I guess the .gov is anticipating a few more detentions in the name of the War on Terrorism:

Critics say the $41.8 million request to build a permanent detention facility at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, buried in President Bush’s emergency supplemental-spending bill sidesteps an important debate about the government’s stance of detaining enemy combatants.

It looks like the funds will be used to build a permanents structure (housing 200) since most inmates are in makeshift quarters now.

Met up with Les a couple of weeks ago to take the WASR out for a spin. The WASR, like all Kalashnikovs, is quite clunky. The action is not as smooth as an AR15 and accuracy was about what is expected. We were shooting at what I would guess was between 20 to 25 yards. The rifle was consistently shooting about four inches to the left. Need to get a sight tool or I may just give it a couple of whacks with a punch and a hammer.

Foreign semi-automatic rifles, due to some arbitrary federal regulation, cannot be imported into the US if they are capable of accepting regular capacity magazines and have a random number of non-US made parts. Why these features are important to the .gov, I do not know. As such, the WASRs are imported in a configuration that allows them to accept single stack magazines as opposed to double stack (or regular) AK47 magazines. Importers then swap out a random number of foreign parts for US parts and cut out the magazine well and magazine latch a bit to accept the regular capacity magazines (on how to do it yourself, see here). The issue is that some of these importers do a particularly bad job of this. My WASR accepted the plastic Bulgarian waffle style magazines without any trouble. It had issues with the standard steel magazines, such as the magazines were hard to get into the magazine well without smacking the crap out of them; once in, they were difficult to remove; and occasionally when the magazine got to the last three rounds or so, the rifle would jam because the magazine was not seated properly.

Some importers also replace the internal parts with low-quality parts. They often just machine their own and mimic the parts that came with the rifles. It’s not uncommon for these rifles to have a disconnector that should actually be used for full-auto rifles. This will not cause the rifle to fire in full auto but can create trigger slap, which you can read about here. Fortunately, my WASR did not have trigger slap issues.

Once I got the rifle home, I consulted the boards at AR15.com and Robert to get the solution to my magazine issue. The fix involved my favorite power tool, The Dremel. I put on a grinding wheel and shaved a little bit off the rear of the magazine well (shave a bit, check magazine fit, repeat). I also shaved a little bit off of the magazine release. The WASR seems to take both types of magazines fine now but I have not had the opportunity to shoot it since the fix.

Impressions:

The sights are low relative to the stock which requires you to assume a fairly uncomfortable cheek weld. It’s more like a chin weld. It’s awkward for us tall Americans, I guess.

The gun still functioned fairly reliably despite the magazine issues. It failed to feed about three times out of around 200 rounds. A comparable AR15 with magazine issues either wouldn’t fire at all because the bolt would not close or the magazine would be ejected from the magazine well upon firing in the event the mag was not inserted all the way.

It is not as comfortable to shoot as an AR15.

Recoil was milder than I expected. I found this surprising since the AK is lighter than the AR15.

The inability of the shooter to adjust the sights without a special tool is annoying.

The safety mechanism is awkward and inconvenient, unlike the AR15 where it is easy to reach with your thumb.

Steel magazine issues aside, the properly functioning plastic magazines were a bear to insert and release. The AK is designed for very positive magazine retention and the magazine rocks in, then locks in place. I find this is a bit of overkill for retention because it takes two hands to change a magazine, unlike the AR15 where magazine changes require a thumb and one hand.

The gun is extraordinarily easy to take down and clean.

Not nearly as accurate as the AR15.

Overall, a very good rifle. I like it. It will make an excellent truck gun. However, if the shit hit the fan, I’d still reach for my AR15.

The third Carnival of the Cordite is up, a round up of gun stuff on blogs.

The War on Guns has the latest on Jay’s arrest.

In Canada:

It was about -40 C and Noella Mitchell lay helpless on the handicap ramp leading up to her home. She’d soon be staring into the eyes of a pit bull and thinking she was about to die. The 42-year-old woman, who has Graves’ disease, which causes muscular weakness, wasn’t able to get up.

Her cries for help went unheard, except by Cloe, her son’s friend’s pit bull, which somehow got out of the house.

“When I saw her I thought I was dead,” said Mitchell.

But to Mitchell’s surprise, Cloe began licking her face and trying to bring attention to her fall. “She sat there beside me, howling and barking.”

At one point the desperate dog tried to pull Mitchell inside. Finally, her son’s friend came home.

The Star-Telegram notes that the SCOTUS may be leaning toward the city:

The justices — two were absent — seemed reluctant to stop local governments from taking private property and then turning it over to other private property owners for development. Because the new development will pay more taxes and perhaps create jobs, the reasoning goes, it’s an appropriate public use.

If it’s public use, why is it going to private developers? Do we all get free condos?

Wal-Mart’s bid was defeated and there’s this, which could prevent this type of thing from happening in the future:

Legislation by Rep. Jack Venable, D-Tallassee, seeks to prevent governments from taking land through “eminent domain” to build commercial retail space.

