Part one, from Squeaky.

Buckshot through a rifled barrel.

Knife killings up 50% in NY.

No more fishing with grenades in Afghanistan.

If there’s one thing that’s been blown way out of proportion, it’s Texas Governor Perry’s implication about secession. It does amuse me though that his comment was about Texas independence (not actually declaring independence but that Texas is a pretty independent place) and he goes and asks the feds for flu vaccine.

Via Guav, who wonders about other federal largess that heads to Texas like That $200 billion Texas got in defense contracts between 2000 and 2007? Well, I guess the nation of Texas would need it’s own defending.

Actually, I’m amused by all the secession talk lately as a mental exercise. No one who is taken seriously advocates secession but could it be done? The SCOTUS ruled that leaving only happened “through revolution, or through consent of the States” and secession was a no go.

DIY reactive targets.

News photos for gun nuts.

Kel Tec rifle.

First:

“Mary Norman, president of Auburn Heritage Association, said she was at her family’s burial plot in Pine Hill Cemetery when Councilman Arthur Dowdell removed the small Confederate flag from her great-grandfather’s grave Thursday afternoon.

“He pulled up the flag, snapped it in two and put it in his car,” said Norman, who is white.”

And:

Sarasota teen shot over Confederate apparel, police say

TDT reports that, since 2005, 1,200 Tennesseans who were issued handgun carry permits have had them revoked. I would imagine that more thorough search of the records by state officials is forthcoming given the recent bad press the Department of Safety has received due to reported felons with permits.

Failure Jimmy Carter says the only reason to own weapons that look like assault rifles is to kill police and engage in mass murder:

But none of us wants to own an assault weapon, because we have no desire to kill policemen or go to a school or workplace to see how many victims we can accumulate before we are finally shot or take our own lives. That’s why the White House and Congress must not give up on trying to reinstate a ban on assault weapons, even if it may be politically difficult.

Update: From Les Jones in comments:

An old-fashioned shotgun is all a fella needs to kill his sister-in-law’s cat, as Jimmy found out.

Wow.

Update 2: A cry for help.

What kind of gun owner are you? I think I would add tacticool wannabes as a separate though.

When campaigning, Obama said he’d not rush to sign any bills. He’d put them online for five days, review, and make them open to the public. So far, he’s 1 for 11 on that promise.

The trend continues: Assault weapon ban talk increases guns sales

Kinda neat. Also, before 1994, weapons that look like assault rifles comprised about 1% of guns in the country. Now, the AR-15 is one of the most popular sporting rifle on the market. I thank Al Gore and Bill Clinton.

So, this week’s killer of all people is swine flu. So, you know, go buy some Tamiflu or something.

David Hardy:

In the last three months of 2008, that’s right, three months, Americans bought enough guns to outfit the Chinese and Indian armies, combined.

Those darn bitter clingers.

So, Limbaugh is a spokesperson for the Humane Society US. Humane Society is anti-hunting. He’s supposed to speak at the 2010 NRA convention. So, what will NRA do?

Teens in Franklin, TN carrying replica guns for protection. The police are not amused.

Jewish ninjas too:

An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits and drove them away, the commander said Sunday.

.380 ammo going for $1 per round?

State of California provides state subsidized training to a pornographers.

Tiahrt says to Holder: Read the bill and stop lying about it.

Via Jeff, comes Ted Diadiun, Reader Representative (whatever that is) trying to answer that question. He’s wrong. Trouble for Ted is he starts off using the term assault rifle. An assault rifle differs from an assault weapon in that an assault rifle is a medium-powered, select-fire rifle. Since it is select-fire, it is a machine gun in the legal sense. The term assault weapon is made up. It’s propaganda from anti-gun people. It used to have a legal definition but no longer does. The anti-gun Violence Policy Center summed it up best:

The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons.

Ted continues with unsourced claims:

The pro-gun people say that an “assault weapon” is a term that applies only to a fully automatic weapon (one that keeps firing as long as you hold the trigger back). They say it’s inaccurate to use the term for a semi-automatic weapon (one that fires a single round each time you pull the trigger). They say the only difference between a semi-automatic hunting rifle and an “assault rifle” is cosmetic: Take an ordinary hunting rifle, switch out the stock, slap on a banana clip, put a flash suppressor over the barrel, give it a camouflage paint job, and presto — it’s an assault weapon.

Well . . . yes, says the ATF, which defines it like this: “In general, assault weapons are semi-automatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use.”

Note that Ted uses assault rifle but says ATF defines assault weapon. It’s interesting. Because the ATF is a law enforcement agency. As part of enforcing laws, there would have to be one with respect to assault weapons for them to have a definition for one. And they have such a definition written in past tense because the term no longer applies since the ban expired. So, I’d be curious to see where Ted gets his alleged ATF definition. It likely does not exist.

Next Ted breaks out the AP playbook err style book:

Taking its cue from that, the Associated Press Stylebook defines assault weapons as “firearms that feature two or more accessories such as a detachable magazine, folding or telescopic stock, silencer, pistol grip, bayonet mount or a device to suppress the flash emitted while shooting in the dark.”

Again, the term assault weapon is used. Not assault rifle, as Ted as used before. Now, that AP definition is, pretty much, verbatim what ATF said the law was. Which is that ergonomic features define what an assault weapon is. Now, it’s been a bit since I’ve seen the AP playbook err I mean stylebook. But last I looked assault weapon wasn’t in it. The term assault-style weapon was and the definition was exactly the one ol’ Teddy gave us. And that is unusual because the AP never actually follows its own stylebook with respect to reporting assault weapons. If they did, they would have been accurate. Five years ago. Now, they’re just taking dictation from the Violence Policy Center.

Will he veto or not is the question. The Governor has been pretty pro-gun. He was endorsed by NRA, signed castle doctrine into law, and signed a law that requires local chief law enforcement officers to approve NFA transfers. So, some pretty good pro-gun credibility. Folks are wondering if he’ll sign the various pro-gun bills working through the legislature now. I’m guessing he will. Capitol View tends to agree.

The Apache — A 19th Century Personal Protection Gadget

A bayonet mount to fight ninjas.

Got a new vacuum. Wife always wanted a Dyson but I always thought spending near $500 on one seemed excessive. But Big Lots has Dyson DC18 Slims on sale for $250 at their store. Granted, they are refurbished. Helluva deal, compared to other Dyson prices. So, we snagged one up. Does a great job. We had just vacuumed a couple days ago and so the floor should have been fairly clean. After I ran the Dyson, it looked like I’d sucked a whole cat out of the floor. It did that good a job of cleaning. The only problem I have with it is that the electrical cord is too short.

Gun buy back nets a live grenade.

So, you’re going to act like you shoot someone at the office as a gag. Pretty funny. Except for that guy who wasn’t in on it and cuts himself climbing the barbed wire fence to escape and then runs half a mile.

A big boom on video.

Another to head to the NRA Annual Meeting and blog bash. I’m bummed about not going this year. The list of attendees looks impressive this year.

Last night, I hooked up with Greg, Beth, and Greg’s brother at the Knoxville Cigar Company for some Gurkha’s and bourbon. Good time and good conversation.

Sebastian has detailed look.

NRA notes:

If you are at home with a collection of fifty or more firearms, it would be a five-year felony to “offer” or “exchange” a single gun — even between family or friends — unless you first registered with the BATFE and paid a fee, the amount of which would be at BATFE’s discretion.