The press again blurs the line by intimating that the assault weapons ban affects machine guns (which it did not):

An officer with the Texas Department of Public Safety had come across a man he suspected was drunk inside his car on Mile 12 North on Oct. 30. As the trooper was detaining the driver, later identified as Cipriano Briones, the man broke free and drove away. During the chase, Briones started firing an automatic weapon out his window. The trooper was injured when a bullet fragment ricocheted and hit his face.

Law enforcement officers are worried that the Oct. 30 shooting is not an isolated incident, and that the potential for another large-scale shootout is high. Although Briones apparently got his gun illegally, law enforcement officials fear it will be easier to get them if they are legal. The expiration of the federal ban on assault weapons gives officers the feeling that criminals will have easier access to weapons, allowing them to outgun police officers.

So, we have an illegally obtained machine gun? Such an item was not affected by the assault weapons ban.

It looks like the culture war is winnable.

That’s a lot of gut bombs:

Japan’s Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi set a new world hamburger-eating record Saturday by consuming 69 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes to win the inaugural Krystal Square Off World Hamburger-Eating Championship in Chattanooga.

The guy weighs like 130 pounds. And for you non-local readers a Krystal is similar to a White Castle burger, except it is infinitely better.

The Presbyterian Church has been threatened with terrorists attacks:

The author said churches would be set on fire while people were inside.

The author of the letter said the fires would be an act of retaliation as a church panel is considering pulling its investments with companies that support the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

Churches, in general, I think should avoid political statements and that essentially what the investment pullout represents. However, it’s not a good reason to threaten to burn them down.

Even Nicholas Kristof, who is your typical uninformed scaremonger when it comes to guns, is telling the Democrats to give up on gun control:

Nothing kills Democratic candidates’ prospects more than guns. If it weren’t for guns, President-elect Kerry might now be conferring with incoming Senate Majority Leader Daschle.

Since the Brady Bill took effect in 1994, gun-control efforts have been a catastrophe for Democrats. They have accomplished almost nothing nationally, other than giving a big boost to the Republicans. Mr. Kerry tried to get around the problem by blasting away at small animals, but nervous Red Staters still suspected Democrats of plotting to seize guns.

Actually, I wouldn’t say it was the Brady Bill but the assault weapons ban portion of it that killed the Democrats in the 1990s. After the ban, they lost the House and Senate. And Kristof is right, it is a non-starter. But Kristof is still a scaremonger in this article:

Moreover, it’s clear that in this political climate, further efforts at gun control are a nonstarter. You can talk until you’re blue in the face about the 30,000 gun deaths each year, about children who are nine times as likely to die in a gun accident in America as elsewhere in the developed world, about the $17,000 average cost (half directly borne by taxpayers) of treating each gun injury. But nationally, gun control is dead.

So, he advocates giving up gun control by (wait for it) advocating gun control:

So it’s time for a fundamentally new approach, emblematic of how Democrats must think in new ways about old issues. The new approach is to accept that handguns are part of the American landscape, but to use a public health approach to try to make them much safer.

The model is automobiles, for a high rate of traffic deaths was once thought to be inevitable. But then we figured out ways to mitigate the harm with seat belts, air bags and collapsible steering columns, and since the 1950’s the death rate per mile driven has dropped 80 percent.

Similar steps are feasible in the world of guns.

“You can tell whether a camera is loaded by looking at it, and you should be able to tell whether a gun is loaded by looking at it,” said David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. Professor Hemenway has written “Private Guns, Public Health,” a brilliant and clear-eyed primer for the country.

We take safety steps that reduce the risks of everything from chain saws (so they don’t kick back and cut off an arm) to refrigerators (so kids can’t lock themselves inside). But firearms have been exempt. Companies make cellphones that survive if dropped, but some handguns can fire if they hit the ground.

