I’ve always thought the gateway drug theory was a ludicrous argument against drugs. All that time, all those studies, all that handwringing, just to prove that kids who do drugs are more likely to do drugs than kids that don’t.

Drug War Rant’s take on the gateway issue is succinct and more to the point:

Here’s what we know for sure regarding the gateway theory:

1. Over 99% of those who never try marijuana will not become addicted to heroin.
2. Over 99% of those who do try marijuana will not become addicted to heroin.

So how was your July 4th? Mine pretty much looked like this:

More pics posted here.

The grand plans for a women’s shooting class got squelched when the teacher punked out on us. She promises to come in the fall. The encouraging part was that several women complained bitterly that the class was cancelled.

Mr. Ford, were you lying then or are you lying now?

Update: Perhaps in WATE’s interview, they can ask him to clarify.

So, someone is making threats to a blogger’s kids. Another case for anonymity on Al Gore’s Tubes of Internets.

I appreciate the sentiment but Google did not delist me due to any bias on their part. It’s because I sold subdomains to someone who set up a link farm. Should end soon unless they re-up their commitment.

Life without Google would be hard. It’s the top search engine and gmail is the best email package I’ve ever seen.

Seen at Les Jones’ place:

I wanted to give everyone an update on Johnia’s case.

I’ve spoken to the TBI and they are more than willing to step in and offer their assistance in the investigation – all they need is to be asked by the DA’s office. Mike and I met with Attorney General Randy Nichols on June 1st and spoke to him about this very issue. He got back to us 28 days later and told us that he would not ask the TBI for their help.

Now, 19 months after Johnia’s death, we are still no closer to solving her murder. So, in an attempt to keep my daughter’s case alive, I am planning a walk in Knoxville on Friday, July 14 to publicly ask Mr. Nichols to bring the TBI in to help with the case.

If you have time to offer your support, please join me from 5pm – 6:30pm in front of the Knoxville City County Building at 460 West Hill Avenue. I would greatly appreciate your help. (If you need directions, you’ll find them here.)

Thank you,
Joan Berry

Heh:

A gun stolen from a DC officer has been linked to two gang shootings and a robbery.

Perhaps this time D.C. will sue itself?

In Indiana, CCW permits are now for life:

Indiana is the first state in the nation to offer residents lifetime handgun permits under a new law that went into effect this month — a move hailed by Second Amendment supporters and blasted by gun-control advocates.

The law, which also increases the cost of obtaining or renewing a four-year license, went on the books Saturday. The change is expected to bring in more money to the state and the Indiana State Police.

State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell announced details of House Enrolled Act 1176 at a news conference Wednesday, saying the law will streamline the process to get a permit for law-abiding gun owners. His agency oversees the issuance of permits.

Residents do not need a permit to buy handguns or other firearms but must have one to carry or transport a pistol. State Police officials said Indiana has about 288,000 active handgun permits. Permits are good for four years, but now gun owners have the option of obtaining a lifetime permit instead.

Heh. People are also surpised when you want buy their used gun at the new price.

The stalker lives.

It’s a horrific incident but I had no idea this was a crime:

McElderry is charged with four counts each of statutory rape and criminal exposure to HIV..

You’d think rape would be enough.

This time, it’s Taxes and Spending.

Industry experts were stunned today when the South Park episode “Trapped in the Closet”, which satirized the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, was nominated for an Emmy. Most felt the Emmy nod would go to the episode “The Return of Chef” which was the follow up to “Trapped in the Closet”.

Some felt the nod should have gone to the episode “Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow”, which mocks the connections between recent hurricanes and global warming. And some felt that the touching “Manbearpig” which mocks Al Gore and his outspokenness about the danger of global warming was due consideration.

New York’s court of last resort has decided that marriage discrimination does not violate the state constitution. This is a shame, but not unexpected, and it leaves the issue in the hands of the elected officials.

Specifically, it will leave the issue in the hands of Elliot Spitzer, the favored candidate in the race for the governorship. He’s a solid Democrat and has said he will push for an end to marriage discrimination if he wins. As Attorney General, his record on the issue consists of just one decision: he stopped some New York mayors from following Gavin Newsom’s lead and handing out marriage licenses to gay couples.

Spitzer’s Republican opponent supports marriage discrimination, so this promises to become a campaign issue. Should be interesting.

Radley says:

David Bernstein is looking for a soundbite definition of libertarianism.

He offers some. Well, it’s not something that’s easy to soundbite and I’m not much at marketing, but here’s some suggestions:

And my favorite (I’ve read it somewhere but not sure where – so no credit and it’s probably paraphrased):

Update: Or for smarminess, I’d say:

Offer your own.

On my post about why I’d never run for office, AC touches on something I meant but didn’t explicitly say:

I think one of the answers of getting more folks running for office is to demolish the two party system.

Indeed. I am not a member of either political party and, barring one party either becoming completely insane or completely unfucking itself, I probably never will be.

Background is police tasered a 61 year-old, disabled vet at a protest. Joe Powell has more, including pictures of police decked out in their ninja gear.

