Nylarthotep has the skinny.

Greeley Tribune:

In a bizarre twist of events, what should have been a routine film shoot turned into a real-life thriller.

Members of a film crew got the shock of their lives Saturday when a Larimer County SWAT team surrounded the crew and ordered everyone on their knees, hands behind their heads.

The crew from Twelve Monkeys Dancing Films, a Denver-based independent film company, was shooting a scene from their current low-budget feature, “Different Kinds,” in the North Pines campground just west of Loveland.

In the scene, Chris Borden, the lead actor, plays the role of Jared, who is holding a girl hostage and pistol whips a good samaritan who tries to intervene.

Borden surmises that someone passing through the park thought there was a real hostage situation, and in a panic, called the police.

The crew had a park permit and had been shooting the movie for several hours when the SWAT team moved in.

“One of the actor’s faces goes completely white and we all turn around and we’re all surrounded by SWAT,” Borden said.

The entire crew was ordered to drop to their knees with M-16 rifles pointed at their backs and then were forced to lay on the ground for 15 to 20 minutes. Several crew members tried to explain that they were just filming a movie, but were ordered by the SWAT team to shut up.

They were issued a citation for disorderly conduct. On the one hand, it’s another incident of a SWAT team acting a bit overzealous. On the other hand, the film crew should have probably notified the authorities.

Update: Apparently, everyone says films require permits and those serve as notification. SWAT team’s fault.

Rape down, Authorities stumped

The LAT:

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has revoked the concealed weapons license of a retired sheriff’s captain who waged a fiery but unsuccessful campaign to unseat him in last week’s election, a move the candidate’s lawyer called “blatant retaliation.”

And this is why I don’t like may-issue CCW. It’s subject to abuse. In this case, it was abused by giving it to a privileged person and again abused when it was revoked for political purposes.

Slate has an interactive feature on torture. Don’t worry, it’s not that interactive. It’s really just a gussied-up web page, but there’s lots of good information there. They break down all the controversial interrogation techniques, tell you where they’re used, what the official comment is and what the international lawyers say. Better yet, they try to tell a story about how these policies arose and hilight some of the problems torture has caused.

The real legacy of American interrogation practices, post-9/11, is that practices and justifications that should have been reserved for the worst of the worst (assuming we could know who they are) began to be used indiscriminately. In the eyes of the government, they began to seem almost normal. The effect has been to turn America from the world’s leader on many issues of international human-rights law into the world’s tyrant.

Reader Chris:

While our spouses may hope for the passage of the 1 gun per month law, it is meaningless because it can be defeated by the use of straw persons.

Dr. appointments for the kids and errands. Light blogging. Let me know if anything happens.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale asked the Knox County law director’s office to file a motion in Weaver’s court asking for 180 days to amend the charter to address Weaver’s concerns.

Three months from now is September 19th. Almost six weeks after the August 3rd General Election in Knox County. Is this most hypocritical act of mendacity yet to be foiled upon the people of Knox County?

Is this enough to show the utter lack of leadership? The great issue at hand is not that we don’t have a Charter to govern Knox County but we do not have leaders to govern Knox County.

Yet ironically there is one lone voice on County Commission. Is he perhaps a prodigal son? One has to wonder about the atonement of John Schmid. One of the first to sue in court over term limits Schmid is now trying to fast track an appeal of Chancellor John Weaver’s ruling that invalidated the Knox County Charter. He is among the few that has standing to make such an appeal and he goes against the wishes of 18 other Knox County Commissioners. Schmid told the Knoxville News Sentinel, “The appeal’s been filed. We’re trying to get a quicker decision than the Charter Review Committee.”

According to the News Sentinel Schmid decided to move forward with the appeal after talking with Chief Deputy Law Director of Knox County John Owings. Schmid asked Owings if the committee would acknowledge that term limits apply to commissioners. Owings stated, “Everything is on the table, as far as term limits.”

The greatest mystery is why County Mayor Mike Ragsdale would take the chance of playing a game of who can take the moral high ground while holding back term limits for another four years. Ragsdale said term limits must stay in a revised charter yet it is clear there will be no term limits in this Knox County General Election. Is this a way of saying, “Let them eat cake”?

If ever Knox County needed a Jefferson Smith to come forward this is the time. Friday at 5:00 PM is the final time for write-in candidates to apply at the Knox County Election Commission for the August 3rd General Election. Of course Jefferson Smith was just a character in a movie. In real life heroes are much harder to find.

Pete Guthier, aka Drug War Rant, has put up a wiki voting guide so we can keep track of where candidates stand on the drug war. There’s no content on it yet, but with Pete’s involvement, you know it will soon be a valuable resource.

Seems the NYT is up in arms over limiting access to gun data. And they tell an outright lie:

These two bills would give crooked dealers more — not less — leeway in interstate trafficking. The Justice Department has warned that the worst provisions would have a “chilling effect” on gun control and law enforcement. If they had been in effect during the deadly spree of the Washington, D.C., snipers, the dealer who peddled the murder rifle and scores of other crime guns could never have been shut down under federal law.

No. Bullseye (the dealer) failed to keep records up to date and failed to report the gun missing. It was stolen. This law only affects gun data not related to criminal investigations.

The gun lobby will do almost anything to deny basic information about the gun mayhem that Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York and 60 other mayors are properly pursuing through the courts.

And Bloomberg broke the law while conducting his investigation to pursue the lawsuit. And the lawsuit likely won’t advance due to the protection of lawful commerce in arms act.

The carnival of cordite is up for your gunblogging pleasure.

Gene Patterson, a local news anchor at WATE who blogs, wants to know. Well, I’ll tell you. By the time it’s on TV, it’s old news. I’ve known for a while already. That and scary commercials like Something in your house can kill you!!! We’ll tell you about it in three hours at 11:00.

I also don’t like hard hitting investigative pieces on subjects like bootie juice.

Or investigations that conclude that (gasp!) nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Or selling sexual innuendo.

Or using lame inaccurate buzzwords on a subject the reporter clearly knows nothing about.

Or when you guys are flatly inaccurate (or intentionally misleading) in a report. Then you’re called on it and you say your mistake was addressing my complaint and stick by your bogus story even though I’ve quoted the law chapter and verse to you to show you how you’re wrong/misleading. Despite my attempts to show you the law, you stick to the talking points that you Googled up from an anti-gun propaganda outfit.

All those items are, of course, my criticism of WATE’s news coverage. Is that a good start?

