Joe has more on the lawsuit against libraries that block access to gun websites, including a link to the complaint.

BTW, I have never really noticed anyone banning SayUncle, except China.

So, in the 1990s, it appeared that the SUV replaced the station wagon as the family ride. Now, with cars like the Freestyle, Pacifica and XC90, the station wagon is coming back. They still call it an SUV but it’s a wagon.

Regarding my boycott of Pilot Oil due to Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam’s membership in an anti-gun group, I received this comment:

As an employee of the Haslam administration I encourage sayuncle to contact me via email as I may be able to offer a communication venue if he is having trouble connecting with the mayor.

I responded via email and offered to re-print anything the mayor had to say without edit. I also asked if he’d answer question about the group. We’ll see how it goes.

Update: BTW, I applaud the mayor’s office for contacting a blogger.

Update 2: He has responded via email and assures me that, after another matter is addressed, he will be in contact with me. Looks promising.

how pro-gun folks are willing to debate their position any time and any where (often, when we’re not even asked); Yet, the anti-gunners only set up shill blogs without comments, issue press releases, and largely stick to venues in which they will not be challenged and avoid those that will? Yeah, me too.

By the way, if Mr. Haslam’s people are still reading, that first link to a shill blog (which is totally hysterical drivel) is funded by the Joyce Foundation too. They also happen to fund the Alliance of Mayors Against Guns.

The VCDL:

Senator George Allen, keeping his word to gun owners, has introduced S 4057, the National Park Second Amendment Restoration and Personal Protection Act of 2006, which will allow gun owners to carry in a National Park as long as the state where the National Park is located allows carry in parks!

Senator Allen needs to get the bill a Floor vote in the Senate and get it off to the House for passage that must happen before the end of the current session of Congress.

We need to do the following things ASAP to help Senator Allen MAKE THIS HAPPEN!:

1. Contact Senator John Warner and ask him to support S. 4057

Phone: 202-224-2023
Fax: 202-224-6295

Regarding whether or not it’s OK to take photos of violations of gun safety, Bitter says:

There are no exceptions when it’s a functional firearm. Even before I became an instructor, I refused to break those rules, even for photographers. When I would come across one that would even make a request for me to break a rule, I would immediately ask them to leave the range and refuse permission to use my image in any way.

If we did that, we wouldn’t have any Bruce Willis movies. I was going to list the ways I personally have violated the four rules of gun safety but Standard Mischief did the work for me in comments:

Who here has not checked the condition of a barrel’s lands and grooves by first verifying that the firearm is unloaded, locking open the action, inserting a finger or a white piece of paper such that light is reflected inside, and sighting down the barrel from the muzzle? Are you not violating rule #2?

How about pointing a gun at your living room floor? I’m pretty sure that’s something that most people are not willing to destroy, although frequently it’s voted as the safest surface to discharge a round into. Usually the floor beats out the TV, the computer, your domestic partner, or that Ming vase on the table over there. It even usually beats out the ceiling, because with a hole in the floor, you don’t have to rush and patch it.

Likewise, waiting to shoot at clays, have you ever seen anyone rest a double shotgun, action broken open, over their shoulder? Aren’t they being a bit careless? I mean they’re not even watching where the muzzle is pointing at, they’ve got their back turned. Another violation of rule #2?

Does dry fire practice violate #3?

Am I being careless when I have the bolt out of the action of my Mauser, and I’ve verified that I can see the follower, and I have the gun clamped down and I’m swabbing out the barrel and just for one brief moment I assume that the gun is not loaded, contrary to rule #1?

I like to hope I’m a safe gun handler. I make sure everyone is following the rules when I’m the range safety officer. I don’t let the nieces or nephews handle firearms until they correctly answer the question “what is the first thing you do when you pick up a firearm?”. I teach them to keep their finger off the trigger and keep the gun unloaded and pointed down range until it’s their turn to shoot.

