Handguns should be allowed on college campuses

Invariably, all deaths are caused either by John Browning or by Glocks.

There’s even a chart to prove it.

Hat tip Jadegold.

20mm rifle. The little poodle shooter beside it is a 50 cal.

Did you know that not only can 50 caliber rifles Crack the engine of a plane and, absolutely positively, kill everyone on board easily, they are also a threat to Superman and other superheroes. Did I mention the Violence Policy Center has a blog?

Apparently, people actually give a poop that Tennessee Republicans called Obama by his full name, which happens to include his middle name, which is Hussein which sounds a lot like some former dictator who spent his final minutes realizing how much gravity can suck. You know, in case you didn’t know that. I mean, it took the awesome power of the TN GOP to bring that to everyone’s attention.

Don’t tell the Tennessee Republicans but his last name is only one letter off from another unpleasant moniker. That’s right Bama. And nothing sucks more than Bama. And I think, using his first name, he used to be Space Ghost’s arch-nemesis turned co-host.

Update: Oh and that’s not to say that the implication of the whole piece isn’t ridiculous. But that everyone is focusing only on the name thing is a bit, well, silly. After all, there’s so much there. A gestalt of stupid!

Stay classy, KTK.

This time, it’s New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (of gun confiscation infamy) threatening people. He also doesn’t like bloggers because they say mean things.

Local yokels should check out Coal Creek Armory’s ammo deals.

Kirk notes it is done in Maryland. It seems the lobbying effort to push for this nonsense is failing at every turn.

Short barreled shotty with hammers.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne Testifies Before U.S. House Natural Resources Committee and Responds to Questions from Congress Regarding Permitting Law-Abiding Citizens to Carry/Possess Firearms for Self-Defense in National Parks

See video testimony at the bottom of the page.

All I got to say is come and take it.

Update: Heh.

There’s been a lot of chatter on the internets about Cerberus Capital Management buying up firearms manufacturers. Cerberus various investments generate about $60B (with a b) in revenue according to their website. And they own Chrysler. That’s just to give you an idea of how big they are. They’ve recently acquired DPMS, Bushmaster, and Remington. I guess they have a thing for black rifles (who doesn’t? -ed). This, of course, led a lot of the paranoid gunny types to ponder why they were doing this, including speculation that they had nefarious intent. Guns are a good investment. S&W posted record profits repeatedly for years (that recently changed but it’s not a major loss). And my people in the gun biz are telling me that guns are selling like mad now (elections, mass shootings, something in the water, etc.). Also, an unprecedented level of protection against frivolous lawsuits has been afforded to gun makers via the Protection of Lawful Commerce In Arms Act. Guns are good business.

So, who are these guys? Well, take off your tinfoil beanies. One of the managing directors for Cerberus is George K. Kollitides and he is running for Board of Directors for the National Rifle Association. Here’s one bio:

Nominated by the NRA Nominating Committee, Kollitides has spent his adult life supporting the Second Amendment. A Benefactor member, he became an NRA Life member as a young man. He serves on the Boards of Remington and Bushmaster. He is an avid shooter and hunter, and is a Life member of TSRA, CRPA, NYSRPA, ATA, Boone and Crockett (Associate), Houston Safari Club, NMLRA and Quail Unlimited.

Kollitides is a member of Remington Collectors, SAFE, NWTF, and the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance. As a Managing Director of Cerberus Capital Management, he oversees the firm’s interests in the firearms industry. He has managed numerous financial transactions and is a noted financial forum speaker. Kollitides has shot since childhood and enjoys hunting with family and friends.

His wife and children are NRA Life members. As a staunch defender of Second Amendment freedoms, he is honored to be nominated for the NRA Board.

And, obviously, Bushmaster and Remington are giving him the nod and have bios on him as well.

If you’re going, get over there and register. You’ll get to cover all speakers at no charge and you get access to the media room. It’s worth it just to poke fun of reporters. They’ll be reporting on the event and I’ll probably be reporting on them. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone.

Also, check out the NRA’s Annual Meeting page for a schedule of events.

And Ahab notes that the Maker’s Mark distillery is nearby. Road trip.

Update: In comments, Sebastian reminds me that people take me way too seriously:

We have to be respectful of the other media in the media room. That’s not to say we can’t blog about them, but I would encourage attendees to remember that NRA is opening themselves up to some level of risk by allowing us to use the media room. We have to be good ambassadors for both blogs and should do our best not to do something that would damage NRA’s relationship with media (not all media is hostile, and even the ones that are, careful not to give them more ammunition)

But, seriously, one of NRA’s sessions is entitled: NRA and the Media: It’s Not the Critic Who Counts

I know the answer to this one!

At the Seattle Post Intelligencer (which is a stupid name for a newspaper . . . I mean really what does that even mean?), Gail Collins laments that nobody is talking about gun control on the presidential campaign trail:

During this presidential campaign the nation has experienced an extraordinary number of grisly shooting incidents, including four mass murders on college campuses, two at suburban shopping malls and the slaughter of city officials at a Missouri town meeting.

