Again, the Blount County Commission voted No on the civic arts center. Excellent.

Update: More at Knoxviews.

Update 2: Testing Knoxviews trackbacks.

The Carnival of Cordite is up.

Via Insty, comes Jane’s law:

The devotees of the party in power are smug and arrogant. The devotees of the party out of power are insane.

Nice.

First, kudos to the TimesDispatch for being the first media outlet I’ve seen actually run the story. But a wag of the finger to them for putting all the allegedly illegal actions of the ATF at the bottom of the story without mentioning that it was, you know, potentially illegal. Some snippets:

The organizer of an August gun show at Richmond Raceway Complex told a House panel that a large team of federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and city, state and county police patrolled the two-day show, harassing law-abiding gun buyers while looking for illicit gun sales.

Annette Gelles of Showmasters, the organizer, told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime that agents’ aggressive tactics unnerved some attendees, and the visible presence drove away other customers.

Now would be the part where I would have addressed what the ATF did but that’s just me. More:

ATF director Carl J. Truscott defended his agency’s operations in a letter to the committee.

From 2004 to 2005, four homicides in Richmond were linked to guns sold at shows, he wrote. Agents patrolled eight shows during the period, leading to more than 30 arrests for gun crimes, including lying on background check forms and “straw purchases” — buying a gun for someone else.

The justification comes first. More:

James Lalime, a gun dealer from Colonial Heights who testified yesterday, said he was interrogated at length by two ATF agents because he was considering purchasing some guns.

Pretty big-brothery, but not the illegal part. More:

Suzanne McComas, a private investigator hired by the National Rifle Association to look into the allegations of harassment, said officers targeted minorities.

“Anyone who was a minority, they picked up their trail and followed them through the show. . . . It was ridiculous,” she told lawmakers.

Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., told McComas that he found the racial allegations questionable.

“I’m not saying that I disbelieve you, but I’m shocked that they could be that stupid. It’s almost difficult to believe,” he said.

The racist angle, but still not the illegal stuff. Still more:

In some cases, officers followed gun buyers from the show or went to their homes to confirm addresses listed on background check forms, the witnesses said.

In his letter to the committee, Truscott defended “residence checks” as “an important and useful tool to ensure the lawfulness of firearms transactions and to prevent straw purchases.”

There it is. One little blurb with no substance. The residency checks are illegal. Also, there are allegations that the agents were telling neighbors of buyers that they were buying guns. More detail on that here and here.

Phelps says Knock and Announce Works! Uncle concurs. No-knock warrants, once the exception and now often the rule, are generally uncalled for and have resulted in the unnecessary deaths of folks, both suspects and police. They are, on occasion, necessary but are more often not.

Knoxville blogger Rob Huddleston is pondering a run for Tennessee’s first district. I think he’d have to move, though.

Pro-Gun Progressive to gun owners: Get off your asses. Really:

The reason gun rights aren’t advancing as fast as they should isn’t a lack of gun owners; we’re moving slowly because of the 60,000,000 [I thought it was 100M? - Ed.] gun owners in the US, only a small fraction actually do anything beyond owning the gun or sending the NRA a check once in a while. Gun owners aren’t active enough. Period. While I don’t expect everyone who owns a gun in MD to join me on a Wednesday night in the basement of the VFW hall in suburbia all the time, we do need to start doing things that will both drive more attention to sites like mine and MarylandShallIssue’s, and make it more likely that gun owners will become active, visible, educated, and motivated to vote.

I live in a safely pro-gun state so I’ve never even known of any such press conferences or anything. I’d probably show up if there was one. However, at the Federal level, I call my congressmonkeys regarding gun bills. Several times. I fax them for good measure and send emails. Calls seem to be more effective, though.

Nicki has the tale of a man who was lawfully carrying a weapon but was arrested, detained, fined, had his property taken and then released but still hasn’t got his gun back. Operative phrase:

I don’t care what the laws or the Supreme Court say. WE are NOT going to have people running around, wearing guns..

Tam’s into dirty magazines too. But neither of us have anything on this guy.

No, really:

Rufus cuddled up beside the couch, ready for a good nap. Belly full from his favorite steak dinner and tuckered out from a romp around the house, he put down the head that has become the signature of dogdom in America.

“He’s a wonderful pet,” owner Barbara Bishop cooed. “My grandson used to sleep with him in the crate.”

But in some parts of the country, dogs that look like this Best in Show winner are seized, muzzled and in some cases, destroyed.

Cities in about 20 states have either enacted or are trying to pass “BSL,” short for breed specific legislation designed to control certain types of dogs that are deemed dangerous.

Pit bulls and pit bull mixes are the main target of such laws and ordinances, along with American Staffordshire terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers – part of the so-called “bully” breeds, with stout bodies and distinctive heads. Owners can be fined and even jailed.

Rufus is a colored bull terrier, the same breed that spawned Spuds McKenzie and the Target store mascot. Nearly 6, he won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club show this week, thanks to a perfect, egg-shaped noggin the size of a football.

Tan and white, Rufus also is a marked dog because some of the BSL includes references to dogs that have similar physical traits as the outlawed breeds.

“There are places we won’t go because of the BSL,” Bishop said Thursday from her home in Holmdel, N.J. “You just don’t know what might happen.”

Aunt B. cracked a joke about that the other day.

By the way, why are dog shows covered in the sports section? That’s like making modeling a sport.

