Via Ravenwood, Time magazine is looking at Tennessee’s Illegal Drug tax:

since the tax was enacted in 2004 it has netted Tennessee $3.5 million in extra revenue, 75% of which goes directly to the enforcement agencies that carry out the drug busts. Still, some opponents argue that adding such steep penalties on top of criminal charges amounts to a second punishment, and thus a violation of double jeopardy law. “Aside from this incredible acrimony and bill-collecting mentality,” says Knoxville attorney Gregory P. Isaacs, “you are divested of all your constitutional rights.”

For that reason, a Davidson County chancellor last summer ruled the tax unconstitutional, and stopped the state from collecting Robbins’ $1.1 million. But the Department of Revenue, confident the ruling will be overturned on appeal, is continuing with the assessments. Says Deputy Commissioner Reagan Farr, “It’s fine to have a criminal and a regulatory scheme running in tandem. We’ve made sure our statute is purely regulatory, not punitive.” But no matter how you define it, the bottom line for Tennessee is that crime pays.

Never heard the double jeopardy argument. I always looked at it from the taking property without due process of law angle.

Looks like they changed the sticker.

I have little to say today for some reason. But I will say this:

If I pass you on the right and you’re not making a left hand turn, you’re a fucking retard.

Oops. They don’t launch the cow:

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Lan Kosal smiles wryly as he breaks down the cost of killing a cow with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

For $555, Mr. Lan, an arms merchant, says he will take a client to a remote field in the Cambodian countryside to obliterate a bovine with the Soviet-era armament designed to destroy tanks and cause mass casualties.

Well, that’s just cruel. However, it does remind me of the time me and some friends almost convinced another friend that Tennessee was experiencing a cattle overpopulation problem and declared the month of March open cow season. Good times.

Another film about it.

Various polls on gun issues. Notice that over time, the country is getting more and more pro-gun. Honestly, I would say that the poll is not very good because most people in the country simply do not know what current gun laws are. And 50% of people support a law which would make it illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess semi-automatic guns known as assault rifles. The phrasing of the question is stupid because they weapons are not assault rifles. And it confirms that not only do people simply not know gun laws, they also don’t know much about guns.

First is this, which Authorizes persons with handgun carry permits to possess firearms in all public hunting areas, refuges, wildlife management areas, and national forests managed by the state. I’m all for it.

Next, is this:

. . . some sportsmen want to amend Tennessee’s constitution to protect the right to hunt and fish. They’re concerned that animal-rights activists will use the courts to someday try to end all hunting and fishing here.

The proposed amendment is part of a national effort intended to ensure such rights. More than 10 states have constitutional protections for hunting and fishing, though some have had theirs on the books for centuries.

The right to arms is already in Tennessee’s constitution and, as we EBR types like to say, gun rights aren’t about hunting.

To good to be true?

“Hey,” one of the officers asked, “aren’t you going to clean it?”

“Oh,” Murphy grinned as he snapped the box shut, “didn’t I tell you? The whole gun is non-corrosive, even under a salt water spray, and the lubricants are permanently fused into the metal. It’ll never need oil, and dirt can’t stick to any of the moving parts. Bury it in sand, dig it up, bang the butt on the ground once to clean it out, and it’ll work like a hundred-dollar watch.”

I’ll take two.

Pics from the SHOT Show.

One of your fellow mayors against guns quit the group:

Jared Fuhriman, the mayor of Idaho Falls, has walked away from the coalition of mayors. He told a local newspaper that he was originally told that Bloomberg’s coalition was only going after “illegal guns.” But after doing his own research he said, “I could see there was a conflict with the NRA and with some of the beliefs we have here in Idaho.”

Well, Mr. Haslam, the research has been done for you. Yet you still belong to this anti-gun group. Not good for your future political aspirations in this state.

Update: A reader points out Haslam’s Wikipedia page which has links to my stuff and is a bit, err, biased. They also point out that Haslam’s people are quick to change it.

Some moron called up the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and told them that Les Jones looked like the killer in the Johnia Berry case. Of course, this is ludicrous because Les Jones is the webmaster for johniaberry.org, which is a site dedicated to finding the killer.

Upon reading his post, I found it odd that the KCSD didn’t Google Les Jones. A few minutes of reading, and they could have figured out that Les was the webmaster there. But then it occurred to me that if they Googled Les Jones, they’d know he was a gun nut. And, instead of a knock on the door, maybe they would have gotten all ninjafied on him.

Update: R. Neal says:

It’s hard to imagine, though, that they didn’t know who Les Jones was or that he, along with the Berry family, have at times been critical of the Knox Co. Sheriff’s handling of the case.

