#2: The H&K MK23 is so named because it’s operators must have 23 inch biceps to wield the foot long, four pound monstrosity.

Gun sales on the rise!

Reader Tim asks, re: the sign below, the following:

Would anyone take a position that the language of this firearm prohibition sign is substantially similar to that language specified by TCA 39-17-1359(a)? I would say it is NOT substantially similar and as such a person with a handgun carry permit could legally carry in this park. The following is the applicable TN Code:

39-17-1359. Prohibition at certain meetings — Posting notice. (a) An individual, corporation, business entity or local, state or federal government entity or agent thereof is authorized to prohibit the possession of weapons by any person otherwise authorized by §§ 39-17-1351 — 39-17-1360, at meetings conducted by, or on property owned, operated, or managed or under the control of the individual, corporation, business entity or government entity. Notice of the prohibition shall be posted. Posted notices shall be displayed in prominent locations, including all entrances primarily used by persons entering the building, portion of the building or buildings where weapon possession is prohibited. If the possession of weapons is also prohibited on the premises of the property as well as within the confines of a building located on the property, the notice shall be posted at all entrances to the premises that are primarily used by persons entering the property. The notice shall be in English but a notice may also be posted in any language used by patrons, customers or persons who frequent the place where weapon possession is prohibited. In addition to the sign, notice may also include the international circle and slash symbolizing the prohibition of the item within the circle. The sign shall be of a size that is plainly visible to the average person entering the building, premises or property and shall contain language substantially similar to the following:

PURSUANT TO § 39-17-1359, THE OWNER/OPERATOR OF THIS PROPERTY HAS BANNED WEAPONS ON THIS PROPERTY, OR WITHIN THIS BUILDING OR THIS PORTION OF THIS BUILDING. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS PROHIBITION IS PUNISHABLE AS A CRIMINAL ACT UNDER STATE LAW AND MAY SUBJECT THE VIOLATOR TO A FINE OF NOT MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($500).

Ronnie Barrett responds by saying that he will not sell or service rifles to law-breakers. Good.

Lying then or lying now? Who cares:

Late last year, in response to a Politico story about Obama’s answers to the original questionnaire, his aides said he “never saw or approved” the questionnaire.

They asserted the responses were filled out by a campaign aide who “unintentionally mischaracterize(d) his position.”

But a Politico examination determined that Obama was actually interviewed about the issues on the questionnaire by the liberal Chicago non-profit group that issued it. And it found that Obama – the day after sitting for the interview – filed an amended version of the questionnaire, which appears to contain Obama’s own handwritten notes adding to one answer

Update: More and some stuff on Clinton:

Who’d ever have dreamed that someday the two leading Democratic presidential candidates would be claiming they supported the Second Amendment individual right? (Both have fallen back to “but we can regulate it”).

I’ve been involved in this issue for decades, and so have a long term view. It’s been steadily downhill for the other side.

Read it all.

Alan Korwin and David Hardy both opine.

Looks like victory is at hand.

Relax everybody, miniature black holes will not kill us all.

David Hardy’s film, In Search of the Second Amendment,will be shown at the Back Lot Film Festival.

NRA tells you how.

Busy. Late start. Blah, blah. Some stuff:

DEA loses 90 weapons.

Kriss.

Guns in slow motion.

Assault Weapons hysteria continues to spread. You should enter that story into a google news search and note how many places it comes up.

You were supposed to turn out the lights damn it.

How can we save the planet if you can’t remember the simplest things?

Does this look like solidarity?

The Uncle household contains 14 trash cans.

I don’t know why but last night I decided to count them.

Update: I mentioned it to the wife. I was wrong. We have 16.

Update: Up to 17 now if you count the one under the shredder.

TSA’s policy made the other biased Washington paper.

Last weekend, my buddy in Baghdad called. We were chatting away. He tells me that he’s going the next day to set off some ordnance. I ask him about it. He says he’s going to destroy some ammo. I say what kind. He says it was all kinds of military rounds, including 9mm, 5.56, 7.62, etc. About 200,000 rounds of it. It’s dangerous, just sitting around. I did some quick math and, at what I recently paid for 200 rounds of 5.56 (about $0.40 per round, btw), realized they were blowing up $80K worth of ammo. That’s just stupid. Mail that stuff home. Civilians want that surplus ammo.

