Les has his weekly gun links up.

Oh, those weapons of mass destruction. I just like saying that.

Publicola speculated a while back that the NRA was willing to (again) sell gun owners down the river for the gun immunity bill. Now, information supports that speculation:

Even more interesting is the fact that the NRA doesn’t speak for even its most diehard members. NRA leaders such as Wayne LaPierre and Kayne Robinson are pragmatists. Others, such as NRA board member and former Georgia congressman Bob Barr, are pure right-wing partisans who care more about electing Republicans than protecting gun rights.

The tension between pragmatic NRA leaders and the minuscule number of diehard right-wing board members played itself out in the debate over the immunity bill. According to insiders, LaPierre was willing to accept a renewed assault weapons ban in exchange for passage of gun industry immunity. But when the far-right factions of the NRA found out, Wayne’s world came crashing down. The NRA was forced to issue a statement denying any deal and ultimately had to oppose final passage of the immunity bill with the assault weapons ban and gun show amendments attached.

More:

Now, because the assault weapon issue is front and center, tensions are boiling over within the NRA in a more public way. Diehard pro-gun advocates tend to be more libertarian than conservative, and many are organizing against Bush because of his position on assault weapons — much to the dismay of LaPierre and other pragmatic NRA leaders. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has advised that if the president were to publicly call on Congress to pass the assault weapon renewal bill, it would happen. The NRA board of directors knows this and recently sent a ham-fisted message to Bush: no NRA presidential endorsement until after the assault weapons law expires in September. Bush knows that no recent Republican candidate for president has been elected without the NRA endorsement.

The author (Robert Ricker of WashingtonCeasefire) concludes with:

Given this dynamic, my advice to Bush is: Stop dancing with the devil. Leaders in the Senate did. They knew the correct course of action to take. The gun lobby doesn’t have the power to protect you if you let new American-made Uzis, AK-47s and Tech-9s (sic) flood America’s streets. Voters won’t buy a “blame Congress” excuse. They’ll blame you.

This, of course, is total misinformation and feeding hysteria. No AK47s or Uzis will flood the streets because they’ve both been regulated by executive order since the 1980s. A Tec-9, of course, is just a handgun.

Here’s a handy little chart comparing the XM8 to the M4 (scroll down to the bottom for the chart). I was shocked to learn the XM8 only costs $600. They available on the civilian market yet?

Update: Murdoc has more on the XM8.

WATE:

Motorists who use I-40 west as a shortcut between Broadway and the James White Parkway should prepare to find an alternate route.

In the next four to six weeks, the state Department of Transportation will start posting signs informing motorists that driving this shortcut will be illegal.

Once the signs are up, police will begin issuing tickets.

Motorists could be cited for up to $50 and face court costs of nearly $100.

So, if I understand this correctly, if you use a public road and take the shortest (i.e., most convenient) route then that is illegal. Then what exactly are roads for?

I avoided mentioning this when it was new because everyone else covered it. A while back, CNN had a poll on the assault weapons ban. Quite a few bloggers linked to it and apparently got the desired result. Now, here’s a press release that says:

CNN Poll Shows Growing Opposition to Extension of Clinton Ban on Certain Semiautomatic Firearms

Actually, what the poll really says is that us pro-gun guys are better organized online. Heck, I personally voted in the thing three times (computer at work, two at home). An online poll (even one that supports my position) is not a reliable measure.

Remember the holster with the “design problem?” That article didn’t mention the type of holster, so I’m not sure if that story is related to this one from yesterday:

A Pennsylvania company is recalling some 3,200 gun holsters because the strap can catch the trigger and cause the weapon to fire accidentally.

Eight incidents of accidental firing have been reported, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday.

The Fobus USA Holster Division of First Samco Inc., of Southampton, Pa., is recalling its Fobus GLT holsters, designed for Series 17 and Series 19 Glock handguns fitted with a laser-sight light. There have been eight reports of guns discharging as they were inserted into the holster. One person sustained a finger injury.

