was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long

Welcome back.

Update: For reference, lest ye think I’m a perv.

So reports the Gun Zone.

Bombs are OK but don’t you dare take a bottle of water:

In one test, TSA inspectors hid the components of a fake bomb in carry-on luggage that also contained a bottle of water. Passengers are prohibited from carrying containers holding more than three ounces of liquids, gels or aerosols through airport checkpoints.

The screeners at Albany International confiscated the water bottle but missed the bomb. In all, the inspectors slipped four banned items through the main checkpoint during the test, sources said.

Feel safer? No? There’s more:

Albany facility’s security measures fail in 5 of 7 trials, mostly at the passenger checkpoint

The show is more important than results.

Tammie Fields proves once again the press knows nothing about firearms. They also, generally, have no interest in learning. I’d set her straight but Greg done did.

I knew they’d pop a wheelie if you put a penny in the back and wound them up on the carpet a couple of times but I did not know a Prius would do 100mph.

And doesn’t weed emit greenhouse gas?

Triticale:

The state legislature of Wisconsin has twice passed a Personal Protection Act which provided licensed recognition of the right of Wisconsinites to bear arms. Both times the governor vetoed it, and both times the veto was sustained because of the clout which campaign money from the teacher’s union and the gambling interests gives the governor. As long as Doyle remains in office concealed carry will not get thru the legislature. The Wisconsin constitution provides another means by which laws can be enacted, popular referendum. I am therefore hereby calling for a referendum to make the Person Protection Act, as passed by the legislature, active law in Wisconsin.

Before and after here.

Seems the more rural areas of Illinois are pushing second amendment resolution in response to the anti-gun movement going on in the Chicago area. To wit:

The Wabash County Board of Commissioners approved of a movement supporting the Second Amendment at the county board meeting Monday.

The measure is a reaction against a “restrictive” firearms legislation being introduced by Cook County legislators. Sheriff Joe Keeling and former sheriff Terry McWilliams were at the County Board meeting in support of the proposal.

Keeling mentioned that the banning of all firearms would only take guns away from the innocent citizens. He added that criminals would find a way to get their guns illegally. The proposal will be sent to Springfield to the governor.

Similar letters of support have already been signed in Brown, Hancock, Pike, Johnson, Schuyler, Randolph, White, and recently Edwards, counties. This statement shows Wabash County’s support of the second amendment and of other Southern Illinois counties.

Good. In our representative form of government, the larger urban centers tend to enforce their will on smaller more rural communities via state government.

Seems Chuckles Schumer (Nanny state, big government prick – NY – but I repeat myself) wants to do everything in his power to save Remington Arms:

“When I meet with the hedge funds, I’ll lobby for our local companies,” he said. “Tell the guys at Remington I’ll keep them here. They have a friend in me.”

That’s odd, Chucky. I mean, do they make anything that you haven’t tried to ban at some point?

Gun controllers must use emotion:

True to form, a lie within the first three paragraphs. A blatant, unapologetic, bald-faced LIE. A lie, so far as I am concerned, deliberately written so as to inspire anger in the reader.

It’s the theme of the week.

Gonzo prefers hysterics:

Emotion is what wins arguments, and there is a tremendous amount of emotion among those fighting to reduce gun violence — there always is when someone gets hurt or must go through the tragedies that we experience in this country as a result of gun violence.

…

That is important emotion, and it will do more for the argument for stronger gun laws than any facts or figures ever will.

…

We have to show legislators the human side of this issue, too, and force them to base their own decisions and policies off of that emotion…

Not really news.

Over at DefRev.

It was a semi-auto. The press rarely corrects these.

Seen at Bane’s:

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the government agency charged with assuring the safety and health of America’s workers, is proposing a regulatory rule affecting the manufacturing, transportation and storage of small arms ammunition, primers and smokeless propellants.

As written, the proposed rule would force the closure of nearly all ammunition manufacturers and force the cost of small arms ammunition to skyrocket beyond what the market could bear—essentially collapsing our industry. This is not an exaggeration. The cost to comply with the proposed rule for the ammunition industry, including manufacturer, wholesale distributors and retailers, will be massive and easily exceed $100 million. For example, ammunition and smokeless propellant manufacturers would have to shut down and evacuate a factory when a thunderstorm approached and customers would not be allowed within 50 feet of any ammunition (displayed or otherwise stored) without first being searched for matches or lighters.

Live Earth: Private jets and tour buses for climate change!

Making Italian subs. Simple:

Grill some Italian sausages (hot for me, mild for The Mrs.)

Put them on a bun and add some of your favorite leftover spaghetti sauce, some mozzarella cheese, and some fresh basil. Onions optional.

I just listed some, but here’s another:

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives no longer routinely checks the addresses of some buyers at gun shows after being accused of slowing sales at a show in Richmond in 2005, the Justice Department reported yesterday.

