Sure, it’s in poor taste and crude, but damn is it funny.

Les warns that war has broken out. He notes:

It turns out governments are easier to punish than terrorist groups.

New hunting rules for TN will go into effect next season. One of those rules is that:

All centerfire rifles for hunting of deer, bear and boar. The current rules only allow .24 caliber and larger.

So, you’ll be able to hunt with 5.56Nato and your AR-15.

From Can’t Make This Stuff Up:

I admit that I would be a tad cross if I came home from work and discovered that the police had staged a D-Day style assault on my home under the mistaken impression that somebody I never heard of lives there. So I have a lot of sympathy for Steven Blackman, a Fort Worth, Texas, resident who wants to know how to get the stink of teargas out of wall-to-wall carpeting.

In an update to the muzzleloader ruling in Wyoming, reader gattsuru writes:

Found it on FindLaw [PDF].

Not quite sure what to think of it. I’m of the opinion that people we can’t trust with a muzzleloader shouldn’t get out of jail – I’ve been slashed by kitchen knives more often than I’ve been shot by a muzzleloader, that’s for damned sure, and I know knives are a bit easier to get a hold of. I just can’t see a single-shot gun being dangerous enough to justify the costs of applying the law, nevermind when you start comparing what an archery kit or even a bb gun could do. And having different definitions of ‘firearm’ as you cross state borders doesn’t make me happy, either.

The case looks interesting. Harris was not a poster child for the pro-gun side : he was convicted for robbery and aggravated robbery (can’t find out the exacts of those incidents), so I’d wager he wasn’t the ‘normal guy’ who got hit by a restraining order or standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. He also pretty clearly violated the big four rules of safety (and a couple of common sense) when he brought the gun to his shoulder and aimed through the scope at traffic (do not aim at anything you do not want to destroy, people!).

He was, however, clearly told by a sheriff that a muzzleloading, black powder weapon was not a firearm. And the court’s main holding, which keeps their whole case together, was that anyone of normal intelligence would assume a muzzleloader to be covered by the “firearm” law (while I think it’s safe to assume most sheriffs aren’t of normal intelligence, it’s not good when the courts admit it).

I’d have rathered they throw out the previous ruling, and instructed the state to instead have him tried for public disturbance or anything about bearing a weapon in public, but I dunno if that’s possible or what the relevant statutes are.

I’m not a lawyer.

I have issued a clarification and recension in this post on WATE’s sensationalistic reporting. I’m doing this post separately so that as many readers see the update as saw the original.

Blogs: We take our corrections seriously, unlike others.

I seem to get in a hurry when I type and commit all sorts of typos. Sometimes I forget to spellcheck. The way I usually find this out is when another blog links to me. Of course, some folks correct my mispellings when quoting me.

You may recall my SUV Bleg from a bit back. Well, it looks as though we’re tentatively going to go with the Volvo XC90. Anyone have experience with them?

Now that Chancellor John Weaver has ruled to grant a 180 day stay on his previous ruling on the Knox County Charter new questions arise. Are term limits back in place? Were they ever gone?

For the first time in this entire process I now agree the election for Knox County Commission seats is so flawed it should be voided and moved to November in a special General election. The Primary election for County Commission could be held in September or October in another special election.

There are several other reasons. The most important is that there are too many levels of voter disenfranchisement. Since the Charter is valid and never reached the point of being invalid the Tennessee Supreme Court ruling that decreed term limits are in place for the offices of Knox County Mayor and Knox County Commissioners stands. The Supreme Court ruling must be obeyed.

What other choice is there than to void the election for the Knox County Commission seats?

There are nine ineligible candidates for Knox County Commission who are term limited and cannot serve. This is 50 percent of the Commission seats. The election cannot go forward under these conditions.

This persistent lack of leadership from all levels of local government has tarnished this election. People will stay home and this will affect the Primary Election for US House and Senate seats further disenfranchising voters. The apathy and disgust created in the Knox County Commission election cannot be allowed to spread to other elections.

The SCOTUS gets one right, I think. Actually, it’s a bit confusing:

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Bush overstepped his authority in ordering military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The ruling, a strong rebuke to the administration and its aggressive anti-terror policies, was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, who said the proposed trials were illegal under U.S. law and international Geneva conventions.

