Michael Silence does some reporting:

I put a call into Haslam to get some response, and he graciously called me back. He said in retrospect he probably should not have signed a petition by the anti-gun group. But he noted at that time the first four or five goals of the group were planks “anyone would agree with. Too many of the wrong people have guns.”

After that, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg got involved in the group. “I’m not him,” Haslam said, adding the group “did go a different direction than I thought.” And he added, “I had no intention then and no intention now to change any gun laws.” And he added he “fully supports the Second Amendment.”

Good. But:

Haslam didn’t directly answer the question if he would quit the group. But he did express concern that that would appear to be “pandering” to pro-gun folks.

He should pander to us. We vote.

Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam is running for governor. He belongs to a an anti-gun group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which keeps having members exit. One of his gubernatorial opponents says:

As for the Second Amendment, he parts ways with Mayor Haslam, comparing the idea of suing gun manufacturers for crime (which Haslam has gone on record supporting) akin to suing automobile manufactures for DUIs.

Now, I’ve followed the Haslam thing for a while. And I have never heard Haslam go on record as supporting that ridiculous notion. In fact, he has distanced himself from Bloomberg recently. The only way I know of that one could assert that is by his membership in Mayors Against Guns, who, as part of their platform, support that ridiculous idea.

Once again, Mr. Haslam, another reason to quit the group.

Clenched fist salute to AC.

The ATF arrested an Upper Receiver. Yes, ATF was ordered to arrest a gun part.

Interesting how ATF concludes it is readily convertible:

[A]ll it took was some metal, a length of chain, some duct tape and some plastic wire ties for the federal inspectors to make his gun part operate in that fashion [full auto - ed], he said he was told.

Wow, first shoestrings. Now chain, tape and wire ties. ZOMG. I have all that in my house. Clearly, that indicates constructive possession.

Update: Back story from David Hardy: BATFE originally ruled that the item was not a firearm, let alone an NFA one; it was a conversion kit. After Len gave some expert testimony in several cases against the agency, it reversed its ruling and held that the kit was an NFA firearm.

NE city repeals gun ban.

Gillibrand faces crossfire on guns:

Kirsten Gillibrand, a newly minted senator, finds herself in something of a tug of war because of her positions on gun control legislation.

Downstate gun control advocates are expressing cautious optimism that Gillibrand, despite her 100 percent rating from the National Rifle Association, will temper her views now that she represents the entire state. Her Senate colleague, fellow Democrat Charles Schumer, has supported Gillibrand’s appointment, but he predicted “her views would evolve” on gun control.

Odd how Schumer and Clinton never wanted to temper their views to represent the entire state?

Say you do a post on guns. You get substantially everything wrong, including gun laws, types of guns, and everything else. Someone advises you of your error. You reply with:

I’ve been harassed by a commentor (sic).
So, I’ve had to pull the story.

And what a story it was. There can be no reasoning with some people.

Note: Believe it or not, there actually is a blog post buried under every annoying blog widget known to Al Gore’s Internets.

So, are The Beastie Boys now The Beastie Forty Somethings? Are Boyz II Men now just Men? And Young MC, is he now Old MC? These are the thoughts that keep me up at night.

Yesterday, I scored an AR-15 lower receiver at a very reasonable price. What should I build with it? I’m thinking about doing a 6.8SPC build once Bison Armory gets their barrels up and running.

Tam looks at simplification of your collection.

Could be. In comments, BH link to this:

At the news conference, Ms. Gillibrand defended her pro-gun legislative stance, saying that she “very much believes in protecting hunter’s rights” and that the pastime is part of “heritage and culture” of New York state.

But she also said that now that she represented the entire state, urban gun control issues would become part of her advocacy work.

“There’s a lot of concerns in many of our city communities about gun violence, about keeping our children safe and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals,” she said. “Those are concerns I share.”

Looks like she is catering to the NYC crowd since they have the money. Bitter advocates supporting her candidacy. I probably would assuming she clears up what she means by the statements above.

Update: I should note that her statements do not indicate a flip per se. However, the NYT spin of her words indicate otherwise. After all, keeping our children safe and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals is something most folks agree with. It’s just how you do that which is the point of contention.

50 Caliber penetration tests.

Part of the reason trace data should be taken with a grain of salt:

“Officer, I am carrying a firearm in compliance with North Carolina law.” So began my exchange during a traffic stop. (Sorry, I have a lead foot.) He replied, “May I have it, sir?” Since this was before I knew enough to say “no,” I complied. The officer then took my gun to his car, traced it and, finding nothing amiss, returned it to me. MAIG’s report would have you believe my gun is a “crime gun” because it would be included in the gun trace reports on which its study is based.

Therein lies the scam: Although gun control advocates call gun tracing a measure of crime, traced guns are not necessarily “crime guns.” Says the Congressional Research Service: “Trace requests are not accurate indicators of specified crimes…traces may be requested for a variety of reasons not necessarily related to criminal incidents.” Indeed, BATFE encourages police to trace all guns encountered.

I have a few crime guns myself

You had me at M = e^{7.06×10-17t – 10.8}

Rocket surgeon Sarah explains why and she has math.

Note: The French theme today was not planned but sometimes it happens.

A few frightening bits from Ben Cunningham. First, a taxpayer funded group lists a job position that is responsible for:

developing a national strategy for combating anti-government/anti-tax efforts

And most TN counties are members of the group.

Well, they were last night, I suppose. Addressing ammo serialization.

Another Mayor Against Guns charged with corruption.

Thirdpower is running a list:

Passaic, NJ Mayor Samuel Rivera
Frank Melton, of Jackson MS
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
Birmingham, Al Mayor Larry Langford
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon
Jeremiah Healey of Jersey City
Racine, WI Mayor Gary Becker.

Gun Ruler

Speaking of the French, the MAS36

A gun commercial.

John Wesley Hardin’s 1851 Colt

this one still makes me laugh.