At the HuffPo. No, not from a blogger there but from the commentators who are addressing Hemke’s usual litany of lies and misrepresentations about guns in America. Some snippets:

The reason gun owners resist these “common sense” proposals stem from two sources:

1.Common Sense – how do otherwise intelligent people not understand that the vast majority of criminals do not buy guns at a gun store or a gun show? They buy from people dealing guns illegally or they steal them. It’s pure ignorance. I go to gun shows. ALL the laws apply and the bulk of the people sitting behind the tables are gun store owners that move their stock to the show. You can purchase or trade from private individuals, but you can do that pretty much anywhere in the country.

…

Virulently anti-gun people are full of it. They want confiscation – they just can’t say it out loud. When you know what the end state is going to be all this jabbering about moderation rings completely hollow. It is our duty as gun owners to not cooperate in any form or fashion.

…

Gun violence, as well as other violent crimes, has decreased by over 30% since the mid-nineties, even though the rate of firearm ownership has dramatically increased, and 40 states passed shall-issue concealed carry laws in that same time period.

…

What I want to know is, in all those polls that say the majority of Americans are for “common sense” gun control, how come they never called me? Who and where did they call?? The Left coast? I could call 10,000 people and get a completely different result.

Uncle adds: Indeed. And how come they never cite these polls? And how come “common sense” is never defined? Remember, The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Ownership is about preventing gun ownership. Period. They supported the total and complete ban on guns in Washington DC. That’s all you need to know.

Seems there are more pro-gun responses than anti-gun responses.

Via Jeff.

The far left is not happy with Orson Scott Card. Like others I posted a link to the October 29th 2006 column Mr. Card wrote titiled, “The Only Issue This Election Day”. I thought and still do that it is a well written thoughtful message that should be heard. This column was not received well by the far left.

Mr. Card’s new book, “Empire”, now brings new consternation to the far left. Kevin over at Lean Left has a post today describing Mr. Card’s new novel as extremism. Kevin writes, “In the late eighties, Orson Card was a writer with authoritarian leanings who wrote decent stories. Then came sixteen years of Rush Limbaugh and his ilk’s demonization of the left wing. That demonization only increased after 9/11, turning in some cases to explicitly eliminiationist rhetoric; Dave’s site has the details. And at the end of the time, Orson Card has morphed into full blown right wing lunatic who writes a political polemic flecked with spittle and pours bile on leftists of all stripes.”

And there is this, “The fact that Instapundit loves it is telling.”

Ouch. You would think after the last election that the far left would be pleased but for some reason there is a new defensiveness, a sort of malaise has descended on what should be a happy time. That defensiveness is well shown when Kevin writes, “Leftists, in the world of Limbaugh and Coulter and Malkin, are vile things: anti-Military, closed-minded, smug, superior, elitist, anti-American, violent, incapable of reasoned though, practically traitors. Leftists, in Empire, are vile things: anti-Military, closed-minded, smug, superior, elitist, anti-American, violent, incapable of reasoned though, actually traitors. America, in the world of Limbaugh and Coulter and Malkin, is always right (even when it acts as an Empire it’s not really acting as an Empire) and its correct course of action is always to show the world who is boss.”

I don’t know about all of that but I think most people can detect some Elitism, closed-mindedness, and anti-Military writing coming from the far left. If a book review has the phrase “in the world of Limbaugh and Coulter and Malkin” I think it is safe to say there is some bias.

Thanks for the review Kevin, my copy should arrive soon from Amazon. In the meantime, can’t we all just get along?

I can’t see it because these trees are in the way. AC says:

Rob Huddleston picks me as one of three bloggers he reads that are opposite him politically.

Both hold themselves out as conservative, so I found it odd. Upon reflection, I realized that the difference is that AC is a conservative and Rob is a Republican. While different, I don’t think it remotely qualifies as politically opposite.

I sympathize with respect to teaching little ones about their bodily functions. But we’ve not quite made it to sharts. That post made me laugh out loud. You should read it all but here’s a snippet:

Last week, out of the blue, L’il Fat started crying. Wailing really. She had sharted.

