Late for Dinner says good for Haslam:

To his credit, Haslam would not back down. He said he doesn’t understand why anyone would not want illegal guns off the street, and invited Gill down to the KPD evidence room to see what they were talking about. Good for Mayor Haslam.

As I said there:

The issue isn’t that he wants to target illegal guns (most politicos do and its not a bad thing). The issue is that he has allied himself with an organization that is clearly anti-gun and has targeted lawful gun dealers.

This was yesterday’s Wizard of Id cartoon:

Did I miss something? I don’t get it.

And some radio.

While perusing around Al Gore’s Tubes of Internets, I discovered that Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam was part of an anti-gun group. I wasn’t happy about it. In East Tennessee, this could be political suicide. So, I hopped back on Al Gore’s Tubes of Internets and wrote about it on my blog and over at No Silence Here, a blog at the local newspaper’s site. See here, here and here. As a result of that and some gratuitous links from Glenn Reynolds, Steve Gill talked to Haslam about it on the radio (audio here) and Haslam was put on the defensive. So, there was a bit of backlash from my effort. I poked the mayor with a stick.

But I’m disappointed. If you don’t read the blogs on Al Gore’s Tubes of Internets or listen to Steve Gill, you have no idea this is happening. I handed the local newspaper the story on a silver platter. I posted the story on their blog. I know that some local TeeVee folks read that blog and my blog. But, not a peep any where in the local press. Your average Knoxvillian (who’d likely not be happy about this) doesn’t know it happened.

But the local newspaper has some hard-hitting stories on beefcake, planting trees, and chainsaw sculpting.

I’m used to the press ignoring gun stories, particularly positive ones. But this lack of coverage seems odd. What’s up with that?

GLN notes that the Violence Policy Center is upset that Bush’s school violence program doesn’t contain any gun control.

Kopel looks at arming teachers:

The good news is that, since Columbine, police tactics in school attacks have dramatically changed. At Columbine, the armed “school resource officer” refused to pursue the killers into the building, and kept himself safe outside while the murders were going on inside. Even after SWAT teams arrived, and while, via an open 911 line, the authorities knew that students were being methodically executed in the library, the police stood idle just a few yards outside the library.

This was touched on at the Gun Blogger Conference by retired law enforcement officer Rivrdog. He noted that the trend in law enforcement is to contain the threat and not confront it. This is bad when people in the threatened area are being killed. Additionally, someone opined that the new officer creed of go home tonight is what has lead to this strategy and to the militarization of police.

My thoughts: tough shit. You signed up for the job knowing what you were getting into. So, get your ass in there and save some kids.

In Nashville, a private donor fronted the money to give teachers a bonus that was tied to performance. The teachers rejected the idea.

Update: In comments, Brittney says:

They’d rather give it to the students

That would be a fine and noble endeavor. But I think the the union rep is full of it:

Marsha Warden, school board chairwoman, said that if giving money directly to the students is something the union membership wants to do, that is an idea it could broach at a later date.

And:

Merritt’s new plan was never mentioned as an option the membership wanted to explore, said Pedro Garcia, Metro schools director.

The tone of the article seems to be Oops, we got bad press. Now, let’s cover out butts. I could be wrong, of course.

Over at Tam’s.

David Hardy has made one and posted a trailer.

Me and AKs v. Les and Glocks.

They tried to research it but:

The MAK 90 — or Mac 90 — which may have been used in the Joplin shooting is a modification of the AK-47 or SKS assault rifle.

It’s the MAK 90 and it is a semi-automatic version of the AK. More:

It is unclear whether the MAK 90 was included in the list of 59 types of modified rifles that were added to the assault-weapons ban

No, it was clear. Did it have two of the following: flash hider, folding stock, threaded barrel, or bayonet lug?

but even if it was banned, any guns already in circulation would remain legal.

That is completely true.

On the air at Steve Gill’s, Mr. Haslam non-explains his participation in the anti-gun Mayor’s Alliance Against Guns. AC has the audio. Short version: they said it was good so I signed up.

