At Tennessee Deer Talk:

Dear Governor Bredesen,

Many of the hunters in Tennessee, including but not limited to the hunters who have signed this petition, have lost confidence that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission is acting in the best interest of hunters in Tennessee.

The many recent scandals in Tennessee state government, including the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Tennessee Waltz investigation, dead citizens voting in state elections, among others have damaged the confidence of many Tennessee voters. The recent controversary over the attempted closing of Lock 5 has caused the hunters in Tennessee to loose faith in the TWRC who are supposed to be representing the interest of hunters.

Having a professional lobbyist on the TWRC in itself gives the appearance of impropriety but the recent actions by Mr. Hensley in the closing of Lock 5 at the request of a fellow lobbyist and land owner, Mr. McMahan, has a strong appearance of impropriety. The original decision to close Lock 5 and the way the it was done sets a dangerous precedent, and the way the issue was handled by the TWRC raises greater concerns that the commissioners are not representing the interests of the more than 200,000 Tennessee hunters.

Blake’s video blog for yesterday. I love the closing tune.

This is neat. Finches in the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin did a bunch of his initial research, are evolving fast enough that we can see it happen.

A medium sized species of Darwin’s finch has evolved a smaller beak to take advantage of different seeds just two decades after the arrival of a larger rival for its original food source.

Snakes on a Plame.

Bad, Commissar, no biscuit.

Looks like it:

Lebanon Launches Retaliatory Assault on Israel. Another headline also says Hezbollah Rockets Strike Towns Across Northern Israel. No link yet. The shit has hit the fan.

The Washington Post:

WE DON’T expect common-sense gun laws from this Congress, but a couple of House-passed riders to the Justice Department’s 2007 budget are especially noxious — and ripe for Senate repair.

One bars enforcement of a law that requires trigger locks to be sold with all new handguns. The other restricts law enforcement officials’ access to gun-tracking information collected by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The Senate Appropriations Committee, scheduled to consider the budget tomorrow, should keep both measures out.

I know of no handgun that I’ve bought in the last several years that did not come with trigger locks. But continuing:

Congress approved the trigger-lock mandate last October. Not only was it a good idea, but it was also part of a broader compromise on the Hill: The Senate added the measure to a bill that limited gunmakers’ legal liability. Yet Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) argued last month, “Responsible and law-abiding gun owners do not need the government to tell them to be safe.”

The problem is that there are plenty of irresponsible gun owners. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year that 1.7 million American children live with unlocked, loaded guns in the house. In a study released in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in May, 39 percent of children knew where their parents kept their guns, and 22 percent claimed that they handled them, even though their parents claimed they didn’t. Studies have indicated that programs such as the National Rifle Association’s Eddie Eagle program, which trains children not to play with their parents’ guns, don’t work.

You guys have a cite for that because I’d love to see it. I looked and couldn’t find any such study. I did find reference to the Journal of Emergency Nursing Online calling it effective and that the National Center for Health Statistics fatal firearms accidents in the Eddie Eagle age group have been reduced more than two thirds since the program’s inception. And that the program has been honored or endorsed by groups such as the National Safety Council, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Department of Justice, and bipartisan support from 24 state governors. Finally, the mere fact that 24,000 schoolteachers and law enforcement officers have taught the program to 15 million children verifies the popularity of the program with those who deal with child safety issues every day.

Trigger locks won’t save all of the children who, without the law, will die of accidental gunshot wounds (as 151 did in 2003, according to the CDC). Not all gun owners will use them. But locks would make it a lot easier for gun owners to be safe, just as seat belts made it easier for drivers to protect themselves.

Mandating trigger locks is largely pointless. People who are not responsible will not use them even if they come with the gun. Period. More:

But the budget that passed the House last month goes beyond blocking public disclosure; the rider would keep gun-tracing information from local police unless it’s for a specific criminal case. Even then, they couldn’t share it with neighboring authorities — a provision that would seriously hamper tracking and interdiction of illegal guns. If D.C. police used ATF tracing data to find that a large number of guns used in homicides came from one shop in Maryland, District police couldn’t share that information with Maryland law enforcement agents.

And that’s to prevent bogus lawsuits. If there is a specific crime, tracing is still allowed. That is as it should be. Wholesale tracing serves no real purpose that I can determine.

The House also wants to render federal gun-tracing information inadmissible in civil court, hindering legal action against irresponsible gun distributors. New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s office, which is trying to sue some of these “rogue” gun sellers, claims that civil litigation is an essential tool to fight interstate gun trafficking. Given that in 2000 1.2 percent of gun dealers sold 57 percent of the guns used in crimes, the mayor has a point.

Scare quotes around rogue? That’s because the only person who has broken the law in Bloomberg’s investigations are the City of New York and its agents who illegally purchased weapons from otherwise lawful dealers. There’s been no evidence the dealers broke the law but plenty of evidence to state that NY’s investigators did.

