Wal-Mart should run FEMA!

Pete’s back and notes that in New Orleans:

It was interesting to discover that, with all the stranded and starving people, they found time to make a jail and fill it, in part, with “addicts possessing small amounts of drugs… One man had mooned a state police car on patrol. “

The Geek notes that the Trenton chapter of the Million Mom March may disband if they don’t get more people to show up.

Don’t let the door . . . well, you know.

A while back, I mentioned my AK upgrades. I installed the UltiMAK Scout Mount on my WASR-10. My only issue was that it, with a standard scope ring, did not cowitness with the iron sights. Cowitnessing is having your iron sights lined up with the red dot sight so that you have back up sights in the event your electronic sight fails (battery dies or you break it) without having to remove the sight. Well, the folks at UltiMAK thought of that. I was talking to Joe Huffman and he said they make a mount just for that. Lyle from UltiMAK sent me an email and said this sight mount would allow co-witnessing as it sits lower on the scout mount. I was sold. I received mine last week and installed it. It aligns with the iron sights. The iron sights are clearly visible in the lower half of the TacPoint. Also, it’s a durable and well made mount. I gave it the SayUncle test, which consists of installing it then grabbing the weapon by the red dot sight and shaking the living Hell out of it. It didn’t budge. I highly recommend it.

And now a good deal from TAPCO: for $29.99, you get two 30 round AR-15 magazines and four magazine clamps. Four mag clamps usually go for $10 so it’s like getting the magazines for $10 each. I have some on the way.

Smarmy commenter and generally oppositional hellbent looks at rebuilding New Orleans and the entire delta.

Bob Krumm notes that governor Bredesen is extending reciprocity to medical professionals licensed in Louisiana or Mississippi. He also adds:

That’s a great first step. Let’s push the governor to also grant reciprocity to licensed teachers who will be needed to educate the influx of students, as well as lawyers, hair stylists, architects, engineers . . .

Don’t forget accountants.

Stacey Campfield asks the governor to repeal the state tax on gas. If you’re in Tennessee and paying over $3 per gallon of gas, you should be aware that you are paying about $0.40 in state and federal taxes on it.

And via Rich, the Jefferson Parish president:

“Bureaucracy has murdered people in the greater New Orleans area,” he said on CBS’ “Early Show.” “Take whatever idiot they have at the top of whatever agency and give me a better idiot. Give me a caring idiot. Give me a sensitive idiot. Just don’t give me the same idiot.”

Murder is a bit harsh but it’s a valid point. Meanwhile, Rick asks:

It’s not so much the notion, that many conservatives agree with, that government doesn’t work; we all feel like that is the case from time to time. The issue I have is why the conservatives in government now seem to be trying their level best to prove the point.

Why on earth would they not? Sure, some of it may be to score political points but unless we deal with why it failed, it will again. And, particularly with the current administration, the solution to bloated government failures is, well, more bloated government.

Jeff has the latest on anti-gun bias in the media.

He also has a range report for the Serbu 50 BFG.

The latest Carnival of Liberty is up.

Bob Denver has died.

Mike:

Bitch, grab a shovel!

The Tennessean:

All lawmakers can do is watch and wait as a federal probe into bribery and corruption at the state Capitol continues to sink colleagues.

Legislators said they have heard rumors that more arrests are on the way, but don’t know if they will include local officials like the one in Shelby County charged last week or more state lawmakers.

As in May, when four sitting lawmakers were arrested on their way to work, they expect to be the last to know.

I’ll pay good money to any legislator tells me who they think is next (giggle).

The AP:

About 1.7 million U.S. children live in homes that have loaded and unlocked guns, according to what is described as the first comprehensive survey of gun storage in homes across the country.

I wonder how they define child in this case? If you have kids, you should make certain your firearms are inaccessible to them. More stats:

The study, published Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics, found that 2.5 percent of children live in homes with loaded and unsecured firearms. Estimates from the early 1990s had put the percentage at 10 percent. The new results suggest a decline, but that doesn’t mean there’s cause for celebration, said Catherine Okoro, a study author.

[snip quote by gun-fearing hysterical person]

The study is based on a 2002 telephone survey of about 241,000 adults and is the first to provide data on gun storage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, its authors said.