Glenn Reynolds mentioned the Aptera. About three weeks ago, I saw on Pellissippi Parkway a three wheeled futuristic looking car. It was bright red. I thought it was odd and I was curious. I went home and some combination of googling three-wheeled vehicles lead me to believe it was an Aptera. The vehicle I saw sat two in the front. Anyway, turns out Aptera only has prototypes in Cali and all Aptera’s are white. So, obviously, what I saw was not an Aptera. Anyone know of a similar looking vehicle? Or, better yet, any of you seen a similar car around Knoxville/Blount County?

Larry (of Because you suck and we hate you fame) is addressing the HK Fanboys: here and here. Good stuff.

HK Fan Boy Fact: Most HK Fan Boys have never fired an HK.

Gun Control in NY: Brought to you by Irish gangsters driven crazy by syphilis!

Women must never touch guns!

I’m with Guav, take her off the sex offender registry and give her a medal.

The country formerly known as Great Britain.

Background here, here, and here.

Here’s pics.

The Airline Pilots Security Alliance has issues a statement (confirming what I said all along) that TSA policy is to blame:

Airline pilots and federal flight deck officers (FFDO) say ill-conceived TSA weapons handling rules were to blame for the accidental discharge of a pilot’s firearm in the cockpit of a US Airways jet last weekend.

Federal officers familiar with the investigation say they repeatedly warned TSA officials that an unprecedented TSA requirement that pilots take off and lock up their guns before leaving the cockpit is manifestly unsafe and would result in accidents.

“The pilot was trying to lock his gun and remove the holster in an airplane going 300 miles per hour in preparation for landing and the padlock depressed the trigger,” said a federal flight deck officer who declined to be identified. “TSA knew this could happen but didn’t get rid of the requirement.” . . . .

TSA policy requires unnecessary handling of the weapon which will of course increase the likelihood of an accidental or negligent discharge. Can the TSA get anything right? Brent questions TSA’s motives.

Via John Lott.

Update: Michael Bane has more.

A gaggle of 357 wheel guns.

And holy crap:

Look out, she may have a bomb on those nips:

A Texas woman who claims she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.

Pliers? Ouch.

Mike Faulk is running for state senate, fourth district. I met him at one of the blogger bashes. He’s a nice guy.

Xenu sold separately.

A four part series on training at Front Sight: one, two, three, four.

A discussion of the language of the second amendment.

You didn’t think I was going to go a day without poking fun of he who shall not be middle-named, did you?

Barack Wayne Obama seems to be weathering the polls despite the whole crazy reverend thing. Such an incident would have spelled the end of Barack Butros Butros Obama’s presidential bid if there was an R after his name.

Someone you know!

Richard A. Benton:

There is one thing gun lovers won’t understand. It is very simple. The word that sums it up is: Technology.

Really? Have you seen some of the gun stuff today? Like red dot sights, guns that shoot around corners, etc. Seems we understand it fine.

And:

You can go on and on ad nauseam about mental health, drugs, depression, revenge, etc. But when push comes to shove, if there were no guns on this planet (and I mean all guns ) military, civilian — all) how would they respond to their dilemma?

Like they did before guns brought us civilization: pure brute force.

Only 70%?

Bummer. I thought one of the anti-gunners may have grown a set.

About six months ago, the press was All AK-47 All The Time!!!!! Now, it has returned.

Some variation of the same article can be seen here, here, here and here. And I’m sure there are more. Some snippets:

But it was unremarkable in that one of the guns brandished was an AK-47-type rifle — a powerful, rapid-fire weapon that has long been used in Third World conflicts but is increasingly being used in American street fights.

The rifle fires the 7.62×39 cartridge, which is an intermediate power round. The version seen in the use is not a rapid-fire weapon, it is a semi-automatic weapon that fires as fast as any semi-auto hunting rifle. And the ones used in third world conflicts are machine guns. Looks like the press is taking dictation from the Violence Policy Center again.

