I always assumed that Alabama was a shall-issue state. Turns out it is not but, according to my sources, it may as well be. Chuck has more on how the local sheriff’s rule their fiefdoms:

Since Alabama is a hodge podge of separate county’s with different rules for issuing a state concealed carry, would you be willing to support a Alabama “shall issue” permit like Georgia, Florida and most other states?

In other Alabama news, I was unaware that Alabama is not particularly NFA friendly and that short barreled shotguns and rifles were banned there. There is, per subguns.com, a bill to remedy that. So, if you’re in Alabama, contact your congressmonkey.

Rustmeister gets emails from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership. Seems they’re all spooked by Parker:

Last week, a Federal Appeals Court overturned Washington D.C.’s long-standing restrictions on handguns — a decision that endangers all of America’s gun laws.

This case is most likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court and we have a tidal wave of work to do before it gets there.

This battle — to its very core — is the most important battle we have ever waged. We need your help today to build a strong Brady Gun Law Defense Fund to save America’s gun laws.

This fight is so critical to the safety and sanity of our nation that an anonymous donor has extended his challenge and will match dollar for dollar all gifts to this Brady Gun Law Defense Fund. Your gift will be fully tax deductible.

Gee, wonder who the donor is?

Just wow.

To Aunt B. whose play will be performed by real actors and stuff.

Capri pants: They are evil, and should be wiped off the face of the planet. Wear pants, or wear shorts. Pick a side, we’re at war!

Pics and video of H&K’s MP7A1 Personal Defense Weapon.

Opposition to Carolyn McCarthy’s new and worse ban on weapons that look like assault weapons from, and I am not making this up, dailykos bloggers. Good. See summary of the bill in question here.

WREG:

State lawmakers want to broaden civil liability protections for private citizens who hurt or kill someone in self-defense.

Multiple bills circulating in the Tennessee General Assembly are touting the ‘Castle Doctrine.’ The legislation’s language says it would “…provide immunity from civil liability for a person who uses lawful force in defense of self, others or property…” In short, a private citizen could not be sued by an attacker or the attacker’s family if the attacker is hurt or killed by the citizen’s lawful act of self-defense.

We have some cute photos of Junior in the bathtub. And she’s just adorable. These photos decorate our downstairs bathroom wall. Last night, I had The Second in the tub and was trying to get some cute photos of him to match. Trouble is that boys have dangling junk and it’s hard to take a photo where it’s not visible when they stand in the tub.

And baby boys crawling nude: not cute.

In Hendersonville:

Several teenagers were cited for firing air soft pellet guns in Hendersonville, because of the town’s tough stand on toy guns.

The teens claimed they never knew they were breaking the law when they gathered in a vacant school yard Sunday afternoon to shoot air soft guns at each other.

Several officers raced to the scene and cited the eight teenagers who had the store-bought toy guns.

Apparently, toy guns are illegal in Hendersonville. And no one knew that. Like everyone else, the kids assumed Hendersonville wasn’t run by idiots who decided to make kids’ toys illegal.

I said before that it will soon be stated as fact that the NRA was responsible for Zumbo’s loss of his job for saying something stupid even though that is not the case. What really happened is that a few message boards and blogs noticed it and left comments, sent letters, etc. and that resulted in Zumbo losing his job. The NRA, a full week after the fact, merely announced it was severing ties with the guy. But don’t let those facts get in the way when there’s hackery to be made by lying. Says Ray Schoenke:

Before today’s presidential candidates go courting the National Rifle Association for support (witness Mitt Romney’s sudden enrollment), they should be aware of the case of Jim Zumbo. One of nation’s most famous and respected hunting and outdoors journalists, Zumbo was professionally assassinated by NRA hysteria for simply uttering a single and — many hunters would say — reasonable point of view.

and

The NRA whipped up a frenzy on the blogosphere, where a rabid fringe element of the hunting community denounced Zumbo in the harshest terms, even attacking his patriotism.

Remember, the NRA had nothing to do with Zumbo’s firing.

Mr. Schoenke is either a liar; misleading intentionally to score political points; or a hack for an anti-gun group. Three guesses:

Ray Schoenke is the president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association, a former Washington Redskins football player and a lifelong hunter.

The American Hunters and Shooters Association is an anti-gun group that holds itself out as a pro-gun group.

And the media is happy to print the AstroTurf.

See past Zumbo coverage here.

Update: Apologies to Tam, who said:

they’ve been playing on astroturf so long that they don’t know grassroots even when fed a mouthful of divot.

Looks like a bill out there wants to change juvenile to person who is less than 21 years of age. And ban possession by a person who is less than 21 years of age of supposed assault weapons. Alphie has the skinny.

