The carnival of cordite is up for your gun blogging fix.

We gunnies should do that. Rustmeister has some ideas:

One group we need to make contact with is the group of Americans who aren’t gun enthusiasts. People who can take ’em or leave ’em, no big deal.

Yeah, that group isn’t cool on the defend yourself from the .gov angle.

My idea for the offensive is a bill to end NFA registration of sound suppressors. It even has a health angle to it, since shooting is bad for your hearing.

Sometimes, guns malfunction. Here’s some pics of Bushmaster carbon 9mm that ‘sploded.

When it comes to sensational news no station can hold a candle to WATE.

WATE television news had another sensational news story where it made a production out of getting the story wrong. The story involved a debate in Halls Thursday evening with the Women’s League that the Sheriff was not able to attend because of a prior commitment. This is interesting since on Gene Patterson’s WATE blog the public was recently asked what could be done to make local television news better. Most people responded that WATE is too sensational in the reporting of the news. Was WATE sincere when they asked the public for their opinions?

On the 11:00 PM news on Friday WATE reporter Adam Longo had an exclusive phone call with Martha Dooley public information officer of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department. What was not clear is whether Dooley knew that the phone call was being recorded on videotape and would appear on television later. In fact Dooley asked Longo how he had found her private cell phone number. From both the television news broadcast and WATE’s website it appeared that Dooley was not aware her phone call with Adam Longo was being recorded.

As Longo held a cell phone in his hand Dooley could be on the cell speakerphone while video cameras rolled:

“We never told anyone where the sheriff was, Adam,” she told Adam Longo.

“I didn’t pull the information out of thin air,” Longo responded.

“At no point did anyone ever tell you, that I’m aware of, that the sheriff was at Austin East. You made it up Adam. You made it up and are trying to cover your tracks is what you’re trying to do,” said Dooley.

A glance at Longo’s reporter’s notes taken before and during the debate prominently show the name of the sheriff’s legal advisor and debate stand-in, Mike Ruble. Immediately following that notation is an arrow pointing towards the words “civic meeting at Austin East.”

“Mike Ruble says he didn’t say that,” said Dooley.

Read the rest of this entry »

No, the other kind. Company coming, so I did some cooking. Politically Incorrect Dog is always up for camera time:

My yard looks like shit. The crab grass is still winning.

But some perfect ribs:

I hear some folks like the baby backs. Not me. I like my ribs to have enough meat that you bite into them and taste, you know, meat. So, I use plain old pork ribs. Actually, I personally prefer beef ribs but I am apparently the only one on the planet that does so I make concessions for guests.

Yeah, they’re good too. I’ll take the Pepsi challenge with any of ya.

Update: Junior concurs:

MKS Reports:

Tennessee Supreme Court Allows Public Vote on Gay Marriage Ban

Voters will be allowed to decide in November whether they want a constitutional ban on gay marriage in Tennessee, the state Supreme Court said in a unanimous decision filed Friday

Had a legal challenge been successful, a public vote on the proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution would have been delayed by at least two years.

Writing for a united court, Chief Justice William M. Barker rejected a legal claim by the American Civil Liberties Union, three state legislators and others that would have prevented the amendment from being placed on the ballot.

“Wishing to decide this constitutional matter, as we should, on the narrowest grounds possible, we affirm the . . . decision dismissing the complaint because the Plaintiffs have failed to establish that they have standing to bring this lawsuit,” the chief justice wrote.

Justices E. Riley Anderson, Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., Janice M. Holder and Cornelia A. Clark joined in the ruling, which affirmed a lower court decision by Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle earlier this year. Because of time constraints and the importance of the issue, no intermediate appeal was heard.

Those challenging placement of the proposed amendment on the ballot argued that the General Assembly did not strictly comply with public notice and publication requirements set forth in Article 11, section 3 of the state constitution. They claimed the secretary of state published the proposed amendment for public view approximately six weeks after the constitution required.