Since Blount County won’t put their sample ballot online, R. Neal has typed one up.

Triggerfinger has it:

THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION PROTECTS AN INDIVIDUAL’S RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS, EVEN WHILE NOT ENGAGED IN STATE SERVICE.

Justice Story argued that “[t]he right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic.” 3 Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, p. 746 (1833). An examination of the Second Amendment’s history, text, and structure, separately and within the context of the Constitution as a whole, confirms “that it protects the right of individuals, including those not then actually a member of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately possess and bear their own firearms, such as [an ordinary] pistol . . . that are suitable as personal, individual weapons and are not of the general kind or type excluded by Miller.” United States v. Emerson, 270 F.3d 203, 260 (5th Cir. 2001) (citing United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939)).

For more on Triggerfinger’s excellent coverage of the suit, click here.

Tom Coburn has an idea to put pork spending online. Good idea. Unsurprisingly, his colleagues are generally opposed to the idea of accountability. He’s making the rounds talking about it.

Caught him on the local talk radio this morning. He endorsed Ed Bryant. When pressed, he said he and Bryant were roommates in college.

Update: In comments, JB clarifies that:

Bryant and Coburn weren’t roommates in college, it was when they were in the House together. Bryant lived with Coburn and six other Congressmen in a Capitol Hill rowhouse to save money.

Seems another has occured where police lob gas to get a suspect who is holed up out and a fire breaks out:

Coeur d’Alene police found the body of a California man Wednesday morning inside a burning home that officers had cordoned off during an overnight standoff with an armed man wanted for questioning for a recent stabbing.

…

Several rounds of CS gas were fired into the house which subsequently caught fire shortly after 2 AM Wednesday.

Full auto shotgun.

Full auto handguns.

I’ll take almost anyone but John McCain and Rudy Giuliani for the win, Alex.

alandp has the scoop. Should be a shoo-in.

So, night before last at about 9:30 I sit down to watch Deadwood on the TiVo (anyone know what Dan was rubbing on his body before the fight?) when the doorbell rang. The dog starts barking. I quiet the dog. I grabbed the Glock 30 and headed to answer the door. I made no effort to hide said Glock on my person and merely kept it behind the door as I opened it. Anytime your doorbell rings at an odd hour and you’re not expecting anyone, you should answer the door with a weapon. I open the door. There’s an Orkin man standing there. He starts his speech about how houses in the neighborhood are going in on group rates and I cut him off.

I say to him Dude, it’s 9:30 at night. I just put my kids to bed and here you are ring my doorbell. You’ve riled up my dog. What is your problem? Do you always knock on people’s doors this late?

He starts with some sort of explanation and continues his sales pitch.

I say Stop now and leave. I’m not interested.

He says I’ll come back at another time.

I say You will not come back. Leave now.

Yes, this man knocked on my door at an odd hour to solicit a sale. Not to say there’s an emergency, call the police. Or my car broke down, can I use a phone or will you jump start my car. All of which, I’d have been happy to do. You never knock on people’s doors at odd hours unless 1) they know you’re coming or 2) you’re in need of help. Period. Idiot.

And, no, at no point did I threaten him with a weapon nor did I even make him aware that I had it.

This is pretty lame:

Working as an office manager in a career services office and hearing the warnings surrounding social networking sites, the mother knew her son could potentially have a problem. The son had created his Facebook.com profile when he was 18. Now 20, he had accumulated a good amount of material—typical college musings and photos—that his friends might enjoy but others might view differently.

The son was beginning a search for an internship, so she asked him to consider limiting access to his profile to just his friends. Understanding the gravity of the situation, he heeded his mother’s advice and did so.

Shortly after, he got the call he had been waiting for. A state agency wanted to interview him for an internship. He prepared for the interview and reviewed the types of questions that could be asked. He was ready, as ready as he could be.

But, during the interview, something he was not prepared for happened. The interviewer began asking specific questions about the content on his Facebook.com listing and the situation became very awkward and uncomfortable. The son had thought only those he allowed to access his profile would be able to do so. But, the interviewer explained that as a state agency, recruiters accessed his Facebook account under the auspices of the Patriot Act.

Well, I’m inclined to think the interviewer is full of it and used Google Cache or some such. At least, I hope so.

Packing.org has posted a judgment in Georgia where the court ruled a person can get a Georgia Firearms License without giving a social security number.

David Codrea:

The Mare’s Leg…was highly illegal by federal standards and required special agents on the set while being used.

While it is illegal to turn a rifle into a handgun as done by Randall it is not illegal to produce such a firearm as a handgun original.

See some Mare’s legs here. Another of those damn loopholes. Only this one is created by a bureaucracy.

