The latest version of Gun Facts, which comprehensively takes on all the anti-gun arguments.

Cam Edwards says Bloomberg has a double standard:

More than three months after Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement that he had sent private investigators into five states to catch gun dealers making illegal sales, he is refusing to turn over the evidence they’ve gathered to the federal agency that investigates illegal guns.

Analysts said the impasse may have slowed the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in its investigation of and possible action against gun dealers that broke the law.

The city won’t turn over the evidence, which includes videotapes of gun dealers allowing so-called straw purchases of guns, until the ATF signs an evidence-sharing agreement that would prohibit the agency from “publicly disclosing evidence without notice and consent from the city,” the mayor’s criminal justice coordinator, John Feinblatt, said.

First, the only evidence I’ve seen indicating anyone broke the law was that Bloomberg’s investigators lied on ATF Form 4473, which is a felony. As such, I don’t think it’s a double standard. I think it’s damage control. As mentioned before:

ATF has said they will be investigating every aspect of these “sting” sales (and there were ATF people present who repeated that). This may be bad news for the city, since IF the sales were illegal straw sales, their investigators committed felonies.

One gun was traced TWICE in NYC. The first time was for a crime, so it would have to have been confiscated. Only explanation for how it would later be on the street is that someone in NYC PD is selling seized guns on the street.

My guess is the opposition comes from some potentially embarrassing disclosures, such as the disappearing gun and the fact his agents may have committed a crime.

Of course, I’m willing to bet that if the ATF does conduct an investigation into this, it will be a total sham and nothing will happen.

So, that was it? (spoilers ‘n shit; click more if you want)
Read the rest of this entry »

Brother can you spare 9 million?

Have developers figured out what patsies our leaders in local Knox County government are? Much has been written about TIF’s here at Say Uncle. Even those like myself that cast a wary eye towards TIF’s admit that in theory they can be progressive and provide a reasonable return on investment.

But when every project has to have a TIF to be viable one has to question what is going on.

In Friday’s Knoxville News Sentinel Roger Harris writes that the James Doran Corporation that is building the Northshore Center has come back to City and County government and said that if they do not get a 9 million dollar TIF for roads that the entire 250 MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT MAY NOT BE VIALBE.

Who can really blame them? Isn’t this just smart business? It is easy to see that Mayors Haslam and Ragsdale have sent a message to the development community that if you want some TIF money you just have to ask for it.

Let’s review. The reason development is supposedly good is because it expands the tax base. Unless of course the first 15 years are used to pay off the roads and infrastructure. All across this nation cities and counties are imposing impact fees for roads, schools, and utilities so that infrastructure is NOT paid for by all the taxpayers. The ones that create the need pay for the associated infrastructure.

But not in Knoxville. Here all of the taxpayers pay for the infrastructure through TIF’s. Think of it as opportunity costs. If the tax base does not increase for the first 15 years it must be made up for elsewhere. So what good is development if you receive no tax base for 15 years?

Does it seem like just yesterday there was a City project that had to have multiple injections of taxpayer money to be viable? What happened to the Five Points Village Plaza? After over 4 million dollars of taxpayer money was “invested” it went belly up in five months. Yes, Virgina, five months.

Local government must stop sending the message that projects are only viable if taxpayer money funds them. Do we really have to bribe people to come and live here? Or is this just a transfer payment to powerful developers who control our government?

David Hardy on why gun control proponents are different from other proponents:

Firearm regulations are entirely different. No matter how much is enacted, its political proponents insist that they must have more. As I noted in the previous post, even New York and Massachusetts politicians want more, more. If the laws are failing, it just proves they must be made nationwide, not that something is wrong with the approach.

Nylarthotep takes on the Boston Globe:

Here’s an article by that bastion of truth, the Boston Globe. This article distorts the facts of the Bloomberg sting operation and omits much other relevant data regarding his gun control methods.

…

If you care to read the article you won’t find any mention of the fact that the investigators and Bloomberg are being investigated,(at a glacial rate) by the BATFE for this “sting.” No mention that the investigators were the ones committing a felony by making the straw purchases. They were not law enforcement officials in any sense. There could very well be some question of the dealers not refusing to deal with obvious straw purchases, which would make this a legal issue for the BATFE.

Things are going so well in Boston.

