One of your fellow mayors against guns quit the group:

Jared Fuhriman, the mayor of Idaho Falls, has walked away from the coalition of mayors. He told a local newspaper that he was originally told that Bloomberg’s coalition was only going after “illegal guns.” But after doing his own research he said, “I could see there was a conflict with the NRA and with some of the beliefs we have here in Idaho.”

Well, Mr. Haslam, the research has been done for you. Yet you still belong to this anti-gun group. Not good for your future political aspirations in this state.

Update: A reader points out Haslam’s Wikipedia page which has links to my stuff and is a bit, err, biased. They also point out that Haslam’s people are quick to change it.

Some moron called up the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and told them that Les Jones looked like the killer in the Johnia Berry case. Of course, this is ludicrous because Les Jones is the webmaster for johniaberry.org, which is a site dedicated to finding the killer.

Upon reading his post, I found it odd that the KCSD didn’t Google Les Jones. A few minutes of reading, and they could have figured out that Les was the webmaster there. But then it occurred to me that if they Googled Les Jones, they’d know he was a gun nut. And, instead of a knock on the door, maybe they would have gotten all ninjafied on him.

Update: R. Neal says:

It’s hard to imagine, though, that they didn’t know who Les Jones was or that he, along with the Berry family, have at times been critical of the Knox Co. Sheriff’s handling of the case.

Having apparently solved all of Tennessee’s problems, Senator Doug Jackson wants to heavily fine stations that show commercials featuring 18 year-old chicks making out with other 18 year-old chicks. These commercials only come on at 11:30p.m. on Comedy Central, I know because that’s where I see them. That’s great. Let’s assail free speech because a couple of young blond hotties showing their tits with little computer-generated purple stars covering the nipples got Jackson’s temperature up. This bit is kinda funny:

Dickson Senator Doug Jackson said he got the idea after seeing commercials for “Girls Gone Wild” videos that show young women baring their breasts and acting out other sexual situations.

Let’s ban senators from watching TeeVee. Which is more offensive:

Or

David Hardy has the text of the bill. Sebastian notes it will infuriate mayors of gun control utopias.

Damn. At least let the carcass that was Republican control get cold first:

On Thursday, the House of Representatives will vote on legislation to increase taxes for the first time since 1993. It took just 15 days of new found power for the Democrats to raise taxes. The first vote of the 110th Congress removed the 3/5 supermajority to raise taxes. The following day was a vote to enact a new rule requiring offsetting tax increases for every tax cut.

Yes, it’s all coming back to me now exactly why I hate those guys.

go here.

That’s the name of this piece on community gun ordinances encouraging gun ownership. My first thought was Wow, the NYT did something pro-gun? Then, I realized it was Glenn Reynolds.

Their spelling, not mine:

I’m wearin’
Fur pyjamas
I ride a
Hot Potata’
It’s tickling my fancy
Speak up, I can’t hear you

Upward Basketball. Some friends’ kids are in it. Not sure if you’re aware of it but it’s a religious group that does sports. They play basketball but do not keep score. I think that’s stupid because it is important that children learn there are winners and losers at athletic contests. A child should learn about the thrill they get from winning and the sorrow they get from losing. But that’s not what makes Upward Basketball stupid. See, they do man-on-man coverage and each man on the team is assigned a skill level and is given a corresponding colored waistband. People on the other team have corresponding waistbands assigned by skill level. And you are paired against the man with the same color waistband on the other team for man-on-man coverage. So, if you totally suck at basketball, then you will be paired with someone else who totally sucks at basketball. If you’re a little Michael Jordon, you’ll be paired with another little Michael Jordan. So, we don’t keep score because we don’t want to focus on winning and losing. But if you suck, we’ll put a waistband on you letting everyone know that you suck.

Update: From comments, Sailorcourt says it’s socialist basketball. Because It’s great for the players that suck. heh.

On the supreme court telling Knoxville that term limits apply, MKS injects some reality:

Don’t be naive in thinking this court ruling will bring political changes. What is currently business as unusual will soon return to business as usual. If you are giddy with glee right now, do yourself a favor and get over it fast.

The first amendment doesn’t protect your right to say stupid shit on the Internet.

