All those safeguards for the new definition of privacy aren’t for shit if the people in charge have a history of violating them.

Following in the footsteps of Barrett, STI has stopped selling firearms in California:

The move by STI comes after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed microstamping legislation into law. “This law is not going to stop criminals, it is only going to hurt law-abiding citizens in the state,” STI’s Pauletta Skinner told Bullet Points. “We felt like we had to take a stand against this law.”

I guess soon Cali LEOs will have to buy only HK. Because you suck and we hate you.

Mel goes to Ladies Shooting Camp.

Mike Hollihan:

The crucial difference? It’s one word: ‘assault.’

That word, often used in reporting on rifles, is seen by many readers and viewers as a loaded word employed by those who support gun control.

Well, I think it largely indicates ignorance. Continuing:

If the AK-47 involved is in fact a true assault rifle, one with full-automatic fire, then that is news. Scary news. But if it’s the standard model available in America, then calling it an ‘assault’ rifle is needlessly inaccurate and distracting.

Ayup.

Shotguns are not a good substitute for a wrench.

Looks like the folks at Hellbender Press, a local environmental education group, have started blogs.

22LR suppressors for under $200. Specs and videos here.

Where Guns Are Concerned, It’s Not Worth The Paper It Is Written On:

We are now more than 20 years into the “assault weapon” debate, so you would think enough time has passed, and enough information is available on the internet and elsewhere, that even the laziest and least competent newspaper reporter could get at least a handful of the most basic facts straight on the issue.

You would think that, unless you read the Miami Herald.

Recently, the Miami Herald has come out with both barrels blazing on the “assault weapon” issue, making false claims about the functionality of guns defined as such under the now-expired Clinton Gun Ban and advocating the ban’s restoration.

In September, the paper ran an editorial claiming that a Glock 19 is an “assault weapon,” presumably because it is designed to use a detachable ammunition magazine. It also ran an article that claimed that a person can actually fire 600 rounds in 60 seconds with a semi-automatic AK-47.

My experience has been that even when you point out errors in reporting on the assault weapon issue, reporters insist they’re still correct. I cannot tell if the ignorance is willful or not.

That’s the percentage of NRA backed candidates that won in last Tuesday’s elections.

Good:

Take another unsettled legal question: whether the Second Amendment secures an individual right to bear arms. Here is what Judge Mukasey told me: “Based on my own study, I believe that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms.”

In other words, Judge Mukasey agrees with the Bush Administration when it comes to retroactive immunity and the Second Amendment.

Even if a court holds to the mythology that there is only a collective right to arms, they still don’t mean it:

The court essentially rules that since the State Guard can be armed by the State when activated, and the governor *probably* would do that, ownership of the guns was not reasonably related to its purposes.

An AR-15 piston upper when Kaboom!

It doesn’t mean what you think it means:

As Congress debates new rules for government eavesdropping, a top intelligence official says it is time that people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.

Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people’s private communications and financial information.

In other news, as is the trend, there is consideration for giving telecom companies immunity:

The most contentious issue in the new legislation is whether to shield telecommunications companies from civil lawsuits for allegedly giving the government access to people’s private e-mails and phone calls without a FISA court order between 2001 and 2007.

A time line of what lead them to where they are today.

Garand and Remington.

Armed Canadian ask of the Parker/Heller case:

What If We Lose?

Then, giddy up. Talk about energizing a bunch of gun owners.

Bargain AR-15s for $550! Via Rustmeister.

Today, the Supreme Court decides whether or not to hear the case. Decision to be announced on Tuesday.

ABC:

Exclusive: FBI: Al Qaeda May Strike U.S. Shopping Malls in LA, Chicago

The FBI is warning that al Qaeda may be preparing a series of holiday attacks on U.S. shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago, according to an intelligence report distributed to law enforcement authorities across the country this morning.

The alert said al Qaeda “hoped to disrupt the U.S. economy and has been planning the attack for the past two years.”

