Indeed:

If Whoopi Goldberg is getting up in arms about tax increases then this movement is crossing all kinds of lines.

EMP grenades that disable electronics.

Mexico is getting pretty bad. So bad, that Obama is talking about moving troops to the border. And the piece concludes with talks of Mexico’s problems being a catalyst for gun control. Of course, it’s dogma now.

This with past reports from DOD officials that Mexico is on the verge of collapse do not bode well.

Funny video but, dude, keep your booger-hook off the bang-switch.

Giving a shout out to my hosting provider Hosting Matters. Traffic has been spiking a bit lately due to some links from Instapundit and that has created accessibility issues for the site. As such, my provider is going to be moving me to my own server. A better one weighing in at quad core, 4g of ram. This should go into effect some time between now and this weekend. So, if things get a bit hectic around here, it’s because of the upgrade.

Anyway, Hosting Matters always been easy to deal with and quick to resolve problems, even when I’m annoying them. I recommend them to you for their awesome customer service and response time, particularly from Stacy and Annette.

Gene Patterson notes that while TN’s congressmonkies talk down the stimulus and earmarks, they’re also the ones bringing home the pork:

No one is questioning the need for these particular projects (at least not that I’ve heard), but isn’t it an odd stretch to vote against a spending measure because of the pork and still manage to make sure your district gets its share of it?

Actually, I’m questioning them because they’re an unnecessary waste of my money. But good point.

IDF Galil Rifles.

A few things on the recent shootings:

1 – There are already gun control proposals shooting through Europe in light of the shooting in Germany. Because putting a big band-aid on after the fact is going to help. Also, the shooting that occurred in Germany illustrates that gun control is not particularly helpful at preventing mass murder from homicidal maniacs. Germany had licensing, governmental permission required, registries, membership requirements, and enough gun control pipe dreams to make Carolyn McCarthy soil her bloomers in excitement. But it still happened.

2 – The Brady Bunch wasted little time dancing in the blood of the dead. They were quick to point out that Alabama, with it’s low Brady Grade, was, naturally, a place where such a violent attack could occur. They never point these grades out when mass shooting occur in #1 ranked California, #9 Illinois, or NJ. And that their higher ranks correlate with where mass shootings occur and overall violent crime. And odd how they always left DC off the list even though it had the strictest gun controls. And it had a mass shooting yesterday too. As I said, mass shootings tend to come in sets.

3 – One of the criticisms I hear of gun blogs is that whenever there’s a mass shooting, we ignore it and don’t talk about it. Which is patently false (look up). I’ve covered them. Anyway, someone thought they’d pull a gotcha on Jeff and ask him that. He responds:

Both are terrible crimes committed by insane mutants. Both have nothing to do with the basic (Constitution, or God given,) RIGHT to self defense. They are crimes, as in the abuse of a right.

The wonderful Autoblog covers all things cars. They don’t blog about DUI arrests or auto-accidents. Misuse of motor vehicles are crimes that have nothing to do with covering the car and truck news of the day.

And I cover them as well. But mostly from a how current events can affect gun laws way.

NSSF is having one:

ONLINE REGISTRATION NOW OPEN . . . The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s 2009 Shooting Sports Summit is set for June 1-3 at the Hyatt Regency Bonaventure in Weston, Fla. Leaders from the firearms industry, shooting sports organizations and wildlife conservation groups are invited and encouraged to attend.

A few more pixels spent on Scoutten’s comments about Boomershoot here and here. For the record, I understand Scoutten’s position and was more put off by his initial flippant response than anything else. There are reasons for him doing what he does.

But I have to give the man an enormous amount of credit for actually continuing to engage his detractors on a message board. Takes guts and not something we’re used to seeing from guys in the gun media business.

Guns are OK. But you better not load it with any environmentally unfriendly ammunition. After all, if you have to defend yourself, your first priority should be concern about discharging an infinitesimally small amount of pollution.

NSSF says to reconsider because the ban is stupid.

Imposing high taxes on violent video games. To combat knife crime.

Ridefast has more on the case of a man whose weapons were taken and destroyed while no charges were filed.

Rep. Campfield posts the state Republicans’ agenda at his blog. Number one is second amendment rights.

Presidentin is hard.

Heh.

Reminds me of a conversation I had while en route to Blackwater. I got in a cab to the hotel after landing at the airport. Tell the guy the hotel I’m going to. And he asks why I’m in town. The conversation goes like this:

Me: I’m heading to Blackwater.

Cabbie: Who are you with? DOD? DOJ? Marines?

Me: No, I’m just some guy.

Cabbie: Oh, right. Ok, then.

Heh.

Dick Heller has started the Heller Foundation and more gun suits should follow.

Need to find the best price on ammo? Try AmmoEngine.com.

Another paper tries to generate page views a buzz by publishing carry permit data.

A series of photos that were snapped as a terrorist bomb went off in Sri Lanka.

We may never know.