Said Justice Kennedy:

“Trial by military commission raises separation-of-powers concerns of the highest order,” Kennedy wrote in his separate opinion. “Concentration of power (in the executive branch) puts personal liberty in peril of arbitrary action by officials, an incursion the Constitution’s three-part system is designed to avoid.”

Allah says:

So if they try him, they have to take him to federal court — but they don’t have to try him? What?

SCOTUSBlog says:

More importantly, the Court held that Common Article 3 of Geneva aplies as a matter of treaty obligation to the conflict against Al Qaeda.

Cam Edwards has more from the event.

Per the law, muzzleloaders have historically not been classified as firearms. The significance of this classification is that muzzleloaders are not subject to background checks, can be bought without going through a firearms dealer (i.e., you can mail order them), and felons can own them. In Wyoming, that just changed:

Supreme Court Says Muzzleloaders are Legally Firearms

The ruling comes in an appeal by a convicted felon who says he thought he was allowed to own a black powder rifle. Such rifles are excluded from the federal definition of firearms.

A spokesman for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department says the ruling will come as a blow to some Wyoming residents who have felony convictions in the past but who are now dedicated black powder hunters.

No details on the case. Anyone know?

Jeff at Alphecca got a mention in the British press. I’d consider it an honor to be labeled the lunatic fringe by the British press. If they think you’re crazy, you’re doing something right. These people have amnesty for illegal kitchen knives, for Christ’s sake.

David Codrea:

Kalashnikov Backs Weapons Control

Of course he does.

He’s a communist.

Voolfie tells us how to talk to gun control advocates.

Chris talks about buying a used gun and how to check them out.

Jersey thinks one gun a month is a good law.

Rustmeister smacks down a Memphis TeeVee station.

The US at the UN on guns:

The United States said on Tuesday it was willing to endorse a set of principles aimed at keeping small arms out of the hands of groups intent on human rights abuse, genocide or breaking UN arms embargoes.

But Washington would not back a formal agreement such as an international treaty imposing controls on weapons transfers across national boundaries, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Robert Joseph said.

The folks at Common Dreams are crying about the NRA’s level of influence.

It’s a gun buyback program but for knives, only in the UK where they apparently are afraid of their shadows.

So, do you like links to gun news in one big post like this or in a bunch of small posts like I usually do?

Heh.

R. Neal has a handy voting guide up. In other news, he endorses two Republicans, John J. Duncan, Jr. and Phil Bredesen.

I love mangos. Here’s a handy guide on how to cut them.

Check out this lame, sensationalist report about the Knoxville .gov buying pricey SUVs. I guess when there is no news, you just make a story up.

Update: Jim took issue in comments noting that:

I’m sorry. Perhaps I misunderstood.

When you say “I guess when there is no news, you just make a story up,” that appears to me that you’re accusing us of making up the news. That would be reporting what is not true.

There is nothing in the report that is not true.

As for sensational, that’s in the eye of the beholder. There are some people who are glad to know how their tax dollars are spent.

I see his point and hereby rescind the comment I guess when there is no news, you just make a story up. The point I was trying to make (and absolutely should have been more clear about) is that:

When something they investigate doesn’t really seem that newsworthy, they report it anyway. I stand by that. I don’t think said SUVs are that overpriced, to be honest. Have you priced them lately? And they are, despite people’s complaints, convenient and utilitarian. The tone of the article was, in my opinion, sensationalistic and blown out of proportion.

Apologies to Jim for being unclear.

Looks like The American Shooters & Hunters Association has removed any doubt that they are not a complete sham of an organization.

Some people think the question of whether homosexuality is biologically determined has some bearing on whether it’s ok to discriminate against gays. Legally, there might be something there, but morally and socially, it’s all the same to me. Bigotry is never cool, even if you can twist up some limp rationalization for your hate.

The people that say gay people choose to be gay never identify the mechanism of that choice. They make it sound like there are guys who wake up one day and decide to fall in love with men. They make it seem like lesbians should just learn to love men. It’s a strange viewpoint, and those that hold it describe people so unrealistic that you wonder what kind of person thinks anybody else is wired that way.

