Or why Phillip Morris supports federal regulation of tobacco.

Joe looks at Henigan’s new book, which repeats the old lies.

Jay has some gunnie pet peeves for you guys.

Or an advertising failure?

Reader Tim expressed his disappointment with Lamar Alexander’s recent anti-gun rights vote. The senior senator responded:

Thanks for getting in touch and letting me know what’s on your mind regarding guns in national parks.

I am a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights. So was President Reagan, who established rules allowing guns in national parks as long as they were unloaded. And so was President George W. Bush, who determined that gun owners with conceal-and-carry permits could carry guns in national parks – although this regulation was put on hold by a federal court. I supported these rules of both President Reagan and President Bush.

On May 12, 2009, the Senate approved an amendment to the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act that would allow individuals to bring loaded firearms into national parks and wildlife refuges – including, for the first time, individuals without conceal-and-carry permits. I voted against this amendment because it goes too far – further than President Reagan, further than President Bush, and further than Tennessee law. I have consistently been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights, but I also support the Tenth Amendment respecting the powers of the states.

I am grateful that you took the time to let me know where you stand. I’ll be sure to keep your comments in mind as this important issue is discussed and debated in Washington and in Tennessee.

The law would not allow those without permits to carry unless the states say so. And to imply Bush (either one) is some sort of stalwart defender of gun rights that we should compare ourselves to is laughable.

Update: A non-response to my post has been posted here and here:

Senator Alexander’s letter is correct where it states that the Coburn Amendment goes further than state law.

The new Tennessee state law allows ONLY those with conceal-and-carry permits to carry in a STATE park. The amendment that Senator Alexander opposed allows anyone who can carry a firearm generally in Tennessee (conceal-and-carry permit or not) to carry a loaded firearm openly in a national park in Tennessee.

I did not say that he was incorrect regarding the bill going further than state law, because at the time TN prohibited park carry. So, he’s not addressing what I stated. And the only folks in Tennessee who can carry a firearm are those with permits. And those who carry into National Parks must comply with state law. So, his original assertion was wrong and his follow up is also wrong.

When we were at Disney, we went to animal kingdom. There was some exhibit that had all kinds of stuff on critters in the US. One thing we learned there was that a bat could eat 12,000 mosquitoes a night. So, they said building bat boxes was a good idea and a natural way to kill the little buggers. Well, I never built a bat box but we have a group of about six that I see frequently. I guess there is a cave nearby.

I bring this up because, right now, I am on the back porch continuing my silent protest of the tobacco bill by enjoying a nice Gurkha Legend. When I came out, I marveled at how quickly the mosquitoes swarmed the screened-in porch. They can’t get to me because I’m behind a screen. But I guess they sense my presence somehow (from my carbon dioxide emissions, iirc). And within a few seconds, about four bats were putting on a nice aerobatic show while sucking down the mosquitoes.

Facing charges for the police officers’ mistake:

A father and son are furious after surviving a terrifying experience. They face criminal charges after police responded to their home by mistake.

[...]

The officers charged the Chilton’s with resisting arrest and aggravated assault for the incident.

Police did not drop the charges even after learning they responded to the wrong house.

Story is from February.

Why is it customary for a blog to grab a screen capture of a twitter post instead of just linking and quoting? Just curious.

I saw where PETA was upset that the president killed a housefly. Got me to thinking about pests and such. I am curious what the official PETA/vegan/animal rights groups’ position is on, say, termite control for your house. Or spraying your lawn for bugs. Or wasps nests. Mice in the attic. Etc. Anyone?

Man invited to airport to photograph Fathers’ day flight of a B24 Liberator. Photographer cuffed and held since we can’t have people taking pics of planes. Says one of the veterans:

It’s the U.S.A., not U.S.S.R. — I didn’t fight to protect this shit.

TSA agents harass Ron Paul supporter for carrying too much cash. Oh, did we mention he took an audio recording.

Indiana man walks right through an order of protection and stabs his wife to death. Good thing he was barred from gun ownership.