You can’t make this stuff up:

Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson wants to dispel “innacuracies (sic) and stereotypes” about the use of eminent domain for economic development, a practice the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in last year’s notorious Kelo v. New London decision. Last fall Peterson told a Senate subcommittee that when the government threatens to condemn people’s property because it thinks someone else can make better use of it, “a majority of the time, most people agree to sell.”

Well, yeah, under the threat of a boot to the throat, most folks would. More:

“Cities use eminent domain most often as a negotiating tool with property owners,” explained Peterson, who was speaking for the National League of Cities. “Just having the tool available makes it possible to negotiate with landowners.” Sure it does—in the same way just having a gun available makes it possible for a bank robber to negotiate with a teller.

Ouch.

Standard Mischief has more on Wal-Mart being forced to sell products it otherwise would not.

Looks like Kansas is set to pass shall issue CCW:

Law-abiding Kansans could carry concealed guns under a bill that passed the Senate by enough votes Thursday to override a veto by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who spiked a similar measure two years ago.

The 29-11 vote — two more than needed to override the Democratic governor — includes six senators from her party. The question is how many will go against her should she veto the measure.

We’re winning.

Update: More here.

It’s probably done for:

The Conservative government has created a committee of two cabinet ministers and a backbencher to figure out how best to kill the long-gun registry as soon as possible.

A couple of nights ago, I had an odd dream. I dreamt that aliens invaded the Earth. Their plan, apparently, was to land, exit their ships and begin killing us all off with their great physical strength and agility in hand to hand combat. The only problem was that, in what I assume was a slight miscalculation on their part, they were only about 14 inches tall and kinda flimsy. They were also basically an amalgam of every movie alien you ever saw. They were black, slimy looking, had sharp teeth, long claws, with large eyes. In fact, they’d be quite scary were they not 14 inches tall.

So, in the dream, a gaggle of aliens (which in my dream land, a gaggle is apparently what you call a group of aliens) was gathered in my drive way. I saw them from the window then went to the garage. I opened the garage door about 14 inches and looked at them. They then, doing their best battle scene from Braveheart impersonation, charged my garage. When they got about half way up the driveway, I hit the button to shut the garage. I could hear their little bodies bouncing off the garage door. Then, silence. After waiting a bit and hearing nothing, I anxiously, and with a feeling like when someone does something stupid in a movie when a serial killer is on the loose, opened up the door. To my surprise, the collision with my garage door killed them all. So, not only were they small and considerably weaker than they calculated, they weren’t too bright. My dog was in my garage, and I commented to the dog that it was amazing this race of alien ever mastered interstellar travel since they weren’t too bright. He looked at me and said in a deep voice with a heavy British accent that he knew they would come and he’d been preparing me for their arrival. We then went and spread the word about their stupidity and that they could be lured, like lemmings, to suicide by garage door. Humanity was saved.

And, yes, whenever I have a dream where my dog talks, it’s always with a deep voice with a British accent. And for some reason, I’m never surprised by the fact he can talk.

Not a scandal: Cheney waiting 18 hours to contact the press about the shooting.

Actual scandal: Cheney waiting 18 hours to contact an ambulance about the shooting.

Idiots.

Barring some new development, that’s the last bit on Cheney shooting somebody that I’ll write.

There was a bill in Colorado to allow CCW holders skip the background checks. Makes sense to me, after all the entire CCW process is a more thorough background check. But the bill was killed:

A bill that would let concealed- gun permit holders skip federal background checks when purchasing firearms died Tuesday after a half-dozen law enforcement officials and anti-gun activists testified against it.

Opponents told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee the bill was an attempt to weaken a state law passed in 2000 by voters that requires background checks for all firearms purchases.

“The bill opens a big loophole,” said Tom Mauser, whose 15-year- old son, Dan, died in the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. A gun in the incident initially was purchased at a gun show and resold illegally to the gunmen.

“We shouldn’t put lives at risk to save a few bucks or to make life easier for gun dealers,” he said.

Ahh, the old emotional argument that has nothing to do with this law. Boy, that one’s tough to beat unless you, you know, point out that the CCW process is a big background check. So, Colorado trusts you to carry a gun but not buy one.

This, by the way, is another case of what anti-gunners mean by sensible gun control laws. This law was quite sensible in that it would have allowed those who have met the CCW criteria to forego a check and it would save the state some money by not having to run checks on those who have already been checked. It’s a good idea. Yet, the anti-gunners oppose any seemingly pro-gun bill, no matter how sensible it is, just to oppose it. Remember, they think DC’s complete ban on firearms is sensible gun control.

Tish at Knoxviews posts an update:

On Tuesday, the Massachusetts pharmacy board ordered Wal-Mart to stock emergency contraception pills at all its stores in Massachusetts. Massachusetts is the second state to require the world’s largest retailer to carry the morning after pill.

The unanimous decision by the pharmacy board came two weeks after three women, backed by abortion rights groups, sued Wal-Mart for failing to carry the drug in any of its 44 Wal-Marts and four Sam’s Club stores in Massachusetts. The women had argued that state policy required pharmacies to carry all “commonly prescribed medicines.”

As Bruce would say:

Massachusetts: Live free or there.

Though it’s lacking in photos, Defense Review has some quick hits from the SHOT Show. Colt is making a gas piston type of rifle, which I assume is an AR-15. The new EOTech’s will come with a throw lever mount and have been raised a bit.

And, my personal favorite piece of sex, is the new Elcan Specter Dr. It is a 1x combat optic that changes to 4x at the push of a button (more like flick of a switch but damn fast). It also has built in back up iron sights. Here’s their demo on how it works. Sweet! DefRev reports this things will go for about $1,450, which is way, way steep.

