Rochester, NY is getting some pretty cool technology called Shot Spotter:

Rochester will become the first city in the Northeast to use a new technology called “shot spotter.”

Police install audio sensors on the tops of buildings which pick up the sound of gunfire and instantly send the information to police dispatchers.

Officers expect shot spotter to help them find the scene of a shooting very quickly.

That’s pretty neat. Yeah, some gun types might complain about it but, even if you use a gun justifiably in self defense, you should want the police on their way. If nothing else, they can probably recommend someone who’s good at getting blood out of the carpet.

Usually, when an intended victim shoots the robber, you only find out later in the article that it was justifiable. This time that’s not the case. Good for News Channel 3.

In addition to abusing eminent domain to take land from private parties to give to other private parties (which violates the constitutional criteria of public use), some governments try to use it to get an unfair price (so much for just compensation):

Capital Improvement Board members said Monday that the city has failed to negotiate a price with the current owner. The property is listed on a real-estate Internet site for $10 million.

“What we’re really talking about is a disagreement over its value,” said board President Fred Glass.

Other board members said the price was “two or three times” what the city is offering. Under eminent domain, the city can take the property and pay a value assigned by a third-party appraiser.

A Canadian politico has an alternative to the proposed breed ban:

Julia Munro, the Conservative member for the riding of York North, introduced a private member’s bill that would, if passed, define a vicious dog in law and toughen penalties for their owners.

”I’m offering this bill to show that there is a positive alternative to the attorney general’s bill,” Munro told a news conference.

”Vicious dogs are a problem in our province, but a breed ban is not the way to solve the problem.”

Munro’s bill would define a vicious dog as one that bites or otherwise injures a human being and subject their owners to jail terms of up to two years and fines of up to $60,000.

It’s good to see a proposal that bases the criteria for viciousness on a dog actually being proven to be, you know, vicious.

Smijer has info on the the Tennesseans for Fair Taxation proposal. The state is in trouble but I am inclined to think it’s the spending not revenue side, with TennCare being the perfect example that spending is the trouble. Also, without limiting or eliminating sales tax, the proposed income tax could result in excessive taxation over time.

And you had better mean it this time!

The Geek has a run in with the Ask Campaign.

The Smart Gun, which is mandated by NJ law, is at least five years away:

New Jersey’s 2002 smart gun law requiring the technology on handguns sold in the state is written to take effect three years after the state attorney general certifies that the technology is available for retail sale.

The Smart Gun, of course, is a gun that is designed to recognize its owner so that only that owner can fire it. Just like New Jersey to mandate a gun that doesn’t yet exist. They could mandate a cure for cancer too.

The Smart Gun doesn’t pass the police test, in my opinion. If this technology is developed, I doubt police will trust it. As such, I’ll stick with regular, mechanical guns that I can rely on an gun safety.

TriggerFinger reports that the Libertarian Party is in the news and this time it’s for something not crazy:

The decision by 2004 Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik to play a leading role in the Ohio presidential recount is causing a bubbling controversy within the Libertarian Party itself as many members ask why Badnarik embarked on a venture that will cost taxpayers money without changing the outcome of the election.

The national Libertarian Party played no role in the decision to seek a recount, which was made by Badnarik himself and his campaign staff.

At least now the LP can not be taken seriously, uhm, seriously.

Good start. But I’d actually like to see the commerce clause significantly addressed. Congress has a nasty habit of stating everything is commerce and overstepping its bounds.

Here’s an odd little tale:

Man Allegedly Bites Dog As Punishment

A man has been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly biting his Jack Russell terrier as punishment, and police say he used a 200-pound bull mastiff in an attempt to keep back officers who arrived to arrest him.

The mother of Mount Lee Lacy’s girlfriend called police because she was concerned about an argument between him and her daughter about Lacy’s unusual discipline method for his dog Lady.

To punish what I presume is a biting dog, the man bites the dog back. Not an effective punishment in my opinion though some dog folks will tell you that, in case of a biting puppy, gently biting just enough to hurt them back may be just the thing to make your point. More to the story:

Officers kicked down the apartment door when they heard an argument and a barking dog. Lacy was holding the mastiff named Breaker on a taut leash six feet inside the door. The officers drew their guns but didn’t fire.

Lacy, 21, was handcuffed and jailed Saturday on one count each of felony animal cruelty and resisting arrest without violence. He remained in the Alachua County Jail on $25,000 bail Tuesday.

So, a barking dog and an argument (not a mention of violence or physical fight ) is probable cause to go in with guns drawn? And biting a dog’s ear is felony animal cruelty?

