FNAR.

Saiga Conversions.

S&W.

The American Dream is Not Dead; It Just Speaks Spanish Now.

Why we win: You can watch some idiot engage Clayton Cramer in a debate on gun rights. She says there are cases that support her view and Cramer says name one. She can’t. Seems she doesn’t get too involved in what those pesky courts say.

Paul Helmke on is historic ass-kicking.

Bitter says it’s the first step and not the last.

Confederate Yankee notes that the press is still harping about the war leading to an ammo shortage for police even though that story is false.

This guy sent me a link to his page. Apparently, he says the DOJ is lying and engaged in misconduct. But I can’t find a quick synopsis of events. Anyone have a clue?

Today is also our anniversary. It apparently will not fall on Easter Sunday again for 108 years. Well, that’s according to my dad.

I got a comment from Bob Ricker, executive director of the anti-gun American Hunters and Shooters Association. Go say ‘hi’ if you want since he says that since that post only has 7 comments, there’s not many gun rights supporters. Ah, to live in Bob’s world.

They looked at my passport too! And, strangely, no one cared.

Heh:

Lauer Custom Weaponry, whose products were banned in the city in 2006 because they make dangerous guns look like innocent toys, is taunting the anti-gun mayor with a line of paints named “The Bloomberg Collection.”

The company – which named its purple hue after Barney, the dinosaur beloved by toddlers – is peddling a rainbow of candy-colored paints for each of the five boroughs.

There’s red for Manhattan, rose for the Bronx, blue for Brooklyn, green for Queens and orange for Staten Island.

And as an extra slap – a stencil of the mayor’s face for the barrel of the gun.

And, no, there’s no media bias against guns in this article! Like this:

A Wisconsin company that disguises deadly firearms with bright paints and camouflage has a new target: Mayor Bloomberg.

Disguises? Are you loopy?

BTW, here’s their webpage. And here’s the Bloomberg Collection.

Seen at Radley’s: On a site where government agencies advertise bids for private contractors, the ATF advertises for a Leatherman Micra engraved with the words “always think forfeiture.” You know, in case any of its agents forget what’s really important.

Another Browning.

Stephanie Mencimer has a stupid bit at Mother Jones (but I repeat myself) on how the second amendment existed to, and I am not making this up, keep the slaves down:

Last week at an American Constitution Society briefing on the Heller case, NAACP Legal Defense Fund president John Payton explained the ugly history behind the gun lobby’s favorite amendment. “That the Second Amendment was the last bulwark against the tyranny of the federal government is false,” he said. Instead, the “well-regulated militias” cited in the Constitution almost certainly referred to state militias that were used to suppress slave insurrections. Payton explained that the founders added the Second Amendment in part to reassure southern states, such as Virginia, that the federal government wouldn’t use its new power to disarm state militias as a backdoor way of abolishing slavery.

They cite the appropriately named Bogus, who we’ve had fun with before on this issue because his alleged research relies primarily on the discredited work of Bellisiles.

See, this is a bit silly because if you look at the actual history of gun control and not the made up version of the second amendment perpetuated here, the first gun control schemes came into being specifically to disarm freed slaves. And these two bits are interesting:

In an interview, Bogus says that polls consistently show that African Americans support gun control in much higher numbers than white people do, and probably for good reason: They’re usually the ones looking at the wrong end of the barrel. As the NAACP points out in its brief on Heller, in D.C. in 2004, there were 137 gun-homicide victims. All but two of them were black. If the Supreme Court invalidates the city’s handgun ban, any ensuing uptick in gun violence is likely to have a disproportionate impact on African Americans, particularly young men.

And who was on the, I guess, right end of the barrel? And this:

Back in 1988, the African American syndicated columnist shot an unarmed, 18-year-old white kid from Chevy Chase who’d gone for an unauthorized dip in Rowan’s swimming pool. Rowan, who shot the kid in the wrist as he tried to flee, claimed he’d feared for his life and was only defending himself. Nonetheless, the columnist was prosecuted for illegally possessing a handgun. The trial ended with a hung jury and Rowan escaped punishment (though the teenagers were sentenced to community service), but the incident fueled a tremendous amount of racial tension in the city that might have been avoided if Rowan had just, say, called the cops.