Here’s another bit of evidence that homosexuality is all about the nature, not the nurture.

Do you every wonder just how goofy the people over in England can be? I do. Ever wonder about where some of the goofy ideas the UN comes up with?

Maybe they come from places like the The Euston Manifesto.

Here are a few snippets:

A. Preamble

We are democrats and progressives. We propose here a fresh political alignment. Many of us belong to the Left, but the principles that we set out are not exclusive. We reach out, rather, beyond the socialist Left towards egalitarian liberals and others of unambiguous democratic commitment. Indeed, the reconfiguration of progressive opinion that we aim for involves drawing a line between the forces of the Left that remain true to its authentic values, and currents that have lately shown themselves rather too flexible about these values. It involves making common cause with genuine democrats, whether socialist or not.

3) Human rights for all.

We hold the fundamental human rights codified in the Universal Declaration to be precisely universal, and binding on all states and political movements, indeed on everyone. Violations of these rights are equally to be condemned whoever is responsible for them and regardless of cultural context.

It is worth a read and there is some good stuff in it. There are still Utopian dreamers. Do you think we will see some of this “manifesto” in future UN proposals?

Didn’t the human race already figure out that socialism doesn’t work?

Cam Edwards:

A remarkable thing happened at the United Nations yesterday. We, the United States, told the world “no”. The messenger was Robert Joseph, the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. Speaking before the dozens of nations that have gathered for the review conference on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Joseph told the world in no uncertain terms where the United States stood.

“The U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of our citizens to keep and bear arms, and there will be no infringement of those rights,” he proclaimed to the dignitaries and functionaries. “The United States will not agree to any provisions restricting civilian possession, use or legal trade of firearms inconsistent with our laws and practices.”

Now, if this sounds familiar, it should be. It was five years ago that UN Ambassador John Bolton said something similar during the first conference on small arms. Then, as now, many countries wanted the conference to discuss and implement controls on the civilian possession of firearms.

One quibble regarding the quote The U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of our citizens to keep and bear arms, and there will be no infringement of those rights. Well, no infringement unless it comes from our own government, of course.

It’s not real comforting to know that the US Senate is only one vote from abject stupidity.

GLN rounds up coverage of the UN anti-gun summit.

Ned Ferguson, who I thought was MIA, notes that the .gov can shut down churches using eminent domain:

Churches are tax exempt, hence virtually any “use” except a church generates greater tax revenue for the government and therefore makes the property subject to seizure. See how easy that is?

He even has a sample.

Since some readers (including one who is going through the same thing) have asked:

No smoking since Monday morning at roughly 6:30a.m. Kind of jittery, chewing lots of gum and eating the shit out of candy and, well, anything else I can get my hands on. If I start turning into a fat ass, maybe smoking isn’t so bad. Kind of a toss up in terms of what’s worse for you, I suppose.

Also, I’ve made it this far and not killed anyone. It’s a good thing.

I dig the looks of the Sig X-Five 226.

Take the poll: Do you believe the U.N. is trying to outlaw gun ownership in the U.S.?

Via Josh

I’ve covered the plight of Sunshyne Video (link is not work safe) before. Sunshyne is a local adults only store and, according to local politicos, a den of debauchery and iniquity. They’ve had a heckuva time battling the local Adult Entertainment Board, which is a sham of a political body (see my posts here, here and here). I even interviewed the owner, David Anderson, here. Heck, I even link to their blog (link is not work safe) some times.

Well, yesterday I happened to be in that direction (I never knew where the place was) and decided to stop in. I went in and expected to see naked, dancing women and live sex shows because that’s what the local press and politicos keep telling me was there. They had none of that and I was disappointed. All I saw were three-dimensional devices designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs, dirty movies, and a variety of novelty items. Oh, and a sign that said No Public Restroom, which is a good thing to have if you sell porn.

I introduced myself to David and told him who I was. We had a good laugh and he told me they’re still fighting in court due to not having a license to be an adult business because the sham adult business board won’t give them one. He also told me that each employee has to be approved by the local adult business board, which obviously is intended to make it hard on (heh) such businesses to get help. He was trying to get someone approved now.

By the time we got done talking, I had no time for browsing.

Good luck in the fight, Dave, and tell us how it goes.