Figures from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, obtained by The Associated Press through public records requests, show a marked increase in the number of AK-type weapons traced and entered into the agency’s computer database because they had been seized or connected to a crime.

Ah, the press qualifier of figures show. Then show me the figures! After all, the instances of these weapons being used in crimes has always been inconsequential (less than 1% if you include all semi-automatic weapons classified as assault weapons under the now defunct assault weapons ban). And, as the ATF says, a trace does not indicate a gun crime.

The number of such tracings rose even while the federal assault weapons ban was in effect and has continued to climb since its expiration.

Unpossible!! The ban was supposed to stop all that!

Since 1993, the year before the ban took affect, ATF has recorded a more than sevenfold increase in 7.62×39mm guns — which includes the original Russian-made AK-47 and a variety of copycats from around the world. The number of AK-type guns rose from 1,140 in 1993 to 8,547 last year.

Unpossible!! There had to have been a decrease during the ban. Bans always work. And no, the original Russian-made AK-47 is illegal in this country because it is a machine gun. And the semi-auto versions are illegal too as they are unlawful to import due to the sporting purposes clauses. There’s gratuitous mention of the Omaha mall shooting and it being an AK-47. That’s odd since the AP (who also is pushing this piece) said the mall shooter used an SKS, which is not an AK variant.

After telling us the ban didn’t work they go on to tell us the ban worked. I don’t get that, myself. And they quote a study from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership. And note that the alleged study from Brady contradicts everything this article just said about trace data. So, I’m confused.

This is just a hit piece on politically incorrect self-loading firearms. With Heller at the SCOTUS, expect more. The anti-gunners have a lot to lose and know that. The antis are trying to win in public opinion and their cohorts in the press are quite happy to take dictation and repeat lies and misleading statements as fact.

Sebastian calls it a hit piece and also thinks that it is not accidental.

Update: Same reporter wrote something similar in September 07. Via David.

People wonder what Gura was doing. Well, he has a bit on Heller here.

In comments here, Marko (who looks like a young Rutger Hauer – seriously check out the pic in the upper right) says:

You can lock and unlock the weapon without ever removing it from the holster, and the holster is designed so that the bar of the lock (or the handcuff, for cop use) goes behind the trigger, not in front of it.

The pilot in question removed the weapon from the holster and manipulated the trigger, that’s all. It didn’t discharge by accident while he was trying to lock or unlock it. I’ve sold a few of the holsters in question, so I’m pretty confident about how they work.

Now, I’m not familiar with the holster in question and that may be correct. However, TSA’s policy of stowing the weapon adds unnecessary gun handling into the equation. And that is problematic. Additionally, the photo of the holster in question (seen here) looks to me like it is possible for the lock to come into contact with the trigger. The guy was stowing the weapon (which he was doing per this article) in accordance with policy. That’s an unnecessary bit of handling of a firearm. The only time the pilot should handle the gun is when it’s being drawn to fire. Otherwise, it should remain holstered and out of sight.

From Jay:

Not when it comes to government, constitutional rights and civics. Unfortunately for Heather Martens, she’s ignorant of all three.

You left out understanding sentence structure.

Rusty has a round up

Aunt B. on the obvious. Seriously, I’m trying to find that guy who keeps killing the oldest person in the world. He strikes like every two weeks and you read it in the news. Is no one else concerned?

nataliedee.com

I laughed hard. Via Breda.

He wasn’t gone long. AC Kleinheider of the now defunct Volunteer Voters has a new gig. He’ll be part of the problem at the Nashville Post.

Like a bullpup rifle and a bayonet.

Tom has a theory on music appreciation. If he is correct, I am definitely part of the same group he’s in.

I have a theory on music application. If a white person/band covers a song originally performed by a black person/band, they will speed it up (exhibit a)

If a black person/band covers a song originally performed by a white person/band, they will slow it down (exhibit b).

Discuss.

An email from an old friend:

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going back to Medal of Honor, where the guns used are more accurately portrayed than in any AP story.