With Junior, we’ve had many ups and downs with the potty training. Lately, it’s mostly downs. She’s almost two and a half now. She was actually peeing in the potty regularly at about 18 months. Then, she made a horrible mistake. She dookied in it. It scared her and she didn’t sit on the potty again for months.

Now, at daycare, she’s catching back on. She will, on occasion, request to use the potty on her own. Otherwise, we try to remind her to go on the potty and not in her diaper or pull up. That’s the other thing, she was wearing pull-ups all day for about two weeks. And, without cause or reason, she started asking for diapers again.

She still won’t doody in the potty. But will pee in it regularly enough but not every time.

So, we’re trying bribery. If she pees in the potty, she gets one of her favorite foods: one gummy bear. If she poops, she gets two. Me and the Mrs. have decided that the terms Number 1 and Number 2 must have come from thousands of years of parents trying the same thing.

In Baltimore:

Baltimore city police are looking for four gunmen who posed as police officers to force their way into a home downtown.

…

Police said the gunmen also pistol-whipped several occupants before fleeing without any money or property.

Criminals now think (with good cause) that they can bust in, announce they are police, and score some loot without the risk of being shot. Sorry, but in the Uncle house, said announcement does not give you a Get out of being shot free card. That’s just how it is. I can’t help but think that if more people shared my position (well, and my hardware), that there might be a sharp decline in the number of both home invasions and no-knock raids of the wrong house.

Update: People like to use the word Militarization. I don’t because that implies some things; such as training, discipline, and hardware. Those are good things for the police to have. That’s why I use the term Ninjafication, to describe the fact these guys put on their ninja gear, creep up on a house, and get all Tactical Tommy on people. Only criminals and ninjas should have any cause to cover their faces. I think it’s an important distinction.

I don’t feel like doing a bunch of posts. So, here’s some stuff:

Review of he Kel-Tec SU16

Ohio Governor to veto preemption bill.

The Brady’s now will push for restricting sales of military style weapons and the ammunition that’s used in those weapons. Well, let’s see, transfer of military style weapons to citizens has banned since 1986. Unless, of course, Helmke is lying and means weapons that look like assault weapons. And, precisely, what methodology will you use to determine what constitutes military ammo. See, the 5.56X45 that load up in the AR-15 is the same as the ammo that a lot of folks put in their varmint guns.

IS this guy a marine:

Police said a local mini-mart owner fought back during a robbery attempt, putting three of the five culprits in the hospital.

Police said a group of men pulled their guns after Germantown store owner John Lee told them to pull their hoods down.

Lee grabbed his own gun and shot three of the four suspects inside the Musgrave Street and Chelten Avenue store before they could target him.

He found the fourth gunman hiding in the back of the store.

“I found out he had a gun on him, so I beat him up pretty bad,” Lee said. “Kicked them hard; I gave them a lesson.”

Kevin on the ninjafication of the police:

I have no problem with this. If my life was on the line and I carried a gun as part of my professional duties, I’d want it to be semi-automatic and in a caliber starting with .4 myself. I certainly agree that the .38 Special is not really up to the task, nor is the standard-issue “riot gun” the best long arm an officer might use.

My problem is with the tactics and the attitude.

And they’re equally wrong. On the militarization of the police:

Police in large cities formerly carried revolvers holding six .38-caliber rounds. Nowadays, police carry semi-automatic pistols with 16 high-caliber rounds, shotguns and military assault rifles, weapons once relegated to SWAT teams facing extraordinary circumstances.

A 9mm (the most common caliber for carrying 16 rounds) is roughly the same caliber as a .38. The .38 is a bit more powerful due to having more powder. They typically carry only semi-automatic rifles because of the bad press that can result when someone puts 5 rounds into a suspect instead of one due to an active trigger finger.

Now, here’s the deal: Despite my yammering on about the police and their militarization, I don’t have any issue at all with a street cop carrying a regular capacity, semi-auto pistol. I also don’t have a problem with the police carrying semi-automatic rifles or shotguns in their cars. In fact, they should have them. If something goes down, they need to be able to deal with it in the most effective way possible. Period. My problem is when they cowboy up, put on their ninja outfits, and bust through some 92 year-old lady’s door and shoot her dead over an ounce of weed based on the likely paid for testimony of a crackhead informant (who later said they were asked to lie). Or when they kill a 23 year-old kid because he has an ounce of weed and a handgun carry permit. And my problem is when they put on their ninja outfits and stand guard on the streets.