A bit odd:

An attorney claims that a pistol he bought from Cabela’s became “fully automatic” at a firing range, “uncontrollably spraying 9mm bullets.”

Robert Gardner claims that the outdoor catalogue store has failed to inspect the “aged” Steyr pistol he bought, and sent a dangerous “machine gun.”

Tam looks at guns and the terror watchlist:

If one gets to redefine “terrorist” as “person to whom we don’t sell guns”, as opposed to “person who commits actual, you know, acts of terror”, then this War on a Noun thing gets a lot easier.

The NYT: Occasional Smoker, 47, Signs Tobacco Bill

Article then turns to Obama’s smoking more so than the merits of the bill. In silent protest, I bummed a cigarette. Not enjoyable.

Reader Alchemyst emails regarding his Crimson Trace Lasergrips:

Finally they have come — thanks for your help. In case you forgot they’re for a Taurus model 450 five shot revolver in 45 Colt. Haven’t shot it with the new grips but before I forget I thought I’d pass along my initial impressions:

1. The fit and finish are excellent. Installation was a snap.
2. Crimson Trace grips feel comfortable and fit my fairly large hands well.
3. Crimson Trace grips are not as cushy as the std Taurus grips. I prefer relatively heavy loads so this may be a problem – don’t really think so but worth a mention since I haven’t shot it.
4. I’m still learning to keep my damn finger off the trigger (older than dirt, that just wasn’t taught back in the day) so it’ll take even more time to refine my trigger finger position. If I put it where I normally do (along the frame and above the trigger guard) it occludes the laser. Half way between appears to work but it’ll require some adjustment on my part. Where do others put their fingers?
5. The lifetime replacement battery offer is a nice touch. Apparently you register and then just call when you need a set – like I said, nice.

I shoot mostly semi-autos so I tend to rest my finger on the frame.

The word loophole tends to mean something we don’t like (see non-existent gun show loophole). But sometimes, it means what the law says and you’re just so beside yourself with your ability to read and understand. See the park bill.

The .gov has this watch list that is suppressing our civil rights, the media tells us. But the same list doesn’t suppress the right to own guns and the media gets hysterical. The list has had servicemen, babies, congressmonkies, bloggers, and grandmothers on it. The list is flawed, involves no due process, and you can’t even inquire as to why you’re on it when you’re on it. Robb takes the bootlickers to task.

Bob Krumm: 52 professional media outlets have asked to attend an arraignment hearing for some singer accused of beating his girlfriend . . . meanwhile the world depends on amateur footage to get honest reporting from Iran.

Ted Novin: The report, which NSSF is still reviewing, appears to be rife with error.

It looks like GAO may have hired a Violence Policy Center shill to write parts of it. Of course, it’s not like the VPC has anything else to do.

Happy birthday (belated) to Rusty.

Guav: BrokeNCYDE is what happens when freaks and geeks don’t get beaten up in high school.

That was awful and I couldn’t make it past about 30 seconds.

Todd Jarrett on pistol shooting:

Not look anachronistic at some shoots.

A look at why the the bill did not pass:

It seems gun lobbyists and the Republican Party realized that, if the records were closed, they, too, would no longer be able to use the database, which was valuable for marketing and fund-raising.

Remember we mentioned the multi-tool designed for the AR-15? Well, you can win one at ar15.com.

I was unaware that there was also such a tool for the 1911.

Meanwhile, the Glock multi-tool is here. Or you can go grab stick.

Pimped out guns.

Magpul ranger floor plates

Junk holsters are worthless. But my experience is that cheap does not always equal junk.

Man finds an heirloom that is short-barreled. Sends it to ATF for determination. ATF classifies it as a C&R firearm, making its possession lawful. See letter here.

Good. And not the first time either.

In a bit of irony, Jeff Woods thinks that perhaps sensitivity training would help curtail some bigotry. Yes, he writes for this alt weakly. Misspelling intentional.

A look at the census.

In Ireland, they’re looking at making it illegal:

Mr Ahern said he was determined to stamp out a practice known as “practical shooting”. His department had monitored with concern “competitions in which people shoot their way through multi-stage target courses based on real life combat scenarios, such as a home invasion or a hostage rescue”.