I’ve mentioned this push before but the NRA is now circling the wagons for the coming UN driven arms control hooey:

An American delegation will participate in a controversial United Nations small-arms conference criticized by Second Amendment advocates as a threat to U.S. gun ownership.

The U.N. Small Arms Review Conference will meet in New York City June 26 to July 7 to discuss illegal trafficking in arms, “ineffective national controls” and related issues.

The U.N.’s disarmament effort features a program in which it buys back weapons in nations torn by civil strife. But National Rifle Association Vice President Wayne LaPierre insists the U.N. is concerned about more than illicit arms in African hot spots. He says the global body wants the firearms of American citizens – and much more.

It’s coming.

Via top, comes this:

My fellow liberals, arguing for gun control, say that the amendment only relates to citizens in an organized militia. The wording is unclear, but I can’t get past this: the bill of rights generally is about the rights that belong to individual citizens. I don’t know exactly what the founders where thinking, but it seems odd to think that they meant this particular amendment to only apply to organized groups. So I have to conclude, even if it challenges some of my poltical opinions, that it means that yes, American citizens have a constitution right to their guns.

But on the other side, I see anti-gun-control folks insisting that this means that any law that controls the ownership of guns is unconstitutional, and I think that’s patently ridiculous. The right to free speech is probably the most fundamental of all of our Constitutional rights, but that doesn’t mean speech can never be controlled in some ways. Your freedom of speech doesn’t include freedom to incite violence or panic with falsehoods, or freedom to libel someone. Your right of assembly doesn’t mean that the city can’t require a permit for some public gatherings. (It does mean that the way such permits are given out had better be fair, though.)

Given that, I don’t buy the argument that regulation of gun sales or registration of weapons is unconstitutional.

There’s more. Read it all.

Seems a lot of liberal types are abandoning the gun control bandwagon. Good.

Odd:

A man who had drugs and weapons inside his home is going to jail. Alvin Maxwell has been sentenced to 17 months in prison. He pleaded guilty to importing and manufacturing weapons at his home . In exchange, the drug charges were dropped.

Police would rather get a gun conviction?

Tam has a nice desktop background for the hoplophobe near you.

Ah, Congress and it’s Republican foolishness. Georgia Rep Lynn Westmoreland co-sponsored a bill requiring the display of the 10 Commandments in the House and Senate. Steven Colbert challenged him to name all 10 and the guy barely managed to paraphrase three. Aren’t you glad these are the people running the country?

Via Milk and Cookies.

It is interesting to read the different viewpoints between optimists and skeptics concerning the Weavergate conundrum. Local optimists believe Knox County government is made up of good people doing their best and they can disagree and still be friends. Local skeptics believe Knox County government is controlled by a very few un-elected people and everything that happens, happens for a reason.

Before the Tennessee Supreme Court issued the Bailey ruling that term limits apply in Shelby County, term limits were ignored in Knox County because of a 1994 opinion from the State Attorney General that State Constitutional offices could not be term limited even though Knox County voters clearly voted in a 1994 referendum on term limits that clearly stated that all office holders in Knox County government would be held to a maximum of two terms.

One of the problems is that the English language can be imprecise. Another problem is that no matter how well a law, Charter, or referendum is worded there is always a lawyer somewhere that can challenge it using some literal absolute interpretation. Optimists may say that Chancellor John F. Weaver was doing his job and had no choice but to enforce the laws of the State of Tennessee. Skeptics may say that the fix was in from the day the Supreme Court ruled in the Bailey decision to enforce term limits.

The outcry from the public is matched by the outrage in the press. Editorials from the Knoxville News Sentinel and The Metropulse have chastised the Weaver ruling as unfortunate, outrageous, and egregious. The most telling opinion is from the Number One optimist Mayor Mike Ragsdale who said, “This would be the same as a federal judge ruling that the U.S. Constitution is invalid simply because Jefferson or Adams signed on the wrong line or that Benjamin Franklin didn’t deliver the right copy to President Washington.”

One of the most significant sources on this matter has been Richard Beeler the former Knox County Law Director who took office in 1990 and was Secretary on the Charter Commission of 1988. His appearance on the Lloyd Daughtery Show and on WBIR’s Inside Tennessee have provided more information than almost any other source. Mr. Beeler defends John F. Weaver as a good judge and astute legal scholar but disagrees with his ruling. Beeler does not seem to fit in either the optimist or skeptic camps. His point is that the Charter had no problem in the fact that the Constitutional offices were not defined. They were not defined in the Shelby Charter either. There are defined in the State Constitution.

Beeler’s other main point is that the Charter became effective upon being ratified by the people and that the return receipt from the Secretary of State is an overblown issue.

But here is where it gets interesting. Beeler notes that the term limits referendum was brought forth by a regular citizen and was not correctly written according to State law. Stop right here, this is the important part. The Charter was never the problem, the term limits referendum was the problem. The State Attorney agreed that the term limits referendum was incorrectly worded when he gave his opinion in 1994 that the Constitutional offices were not affected by referendum. Since 1994 Knox County Commissioners have used that opinion to disregard the will of the people on term limits.

The question people will ask is why did Weaver muse out loud in court that the Charter might not be valid? Betty Bean was far ahead of the curve on this when she wrote about the problem of obiter dicta.

Optimist may say that Weaver is just a very analytical judge who made this ruling in only a legal interpretation of the law. Skeptics may say there is an end game. If the skeptics are right, what is the end game?

The Geek notes that the city attorney that defended the handgun ban in San Fran position was:

We’re disappointed that the court has denied the right of voters to enact a reasonable, narrowly tailored restriction on handgun possession,

I don’t think an outright ban (Mr. and Mr. San Francisco, turn them in) is a reasonable, narrowly tailored restriction on handgun possession.

Update: What, no comment on the Mr. and Mr. San Francisco thing? Must be slipping with the gay jokes. I bet if I’d said Mrs. and Mrs., you’d have liked that. Everyone seems to like the lesbian stuff. Well, except Bob Corker.

Publicola says it’s bad ju-ju:

I’ll get to the point; it’s bullshit. All this will do is open up more records for inclusion in the NICS system. In other words they’re hoping that more folks will be disqualified because of Lautenberg, mental health records or possibly because they’re being investigated for “terrorism”.

