This just in:

The federal government will not file criminal charges against any of the 15 out-of-state gun dealers accused by Mayor Bloomberg in a federal lawsuit of selling guns illegally, the Daily News has learned.

In a stern rebuke to the city’s high-profile crusade against illegal guns, the feds warned the Bloomberg administration that it could face “potential legal liabilities” if it continues to conduct sting operations that fall within the jurisdiction of federal agents.

Only if it continues? The law has already been broken. Charge the dude. More:

According to a letter sent to City Hall, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and various U.S. attorneys’ offices have determined the city’s findings against the 15 dealers “do not rise to a level that would support a criminal prosecution.”

The letter – sent Tuesday by Michael Battle, director of the executive office for United States Attorneys at the Department of Justice – also scolded City Hall for engaging in sting operations involving persons “without proper law enforcement authority,” saying that could put the city in legal jeopardy. Battle added that City Hall could “unintentionally interrupt or jeopardize” criminal probes.

Asked if the Bloomberg administration plans to stop conducting the sting operations, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler said, “Not necessarily.”

“The city hasn’t violated any laws,” Skyler said defiantly, adding that the city will continue to pursue its civil lawsuits against the gun dealers.

Yes, it has.

Anna Nicole Smith has died.

Last night, the Mrs. says she’s going to take the kids with her to the in-laws for dinner and for me to have some alone time. Cool. She tells me to take it easy and enjoy myself. So, I get in and plop my skinny ass on the couch. And stay there for about two hours, catching up on some TeeVee.

The Mrs. and the kids return. She says: I took out the trash.

Me: Oh, is trash day tomorrow. I forgot.

She says: Did you make the kids’ lunches for tomorrow?

Me: Err, no.

Her: [groans].

Me: Obviously, our definitions of take it easy and enjoy myself are different.

The US government has seized $55M from NETeller:

NETeller execs have announced that the U.S. government has seized “not more than $55 million” in U.S. funds and that those seizures will result in ongoing delays in repaying customers what they are owed.

While NETeller continues to make efforts to find a way to repay its U.S. customer base, there is no timetable for payment.

NETeller’s Ron Martin said, “The return of funds for our U.S. customers is a top priority for NETeller.”

This guy has withdrawn his money.

I mentioned how the mayor of DC may have put down the crack pipe and said the DC should drop its gun ban. In comments there, folks have opined that this is a trap and serves to either:

1) get everyone who unlawfully has a gun to register them so that the police can come get them later.

or

2) trying to invalidate Parker v. DC as being moot.

Could be.

Seen at Insty’s:

The Fulton County district attorney will seek felony murder charges against at least one of the Atlanta police officers involved in a botched drug raid that resulted in the shooting death of an elderly woman, said the officer’s attorney. . . .

On Nov. 21, narcotics officers went to the home of Kathryn Johnston in southwest Atlanta to execute a “no knock” search warrant. Johnston was killed and the three officers were injured in a ensuing shootout.

“No knock” warrants are frequently issued so police can get inside before suspects can destroy or dispose of drugs. When the officers kicked in the door, the elderly woman apparently fired five shots from her own revolver.

Johnston’s friends and family members contended the woman, who kept the gun for her protection, was a feeble and frightened woman who rarely ventured outside after dark. And they say that she was never involved in any drug activity. Her family says she was 92, while authorities say she was 88.

Junnier later told federal investigators that officers had lied to a magistrate judge about sending a confidential informant to Johnston’s house to purchase drugs in order to get the warrant.

Good.

Hillary Clinton on all those profits big, evil oil is pulling down:

I want to take those profits and I want to put them into a strategic energy fund that will begin to fund alternative, smart energy; alternatives and technology that will begin to actually move us toward the direction of independence.

Now, I’m all for energy independence. But I love me some capitalism more. And if you take those profits, they’ll just shut down.

A first production run AK in a museum. In other news, the AK has its own museum?

Chris has a good piece on Who’s at fault for the M16? Snippet:

There are a hell of a lot of people who REALLY hate the AR family of weapons, the 5.56 nato round, and the M16 in particular.

I’ve addressed this hatred before; and there are some valid issues, some not so valid issues, and some issues that were once valid, but aren’t anymore.

