Though perhaps slightly off-topic completely on-topic for this blog, I can’t resist mentioning the Observer’s list of 50 great albums. What sets this list apart from all the other Top 50s out there is that it ranges widely through many styles and also lists the acts that descended from these ground breakers.

I’m missing a bunch of these albums. Maybe I’ll work my way through them. The list covers musical styles I normally avoid, but the seminal work of a genre is usually pretty good, no matter what your normal tastes are.

Aunt B. has a lot on the subject. There’s also a debate going on in the comments. She also seems to be disappointed that I haven’t chimed in (well, until now). The reason for that is twofold. One, I’ve said it all before. And two, I realize that this Christian Grantham person is either a disingenious hack or an idiot. Doesn’t matter which he is, he’s not worth my time.

New York did it. So did Boston. Memphis has set up a special gun court:

Anyone caught carrying a gun illegally in Shelby County will get special attention from the criminal justice system starting next month.

Criminal Court Judge Louis Montesi Jr. will hear all illegal gun cases in the general sessions court system on a special “gun docket” beginning Aug. 1.

With this year’s Memphis homicide rate already just a few bodies short of 100, the gun docket is the centerpiece of a cross-jurisdictional initiative to get tougher and more consistent on illegal gun possession violations and curb gun crime.

Hopefully, the guy knows a thing or two about guns and gun laws. The mayor says:

We want to underscore the fact that there is no such thing as the trivial possession of guns in a civilized society

Actually, I think trivial possession of guns is indicative of a free society and a civilized society. I have trivial possession of many of them, personally. More:

Gibbons sent a letter this week to Memphis, Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville and Millington police departments asking them to arrest instead of cite unlawful gun possessors, as can be allowed under state law.

After the arrest, the initiative “will result in people spending some time in jail or more time in jail when they otherwise would not,” Gibbons said.

Maybe I am reading that wrong or it is poorly worded, but it seems the court is set up to violate state law, which requires citation and not incarceration. More:

“It sends the signal that illegally toting a gun in this community is not acceptable. That’s the bottom line.”

The initiative is an extension of the joint federal, state and local Project Safe Neighborhoods program, which primarily involves felony illegal gun possession by ex-convicts.

Tennessee law requires only a citation be issued for misdemeanor unlawful possession of a weapon with exceptions that include suspects who have outstanding arrest warrants, are considered a danger or are unlikely to appear in court.

With the new program, after the arrest, anyone found unlawfully possessing a gun could get more than a slap-on-the-wrist fine or citation.

Looks like I wasn’t reading it wrong.

This is not from the Onion.

“We are making an all-out assault on the Constitution of the United States which, thank God, will fail,” said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Wow.

As noted at GLN, it’s a slow day in the gun blogging neighborhood. I don’t have much to say. So, what do you want to talk about? Consider this an open thread, or something.

Via Eric’s place, comes bikini clad women with guns.

I recently purchases a forearm mounted front sight from brightflashlights.net. Their website is here (it’s under construction) and their AR15.com page is here. Good prices, excellent service, fast delivery, and quick response to my inquiries. By good prices, I mean a YHM free float, light weight forearm for $87 and a YHM forearm mounted front sight for $64.

I ordered it and they changed to my preferred shipping method for a nominal fee. They were out of stock on one item I inquired about and I asked they let me know when they got it in. I expected to not hear from them again, which is usually the case with most online vendors. However, less than two days later, I get an email telling me the item was now in stock and asking if I wanted it. Unfortunately, I had already ordered the item from elsewhere but that is excellent service. I’ll use them again in the future and think you should give them a shot too. So, check out brightflashlights ad board and their website.

I guess whoring is a good skill for both. Anyway, (via PTH) Mimi Miyagi is running for governor of Nevada. As a Republican. Here’s her campaign site.

This time, it’s a movie.

Marc is hosting a EPostal match. So, break out your printer and pistol and get with it.

Today, for the first time, Bush told Congress no. And it was for something stupid.

In comments here, ben recommended fasting to aid in quitting smoking. I’ve now been fasting for a week and a half (with the exception of Friday, when I tried the other smoking). You could say I stopped this weekend and restarted on Monday. My diet has consisted entirely of all the water I can drink, 12 ounces of carrot juice for lunch, and about five spoonfuls of plain brown rice for dinner (except for Friday). I did some research on it and figured that was the best fast for me. Some notes:

First day, you hardly notice. The second day, you get a bit cranky. And the third day, it’s as though you’re mind becomes clearer. That, according to some hippie-tree-hugging theory that I don’t necessarily believe, is because the toxins are being cleansed from my body. I have lost about 11.5 pounds (though this is not the reason for the fast, it’s not uncommon). I plan on breaking the fast tomorrow during a meal that is coincidentally called breakfast.

Somehow, a pro-gunnie (Chris Cox, actually) broke through the WaPo’s filters:

The House Commerce appropriations bill states that firearm trace information can and will be shared with any federal, state, local or international law enforcement agency in the course of a bona fide criminal investigation or prosecution. While this provision may not please New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg or The Post, 325,000 Fraternal Order of Police members and other rank-and-file law enforcement officers support it.

The editorial also said that studies have indicated that child gun safety education programs don’t work. It’s astonishing to hear anyone make the case against education. Gun safety education programs, such as NRA’s Eddie Eagle, have been pivotal in decreasing fatal firearms accidents for children 15 and under from 550 in 1975 to 56 in 2003 — down 90 percent. We take issue with your higher statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that classifies people 18 to 20 years old as children. The National Rifle Association invests millions of dollars to develop and teach gun safety while others merely pay lip service. The NRA will continue to work with and support rank-and-file law enforcement as they successfully combat crime.

Wow. They printed it. I am surprised.

Via Bitter, photoshopping of Giuliani campaign posters.

Via NIT, B-Ho writes:

. . . the proposed amendment simply does not discriminate against anyone. If it passes, gays and lesbians in Tennessee will continue to have the exact same marriage right that all adult Tennesseans’ already have: the right to marry one person of the opposite gender.

That’s the dumbest line of reasoning I have ever heard. In other news, you can’t marry who you want but you can chew gum – just like everyone else. Up next (via MKS) comes another conservative sort on gay cooties:

But what I just don’t understand is why conservative Christians, of which I am one, care about what two homosexuals do? If it doesn’t harm me or anyone else and it doesn’t infringe upon my freedom, then I could care less.

A marriage, as defined by the Bible, is a covenant between man, woman, and God. How many marriages do you think are performed in this state every year that do not fit that definition? I’d say quite a few.

Gay marriage has absolutely nothing to do with you, me or our freedom. So tell me, why are we spending all of this time worrying ourselves over something that has nothing to do with us?