The last part may leave you in the cold. Here’s where I get that from:

“…and (3) the Secretary of Homeland Security to make available to the Attorney General records relevant to a determination that a person is disqualified from possessing or receiving a firearm and information about a change in such person’s status for removal from NICS, where appropriate.”

I can only assume that this is an effort to grease the wheels of that “terrorism watch list’ being made at least a temporary disqualification. Why else would the department of Homeland Security be involved?

He has more. Not sure about his assessment but it is possibly a particularly slippery slope.

I step away from the blog for a bit and the supreme court pounds away some more.

Bloomberg.com:

Prosecutors can use evidence seized by police during a home search even though officers violated the Constitution by failing to knock or announce their presence before entering, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled.

The justices, voting 5-4 in a Michigan case, today put new limits on the so-called exclusionary rule, which in some circumstances bars prosecutors from using the product of an illegal search. The majority said the exclusionary rule doesn’t apply to violations of the “knock and announce” requirement for home searches.

Basically, evidence can be used against you if the police screw up by not knocking. This goes against the exclusionary rule which stated that evidence obtained unconstitutionally was invalid and could not be used. In other words, no-knock warrants will soon be standard operating procedure.

We have police who cannot legally be held to account for violating the provisions of the constitution. And we now will no longer exclude evidence obtained via violation of the constitution. So, in such a case, your recourse is non-existent.

Fuckers.

As to the details:

In the Michigan case, prosecutors opted not to argue that the entry into Hudson’s home was constitutional, instead contending that the exclusionary rule shouldn’t apply to knock- and-announce violations. The state, backed by the Bush administration, argued that those types of police errors don’t enable officers to seize additional evidence.

Scalia agreed, saying the connection between the manner in which police enter a home and the evidence they discover is too weak to warrant application of the exclusionary rule. He said the knock-and-announce rule doesn’t protect “one’s interest in preventing the government from seeing or taking evidence described in a warrant.”

That’s not an error. It is intentional.

In comments, Justin says:

I think you’re mistaken on that point, Mr. Uncle. A search at GunBroker just netted me 61 auctions selling armor piercing ammo in .223, .308, 30-06, 7.62×54R, and .50BMG.

AP ammo is only illegal for handgun ammunition.

I should have been more clear. Armor piercing ammo, as a legal construct, is different from what is actually armor piercing. Justin is correct that AP ammo for handguns is illegal but that means rounds designed to penetrate vests, whereas real AP ammo is designed to penetrate armor such as that on a vehicles. Most rifle rounds penetrate vests anyway since vests are designed to stop handgun ammo.

Sorry for the confusion.

On a page titled “Mass Destruction of Weapons “, images abound of Takarovs and Makrovs being destroyed. I wish I knew why.

I’ve noticed that Yahoo!’s search results often get me to what I’m looking for faster than Google’s. Moreover, while Google has forsaken Say Uncle, Yahoo!’s search engine has not.

Google’s days of search engine hegemony will soon be over.

The fifth panel of the first chapter of Shooting War has a good condemnation of Kelo v. New London. Good to see the issue raised, even if they cast it as a battle in the war against corporatism, rather than a fight over property rights.

The comic itself is a serialized graphic novel about a lefty video blogger covering the Iraq war in 2011 during the McCain administration. It’s well-drawn, cynical, and deft with the politics and culture. Worth a look.

Oh, and Uncle told me the way to keep you folks entertained is with explodey pictures, so don’t miss panel 7.

Update: While you’re looking at fictionalized accounts of the terror war, check this alternative history of the US/Afghan war. So scary it could be true!

Ayup. Also, ammo advertised as armor piercing is illegal.

Barbeque

How do you keep an idiot entertained for hours? Click here.

Yeah, taking my few days off before the new gig to help a friend move. Blogging still light.

Rudy Giuliani is the Joe Lieberman of the Republican party. He’s the guy who is both too moderate for his own party and too extreme for the opposition party. It’s too bad, really, because as much as I dislike the guy, at least he presents a different policy mix from the usual assortment of pandering stiffs.

Today, Giuliani was covered in the NYTimes talking about energy policy. He’s campaigning hard, pitching for his clients, and raising money. As expected, Rudy came out hard for expanding and diversifying domestic energy production by increasing our nuclear and natural gas power sources, opening more oil refineries and exploring alternative energy. None of that is controversial, not even the nod he gave to Iowa ethanol.

His one ernergy position that wasn’t RNC-approved relates to global warming. He doesn’t even try the Phillip Morris defense. He skips right to “everyone accepts the fact that it’s happening and it has an impact.” We’ll see how well that position plays on Super Tuesday.

This isn’t the only issue on which Rudy bucks the company line. To global warming, you can add abortion, gun-grabbing, and marriage equality. On paper, Rudy is slightly to the left of Hillary Clinton.

The smart money says Rudy is too moderate for primary victory. My guess is he decides to run but bows out early.

I want to get a 9mm suppressor for use on my 9mm AR-15 and my SigArms P229. Apparently, the floating style barrel of the Sig usually warrants and adapter of some sort to ensure the weapon cycles. Anyone have any recommendations?

I may also use it on my 10/22 and my Walther P-22.

We got this 7 pack of onesies from some one as a gift for the new kid. They’re labeled for each day of the week (we have one for Monday, Tuesday, etc.). These are useless in terms of getting a week’s wear out of them because babies go through about 4 outfits per day. My big money idea is to sell a 12 pack that starts with 1:00. 2:00, etc.

Junior has gone up until recently without ever having her bottom spanked. Well, that changed when she threw one of my big size 10 1/2 shoes and almost hit the new baby. This was after my verbal warnings to her to stop doing that near the baby. I picked her up and gave her a little pop on her butt. She laughed. I popped her butt just a bit harder. She laughed again. Third time, I connected and go her attention. Now, whenever I tell her no and get out of my seat, she puts her little hands over her butt and runs. She does this whether I plan on spanking her or not.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled light blogging.

Buck is looking for another co-blogger:

I would like to expand the Blogging pool here at Liberty1st so if you are a conservative / libertarian wanting to get a start in Blogging email me

Jeff has the latest check on guns in the media. Lot’s of stuff about liberals and guns, only not the kind you think.

Kim du Toit is doing some videos on shooting.

Sig isn’t happy with CA:

The California Highway Patrol restricted bids on a $5.3 million gun contract to a single Smith & Wesson pistol, even though a rival manufacturer offered almost identical weapons for $2.2 million less.

