Countertop has put the first round of the Gunnies up to vote for your favorite gun bloggers. I appreciate the nomination in the category of Best Gun Porn but I have to say, in all honesty, that every other blogger nominated in the category posts more and better gun porn than I do. Go vote.
R. Neal (formerly SKB) has set up a community blogspace at Knoxviews.com. It’s an open forum so even you could post there. Cool. Check it out.
Owen tells us Doyle did veto shall issue concealed carry:
Governor Doyle’s veto message is mostly a bunch of statements that have nothing to do with the bill he vetoed. The statements that are relevant are both lies. Is this the best rationale that he can muster?
Bummer. Let the override begin.
The Mrs. and I were driving down the road yesterday when I relayed to her the tale (from earlier in the day) where I almost saw an auto accident. Some old dude (driving a Buick, naturally) pulled right out it front of a big Ford F 250. The guy in the Ford had to lock his car up to avoid plowing the old fart. He locked it up so bad, his truck was fishtailing two lanes.
The Mrs. says: I think when you reach a certain age, you should have to retake the road portion of the driver’s license test every year.
I reply with: Well, I think everyone should be required to retake the test periodically, like every three or five years. It’s not just old farts that can’t drive.
Junior, noting the street lights were on, said: Light.
I continued: But the whole driver’s license system can’t be about safety. It’s about revenue or else they’d take the sane step of requiring periodic road-testing of all drivers.
The wife concurred that it would probably cost a lot to re-test and agreed with my assessment. So, thoughts? Is the driver’s license thing about revenue or safety? And there should be a law requiring periodic re-testing of drivers?
The City of Knoxville wants to annex the Disc Exchange:
For the past 16 years or so, the city has tried to annex the property but store owner Alan Miller has been fighting it.
Miller, who also has the Chapman Highway Disc Exchange in the city, says there’s no difference in the services he receives, such as water, sewer and police and fire protection.
Miller doesn’t think he should pay more taxes for the same level of service. That’s why he’s been fighting the annexation in court.
It’s not about services, it’s about tax dollars.
Rhymes with Right, on a case where just compensation of 105 acres taken via eminent domain was $1, reports:
the judge allowed no testimony on the value of the land — and then awarded an absurdly low value because there was no evidence in support of the land’s value. Never mind that we know that the land was considered to be worth at least $1.9 million by the special commission. And she added insult to injury by ordering the victim of her obscene ruling to pay back all money he received with interest, plus legal fees to the publicly-owned Port — which means he is paying the Port for the privilege of having his land stolen.
Abysmal. Dan has more. I’m not one to generally advocate violence. But in this case, I’d make an exception. Judge, tar, feathers, some assembly required.
My handgun carry permit expires in a couple of months. For the first time, I can renew it by mail. In the past, I’d always have to waste half a day and head to the Department of Safety, take a money order, a couple of IDs and wait in line. This time, there’s just a form to fill out, put it in the mail, and wait. I would apparently have to go in to the office if my address had changed. Cool. Now, if only I could renew it online. You can renew your driver’s license online but not your carry permit.
Three Illinois police officers have been charged with illegally possessing machine guns:
Three Illinois State Police officers, who could legally handle submachine guns for their jobs, have been charged with violating federal firearms regulations for allegedly having them at home, officials announced Tuesday.
The troopers – two assigned to District 11 at Collinsville and one to District 18 at Litchfield – were placed on paid leave while their cases are handled in federal court in East St. Louis.
Also charged is a doctor, formerly of Glen Carbon, who allegedly lent one of the weapons to a trooper who said he test-fired it and gave it back.
There is no allegation that the men trafficked in illicit weapons or committed any crime beyond illegally possessing them. Authorities would not say what launched the investigation or how federal agents found out about the weapons.
Notice how the charges are minimized a bit in the reporting, no doubt due to the fact they’re police officers. Another article on the situation notes:
Trent said the three accused troopers could have lawfully possessed the machine guns if they were assigned to them as part of their work duties, but they could not have them as private citizens.
[snip]
On Dec. 22, when Illinois State Police agents searched the residence where Griffiths now lives in Spaulding, they found the machine gun, which had been converted illegally to a fully automatic firearm.
The complaint charges that Griffith admitted to having fired the weapon on at least two occasions, He also admitted to having loaned the weapon to Yard in October. Agents seized some other firearms from the Spaulding residence.
A record check revealed that Griffiths had not registered the guns, the complaint said.
Mugge and Griffiths both are accused of owning Colt AR-15 SP1 models, with Mugge’s able to fire as an automatic weapon when a piece of metal was inserted and Griffiths’ illegally converted to fire automatically.
