A comment by Addison over at Xrlq’s on penumbra, living constitution stuff:
Yeah, I don’t hate Shakespeare.
I just hate it when it’s performed by actors with English accents on a stage, exactly as written.
Far better to use the stories as a “guideline” and let the actors “ad lib” - and let the audience interact!
Ravenwood is now completely gone? What gives?
Bummer.
It looks like Alito will be the next US Supreme Court Justice. Despite claims that he’s out of the mainstream (which is code for he may not be pro-choice), claims that he’s a radical right wing judicial activist (again, code for the fact he may not be pro-choice), that he is a gun fanatic in the pocket of the NRA (which means he thinks the commerce clause actually was not written with disappearing ink), claims that he’s a racist, Bible-thumping misogynist (which is code for he belongs to the same country clubs as that paragon of moral certainty Ted Kennedy and he may not be pro-choice) and despite a pretty abysmal attempt at a filibuster, he will likely be confirmed according to, well, every account I’ve seen. What do I think? I’ll tell you:
The claims that he’s libertarian on guns and his GOA endorsement are good things.
The fact he’s a fan of the commerce clause is good too.
However, he seems to be a statist Republican on the surface for most other issues and that’s bad.
I could be wrong on any of those points but, based on what I’ve seen, I have no reason to think otherwise.
Update: He’s confirmed.
Never seen this subgun before. It looks pretty cool.
Via Defense Review who has a lot more info on it and tons of pics.
I’ve had a few readers complain that they occasionally get a 412 Precondition Failed error here in the past. I’d never really gotten it so I could not investigate. Well, this morning, I got one. I hit refresh on the main page while posting an entry and got the error. Once the entry posted, the error went away.
Any ideas?
The local war on porn (covered before here) has had its first terrorist attack:
A man armed with a rifle and gasoline set fire to an adult novelty store early this morning, authorities said.
Shortly after 4 a.m. the man walked into the 24-hour Town and Country Book Den, 7011 Clinton Hwy. and began pouring out gasoline and setting fires, according to the store clerk.
Idiot.
Lawmakers say the veto override is likely to succeed:
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and two Democratic state lawmakers came together Sunday to put up a last-minute fight against a bill that would legalize the carrying of concealed weapons in Wisconsin. But they acknowledged that even with their protests, the legislation would likely become law.
“The possibility is very, very strong that by the end of this week, people will be able to carry concealed guns in Wisconsin,” said Barrett, who spoke outside State Fair Park with Reps. Jon Richards of Milwaukee and Tony Staskunas of West Allis.
Good.
In the past, I often wondered why America had a high murder rate compared to other Westernized nations. I eventually stopped wondering and began assuming that we Americans were just generally prone to killing. After all, this land was taken by killing the natives. Our country’s independence was gained by killing folks. I just figured that’s how Americans were and stopped wondering.
I’ve ruled out access to guns, because other countries with fewer guns have higher murder rights. And other Western countries where gun ownership is generally banned have higher violent crime rates. And some countries with access to more guns (or where owning military weapons is mandated by law) have a lower murder rate.
Then, I read this post by Kim du Toit. He was commenting on Kevin’s homicide stats. Kevin opined:
It suggests that the homicide by firearm problem is concentrated in a small, identifiable group. It suggests that homicide is heavily concentrated in the overall black demographic, and especially in young black men.
Kim stated:
The United States has always had a higher murder rate than other countries, not because there are more guns around, but because we are a nation of immigrants. When people have few or no ties to a community, their propensity towards lawlessness is much higher. (It’s why, for example, small-town sheriffs had a habit of telling strangers to leave town—they were playing the odds.)
I began to think that was nuts. Then, as the day wore on, that thought kept coming back to me. And I realized that it made a sick sort of sense. The nation of immigrants factor is just about the only thing we don’t have in common with other comparable western nations.
But what that doesn’t explain is why, in our country, the homicide rate is heavily comprised of murders of black people by other black people. After all, black people share a heritage and do have ties to the black community. I suppose another factor in that equation is the proximity to drug dealing and concentrated areas of poverty.
It’s very clear that America has a problem with black on black violence. But it will never be given the attention it deserves because examining the cause would be viewed as racist.
H&K is scaling back operations after the XM-8 project was canceled:
When German gunmaker Heckler & Koch showed up in Columbus more than two years ago, it had big plans for becoming one of the city’s major local companies.