Then, there’s the problem that when said 92 year-old is killed, that the police lie about it. Or some dumb ass says Well, if she didn’t have a gun, she’d be alive.

Sarcastro, on the police who killed a 92 year-old woman, writes:

Sure, you cops fired in self-defense. You and the rest of the SWAT team were just minding your own business terrorizing the elderly when she shot at you.

Update: In comments, Tam sets me straight:

Not to pick nits, but despite the bigger case, .38 Spl uses about the same powder charge as 9mm, and is less powerful, due to the resultant lower operating pressures. 9×19mm is closer to .357 than it is to .38 Spl.

Did not know that.

Seems to me that the various civil libertarian groups spend their money on either lawsuits or failed attempts to run for office. In the US, advertising can be a powerful force. I propose that instead of these groups wasting their money on higher office, they buy ads. Ads will deliver the message that your bids for office fail to do. After all, you guys get no press coverage to speak of. Do various commercials highlighting what the .gov is doing. Or put up billboards with slogans like:

Some pretty powerful ads on TeeVee might wake people up too.

* A reader uses that one a lot, I haven’t looked up who it is though.

It’s pretty easy in Texas:

A Texas official who receives any sum of cash as a gift can satisfy state disclosure laws by reporting the money simply as “currency” without specifying the amount, the Texas Ethics Commission reiterated Monday.

Reader Carl emails that:

(Tennessee State) Senator Finney has asked that a bill be prepared to authorize carry in state and national parks in Tennessee. It seems that the only reason it is not allowed is because the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency thinks that citizens who are licensed to carry are incapable of exercising judgement and are a threat to their power, thus they have an “agreement” which makes it unlawful.

After a period where I hailed the renaissance of the Metro Pulse I am saddened to conclude that while some aspects of the paper have improved Barry Henderson continues to be an abject embarrassment. Henderson has had a distinguished newspaper career and is very well respected in East Tennessee. Even the best reporter and writer can get too involved in a story and allow their own personal prejudice to leak into the writing. One thing is clear, Barry Henderson cannot be objective when it comes to recently elected Knox County Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert.

In today’s Metro Pulse Mr. Henderson writes a Commentary that strongly implies that Greg “Lumpy” Lambert pointed a loaded gun at a WATE Television cameraman. This is a blatant lie and I find it impossible that Barry Henderson could not know as of press time that the gun was unloaded. Henderson states that a “tirade of letters from hither and yon defending him” had been delivered to the Metro Pulse. In typical Metro Pulse fashion only three of those letters were published. I wonder how many of those letters pointed out that the gun was not loaded? Both Uncle and I made a issue of this on KnoxViews and at SayUncle. Gene Patterson also covered it on his blog as did Terry Frank and David Oatney on their blogs.

You might say hold on Number9, Barry Henderson knew that the gun was unloaded and that WATE specifically asked Lumpy Lambert for that demonstration, but it is still a violation of safe gun handling practices. It might encourage some youngster to play with a gun and so on.

Really? They why does Henderson write, “When the media converged on him, Lambert took the opportunity to point his pistol into a TV camera lens, a blatant violation of good gun-handling practices, though he had also passed the pistol safety course required for his state handgun-carrying permit.” It sounds as if Mr. Henderson would be relieved if Mr. Lambert were to lose his handgun-carrying permit.

Read the rest of this entry »

In this post, I said:

I was thinking for a while about doing a post on media gun coverage where I take the word they use and translate it into gun nut English. It was on the to-do list but I never got around to it. For example:

When they say High-Powered

They mean regular

Sample usage: The suspect used a high-powered rifle in the commission of a murder.

Translated: The suspect used a regular rifle in a murder.