Aunt B.:

Ferocious Pit Bull Kills Everyone at the Westminster

Oh, wait, no.

He won Best in Show. Too bad breed specific legislation will keep him out of Denver.

Heh. Mark my words, this breed is about to hit the shitter. The worst thing for any breed of dog is to be popular. Bull Terriers have their history in dog fighting (in fact, most say that’s where the American Pit Bull Terrier gets its dog aggression as it is thought to be the result of breeding bull terriers with English bulldogs – the real kind of English bulldogs and not those squatty freaks of nature we call English bulldogs today). Expect increases in dog bites reported from this breed, an increase in rescue dogs of this kind, and an increase in price.

BTW, I’m not one for dog shows based on appearance. I don’t really think breeding based on appearance is good for breeds of dog. In fact, it’s usually quite bad for the breed as a whole (look at English Bulldogs if you want to know why). But, I don’t mind dog competition. I’m more an Iron Dog sort of guy myself.

Winner of the Iron Dog: Did protection work, competed in hardest hit, ran a 50 yd dash, pulled 50 times its body weight, was airborne for 20 minutes hanging on to a 2X4 with its teeth, had a tug of war with a comparable dog, and ended with a nice 12 mile run.

Winner of Westminster: Looked pretty, got brushed.

Mr. Completely has the second edition of the rimfire round up.

Dr. Helen looks at the impact of daycare on kids’ behavior and cognition. Interesting to me since we’re pondering Junior’s potential enrollment. Well, assuming I land a job some time soon.

Coal Creek Armory has some and there’s is for sale. I have actually handled that exact Arsenal AK and I have to say it has the nicest finish of any AK I’ve ever handled. I know, you’re thinking that still wouldn’t be that great of a finish. But it really is the nicest looking AK I’ve ever seen. Those milled receivers are pretty slick.

Kevin looks at culture and violence and race and, well, lots of stuff. Good stuff in comments too.

Shoot-N-Scoot is looking to put together an ar15.com local shoot on March 25. I’m up for that, if I can figure out where the Cherokee NF is located. If interested, leave a comment there or here. More info to come.

Head tells you how to remove rivets on AK receivers without doing damage to the weapon.

Check out Kit. Good gun stuff. And pics. And she has more dirty magazines than I do.

In a follow up to My Dirty Magazine Collection, The Mrs. emails:

By my count:
Sig 229: 5 magazines (2 too many)
Glock 30: 3 magazines (just right)
AR-15: 12 magazines (9 too many)
AK: 4 magazines (1 too many)
Ruger 10/22: 4 magazines (1 too many)
Walther P22: 2 magazines (may need 1 more)
AR 9mm: 4 (for which I get bonus gun geek points for owning magazines to a gun I don’t even have) (4 too many)
Total: 34, if I did my math right. (By my math, that is 16 too many)

I told her me and junior were off to count shoes, purses and scrapbooking stuff! I’ll, of course, use this as a reason to justify buying another Walther mag.

Update: 3 per gun, eh? I just need more guns!

I have a project for those who are into the history of firearms and technical information. Wiki needs us.

The California DOJ has seized 500 legal AR-15 stripped lower receivers:

Here’s some basic background information on CA gun laws: The assault weapons law bans guns by feature, and a detachable mag is a required feature. There are also guns banned by model. The DOJ can add AR/AK receiver names at will, and then owners have a few months to register them as assault weapons. So fixed-mag AR’s are legal unless the DOJ bans that model, at which point residents have some time to register them as assault weapons, and assault weapons can have politically incorrect features. The DOJ announced such an addition to the ban list (for the first time), and so CA gun owners went on a buying spree. However, the DOJ just published a memo stating that they would not allow politically incorrect features to be added, which is not what the law states, but that’s another battle…

More here and here. Via Gun Law News.

The Brady bunch says it’s OK to break the law if we’re going after those evil gun dealers and their evil gun shows. Actually, I made that up since the Brady presser says nothing about the fact the ATF violated the law during this alleged abuse. Go figure. They have to lie to win. Nothing new.

First up, here’s a video of what a 28 gauge will do to a paper target at 30 yards.

The quail were on the grassy knoll!

Der Commissar asks if canned hunting is really hunting. I don’t think it is. I think it’s more like trap shooting at live targets. And to anyone who wants to yammer on about it being cruel, spare me your moral indignation unless you’re willing to forego your processed pork chops, steaks and chicken wings you get at the store. If you’re a vegetarian and do forego those things, you’re still wrong. You’re just not a hypocrite about it.

Kevin completely makes up what canned hunting is and uses every lame anti-Bush administration metaphor there is.

Nathan Moore reads what the moonbats are saying about it so you don’t have to. They think Cheney was drunk. Or stupid. Or something involving Halliburton, oil and the souls of the unclean. Or some thing.

And the girls are too.

David Hardy says:

I realize that fear sells newspapers, but you’d think they’d find some subject that they can legitimately scare people with, rather than going this far to create a boogeyman….

David notes that Jeanine Pirro, a gun ban supporting Republican, is trying to appease pro gunners with talk. It shouldn’t work. David asks:

In my earlier post about her run against Hillary, it was noted her husband is a convicted felon.

“I have a .22, a .38 and a Mauser.” Jeanine announces to thunderous approval.

Where do you keep ‘em, Jeanine? Under the same roof as hubby?

Can any felon in New York live with a gun-owning wife? There’s no violation of gun laws going on here, is there?

