They already exist, of course. Toy guns that look realistic are usually required to have orange paint on the tip. It’s easily removed and some folks do that. If I were a particularly bastardish mugger, I might paint my real gun’s barrel tip orange. Head notes a push to make it illegal to remove the orange paint from toy guns. In light of recent events, I suppose this was inevitable. The killing of the eighth grader who went to school with a toy gun is tragic.

Jeff highlights that a the worldwide gun control debate is happening.

Via Jeff, comes this:

There’s an obvious thread here that members of Congress choose not to see: The all-too-free flow of handguns, a warped way of life that cows presidents and members of Congress who ought to recognize that the availability of handguns is murderous. The problem is that Americans own 65 million handguns and the only effective safety measure would be a ban on these made-for-murder weapons. As writer Jenny Price noted in a Dec. 25 op-ed in The Post, only 160 of the 12,000 guns used to kill people every year are employed in legitimate self-defense; guns in the home are used seven times more often for homicide than for self-defense.

Two fabrications in one paragraph. The number is more like 700,000. I think Ms. Price only thinks legitimate self-defense involves killing someone.

First, in an update to this, Michele emails me to let me know that she thinks those emails came from another site and apologized. Cool. Thanks. She also provides some perspective on why she’s supportive of the bill as written.

And _Jon don’t feel bad about creating conflict. That’s why some bloggers blog to begin with. No need to feel bad for me, I’m pretty think-skinned and actually enjoyed the exchange with Michele. She’s a smart person and it’s fun to discuss stuff with her.

Tim Lambert, sporting new blog digs, reports that Scripps Howard News Service has severed its relationship with Michael Fumento for not disclosing he received payments from an agribusiness firm. I guess Marmaduke is in the lead now.

It doesn’t look like he personally benefited but the appearance of impropriety is there.

Update: Yes, he benefited but that’s because the grant paid his salary. Doesn’t look as though he personally received a big chunk of change.

David makes one:

A Second Amendment case will be heard by the Supreme Court in the next few years, and it will confirm an individual right. However, the ruling will be so narrow that it will not override state interest claims. It will not require a strict scrutiny standard, but rather an intermediate one. And it will certainly not overturn “assault weapon” bans, open the door for viable challenges to permitting schemes, or declare registration mandates, background checks, and similar prior restraints unconstitutional infringements.

In short, we will achieve a “status quo,” where the vast majority of “existing gun laws” are deemed enforceable and prosecutable, rather than repealable.

I’m not sure how affirmation of an individual right could not lead to successful challenges of various gun control measures. I would think such a ruling would open the door to repealing things like the DC gun ban, Chicago and New York’s heinous laws, and California’s and Massachusetts’ arbitrary laws regarding safety features.

That said, I’m sure some lawyers would be able to misconstrue it.

Got the newly repaired Walther P-22 to the range today and put about 250 rounds through it. Worked great. Kudos to Smith and Wesson for servicing it!

See, I’m not the only one who thinks Laurie Berkner is hot.

The Friday the 13th zombie edition of the Carnival of Cordite is up.

I mentioned that I had to send the Walther back to Smith and Wesson for repairs. I got it back today with a letter detailing the work they did (they replaced a spring and test fired it). They picked up the shipping, had it fixed and returned in less than two weeks. Now that is service! I applaud Smith and Wesson for taking good care of their customers.

And I’m happy to report they didn’t put a GPS tracking system in it.

Standard Mischief has some rules for blogging about laws:

OK, so I’d like to lay out some ground rules here. Whenever someone blogs about a law, a rule, regulation, a bill or an amendment, they should:

1.Cite the bill, (or whatever), number, AND the name of the bill, and,
2.Hyperlink to the text of the bill, and
3.Make a bona fide effort to count the approximate number of words in the bill, and,
4.(Optional) make fun of the excessive length of the bill/law/whatever.

Yeah, the are rather huge.

The Curious Relic is a blog that focuses on curios and relics.

CounterTop did his own gunsmithing. Soon, he’ll be ordering parts and gizmos and receivers. And one day he’ll realize he can build a complete gun just from parts laying around the garage.

In Mass, an idiot wants to put GPS or Lojack or some tracking technology into guns. Actually, the idiot sent a letter to Smith and Wesson and asked them to do that.

You’re asking yourself what the Hell is that? It’s a Fast Action Rifle that fires Nerf darts. Sweet. There’s video, pics and plans to make one. Must have. Via Justin.

You had me at Machine gun . . . no problem.

KDT spells out his views on which gun controls he finds appropriate:

Individual rights are always subject to infringement when the exercise thereof, taken to the extreme, may cause harm to the society at large. We are individuals, but we are also members of a society, and of a nation. When the collective welfare is threatened by an individual’s extreme exercise of their rights, the People have every reason to circumscribe that right.

