The Shrike (a belt fed upper receiver for M-16s) have started to ship. Finally. A report and pics here. And video here.

Ninjariffic Cheapness

Jay makes a purchase before the ascension.

Judge upholds Chicago’s handgun ban:

A federal judge today upheld Chicago’s 1982 handgun ban as Mayor Daley disclosed plans to strengthen it by following Washington D.C.’s lead.

In a 5-to-4 decision in June, the Supreme Court overturned the D.C. handgun ban on grounds that the Second Amendment establishes the right to own a handgun for personal self-defense.

Hours later, the National Rifle Association and the Illinois State Rifle Association filed lawsuits seeking to overturn handgun bans in Chicago, Morton Grove, Evanston and Oak Park. Wilmette and Morton Grove subsequently repealed their handgun bans. Chicago held fast.

Today, U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur rewarded the city for hanging tough, rejecting a pair of lawsuits challenging Chicago’s handgun freeze.

The Daley administration was pleased, but “not surprised” by the decision. City attorneys are well aware that the fight goes on.

“We believe this decision will ultimately end up in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle.

Well, that is the plan. David Hardy doesn’t seem to be too surprised:

Even assuming the judge wasn’t part of the local machine, the Circuit Court, which is over his head, ruled the other way in the original Morton Grove case, and he can’t overrule them. But you have to raise the issue in front of him, anyway, in order to get the right to appeal.

And the judge isn’t too confident in the ruling standing:

Todd Vandermyde, Illinois legislative liaison for the NRA, called today’s ruling a temporary victory for the city.

“It was expected. We went to court knowing it’s going to take a higher court’s ruling. As Judge Shadur enumerated in his decision, he’s still bound by the precedent set by the 7th Circuit [Court of Appeals]. He wasn’t going to stick his neck out on an issue that the 7th Circuit hasn’t changed its mind on,” he said.

“City taxpayers are going to pay more money in legal fees for a fight they will ultimately lose. The city is only postponing the inevitable. They won this round. But if this thing goes to the Supreme Court, we will prevail. The court laid out a very compelling case with a lot of foundation for an individual’s right to bear arms,” said Vandermyde.

In his ruling, Shadur appeared to caution the city that its victory might be short-lived.

As a follow up to this post about the TN Department of Safety registering the firearms of those that attend a qualified handgun carry permit training course, comes an update:

I spoke with Lisa Knight, assistant director of Handgun Carry Permits at the TN Department of Safety. She stated that her office is in the process of issuing retraction letters regarding the requirement of serial numbers from carry permit instructors in the rosters that are required from each school. TDOS is aware that the requirement of serial numbers could be construed as an attempt to create a handgun registry which, while not the department’s intent, is nonetheless unacceptable under the law. So they are communicating their intentions not to require serial numbers.

School rosters are allowable under the TDOS’ Rules and Regulations (1340-2-3-.03G) and require the student’s name, and the make and model of the weapon with which they trained (which often is the school’s weapon, as many schools will not allow a first-time student to train with their own weapon). The caliber is not required information. Make and model of a student’s training weapon is information that has always been required on certificates, so it is not newly required information.

The roster, which was created in response to a Department audit finding, is used to verify certificates that are turned in after the class. TDOS’ Handgun Carry Permit office checks certificates against school rosters as a part of identifying false certificates.

Flock of seagulls. Murder of crows. Raft of sea lions. What do you call a group of zombies?

Update: On second thought, I guess a congress is more appropriate for a group of vampires.

who exactly did you think we elected President of the United States?

The Tennessee Department of Safety has sent out letters telling instructors that teach the handgun carry course to fill out this roster. This roster records information about the gun used to take the course, including model, serial number and whether or not it belongs to the student. I received this info from a forwarded email sent out by the Tennessee Firearms Association, Inc., who notes that Nothing in the statutes authorize or direct the Department of Safety to collect or require this information.

TFA encourages you to contact the DOS and your state reps about this registration issue.

Update: See here.

Interest rates are so low that money is almost free. I guess they’ll soon be paying us to borrow.

Are you refinancing now? Or waiting? Or have no plans to do so? Hmm, sounds like a job for a poll:

Update: Will lower interest rates help adjustable rate mortgage holders?

I was going to post a reply to this article but realized it would be a waste of time. But if you want to see some real PSH, flat out lying, and play a game of count teh st00pid then give it a read.

In LA, there’s an ammo ban. I’m not sure what it bans, exactly, as they use terms like military-style. And the press repeats it. John Lott notes:

Terms such as “military-style” just seem to be the all purpose term to demonize gun related items, and the media repeats these claims just as they are willing to call so many guns assault weapons.

I think military-style is even in the press style book.

