Wow.

TTLB’s gun blog community, that is.

Professor Glenn Reynolds explains, “Gun-free zones” are premised on a fantasy: That murderers will follow rules, and that people like my student, or Bradford Wiles, are a greater danger to those around them than crazed killers like Cho Seung-hui. That’s an insult. Sometimes, it’s a deadly one.”

Like many other local bloggers I will be blogging on KTB, the Knoxville Tennessee Blog. Today’s post is on stormwater and I break it down as simply as it can be broken down.

How long will taxpayers in Knox County allow developers to put in metal corrugated pipe and plastic pipe for stormwater? The good stuff is concrete pipe, it can last many, many decades. The cheap stuff can need replacement in 15 years.

Why should taxpayers and property owners have to pick up the tab to replace stormwater pipes in 15 years because of the poor stormwater ordinance from Knox County Commission?

Rikki Hall and Betty Bean have some fine columns this week you should read on the stormwater debate.

A new (to me) site Knoxpoker.com. A message board for strategy, tips, and local meet-ups.

First, I saw on the snooze last night that the shooter had been adjudicated mentally defective by a judge and ordered to go to padded land. Now, I’m not sure how the National Instant Check System works but shouldn’t something like that show up on a background check? Heck, a number of years ago when I was a federal contractor and had a Q Level Security Clearance (it expired when I left), I’d always set off the NICS or TICS when I bought a gun. Same thing each time: They’d call, there’d be a hold up on the other end. Gun store clerk would say: they said they’ll call back. They’d call back in ten to thirty minutes. If that gets a blip, why wouldn’t such adjudication?

Second, the next day, the Feds knew where the shooter got the gun. How did that happen since the anti-gunners tell us that law enforcement has no access to gun trace data?

Update: See? And Terry asks:

Will Mayor Haslam continue to maintain his membership in Bloomberg’s group when the timing of this campaign is clearly geared towards weakening the 2nd amendment?

Update 2: Brisbane Times:

However, Harvey Baker, the director of ACCESS, an independent community mental health service that evaluated Cho in December 2005 at the request of the university, said staff advised at the time that a temporary restraining order be issued against him.

That wording is a bit odd. I have not found yet whether a restraining order was issued. Only that one was requested. If there was, that would also disqualify him from purchasing a gun.

Update 3: Ask, and you shall receive. In comments, Rustmeister answers:

I was wondering the same, heard this morning that they go into NICS only if they are committed against their will. In Cho’s case, he decided not to go into the Nervous Hospital, and the judge ruled in favor of outpatient treatment.

As for the restraining order, that wouldn’t show unless he was charged with a domestic. He never was.

Armed Canadian looks at media distortions regarding guns.

LawDog on licensing and registration:

Any person who possesses a drivers license can drive on any public road on any state in the Union. They can drive on school grounds, they can drive on college campuses, and they can drive to any courthouse in the Union.

Tell me, Gun Grabber, that you want to license guns just like cars. You’ll let anyone with a gun license carry a gun anywhere they want to, in every State in the Union — just like a drivers license.

You’re a liar.

Tam on registration:

When someone asks you about licensing and registration, pick up a pen and a sheet of paper. Tear the paper in half and hand half to your questioner. Say “Okay, this pen is a gun. The paper I’m holding is my license and the paper you’re holding is the registration. Using only these two pieces of paper, explain to me just how you are going to keep me from shooting someone?”

In Tennessee:

In a surprise move, a House panel voted today to repeal a state law that forbids the carrying of handguns on property and buildings owned by state, county and city governments — including parks and playgrounds.

“I think the recent Virginia disaster — or catastrophe or nightmare or whatever you want to call it — has woken up a lot of people to the need for having guns available to law-abiding citizens,” said Rep. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains. “I hope that is what this vote reflects.”

A chart of ammo prices in dollars and gold ounces.

BTW, these are also known by their more common name: Handguards. Here’s some.

Here are some responses to my little thought experiment that I proposed here. Quite a few folks said Sorry, unc, I ain’t playing because I’m one of those shall not be infringed guys. And that’s fine. I respect that. I’m just linking to responses. Most of these posts are well-reasoned and detailed (meaning longer than your average blog post) so I don’t think excerpting conveys the whole message.

Ahab

Rob Allen

Sebastian

Dixit Insipiens

I’ll add more as I get them. As for me personally, I’d be willing to sacrifice two non-starters:

1) Gun show loophole – No loophole there, really. So, let them have it.

