Eric Larson over at subguns.com thinks so:

For the past several weeks, ATF has apparently instructed its Inspectors not to review any NFA records during compliance audits—they are to examine Title I records only. I’ve heard enough from sources I deem reliable to post this.

What’s going on?

A number of things. First, I am sure y’all recall the post-Waco phrase: “We don’t want Special Agents going around talking or providing information, because we don’t want to create any evidence that could be subpoenaed.” Second, the timing coincides with the public release and posting of the sworn testimony of ATF Inspector George Semoniak [link added – Ed.] at the Wrenn trial. Specifically, as the summary posted with this document states:

In the case United States vs Wrenn (Cr. No. 1:04-045), District of South Carolina, Aiken Division, ATF Inspector George Semonick testified under oath that “there was a discrepancy” between firearms records maintained by defendant Wrenn and those maintained in the NFRTR by ATF. Inspector Semonick also confirmed “that the records, the records kept by ATF, were deficient.” Defendant Wrenn was not charged with any record-keeping violations.

Third, I’ve also heard chatter that ATF suspending record-keeping checks of Class III dealer records on Title II firearms/devices, is a prelude to ATF swooping down and seizing/forfeiting a bunch of NFA firearms/devices. I strongly believe ATF is NOT going to seize/forfeit any NFA firearms/devices under the present conditions because, among other reasons, the NFRTR is under a Congressional microscope at the moment. For ATF to seize/forfeit any NFA firearms/devices at this time would likely invite further destruction of ATF as an institution.

Note that I said “further destruction.” The reason is that ATF is currently doing what the military calls a “damage-limiting operation.” ATF is seriously damaged right now, and ATF’s top executives are trying to limit that damage.

There are things going on regarding ATF’s administration of the NFA that go far beyond and are apart from anything I’ve posted here regarding the NFRTR. Those things are in progress right now, and I’ll leave it to others who are directly involved in them to comment publicly on them in their own way(s) and time(s).

Finally, as always, I’d like to urge any of you who are concerned about the foregoing or anything else pertaining to the NFRTR, to consider contacting your Congressional representatives. Be sure and request your Congressional representatives to contact Sen. Arlen Specter, Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which is currently involved in matters involving oversight of ATF. Apparently, a sealed subpoena has been served by the Committee on ATF. I am endeavoring to find out more details, but think some others who are following this may scoop me, which is OK. There’s plenty of information to go around.

At the Wrenn trial, an agent testified the the NFRTR (the registry of NFA weapons) was not accurate. The NFA community has alerted congress and, as such, the ATF folks may be in damage control mode. We’ll see.

Look out! He’s got a pistol grip!

I covered the recent announcement of increased gun control in Illinois here. Here’s the press release from the governor. It contains this bit:

We are grateful for their efforts to keep us safe from the threat posed by weapons with a high capacity magazine, silencer, automatic trigger with a pistol grip and the other dangerous features of such insidious weapons,” said Jennifer Bishop of the Brady Campaign To Prevent Handgun Violence.

This assault weapons ban doesn’t cover suppressors (or silencers). Automatic trigger? I think she means automatic fire control group, which have been heavily regulated since 1934 and banned in weapons since 1986. And, oh yeah, this assault weapons ban wouldn’t cover machine guns, which is what she’s intimating. And a pistol grip is dangerous?

In the debate over concealed carry in Nebraska, a journo asks an odd question:

According to the FBI, there were 1,095 arrests for weapons violations in Nebraska in 2004.

How does that compare with states of similar size?

Very high. The average number of such arrests among 11 states of similar size was 532 — nearly half the Nebraska tally. Only Utah, with 1,171, had more.

“I can’t put my finger on why we are higher, unless other states are just more lenient,” said Michael Behm, executive director of the Nebraska Crime Commission.

Probably because, uhm, other states have CCW laws and most violations for weapons involve carrying when you’re not supposed to? Just a guess. There’s also this bit:

The groups that oppose handgun proliferation are not spending money in Nebraska.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has not reported sending money to Nebraska candidates with the Accountability and Disclosure Commission. State senators who consistently oppose the conceal-carry bill say they don’t get money from national anti-gun proliferation groups.

The groups once had a lobbyist in Nebraska. Paul O’Hara was hired by Handgun Control for about $5,000 a year in the 90s. “They were a hand-to-mouth operation,” he says.

Later, the Brady campaign hired his lobbying firm to fight the conceal-carry bills, he said. But this year no lobbyist represents that point of view.

Couple things: 1) it looks like the Bradies have given up on Nebraska. And 2) expect proliferation to be the new anti-gun buzzword from now on with all the yammering at the UN. Mark it.