The law is rather ambiguous on this (at least federal law). They can be in the same home but the felon can never be in possession of one. This why Mrs. G. Gordon Liddy has a heckuva gun collection. However, all the law has to do is prove possession. Some folks suggest a safe that said felon can’t open.

Seen at Michael’s:

People who believe the Constitution would break if it didn’t change with society are “idiots,” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says.

Heh.

Randall Nunn points out that the investigations into alleged lawbreaking by the ATF at VA gun shows has gone unreported in the press:

hearings are scheduled in Congress this month to examine a pattern of apparent wrongdoing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives at a number of Richmond, Virginia area gun shows. According to reports, BATFE agents released confidential information to local police officers with which to harass lawful purchasers of firearms at these gun shows. There are even reports of confiscation of firearms from lawful owners and questioning of family members of purchasers as if criminal activity had occurred as a result of attendance and purchases. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee intends to hold oversight hearings on these incidents to determine if BATFE was out of line. Probably very few Americans have heard about this because most of the mainstream media believes that the Second Amendment is not important and that gun shows are an evil which should be stamped out. The fact that millions of law-abiding Americans attend gun shows and lawfully purchase guns and other items is of no importance once the liberal media has decided that citizens should not have the right to purchase firearms at such shows. If government uses its coercive power to chill the exercise of such civil liberties, that is acceptable to much of the mainstream media.

I knew Alphie was a reformed liberal but I didn’t know he was a reformed hippie.

Xavier looks at shooting while pregnant. Don’t do it. But if you do, read his advice.

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

I often ponder, if I were to meet particular people of note, what would I say to them? That is to say, how would I initiate a conversation with these folks? Well, here’s the presidential edition:

George W. Bush: Dude, why are you fucking up the Republican revolution?

John Kerry: So, I heard you were in Vietnam?

Al Gore: 2000, good year? Oh, and thanks for inventing the internets.

Bill Clinton: So, is it true? The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin’?

John Edwards: Dude, did a muskrat die on your head? A thick, lustrous muskrat, that is.

Seen at Leanleft:

Some guys lament that Valentine’s Day is all about women and the burden lies on the men to make it special — but they won’t necessarily see the lovey-dovey gestures returned.

“All the responsibility for Valentine’s Day falls on the guy,” the Connecticut husband said. “If the guy and the girl both agree to do nothing, and the guy doesn’t come up with at least a flower and the girl doesn’t do anything, it doesn’t hold the same value.

“There’s no reciprocated holiday for the guy. Like how about a steak and porn night? Would that be so awful?”

There is a reciprocal holiday on March 14.

The word ‘politics’ is derived from the word ‘poly’ meaning ‘many’, and the word ‘ticks’ meaning ‘blood sucking parasites’. — Larry Hardiman

A while back, Les mentioned that European American Armory was going to stop importing Saigas, a sporterized version of the AK. Well, Russian American Armory (are they related?) has started importing them.

I don’t have a problem. I can stop whenever I want.

Sunday, I went to the gun show. It was the worst gun show ever. Seriously. But this ain’t a post about that, it’s a post about this:

Get home from the show, and the Mrs. asks if I bought anything. I said yeah, some AK magazines. She then, not realizing that all my guns don’t take the same magazine, goes into the typical diatribe that goes something like this:

How many of those things do you really need? Are you planning on going to war? There’s not going to be an armed occupation of Maryville. Yada, yada, yada.

So, I decided to take an inventory. Here’s a pic of my dirty magazine collection:

By my count:

Sig 229: 5 magazines
Glock 30: 3 magazines
AR-15: 12 magazines
AK: 4 magazines
Ruger 10/22: 4 magazines
Walther P22: 2 magazines
AR 9mm: 4 (for which I get bonus gun geek points for owning magazines to a gun I don’t even have)
Total: 34, if I did my math right.

Now, I look at this list and think: Man, I need some more AK, Glock, and Walther magazines.

So, fellow gun nuts, how many magazines is enough?

ETA: BTW, whenever the Mrs. asks When are you going to be done buying guns/magazines/optics/etc? My response is usually When I have them all.

An unsigned piece in the Tennessean comes out against the bill to allow concealed weapons holders to pack in places that serve alcohol:

A proposal to allow guns to be carried in bars and restaurants was a bad idea last year and a bad idea this year.

Gun advocates are reportedly reloading and aiming for approval this year of a state bill that would allow gun permit holders to take their guns into establishments that serve alcohol. Lawmakers should reject such a dangerous idea.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported recently that advocates for gun rights are prepared to seek approval of the bill in the General Assembly. The bill passed the Senate last year but was hung up in a subcommittee in the House and the subject of intense debate. Opponents of the proposal argue correctly that alcohol and firearms simply don’t mix. Law enforcement officials, including Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas who testified before lawmakers, have opposed the bill.

And by hung up in a subcommittee in the House and the subject of intense debate they’re referring to the time when speaker Naifeh broke the rules of the house in order to further his personal agenda of killing this bill. Regarding the point that alcohol and firearms simply don’t mix, I concur. That happens to be why the bill specifically states that those carrying weapons cannot legally drink. Weapons are already in bars, may as well put some lawful ones there. And it’s not just bars. Pizza Hut serves beer and so do other family restaurants.

No, really. There’s a push for shall issue CCW in the Aloha State. It has almost no chance of passing, I’d bet.

Stupid gun owners, don’t they know that privacy only applies to confidential sources and abortion? Not the right to not tell the world you have a gun in your home and usually on your person.

