ACK looks at the swine flu hysteria.

NRA reports BATFE Reform Bill Introduced In U.S. Senate. Highlights:

This bipartisan reform legislation is the culmination of efforts to address BATFE abuses and problems that were highlighted in several congressional oversight hearings in 2006. (To read more about these hearings, please click here.) S. 941 represents NRA-ILA’s latest efforts to pass legislation that will make it easier for lawful gun owners and dealers to comply with federal law and regulations, while ensuring that those who break the law are punished accordingly. This bipartisan bill also serves as a vital step toward modernizing and improving BATFE’s overall operations. The bill would roll back unnecessary restrictions, correct errors, and codify longstanding congressional policies in the firearms arena, and is a vital step needed to modernize and improve BATFE operations.

A fact sheet can be found here.

Also interesting:

I just noticed that Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, was a sponsor of the bill. He’s not exactly Mr. NRA, with a D rating last time he ran for Senate. What’s up with that?

A bit back, I noted a trend in tactical rifles being made in 22LR. Now, a new AK version.

Max Blumenthal:

If a new militia movement coalesces, its members will have no shortage of sophisticated assault weapons to choose from. At the gun show in Reno, I witnessed the sale of rocket-propelled-grenade launchers and bazooka guns; I watched a California-based dealer demonstrate how rapidly he could field strip his .308-caliber sniper rifle, then stash it in a deliberately innocuous-looking backpack and a briefcase that “looks just like a camera case.”

From Joe, who notes:

This is part of the reason the anti-gun bigots get so much traction with the public. They are willing to lie or at least have no concern for the truth. He almost for certain did not witness the sale of RPGs or bazookas since they are very highly regulated and require an extensive and expensive process involving the ATF.

A look at Multi-platform competition guns

What is an arsenal?

I thought it was 3. How much is a cache, then?

A look at Violence Policy Center public support:

The previous article examined how Violence Policy Center (VPC) had to downsize in recent years in order to survive, due to significant decreases in “direct public support.” Because VPC has no public membership revenues, the term “direct public support” is misleading.

Two people perform most of VPC’s public outreach: Executive Director Josh Sugarman and Legislative Director Kristen Rand. Between 2003 and 2007, as revenues decreased 49.9%, both Sugarman’s and Rand’s salaries increased 5.9%. But because revenues decreased, these two top earners––each of whom earned $132,894 in salary and $3,987 in benefits in 2007––went from 15.5% of total revenue in 2003 to 32.7% in 2007, more than doubling their slice of the pie (111.3% increase). Having just two employees taking home about one-third of total revenue may not be a long-term success strategy for a normal business, but it works when normal profitability concerns don’t exist. To understand the financial circumstances of VPC, one must understand their definition of “public support,” which accounted for 91.8% of VPC’s total revenue between 2003 and 2007.And to understand VPC’s “public support,” one must understand the Joyce Foundation, because VPC’s primary “public donor” is the Joyce Foundation.

At the Joyce Foundation site, selecting “Gun Violence” on their “Grant List” page displays a roster of Who’s Who in gun control: e.g. Violence Policy Center, Mayors Fund to Advance New York City, Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. Joyce Foundation spent $9,475,883 on gun control research between 2005 and 2007. By comparison, the entire gun rights industry contributed a total of $3,188,704 for the four years of the 2006 and 2008 election cycles.

Souter is retiring. Dave Kopel looks at a list potential replacements and where they stand on guns.

Lots of pictures from Squeaky.

A report:

Attendees and sellers at a weekend gun show got a visit from the tax man that some said was unusual, unexpected and unwanted.

And the show’s co-organizer, Don Hill, said the visit from half a dozen representatives of the Texas State Comptroller’s Office may have scared off many potential customers and sellers from the Gun and Knife Show Saturday and Sunday at the Panhandle-South Plains Fairgrounds.