The best thing that could happen to NJ is to shut it’s .gov. But it is having one negative side effect:

Everyone’s talking about the casinos shutting down in New Jersey, but how many of you knew that the gun dealers can’t run NICS checks? NICS checks in NJ go through the NJ state police.

Remember kids, when it comes to sound suppressors that the suppressor itself is regulated whether you put it on a BB gun or a paintball gun. If you put one on a BB gun or paintball gun and don’t pay a tax, it’s illegal unless the suppressor is permanently attached to the non-gun or cannot be used on a real gun or removal from the non-gun would render it inoperable.

Update: and, in the eyes of the law, a suppressor is a firearm.

I expect this stuff in Cali, NY or Mass. But not Texas:

[T]he City Council’s Public Safety Committee … next month will consider a community request to crack down on replica and toy guns. The review follows protests from Weed & Seed and other southern Dallas community groups over a South Dallas merchant’s sale of toy weapons. The groups want the city to outlaw selling realistic-looking weapons, which can include paintball guns and those toy guns that federal law currently requires be marked with a bright red or orange tip to identify them as facsimiles.

You really should stop using Google.

In a discussion at arfcom, Vepr writes:

That quote from issues2000.com is misleading. It is referring to the same legislation I mentioned above (HR 2122).

The bill had nothing to do with changing any established law regarding waiting periods.

The original bill submitted by Bill McCollum would have required any non licensed buyer to undergo a background check at gun shows and wait 72 hours before the firearm can be transferred.

An amendment was submitted by John Dingell, which would have lowered the waiting period to 24 hours. This amendment passed. (Bryant voted YES, Hilleary voted YES, Ford voted NO)

Carolyn McCarthy submitted another amendment, which would have changed the waiting period back to 3 days. Of course, this amendment failed. (Bryant voted NO, Hilleary voted NO, Ford voted YES)

Here are some other key amendments that were voted on:

* H.AMDT.217 – Amendment prohibits the importation of large capacity ammunition feeding devices (more than 10rnd). Agreed to by voice vote.

* H.AMDT.222 – Amendment sought to repeal a District of Columbia law that prohibits residents from possessing a firearm. FAILED (Bryant voted YES, Hilleary voted YES, Ford voted NO)

* H.AMDT.223 – Amendment allows law-abiding residents of the District of Columbia to keep a registered handgun in their home. PASSED (Bryant voted YES, Hilleary voted YES, Ford voted NO)

* H.AMDT.219 – Amendment mandates the transfer of a secure gun storage or safety device with the transfer of any handgun and establishes liability criteria for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a handgun by a third party. PASSED (Bryant voted NO, Hilleary voted NO, Ford voted YES)

* H.AMDT.218 – Amendment prohibits juveniles from possessing semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition clips. PASSED (Bryant voted YES, Hilleary voted YES, Ford voted YES)

On the final vote, the bill failed to pass. (Bryant voted YES, Hilleary voted NO, Ford voted NO)

Seems Ford isn’t as pro-gun as I once thought. And Hilleary and Bryant are definitely more pro-gun, though that doesn’t explain why Bryant would vote on the overall bill with the anti-gun amendment attached.

And he’s running for office:

We don’t necessarily need more ethics laws. What we need are lawmakers who will enforce them. In fact, I’d rather we have weak laws and strong lawmakers, than strong laws and cowards on Capitol Hill.

Gun sales are up but gun crime drops:

Gun crimes, suicides and firearms-related accidents declined last year at the same time that firearm and ammunition sales climbed, according to data from the US Treasury Department released by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).

While this revelation tends to debunk long-standing claims by gun control proponents that more guns in circulation leads to more crime, gun rights organizations contend that this bolsters their contention that armed citizens deter criminals.

NSSF Public Relations Director Steve Wagner told Gun Week that approximately 4.7 million new firearms were sold in America last year, including those manufactured domestically and imported. The greatest increase was in retail handgun sales, which were up 3%. Long gun sales were up 1.8%. Ammunition sales were up 3.5%.

David Hardy summarized second amendment scholarship progress.

GLN summarizes:

We can only conclude that, although civilian firearm confiscation is not the immediate goal of the UN conference, the National Rifle Association is much closer to reality about the conference than the UN is willing to admit.

Looks like Seattle is wanting to ban the booze that doesn’t cost a lot:

The state Liquor Control Board tonight will hold a public hearing on a request by Seattle to designate more than six square miles of the city a mandatory “alcohol-impact area” (AIA).

Within the AIA boundaries — including downtown, Belltown, Capitol Hill, the Chinatown International District, Central Area and University District — grocers would be prohibited from selling 34 brands of beer, malt liquor and fortified wines, from Olde English 800 and Pabst Ice to Night Train Express.

Class warfare hits alcohol.

Looking to SBR my 9mm AR-15 and was dowloading the forms to do that. Check out the form to certify citizenship. Notice anything funny? Well, the only writing on page 2 is notification of compliance with the Paperwork Reduction of Act of 1995. A whole page for that? Funny.

Ayup.

NIT reports Ken Lay has died. No cause released.

Update: Foxnews says heart attack.