Having apparently solved all of Tennessee’s problems, Senator Doug Jackson wants to heavily fine stations that show commercials featuring 18 year-old chicks making out with other 18 year-old chicks. These commercials only come on at 11:30p.m. on Comedy Central, I know because that’s where I see them. That’s great. Let’s assail free speech because a couple of young blond hotties showing their tits with little computer-generated purple stars covering the nipples got Jackson’s temperature up. This bit is kinda funny:

Dickson Senator Doug Jackson said he got the idea after seeing commercials for “Girls Gone Wild” videos that show young women baring their breasts and acting out other sexual situations.

Let’s ban senators from watching TeeVee. Which is more offensive:

Or

David Hardy has the text of the bill. Sebastian notes it will infuriate mayors of gun control utopias.

Damn. At least let the carcass that was Republican control get cold first:

On Thursday, the House of Representatives will vote on legislation to increase taxes for the first time since 1993. It took just 15 days of new found power for the Democrats to raise taxes. The first vote of the 110th Congress removed the 3/5 supermajority to raise taxes. The following day was a vote to enact a new rule requiring offsetting tax increases for every tax cut.

Yes, it’s all coming back to me now exactly why I hate those guys.

go here.

That’s the name of this piece on community gun ordinances encouraging gun ownership. My first thought was Wow, the NYT did something pro-gun? Then, I realized it was Glenn Reynolds.

Their spelling, not mine:

I’m wearin’
Fur pyjamas
I ride a
Hot Potata’
It’s tickling my fancy
Speak up, I can’t hear you

Upward Basketball. Some friends’ kids are in it. Not sure if you’re aware of it but it’s a religious group that does sports. They play basketball but do not keep score. I think that’s stupid because it is important that children learn there are winners and losers at athletic contests. A child should learn about the thrill they get from winning and the sorrow they get from losing. But that’s not what makes Upward Basketball stupid. See, they do man-on-man coverage and each man on the team is assigned a skill level and is given a corresponding colored waistband. People on the other team have corresponding waistbands assigned by skill level. And you are paired against the man with the same color waistband on the other team for man-on-man coverage. So, if you totally suck at basketball, then you will be paired with someone else who totally sucks at basketball. If you’re a little Michael Jordon, you’ll be paired with another little Michael Jordan. So, we don’t keep score because we don’t want to focus on winning and losing. But if you suck, we’ll put a waistband on you letting everyone know that you suck.

Update: From comments, Sailorcourt says it’s socialist basketball. Because It’s great for the players that suck. heh.

On the supreme court telling Knoxville that term limits apply, MKS injects some reality:

Don’t be naive in thinking this court ruling will bring political changes. What is currently business as unusual will soon return to business as usual. If you are giddy with glee right now, do yourself a favor and get over it fast.

The first amendment doesn’t protect your right to say stupid shit on the Internet.

David Hemenway (an anti-gun hack who asserted that folks who carried guns were more likely to indulge in road rage (despite the fact that there were no notable increases in instances of road rage after states passed concealed carry laws); and refused to release his data) is at it again. This time, the hack asserts that if guns in homes cause homicides. Well, that’s not what he says specifically but that’s the impression that he wants to leave you with. Turns out, he’s wrong as usual. Jeff has the full report. He also took the exact same data and came to an entirely different conclusion, noting that Hemenway’s use of controls was just a way to get the desired result.

Kevin takes a look and notes:

During the past decade we’ve added a minimum of 30 million new firearms in public hands – at least 10 million of which were handguns. Since 1993 we’ve gone from 21 states with “shall-issue” or unrestricted concealed-carry legislation to 39. We’ve had an influx of “assault weapons” and “pocket rockets” – supposed engines of death and destruction far more lethal than the weapons available in the 60’s.

Yet homicides declined. Non-fatal firearm related crime declined.

Insty says: I’m pretty sure that these guys would call anyone who accepted grants from the NRA bought-and-paid-for. But the Joyce Foundation is every bit as biased as the NRA, and has a history of paying for scholarship that would be treated as a scandal if it were engaged in by pro-gun folks […] If a drug company were as cavalier about science as these people are, its executives would all be in jail.

I hear the next study Hemenway is working on is entitled Guns: they shrink your penis.

It’s a Romney on guns post:

He’s retreating from his anti-gun past:

Romney says he still backs the ban on assault weapons, but he won’t say whether he stands by the Brady Bill. And after the gun show tour, his campaign declined to say whether he would still describe himself as a supporter of tough gun laws.

“He believes Americans have the right to own and possess firearms as guaranteed under the US Constitution,” spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom wrote in an e-mail. “He’s proud to be among the many decent, law-abiding men and women who safely use firearms. Like President Bush, he supports restrictions on assault weapons, but Mitt Romney has also worked with gun owners and sportsmen to ease the gun-licensing laws in Massachusetts.”

So, he’s not pro-gun at all. On the issue of anti-gun popularity, I thought this bit at the hotline was hysterical:

The Brady bunch has been reduced to an organization waiting for a tragedy to exploit with no one – other than Carolyn McCarthy [D-NY], who will publicly associate with them.