Ayup. I support gay marriage for a variety of reasons. One reason is that certain rights (such as survivorship of an estate and the ability to make medical decisions for a loved one) should not be eliminated because a couple has matching genitalia. If they have committed themselves to one another, more power to them and they should be allowed to do it. But the primary reason I support gay marriage is because the arguments against it are just stupid. They tend to break down like this:

So, come on guys, you have to do better. Seems to me the real reason is fear of gay cooties. And unless I hear a convincing reason otherwise, I think it stands to reason to assume that.

David Hardy:

I’ve posted before on how the antigun Joyce Foundation was using its millions to, essentially, rent law reviews as fora for second amendment attacks. It’d invested in symposium issues of the Chicago-Kent Law Review and Fordham Law Review, getting them to bring in outsiders as symposium editors, inviting only anti-second amendment articles, and then paying for copies to distribute to judges and legislators. Understand, most law reviews run on a shoestring. Authors are unpaid, editors get a pittance ($600 a year when I did it). Some tax-exempt place comes in and offers tens of thousands, it’s unprecedented.

The spring issue of the Stanford Law and Policy Review is coming out with a symposium issue on, you guessed it, gun laws and the second amendment. So I did a bit of research and found this note on Joyce Foundation’s homepage, under its 2004 grants:

Go read.

Or, if I were the Brady Center, that’s what my headline would be:

The numbers are so stark you think they must be a misprint.

You check again, on another page. Same numbers.

Police fired 616 shots last year, an astounding 75 percent more than the 352 in 2004 and the highest number in any year since 1999.

They were also involved in 16 gunfights last year, up from 11 in 2004. No surprise there, as the city had more overall gun violence last year than the year before, with increases both in the number of shooting incidents and shooting victims.

But here’s what is troubling. In those gunfights with suspects, police fired 276 times – they did so just 92 times in 2004’s gunfights – while the bad guys shot back at police just 72 times. The worst cop imaginable has more restraint than the average gunman, so this is clearly a red flag.

Huh? That makes no sense. Seems to just imply that they have more ammo. Seems the cops fired about 17.25 times per gun fight. 17+1, coincidentally, happens to be the magazine capacity of their issue handgun. Not unreasonable to conclude that maybe they empty their guns in gun fights and that is not indicative of restraint.

Here’s the headline:

Mass. High Court: Gun Owners Must Lock Up Firearms

Here’s the story:

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that gun owners may be negligent for shootings with their stolen firearms in specific situations, if they fail to properly lock up the weapons when they know someone with a history of violence has access to them.

The state’s high court, however, rejected broader firearm liability claims, dismissing the argument that gun owners should be held responsible for harm done with their weapons in all theft cases.

That’s not consistent with the headline.

Publicola calls me out on it:

As Say Uncle said:

“Here’s hoping they turn all their ammo in first.”

But as Say Uncle previously said:

“Sure, I made a half-hearted comment about sending guns to Connecticut but its pointless because I can’t send them balls.”

You’re gonna use the first veto of your entire freaking Presidency for THIS?

In light of all the nonsense on blogs about condemning people for what they say or not condemning them for what they say, I (at the urging of reader Wes) hereby condemn myself for saying:

Here’s hoping they turn all their ammo in first.

Of course, I’ve said worse and thought better of it.

Feel free to condemn me too for my excessive hyperbole.

Update: Also condemn my self for anything I said in the past. And I issue a preemptive condemnation of anything I say in the future.

American tourists are unhappy because the gov isn’t bailing them out of Lebanon fast enough, nor will the gov pick up the tab when they do get around to rescuing people. I wasn’t aware my passport came with travel insurance. I love that being an American means never having to bear the cost and responsibility of your own risk-taking.

Interestingly, France, Italy and Britain aren’t having much difficulty getting their people out. What’s more, they’re not requiring evacuees to reimburse them.

I was in Israel at the start of the second intifada. It was dangerous, but I stayed because I didn’t think Israel was going to get any better any time soon. I figured that as bad as it might be, Israel was at a relatively safe point and it might be my last chance to see Israel for a long time.

I accepted that risk. If it had turned out poorly for me, I’d have had to blame my own stupidity before blaming Washington for my bad fortune.

WATE:

A Knox County couple is suing Walt Disney Entertainment and a laundry list of others because they claim their dog was taken from East Tennessee and cast in a blockbuster motion picture.

“The dog’s getting older every day. I want him to be with me as he’s getting older,” says William Robinson.

The Robinson’s dog, Kolby, is a pure-bred Alaskan malamute.

In the summer of 2004, the Robinson’s claim Kolby broke free from his leash attached to a dog run in their yard. They haven’t seen him, in person, since that day.

But on February 14, nearly two years later, came a frantic phone call from a family member.

“We’ve seen your dog in the paper, there’s a big story about Kolby in the paper,” said William, recounting the conversation.

The story was an article in the Knoxville News Sentinel. It was a review of the movie “Eight Below” and it discussed the K-9 allegedly Kolby as “.. a former Knoxville stray who was rescued and then discovered during a casting call.”

Speaking of potential gun confiscations in Cali, I am reminded of this post at Ravenwood’s, which notes that Cali has a history of confiscation. There’s a link to a Lockyer signed document circa 1999 that concludes:

Once the 90-day window of opportunity for turning in such assault weapons concludes, we will send each sheriff and police chief a listing of the affected individuals and specific assault weapons that corresponds with their jurisdiction.

Mr. and Mrs. California, turn them in.

The state of our world is fucked up. There’s some major hooey going on in the middle east and it likely won’t improve for a while.

The Israeli’s aren’t exactly saints in their various conflicts but then, in a war, who the Hell is? And I can’t blame them really. No matter their concessions, the aggressors against them have not stopped. Ever. Even if they did, some other radical extremist group would take their place and, after a slight lull, it’s back to targeting civilians, buses, night clubs and other acts of terror. Israel takes a lot of flak from the rest of the world and some of it is deserved. But not all of it. After all, how do you deal with an opponent who wants to drive you into the sea? Simple, really. You kill them all. The flaw with that plan is the amount of civilian casualties and collateral damage. But Israel has not done that. If they were the evil bogeymen that some would have us believe, that’s what they would have done. I have a feeling the amount of a shit they give about what the world thinks will soon be about zero. And this situation is going to get worse.

Tam sums it up:

So, what we have here is a rising storm of conflict, brewing along an arc running from the mouths of the Indus to the Nile Delta. Civilization’s home turf, as it were, is sporting very few signs of it these days. That may be the soil where writing and agriculture and beer and other good things first sprang from, but that’s not all that was invented there, and sometimes it shows.

This is a situation where both sides have engaged in some pretty fucked up things. But you basically can tell which side does the more fucked up things. In terms of picking a side, I can’t help but support the one that doesn’t want to, say, kill me. So, go Jews.

Hope for peace but don’t count on it. It will likely get worse before it gets better.

In Illinois:

Earlier this month, Cook County Board member Joseph Moreno stood before the county board and called for “…house to house searches to pull every gun out of Cook County.” Moreno’s statement comes within days of Blagojevich claiming that anyone in Chicago who owns a gun is a “gang banger” and is “…up to no good.”

