You have to read this (dated May 17) to believe it:

Just under four months from today, Americans will be able to walk out of a gun store with an AK-47 rifle, an Uzi or other weapon of mass murder under their arm.

Unless Congress acts — and Republican leaders show no inclination to do so — the 10-year-old federal assault gun ban will expire Sept. 13. A word from President Bush would get a renewal before lawmakers, a majority of whom would probably approve it. But the president is silent.

Guys, the ban expired last September. And there’s been no increase in violent crime committed with these weapons to my knowledge. Of course, it is a reprint of an article that I covered a while back. Careless error or stupidity? I dunno.

Protestors will converge on a newspaper’s office because the paper’s Pet of the Week feature (which highlights dogs available for adoption) decided to exclude pit bulls.

The NRA reports that the NC house will hear a bill requiring sheriffs to issue temporary concealed handgun permits to those who get protective court orders. Also, it would require judges to tell those applying for such orders that the permits are available.

The Wall Street Journal has a back and forth on the eminent domain.

Michael Silence posts the Knoxville News Sentinel’s policy on anonymous sources. I found this interesting:

Anonymous sources should be used only for substantive, factual information, not for opinion, criticism or incidental information. Sources should have direct knowledge of the subject involved.

I guess I can’t opine at the News Sentinel (foreshadowing).

The Geek reports that common sense prevailed as a result of the commission to address gun violence in the state. More importantly, gun grabbers lost.

He also notes that Philadelphia is breaking the law.

The Record Online:

But state police say the event – the Middletown Great Gun and Knife Show – has become an open market for unscrupulous sellers who hawk weapons in the parking lot without conducting background checks on the buyers, a violation of federal law.

Actually, if it wasn’t a dealer (or was a dealer selling privately owned arms) there is no federal law against it. If you read further:

The men weren’t registered vendors in the gun show, state police said.

[snip]

“These were private gun owners who were making what would normally be a legitimate transaction, the sale of a legal firearm between two people,” said Sgt. David Scott, of the state police barracks in the Town of Wallkill. “But when you enter into a gun show and make the deal there, unfortunately you’re bound by a different law.”

Must be a California law as there is no Federal law preventing such a transaction.

As if you needed another reason:

Several weeks ago, Ohioans For Concealed Carry began receiving reports of new “no-guns” signs appearing at Best Buy locations in Ohio. Initially, it appeared this may have been a result of store managers having been mislead by out-of-state companies who are peddling “compliance kits” that contain “no-guns” signs, and falsely claiming that state law requires them to be posted. In fact, in at least one Best Buy store, the sign that is posted was obtained from one of these companies, G-Neil.

As additional reports of these postings came I, we educated those making the reports about how these out-of-state companies have been falsely claiming signs are required, and encouraged them to contact Best Buy’s corporate headquarters in Minnesota about the issue.

Unfortunately, it now appears that Best Buy has joined the list of business ban hypocrites – corporations whose policy seems to suggest that they believe Ohioans are less likely to be responsible with concealed firearms than their customers in other states

I’m running out of places to shop.

A judge has again refused to send a 69 year-old man with congestive heart failure to jail for selling guns to undercover ATF agents.

I’m not defending the pedophile, but I find this strange:

Former Knoxville resident Gregory Alec Phillips pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court at Knoxville to “engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.”

That’s really a crime on the books?

And, Tennessee’s AG shut down one of those work from home scams:

Tennessee Attorney General Paul Summers has shut down a work-at-home scheme after his office received complaints from more than 300 people.

Three Nashville residents agreed Tuesday to permanently shut down two businesses that promised participants thousands of dollars per week for stuffing envelopes at home.

And, finally, a kid gets attacked by a raccoon.

Periodically, I check the lame Department of Homeland Security site at Ready.gov to see if they’ve added anything gun related to the site. They haven’t.

Governor Bredesen has updated his blog:

My first blog entry, ever (the one on 5/9 was not from me).

When we put up the new web site containing a Phil blog last week, I didn’t expect that it would create the buzz that it has. Since Monday, I’ve heard from TV, newspapers, people on the street, emails, and lots of traffic in the blogosphere (reported to me, I’m not a user) about various things especially including whether I would be doing the postings vs a staff member.

Not sure what that I’m not a user bit is about, must be related to the Internets. He has vowed that all future postings will be from him (unless otherwise noted) and I hope that’s why the first entry disappeared (and not down the memory hole). He also says:

I don’t know if this will work. The relative informality and immediacy that makes blogs interesting are at odds with the circumspection and care that a responsible office requires and without which you get your feet tangled up real quick. I’m going to try it for a while, but if it is dull or if the political cost is too great I may need to close up shop at some point in the future. It is really worth giving it a try though.

Yeah, unscripted, politicians get in trouble. Why do you think presidential debates aren’t really debates?

Welcome to blogging, Governor. Good to see you mean it this time.

Rumor has it that the venerable M24 sniper system used by the US military is on its way out. The military think tanks have decided that the military should use a Semi Automatic Sniper System (SASS) instead of a bolt action operating system and have begun accepting bids. The military has specified that the semi-automatic contenders fire the equally venerable 7.62 Nato (308 Winchester) but some speculate that the military is not opposed to the 300 Winmag (though most semi-autos on the market can’t chamber the large shell because the actions would need to be elongated significantly) or the 300 Remington Short Action Ultra Mag (which, though shorter, is comparable to the 300 WinMag because the case is wider and holds more powder than other rounds with cases of comparable length). These two rounds would increase the effective range of a military sniper from 1,000 yards to 1,500 yards. Armalite has started making their AR10 in 300 RSUAM.

The advantages of a semi-automatic are numerous, but here are few: quick follow up shots, quicker multi-target capabilities, and (perhaps most important) follow up shots can be taken without operating the bolt. The latter is particularly useful as a marksman can give his position away by manually operating a bolt as this requires the marksman to move his arm. Such movement could prove fatal for the sniper if it gives away his position.

Contenders for the project would likely be as follows:

DPMS long range series of rifles

The obvious advantage of this rifle is that it is based on the AR15 operating system and troops would be familiar with it.

The Armalite AR-10:

Same advantage as the DPMS. Additionally, this is a 300 RSUAM version, though 308 Win is available.