On the drawing board was a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, a $25 million capital investment and at least 200 high-paying jobs — maybe more. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue even visited Columbus to attend a groundbreaking at Muscogee Technology Park, the industrial area off Macon Road where H&K was supposed to construct its large facility.
But Sterling, Va.-based Heckler & Koch (pronounced “coke”) had to scale back its strategy in a major way after learning last October that the U.S. military had canceled competitive bidding for the next-generation assault rifle. H&K was hoping to land a lucrative contract with the government to replace its 40-year-old M4 carbine and M16 rifle.
Now the company is regrouping in Columbus, forgoing construction of a large plant for an existing 13,170-square-foot building near Columbus East Industrial Park off Macon Road. The structure, formerly used by Cessna Aircraft, is the U.S. distribution center for H&K’s 80 models of weapons and accessories.
Peter Simon, H&K executive vice president for programs and government relations, in an interview last week, was cautious in his remarks about the company’s downsized fortunes. He knows offending someone in the military’s supply chain could harm H&K’s chances of landing a huge contract.
Still, he said it has been tough watching the XM8 assault rifle developed by his company — and generally applauded by soldiers testing it in the field — get shot down in the bidding process.
Well, if the project has been shot down, does that mean they’ve selected another rifle? If so, which one? Maybe the FN SCAR? Mmmmm, SCAR.
A good read by Jeff Knox on gun owners and elections:
In the end, Kerry lost no support from the anti’s by claiming to be pro-gun and gained nothing from the pro-gunners or the middle.
Meanwhile, Bush gained nothing from the anti’s or the “mainstream” but lost vital support from gun-rights activists. While the Bush team and the NRA are congratulating themselves, the belief that politicians are all liars who will say anything to be elected has been solidly reinforced and gun owner’s mistrust of the Republican Party has been rightly increased.
Another mistaken belief that has been reinforced is that of Republican strategists that gun-voters will always be with them. Former Republican National Committee Chair, Lee Atwater expressed it bluntly during George H. W. Bush’s reelection campaign when he asked, “Where else are they going to go?”
Though NRA made every effort to bolster the senior Bush in that election, his support of assault weapons bans and his earlier attacks on NRA itself were too much for gun-voting stalwarts and they went to Perot or to Clinton or just went hunting.
Read the whole thing.
Here’s a fairly positive article on machine gun shooting:
After a week of delicately etching out cavities with a laser, dentist Rob Dugger of Wilsonville heads to the target range with his modified M-16.
“If it wasn’t this, it would be hot motorcycles or hot cars,” Dugger said, standing in the cool mist of a Sunday morning at the Albany Pistol and Rifle Club. “I do it to relax.”
Dugger, 49, a married father of four children ages 8 to 18, joined the substantial ranks of Oregon machine gun owners three years ago when he discovered that fully automatic weapons were legal in Oregon, as long as they are properly registered.
It also has some factual info on machine guns (some one alert the Bradies, the truth is getting out), like:
The federal government prohibits private citizens from owning automatic weapons made or imported after 1986. But Oregon — unlike California, Washington and seven other states — has not extended those restrictions to all machine guns. Oregon, in fact, has some of the more liberal weapons laws in the country. In Oregon, you can legally fire a machine gun, shoot a flamethrower, even launch a few grenades as long as you do it safely and with registered equipment.
and
Jim Ebert, a former Oregon City commissioner who has taught machine gun safety and marksmanship for 20 years, bought his first M-16 for $500. It’s now worth about $11,000. Thompson submachine guns — the Tommy guns associated with Al Capone and 1920s gangsters — can fetch $10,000 to $40,000.
Pricey stuff since the transfer of new machine guns to citizens was banned in 1986.
Does your kid have a blog? If so, read this. If they do, you may want to make sure they’re not giving out too much information.
Heh:
How ironic, that of the last two Senators who have lost elections to a sitting President, the one who went on to advertise erectile dysfunction treatments is not the one losing his dignity.
Via James, it looks like the M9 is on its way out and will be replaced by the .45ACP. James thinks it will be a Sig.
Readers of SayUncle already knew about the Joint Combat Pistol (see here and Les’ post here) but I think this is the first report that didn’t come from a gun board.
Update: Tam says Nopers:
The pistol will replace the M9, but only for SOCOM. My money is currently with the USP45, whose dimensions, as it has been pointed out, are suspiciously similar to the max dimensions given in the RFP.
