Self, if you ever make the mistake of accidentally getting your carry weapon aboard a plane, do not do the right thing. It’s not worth it.

In Blount county, there are allegations that the sheriff has threatened people who had the audacity to ask questions about 28 vehicles the sheriff department has misplaced. I’ve heard nothing about this in the local paper. I wonder if that’s how they paid for their new crime lab and SWAT vehicle?

Laser Grips for a Kel-Tec P3AT. Via Jay.

It seems everyone is eulogizing the conservative side of the Republican party.

Relax, guys, the conservative wing has been dead since Pappy Bush. Oh sure, a little life was breathed into them in the house when Clinton was in power but that was just a marketing gimmick that was abandoned once they ran the show.

Though what is odd to me is that from 1988 to the present, two families have occupied the white house. If Hillary wins, that could mean, assuming reelection, 28 years of the executive branch controlled by two families. We have our own royal families!

Lyle in comments:

You smash in my door, announce that you’re a cop. And I’m supposed to believe you?

The fight begins March 18. Also, Gura on the DOJ’s position:

The Department’s fears about the implications of securing a meaningful Second Amendment right are overblown and not grounded in fact or law. Look for our response to their brief, and the others, on February 4.

Even the Wall Street Journal jumps in:

The amicus brief filed by Solicitor General Paul Clement agrees with this part of the D.C. Circuit ruling. But then it goes on a bender about violent felons wielding machine guns, urging the Supreme Court to reject the legal standard applied by Judge Silberman. Instead, the SG invites the Supremes to hand down an elaborate balancing test that would weigh “the strength of the government’s interest in enforcement of the relevant restriction” against an individual’s right to bear arms.

This is supposedly necessary because of this single phrase in Judge Silberman’s 58-page ruling: “Once it is determined — as we have done — that handguns are ‘Arms’ referred to in the Second Amendment, it is not open to the District to ban them” (our emphasis). This has alarmed the lawyers at Justice, eliciting their dire warnings that somehow Judge Silberman’s logic would bar the regulation of M-16s, felons with guns, or perhaps even Sherman tanks.

Heh.

In Virginia, there was some sort of protest. Said protesters were pushing for a law that would not have stopped the VT massacre in the name of the victims of the VT massacre. Seems the pro-gun side outnumbered the bad guys 3 to 1.

And why are anti-gunners so violent?

We had one member assalted by an anti who shoved him out of the way, saying, “This is OUR protest!”

Sailorcurt has a long report, including tons of pictures.

And the antis did an aptly named lie-in.

Your bias against guns is showing.

Boy, you confuse cholesterol with carbohydrates once when you’re 19 and it haunts you forever.

Seems there is some dispute over whether or not John Moses Browning was born on January 21 or 23. No big deal, we just need a four day holiday. Anyway, from Tam:

Were he alive today, he’d be 153. And we’d have frickin’ death rays.

Les Jones:

The founding fathers were wise enough to keep the government out of religion, but not wise enough to keep the government out of education.

Well, I don’t think they’d have imagined it would come up.

Blank-firing adapter successfully installed. All went well. I got a shot of happy stuff, which the doc said was like six beers in 30 seconds. Clearly, he’s never seen me drink and another half dose would have been nice.

Interesting note is that your vasa deferentia are white. Yeah, I watched. Even more bizarre, so did the Mrs.

Be in bed most of tomorrow. Maybe blog, may not.

“Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people.”

An haiku in memoriam of my vasa deferentia:

You will be severed
Thanks for carrying my genes
Now, to shave my dudes

In case you couldn’t tell, it’s vasectomy day! We’ve decided we’re done having children.

By the way, all the literature my doc gave me on the procedure has images. In all those images, the jimmy in question is standing at attention. I don’t think that during such a procedure, that would be the case. But we can’t show flaccid ones lest we shatter our male egos. I blame the patriarchy.

How slow is he? He’s so slow that his latest post comes to you already debunked.

Kinda odd that a group with anti-defamation in its title would defame a group of people, eh?

There’s a noted increase in bank robberies. If I ran a bank, I’d probably hire some more guards or put in more cameras. But a bankers association has a pretty dumb idea:

Responding to a more than one-third hike in bank robbery, the Florida Bankers Association is urging its members to adopt new rules.

Not additional guards or cameras, but a dress code for customers.

The group rolled out a “No Hats, No Hoods, No Sunglasses” program, which includes lobby signs asking customers to remove those items before approaching a teller.

Those who refuse would be directed to an area with more security or a more experienced teller.

Yes, because robbers will comply with those directions.

This time, it was an officer who was killed:

Officer Jarrod Shivers was shot and killed while executing a search warrant in Cheseapeake, Virginia Thursday night.