I teach the four rules. But I realize I violate the rules all the time. And I realize that it would be impossible to rewrite the four rules such that I never violate them, yet still retain their simplicity.

And while practicing the Wile E. Coyote school of gunsmithing, you simply can’t follow all the rules while working on a weapon or bore-sighting or installing a scope or hitting it with a really big hammer or using a Dremel to widen the magazine well of an AK variant. There are exceptions out there but they are necessary exceptions.

Now, shotguns. Smith and Wesson is pushing into the long gun market. I handled one of their ARs a while back, and it felt like a quality weapon.

I mentioned yesterday that some unexpected folks were advocating it. Well, in Australia:

A shooters’ rights group has called for Saturday to be a national ‘buy a gun’ day, drawing strong opposition from gun control lobbyists.

The Coalition of Law Abiding Sporting Shooters (CLASS) is promoting the idea of a special day for shooters, arguing that gun ownership teaches individual responsibility and important life skills.

“Participation in Buy a Gun day is simple,” Peter Whelan, president of CLASS said.

“For those who already own a gun, visit your local gun shop and buy another one,” he said in a statement.

“If you have never owned a gun, visit your local shooting club, talk with the members and join up. If you want the full details on getting your firearms licence and purchasing your first gun, just contact the Firearms Registry.”

Cool.

How silly of me. Those anti-gay marriage folks were so right that gay-marriage would lead to all sorts of things.

Chuck emails this:

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and three Washington State residents have filed a federal lawsuit against a north-central Washington regional library system for denying them access to websites that include information on firearms and publications dealing with guns.

How much money would you think it would cost to select a site for the new Transit Center in downtown Knoxville? Write that number down on a piece of paper. Got it? Good.

According to WATE "news" that price is $3.1 million for the planning and selection process.

That’s right, you read it correctly. Did either WATE or any or the other usual suspects in journalism give a break out of that 3.1 million dollars?

So did this selection site allow for future development of light rail? Of course not.

Great job everybody. It’s just OPM. Other peoples money.

Carry on.

Not sure why but I’m getting press releases now. Here’s one that you’ll see tomorrow from the National Shooting Sports Foundation:

Handpicked by Mayor Bloomberg; Federal Court Appoints Lawyer With Ties to Gun Control Group to Monitor Gun Dealers

11/16/2006

To: National Desk

Contact: Lawrence G. Keane of National Shooting Sports Foundation, 203-426-1320 or 203-526-6773

NEWTOWN, CT, Nov. 16th/U.S. Newswire/ — The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry’s trade association, said today it was outraged but not surprised to learn that Brooklyn, NY-based federal court judge Jack B. Weinstein had appointed a lawyer handpicked by New York City Mayor Bloomberg to monitor several small out-of-state “mom and pop” gun stores that had been sued by Bloomberg earlier this year.

The lawyer, Andrew Weissman, is a partner with the Chicago-based law firm of Jenner and Block. The firm represents the Violence Policy Center (VPC), a Washington, D.C.-based gun control group known for its extremist positions, which include advocating a ban on civilian ownership of handguns. Jenner & Block filed a brief for VPC supporting the City of Chicago’s attempt to obtain highly sensitive law enforcement data on guns traced by law enforcement during criminal investigations. Jenner and Block’s brief for VPC argued the data should be released to the public despite opposition from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that it would endanger ongoing criminal investigations and a federal law that specifically bars public disclosure. A federal appeals court rejected Jenner and Block’s arguments. Chicago had sought the data for use in its lawsuit against gun makers, which was ultimately dismissed by a state appeals court.

“Judge Weinstein’s Halloween Day order appointing a lawyer handpicked by Mayor Bloomberg for whose firm has strong ties to a radical anti-gun group gives new meaning to the phrase, ‘Trick-or-Treat,'” said Lawrence G. Keane, chief spokesperson for the firearms industry. “We fear it will be a nightmare for these small businesses.”