Green Bay Press Gazette says a veto override for the CCW bill is going on.
In a predictical move Senator Chambers has avowed to do everything in his power to kill not only the CCW bill, but the Fetal Assault measure that is before the Unicameral.
Senator Chambers plans to nit pick and filibuster every bill that comes up for debate from now till the end of the short session.
Bummer. The override push has started in Wisconsin though.
Xavier is disappointed in an Airsoft 1911 replica that he bought to practice with. The video he shows is pretty cool but the pistol in no way functions like that. Speaking of, this video (via Marc) of a Japanese IPSC style match is pretty darn neat. Anyone know what sort of pistols they’re using? That’d be pretty cool to do in the garage.
Alphie notes that an Iraqi general claims Saddam’s WMDs were moved to Syria prior to the invasion:
“There are weapons of mass destruction gone out from Iraq to Syria, and they must be found and returned to safe hands,” Mr. Sada said. “I am confident they were taken over.”
Mr. Sada’s comments come just more than a month after Israel’s top general during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Moshe Yaalon, told the Sun that Saddam “transferred the chemical agents from Iraq to Syria.”
They are up over at The Radical Centrist’s joint. He neglected to post my entry. It is here.
I thought Mrs. Wigglebottom was a cat. Aunt B. on Kathy McIntyre’s publishing the names and addresses of pit bulls (which I discussed here):
No, I’m not going to run out and buy a gun. Yes, I will continue to be ill-at-ease about guns. But, god damn if Say Uncle doesn’t remind me of the importance of… well, fuck me, boys, I don’t even know what you call yourselves… guns-rights-advocates (?) and the necessity of throwing props their way every once in a while.
Why, you may ask, am I moved to cheer for guns-rights-advocates? Because when it comes to the silliness and offensiveness of trying to shame people into “proper” behavior, they get it.
I prefer to be called gun nut.
These Wild West short barreled lever guns are pretty neat looking. Those are classified as short barreled rifles and require a $200 tax. However, these mare’s legs are classified by the ATF as pistols. Not sure why.
Head continues his AK building reference. This time, he talks about barrels.
We Can Do Better than a “Cut and Paste” Senator
It seems Hilleary borrowed heavily from an RNC press release.
In news you probably won’t get anywhere else, Sunshyne video reports that porn starlet Anna Malle has died. Link not safe for work.
For the record, I don’t get paid by anyone to plug their gun stuff. I just like pointing out deals when I see them. Coal Creek Armory has Rock River Arms stripped lowers for $109. That’s a damn fine price. They had Superior Arms lowers for $99 last time I was there too.
The ACLU of Georgia released copies of government files on Wednesday that illustrate the extent to which the FBI, the DeKalb County Division of Homeland Security and other government agencies have gone to compile information on Georgians suspected of being threats simply for expressing controversial opinions.
Two documents relating to anti-war and anti-government protests, and a vegan rally, prove the agencies have been “spying” on Georgia residents unconstitutionally, the ACLU said.
For example, more than two dozen government surveillance photographs show 22-year-old Caitlin Childs of Atlanta, a strict vegetarian, and other vegans picketing against meat eating, in December 2003. They staged their protest outside a HoneyBaked Ham store on Buford Highway in DeKalb County.
An undercover DeKalb County Homeland Security detective was assigned to conduct surveillance of the protest and the protestors, and take the photographs. The detective arrested Childs and another protester after he saw Childs approach him and write down, on a piece of paper, the license plate number of his unmarked government car.
“They told me if I didn’t give over the piece of paper I would go to jail and I refused and I went to jail, and the piece of paper was taken away from me at the jail and the officer who transferred me said that was why I was arrested,” Childs said on Wednesday.
The government file lists anti-war protesters in Atlanta as threats, the ACLU said. The ACLU of Georgia accuses the Bush administration of labeling those who disagree with its policy as disloyal Americans.
Sure, this Childs person is a bit, er, off but she has a right to be. And arrested for writing down a plate number? Give me a break.
Noting that the police really have no need to track other guns, sold by the same dealer when a crime gun is found, Nemerov opines:
Senators Schumer and Clinton wish to manufacture a crisis, using the death of two police officers to promote their own agenda of creating a registration database: the next step necessary to institute a national policy of civilian disarmament.
Some other smart cracker said something similar a while back.
Wal-Mart provides the libertarian ideal where Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is a store rather than a government agency.