No, really:

Larger than life images of law enforcement officers confiscating legally-possessed firearms from New Orleans residents, who were accused of no crimes, played on video screens at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre urged the audience to Remember New Orleans!

We’re gonna make New Orleans the worst nightmare the gun ban crowd has ever seen, I promise you that," LaPierre told listeners, many of them NRA members, in a packed banquet hall.

LaPierre listed numerous studies by both government and private researchers, including some who oppose gun ownership, that show no correlation between gun control laws and reductions in violent crime.

No gun control law anywhere ever had, ever has or ever will have any effect on crime, period," LaPierre argue. All of this information is readily available to any policy maker who chooses to live in reality. But, still, there’s a steady supply of people who just don’t get it

Then how about getting on that sporting language stuff there, guys?

“This would be the end of a dream for a lot of people,” Frenchtown resident Kim Vest told the St. Charles City Council Tuesday night.

And what, you may ask, is Kim Vest talking about. Well, she’s talking about a bill that would restrict abuse of eminent domain:

A group of Frenchtown residents say a proposal to restrict the city’s use of eminent domain would cripple their efforts to redevelop rundown areas of the historic neighborhood.

How about, say, someone’s dream to want to keep their land or home?

Heh!

He says:

If your scope offends you, cast it away.

Ayup. I’d say that is applicable to any gun or gun part. If you don’t like 100%, you’re better off without it.

The AP:

Vice President Dick Cheney apparently broke the No. 1 rule of hunting: Be sure of what you’re shooting at. He also violated Texas game law by failing to buy a hunting stamp.

I don’t know that that’s the #1 rule but it is a good one. So, why didn’t Cheney have a stamp? More:

Hunting safety experts interviewed Monday agreed it would have been a good idea for Whittington to announce himself — something he apparently didn’t do, according to a witness. But they stressed that the shooter is responsible for avoiding other people.

Meanwhile, Bob Krumm, sporting new blog digs, makes a great point:

So, before instinctively defending the Vice President, I ask my fellow conservatives to consider how they woud react to the hunting accident were John Kerry the shooter instead?

I concur that Victor Wooten is amazing. But Les Claypool is amazinger

Been doing my taxes. I hate it. Going on three hours now. Then it occurred to me. Since the .gov has such broad authority despite my right to abortion err privacy to poke around willy nilly in my financial dealings, my various financial institutions are obligated by law to report when I do something out of the ordinary, and all my wage info is sent automatically to the .gov via payroll providers, why don’t they just go ahead and do my taxes for me?

Seriously. Hell, if my privacy can be violated like that, why not get some benefit from it?

Chuck has the skinny.

Marc has a good post with plenty of detail on revolver hammers.

The big news in gun blogging land is that Cheney shot someone while hunting. As a gun blogger, I guess I’m obligated to mention it. So, there it is. I really don’t have much to say about it but lots of others do:

Xrlq says: Jim and Sarah Brady have pretty well thrown away any pretense of (1) not wanting to ban hunting or (2) being Republicans. The story of Cheney’s hunting accident had barely broke when both of them implied Dick Cheney was a would-be murderer.

The other Xrlq says: Another “friend” of gun rights makes a fool of himself (and by extension, all of us) by forgetting the rules of safe gun handling.

Aunt B. says: Gun nuts, what’s the proper etiquette in a situation like this? Does the guy who got shot now get a free shot at the vice president?

The Comedian: Hunting with Vice President Cheney — still safer then riding with Senator Kennedy. Ouch. He also has some Cheney Hunting Buddy shirts.

t3rrbile says: you have to know what is behind what you are shooting at.

JR says: Who hasn’t been peppered by birdshot on a bird hunting trip? Nobody? Me neither. That’s kind of what I thought first but I’ve never known of anyone being peppered going to the hospital.

Cowboy Blob says: Vice President Cheney was hunting with an itty-bitty girly man 28 gauge. That may have saved this dude’s life.

Xavier says: Rule #4.

Rob Huddleston has a link to info on H.R. 4547, which may be a start to national CCW reciprocity. Says Rob:

The bill would allow any person with a valid carry permit or license issued by a state to carry a concealed firearm in any other state if they meet certain criteria. The bill would not create a federal licensing system; it would simply require the states to recognize each other’s carry permits, just as they recognize drivers’ licenses.

Enrevanche has the latest!

The latest Carnival of Cordite is up.

In what is turning out to be stellar last few months for the ATF in terms of getting slapped around, comes the latest. Now, a circuit court has ruled that the ATF is full of crap with respect to its desire to regulate the engines used in hobby rocketry:

The problem in this case is that ATFE’s explanation for its determination that APCP deflagrates lacks any coherence. We therefore owe no deference to ATFE’s purported expertise because we cannot discern it. ATFE has neither laid out a concrete standard for classifying materials along the burn-deflagrate-detonate continuum, nor offered data specific to the burn speed of APCP when used for its ‘common or primary purpose.’ On this record, the agency’s decision cannot withstand judicial review.

Xavier and TriggerFinger have more.

Past ATF troubles:

An agent testified in court that the NFRTR (registry of NFA weapons) was deficient

They are currently experiencing significant budget troubles attributable to bad management

They’re under investigation for breaking the law at Richmond, VA gun shows.

I mean it.

The “victims” were treated badly

The demonstrators arrived angry, departed furious. The police had herded them into pens. Stopped them from handing out fliers. Threatened them with arrest for standing on public sidewalks. Made notes on which politicians they cheered and which ones they razzed.

Meanwhile, officers from a special unit videotaped their faces, evoking for one demonstrator the unblinking eye of George Orwell’s “1984.”