The M1A Tactical:

An excellent reliable weapon and the military has thousands of M1s stored in mothballs somewhere. Cost could potentially be less.

Update: Edited to correct poor wording on my part. Details in comments thanks to Pawpaw.

Heh.

No, not me. Jeff is. He’s looking for a gun at $500 or less. Go help him out. I already told him he could build an AR for that much.

Heh:

SAF CALLS FOR ‘WAITING PERIODS’ ON PRESS FOLLOWING FATAL NEWSWEEK DEBACLE

More than 115 dead or injured, and now a lame “apology” from Newsweek; maybe it is time for the press to accept waiting periods before exercising its First Amendment rights in the same way the press has backed waiting periods on law-abiding Americans before exercising their Second Amendment rights.

That’s the observation from the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) now that Newsweek has acknowledged its report about the desecration of the Koran by soldiers at Guantanamo Bay was bogus.

“I wonder if Newsweek, or its owner, the Washington Post, would submit all of their stories for FBI clearance before they publish,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “This irresponsible exercise of the First Amendment freedom of the press has killed and injured more people than Charles Whitman or the Beltway Snipers.

“How many times,” Gottlieb wondered, “have Newsweek and The Washington Post advocated waiting periods for law-abiding citizens, who have hurt nobody, before they can buy a firearm? A waiting period amounts to prior restraint by the government. How loud would reporters scream if they faced prior restraint before printing their version of the news? Their double standard is hypocritical.

Ouch.

Looks like there’s a proposal in Sumner County to implement breed specific legislation:

One option would require owners to register, confine and insure their dogs.

Heckler and Koch is making an AR15? Cool. It looks like they’ve also developed their own gas system to take care of the AR15’s Eat Where It Shits problem that I’ve mentioned before.

Seems like everyone is coming up with their own gas system for the AR.

If you have an Uncle Mike’s (no relation) holster, it may have been recalled:

About 8,000 Kydex Holsters with Thumb Break for Glock model handguns by Michaels of Oregon Co., because the retention strap can slip out of position and cause the firearm to unexpectedly discharge while being reholstered. The firm has received three reports of unexpected discharges, including one involving a law enforcement officer shot in the leg while reholstering his gun. Uncle Mike’s and Uncle Mike’s Law Enforcement catalogs and sporting goods and gun supply stores nationwide sold the holsters from January to October 2002. For more information, call Michaels of Oregon at 800-471-4999 or visit

In addition to Toyota, Prudential is pushing anti-gun stuff.

And Pepsico, though not for gun stuff.

Update: Turns out the Pepsi bit wasn’t true. See link above for the update. Wonder how quickly that will spread through the blogs?

Jeff has the latest on bias against guns in the media.

Anyone know why video on my computer would suddenly have a blue tint? Tried Windows Media Player and Real. Both now, for some reason, play video with a blueish tint to it. I can use the color settings to get rid of it but it doesn’t save that setting so each video requires it. Can’t think of anything I’ve done other than installing an old computer game.

Update: All fixed now. Stupid proprietary video card software.

Kudos to John Jay Hooker. He has rid himself of the annoying Firefox popup (mentioned here and here). Kudos to Mr. Hooker for the quick response.

Jon Stewart has (and I’ve often concurred with) raged against the media machine. Notably, he called the hosts of Crossfire hacks and dicks after he made a good point about the media failing to do its job. And The Daily Show’s coverage of blogs last week was excellent in its promotion of blogs and slamming the media coverage of blogs. Stewart, through humor and satire, cleverly berates the media establishment. Unfortunately for him, he’s guilty of doing the same thing they do. I’ve covered this before, noting:

Stewart assailed the media for their complacence in the media/corporate/political establishment, which is a good thing. He’s done that on his show before. He also called them both partisan hacks. And he was right.

However, Stewart was tossing rocks from his glass house. A while back, Kerry got some sand in his vagina or something and stopped doing media events because he didn’t want to address his Vietnam service (this marked the first time that I know of where he didn’t want to talk about his Vietnam service). Then, Kerry appears on Stewart’s show and, instead of tossing rocks, Stewart lobbed softballs. The Crossfire folks pointed this out. Stewart relied on his standard defense that his show is a comedy show, it follows puppets making prank calls, and that if the media wants to compare itself to his show then the media has some serious issues.

Bullshit, Jon. I’ve seen you on your show ask difficult questions and I’ve seen you drill your guests. I’ve seen you drill the media. Those are good things. The fact is Stewart gives certain folks a pass and these folks tend to be liberal. It’s your show, do what you want. I’ll still watch because it’s funny. The fact remains that you make fun of the Bush administration for all sorts of things (they probably deserve it) but the only thing you make fun of Kerry for is his boring, monotonous voice.

And he’s played hack again. The other night, I caught an episode of The Daily Show that dealt with Florida’s law that eliminates the duty to retreat with respect to self defense law. The coverage was exactly like I was reading the hysterical and misleading ramblings of the Violence Policy Center, the Brady Campaign or Oliver Willis. TDS referred to shooting first and asking questions later and how the police would be unable to investigate shootings. Both of these are completely unfounded. Additionally, they noted the NRA rep stating that they’d like to see more states adopt the same law. TDS, acting as though it was utter crazy talk, never pointed out that this law actually brings Florida in line with the majority of states in the country. The piece was misleading and anti-gun (though the Speedo Holster bit was quite funny other than Stewart asking his audience if the gun scared them more than the large guy in Speedos).

And all this is done given the TDS’s recent (and well-founded) attack on the media for not checking facts and asking tough questions.

Don’t get me wrong, I like TDS. It’s funny, entertaining and ruthlessly brutal. But it’s hypocritical to do the same things you criticize others for and rely on the we’re fake news bit when called on it.

The Supreme Court has ruled that shipping wine across state lines is OK. This was important to me because Kevin, one of the Brutal Huggers (who are now back from their four month hiatus, apparently, but located here), Chris, Xrlq and Smijer all owe me beers over our little wager on the outcome of the presidential election.

But here in Tennessee, the ruling likely won’t mean much because:

Tennessee is among the 24 states that currently bar out-of-state shipments, but state officials said that because it bans wine shipments from all sources, it might not have to change the law so wineries are treated equally.