US Senate Candidate Paul Hackett notes that The Democratic Party is wrong on the Second Amendment. In reference to why someone should be allowed to own an assault weapon, he says:

It’s just damn fun

Cool. We need more Democrats like that. His website is here.

Update: Or maybe not.

Every other Saturday, me and my homies get together to play some Texas Hold ‘Em. And by play some Texas Hold ‘Em, I mean we sit around, talk shit, and drink adult beverages. There’s usually between five and eight guys and we put in $10, winner take all. It never works that way because the house rules have some low blinds, which makes the game last longer than it should. Usually the top two guys wind up splitting. I was always one of the top two guys. But the last two times, I came in third. I’ve lost my mojo. I think it happened when my brother-in-law really bluffed the shit out of me and then showed me his cards to rub it in. Anyway, here’s hoping I get my mojo back.

Last game, one of my buds said that he thought my posts about Laurie Berkner’s kind-of-hotness were funny. I told him I was serious (girls got moves). He almost fell out of his seat laughing. Then, day before yesterday, my wife asks me who this Laurie Berkner person is that I was yammering on about on my blog. I told her it was some lady who sings kids’ songs on Noggin. She didn’t know who she was. Yesterday, one of Laurie’s videos came on during Jack’s Big Music Show (which Junior happens to love) and I said That’s Laurie Berkner! She looked at me like I was nuts and said she’s not hot. I said She’s kinda hot.

The wife then tells me that it’s not any jealousy sort of thing. And tells me that she knows I find Lucy Liu hot and she concurs that Lucy Liu is in fact hot. However, she says Laurie Berkner definitely is not hot. So, maybe it is just me.

Tennessee Republicans apparently grew a set:

A special committee of the Tennessee Senate voted this evening to void the special election for state Senate District 29 that Ophelia Ford of Memphis won by just 13 votes last year. The matter now goes to the Senate floor Thursday. After nearly three hours of heated debate, the resolution succeeded 17-to-14.

Via Marc, who notes it is freaking amazing.

Spell with Flikr:

Pretty cool. Via Der Commissar.

Joe reports that a magazine in the UK wants to send someone to cover Boomershoot. Cool.

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

So says CNS news:

The City of Seattle is running a help-wanted ad for a “Crime Gun Program Coordinator,” who will “develop, maintain and coordinate a centralized and regionally comprehensive crime gun database” and “integrate” that data with other law enforcement databases.

The person hired for the job also will “assist in the development of local and regional strategies to stop illegal gun trafficking and related gun violence.”

A Second Amendment group says don’t be fooled — the person hired for the job will be the Seattle Police Department’s “official gun control advocate,” and as such, he or she will be expected to “create and advocate gun control schemes under the guise of stopping criminal misuse of firearms.”

I’ve never understood the term crime gun database. Aren’t the guns known to be used in crimes usually in police custody? Also, the ad does seem to intimate wanting a gun control advocate as pro-gun folks would see the foolishness involved in this plan.

The AP:

AP Poll: Blacks Likelier to Celebrate MLK

And whites apparently notice that the banks aren’t open.

In other, other news: SayUncle discovers that Likelier is a real word.

Tom says:

When you show me the part of the Constitution that enumerates the federal government’s power to regulate in-state medical issues, I’ll let you go back to arguing that Scalia and Thomas are OI strict constructionists. Until then, it looks to me like they’re at least as willing to set aside constitutional philosophy for personal preference as any other justice.

Equally laughable are Ginsburg’s and Souter’s recent love of states rights.

Update: The Clam is happy to have lost.

The AP:

Civil liberties groups filed lawsuits in two cities Tuesday seeking to block President Bush’s domestic eavesdropping program, arguing the electronic surveillance of American citizens was unconstitutional.

The U.S. District Court lawsuits were filed in New York by the Center for Constitutional Rights and in Detroit by the
American Civil Liberties Union.

The New York suit, filed on behalf of the center and individuals, names President Bush, the head of the National Security Agency, and the heads of the other major security agencies, challenging the NSA’s surveillance of persons within the United States without judicial approval or statutory authorization.

It seeks an injunction that would prohibit the government from conducting surveillance of communications in the United States without warrants.

Going to be interesting to watch.

Daley/Blagojevich are pushing an assault weapons ban for the state of Illinois:

CHICAGO Governor Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY’-uh-vitch) and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley are renewing their call for a statewide assault weapons ban.
Both leaders plan to appear at a rally in Chicago (at 12:15) this afternoon alongside state and local legislators and the victims of gun violence.

Blagojevich and Daley have been pressing for the ban since the federal measure expired more than a year ago.

The law would prohibit the manufacture, possession and delivery of semiautomatic weapons, assault weapon attachments and the 50-caliber assault rifle.