He said: “This activity is one that seeks to glorify and normalise attitudes to high-powered handguns and promote their use and ownership,” he said. Mr Ahern said “practical shooting” was a “highly undesirable” recent development in Irish shooting sports.

Bitter says not to write the press off so readily. I know, it’s hard since they do, basically, take dictation from the anti-gun groups. But you do find the occasional gem in the pile.

While the Commercial Squeal laments The Year of the Gun, WizardPC tracks the progress we pro-gun folks have made in Tennessee.

Now, it’s the Jamaican Gun Canard. It’s much more exotic than the Mexican Gun Canard.

Gunblogger interviewed by local paper.

Rich:

I just acquired a new bare bones, nothing special, 12 gauge Mossberg 500.

Now I want to kick it up a bit. Stocks, lights, pistol grips, whatever. I’m not really interested in lasers or major optics because, well it’s a shotgun. Effective firepower without supreme accuracy is kinda the point.

I would check out Les Jones’ post on tactical shotguns.

I’d heard various talk of this on various gun boards and such but didn’t put much into it. Now, NRA is reporting:

NRA-ILA has recently received several calls from NRA members in border states who have been visited or called by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In some cases, agents have asked to enter these people’s homes, and requested serial numbers of all firearms the members possess.

In each case, the agents were making inquiries based on the number of firearms these NRA members had recently bought, and in some cases the agents said they were asking because the members had bought types of guns that are frequently recovered in Mexico.

Looks like they’re chasing down folks through ATF Form 3310.4. NRA’s ILA is asking you to call them if you are contact in such a way.

Remember, he was just compensating for the size of his penis. Not for the fact that a 70 year old may have a tough time physically fighting a 17 year old.

Dave opines on the holster dust up. And reviews Tucker Gun Leather’s The Answer.

STI with cool custom grips. I thought I linked this yesterday but I experienced a failure in copying and pasting.

Video of the Beretta ARX 160.

Colt Army Special.

But remember, there’s no need for a gun in park:

A popular Great Smoky Mountains National Park trail has closed for the second time this month due to bear sightings.

And this is funny.

A look at the sacrifice to the gods of racial politics.

Lamar on my money:

“The audit? It’s a bad idea,” said Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, head of the Republican Conference in the Senate. “It’s a sorry day when the Congress superimposes itself on the Fed, nosing around in monetary policy. It’s bad enough we are nosing around with the car companies.”

No, it’s a sorry day when the guys who represent me don’t care about overseeing my money.

Dave:

The loudest sound you will ever hear is a click when you expect a bang (or a bang when you expect a click).

STI custom grips!

Tokarev.

Suppressed 5.56 carbines.

Siphoning gas with a shop vac is a bad idea.

Just the other day at lunch, I was mentioning how we hadn’t seen any coyotes since I capped the last one about two years ago. This morning, my wife said she saw another.

And an affirmative defense.

In Arizona, a push for Vermont and Alaska style carry.

Snooping around my web album, I noticed the similarity between a pic I recently posted and one I posted a bit back. Now:

From Home Life

Then:

From Home Life

Lack of a kiddie pool aside, I thought the comparison was pretty neat.

Aunt B.’s dad:

The second I realized I recognized almost every name going into his cabinet, I knew it was going to be business as usual.

Yup.

Regarding this post, Michael Brings the funny:

Take out guns and I’d think the writer was talking about the Obama administration.

State to regulate large capacity dog breeders.

Remember how they said whites who wouldn’t vote for Obama were probably racist? Roger wants to know about the inverse.

After a bit of a lull, the Mexican Gun Canard is back. The LAT parrots the whole machine guns coming from gun shows thing, which is false.

Strategy page:

The U.S. Army has ordered 38.4 million rounds of .300 Winchester magnum ammunition for its newly modified M-24 sniper rifles, as well as similar SOCOMs Mk13 models. The new ammo will cost about $1.30 per round. The .300 Winchester magnum will be ordered in minimum lots of 56,160 rounds (117 boxes of 480 rounds each). The entire 38.4 million rounds will last a while.