Representatives of the Comptroller’s Office set up a booth for about an hour Saturday morning at the event, approaching people who came to the fair and asking them if they had a state sales tax permit, said Hill, co-owner of the Texas Gun & Knife Association, which operated the Lubbock gun show and others around the state.

More empty shelves.

Pics from the Panola Regionals.

The captain who was held by pirates urges the arming of crews.

Some pics of the pirates’ guns.

ATF broke up an operation smuggling guns into Mexico. They were coming from California gangs.

My desktop computer which is attached to a wireless router via a cable cannot access the internet. Ok, it can. But no matter who is logged on or which browser, it says it’s connecting and eventually times out. I can still ping sites and have tried to release/renew IP address. Rebooted the PC, the modem, and the router. And nothing.

Oddly, the laptop which connects only via wifi works fine. Hence, this post. Any ideas?

Update: Turns out, it was overzealous Norton internet security settings. Disable that and it works. Odd because I never changed those settings. All better now.

TSA employee steals a gun from a cop’s luggage.

Iraqi Special Forces M4

Another empty ammo shelf.

Walmart’s ammo shelf this morning:

From Misc

At the match in Knoxville with the G30. About to do plates.

Got to handle the 4th Gen RTF. I like it.

Now, I must shoot.

Reason is reporting that the FDA has plans to ban electronic cigarettes. They deliver nicotine without smoke, combustion products, or the other stuff that causes cancer. Because:

Our concern is that this might introduce nonusers to nicotine use

Nicotine is, generally, not a major health concern. That’s why it’s mostly OK to use nicotine gum and patches and such. It’s usually the processing or, you know, the smoke that causes the health issues. These devices deliver nicotine and a smoking type experience but with far, far less risk. I don’t smoke cigarettes anymore but if I did, I’d imagine this might have satisfied my cravings without killing me. I have not ever actually tried an electronic cigarette. Though I still enjoy the occasional cigar.

Stupid.

SAF reports:

The Second Amendment Foundation, The Calguns Foundation and four California residents today filed a lawsuit challenging a California state law and regulatory scheme that arbitrarily bans handguns based on a roster of “certified� handguns approved by the State. This case parallels a similar case filed in Washington, DC, Hanson v. District of Columbia.

California uses this list despite a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer that protects handguns that ordinary people traditionally use for self-defense, and a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments. The California scheme will eventually ban the purchase of almost all new handguns.

Via David.

At gunpundit:

Are they saying that someone who is going to break a protection order to commit murder will change their mind because they cannot legally carry a concealed weapon?

Heh.

Update: Still at change.gov though.

At dinner last night, my non-gun-nut father in law said something like: I’m guessing that the record increase in sales of firearms and ammo has sent a message to Democrats in congress and the administration that the public is not convinced they’re not going to take guns away.

The Knoxville News Sentinel has an editorial that advocates TN not pass a law restricting access to handgun carry permit data. Well, if newspapers such the KNS’ sister paper The Commercial Appeal weren’t publishing lists, this would have never come up. If the press showed better judgment, this would not be an issue.

Our dog, Flash, is a rescue. We were told that he was neutered. But it looks like he’s still got one. Just one. We’re taking him today to see if it actually is a dude or some sort of tumor. Our vet thought it could have been an infection and ran some antibiotics to see if the lump went away. It didn’t.

Vet tells me that when a dog is neutered, they’re supposed to see if there are, well, actually two that dropped. If only one does, then the vet should not remove any and await the arrival of the other one. I guess the previous vet may have neglected to count first. Or, perhaps, Flash had an extra.

Anyway, it’s odd. And we’ll find out today.

With prices so high, some notes on training with 22s.

The local talk radio this morning did an hour on the ammo shortage. They even had the proprietor of Gunny’s on the show. The Gunny basically said that all his suppliers tell him the shortage will ease up in May. Err, well, it’s May.

Not happy with what was out there, he made his own. And he’s going to start selling them.