“That’s Big Brother watching you,” the demonstrator, Walter Liddy, said in a deposition.

The “victims” then tasted their own medicine and found it bitter

Mr. Liddy’s complaint about police tactics, while hardly novel from a big-city protester, stands out because of his job: He is a New York City police officer. The rallies he attended were organized in the summer of 2004 by his union, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, to protest the pace of contract talks with the city.

Now the officers, through their union, are suing the city, charging that the police procedures at their demonstrations — many of them routinely used at war protests, antipoverty marches and mass bike rides — were so heavy-handed and intimidating that their First Amendment rights were violated

Welcome to our world

An object at rest cannot be stopped!

As you were.

Lots of folks trying for Frist’s spot. Kleinheider runs it down.

What’s a Rooney? Well, they are overly tricked out guns. Kevin found the Rooney of the year.

Gun Blast has it! Here’s pics from Day one.

New blog digs here.

Via David Hardy, here’s the letter that some police chiefs wrote on behalf of the Illinois police officers who illegally possessed machine guns. Seems their concern is the sentence for the crime is excessive, that I concur with. But it’s excessive for anyone not just police. A snippet:

Yes, the troopers are to have allegedly personally possessed them, which is illegal. However, there is no indication that these weapons were inappropriately used or involved in any other offense. The only difference is the assault rifle, which many of us own legally, and the ones the troopers allegedly possessed is the amount of times they fire with a single pull of the trigger.

The troopers, if the charges are true, should be held accountable, but a federal charge carrying the possibility of 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine is excessive. One wonders, does this punishment fit the crime?

And the letter does conflate the made up term assault weapon (i.e., a weapon that looks like an assault rifle) and machine guns. Police should know better.

The latest is the possibility of a civilianized version of the Steyr Aug.

Via R. Neal, comes this piece that ties Reid to Abramoff. Sorry, but it’s bullshit. After several twists and turns that say Reid and Abramoff have ties (just like Abramoff has ties with just about everyone on Capitol Hill), I can’t find exactly what Reid supposedly did that was illegal. I see no indication that Reid was complicit in any of Abramoff’s confessed crimes. Reid took money from a tribe represented by Abramoff as did 160+ other congressmonkeys. Unless the transfer of funds was of questionable legality, I say no harm no foul. Even if the funds transfers were questionable, I’m less inclined to care. Campaign finance laws (like tax, gun and some environmental laws) are so arbitrary that their violation doesn’t have much of an impact on the appearance of impropriety anymore.

Somebody help me out. What did Reid do that no other politician who took money from Abramoff did? He took meetings. So. He took money. So. Anyone?

Via Brittney, comes this:

Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been “authorized” by Cheney and other White House “superiors” in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration’s use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records.

Gunner looks at alternate fluids to clean guns with.

All the cries were for blood in the street and road rage. As is always the case, these claims haven’t came to light:

{Sheriff} Merritt says the law hasn’t had the effects that opponents feared.

“I have not seen any road rage, where people jump out of a wrecked car and start waving around a weapon. That’s what people were afraid of,” he said.

Records show 43 gun crimes were committed in 2003 in Missouri. In 2004, that number dropped to 32 — 13 incidents before the law became active in July 2004 and 19 more through December. There were 34 firearms crimes in 2005.

“I think it’s very much a success,” said Merritt.

Les and Jeff discuss the incident of an officer who got his jacket draw string stuck in his trigger guard and then shot himself in the buttocks. Both imply that the Glock may not be safe. I disagree. It’s safe if you follow the rules of gun safety and handling. In this case, making certain that the weapon was clear of objects prior to holstering would have prevented this incident.

Now, people in the gun world seem awful quick to criticize the Glock and people seem awful quick to defend it. But I think Les summed it up best in comments:

But some guns give a little more margin of error than others for times when our gun safety is less than perfect.

I think that’s true but I also think gizmos and gadgets should never be a substitute for gun safety.

There’s another push in Maryland for a ban on weapons that look like assault rifles. Pro Gun Progressive was at the press conference and got to ask some questions.

Tam posts a pic and discusses her house gun, an AR-15 carbine with some gizmos on it. Check it out. It’s worth the read. Though I must say the color scheme doesn’t look right for a house gun. Shouldn’t the furniture be sort of wall colored?

We gunnies all seemed to know that Britain and Canada had higher rates of violent crime than the states, though the US has a much higher murder rate. The big criticism of that claim was that the US and Britain didn’t report the data the same (i.e., the US reported from police reports while the Brits used survey data). Well, Gallup to the rescue:

Historians, world leaders and assorted pundits with Yankee bashing in mind have long cultivated the idea that America is a violent place.

Not so, says Gallup, which released a report yesterday revealing that the nation is not necessarily Dodge City: The impact of crime is lower in the U.S. than in Britain, and in many cases Canada.

Via Gun Law News.

After Kelo, there were quite a few local/state governments who had measures to reel in eminent domain abuse. Like these recent examples:

The Senate voted 23-to-five today a resolution asking voters to enact a law creating a new right to trial by jury on whether a condemnation by the state or a local government is for a public use and therefore allowed under state law.

The Senate also approved a bill to declare that a projected increase in tax revenue or other economic benefit doesn’t qualify as a public use for which eminent domain can be used.

and:

Governor Sonny Perdue said, “The government’s awesome power of eminent domain should be used sparingly, and never abused for private profit.”