Yet the subject of gun control never comes up. If people ask, politicians who have not been outdoors in months start tossing out hunter-talk in a manner that suggests that they’re driving around in a pickup with a deer carcass in the back.

Clinton used to be very vocal about gun control when she was running for Senate in New York, but now there’s nothing about it on her Web site. Barack Obama has a 64-page “Blueprint for Change” manual that you can download if you feel burdened by an excess of both leisure and paper. It does not mention gun control once.

And she notes the various flips of the Republicans, concluding with:

There was a time in this country when we seemed within reach of a sane gun policy that would have included licensing, laws against multiple gun purchases and bans on weapons that were of no use for sports or personal protection, like say, assault rifles. There was vast public support for these ideas, but they were extremely unpopular among critical pockets of voters in swing states. Many people believe Al Gore lost West Virginia — and the 2000 election — because of National Rifle Association attack ads.

So, you think policies that have been shown to have zero impact on crime are sane? Not a single one of your pipe dreams would have stopped a single mass shooting. And, FYI, there was never vast public support for these ideas. One need look only at the 1996 1994 elections for evidence of that.

And Al Gore lost his own state due to gun control and his support for it.

Over at Reason, Jacob Sullum notes the irrelevancy of the various Brady Campaign’s pipe dreams.

Terry Frank alleges some shenanigans at her local voting place. She has pictures she says proves it.

David notes a searchable spreadsheet of briefs. It was prepared by Matt Carmel of Constitution Arms.

Hillary Clinton on Free Federally Funded Health Care for Everyone^tm:

I actually think that it’s unconstitutional, what the insurance companies are doing

Wow. Just. Wow.

Over at the Mad Rocket Scientist comes …And I Carry Concealed:

As a person who carries concealed, I have accepted an enormous responsibility to myself, my family, and to my community at large. I bear the responsibility to be aware, at all times, of my surroundings and of myself. I bear the responsibility of being trained and confident in the use of my firearm, and to take any and all measures to maintain control of myself, and my firearm, whether it is riding in the holster, or I have drawn it to confront a threat.

Read it all.

Sportsmen for Obama look at his record as an Illinois Senator. He’s never seen gun control he didn’t like.

Update: Ry continues making maps of places where gun shops couldn’t operate under Obama’s gun control plan (hint: most of the country).

Bigot Mark S. Fuller of Gloucester Massachusetts.

I thought, according to the Violence Policy Center and other hacks, that the shooting sports were on the decline. Again, actual data from the FBI doesn’t support that claim:

Data released by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) shows 942,556 checks were reported in January, a 5.3 percent increase from the 894,608 reported in January 2007. Adjusted state figures show background checks up by 3.4 percent year-over-year.

In other news, I was unaware that you could get NSSF news alerts via RSS feeds.

In response to noting I need an editor, I received an email from Edward It (get it? Ed It?) who advertises PROFESSIONAL EDITING. GHOST WRITING. ASS KICKING. I thought it was funny.

In England, they’re actually having a discussion about who can lawfully break into your house.

On it’s way to the governor’s desk is a bill to rollback restrictions on restaurant carry.

Let’s count:

Cho’s purchases met Virginia law at the time, but a judge’s recent ruling on his competency should have sounded an alarm with federal officials, had they been notified as part of the background check.

Incorrect. Cho broke the law. There simply wasn’t a mechanism for reporting his adjudication as a mental defective.

Some observers have credited an emergency-alert system developed at NIU after Virginia Tech, which sent out e-mails and messages on Web sites to notify students a possible gunman was on campus, with preventing more deaths.

Also, incorrect. The system kicked in 20 minutes after shots were fired. By the time the system went into effect, the shooter was dead.

Despite the outcry last April after the worst mass killing in U.S. history, Virginia legislators are still wrestling with gun reform legislation.

By still wrestling with they mean not passing any.

President Bush signed a new federal law in January to expand the federal database for screening gun applicants, but the law contains a gaping loophole that allows weapons to be bought at gun shows without background checks.

Incorrect. The alleged gaping loophole was not addressed in the NICS improvement act. And, of course, they also lie about the gun show loophole as sales at gun shows are subject to the same federal laws as sales not at gun shows.

It is disturbing that after repeated incidents of campus carnage dating back to Columbine in 1999 and earlier, organizations continue to block effective gun-control legislation.

Can you name any effective gun control legislation? The CDC cannot. In fact, they’ve concluded that gun control laws have no effect on crime.

Even worse, some have proposed allowing more guns on campuses, under the Wild West rationale that if every student and teacher is armed, they can defend themselves against a lone, irrational shooter.

Ah, the myth of the wild west.

Bills such as one before the Alabama legislature would allow guns on state college campuses if the students are properly licensed — as was Kazmierczak.