This is the shift from gun control to gun safety that they’ve been trying to implement for a while now. It appears moderate, but it has the same goal. And, for the record, you should assume every gun is loaded so you shouldn’t need an indicator telling you whether it is or is not. This is the same thing that happened when the gun control lobby invented assault weapons. Semi-automatic firearms were always just called guns. In the late 1980s, Handgun Control, Inc. (now the Brady Campaign) knew that it was and will lose in its bid to ban all handguns. They needed an issue they could win. So, they invented one. The began referring to guns that looked like military weapons as assault weapons, even though such guns function identically to your dad’s hunting rifle. The media bought (and still peddles it) and now people think there was actually a ban on military guns that has expired.

Also, this gun safety idea can be particularly dangerous. As an example, look at New Jersey’s smart gun. The mandate certain safety features for handguns and those features do not exist. Or, essentially, it rules out the possiblity of people who can’t afford the expensive things to buy them. In general, it’s not a good precedent. If you want to address gun safety, then teach people the four rules:

All guns are always loaded (until you establish whether they are or not).

Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. Keep your gun pointed in a safe direction at all times: on the range, at home, loading, or unloading.

Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target (and you are ready to shoot).

Be sure of your target. Know what it is, what is in line with it and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you haven’t positively identified.

It’s in The Paper of Record, so it must be true:

IT may come as a rude shock to fans of traditional country club sports, but more Americans take part in sports involving guns than play tennis and golf combined. The list, of course, includes hunting and recreational shooting, but also a blend called sporting clays, in which shooters plunge into nature not to stalk deer or ducks but to test their skill at hitting clay targets that fly through the air or bounce across the ground.

The Chicago Tribune actually presents the other side of the concealed carry debate without all the usual anti-gun hysteria the usually put in an article:

But what really distinguished the crowd was how devoutly law-abiding it was–and exceedingly polite too. As banquet organizer Alan Korwin jested in a news release after the dinner: “Food Service Very Slow But Waiters All Still Alive.”

That was, in fact, the message the gathering last month was intended to drive home: Ordinary gun owners don’t fit the wild-eyed caricatures often drawn by anti-gun groups. And they ought to be trusted to carry their weapons, openly or concealed, wherever they wish.

Yes, that Chicago Tribune

Also, The WaPo discusses Virginia’s rather silly concealed carry provisions:

Arriving for lunch at a Topeka’s Steakhouse ‘n’ Saloon not far from his suburban home, Van Cleave confronted another choice, an annoying one. Because the restaurant serves alcohol, Virginia law says he can’t carry a concealed weapon inside. He would have to wear it in plain view. So he chose a different holster, one that fits inside his belt, leaving the gun exposed. Then he sighed.

And this may mark the first time the WaPo addressed the Virginia statutes without acting hysterical.

But a federal judge and the Whirlpool Corporation disagree:

Whirlpool Corp. has sued to block a new law that allows employees to keep guns in their locked vehicles on workplace parking lots. The law was scheduled to take effect Nov. 1, according to the Associated Press, but a federal judge blocked it. Only Kentucky has a similar law.

A car is generally viewed as your property. I wouldn’t think that Whirlpool would have a leg to stand on. Of course, it’s not like they’re authorized to search cars.

The bill that exempts from prosecution people who use guns that are not registered or are banned to defend themselves will likely pass:

Senator Ed Petka (R-Plainfield), former Will County prosecutor and initiator of SB 2165, says he is confident the veto will fly in the Illinois House as well.

Some detail on the bill:

SB 2165 says that an individual who uses a firearm while defending his home will be allowed an affirmative defense to a charge he unlawfully possessed the firearm. The legislation was initiated after a Wilmette resident faced local city officials who charged him with using a handgun — banned in Wilmette — to defend his family when a burglar entered his home last year.

In Illinois, a particularly anti-gun state, this is huge. We’re winning.

