Colt CCO is back to blogging. One post every three months might be a record. And I saw him back in Knoxville last week.

Tom, regarding misuse police power and the recent spate of shootings, says:

it has almost exclusively been the modern conservative movement that has moved us toward this sort of authoritarian government and sought to massively expand police powers, while seriously diminishing oversight.

Then why does this map of botched police raids (filter for deaths) show that more botched raids occur in larger population centers, which tend to be more liberal?

The reason is big cities have swat teams and they gotta do something when they’re not saving hostages.

Don’t misunderstand: This is not a liberal v. conservative issue. It should be an issue we can all get behind. It’s more a those in power wanting to look tough on crime v. every one else issue.

Over at No Silence Here, I posted about the second amendment case heading to the court. Some one going by the name Jack Weaver wrote:

The argument of Washington, D.C., on the meaning of the Constitution’s Second Amendment makes sense. That amendment addresses the right of the people to be secure as a political society. It’s the Fourth Amendment that states the right of the people to be secure as individual persons.

If Madison and the First Congress had thought that personal gun use needed protection from interference by the new federal government, they would have explicitly worded an amendment to provide that protection. They could easily have done that by adding words to the Fourth Amendment.

By incorporating the word “arms” the framers could have written the Fourth Amendment to begin, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, arms, houses, papers, and effects…” And at the same time they could have added words to the Fourth along the lines of those in an amendment proposed by New Hampshire’s ratification convention:

“Congress shall never disarm any citizen, unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion.”

The U.S. Supreme Court was no doubt correct when it said in U.S. v. Miller (1939) that the “obvious purpose” of the Second Amendment was the continuation and effectiveness of state militia forces. That statement of purpose, it should be noted, says nothing about the individual use of guns for personal purposes.

It’s a rather ridiculous assertion for a variety of reasons but this ain’t a post about that. It’s a post about Jack then coming to here and making a similar comment under a different name. He’s probably leaving the same comment at other blogs. I don’t care that you leave comments but use the same handle. It’s the polite thing to do.

You may recall there was a little dustup over the World’s Fair Park project a couple years ago. The idea was to save the Sunsphere, the Candy Factory, and the Tennessee Amphitheater.

In the News Sentinel today we learn it may cost $3.4 million for full renovation or $655,000 for complete demolition. Money that was supposed to come from the developer of the World’s Fair Project and not the city.

Looking back on the Candy Factory deal Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam pushed through it is difficult to see how any money was saved. The only assets, the Candy Factory and Victorian Homes, were purchased at rock bottom prices and the Sunsphere and Tennessee Amphitheater were pulled from the project. Looking back at the downtown Cinema project it is now three times over budget. Looking at the Five Points shopping center deal another expensive failure. Don’t even ask about Renee Kesler.

So how is this Mayoral administration doing? This is an administration of futures. Future promises that don’t come true. Not on budget, not on time, and not what was promised. This is what happens when you are more interested in the next political office instead of running the office you currently hold.

There is an election for the office of Knoxville Mayor next November. What kind of report card would you give Mayor Haslam today?

I’m trying to understand why a guy with two masters degrees (one in engineering and a MBA in finance) has spent the last hour and a half trying to figure out how to ship something via UPS.com. Actually, I’m trying to figure out why he keeps updating me on the status of trying to figure out UPS.com because I can 1) do it in about 15 seconds and 2) give a fuck less. And I only have one masters degree.

Sometimes when someone tries to do something good they get confused and screw up something else. This is often referred to as the law of unintended consequences. Case in point would be Senator John McCain’s new bill to crack down on child pornography on the Internet. No one wants child pornography on the Internet but the problem is that this bill is so broadly written it could be used to shut down a website with an innocent picture like this.

It is an important cause and something must be done but this bill is so poorly written it could be used to harm people that have nothing to do with child pornography. If this sounds a little like the War on Drugs or the War on Terror there may be a reason. Could it be Congress Critters? Senator McCain is not alone in not understanding the Internet.

