Washington Ceasefire (an anti gun group) president Ralph Fascitelli has an opinion piece in the Seattle Times that blames the lack of gun control for the death of some kids at a rave. He says:

…last month our own Columbine event happened on Capitol Hill. In both cases, a deranged loner or two with an affinity for assault weapons carried out a horrific massacre of innocent children and adults.

Nevermind that Huff didn’t use what these folks consider an assault weapon to commit his crime. His affinity for them is clearly to blame. More:

Nobody is claiming that better gun-control laws could have prevented the Capitol Hill shootings. The issue is more complicated than that. It’s a deadly cocktail of easy access to powerful firearms and a societal paranoia that all too often leads to gun violence. Too many people feel they need a gun to protect themselves at home when, in fact, gun ownership raises the risk of gun violence.

Anyone with a brain knows that by better you merely mean more. And have you read your organizations own webpage, which calls for more? Gun ownership does not increase the risk of gun violence. There are countries with fewer gun owners than the US that have more gun crime and countries with more gun owners that have less.

The NRA is a body mostly of white men who live outside urban centers

Race card? Culture war card? You tell me.

[The NRA’s] stubborn solidarity has led to the repeal of the ban on deadly assault weapons and a flood of gun shows and private arms sales that allow criminals and terrorists easy access to military weapons whose primary purpose is to kill people.

These two lies are repeated often. The ban was not repealed. It had a sunset provision and was not renewed. And every weapon is designed to kill and what this guy considers an assault weapon is no more likely to kill than a hunting rifle. And the ban did not affect military weapons, which have been regulated since 1934 and banned since 1986. It affected weapons that looked like military weapons.

The options include stricter measures on gun shows and private arms sales, an ad campaign to build awareness on gun safety, mandatory trigger locks to prevent accidental shootings, and marked bullets so we can trace criminals to weapons. In short, a comprehensive joint program to address this deadly problem.

Isn’t that a list of things that you said would not have prevented this incident?

With an antiquated camcorder and a child on the way, we’re looking at digital camcorders. Some thing that records to DVD and don’t want tapes or anything like that. Any recommendations?

Update: Based on comments, it seems MiniDV is the way to go. And Panasonic seems to get high marks.

Reuters:

A 76-year-old man claiming to be a doctor went door-to-door in a Florida neighborhood offering free breast exams, and was charged with sexually assaulting two women who accepted the offer, police said on Thursday.

I’m amazed that some women fell for that.

One woman became suspicious after the man asked her to remove all her clothes and began conducting a purported genital exam without donning rubber gloves, investigators said.

That’s when you became suspicious?

My brain is turning to mush. It’s true. If you don’t have exposure to an activity that requires attention, you sort of lose focus. At home with Junior, I spend my day watching Noggin’ and having great philosophical discussions that consist of:

So, during the day the only thing remotely mentally stimulating is surfing Al Gore’s Internets. Because of this lack of mental stimulation, I’ve even gone on some job interviews for jobs I’m not really interested in just to interact with the occasional adult other than my wife. I think this mental mushiness from lack of adult interaction is common. After all how many times do you hear of some business sort who retires only to go insane or die shortly thereafter? I think the reason is they lack a challenge.

Also, recruiters and headhunters are almost completely useless human beings. Of the several interviews I’ve been on, only one was arranged by a headhunter. And these recruiting firms make shit up. They post jobs they don’t have in an effort to get you to send them your résumé. I’ve even confirmed this with a headhunter friend of mine. I have basically written off one local firm because they have nothing but made up jobs. Seriously. I contact a local firm and tell them I saw a particular ad they had in the paper and express my interest. Should be no problem setting me up since they have my info. But they don’t have a job. I ask about the ad and they tell me it’s already been filled. Really? You filled it in 20 fucking minutes? I should have figured that out since they probably wouldn’t run ads if they already have candidates who were qualified.