In a series of earlier rulings in a related case, Judge Weinstein ruled the City of New York could have and use privileged gun trace data in its civil suit against gun makers. The case, originally filed in June 2000 by then-mayor Rudy Giuliani and continued by Bloomberg, is now before a federal appeals court in New York.

Gun makers have long been concerned with Judge Weinstein’s bias and have even asked Judge Weinstein to recuse himself in the city’s suit against the manufacturers. Weinstein refused to step aside.

Bloomberg’s suit against 15 out-of-state “mom-and-pop” gun dealers claims they participated in “simulated straw-purchases.” Bloomberg, despite promises made at a press conference announcing the suit, has failed to make available evidence of the alleged illegal conduct to the ATF, whom he had described as “asleep at the switch.” The actions of Bloomberg’s private investigators, done without the knowledge of either ATF or the New York City police department, interfered with as many as 18 ongoing criminal investigations and are now being investigated by ATF.

As part of the dealer settlement agreements, Weissman as “special master” will oversee and monitor three of the five settling dealers’ business practices – and though the remaining two settling dealers will have their special master appointed by a Georgia Court, Bloomberg will request that Weissman be appointed to oversee them as well.

In settling the dealers did not admit to any wrongdoing. The monitor’s oversight will be largely redundant to that of the ATF but includes new powers, including videotaping firearm purchasers without their permission. The monitor will also be able to fine the dealers for violations of the settlement agreement. “Ironically, Bloomberg strongly opposes pending legislation (H.R. 5092) that would grant similar powers to ATF,” Keane said.

“I doubt these small business owners had any knowledge of Weissman and his firm’s ties to the radically anti-gun Violence Policy Center. They clearly have a basis to go back to court and demand that a truly neutral party be appointed as a special master,” said Keane.

So, the token appointees as part of the settlement are anti-gun. Who’d have thunk it.

Gene:

Seems State Senator Burchett broke the law when he threatened lethal force against four teenagers because those teenagers were unarmed and the incident occurred at a place of business. Well, according to WATE (link):

Still no corrections issued regarding the irresponsible info they gave.

Update: For those just joining us, I am not of the opinion that Senator Burchett broke the law. However, if the aforementioned WATE article were factually accurate, then the law would have been broken.

Same as the old boss only she can’t move her eyes or furrow her brow. Rich on the Democrat leadership:

The American People Have Spoken, and They Want Change

Which is why we’re hearing the same old names coming to the front for leadership positions in congress on both sides of the aisle.

Ayup. See, election time is over. So, all that talk about reform and new directions and ethics and rainbows and kittens and lollipops was just that. Talk.

Roger continues his Conservative Persons and Accomplishments Appreciation Week with The War On Terror. Funny, biting stuff. Past issues:

Federal spending

Schiavo

The Internet Gambling Law.

Last night, I was playing cards with some friends. One of those friends’ wife is a professional photographer. She does some damn good work too. My friend told me that his wife was hired to be in the delivery room to photograph the arrival of a baby who was going to die after birth. According to him, there is simply no saving the child and the child will die within hours of birth. The couple wants to capture their brief time with the child on film.

It’s a heartbreaking tale. My eyes teared up and I’ve thought about it all morning. So, to a couple I’ve never met and a child I never will meet, you’re in my thoughts and prayers.

1 – come up with product and process.

2 – pay government to pass laws eliminating competition from people who do it better than you.

Someone put this man on the supreme court!

First, Lumpy, now state senator Burchett:

State Sen. Tim Burchett says he caught a group of youngsters during a break-in Wednesday, held them at gunpoint and fed them chocolate-chip cookies until Knox County sheriff’s deputies arrived.

That’s Southern hospitality, offering you food at gun point.

A commenter at Xrlqy Wrlqy’s:

The 52-47 vote in 2004 was before the elections. You didnt state that. After the elections the vote would have reveresed to 47-52. The additions of pro gun seats in north and south carolina, florida,south dakota and louisiana gave the US senate 5 more votes to stop the awb. With the current of loss of Jim talent being the only pro gun vote to leave the senate the new vote would be 51 to 48. This is all assuming webb, tester, and casey all vote pro gun.