Uhm, don’t think they’re clear on this one:

The families of the South Florida children killed by stray bullets in recent months remain in mourning, but have taken on a new fight: a petition drive to have state lawmakers change the ”Stand Your Ground” law.

They fear the law could complicate how stray-bullet cases are prosecuted and make it easier for those accused in the shooting deaths of their loved ones to walk away without being punished.

Wait, you had some Wolf ammo? How about a Kel-Tec mag?

Some pawn shops have settled and there’s a counter suit in the works after Bloomberg’s investigators broke the law. One guy isn’t settling:

Dennis Alverson said he has received offers from New York City to settle a lawsuit the city brought against his Old Dominion Gun & Tackle shop in Danville.

No deal.

“I’m not in agreement with either of them,” he said during a recent phone interview.

On the case:

Private investigators employed by New York would enter the stores in pairs. One would make inquiries about purchasing the gun and the other – who was uninvolved in the process – filled out the required federal forms to pass the background test.

The city contends that federal law prohibits licensed dealers from selling firearms to someone when the dealer has a reasonable belief that the weapon is being sold to someone other than the buyer.

Federal law also prohibits people from putting incorrect info on the forms to buy a firearm, which the investigators did. More:

In Danville, Alverson bristles at the suggestion that he is a rogue dealer and notes he is in compliance with all state and federal regulations.

“If we were doing anything wrong, we would not be in business because [the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] would shut us down,” he said.

Alverson said his clients know he has done nothing wrong and the suit has not affected his business.

In an update to this where the ATF classified something and then changed its mind based on loosely defined criteria, Eric Larson gets serious:

This is essentially a test case.

Retroactively reclassifying an item or firearm as a machinegun because it “has features and characteristics of a machinegun” is an admitted new practice by the ATF.

Len makes a perfect test case. A small SOT with new and bold ideas. He is controversial in the sense he has been a pain in the ass for the ATF. No major fanfare if the ATF loses this fight. Work from the bottom up if it wins to avoid major political fallout. The NFA world is effectively that bottom.

Read both classification letters carefully. The item does NOT have to be able to fire a single round to be classified as a firearm and subject to the GCA. The item does NOT have to be able to fire multiple rounds to be a machinegun and subject to the NFA. It only needs to have “features and characteristics of a machinegun”. Now there is no written description on what a characteristic of a machinegun is. It is up to interpretation by whom? On what items/guns? Replacement uppers? At what limit will this new standard be applied? [Remember a barrel is a design characteristic of a machinegun, (and a BB gun as well)].

If we as a community just role over to ATF abuse and intimidation we shall surely find out.”

Indeed.

Norm Stamper, former chief of the Seattle Police Department and an advisory board member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition – some LEOs who oppose the drug war, writes:

Drug criminals have an unlimited supply of high-powered weapons at their disposal. Kingpins pay mules, usually impoverished, always expendable, to travel to the States and pick up a firearm or two at a gun show. Using the Brady Bill “loophole” (and congressional and presidential failure to extend the ban on assault rifles), all it takes is a phony stateside driver’s license and a handful of cash to walk out with semiautomatic Uzis, AR-15s and AK-47s.

You really think that these guys buy at gun shows? Gimme a damn break. And you also think that the assault weapons ban would have stopped any thing since the ban only impacted the aesthetic features rifles could have?

I’m against the drug war. I’ve supported LEAP in the past. It will not happen again.

Update: In comments, Allison from LEAP writes:

While we support Norm Stamper’s efforts to end prohibition you should understand that LEAP’s only goal is to end prohibition and the accompanying crime and violence. Any statements that a LEAP speaker makes regarding any other issue does not represent the opinions or perspective of LEAP as an organization. Thank you for your support and the support of the entire blogging community.

Norm is on the advisory board and held himself out as such. I don’t think it’s a far stretch to conclude that was LEAP’s position. Regardless, individuals who spread misinformation about the ban on weapons that look like assault weapons, the supposed gun show loophole, and gun control do not endear themselves to me.

A reasonable (by that, I mean not otherwise hysterical) article on gun laws.

To Xrlq on the new addition.

Cool little photo essay on making ammo.

The Tyler hits the fan on the Gene Patterson show “Tennessee This Week” which will air Sunday at noon. If you cannot wait to see this program it is available here. On the panel are Terry Frank, Mike Cohen, and Frank Cagle.