Oh, and a while back? When I wasn’t blogging much? I was busy taking sniper fire.

I don’t care who you are, that’s funny.

BTW, seems she really was dodging it. There’s video!

ATF Agent Tom Mangan is at it again. You may be asking yourself: Where do I know that guy? Here’s a hint.

Barack Oswald Obama’s campaign on why the Senator did not sign onto the Congressional brief with 55 other colleagues asking the Supreme Court to find the DC gun ban violates the second amendment:

Barack Obama believes the Second Amendment creates an individual right, and he greatly respects the constitutional right of Americans to bear arms. He also believes that the Constitution permits state and local governments to adopt reasonable and common-sense gun-safety measures.

So, he thinks that a complete ban on handguns, a ban on any use of a firearm for self-defense, and the requirement that long-guns be rendered inoperable are all reasonable and common-sense gun-safety measures.

A while back, The Tennessean decided it would publish a database of people who held handgun carry permits. Oopsy ensued and they pulled it. Seems people didn’t like their private particulars published. Now, our state legislature is pushing a bill to seal those records:

The records of everyone licensed to carry a handgun in Tennessee would be sealed from public view by a proposal working its way through the legislature.

The bill, sponsored by state Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, and state Rep. Eddie Bass, D-Prospect, would make Tennessee the 28th state in the nation to make secret its list of residents who have applied for or received a handgun-carry or concealed-carry permit. Several other states have similar bills in the works.

Such legislation keeps popping up in states where some idiot (like Christian Trejbal) decides to publish this stuff. Thanks to the Tennessean, that’s looking to be the case in our state soon. Tennessee’s law goes a bit further:

Tennessee takes its privacy plans a step further – threatening journalists with jail time if they publish information from the permit records…

Wow.

An Editorial in Bristol notes:

Last month, an investigative television reporter in Nashville reported that the state of Tennessee had issued gun-carry permits to convicted felons, including a child rapist.

First I’ve heard of it. Anyone have a link? Continuing:

That’s because the Tennessee Department of Safety admitted that it accepted at face value an applicant’s word that he or she had not been convicted of a felony.

Really? Because they are required by law to do background checks. So, I find that odd. Anyway, on to the meat of the article:

Under proposed legislation slated to go before the Tennessee Senate today, reporter Phil Williams of WTVF-NewsChannel 5 would be subject to a Class E felony for airing that report. His punishment upon conviction? Up to several years in prison and a large fine.

You read that right: A handful of Tennessee legislators essentially are trying to use the Second Amendment to blast away at the First Amendment.

Forgive me for not being too sympathetic since the press has been using the first amendment to blast away the second for a while. I mean, there’s whole blogs dedicated to that subject. Continuing:

The gun-permit law appears to be a ploy to punish the media for the prior sins of two newspapers – The Tennessean in Nashville and The Roanoke Times in Virginia. Both published online searchable databases of gun-permit holders before quickly removing the data. In Roanoke’s case, it published the names and home addresses of law enforcement officers and judges.

It was a boneheaded decision made in the name of open government, but the First Amendment doesn’t just protect intelligent judgments made in newsrooms.

I concur and it is boneheaded. But I still have a great deal of trouble mustering up any bit of sympathy at all since daily newspapers are filled with editorials and screeds about how various things involving guns should be illegal and people should go to jail for them. You know, little technical things. When it comes to gun laws, the enthusiast acts at his peril.

Now, don’t get my wrong, the jail time thing is dumb. But when you have idiotic decisions made by editorial boards that threaten someone’s privacy and safety, people get a little snippy and react.

Hillary: I am proud of my earmarks… Part of the reason that I won New York by 67 percent are my earmarks.

And I recall reading that she was the biggest porker in the Senate (not a fat joke, those would be directed at Kennedy).

Ebay is rabidly anti-gun. No guns. Or stuff that looks guns. Or ammo. Or stuff that looks like ammo. And they own Paypal, who won’t even let you say gun. In fact, I canceled my account with them after they told me to jump through hoops after a money transfer that involved the lawful sale and purchase of a firearm. But switchblade knives are OK, which is odd because the interstate shipment of those is illegal.