Well, they seem to be pro-gun.

Update: The NRA, however, says The Fight Begins. Is it like pledge week at PBS or something?

Indeed:

There is no better barometer for government involvement and ignoring citizens’ rights than on gun issues.

From a college paper too. Maybe there is hope for the future.

Here’s the presser:

A United States citizen who now lives in Great Britain has joined with the country’s leading gun owner rights organization in a federal lawsuit that says nonresident citizens are unfairly being targeted by existing laws that restrict gun ownership to those who live in the U.S.

Attorneys William B. Mateja, a principal in the Dallas and Washington, D.C., offices of Fish & Richardson P.C., and Alan Gura of Alexandria, Va.’s Gura & Possessky PLLC, filed the federal claim today on behalf of London, England, resident Maxwell Hodgkins and the Bellevue, Wash.-based Second Amendment Foundation.

Hodgkins, a 31-year-old real estate broker, is asking for a legal injunction that would prohibit federal officials from enforcing several “vague and ambiguous” gun control statutes. A Dallas native, Hodgkins is an avid gun collector and sportsman who legally owns and stores firearms in the U.S. and holds related permits for weapons possession and concealment.

Mateja previously served in the current Bush Administration as senior counsel to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General. Among other duties, he oversaw the Justice Department’s violent crime efforts, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and President Bush’s Project Safe Neighborhood. Prior to that, he served as lead counsel in the notable Second Amendment case U.S. v. Timothy Joe Emerson.

The statutes in question ban the receipt, sale and purchase of firearms by U.S. citizens who claim legal residency outside the U.S. Expatriates cannot buy guns, and while they can receive guns for “lawful sporting purposes,” they cannot do so for lawful self-defense while visiting the U.S. The suit claims that these laws violate the Second and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Although Hodgkins has not been arrested or prosecuted, his attorneys say he could face federal charges should he attempt to access his guns in the U.S.

“These laws serve no useful purpose,” says Gura. “If Mr. Hodgkins may safely have a gun for target practice or hunting, he can certainly have a gun for other lawful purposes.”

I’ve said it a lot.

Memphis Mayor Herenton (who is not a member of mayors against guns) says:

“The streets of Memphis are very much like the streets of many major cities. Many of them are unsafe, so I urge the citizens to use an abundance of caution.”

Strong words. And here are a few more. “I do not favor vigilante justice. Not everybody should own a gun. But the Constitution does permit people to own handguns for their own protection.” Mayor Herenton has admitted one time that he carried a handgun, during a 1998 downtown rally of the Ku Klux Klan. “I am authorized to carry a handgun,” Herenton says.

And in the city of Greanleaf, Idaho:

After seeing the chaos of Hurricane Katrina, a city councilor in this tiny Idaho town founded by pacifist Quakers came up with a novel idea.

Ordinance 208, passed by the City Council on Tuesday, asks Greenleaf’s 862 residents who do not object on religious or other grounds to keep a gun at home in case they are overrun by refugees from the Gulf Coast.

Note: they asked. They did not require.

Some of the media in Knoxville has lost it. While people in Knox and surrounding counties have become accustomed to the biased, slanted, and sensational reporting that can occur around here, this week a local Television station and an alt weekly newspaper out did themselves. This is wrong on so many levels it takes a little time to lay out. Some of the more idiotic parts, some second amendment issues and common sense, will warrant another post.

A sensational story from WATE Television news and a rush to judgment with a completely erroneous and slanted editorial in this weeks Metro Pulse has brought a new level of shame to Knoxville media, if that is possible.

Here is what happened. WATE asked Knox County Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert to demonstrate what happened when 19 year old Kane Stackhouse tried to rob him at gunpoint last Saturday afternoon. What WATE showed on Television shocked many people as it appeared that Commissioner Lambert drew a loaded handgun and pointed it at a WATE cameraman. WATE had nothing in the news report that suggested otherwise.