It is particularly interesting when Mike Cohen, a Vice President with Ackermann PR, channels Perry Mason when he puts the witness on trial. The witness of course being Tyler Harber. Cohen was once Mayor Ragsdale’s staff advisor. Cohen was replaced by Mike Arms who was on Knox County Commission. Arms is the Chief of Staff for Mayor Ragsdale with a handsome salary which was recently raised to over $ 125,000 per year. Some say Arms effectively runs County Government allowing Mayor Ragsdale to do more important things like fund raising so he can run for Governor. Arms was replaced on Knox County Commission by Mike Hammond who is seeking to be the Chairman of the Commission after only two years on Commission.

The program develops quickly when Mike Cohen flatly states, “Tyler Harber is a liar”.

Terry Frank and Frank Cagle ask some pointed questions but all answers lead to Cohen’s end game that ” Tyler Harber is a liar. Tyler Harber has a long history of lying”. Yet in the discussion that is not clear at all. The only clear thing that this interview brings to the table is that the Ragsdale administration maintains that ” Tyler Harber is a liar and a troubled young man. We wish him well in his recovery”. Your mileage may vary. The truth may vary. One thing is certain, it is irrelevant if Tyler Harber is a liar. What is important is whether he was following orders from the Mayor or the Mayor’s Chief of Staff.

At least twice Terry Franks says, “There needs to be an investigation”. Each time Cohen flinches.

Gene Patterson is back to his old form here as he draws Cohen close with some soft balls but then closes with the “Mike Wallace” type question, “Is it possible that Tyler Harber was simply a maverick on his own doing things, without knowledge by Mayor Ragsdale, or was he being directed tacitly by Mayor Ragsdale? Cohen’s expression after this question reveals a great deal. Ask poker players what it means when people look down at the table.

This is either a tragedy or a comedy. I have trouble deciding. But it is compelling and entertaining. Based on Cohen’s performance it is clear this play will have four acts.

Correction: Mike Cohen was not replaced by Mike Arms. Cohen was the “communications and government relations guy” and was replaced by Dwight Van de Vate. Arms served two years as both Ragsdale’s Chief of Staff and a District 5 Knox County Commissioner. It was perceived as a conflict of interest by the taxpayers and this was what necessitated the resignation of Arms as County Commissioner and the appointment of WNOX radio executive Mike Hammond to fills Arm’s vacant seat. Dwight Van de Vate was formerly the Director of Communications for the Knox County Sheriff’s Department.

Don’t take nail clippers or Gatorade. But you’ll have no trouble getting dynamite on a plane:

A college student’s checked luggage on a Continental Airlines flight to Houston from Argentina on Friday contained dynamite, and federal authorities are investigating why he had it and what he intended to do with it, an FBI spokeswoman said.

Joe says:

This has to be one the easiest to detect cases. One of the problems with explosives sniffers is that someone can custom make an explosive that isn’t detected by existing detection devices. The problem is similar to the computer anti-virus vendors. They have databases of “virus signatures” they compare suspect attachments and files to. If it matches something they have in their database they flag it as a virus and handle it appropriately. If a new virus shows up they have to update their database with the new signature. Commercially available explosives, such as dynamite, should be within the capabilities of the explosives sniffer.

Ben Cunningham of Tennessee Tax Revolt is blogging here. Good.

Via Terry.

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

An NFA weapon (a machine gun that I presume was not registered) was taken in a drug raid. After the raid, police turned it over to a museum. I wonder how that is? An NFA weapon that is unregistered is contraband and cannot lawfully be transferred. David says:

I think there is a museum exception (not dead sure). The only police exception is, as I remember, that they don’t have to pay the $200 tax — but guns on which no tax is paid become “law enforcement only,” I think even if a person offers to buy and pay the tax on that transaction.

Anyone know? If so, I may open a museum.

So, why is this dude stealing my shit?

Should I give the disgusting picture treatment? Or other?

Update: That’ll teach him.

Update 2: Didn’t take the hint, had to get real nasty with it. Removed link because it’s, err, absolutely disgusting. Someone will get their myspace account suspended.

Update 3: Ok, that was too much for even me. Image deleted.

CNS News:

The California Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would require the “microstamping” of semi-automatic handguns — giving cartridges fired from those guns a unique imprint, which according to gun control advocates, would help police solve crimes.