You mean, strict gun control advocate Carl Rowan? I mean, you could not possibly have picked a better example. Why are anti-gun activists so violent?

Via reader JKB who emails:

Seems, they contend citing the NAACP, that the 2nd Amendment was incorporated in the Bill of Rights to permit Southern slave owners to keep the slaves down. Oddly, to me that would support a desire for a self defense interpretation rather than banning guns as they ague. I suppose they missed the whole abolition of slavery and skip right over the history of gun control as a way to keep guns out of the hands of freed slaves. If it was as they contend a racist effort then what would be a better slap in the face to racists than to use the amendment to allow a black man to arm himself?

They also seem to miss that Pennsylvania and New Hampshire both put forth a right to bear arms right. If my history is remembered correctly, those weren’t states that supported slavery. In fact, I believe they actively worked against it.

So, last weekend me, Junior and her cousin attended Michael’s daughter’s birthday party. Les Jones was there too. It was at Sprout Studio. It’s a neat place for small kids with lots of activities. Now, I’m not sure who came up with it first but Michael and I thought the place needed beer. And hot wings would be good too.

Deadliness!

The story so far: some state politico goober decided to sue a gas station for price-gouging. Seems said station owner had the audacity to put up a big sign advertising his price and people agreed to pay it. You know, capitalism. Some smart ass blogger decided to, well, be a smart ass. Prompting another smart ass blogger to opine on the issue thusly in comments:

Funny. You say “reach an agreement on a price” as though there’s some sort of negotiation that went on, beyond “take it or leave it.”

Now, I dunno where Tom shops, but most retail establishments operate under that principle. I mean, they usually have signs that say something like Crocs $39.99 or my Sam Adams that I bought yesterday had a sticker on it that read $8.49 or something similar. I decided to test negotiating on the way home yesterday. The Mrs. calls and asks me to pickup a bale of straw so we can seed a portion of our lawn. I walked into Lowe’s and said I’d like one bale of straw. The cashier uses her ray gun to scan a bar code. She says: that’ll be $4.49.

I say: I’ll give you $3.

Her: Sir, it’s $4.49.

Me: You drive a hard bargain. $3.50.

Her: Sir, do you want the straw or not?

Me: Yes. But some hippie told me to oppose your take it or leave it approach to retail sales. So, I’m here to tell you I’m not gonna take it anymore. And, you know, speak truth to power and give peace a chance and all that. $4?

Her: [speaking into the microphone] I need management assistance to lawn and garden.

Me: Does he have the authority to negotiate price?

Her: [rolls eyes]

The line is getting backed up at this point.

Manager: May I help you, sir.

Me: Yes, I’m trying to negotiate a price for this bale of straw. $4.49 is too much. And I am tired of bourgeoisie having the gall to expend its capital and resources to dare bring me desired goods and services at a price that’s, well frankly, a few cents too high in my opinion. I mean, I don’t really know anything about straw production and its associated cost. But, dude, it’s dried grass. And you have some nerve trying to make a profit and do things in the best economic interest of your shareholders while providing your employees wages and benefits and stuff. It’s evil!

Manager: Sir, that’s the price.

Me: Take it or leave it, eh? Well, I guess I’ll take it or my wife will be mad and probably send me back under orders to pay the full price. I knew that woman was in with the bourgeoisie. Damn you, capitalism, you got to her too! Do you take Visa?

I paid and left.

OK, some of that might be made up. But I don’t know of many establishments other than car lots and maybe some mom and pop appliance stores where you negotiate a price any more. So, take that head of lettuce for $0.99 or leave it.

And Tom continues:

If you think predatory pricing and/or price gouging are bad, then you’re a dirty communist. Just thought you might like to know.

When you stop businesses from taking advantage of people and/or ripping them off, you’re destroying the American Way, comrade!

But it gets more amusing. Seems everyone plugged the addresses into Google Maps and, funny story, right next door was cheaper gas. And the original alleged price gouging was a mistake over diesel prices. So, obviously, we need to bring the power of the state government down on this evil price gougers! I mean, it’s not like customers could have gone elsewhere. Because that would be hard.

