Jeff notes a Vermont mayor has joined Bloomberg’s anti-gun group.

I’m not homophobic and I’m not filled with angst against metrosexuals or whatever we’re calling well-groomed men these days. But I’m with this guy. Bonus points because the original article is written by a gay dude. A man should know how to do certain things (like how to operate tools, build a fire, set up a secret bank account that his wife doesn’t know about*, drive a stick, fire a rifle, clean a dead critter for consumption, etc. You know, basic things). Many men lack enough male influence in their lives and don’t learn these skills.

And, ferchrissakes, I can’t stand to see a grown man order a pumpkin spice latte. I don’t care if it is a seasonal blend of holiday goodness.

* I’m kidding. That’s just in there to see if my wife is reading.

In the past few weeks there have been two local events that should give anyone pause regardless of their feelings about firearms. Whether the concern is for the United States Constitution or just plain common sense, the idea that anyone should trust a criminal armed with a gun makes no sense.

The first event was this Metro Pulse Editorial. Boiled down to it’s essence it opines that Knox County Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert endangered his life by drawing his Kel-Tec .380 pistol to defend himself from 19 year old Kane Stackhouse. The Metro Pulse Editorial had several inflammatory statements such as, “In the process, he has shown himself to be a danger to himself and others” and “First he put himself at risk by drawing his weapon when he says he saw a gun come out of the young man’s pocket.”

So what is the message the Metro Pulse is sending? They are saying that Mr. Lambert should have trusted the criminal. Kane Stackhouse is not your typical 19 year old. Unknown to Mr. Lambert at the time he was looking down the barrel of Mr. Stackhouse’s .25 caliber Beretta, it has now been alleged that Stackhouse murdered David Lindsey in a Walgreens parking lot 10 hours earlier with the same gun he was pointing at Mr. Lambert. Stackhouse has been charged by the Knox County Grand Jury for the crime of murder.

The second local event happened Sunday morning on the “Inside Tennessee” political talk show on WBIR. You can see a clip from the program below. Panelist and local Knoxville attorney Don Bosch made a statement to Lumpy Lambert that defies common sense. Bosch said to Mr. Lambert, “You increased your chances many fold over of being shot by pulling that gun.” So what is attorney Don Bosch saying? He is saying trust the criminal.

There were six shootings in the same 24 hour period with two fatalities. The only firearm event that had a good outcome was the one where an armed citizen protected himself. The idea that armed citizens present a hazard to other citizens has not be proven, in fact in areas where carry permits are allowed violent crime has decreased.

The timing of this “Trust the criminal” mantra is curious. It comes at a time when Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam needs all the help he can get. More charitable people may believe that Mayor Haslam just did not read the fine print on Michael Bloomberg’s Anti-gun movement before he signed on. Mayor Haslam’s slow response to explain the situation causes doubt. 120 Mayors across American have joined Bloomberg. Currently only one Mayor in Tennessee has signed on.

Some people might ask why would anyone be concerned about illegal guns? The logic is only criminals use illegal guns so getting illegal guns off the street makes perfect sense doesn’t it? No, it doesn’t. The hidden trap door of this movement is incrementalism. In the beginning it is more and tougher gun registration laws. Then as time goes on it may be a limit to the number of guns a citizen may possess. Then perhaps an urban ban on handguns. At some point it will be pointed out that most illegal guns come from home burglaries. As the tortured logic unravels then the end game will become clear. The only way to insure there are no illegal guns is to make sure there are no guns period.

What is an illegal gun? Depends on who you ask. If Mr. Bloomberg has his way will the definition expand to include all guns?

Here is my advice, don’t trust the criminal and don’t trust the billionaire Mayor of New York who wishes to disarm law abiding citizens.
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WBIR:

The FBI says its computer system that quickly screens gun buyers’ backgrounds for criminal activity has crashed several times over the past two days.

An FBI spokesman says a technical glitch had the system on the blink for up to a half-hour yesterday and today, potentially allowing buyers to purchase firearms without being screened. He says the problem is being worked on and called it “a performance issue that we’ve never encountered before.”

Tennessee has its own. Any locals have any problems?

The Gun Nut:

If the NYPD starts shooting at people who actually shoot back, they are going to run out of ammunition.

I think it was Carlos Mencia who (jokingly) opined that we should teach gang bangers marksmanship instead of the spray and pray method they tend to use now. That way, the only casualties in their turf wars would be other gang bangers. Well, the police (I hope think) would get that kind of training.

The Gun Nut is also asking you help the NYPD out:

And so I call on you, my fellow gun enthusiasts, to lend a hand to New York’s Finest. If you have a spare box, or a case, of 9mm lying around, send it to people who need it more than you do. The address is:

Commissioner Raymond Kelly
New York City Police Department
One Police Plaza
New York, New York

Cam has one.