From CNET News:

Millions of commercial Web sites and personal blogs would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000, if a new proposal in the U.S. Senate came into law.

The legislation, drafted by Sen. John McCain and obtained by CNET News.com, would also require Web sites that offer user profiles to delete pages posted by sex offenders.

After child pornography or some forms of “obscenity” are found and reported, the Web site must retain any “information relating to the facts or circumstances” of the incident for at least six months. Webmasters would be immune from civil and criminal liability if they followed the specified procedures exactly.

McCain’s proposal, called the “Stop the Online Exploitation of Our Children Act” (click for PDF), requires that reports be submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn will forward them to the relevant police agency. (The organization received $32.6 million in tax dollars in 2005, according to its financial disclosure documents.)

Internet service providers already must follow those reporting requirements. But McCain’s proposal is liable to be controversial because it levies the same regulatory scheme–and even stiffer penalties–on even individual bloggers who offer discussion areas on their Web sites.

More after the jump…

Import Update see comments

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I somehow managed to miss the fact that the Gun Toting Liberal is back.

The house and senate have overridden the governor’s veto of the Ohio preemption bill. This, effectively, gets rid of some 80 or so local gun ordinances in the state, notably the ban on weapons that look like assault weapons in some cities – said bans were just this week upheld by the Ohio supreme court who noted:

In the absence of any limiting provision or declaration to the contrary, we conclude that the General Assembly intended to allow municipalities to regulate the possession of lower capacity semiautomatic firearms in accordance with local conditions.

Oops. Kopel has a lot more detail and notes:

In practical effect, the Ohio bill is the most significant roll-back of gun control that has ever been enacted by a state.

He’s also come up with a term for weapons that look like assault weapons that I like: cosmetically-incorrect self-loading firearms.

Joe goes into great detail about why the second amendment means what it says.

In Philly:

Police also plan to ask home owners at times for consent to search their homes without a probable-cause warrant, District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said Monday.

“If we go to a house, we’re going to ask the owner of the house if they will consent to a search for illegal weapons,” Abraham said at a news conference. “Any gun that we can find that way is one more gun we can get off the street.”

I expect a rise in the number of consensual searches that get to court and the home-owner swears up and down they did not consent. And exactly how does a police officer determine if a weapon is illegal by looking at it?

Wow, there is Wolf Ammo out there.

Now in 45ACP.

Update: Sorry Farkers, my host doesn’t like you. Beyond my control. And for you folks criticizing the statistical methods, no one is saying Brady Causes Violence. Just that their gun control pipe dreams aren’t showing an decrease in violence. And, for shit’s sake, it’s not a study.

Now back to your original post:

==================

It’s that time of year where The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership issues its grades. I like to call it a Freedom Index, only its grading system is backwards. Nemerov spanks their grading system pretty hard:

Brady comes out each year with their report card, which analyzes a set of gun-law criteria and arrives at a grade from “A” through “F.” As noted in a previous paper, there is a strong correlation between lower grades and right-to-carry (RTC) status, with shall-issue states regularly assigned “D” and “F” grades.2 Brady graded South Carolina “D+” in 2005, because guns are too freely available, as per Helmke’s statement above.

Since 2001, RTC states, where more people carry guns in public, consistently average a “D”. Brady continues to be unhappy with the country’s direction regarding gun control: between 2001 and 2005, RTC states increased from 32 to 38 and Brady downgrade the U.S. average from “C-” to a “D+.” Their response is curious, since the national violent crime rate fell 7.0% during this time frame.