No one is above the law but I can’t help wondering if the facts of this case could be used to challenge The Hughes Amendment, which bans the transfer of new machine guns to civilians. After all, the cops in this case seem to be fine, upstanding people except for their illegal possession of machine guns.
At The Day, they’re discussing gun violence:
“Illegal guns don’t grow on trees,” said Brian Malte of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “They are systematically and methodically diverted to illegal markets.”
Guns used in crimes are usually stolen or obtained through a “straw purchase,” where a person legally buys a gun, then sells it illegally. Only three states — California, Oregon and Massachusetts — make it illegal for a person to buy more than one handgun a month, Malte said. Four states require that people report stolen guns.
Actually, I’d guess that significantly more crime guns are stolen or bought from individuals than obtained through straw purchases. More:
For the third time, the Connecticut Legislature is considering a bill this year that would require gun owners to report stolen guns. This step, and other measures to improve record keeping, would lead to more responsible gun owners and fewer guns circulating on the black market, Malte said.
I don’t really see how cracking down on people who have had their guns stolen is all that beneficial. Why not require anyone who has anything stolen to report it? Anyway, this bill will not lead to more responsible gun owners and fewer guns circulating on the black market. How could it? It will not make anyone more responsible and guns will still be stolen. Even more:
Current laws make it difficult for police to track stolen guns and thwart “intervention and prevention” measures like intelligence sharing, said Joe Vince, president of the national organization Crime Gun Solutions.
Police don’t begin a magical process of tracking a gun when it is reported stolen. Instead, when someone uses it in a crime later, the police will know it was stolen. Not the most effective preventative measure, in my opinion.
Parting thought: the article is filled with quotes from anti-gunners but not a single pro-gun person. The media seems to think the anti-gun lobby are experts whereas the pro-gun activists (see how I did that?) are not consulted.
Here, I talked about mine. TriggerFinger tackles the issue:
We’re likely to see one of the two cases in the DC circuit at present before the Supreme Court. That will likely result in a ruling that proclaims an individual right. The question is how strong the decision would be; there’s little question that a correct legal reading of the Constitution forbids the DC laws, though there’s always the question of whether the Justices will vote in accordance with the obvious.
There’s more. Go read. He also has the most extensive coverage of the Seegars case and the Parker case that I’ve seen.
In an update to Fumento not disclosing grants from corporations, Michael Fumento tells his side of the story:
They realized they might eliminate more of their critics by simply accusing them of being paid corporate shills, and then siccing the media on them to see what they could dig up. They assembled an “enemies list,” giving it to reporters at publications including the New York Times and Business Week. I have locked horns with green groups for the past 15 years and earned a spot on that list.
I was first called by a Times reporter in late December, who accused me of writing a pay-for-play column. I flatly and truthfully denied it. The reporter was flummoxed, having nothing more than an accusation to work with. She kept digging but found nothing.
Regardless of the motivation to turn the media dogs loose on him, he should have disclosed which side his bread was buttered on. Two wrongs and all of that.
Update: In comments, Fumento writes:
Thanks for the mention, but regarding full exclosure (sic) I have seen similar words elsewhere and it belies ignorance (I mean that literally, not as in “stupidity”) of both how think tanks work and how the rules worked prior to the new ones invented by Business Week’s Eamon Javers. Think tanks make their money by soliciting donations. They can be from the government, individuals, philanthropies, or corporations. They usually expect the fellows (the thinkers) to take an active role in this. Money comes into the think tank, part goes to overhead, part to building the endowment, and part to the fellow in the form of salary, benefits, and paperclips and note pads. This was no different. The money went to Hudson, which pays my salary. But precisely because I have been able to raise NO corporate donations in 4-5 years, Hudson has been paying me out of overhead. So in a real sense I’m drawing from grants I know not which. “Full disclosure” sounds great, like “Can’t we all get along.” But for the most part it’s inpracticable (sic). That’s why you can read 100 columns and op-eds in a week, many from think tankers, and never see a full disclosure statement. This rule was made up on-the-spot to apply to me. I could go on about how the grant was solicited for a book in 1999 and spent by 2000 and that I didn’t even begin my column with Scripps until 2003, which does raise the point of: Just HOW LONG do you have to disclose these things. But I think the point is made.
Sounds reasonable to me.
Erik Streib, M.D. is unhappy that a recent John Stossel column said that exaggerated gun violence was a media fed myth. I think Stossel is pretty much right. Streib writes:
Commentator John Stossel made claims based on a misrepresentation of data and presented conclusions that cannot be supported by facts. Most disturbing was his implication that the risk of gun violence to children is exaggerated. In reporting that less than 100 children ages 15 and younger die annually due to gun accidents, he ignores the more than 500 deaths due to intentional injuries and the approximately 3,000 non-fatal firearm injuries in this group.