You know, to me Wal-Mart is a lot like George W. Bush. It’s not that I’m that big a fan in the abstract, really, it’s just that the viciousness and stupidity revealed in its enemies tends to make me view it more favorably than I otherwise would.
I shop there on occasion and it’s because they have cheap ammo and I don’t have to carry a dumb little card to get the best price. Actually, the card isn’t to get the best price, it’s just to get a competitive price. And where else can you go grab some ammo, pick up a Ruger 10/22 for less than $120, a Leupold scope for less than $200, a six pack of Guinness, get your oil changed, grab a pack of underwear, sample snacks, get a fishing license, have your pictures developed in less than an hour, review popular brands of HDTV flatscreens, get tax software, and grab a pack of Chiclets?
There was a thread on arfcom where folks were discussing Wal-Marts ammo prices. One of the anti-Wal-Mart contingent said something about supporting China. Well, guess what, if you buy the same product at another store, it’s still made in China.
A while back, I did my AR v AK comparison. Now, Head has done is own comparison. My favorites:
AK - You are able to hit the broad side of a barn from inside
AR - You are able to hit the broad side of a barn from 600m
Mosin - You can hit the farm from two counties over
And:
AK - Your rifle can be used by any two bit nation’s most illiterate conscripts to fight elite forces worldwide
AR - Your rifle is used by elite forces worldwide to fight two bit nations most illiterate conscripts
Mosin - Your rifle has fought against itself and won every time
Heh.
The SCOTUS denied cert. He has a round up and David Hardy has more. Seems you have to actually risk going to jail to challenge the law. I didn’t realize petitioning the government for a redress of grievances had to mean risking time in the slammer.
Bitter tells us the senate there voted to override the veto. I doubt the chamber has the votes but good to see the effort.
Xavier has some rules for scoring stuff at gun shows. One I always forget is:
Carry cash. Carry cash in $20 increments, in several different pockets.
As a willing player in the cashless society, I rarely carry cash. Much less in large quantities. But at a gun show, it’s a good idea.
Kathy McIntyre, of some paper I’ve never heard of, published the names and addresses of 24 pit bull owners in a newspaper for Commerce City, Colorado. Her lame ass reason was for the greater good of the community. Never mind that, like the time the Cleveland Plain Dealer published names of carry permit holders, it’s an unnecessary privacy violation. She assumed that people who owned such dogs were a threat and should be embarrassed or acknowledged so as to be ridiculed, apparently. It also could give some folks the view that the paper is encouraging vigilantism. Blogger Andrea Weckerle recommends that you contact her via the address at the Metro North Chamber.
Well, here’s the address of a real threat to the community:
At work:
Kathy McIntyre
Commerce City Gateway
PO Box 88
Commerce City, CO 80037
(720) 221-7352
(720) 221-7352
kathy@coloradobusinessalliance.com
I also have her home address, phone number, a map to her house, a picture of her house, and know her husband’s first name. I could publish all that but that would make me a dick. Man, Al Gore’s Internets are a scary place.
Maybe there is hope in the KELO mess. I hope this spreads to other businesses.
djuggler emails a link to this:
Cinema-goers around the country will be shocked this week by a new advertisement offering AK47 machine-guns for sale among the ads for cars and soft drinks. They will see presenters talking up the firepower and reliability of the AK47, as a young boy demonstrates how the gun is so easy to use that even a child can fire it. They are even offered free ammunition when they call to place their order with advertisers Teleshop.
You can see the ad here. I don’t use quicktime so I haven’t watched it but I read the scroll bar, which also offers free ammo for a year. Here’s an article on it, which says:
But viewers will be relieved to find that the ad is by Amnesty International, spoofing a TV shopping channel to highlight the ease with which weapons can be bought and sold due to lax controls on the international arms trade.
A final caption reads “The arms trade is out of control” and asks people to text the word “ARMS” and their full name to 84118 to join a petition for tough action to control the sales of deadly weapons.
The ad, of course, is absolutely misleading. More:
“Some people might find our Teleshop advert disturbing. But what’s truly shocking is that one person dies every minute from armed violence. And there is a scandalous lack of controls to stop weapons getting into the wrong hands.
Really? You are aware that it’s illegal in the UK to buy an AK-47, right? And in the US, buying AK-47s has been regulated since 1934 and banned since 1986. Amnesty International is pulling propaganda and scare tactics directly from The Brady Campaign.
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