But the court rejected the challenge on a different basis. It held that none of the plaintiffs had standing to bring the suit.

Barker wrote that “concern[s] about the proper*and properly limited*role of the courts in a democratic society” required rejection of the plaintiffs’ suit.
The chief justice said because the plaintiffs could not show any personal harm from the claimed untimely publication of the proposed amendment, they could not bring a legal claim.

Requiring all potential plaintiffs to show an “injury in fact” before their substantive legal claims can be considered “[properly] restricts the exercise of judicial power . . . [so that] the courts [are not] called upon to decide [political issues] of wide public significance,” Barker wrote.

Lame.

Regarding the Senate bill that supposedly banned confiscation of guns in an emergency, the NRA writes:

Senator David Vitter’s amendment to prohibit the use of funds appropriated under the Homeland Security appropriations bill (H.R. 5441) for the confiscation of lawfully possessed firearms during an emergency or major disaster passed the United States Senate with broad bi-partisan support, the final vote margin was 84-16.

So, it doesn’t ban said confiscation. It just bans the use of funds for confiscation. Not much of a victory.

I haven’t found the latest text of the bill (doesn’t seem to be up on Thomas yet) so if anyone has found it, please confirm.

Via Publicola, Claire Wolfe has an update and fundraising info:

WITH A LITTLE HELP from Andy Lochridge, Gary Marbut, JPFO, Debra Webmistress of the Dark, and the wonderful people of TCF, we’re going to help Rick Celata of KT Ordnance out of the dire straits Our Beloved Government put him into.

The first part of the fundraiser is a simple “pass the hat.” I didn’t realize it until a couple of days ago, but the BATFE and FBI essentially blew away ALL of Rick’s income. (Yeah, they can ruin a person and put a family with pre-school kids in peril without even charging anybody with a crime. That’s what they’ve tried to do with Rick.) Once he’s got enough to keep the phone connected and the lawyer from walking out on him, we’ll follow up with eBay auctions.

JPFO says:

You’ll recall our alert regarding the BATFE raid on KT Ordnance, manufacturer of 80% frames that — when fully finished by you — can be used to make AR-15 rifles. Owner Rick Celata, who had suspended sales after the raid, has informed us that his lawyer indicated he should return to production.

The info for contributing is here.

Rich saw it and offers analysis. He seems to like Bryant.

The NYT does the three rules of gun safety. For once, a gun bit isn’t hysterical. Via reader D.

Local blogger R. Neal has interviewed John Edwards.

The senate passed a bill that banned gun confiscation during emergencies. It’s a good thing. It’s on to the house, where it will likely pass. The bill passed 84-16, which is pretty overwhelming. So, who are the 16 senators opposed to gun rights? Well, they are:

Akaka (D-HI)
Boxer (D-CA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Levin (D-MI)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)

Nobody surprising, really.

David Hardy sums up the book review. SayUncle’s interpretation: more of the same.

David Hardy says that NYC is looking at creating a gun offender registry, similar to sex-offender registries. Bitter says Massachusetts already has one but it’s for all gun owners, who happen to be treated like criminals:

Sure, they just call it licensing in the Bay State, but the fact that you can lose the license and right to own for failing to notify three authorities within a few days of a move is a little too much like sex offender registries to me.

Deb has them. Guns up, crime down.

Mailstamp at The County Ceat says some traffic fines in Tennessee are unconstitutional:

The $200 plus fines that are routinely imposed by the county traffic courts violate the Constitution of the state of Tennessee and are illegal.

Article VI, Section 14 of the Constitution of the state of Tennessee states “No fine shall be laid on any citizen of this state that shall exceed fifty dollars, unless it shall be assessed by a jury of his peers, who shall assess the fine at the time they find the fact, if they think the fine should be more than fifty dollars.”

The Constitution of the state of Tennessee

At Tennessee Deer Talk:

Dear Governor Bredesen,

Many of the hunters in Tennessee, including but not limited to the hunters who have signed this petition, have lost confidence that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission is acting in the best interest of hunters in Tennessee.