I thought I was the only certified PSH to English translator.

They have a site now. Here’s a an article on it. Via Ben.

Countertop says blogging about guns increases traffic. BTW, ever gonna get a range report for a certain firearm? But so does blogging about scantily clad women. Internet memes. And lots of other stuff

I mean, yesterday I linked to some good gun porn and a Salon with scantily clad stylists. Who do you think I sent more traffic to?

In Pennsylvania, it will be a sticky issue for them:

Guns are an especially potent issue in Pennsylvania, which is home to 300,000 members of the National Rifle Association — the highest per capita NRA membership in the country, according to Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. A 2002 Quinnipiac University poll found that 42 percent of Pennsylvania households have guns, including 54 percent of union households, a key Democratic constituency.

Gun issues also stir up passions in Pennsylvania for another very different reason. Philadelphia has experienced an epidemic of gun killings: 331 people were shot to death last year, 321 with handguns.

We’ll see how they dance around this one. We all know that Barack Bon Jovi Obama has never seen a gun control he didn’t like. He and Hillary have both supported all the various pipe dreams of gun control.

Firing a 20mm rifle.

New Rock River AR-15 forearm. I dig it.

Colt Single Action Army.

Sebastian reports the real variety is happening here and here. Good. They have stones

Meanwhile, stone-less Bryan Miller can’t let those pesky comments that don’t fit the narrative in.

A less than sympathetic look at Barack Rodham Obama’s tax returns. Elected to office and your income increases eight-fold? Senators don’t make that much.

People don’t like to voluntarily consent to searches and seizures? Who knew?

How to unintentionally commit a gun crime!

Ya know, I was wondering, as someone who owns a Ruger 10/22, if I purchased a new Ruger Charger, if the ATF could charge me with constructive possession of an unregistered short barreled rifle?

Oh, the things we gunnies have to worry about.

Tennessee’s AG has released an gambling opinion. It is here. Some store in Memphis said that if Memphis wins the title, then the store will give you your furniture free. So, some legislator asked the AG if this was gambling as defined. The AG says of course it is.

Scholar & blogger Clayton Cramer is running for office in Idaho.

Guns are not good for punching holes in exterior walls. Know your target and what’s behind it.

However, they can be used to open beer.

Poor Alex. So sad.

A quick shoutout to Bob Ricker of the American Hunters and Shooters Association.

I see you reading. Going on about 15 minutes now. Anything good?

Hillsy, in an effort to give herself some CIC street cred since people are finally starting to actually say that being married to the actual Commander in Chief isn’t exactly experience in the event the phone rings at 3 in the morning, made a itty-bitty, teeny-weeny mistake and misremembered being in Cambodia in 1968. Err, no. That’s not it. Oh, that she was taking sniper fire. That’s it.

And the story kinda came undone by Sinbad of all people. Yeah, that Sinbad. The one who took issue with having a white guy (who was actually mixed race) play Barack Jong-il Obama on SNL. As oppose to the Sinbad that rode a Roc and beat up a Cyclops once. I’ll let you decide which Sinbad is cooler.

Anyway, she now says she misspoke and that she says so much stuff that it’s hard to keep up. And her Story’s Still Changing: But so what, Right Wing Haters? It’s just getting better, more truthful, and more filled with pulse-pounding action-adventure and executive experience with each retelling.

There will be tears. Oh yes, there will be tears.

In an update to this, seems it may be accidental. And by accidental, I mean caused by policy:

The insane procedures required by the TSA demands that our pilots to lock and then un-lock their .40 side arms was and is a solid recipe for disaster. Did the TSA deliberately create this bizarre and unconventional Rube Goldberg firearm retention system hoping for this result? The sordid history of the FAA and TSA’s total resistance to the concept of arming pilots to protect Americans is in itself a scandal.

Putting a gun into a holster and then threading a padlock through the trigger and trigger-guard is required every time the pilots enter or leave the cockpit. This kind of silliness has never been forced on any law enforcement or security officers anywhere in the world until now. Before this holster padlock procedure pilots with guns were forced to carry them around in a cumbersome 22 pound vault. The vault caused problems in the confined space of most cockpits.