Xrlq seems happy to get out of paying up, since it would be illegal. I guess I could insist he drive 3,000 miles. And he has a good analysis of the ruling, which notes that it probably doesn’t apply to beer. Even if I call it barley wine.

So, it looks like no beer for me.

Ravenwood thinks the precedent applied here could be applied to guns:

Of course one of the reasons I’m so happy about this decision is not that I like to drink out of state wine. No, I’m thrilled because this logistical model was very close to the way firearms are sold between states.

Buying guns across state lines requires that you arrange the sale through a federally licensed dealer from your home state. So if you see a gun being sold in a magazine or online, you cannot buy it directly from the federally licensed dealer who is selling it because he lives in another state. Even if all the proper paperwork is filed, you must still route the transaction through a local dealer and pay any transfer fees that they apply.

I won’t hold my breath but sounds reasonable to me.

TriggerFinger notes that the ban is being heard today in the NY assembly:

Legislation is expected to be heard today (Tuesday May 17) in the New York State Assembly Codes Committee that will ban the .50 caliber rifle. The legislation (A4471), does allow for compensation by the state to current owners, but only at a “fair market value” (translated: whatever they feel like paying you and not to exceed $8,500). In addition, the law gives you only 30 days to dispose of your rifle and you must turn your rifle into the state police PERSONALLY.

I don’t mind the new words being submitted to Webster, but I do mind that they’re stealing words I made up* a long time ago:

The response from the “vocabularians” was so “ginormous” that the lexicographers let out a “whoot.” “Confuzzled?” You must be a “lingweenie.”

But then “lingweenie” — a person incapable of making up new words is kind of cool too. Here’s the list.

*Full disclosure, I actually stole that joke from a friend of mine.

Assuming dog years, that is. Today, politically incorrect dog turns three. Happy birthday, guy. Meanwhile, it’s about time to enroll politically correct dog in fat camp. He’s putting on the pounds in his old age.

Odd:

Man Who Used Vaccum (sic) Part As Gun Sentenced

A man who pretended a vacuum cleaner attachment was a gun during two robberies last year has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

And the AP can’t spell Vacuum. Must be his third strike because that punishment seems so cruel and unusual.

David Codrea in email:

blogs are definitely the small furry mammals running around the feet of dinosaurs.

Heh.

Since the violent, first-person shooter Doom made its debut, violent crime has dropped.

Bubba welcomes some new members into the Rocky Top Brigade. Welcome all.

The blogosphere is abuzz with the meme that Newsweek lied, people died. Sure, it’s catchy and all but it’s inaccurate. The more appropriate meme would be Newsweek used an unreliable source and people died.

It is quite sad that Newsweek’s defense consists of saying they couldn’t verify it was untrue.

Minnesota is looking to pass a law to issue handgun carry permits to law-abiding citizens. Again:

In a solid win for pro-gun forces, the Minnesota Senate passed a measure Friday that would allow nearly all law-abiding citizens to get permits to carry loaded handguns in public.

The 44-21 vote likely clears the way for the Minnesota House to pass the bill early next week and send it to the governor for his signature.

Lawmakers first passed the measure, alternatively called the conceal-carry bill or the Personal Protection Act, in 2003, but the state Appeals Court last month ruled that the way it was passed was unconstitutional.

During five hours of Senate debate, proponents of the bill, made up largely of Republicans and rural Democrats, prevailed in vote after vote.

Excellent.

It is here. One thing that annoys me is websites that say something to the effect of Best viewed with random browser, in 800X600, while standing naked, facing east and juggling chipmunks. I hate that crap with a passion. What is more annoying is that when you visit his blog using Internet Explorer and click a link, a pop up appears telling you to get a better browser. Don’t tell me how to surf or what to surf with. That is a major annoyance and I won’t be back until that thing is gone.

Update: Turns out the Firefox pop-up was a default setting for Mr. Hooker’s blog software. He has since addressed. Mr. Hooker’s fine blog is now proudly on my to read list. More here.

Toyota awards scholarships to high school students (a noble endeavor) but their press release says:

Theodoros Milonopoulos, a Toyota Community Scholar residing in Los Angeles, is a prime example of the dedication to community service exhibited by this year’s class. Through his leadership and effort in the area of gun control, the City of Los Angeles banned .50 caliber sniper rifles, plus reauthorized the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Also, this Scholar – along with the Los Angeles Police Department – organized a rally where 2,000 crime guns were melted down.

Forgot where I saw it first, but this meme I found interesting. If you could only read 20 blogs for one year, which would they be? Now, this may offend some folks who don’t make the list but trust me, if you’re on the blogroll, I read you.

So many blogs are just parrot blogs. By that, I mean that so many blogs merely talk about and say the same thing that other bloggers talk about. Quite a few merely parrot bigger bloggers and add their own twist to saying the same thing. Must. Toe. Line. As such, my criteria is based largely on original content.

All the blogs on the right are fine blogs but if I had to pick 20, these are them. Some fine blogs were excluded merely because they don’t update frequently enough (and I mean you, you, you, you, and you). These are in no particular order (well, that’s a lie, they’re in the order that they appear on my bloglines feed but no order in terms of preference):

1 AnarchAngel – Good gun stuff and original content. A must read.

2 Heads Bunker – The gun how-to of the blogosphere, in my opinion.

3 The Geek – Hey, more politics than the other two but plenty of gun stuff too.

4 Of Arms and the Law – For the legal aspect of guns that you can’t seem to get anywhere else.

5 Smallest Minority – Kevin is a fine blogger and my only complaint is that he takes too much time off. But when he lets loose, he really lets loose.

6 The Ten Ring – Good, well-written gun stuff. Definitely a must read.

7 TriggerFinger – Guns, activism and attitude. TriggerFinger does a lot and exposes quite a bit of civil liberties related tomfoolery.

8 damnum absque injuria – My favorite smart-ass lawyer. Doesn’t matter which side you’re on, if you’re wrong, he’ll call you on it.