Been following the news on the AL nut job who killed a bunch of people to learn what weapon was used. Figured it may be a catalyst to some talks about bans on weapons that look like assault weapons.

One article calls it an automatic weapon.

Alabama Department of safety says:

McLendon was armed with two assault rifles, an SKS and a Bushmaster, using high-capacity magazines taped together; a shotgun; and a .38-caliber handgun. At this time we believe that he fired in excess of 200 rounds during the assaults.

Over at Reason, Jacob Sullum says the police say the shooter used a machine gun:

He opened up on us with an AK-47. That’s what it looked like. It could have been an M-16, but it was an assault rifle, automatic. And he burst about 15 to 18 rounds on our vehicle, all at once.

So, which is it? Probably never know for certain but I’m guessing it was probably not a machine gun. But the conflation of assault weapon and machine gun is one of the things anti-gunners use to their advantage. Get ready for the spin.

Update: With a quickness, the Brady Camp seeks to cover the earth with the blood of the lambs. And apparently his 38 caliber handgun is also a military-style semiautomatic assault weapon.

A bill removing the restriction of carrying a weapon into a restaurant that serves alcohol has made it out of the judiciary committee. Somewhere, Jeff Woods is crapping his pants.

Update: See.

Michael Steele on assault weapons: Then and now.

Wait, not guns this time? Really:

Reducing gun violence by addressing heavy drinking and off-premise alcohol outlets

* New research has found that heavy drinking and being near off-premise alcohol outlets, such as take-out establishments and delis, can increase the risk of gun violence.
* Reducing the density of off-premise alcohol outlets, and better training of servers in these outlets, may help to reduce gun violence.

While inappropriate gun use certainly contributes to gun violence, other contributing factors, such as alcohol, deserve greater scrutiny. New research has found that heavy drinking near off-premise alcohol outlets, such as take-out establishments and delis, is a risk factor for being shot in an assault. The authors suggest that reducing the density of off-premise alcohol outlets and better training servers in these outlets may help to reduce gun violence.

So, shift the blame from one totem to another. I guess this could be used to make the case that carrying in restaurants that serve alcohol is preferable?

And: “Strategies to reduce gun violence often focus on the guns themselves,” said Charles C. Branas, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania and corresponding author for the study. “While most Americans agree that gun violence is something we need to reduce, there is less certainty as to how we should intervene while striking a balance between gun owners’ rights and public safety.”

The AP:

A man accused of running down and shooting an Illinois pastor to death mid-sermon left an arsenal of guns in his bedroom as well as an index card marked “Last Day Will.”

The arsenal in accused gunman Terry Sedlacek’s room included two 12-gauge shotguns, a rifle and a box of 550 .22-caliber bullets, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

Arsenal = 3. Good to know. I have several arsenals, then. And a value pack of ammo that you can get at Wal-Mart.

Robert Schlesinger shows he knows nothing about guns, which is apparently not required to opine on how evil NRA is:

They simply have to register them [arms – ed.], and cannot have any of the semi-automatic variety. Only radical gun rights advocate suggest these are unconstitutional limitations—and if they are unconstitutional, then under-armed D.C. citizens can gain redress through the courts.

I suppose he’s not aware that semi-automatic firearms are the most popular firearms in the country. And are the hottest selling now too. And that’s just radical.

On signing statements, meet the new boss.

Curt on The American Hunters and Shooters Association:

In other words, they’re abandoning their support for individual gun control proposals (actually, more accurately, they are leaving the support of individual proposals to their sister organizations, the VPC, Brady Campaign, et al…) and are focusing on endorsing and getting anti-gun candidates elected into office.

Actually, it’s less nefarious than that, I think. I think their goal is just to get Democrats elected. Nothing more. And it doesn’t matter if those Democrats are pro-gun or not. AHSA wants them elected.

Seen at Guav’s, an open letter to Republicans from an ex-Republican:

You combined the failed ideologies of the Religious Right, so-called free market deregulation and the Neoconservative love of war to light a fire that has consumed America.

I doubt that bit of bolded word play is intentional. But if it is, bravo. If, as I suspect, it is not, then obviously you’ve not paid a great deal of attention to Bush’s deregulation.

The dangers of such a database illustrated by the News Sentinel’s Jack McElroy:

“Oldhickory,” one of the commenters on our gun-permit story today, ran the names of News Sentinel employees against the database posted on the Memphis Commercial Appeal Web site. When a name matched, he identified the employee as a “likely permit holder.” Going alphabetically, he only got through “C” but was able to identify seven “likely holders” at the newspaper.

Turns out, of the ones that Jack went and asked, none were actually permit holders.

The Commercial Appeal makes the Colbert Report.

Metulj calls out the News Sentinel:

I don’t know how much he knows about guns and I am not going to presume, but to call the Brady Campaign advocates against gun violence is akin to calling an egg candler an abortionist. They are an anti-gun group (and a not particularly effective one either).