Seems they want more range than the 308 but less weight than a 50.

Caleb asks a favor:

My father is entered into a contest on the Food Network, having to do with creating recipes using ingredients native to his home state of Washington.  He needs your votes though, so if you could click on this link right here and scroll and down to the video and then vote “Yes” if you like the recipe, it would be greatly appreciated.  You don’t have to buy anything or enter your email address, just click the link, scroll down to the video, and vote “yes”.

Busmaster ACR now the Remington ACR?

Steve confirms.

Richard Mann:

Does the slide-lock feature on semi-automatic handguns offer a tactical advantage or is it nothing more than an administrative function?

Both. It let’s me know I’m empty and it makes cleaning at the range easy. And showing clear.

The Firearm Blog has video of Yeager responding to criticism of the video where the photographer is down range at a training session.

ACK reminds us that TN politicos did not make handgun carry permit information private.

Clearly, she was just compensating for the size of her penis:

About a month ago, Audry Sauceda was carjacked and fought back.

He stuck a gun in my side and told me to get out of the car,” Sauceda said while sharing her story with FOX 13 on May 15. “And I pulled out my gun and stuck it in his face, and told him, he needed to get out. He screamed and jumped out of the car.”

Gun Nuts argue over 1911 v Glock, AR v. AK, 9mm v. 45, etc.

Now, they’re arguing over the material your holster is made of. Started with James, who said real men carry nylon. Ahab says:

The point is that cheap nylon holsters don’t hold the gun in a consistent location. For self defense or competition shooting, the butt of the gun needs to present in the same place every time, regardless of whether or not you’ve been moving around, getting in or out of a car, etc.

More from Tam.

Sebastian thinks everyone should calm down. I agree. Holster selection is a matter of preference and how much money you’re willing to spend. I have two spend holsters and three inexpensive holsters. Each serves a different purpose. I’ve spent more money on concealed carry holsters (Galco and CompTac) because they fit my style of carry. I have a cheap Uncle Mike’s nylon that I actually used at the GSSF shoot because it was easier to access than my CCW rig.

Les Jones on the story behind the subpoena for anonymous posters:

The case involved Robert Kahre, a Las Vegas businessman who paid his contract employees in gold and silver U.S. coins. The employees then paid taxes based on the face value of the coins, rather than their much greater worth as bullion. The difference can be considerable. A $50 U.S. gold coin contains one troy ounce of gold, which currently fetches over $900.

The IRS sued Kahre and some of his contract employees, essentially claiming that taxes should be based on the actual value of the coins, rather than their face value. Which tends to raise an obvious question. A $50 bill has a real value of essentially nothing since it’s only good for lining a bird cage, so can I get paid in $50 bills and not owe any taxes?

Over R. Neal’s repeat of Nate Rau’s fabrication, metulj comments:

These bills, though, aren’t about guns. They are about being authorities. Guns are just the vehicle for that authority. This authority manifests itself in being able to correct and discipline people who “misstate” simple facts and, now, all the way up to laws. It is very interesting to unpack this. Think about it: An ostensibly “anti-Statist” movement institutionalizes itself, takes over the State, makes laws, sets up its own education system, and begins distributing its power to others. It manifests itself as its own media (gun blogs), its own political entities (the gun lobby and its client politicians), its own schools (HCP permit classes, the PhD of the gun world), people see themselves as being able to police others (HCP “badge” holders), etc.

And we’re the paranoid ones! I don’t know that we police anyone. I think quite a bit of the pro-gun laws (from the good ones to the silly and pointless Firearms Freedom Act) were largely a snub at the former Democrat power structure in general. And specifically to Jimmy Naifeh, who used to kill the restaurant bill every year with procedural maneuvers. I think it’s a way to, politically, let them know who’s boss now. And law-abiding gun owners benefit. Pretty much, the rest of the legislative session has been a bit embarrassing.

With google down in our area, blogging is a problem. I tend to save things I want to blog about in Google reader. So, I forgot what I was gonna talk about.