FFDO pilots need to carry their side arms in conventional concealed holsters and there is no reason for the unnecessary handling of their firearms in the cockpits.

Trigger locks? No kidding? And Flight Deck Officers carry HKs. So, how do I collect?

WBIR is looking for bloggers!

An added bonus to gun ownership is that it may keep the Europeans out:

“Mr Le Mière said that the US had fallen down the scale, although it still scored an average of 93 out of 100, partly because of the proliferation of small arms owned by Americans and the threat to the population posed by the flow of drugs from across the Mexican border.”

Via Michael Silence, we learn of Knoxville’s Gentlemen’s Top Cuts. Seems someone thought that it would be a good idea to have a salon with scantily clad women cut men’s hair (duh!). They have a lot of pics there and they have a blog with pics and video.

Hell, I might start going. And it’s not for the scantily clad women. See, read their services. They offer something I’ve not seen done in years: the pre-haircut and post-haircut shampoo! And, you know, the neck massage. But, seriously, I get a cut and get hair all over and am itchy all day because at some point recently, stylists stopped doing the shampoo thing. That is why they’ll succeed. Well, that and the scantily-clad women.

I’d never though of it that way before but a good way to look at things: Confusing Action and Achievement.

Buried quietly at the bottom of this article on warrantless searches, I saw this:

In the second case, the court will consider Randy Edward Hayes’ argument that the government was wrong to charge him with violating a federal law barring people convicted in domestic violence cases from possessing firearms.

In 1994, Hayes pleaded guilty in Marion County, W.Va., to the minor crime of battery following an incident in which his wife was the victim.

In 2004, police responded to a domestic violence call from Hayes’s home and found a Winchester rifle. They later discovered that he had possessed at least four other rifles following his 1994 guilty plea.

Hayes was indicted on federal charges of possessing firearms following conviction of misdemeanor domestic violence, a reference to the 1994 case.

Last year, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., agreed with Hayes’s argument that the language of the West Virginia law on battery in the 1994 case needed to contain specific wording about a domestic relationship between the offender and the victim.

In the Justice Department brief asking the Supreme Court to hear the case, the solicitor general said nine other appeals courts have rejected the interpretation adopted by the appeals court in Richmond.

So, after Heller, there’s an opportunity to decide the scope of reasonable restrictions on domestic violence? I thought I was on to something but realized others beat me to it.

My thoughts? If Hayes can’t be trusted with a gun, then he can’t be trusted with a car, some gas, a golf club, or a pointy stick.

I saw via GLN that there are two new anti-gun blogs: Mondays With Mike and Bullet Counter Points, both affiliated with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (they originally formed to ban handguns). When I saw them, I thought to myself: Self, Reasoned Discourse^tm is about to break out.

Well, it already has.

A look at stopping power.

A look at penetration.

And a while back my dad (who I recently found is reading this site – say hi if you want) told me that his group was testing bullet proof windows on cars. Guess what could penetrate those? (hint: it’s something readily available to a police force)

Update: Answer in comments. So, if you want to guess, you have been warned.

Good thing it wasn’t a 50 caliber or it would have killed everyone on the plane!

Apparently, a pilot had a negligent discharge on a plane (the press uses words like accidental and the gun went off, both phrases that have roughly a 99.1%* chance of being utter bullshit). PGP has more. I think initial reports were that this was an Air Marshal’s weapon. Now, most places say it was the pilot.

* note: when making up statistics, I’ve found adding one decimal place makes them more believable. Adding 2 decimal points just makes you look all preachy up your own ass. But, seriously, it’s very uncommon for a weapon to just go off. To just go off requires mechanical failure that simply isn’t seen often enough in modern handguns. Well, unless the discharged involved someone in a uniform and then it happens all the time! Amazing. Hmmm, I wonder if one could, since we’re making up stats, run an R² on discharges near uniforms. It’s official: the note is now longer than the post. That was fun. Made you look. But seriously, accident my ass.

