Back in 2008, the internet was talking about the scam where some unscrupulous dealers would take a cheaper lawfully registered machine gun and convert it into a more expensive one. For instance, someone could convert a MAC (going for about $3K) into a Browning (at $15K). It was not a lawful conversion and was mostly altering receivers and fudging NFA paperwork. Now, it looks like there’s a federal case on a similar issue. And there are some questions about the extent that ATF was aware.

When your choice is > 1, things are a bit more complicated. Who knew?

Couple forgets to pay for a $5 sandwich. Kids taken for 18 hours. You’d think at some point someone in position of authority would stop and realize how stupid this whole thing was. You’d be wrong.

Robb is sounding like a few other people.

Wired:

In a video uploaded Oct. 6, an Anonymous spokesperson said that unless the Zetas release one of the group’s members, the group will reveal the photos, names and addresses of Zetas-affiliated cops and taxi drivers. (The member was allegedly kidnapped in the western coastal city of Veracruz during an “Operation Paperstorm” demonstration.) Anonymous also threatened to out journalists accused of “crapping on honest authorities like the army and the navy,” the spokesperson said.

Some explosions on Uranus have scientists’ attention.

Look, I think you’re mostly a bunch of rubes who think that the world owes you a living, healthcare and free high speed internet. I think you’re coming down on the wrong side of the equation in the whole who’s responsible for this mess. And you probably bought all this hope and change nonsense. I would say that’s cool but it’s not. Still, you’re entitled to express your beliefs even when you’re wrong.

In Tennessee, the governor decided to change the rules for the protesters use of state land. And then, apparently, did it again. A round up here. And the video in Oakland of the police using flashbang grenades and rubber bullets looks like it could have been recorded in some country ending in -istan and not the US. We don’t do that here.

Sure, I yammer on about hippie punching and other such silliness but only in the abstract. When it comes to actually senselessly beating on hippies, that’s a sign of petty tyranny.

Update: And police apparently arrested a journalist and lied about it.

Houston police drones could be weaponized.

Cousins Paintball brings visitors and jobs to the community. They also pay their rent on time. But a local politico wants to shut them down for a housing project.

From Bob Owens.

They sent me one of their FastRail systems but I haven’t had the opportunity to install it yet.

Of computers. Heh. I don’t have a computer that cost more than $600.

Gets an endorsement from Tam.

Update: and another gun blogger gets a S&W M&P?

By Oleg Volk.

Holder to testify

Eight members of congress call for Holder’s resignation.

The other side is yammering on about media bias.

First full range trip

Ok, The Walking Dead, I’m gonna say it again: Less drama, more dead zombies. I appreciate the end of the world debates on morality and whether or not to continue; raising children in a zombie world; whether or not you shoot the fat guy so you can escape; etc. But I appreciate the woman in the tight jeans on a horse bludgeoning a zombie with a baseball bat a lot more. 40 minutes in for our first zombie? Geez.

Zombie movie weapons that will get you killed.

Surviving the zombie horde

A roundup

Mauser

Creative use of silencers

Tanned, rested and read

Crosman AR looking thing

Pint sized AR

The only Apple product I own has locked up. The iPod classic just shows the opening screen. The buttons do nothing and I cannot shut it off. No powering it down and no battery to remove. How do I fix this?

And USB to computer does nothing.

Update: All better now.

Tomorrow, I’ll be 40. I’m not going to feel any different than I do now so, no, I’m not all that bummed. Putting numbers on mortality is something we do. Getting older does suck but it beats the alternative. Another day on the right side of the ground is a good day.

Making the anti-gunners cry:

The poll also found that 53 percent of Americans oppose a ban on assault rifles and semiautomatic guns – the first time more have opposed than supported a ban.

I wonder if it’s that people realize the function and utility of weapons that look like assault weapons. Or that people realized the AWB was a lie?

Texas store owner won’t teach gun class to liberals, Muslims.

And the shooting sports. I kinda like the idea of a head shots only course.

Caught a bit of the History Channel show last night. It’s quite entertaining. Apparently, almost all cultures came up with some sort of zombie in their literature or beliefs. The early Irish were so afraid of being eaten by the walking dead that the buried the dead with bricks or rocks shoved into their mouths. And there’s a decent narrative about why cultures have and fear zombies that I hadn’t considered before. It features a lot of people that I’ve read on the internet talking about zombies and the apocalypse. Not gonna ruin it in case you watch it.

Also, interesting tidbit from the show: Over 50% of all zombie movies were made after 9/11/01.

In TN, the state will monitor sexual offenders. Monitor being a nice euphemism for forbidding them from doing certain things:

The offenders cannot answer the door for trick-or-treaters, pass out candy, decorate their homes, host Halloween parties or wear costumes. Attending corn mazes, haunted houses, hayrides or other seasonal activities is not permitted.

I’m no lawyer but this, to me, seems like a slam dunk case.

How the Patriot Act stripped me of my free-speech rights

A decade later, much of the government’s surveillance policy remains shrouded in secrecy, making it impossible for the American public to engage in a meaningful debate on the effectiveness or wisdom of various practices. The government has used NSLs to collect private information on hundreds of thousands of people. I am the only person from the telecommunications industry who received one to ever challenge in court the legality of the warrantless NSL searches and the associated gag order and to be subsequently (partially) un-gagged.

That is one of the more frightening things I’ve read.

Aggressive Bleeding Control

From Carolyn McCarthy

In Atlanta, seems it’s OK for OWS protestors to peaceably assemble. Unless one of them open carries a rifle. So the mayor ordered protesters be cleared:

The order came from Mayor Kasim Reed, who says the last straw was a man walking around Woodruff Park Tuesday afternoon carrying an assault rifle.

He did so legally.