2) Ballistic fingerprinting – another non-starter. Sure, it’s a colossal waste of money and resources but it’s not inherently an infringement on the right to arms.

In return, I’d want:

1) repeal of the Hughes amendment.

2) repeal of the sporting purposes language.

On the supreme court’s partial birth abortion decision, Xrlq writes:

It would be fun to see a second constitutional challenge prevail based on something actually contained in the … um … Constitution?

Novel idea!

Paul Helmke on the VT massacre: What are we going to do about this?

Gun control is what you do instead of something.

NK once asked why this site has no trolls. Well, I’m happy to report we do. See comments here and here. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. His blog is here (update: oops, link added), if you want to have a laugh. Anyhoo, inside the mind of an anti-gunner, in which I put on my amateur psychologist hat. Says the misnamed Freedonian:

I don’t like guns. I don’t want them. My only firsthand experience with guns was some coward trying to take me out from 100 feet away. His three shots missed— All going into the apartment behind me. Thank god no one was hurt. And when I caught him without his gun, I beat his ass within an inch of his life. The transgression for which this legitimate gun owner thought I deserved to lose my life was dating his ex-girlfriend.

He was a perfectly legitimate gun owner with a CCW permit. He broke no laws until he committed an act of craven cowardice and tried to take my life from a long distance.

So, he admits in a public forum to assaulting someone. See I, as a responsible person and one not prone to violence and one who carries a handgun, don’t beat people up. Nor do I get into fights. Nor do I start them. I generally avoid physical confrontation regardless of how steamed I am. No matter if the guy shot at you earlier, when you caught him out and beat his ass, you assaulted him. You probably broke the law. No wonder you don’t trust people with guns. You can’t be trusted with them.

His story changes throughout the comment thread to being a bouncer blah blah blah. Read it for yourself. Hell, that part might even be made up.

He also notes it happened fourteen years ago, which is odd since TN has only had shall-issue since 1994. And, prior to that, I don’t think that area of the state was keen on issuing permits.

From Bitter (who is in a cult): But watch out in the states

Seen at David’s:

McCarthy has introduced a proposal for federal legislation banning firearms with certain features, one of them being a “barrel shroud.” Carlson asked McCarthy what a barrel shroud was and she changed the subject. He asked again and she changed the subject again. On the third try, McCarthy finally responded that she did not know what a barrel shroud was. I’m not sure what surprised me more, that McCarthy didn’t know what something she wanted banned was or that Tucker Carlson, of all talking TV heads, actually kept after her and forced the admission.

Commenter at Volokh’s:

A practical, commonsense way of reducing gun violence — especially in the schools — would be a federal law prohibiting, or at least seriously limiting, the interstate reporting of sensational gun crimes like Virginia Tech for five working days.

Such a law would not affect local coverage, where there is a need for the immediate dissemination of information, but would make the event ‘old news’ when it was finally reported nationally and therefore unlikely to get the massive publicity that invites further, copycat violence. Even a small reduction in today’s intense coverage of such events might, by not stimulating some potential gunman to action, save lives.

Hah! Via insty.

While we’re at it, reporters don’t need computers. They can just do it on a printing press and put it in tomorrow’s edition. Those rapid-fire, word-hoses were never envisioned by the founders of this nation!!!

What Gun Control Law Would Have Prevented This?

None, really. The fact is that gun control proposals only affect the law-abiding.

What exactly is enough control.

Depends who you ask. For the anti-gun groups, total control is what is needed. For me, just some.

So, here’s a fun game for you pro-gun folks: Due to some bizarre set of circumstances, congress decides that all federal gun laws need to be re-written and revised. You are elected/selected/appointed as the negotiator for pro-gun folks. And there will be one negotiator for the anti-gun folks. All federal laws will be wiped clean and you two will negotiate what the new gun laws will be. There will have to be compromise on both sides. So, what will you concede? And what is nonnegotiable?

Whoever says that their position will merely consist of shall not be infringed, step to the front of the bus and exit please. Because that won’t work. We will have gun laws. As much as I admire your consistency, it’s not feasible. Deal with it.

While we’re at it, let’s hear from the anti-gunners too.

Yeah, I know, not a likely scenario but this national conversation is coming. Post your answers in comments or at your website.

The Mayor of Nagasaki was shot twice in the back and died.

