosecutors to be armed. Legislators in Nebraska and Wisconsin, which were already considering allowing concealed weapons, say they think the shootings will help their cause.

Again, I think my eyes are deceiving me. Or, as Kevin says, OK, Who Are You, and What Did You Do with the Real New York Times? Kudos to the times for not being hysterical ninnies.

Though the hard part remains, it looks like CCW is moving forward in Nebraska:

With a vote of 5-2 the Nebraska Unicameral Judiciary Committee sent the Concealed Carry legislation LB454 to the full floor of the Senate today.

And, of course, the governor has said he’d sign it. We’re winning. Can Kansas be far behind?

Not here but here. The Carnival of Cordite is up with lots of gun blogging.

The Pope is not doing well. It makes me wonder if he’s going to stand up and say Ha ha, I got all of you. You should see the looks on your faces. April fools.

All kidding aside and despite not being Catholic (I don’t even know who Cathol is), best wishes for the pontiff.

Update: Per the Yahoo! front page, the pope is reportedly dead.

Update 2: Yahoo! took it back and the headline is gone.

I thought Bubba was joking but the Mrs. just called and said that the mayor of Knoxville was on a local TeeVee press conference confirming his intent to resign later this year and run for governor.

Update: SKB reader gemini:

I heard Vice-Mayor Mark Brown has scheduled a press conference for this afternoon to talk about how he plans to handle the transition to the Mayor’s office.

Update 2: Yeah, yeah. April fools.

Police taser a deer.

Lawmakers in Georgia and Indiana walked out to protest a racist bill. This particular racist bill was one that would require someone show photo ID at the polls. This hysteria involved references to Jim Crow so I assume they’re saying it’s racist. They don’t say the law is racist, of course, but that it is not friendly to the homeless.

How is showing an ID racist? As Spoons says:

More Americans need to wake up to this. There are some lawmakers who believe it’s practically their constitutional right to rig elections, and are so terrified of anything that makes it harder for them to rack up phony votes, that they’ll go on strike to prevent it.

Honestly, I can think of no good reason not to require a photo ID to vote.

George Will:

[John Linder's] bill would abolish the Internal Revenue Service and the many billions of tax forms it sends out and receives. He would erase the federal income tax system — personal and corporate income taxes, the regressive payroll tax and self-employment tax, capital gains, gift and estate taxes, the alternative minimum tax, and the earned-income tax credit — and replace all that with a 23 percent national sales tax on personal consumption. That would not only sensitize consumers to the cost of government with every purchase, it would destroy K Street.

He notes that K Street defends and complicates the tax code and the corruption of various tax bills by the powers that be. Tax compliance costs alone are several billions. I’m all for it.

However, it will never pass. Congress likes doling out favors using the tax code. The tax law and accounting lobby has a ton of money to fight it. And it would require repeal of the 16th amendment or, mark my words, a few years out we’d have both a sales tax and an income tax.

A scientist claims that black holes do not exist. Somebody might want to warn those guys who are making them in labs then.

Walter Williams:

Saying the Constitution is a living document is the same as saying we don’t have a Constitution.

Ayup.

Frank Cagle addresses the role of blogs in politics and news.

Manish is back. Give him a read.

Eminent Domain hurting businesses:

A local business that has served the Huntington community for 59 years is being forced out by Marshall University. Eminent domain, the law that allows government to seize private property for public use, has been a buzz word around the Tri-State recently.

Glaser Furniture, a business located on Third Avenue, is being forced to close so Marshall can expand. What message is this sending to other local businesses? How can one business, who has helped the Marshall community, simply be forced to close? Huntington was founded before Marshall was a university, and although Marshall makes Huntington the city it is today, there needs to be some limits to where Marshall can go.

And I really don’t think a university expansion qualifies as public use.

In Norwood, the powers that be want to demolish a math and reading center for some upscale offices and condos.

Another group in New Jersey is fighting for their homes that are slated to be bulldozed for redevelopment. Of note to me was this quote:

“I have been representing property owners all over New Jersey for 30 years in eminent domain cases,” Wegener said. “It is my entire practice.

Fighting for property rights is enough to keep a full time lawyer in New Jersey busy.

The sort of weekly gun links are up.

The FBI used a sneak and peek search (you know, that Patriot Act I shouldn’t be concerned with):

FBI agents used provisions of the USA Patriot Act during their investigation last year of a Portland attorney who was wrongly jailed for two weeks on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings, according to a Justice Department letter.

The Patriot Act allows for covert searches of homes, without conventional search warrants.

Brandon Mayfield (pictured) was jailed last May after his fingerprint was incorrectly matched to one found on a bag of detonators near the scene of the Madrid attack, which killed 191 people. He was released after the FBI admitted its mistake.

He’s suing them. Good.

NBC25:

A Maryland man faces numerous dangerous dog law violations, after police say his pit bull attacked several members of the community.

After several attacks, a judge declared 23- year- old Wayne Gray’s pit bulls dangerous, forbidding Gray from taking the dogs off his mother’s property.

Apparently, it takes several attacks before the authorities do something.