First, DC with the most restrictive gun laws in the nation declares a crime emergency. Then NYC with the third most restrictive gun laws, comes a push for more:

These are basically some of the same bills first proposed by Mayor Bloomberg. The laws will almost surely pass, giving New York City some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, but most of illegal guns in the city come from elsewhere so there’s some doubt as to whether these new laws will change anything.

Well, it’s not working now. Obviously, you’re just not doing it hard enough. Meanwhile, the pro-gun bogeyman state of Florida isn’t experiencing such an increase.

Because I Can:

The state legislature first says you can’t practice without getting a license, which of course is provided by the state and not an independent party. But the license isn’t free. You have to pay annually or semi-annually to keep it. But not only do you have to pay for your license, you have to pay an annual tax on it. Essentially the legislature found out that they had a list of people that are hostage to them because they work in their chosen profession at the discretion of the state. So they decided to pick their pockets for an extra little something. They make you get a license, then they make you pay tax on the license to keep it.

I’ve bitched about it before. Seems I don’t have a right to work.

Via AC.

Heh:

There are three books in all and each is worth the effort: Point of Impact, Black Light, and Time to Hunt. I’m reading additional novels he has penned. If you get a chance, I would read them before Hollywood ass-fucks them.

Bill, on the overturning of Tennessee’s illegal drug tax, notes:

Although a judge has ruled that the Tennessee law requiring drug dealers to pay state taxes on their cocaine, marijuana and other illicit drugs is unconstitutional, the state says it will continue to collect the tax because the ruling applies only to one individual alleged drug dealer, and not statewide.

B-Ho seems to not like the idea of the tax. Odd, since back in 2004, he defended the ridiculous law.

Update: Bill clarifies in comments.

I’ve covered the Tennessee tax stamp on illegal drugs for a while. Via the five people who emailed this to me this morning, comes the Tennessean:

A Tennessee judge has ruled that a state law requiring drug dealers to pay taxes on their cocaine, marijuana and other illicit drugs is unconstitutional.

The ruling by Davidson County Chancellor Richard Dinkins bars the state from collecting $1.1 million from Jeremy Robbins, an East Tennessee man who was arrested on federal drug conspiracy charges and ordered to pay taxes on marijuana he is accused of illegally possessing.

But it could potentially cost the state much more if the decision is upheld by higher courts and interpreted as applying to the entire state.

Good. It was a stupid idea and now it’s just stupider. The purpose of the tax was to provide a means for law enforcement to enhance its coffers and this law allowed that by making it a tax issue. It also had the added benefit of completely disregarding due process of law before seizing assets. Sadly:

Last night, state officials said they would continue to enforce the tax, which has brought more than $2.7 million into state coffers since it went into effect in January 2005.

“They’re just turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the opinion,” said James A. H. Bell, one of the Knoxville lawyers who brought the case on behalf of Robbins. He described the state’s attitude as “cavalier.”

The chancellor’s decision, handed down Monday, applies only to Robbins and, in any case, the state plans to appeal, said Sharon Curtis-Flair, spokeswoman for the state attorney general’s office.

If it’s unconstitutional, why does it apply only in one case? And this bit is scary:

Since 2005, state Department of Revenue officials have assessed $51 million in drug taxes owed, with the vast majority of the money going uncollected.

Very few people have actually bought the stamps. During the law’s first year, taxpayers spent $1,492 in stamps for illegal drugs.

That’s a lot of money. And people didn’t buy the stamps because 1) it’s fucking stupid and 2) the state made it unnecessarily difficult to do.

The court agreed with SayUncle’s due process findings:

“The court concludes that the manner in which the tax is assessed deprives taxpayers of due process and, to that extent, the statute is unconstitutional on its face,” the chancellor wrote.

He also found that levying the tax and charging someone with a crime was equivalent to double jeopardy because it punished the dealer twice for the same crime.

“(The) statute violates the double jeopardy provisions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and … the Tennessee Constitution to the extent it may be employed against a dealer otherwise subject to state prosecution relating to the unauthorized substances subject to the tax proceeding.”

SayUncle: Like the courts, only faster.

Update: In comments, Xrlq says not so fast. Read it.

Popular Mechanics has a piece (with scary photos) on NYPD’s terrorism unit. Key quote:

“The response we usually get is, ‘Holy s—!'” Nieves says. “That’s the reaction we want. We are in the business of scaring people–we just want to scare the right people.”

Well, you’re not going to scare me as long as members of your crew put their Aimpoint Comp red dot sights on backwards (which they’ve been known to do):

A few years back:

Seventeen Stratford High School students are suing the city of Goose Creek and the Berkeley County school district in federal court, alleging police and school officials terrorized them in a drug raid last month.