That’s a lot of … which may indicate Dowdifying. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the case. Looks like they have something in common with Cali.

Guy Montag got a mention in the press for his date set up via a conservative dating service, which turned out to be a reporter who wrote an article on such a service. Original story here.

A warning:

Officers from the Los Angeles County Gun Task Force in CA have begun serving search warrants on residents in that county who are suspected of holding un-registered “Assault Rifles” including 50 BMG target rifles.

If you or any of your friends have not complied with the provisions of AB-50 that require you to register any 50 BMG rifles you own, you may very well expect a knock on your door at any time.

This information was received from a former ATF agent in CA

Read the rest of the tale too. Here’s hoping they turn all their ammo in first.

A second amendment debate between Mark Tushnet & Saul Cornell. Via granted.

The “debate”, if that is the correct word, is on.

WATE reported at 5:00 and 6:00 PM Monday that Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison would “debate” former Knoxville Mayor Randy Tyree, his opponent in the 2006 Knox County Sheriff’s race, Thursday morning the 20th on radio station WNOX 100.3 FM from 7:00 to 8:30 AM.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Krumm posted various questionairres he’s filled out on his site. Here’s the one from the NRA. He says full-auto weapons should be licensed. He also says he thinks current laws are sufficient. Tennessee laws, other than concealed carry, basically mimic federal laws. He supports expanding places where citizens can lawfully carry. He opposes the assault weapons ban. He opposes registration. He wants to scrap the $10 TICS fee because it is redundant. He opposes limiting lawful commerce at gun shows.

He also opposes the Lautenberg amendment. I should note that he relayed a story about the Lautenberg amendment in comments a bit back. He noted:

I ran into this exact problem with one of my best NCOs when I commanded a Cavalry Troop. Thanks to Senator Lautenberg’s overly broad legislation, our nation lost a great soldier when we could have used him, because he was prohibited from being issued a weapon in the most controlled weapons environment possible: the U.S. Army. All because his ex alleged (and never proved) something during a bitter divorce.

Oh, and repeated letters to Sen. Lautenberg, written by the NCO’s commander were never once responded to.

One nit I would pick is that he opposes laws allowing people to keep weapons in their car on company premises. He states that private property owners can control their own property. I concur that they should be allowed to do that. Of course, my vehicle is my property and if I keep a weapon in it, it’s my business and not my employer’s.

Radley has a paper on botched paramilitary raids by the police here. And here’s a interactive map showing where they’ve occured. There’s one near you.

I haven’t kept up with the Glenn Greenwald thing. He said:

Prominent right-wing blogger today calls for the murder of Supreme Court Justices – the Right fails to condemn it

Failing to comment on something isn’t an endorsement so it’s a pretty lame accusation. Xrlq says:

That sounds pretty damning, until you consider that (1) no one called for the murder of Supreme Court Justices, (2) “the right” is not a religion, political party or any other entity worthy of being capitalized, (3) no one had any duty to reply to Misha’s rhetoric, and therefore cannot be reasonably said to have “failed” to condemn it if they haven’t discussed it at all, and (4) numerous right-wing bloggers have in fact condemned it. Apart from those four minor details, however, the title is spot-on.

Ok, then.

All linky, no thinky. Busy today but here’s some stuff:

Gunner has a link to a nifty looking AK scope mount. I dig the Ultimak. Looks like the one gunner likes bolts to the gun to eliminate rocking and travel, which is a problem with most AK receiver mounts.

The gun buyback in Memphis nets 41 guns.

Like you and me, only better: It is fine for New York Judges to Keep Guns Under Their Robes While They are On the Bench. Or The first indication of an oppressive law is when the law makers exempt themselves from it.

The other biased Washington paper:

When it comes to combating our crime epidemic, the nation’s capital might learn something from the state of Florida, where it’s just been reported that the crime rate has dropped for the 14th straight year, to its lowest mark since 1971.

Jeff says: Buy Those Assault Weapons While You Can. Well, you should buy them any way.

TriggerFinger, who has been doing a great job keeping up the Parker v. DC case, also notes: The Supreme Court has repeatedly suggested an individual right. Yeah, I know:

– The Court has not been quiet on this subject as previously thought, using some form of the word “gun” in its decisions 2,910 times (gun, rifle, pistol, shotgun, firearm, etc., even Winchester five times) in 92 cases. Three dozen of the cases quote or mention the Second Amendment directly.

– Armed self defense with personally owned firearms is recognized and supported in more than a dozen cases, is a distinct right of American citizens, and an ancient “duty to retreat” is not obligatory.

– The often-cited Miller case from 1939 is inconclusive, which is why gun-rights and gun-control advocates both claim it supports their position. The record shows that the Court actually remanded this case back to the lower court for retrial and a hearing on the evidence, since there was no evidence presented. Because Miller had been murdered by that time and his co-defendant had taken a plea agreement, no retrial or evidentiary hearing was ever held.

– All 92 cases are reproduced to show what the Court has actually said. More than 1,000 interesting quotations are highlighted, and each case includes a plain-English description. A special “descriptive index” reduces each case to the firearms-related question(s) it answers.

Some crime guns in DC are coming from Iraq. Don’t they know that’s illegal?

The carnival of cordite is up for your gun blogging fix.

We gunnies should do that. Rustmeister has some ideas:

One group we need to make contact with is the group of Americans who aren’t gun enthusiasts. People who can take ‘em or leave ‘em, no big deal.

Yeah, that group isn’t cool on the defend yourself from the .gov angle.

My idea for the offensive is a bill to end NFA registration of sound suppressors. It even has a health angle to it, since shooting is bad for your hearing.

Sometimes, guns malfunction. Here’s some pics of Bushmaster carbon 9mm that ’sploded.

When it comes to sensational news no station can hold a candle to WATE.

WATE television news had another sensational news story where it made a production out of getting the story wrong. The story involved a debate in Halls Thursday evening with the Women’s League that the Sheriff was not able to attend because of a prior commitment. This is interesting since on Gene Patterson’s WATE blog the public was recently asked what could be done to make local television news better. Most people responded that WATE is too sensational in the reporting of the news. Was WATE sincere when they asked the public for their opinions?

On the 11:00 PM news on Friday WATE reporter Adam Longo had an exclusive phone call with Martha Dooley public information officer of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department. What was not clear is whether Dooley knew that the phone call was being recorded on videotape and would appear on television later. In fact Dooley asked Longo how he had found her private cell phone number. From both the television news broadcast and WATE’s website it appeared that Dooley was not aware her phone call with Adam Longo was being recorded.

As Longo held a cell phone in his hand Dooley could be on the cell speakerphone while video cameras rolled:

“We never told anyone where the sheriff was, Adam,” she told Adam Longo.

“I didn’t pull the information out of thin air,” Longo responded.