Couple things:

I’m a Democrat – and gun control is for the birds

Election Wasn’t a Vote for Gun Control

I was thinking for a while about doing a post on media gun coverage where I take the word they use and translate it into gun nut English. It was on the to-do list but I never got around to it. For example:

When they say High-Powered

They mean regular

Sample usage: The suspect used a high-powered rifle in the commission of a murder.

Translated: The suspect used a regular rifle in a murder.

Well, Marc has given me a good start for the list:

Modified (something was bolted on?) Scary!

Les has the skinny on (and pics of) the new slimline Glock. Les thinks it could be Glock’s answer the the Joint Combat Pistol. Regardless, it looks sharp.

Good idea from Roger:

Name three bloggers who tend to be the opposite of you politically, yet of whom you remain a fan nevertheless.

There’s more than three. Off the top of my head:

R. Neal: Read him since he was South Knox Bubba. Always insightful and well-researched and thought-provoking writing. We agree more than we disagree but when we disagree, we do so drastically and politely. Some of the other posters at Knoxviews grate me but not Mr. Neal.

Aunt B.: My thoughts on Aunt B. are, I think, very similar to her thoughts on me. For me, she lead to an epiphany I had about feminists. See, I used to think they are all fucking nuts. It’s true, every one. And the reason for that was whenever I read about them it was some whacko who used the word womyn or was screaming at someone to get out of their uterus or some other maniacal horseshit. Aunt B. let me know they weren’t all fucking crazy. Sure, some are but some make sense and present their ideas without all the she-man-men-haters-flannel-shirt-wearing crap. Conversely, I convinced Aunt B. that we gun nuts weren’t all crazy either and that we were right about a lot of shit. Plus, Aunt B. is just damn entertaining reading.

A full 2/3rds of Leanleft: Three flavors of liberal: mild, regular and extra crispy. I have conducted epic rhetorical battle in their comments section taking Tom and Kevin to task for their, err, inconsistencies. They’ve returned the favor by doing the same to me. And we do it civilly.

Now, if you ain’t scared, here’s another meme for you: Name three bloggers who tend to concur with politically, yet you cannot stand them.

Despite what the blogs say, the shit has not hit the fan. The Holy Fuck has hit the fan.

Seems the informant the police relied upon to get a warrant to raid the house where they shot a 92 year-old woman was asked to lie by the police. Or so, the informant claims. I mean, you can’t take the word of an informant is what the police will tell us. But they rely on the loose testimony of paid informants regularly.

Radley Balko, who you’ll recall jumped the gun, says:

At risk of sounding like an arrogant bastard, at this point, every assumption I made about this case at the outset has proven correct. And then some.

I don’t think it’s arrogance. It’s that you pay attention. I thought the same thing. There were inconsistencies in the initial press reports, such as one assertion that she shot them through the door but that police knocked and entered. Now, the police are reviewing their no-knock policy, which is odd since they knocked. Or so they say.

There is also scant evidence that the warrant contains a forged Judge’s signature. Double oops. Could be or it could just be the rubber stamp judges use to approve these things.

Regardless, it’s going to be a giant shit storm of inconsistency and ass-covering. I think the one good thing that will come of this whole nasty incident is that people will finally start paying attention to questionable police tactics. That tends to happen when something happens to little old ladies.

Update: Conservative apologists jumped the gun. Heh. Remember, kids, the guy who ends up being right in the end can always accuse the other guy of jumping the gun.

Gun nuts seem to like things that aren’t gun related that other people would never really think about, like a good flashlight. A good gift that you can get for your non-gun-nut friends is a quality flashlight (such as the G2 or the Streamlight Twin Task).

Seriously, two of my non-gun-nut friends are getting them this year. And who doesn’t need a good flashlight?

You may remember when Dwight Van de Vate, the Senior Communications Director for Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, spoke on behalf of the Knox County Mayor saying that the entire Tyler Harber series chronicled in the Halls Shopper News was just tabloid reporting and that concerning the potential for an investigation of the Mayor and his relationship with Tyler Harber that County Mayor Ragsdale said, “Bring it on”.

Here is a clip from the “Ragsdale Players”, a local theater troupe in Knoxville, showing what the Mayor meant when he said “Bring it on”.

The three voices you hear are County Commissioners Mike “Yes Master” Hammond, who presents the Resolution to remove Greg Lambert’s Resolution for the investigation of Mayor Ragsdale from the agenda, the second is from Craig “The Comedian” Leuthold, and the call for the question which prevents any debate is from Phil “We don’t need no stinking debate” Guthe.

See if you can figure out who is Moe, Larry, and Curly.

On the fourth Monday of every month the “Ragsdale Players” can be seen on Knox Community Television at 2:00 PM. Channel 12 on Comcast Cable and Channel 6 on Charter Cable.