“It would prevent municipalities from taking your home, your farm and giving it to Wal-Mart to build a new store using, as a reason for that, increasing tax revenue for the city,” Venable said.

Of course, the SCOTUS would do the right thing, this stuff wouldn’t be necessary.

In an update to the video linked here, Ravenwood reports in comments that:

Mine is a rotating Fobus paddle holster, and it doesn’t appear to suffer that flaw. I just tried twisting the hell out of it and about broke my hand.

John Farnam, being interviewed as a police officer carrying a gun under the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004:

2. Are you familiar with the laws of the state(s) you’re traveling to?”

No, and neither is the attorney general of that state, or any other state. Gun laws, as written, are so incomprehensible, no one understands them. “Becoming familiar” with them would consume the rest of my lifetime and then some. Once again, you can worry about all that crap of you can just carry.

Via Cube, comes a memorial site dedicated to Mark Wilson.

Chuck Schumer wants them banned:

The Five-SeveN pistol is small enough to fit into your pocket [only if you wear really big pants, this is a full size handgun] but packs a big punch — its bullets can penetrate a bulletproof vest [no, the commercial rounds cannot – ask the ATF]. One of the weapons was recently pulled off the streets of Camden County, N.J., and New Jersey and New York lawmakers want them out of the hands of the public for good. [I think NJ and NY lawmakers want all guns out of all hands]

Corzine:

“This is not a Second Amendment issue,” Corzine said. “Who needs one of these? The only reason is for violence.”

Yes, it is. What’s need got to do with it? Yes, violence against paper targets.

Update: The NRA responds to the Brady Bunch:

Referring to the Five-seveN handgun in a press conference by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Mike Barnes today suggested that the NRA`s President, Wayne LaPierre, “put on a bullet proof vest, and we`ll fire the weapon at him, and see what happens. He should put
his body where his mouth is.”

NRA Response: It is pathetic to see the gun control lobby make hysterical statements to resurrect their failed political agenda. According to the BATFE, this armor-piercing ammunition is only available to the military and police. The Brady Campaign continues to deceive the American people in their effort to ban firearm ownership by all law-abiding Americans.

I’m starting to like Montana. Not only did they tell the feds to get bent over guns and a national ID card, now the legislature is looking to pass a bill requiring federal agents to ask permission before working there. Montana also has a law that prohibits the sale of land to the federal government. Gunner has the scoop.

Also, while you’re at Gunner’s, check out the online gun contests. You can win a Bushmaster Varminter. Sweet!

Got wind of this hideous website called Goodbye Guns from Kim. One of the facts it lists is that The *NUMBER ONE* cause of children’s deaths in the home is guns.

Really? The CDC says it’s suffocation. As does the National Safety Council:

In 1998, motor vehicle accident deaths claimed the lives of 2,600 children aged 0 to 14; 200 suffocated to death; 570 were killed by fire or burns; 850 drowned; 70 were poisoned, 160 died from falls; and 40 died from carbon monoxide inhalation. During the same period, guns “principally in recreational activities or on home premises” accidentally killed 110 kids aged 1 to 14 years.

If you want, you can email the asshat who runs the site at clark@goodbyeguns.org.

Update: Edited to clarify that deaths from car accidents aren’t actually in the home.

I don’t do much on local politics because, frankly, it frustrates me. A lot of local yokel, good ol’ boys get rich on my dime, get their friends rich on my dime, and call it progress. That’s local politics anywhere I suppose. However, Adam Groves does follow the local stuff and he’s pretty good at it. Give him a read.

Also, Bubba has a good handle on local stuff, though it’s not his primary focus.

Pete reports that King County Bar Association has approved a resolution on drug policy that encourages the state of Washington to regulate federally prohibited drugs in defiance of the Federal Government.

Jed reports that legislators there rejected gun restrictions on Daley’s wish list.

Jay G mulls his choices for this year’s Buy a Gun to Annoy Someone day.

Columbus City officials are pushing for a ban on guns that look like assault weapons:

Columbus City Council is considering a third try at an assault weapons ban for the city. Courts have overruled two previous bans as too vague. Community groups and Councilman Michael Mentel say they’re looking to a California law as a model because it has a specific definition of the semiautomatic or pump-action rifles to be outlawed.

The nearby suburb of Dublin has a ban on making, buying or selling the weapons but not on possessing them. Many big cities across the nation have assault weapons bans, including Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton and Toledo. A federal ban expired in September. The council is holding a hearing on the issue tonight but no ordinance has been written.

Sumner County is asking the legislature to define just compensation:

The legislation asks that property owners be compensated for future damage and loss of use of the overall parcel as an element of damage, which could be considered when awarding damages for condemnation of property.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to factor in potential future earnings from the land either.

Manhunt in Alamogordo, NM.