Also, a special note to headhunters: When I send you my résumé, that’s what you should work with (and maybe a list of references). Do not call me into your office when you have my résumé and ask me to waste a couple of hours (counting driving time) filling out your proprietary paperwork that is a complete duplicate of information that is already contained on my résumé. Don’t ask me to take some proficiency exam either, particularly when said proficiency exam is targeted towards, say, a clerk and I’m there on the premise that you have a director level, upper management job. Then, don’t act all surprised and patronizing when I score in the 99th percentile on said exam. Of course, a CPA is going to score high on an exam that targets clerks. And why are you asking me to fill out tax info when you don’t have a job for me.

I’ve even had a couple that have called me in on the pretense that they have a job I may be interested in and they want to discuss it with me. So, I arrange babysitting, put on a monkey suit, drive the 40 minutes to their office, fill out their paperwork, take some stupid test, then finally meet the recruiter, who promptly implies (without actually coming out and saying) that they don’t have anything for me now but I’m on file while making vague references to jobs I know they don’t have orders for.

All of a sudden, TiVo thinks the Uncle family speaks Spanish. Seriously, its suggestions lately are from Spanish TeeVee.

Man, these things are shooting up all over. Reason Engaged is a brand spanking new gun blog.

Xavier says:

I challenge my readers who have their own blog and a camera to unholster their carry gun right now, snap a photo, and post it, linking to this page. Show the world that a gun does not have to be perfect to be beautiful!

Here’s the SigArms P229 in 9MM that I carry:

Here’s the Glock 30, that I usually carry more:

Blake reports:

Ophelia Ford’s election has been voided with a vote of 26-6. Just now at 4:14pm, Ford has dismissed herself from the Senate Chamber… graciously I might add.

Joe reports that Boomershoot has made the news. He notes:

… if you want the media to cover your event you need to write the story for them.

So the people of Knox County vote for term limits in 1994, the Tennessee Supreme Court rules this vote must be honored, and then five Knox County Commissioners sue to invalidate the Charter they have pledged to obey?

Why should anyone ever vote for these five people for any office? Diane Jordan, David Collins, Billy Tindell, Phil Guthe and John Griess have betrayed their office, the people of their district, and their oath by filing a lawsuit against the Knox County Charter they swore to obey. None of the 12 ineligible incumbents have suspended their campaigns even though two of them have claimed they have.

These are the ineligible incumbents. If elected they cannot serve because of term limits. Print this out and carry it with you.

Diane Jordan (D-1st District)
David Collins (R-2nd District)
Billy Tindell (R-2nd District)
Wanda Moody (R-3rd District)
John Schmid (R-4th District)
Phil Guthe (R-4th District)
John Griess (R-5th District)
Mark Cawood (D-6th District)
Mary Lou Horner (R-7th District)
Michael McMillan (R-8th District)
John Mills (R-8th District)
Larry Clark (R-9th District)

Take this list and request a write-in ballot. Vote for anyone except these 12 people.

Don’t let these ineligible incumbents ignore the will of the people. A vote for the ineligible incumbent is like mystery meat on a sandwich. You don’t know what you are getting. Since they don’t have the decency to obey the will of the people send them packing. Throw them out. Find a good write-in candidate to vote for. Or simply do not vote in this particular race. Do not reward these people. Vote for someone else or shun them.

I graduated high school in 1989. It what I can safely describe as a joke by the entirety of my graduating class or a twisted statement we smart-assed Gen Xers would make, our homecoming queen was pregnant. IIRC, she was quite visibly pregnant during the ceremony. Today, I realized that her child is probably driving, registering soon for selective service, a junior in high school, can enlist in the army, and can see R-Rated movies without an adult. Time sneaks up on you.

WATE:

A bill that puts a liquor by the drink vote on the table in Townsend soared through the state legislature Tuesday.

The bill is now waiting on Gov. Bredesen’s signature.

If Bredesen signs it, residents of Townsend can vote on the issue in the November election.

In 2005, a similar measure was taken to allow a liquor by the drink vote but the paperwork was not filed on time.

So, why exactly does the state have any say in a city matter?