Like it or not, yesterday we woke up in a different America. This incident will have far-reaching effects for a while. Sadly, these effects will be of the band-aid variety and likely won’t have much impact. I fully expect our college and university police to slowly become more like regular police. It will start out small, with some colleges hiring additional security and getting better hardware. But I doubt it will be long before their security forces could go toe-to-toe with the local PDs in terms of gear.

Some folks are blaming the college for banning CCW holders from carrying there. Could have a point but the facts are that most college kids are just that: kids. Eighteen, nineteen and twenty year-olds can’t lawfully carry anyway. And, honestly, who wants a bunch of kids who are away from their home for the first time and who (like I did in college) are probably consuming a bit too much of, well, anything strapped? Armed staff is a better sell and, honestly, is probably a bit more responsible. Not to say that all college kids are irresponsible but that your average 18-20 something probably isn’t the best candidate for packing heat. And, of course, not all college kids are 18-20.

On the radio this morning, this was the topic of the day (like it is everywhere, I’m sure) and will be the topic for weeks. One caller said something I found disturbing but I will not be surprised to see it made an issue in the near future. He said he didn’t think foreigners should be allowed to own guns. Particularly, he said some store owners who were Iraqi, Iranian or some kinda A-rab made him uncomfortable. Currently, lawful resident aliens can purchase guns. I’d like to think restrictions on guns wouldn’t be based on where someone was born. As deplorable as such a push would be, I’d love to see how the Brady Campaign would react to gun control returning to its racist roots.

Guns aren’t to blame. Neither is porn, video games, movies, whatever-today’s-random-kid-corrupting-bogeyman is. And neither is the young woman who had the misfortune of being the shooter’s object of obsession. Seriously, some sick fuckers said: This is the face of the teenage student who may have sparked the biggest gun massacre in US history. Wow. Just wow.

Speaking of sick fuckers, the foreign press is amusing in their misrepresenting US gun laws and their apparent gloating over the incident. Der Speigel (IIRC) basically said that you could go buy machine guns over the counter here. So did The Daily Mail.

The most chilling thing I read was this at Radley’s:

Just saw an interview with rescue workers on TV. They said the thing that keeps sticking with them is the sound of cell phones ringing on the bodies of the dead students they were carrying out–calls from desperate parents and friends frantically trying to reach them.

That sends chills down my spine.

The Democrats say gun control isn’t a priority:

After the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cautioned Tuesday against a “rush to judgment” on stricter gun control.

[…]

Democrats traditionally have been in the forefront of efforts to pass gun control legislation, but there is a widespread perception among political strategists that the issue has been a loser in recent campaigns. It was notably absent from the agenda Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled earlier this year when the party took control of the House and Senate for the first time in more than a decade.

Good. Gun control is what politicos do instead of something. VA Governor is not a fan of the politicization of this incident.

What’s the solution? I dunno. And you don’t either. People just go nuts. They do it with guns, knives, swords, planes, and Ryder Trucks loaded with fertilizer.

I was doing a bit of perusing VA gun laws and found this in Virginia’s Code:

It shall be unlawful for any person who is not a citizen of the United States or who is not a person lawfully admitted for permanent residence to knowingly and intentionally possess or transport any assault firearm or to knowingly and intentionally carry about his person, hidden from common observation, an assault firearm. It shall be unlawful for any person who is not a citizen of the United States and who is not lawfully present in the United States to knowingly and intentionally possess or transport any firearm or to knowingly and intentionally carry about his person, hidden from common observation, any firearm. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 6 felony.

For purposes of this section, “assault firearm” means any semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine which will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock.

The VA shooter had a Glock 9mm (Glock’s site is down) and a Walther P22. The Walther (a 22LR plinker) comes from the factory with a threaded barrel. As such, it comes from the manufacturer designed to accommodate a silencer. In VA, the Walther is an assault firearm, whatever that is. Recall also that the California DOJ a couple of years ago reclassified the Walther as an assault weapon (whatever that is) for that reason (only after saying initially it was not).

Update: Disregard. In comments, Dr. Strangegun sets me straight:

P22s aren’t centerfire. The law doesn’t apply.

I missed that whole centerfire bit.

I’ve seen this said today, most recently by Kevin who notes:

having more people armed in a situation like that is a recipe for more innocent deaths, not less.