SigArms Inc. alleged in April 10 letters to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and CHP Commissioner Mike Brown that the state’s decision to favor Smith & Wesson was improper and contrary to state contract regulations, which require competitive bidding for big government purchases.

“Historically, when governments or companies have not used the competitive bidding process, waste and corruption have often been the result,” SigArms general counsel Eric Cook wrote.

Of course, I wish gun makers would follow Barrett’s lead and not sell to Cali.

Yeah, light blogging for the rest of the week. Any co-bloggers out there can kick it up a notch in my absence.

Sorry for the light blogging but I was out getting a job. So, uh, go me.

Tax cuts, terror wars, drug wars: choose two.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants to end U.S. Army helicopter support for a joint U.S.-Bahamas drug-interdiction program that over the past two decades has resulted in hundreds of arrests and the seizure of tons of cocaine and marijuana. [...]

But in a May 15 letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Rumsfeld said it was time after more than 20 years to shift the equipment elsewhere. The military is being stretched thin by the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and other commitments around the globe.

The Bahamas anti-drug program, Rumsfeld wrote, “now competes with resources necessary for the war on terrorism and other activities in support of our nation’s defense, with potential adverse effects on the military preparedness of the United States.”

Via the ever-excellent Drug War Rant.

Maybe later. Stuff to do. Meanwhile, for your reading pleasure:

RAGING AGAINST SELF DEFENSE: A PSYCHIATRIST EXAMINES THE ANTI-GUN MENTALITY

eNeighborhood watch

ACLU trying to stop spying

Paramilitary drug raids on crack

The AP:

A state trial judge on Monday overturned a voter-approved city ordinance that banned handgun possession and firearm sales in San Francisco, siding with gun owners who said the city did not have the authority to prohibit the weapons.

Good. As to why:

In siding with the gun owners, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge James Warren said a local government cannot ban weapons because the California Legislature allows their sale and possession.

I told you so.

I’ve been watching this show on Discovery Channel called Revolution. It’s a thirteen part documentary on the American Revolution. While watching it, I’m amazed at all the action that occurs. And that it occurs in Massachusetts. At one time, people in Massachusetts were willing to take up arms against a governing force over pretty small tax increases. Now, the government there arrests people on charges of animal cruelty for killing a seagull in self-defense.

Live free or there.

Barry has on Knox County’s invalid charter and how your vote there never really mattered. Just go here and scroll.

The Brady Crew is pushing the idea that Florida’s castle doctrine law is killing people:

A leading Florida newspaper yesterday published an analysis of incidents of violence in Central Florida that have occurred since January 1 where the state’s new deadly force law was invoked.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that in five counties in Central Florida 13 people killed six men and wounded four others, and that all but one of those shot were unarmed. The dead include a man who shook his fist at another man in a neighborhood dispute, and the wounded include a 15-year old would be car thief shot in the back of the leg while running away.

The story can be found at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl- deadlyforce1106jun11,0,2402838.story .

“The net effect of the new ‘Shoot First’ law in Florida is, unfortunately, precisely what we feared,” said Sarah Brady, honorary chair of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “People are dying who did not deserve to die. Meanwhile the legitimate cases of self-defense would have been viewed as legitimate self-defense without this law.

“Florida’s legislature should repeal this law. And other states thinking of passing this law should stop and look at the results in Florida,” Brady said.

One of the interesting things about the press release is that the link (which appears as is, I copied and pasted) doesn’t go any where. Yet, if you go to the actual article, it says:

It is too early to tell whether the law makes Floridians safer or puts them at greater risk. There are no statistics on the number of self-defense claims statewide before or after the law took effect Oct. 1.

But an Orlando Sentinel review of five months of court records in Orange, Osceola, Lake, Polk, Seminole and Volusia counties shows widespread differences in the way claims are investigated and prosecuted.

So, according to the article, there are no real statistics prior to when the law took effect. What is reported is the manner in which self-defense claims are prosecuted. The Brady Bunch, however, states that this piece shows that people are dying and initimates an increase in deaths. From the article, I see nothing indicating that.

They have to lie to win.

Via Chuck.

If you’ve ever thought the government would protect you from its own abuses, the recent domestic spying revelations have surely made the point that the only protection you’ll get is what you provide for yourself.

When you send email, it hops from computer to computer across the net in a form that can be read by anybody who cares to do so. Imagine every email is a postcard. It gets delvered by people passing it from hand to hand until it reaches its destination. Anybody handing it off can copy it, read it, or change it. People write all kinds of sensitive things in these postcards. They probably shouldn’t.

If you want more privacy than a postcard can offer, get yourself an envelope. I suggest you choose one that is tamper-resistant and very hard to open. In the world of email, that envelope is encryption.

The strongest encryption we know of is available to anybody who wants it at zero cost. It’s called GPG and works with many different email clients on Linux, Macs or even Windows. It takes some effort to set it up, but once you do, you can communicate privately with anybody.

How secure is GPG? Very. The amount of computing power it would take to break this encryption in a reasonable timeframe is more than we know exists on the Earth. Nothing is perfect, and this is as good as it gets.

Start using encryption. Encourage your friends and family to adopt it, and use it for everything from mundane chitchat to protecting sensitive business. There have been numeous attempts to outlaw encryption (from both major parties), and if it’s not in widespread use fairly soon, the current terror scaremongering might make it illegal to communicate in a way the government cannot understand.

Nobody can protect your privacy but you.

Terry Frank notes some inconsistency in how the local NBC affiliate decides what you should have access to:

OK. Let’s get this straight. A show that depicts Christianity in a bad light is a viewer decision. An ad that questions a union boss is censored.

You can make your own decisions about a show but not an ad.

Seems that in England, folks don’t like traffic cameras. So much so, that they’re destroying them. Here’s some pics of the mangled cameras.

Looks like Utah:

Utah residents volunteer more often and give more of their time than people in any other state, according to a national report released Monday.

Ok, Tennessee, get cracking.

The AP:

Murders, robberies and aggravated assaults in the United States increased last year, spurring an overall rise in violent crime for the first time since 2001, according to
FBI data.

Murders rose 4.8 percent, meaning there were more than 16,900 victims in 2005. That would be the most since 1998 and the largest percentage increase in 15 years.

Murders jumped from 272 to 334 in Houston, a 23 percent spike; from 330 to 377 in Philadelphia, a 14 percent rise; and from 131 to 144 in Las Vegas, a 10 percent increase.