Even worse for Brady, violent crime trends are not spread equally across all states. RTC states (average Brady grade “D”) saw an aggregate 7.8% drop in violent crime, while non-RTC states (average Brady grade “B”) saw a 5.2% decrease. Even when Brady grades synchronize with violent crime trends, it fails to give an accurate picture: Brady dropped the national average grade from “C-” to “D+” in 2005, the same year that the violent crime rate increased 1.3%. This would seem to make sense, as a lower grade is supposed to reflect less safety for citizens. Unfortunately for Brady, most of that increase occurred in non-RTC states, which saw an aggregate increase of 2.8%, while RTC states increased 0.6%. Using Brady’s criteria of grading each state as an equivalent entity, non-RTC states averaged a 5.6% increase in violent crime, while RTC states averaged a 0.6% increase. Since 2001, the violent crime differential between RTC and non-RTC states increased from 26.0% to 27.5%, meaning that RTC states are becoming relatively more law-abiding compared to non-RTC states.3

There’s also the fact that two of Brady’s A students (Mass. and Illinois) recently experienced mass shootings. Since Brady cannot offer solutions, they offer condolences. You guys gave them an A.

I like Texas:

A Texas real estate agent looking to add more bang to her business is offering clients in law enforcement a free Glock pistol if they buy a home from her.

Why just law enforcement? Via Tom.

No one is an extremist, just ask them. I’ve said it before and it bears repeating:

A common misconception we all have (other than that we’re good drivers) is that we’re moderate. We all think we are. After all, we usually associate ourselves with similar minded folks and since those folks are all around us, we must be middle of the road.

Well, I don’t but I’m reminded of this by Rich, who quotes Orson Scott Card’s book that I haven’t read:

A good working definition of fanaticism is that you are so convinced of your own views and policies that you are sure anyone who opposes them must either be stupid and deceived or have some ulterior motive. We are today a nation where almost everyone in the public eye displays fanaticism with every utterance.

It’s kinda relevant because some extremist, fanatic recently said:

Anyone who believes in the collective rights (or as it should be called the ‘no rights’) model of the second amendment is either clueless or a disingenuous hack.

But it’s OK. I’m comfortable with my own extremism. I fully realize that my views on guns and gun control; the role of government; the drug war; and a variety of other things are in not even close to a moderate view. It’s how I am. I’m a freedom extremist. And I am right. Just like everyone else is. They are right, just ask them.

Rivrdog in comments at Aunt B.’s:

You either have to admit that the government’s persecution of any militia which tries to get organized (and “well-regulated”) seems to suggest (very strongly) that the Government itself supports the individual rights model of the Second.

Couple days ago, I met a third generation Mexican immigrant (legal). He didn’t speak Spanish. Ok, he said he didn’t.

How do you know when a blogger is out of shit to write? He does a meme. Bolded is shit I’ve done (via GLN):

Read the rest of this entry »

Should have bought one then.

So says their site:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
ATF DECIDES THE AKINS ACCELERATOR™ TO BE A MACHINEGUN

Akins Group Inc. regrets to announce that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has reversed its position and has decided the Akins Accelerator™ to be a machinegun conversion kit, thereby subjecting it to strict regulation under the Gun Control Act (GCA) and National Firearms Act (NFA).

ATF rescinded its previous determination that the Akins Accelerator™ was not subject to the GCA or NFA (see http://www.firefaster.com/documentation.html). Attorneys for the Akins Group Inc. are seeking reconsideration by ATF of its new position. In the interim, any sale, transfer, or return of the Akins Accelerator™ must be suspended. Akins Group Inc. will advise further after meeting with ATF.

Akins Group Inc. has received no instruction as to the disposition of units in customer hands. Please refrain from public speculation and emotional responses and allow our Attorneys to advocate for everyone’s best interests.

Let the lawsuits begin.

Update: More here.

Update 2: The ATF approved the device a bit back and has now changed it’s mind (assuming it has one). Also, there is speculation that the new 10 round Saiga-12 mags are next. The ATF has a history of arbitrarily changing the rules. Some speculation that the NFA community was behind it as the Akins Device resulted in a drop in Pre-86 prices.

Update 3: Oops, guess you can’t remember everything I write. The Akins Accelerator:

It is a stock/spring system for a Ruger 10/22 that offers a rate of fire of 650 RPM. It’s completely legal (except in Cali and Minnesota) as it is not a machine gun. Video here. A bit pricey at about $1,000 but much cheaper than than a pre-86 registered Ruger 10/22 that comes in at about $10K.