So, I was driving home from an optometry appointment today and decided to go get a couple burritos at the tiny doughnut shop in town. I got stuck in the middle of what seemed like every cop in the town doing house for house searches and running around like chickens with their heads cut off. They locked down the schools and all sorts of other activity was going on. At the time, I had no idea what was going on, except that I was stuck in what I must assume was the biggest traffic jam the bloody town had ever seen.

The cops inspected my car too, had me pop the trunk. I suppose I could have told them no, but I had nothing to hide, and it’s not like I was the only one being checked. ‘Course, they wouldn’t tell me why they were checking, which bugged the hell out of me at the time.

I get to work on my graveyard shift and find a lovely little e-mail in my mailbox ‘to all Holloman e-mail users’ which reads:

Right now there is a shooter between second and fourth street. The Alamogordo Department of Public Safety is on scene and has sealed off the affected area.

There’s actually a bit more in the e-mail, but that’s the general gist. We occationally get little status updates like that, it was meant for parents, since atleast two of the schools are in that area.

And the ultimate irony, the doughnut shop was closed, I was ten minutes late.

The story is here:

In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign’s Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate’s press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines.

Smith should know. He’s one of the six commissioners at the Federal Election Commission, which is beginning the perilous process of extending a controversial 2002 campaign finance law to the Internet.

In 2002, the FEC exempted the Internet by a 4-2 vote, but U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly last fall overturned that decision. “The commission’s exclusion of Internet communications from the coordinated communications regulation severely undermines” the campaign finance law’s purposes, Kollar-Kotelly wrote.

Mike’s poster is appropriate. It’s also one of the random things that appears in the upper right corner here at SayUncle.

However, what Phelps said is more to the point. The good news is that in that post he vowed to blog every day.

Regarding CNN’s potential felony (which, in my opinion, is a matter of proving intent to get around the law and that was implied in the story), a reader emailed a scan of a letter from his congress person. The letter reads:

I appreciate your taking the time to contact me regarding CNN’s report on .50 caliber rifles.

In an effort to be of assistance to you, I have contacted Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on your behalf. I am hopeful that my actions will prove beneficial to you. I will promptly let you know when I receive a response. In the meantime, please be assured of my interest.

Good. I realize that proving intent to break the law as specified by the particular law violated will be impossible to prove. However, I am hopeful that someone in the press will pick up on this and give CNN another black eye.

Miss Zoot has the latest round up of Tennessee blogs.

Michael Silence has a round up of Tennessee’s proposed ban on Computer Assisted Hunting. Doug Jackson, a local politico, demonstrated internet hunting.

Today’s hysterical idiot is brought to us by Kevin. Maybe we should license reporters?

He runs some numbers:

Of the 71 unique news stories found by a computerized Nexis search of stories in the four days after the attack, 38 percent mention that an AK-47 or high-powered rifle was used by the attacker. As usual, gun control groups called for more gun control.

Eric Howard, with the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, said “These are military-style weapons that pose a significant risk to civilians and the police officers trying to protect the public.”

Only two stories mentioned that the AK-47 was a semi-automatic, not a machine gun, and, while it is understandable, none of the articles provided context by explaining that Arroyo’s weapon functioned the same as deer hunting rifles, firing the same caliber bullets, at the same rapidity, and doing the same damage.

Seems like pretty standard media coverage. But what makes this case different is that 21 percent of the news stories actually mentioned that a citizen licensed to carry a concealed weapon used his gun to try and help stop the attack.

I’m surprised that only 21% mentioned the heroics of Mr. Wilson. Lott does note that it is surprising to see that much coverage of a defensive gun use.

I have chided Google News (more specifically, Google News Alerts) for having an anti-gun bias. Essentially, their Alerts service would always alert me to press releases from anti-gun groups like the VPC, MMM, and the Brady Bunch. However, never anything from pro-gun groups.

Recently, that has changed. It is sending me press releases from CCRKBA and Ohioans for Concealed Carry. Nothing from the NRA though.

Also worth noting, Google News Alerts lists QandO as a news source.

Regarding the Million Mom Marcher who was arrested for a gun violation, Rich Lucibella says:

If she doesn’t know what to do with a gun in her own home, HOW ON EARTH can she purport to know what I should do with mine?

Heh.

Michael Silence notes that Wheel Tax Bill may be dead. He also has a round up of the issue.

Lame:

Lincoln School administrators have reached a compromise with an employee whose car carries a controversial novelty plate on the front bumper.

The compromise aims to protect the employee’s First Amendment rights while reducing the chance that students will see the plate, which reads “Fight Crime Shoot First.”

Principal Sandra Dunning said she met with the employee and they agreed the car should be pulled into its parking space nose-first to reduce visibility.

“So if anyone wanted to see it, it had to be an intentional walk around the car to see it,” Dunning said. “We felt that was an appropriate request and she has honored our request.”

School officials have not identified the woman who drives the car, or what her position is at the school. The middle-aged woman declined to comment when approached in the parking lot yesterday afternoon by The Sun.