I don’t know that I disagree with it.

Using this handy map making tool and info from Packing.org, I’ve created a map of states where folks with Tennessee Handgun Carry Permits can legally carry:

It appears we’re surrounded.

Map making link via Xrlq.

There are many reasons the City of Knoxville should go back to the drawing board with the proposed sale of the Candy Factory. There have been many problems with both process and participation.

The problems with process are many. First it is unknown how much money the City of Knoxville has spent maintaining and repairing the Candy Factory in the last twenty years. Much of the perceived need to sell the Candy Factory came from a report requested by the Public Building Authority of Knoxville back in November 2002.

The report was done by consulting firm John R. Wright. This report is very difficult to de-cipher because it depends on the subjective interpretation of City codes. In order to interpret the codes you would first need to know how the building would be used. The bottom line for repairs to the building was listed as 3.2 million dollars in the John R. Wright Conceptual report. The actual needed repairs may be less than 1 million dollars.

One problem is that there is no correlation to the page that lists the repair costs and the pages that describe the code problems. The key to the entire report is the heading “Conceptual”. This report means whatever you want it to mean. City Council should have required a new comprehensive study from a different firm before considering the sale of a valued public asset. This dated report was a poor foundation for City Council to make a decision with.

The second problem with process was a cost savings estimate requested by the City from the PBA. This cost savings estimate stated that the City would save ten million dollars over ten years if it sold the Candy Factory to Kinsey Probasco/Cardinal Construction. The math behind this estimate was tortured. It took the inflated and very subjective 3.2 million dollar repair cost from the 2002 John R. Wright report from the PBA and added to it ten years of annual operating costs of $200,000 per year. Then the PBA added the net present value of the proposed sales price of 1.8 million dollars. Somehow the PBA claimed this added up to ten million dollars. No accounting standard allows for the sale of an asset to be included in a cost savings estimate much less using the net present value of the sales price. This was a deception and misrepresentation.

The third problem with the process was the continued use of the deceptive cost savings estimate by Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and his Department of Policy Development Bill Lyons.

The fourth problem with process was how the Amphitheater was dropped from consideration even thought this was supposed to be a comprehensive World’s Fair Park proposal.

The fifth problem with process was when the Sunsphere was moved to another phase of the process. This has been touted as good management. What guarantee is there that the Sunsphere will be saved? What started as a comprehensive plan for the World’s Fair Park is now about selling the Candy Factory and the seven Victorian houses.

Kinsey Probasco still owes millions of dollars of investment from the Market Square project. Supposedly there were guarantees with the Market Square re-development plan also, but where are the condos for the Market Square garage? How can the City be confident the Sunsphere will be repaired and open to the public? Fool the public once, shame on you, fool the public twice and it is time for new representatives.

The first problem with participation was the only workshop in City Council where the public was allowed to explain to City Council the importance of the Candy Factory as a “public civic center” for all of Knoxville and Knox County. Bill Lyons countered that the Arts groups had been moved to the Emporium and everyone was happy. Citizens tried to explain that many non-arts groups relied on the Candy Factory and that a twenty year civic contract had been formed by the use of the building as a meeting place. Over 168 groups had used the Candy Factory in the six months between July ’04 and January ’05. Lyons countered again saying that all groups he had contacted had found new meeting spaces. When the vote was held in City Council it was a 6-3 approval.

The second problem with participation was the meeting at KCDC where only two commissioners and the new KCDC Vice-President were in attendance to listen to the viewpoints of the public. Since the Vice-President cannot vote only two voting commissioners were in attendance. Even though 13 people spoke Bill Lyons was quoted as saying, “We didn’t hear anything at the hearing that we haven’t heard before”. The next morning the KCDC board voted unanimously to approve the sale of the Candy Factory. You cannot hear if you do not listen. Has there been real public participation in this process?

The vote for the final part of the Worlds Fair Park project comes Tuesday January 17, when City Council votes on the Tax Increment Financing (TIF). While it has been touted that the City will receive 1.8 million dollars for the Candy Factory the truth is that the City and County will pay $600,000 to Kinsey Probasco/Cardinal Construction to take the Candy Factory off the City’s hands. The combined City and County TIF is 2.4 million dollars. The result is a net payout to take ownership of the building.

The major legal concern many people have over the proposed TIF is a “reduction” of the term “blighted”. People that live in the Parkridge and the Fourth and Gill area understand that any precedent which reduces the standard of the term “blighted” could affect their ability to keep their home if the City decides it is not maintained to the City’s liking. Some City defenders say this will not matter because the Candy Factory is a City asset. Don’t gamble your future on that premise. This is a serious issue. The Candy Factory is not blighted. How can City Council vote to approve the TIF if doing so means accepting a falsehood?