Update: R. Neal: how much you want to bet it was a Glock? Well, we’ve all heard of Glock Leg. I guess this could be Glock Plane. But Glock Leg is 100% caused by failure to keep your booger-hook off the bang-switch.

Update 2: In commments, Tam says:

If it was an FDO it was an HK, not a Glock.

You don’t get to tote whatever you want on the flight deck. You get to carry an HK with the LEM trigger. (In other words, a light double action with no manual safety.)

Once again, ColtCCO has his last and final rifle. Only this time, he means it. Just like last time. And the time before that. Well, until something else shiny comes along.

So, guy breaks the law. It must be a loophole or skirting or something. It can’t just be that he broke the law, illegally while committing a crime. I mean, that’s just too easy:

They also seized a laptop believed to have been used by Bowens to make the illicit purchases dating to March, when he obtained a federal firearms license. Bowens’ license, however, entitled him only to buy collectible firearms and historic relics, which are usually not capable of firing bullets. Apparently he found a way to skirt those rules and purchase deadly weapons, turning them into profit.

By skirt they mean, of course, ignore. And by found a way, they mean did it anyway.

The two handguns he purchased this week for a total of $260 could easily fetch twice that much on the black market, said ATF Special Agent Joseph Green.

And by black market, they mean in New York.

Update: Oops. Link added.

Short version.

Long version.

* Inspired by Roger who has a transcript of Kmiec’s non-endorsement endorsement. Henceforth and forever, I will add some tin pot dictator’s middle name to his until Obama has lost or I run out of tin pot dictators.

Feds stifling open government in VA?

This past Friday, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a Freedom of Information Act suit against the Virginia Department of State Police in an effort to uncover whether the federal government has been interfering in the state’s open government legislation. EPIC suspects that the feds are trying to use the state police to pressure the Virginia legislature into passing a bill that will put limits on the state’s open government laws and will encourage citizens to inform on one another by protecting anonymous tipsters from defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuits.

writing the second clause. Could have just stopped stopped at state. Then it would make absolute sense.

Let’s mix a gun control debate with a semantic debate, and see what happens. At issue here: Whether a pro-gun ruling in Heller would recognize a “new” Constitutional right. I’m still slogging through the comments, but so far this one is among the best (after the fold):
Read the rest of this entry »

By stating we make arguments that we never make and saying we believe things we don’t believe:

Dellinger is undoubtedly aware of these dangers. His two grandchildren likely spend more time in his home than armed criminals. It is mystifying that Chief Justice Roberts, who has two young children, is not equally aware of why kids and guns are a bad mix.

Really? Via Sebastian.

Fingerprint Technology speeds up gun permits:

A digital machine that quickly zips fingerprint images to the state crime lab is being added to Whitfield County Probate Court to expedite issuing gun permits.

“It speeds up the process by light years,” said Probate Judge Ray Broadrick. “I’m like a kid with a new toy.”

Fingerprints are part of the criminal background check required to get a gun permit.

The process of getting a gun permit in Whitfield County used to take up to six months when the ink-on-paper method was used. State law requires gun permits be issued within 60 days.

Catoosa and Walker counties also use digital fingerprint machines at the sheriff’s departments.

Catoosa Probate Judge Gene Lowery said the lag time when sending ink/paper prints to the state crime lab was up to eight months, which angered many gun permit applicants.

Actually, no on that last part. State was required to get them to you in 90 days whether they were done doing a check or not. Oops, turns out the article is about Georgia and not TN. And it’s kinda funny that, here in America, gun permit = to carry. In other areas, gun permit = to own.

Taylor Lee Olson, the accused killer of Johnia Berry, committed suicide early Monday morning.

The man charged in the murder of Johnia Berry has died, his attorney confirms.

Twenty-two-year-old Taylor Lee Olson was being held in the Knox County Detention Center. His attorney, Greg Isaacs says Olson committed suicide early Monday morning.

Isaacs says he will release a full statement later Monday.

