Allegations of software piracy leveled against ATF by GOA.

A good read.

It’s odd. But I tend to follow the local goings on in The City (My The City). But I had no idea there was a proposed 1/2% sales tax increase on the ballot. It is, of course, for the children^tm. I got spam in the mail from Blount Countians for Educational Excellence telling me I should support this tax increase for a variety of reasons, including that a lot of taxes are paid by out of towners anyway. And they’d get all the kids ponies. Ok, I made that last part up. They want to raise money for schools. Like they always do. For the children^tm. The city and county governments should live within their means. Instead of blowing millions for a Civic Arts Center that no one will use and should be considered a free gift from the taxpayers to Maryville College, they could have funded schools. Anyway, the answer is no.

Their membership list is veritable who’s who of local yokel good o’ boys and girls.

Reading the local paper daily, I had no idea this was on the ballet. I even searched and found a single letter to the editor.

Remember, the Brady Campaign wants you to think that college students are too stupid or chemically dependent to be trusted with guns.

He believes in ballistic fingerprinting plans that have failed in New York and Maryland.

Update: BTW, I was unaware that Maryland has actually gotten one conviction from its database. Did not know that.

Comparing Obama talking points to an NYT blog bit.

Mmmmm, wealth spread.

Chris discusses a rifle for Boomershoot.

And the authorities will try to destroy your livelihood.

I am amazed at the Democrats’ and the press’ (but I repeat myself) reaction to Joe the plumber. They’re basically trying to destroy your average middle American.

Update: Yup: [the press has] done more investigations into Joe the Plumber in 24 hours than they’ve done on Barack Obama in two years

Lots of them at Walls of the City.

Interesting:

Deputy Director Edgar Domenech just got a government “golden parachute” out. It’s impossible to sort out the internal politics involved, but he’d been demoted and said it was a result of exposing wasteful spending by the prior director.

And:

The ATF director has just been given a report from the Inspector General that is pretty devastating.

Another? They get like two per year and nothing changes.

This may be the most disturbing thing I have seen. How can someone live like that?

Still, it did provide a bit of humor. I mean, it’s an utter shit hole yet this woman, who has no desire to maintain her home, has the sense to iron her clothes. And particularly ironic is that right next to the ironing board is a bottle of Febreze.

Via Guav.

Tom Gresham.

I think I may have gone with Robert Levy or Alan Gura. I’m not discounting Gresham’s work at all but Heller was a pretty big deal.

Interesting:

When Barack Obama began his Presidential campaign, his rhetoric emphasized abstract notions of hope, change, and judgment. In contrast, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and other candidates frequently presented detailed, concrete proposals on a host of topics ranging from foreign policy issues such as the Iraq War to domestic issues such as the economy and health care reform. Political commentators and opinion page writers criticized Obama for his lack of specifics, yet voters continued to respond to his message. Obama’s reliance on lofty rhetoric has succeeded thus far, and in a study forthcoming in the Journal of Consumer Research, Hakkyun Kim (Concordia University), Akshay Rao (University of Minnesota), and Angela Lee (Northwestern University) provide research evidence for why this strategy works.

The researchers used the following analogy to make their point. Imagine taking a vacation to Cancun sometime in the future. If the vacation is six months away, the traveler is probably thinking about beaches, sunsets, and other abstract information. On the other hand, if the vacation begins the following week, the traveler is thinking about taxi cabs, boarding passes, and specific, concrete concerns.

KdT reports that Baghdad has banned possession of arms. Worse, the US army is aiding in rounding up the weapons:

Iraqis have a long history of owning guns, and few homes in the country are without one. But the government is trying to change that. It recently decided to prohibit guns in the capital.
…
Iraqi soldiers began collecting private guns around the capital in September after the Iraqi government instituted the gun ban. More recently, American soldiers have been searching homes to round up firearms around the city as well. Only citizens with the proper permit can keep their weapons. Unlike in the United States, they usually must have a job that requires a gun to obtain a permit.

The law previously allowed all homes to have one gun — invariably an AK — and one ammunition magazine. Most Iraqis deemed their guns to be an essential item for living in an environment where safety can’t be taken for granted.

Unacceptable. Iraq needs a second amendment.

Here is the suggested change.

No gun hats in school?

Soldiers seem to like it.

I say no. What say you?

The Firearms Coalition has started a message board to get information on how local candidates stand on guns. It’s called Gun Voter.

Bad form to quote yourself but me on Joe the plumber:

Seems Joe articulates capitalist ideas better than the Republican ticket.

The only debate summary you need comes from The American Conservative‘s Daniel Larison. A taste:

Obama repeats his claim that he supports net spending cut. Eliminate programs that don’t work–bold move! These programs are always nameless, which is probably one of the reasons they don’t work. Ethic of responsibility? What? That’s dangerously close to calling on people to accept austerity. McCain is stuttering, and reverts to his litany about energy independence. In the mythical world where we have energy independence, life will be beautiful. Perhaps Aeolus will power the entire grid. Spending freeze! (Obama says that’s a hatchet.) Ethanol is bad; eliminate tariff on Brazilian sugar-based ethanol. Fight the earmarks! What does McCain have against planetariums? McCain wants to use hatchets and scalpels.

Hatchets and scalpels and katanas, oh my!