Ok, actually it is.

Foreign Policy has good high-level capsule summaries of the various different Iraq options: Go Big, Go Long, Go Sunni, Go Shiite, Go Home, Go Regional, and Divide Iraq. Personally, I’m down with the long division.

And just in case you think the choice between these options is going to be made by dedicated, informed people, take a look at what happens when you ask politicians about some basic Middle East facts.

When Google purchased YouTube many people said it was one of the dumber business acquisitions in recent history. Mark Cuban laughingly wrote they would be sued out of business. Google prepared a 500 million dollar fund for legal battles.

And there lawsuits. But not as many as expected. Then CBS did an about turn and uploaded 300 clips of their programming. The results have been impressive. The shows CBS pushed on YouTube became bigger hits on Television. It is kind of like windows shopping for new Television shows to watch. David Lettermen and Craig Ferguson of the Late Late Show have received big benefits. Letterman has gained an extra 200,000 viewers and Ferguson’s show is up seven percent. Ferguson’s stand up bits have become classics on YouTube.

The biggest benefit of YouTube for Television Networks may be focus groups. No longer will the studio have to do focus groups the old fashion way. Now they can instantly reach millions of people all across the country and see if the latest sitcom idea will fly.

YouTube may also be the next discovery vehicle for new stars. No more trolling through malls to find the next new face. The next Lana Turner may be discovered not in a soda shop but on YouTube. Lisa Nova hopes it will be her.

Technology pundits have long talked about the convergence of Television and the Internet. All that was needed was an application. YouTube is the killer app for convergence.

I’ve been complaining about my children being sick lately. They’ve had a variety of ear infections, coughs, sniffles and every other assorted contagious thing that kids bring home from daycare. Last night, a friend told me that in the next few months he’d have to get his four-year-old little girl a wheelchair. And that she was not expected to make it past the age of nine. I can’t imagine how horrible that would be to know. Made my complaints seem utterly insignificant.

It’s stats day, I suppose. Here’s a comparision of ways to die.

Tam addresses the recent trouble the police are having:

We need to seriously re-evaluate what it is we want police to do, because the current setup is not working. If you want cops to sniff out every meth lab, bust every drunk driver, arrest every teenage marijuana seller, round up every prostitute, and ticket everyone not wearing a seatbelt, you’re going to wind up with, not a police force, but an army of occupation.

StateMaster has stats comparing the states. Here’s some gun stats pages:

Permits by state
Prohibited firearms by state
Prohibited persons by state

Via Ben.

TriggerFinger has more analysis on the Parker case.

Barack Hussein Obama says so:

Are there some voters who would not vote for an African America candidate because of race? I’m sure there are. Those are the same voters who probably wouldn’t vote for me because of my politics.

That’s as lame as me pointing out that his middle name is Hussein when it’s unnecessary. See, I don’t vote for big government, nanny-statists regardless of skin color. Rich says: I think I’ve learned all I need to know about Mr. Obama.

Either all the drivers on I140 read my post yesterday or today is some sort of retard holiday because I140 was not backed up this morning for the first time in weeks.

How do all these shootings keep happening in gun control utopias? In a couple days, two Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership A rated states have experienced mass shootings. Another:

Three people were killed, and several others, including two police officers, were wounded at an early morning shooting at a New Bedford, Mass., strip club, police said.

A gunman wearing body armor entered the Foxy Lady at about 2:30 a.m. and opened fire — killing two patrons — before shooting himself, police told WSAR radio. One officer was shot in the face and the other in the arm when the gunman briefly emerged, FOX affiliate WFXT-TV reports.

The shooting may have been part of a domestic dispute, WFXT-TV reported.

The gunman was described as being armed with an M-16 rifle and full body armor, and was wearing a mask over his face, FOXNews.com has learned. The wounded were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford.

I expect a crackdown on body armor soon. Seems to be a lot of nut jobs armoring up before, well, doing what nut jobs do. And I really doubt the guy had an M16. Perhaps he had an AR-15, which is odd too because they’re banned in Mass.