He had good talking points but the facts are he’s a member of an anti-gun group. And he was too lazy to check.

Drug War Rant reminds us that among the hidden costs of the drug war is police corruption.

Now you came into this thing a bright eyed, shiny young recruit… You’re a police officer four or five years — you see the wasted energy you spend on this drug war. And now you’re standing in a motel room where a drug arrest has just been made. Laying on the bed is a hundred and some thousand dollars which hasn’t been counted yet in cash… In your back pocket is a thirty-eight hundred dollar bill from the plumber that you didn’t know how you were going to pay… And, it doesn’t make any difference anyway. And you take your first taste. And then you’re gone.

The drug war is a bad policy that serve no constituency except tough-on-crime ideologues and companies that sell black tactical gear to police departments. The drug war makes us less safe and less free. Let your elected representatives know that (a) you oppose the failed prohibition and (b) you vote.

Mayor Haslam was apparently on Steve Gill’s show (thanks for the mention Steve) and was asked about his membership in an anti-gun group (see here and here). I haven’t heard it. AC says:

My main man, Steve Gill, and I just conversated and he relays that Haslam’s people called into his show today and were emphatic that the Mayor was only looking to enforce existing laws and combating illegal guns. He has no interest in making anymore laws or grabbing anyone’s pistola.

Then the mayor has picked the wrong group to join. For example, they oppose H.R. 5092, the BATFE Modernization and Reform Act. The oppose just about every pro-gun bill coming down the pike.

They support microstamping. They support maintaining a registry of gun offenders. They support suing gun dealers.

And it’s headed by Mayor Bloomberg, who you’ll recall:

[Hired] private investigators to conduct a sting on out of state gun dealers that are the source of crime guns in New York

Trouble for Bloomberg is that if this is how it went down, then it’s not necessarily illegal, assuming that the man was not a prohibited person. If the man was a prohibited person, the investigators broke the law. Also, said private investigators from New York have zero law enforcement authority in the states wherein they committed these supposed investigations. They may have also committed felonies by giving false info on ATF Form 4473

Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to hire private investigators to conduct undercover stings at Southern gun shops has potentially jeopardized several criminal cases, law enforcement sources charged.

Four cases were compromised and an additional 14 were put at risk by the six-week sting aimed at gun stores in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia, the sources said.

ATF has said they will be investigating every aspect of these “sting” sales (and there were ATF people present who repeated that). This may be bad news for the city, since IF the sales were illegal straw sales, their investigators committed felonies

And the Mayor’s Alliance Against Guns has a nice round up of their anti-gun stuff here.

I’m uncertain if Haslam’s membership in the anti-gun Mayors Against Guns Alliance was intentional or an oversight. However, neither option portrays him in a positive light. He is either against guns or doesn’t have any idea what he did. Haslam is tied pretty heavily to the Bob Corker campaign. This little incident may cost Corker some votes. Maybe someone should ask Corker that in his debate tonight?

Heh:

The state is asking for public input on a sign that will be posted at businesses that want to ban handguns.

A public hearing one the subject is scheduled for tomorrow in Topeka.

As of January First, Kansans with a permit will be able to visit nearly any business in the state — unless a sign prohibiting the practice is posted.

I called the Mayor’s office this morning to ask about Mayor Bill Haslam’s involvement in Michael Bloomberg’s Alliance of Mayors Against Guns. The nice lady I talked to had no idea what I was talking about. She transferred me to another nice lady who had no idea what I was talking about. I was then transferred to a communications person and was lost in the telephone hold system.

Had a commenter tell me his comments disappeared. He was right. I looked through my logs and saw the comments come in but now they’re gone. I have no idea why or how that happened. But if it also happened to you, let me know.

I had an epiphany of sorts in Reno. No matter what I do, how hard I try, or what I know: I just don’t like AKs. Period. Can’t help it.