Cops in Ohio: We won’t enforce illegal laws. Good for them.

So, uh, what’s up with all the pro-freedom news lately?

ColtCCO is talking about gas piston systems in ARs. He even has two really cool animated images of how they work. Cool.

Looks like another radical judge went against 70 years of legal precedent to uphold that the second amendment does, in fact, guarantee a right to bear arms. In New Jersey. No, really. There really are snowflakes in Hell.

1911 time.

Dr. Helen is talking about bumper stickers:

Do you ever wonder at the bumper stickers people have on their cars and feel thankful that you have been warned about their thinking processes in advance?

Yes. I don’t do bumper stickers. Any thing I have to say would be offensive to somebody. And I don’t want to risk annoying someone to the point that they feel inclined to damage my truck. I do like Kevin’s bumper sticker.

* That’s actually a lie. In my vehicle right now is 45 rounds of Remington Golden Saber 230g 45ACP (about $20 per 50) and 25 rounds of Remington Golden Saber 102g 380 (about $13 per 50). That’s about $24.50 plus tax.

If last Sunday’s opinion column by News Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy, on the need for a County government Ombudsman, was not enough hypocrisy, then how about today’s unsigned Editorial in the Knoxville News Sentinel advocating the loss of Constitution Rights for Knox County employees?

The all knowing oracle of what is right and just, the News Sentinel, has now decided what rights Knox County employees should be allowed to have. In a stunning act of again carrying the County Mayor’s water the daily paper has endorsed the breathtakingly unconstitutional Maury County bill in the General Assembly that forbids Knox County employees from being allowed to hold elected office.

What are the implications? Adios to Knox County schoolteacher and County Commissioner Tony Norman. Likewise Commissioners Craig Leuthold, Sharon Cawood, Chuck Bolus, and of course Lee Tramel. If they could only hire Lumpy Lambert for a part time County job they could get rid of him too. In the U.S.S.R. purges were a common occurrence. They are rare in America.

In a demeaning unsigned Editorial, the Sentinel’s Editorial staff writes, “Commissioners have family members who work for county government, calling into question their objectivity on various measures, including finances.

Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale said the topic should be taken up by the nine-member Ethics Committee just appointed by the Knox County Commission. We agree.

We all deserve representatives who have the best interests of their constituents foremost in their minds, rather than thinking first about how they can help a family member or themselves. It should be about service, not one’s own interest.”

One must wonder at this time what the keen interest the News Sentinel has in redoing the Knox County Commission. Curious how the News Sentinel calls into question the objectivity of County Commissioners, isn’t it? One might question the objectivity of the daily Knoxville paper. Today’s Editorial wins this weeks Pot and Kettle Award.

Mmm, corned beef.

Seen at David’s.

Would tighter restrictions on handgun ownership increase or enhance public safety in your jurisdiction? 88.2% say no.

76.5% of those saying no say it’s because the rules would only be obeyed by the law-abiding.

Duh.

I got little to say today. So, I’ll bore you with my tales of pressure washer fun. I borrowed one of these this past weekend to do some cleaning. We moved in hurriedly because our house sold fairly quickly. The result was that our builder didn’t quite get to finish some touch-up stuff, like pressure washing the driveway and back porch. So, I said I’d do it. I decided to play with the pressure washer some too. Stuff that was cool:

Stuff that was not cool:

300 whisper. Sweet.

The cops show up to serve civil papers without a search or arrest warrant. The woman of the house attempts to close the garage door. The cops force their way in, attempt to subdue the woman who screams in pain. Out comes the husband who takes a cop’s Taser, smacks him in the head with it, and beats the crap out of the two police officers.

A judge ruled that the man had a right to defend himself from the police officers because they unlawfully entered his home.

I concur, it makes little sense:

Two wrongs don’t make a right: Washington, D.C., overreached in banning handguns; a federal appeals court overreached in striking down the ordinance.

Sorry but the ban was blatantly unconstitutional and the means of recourse was such a challenge.

The guy who famously attacked that statue of Hussein with a sledgehammer now wishes he could trade the US occupation for the old Hussein regime. The man, who did time in Abu Ghraib under Hussein, pines for the old days.

“The devil you know [is] better than the devil you don’t. We no longer know friend from foe. The situation is becoming more dangerous. It’s not getting better at all. People are poor and the prices are going higher and higher.”

Saddam, he says, “was like Stalin. But the occupation is proving to be worse”.

That’s just one guy’s point of view, but he’s not alone in wishing he could turn back the clock. The article cites a recent poll as showing that 26% of Iraqis also prefer the days of Hussein. 49% disagree and believe that life under US occupation is better than living in the old regime, which at first sounded like good news until I realized it meant that half the people in Iraq don’t think they’re better off today than they were four years ago.

