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!