Gun control works so well. Just ask Chicago which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation yet is neck and neck with DC (also some of the strictest gun laws in the nation) for the title of murder capitol each year.

Pronounced bo bo

That’s Junior’s latest word. When she sees a sore of some kind on someone, she points out their boo boo. She likes to point out hers too but she rarely gets them. The other day she tore off at top speed through the den and took a nasty spill. Much crying ensued. I picked her up and told her she was OK. She looked at me like Don’t tell me I’m OK. Then I noticed she had a small little rug burn on her leg and I pointed to it and said You have a boo boo. She immediately stopped crying and got excited while pointing to it and yelling bo bo. She was happy to have a boo boo. Kids today.

I’m with Les. I can’t really take Al Gore seriously regarding his criticism of warrantless wiretaps. Maybe if he’d taken a stand against his boss in 1994 over this, he’d be a bit credible. The NYT has apparently changed its tune too.

Hack meet hack.

There’s no turning back, now. Welcome Tam to the dark side. She has assembled her first AR-15 lower.

*title of post is the annoying code I needed to enter a comment there.

Getting on 35 this year, things are changing. I used to go to bed and could sleep all night (even excessive hours) and never once had to get up to go to the bathroom. I’d hold it all night and, then, pee like a mule in the morning. I guess bladders shrink as you age because now I get up at about 5:30 (like clockwork) to pee every night. Feh.

Also, I used to sleep buck naked. Then, after the baby and getting up frequently at night, I started sleeping in boxers. Now, like an 80 year old grandmother who has caught a chill, I sleep in a T-shirt and pajama pants. Not sure why but maybe my circulation isn’t as good. Or the fact the pregnant wife keeps the house chilly since she’s always hot.

Thankfully, my little friend still wakes up before I do (if you know what I mean). If that stops happening, I’ll be depressed.

CounterTop has announced the rules for the gun blog awards. The small print may get you, since, like me, you probably can’t read it. So, head on over and nominate your favorites.

Denise has a lot more on Individual Rights Vs. “Reasonable Restrictions”:

So, we gunnies can’t really rely on Courts to solve our problems—although they could be a piece of the puzzle. We must demand our legislators, city councilman, state officials, and others honor our rights. We must make our voices heard at all levels of government.

For evidence of that, look no further than the Kelo decision.

Adrian on why he wouldn’t be good at a political debate if he ran for office:

Moderator: Adrian, what do you think about high taxes?
Adrian: They totally suck, dude.
Moderator: Uh, you have 45 more seconds, sir.

Heh.

Via David Hardy, a Million Mom March organizer in New Jersey is a convicted sex offender.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy decides to to podcasts. Their first interview is with Al Roker.

Been mulling some options for an optic for the 9mm AR-15 project. Not too keen on putting a $300+ optic on a range plinker. So, I was looking at some other options. Plus the recoil on a 9mm isn’t that great so something heavy duty isn’t completely necessary. Then I found the SPOT torture test on AR15.com. There’s some pics of an M4 being thrown about 20 feet in the air. The SPOT survived the drop, whereas the drop shattered a buffer tube and a MagPul grip. Mounting Solutions has the SPOT and cantilever mount for $149. I’d say plenty adequate for a plinker.

BTW, I saw this bad boy by IOR Valdada at CCA this weekend. It is slick! It can function as a CQB optic and as a midrange scope.

Are up over at Inside Larry’s Head.

Seriously:

Poll: Concerns Shift From Economy to War

Economic worries have decreased over the last six months as the American public has shifted its concern more to the war in
Iraq and problems faced by political leaders, AP-Ipsos polling found.

The economy has been showing signs of strength in recent months. But the violence in Iraq has continued, before and after the latest round of elections in mid-December. And high-profile politicians in this country have been ensnared by scandal.

I guess we can’t come out and say something like The economy is improving.

But this quiz says I am. Of course, the framing of the questions/answers doesn’t really reflect my point of view accurately. Via AC.

Condi Rice again says she’s not going to run for president.

The Pro-Gun Progressive notes that shall-issue CCW is being introduced in the house in Maryland. He’s asking pro-gunners to show up and support the measure. Maryland has may issue (i.e., if you’re a politico or in cushy with one, you can pack heat). As packing.org states:

In MD it is almost impossible for a non-resident to get a permit. For that matter most MD residents can’t either.

Dan McKown, the CCW permit holder who confronted the Tacoma mall shooter and was shot, has walked out of the hospital despite worries he would suffer from paraplegia. Xavier and Mr. Completely have the skinny. On the way out, he said:

At least you know I have a backbone

Yes, we do.