Or is Google down?

State Court to Philly: Obey the law

I mentioned in this post that I emailed Mr. Smith. He has sent me his data. And his research does note states prohibit the carrying of arms in bars. And that includes Tennessee. As suspected, Rau’s report is misleading. A few issues:

The list includes statutes that ban carrying in bars. Tennessee does not define bars but the bill that passed does stipulate that the places have a kitchen and advertises meals. Some states do. For instance, in Texas, you can carry where alcohol is sold provided less than half of the revenue from the joint comes from alcohol. Also, the list contains Virginia. In VA, you cannot carry concealed at a bar but you can carry openly. It’s not really comparing apples to apples.

The list excludes all ‘may issue’ states except Hawaii. Some ‘may issue’ states (California, Alabama, for example) do not prohibit handgun carry permit holders from carrying where alcohol is served.

The list includes the ‘no issue’ states of Illinois & Wisconsin. And asserts a prohibition on carry in bars. Which is odd, since carry is illegal there.

So, when Rau asserts he is answering the question of:

So, do 37 other states have laws similar to the one Tennessee’s legislature passed this month allowing guns in establishments that serve alcohol?

He is wrong.

Data, as sent to me, below the fold.
Read the rest of this entry »

In this post here on alleged extensive legal research, Les comments:

The problem with the analysis Rau cites is that the analysis in no way matches the premise. Here’s the first paragraph of Rau’s article:

“So, do 37 other states have laws similar to the one Tennessee’s legislature passed this month allowing guns in establishments that serve alcohol?”

The analysis he cites only considers states that have shall-issue concealed carry permits.

Here’s why the analysis fails. There are states (like California) that are may-issue but that allow guns to be conceal carried in restaurants that serve alcohol. Likewise, there are states (like Montana) that allow guns in restaurants that serve alcohol if the guns are carried openly, rather than concealed.

Also, Pol says:

I have only looked at the laws that pertain to restaurants that serve alcohol, not bars, in other states, and there are 41 that currently allow carry. I would suspect that many of those states have ‘bars’ defines under law and prohibit carry there.

So, yeah, this story is almost certainly bogus.

Nate Rau says he brings the truth about the claim that 40 states do not prohibit guns where alcohol is served:

Based on extensive legal research conducted by Nashville attorney David Randolph Smith of the local firm Smith and Schmidt, the actual figure is nearly the inverse.

I’d love to see the research because my extensive research (which consists of googling) confirms 41. I scanned a few states for relative statutes and for those I checked, that source was right. Generally, criminal codes are written to prohibit something. He is correct that Tennessee law is unusual in that it explicitly allows carry instead of just not prohibiting it. I would have thought the solution would have just been repeal of existing law, which most states have done. As to the research:

There ARE 37 states according to Smith that have laws mandating the issuance of concealed weapons permits. But of those 37 states, 27 explicitly prohibit guns in places where alcohol is served.

In fact, there are only 15 states in the country which have circumstances remotely similar to the one Tennessee will be in on July 14 when the law goes into effect. Those states issue concealed weapons permits, but do not explicitly ban guns in places serving alcohol. They also preempt local governments from regulating firearms.

In effect, a person with a handgun in a bar in any of those 15 states is not committing a criminal act. But Tennessee’s new law goes one step further than that. It is the first state in the entire country to expressly allow handguns in places that serve alcohol.

I’d love to see this alleged extensive legal research. Because it is not consistent with anything I have read on the issue. I wonder if it’s because of how states define bars and carry. For example, in Texas, you cannot carry in a place where half the revenue comes from alcohol sales. But going strapped in Applebee’s is OK. Another example is Virginia, where it is unlawful to carry a concealed firearm where alcohol is served. But you can carry one one if you do not conceal it. I wonder which column those two states show up in.

Anyway, the extensive legal research sounds made up to me. Or at least heavily spun.

But I’d love to see it.

Via ACK

Update: Email sent to Mr. Smith:

I read the bit at the City Paper on your research. I would love to see it. May I get copy?