Despite the national numbers, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York were among several large cities that saw the number of murders drop.

The overall increase in violent crime was modest, 2.5 percent, which equates to more than 1.4 million crimes. Nevertheless, that was the largest percentage increase since 1991.

As to why, the experts seem to think it’s because cuts in free government money and the NRA:

Criminal justice experts said the statistics reflect the nation’s complacency in fighting crime, a product of dramatic declines in the 1990s and the abandonment of effective programs that emphasized prevention, putting more police officers on the street and controlling the spread of guns.

“We see that budgets for policing are being slashed and the federal government has gotten out of that business,” said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston. “Funding for prevention at the federal level and many localities are down and the (National Rifle Association) has renewed strength.”

Is this person really intimating that the NRA’s activity has increased gun crime? I’ve seen no evidence that the NRA has done anything pro-criminal nor has it done anything to loosen restrictions on the availability of guns. The Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Justice have found that gun laws have no effect on crime.

I’m sure this is the impetus to blame the expiration of the assault weapons ban.

Update: AC encourages you to contact Mr. Fox. Mr. Fox has a whole heaping list of anti-gun credentials.

Update 2: David Hardy:

Hmm… NRA was pretty strong in 2004, too, when homicide rates fell by 2.4%.

And, strangely, in 2005, the FBI report notes, homicide rates fell by 3.9% in nonmetropolitan areas where gun ownership is highest.

And the lowest 2005 homicide increase came in the West, where gun ownship is also highest… 3.2% there, compared to 5.2% in the Northeast.

Well, that seems a bit too much, particularly since there have been no reported arrests.

WND:

If the prospect of being asked to explain some embarrassing detail about their personal lives by a prospective employer or a future romantic interest isn’t enough to deter users of social-networking websites like MySpace.com from posting it online, perhaps this will – the National Security Agency is funding research into mass harvesting what people post about themselves on the Internet.

I’m already on the list.

Rich:

I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that if term limits are invalid, then most of the legislative actions of the Knox County government over the last few years is also invalid, including the regulations passed in Knox County limiting the operations of adult businesses.

Looks to me like most laws would be invalidated. Insty says:

SO IF KNOX COUNTY’S CHARTER has been ruled invalid, I guess it’s too much to hope for that I won’t have to pay my property taxes.

I installed quick tags. Now, when you comment, there are html buttons to make formatting easier when you leave comments. Yeah, the buttons are ugly but they work.

Found this via Der Commissar.

Jeff reports that Mikhail Kalashnikov has expressed some regrets about designing the AK-47:

“Whenever I look at TV and I see the weapon I invented to defend my motherland in the hands of these bin Ladens I ask myself the same question: How did it get into their hands?” the 86-year-old Russian gun maker said.

“I didn’t put it in the hands of bandits and terrorists and it’s not my fault that it has mushroomed uncontrollably across the globe. Can I be blamed that they consider it the most reliable weapon?” he said.

It gets into their hands the way they always do. If you had not built an AK, they’d be using another weapon. More:

The question is especially acute as an 11-day U.N. conference on curbing the small-arms trade convenes June 26 in New York. Kalashnikov is thinking of sending the delegates a statement.

Not sure what that statement would be but, from the article referenced, comes:

Kalashnikov said Amnesty International and Oxfam, the British charity, have asked him to write a statement for their campaign against small-arms proliferation, and he is also thinking of sending a separate statement addressed to the U.N conference.

So, Kalashnikov is getting anti-gun in his old years?

Update: The Scotsman has a different take:

I designed AK-47s to defend USSR – it’s not my fault terrorists use them

Swiss Army Knife has a jump drive.

I can’t imagine having a gun for over six years and not shooting it.

Please stand by.

Update: My host says I’m out of space, which I am not.
Odd how I can’t upload files to my server but can still post. While clearing out some stuff on the server, I find I did get a nasty gram from Google saying we’re delisting you.

Somehow I missed it, but big doings in Knoxville:

A chancellor ruled today that Knox County’s charter is “invalid and ineffective,” meaning the county would revert to the form of government outlined in the state constitution.

The ruling also invalidates term limits, which restricts the number of terms an elected official may serve.

Looks like we’re back to long-serving good ol’ boys.

Pro-Gun Progressive continues taking the pro-gun fight to the lefties:

Earlier this week I found out that Daily Kos favors the Second Amendment. The “big three” of liberal bloggers (DKos, Washington Monthly, and Talkingpointsmemo.com) haven’t really talked much about guns; I thought it’d be a good idea to see if Josh Marshall of TPM would go on record about self defense and the ever-important 2A. His site gets over 100K hits a day, and he’s quite the busy guy, so I was pretty flattered that he wrote back.

The response was mixed:

I don’t think the 2nd Amendment bars regulation of firearms. That’s for starters. I think it’s about state militias, etc. I also don’t think much of the NRA. However, I’d say I’m perfectly comfortable with what I guess you’d call a pro-gun stance. I think background checks are a good thing. Someone right out of a mental hospital shouldn’t be able to buy a gun. Felons shouldn’t be able to buy guns. Beside that, gun ownership is part of our culture. People can own as many as they want, as far as I’m concerned. I certainly don’t think gun control is an issue Democrats should be pushing.

The second amendment is not in any way about state militias. To think so is not really an inclination to support the right to bear arms. I also view it more as saying he has no issue with gun control but my party shouldn’t push it. I don’t find some of it particularly encouraging. All I see is that he is 1) wrong and 2) a hack about it by taking the politically expedient approach to it. Though the fact he takes no issue with people owning as many guns as they want is encouraging.

Tam has more on the shortage of ammo. PMC went out of business, which is a bummer.

STD says:

The Clinton’s have done more for the profits of gun dealers than maybe any one else in the world!!!

Heh.

Lewis Black, from his HBO stand up special Red, White and Screwed:

It’s stunning the Democrats couldn’t find someone to beat George Bush. It’s like having a normal person lose in the Special Olympics.

I was used as a fine example, err, example of bloggin for a class. Here’s wishing Barry the best on his opportunity too.

Carnaby runs down past pipe dreams and makes predictions about the future of gun control:

Here’s my prediction for what’s coming from the BC: Go back to what’s tried and true: The Slippery Slope. Just need to start higher. We were on the slope, but somehow the gun nuts got some traction. Start over and keep it well lubed. Maybe go back to “Nobody NEEDS 364 guns. Darn it, that’s an Arsenal! What if the terrorists had an arsenal? Only criminals need an arsenal. Blood will run in the streets if private citizens have arsenals! Ban ‘em!”