And, for the record, I don’t think having a Mastiff and Jack Russel in the same home is a good idea. Any play (or, worse, aggression) between the two could be dangerous. If you have two dogs, it’s generally a good idea they be roughly the same size.

Matt details why he got off is duff and decided to get a concealed carry weapon permit. Go Read.

As you might have guessed from my “nom de blog,” I’m originally from Louisiana. I haven’t lived there for at least 10 years, but I do visit my folks from time to time. This time of year, of course, I miss some of the “bon temps” that roll:

Mansfield police officers victims of their own chemical spray

Judge who wore blackface is suspended

Louisiana town awaits telephone age

I’d like to move back someday, but my wife—for some strange reason—isn’t too keen on the idea. Oh well. I can still visit.

As promised, Chris Muir has restarted Day By Day as of December 1. Here’s today’s cartoon:

Apparently there is an award for worst sex in a novel. Although this passage didn’t win, it came pretty close (young readers, skip to the next entry unless you like analogies):

“(It was) like a large exotic mushroom in the fork of a tree, a little pleasure dome if ever I’ve seen one, where Alph the sacred river ran down to a tideless sea. No, not tideless. Her tides were convulsive, an ebb and flow that could take you very far, far back, before hurling you out, wildly and triumphantly, on a ribbed and windswept beach without end.”

Huh..huhuhuhuh…he said “ribbed…”

Non Sequitur: Glenn Reynolds walks into a bar:

Moving is fun, except for, you know, never getting caught up. I can’t unpack because I need to paint. So I paint. Still can’t unpack because I need to swap out all those outlets. Get distracted from installing outlets so I can install 16 mini-blinds. Then decide to dismantle the stove because it’s the freaking nastiest thing I’ve ever seen, but buying a new one is $1900 so I don rubber gloves and a giant bottle of Grease Lightning and roll of paper towels and a vacuum cleaner. In the meantime we get a contract on the other house (hooray!), so we have to go over there and clean and haul even more stuff over to the new house. Then realize that while doing all this, I’ve skirted my duties as board member and have lots of web programming to get caught up on, then remember I traded the realtor some programming for a discount on his fees, so I have to write THAT program. Then the wife needs attention and the dogs need to go out and we need to make supper, go to Home Depot, Christmas shop, run gas line to the back porch so I can hook up the grill, still go to work during they day, attend board meetings, pay bills, figure out why the mail hasn’t forwarded yet, cancel Dish (keep getting put on hold forever), and blog.

Whew!

Then I had a dream last night we decided to sell the new house because it has too many steps, and suddenly we realized that we had nowhere to live and couldn’t get another home loan because we had three mortgages still on our credit report.

Is this what they call “stress?” Heh… Only 17 more days until my vacation time is replenished…!

Big Box Bullies:

Mega-merchandisers such as Costco Wholesale Corp., Home Depot Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. try to control acquisition costs the old-fashion way — they have politicians take the desired land from property owners so it can be transferred to them.

“Legalized theft” is not an oxymoron to those familiar with eminent domain. Government’s right of eminent domain had been limited to taking private property, and offering compensation, for truly public uses. New roads. Fire stations. Courthouses.

Now government grabs private property on behalf of the big-box bullies. The confiscation is rationalized as being for the greater good, supposedly to create jobs and produce taxes. And the original owner is offered some money.

The jumbo-jerk arrogance was epitomized by Costco vice president Joel Benoliel. He told shareholders two years ago that “probably dozens” of its projects involve eminent domain “or the threat of it.” He also offered that this is not a corruption of the free market and that limiting government land-grabbing to genuine public uses was a “simplistic” libertarian argument.

So dozens of stores are planned to be taken through eminent domain. I find it offensive that respecting property rights and abiding by the Constitution are “simplistic” libertarian arguments.

And, in New Jersey, another case of taking from private citizens to give to private developers:

The city plans to knock down all the houses left on her street, Titus Avenue, along with one block of Pennington Avenue, to make way for 15 new houses officials hope will each fetch $90,000, nearly twice what Thompson stands to receive in compensation.

Taking from the poor to sell to the rich.

RTB’s own Rex Mundi has released his own independent film called Snapper. You can see it here.

Nifty toy: Full auto rated, 22 caliber silencer. Excellent for your AR15. A steal at $250!

A local church statue was vandalized:

A solid marble statue of the Virgin Mary holding her infant son Jesus has been defaced by vandals. Red paint now scars Mary’s face. Baby Jesus’s head and arms have been broken off.

Now, as though it was news, the local PD has determined it is not a hate crime:

The crime is being classified as vandalism because it was isolated and there’s no evidence the vandals were targeting a specific religion.