Supporters say microstamping would turn spent cartridges into potential evidence in civil and criminal cases. According the California Million Mom March, “when the police retrieve the bullet casing at a crime scene, they can quickly track down the legal owner of the handgun that fired it.”

Well, any feature that can quickly be disabled with the use of a file isn’t going to be effective. And criminals will just use older guns. Meanwhile, what it seems to be about is:

Nonsense, say Second Amendment supporters, who view the bill as yet another attempt to burden gun manufacturers and further restrict gun sales in the state. They say that gun makers, faced with the added expense of microstamping semiautomatic weapons, would either stop selling their wares in California or drastically raise prices.

Via David.

Nothing beats them, cute little buggers. Stuff I never would think about:

Or Abbie, for a short two syllable name ending with a vowel, making it easy to reach those high notes when calling.

The box of truth looks at how rounds do against kevlar helmets. Via marc, who says:

All I can say is even with a kevlar helmet on I still don’t want to be shot in the head with a .357.

Don’t seem to do much for rifles, either.

AC: How did he get that Gatorade on the plane?

But I know one when I see them. Rich says:

First, I’m opening up the comments section to all of you to post your definitions of liberal and conservative. Tell me and howie how you would define the terms. In your oomments, please identify how you describe yourself.

Second, I’m going to invite two bloggers, one conservative and one liberal, to define their ideologies, and I’ll post their definitions here in a future post. I’m going to let a true conservative and a true liberal to speak for themselves, rather than attempt to speak for them.

James Na of the blog Guns and Butter has a piece in the Seattle Times:

First, as a matter of principle, a free, open society like ours does not, and ought not, preemptively restrict freedom of the general population out of fear that a small criminal minority would misuse that freedom.

crebralfix shows you how it’s done, without blowing your dudes off.

Mlive:

Grand Rapids neighborhoods that were virtual shooting galleries earlier this summer have quieted down substantially thanks in part to stepped up police patrols, curfew sweeps and increased community contact. The effort to stanch the violence — dubbed Operation All-Out by Grand Rapids Police Chief Harry Dolan — is likely to continue through September, as it should.

For sure, there has been a cost, $96,000 in police overtime. But the payoff for citizens and the city as a whole is more than worth it.

What’s missing? Amazing how policing is more effective than gun control.

I thought it was funny:

As long as I have been reading SayUncle, I always assumed that all the posts where written by Unc. I have noticed some things that seemed a little off-topic or were written with a slightly different political viewpoint than normal, but I just figured that the maybe Unc had been up late or eating paint chips or something.

Heh.

Yes, the confusion over who posts seems to come up. Reason attributes a post to me when it’s actually co-blogger Brutal Hugger. And in the comments to the same post Reason cites, another blogger says he ain’t reading me no more. That’s happened before. But Dave came back.

My $0.02 is my website slogan: Remember, I do this to entertain me . . . not you. Or as my Terms of Use say:

This site exists entirely for my amusement. If it amuses you too, that’s cool but not necessary.

You don’t want to read, I don’t care. But here at SayUncle, we like to get our debate on. That’s why I brought Brutal Hugger on board. I generally stay out of the arguments made by other posters here because I don’t want to appear to be picking favorites in a debate. But I find Fug saying he’s out of here amusing since he emailed me once to ask why I de-linked him. I didn’t de-link him, I just had some technical issues. He even said in those emails that he took issue with BH but respected my site. It’s speaks of a person that they cannot bear reading those who disagree with them, particularly on issues they hold dear.

I always get this flak over co-bloggers and guest-bloggers. I do sometimes wonder if it’s worth it. You know, encouraging debate and all. I guess I could just type and only link/read those who I agree with. But that’s not stimulating. As I said before:

Now, I’d like all the readers to agree with everything everyone says and for us to all hold hands, have a coke and a smile, and smoke some dope while singing Kumbaya. But that would be boring. No challenge. No entertainment. Posts would go like this: I’d post something witty and insightful. You’d all comment indeed. And we’d get bored.

It’d be cool if everyone liked me and all the other folks that post here, but it isn’t necessary.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Update: Fug and I spoke offline. Long and short, I think we both overreacted but we kissed and made up. Well, OK, we didn’t really kiss.