David Hemenway (an anti-gun hack who asserted that folks who carried guns were more likely to indulge in road rage (despite the fact that there were no notable increases in instances of road rage after states passed concealed carry laws); and refused to release his data) is at it again. This time, the hack asserts that if guns in homes cause homicides. Well, that’s not what he says specifically but that’s the impression that he wants to leave you with. Turns out, he’s wrong as usual. Jeff has the full report. He also took the exact same data and came to an entirely different conclusion, noting that Hemenway’s use of controls was just a way to get the desired result.

Kevin takes a look and notes:

During the past decade we’ve added a minimum of 30 million new firearms in public hands – at least 10 million of which were handguns. Since 1993 we’ve gone from 21 states with “shall-issue” or unrestricted concealed-carry legislation to 39. We’ve had an influx of “assault weapons” and “pocket rockets” – supposed engines of death and destruction far more lethal than the weapons available in the 60’s.

Yet homicides declined. Non-fatal firearm related crime declined.

Insty says: I’m pretty sure that these guys would call anyone who accepted grants from the NRA bought-and-paid-for. But the Joyce Foundation is every bit as biased as the NRA, and has a history of paying for scholarship that would be treated as a scandal if it were engaged in by pro-gun folks […] If a drug company were as cavalier about science as these people are, its executives would all be in jail.

I hear the next study Hemenway is working on is entitled Guns: they shrink your penis.

It’s a Romney on guns post:

He’s retreating from his anti-gun past:

Romney says he still backs the ban on assault weapons, but he won’t say whether he stands by the Brady Bill. And after the gun show tour, his campaign declined to say whether he would still describe himself as a supporter of tough gun laws.

“He believes Americans have the right to own and possess firearms as guaranteed under the US Constitution,” spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom wrote in an e-mail. “He’s proud to be among the many decent, law-abiding men and women who safely use firearms. Like President Bush, he supports restrictions on assault weapons, but Mitt Romney has also worked with gun owners and sportsmen to ease the gun-licensing laws in Massachusetts.”

So, he’s not pro-gun at all. On the issue of anti-gun popularity, I thought this bit at the hotline was hysterical:

The Brady bunch has been reduced to an organization waiting for a tragedy to exploit with no one – other than Carolyn McCarthy [D-NY], who will publicly associate with them.

Indeed. Jeff says:

Like Kerry and Edwards and other fake, phony frauds, former MA Governor Mitt Romney is suddenly embracing gun rights as he lurches right in anticipation of a run for the Republican primary. Like so many other opportunistic politicians, he forgets that there’s a paper trail

And Bitter has a lot of the evidence from the paper trail.

What does Uncle say? Romney, fuck that guy.

They continue with their stellar performance, but this time, it’s coming from inside the agency:

Jay Dobyns is no stranger to dangerous adversaries.

Within days of becoming a sworn agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Dobyns was taken hostage and shot during a Tucson sting operation.

A year later, he was run over by gangsters in a getaway car.

Since then, he has gone undercover to bust bombmakers, murderers, drug dealers, gunrunners and prison thugs. Three years ago, he infiltrated the Hells Angels so completely that he was offered membership in the biker club.

Now, after nearly two decades of service, after being praised by ATF as a hero and earning national awards, the man known as “Jaybird” is battling his most formidable foe yet: his employer.

Dobyns, 45, is one of dozens of current and former agents to allege mismanagement and misconduct in the ATF, a federal agency responsible for enforcing America’s gun laws and preventing terrorist bombings. More than a dozen lawsuits, administrative claims, grievances, ATF documents and letters to Congress reviewed by The Arizona Republic accused administrators of betraying their own field investigators and operatives out of arrogance or incompetence.

A 2006 inspector general’s report also found that the agency was plagued by poor management and questionable judgment. The ATF director resigned amid the inspector general’s investigation. But agents, lawyers and experts say problems persist, and if left unchecked, a troubled agency will continue to spin out of control.

“The public needs to know,” said Kay Kubicki, a Detroit attorney and former agent who has represented about 25 ATF employees in cases against the bureau, winning half of them and obtaining settlements in some others. “This has a lot to do with homeland security.”

[snip]

In grievances filed with the ATF, Dobyns claimed the agency failed to protect him when he was threatened in the line of duty and then harassed him when he complained about the lack of security. He has submitted a multimillion-dollar claim alleging the bureau ignored death threats against him and his family.