I have a nice AK (see pics here) and I should like it. I just don’t. I know I should like them because:

But I don’t. I don’t like how they feel. I don’t enjoy shooting them. It has nothing to do with them not being fine weapons. I guess, my dislike of it is more aesthetic/ergonomic in nature. I’ll probably unload it at the next gun show.

Update: Sold in three minutes. Maybe I should make this an auction site?

When I went to Reno, I took a couple of guns and some ammo. Been a while since I traveled with firearms so I perused American Airlines‘ rules before hand. They are here. One rule says:

Ammunition must be packed in its original packaging. Loose ammunition or clips will not be accepted.

Being the gun nut that I am, I buy my ammo in bulk. So, said ammo is in its original packaging but it is also loose. So, I call their customer service number and explain that the ammo is both loose and in its original packaging. They tell me that is OK. Cool. I get to the Knoxville airport. I tell the lady at the counter about the ammo and that I talked to customer service and they said it was OK. The nice lady at the counter said that it would be OK too. Cool, again.

Get to Reno and make the mistake of not shooting all the ammo. At the airport in Reno, I check my bags. Then I get paged over the loudspeaker. The dude at the ticket counter says that my ammo cannot be transported loose because it may rattle around and explode (by magic, I suppose). I explain to him that it, according to both their customer service number and the agent in Knoxville, was OK and that’s how I got it here. He then referred me to TSA. I talked to them and they said the airline wasn’t going to let me on the plane. The TSA folks said it didn’t matter to them but the airline made a stink. I asked the TSA folks why the wanker at American Airlines sent me to them. They said they didn’t know and it was between be and American Airlines.

Back to the ticket counter. I thanked the ticket agent for wasting both my time and that of TSA’s. Then, again, I explained to him that I had talked with American Airlines customer service and the lady in Knoxville and both said my method of transport was OK. He again said (like the non-thinking robot he was) that loose ammo was not allowed. So, I asked him if he had a trash can. He said (and I am not making this up) that the ammo had to be sealed in a bag and sent to the police. Fine. I tossed a few pounds of ammo in the bag. And I told him that, thanks to his asshattery, I would probably never fly American Airlines again, which probably explains why they lost my luggage.

I land in Knoxville and discover my luggage is lost. While they were doing the trace on it, I explained to the ticket agent in Knoxville what happened in Reno. He said (and I quote) No offense, but Reno doesn’t have it’s shit together. He again confirmed (for now the third time) that my method of transport was OK. He gave me the number of another line to lodge a complaint. So, I did. We’ll see how that goes.

Denise details some sick people who were out mugging for amusement. They also killed someone. Pretty chilling stuff.

Bitter and David Hardy have some coverage of the event (scroll down as they’ve both done multiple posts).

Mr. C has a report and pics.

Kevin posts on the event, in less than 10,000 words.

People have pointed out that I haven’t fessed up to my age in this post. So, I’m not the youngest. But I think she is.

All the traveling, I was remiss in mentioning that the Carnival of Cordite is up.

At the Gunblogger shindig, I promised Cam Edwards that I’d be the first to pick on Wayne LaPierre’s blog. So, here goes:

I appreciate your effort and thanks. But . . .

The site is hard to navigate.

I have not found a way to link to posts from the main page.

And I can’t copy and select the text if I wish to excerpt you.

Flash is cool but it does not make for a good website, particularly a blog.

It does have a feed which allows you do find the permalink (see, it’s here). So, that bypasses a lot of that but your average reader may not know that.

Or at least his presence.

Seems Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam is a member of Michael Bloomberg’s Alliance of Mayors Against Guns. I have intentionally left off the word illegal because Bloomberg’s antics have not targeted illegal gun dealers but legal and lawful dealers. Bloomberg has waged a war against lawful gun dealers. A refresher on Bloomberg’s antics:

Michael Bloomberg and the city of New York hiring private investigators to conduct a sting on out of state gun dealers that are the source of crime guns in New York

Trouble for Bloomberg is that if this is how it went down, then it’s not necessarily illegal, assuming that the man was not a prohibited person. If the man was a prohibited person, the investigators broke the law. Also, said private investigators from New York have zero law enforcement authority in the states wherein they committed these supposed investigations. They may have also committed felonies by giving false info on ATF Form 4473

Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to hire private investigators to conduct undercover stings at Southern gun shops has potentially jeopardized several criminal cases, law enforcement sources charged.