It looks as though the push to repeal DC’s gun ban has hit a snag (I think that snag is that elections are over) despite gains in Congress by Republicans:

“Really, it was a total victory,” said Martin Green, spokesman for Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., one of the chief sponsors of the bill. “Members of Congress made sure that the rights that the rest of the country enjoy – the Second Amendment – are also enjoyed by those in the nation’s capital.”

Chris W. Cox, chief lobbyist for the NRA, said the firearm-advocacy organization is both pursuing the repeal of the handgun ban legislatively and is assisting several district residents in suing the city for their gun ownership rights.

The lame defense of those that support the ban is to blame Maryland and Virginia:

“Every day I am witnessing someone who’s been shot or murdered on these mean city streets,” said Hannah Hawkins, who runs Child of Mine , a center that counsels at-risk youth in the greater D.C.-metro area. “It’s become more dangerous because of non-restrictive gun laws in other jurisdictions, like Virginia and Maryland,” just over the border.

So, you mean criminals bypass the law? That is odd.

Update: The NRA, in addition to the legislative route, is trying the litigation route. Triggerfinger has the scoop.

A letter to the editor:

Firearms purchasers must provide state-issued photographic identification, fill out as many as seven forms, sign three affidavits attesting to the veracity of the information provided and wait until the government has checked into their background before taking possession of any firearm.

How can all of this be considered unregulated?

Instapundit, Bubba, and myself are interviewed here.

I mentioned earlier that the DOJ was asking the Supreme Court to review the Stewart case. Jed has much more on the impact of this, including a link to this tidbit:

If Stewart is overturned by the USSC then all laws based on the constitutional authorization to regulate interstate commerce will become easy targets for overturning. The only “out” the USSC will have here is the very narrow reading of the constitution and applying it’s provison to the origin of the materials used by Stewart to manufacture his machinegun. (sic)

[snip]

If the 9th’s decision is upheld then congress will have to open up the NFA to revision. Furthermore, people all across the country will NOT be FEDERALLY prohibited from building their own machineguns. State laws will remain unaffected until they are challenged based on the Stewart ruling. This will seriously jeopardize the power of the congress.

Read the whole thing. Both of them.

John Ross has some new posts, too.

If he maintains his latest pattern, he probably won’t post again until sometime in January.

Hey, Guy Montag is back.

Tragic event:

Two men were caught on a mall’s security camera as they chased a woman through a parking lot, then grabbed and stuffed her into the trunk of a car, authorities said.

Even more tragic:

Shoppers nearby seemed to notice the incident Sunday night, but none attemped to stop it. (sic)

That’s pretty terrible.

Look, the Oliver Willis post generator.

Patterico called on readers to create (well, I’ll let him say it) a new version of the Bill of Rights, rewritten to show in plain English what rights we actually hold today — now that the courts have reinterpreted the various amendments beyond all recognition. This reminded of Jeff’s The Bill of a Few Remaining Rights from a while back.

XRLQ chimed in with his rendition, which I think pretty much nails it. I would add:

Amendment I

Congress shall make laws regulating speech as it relates to congress. After all, we have incumbency to think about.

Amendment II

Keep it moving, nothing more to see here.

Amendment IV

This amendment doesn’t apply with respect to drugs or your own private automobile. Yet strangely, may apply to abortions because a right to absolute privacy is meant by papers and effects. Technological advances such as indoor plumbing render that whole knocking thing inconvenient.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall be mandatory. We can’t have potentially dangerous poor people running amok, now can we.

Amendment IX

Hah, yeah right.

Amendment X

Powers not delegated to the states or people will be curtailed because local folks want Free Federal Funding.

Is it just me or was this a really long week? Everybody at work is celebrating the arrival of Friday, and this morning when the alarm went off, I was trying to force it to be Saturday.