And just to round out with our obligatory flogging of the gun-ignorant press, the article sports a picture of a gun: a Ruger revolver (with the cylinder latch on the right side; do they make a version like that?).

UPDATE: As usual, I’m a day later. Jeff at Alphecca had this story yesterday. (via Les)

Orson Scott Card gives a thumbs up to Dennis Miller’s show on CNBC. I have to say that I’ve been kind of unhappy with Dennis Miller ever since I heard his “rant” about gun control.

I mean, does he really think the Constitution is just a “guideline for the law” and it’s time to “start taking white-out to other parts” of it?

There is a move to ban pit bull breeding in New Mexico. An opponent of the bill has an interesting tale:

Sally Mayer has been through a vicious dog attack of her own.

“It chewed my face off,” said Mayer, a city councilor.

She was 2 years old at the time and had to go through a battery of medical treatments, including painful shots in her stomach to prevent rabies.

The breed of dog?

“It was a cocker spaniel, like Lady of ‘Lady and the Tramp,’ ” Mayer said.

Mayer, now 53, has not, however, grown up to believe cocker spaniels are dangerous.

That’s partly why she says banning the breeding of pit bulls in New Mexico, as has been proposed by a state senator, is the wrong approach.

“It’s not the dog that’s the problem; it’s the owner,” Mayer said.

There’s not a pit bull problem, there’s a responsible pet owner problem.

The NRA, which held off its endorsement of Bush pending the expiration of the Assault Weapons ban, has instead turned its attention to calling Kerry out on his gun rights record.

Boston police will start randomly harassing searching rail passengers. I guess they didn’t get the memo:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

A while back, I recall reading about these people that thought Bush was chosen by God to lead the world into, well, something – I don’t remember what. These people were some right wing fundamentalists who really thought Bush was chosen by God.

Any way, the other side has it’s crazies too:

According to freelance journalist Wayne Madsden, “George W Bush’s blood lust, his repeated commitment to Christian beliefs and his constant references to ‘evil doers,’ in the eyes of many devout Catholic leaders, bear all the hallmarks of the one warned about in the Book of Revelations–the anti-Christ.”

Madsen, a Washington-based writer and columnist, who often writes for Counterpunch, says that people close to the pope claim that amid these concerns, the pontiff wishes he was younger and in better health to confront the possibility that Bush may represent the person prophesized in Revelations. John Paul II has always believed the world was on the precipice of the final confrontation between Good and Evil as foretold in the New Testament.

Before he became pope, Karol Cardinal Wojtyla said, “We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of the American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.”

I’m getting my religion oriented conspiracy theories confused. Is he chosen by God to lead the people or is he the anti-Christ? I need some Coco Puffs.

Mel Gibson’s film distribution company is suing local company Regal Cinemas for $40M. Gibson’s co. claims Regal shortchanged them on The Passion of the Christ.

This vicious pit bull saved it’s owner from a wild dog attack:

“We went out and all of a sudden he stopped,” Cox said. “I said, ‘Come on baby, go potty.’ That’s when I saw the hairs coming up on his back.”

A big stray dog approached, snarling and growling. Cox said it looked like it had the head of a chow and the body of a Rottweiler.

Although Maverick is a formidable presence at a heavily muscled 90 pounds, Cox said, the stray was even bigger.

Maverick pounced and clamped its powerful jaws around the stray’s neck. Screaming, Cox let go of Maverick’s leash and the two dogs did vicious battle in the yard outside the family’s trailer.

Hats off to Maverick.

After my last desktop caught on fire, I bought a new laptop and a fancy WiFi network thing. That was cool because I could blog from anywhere. Problem was printing and sharing computer usage (me surfing and the Mrs. always on Ebay ties up some serious ‘Puter time). Solution, just built a new desktop. Installed XP and in a matter of minutes (after setting up XP) set up a local network to share files and the printer.

I continue to get more and more high tech. I used to fight it. It’s inevitable.