Nationally, 33 percent of adults said they kept firearms in or around their home. The highest percentage was in Wyoming, where 63 percent said they had firearms. The lowest percentage was reported in the District of Columbia, where 5 percent reported having guns at home. The district has long-standing bans on handguns and semiautomatic weapons.

A little more than 4 percent of the respondents nationally said they keep guns loaded and unlocked, and 2.5 percent reported having loaded, unlocked firearms in homes where children lived.

Alabama had the highest proportion — 7.3 percent — of homes in which children lived and guns were kept loaded and unlocked. The next highest states were Alaska (6.6 percent), Arkansas (6.6 percent), Montana (6.4 percent) and Idaho (5.2 percent). At bottom was Massachusetts, with 0.3 percent.

Bring on the politics:

Okoro said she hoped the survey results will be used by state public health officials as they work on intervention programs to prevent firearm deaths.

About 1,400 children are killed by firearms each year, according to CDC estimates. It’s not known how many of those are killed by guns left around the house, the researchers said.

Well, when I go to the CDC site and download the data, accidental firearm deaths for children (age 10-14, none occur at a younger age according to their data), there were 34. In ages 15-24, there were 210. So, using the anti-gun Monica Lewinsky test*, there were 244 unintentional firearm deaths of children. Seems the unintentional firearm deaths would be a good place to start to determine how many of those are killed by guns left around the house. That is, if you were actually interested in that instead of scoring political points. It’s a far cry from intimating 1,400 might be comparable. And locking up the guns would only prevent those unintentional acts.

*Bonus points if you get the reference.

I’ve always thought the FN-P90 was the ugliest submachine gun ever made. Now it has some competition. Behold TDI’s KRISS Super V Sub-machine gun. It is a subgun in 45 ACP. It’s odd design supposedly mitigates the excessive recoil typical of 45ACP subguns from the past.

That is one ugly gun.

So, what is it about tragedy that brings out such stupidity in celebrities?

David Hardy mentions that there’s talk of Janice Rogers Brown being nominated for the SCOTUS. Personally, I think it’s highly unlikely since she’s not Republican enough but it might be good for gun owners. I don’t know that her position on guns would be good for gun owners since she ruled with the majority on California’s assault weapons ban. But she did fault the court for picking and choosing which rights it liked. And she’s black and a woman, one of which is apparently an important factor for picking a judge.

You see, since state governments in the South are loosening their gun control laws, the north is struggling against a flood of handguns. A few things:

Academic studies have shown that limits on monthly gun purchases help limit smuggling, but lobbyists for gun manufacturers call such laws ”gun rationing” and say they infringe on Second Amendment gun ownership rights.

Really? Which study?

Pinpointing the precise source of guns smuggled into the Northeast is difficult, analysts say, because last year Congress inserted a provision into a spending bill that prevented the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives from releasing federal data about where guns used in violent crimes originated.

Then how do you know they come from the South?

A while back, Kim du Toit asked:

Question for the libertarians: how would “the market” take care of the post-Hurricane Katrina destruction?

Seems to me several charitable groups (including evil corporations) were the first ones in and operated more efficiently than the .gov.

In this post, I rather ineloquently expressed my anger regarding how the .gov reacted to Katrina. I leveled plenty of blame, specifically at the feds for spending our money and not dealing with this mess efficiently or even competently. I rescind that, at least in part. The reason is that this weekend I had a chance to talk to a terrorism and disaster recovery expert. He explained that the function of FEMA and DHS was to provide long term aftercare in the event of such an incident. The early response to such events rests squarely at the state and local level. A lot of our federal DHS dollars go to cities and states to fund what are essentially first responders. The state/local response teams’ responsibility is to be in first and ready to deal with massive loss of life and provide for folks in need for the first twenty-four to seventy-two hours. In New Orleans, this system broke down and, perhaps, the money was squandered. The mayor did not run buses out and was invisible for the first three days. The governor waited to long to take control.

Even though the locals failed in New Orleans, it still took the feds four plus days to get there so there is also plenty of valid criticism at the federal level. That is equally unacceptable. The problem is systemic and exists at all levels of government. However, blaming this administration for the levee breaking is ridiculous. Period. Partisan sniping in this case is rather lame. There’s plenty both parties could have done in the aftermath of this incident and tying it to party lines is not particularly helpful nor is it constructive.

I still want my money back.