9 AlphaPatriot – Variety of topics, well-written, original, researched and plenty of good material.

10 Camp4U – For my behind the scenes look at the Tennessee legislature.

11 Meanderthal – A collection of liberals with ties to Tennessee and mostly without all the crazy.

12 Insty – He’s like the Yahoo! of the blogosphere. If it’s happening on blogs, he writes about it.

13 Lean Left – Comes in three flavors of liberal: Mild, moderate and extra-crispy. Good stuff and only occasionally hysterical.

14 Les Jones – Original content and good gun stuff. Needs to bring back Thursday gun links though.

15 Nashville Files – Always apprise of Tennessee issues, particularly gun stuff.

16 No Quarters – The best blogger you’re not reading. Good, original content with an eye toward freedom.

17 No Silence Here – Good stuff not seen elsewhere. Covers local issues I can’t get anywhere else.

18 South Knox Bubba – My inspiration for blogging. Good stuff with a liberal bent, without all the crazy. Well, OK, the occasional crazy. But entertaining nonetheless. And a good sense of humor.

19 Ravenwood – Right leaning, libertarianish stuff. A lot of original stuff that you don’t see elsewhere.

20 Kim du Toit – Sort of the central meeting point for gun blogs. Oh and did I mention he’s angry?

I think when you force someone to volunteer, it’s called something other than volunteering:

A proposal making its way through the General Assembly would require parents with children in kindergarten through grade 4 to ”volunteer” at least 12 hours a year. And they couldn’t just show up — they’d be expected to get involved in the teaching process by tutoring, chaperoning lesson-related field trips or helping students play educational games.

If the bill proposed by Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis, and Rep. Lois DeBerry, D-Memphis, is approved, though, it could become a rule without teeth. It’s unclear what, if anything, would happen to parents or schools who fail to comply.

One of the dumbest things I’ve heard in a while.

TriggerFinger has a doozy:

Police departments say the evidence is clear. Study after study indicates high-voltage Tasers are “less lethal” than other weapons, and that’s why they use them, officers say. Some departments defend their use by saying Tasers aren’t lethal at all.

But when a Taser is in the hands of a private citizen, that can be a different story. “They can be used as a deadly weapon,” Porter County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Brian Gensel said.

Civilians who buy these electrical guns should not expect the same freedom to use them that officers have. It’s illegal for civilians to possess and use the weapons in seven states and several major cities, including Chicago.

Yes, because the police are infallible in their use of Tasers.

JPFO writes:

On Tuesday, May 10, 2005, America became a true police state. Your U.S. senators voted — unanimously, with no discussion, and without even reading the bill — to create a national ID card.

The Real ID Act blackmails state governments into turning their drivers licenses into a draconian tool of the federal homeland security apparatus. If states refuse, their citizens lose such “privileges” as being allowed to board an airplane, enter a federal building, or apply for social security. President Bush is expected to sign the bill eagerly on Thursday.

I’d like to think that the general resistance to this act is unfounded and paranoid but I really can’t. I’d rather be cautiously paranoid than oblivious to what’s happening.

Tim Lambert accuses many different online personalities of being John Lott. Xrlq is unconvinced. While Lott has admitted to using an internet pseudonym (yeah, I’m one to talk), I remain unconvinced and that is mostly because in the comments at Xrlq’s, Tim keeps moving the goal posts.

Update: Lott has admitted to using only one pseudonym.

A bill to prevent people with learner’s permits from talking on a cell phone while driving is on its way to the Governor.

If you’re one of those people who knows someone who was killed or wounded by a pit bull or a gun, then feels the need to search the web because the tragedy has made you want to become some sort of an activist or something, and then you find my site in the process of researching; do me a favor. Don’t email me and tell me crap like pit bulls are killers (duh, all dogs are. They have pointy teeth for a reason) and that guns are bad (no gun ever killed anyone, a person had to pull the trigger). It’s a waste of your time and, more importantly, mine. When hysterical and angry about something, you’re not at your best in terms of convincing me of anything and I won’t even try to convince you because it’s pointless. And, to be honest, I don’t want to hear it.

Or as noted at Drug War Rant:

Well, there ya go. Victims are always right, after all. Suffering a tragedy bestows infallibility upon the victim — a kind of karmic reward for having lost something.

Which is why it makes so much sense to base law and policy on the hysterical ravings of angry, freaked-out victims. They and they alone possess the clarity of thought and the kind of wise, sober, carefully crafted ideas that make for good policy.

And anything you email me I will consider for print unless you tell me otherwise. Actually, even if you tell me not to and say something particularly stupid or hysterical, I might print it anyway. I’m just that sort of guy.

Having said all that and you decide you still want to email me, you can email me at:

Went to Wal-Mart to get a pocket knife. I got one of these. It is a fine knife and at a great price (though if you get it at the store, it costs more). The knife is lightweight and sharp as a razor. And the assisted opening essentially makes it a switchblade. Good product and I highly recommend it. I also have a CRKT M16 on the way.

Any way, as I was opening the package that the knife came in, I cut the Hell out of my finger. Not on the knife (here’s the irony bit) but on the plastic packaging. Ain’t that something? I smell a lawsuit.

Carnival of Cordite #13 is up. On Friday the 13th, even.

Blake notes and rounds up this asinine decision:

U.S. Border Patrol agents have been ordered not to arrest illegal aliens along the section of the Arizona border where protesters patrolled last month because an increase in apprehensions there would prove the effectiveness of Minuteman volunteers, The Washington Times has learned.

I really hope this is not true but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

After the recent Atlanta courthouse shooting, more judges in Georgia are packing heat:

The sheriff of one county says since then officers have given guns to eight Superior and State Court judges.

Police say some judges have also asked for some firearms training.

State law allows judges to carry guns in court. And one judge says while a few of his colleagues have always carried weapons, more are now bringing their own guns to work.

Based on this article, it appears that some judges are who are not properly trained (i.e., don’t even pass the required test to obtain a handgun carry permit) are packing guns. I don’t have an issue with this, per se, but they should be trained before being strapped. They can get some of that training by taking a CCW course, like CCW holders are required to do.

Update: Several readers have informed me that in Georgia there is no training requirement for CCW. Just prints and a fee.