“At no point did anyone ever tell you, that I’m aware of, that the sheriff was at Austin East. You made it up Adam. You made it up and are trying to cover your tracks is what you’re trying to do,” said Dooley.

A glance at Longo’s reporter’s notes taken before and during the debate prominently show the name of the sheriff’s legal advisor and debate stand-in, Mike Ruble. Immediately following that notation is an arrow pointing towards the words “civic meeting at Austin East.”

“Mike Ruble says he didn’t say that,” said Dooley.

Read the rest of this entry »

No, the other kind. Company coming, so I did some cooking. Politically Incorrect Dog is always up for camera time:

My yard looks like shit. The crab grass is still winning.

But some perfect ribs:

I hear some folks like the baby backs. Not me. I like my ribs to have enough meat that you bite into them and taste, you know, meat. So, I use plain old pork ribs. Actually, I personally prefer beef ribs but I am apparently the only one on the planet that does so I make concessions for guests.

Yeah, they’re good too. I’ll take the Pepsi challenge with any of ya.

Update: Junior concurs:

MKS Reports:

Tennessee Supreme Court Allows Public Vote on Gay Marriage Ban

Voters will be allowed to decide in November whether they want a constitutional ban on gay marriage in Tennessee, the state Supreme Court said in a unanimous decision filed Friday

Had a legal challenge been successful, a public vote on the proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution would have been delayed by at least two years.

Writing for a united court, Chief Justice William M. Barker rejected a legal claim by the American Civil Liberties Union, three state legislators and others that would have prevented the amendment from being placed on the ballot.

“Wishing to decide this constitutional matter, as we should, on the narrowest grounds possible, we affirm the . . . decision dismissing the complaint because the Plaintiffs have failed to establish that they have standing to bring this lawsuit,” the chief justice wrote.

Justices E. Riley Anderson, Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., Janice M. Holder and Cornelia A. Clark joined in the ruling, which affirmed a lower court decision by Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle earlier this year. Because of time constraints and the importance of the issue, no intermediate appeal was heard.

Those challenging placement of the proposed amendment on the ballot argued that the General Assembly did not strictly comply with public notice and publication requirements set forth in Article 11, section 3 of the state constitution. They claimed the secretary of state published the proposed amendment for public view approximately six weeks after the constitution required.

But the court rejected the challenge on a different basis. It held that none of the plaintiffs had standing to bring the suit.

Barker wrote that “concern[s] about the proper*and properly limited*role of the courts in a democratic society” required rejection of the plaintiffs’ suit.
The chief justice said because the plaintiffs could not show any personal harm from the claimed untimely publication of the proposed amendment, they could not bring a legal claim.

Requiring all potential plaintiffs to show an “injury in fact” before their substantive legal claims can be considered “[properly] restricts the exercise of judicial power . . . [so that] the courts [are not] called upon to decide [political issues] of wide public significance,” Barker wrote.

Lame.

Regarding the Senate bill that supposedly banned confiscation of guns in an emergency, the NRA writes:

Senator David Vitter’s amendment to prohibit the use of funds appropriated under the Homeland Security appropriations bill (H.R. 5441) for the confiscation of lawfully possessed firearms during an emergency or major disaster passed the United States Senate with broad bi-partisan support, the final vote margin was 84-16.

So, it doesn’t ban said confiscation. It just bans the use of funds for confiscation. Not much of a victory.

I haven’t found the latest text of the bill (doesn’t seem to be up on Thomas yet) so if anyone has found it, please confirm.

Via Publicola, Claire Wolfe has an update and fundraising info:

WITH A LITTLE HELP from Andy Lochridge, Gary Marbut, JPFO, Debra Webmistress of the Dark, and the wonderful people of TCF, we’re going to help Rick Celata of KT Ordnance out of the dire straits Our Beloved Government put him into.

The first part of the fundraiser is a simple “pass the hat.” I didn’t realize it until a couple of days ago, but the BATFE and FBI essentially blew away ALL of Rick’s income. (Yeah, they can ruin a person and put a family with pre-school kids in peril without even charging anybody with a crime. That’s what they’ve tried to do with Rick.) Once he’s got enough to keep the phone connected and the lawyer from walking out on him, we’ll follow up with eBay auctions.

JPFO says:

You’ll recall our alert regarding the BATFE raid on KT Ordnance, manufacturer of 80% frames that — when fully finished by you — can be used to make AR-15 rifles. Owner Rick Celata, who had suspended sales after the raid, has informed us that his lawyer indicated he should return to production.

The info for contributing is here.

Rich saw it and offers analysis. He seems to like Bryant.

The NYT does the three rules of gun safety. For once, a gun bit isn’t hysterical. Via reader D.

Local blogger R. Neal has interviewed John Edwards.

The senate passed a bill that banned gun confiscation during emergencies. It’s a good thing. It’s on to the house, where it will likely pass. The bill passed 84-16, which is pretty overwhelming. So, who are the 16 senators opposed to gun rights? Well, they are:

Akaka (D-HI)
Boxer (D-CA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Levin (D-MI)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)

Nobody surprising, really.

David Hardy sums up the book review. SayUncle’s interpretation: more of the same.

David Hardy says that NYC is looking at creating a gun offender registry, similar to sex-offender registries. Bitter says Massachusetts already has one but it’s for all gun owners, who happen to be treated like criminals:

Sure, they just call it licensing in the Bay State, but the fact that you can lose the license and right to own for failing to notify three authorities within a few days of a move is a little too much like sex offender registries to me.

Deb has them. Guns up, crime down.

Mailstamp at The County Ceat says some traffic fines in Tennessee are unconstitutional:

The $200 plus fines that are routinely imposed by the county traffic courts violate the Constitution of the state of Tennessee and are illegal.

Article VI, Section 14 of the Constitution of the state of Tennessee states “No fine shall be laid on any citizen of this state that shall exceed fifty dollars, unless it shall be assessed by a jury of his peers, who shall assess the fine at the time they find the fact, if they think the fine should be more than fifty dollars.”

The Constitution of the state of Tennessee

At Tennessee Deer Talk:

Dear Governor Bredesen,

Many of the hunters in Tennessee, including but not limited to the hunters who have signed this petition, have lost confidence that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission is acting in the best interest of hunters in Tennessee.

The many recent scandals in Tennessee state government, including the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Tennessee Waltz investigation, dead citizens voting in state elections, among others have damaged the confidence of many Tennessee voters. The recent controversary over the attempted closing of Lock 5 has caused the hunters in Tennessee to loose faith in the TWRC who are supposed to be representing the interest of hunters.

Having a professional lobbyist on the TWRC in itself gives the appearance of impropriety but the recent actions by Mr. Hensley in the closing of Lock 5 at the request of a fellow lobbyist and land owner, Mr. McMahan, has a strong appearance of impropriety. The original decision to close Lock 5 and the way the it was done sets a dangerous precedent, and the way the issue was handled by the TWRC raises greater concerns that the commissioners are not representing the interests of the more than 200,000 Tennessee hunters.