Data retention bill in congress:

All Internet service providers would need to track their customers’ online activities to aid police in future investigations under legislation introduced Tuesday as part of a Republican “law and order agenda.”

Employees of any Internet provider who fail to store that information face fines and prison terms of up to one year, the bill says. The U.S. Justice Department could order the companies to store those records forever.

You are assumed to be up to something and we must watch! More:

Details about data retention requirements would be left to Gonzales. At a minimum, the bill says, the regulations must require storing records “such as the name and address of the subscriber or registered user to whom an Internet Protocol address, user identification or telephone number was assigned, in order to permit compliance with court orders.”Because there is no limit on how broad the rules can be, Gonzales would be permitted to force Internet providers to keep logs of Web browsing, instant message exchanges, or e-mail conversations indefinitely. (The bill does not, however, explicitly cover search engines or Web hosting companies, which officials have talked about before as targets of regulation.)

No offense, but you’re not anonymous out there. If the feds want to find you, they will. Hell, they showed up at my house based on posting to Al Gore’s Internets.

Mayor Barry says drop the DC handgun ban. No, really.

On travel. So, some random stuff that was actually typed last night. Blogging from the past, spooky, eh?

Took long enough:

Five months after the Second Amendment Foundation called on U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to investigate New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for obstruction of justice relating to Bloomberg’s rogue “sting” operation against gun retailers in five states, the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has confirmed in a letter that an investigation is underway.

SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said today that a letter he received from W. Larry Ford, Assistant ATF Director for Public and Governmental Affairs, confirms that the agency “is investigating the matter in order to determine if violations of federal firearms laws occurred.” Ford could not offer details in his letter, explaining to Gottlieb that the agency cannot comment on “an open investigation.”

“We’re delighted that ATF is taking this matter seriously,” Gottlieb said. “Mayor Bloomberg dispatched private investigators to several states, where they apparently made straw gun purchases in an effort to file civil lawsuits against gun dealers. The mayor refused to turn over alleged evidence obtained during this vigilante operation to ATF or other proper authorities, and instead exploited the affair to advance his own political agenda.

or now that Bob Krumm isn’t running for office, he’s a bit more loose with the, err, dirty words?

Via Georgia Packing, An Alaska mayor has quite Bloomberg’s Mayors against guns group (second letter):

Guarding Second Amendment rights was not a part of mayors’ coalition

This is in response to some recent questions about my involvement in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition. I recently withdrew my name from the coalition after initially agreeing to sign on.

I do support the efforts to strengthen laws and prosecute individuals who dispense or use illegal guns, and getting them out of the hands of criminals. However, upon further review of the coalition, it appears they may have a different agenda than I anticipated.

I am concerned the coalition is working on issues that conflict with the beliefs we share in Alaska about legal gun ownership, and I’m also concerned gun ownership advocates are not part of the full discussion within the coalition. We cannot afford to risk protecting our Bill of Rights and the rights of legal gun owners.

Because of these conflicts, I have written to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, chair of the coalition, and have asked him to remove me as a supporter of the coalition.

We do have a problem in Anchorage with youth violence, gangs and their use of illegal guns. We are working with our gang task force, the Police Department and other means to eliminate the violence.

We’ll continue to fight that problem without infringing on the rights of legal gun owners.

—- Mayor Mark Begich

Anchorage

Good!

Alphecca has some discussion. I’ve been a fan of Richardson as well.

Sweet.

The NRA has a page up listing the mayors who joined Bloomberg’s anti-gun group. They also have contact info and how to be heard. Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam is a member of the group. So, if you local yokels haven’t called the mayor in a while, do so at:

Phone: 865-215-2040
Fax: 865-215-2085
mayor@cityofknoxville.org

David Codrea interviews David Hardy.

The local newspaper is suing the Knox County Commission for:

. . . allegedly breaking the law by holding secret meetings and making backroom deals while appointing replacements for term-limited officeholders last week.

As to why:

The News Sentinel is seeking to void all the appointments made by commissioners, have a permanent injunction laid down by the court requiring that all future deliberations be made in public, and that the case be expedited.

Good. There is, as far as I can tell, nearly universal outrage at the way the term-limited office holders have been replaced. And that method is the Good Ol’ Boy Method, with relatives replacing the current seats. I don’t even live in Knox County and it annoys me.