Anyway, the reason I was asking about house rental techniques earlier in the week is because we accidentally found a house we want to buy (that’ll teach me to go for sunny Sunday afternoon drives in the Miata during Open House hours). So this week, we’ve been negotiating and finally came to terms yesterday. We’re trying to close before Thanksgiving. Anybody want to rent a little bitty, fully rennovated house with a huge newly fenced-in back yard, on a main road in West Knoxville? 🙂

So hopefully within the next few weeks, this will be our new backyard:

Gotta love a tri-level cascading fish pond that somebody else built.

Hale DeMar used a banned handgun to defend himself. This prompted a bill that stated essentially that if an unregistered or banned handgun was used in self-defense that the court could clear the charges for the violating the ban. The Illinois senate passed the bill but the governor vetoed it. Now, the senate has overridden that veto:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed the measure, saying “each individual municipality should determine which affirmative defenses apply to a violation of its own ordinance,” but the Senate voted 40 to 18 to override him.

It’s not over yet:

The bill now heads to the House, where it must get at least 71 votes in order to become law in spite of the governor’s objections. It got 90 votes in the House in May.

It looks like it will pass. Of course, the obvious solution is to pass a bill repealing unconstitutional bans on gun ownership. That probably won’t happen in Illinois any time soon. However, these baby steps are reassuring.

We’re winning . . . slowly.

A Veteran’s Day Salute and one of the greatest guns ever invented. It’s over at the Shooters’ Carnival.

An update to their lawsuit against Bushmaster and H&K:

A federal lawsuit filed against Windham-based Bushmaster Firearms Inc. will now be heard in Maine.

The lawsuit, filed by Colt Defense of West Hartford, Conn., alleges Bushmaster Firearms Inc. copied Colt’s M-4 carbine rifle. The M-4 is standard issue for all branches of the U.S. military.

Colt also is suing Heckler & Koch GmbH, a German company with a plant in Sterling, Va. The firearm manufacturer claims both companies have engaged in trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false advertising, unfair competition and deceptive trade practices.

I assumed Colt was suing for the designation of M4. It seems, however, they are suing for copying the rifle. The basic AR15 design has been around since the 1950s when Eugene Stoner developed it for Armalite. I’ve never used Colt parts because they’re not compatible with most things so I find it odd. I prefer MilSpec.

A letter to the editor regarding the Connecticut assault weapons ban (which was basically a copy of the federal one):

I find it ludicrous that a manufacturer can produce and own hundreds or even thousands of assault weapons, but a Connecticut citizen cannot. If the weapons are so dangerous, why is the state allowing them to be manufactured? Are they less lethal as soon as they cross the Connecticut border? Perhaps it is time the state legislature realizes the folly of this ban and the hypocritical nature of its language.

Zell Miller on gun control in the NY Times:

Being for gun control, Miller said, was like telling Southerners, “You’re too stupid to understand these types of issues but we’re smart, so vote for us.”

There is a legal challenge in the works for the Pit Bull Ban in Council Bluffs:

A motion will be filed in about a month for a temporary injunction to block Council Bluffs’ ban on pit bulls from taking effect, a spokesman for the American Canine Foundation said.

Glen Bui, the ACF’s vice president, said Wednesday the filing will be in Pottawattamie County District Court and that a trial date would be set to determine the legality of the ordinance approved Monday night.

Today is Veterans’ Day. I tried all day to think of something worthwhile to post to mark this day, but I realized that no words of mine could match what has been said in the past and said today in other places. So I will say only this:

Thank you, and may we never forget.

Yesterday, I linked to the virtual bartender (which may be the coolest website ever) and the suggestions for commands can be seen in comments. It apparently updates based on entered commands. Yesterday, I entered the command macarena, and she gave the I don’t get it gesture. Today, macarena works.

Fuz ties it to the drug war.

Via Alphie, comes Tennessee Gun Talk. What is it? Glad you asked:

Thanks for visiting Tennessee Gun Talk, where visitors from Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky & Louisiana can discuss gun ownership & other relevant issues. Even if you don’t live in one of those states, feel free to drop in anyway and voice your opinions!

New stuff at the Shooters’ Carnival.