Update: In comments, Scott says:

I don’t know the reasoning or origins, but the state of TN regulates liquor sales and local governments regulate beer (and other low alcohol drinks) sales.

Alrighty, then.

Interesting stuff from The Trainer. Notably:

The military needs 7.62 M14s so bad that it is buying them from Springfield Armory and buying back lots that were sold to other NATO countries.

I thought they had a ton of these mothballed somewhere.

I concur that this is the scientific equivalent of what happens after a Southerner says, “Hey, y’all, watch this!”.

Phelpsy Welpsy is back with new WordPress digs.

With the warmer weather, young men’s fancy turns to pocket guns.

My carry gun is generally a Glock 30. Sometimes, it’s a Sig P229. Both are fine pistols that function flawlessly. But, with the warm weather, they’re sometimes not practical. They can both be carried by me in my usual attire, which is typically shorts/pants and an untucked pull over shirt. However, the weather now dictates no jacket, so they’re hard to carry concealed when wearing what I’d consider business casual (khaki pants and a tucked button down shirt). I’m not one to wear the uber-tactical shoot me first vests so my thoughts have turned to pocket guns (AKA Mouseguns). That is to say, I want something that, when dressed for some sort of social outing that requires more than jeans and a T-Shirt, a pistol that I can stick in the pocket when I stop to get gas.

That said, I’ve narrowed my choices down to a small auto-loader or a snubby revolver. Notably, The KEL-TEC P-3AT or a S&W J-Frame. Both of these come highly recommended, it would seem. So, my quick and dirty death match of two things I do not own:

By a score of 4 to 4, I call it a tie. Convince me which one I should get.

In the comments, Tom of LeanLeft says this about gun shows:

I’ve long argued that gun rights activists ought to concede this one [background checks at gun shows – ed], since they lose virtually nothing as a result, and would be able to point to it as evidence that they are, in fact, willing to submit to common sense measures in deed as well as in word.

I don’t think this one should be conceded for a few reasons. Namely:

That said, being the incremental absolutist I am, if it’s trade they want, I’ll do that. I’ll trade it for either repeal of the sporting purposes language or the 1986 Hughes Amendment.

I’ve long felt, that as a byproduct of the supposed culture war, we’ve seen drastic differences between the big cities and rural areas. Bloomberg has decided to get a big group of big city mayors together to have a gun conference:

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will host a summit next week for about a dozen of their colleagues to discuss gun violence, a problem that has long frustrated big-city mayors.

Mayors from Dallas, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., and Seattle are among those scheduled to attend the meeting at Gracie Mansion, the historic Upper East Side house where Bloomberg holds official events.

Bloomberg, a Republican, has zeroed in on gun control as a priority for his second term, which began four months ago. Crime statistics show the number of shootings this year is slightly lower than last year, but high-profile gun deaths _ like that of a toddler killed by a stray bullet on Easter Sunday _ continue to hold a spotlight on the issue.

Jeff figures the strategy will include:

1) Suing gun stores across the country that legally sell guns.

2) Reviving the AWB.

3) Lobbying the governors of other states to enact the same gun-lack-of-rights that NY and NYC have.

4) Refusing (or making it damn near impossible) for law abiding citizens to obtain a CCW permit to protect themselves.

I think pretty much anything in the Brady Wish list is likely. Bruce says:

Not a “gang” summit, a “crack dealer” summit, a “carjacker” summit, or an “armed assailant of any kind” summit. It’s those pesky inanimate objects…again. Remember the big “car” summit that was held last year as the state legislature was exploring new ways to crack down on drunk driving in the Commonwealth?

A longtime reader and commenter has set up his own blog. Check out And a Thirty Aught Six.

That Chattanoogan has a piece on some legislation in Tennessee to address ED concerns.

Via Bitter, police have a 7 hour stand off when no one was home.

Blake notes how Naifeh keeps killing pro-gun bills potentially out of a conflict with some NRA types. He notes:

The only thing that’s going to help firearm owners in this state is a change of leadership in the House. This can only happen at the voting booth.