And your tax dollars at work:

The U.S. attorney’s office in Alexandria found that the checks “were resource-intensive and rarely resulted in prosecutions for only providing a false address on federal firearms transaction documents.”

The JD does say there was a valid investigation. And Helmke tells a whopper:

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said studies show that as many as 40 percent of firearms sales at gun shows do not involve background checks.

Which studies, Paul? Wintemute’s debunked “study” that only proved Wintemute doesn’t know gun laws? Or some other fictitious piece?

Update: David Hardy summarizes: it was proper, but we won’t do it again

From WBIR:

Traffic on Campbell Station Road was re-routed for a short while Tuesday morning as investigators from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office followed reports of a suspicious package in the area.

According to Knox County investigators, the “suspicious package” was actually a “geocache,” or part of a GPS game where clues are left online for contestants to find a prize.

The geochache was inside a military ammunition can.

Gamers, three days after Al Qaeda tries to blow up various parts of Britannia why would you place a GPS sender geocache for a GPS game in a used military ammunition can?

A section of Kingston Pike had to be shut down due to a bomb scare. While everyone is pleased it was a false alarm, what the hell?

Can you possibly see how dumb that is? Not cool.

For those at home that have no idea what GPS gaming is you can learn more here. I don’t see how GPS gaming is a cool game in today’s environment. Can’t you just surf porn or something? I hear Halo 2 rocks. Buy a Wii. Just don’t put your stupid GPS someplace where you scare people half to death. Is that too much to ask?

A few more observations. WBIR had this being at Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road. The Knoxville News Sentinel had the better location at 12000 block of Kingston Pike near Hobbs Road. Guys, if there is a bomb, how about getting the address right?

Update: Turns out it is not unusual for old ammo cans to be used to store the geocache. Interesting. Thanks to gattsuru and Sebastian for clarifying the GPS game. I guess the question is, how do you play this game without scaring people and having inadvertent bomb scares?

but not worth getting arrested for.

Some tricked out Ruger 10/22s.

So, is there anyone actually surprised the sentence was commuted? I mean, I’ve seen a bunch of Go Team posts and mockery of justice posts but were any of you surprised? I was not. I just figured it would happen next year.

The ATF has a history of disregarding the law when it suits them. And here are a couple of cases to illustrate that. The first is the ATF’s position that a pistol with a forward grip is an Any Other Weapon. As a result of their contention is that such a configuration requires said weapon to be subject to NFA registration and a $200 tax.

In the case of US v. Davis, the court ruled that a pistol with a vertical fore grip is not an Any Other Weapon because it’s still a pistol:

25. Title 26, United States Code Section 5845(e) defines “any other weapon” as:

… any weapon or device capable of being concealed from which
a shot can be discharged through the energy of an explosion
… Such term shall not include a pistol or revolver having a
rifled bore, or rifled bores, or weapons designed, made or
intended to be fired from the shoulder and not capable of
firing fixed ammunition.

26. A “pistol” is defined in Section 5845 as

A weapon originally designed, made and intended to fire a
projectile (bullet) from one or more barrels when held in one
hand, and having (a) a chamber(s) as an integral part(s) of or
permanently aligned with, the bore(s); and (b) a short stock
designed to be gripped by one hand and at an angle to and
extending below the line of the bore(s). 27 CFR 178.11
(emphasis added).

27. Even after being modified with grips, the pistols are still “pistols” as defined above and not “any other weapon” as defined by 26 U.S.C. section 5845(e).

Despite this ruling, the ATF’s official position is still that a pistol with a forward grip is an Any Other Weapon and they will arrest and prosecute you to the tune of ten years in jail and a $250K fine.

Another of their policies that has been smacked down is their contention that once a machine gun, always a machine gun. That is to say, a firearm receiver that was once a machine gun will always be a machine gun no matter if said receiver has been modified and rendered incapable of fully automatic fire. This position by the ATF has been slapped down in the case of F.J. VOLLMER COMPANY, INC., v. JOHN W. MAGAW, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO & FIREARMS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY. In this case, it was ruled that:

This case presents a recurring question under the Equal Access to Justice Act: In evaluating a claim for fees under the Act, what standard of reasonableness should a court use to determine whether an agency’s action was “substantially justified”? In the case before us, this court previously overturned a decision by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, holding the Bureau’s action was inconsistent with the governing statute and would have produced an “incredible” result. The district court nonetheless found the agency’s decision to have been substantially justified and thus denied petitioner reimbursement for fees and expenses. Reviewing the district court’s ruling under the deferential abuse-of-discretion standard, we conclude that the agency’s position was not substantially justified because it was wholly unsupported by the text, legislative history, and underlying policy of the governing statute.

There is also another case (US vs. Dwight Edward Forrester in Florida) that ruled something similar but I am unable to find a link to the text of the case. There is discussion of the case here. Despite these rulings, the ATF will still prosecute based on its position. It does beg the question though: how do you stop this? Even if we win, they continue business as usual and act like there was no ruling.