Blake’s video blog for yesterday. I love the closing tune.

This is neat. Finches in the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin did a bunch of his initial research, are evolving fast enough that we can see it happen.

A medium sized species of Darwin’s finch has evolved a smaller beak to take advantage of different seeds just two decades after the arrival of a larger rival for its original food source.

Snakes on a Plame.

Bad, Commissar, no biscuit.

Looks like it:

Lebanon Launches Retaliatory Assault on Israel. Another headline also says Hezbollah Rockets Strike Towns Across Northern Israel. No link yet. The shit has hit the fan.

The Washington Post:

WE DON’T expect common-sense gun laws from this Congress, but a couple of House-passed riders to the Justice Department’s 2007 budget are especially noxious — and ripe for Senate repair.

One bars enforcement of a law that requires trigger locks to be sold with all new handguns. The other restricts law enforcement officials’ access to gun-tracking information collected by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The Senate Appropriations Committee, scheduled to consider the budget tomorrow, should keep both measures out.

I know of no handgun that I’ve bought in the last several years that did not come with trigger locks. But continuing:

Congress approved the trigger-lock mandate last October. Not only was it a good idea, but it was also part of a broader compromise on the Hill: The Senate added the measure to a bill that limited gunmakers’ legal liability. Yet Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) argued last month, “Responsible and law-abiding gun owners do not need the government to tell them to be safe.”

The problem is that there are plenty of irresponsible gun owners. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year that 1.7 million American children live with unlocked, loaded guns in the house. In a study released in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in May, 39 percent of children knew where their parents kept their guns, and 22 percent claimed that they handled them, even though their parents claimed they didn’t. Studies have indicated that programs such as the National Rifle Association’s Eddie Eagle program, which trains children not to play with their parents’ guns, don’t work.

You guys have a cite for that because I’d love to see it. I looked and couldn’t find any such study. I did find reference to the Journal of Emergency Nursing Online calling it effective and that the National Center for Health Statistics fatal firearms accidents in the Eddie Eagle age group have been reduced more than two thirds since the program’s inception. And that the program has been honored or endorsed by groups such as the National Safety Council, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Department of Justice, and bipartisan support from 24 state governors. Finally, the mere fact that 24,000 schoolteachers and law enforcement officers have taught the program to 15 million children verifies the popularity of the program with those who deal with child safety issues every day.

Trigger locks won’t save all of the children who, without the law, will die of accidental gunshot wounds (as 151 did in 2003, according to the CDC). Not all gun owners will use them. But locks would make it a lot easier for gun owners to be safe, just as seat belts made it easier for drivers to protect themselves.

Mandating trigger locks is largely pointless. People who are not responsible will not use them even if they come with the gun. Period. More:

But the budget that passed the House last month goes beyond blocking public disclosure; the rider would keep gun-tracing information from local police unless it’s for a specific criminal case. Even then, they couldn’t share it with neighboring authorities — a provision that would seriously hamper tracking and interdiction of illegal guns. If D.C. police used ATF tracing data to find that a large number of guns used in homicides came from one shop in Maryland, District police couldn’t share that information with Maryland law enforcement agents.

And that’s to prevent bogus lawsuits. If there is a specific crime, tracing is still allowed. That is as it should be. Wholesale tracing serves no real purpose that I can determine.

The House also wants to render federal gun-tracing information inadmissible in civil court, hindering legal action against irresponsible gun distributors. New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s office, which is trying to sue some of these “rogue” gun sellers, claims that civil litigation is an essential tool to fight interstate gun trafficking. Given that in 2000 1.2 percent of gun dealers sold 57 percent of the guns used in crimes, the mayor has a point.

Scare quotes around rogue? That’s because the only person who has broken the law in Bloomberg’s investigations are the City of New York and its agents who illegally purchased weapons from otherwise lawful dealers. There’s been no evidence the dealers broke the law but plenty of evidence to state that NY’s investigators did.

Since Blount County won’t put their sample ballot online, R. Neal has typed one up.

Triggerfinger has it:

THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION PROTECTS AN INDIVIDUAL’S RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS, EVEN WHILE NOT ENGAGED IN STATE SERVICE.

Justice Story argued that “[t]he right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic.” 3 Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, p. 746 (1833). An examination of the Second Amendment’s history, text, and structure, separately and within the context of the Constitution as a whole, confirms “that it protects the right of individuals, including those not then actually a member of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately possess and bear their own firearms, such as [an ordinary] pistol . . . that are suitable as personal, individual weapons and are not of the general kind or type excluded by Miller.” United States v. Emerson, 270 F.3d 203, 260 (5th Cir. 2001) (citing United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939)).

For more on Triggerfinger’s excellent coverage of the suit, click here.

Tom Coburn has an idea to put pork spending online. Good idea. Unsurprisingly, his colleagues are generally opposed to the idea of accountability. He’s making the rounds talking about it.

Caught him on the local talk radio this morning. He endorsed Ed Bryant. When pressed, he said he and Bryant were roommates in college.

Update: In comments, JB clarifies that:

Bryant and Coburn weren’t roommates in college, it was when they were in the House together. Bryant lived with Coburn and six other Congressmen in a Capitol Hill rowhouse to save money.

Seems another has occured where police lob gas to get a suspect who is holed up out and a fire breaks out:

Coeur d’Alene police found the body of a California man Wednesday morning inside a burning home that officers had cordoned off during an overnight standoff with an armed man wanted for questioning for a recent stabbing.

…

Several rounds of CS gas were fired into the house which subsequently caught fire shortly after 2 AM Wednesday.

Full auto shotgun.

Full auto handguns.

I’ll take almost anyone but John McCain and Rudy Giuliani for the win, Alex.

alandp has the scoop. Should be a shoo-in.

So, night before last at about 9:30 I sit down to watch Deadwood on the TiVo (anyone know what Dan was rubbing on his body before the fight?) when the doorbell rang. The dog starts barking. I quiet the dog. I grabbed the Glock 30 and headed to answer the door. I made no effort to hide said Glock on my person and merely kept it behind the door as I opened it. Anytime your doorbell rings at an odd hour and you’re not expecting anyone, you should answer the door with a weapon. I open the door. There’s an Orkin man standing there. He starts his speech about how houses in the neighborhood are going in on group rates and I cut him off.

I say to him Dude, it’s 9:30 at night. I just put my kids to bed and here you are ring my doorbell. You’ve riled up my dog. What is your problem? Do you always knock on people’s doors this late?

He starts with some sort of explanation and continues his sales pitch.

I say Stop now and leave. I’m not interested.

He says I’ll come back at another time.

I say You will not come back. Leave now.

Yes, this man knocked on my door at an odd hour to solicit a sale. Not to say there’s an emergency, call the police. Or my car broke down, can I use a phone or will you jump start my car. All of which, I’d have been happy to do. You never knock on people’s doors at odd hours unless 1) they know you’re coming or 2) you’re in need of help. Period. Idiot.