CNS has done a follow up to their piece on the ATF doing illegal residency checks after a gun show:

According to a four page undated memo written by Virginia State Police (VSP) Capt. Robert G. Kemmler and obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA), the law enforcement activities at the Showmasters gun show on Aug. 13-14 involved “the same method of operation as previous gun shows.

“The Department (VSP) has participated in numerous Gun Show Operations at the Showplace over the past year,” the memo states. “This is the first operation at the fairgrounds and the first operation that included the Henrico (County) Police Department.”

C&E Gun Shows holds several shows each year at The Showplace Exhibition Center, located inside the city limits of Richmond, Va. According to the VSP memo, gun show sting operations were conducted there on July 10-11, Oct. 16-17 and Dec. 4-5, 2004 and Jan. 15-16, March 5-6 and May 21-22, 2005. Nearly 1,000 man hours were dedicated to the activities.

According to the VSP memo, the gun show stings are part of “an active gang related firearm program to reduce the number of firearms being purchased (by) and transferred to prohibited persons who may be involved in criminal and gang related activities.

Here’s some background on the incident. Heads should roll. In fact, contact the Virginia Office of the Attorney General to voice your concerns:

Office of the Attorney General
900 East Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219

(804)786-2071
(804) 786-1991 FAX

consumer@oag.state.va.us

And if you could, pass that contact info around. So far, the MSM has ignored the incident.

Demand prosecution and ask why nothing is being done.

Last night, I built Junior her first AR-15. Here it is:

That Lego gas system leaves a lot to be desired but the rifle is totally modular.

Light blogging today as I’m at home with Junior. Lots of napping in the forecast. Meanwhile, the latest RINO Sightings is up at One Fine Jay’s place.

From August 29th Through Sunday September 4th Michael Barnett has kept the world informed of The Battle of New Orleans.

This is the first hand account of an event unlike anything that has ever happened in our nation.

From Michael Barnett:

This journal has become the Survival of New Orleans blog. In less perilous times it was simply a blog for me to talk smack and chat with friends. Now this journal exists to share firsthand experience of the disaster and its aftermath with anyone interested.

For those of you who haven’t been reading this, I’m on the 10th/11th floors of a 27 floor high rise at 650 Poydras in downtown New Orleans. If you go to Google Earth or some other map program, we’re the big brown building between Poydras ave and Lafayette Square and between Camp Street and St. Charles Ave. We’re about 6 blocks from the river. We have a view (in the daytime) of the river, the twin spans over the river, the interstate, the Entergy building, the landmark building, the federal court of appeals building, a bunch of hotels, etc.

more…

Off to the game. Go Vols.

Paper says there’s a 23 point spread. Means the Vols will win by three.

We saw it after 9/11 and I think we’ll see it after Katrina: there will be an uptick in gun sales.

Field and Stream lists the 1-15 of the 50 best guns ever made. There are no evil black rifles. They explain:

You’ll notice that there are no military or target arms here (with a few exceptions, for reasons explained). We decided to limit the list to hunting firearms, which is what F&S is about.

Via Les (who is apparently famous), we learn of some more local gun bloggers. Tamara of Coal Creek Armory has a blog. I see her in there all the time but never knew her name. Tamara on tactical posers:

It’s an absolute truism in the CCW community that if you wear a covering vest of some kind, especially one festooned with pockets, then every member of The Great Unwashed will divine the fact that you are carrying a pistola. This view is so entrenched that the garments are frequently referred to as “Shoot Me Vests”.

Heh. This is why Uncle usually wears a pull over shirt.

There’s also Markos Kloos, another local gun blogger. So, all you local gun nuts have two more gun blogs to keep up with.

I concur. I’ve run across the blog Nashville is Talking a few times but for some reason never added it to the feed. Not sure why. Consider that remedied. Seriously, Brittney’s blog is good and I recommend you make it a regular stop.

David Codrea, noting that President Bush has been invited to the 20th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference, writes:

President Bush, I have never in my life begged anything from a public official.

Please attend this conference. PLEASE!

I’d pay good money to see all the nationally recognized “gun rights leaders” line up to get cavity searched for weapons–just so they can pay tribute to you for supporting their right to keep and bear arms.

Via Joe, this is amazing. Check out the pictures of the pool computer system notifying the lifeguard that a little girl had fallen to the bottom of the pool.

Go read Mike now. His advice could save your life.