The many recent scandals in Tennessee state government, including the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Tennessee Waltz investigation, dead citizens voting in state elections, among others have damaged the confidence of many Tennessee voters. The recent controversary over the attempted closing of Lock 5 has caused the hunters in Tennessee to loose faith in the TWRC who are supposed to be representing the interest of hunters.

Having a professional lobbyist on the TWRC in itself gives the appearance of impropriety but the recent actions by Mr. Hensley in the closing of Lock 5 at the request of a fellow lobbyist and land owner, Mr. McMahan, has a strong appearance of impropriety. The original decision to close Lock 5 and the way the it was done sets a dangerous precedent, and the way the issue was handled by the TWRC raises greater concerns that the commissioners are not representing the interests of the more than 200,000 Tennessee hunters.

Blake’s video blog for yesterday. I love the closing tune.

This is neat. Finches in the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin did a bunch of his initial research, are evolving fast enough that we can see it happen.

A medium sized species of Darwin’s finch has evolved a smaller beak to take advantage of different seeds just two decades after the arrival of a larger rival for its original food source.

Snakes on a Plame.

Bad, Commissar, no biscuit.

Looks like it:

Lebanon Launches Retaliatory Assault on Israel. Another headline also says Hezbollah Rockets Strike Towns Across Northern Israel. No link yet. The shit has hit the fan.

The Washington Post:

WE DON’T expect common-sense gun laws from this Congress, but a couple of House-passed riders to the Justice Department’s 2007 budget are especially noxious — and ripe for Senate repair.

One bars enforcement of a law that requires trigger locks to be sold with all new handguns. The other restricts law enforcement officials’ access to gun-tracking information collected by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The Senate Appropriations Committee, scheduled to consider the budget tomorrow, should keep both measures out.

I know of no handgun that I’ve bought in the last several years that did not come with trigger locks. But continuing:

Congress approved the trigger-lock mandate last October. Not only was it a good idea, but it was also part of a broader compromise on the Hill: The Senate added the measure to a bill that limited gunmakers’ legal liability. Yet Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) argued last month, “Responsible and law-abiding gun owners do not need the government to tell them to be safe.”

The problem is that there are plenty of irresponsible gun owners. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year that 1.7 million American children live with unlocked, loaded guns in the house. In a study released in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in May, 39 percent of children knew where their parents kept their guns, and 22 percent claimed that they handled them, even though their parents claimed they didn’t. Studies have indicated that programs such as the National Rifle Association’s Eddie Eagle program, which trains children not to play with their parents’ guns, don’t work.

You guys have a cite for that because I’d love to see it. I looked and couldn’t find any such study. I did find reference to the Journal of Emergency Nursing Online calling it effective and that the National Center for Health Statistics fatal firearms accidents in the Eddie Eagle age group have been reduced more than two thirds since the program’s inception. And that the program has been honored or endorsed by groups such as the National Safety Council, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Department of Justice, and bipartisan support from 24 state governors. Finally, the mere fact that 24,000 schoolteachers and law enforcement officers have taught the program to 15 million children verifies the popularity of the program with those who deal with child safety issues every day.

Trigger locks won’t save all of the children who, without the law, will die of accidental gunshot wounds (as 151 did in 2003, according to the CDC). Not all gun owners will use them. But locks would make it a lot easier for gun owners to be safe, just as seat belts made it easier for drivers to protect themselves.

Mandating trigger locks is largely pointless. People who are not responsible will not use them even if they come with the gun. Period. More:

But the budget that passed the House last month goes beyond blocking public disclosure; the rider would keep gun-tracing information from local police unless it’s for a specific criminal case. Even then, they couldn’t share it with neighboring authorities — a provision that would seriously hamper tracking and interdiction of illegal guns. If D.C. police used ATF tracing data to find that a large number of guns used in homicides came from one shop in Maryland, District police couldn’t share that information with Maryland law enforcement agents.