It’s kind of like that time when I accidentally fell down the stairs seventeen times. Really:

A Centre, Ala. man reportedly shot himself three times by accident while cleaning his gun on May 6. From Polk County police reports: Kole Eugene Maxwell, 18, of 10370 County Road, Centre, Ala., was transported to Polk Medical Center for several gun shot wounds to his right side. Police met with Maxwell at the hospital, where he said that he was cleaning his 9 mm pistol when it went off. According to reports, Maxwell would not or could not tell the officer what address he was at when the incident occurred. Police attempted to speak to the subject who had brought Maxwell to the hospital, though, the subject had already left. The scene was then turned over to investigators with the Polk County Police Department. Maxwell was treated and released from Polk Medical Center.

Via reader David.

Is vicariously here.

Having not financially strapped the state enough, the senate has passed Pre-K. The KNS notes:

Under the plan, $25 million in lottery money would be dished out as grants to school districts willing to help pay for the cost of preschool classrooms in their district.

The tax on hope was pitched specifically for college tuition. I think secondarily money from the lottery was also for capital expenditures in public schools. It was not for Pre-K programs. Tennessee’s jackpot congress strikes again.

Kim du Toit wrote a book. Rich is publishing it. You can get the book here.

I’m not legal scholar or anything like that but it seems to me that ruling:

the recently enacted Nebraska constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage . . . is unconstitutional.

is a bit misguided. Isn’t the Constitution constitutional? Seems odd to a layman that you could rule the standard by which you would measure an issue’s constitutionalness (heh, made up word) couldn’t be, you know, anti-itself.

I realize that the reference is to the US constitution but still find it odd. I’m all for gay marriage but it shouldn’t be done from the bench.

NewsTalk99’s David Foulk has a blog. On the recent incursion of an unauthorized plane in DC airspace, he writes:

Al Quaeda is watching and taking note of how patient we are with violators. It is a deadly patience that could be exploited by evil people.

Good stuff. Done by Steve.

A gun-toting liberal has a piece entitled A Gun Person in an Academic World. It’s worth the read that addresses a variety of things, like gender issues and guns:

Male homeowners who shot incompetently were perceived more negatively than were men who shot the intruder with competence. The opposite trend was observed for female homeowners.

I dig it:

We need a Godwin’s Law for guns. I’m proposing one: “As a discussion about guns grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Dodge City or the Wild West approaches one.”

However, I’d change it from discussion about guns to discussion about concealed carry.

Quote:

In an interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Rice said she came to that view from personal experience. She said her father, a black minister, and his friends armed themselves to defended the black community in Birmingham, Ala., against the White Knight Riders in 1962 and 1963. She said if local authorities had had lists of registered weapons, she did not think her father and other blacks would have been able to defend themselves.

{snip}

Rice said the Founding Fathers understood “there might be circumstances that people like my father experienced in Birmingham, Ala., when, in fact, the police weren’t going to protect you.”

“I also don’t think we get to pick and choose from the Constitution,” she said in the interview, which was taped for airing Wednesday night. “The Second Amendment is as important as the First Amendment.”

Too bad she ruins it by playing the nonexistent gun show loophole card.

A while back, Denver banned politically incorrect dogs and that ban was suspended by state legislation restricting breed specific legislation. Denver sued to reinstate the ban and won. A court ruled that Denver was, basically, not subject to the state law because of home rule. In other words, Denver was its own country.

The breed ban has resumed and Denver has started rounding up family pets and killing them. It is abysmal:

Yet here we have the city of Denver, newly sprung from legislative and judicial restraint, rounding up pits over the past couple of days and killing them like rats during The Plague.

A uniformed officer arrives at a home. “I’ll get him,” she announces to her partner. Rather than fight it all, a distraught man emerges, weighs going to jail and a fine, and in the end hands over his dog.

“I’m definitely sad,” he later tells a reporter. “He’s like a member of my family.”

Later in the day, a woman pleads: “I don’t have no dogs!

“There ain’t no dogs in the basement!” she yells as the uniformed man and woman, responding to an informant’s report of a pit bull, interrogate her. Outside, squad cars filled with police officers wait to see if they are needed.

“I’m just doing my job,” the woman officer later laments.

One vet is trying to make a difference by shipping pits out of Denver but, sadly, he notes:

“We would absolutely love to be the Underground Railroad for pit bulls, but we know the city would close us down.”

The article closes with:

What happens, I ask, when all of the Denver pit bulls have been rounded up and put down?

He would not want to be a Malamute, he said.

A male Malamute attacked and killed a 7-year-old girl in Fruita last Saturday night.

“It is not the breed,” an unsmiling Bill Suro said.

Radley Balko on Breed Specific Legislation:

Breed-specific legislation is overly emotional, ineffective, and inhumane. The entire city of Denver ought to be ashamed of its public officials. Pit-bulls make up a disproportionate percentage of vicious dogs that attack humans and other dogs because people who breed vicious dogs happened to favor pit-bulls (actually, that’s not even true any more. Rottweilers surpassed pit-bulls a few years ago as the breed with the most-reported dog-on-man attacks). You can train a poodle to kill if you’re so inclined. Ban pit-bulls and dogfight enthusiasts will simply pick another breed.

Irresponsible owners will just switch breeds. You’ll get my dogs from my cold dead hands.

Update: Jacob Grier has some numbers:

If history is any indication, this is going to mean a lot of dogs will get a lethal injection. In 2003 Denver put down 410 pit bulls and returned 240 to owners with the promise that they would be relocated immediately. Yet despite the bloodbath, city officials estimate that there were still 4,500 pit bulls illegally owned at the peak of enforcement. The prohibition didn’t work, but a lot of innocent dogs were killed and many privacies were violated.

He also notes that the most dangerous breed changes over time, something I’ve addressed before. And addresses how the popularity of a breed tends to correlate to the dog related fatalities.

Apparently, I should feel sympathy for someone who is bent on taking away second amendment rights. Why else would they have this tearful piece on the plight of the poor, defenseless gun grabber:

“What ever happened to civility?” Whittenburg asked Tuesday as her group’s legislative agenda – or what’s left of it – limped toward the end of the session. “There’s a level of anger here that you don’t see with other bills. And these people, you know, are armed!”

Yes, they’re armed. And you work with a group that seeks to disarm them. You expect them to be civil with you?