Well, other than the upside down cross painted on the Virgin Mary.

First, I’m not real keen on hate crimes as law any way. I don’t think it matters if you murder a black man or a white man. You murdered someone, period. Even if I were keen on the idea, I’m trying to figure out why this story is a big deal. People vandalize stuff all the time. Why the police would put more effort into this case than someone keying a car is beyond me.

Michael Silence has pictures.

Update: Rich has more comparisons to local hate crimes past.

I’ve not really followed it but it seems that a jury has convicted Scott Peterson should be executed for murdering his pregnant wife. But this is the part that gets me:

Judge Alfred A. Delucchi will formally sentence Peterson on Feb. 25. The judge will have the option of reducing the sentence to life, but such a move is highly unlikely.

Trial by jury would also denote a sentencing by the same. Why does the judge have any say in this at all?

Actual headline: Apparent family dispute leads to shooting death

What really happened: Nutjob shows up with rifle and threatens to kill his family. Nutjob doesn’t win the battle between chest cavity and 12 gauge.

Conventional wisdom regulates machine guns because they’re too dangerous for regular Joes to have even though such ownership is Constitutionally protected. They call it a revenue measure but that is clearly not the case. Some weapons may be regulated because they aren’t dangerous enough:

Tasers, an incapacitating electro-shock weapon popular among law enforcement agencies around the country, would become illegal for Bellingham residents to own under a proposed ordinance before the City Council.

The ordinance would make it illegal to possess Tasers, stun guns and other energy weapons within the city limits, though police would still be allowed to carry them.

Bellingham City Council will discuss and possibly vote on the ordinance tonight.

Police Chief Randy Carroll, who brought the ordinance forward to City Council, said Tasers were developed for law enforcement and should stay only in its hands.

Such as training that would prevent someone from, say, Tasering a grandmother or a six year old boy?

Anyone notice how Insty is using a ton of posts to promote his Amazon.com account?

Jeff has the latest!

It seems that gay people aren’t icky.

And here’s my daily laugh about the criminal underworld… Suspect makes getaway on lawnmower. Let’s hear it for stupid criminals, if only they all followed this guy’s example.

On an alternative note, I finished assembling my tactical shotgun. It has all sorts of goodies, set up to fire Federal 12gauge slugs. Even the new tac-mod from the nice guys over at Knoxx, their Sidewinder magazine feed conversion for the Mossberg 500. There’s just one problem, after installing the conversion with it’s off-angle kelly grip, I find that my arms are too short. Guess it wasn’t designed with small framed women in mind. I’ll have to install a pistol grip instead of the Chote stock I’ve got on it now, don’t know how well I’ll be able to handle the recoil though without a stock.

Howard Nemerov points out that gun rights folks have won the battle but not the war:

Okay, so we had a good election cycle for the pro-liberty movement. I hope it gave you a reason for a celebratory mood at Thanksgiving.

Wait. Republicans are pro-liberty?

Now it’s time to get back to work. The people who fought so hard against your Second Amendment rights are still in Congress.

Yes, they are. This is, in my opinion, the most pro-gun the country has been in a while. Concealed carry laws are the rule, not the exception. The Assault Weapons Ban is gone. We’re winning. Now, gun rights folks should go on offense. Instead of fighting new gun control laws as they pop up, I think gun owners should launch an offensive for laws they want (federal concealed carry) or repealing laws that need to be repealed. Why the gun lobby wants to waste its time on this gun industry lawsuit bill is beyond me. These lawsuits go (in every case but one) in favor of the gun industry. The industry needs to go on the offensive as well and counter sue these bozos. A couple of activists suddenly in the poor house sends the message.

I’ll throw one out there: Let’s work to repeal the Hughes Amendment, which states that after May 1986 no new machine guns may be transferred to civilians. It’s the real assault weapons ban. I don’t think it will happen but it’d be nice if the gun lobby stood up for gun rights and not just manufacturers.

The doom and gloom cries from the anti-gun folks that the expiration of the politically incorrect looking err assault weapons ban would lead to unmitigated violence and blood in the streets don’t seem to have materialized:

The number of murders dropped by nearly 6 percent in the first half of 2004, an indication that a four-year climb may be ending, the FBI reported Monday.

Granted, 6% is not a huge decrease but it sure as Hell isn’t an increase. Additionally:

The preliminary figures show a 1.9 percent decline in the property crimes of burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft during the first six months of 2004. In addition, the FBI said arson was down by 6.8 percent from January to June.

Update: My bad. Reader markm points out that I can’t read and that the figures were for the first half of 2004 which is before the ban expired. I misread it as preliminaries for the last half.