Got a few hits from people searching for flirt poles. I mentioned one here briefly. What is a flirt pole? It’s a handle little toy that accomplishes two things:

1 – It’s a fun toy for your dog.

2 – It requires minimal effort on the part of the user.

Here’s a picture of one in use. Now, you don’t have to do all that ramp jumping stuff to wear a dog out. Mine just likes to chase it. Here’s how you make one:

You need: 1) a stick of some sort (I use a telescopic handle from a car wash brush that I accidentally ran over) – it can be of nearly any length. I’ve seen them as long as 10 feet. Mine is about 3 feet. 2) Some thin nylon rope (if you use a long stick, you use less rope). I use about 6 feet. 3) Bait. The bait can be anything that the dog likes to chase and is light enough to flick around. I have used old socks, plush dog toys that have had the stuffing removed (by the dog), and old wash rags. Some folks use strips of rawhide.

Attach one end of the rope to the end of the stick. Tie the bait to the other end of the rope. No, go dog fishing.

Get the dog to play with the bait. Wiggle it in front of his face and encourage him to chase it. You can remain completely stationary and flick the flirt pole. The dog will start chasing it. If you have a dog that likes to jump, you can get some good aerobatics going on. Also, dragging it along the ground is fun for them too as it simulates prey drive.

Flirt poles are not meant to be tug toys. I don’t recommend that, when the dog catches it (and he will eventually outsmart you) you tug the toy. Just drop the handle, let the dog prance around with it and tell him what a good boy he is for catching it.

Your dog will love it. If you have a dog that apparently doesn’t like sticks (Politically Correct Dog was apparently hit with one in his former life as he runs from sticks as soon as they appear) you may not get them to play.

I’ll dig up some pics of Politically Incorrect Dog in action later.

Update: Here’s a pic of one of the longer ones in action. And it has more sophisticated plans than mine.

What do Confederate Flags (which are always racist), giant catfish, lawn jockeys, paint ball and diesel fudge have in common? They can be found in the Smokies. Bubba offers a vacation guide to the Smokies.

A gun store was shut down by the BATF:

“I have been doing business as a Class 1 Gunsmith/Firearms Dealer for nearly 15 years. During this time I have requested that the ATF send out a Compliance Officer 4 different times. Their response was ‘we have no funding for training, just enforcement’.”

“In English: we would rather you make mistakes, so we can bust you, as that’s why we’re here.” …

“I have been conducting my business the same way since I started. Somewhere, along the line, my actions became ‘criminal’. I didn’t change my operating basis, the ATF changed theirs.”

The ATF has, apparently, decided that firearms dealers can’t cross state lines to conduct business.

Another case of concealed carry law going into effect and, well, nothing happens. No blood in the streets, no wild west gun fights. In fact, the number of people applying for them was actually half of what was predicted.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has signed into law a bill that bans tough man contests (you know, where anyone can sign up, hop in a ring and get the crap beat out of them). It goes into effect July 1.

An article in The Sun describes a shooting in England. If you click the link, you’ll see that about halfway through the article there’s a picture or a policeman with what looks to me like some kind of submachinegun (perhaps an MP5). But the caption says: “cop with high-powered rifle.”

I guess since it’s scary-looking, it must be high-powered.

P.S.: I showed the article to the another firearms-enthusiast, and he said immediately, “That’s not a high-powered rifle; that’s one of those H&K subbies.”

Since I hold myself out as a libertarian of the non-moonbat variety, people ask me what the hell the means. What do I think is the role of government? It’s pretty easy, really. It’s spelled out in the Constitution.

Provide for our defense: It is arguable that we go a little too far on this one some of the time. But, honestly, better to over do it than not do enough.

Regulate commerce: Remember, the government is why you don’t pay 30% interest on your mortgage. Sadly, the powers-that-be like to call everything commerce and regulate the crap out of it (abortion, anyone?). This, however, is not free reign for some USDA bureaucrat to tell some guy how many acres of soy beans he can grow and what price he can sell it at. That is, pure and simple, socialism.

Establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility: We need laws. We need those laws enforced. We need recourse for violation of contracts, for example. We need police.

Promote the general welfare: This is the one that is subject to the most disagreement. What is the general welfare? Fire department, police, roads, education, etc.?

I think certain things should never happen in a country like America:

No one in this country should starve to death.

No one in this country should go without health care (Note to John Kerry: When you say 43 million people go without health care, you’re fibbing. 43 million people go without insurance. That’s what you meant to say, right?).

No one in this country should be denied basic education. The current system is in dire need of reform but it doesn’t do too bad a job. I went to public schools and I turned out OK.

In my opinion, it is in the interest of the general welfare that people are healthy, educated and not malnourished. I’m weird like that. Unfortunately, our government would rather provide specific welfare for certain groups:

-$50,000,000 added in conference for an indoor rain forrest in Coralville, Iowa (Sic);

-$1,000,000 added by the Senate for the Alaska SeaLife Center;

-$653,000 added by the Senate to study rainbow trout at the University of Idaho’s Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station in Aberdeen;

Does NASA provide for the general welfare? I’d say we could build something really cool for the price of NASA, like a national rail system or, you know, a kick-ass water park. Does the Department of the Interior? Etc.

Some governmental departments do provide for the general welfare but tend to go too far. The SEC should be good check on market manipulation and financial fraud. The EPA should be a good check on keeping our air and water clean. However, wetland management is an abysmal affront to liberty. If the government wants to maintain wetlands, it should buy some. It shouldn’t tell some guy that a small, insignificant stream will result in the same guy not being able to do with his property as he chooses.

I’m not an anti-government ideologue. I recognize that the government plays an important role. However, it has gotten to the point that the role it plays is too big. It needs to be reminded of that.

This article by Joan Burbick is interesting. I don’t agree with all of it (after all, if Cheney wants my support he should have posed with a Colt M4 with a folding stock, 11.5 inch barrel, bayonet lug, flash suppressor, and a selector switch; not a flintlock) but it does touch on the gun rights movement and its impact on politics:

Why have guns entered our national political stage? Why is it that the vice president needs a photo-op with a flintlock? Why does the president need to dress up in hunting gear? Why does the Kerry campaign need to counter that Kerry is a duck hunter, especially when he is called a fake and a poseur right away? True believers can always tell the difference.

And anyway, who cares? Why should we care if our past, present or future president is a duck hunter or a fake duck hunter? What does duck hunting have to do with the economy, foreign policy, social security, health care, education and the environment? Nothing, and at the same time everything.

And for the record, gun rights entered the stage before the 1970s. IIRC, I think it was about 1787.

And another reporter gets it wrong about he Assault Weapons Ban:

Ten years ago Congress banned automatic assault weapons such as AK-47s, but the provision is set to expire this September.

No, it didn’t ban automatics nor AK47s. Automatics have been regulated since 1934 and AK47s have been banned from import since the late 1980s.

Publicola writes Stealth Pro-Gun Candidate My Ass.

There are currently 99 days left until the Assault Weapons Ban expires. Write, call, fax, email your Senator and tell him/her not to support the extension of the ban.

I’m watching a History Channel program about D-Day. Among others, they’ve interviewed two veterans of the 29th Infantry Division who landed on Omaha Beach.

The 29th “Blue and Gray” Division was created in June of 1917 from units of the Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, and District of Columbia National Guards. The nickname “Blue and Gray” symbolized the coming together of troops from former adversaries in the War Between the States….In April of 1919, the 29th Division headed home and its units dispersed back to their original National Guard status and the Division was deactivated.

On February 3, 1941 the 29th Infantry Divisionwas indicted into Federal Service and moved to Fort Meade Maryland. The Division began a massive reorganization to convert itself to the new “triangle” formation adopted by the Army. As a result, the 29th was composed almost entirely of National Guard units from Virginia and Maryland.

To honor the men who fought and fell in World War II, in 1993 Virginia designated US Route 29 (which north/south through central Virginia) as “The 29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway.” This is the road we take when we go to visit my wife’s family in the Shenandoah Valley.