The Governor also proposed a constitutional amendment rhat (sic) would prohibit the use of eminent domain for economic development or to boost tax revenue. The changes in law will likely be too late, however, to block Phoebe from seizing the 93 year old woman’s house.

But to date, I really know of no place where such a law has passed. Anyone?

MountsPlus is photoblogging the Shot Show.

Moth turned in a critique of the study for her Master’s level class in scientific methodology:

In sum, I give them a D-. I would fail them, except they had a lot of statistics and made some interesting general observations. But their methodology, conclusions, and impartiality are all flawed.

Not a good year for the ATF. An agent testified in court that the NFRTR (registry of NFA weapons) was deficient; they are currently experiencing significant budget troubles, attributable to bad management; now, they’re about to be investigated for breaking the law at Richmond, VA gun shows:

On February 15, at 4:00 p.m., the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will hold an oversight hearing to investigate apparent wrongdoing by BATFE at a Richmond, VA gun show last August.

In 2004-05, a troubling pattern emerged at a number of Richmond, VA-area gun shows, where hundreds of BATFE agents and state and local police staked out local shows. Immediately upon learning of these incidents, NRA began investigating and working to ensure congressional oversight hearings would be held to determine any wrongdoing and ensure BATFE was not overstepping its bounds or violating the law.

BATFE agents copied lawful gun purchase transaction records and provided this information to local police officers, who in turn conducted “residency checks.” Federal law prohibits the release of this information except to state and local police to identify prohibited purchasers or recipients of guns.

I covered their alleged wrongdoing at gun shows several times before.

In other news, water is wet.

Another article on the Illinois troopers charged with illegal machine gun possession says:

Under federal rules, anyone who can pass a background check, pay $200 and file the proper forms can legally purchase one or convert one to automatic fire. Even a ban on “military style” assault weapons lapsed in 2004.

Err, no. There has been a ban on civilian possession of new machine guns since 1986. And there is no such thing as a ‘military style’ assault weapon and that ban had nothing to with machine guns.

So it’s no surprise that some are puzzled by the charges – and the possibility of prison time – for three Illinois State Police troopers accused in federal court of illegally possessing machine guns. Since police officers should easily pass background checks, the crime looks like a mere oversight.

The only people that would be puzzled are the retarded. Anyone familiar with the laws knows full well these guys willfully broke them. They should stand trial like everyone else or the law should not apply to anyone. Additionally, these are police officers who are exempt from the aforementioned 1986 ban if they have departmental approval for the weapons (though the officers can’t retain possession of them).

Update: Saved before I finished. It’s not a mere oversight since possession has been banned. Also, I would think that those who are sworn in and paid to uphold the law would know the law. For that, they should be held to a higher standard, if anything. This was not an oversight. This was a willful violation of the law.

Update 2: Even the Brady bunch defends this willful violation:

“If that’s what happened, it’s a lapse in judgment,” said John Shanks, director of law enforcement relations for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, of the registration process.

That’s not what happened and they would know that too.

Looks like David Codrea is having an effect with his picture campaign against controlarms.org’s million faces campaign. This one is pretty good too.

Update: Heh. They bought the Geek’s submission.

Bruce reprints an awesome letter to the editor:

No offense, but …

I FIND all of your editorial cartoons deeply offensive, morally, religiously, philosophically, and spiritually. In fact, I don’t like your editorials, either. And the editorializing in your news coverage is annoying as well.

In keeping with your cowardly policy not to offend anyone, kindly cease publication at once.

Michael Silence reports the Knox County God resolution has been withdrawn.

Update: More from Michael, this time at his other job:

A resolution recognizing God as the foundation of “our national heritage” was mysteriously added to this month’s Knox County Commission agenda.

It has now been withdrawn and will not be considered after the listed sponsor said he did not request that it be added.

On Tuesday when commission’s agenda was released, the matter was listed as being sponsored by Commissioner Ivan Harmon.

On Wednesday Harmon said he did not ask that the resolution that he pushed two years ago be brought back. He said he didn’t even know it was on the agenda until contacted for comment.

In Maryland:

Delegates in the Maryland House will hold a hearing at 1:00 this afternoon to discuss one of the most egregious pieces of proposed legislation one likely could imagine. HB 140 is a bill that would require all boaters on Maryland waters – regardless of an individual’s age or size of the boat – to wear a personal flotation device at all times while underway.

Groan.

Turns out it’s not guns that cause road rage, but genetics and evolution:

Some scientists now think road rage and other personal space disputes — neighbor feuds over intrusive flora or spats with gym hogs who won’t let others work in — boil up from responses selected by evolution to protect resources and ensure survival of the species. Recent findings in the field of evolutionary psychology suggest that a mandate to defend turf is at the root of some of the species’ most irrational and violent behavior: jealousy, assaults, murder.

“Humans have developed adaptations to prevent people from encroaching on our stuff,” says David M. Buss, whose latest book, “The Murderer Next Door,” examines how these changes, such as territorial mate-guarding and jealousy, play a role in homicides. The impulses are part of a survival program designed to make us react first and think later, if at all.
[snip]

More than a bruised ego is at stake. People who are “exploitable” might be less likely to attract a mate and propagate — the mandate behind most territorial behavior, Buss says.

The problem is that territorial behaviors weren’t designed for the 21st century. Instead of leading to increased power, resources, food or mate prospects, they often result in conflict, court bills, injury and death.

Quick, someone tell Hemenway.

Speaking of Illinois, in order to attract Cabela’s to their area, Hoffman Estates is getting rid of an unnecessary gun law:

In an unusual rollback of gun regulations to attract a national outdoors store, Hoffman Estates trustees this week voted unanimously to repeal requirements that all firearms sales be checked by local police.