Responsible gun owners, step away from your computer keyboards. Whittenburg is the first to acknowledge that the nasty e-mails and telephone messages surrounding Maine’s never-ending debate over firearms come not from mainstream hunters or target shooters or collectors. Rather, she blames them on “the bullies” who attack anything they consider a threat to their beloved Second Amendment.

She’s referencing Maine’s attempt at a ban on weapons that merely look like assault weapons. That is an attack on the second amendment. And the “gun bullies” are regular Joes concerned about their rights. The NRA is only as powerful as its members.

The rest of the piece consists of anti-gun politicos thinking that I should feel sorry for them because of the way they’re being treated for being anti-gun. Actually, that’s what it says but what it means is that pro-gun people are organized and put the pressure on. And the piece points out the few whackjobs who are threatening these politicos with physical violence. Of course, you pick the extremists to try to make a case.

Cry me a river, you dumbasses.

Carnaby, Michelle and myself all fit the same typology. I think they can add to the description likely to have blogs.

Update: And this guy is too. Yup, add likely to blog to the list.

The useless solution of limiting handgun sales to one gun per month was recommended to the PA governor:

State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas, who also participated in the news conference, said the unlimited sale of handguns in Pennsylvania feeds a voracious underground market for illegal weapons used to commit crimes.

“This is about whether or not somebody should have the ability to buy 25 guns a month who knowingly … then put those 25 guns in a stream of commerce in a way that they know is going to end up in death or permanent injury,” the Philadelphia Democrat said.

“This is about choosing life over death, choosing peace over a society where people do not feel safe,” he said.

Do they really think a gun-toting criminal gets their gun from a local gun shop?

Forget securing borders and providing healthcare to the needy, we must instead save dead or dying languages:

Thousands of languages are threatened with extinction, and the U.S. government is trying to help save some of them, from the one used by Cherokee Indians to a language spoken by a small group of people in Tibet but never written down.

The project awards $4.4 million to 26 institutions and 13 individual scholars to investigate the status of more than 70 languages among the 6,000 to 7,000 in the world.

In Sunset Hills, there are plans to take private property and turn it into a shopping center by abusing eminent domain. The plan would displace 254 residents and all but two adjacent businesses. Displace is a nice term for kicking people out under the threat of a gun.

And more abuse in Albany:

In March, the city declared the area blighted under state law, which gives the city the power of eminent domain. That means the city can seize private property for public use — or even for private development, if it benefits the public.

Actually, that private development bit is unconstitutional even though it is common practice.

I for one welcome our new self-replicating overlords:

Scientists at the Cornell University in Ithaca, New York have created small robots that can build copies of themselves.

Now, who thinks this is a good idea?

Tennessee’s other blogging politico, Stacey Campfield, on Governor Bredesen’s blog:

I held out hope for a comment section though-and remained optimistic. Unfortunately, I have now discovered that the Governor’s blog/web designer sent out a mass email to all the pro pre-K people indicating that a blog had been set up for the Governor with a pre-K poll on it. The email encouraged them to go online and vote in favor of Pre-K.

Come on Governor! This is a terrible way to start your blog. Perhaps there wouldn’t have been a computer trail of emails if he would have “fixed” the poll by configuring the program to automatically register two “yes” votes for every one “no.” Is there really a difference between a mass email and fixing the numbers? And wouldn’t that be more in keeping with the efficiency he’s always talking about?

I was genuinely excited that the Governor had started a blog. I think communicating with Tennesseans is good for government, good for the people, and great for accountability. But sadly, it just looks like Phil Blog is going to be a political tool with an unfortunate, shady start.

Ouch.

White House evacuated:

TeeVee mentioned something about an enemy in the area.

Update: Apparently, warjets are chasing a plane now.

Update 2: Some sort of malfunction, nothing to see here.

SayUncle needs a new blade, since the TSA now has my old one (I’ll miss that knife). Anyway, I’m looking for one that has a four inch blade, preferably with assisted opening (though not a switchblade). So, if you got any advice or reviews, let me know.

As a side note, I was perusing various knife sites and decided that an automatic unfolding knife (aka switchblade) would be nice. They’re convenient, easy to operate with one hand and they’re cool. Then I started reading up on them. It is illegal to ship an automatic unfolding knife over state lines unless it’s for military, emergency workers, law enforcement and militia duty. Fortunately, being between the ages of 17 – 45 and a citizen, I am a member of the militia. The problem is that in Tennessee, it is illegal to carry a switchblade. I can carry a Glock 30 but not a knife that is convenient to open. May be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.

Gullyborg speculates that Bredesen’s blog may be an indication of higher political aspirations:

Gov. Bredesen is positioning himself to be the anti-Hillary, the “red state” democRat who can win in 2008. Can he succeed?

He will have a hard time winning the primary.

I personally don’t think Hillary has a chance, she lacks her husband’s charisma and popularity. I do think Bredesen (or really any moderately conservative – and particularly southern – Democrat) could stand a shot in the general. The real indicator will be if they could make it through the primaries.

Bredesen, however, absolutely must save TennCare or he is doomed politically. People like their free stuff and don’t appreciate politicos (even fiscally responsible Democrats – never thought I’d say that) cutting benefits. And when the debate turns to MediCare, he’ll appear weak on the issue as his opponents can’t point out TennCare’s failings.

Bredesen is fiscally conservative and pro-gun. These are two traits any Democrat would need to succeed and Bredesen would need to hammer those points home. Howard Dean had the same traits going in but changed his position on guns when he ran for office. I guess his consultants figured such a change would play well in the polls. Bredesen would do well to stick to his guns. It seems to be working for Harry Reid as well.

Well, that’s one way to teach kids to stay away from guns.

I was driving in to work this morning, listening to the local news talk station. They started talking about Gov. Bredesen’s blog. They had a brief comment from the Rocky Top Brigade’s own Bill Hobbs. I also discovered that News Talk 99’s Dave Foulk has a blog, because he mentioned it on the radio.

Update: Rich reports in comments that Star 102 did a thing on local bloggers. The mentioned me, him, Bubba and Adam. And some guy named Glenn Reynolds. Cool.