More at Knoxviews.

There’s a real battle brewing over the better caliber: The 6.5 Grendel v. the 6.8 SPC. I could do a death match but Tam and Colt CCO done did it. Says Tam:

In other words, 6.5 is already shaping up to play Mac to the SPC’s IBM.

Says the Coltster:

“Betamaxed” describes in one word just about how I see the future of the 6.5 catridge, with the parallel that the Betamax itself was actually ‘better’ then VHS, as the 6.5 is the more accurate, at least potentially. Likewise, 6.5 has the “Holy Damn, that’s expensive” sticker shock to go along with it. Your average consumer sees a $900 6.5 Grendel upper, and buys a 6.8×43 SPC.

Well, that and ammo availability are major factors. Sure, your 6.5 Grendel will shoot the tits off a gnat. But the 6.8 is compatible with mil-spec uppers and I can find ammo for it. And it comes in at about half the price.

Sebastian thinks they’re on the side of good. Well, at least not the side of evil.

A bit back, I thought Giuliani may have seen the light on guns. Or rather, he may have realized that to win in the red states with some adultery under his belt, he’d have to get some pro-gun street cred. Looks like that wasn’t the case. He apparently thinks that there is a right to arms but some sort of “densely populated area” exception that squares his support for New York City’s excessively restrictive gun laws. Well, restrictive if you’re not a politician or famous actor.

Seems Rudy has taken the Howard Dean let the states decide position.

David Hardy has a transcript:

GIULIANI: It’s part of the constitution. People have the right to bear arms. Then restrictions have to be reasonable and sensible. You can’t just remove that right. You got to regulate consistent with the second amendment.”

I suppose that $439 in licensing fees, stipulations that all but prohibit the transport of arms, begging the powers that be for permission to own, and waiting up to a year are consistent with the second amendment? I’m not impressed.

Update: Sebastian has some quotes. My fave:

“This is an industry that is profiting from the suffering of innocent people. What’s worse, its profits rest on a number of illegal and immoral practices. This lawsuit is meant to end the free pass that the gun industry has so long enjoyed.”

I was looking for this post yesterday but forgot where I saw it. Any way, Joe Huffman on why the second amendment protects and individual right to arms and not this collective rights mythology.

Countertop has moved off of blogspot. He’s now here, though the content is, err, sparse. Good.

Jeremy Burnside, whose article I criticized here, has been engaging me in comments. It was civil, until he took his ball and went home. Or, you know, said Uncle. If you leave a comment, be nice.

Update: Weird. One of his examples is Peter O. and guns, apparently, made Peter O. evil. Peter O. is Peter Odighizuwa who was the mutant who went on a shooting rampage at the Appalachian Law School. Peter O. was likely stopped by an armed citizen.

The other example he mentioned died in a triple murder suicide.

Thanks to Cam for the tip.

I often say to myself: Self, there’s simply no way you’d ever score a cushy job as a blogger for a political campaign or interest group or any other sort of respectable paying blog-gig because you’re a crazy-ass gun nut. That, and you’re an accountant.

But there’s hope. Seems some lefty with a history of saying some crazy things is now blogging for The Breck Girl.

Because they email you stuff like this.

Me and some friends have a weekly [redacted] game. A bunch of guys sitting around drinking and [redacted]. We had one a bit back and one of my friends calls me up and says he’s got another player. I said Great, bring him on. My friend says He’s black. Is that OK?

There was a bit of silence. I was stumped. Is that something you have to ask these days? I really was uncertain how to respond. I, of course, have no problem with it but, obviously, at some point that was an issue for the guy. I, after recovering a bit from the awkwardness of that question, said that I had no problem with any new player. I surely have no problem with them based on skin color. Bring him on. I could use the [redacted]. I guess it may be an issue for some folks as racism is not a thing of the past.

Whenever we have our [redacted] game, we have a Hispanic dude that plays with us every week. No one ever asked if it was OK if he could come. And I hate Mexicans*.

* that’s a joke, for people that need to be told that sort of thing.

Michael Bane has started DownRange.tv. It’s a video channel for gun stuff on the internet. Check out his review of the Sig 556.