Flat out lie. No such license to carry exists in Illinois, it is one of two states without a handgun carry law. The idiots may have confused Illinois FOID cards with handgun carry permits.

Just the opposite course should be pursued. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence advocates closing the gun-show loophole; limiting bulk purchases of handguns, which would cut down on illegal gun trade; and an outright ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. Kazmierczak and Cho each used the latter in their killing spree.

Taking dictation about failed policies from the anti-gun lobby? So, how did Illinois score in the Brady Campaign’s gun control ranking? Why, Illinois made the top 10, coming in at number 9. And did the NIU shooter use an assault weapon?

Such weaponry was illegal except for military and police use until Congress let the assault weapons ban expire in 2004.

Another lie. The ban on weapons that look like assault weapons merely banned cosmetic features that semi-automatic weapons could have. Plenty were still available.

They have a comment section. Leave yours.

Via Rustmeister, who gives them the what for.

Update: And in comments, Justin notes they can’t count.

Megan McArdle:

When the government controls your paycheck, your housing, and your ration card, it doesn’t need to put you in jail; you are in jail.

Via Joe.

Some paper in WV:

But this week, lawmakers began to ponder the other side of the question — the public’s right to know. Many now seem to understand that society is better served when the public is aware of who among us may be carrying concealed guns and, perhaps, that some are not doing so legally.

What about my right to know your social security number, or that you had an abortion, or your salary?

Funny how they will throw right to privacy out the window when it comes to guns, eh?

No, not guns (we’re winning that), those other things.

I mean, us small government, individualist, small l libertarian, whatever buzzword you want to use, sorts. It’s true. You see, I want less .gov influence in, well, everything. Your average American is the exact opposite. They want Free Federal Money^tm for pork projects in their district, they want free health care, they want social security, they actually think the $600 rebate they’re getting in a couple months is a good thing, they want the .gov to write a big check and bail out their mortgage company, they want a puppy, they want to suckle at the .gov tit. It’s true. Deal with it. We’re the minority and that is that. Put on your big boy pants and deal with it.

That said, there seems to be a bit of a conundrum over that.

Tam has given up:

I think the big difference between our points of view is that you haven’t given up the fight, while I have. I just don’t see even a tiny plurality of human beings that give a crap about freedom. They want to be led. They want free stuff. They want to tell other people what to do. They’d rather watch American Idol than read a book. And they outnumber me by a thousand to one. And I’ve come to the dawning realization over the past years that I’m the abnormal one.

And McArdle notes:

The reason that those of us on the fringe–libertarians, Greens, socialist workers, or what have you–do not have more representation in government is not because there is some structural problem with the American political system, like a lack of IRV or minority party candidates. The reason we don’t have more representation is that most people just don’t agree with us.

Indeed.

KDT wants to fight it. I find his recent support for McCain at odds with that unless he just thinks it gets him four years to buy ammo.

Gullible Sebastian thinks that the key is numbers in the teens of percentages have libertarian tendencies. Well, they’ve always been there and don’t seem to have much sway because you can’t tap that resource without giving up something. He concludes with this cheery bit:

Liberty is a never ending battle. We will never win. Like the game Whack-a-Mole, it’s frustrating, and sometimes it seems like you’re doing all you can to just hold the line. But giving up is a sure way to lose at Whack-a-Mole, so to libertarians, I offer this: “Keep whacking!”

The issue then becomes that, at some point, with life getting in the way people don’t have time to whack any more. Or the energy. We’re losing. As Donald Sensing said:

I predict that the Bush administration will be seen by freedom-wishing Americans a generation or two hence as the hinge on the cell door locking up our freedom. When my children are my age, they will not be free in any recognizably traditional American meaning of the word. I’d tell them to emigrate, but there’s nowhere left to go.

And that is the future unless Americans get off their collective ass and do something about it. But they won’t, American Idol is on. You see, a government that can do all of that stuff mentioned way up in the first paragraph is too big. And it will bring more of the nanny state. There are thousands of surveillance cameras and police armed with machine guns that look more like soldiers than Officer Friendly in our big cities. Governments are banning or trying to ban transfat, smoking, restaurants from serving fat people, and anything that is not made out of soft foam rubber. For your safety, of course. Police are routinely raiding the wrong houses, or raiding based on scant evidence (like your power usage for a particular month) and killing innocent people over drugs. Police routinely are caught beating the crap out of someone, and there are never adequate consequences for that. We lost Kelo. Your property is only yours until the .gov says they want it. They can tap your phones, read your email, and have all your financial information. And no one is doing anything about it except a few guys discussing it on the internet.

In my wallet, I have a business card. It has a gold emblem on it and across the top it says:

Department of Justice
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives

It came from an ATF agent. On the back, is written a phone number with the word Cell to indicate it’s the agents cell number. I keep that card in my wallet as a reminder that the federal government will knock on your door over shit you said on the internet.

Update: AC says buck-up little minority camper.