I’m surprised it’s not happened yet. Also, it could be misinformation given to the feds.

LA and Chicago? Well, slim chance of meeting armed resistance there.

Junior: I wanna hot dog.

Me: You just ate and didn’t finish your yogurt.

Junior: No I didn’t.

Me: Yeah, you did. Just making sure you’re hungry. You just ate yogurt.

Junior: No I didn’t.

Me: Are you lyin.?

Junior: I’m not lyin’.

Me: You just ate yogurt. I think you’re lyin’.

Junior: Lions don’t eat yogurt.

Heh. Lion = lyin’. I guess she was only lion half the time.

Ted Kennedy:

We’ll miss him in Massachusetts, but he’ll be a strong leader at ATF, and I look forward to working with him on key issues on gun control

He’s referencing the acting head of ATF, Michael Sullivan.

I noted this report and Sebastian has expanded on it and had some fun with math.

Some good stuff today.

1- At The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership, when life hands you lemons, you make bullshit:

Virginia Election Results
Good For Sensible Gun Policies

With Democrats taking control of the Virginia Senate and gaining seats in the General Assembly as a result of yesterday’s election, the outlook for sensible gun laws in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy is improved, leaders of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said this morning.

Yeah, nevermind that one of those Democrats was the NRA endorsed candidate who defeated an anti-gun Republican incumbent. And nevermind that the NRA endorsed candidates won in 23 out of 27 in the Senate and 57 out of 62 in the house. And how’d that work in New Jersey? Even in defeat, they kick out the sternly worded press releases.

2 – The Violence Policy Center is so broke.

How broke is it?

It is so broke, it’s recycling supposed studies it did four years ago. Well, at least they’re not passing off Google searches as research.

3 Brady Campaign to Prevent Communicational Violence.

Win a gun for a good cause.

To PDB

A new Fred ad. Looks like someone in the Republican Party still caters to conservatives.

All kinds here.

And here’s a Colt.

They keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means:

Loopholes in Tennessee law allow citizens with pending felony cases, mental illness and other safety issues to obtain handgun carry permits.

In other words, people not convicted of crimes and people not adjudicated mentally defective can proceed. That’s how the law is supposed to work. You know, due process and all of that. However, interesting stuff on TN’s handgun carry permit:

According to the numbers, the background check for Tennessee handgun carry permits works very well. Out of the 25,224 permit-holders in Shelby County — more than any other Tennessee county — only 25 had their permits revoked in 2006.

But records show seven of those lost their permits for “…failure to provide documentation of disposition of charges.” They had pending criminal cases for charges like DUI, cocaine possession and aggravated assault, but the state basically had them on the honor system, hoping they would report their own criminal charges.

And more:

Wanda Adams, director of the state’s handgun permit office, says those people are often missed in the background checks because they have not been convicted yet. But she says when their pending charges are discovered, the state sends them a letter.

As I said, that’s how it’s supposed to work. And I was unaware but:

“The department of safety can no longer run name searches in the NICS index against the data housed there,” says Kristin Helm, spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

In TN, we have our own instant check system. I sort of assumed it relied on NICS. Guess not.

1 We Built This City – Starship. Awful on every level. Dumb lyrics and the music sucks. Seriously, a group of musicians got together and this was the result?

2 Hero – Some whiny bitch err Enrique Iglesias. Seriously, I’ve heard this song twice. Once at the bank. It’s awful. It’s a whine fest and makes me want to choke random people or gouge out my own ears. Make it stop.

3 Warrior – Patty Smyth: lyrics:

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior

’nuff said.

4 – I wanna sex you up – some more whiny bitches err Color Me Badd. Not only is it awful but the title makes no sense.

5 – Anything by Rob Zombie. Oh, look. Two chords over and over again. Just like the last song.

Now, a movie.

And, no, not that kinda movie that got everybody’s panties all bunched up. A look at women and guns.