And, no, at no point did I threaten him with a weapon nor did I even make him aware that I had it.

This is pretty lame:

Working as an office manager in a career services office and hearing the warnings surrounding social networking sites, the mother knew her son could potentially have a problem. The son had created his Facebook.com profile when he was 18. Now 20, he had accumulated a good amount of material—typical college musings and photos—that his friends might enjoy but others might view differently.

The son was beginning a search for an internship, so she asked him to consider limiting access to his profile to just his friends. Understanding the gravity of the situation, he heeded his mother’s advice and did so.

Shortly after, he got the call he had been waiting for. A state agency wanted to interview him for an internship. He prepared for the interview and reviewed the types of questions that could be asked. He was ready, as ready as he could be.

But, during the interview, something he was not prepared for happened. The interviewer began asking specific questions about the content on his Facebook.com listing and the situation became very awkward and uncomfortable. The son had thought only those he allowed to access his profile would be able to do so. But, the interviewer explained that as a state agency, recruiters accessed his Facebook account under the auspices of the Patriot Act.

Well, I’m inclined to think the interviewer is full of it and used Google Cache or some such. At least, I hope so.

Packing.org has posted a judgment in Georgia where the court ruled a person can get a Georgia Firearms License without giving a social security number.

David Codrea:

The Mare’s Leg…was highly illegal by federal standards and required special agents on the set while being used.

While it is illegal to turn a rifle into a handgun as done by Randall it is not illegal to produce such a firearm as a handgun original.

See some Mare’s legs here. Another of those damn loopholes. Only this one is created by a bureaucracy.

First, DC with the most restrictive gun laws in the nation declares a crime emergency. Then NYC with the third most restrictive gun laws, comes a push for more:

These are basically some of the same bills first proposed by Mayor Bloomberg. The laws will almost surely pass, giving New York City some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, but most of illegal guns in the city come from elsewhere so there’s some doubt as to whether these new laws will change anything.

Well, it’s not working now. Obviously, you’re just not doing it hard enough. Meanwhile, the pro-gun bogeyman state of Florida isn’t experiencing such an increase.

Because I Can:

The state legislature first says you can’t practice without getting a license, which of course is provided by the state and not an independent party. But the license isn’t free. You have to pay annually or semi-annually to keep it. But not only do you have to pay for your license, you have to pay an annual tax on it. Essentially the legislature found out that they had a list of people that are hostage to them because they work in their chosen profession at the discretion of the state. So they decided to pick their pockets for an extra little something. They make you get a license, then they make you pay tax on the license to keep it.

I’ve bitched about it before. Seems I don’t have a right to work.

Via AC.

Heh:

There are three books in all and each is worth the effort: Point of Impact, Black Light, and Time to Hunt. I’m reading additional novels he has penned. If you get a chance, I would read them before Hollywood ass-fucks them.

Bill, on the overturning of Tennessee’s illegal drug tax, notes:

Although a judge has ruled that the Tennessee law requiring drug dealers to pay state taxes on their cocaine, marijuana and other illicit drugs is unconstitutional, the state says it will continue to collect the tax because the ruling applies only to one individual alleged drug dealer, and not statewide.

B-Ho seems to not like the idea of the tax. Odd, since back in 2004, he defended the ridiculous law.

Update: Bill clarifies in comments.

I’ve covered the Tennessee tax stamp on illegal drugs for a while. Via the five people who emailed this to me this morning, comes the Tennessean:

A Tennessee judge has ruled that a state law requiring drug dealers to pay taxes on their cocaine, marijuana and other illicit drugs is unconstitutional.

The ruling by Davidson County Chancellor Richard Dinkins bars the state from collecting $1.1 million from Jeremy Robbins, an East Tennessee man who was arrested on federal drug conspiracy charges and ordered to pay taxes on marijuana he is accused of illegally possessing.

But it could potentially cost the state much more if the decision is upheld by higher courts and interpreted as applying to the entire state.

Good. It was a stupid idea and now it’s just stupider. The purpose of the tax was to provide a means for law enforcement to enhance its coffers and this law allowed that by making it a tax issue. It also had the added benefit of completely disregarding due process of law before seizing assets. Sadly:

Last night, state officials said they would continue to enforce the tax, which has brought more than $2.7 million into state coffers since it went into effect in January 2005.

“They’re just turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the opinion,” said James A. H. Bell, one of the Knoxville lawyers who brought the case on behalf of Robbins. He described the state’s attitude as “cavalier.”

The chancellor’s decision, handed down Monday, applies only to Robbins and, in any case, the state plans to appeal, said Sharon Curtis-Flair, spokeswoman for the state attorney general’s office.

If it’s unconstitutional, why does it apply only in one case? And this bit is scary:

Since 2005, state Department of Revenue officials have assessed $51 million in drug taxes owed, with the vast majority of the money going uncollected.

Very few people have actually bought the stamps. During the law’s first year, taxpayers spent $1,492 in stamps for illegal drugs.

That’s a lot of money. And people didn’t buy the stamps because 1) it’s fucking stupid and 2) the state made it unnecessarily difficult to do.

The court agreed with SayUncle’s due process findings:

“The court concludes that the manner in which the tax is assessed deprives taxpayers of due process and, to that extent, the statute is unconstitutional on its face,” the chancellor wrote.

He also found that levying the tax and charging someone with a crime was equivalent to double jeopardy because it punished the dealer twice for the same crime.

“(The) statute violates the double jeopardy provisions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and … the Tennessee Constitution to the extent it may be employed against a dealer otherwise subject to state prosecution relating to the unauthorized substances subject to the tax proceeding.”

SayUncle: Like the courts, only faster.

Update: In comments, Xrlq says not so fast. Read it.

Popular Mechanics has a piece (with scary photos) on NYPD’s terrorism unit. Key quote:

“The response we usually get is, ‘Holy s—!’” Nieves says. “That’s the reaction we want. We are in the business of scaring people–we just want to scare the right people.”

Well, you’re not going to scare me as long as members of your crew put their Aimpoint Comp red dot sights on backwards (which they’ve been known to do):

A few years back:

Seventeen Stratford High School students are suing the city of Goose Creek and the Berkeley County school district in federal court, alleging police and school officials terrorized them in a drug raid last month.

In the raid, which was caught on tape leaked to the press, students were threatened and handcuffed. No drugs were found. Now, Pete reports:

The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that a federal court has approved a landmark settlement in its lawsuit challenging police tactics in the high-profile drug raid of Stratford High School in Goose Creek, South Carolina. The settlement includes a consent decree that sets a new standard for students’ rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

Absent a warrant, police will now need either to have probable cause and pressing circumstances or voluntary consent in order to conduct law enforcement activity on school grounds – effectively granting Goose Creek students the essential privacy rights enjoyed by all Americans.