The suspect had no criminal record (at least in the state of Virginia). And he says in an interview from jail he had no idea the undercover cops breaking into his home were police. The suspect, 28-year-old Ryan David Frederick, also says a burglar had broken into his home earlier this week.

As of yet, there are no reports of drugs found at the scene.

Sadly, these sorts of deaths are pretty much avoidable.

Eric has more and asks:

What are you supposed to do if you are in your home at night, and suddenly hear the sound of your door being smashed open?

Well, I start shooting.

Indeed.

Huh:

In an apparent case of road rage, a motorist shot a driver to death who threatened him with a baseball bat.

Road rage, self-defense? What’s the difference?

Or please God, don’t make me vote for /20~ p@\/1

It’s disappointing. I want Fred to win. But it appears that it’s over barring some miracle. I said the same thing about South Carolina, so it’s time to realize that the miracle just ain’t gonna happen. I hope he can turn it around but that’s unlikely. Fred is not media friendly. He takes complex positions on issues that don’t fit neatly into soundbytes. He doesn’t have catchy jingles. And the media can’t go with that. As Bob Krumm said, Since the media only print sentences don’t talk in paragraphs.

If Fred drops, then who? Err, nobody. I don’t like anyone in the Republican field. So, like I did last year, I’ll waste my vote on the crazy libertarian guy in protest. For the second election in a row, I would rather waste my vote on the crazy guy than any contender the establishment offers.

The only other thing I have to say is I hope it’s not Romney. I mean, a Romney v. Hillary or Romney v. Obama is no choice at all.

Bob Krumm on lessons learned. Additionally, Bob is advocating contributing to Fred and Bob is putting his money where his mouth is.

AC has extensive thoughts as well.

Update: Glenn has more, including: Some people think it’s time to teach the party a lesson. Fine, but I thought 2006 was supposed to do that. Did they learn anything?

Apparently not.

Update 2: In comments, Xrlqy Wrlqy reminds me that this is also a game of longball:

If you think I’m exaggerating when I say the next 20+ years, consider the infamous Ninth Circuit. Nearly all the judges on that circuit who make it so notoriously whack are Carter appointees. Think long and hard about that before throwing your vote away in November.

You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a pink AR-15 these days.

But by the color of their skin or whether or not they have a vagina.

Ruger has issues with politically incorrect self-loading rifles?

Speaking of, I often hear the black rifle crowd yammering on about how the NRA doesn’t look out for them. I dunno, have you read any recent issue of American Rifleman? It seems to me to be peppered with ads for EBRs and EBR accessories.

Michael Bane has a podcast interview with John Lott. It is here.

Over at Pattycakes.

Lemme ‘splain. No, there is too much. Lemme sum up.

See, if you think that there is a rational and lawful basis for jury nullification, you’re retarded. If you think that judges should decide the law while juries decide the facts, you’re just following orders and a Nazi. Does that cover it?

Any way, my thoughts are that juries should be fully informed on matters of fact, law and, hell, legal strategy. But the courts don’t do that. In fact, if a lawyer looked at jury and said Guys, you can just decide this is bullshit then what’s going to happen to him? We can’t, after all, have the people judging the law. There’d be anarchy!

I refer you to this bit:

Yeah, the cops have discretion aplenty on whether to arrest or merely warn you. The Prosecutor’s office has discretion aplenty on whether to charge you for a crime or crimes (and what charges to bring, and what penalties to ask for). The judge is a tinpot god in his own courtroom.

But if the JURORS show the slightest bit of independent thought, civilization will collapse into flaming ruin.

I find jury nullification is a valid means of essentially countering particularly odious laws, like say prohibition or someone getting sentenced to 30 years for selling weed.

The other issue that gets bandied about by people who are not fans of jury nullification is that you, pesky troublemaker, took an oath to uphold the law! And if you renege on that then you’ve perjured yourself. Having read a sample oath, I don’t buy that argument. I see no prohibition in there stating that judging the law is verboten. Even if it did, taking an oath to uphold the law is not going to override my moral convictions. And I’m not saying I’d lie to get on jury.

Past ramblings here, here, and here.

Today, we celebrate a man who has done much to advance a righteous cause. Hats off to you, Mr. John Moses Browning, and happy birthday.

Ok, two quotes. First, Jody in comments here:

I think there’s a difference between a libertarian and an anarchist. Unfortunately for libertarians, many anarchists don’t know the difference.

And Tam:

The last time we had a populist moralizing evangelical in the White House, we gave away the Panama Canal…

Heh and double heh.

Happy B-day, bitter.