Man, that free market can be hard work. Clearly, we need government involvement when you’re too stupid to go across the street to save a buck.

Update: Related: I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that part of the problem is that at some time in our past, manufacturing jobs became considered “middle class”. It’s one thing for a job to provide a “living wage”, the term so beloved by the collectivists on the other side of the aisle. It’s another thing to think that putting bolts in holes all day should pay enough for a bass boat, two cars, a used Harley, and a time-share in Destin.

Illustrated.

And there is the fact that the cartoon is inaccurate with respect to past court cases.

Bane says we should work to remove restrictions from them. Charles talks about it and incrementalism. The suppressor thing can be done legislatively. After all, it’s good hearing protection for you and your neighbors. And if some ranges required suppressors, then those people who are upset because they bought a house next to a rifle range might be happy.

Well, let’s not count chickens or anything. Heller is still officially undecided. So, as for what’s next, I don’t know. But I do recommend that you consider monetarily supporting organizations who may gear up to fight gun restrictions, such as your state associations. I think that, post-Heller and assuming it goes for the good guys, quite a few laws can be challenged successfully, like NYC, Chicago, California, NJ, and MA laws.

JimmyB cancer free!

He who shall not be middle-named on the fact his passport info was recently viewed without authorization:

This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an Administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years. Our government’s duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes. This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we demand to know who looked at Senator Obama’s passport file, for what purpose, and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach,

Kinda funny though how he thinks that right to privacy business goes out the window when one chooses to exercise their right to keep arms.

Via Billy Beck.

In Cali, they want to require a permit to purchase ammo.

Various places with draconian gun laws aren’t happy with Heller. In NY:

New York City’s law isn’t as strict as that of the Columbia district, but it’s close. In New York City one needs a permit from the police department to keep a handgun at home. The problem is that the permitting process is entirely at the discretion of government officials. Mayor Bloomberg could instruct his police department to draw up a lawful licensing system that gives law-abiding, mentally sound adults with good vision the right to keep and bear a handgun.

I found this amusing:

In most places in this country there are few impediments to an individual keeping and bearing arms. Many states allow residents to walk into a sporting goods or other store, attest that they aren’t felons and are over the age of 21, and drive home with a pistol out in the open on the seat beside them, no license needed. That is even the norm in America.

You New Yorker should come visit America some time. And in Chicago:

If the Supreme Court strikes down the ability of municipalities like the District of Columbia to regulate guns, Chicago and other cities with handgun bans would see a return of gun stores and an upswing in crime, Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday.

A blogger/reader banquet! You are going, aren’t you?

the police are on the phone:

A woman was asking a 911 dispatcher for help when her pleas were interrupted by gunshots, then silence. She was shot to death.

The woman told the dispatcher someone was trying to break into her home in upscale West Covina, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Dan Rosenberg said. “Deputies heard gunshots followed by silence and an open phone line,” he said.

Browning.

Kevin serves Fenty his ass with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

In India, if you get a vasectomy, they’ll speed up your gun license application.

Pro Gun Progressive was on Al Jazeera debating Rebecca Peters, direct of International Action Network on Small Arms. He has a report here. Video of the debate is here and part 2 is here. Rebecca Peters is not the sharpest tool in the shed and, basically, reiterated various falsehoods (like the US is the most violent nation on earth; more guns = more crime; and the US is the largest exporter of illegal weapons). And Sebastian pretty much served her ass like John McEnroe.

John Lott debates Paul Helmke. I can’t get the video to work but will check back later. It’s working now.

At subguns.

Well, new to me.

You’ll recall my Deathmatch in which I called the battle between the EOTech and Aimpoint for the EOTech. Well, Aimpoint has a new one that addresses some of the issues I had with it: The Aimpoint Comp M4. This one comes with an integral mount (which functions better and saves you the cost of a quality $150 mount). And it is now submersible to 150M, not that that would ever come up but it is cool.

The battery lasts for over eight years. A huge advantage over the EOTech.

It’s still spendy compared to the EOTech. The Aimpoint comes in at just shy of $800.

The internet is an amazing place. I mean, where else can you see a walrus and a hot chick dancing to Smooth Criminal.