“Goose Creek students now have a unique place in our nation,” said Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU’s Drug Law Reform Project. “They are the only students in the nation who have complete protection of their Fourth Amendment rights of search and seizure.”

That last part is kind of sad with them being the only ones. I mean probable cause or a warrant, who’d have thunk it?

So, DC, how’s that gun ban working for you:

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey reacted yesterday to a recent surge in homicides by declaring a “crime emergency,” a move that gives him the freedom to quickly adjust officers’ schedules and restrict their days off.

Thirteen people have been killed since July 1 in the District, and police are being pressured to take action by residents at community meetings and vigils to honor the dead. The victims included a popular store owner slain at closing time, a community activist killed in a park and a British citizen whose throat was slit in Georgetown.

And in Florida, which is the Brady Campaign’s idea of a gun-crazy state, how are things:

Well, the Palm Beach Post reports that Florida’s crime rates have fallen to the lowest level since 1971. “A telephone message left for comment after hours with the The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C. was not immediately returned.”

I asked if there were any libertarian candidates in the Senate race. AC says:

No, I don’t believe so. The announced candidates are:

Ed Choate
David Gatchell
Emory “Bo” Heyward
Gary Keplinger
Chris Lugo

Gary G. Davis (D)
Harold Ford, Jr. (D)
John Jay Hooker (D)
Charles E. Smith (D)
Al Strauss (D)

Ed Bryant (R)
Bob Corker (R)
Tate Harrison (R)
Van Hilleary (R)

I kinda dig this David Gatchell:

In August, 2005 I legally changed my middle name to “None Of The Above”. [View the court order]

The State Election Commission is refusing to place my complete name on the Governor and U.S. Senator ballots for the November, 2006 elections. They insist on listing me incorrectly as ‘David Gatchell’ instead of by my preferred full legal name David “None Of The Above” Gatchell.

This obstruction comes despite the fact that they have seen fit to OK the three-part names Carl “Twofeathers” Whitaker and Walt “Combat” Ward. (Among numerous others across the state.) And, to my knowledge, “Twofeathers” and “Combat” are not even legal names, but rather nicknames.

I’m taking the State to court in an effort to correct this. Their side will be argued by the Attorney General’s office.

Why am I being singled out?

Heh.

The AFP:

The Pentagon pledged to respect the rights of “war on terror” suspects, as the US Senate began looking into new ways to prosecute detainees at its Guantanamo Bay detention center.

In a memo, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England instructed US military leadership “to promptly review all relevant directives, regulations, policies, practices and procedures under your purview to ensure that they comply with the standards of Common Article Three” of the Geneva Conventions.

“You will ensure that all DoD (Department of Defense) personnel adhere to these standards,” said the memo, dated July 7 and made public Tuesday.

The Pentagon announcement appeared to be a reversal of the George W. Bush administration’s long-held stance that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to Taliban, al-Qaeda and other combatants targeted in the US-led “war on terror.”

The unexpected shift, as well as Tuesday’s Senate hearings, were prompted by a Supreme Court ruling late last month rejecting the Bush administration’s plans to impanel special military tribunals to try the terror suspects.

The high court ruled that such panels were a violation of international and domestic law.

The court ruled on international law?

I’m often critical of the use of the term loophole because, well, when used it doesn’t usually refer to a loophole. So, I found this highly amusing:

Senate Approves Loophole For Importing Canadian Drugs

Heh. Now, loopholes are approved by lawmakers.

There’s a new one at The County Seat.

A ranger is catching some flak for carrying an AR-15:

Lisa Schutzberger pulled one on a wanted felon holed up at a campsite in Oregon. She slung another over her shoulder before confronting a mob of unruly paint-ballers in Idaho.

Now, as one of only two rangers in charge of maintaining law and order on the 4.3 million acres in the Bureau of Land Management’s Twin Falls district, Schutzberger said she is glad the BLM issues her a weapon — a highly accurate semiautomatic AR-15 rifle.

The agency began outfitting rangers with the semiautomatic rifles a few years ago. Rangers, the agency said, are no different from police officers; they just patrol a much larger beat.

[snip]

Some in southern Idaho, however, have begun questioning why bureau rangers need the AR-15 rifles after Schutzberger’s gun went missing in May.

Now, I have zero issue with arming the police with rifles. I take issue with her intimidating paint-ballers with it and, of course, with the fact that she lost the gun.

Syd Barrett, founder of Pink Floyd, has died.

A gun buy back in my fair state:

Officers say before you show up to the Pyramid Saturday, take the gun you plan to turn in, remove the ammunition, and do everything else to make sure that fire arm is not a hazard.

“The mitigating factor is you’re bringing this gun to turn it in, and the way to do that is put it in a paper sack, unload it make sure that you are going to have it in a safe manner,” said Sgt. Vince Higgins, spokesperson for the Memphis Police Department.

Higgins said guns turned in Saturday will cataloged and destroyed. He believes that fewer guns on the street will result in fewer shootings and fewer homicides.

“Many times these guns are the result of law abiding citizens’ homes being broken into, or their car being broken into, or theft or some sort,” Higgins said. “We want people that have these weapons that they don’t have any use for, that they feel are unsafe in their home, to bring them to us.”

Higgins said gun experts will be on hand at the Pyramid to help answer key questions about any guns you may bring.

“Part of this is to teach safety about handguns,” he said. “The other part is lets get them off of the street. That gun that’s turned in in our gun turn in campaign? It’s going to be one less gun to be stolen and used in another crime or, sold for crack, or some other drug.”

I wonder if they’re buying them or if it’s just a turn in? If they buy them, some enterprising upstart may be able to score a good deal. Any way, getting guns off the streets this way isn’t likely to help. Those inclined to turn them in likely aren’t the type to commit crimes anyway (well, unless they can get paid for them).

Ask any police politician (chief or sheriff) and they will deny there is a speeding ticket quota. Ask any beat cop and he’ll tell you otherwise. Of note:

Coopertown Mayor Danny Crosby routinely told police officers to ticket at least three or four motorists a day so the city could pay for services without a property tax, two town police officers testified in court this morning.

The mayor also told police that Hispanics were “easy targets” for tickets and told officers to monitor particular roads in search of political adversaries, according to testimony.

District Attorney General John Carney filed a court petition to have Crosby ousted from office. He’s accused in court filings of illegally running a speed trap in the small Robertson County town; having cops profile Hispanics, soldiers and out-of-towners for tickets and using officers to harass and threaten some members of the community

And there’s the issue of harassing political enemies.

Gun Law News has it.

As readers know, I’m into building my own guns. Never occured to me to build my own knife. But Irons in the Fire is doing it and showing us how. Nice.

Via Jeff.

The Lowell Sun:

Massachusetts may have some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, but the state is woefully inept at keeping track of the whereabouts of guns seized by local police departments.

An expose in The Sunday Sun (July 2) revealed that thousands of guns confiscated from individuals facing domestic-abuse violations wind up in bonded public warehouses for firearmas and are rarely, if ever, returned to their rightful owners.