This was sold to the public as a comprehensive World’s Fair Park project. It is no longer comprehensive nor is it in the best interest of the people. City Council needs to show it will not be manipulated by dated reports and deceptive cost savings. City Council must not establish a dangerous precedent just to satisfy the political needs of a few people.

Jay is showing off some 1911s.

In a humor follow up, the joke I helped continue here has had its heritage researched here and here.

Chris highlights what is sure to be the next big test case for post-Kelo eminent domain proceedings:

Note here that from the description, it sounds like there may not be much actual “blight”. Instead, it seems “deteriorating” here actually means that a progressive number of households were simply swayed to sell-out to the developer.

It’s not actually blighted but it will be. Just like everything will someday be historic (unless you tear it down and rebuild regularly), eventually everything deteriorates. Seems like they may grease the wheels so that everything can be taken. For your own good, of course. And I’m not certain that it’s deteriorated just because some people have sold out.

Experts say for self-defense, nothing beats a gun:

This is one, hopefully, no one will have to observe. But January is (along with Quality of Life Month, Wealth Mentality Month, Be On-Purpose Month, and Get Organized Month) Self-Defense Awareness Month.

The event is sponsored by the National Self-Defense Institute to promote their SAFE (Self-Defense Awareness and Familiarization Exchange) program. The program has a two-fold purpose: To prevent crimes of sexual violence through programs of education and training, focusing primarily on awareness and prevention; and to educate women about realistic options that will help them avoid, escape, and survive assaults if they do occur.

Not much elaboration on why guns are best but I was unaware this was Self-Defense Awareness Month.

I’m placing the order this afternoon for the $10.99 9mm AR-15 mags. If you’re interested, let me know.

Thanks for the well wishes regarding the interview. They seemed to have worked. It went very well and I fully expect a call back from them. If all goes as planned, I can start buying guns again since I have a couple of projects on hold.

Seen at Alphie’s:

“I don’t think it’s appropriate or useful to look to foreign law in interpreting the provisions of our Constitution,” Judge Alito said in response to questions from Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, in the third day of the judge’s confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I think the Framers would be stunned by the idea that the Bill of Rights is to be interpreted by taking a poll of the countries of the world,”

Ayup.

Egregious Charles on the annoying bill:

The thing is, 47 USC 223(h)(1)(B) excludes ‘interactive computer service’ as defined by 47 USC 230(f)(2), which pretty much seems to cover comments.

Basically it appears that it makes telephone harrassment cover VOIP.

And possibly email, depending on how TPTB interpret it.

Dirtcrashr has a handy list of gun blogs.

To Xrlq on another child, thought that’s a strange way to announce it.

I’ve covered Anthony Diotaiuto before. He’s a casualty in the war on drugs. In a pre-dawn raid, he took 10 rounds to the chest for less than one ounce of marijuana. Now, the police act as if they’ve got something to hide:

Attorney William Scherer III wrote in Tuesday’s lawsuit that the city of Sunrise illegally denied parts of the family’s first public records requests and ignored three subsequent requests. Attorneys for the family sought police department documents ranging from SWAT policies and training manuals to tactical notes and documents on the raid itself.

City attorneys responded that most of the items requested were not public because the information is part of a current investigation or it would reveal police secrets, according to the lawsuit.

City and police officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Michele has more on the bill that bans annoyance on the internet (i.e., it doesn’t). She notes that the bill was taken out of context and that the version being quoted is an older (by two years) version of the bill. In short, the news source screwed the pooch and we bloggers ran with it.

I still disagree that the purpose of the language quoted was to deal with cyberstalking. I think it was to apply the same rules as standard phones to internet telephone. Of course, that may be what congress thinks cyberstalking is.

Additionally, she didn’t have a very happy SayUncle experience. She writes:

So what do you think happened when this itty bitty blogger tried to correct the record and point out the erroneous information? Well, lets just say I got some less than civil guests that wound up in my inbox, and I’ve spent close to an hour getting rid of them. Thank God for delete buttons. Unfortunately, contrary to their misguided belief, there’s not a darned thing I can do about that. Nope, according to the legislation their has to be at minimum, “substantial harassment”, at the maximum there has to be a level of consistent threat “to kill, injure, harass, or place under surveillance with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person in another State”.

Sorry you had a bad experience but odds are that the emails you got didn’t come from a reader here. See, the comments section here (as a favor to commenters) doesn’t display email addresses. I gave her page a quick glance (including searching the code for a mailto tag) and found no email contact info there. And commenters here, though direct and sometimes smarmy, are usually quite civil. That’s something I’m rather proud of, actually. I don’t think they’d send you nasty emails even if they had access to your email address, which they don’t. I doubt those emails were the result of a comment left here. As such, I find the accusation baseless.

That said, if any of you guys did send her nasty emails, that’s not nice.