Turn in every month for the best in comedy and drama.

not this one. Heh.

I said before that I was boycotting Pilot Oil due to Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam’s membership in an anti-gun group funded by the Joyce Foundation. I was pleased to have received correspondence from someone in the Mayor’s office offering to clarify the issue with me. I received that comment 11 days ago and awaited said follow up. But the follow up hasn’t happened yet. Now, I know their office was busy with allegations of racism and the holiday weekend and all. But I have yet to hear back. My offer still stands:

I responded via email and offered to re-print anything the mayor had to say without edit. I also asked if he’d answer question about the group.

My inclination on the issue is that Mr. Haslam joined the group not realizing exactly what they were. After all, there are some Republicans in it. But I’d like some clarification.

It’s no secret that Haslam has his eyes on higher office (though I doubt it’s this one) and this issue will haunt you in Tennessee.

Some folks have asked me what it would take to clear the air and my answer is I’d like to see him call the group what it is and quit it. Or call the group what it is and work from the inside to enact measures that will actually make a difference in gun crime. Gun control is what politicians do instead of something.

I’ll continue my boycott and encourage others to do the same until the mayor’s office addresses the issue.

One thing that the “powers that be” in Knoxville agree on is that Knox County Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert has become way to popular with the people. Yet today’s Editorial in the Knoxville News Sentinel titled, “Serious issues shouldn’t be taken lightly” doesn’t go after Lumpy Lambert, it goes after other Commissioners who have an unusual sense of humor. This Editorial is diametrically opposed to an Editorial two weeks ago in the Metro Pulse that claims that Commissioner Lambert “has shown himself to be a danger to himself and others”.

The News Sentinel Editorial admonishes Knox County Commissioners for a supposedly humorous Resolution to “honor” Commissioner Lambert as “Quick Draw Lambert” and to further honor Mr. Lambert with the Annual “Make My Day” award.

Betty Bean has a column today in the Halls Shopper News, “Getting Lumpy”. Betty writes, “Last month, some of Greg Lambert’s County Commission colleagues bragged that they were going to bloody his nose for asking for an investigation of political activities in Mayor Mike Ragsdale’s office.”

In the YouTube video clip below from the November 20th Knox County Commission you can hear one single laugh as the Resolution is read. Is it safe to assume that lone laugh was Commissioner Craig Leuthold, the author of the Resolution? One wonders if Mr. Leuthold learned his comedy skills from Michael Richards?

In comedy timing is everything. After the Resolution is read Chairman Scott Moore intervenes and scolds Commissioner Leuthold telling him the Resolution is not appropriate. Then Chairman Moore asks Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison to speak to the Commission about the Kane Stackhouse, the young man that pulled a gun on Commissioner Lambert. The Sheriff stunned the Commission, audience, and Television viewers when he revealed that Kane Stackhouse would be charged the next day for a murder that occurred ten hours earlier and just three miles away. This was the murder of David Lindsey who was murdered in the Walgreen’s parking lot.

If only there was a picture of Craig Leuthold at that moment, do you think he was laughing then? So as long as this is all so jovial and just in good fun, what would a good joke nickname for Commissioner Leuthold be? Lassie Leuthold, an homage to Tyler Harber who claimed he was better trained than a dog? Or perhaps Laughing Leuthold, since he has demonstrated such great comedic skills?

Maybe this wasn’t funny after all?

If I have a 50% chance of getting something right by accident that I would not have otherwise known about, there is a 99% chance that I will get it wrong.

Two examples from this weekend:

1 – I was changing out a door knob. Our new door knobs are the handle kind and not the knob kind. It just didn’t occur to me that the handles only matched the mount one way. So, I installed the mount upside down.

2 – I’m pretty handy with woodworking. While building Junior a chalkboard, I was going to put some trim on it. But I’d never done any trim before. I didn’t realize that one side of the trim was fatter than the other side. So, I cut two pieces to mate together and the mated perfectly, other than the fact I mated the fat side with the skinny side.

In both cases, I didn’t know either would be an issue. In both cases, I had a 50% chance of getting it right through no fault of my own. But I didn’t.

Well, I do a lot. But, on the carrying guns in national parks bill, there’s this:

And LASTLY, and probably what jumped out at me the most, is the plea to call Frist and get this “rushed” through the now lame-duck Republican Congress. THIS is how the Republicans are spending their time and energy?

Indeed. The lame ass err duck Congress is trying to get its pro-gun on so in two years they can point out how pro-gun they were when running for office. But why this bill? I don’t really care about it. Most gun owners probably care little about it. Let’s get on something good, like repealing the sporting purposes language or the Hughes Amendment?

And to the NRA: You will be viewed by the press and the left as the extreme gun lobby who causes the .gov to bend to their will no matter what you do. Just look at the coverage you’ve gotten over this rather innocuous bill. You’re gonna be attacked for any pro-gun bill so you may as well push some good ones.