So what happens to the guns?

Sun reporter Rita Savard posed the question to countless police, state officials and warehouse owners over three months. Incredibly, no one could give an exact answer.

Despite a comprehensive gun law enacted in 1998, Savard found there is no trail of public records on the seized guns, nor is there a state agency monitoring the storage, disposal or resale of the guns.

The findings are alarming, leaving police and gun-control advocates wondering whether the seized guns are being recycled into the population through auctions or Internet sales offered by owners of the bonded public warehouses.

Wow. And more:

While the state Executive Office of Public Safety has the responsibility of implementing the law, Savard found officials to be clueless about the gun-warehousing provision. After repeated inquiries, officials admitted finally that because no public records existed to document the transfer of the seized guns from local police departments to the bonded public warehouses. The admission was surprising, since public warehouses charge a $20 transfer fee for each gun to cover the costs of paperwork, specifically federal and state forms.

Once told about the inconsistency, the Office of Public Safety issued a statement saying the 1998 Gun Control Act doesn’t require the state to monitor seized guns.

If you can’t own up to the responsibility, just dismiss it entirely. That’s basically what the Office of Public Safety is saying.

I wrote about Christian’s piece here. S/he’s has replied to critics by stating, err, I’m not sure what. Anyhoo, Aunt B. ain’t happy.

In comments to his post, Christian non-responds with his tripe:

Either owner seems to not care for the dog’s life or the actions taken by the majority, as represented by their elected officials, to ban them from their neighborhoods.

I suppose Christian then is OK with the notion of denying rights to gays. I mean to do otherwise would be to not care for the actions taken by the majority, as represented by their elected officials. Right?

I’m not a fan of Lieberman. He’s a statist and only seems to appeal to the conservatives lately entirely due to the war. But his opponent, Lamont, is saying the right things:

LAMONT: Look, you want to boast about how many earmarks you bring to the state of Connecticut? Alaska gets 10 times what we do. We’re not doing very well on that front. But more importantly, I think we should outlaw these earmarks.

(CROSSTALK)

LAMONT: Hear me out, sir. I think we should outlaw these earmarks. I think they corrupt the political process. I think they are written by lobbyists and they’re wrong.

LIEBERMAN: Try to explain that to the (inaudible).

LAMONT: I think these things should go through the congressional process. Sir, you have been there for 18 years. You support the earmarks, you work with the lobbyists, and that’s what needs to be changed.

And that’s from a Democrat. Here’s hoping he actually means it.

So, does the Libertarian party have a candidate in the Tennessee Senate race? I searched and found nothing. I’m not sure who to throw my vote away on this time.

AC says that Giuliani’s PAC has launched a website.

Good:

An FBI raid on a Louisiana congressman’s Capitol Hill office was legal, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan said members of Congress are not above the law. He rejected requests from lawmakers and Democratic Rep. William Jefferson to return material seized by the FBI in a May 20-21 search of Jefferson’s office.

In a 28-page opinion, Hogan dismissed arguments that the first-ever raid on a congressman’s office violated the Constitution’s protections against intimidation of elected officials.

“Congress’ capacity to function effectively is not threatened by permitting congressional offices to be searched pursuant to validly issued search warrants,” said Hogan, who had approved the FBI’s request to conduct the overnight search of Jefferson’s office.

Der Commissar:

A three-story building at 32 East 62nd Street in Manhattan exploded this morning and is burning.

Hundreds of firefighters and rescue workers are on scene at what FDNY officials are calling this a “major incident.”

There are reports of multiple people trapped inside the building, but there are no confirmed injuries at the moment. FDNY workers are now climbing over the rubble of the collapsed building to try to get to those who are reportedly trapped underneath. The FDNY Collapse Response Unit has arrived on the scene and has joined the search.

No cause given as of yet.

Update: The AP:

The cause was not immediately known, though White House press secretary Tony Snow said there was no indication of terrorism.

Update 2: Allah says Foxnews reported it was a gas explosion.

Michael Bane laid out his. The Department of Justice has theirs.

Via Bob, comes Knoxville 520, which (per Bob) featur(es) assorted and sundry entertainment options in mighty KnoxVegas.

Cool.

Yes, people from Massachusetts, this is what we in flyover country think.

Well, some of us.

Michael Bane posts his Five Point Plan for a national political strategy on guns. I really like number 5:

Dismantle the onerous conditions of the 1968 Gun Control Act, the machinegun amendment of the 1986 FOPA, the 1990 Crime Control Act and the 1999 “Al Gore Stands Up!” trigger lock requirement.

Publicola has more and doesn’t think Michael’s plan is enough.

So says the US News and World Report:

The NRA is riding high; gun control is a political loser

[snip]

“When we as Democrats are trying to reach out and speak to voters in the center of the country, I don’t think that we can support gun control,” he explains. After seeing Democrats hammered at the polls for voting to regulate guns, many of his colleagues seem to agree. As a result, a number of pro-gun measures moving through Congress will most likely face little opposition, as advocates of gun control increasingly find themselves marginalized and ignored.

Not long ago, it was the gun lobby on the defensive from the passage of the Brady bill in 1993 and the 1994 ban on “assault” weapons. But some say support for gun control cost Democrats the House in 1994, and former President Clinton credited it with Al Gore’s 2000 presidential defeat. “It’s different than it was in the early ’90s. Those were, in retrospect, the glory years,” says Paul Helmke, former GOP mayor of Fort Wayne, Ind., who recently took the reins of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Meanwhile, with little fanfare, National Rifle Association backers in Congress allowed the assault weapons ban to expire in 2004 and last year shielded gun makers from being sued over crimes committed using their products. Since 1999, nine states have eased restrictions on concealed weapons, and NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre says the freedom of gun owners is in “the best shape it’s been in decades.”

Ayup.

TriggerFinger notes the Fraternal Order of Police having issue with the Lautenberg amendment. Seems a restraining order during a divorce proceeding isn’t forgivable like felon in possession is. In comments here, he notes:

Oh, and the reason for the lawsuits is that the federal law about misdemeanor domestic violence convictions or restraining orders does NOT contain such an exception. So, a cop who has a boilerplate restraining order filed by his wife in the middle of a divorce can’t carry his gun and is thus out of a job; while a cop with a felony conviction for murder could remain armed so long as someone deemed it in the public interest. I’m not surprised the FOP doesn’t like that situation.

Campground pet policy:

Ocean Lakes is happy to have your entire family, including your pets! Pets (excluding rottwielers, pitt bulls and exotic animals) are allowed at all campsites. They are not permitted in our rental sites – sorry!

And check out the picture of the dog in shades. Why, it looks like a . . .

Update: Everyone else seems to think it’s a boxer. Boxers have been classified as pit bulls as well. They share lineage.

The Carnival of Cordite is up for your gun blogging pleasure.