Indeed. Jeff says:

Like Kerry and Edwards and other fake, phony frauds, former MA Governor Mitt Romney is suddenly embracing gun rights as he lurches right in anticipation of a run for the Republican primary. Like so many other opportunistic politicians, he forgets that there’s a paper trail

And Bitter has a lot of the evidence from the paper trail.

What does Uncle say? Romney, fuck that guy.

They continue with their stellar performance, but this time, it’s coming from inside the agency:

Jay Dobyns is no stranger to dangerous adversaries.

Within days of becoming a sworn agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Dobyns was taken hostage and shot during a Tucson sting operation.

A year later, he was run over by gangsters in a getaway car.

Since then, he has gone undercover to bust bombmakers, murderers, drug dealers, gunrunners and prison thugs. Three years ago, he infiltrated the Hells Angels so completely that he was offered membership in the biker club.

Now, after nearly two decades of service, after being praised by ATF as a hero and earning national awards, the man known as “Jaybird” is battling his most formidable foe yet: his employer.

Dobyns, 45, is one of dozens of current and former agents to allege mismanagement and misconduct in the ATF, a federal agency responsible for enforcing America’s gun laws and preventing terrorist bombings. More than a dozen lawsuits, administrative claims, grievances, ATF documents and letters to Congress reviewed by The Arizona Republic accused administrators of betraying their own field investigators and operatives out of arrogance or incompetence.

A 2006 inspector general’s report also found that the agency was plagued by poor management and questionable judgment. The ATF director resigned amid the inspector general’s investigation. But agents, lawyers and experts say problems persist, and if left unchecked, a troubled agency will continue to spin out of control.

“The public needs to know,” said Kay Kubicki, a Detroit attorney and former agent who has represented about 25 ATF employees in cases against the bureau, winning half of them and obtaining settlements in some others. “This has a lot to do with homeland security.”

[snip]

In grievances filed with the ATF, Dobyns claimed the agency failed to protect him when he was threatened in the line of duty and then harassed him when he complained about the lack of security. He has submitted a multimillion-dollar claim alleging the bureau ignored death threats against him and his family.

According to a grievance Dobyns filed in May, ATF administrators sought to undermine his credibility by spreading false allegations that he was psychologically unfit for duty and a danger to himself or others. Dobyns alleged in that 83-page record that he was subjected to unwanted transfers, denied security, accused of fraud and blocked from getting a Medal of Valor.

In internal probes, the ATF has dismissed most of Dobyns’ complaints.

Dobyns’ allegations were lodged first in ATF grievances, followed by complaints to the Justice Department’s Inspector General’s Office, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and members of Congress. According to those filings, the conflict escalated as Dobyns challenged bosses, complaining up the chain of command.

Other bureau employees, some of whom have similar problems with the ATF, say Dobyns’ transformation from hero to scapegoat is just one example of mismanagement that pervades the agency.

There’s a lot more.

Tam on why she went 6.8. I’m convinced.

So much for that:

less than 1 percent of these criminals (0.7 percent) acquired their guns from gun shows.

David reports that Fincher is guilty in the machine gun case. Kevin has a bit of analysis on why this case lost and why these cases always will.

Update: I knew I read that title somewhere.

Looks like other officers have come forward and said that the officers involved in the raid lied to obtain the warrant that resulted in the death of 92 year-old Kathryn Johnston. Last week, I wrote why I was a gun nut. Well, this is one of those situations where if these two guys aren’t put in jail, someone should shoot their asses.

It’s coming:

Wisconsin remains a holdout in the nationwide trend to allow people to carry concealed guns.

The Legislature should keep it that way.

The state has survived quite nicely for 134 years with a ban on concealed weapons. There is no compelling reason to now invite people to carry hidden firearms. In fact, there are compelling reasons to retain the ban.

Such as?

CCW has been passed twice in Wisconsin in the last bit. Both times, Doyle vetoed it. Back to their reasons:

•Concealed guns are trouble waiting to happen.

Err, no, they are not.

In Minneapolis in the spring of 2005, police apprehended Zachary Ourada shortly after he had shot and killed a restaurant doorman. The doorman had earlier asked Ourada to leave the restaurant because he was harassing women.

When police captured him, Ourada shouted: “I didn’t do nuthin’ wrong. I got a permit to carry that (gun).”

Sounds horrible, doesn’t it. Only problem is that the State Journal left out one major fact about the incident. You see, some of us covered the incident a while back, and Ourada was not carrying at the bar. He left, went home and returned 30 – 40 minutes later with a weapon before murdering the doorman. The implication is that some CCW permit holder blew some dude away while packing and that’s not the case.

An organization dedicated to Knife Rights.

There apparently is no Knoxville. Or something.

He is. No doubt, he’s looking for items he wants to ban.

Or did he find his pro-gun Jesus in an election year? I doubt it.