In a bit of irony, it seems that a big government law and order liberal got busted by some big government law and ordering. So reports News Week:

The Patriot Act gave the FBI new powers to snoop on suspected terrorists. In the fine print were provisions that gave the Treasury Department authority to demand more information from banks about their customers’ financial transactions. Congress wanted to help the Feds identify terrorist money launderers. But Treasury went further. It issued stringent new regulations that required banks themselves to look for unusual transactions (such as odd patterns of cash withdrawals or wire transfers) and submit SARs—Suspicious Activity Reports—to the government. Facing potentially stiff penalties if they didn’t comply, banks and other financial institutions installed sophisticated software to detect anomalies among millions of daily transactions. They began ranking the risk levels of their customers—on a scale of zero to 100—based on complex formulas that included the credit rating, assets and profession of the account holder.

And it wasn’t just evidence that continued to mount.

So, Spitzer puns still funny?

Terry Frank has a round up of Eminent Domain issues in Tennessee.

Good thing they have those or someone might have gotten hurt.

against gun owners?

The pants shitting hysteria continues over painted guns.

Peter Hamm of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership: Police officers need to be able to defend themselves and the rest of us, and they need the weapons to do so.

Come on, Petey, you keep telling us these weapons serve no purpose other than killing as many people as quickly as possible.

Thirdpower notes the amazing powers that police have over these weapons.

USCitizen has more.

He might like the idea:

New Zealand Bans Forms of Political Satire

Apparently, Kiwi politicians were upset at the media for broadcasting images of government ministers appearing to sleep at their desks or making rude gestures. But it wasn’t just members of the governing party who were saying “no humor allowed” — only six members of the 121-seat parliament voted against the measure.

This seems like one of those things that politicians do because they can but often come to regret mightily later.

Not only is the move unpopular with the people of New Zealand (in a recent poll, 71 percent said they opposed the ban), but it probably won’t help the country’s image in the larger world. I can just imagine what the Australians (who make fun of Kiwis endlessly anyway) will do with it — or someone like Jon Stewart or those great British comedy shows.

Reasons you should attend the Second Amendment Blog Bash.

FNAR.

Saiga Conversions.

S&W.

The American Dream is Not Dead; It Just Speaks Spanish Now.

Why we win: You can watch some idiot engage Clayton Cramer in a debate on gun rights. She says there are cases that support her view and Cramer says name one. She can’t. Seems she doesn’t get too involved in what those pesky courts say.

Paul Helmke on is historic ass-kicking.

Bitter says it’s the first step and not the last.

Confederate Yankee notes that the press is still harping about the war leading to an ammo shortage for police even though that story is false.

This guy sent me a link to his page. Apparently, he says the DOJ is lying and engaged in misconduct. But I can’t find a quick synopsis of events. Anyone have a clue?

Today is also our anniversary. It apparently will not fall on Easter Sunday again for 108 years. Well, that’s according to my dad.

I got a comment from Bob Ricker, executive director of the anti-gun American Hunters and Shooters Association. Go say ‘hi’ if you want since he says that since that post only has 7 comments, there’s not many gun rights supporters. Ah, to live in Bob’s world.

They looked at my passport too! And, strangely, no one cared.

Heh:

Lauer Custom Weaponry, whose products were banned in the city in 2006 because they make dangerous guns look like innocent toys, is taunting the anti-gun mayor with a line of paints named “The Bloomberg Collection.”

The company – which named its purple hue after Barney, the dinosaur beloved by toddlers – is peddling a rainbow of candy-colored paints for each of the five boroughs.

There’s red for Manhattan, rose for the Bronx, blue for Brooklyn, green for Queens and orange for Staten Island.

And as an extra slap – a stencil of the mayor’s face for the barrel of the gun.

And, no, there’s no media bias against guns in this article! Like this:

A Wisconsin company that disguises deadly firearms with bright paints and camouflage has a new target: Mayor Bloomberg.

Disguises? Are you loopy?

BTW, here’s their webpage. And here’s the Bloomberg Collection.

Seen at Radley’s: On a site where government agencies advertise bids for private contractors, the ATF advertises for a Leatherman Micra engraved with the words “always think forfeiture.” You know, in case any of its agents forget what’s really important.