Four cases were compromised and an additional 14 were put at risk by the six-week sting aimed at gun stores in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia, the sources said.

ATF has said they will be investigating every aspect of these “sting” sales (and there were ATF people present who repeated that). This may be bad news for the city, since IF the sales were illegal straw sales, their investigators committed felonies.

Now, the mayor of Knoxville has allied himself with that. What was he thinking?

One issue is that what is illegal in New York is, for the most part, not illegal elsewhere. What Bloomberg is targeting is not illegal here. So, Mr. Haslam, what’s the deal?

Contact the mayor at mayor@cityofknoxville.org and let him know you do not approve.

Bloomberg say that blacks shouldn’t support gun rights:

Mayor Bloomberg made a plea yesterday to black New Yorkers to join him in his fight for stricter gun control laws.

“We have to do something, and I need your support. You’ve got to stand up and say, ‘No more,'” Bloomberg told the Rev. Floyd Flake’s congregation at the Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens.

Well, you could stop shooting each other.

One of the interesting things at the Gunblogger Rendezvous was Joe Huffman’s presentation on the future of gun rights and the present discrimination by companies against gun owners. He’s summarized his thoughts here. He gives some examples:

In Utah AOL employees were fired for transferring guns from one car to another in the parking lot before going to the range. They sued and lost their case.

In Oklahoma Weyerhaeuser brought “drug sniffing” dogs into the parking lot on the first day of hunting season. The dogs were also trained to alert on guns. Employees who refused to allow searches of their vehicles after a dog alerted on them were told they would be fired on the spot. The searches that resulted in guns also resulted in people getting fired. They sued and lost their case.

A friend of mine started having “weird things” happen to her at work. In essence she was demoted and previous work from home accommodations were terminated. Things were being made very difficult for her and she didn’t understand why. Independently I noticed that I was getting hits on my web sites from Google searches for her name. They spent a lot of time on my websites looking at her gun owner rights activities and I told her about my discovery. Ahhh haaa!!! So that is what is going on. She left the company on terms of her own choosing.

After taking a group of people to the range, where a good time was had by all, another friend was accused by some gun fearing woman of intimidating her in the hallway. My friends contract was terminated early without ever being asked his side of the story. The women later bragged about getting rid of the gun nut and was fired for dishonest.

Joe also has a plan that, while not guaranteed, is worth trying. My thoughts are that gun rights are civil rights and should be treated as such. Gun owners (and the NRA) should hammer that point home. I’m not sure that comparing anti-gunners to the KKK is the best plan. Though it is absolutely correct, it would not endear us to many people. So, call the antis out on it but I’d likely avoid such comparisons.

Due to either the TSA or American Airlines, Mr. Blasty and the UliMAK had to spend the night in Chicago at the airport. So, there they are, surrounded by unfriendlies.

Ford and Corker had a debate. I didn’t catch it but I’d imagine (based on the presence of the two guys) that Ford won. Knoxviews rounds it up.

North Korea has the bomb.

The world just got a bit scarier.

Update: AC disagrees on Ford:

In soundbites, in short burst interviews with reporters and in thirty second political ads, Ford comes across as an eager young Congressman looking to serve.

Usually smart and authentic, Saturday night he seemed none of those things.

In the debate, a one hour long form, in this blogger’s opinion, Junior’s style, which is so often his strength, became his weakness.

I guess I’ll have to watch it at some point.

Is the person who wrote this anti-gun piece a:

1) a pro-gun guy intentionally writing really stupid shit to make anti-gun folks look stupid;

2) a deranged anti-gun guy who doesn’t know anything about the issue and is too lazy to bother with a modicum of research;

3) an infinite number of monkeys;

4) a complete moron?

I’m stumped.