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

Which is hateful? Reprinting public information that was made public via press release for the purposes of publicity or calling someone a fucking slanty-eyed cunt and starting an email bomb campaign?

Update: Heh. Cliff notes version.

Yeah, you’re wondering why I haven’t blogged about my Buy a Gun Day purchases. Being unemployed means I can’t go buying guns willy-nilly. So, I’ll consider the 9mm AR my month early BAG purchase. Or I guess I could file an extension with the BAG agency and get one later.

Cowboy Blob rounds up other BAG purchases.

It’s a start. However, it’s not much of one. The headline states New Orleans police giving back weapons confiscated post-Katrina but that doesn’t really jive with the account. Looks like some guns are being returned after owners jump through various hoops. Some items:

A handful of people showed up Monday to try to get back guns confiscated by the New Orleans Police Department after Hurricane Katrina — and not many of those walked away with a weapon.

“They told me the police took them the first two weeks after the hurricane, after that it was the ATF,” said Charles Clark, 62, a retired law officer, who had an antique gun taken from his house after the Aug. 29 storm. “It’s very frustrating. I know we had a storm and all, but there should be a way to find out who has your property.”

Police, national guardsmen and military removed guns from houses during a search after the storm flooded the city, and they confiscated guns from some evacuees — leading to a lawsuit by gun-owner advocates including the National Rifle Association.

“Natural disasters may destroy great cities, but they do not destroy civil rights,” said Alan Gottlieb, founder of Second Amendment Foundation, which joined the NRA in the suit.

Chief Warren Riley denied on Monday that his officers indulged in mass confiscations after the hurricane.

“If we took a gun from you and you were walking down the street, you went to jail,” Riley said. “We took guns that were in homes. We took guns that were stolen that were stashed in alleyways. If we went into an abandoned house and a gun was there, absolutely we took the weapons. Obviously there were looters out there. We didn’t want some burglar or looter to have an opportunity to arm themselves.”

Actually, you guys taking guns from little old ladies was caught on tape. More:

About 700 weapons were made available to owners beginning on Monday.

Those seeking a weapon must bring either a bill of sale or an affidavit with the weapon’s serial number. Police also are running a criminal background check on anyone claiming a weapon.

“We were told 25 people went in to get their guns and eight left with their firearms,” Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Rifle Association, said Monday afternoon.

I have quite a few guns but I do not have a bill of sale for them. And I also don’t have a list of serial numbers (though I probably should make one). More:

Some found the guns were evidence in a crime and were not eligible for release. Others did not have the proper paperwork to get their guns. And for some the work of tracking down their weapons was just beginning.

Robert Evans, 40, was trying to get the Ruger P90, semiautomatic hand gun his wife surrendered to ATF agents at the New Orleans airport.

“The agent gave her a business card, but he never answers his phone,” Evans said.

And this quote sums it up:

“I won’t ever see that gun again believe me,” Taplet said. “It’s gone like everything else in that storm.”

Remember, at first authorities there denied the confiscations occured. Then later admitted to it when threatened with a lawsuit.

Update: Xavier has more.

Richard Gardiner:

The ATF tends to focus or has a significant focus on trivial, immaterial violations which are unrelated to public safety. And they impose unreasonable standards of perfection which are simply not humanly achievable.

Via Triggerfinger, who notes:

One of the big differences between the BATFE and other tax-and-regulate agencies is that the laws the BATFE is charged with enforcing bear some heavy penalties. It’s like going after people who pay their taxes late with rocket launchers and ignoring people who don’t pay at all.

The latest are up at CounterTop’s.

Deb discusses why Stare Decisis (Latin for Oops) is not always a great idea.

First, a side note: I was trying to find some info on candidates’ positions on gun control. So, I Googled their names plus the phrase gun control. One of the links that always showed up was the Brady Campaign’s press releases. Something that never showed up was the NRA’s press release nor did their grading of candidates. I’ve addressed Google’s anti-gun bias before but this was for their news service and not their search feature.

So, anyone know where I can find the NRA’s grades for political candidates?