But that is not what happened.

Even though that is exactly what a scathing editorial from the Metro Pulse conveyed. The unsigned editorial starts off plainly enough stating that Lambert “has shown himself to be a danger to himself and others.”

Why would the editorial staff of the Metro Pulse write that?

Because the news report from WATE completely faked them out that’s why.

Even though Lumpy Lambert had a post on KnoxViews that explained that he had cleared the chamber and removed the magazine from the handgun, a Kel-Tec .380, and that he had carefully explained how to make sure a handgun was unloaded; WATE never showed that on air.

The response in the Metro pulse Editorial? This quote, “But in the midst of the ensuing excitement, Lambert did the unconscionable. He pointed his pistol directly at a TV camera recording his description of the event. A firearms instructor’s take on Lambert’s gesture, done for the dramatic media effect, was that it was the height of irresponsibility for a supposedly trained and permitted firearms user. Pointing a gun at something you don’t intend to fire on is the ultimate no-no.”

It is such unprofessional journalism that it may not meet the standard for libel. One would think a simple phone call would be required to confirm such dramatic writing. It is a shame there is not another comparison to illustrate how sloppy this reporting was.

But there is. On Wednesday Tennessee State Senator Tim Burchett held three juveniles and one adult at gunpoint at his motorcycle warehouse until Knox County deputies took them into custody. It is not reported if any of the four suspects were armed. But according to an error riddled special report on, “Laws for protecting yourself with a gun” by Kristin Farley of WATE, Senator Burchett had no right to draw a handgun unless the one of the four suspects drew one first.

Requests from both myself and Say Uncle to correct the errors in the Kristin Farley piece have gone unanswered. Which is a shame because there is obviously some confusion by not just the media but also private citizens. It sure would be nice to get this cleared up. Confused people can make mistakes.

So at what point does possibly libelous, biased, inaccurate, slanted, and sensational reporting become a problem? I guess that might be academic because it seems we passed that point quite some time ago.

Check it:

Low fare carrier Allegiant Air has added Las Vegas as the new, non-stop destination for passengers at McGhee Tyson Airport.

The first available date to fly to Las Vegas is February 15 with fares of $99 per person one way.

Don’t tell anyone, but it’s actually a debate I care little about and could go either way on. I mean, yeah, women who breastfeed can cover up but people just shouldn’t be so uptight about it. Two wrongs and all of that. Either way, it’s not important to me. I just want to see how many euphemisms for boobs I can sneak into an argument.

Well, it took less than two years for the Democrats to do something stupid. Byrd has chair of the appropriations committee.

Update: OK, there’s enough stupid to go around.

Jay wants to know which one he should get.

It’s now been over one month since I reported that Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam is a member of the Joyce Foundation-funded, anti-gun group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns. This has been mentioned on my site and linked by instapundit, NRA News, and other local blogs; and it has been covered by radio host Steve Gill. But I’ve heard nary a peep out of the local press regarding his membership in a group whose desire is to export New York City type gun controls to other cities (NY controls include licensing, registering, only celebrities and those political connections can get permits to carry weapons, and excessive fees).

Mayor Haslam was the president of Pilot Oil prior to becoming mayor. His family still runs the business. I’ve long bought my gas, snacks and the occasional sixer of brews at Pilot stations since they’re conveniently located. I will no longer do that. I’ll drive the extra mile or two and spend my money at Weigel’s. My weekly $50 fill up will go to them.

I encourage other Tennessee gun owners to do the same. And to tell your gun-owning friends about it as well.

Dear Firefox,

I appreciate that you’re always trying to improve your product. However, every time you release an update, your new and improved version fucks my shit up. Tabbed browsing doesn’t work like it did and you broke all my cool extensions. And the updated extensions don’t work as well. Knock that shit off.

Love,

SayUncle

P.S. I’m not Rediscovering the Web, I’m rediscovering the F6 key.