I recall some incarnation of a brady bill having an arsenal tax and registration scheme.

Tramp stamp. Personally, I’ve always called them targets.

Update: Reminds me of something. When I was a kid, I worked at a grocery store. There was this frequent customer who had a bunch of prison tattoos. Apparently, he was a religious man. On his left bicep, he had a tattoo to display his Christianity. It said:

Jesus Chirt

Christ, you’d think he’d have learned how to spell before committing to a tattoo.

Gun Law News has a lot more.

Heh.

Some would call it a graffiti law. I call it stupid:

A federal appeals court Thursday blocked the city from enforcing part of an anti-graffiti law that prevented people between the ages of 18 and 21 from buying spray paint and broad-tipped markers.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the city’s request that it temporarily let aspects of the law remain in effect while the appeals court considers whether a judge was right to find in favor of artists who challenged it.

Graffiti’s not art, it’s vandalism. But banning age groups from buying paint is stupid.

An update from my friend who was raided by the ATF. He writes:

The motion to suppress the search warrant was heard yesterday. The [DA] admitted that there was an omission in the affidavit and that it was “hurriedly and haphazardly written”. They did not note that what was relayed to the atf was actually from my daughter, it reads as if it is my ex reciting what my daughter told her. My attorneys say that it would be a stretch for the judge to not throw it out. The trial date has been moved to Sep 18th.

It’s good news for him. Also, we talked a bit about other stuff. Seems when the ATF decided to visit me, they weren’t exactly forthright with how they found me.

FreedomDemocrats rounds up reactions to Kos Libertarian Democrats piece. For the record, I was talking about the gun stuff primarily. I’m fully aware that if a Libertarian bit Kos on his ass, he’d think it was a Republican.

Llamas, Big Birds and the Amish.

The ATF has raided KT Ordnance, makers of 80% lower receivers. AR15.com poster broke the story. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (a frequent and loud critic of the ATF -[should SayUncle be worried? - Ed.] – [Damn skippy - SayUncle]) also has a snippet on the story. And, equally odd, is KT’s site once looked like this and now looks like this.

Now, it’s no secret the ATF is cracking down on do it yourselfers [I told you damn skippy - Ed] but is this the result of that or something else?

Via Jed.

Update: Rumors around the boards seem to be that this guy was one of those ‘I don’t pay taxes’ Libertarians. Also, the other rumors are that he would sell 80% lower receivers (which are not firearms) and offer a workshop on finishing them. As such, a buyer could get an 80% lower, participate in the workshop, and walk out with a complete lower receiver (which is a firearm). This would bypass the NICS, of course. Definitely questionable but I’m uncertain of the legality.

The cost of 7.62X39 ammo has risen quite a bit lately. Everyone (i.e., I) was confused as there’s not really been a shortage publicized. And, let’s face it, one in seven guns on the earth is an AK so I figured it wouldn’t be a supply problem. Turns out, it’s Hillary’s fault:

American defence officials have secretly requested a “prodigious quantity” of ammunition from Russia to supply the Afghan army in case a Democrat president takes over in Washington and pulls out US troops.

The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Pentagon chiefs have asked arms suppliers for a quote on a vast amount of ordnance, including more than 78 million rounds of AK47 ammunition, 100,000 rocket-propelled grenades and 12,000 tank shells – equivalent to about 15 times the British Army’s annual requirements.

The Bush administration is said to want the deal because of worries that the next president could be a Democrat, possibly Hillary Clinton, who may abandon Afghanistan.

…

Defence specialists said Russian arms chiefs at first “fell about laughing” because they thought the order was a joke when it arrived this month.

But with the Americans said to be pressing for a price and earliest delivery date, the request is being rapidly processed and exports could begin before the end of this year.

The “decade’s worth” of ammunition will give the Afghan National Army a vast arsenal to deal with Taliban or drug warlords if Washington withdraws its troops.

CCA has some new ones.

AC says, of regulating indecency on cable, etc., that:

As these things become the norm in households across the country how to we protect children from seeing images that they are not prepared to process.

My first thought is that’s what parents are for. But AC thought of that too and says:

It’s easy to put it all on the parents but how can two working parents, to say nothing of single parents, possibly monitor the media their children are exposed to?

It should fall on the parents. End of story. Turn the TeeVee off or set parental controls (which cable and satellite both come equipped with). If your child happens to catch Shannon Tweed naked and writhing on some guy at 3 in the morning on Cinemax; or violent war footage; or some midget porn, it’s your fault.

The only reason I get Skinemax is to see Shannon Tweed naked. And for the midget porn. It’s there. You can see it if you kind of squint a little. Conservatives love the free market, unless it involves titties.

WBIR:

Tennessee puppy mill raided

The McNairy County Humane Society has seized 32 dogs from what officials describe as a “puppy mill.”

My first thought was: The Humane Society can conduct raids? I was relieved to discover that’s probably not what happened.

The animals — of several breeds — were seized at a Bethel Springs home. Sheriff’s officials say the owner, Melvin Russom, was arrested on animal cruelty charges.

Ah, the old 5.56Nato (they don’t shoot 223, guys) is ineffective bit. Kim has the details it and Yosemite Sam chimes in. The 5.56 is not the best round for people stopping but it’s as good as many other combat rounds, despite what detractors say.

Remember, penetration is only good for armor. Bullets, generally, do not knock people down (unless it takes out a knee or some such) so knock down power is a myth. What makes a round effective is blunt trauma.

Well, with the Republicans losing the gay marriage amendment and annoying their base with the immigration stuff, we’ll soon se more of this:

And I am violating my no-hotlinking rule by stealing an image from the Department Of Homeland Security. I don’t feel at all bad about it because, as a tax payer, I figure I own it.

A person defended gun rights but then villified assault rifles. David sets him straight.

Ravenwood found the actual bill.

Dixon Guilty:

A federal jury in Memphis has just handed down a verdict finding former State Sen. Roscoe Dixon guilty of accepting illegal cash payments in exchange for influence in the Tennessee General Assembly. He was found guilty on all five federal charges against him

Some more folks are reporting that they can’t leave comments because my spam filter is a nazi. Remember, you can register and bypass the spam filter by clicking here. Requires a valid email address.