Update 2: Rich has more. We were mentioned by Glenn Reynolds, even. Now, who is that guy?

Blake reports that Real ID passed the Senate. It’s on its way to Bush for signing. He also reports that Lamar Alexander made a quite half-assed attempt to stand against it. Too bad that’s overshadows by the fact he, you know, voted for it.

Blake has a round up of Real ID stuff here.

How’s it doing? Depends who you ask:

One year after 11 law enforcement agencies increased patrols in Knoxville’s gun zone, half of the city’s gun murders still happen within a three mile radius east of downtown.

The area is part of an initiative called Project Safe Neighborhood. Police say so far, the project has been a success. However, residents say they still see crime every day. Townview Terrace was the scene of a shooting the same day as this report.

Update: David has more on Project Safe Neighborhoods.

Looks like the horrendous gun bill that was making its way in Illinois is done for, at least for now.

In New Jersey, they are looking to pass a bill that will allow the confiscation of property from people who have illegal guns:

The legislation, sponsored by Assemblyman Louis Manzo, D-Jersey City, authorizes the forfeiture of “motor vehicle, building or premise” if a firearm is found in it that is not possessed legally per state law – “even if the firearm was not possessed by the owner of the motor vehicle, building or premise,” states a summary of the bill, A3998. The legislation was introduced Thursday.

Manzo pointed out his bill extends government power now reserved for targeting those in possession of illegal drugs.

And the drug war is going so well. And, depending on the definition of illegal, this could be quite problematic. This is New Jersey and whenever the technology exists guns that aren’t smart guns will be illegal.

Update: I apparently need to start reading Ravenwood earlier. He’s on it.

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

One of those personality things. Via Phelps, who apparently has issues.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Tennessean reports that:

Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers would collect racial data about the motorists they stop under a bill approved by the legislature yesterday aimed at monitoring whether officers unfairly target minority drivers.

The ”racial profiling” bill is headed for the governor’s desk after passing the state House on a 64-29 vote, with two lawmakers not voting. It cleared the Senate with a single dissenting vote April 28.

The purpose is to determine if minorities are targeted more often. I wonder if this will lead to fewer people being pulled over because of their race even though they should be pulled over?

Michael Silence writes about Governor Phil Bredesen’s blog.

One note: Michael, get your web guy to fix the link to the blog.

A DEA Official who was in Gatlinburg criticized the press for its coverage of The War on Civil Liberties err Some Drugs:

Administrator Karen Tandy of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said that aggressively pursuing the drug war has led to a reduction in drug use and availability, but she complained that the media doesn’t report the issue fairly.

“Good news doesn’t sell,” Tandy said. “You won’t read about it in the press.”

On measuring the Drug War’s success:

Tandy said that drug seizures are “on track this year to hit $1 billion” and predicted that amount will eventually climb to $3 billion a year.

“And that’s more money, by the way, that will be going back to you,” she told the assembly of hundreds of law enforcement officers in a reference to state and federal laws that allow funds seized during drug busts to be returned to the agencies that confiscate them.

Actually, the DEA’s budget (which excludes local law enforcement budgets) is $2.14 billion. Let’s see $2.14B less $1B is still a positive number, so there’s still no money that will be going back to me. And your measure of success is the street value of what you confiscate? Does that include the houses, cars and property seized without due process of law in violation of the Constitution? What about the killing of innocent people in the name of war on drugs? People are not secure in their homes because of no knock warrants and search warrants issued based on the frequently false testimony of criminals. Property is taken and lives are destroyed over a few minuscule amounts of drugs. Is it worth that price to confiscate an infinitesimally small fraction of a percent of the drug supply in this country?

Pete has more.

This morning, I killed 89 zombies. Via Mike. Oh, hit the shift key to switch to the boomstick.

Is it just me or has spam has been out of control for the last week. And it’s new spam. Sure, I’ve been getting porn spam, erectile enhancement spam, watch spam and so forth. I’ve gotten Nigerian scam spams. I even get spam in Spanish. The latest wave of spam I’m getting is Christian spam. Strange.

Update: even more strange. I clicked the link the church that sent spam and it’s actually the website of some leftists who have issues with religion. Though the WWJD thong was funny.

Oh, that party of fiscal responsibility and limited government. As Les says:

Fiscal responsibility is now the strong suit of the Democrats, and they should play it for all it’s worth in 2008.

Sadly, their past performance doesn’t make that claim believable. There is no party of smaller government. Well, no party that matters anyway.

Bill rounds up some reactions to the Gov. Bredesen’s blog. So does ace reporter Michael Silence.

Say, it seems there’s some sort of scandal brewing in the governor’s office:

Gov. Phil Bredesen dismissed his chief legislative lobbyist from his position Monday and said he has agreed to undergo counseling on “workplace harassment and the misuse of alcohol.”

If you need material to blog about governor, there’s some.

There’s this new blog started by failed California gubernatorial candidate Arianna Huffington (you know, conservative last week, liberal this week) called The Huffington Post. I figured it’d be some decent (though hysterical) reading given the leftist sort-of-Hollywood make up of the blog. Turns out, it’s just boring. I mean excruciatingly so. It’s like Wonkette boring but without the butt sex references.

I saw John Cusack was blogging there. He seems (based on his outstanding acting ability) to be an interesting guy. I’m sad to report that he, in fact, is not.

Update: Nikki Finke agrees. It blows.

Update 2: A look at the numbers.

Wizbang has a round up.

In Tennessee, we have handgun carry permits and not concealed carry permits thanks to the TFA. And here’s why:

Landers’ coat was not entirely zipped up that day, and when the wind blew it open, a Dedham Police officer across the street zoomed in and noticed the gun. Upon request by the officer, Landers produced a valid five-year license issued in 1995 to carry the gun. But the problem was, state law required that he keep the weapon concealed.

While the officer let Landers go without an arrest, the Adams Street resident soon after received notice from Dedham Police Chief Dennis Teehan that his Class A license to carry firearms had been revoked due to the incident.

In Tennessee, there is no requirement that a gun be concealed (though it is highly advisable that you do so) due to such an incident.

Up next, carry permits in Nebraska.