In the raid, which was caught on tape leaked to the press, students were threatened and handcuffed. No drugs were found. Now, Pete reports:

The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that a federal court has approved a landmark settlement in its lawsuit challenging police tactics in the high-profile drug raid of Stratford High School in Goose Creek, South Carolina. The settlement includes a consent decree that sets a new standard for students’ rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

Absent a warrant, police will now need either to have probable cause and pressing circumstances or voluntary consent in order to conduct law enforcement activity on school grounds – effectively granting Goose Creek students the essential privacy rights enjoyed by all Americans.

“Goose Creek students now have a unique place in our nation,” said Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU’s Drug Law Reform Project. “They are the only students in the nation who have complete protection of their Fourth Amendment rights of search and seizure.”

That last part is kind of sad with them being the only ones. I mean probable cause or a warrant, who’d have thunk it?

So, DC, how’s that gun ban working for you:

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey reacted yesterday to a recent surge in homicides by declaring a “crime emergency,” a move that gives him the freedom to quickly adjust officers’ schedules and restrict their days off.

Thirteen people have been killed since July 1 in the District, and police are being pressured to take action by residents at community meetings and vigils to honor the dead. The victims included a popular store owner slain at closing time, a community activist killed in a park and a British citizen whose throat was slit in Georgetown.

And in Florida, which is the Brady Campaign’s idea of a gun-crazy state, how are things:

Well, the Palm Beach Post reports that Florida’s crime rates have fallen to the lowest level since 1971. “A telephone message left for comment after hours with the The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C. was not immediately returned.”

I asked if there were any libertarian candidates in the Senate race. AC says:

No, I don’t believe so. The announced candidates are:

Ed Choate
David Gatchell
Emory “Bo” Heyward
Gary Keplinger
Chris Lugo

Gary G. Davis (D)
Harold Ford, Jr. (D)
John Jay Hooker (D)
Charles E. Smith (D)
Al Strauss (D)

Ed Bryant (R)
Bob Corker (R)
Tate Harrison (R)
Van Hilleary (R)

I kinda dig this David Gatchell:

In August, 2005 I legally changed my middle name to “None Of The Above”. [View the court order]

The State Election Commission is refusing to place my complete name on the Governor and U.S. Senator ballots for the November, 2006 elections. They insist on listing me incorrectly as ‘David Gatchell’ instead of by my preferred full legal name David “None Of The Above” Gatchell.

This obstruction comes despite the fact that they have seen fit to OK the three-part names Carl “Twofeathers” Whitaker and Walt “Combat” Ward. (Among numerous others across the state.) And, to my knowledge, “Twofeathers” and “Combat” are not even legal names, but rather nicknames.

I’m taking the State to court in an effort to correct this. Their side will be argued by the Attorney General’s office.

Why am I being singled out?

Heh.

The AFP:

The Pentagon pledged to respect the rights of “war on terror” suspects, as the US Senate began looking into new ways to prosecute detainees at its Guantanamo Bay detention center.

In a memo, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England instructed US military leadership “to promptly review all relevant directives, regulations, policies, practices and procedures under your purview to ensure that they comply with the standards of Common Article Three” of the Geneva Conventions.

“You will ensure that all DoD (Department of Defense) personnel adhere to these standards,” said the memo, dated July 7 and made public Tuesday.

The Pentagon announcement appeared to be a reversal of the George W. Bush administration’s long-held stance that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to Taliban, al-Qaeda and other combatants targeted in the US-led “war on terror.”

The unexpected shift, as well as Tuesday’s Senate hearings, were prompted by a Supreme Court ruling late last month rejecting the Bush administration’s plans to impanel special military tribunals to try the terror suspects.

The high court ruled that such panels were a violation of international and domestic law.

The court ruled on international law?

I’m often critical of the use of the term loophole because, well, when used it doesn’t usually refer to a loophole. So, I found this highly amusing:

Senate Approves Loophole For Importing Canadian Drugs

Heh. Now, loopholes are approved by lawmakers.

There’s a new one at The County Seat.

A ranger is catching some flak for carrying an AR-15:

Lisa Schutzberger pulled one on a wanted felon holed up at a campsite in Oregon. She slung another over her shoulder before confronting a mob of unruly paint-ballers in Idaho.

Now, as one of only two rangers in charge of maintaining law and order on the 4.3 million acres in the Bureau of Land Management’s Twin Falls district, Schutzberger said she is glad the BLM issues her a weapon — a highly accurate semiautomatic AR-15 rifle.

The agency began outfitting rangers with the semiautomatic rifles a few years ago. Rangers, the agency said, are no different from police officers; they just patrol a much larger beat.

[snip]

Some in southern Idaho, however, have begun questioning why bureau rangers need the AR-15 rifles after Schutzberger’s gun went missing in May.

Now, I have zero issue with arming the police with rifles. I take issue with her intimidating paint-ballers with it and, of course, with the fact that she lost the gun.