On a new bill aimed (and misfiring) at gun trafficking:

“This legislation will actually create a new federal crime of gun trafficking, make it a federal crime and give federal authorities the power, which they need, to go after gun traffickers,” King explained. “It would also make it a new crime for criminals to use stolen firearms [or those] which have [obliterated] serial numbers.”

Err, it’s already illegal to use stolen firearms and illegal to obliterate serial numbers. More stupidity:

Chief Mary Ann Viverette of the Gaithersburg, Md., Police Department also spoke at the event, representing the International Association of Chiefs of Police, of which she is also president. Viverette briefly praised the anti-trafficking bill, but then attacked another piece of legislation — the Firearms Corrections and Improvements Act (H.R. 5005).

“H.R. 5005 would make our job more difficult by severely limiting the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to share tracing information with state and local law enforcement agencies,” Viverette claimed. “This legislation clearly has the potential to severely impede the investigation of criminal activities.”

The problem, of course, is that HR 5005 does no such thing:

But, as Cybercast News Service previously reported, H.R. 5005 contains no prohibition against the ATF sharing gun trace data with state and local law enforcement agencies for use in criminal investigations or prosecutions. The bill does prohibit the agency from sharing the data with state or local governments’ civil attorneys for use in lawsuits or other administrative procedures against gun dealers

They have to lie to win.

Alphie on Jersey’s smart gun law:

A prototype of a “smart gun”, a gun that can only be fired by its owner, has been developed by a group in New Jersey. Although a commercial version is at least five years away, as soon as one is available New Jersey citizens will be unable to purchase a gun that doesn’t contain personalization technology.

Note that I saw citizens, because cops will be exempt from the law because, after all, they are better than the rest of us.

Rusmeister says:

If this comes to pass, it will set the stage for the biggest gun confiscation (in the form of “retrofit”) in recorded history.

Xrlq has a new twist on everyon’e favorite game. But a couple of quibbles. Xrlq says one is subject to total prohibition in California, not to mention the entire country from 1994 to 2004. Not quite.

The federal ban only affected semi-automatics with 2 or more evil features. So, for it to have been prohibited, he would have to add a pistol grip (since ARs don’t function without them) and one other evil feature, such as a telescopic stock.

Regarding the California ban, whether that one is banned or not depends on (and I am not making this up) who the manufacturer of that lower receiver is. Here’s a list. If, for example, that is a Rock River lower, it is banned. If it is Stag lower, it probably isn’t but that’s only because the California AG hasn’t put Stag on its list of evil weapons. Mind you, the same machining company makes both Stag and RRA lowers, they just put a different logo on them.

And, by the way, California is one generation away from making all such weapons illegal:

Pursuant to California Penal Code section 12285(b), any person who obtains title to a registered assault weapon by bequest or intestate succession shall, within 90 days, render the weapon permanently inoperable, sell the weapon to a licensed gun dealer who has a permit from the Department of Justice to purchase assault weapons, obtain a permit from the Department of Justice to possess assault weapons, or remove the weapon from this state.

When someone with such a weapon dies, their heirs must destroy the weapon or sell it.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is now being scraped off soldiers’ boots.

Heh.

A reader notes some progress at Kos, of all places:

It’s no secret that I look to the Mountain West for the future of the Democratic Party, people like Brian Schweitzer and Jon Tester. But I also look to candidates like Jim Webb in Virginia and Paul Hackett in Ohio.

And what is the common thread amongst these candidates?

They are all Libertarian Democrats.

…

So in practical terms, what does a Libertarian Dem look like? A Libertarian Dem rejects government efforts to intrude in our bedrooms and churches. A Libertarian Dem rejects government “Big Brother” efforts, such as the NSA spying of tens of millions of Americans. A Libertarian Dem rejects efforts to strip away rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights — from the First Amendment to the 10th. And yes, that includes the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms.

If you read the comments, quite a few of the Kossacks are pro-gun. I found this surprising and interesting. But, and let me be clear, if Kos is getting it, its impact must be growing to the point that it can’t be ignored. Regardless, I salute these types.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. In light of recent posts here at SayUncle that are sympathetic to the lefties, you’re probably wondering where the real SayUncle is and who is it taking over his blog being all sympathetic with the lefites. But I assure you, it’s still me and, no, I’m not off my meds.

But bear with me while I divulge another dark secret. See, I’ve been looking to the 2008 Presidential Elections and the possible candidates. And guess who I like? Well, Russ Feingold of all people. I figure any candidate that opposes the assault weapons ban, opposes the PATRIOT Act and said:

The Second Amendment raises interesting questions about a constitutional interpretation. I read the Second Amendment as providing an individual right to keep and bear arms as opposed to only a collective right. Individual Americans have a constitutional right to own and use guns. And there are a number of actions that legislatures should not take in my view to restrict gun ownership.

The modern Supreme Court has only heard one case interpreting the Second Amendment. That case is U.S. v. Miller. It was heard back in 1939. And the court indicated that it saw the right to bear arms as a collective right.

In a second case, in U.S. v. Emerson, the court denied cert and let stand the lower court opinion that upheld the statute banning gun possession by individuals subject to a restraining order against a second amendment challenge.

The appeals court viewed the right to bear arms as an individual right. The Supreme Court declined to review the Appeals Court decision.

is at least worth consideration. He (1) accepts that the second amendment enumerates an individual right and (2) is familiar with the case law. I think that’s a good thing. Also, his website says:

-Senator Feingold believes that the United States Constitution guarantees American citizens the right to keep and bear arms. As a Wisconsin State Senator, Senator Feingold co-sponsored and helped to write a constitutional amendment to ensure this right.

-Senator Feingold has consistently opposed proposals to ban handguns.

-In 1993, Senator Feingold voted to stop a licensing fee increase for people who sell guns.

-In 1998, Senator Feingold voted to prevent back door gun licensing and to prevent the creation of a government master list of gun owners.

-In Summer of 2002, Senator Feingold voted to allow airline pilots to carry firearms in the cockpits of airplanes.

-In Fall of 2002, Senator Feingold voted to let off-duty and retired police officers carry a gun outside their jurisdiction.

-In the April 2003 election, Senator Feingold was pleased to vote for a statewide referendum, which guaranteed Wisconsinites the right to hunt, fish and trap.

No mention of his opposition to the Assault Weapons Ban.

It’s a pity he has that abysmal incumbent protection act err Campaign Finance Reform as part of his checkered past. And he did support the assault weapons ban the first time around. So, it could be risky.