The NRA reports that California is looking to expand the definition of unsafe handguns. This includes semi-automatic pistols that are not designed and equipped with an array of microscopic characters, which identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol, etched into the interior surface or internal working parts, which are then transferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when the firearm is fired.

GunLawNews reports that proposed Bill HR2088 would provide a 90 day amnesty for veterans and their family members to register illegal weapons with the National Firearms Act registry.

I like the term sports welfare. It seems whenever a sports team needs a new facility, the taxpayers get stuck with it and someone loses their land.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has started blogging. Here’s the first entry:

Let me confess upfront: I won’t be blogging every single day. But I will, on a regular basis, use this space to share my ideas on issues and provide personal dispatches from trips I take and events I attend, like the National Governors Association conferences. Stay tuned for more entries.

Meanwhile, spend some time getting familiar with the new site. It’s a big step forward in my efforts to communicate with you directly on what’s happening at the Capitol. I hope you find it worth reading. Talk soon, Phil Bredesen.

Excellent. Welcome aboard, governor. It’s good to see more blogging politicians. He should open it up to comments. Now, say something of substance so that I may criticize it. And Tennessee has another blogging politico. Politicians really are seeing the power of blogs.

Via Blake and Adam.

Mike Brassfield:

Nothing would tip you off that, behind that unmarked door, local entrepreneur Mark Serbu and his crew are manufacturing powerful .50-caliber rifles, right on the edge of what’s legal.

Other things that are also right on the edge of what’s legal:

Driving 55 MPH in a 55 zone.
Behind the wheel with a BAC level less than drunk
Importing lobster tails that are 5.5 inches
Driving your car with tags that expire at the end of the month
Paying your income tax bill on April 15

Crime and Federalism, noting a potential second amendment case for the Supreme Court, writes:

This is almost a model test case on the incorporation question. Some have speculated that the reason four Jusices (sic) haven’t voted to grant cert. in other Second Amendment cases resulted from the lack of a good “test plaintiff.” Well, Bach is the perfect plaintiff.

David Bach, a Virginia resident and domiciliary, wants to carry his Ruger P-85 9mm pistol while visiting his parents in New York. He has a permit from the Commonwealth of Virginia to carry a concealed weapon. Bach is a model citizen – he holds a Department of Defense top secret security clearance, is a commissioned officer in the United States Naval Reserve, a veteran Navy SEAL, a lawyer employed by the Navy’s Office of the General Counsel, a father of three, and, perhaps most laudably, a son who regularly visits his parents in upstate New York. During the ten-hour drive between Virginia and Upstate New York, [his] family and [he] travel on dimly lit rural roads and busy streets and highways[,] some of which are in densely populated areas that have extremely high violent crimes rates.

People accused of gun crimes typically aren’t model citizens. But I don’t think that’s why the court won’t take such cases. My faith in the Supreme Court to rule in a second amendment case (particularly, to rule correctly) is almost non-existent.

David Hardy has more.

Looks like the verdict is guilty. All you need to know about how it went:

In picking the jury the prosecutor removed the three that admitted to being pro-second amendment.

Mike, who ought to post more, is back.

Head, noting rumors that Century may start importing the Steyr AUG, writes:

Century Arms International, the importer we all love to hate but couldn’t live without . . .

Heh.

Gunner has a rundown of contests you can enter to win guns and stuff.

Michelle Malkin writes on Why I’m not a ‘South Park Conservative. You can read the piece or take my word that the summarized version translates as No sense of humor.

This whole South Park Conservative meme is getting out of hand. The true significance of the SPC’s is that conservatives are no longer exclusively uptight, stodgy and afraid of fart jokes. The other significance of them is it continues to divide the right side of the political spectrum. Small government righties are not happy with the big government righties now in office. And now the righties with no sense of humor will square off with the righties who like the occasional dick joke.

And if Malkin really thinks Laura Bush’s jokes were on par with South Park, she needs to get out more.

Alphie reports that The War on Civil Liberties err Drugs is becoming the War on Weed:

The number of arrests for marijuana climbed over a ten year period until they account for almost half of all drug arrests according to the Sentencing Project, a left-wing think tank.

The study found that the proportion of heroin and cocaine cases plummeted from 55 percent of all drug arrests in 1992 to less than 30 percent 10 years later, while marijuana arrests rose from 28 percent of the total to 45 percent. There has been little impact on our prison population (only 6% of the arrests resulted in felony convictions) and household surveys show that there has been little change in consumption by the general population.

We spend billions and billions of dollars to stop an infinitesimally small of the drug flow in this country. If over half of that is just weed, then we’re definitely not getting our money’s worth.

The Supreme Court ruled that a foreign conviction does not bar a person from buying a gun. TriggerFinger reports that McCarthy has introduced legislation to bar foreign felons from buying guns. McCarthy, like most gun banners, wants to pass any gun law regardless of its merits. This is one of those cases.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it. Sounds like it was fun. I figured it could have been summed in one word: Nerds! But no, sounds like a good time was had by all. A few people asked Les my first name. He didn’t squeal.

The WaPo has a piece on fighting eminent domain. One I find interesting (and by interesting I mean made up):

About 90 percent of condemnations, however, involve properties acquired for purely public purposes, and they make up most eminent domain actions, said James L. Thompson, a Rockville real estate lawyer whose firm has handled more than 200 eminent domain actions over 25 years.

I don’t think that’s hardly the case. I follow the issue and read about it quite a bit. Most cases I see (at least in the press) involve taking from one private party to transfer to another. Like this one:

In March, airport officials said they wanted to take over Cramer’s Airport Parking, a neighboring business, and develop the land for privately run, airport-related operations, such as a cargo base or maintenance facility. The Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority, which owns HIA, has offered to pay about $1.57 million for the property.

MaxSight Performance Enhancing Lenses

I was wandering around the internet (as I am want to do when bored at work on mondays), and I came across an interesting article about contact lenses intended for athletes. Technically speaking, different models suit different purposes, but the intent is to increase contrast to make for quicker reaction times and to make things easier for the eyes to follow. It didn’t take me long to consider the tactical implications, but I still wasn’t first. A quick Google search brought up an article Defense Review already had about it here. The technology obviously needs to advance further, and technology itself can never replace proper training, but it is something to think about.