Let us never forget the sacrifice that they and many others made this day 60 years ago.

Today, I am converting my CD collection to MP3. I realize now why people download songs: It’s because converting your CDs is a real pain in the ass. In the time it takes me to convert a CD, I could probably download three CDs.

President Ronald Reagan has passed away today at age 93. The last conservative president this country has had was a remarkable man whether you agreed with his politics or not.

Found on Fark.com:

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish police have arrested a Russian woman carrying 38 “pen guns” capable of firing .22 caliber bullets, saying she was part of a Russian-Kosovan gun-smuggling ring.

The entire article is pretty short. The last line caught my eye:

The 27-year-old woman was also carrying [b]99 rounds[/b] of .22 caliber ammunition, the statement said.

Translation: she had a box of ammo (OK, one was missing; maybe she test-fired a pen). In other news, a local schoolchild was found carrying 64 crayons.

DiFi and her cronies have introduced the Assault Weapons ban. Publicola has the scoop.

1. Correlation does not equal causation. But that doesn’t go far enough and apparently nothing causes anything. Seriously, guns don’t prevent crimes; tax cuts don’t affect the economy; water doesn’t cause wetness.

2. The phrases mean republicans and stupid democrats apparently pass for insightful commentary in some circles. More importantly, by uttering one of these phrases, you have won the debate.

3. A slight rip-off of Godwin’s Law, I introduce SayUncle’s Not-So-Much-A-Law-Really-But-Maybe-Just-General-Smarminess: As a blog discussion between a liberal and conservative grows longer, the probability of the phrase Well, Clinton . . . appearing approaches one.

4. Apparently, everything is a fallacy. But fallacies are also apparently fallacious. Which, therefore, makes all fallacies fallacy fallacies. As such, all arguments are therefore true. Or false. Or discredited. Or, you know, not so much.

5. If I engage you in an argument and you are a Republican/Democrat, then I must be a raving moonbat/extremist wingnut.

6. Similarly, if I am not a Republican, I must be a bunny-hugging liberal. Or if I am not a Democrat, I must be a right wing extremist.

7. To matter of factly prove my point, I only need one other person to agree with me. It helps if they have a syndicated column or a webpage.

8. People can Google up a webpage to prove anything. People can also Google up a webpage to disprove the thing you proved.

9. The word Nigger can either be racist or not, depending on who is using the word and in what context. However, the Confederate Flag is always racist no matter who displays it. As a result, there are a lot of racist museums.

10. If you want to keep the money you earn, you are greedy. If you want to pay taxes for essential services provided by the government, you are stupid.

11. All Republicans are greedy, mean-spirited pricks incapable of compassion.

12. All Democrats are stupid, illogical simpletons incapable of rational thought.

13. John McCain is not a greedy, mean-spirited prick incapable of compassion.

14. Zell Miller is not a stupid, illogical simpleton incapable of rational thought.

15. Taking the words written in the Constitution to mean what they say makes you an extremist.

16. If you disagree with a blogger and inform said blogger of such a disagreement in the comments section of their blog (which they provide in order to, you know, allow people to comment) then you are a troll. However, if you agree with said blogger and inform said blogger of such an agreement in the comments section of their blog, you offer insightful commentary.

17. If you are an absolutist with respect to the First Amendment, you are perfectly normal. However, if you are an absolutist with respect to the Second and Tenth Amendments, you are an extremist.

18. If you disagree with me, you must be an extremist.

19. If you can see things in black-and-white in any case, you are a simpleton. Or maybe an extremist.

20. If I initiate a debate with you, I am attacking you personally. However, if you engage me in a debate, then we’re just having a discussion.

So, what have you learned?

Update: Make it 21 things:

21. If I fail to mention something, I am wrong. As such, in this post I failed to mention a recipe for Italian wedding soup. I am therefore wrong.

It is legal to build your own gun. However, the ins and outs can be tricky. Check out Gunner’s place for the skinny on keeping it legal.