On Monday trustees eliminated a requirement that retailers submit information on any gun sale to police within 24 hours and stopped requiring customers to inform police if they buy a gun in the northwest suburb.

The conditions, part of a firearms dealer license ordinance, were “onerous,” in part to discourage large retailers in Hoffman Estates from selling guns, Corporation Counsel Richard Williams said. But there is no point in keeping the requirements when state regulations passed in recent years do a better job with background checks and tracking gun sales, Williams said.

I thought these gun regulations were usually passed in the guise of safety. But with the promise of a little extra tax money and jobs, this concern for safety goes away. That or they know it was bullshit anyway.

A while back, I mentioned the case of three Illinois police officers and a doctor who were busted for illegal possession of machine guns. Well, here’s the latest:

Ten years in prison would be excessive punishment for three state police officers accused on weapons charges, according to a letter issued Tuesday by top police officials and two state senators.

The letter was signed by 10 current police chiefs, two county sheriffs, the two senators and a retired police chief. The three troopers were charged last month with violating federal firearms regulations by having illegal submachine guns at their homes.

“We do not see how the citizens are made safer by placing these troopers in jail,” the letter states. “Discipline may absolutely be in order; however, to federally prosecute them and with a possible jail term is not the answer.”

If you break the law, you break the law. Even if it’s a law I don’t happen to like. That said, no special treatment should be given to them. Also, this article doesn’t mention the doctor. I wonder if he received a nice little letter like that?

The folks at the Sig Forums have the press release for the 556 rifle, which I mentioned here.

The bill made it out of subcommittee and is going to the senate. It made it to the Governor’s desk once a while back but she vetoed it.

Nah, just an excuse for Tam to post a pic of her 9mm AR.

Adam Groves has info on Bredesen’s state of the state and a round up from local media:

Another large intiative (sic) unveiled last night was a proposed plan to provide free health insurance to the state’s children. Bredesen said that thanks to the state’s success last year in bringing TennCare costs under control – which he said came with a great deal of pain – the state is now able to move on and begin constructing a “health care system for Tennessee that is fair to everyone, that is sustainable, and that offers help to all Tennesseans who need it and not just some.” All, of course, starting with approximately 150,000 children who are uninsured. Bredesen asked the state legislature to approve the plan quickly, saying federal matching dollars may help pay for it.

So, the plan is to get TennCare back into a financial crisis?

So, some folks decided to use Coretta Scott King’s funeral to make political statements. That’s to be expected, I think. Some folks took issue with using it as a platform for political posturing. And others took issue with others taking issue.

Personally, I think that (like the Wellstone funeral) such posturing for political gain is disrespectful to the deceased. But people can do what they want, I suppose. I think it lessens their message to do so at such an event. But TeeVee time is TeeVee time.

Amusing in all this is the side that decided to use racist caricatures to point out, well, I don’t know what:

Oh lawdy, lawdy, lawdy Miss Mellie, I do decleah these Democrats are so ungenteel! Why, they were talkin’ politics and singin’ and dancin’ and actin’ all Negro and everything!

[snip]

Typically, his supporters’ knee jerk response is to rhetorically lynch African Americans.

Emphasis added for those that need to be told that sort of thing. Digby ends with For shame. That’s an appropriate response to his own post, which consists of unfounded accusations of racism presented in a nice little racially divisive package.

Heh:

Politics is universal. It doesn’t matter what’s right, only that you’re wrong.

Though the XM-8 is reportedly done for, HL reports that:

TACOM is soliciting for a new carbine and LMG, presumably to replace the M4 and M249. The bad news? Both call for 5.56mm weapons. Of note is that the LMG is now a standalone, belt-fed system, unlike with the XM-8 family of weapons. I also wonder, since apparently there was no solicitation issued for a rifle, if the Marines will be forgoing their long-barrel rifles for the new carbines.

He also has a look at some of the contenders. Murdoc has more.

Some think so:

There is controversy surrounding a government agency and what it wants to know about you.

The agency is the U.S. Census Bureau.

Each year it sends out its American Community Survey. One in every 40 American households will receive it, but some say the Census Bureau is going too far in what it asks, while using heavy handed tactics to get you to fill it out.

The survey asks who lives in your home, how much you earn, the amount of your mortgage or rent, even what time you leave for work.

Cindy Baldwin said she filled out the survey, fearing the government would come after her if she didn’t. And she was right. There is a legal obligation to respond. Anyone who refuses could be fined up to $100 and the Census Bureau will follow up with a phone call to their home. There could even be a knock at the door to get the answers. Those giving false information could be fined up to $500.

The only purpose of the census should be to determine population for voting districts. Nothing more. Besides, what about that right to privacy? If it protects abortion, it should protect me from not telling the .gov what time I leave for work.

Update: Apparently, the census folks are pushy too.

Interesting observation:

I noticed that they [anti-gun people - ed.] have pulled back some and moved into small pockets where they still have a chance. They have taken a page out of the environmental movement’s play book and zip coded their agenda to win small battles here and there. For example look at California and the cities in that state. San Francisco, for one, has attempted to pass laws banning handguns. New York City has reacted in the same manner. Both cities have stepped up measures to make their unconstitutional laws have more strength and go after those who have, or bring into the city, handguns.

The same is going on in Illinois. Of course, the pro-gun side is compartmentalizing as well by going after the various ‘duty to retreat’ laws. Both sides fight where they can win.