That’s because Stossel was addressing gun accidents with children, which always make the news and are quite rare.
The Bush administration asked Google to turn over internet search data in an effort to revive a law that has been struck down in court. Google has told them to get stuffed. Good for them:
Nicole Wong, Google’s associate general counsel, countered: “Google is not a party to this lawsuit, and the demand for the information is overreaching.”
Advocacy groups and parents are suing the Nickelodeon TV network and cereal maker Kellogg Co. in an effort to stop junk food marketing to kids.
The plaintiffs are citing a recent report documenting the influence of marketing on what children eat. Ads aimed at kids are mostly for high-calorie, low-nutrition food and drinks, according to the government-chartered Institute of Medicine.
Wakefield, Mass., mother Sherri Carlson said she tries her best to get her three kids to eat healthy foods.
“But then they turn on Nickelodeon and see all those enticing junk-food ads,” Carlson said. “Adding insult to injury, we enter the grocery store and see our beloved Nick characters plastered on all those junky snacks and cereals.”
Here’s an idea: When you’re at the store, don’t buy your kid the jumbo pack of Ho Hos, the pack of Oreo Double Stufs, and a 12 pack of Mountain Dew. Your kids’ nutrition and diet habits begin with you.
Al-Jazeera on Thursday broadcast portions of an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden, saying al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a possible truce to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.
The voice on the tape said heightened security in the United States is not the reason there have been no attacks there since the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings.
Instead, the reason is “because there are operations that need preparations,” he said.
First, I tend to doubt that the voice is Bin Laden. Second, it seems to imply that the much maligned flypaper afterthought, err, strategy is a consideration. See, a truce in Iraq and Afghanistan would mean they could devote their efforts to killing us white devils here in the west. So the guy claiming to be OBL wants to partially make nice and that is probably because things in Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t going the way they want.
Heightened security in the US can’t really deter all attacks. Our plan of confiscating toe-nail clippers and wiretapping of questionable legality is probably not effective so I tend to think they are in the planning stage.
CCW has once again made it to Governor Doyle’s desk:
The state Senate approved a Republican bill that would let Wisconsin residents carry concealed weapons, setting up what could be a fierce political clash between the Legislature and Gov. Jim Doyle.
The Senate’s 28-5 vote Tuesday sends the bill to Doyle, a Democrat who already has vetoed one version of it and has vowed to veto this one.
“The governor believes people carrying loaded weapons around will make Wisconsin less safe,” Doyle spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said.
But Republicans say people should be allowed to fight off criminals.
Wisconsin is one of only four states that bans concealed weapons. National Rifle Association lobbyists working with Republican legislators have been trying make carrying concealed weapons legal here for years.
There’s talk that the Republicans have enough pull to override the veto. Good.
A Garand in 338 Win Mag! Not sure it’d be good as a military sniper since I don’t think an appropriate scope can be mounted on it correctly (think they have to be off center due to the Garand’s design). Still, it’s pretty cool.
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal from an anti-war protester who was convicted of violating the boundaries of a “restricted area” established during President Bush’s visit to South Carolina in 2002.
Brett Bursey had urged the justices to hear the appeal of a $500 fine he was assessed for entering a restricted area at near airport hangar in West Columbia on Oct. 24, 2002. In July 2005, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Bursey’s conviction in U.S. v. Bursey.
….
A Secret Service agent told Bursey he could protest in a designated demonstration area a half-mile away. When he refused to leave the restricted area, he was arrested.
Les reports that Winchester is shutting down its plant unless it can find a buyer. He also notes that Smith and Wesson is entering the AR-15 market.
Does the AP even try to be accurate with the gun facts anymore? Seriously:
The machine gun ban is meant to rid Hawaii of sniper-type assault weapons, which are nearly five feet long and use 50-caliber shells.
I tell you, I got get me one of them 50 caliber, sniper-type assault weapon machine guns. It’s right there, next to the goose that lays golden eggs, pixie dust, and the science of global warming.
Publicola details the tedious task of transporting a firearm across state lines and staying legal:
If I were to follow each state’s law about car carrying I would have to pull over at each state line & make sure I was in compliance
There’s a lot more.
Looks like the dueling gun shows may have come to an end. For the first time since December, the RK and Mike Holloway gun shows are not on the same weekend.
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
Uncle Pays the Bills
 |
|
Find Local
|