Regards

On Beale street, the property owners are prohibiting law-abiding handgun carry permit holders from carrying there.

Obama abandoned they gays, after he got their money and votes. Their growing discontent lead to him extending benefits to same sex couples that are federal employees.

Celebrating international disarmament.

Five years ago now, I was at the hospital with the Mrs. I was nervously pacing and carrying on. And we’d already been there for several hours. The Mrs. was hooked up to an IV. And we were many hours away from one of the happiest moments of our lives.

Happy birthday, Junior.

Wow, it’s been five years. I can’t recall a time when she wasn’t here.

With handy video.

I mentioned in my review of the MTAC that I had a bit of an issue with it. Well, they sent me another and, as you can see, the magazine disconnect issue has be fixed:

From Gun Porn

They even sent me a cool hat. I highly recommend Comp-Tac. Their product and customer service are excellent. Other people are digging them too.

In Maine: 77 year old woman with concealed handgun permit “escorts armed intruder from home at gunpoint”

A black man in Iowa checks out the gun culture.

Bob looks at Kleck’s numbers and does a reasonableness test:

Dr. Gary Kleck’s survey determined that as many as 2,500,000 times a year someone uses a firearms to stop or prevent a crime….is that number outrageous as some people claim?

Affirmative Action:

Thousands of people are being stopped and searched by the police under their counter-­terrorism powers – simply to ­provide a racial balance in official statistics, the government’s official anti-terror law watchdog has revealed.

Gotta stop whitey too, I guess.

Heh.

At the doctor’s office.

Supply and demand

Stossel has a blog.

Via Alan.

Alan Gura does it again:

Firearms regulations in Washington, D.C. are being amended today by emergency order in response to a federal lawsuit filed by the Second Amendment Foundation that challenged the arbitrary nature of previous regulations enforced in the District of Columbia.

But never give a monkey a knife.

The return of the militia scare.

You guys got a sneak peak a bit back. Well, the site is live now. Check it out.

Their tweet is funny: Our website no longer sucks!

AAC Blog reports on their upcoming silencer only shoot. Check out SilencerShoot.com. Sept 18 – 19.

Bloomberg reports easing restrictions on Cuba could been importation of their cigars.

Truth: Bang-bang beats tweet-tweet

The Rep shoots the 50 caliber.

Guns from the Castle of St. Angelo.

Walther’s new 380.

Mosin Nagant with red dot.

Humphrey reports the bill to close records of handgun permit holders failed to pass the senate.

A bit back, everyone noted the video of the photographer down range during a shoot and how dumb that seemed. Well, someone offers a defense of that:

Tactical response runs a 360* hot range. Period. Follow the four rules and you’re good. None of those rules were violated in the video. I challenge anyone to point one out that was.

Ya know, even at a 360 range, I still prefer standing in the opposite direction of where bullets are going.

Well, maybe. Reportedly, she’s made two contradictory statements.

“Clearly she spoke to the fact that settled law is just that, and the Heller case has been considered by the court, and she sees that as the law, and she will work off of what the court decided as other cases may come to the court’s attention,” Udall said.

DeMint also questioned Sotomayor about gun rights in a meeting earlier this week, and later criticized her for refusing to say the Second Amendment “protects a fundamental right that applies to all Americans.” He said Sotomayor’s statement on Heller “doesn’t tell us much” about her view of the issue given the position she took this year in Maloney.

The intern for a Democrat that apparently thought no one in is his address book had seen various internet memes got fired.

BTW, be careful with this internet thingy. It’s serious business. You can ruin people’s lives.

Update: Apparently, critical thinking is not the only thing Jeff Woods gets wrong. He was not fired:

Director of Legislative Administration Connie Ridley tells Post Politics that Graves was not fired or dismissed.

People were pointing out he was a Republican but they probably got that wrong too.

State employee sent racist email. Much hullabaloo about GOP being racist. Now, it’s the Democrat’s turn. Christian has some details on who it’s associated with.

Via ACK

TN restaurant owner is having a contest to come up with a sign that welcomes handgun carry permit holders.