In comments, beerslurpy adds:

clip -> magazine

high capacity -> normal capacity

automatic -> semi-automatic

sniper rifle -> any rifle with a scope, any hunting rifle or any rifle where shooting was from more than 50 yards

assault rifle -> rifle of any sort except an assault rifle, usually something that takes pistol ammo like the Beretta Storm or something with no detachable magazine like the SKS.

sawed-off shotgun -> any shotgun with a pistol grip and no buttstock

AK-47 -> SKS

SKS -> Saiga 7.62×39

And Joe reminds us gun nuts of what words we should use, for example instead assault or lethal weapon of use household firearms.

Extreme Mortman notes Webb may be going wobbly:

A strong backer of gun rights, Webb may find himself at odds with many in his party. He expressed support during the campaign for a bill by his opponent, Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), that would allow concealed weapons in national parks. But an aide said this week that Webb will review Allen’s legislation.

I concur with the little devil. The solution to the problem of criminally negligent police raids is definitely local. And those solutions should involve putting the police involved in jail.

Update: Insty gets all law-professor on us and sets us straight.

Heh.

Ok, on the study, which posits men use 7,000 words per day and women use 20,000, there is not a man on earth who read this today and didn’t say No shit. Then thought Now, what to use my remaining 6,998 words on?

Xrlq brings the snark. Heh.

Good read entitledWhy I’m no longer anti-gun. Key quote:

The gun control lobby is to the left what the anti-stem-cell-research mob is to the right. They’re all anti-fact radicals who drive more people away from their party than they bring in

Ayup. And GLN brings us the Firearms Coalition Alert:

Pro-gun Democrats face many challenges that make it difficult for them to live up to their campaign promises to gun-voters. Not only do they often have Party Leadership breathing down their necks and their peers pressuring them to double cross us, they typically have dedicated, dyed-in-the-wool, anti-gun Democrats making up their staff. These staffers hold a lot of power and can make a huge difference in how a member of Congress performs.

ACE has some. Via marc, who notes A civilian version, the FS2000, is expected to be available soon. Actually, it’s already out. I’ve personally handled two, both at Coal Creek Armory. By the way, when did CCA get that snazzy new webpage? Now, I can shop without even leaving home.

Posted it yesterday, but check this quote out:

The system, located in Clarksburg, W.Va., generally receives between 30,000 and 50,000 requests for background checks on a daily basis, peaking on the weekends . . .

Gunny math: Not counting states that have their own instant check systems, that comes out to between 10,950,000 and 18,250,000 per year. That’s a lot of gun buying.

Help Terry out. I can’t tell but it looks to be either a Browning High Power or a 1911.

Horse shit:

Like abortion-rights groups, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has used the Republican majority to develop a political strategy with bipartisan appeal that it will continue to pursue. Reinstating the lapsed assault weapons ban, a high priority for many urban Democrats, is outranked on the Brady Campaign agenda by boosting law enforcement funding and strengthening background checks.

Jeff notes a Vermont mayor has joined Bloomberg’s anti-gun group.

I’m not homophobic and I’m not filled with angst against metrosexuals or whatever we’re calling well-groomed men these days. But I’m with this guy. Bonus points because the original article is written by a gay dude. A man should know how to do certain things (like how to operate tools, build a fire, set up a secret bank account that his wife doesn’t know about*, drive a stick, fire a rifle, clean a dead critter for consumption, etc. You know, basic things). Many men lack enough male influence in their lives and don’t learn these skills.

And, ferchrissakes, I can’t stand to see a grown man order a pumpkin spice latte. I don’t care if it is a seasonal blend of holiday goodness.

* I’m kidding. That’s just in there to see if my wife is reading.

In the past few weeks there have been two local events that should give anyone pause regardless of their feelings about firearms. Whether the concern is for the United States Constitution or just plain common sense, the idea that anyone should trust a criminal armed with a gun makes no sense.

The first event was this Metro Pulse Editorial. Boiled down to it’s essence it opines that Knox County Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert endangered his life by drawing his Kel-Tec .380 pistol to defend himself from 19 year old Kane Stackhouse. The Metro Pulse Editorial had several inflammatory statements such as, “In the process, he has shown himself to be a danger to himself and others” and “First he put himself at risk by drawing his weapon when he says he saw a gun come out of the young man’s pocket.”