Iraq is a very divided country, and the foreign occupiers have neither the trust nor the confidence of its people. Meanwhile, in America, we still don’t have a plan or any reason to think we can overcome the challenges in Iraq.

Regardless of whether you are a conservative or a liberal, people don’t care for hypocrites. But there are vary degrees of hypocrisy. Every once in a while someone wins the prize and this Sunday was one of those times.

The Editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel Jack McElroy has outdone himself in an Editorial column he wrote Sunday titled, “Ombudsman would help shine light”. In this championship Pot and Kettle column Mr. McElroy makes the case that since the Knox County Commission is so corrupt and untrustworthy that they need an Ombudsman to keep them on the straight and narrow so they won’t violate the Sunshine Law.

Editor McElroy writes, “That’s why the News Sentinel is suing the County Commission over its violations of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. It’s also why the plan to create an open-government ombudsman is a good idea.”

God help save us from reformers that have blinders on.

Where there violations of the Sunshine Law by the office of the Knox County Mayor during the wheel tax? How about during the Midway Industrial Park fiasco?

Where was the Reformer Jack McElroy then? Surely this is not a one way street is it?

The Pandora’s box of this is that if Reformer McElroy wins his lawsuit against the Knox County Commission a precedent will be set and more lawsuits will follow. Will Gary Sellers sue to have a redo on the Wheel Tax? Will the people of the Thorngrove Community sue to have a redo on the vote for the Midway Industrial Park? Will the Knox County Mayor have to sit through hours of depositions?

There is a need for an Ombudsman, but that need is at the Knoxville News Sentinel. Someone needs to take the blinders off the Reformer McElroy. Maybe a look at the News Sentinel’s Ethics Policy would be a prudent move also.

Why not just put up a sign that says: We’re defenseless. Rob us please. Via Terry and Blake (who is back), comes this:

Some people in a Nashville neighborhood are furious over a new rule that makes it illegal to own a gun. [in other news, home owners associations can make laws? I mean, seems you’d just be in violation of their rules not the law – Ed.]

Residents in Nashboro Village said it’s unconstitutional and leaves them defenseless.

Two weeks ago, residents received a from their homeowners’ association indicating that guns are not allowed on the property.

So, the pressure came and the association caved:

Officials with Ghertner and Company, the property manager at Nashboro Village, would not make an on-camera comment about the gun policy but said they plan on changing the rule soon to allow firearms on the property.

Good.

I got nothing particularly insightful to say. But others do. Here goes:

Joe Huffman:

I’m really pleased Silberman mentioned nearly every thing I do in An Individual Right. Because of that there is virtually nothing for me to say beyond “two thumbs up” on the decision itself. What happens next is more interesting.

How dare those rich people defend their rights! How long before someone blames the evil gun lobby?

QOTD:

Mayor Fenty has rightly pledged to appeal the decision, an effort which must continue so that D.C. can keep benefiting from the security of the gun ban.

Bwahahaha. How do you know if Saul Cornell is lying? You’re reading his stuff.

Seen at Insty’s (who also has a round up of gun stuff): The bad news for gun control advocates is that the Supreme Court may adopt an expansive view of the Second Amendment. The worse news is that’s the least of their troubles.

If she doesn’t bring up gun control. Says the post:

The shooting deaths of two auxiliary cops must spur the Democratic-controlled Congress to pass tougher gun legislation, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.

But carrying guns is banned there. How’d that happen?

He also called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday to urge her to act – and said that if she didn’t she’d have blood on her hands, the mayor said.

“The Democrats have said repeatedly that they blame the Republicans for no gun legislation,” an angry Bloomberg said during his WABC radio show.

“Well, now they’re in charge. OK, stand up. And if not, I’m going to tell everybody.”

It’s not working in NYC so we must do more harder!

“Nobody’s trying to ban guns,” Bloomberg explained yesterday. “That’s just so ridiculous an argument.”

Well, if you don’t count assault weapons, sniper rifles, 50 calibers, machine guns, short barreled rifles, Saturday night specials, short barreled shotguns, armor piercing ammo, guns that accept regular capacity magazines, handguns, pink guns, yellow guns, threaded barrels, then, you’re right, nobody is trying to ban guns.

If you get a license, you can have a gun.

Here’s a newsflash, Sparky: Most places don’t license guns.

Mayor Bloomberg is also the head of Mayors Against Guns, a Joyce Foundation-funded anti-gun group. Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam is a member of this group too.

Seems if you go publishing names of CCW holders, legislators decide that permitless carry might be a good idea.