…snip…

Weird question about the VP candidates from Schieffer. He’s basically asking each candidate to explain why it would be better if he died. Obama: Biden is awesome. Blather, blather, talking points. McCain: Palin is even more awesome. Rehashing the myth of Palin. “A reformer through and through.” McCain wants to get rid of the old boy network in Washington–I have a suggestion how he might help reach that goal. He hasn’t answered the question.

Obama: You can’t help Sarah Palin’s baby with your spending freeze! McCain: Biden was wrong on many foreign policy issues. (That’s true–he has agreed with McCain most of the time.) “Why do we have to spend more?” spake the mortgage bailout king. McCain: Middle Eastern and Venezuelan oil will not be imported when I’m President, because I don’t understand how the oil market works. Apparently Russian oil is okay! Nuclear waste storage is a piece of cake. The litany on energy again. Obama: I agree with John’s crazy 10-year plan. China and Saudi Arabia make their usual guest appearances as foreign villains of the evening.

Read the whole thing for giggles.

People say Hey Uncle! Why not comment on the debate.

And I say Well, the only real observation I had was that these guys had like all these various proposals to save the world. And, like, none of them seemed to be things that fell under the President’s jurisdiction since he doesn’t, you know, make laws. I mean, if these guys were senators they could propose these laws and . . . what? . . . oh.

John Murtha: There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area.

Joe Biden tells NBC I don’t “have any Joe the Plumbers in my neighborhood”.

Wow:

Well, I don’t know much about this terrorist group Barack used to be in with that Weather guy but I’m sick of paying for health insurance at work and that’s why I’m supporting Barack.

Amazing. First, Barack was not in a terrorist group. And saying so is just stupid. Next, that doesn’t matter because she can be bought and paid for even if she thinks he was a terrorist. Wow.

As Kat noted:

Let me tell you that the people I get to talk to every day want that government spending and government health care more than we do not.

So spread the wealth around.

It doesn’t treat agents that go after real gun crime very well. Sebastian notes, as I have said before, that this is why ATF spends so much time going after gun dealers who make clerical errors. Going up against real bad guys is dangerous.

Barack Obama is actually complaining about media bias:

If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn’t vote for me, right? Because the way I’m portrayed 24/7 is as a freak! I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?

So, are you denying being non-gun owning?

Update: Heh: If there was no New York Times, how much would he be losing by?

Let’s have the Glock v. 1911 debate again

Kim asks: if the Glock really is so good, then why does no other army want them?

Actually, a few armies have them. There are a number of reasons why some don’t. In the 1980s when armies started switching to Wonder Nines, the Glock wasn’t particularly popular. And most countries like to use firearms made in their own country. Rumor is also that Glock performed well in some .gov tests. But Glock refused to turn over some patented info to the government and didn’t get a contract. Probably for the best since the US Army damn near ruined the AR-15.

Also, military folks tend to rely more on their rifles than handguns. Handgun is not viewed as the primary firearm. Contrast that to police who tend to use their sidearm as their primary weapons and the Glock is the most commonly used sidearm out there. Part of the reason for that is that a Glock, essentially, functions identically to a revolver. No manual safeties or decockers.

ETA: Also, the Glock did not meet the specs for the Joint Combat Pistol. As such, Glock developed the Glock 21SF.

Flame bait: I know of no police force that issues the 1911. If they’re so good, why does no police force (whose sidearms are their primary weapon) carry 1911s?

Note: I like and own both Glocks and a 1911. It really is preference and each works well. There are trade offs with each. And I’ll summarize my SWOT analysis of each:

Glock pros: Less expensive; higher capacity; highly reliable; accessories galore; accessories are less expensive; cleaning is generally optional (seriously, I think I clean mine once per year); I don’t really mind if I scratch and it’s not uncommon for me to just throw it in the truck; simplest semi-auto to operate; come in lots of caliber and sizes.

Glock cons: ergonomics are not the greatest; trigger pull frankly is bad (it’s not H&K bad but it’s not real pleasant); they’re not friendly to unjacketed ammo; comes with a legion of fan boys; lighter frame means more felt recoil.

1911 pros: ergonomics are fantastic; trigger pull is great; lots of accessories; several caliber options; heavier weight makes shooting 45ACP out of it much more pleasant; no limp wrist ejection issues like a glock has; generally easier to work on yourself than a Glock.

1911 cons: Spendy; lower capacity; can be finicky and require adjustments; they’re so pretty you don’t want to scratch them; more complex to operate; comes in limited sizes.

That said, if you want a rugged gun to shoot and not spend a lot of time maintaining it and for carry, the Glock works.

If you’re an enthusiast who wants a gun to tinker with, customize, and play around with and can also be carried, the 1911 works.

Update: see comments. There are some police forces that use 1911s. And Missouri uses the Para LDA, as does Kansas and a PD in MA.

Here’s a long list of what some departments carry. Interesting.

From someone who has gone toe-to-toe with him in Illinois:

I lobbied Barack Obama extensively while he was an Illinois State Senator. As a result of that experience, I know Obama’s attitudes toward guns and gun owners better than anyone. The truth be told, in all my years in the Capitol I have never met a legislator who harbors more contempt for the law-abiding firearm owner than does Barack Obama.

That’s the headline. Seems steady should be steadily increasing.