The ATF has not had a good couple of years, btw. Some recent exploits:

A circuit court smacks them down for their ruling on model rockets;

An agent testified under oath that the NFRTR (the NFA weapons database) was corrupt;

Having budget issues due to mismanagement;

Being investigated for breaking he law at Virginia gun shows.

And they’ve had funds cut for some of their rather, err, dubious programs.

The ATF Director has resigned over excessive and lavish spending.

The now former head of the ATF ordered staff to do his nephew’s homework.

And employees are coming forward with allegations of mismanagement.

Update: emdfl points out in comments that:

I seem to recall that the tax on an AOL is $5.00, not $200.00

Sorta: The tax is $5 if you buy one. If you build one (i.e., add a vertical forward grip to your Glock) then it’s $200.

Update 2: And how could I forget the Kwan case (it has been almost two weeks!):

The jury had more common sense than the ATF and decided that this did not meet the standard of “readily convertible.”

More here.

Seems that (despite serious undercounting to the tune of 2,000,000 incidents) Gun and Knife murders out of control in the UK. Which cannot happen in a country with full firearm registration, and bans on semi-automatic long guns over .22 caliber, pump-action rifles and shotguns, full-auto weapons, and all handguns.

I was unaware that certain white collar crimes were exempted with respect to firearms rights:

“The term “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” does not include—(A) any Federal or State offenses pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices.”

Didn’t help this guy, though.

Michael Silence notes that it is not a law that your local convenience store clerk take down your drivers license number:

I’ve talked with state Sen. Randy McNally and Tom Tique, deputy legislative attorney for the General Assembly, and both said they know of no state requirement for stores to take down the driver’s license number when purchasing beer. Tique said he suspects that is an “urban myth” making the rounds. State Sen. Tim Burchett also said he knows of no such law.

So, any clerks that are doing that can get bent.

Model 19 joke.

Looks like Ol’ Paul is incapable of it. Told ya. You take away the hysterics, lies and misrepresentations and they got nothing.

Turns out, it was an imposter.

She’s coming to Nashville. We don’t need her in Nashville, there are plenty in the capitol building.

via ac.

R. Neal:

Over the next few weeks we can expect to hear from a lot of patriotic right-wing “fact checkers” who haven’t and won’t see the movie bashing that communist Michael Moore and his manufactured “liberal myths” about health care in the US.

Well, given Moore’s willful misrepresentations in the past, I’d say it won’t be hard.

Update: Says R. Neal: See what I mean? More criticism from someone who hasn’t even seen the movie. He should have taken us up on our offer of a free ticket.

I didn’t criticize the movie, I criticized Moore. And he’s right, I won’t see it. I saw Roger and Me and used to watch Moore’s show on Fox (Revenge or something like that?). And found it entertaining. But Moore’s blatant lies in Bowling for Columbine (which I watched twice) lend him zero credibility. He’s a hack and a liar and I’d have to double check if he told me the sky was blue. Any valid point he wanted to make, I won’t see due to his reputation.

And: The most puzzling thing to me, though, is why can’t 70% of the people drown out the noise of the 30% dead-enders with facts and logic? I guess we just need to make more noise.

Well, that’s rather the problem: Moore makes up the facts that fit his story. Sicko will be no different.

Update 2: In comments, BlountTruth (not someone I’d expect to agree with Moore) says:

Well I must say I have seen the film and he does (if only for once) make a good point. Bowling for columbine was a giant steamy load of horse shite, but he makes great points in “Siko”.

Even if you hate Moore the message in this film has fact and sad to say the present system sucks. Not much unlike our political system money has corrupted the system to a point that we let people die based on whether they have coverage and not based on respect for life.

This movie is not based on the sad, sad uninsured, but rather those of us that actually work and pay loads each month for the coverage that in out greatest times of need we are denied coverage. I have heard more than once over the course of the last 4 weeks that we would be better off if we were illegal immigrants due to the fact that their tab is picked up by the tax payer when it comes to health care, and this may very well be a fact.

Hate the man or not I will always listen to what anyone has to say, saving enough time to tell them why in my opinion they are wrong, and on this one it is my opinion that there has to be a better system out there then the present

Hate the man, but respect the message.

Now, I thought Moore’s overall point in Columbine was a valid one. And that point was blaming video games, rock stars, etc. for violence was stupid. However, it’s equally stupid to blame guns. Yet, he spent considerable time bashing pro gun folks and was less than forthright about it.

Ok, then.

Update 3: Well, patriotic right-wing “fact checker” Kurt Loder of MTV says:

Unfortunately, Moore is also a con man of a very brazen sort, and never more so than in this film. His cherry-picked facts, manipulative interviews (with lingering close-ups of distraught people breaking down in tears) and blithe assertions (how does he know 18,000* people will die this year because they have no health insurance?) are so stacked that you can feel his whole argument sliding sideways as the picture unspools.