There is a definite lack of data regarding mass murderers v. armed citizens. I can only think of two instances where such a confrontation occurred:

1 Tyler, Texas: Shooter on the loose. Mark Wilson hears the noise and grabs a gun. He intervenes and saves the life of one man (who turns out to be the shooters’ son). He also drew fire from the murderer and likely saved more lives. Sadly, Mr. Wilson was murdered on the scene.

2 Tacoma, WA: Brendan “Dan” McKown was delivering a bank deposit for Excalibur Cutlery, a mall gift store, when gunshots scattered shoppers at noon in Tacoma. Dan McKown was an armed CCW holder. Witnesses state that McKown stood about 20 feet from the gunman when he faced him and drew his own pistol before being shot. Whether he spoke to the gunman is unknown. “Our understanding is that Dan drew his weapon and confronted the gunman,” his stepmother, Beverly McKown, said during a news conference Tuesday at Tacoma General Hospital. “Dan is always one who believed in protecting people and he put his life on the line for other people,” McKown’s father said. “His actions and the actions of others like him may have prevented additional casualties by confronting the aggression and possibly changing the gunman’s action early in the conflict.”

Those are the only two cases I know of where a would-be mass murderer was confronted by an armed citizen. And, in both cases, the death toll was likely minimized. Given a choice, I like those odds better than lined up and shot.

3 Update: Make that three. I forgot (courtesy of Mr. Burnside), about Pete Odighizuwa. He’s the man who killed three innocent people at the Appalachian School of Law. But was likely stopped by two armed students who had to run to their cars to get their guns. There’s some dispute as to what caused Pete O. to surrender because he was also out of ammo.

4 Update 2: Another, via comments, was the Utah mall shooting:

An off-duty police officer having an early Valentine’s Day dinner with his wife was credited Tuesday with helping stop a rampage in a crowded shopping mall by an 18-year-old gunman who killed five people before he was cut down.

He was off duty. Good thing he disregarded the mall’s no gun policy that day. And another one:

5 In Pearl, Mississippi:

Vice Principal Joel Myrick held his Colt .45 point blank to the high school boy’s head. Last week, he told me what it was like. “I said ‘why are you shooting my kids?’ He said it was because nobody liked him and everything seemed hopeless,” Myrick said. “Then I asked him his name. He said ‘you know me, Mr. Myrick. Remember? I gave you a discount on your pizza delivery last week.”

I still like these odds. Anyone got more?

And, since I’m laying odds, think any of these will be pointed out in the press in their coming discussion of gun control?

6 another: A knife-wielding grocery store employee attacked eight co-workers Friday, seriously injuring five before a witness pulled a gun and stopped him, police said.

7 Allen Crum, an armed citizen, was deputized when Charles Whitman climbed a tower and started shooting people. Read Mr. Crum’s account here. He used a borrowed rifle.

8 Kenneth Gage.

R. Neal has a summary of the event.

FoxNews:

An Israeli lecturer who died in the massacre at a U.S. university saved the lives of several students by blocking the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman before he was fatally shot, his son said Tuesday.

Students of Liviu Librescu, 76, a holocaust survivor who was an engineering science and mathematics lecturer at Virginia Tech for 20 years, sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he blocked the gunman’s way and saved their lives, said the son, Joe.

“My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee,” Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. “Students started opening windows and jumping out.”

Roger offers some handy tips for blogging about yesterday’s massacre.

The Second is now mulletless. This weekend, he had his first haircut. I told the wife that I didn’t mind if he had long hair but no son of mine would have a mullet. And, unfortunately for little boys, that’s just kinda how their hair grows.

Also, we took our first steps this weekend. He took two full steps (though there are differing accounts with one reporter on the scene stating it was three).

Rusty agrees with me. Fight or flight.

CNN:

The gunman who killed 30 people at Virginia Tech’s Norris Hall before turning the gun on himself was student Cho Seung-Hui, university police Chief Wendell Flinchum said Tuesday.

[…]

Cho, a 23-year-old South Korean and resident alien, lived at the university’s Harper Hall, Flinchum said. He was an English major, the chief said.

Cho was a loner and authorities are having a hard time finding information about him, said Harry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations.

Read elsewhere they found receipts for his guns (purchased in March) in his bags.

Can resident aliens lawfully buy guns? I’m asking. I really don’t know.

Update: I guess they can.

The ATF has started sending out letters in response to letters it received expressing concerns that the Akins is a machine gun. Here’s a sample letter. Short version: tough dookie.