Via David Hardy.

Apparently, the buzz about guns while I was busy not blogging is that the NYT gets a gun issue wrong and that they are (gasp!) biased a smidgen. It’s true, take my word for it. Says the NYT:

America’s confusion about the Second Amendment is now nearly total. An amendment that ensures a collective right to bear arms has been misread in one legislature after another — often in the face of strong public disapproval — as a law guaranteeing an individual’s right to carry a weapon in public.

I don’t really care about carrying in parks. I figure if you’re near some large wildlife capable of hurting you and you’re not armed, you’re stupid. Practice civil disobedience, I do. But the only one confused about the Second Amendment is the NYT. I issue the same challenge to them that I issue to every ignoramus who makes the claim that the second amendment doesn’t mean what it says:

Find one document from the time of the founding that related to the debate and ratification of the Constitution and Bill of Rights that supports this contention.

Just one. I’ll wait. Extreme Mortman says:

Wheter (sic) Allen’s bill is good policy should make for robust debate. But is it too much to ask the New York Times to put facts first and mockery second? Probably

But he says it about something else.

only better.

Now, listen up Pattycakes:

Did the libertarians jump the gun? Maybe. But I cannot buy that a small amount of weed justifies busting someone’s door in and shooting them dead. Or that such an amount even justifies busting a door down to begin with. Or that having a small amount of weed and a handgun carry permit justifies busting their door down and putting ten rounds of 9mm into their chest. I’m weird like that. Now, I am not saying that there are not instances in which busting someone’s door down is justifiable but these should be the exception and not the rule. It’s done too often and too many innocent people die as a result. And it doesn’t do a lot for the image the police have these days. And busting people’s doors down should be limited to violent or serious crimes. Maybe the cops were legally justified in their actions. But that don’t make it right.

That, coupled with the fact there too many conflicting bits of info, is probably why folks were so quick to judge.

Some AR porn from Heartless Libertarian who is showing us the new MGI Modular System AR-15. Cool idea to have one lower that can fire 5.56 and you switch out the upper and the mag well to fire 7.62X39 with AK magazines. But with the lower going for five bills and the AK mag well going for $250, I think I’d just get an AK and $350 worth of ammo.

Some good stuff over at the gun blogs from the new guy Terminal Homer. See The Little Marlin and Pimping an SKS.

Also, Cook County is at it again with a ban on weapons that look like assault weapons.

Spent most of the long weekend not doing any. Put up the Christmas lights, ate, watched football, tended to sick kids, shopped, and did a few chores. So, I’ll catch up on the old email and the blog feeds. Did I miss anything important?

Also, on Black Friday, I ran into Late for Dinner and his charming wife, who were also making an emergency Christmas decoration run. I think that’s the first time I’ve been out and heard someone yell Hey, Uncle. But that’s not why I mention it. The reason I do is that about three years ago me and the Mrs. met Mr. and Mrs. Late for Dinner for, err, dinner one night. We said we’d have to do it again. And never got around to it. Seeing them made me realize that. And I thought to myself Self, why is that? Oh, now I remember. I had kids.

about this article. 1) Defense is spelled with and S and not a C; it’s defense not defence. Until the Canadians rectify that gross injustice, there can be no peace between our people. 2) If you’re drunk and walk into the wrong house by mistake because you think it’s your house, you deserve to have the shit beat out of you.

ET politicos and their guns:

A newly elected Lafollette city councilman is now facing Aggravated Assault charges for holding a suspected thief at gunpoint.

Police arrested Mike Stanfield on Tuesday, after finding him at the home of an alleged thief, holding a gun to the suspects head.

Yeah, threat of force for property doesn’t usually fly.

No blog for you. Come back later.

Well, the instalanches brought traffic. And they brought some moonbats. So, to them, yes, it’s all Clinton’s fault, even the fact a Starbuck’s opened in my hometown is his fault somehow; we need more blood for oil; and I am glad our lord and savior George Bush is waging a religious war on them there Godless heathens and doing his best to rid the world of gay cooties. Did I leave anything out?

Meanwhile, totally unrelated:

Sure, I’ll shit on you but I’m uncomfortable going to the Bronx.

Alrighty.

Les Jones notes that “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” Mayor Convicted on Gun Charges.

Seen at PDB’s who notes: at least she’s observing Rule 3.

And my personal favorite, Mr. Big Arms with his Aimpoint weapon sight mounted backwards:

Update: For you non-gun-nut readers, in the first pic, the magazine is in backwards.

Update 2: Also, put your elbows down and put your nose just behind the charging handle. And, though it’s just my preference, in the standing position I prefer to use the magazine-well for support instead of forearm. I can tuck it into my shoulder that way.

So, when exactly did Glenn Reynolds start reading me regularly?

Cool. And thanks.