Here. Answer: Poorly. But how about the overall rates? There is a reason that gun control advocates only point to the drops in gun deaths.

Why so many songs suck, that is.

Inspired by Tam:

Update: or the Mastercard theme:

Salary $52,500
Training: $27,000
AR-15: $700
Ammo and gizmos: $1,100
Gym membership: $500
Knowing that any schmuck would pwn his ass in a gun fight: priceless.

Update: Ben says he thinks the bottom pic is mag couplers linked in an unusual manner (i.e., one backwards which I’ve never seen before and find odd). Could be. Some pics here and here.

Update to the update: Could be a backwards 40 rounder?

Boy, you wanna piss some people off, take issue with cyclists who disregard the law.

I see you:

In other news, we know how doors work.

Serbu Super Shorty.

Look here, Mr. Bicyclist. I appreciate that you’re doing your part by not increasing auto emissions into the air thereby ensuring we don’t die at the hands of global warming. I mean, really, kudos! It’s not like you’re buying lame-ass carbon offsets while gallivanting around in a private jet. So, seriously, good job. But . . .

You are either traffic or a pedestrian. You can’t go switching when it’s convenient. I’ve been behind you, going slow because you seem incapable of doing 45 MPH and don’t have the decency to, you know, get the fuck over a little bit. And we do have minimum speeds in these parts. But I have no problem with it since you’re saving the world from manbearpig and all that. But when we pull up to the red light and you hop up on the sidewalk and go through the crosswalk, that makes you an asshole in my book. If you’re in such a damn hurry, get a car. And, if you’re in a hurry, you should realize that other people (who may be behind you) have shit to do also and maybe instead of driving in the middle of the lane, you could get over a bit. But that’s not the dumbest thing. The dumbest bit is when you decide you want to be traffic again so you just hop off the curb back into the street causing the soccer mom a few cars up from me to drop anchor on her minivan to keep from turning you into a squishy red spot that attracts bugs. Maybe you should put rear view mirrors on that thing or at least look. A several thousand pound Kia Sedona vs. you and your little girl shorts isn’t much of a contest. Just sayin’.

Pick a side, we’re at war.

It seems Jersey Troopers are upset that they’re taking public heat for breaking the law over the Corzine matter. When people point out that cops and Governors should obey the very laws they force us to follow, an appropriate response would probably consist of little more than agreement.

Cops, though, are habitual breakers of laws. It is a job perk and they don’t tolerate anybody messing with their privileges, so some Jersey Troopers have a different response: they’re going to bring the righteous smackdown and ticket anybody (except cops and family, of course) who strays so much as one mile over the speed limit.

These guys are so corrupt that their response to a charge of exempting themselves from the laws they force on us is… to tighten the screws on the laws they exempt themselves from and force on us. And then they wonder why cops have a bad name.

A bit back, I got interested in baby hatches, which caused a friend to point me at a relevant comic strip.

Turns out the cartoonist recently developed an interest in shooting. At his government contract job in DC, he mentioned a desire to purchase a bolt-action .22 for paper target shooting. Then he got shitcanned because some of his coworkers were afraid he’d go postal.

If the guy worked for a private business, I would say tough noogies, but I really don’t want my government acting like this.

Remember that sheriff’s department that was auctioning off a pre-86 M-16 registered as a machine gun so they could score some cash to run the department? Well, it sold it for $18K.

Ayup:

American gun owners make great scapegoats for governments that refuse to enforce the law in the first place.

Also, I was unaware of this, but the straw-purchaser who got weapons for the little bastards at Columbine was never charged.

Murderous bastards support gun control.

The latest set of lies from The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Ownership:

The National Rifle Association, a gun- rights group with 4 million members, is pressing lawmakers in U.S. states to allow staff and students to carry firearms on campus, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.The center, in a report today, cites as a recent example an April 2 letter from the association urging Maine legislators to vote down a measure that would enable public colleges and universities to prohibit guns on campus. On April 16, a mentally ill university senior shot dead 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech before killing himself.

So, you notice the timing there? The NRA is not actively pushing for college kids to carry firearms. They do push for concealed carry holders to not be prohibited from carrying there. That’s different.

In Knoxville:

The Tennessee Highway Patrol launched a security sweep of trucks as part of a homeland security operation on Thursday morning.