And that’s to prevent bogus lawsuits. If there is a specific crime, tracing is still allowed. That is as it should be. Wholesale tracing serves no real purpose that I can determine.

The House also wants to render federal gun-tracing information inadmissible in civil court, hindering legal action against irresponsible gun distributors. New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s office, which is trying to sue some of these “rogue” gun sellers, claims that civil litigation is an essential tool to fight interstate gun trafficking. Given that in 2000 1.2 percent of gun dealers sold 57 percent of the guns used in crimes, the mayor has a point.

Scare quotes around rogue? That’s because the only person who has broken the law in Bloomberg’s investigations are the City of New York and its agents who illegally purchased weapons from otherwise lawful dealers. There’s been no evidence the dealers broke the law but plenty of evidence to state that NY’s investigators did.

Since Blount County won’t put their sample ballot online, R. Neal has typed one up.

Triggerfinger has it:

THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION PROTECTS AN INDIVIDUAL’S RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS, EVEN WHILE NOT ENGAGED IN STATE SERVICE.

Justice Story argued that “[t]he right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic.” 3 Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, p. 746 (1833). An examination of the Second Amendment’s history, text, and structure, separately and within the context of the Constitution as a whole, confirms “that it protects the right of individuals, including those not then actually a member of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately possess and bear their own firearms, such as [an ordinary] pistol . . . that are suitable as personal, individual weapons and are not of the general kind or type excluded by Miller.” United States v. Emerson, 270 F.3d 203, 260 (5th Cir. 2001) (citing United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939)).

For more on Triggerfinger’s excellent coverage of the suit, click here.

Tom Coburn has an idea to put pork spending online. Good idea. Unsurprisingly, his colleagues are generally opposed to the idea of accountability. He’s making the rounds talking about it.

Caught him on the local talk radio this morning. He endorsed Ed Bryant. When pressed, he said he and Bryant were roommates in college.

Update: In comments, JB clarifies that:

Bryant and Coburn weren’t roommates in college, it was when they were in the House together. Bryant lived with Coburn and six other Congressmen in a Capitol Hill rowhouse to save money.

Seems another has occured where police lob gas to get a suspect who is holed up out and a fire breaks out:

Coeur d’Alene police found the body of a California man Wednesday morning inside a burning home that officers had cordoned off during an overnight standoff with an armed man wanted for questioning for a recent stabbing.

…

Several rounds of CS gas were fired into the house which subsequently caught fire shortly after 2 AM Wednesday.

Full auto shotgun.

Full auto handguns.

I’ll take almost anyone but John McCain and Rudy Giuliani for the win, Alex.

alandp has the scoop. Should be a shoo-in.

So, night before last at about 9:30 I sit down to watch Deadwood on the TiVo (anyone know what Dan was rubbing on his body before the fight?) when the doorbell rang. The dog starts barking. I quiet the dog. I grabbed the Glock 30 and headed to answer the door. I made no effort to hide said Glock on my person and merely kept it behind the door as I opened it. Anytime your doorbell rings at an odd hour and you’re not expecting anyone, you should answer the door with a weapon. I open the door. There’s an Orkin man standing there. He starts his speech about how houses in the neighborhood are going in on group rates and I cut him off.

I say to him Dude, it’s 9:30 at night. I just put my kids to bed and here you are ring my doorbell. You’ve riled up my dog. What is your problem? Do you always knock on people’s doors this late?

He starts with some sort of explanation and continues his sales pitch.

I say Stop now and leave. I’m not interested.

He says I’ll come back at another time.

I say You will not come back. Leave now.

Yes, this man knocked on my door at an odd hour to solicit a sale. Not to say there’s an emergency, call the police. Or my car broke down, can I use a phone or will you jump start my car. All of which, I’d have been happy to do. You never knock on people’s doors at odd hours unless 1) they know you’re coming or 2) you’re in need of help. Period. Idiot.

And, no, at no point did I threaten him with a weapon nor did I even make him aware that I had it.