According to a grievance Dobyns filed in May, ATF administrators sought to undermine his credibility by spreading false allegations that he was psychologically unfit for duty and a danger to himself or others. Dobyns alleged in that 83-page record that he was subjected to unwanted transfers, denied security, accused of fraud and blocked from getting a Medal of Valor.

In internal probes, the ATF has dismissed most of Dobyns’ complaints.

Dobyns’ allegations were lodged first in ATF grievances, followed by complaints to the Justice Department’s Inspector General’s Office, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and members of Congress. According to those filings, the conflict escalated as Dobyns challenged bosses, complaining up the chain of command.

Other bureau employees, some of whom have similar problems with the ATF, say Dobyns’ transformation from hero to scapegoat is just one example of mismanagement that pervades the agency.

There’s a lot more.

Tam on why she went 6.8. I’m convinced.

So much for that:

less than 1 percent of these criminals (0.7 percent) acquired their guns from gun shows.

David reports that Fincher is guilty in the machine gun case. Kevin has a bit of analysis on why this case lost and why these cases always will.

Update: I knew I read that title somewhere.

Looks like other officers have come forward and said that the officers involved in the raid lied to obtain the warrant that resulted in the death of 92 year-old Kathryn Johnston. Last week, I wrote why I was a gun nut. Well, this is one of those situations where if these two guys aren’t put in jail, someone should shoot their asses.

It’s coming:

Wisconsin remains a holdout in the nationwide trend to allow people to carry concealed guns.

The Legislature should keep it that way.

The state has survived quite nicely for 134 years with a ban on concealed weapons. There is no compelling reason to now invite people to carry hidden firearms. In fact, there are compelling reasons to retain the ban.

Such as?

CCW has been passed twice in Wisconsin in the last bit. Both times, Doyle vetoed it. Back to their reasons:

•Concealed guns are trouble waiting to happen.

Err, no, they are not.

In Minneapolis in the spring of 2005, police apprehended Zachary Ourada shortly after he had shot and killed a restaurant doorman. The doorman had earlier asked Ourada to leave the restaurant because he was harassing women.

When police captured him, Ourada shouted: “I didn’t do nuthin’ wrong. I got a permit to carry that (gun).”

Sounds horrible, doesn’t it. Only problem is that the State Journal left out one major fact about the incident. You see, some of us covered the incident a while back, and Ourada was not carrying at the bar. He left, went home and returned 30 – 40 minutes later with a weapon before murdering the doorman. The implication is that some CCW permit holder blew some dude away while packing and that’s not the case.

An organization dedicated to Knife Rights.

There apparently is no Knoxville. Or something.

He is. No doubt, he’s looking for items he wants to ban.

Or did he find his pro-gun Jesus in an election year? I doubt it.

Magpul is pimping a rifle.

A gun nut wants to move to Tennessee. I highly recommend it.

At the SHOT Show, Sig now has a pistol variant.

R. Lee Ermey on Glocks v. 1911s, California’s stupid gun laws, and gun rights.

Anti-gun hack David Hemenway and company are at it again. For history on Hemenway, clickity. I’d offer criticism, but Jeff already has.

Ooh, Robarms XCR.

The local newspaper wants you:

At the News Sentinel, we understand that because our readers never fail to write to us — in letters to the editor, in guest columns, in articles for the Perspective front and in our newest Saturday editorial page feature, Citizen’s Voice.

Although we printed about 2,400 letters and a number of guest columns in 2006, our limited space prevented us from printing more. Our cups, plates and e-mail — the route for the vast majority of our letters and columns — runneth over.

This year, we plan to provide another outlet for readers’ frustrations, joys, anger, advocacy and analysis. We are looking for community columnists for our Sunday Perspective front.

We welcome a variety of topics, but we will give greater weight to articles about local and regional issues, since we use syndicated columnists for national and international issues during the week.

So, if you want to write for them, get to it.

Years ago, I mentioned to Michael that they should do some rotating blogger column in the Sentinel. You know, one day some local blogger writes an opinion piece. Then pick a new blogger the next week. He said he’d run it up the flagpole. Never heard back from him about it. But if they want writers, there’s literally an infinite resource on the intertubes.

In England:

Britain’s advertising watchdog criticized Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana Wednesday for a campaign showing models brandishing knives.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the industry regulator, upheld more than 150 complaints from people concerned that the stylized pictures glorified and condoned violent crime.

Oh Britain, what happened to you?