Troopers pulled over every truck traveling west on I-40 at the weigh station between Campbell Station Road and Watt Road.

Senator Webb says there is no need to change federal gun laws:

The nation needs to look harder at mental health policy issues in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings last month, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said today.

Webb, a gun-rights supporter who has a concealed weapons permit, said he did not see the need for any change in federal gun-control laws at this time.

“I believe very strongly we need to focus on mental health issues in our country,” Webb said in a telephone news conference. He has decided to co-sponsor the Mental Health Parity Act, he said. It is a bill requiring insurers to offer mental health coverage on a par with benefits for physical illness.

Via AC, self-defense laws in Tennessee will likely be expanded. The Dickson Herald:

Law-abiding citizens will be able to use deadly force in self-defense in more places under legislation that unanimously passed the state Senate Thursday and is on its way to becoming law.

Currently, Tennesseans can use deadly force when faced with a threat of death or serious injury in their own homes. The bill approved by the Senate Thursday and by the House last week extends those areas to include all homes and vehicles, regardless of who owns them.

Some video from Boomershoot, including an anvil launch. Sweet.

We had the discussion a bit back. Now, Harvard wants to study it:

By making the case for poker as a skill, aficionados hope to roll back the law, and even win the game newfound freedoms in states where wagering on poker is currently banned.

I guess I just kinda assumed that the king of the nanny states probably already banned politically incorrect dogs. Apparently, they do not but are looking into it:

State legislators will hold a hearing later this month on whether to outlaw pit bulls, though Walsh said lawmakers hope to look into broader issues regarding dog safety.

State Rep. Vincent Pelone said the state may consider either banning pit bulls outright or requiring owners to get training or a dangerous dog license.

“If you want to own a pit bull, which in my estimation can be the same as owning a weapon, the owner and the dog should receive training,” said the Worcester Democrat.

Breed specific legislation is mostly a waste and I’ve covered this topic quite a bit (see here). You ban one breed and the bad owners just latch on to another. In the 70s, it was German Shepherds. The 80s, it was Dobermans. In the 90s, it was Rottweilers. Now, it’s pit bulls. Trouble is that dogs are practically identical genetically.

Also, there’s this:

“You can’t allow people to be afraid all the time,” said Avril T. Elkort, vice chairwoman of the Canton Board of Selectmen, where a new ordinance limits residents to one pit bull per household, the Herald reported. “It was a public safety issue.”

The correlation between stupid dog laws and stupid gun laws is astounding. Pit bulls are actually bred to be less people aggressive than other breeds because they were bred to fight other dogs. So, it was helpful that the owners be able to end the fights without getting bitten. They do, however, have natural inclination to being dog aggressive. This can me mitigated somewhat by socialization. For example, I trust my dog completely around people and kids. But I do not let him around other dogs. And since I don’t have a new pic, here’s an old one:

To Les for hitting it big time. Well, as big time as Rachel Ray. And I’ll go ahead and say it, even though every time I say it about some woman there’s a big debate about it, but Rachel Ray is kinda hot.

Teehee.

I’ve heard quite a few folks predict that Al Gore will run for Prez in 08. And, of course, lots of folks are saying Thompson will run. The latter seem to have evidence indicating interest. What say you? Will Gore run? Will we take him serial?

At a protest: beating up reporters, firing 240 rounds of non err less than lethal ammo, and pushing kids around.

Gun maker Les Baer is leaving Illinois due to it’s gun laws. Now, if we could get S&W out of MA and Springfield & Rock River out of Illinois.

Lame:

Canoeist Dennis Bohrn and his companions were stunned when they saw a woman jump off the Perrine Bridge, her body landing near them in the Snake River. Many in the group were crying by the time they managed to reach the woman and paddle her body to shore.

So Bohrn was shocked when an officer walked up and instead of thanking or comforting the group last Sunday, wrote out a couple of $85 tickets for failing to have life jackets on board either of the two canoes.

Noted Poker Authority Ed Miller issues a warning that the IRS may target online gamblers for audits.

Seems Illinois wants to ban regular capacity magazines. However, the proposed law exempts them for Olympic shooting events.

Cutie.

Update: Oh, some related cuteness.

Get guns off the street by buying them.

Good:

Attorneys for a niece of the 92-year-old woman who was killed by police during a botched drug raid have filed a wrongful death claim with the city as a precursor to a lawsuit.