In an article making a big deal about a pink handled rifle being turned in at some gun buy back, comes this:

Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan dismissed the notion hunting rifles and shotguns are not the type of weapons authorities need to be worried about, noting they can cause harm if poorly safeguarded or stolen by burglars.

“Taking these off the streets is as important as the taking the handguns off the streets,” he said.

See, they’re not just after my handguns and evil black rifles.

Anecdotal but I was talking to a friend of mine this morning. He went to Wal-Mart this weekend to get some ammo. Trouble was that they were completely out of stock. He asked the guy at the counter if they were going to stop carrying it or something. The guy said they were still selling it but it was selling so fast they couldn’t keep it on the shelf. The guy at the counter said that one guy came in and bought $600 worth and another guy came in and bought $400 in the same day.

Seen at David’s:

“People who have come in here before and never even looked at guns are now buying them.”

As David says, this isn’t consistent with what the anti-gunners are saying. They’re saying it’s we gun owners continuing to stock up.

Michael Bane thinks that the money in the gun industry that has shifted from the hunting side to the black rifle & handgun side isn’t going to come back even after this buying frenzy. Shooters are likely here to stay. Guns continue to increase in popularity after a few decades of decrease. But hunting does continue to decline. He notes that the industry should be pushing the competition/shooter angle but is addicted to hunter recruitment. Some of us have been saying that for a while.

Bane also notes that S&W’s recent financials are consistent with that trend.

Jim Shepherd notes that the industry is hanging on to a single category:

For the past few weeks, it may be that we’ve given a false impression as to how well the firearms industry is really doing. The net of all the numbers is that if you’re a company with a strong line of high-capacity pistols and AR-style rifles, you’re doing land office business. If you’re heavily dependent on hunting, you are hurting.

Some companies, unfortunately, are seeing those languishing hunting sales carve -deeply- into their bottom lines. Take, for instance, Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ:SWHC). The company’s Military & Police (M&P) line of AR-style rifles and polymer pistols are facing significant back orders due to the incessant consumer demand for high-capacity pistols and military-style rifles that will likely face a resurrected “Assault Weapons Ban” in 2009.

Despite that solid performance, however, Smith simply couldn’t overcome the impact that hunting-centric subsidiary Thompson/Center Arms has had on the overall corporate balance sheet. When Smith & Wesson purchased Thompson/Center Arms in 2007, it looked like a solid acquisition. As a category-leader in hunting that also had a barrel-making facility, it seemed a great fit into the S&W portfolio

Now, I’m all for hunting and harbor no ill-will toward the sport. But I think the industry is starting to get that the shooters and self-defense folks are going to start carrying the weight. Some gun companies figured that out a bit back and started doing both.

Greg looks at beer myths. My favorite is that light beer is actually beer.

Spying on the enemy:

Linked to a gun nerd quiz a bit back. Well, your answer is here.

Another pic.

From guav.

KGB ultra silent pistols.

The Mrs. family has some old slides. We’d like to convert them to digital photos. They have this gizmo to do that at Amazon. Anyone every try it?

A recurring theme of anti-gunners breaking the law: Gun Buyback Sponsor Convicted on Gun Charges

Buckeye Firearms notes an interesting trend in the Bush pardons: Bush pardons have common thread: Gun ownership

For those not in the know about The Elf on the Shelf mentioned here, the elf is magic. He flies back to the North Pole every night and returns to a new location. When your kids wake up, they try to find his new location. It’s quite amazing that I can be in the car with two kids and point out a big red fire truck with it’s lights/sirens on right next to our car and they won’t see it and will keep asking where, where? But a little toy elf is found within seconds of waking up.

The power of observation.

A new member.

Guess what I got just in time for Christmas:

From Gun Porn

Click to embiggen.

That’s right, I got an Elf on the Shelf. And a new Gemtech Outback 2 suppressor (you know, for wayward elves).

The NFA process for me started in August. And the paperwork was probably sent from Coal Creek Armory in early September. So, three months.

An expert states that ATF’s NFRTR database is inadequate:

the NFA database might be reliable enough to start an investigation, but was nowhere near accurate enough to justify a conviction. The result was a hung jury, and there will be a retrial.

Seems to be a trend.

Full transcripts can be found here.

Joe was in attendance and posts a report.

Ry has photos.

Are they on the rise?

Oklahoma looking to repeal sales tax on firearms.

The government is destroying surplus M14 rifles that could be sold through the CMP. Here’s a petition to get them to stop.

Seems DC has passed another gun law. This one is a training requirement for permits to own a weapon and to re-register weapons every three years. They keep trowing hurdles out there.

At this rate, they’ll be back to the way they were.

Gun clip art.

Update: In comments, it was pointed out that it’s magazine art and not clip art. heh.