So what is the message the Metro Pulse is sending? They are saying that Mr. Lambert should have trusted the criminal. Kane Stackhouse is not your typical 19 year old. Unknown to Mr. Lambert at the time he was looking down the barrel of Mr. Stackhouse’s .25 caliber Beretta, it has now been alleged that Stackhouse murdered David Lindsey in a Walgreens parking lot 10 hours earlier with the same gun he was pointing at Mr. Lambert. Stackhouse has been charged by the Knox County Grand Jury for the crime of murder.

The second local event happened Sunday morning on the “Inside Tennessee” political talk show on WBIR. You can see a clip from the program below. Panelist and local Knoxville attorney Don Bosch made a statement to Lumpy Lambert that defies common sense. Bosch said to Mr. Lambert, “You increased your chances many fold over of being shot by pulling that gun.” So what is attorney Don Bosch saying? He is saying trust the criminal.

There were six shootings in the same 24 hour period with two fatalities. The only firearm event that had a good outcome was the one where an armed citizen protected himself. The idea that armed citizens present a hazard to other citizens has not be proven, in fact in areas where carry permits are allowed violent crime has decreased.

The timing of this “Trust the criminal” mantra is curious. It comes at a time when Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam needs all the help he can get. More charitable people may believe that Mayor Haslam just did not read the fine print on Michael Bloomberg’s Anti-gun movement before he signed on. Mayor Haslam’s slow response to explain the situation causes doubt. 120 Mayors across American have joined Bloomberg. Currently only one Mayor in Tennessee has signed on.

Some people might ask why would anyone be concerned about illegal guns? The logic is only criminals use illegal guns so getting illegal guns off the street makes perfect sense doesn’t it? No, it doesn’t. The hidden trap door of this movement is incrementalism. In the beginning it is more and tougher gun registration laws. Then as time goes on it may be a limit to the number of guns a citizen may possess. Then perhaps an urban ban on handguns. At some point it will be pointed out that most illegal guns come from home burglaries. As the tortured logic unravels then the end game will become clear. The only way to insure there are no illegal guns is to make sure there are no guns period.

What is an illegal gun? Depends on who you ask. If Mr. Bloomberg has his way will the definition expand to include all guns?

Here is my advice, don’t trust the criminal and don’t trust the billionaire Mayor of New York who wishes to disarm law abiding citizens.
Read the rest of this entry »

WBIR:

The FBI says its computer system that quickly screens gun buyers’ backgrounds for criminal activity has crashed several times over the past two days.

An FBI spokesman says a technical glitch had the system on the blink for up to a half-hour yesterday and today, potentially allowing buyers to purchase firearms without being screened. He says the problem is being worked on and called it “a performance issue that we’ve never encountered before.”

Tennessee has its own. Any locals have any problems?

The Gun Nut:

If the NYPD starts shooting at people who actually shoot back, they are going to run out of ammunition.

I think it was Carlos Mencia who (jokingly) opined that we should teach gang bangers marksmanship instead of the spray and pray method they tend to use now. That way, the only casualties in their turf wars would be other gang bangers. Well, the police (I hope think) would get that kind of training.

The Gun Nut is also asking you help the NYPD out:

And so I call on you, my fellow gun enthusiasts, to lend a hand to New York’s Finest. If you have a spare box, or a case, of 9mm lying around, send it to people who need it more than you do. The address is:

Commissioner Raymond Kelly
New York City Police Department
One Police Plaza
New York, New York

Cam has one.

Couple things:

I’m a Democrat – and gun control is for the birds

Election Wasn’t a Vote for Gun Control

I was thinking for a while about doing a post on media gun coverage where I take the word they use and translate it into gun nut English. It was on the to-do list but I never got around to it. For example:

When they say High-Powered

They mean regular

Sample usage: The suspect used a high-powered rifle in the commission of a murder.

Translated: The suspect used a regular rifle in a murder.

Well, Marc has given me a good start for the list:

Modified (something was bolted on?) Scary!

Les has the skinny on (and pics of) the new slimline Glock. Les thinks it could be Glock’s answer the the Joint Combat Pistol. Regardless, it looks sharp.