What will be more interesting is if he gets the nomination, watching the NRA squirm. Based on the current trends, I’d say Feingold is more pro-gun than anyone the Republicans would field. And who do you think the NRA would endorse?

Update: Meanwhile, real libertarians are not impressed.

According to this piece at ABC News by LESLIE YERANSIAN, Bloomberg is targeting colored gun kits as made by Lauer Weaponry. Bloomberg is targeting one of the more popular brands of quality products and these paint jobs are expensive. The paint is cheap, if you do it yourself but it requires knowing what you’re doing. Some stuff:

Mayor Bloomberg held up a toy gun and a real gun that had been colored using a paint kit to demonstrate how indistinguishable the guns would be to a police officer who might be confronting a person with one of the disguised weapons.

But Hugh Lauer said Bloomberg’s demonstration was a foolish one because, said Lauer, the real gun was obvious: “Maybe the real gun is the one with a hole and a barrel?”

Heh. More:

Lauer is the owner of Lauer Custom Weaponry in Chippewa Falls, Wis., and the inventor of Duracoat, a popular gun coloration chemical that has taken heat from Bloomberg. Lauer invented Duracoat more than a decade ago. He said he can’t keep up with the abundance of phone and Internet orders for the product.

“Our customers are all avid hunters, law enforcement, not gang bangers,” said Lauer. “We’re not getting orders from New York City. Our sales records only show two orders placed from there, and same thing with Los Angeles. We’re only getting order from movie makers.”

Two orders? Bloomberg is rather fanatical, it seems. And here’s a brilliant piece of journalistic integrity:

Regardless of how many gun-coloration kits Lauer is selling in New York, 80 percent of the guns used in committing crimes there have come from out of state.

And that is related how precisely?

The NY Post:

A second Big Apple gun store swept up in the city’s crackdown on rogue gun dealers had hundreds of firearms returned by police, the store’s lawyer said yesterday.

Cops handed back 234 firearms to the Woodhaven Rifle and Pistol Range in Woodhaven, Queens, after seizing the guns in an undercover sting on May 25. The turnaround came a day after cops returned 247 weapons taken from DF Brothers Sports Center in Brooklyn in the same sting.

…

Store owner Michael Spallone, 43, was busted for selling guns to an undercover investigator accompanied by a retired female cop who showed a Suffolk County pistol permit. The same investigators were used in the sting against the Brooklyn gun shop.

But Chambers argued the sting operation amounted to nothing more than entrapment.

He said his client followed procedures – initially refusing to sell the gun and insisting the investigators procure required paperwork from Suffolk County police.

The lawyer said that when they returned the next day, the serial number had been transposed on the paperwork, so his client refused to let them leave with the gun.

But Chambers said city lawyers ultimately realized no crime had been committed and decided to return the weapons.

Now, the elipse is interesting and I saved it for the end. Check it:

“This is a law-abiding gun shop. This is not some squirrelly Southern gun dealer trying to make money and is NRA-happy. They only deal with licensees,” said John Chambers, the lawyer for the Woodhaven range.

Err, they’re not trying to make money? And, so far, it seems that not a single one of the Southern gun dealers entrapped by this scheme has broken the law. And there are no licensees in most other states, you twit.

Xrlq in comments made me horse laugh:

With that, I hereby induct you into the Non Sequitur Society, where “we may not make sense, but we do like pizza.”

R. Neal, addressing my corruption post at No Silence Here, says:

And who knew politicians could be bought so cheaply? Some amounts mentioned in the Tennessee Waltz sting are laughably small – $1000 here and $6000 there. Why would someone risk their career and reputation for amounts that small?

Well, like any other low-margin business model, they make their cash on volume. It’s not a single $1K transaction, I would guess. It’s many, many $1K transactions.

As a former resident of Hell err New Jersey, I both concur and find this funny.

Radley has more instances of police putting on their ninja gear, grabbing their guns and breaking down doors at the wrong house. The overzealousness of the police in drug raids is getting a bit ridiculous. These make the case to allow civil action to be brought against individual officers personally, if you ask me. That approach would be problematic, of course, because everyone who ever got arrested would sue the officers involved. But surely there’s some way to hold these guys accountable and cause the police to be absolutely certain prior to ninjaing up and busting doors down.

I said yesterday that:

All the references to assault weapons involving the Indiana slayings seem to have stopped. No mention in this story, for example. I wonder why? Oh yeah. But I’ve seen no corrections.

Here’s another account of the details of the Indiana murders that doesn’t mention assault weapons. Still seen no correction.

Well, Karl, that there gay cooties banning didn’t work out. So, plan B:

Bush says immigrants must learn English

Man, these guys can pull non-issues from their hindquarters faster than Puff Daddy can ruin a bitchin’ song riff.

In a rare accomplishment, the US Senate managed to avoid embarrassing itself over the issue of marriage discrimination.

Of course, the 49 Senators who voted to support a Constitutional ban on equal marriage have their fingers in a crumbling dike. Future generations will look at their bigotry in much the same way we look at pre-Loving v. Virginia America. If their children aren’t already ashamed, their grandkids will be.

The haters are losing a battle against demographic destiny. Every poll shows that opposition to marriage equality correlates strongly with age. The future is clear, and nobody rationally doubts that America will eventually have marriage equality. The question is can we get there now or do we have to wait a couple decades for the bigots to die of old age. I’m guessing the latter, but as the slim majority becomes an overwhelming minority in state after state after state, momentum on this issue is going to shift pretty fast.

I wonder how those 49 Senators feel about being on the wrong side of history.

Via the Comedian, comes this awesome graphic of the relative size of planets in our solar system and the sun.

According to my sources, the ATF is sending dealers a computer CD titled Federal Firearms Licensee User Manual. According to those same sources, this CD crashes Windows. You’ve been warned.

Update from Bruce in comments:

Well, seeing as the ATF crashes doors of unsuspecting citizens, it’s only fitting that the ATF’s CD do the same to their Windows.

Heh.

The police chief of New orleans has retreated from his statement that firearms would be siezed if another situation like Katrina happens.

Within two hours of an announcement that the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) was calling for a Justice Department investigation of New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley’s plan to confiscate guns again if a major storm hits the city this year, SAF learned that Riley has backed off.

The article does not give any quotes or other evidence of this retreat so I am waiting to declare this a smll win. The main problem is the police chief could easily change his mind the day of the storm.